The Rays beat the Yankees last night in 11.  With Mariano Rivera in for his 2nd inning, Jonny Gomes pinch-ran for Cliff Floyd who had singled.  Gomes stole second, his 5th SB of the year (hmm), and came in to score as Gabe Gross singled him in.

The home nine's win was satisfying. I'll take three more of those, please.

Have a great road trip, Dave.

Cuddyer got an awful jump on Stewart's double.  That should have been routine.  I see now how he came to be -51 over the last 3 years according to the Fielding Bible.

Purcey is indeed likely to get the start on Friday.

   Who gets sent down when Purcey gets called up?   It should be Benitez, but he might have a contract requiring him to be in the majors or given his release. Three batters is probably not enough of a try-out for the guy (even though he flubbed two of the three batters last night, allowing a home run and a walk).  And all of the other relievers seem pretty valuable right now -- I can't imagine Carlson or Camp being sent down.
    There's talk that Eckstein or McDonald will return from injury and take the roster spot that Purcey will vacate after his spot start.  In that case, I would surmise that Velandia might be sent down to make room for Purcey.  Inglett can be the back-up shortstop for one game.

I'd like to see a bit more of Benitez.  His stuff looked pretty good last night to me, and the velocity was definitely there.  Not to often is a 95mph fastball below the knees going to be taken yard.  His change-up was up in the zone a bit and he showed a curveball too I believe.

The Rays beat the Yankees last night in 11. 

Notice that Percival blew another save after another stellar Jackson pitching performance?

The Bonds indictment has been redrafted - one count of obstructing justice, fourteen counts of making false declarations to a grand jury (perjury, to you and me.)

And Hank Steinbrenner thinks the Yanks need to play harder. He wants to see more effort from his high-priced help.

If Hank thinks that's a problem (because in baseball, that is generally never the problem)... what can I say? The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree? Good times are coming? (Not today, not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of the next decade or two!)

With Furcal going on the DL for the Dodgers, Abbott and Costello fans will be happy to know that Hu's at short.

What?

  That's almost as comically confusing as China's current leadership hierarchy, where Hu's on first and Wen's on second.

That Torre, no sense of humour. I see that Hu hasn't played even an inning at first base. It would be criminal to squander such an opportunity.

Cuddyer got an awful jump on Stewart's double.  That should have been routine.  I see now how he came to be -51 over the last 3 years according to the Fielding Bible

You know, even though the Jays have done a good job making it look that way so far this - opposition fielders do not always get perfect jumps and make dead-run catches on linedrives to the warning track look easy.

I know it sure seems as if they don't, based on what's happened to the jays this year - but opposition fielders actually do make slight mistakes on hard-hit balls resulting in hits quite often.

Sportsnet are teasing us tonight.  They're making us listen to Pat Tabler while showing pictures of the Twins' TV crew (Blyleven and Morris) disecting the game.  For his part, Bert looked like he was explaining String Theory to the Twins' audience.

PLAYOFFS!

I hope to eventually parlay the trip into some Original Batter's Box Content, so stay posted!

This is the first TDIB 14 May 2008 story I've seen that ever mentioned something like this. A Great Start.

As you make your odyssey, don't forget to make notes in dactylic hexameter.  Or tend to your fantasy baseball team. Scott Kazmir starts tomorrow.

You know, I think Pat Tabler gets a bum rap around here. He's not the worst colour man I've heard and in fact he's often quite in tune with the game. He's also got a nice easy, listenable style. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I've heard lots of cringe-worthy colour commentators over the years and to my ears he isn't one of them.

They're making us listen to Pat Tabler while showing pictures of the Twins' TV crew (Blyleven and Morris) disecting the game

Living in Cleveland Im forced to watch the Jays on mlb.tv, so i was listening to Blyleven and Morris, and let me tell you it wasn't a treat. It was about equivalent to listening to my two grandfathers tell me about how when they were a kid they had to work 14 hr days and walk 10 miles to school(uphill both ways).  They seriously went on and on about how pitchers are babied these days, while that may be true it was a pain to listen to.

Living in Cleveland Im forced to watch the Jays on mlb.tv, so i was listening to Blyleven and Morris, and let me tell you it wasn't a treat. It was about equivalent to listening to my two grandfathers...

Thanks, Jdog.  That's certaintly reassuring.

So, we're 9 - 5 for May so far.  It's a funny game.

The last two games, Doc's sinker hasn't looked as effective and he's relied on his curve and cutter more.  Oddly enough, he's become a strikeout pitcher again as a result.

"Living in Cleveland Im forced to watch the Jays on mlb.tv, so i was listening to Blyleven and Morris, and let me tell you it wasn't a treat."

I strongly disagree. I watch every Jays game on MLB.TV as I also live in the States, and I think without a doubt the Jays broadcasting team is by far the WORST I have heard so far this year. At least Morris wasn't repeating the same drivel over and over and over again.

Was there ever a time that you could mute the TV and listen to Jerry & Tom? I only ask because maybe the world of digital cable has rendered that option useless. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to them, but it's something I personally find hard to do in today's day and age when I know the game is being televised. I reserve the 590 team for the summer patio BBQs.

I think Pat Tabler gets a bum rap around here. He's not the worst colour man I've heard and in fact he's often quite in tune with the game. He's also got a nice easy, listenable style.

I guess this comes down to taste.

While Tabler's voice is pleasant enough, I find virtually everything he says to be inane making his Jay games almost entirely unwatchable for me. If men with white coats and nets observed me watching a telecast, they'd surely haul me away because of the number of times I'm telling me television to shut up.

Mulliniks > Fletcher >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tabler > Joe Carter

Looks like Reed Johnson's role will be drastically reduced in Chicago, at least until the newly acquired Jim Edmonds gets hurt or released again.

I guess this comes down to taste.

... I find virtually everything he says to be inane making his Jay games almost entirely unwatchable for me. If men with white coats and nets observed me watching a telecast, they'd surely haul me away because of the number of times I'm telling me television to shut up.

If I take out the part mentioning Tabler specifically, I could easily apply this to Mulliniks's commentary stylings.  But I guess it does come down to taste.

I don't make a habit of people down seemingly good people trying to do their job, but both Tabler and Mullinik are just terrible color men -- I hope the Jays make a chnage next year.  I can handle Fletcher because he seems to have a sense of humor; and Mulliniks I'll concede, brings up interesting techinal points of the game but he has the personalitty of a brick wall and he's just an awkward person.  If you could combine the two, you might have yourself an average color guy.  Tabler can jsut go away; hate his voice and perspective.