Every year for more than a century, Tampa Bay has celebrated legendary Spanish pirate José Gaspar, who supposedly sacked passing ships off the coast of Spanish Florida in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, amassing a huge fortune until he killed himself rather than be taken into custody by the USS Enterprise. As the “Pirates” name was pilfered by Pittsburgh due to their looting of Lou Bierbauer right about the same time Tampa Bay started lauding a murderer, expansion club Tampa Bay (which actually plays in St. Petersburg) decided to name itself after a fish, yet has continued to sack decent baseball from the west coast of Florida since 1998.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays of St. Petersburg had a 2005 team payroll of $29.8 million dollars, and produced a meager 67-95 record, but bested divisional rival New York Yankees of New York (team payroll 2×10^8 fajillion dollars) with an 11-8 record in the season series. This year, Devil Fish team payroll was 35.4 million dollars on opening day. Combining that with their fishy neighbors the Marlins, America’s wang has a baseball payroll of about 50 million dollars. Some have questioned what certain low-salaried teams are doing with their revenue sharing and luxury tax money.
The Yankees have won six out of eight so far in the 18 game season series with the floundering Tampa Bay Satan Fish and currently trail the AL East-leading Red Sox by only one and one-half games. With a personal and a team three-game winning streak in his hands, the Yanks send our favorite Wang to the mound with his sparkling 11-4 record to face Tim Corcoran, hurling for TB-SF in place of injured Scott Kazmir. After the day off, we are hungry for baseball, and first pitch is at The Stadium in one hour. This is your place to comment on tonight’s game.
Starting lineup:
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Giambi DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Williams RF
Phillips 1B
Cabrera LF
Cairo 2B
Great post, AG. Backstory on the Pirates was news to me.
From today’s PTI (paraphrased):
Mariotti: “How will ARod be greeted at home tonight?”
Whitlock: “With boos, and I agree with them.”
I guess ESPN wants to dig up that horse and beat it some more…and I realize I play into their hands just by mentioning it. Here’s hoping Alex gets a standing O and makes them eat crow.
“Mariotti: “How will ARod be greeted at home tonight?”
Whitlock: “With boos, and I agree with them.”
–That would be extremely stupid of the NY Fans.
They’re not booin him tonight..initially. The guy had a great series in Arlington, and I think even the dumbest of Yankee fans can recognize that. It’s what he will do tonight and in this series that will affect the stupid MFer’s at the Stadium who choose to either boo or cheer him on a whim.
Thanks, Airk. First game thread post under my belt. Woot.
The Twins and San Francisco were at certain points considered for relocation to Tampa prior to expansion.
I think we need a Mariotti ban on this site. And I hope everyone catches The Gerb’s great post on Mullet Night, below. Don’t want it to get lost in the fray of todays many fine posts. Big day here at YFSF.
Sorry YF. I generally like PTI and wasn’t expecting to that jackass on it.
Wait, hold on…the pirate would’ve been brought to justice by Jean-Luc Picard?
Clearly, my history teacher has lied to me.
I hate Mariotti. What a……….. jerkface.
Re PTI: I like Dan Le Betard; he’s incredibly self-effacing and good natured considering the amount of abuse thrown at him, but the substitute hosts generally make the show un-watchable.
Oh, and Mike Wilbon and Bob Ryan play very well off of each other as well.
YF: Thanks for the kind words on “Mullet Night.” It was a lot of fun to be at the game as bad a game as it was, and it was a fun post to write.
YM: We’re in total agreement. PTI = Good. Mariotti = Bad.
Hey Ozzie! Shouldn’t you peeling paint off walls with a little “team meeting”? Or the reason ChiSox have slipped is ‘cuz you spend too much time trolling message boards, hmmmm?
I have actually been in Tampa Bay during Gasparilla. It’s a fun festival. Great music, street vendors, and the cuban cuisine to be found in and around TB/St. Pete is delicious. Plus, it’s got kind of a Mardi Gras feel; with the warm Florida weather the clothes are scant. And the night life after the more proper family-oriented day events is, well, stimulating.
For some reason unknown to me, the game is not on the MLB DirecTV package in Portland. *SCREAM*
Gerbil, could it be because it’s a “My-9” game?
I don’t know what a “My-9” game is, YM. I think it means I will drink my 9 beers and throw the bottles at my worthless satellite dish.
YankeesNJ: Don’t you think that fighting a pirate would be a more “Kirkian” episode?
My-9 = UPN9 (local station here) game as opposed to YES or ESPN or FOX. I don’t know if MLB.tv gets to run that broadcast.
Read this as you drown your sorrows:
http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/07/mission-furnish-msnbccom-offices-with.html
And we’re off to a typical CM Wang start: ground out.
And Crawford grounds out. That’s 2.
Make that 2 groundouts.
And Baldelli makes 3. Awesome.
And Jeets guns down the Woonsocket Rocket. 3 grounders for Wang.
“He was going to be a superstar,” says Murcer of Baldelli. In Tampa? How super can you be? Especially with a .325 OBP.
Leadofff floater falls in just right for Johnny D to reach 2nd standing. Nice start.
I wouldn’t put too much stock into what Bobby says…he’s going a bit senile.
Someone on NYYFANS was suggesting they should play a 5 infielder, 2-outfielder defense for Wang. Wonder if that’s such a bad idea?
Meanwhile, JD starts things off with a double.
Derek at 347/423 ba/obp. Yowzah. Goes down a bit there as he moves Damon to 3rd on the grounder to first.
Thanks for the explanation and the link, YM. I don’t have MLB.tv. I paid for the audio, but it works very poorly on my Apple.
I splurged for the DirecTV package at home for the second half of the year, but it has been disappointing in the past two weeks in the number of blacked-out games. Oh well. I should be happy that Wang’s sinker is doing just that in drawing ground outs.
Someone please let me know what kind of reception Álex gets in his first plate appearance. My money is on Standing O.
I think that’s a bad idea YM. All of a sudden everyone’s out of position, and anything that lands in the oufield means runs.
Giambi ks looking on inside heat.
And guess what: NY hearts Alex. He gets a nice hand as he steps in.
Nice hand when he comes up, roaring when he drives in JD.
And he repays the cheer with an rbi single up the middle!
Along those lines, maybe we should play with five outfielders when Wright and Ponson are pitching? :)
Suck it, ESPN!
Welcome home, ARod. You are a “true” Yankee, whatever that really means, in this fan’s book.
With Ponson and Wright we should have a guy in the bleachers.
LOL! Ponson especially. Wright at least keeps it in the park most of the time.
Jorge walks.
Jorge! BB. Come on Berns!
Bernardino flies out. BOOOOOOOOOO!!!
And Bernie pops out. We’ll take the 2-out rbi. Nice.
Wiggington grounds to short. 4 in a row. 4/4 for that matter.
Why Travis “.205” Lee hitting 5th?
And I guess Wang DOES need outfielders!
Fly out! Melky shags one. 2 outs.
Me fail English? Unpossible!
Grrr.
And a lineout for Cantu. But it was close to the ground….. Partial credit. Anyway, 3 outs.
To be 21 years old and playing left field for the New York Yankees. What must that feel like?
YM: nice Ralph Wiggum reference.
AP en fuego!
AP single up the middle. If he doesn’t keep it working, expect Carlos Pena.
TB hosed on a call at second on the Melky grounder.
You gotta know Cairo is bunting here. Cairo = good bunter, bad hitter. If you’re ever gonna bunt, now’s the time.
YES was showing a Clippers game last night…Pena looks good with the glove, not so much with the stick.
No shocker there, Miggy gets the bunt down, 2nd and 3rd, one down for Damon.
Good sacrifice from Cairo I assume.
Gah. Damon slapper to Lugu for the 6-3 out. AP stays at third. 2 down.
Jeter is hitting .261 with RISP this year; that stat surprises me.
And Jeter rips a 2-out, 2-rbi single on a 3-1 pitch. MVP. Already instrumental in all 3 NY runs.
That’s going up. DJ drives in 2 more.
Good 2-out hitting by the home team.
And now the SB. Our Hero!
CAPTAIN!
Giambi walks. And here comes Alex….
Looks like Corcoran was no where near the zone according to GameChannel.
Dinger here?
2-0. Danger!
3-1. EXTREME DANGER
Walk. Now Posada, who’s already taken a base on balls. Slam?
Remember, if ARod hits it out, it’s not close-and-late. Therefore it doesn’t count. However, no danger of that as Alex walks.
Holy crap. The Keystone Rays manage to hold onto a pop to right. Yanks strand 3. Corcoran lucky to escape a jam. Yanks have now stranded 5 in 2 innings, but still carry a 3-0 lead.
Glad to see that the rays are making a competition out of this.
And a grounder to start the 3rd.
I hereby christen them the St. Petersburg Sushi Rolls.
2 down. And here comes Jorge’s replacement. Wonder what they’re talking about….
And you can pretty much guess what Mr. Navarro did. 3 outs.
Evidently Mr. Navarro was saying how he was looking forward to going to New York and kicking the Yankees’ butts. Good job, kid!
And “The Guns of Navarro” fall silent as the ex-Yankee prospect (Johnson trade I think) grounds out to second.
Ew. I feel all Bermany.
To the geniuses over at the Replacement Level Yankee Weblog who think it’s a good time to trade Wang, because he’s at peek value, i say, I’m glad they’re just bloggers!
And the Rays go down like punks on thier first night in prison.
Bernie line single. 2-innings late on that one, Berns, but we’ll take it.
AP fly out. DFA that stiff!
Trade Wang for what? Hitting that we haven’t needed? Pitching that he already represents? How many available pitchers are out there with a 4ish era? Especially ground-ball pitchers? Crazy talk.
AP flies out. Why do i just get the feeling that his days are totally numbered?
Phillips shows some serious plate patience taking a hack at the 1st pitch.
Leche with a double into the stands! 2nd and 3rd with 1 out–again.
MELKY!
Wang is homegrown isn’t he? He shows the ability to pitch in Yankee stadium and Fenway. To trade him would be stupid. Unless he was sytraight up for say Oswalt.
Did the ground-rule cost us the run? I am guessing it did.
TB lookis like they have thier Beer League team on the field tonight.
There is a subset of YFs who want to make a trade for the sake of making a trade.
Rob, homegrown in the sense that he was a free-agent signing by NY.
Gerbil, ground rule double definitely cost a run. Bernie would’ve been in easily. Cairo lines into a DP to strand 2 more. Sigh.
And Miggy lines into a DP, 5 unassisted.
Yes, the ball going into the stands “cost” a run.
I wonder if having to learn English or speaking it as a second language is of benefit when playing in high-pressure markets like NY or BOS?
AG…close enough I guess. Definately one of the more low-risk, big returns they have signed. One major plus factor is that he is young.
You can definately play stupid with a language deficiency if you do not like the questioning.
I don’t speak Spanish very well. I plan on learning it soon. I wonder what Spanish-language baseball pages read like?
BTW: I don’t believe a double into the stands, technically, is a ground rule double, any more than a home run going into the stands is a ground rule home run. each park has a set of individual ground rules that are unique to it. the double into the stands is a standard across the game.
here endeth the lesson.
and 2 outs on the k and the fly out.
For the YF’s…who is the one free agent this year you would like to see sign with the Yanks?
12 in a row.
Interesting point, YF. Fortunately, I think the “rule” balances out over the course of play.
Rob: Case in point: Sosa, meet Congress.
After this season? Barry Zito.
I’m hoping for Christy Mathewson.
Good question, Rob. Maybe Zito…but he’ll want buckets of cash that I’m not sure he deserves. A couple of decent guys for the bench would be nice.
Damon down.
How are we only winning this thing 3-9? We’ve had like a gajillion runners and are killing the ball?
Zito would be a good pick up. I think he has a penchant for the left coast.
Didn’t Zito just get pounded by the Sox. He’s a decent starter, but the asking price from You-Know-Who is going to be astronomical.
There will be a major bidding war for Zito to be sure. He will get PAID, by someone.
YF: Seems to be the trend lately. Lots of hits and walks with nobody on, nobody home after that.
Yes he got pounded. I think that if the Yanks stay away from any Boras client they stand a chance to sign them without cashman placing his name in an escort service.
Check that. He’s better than decent. He’s good, not great. But not dominant. And he’s going to require dominant-guy money.
Check that. He’s better than decent. He’s good, not great. But not dominant. And he’s going to require dominant-guy money.
Jeter with the smash into the corner.
TYPEPAD!!!!
YF: yes, he will command that salary based on rep from past performance.
Captain, my Captain.
Giambi walks. Shocker.
Rudy says cheer Alex? How about Kerik?
Yeah, I don’t know if Zito would be worth the oodles of money Boras would demand. What other pitchers will be out there? Pettitte is getting older and fragile. We should stay the hell away from NL pitchers…who else is available?
Fans are chanting ARod as he comes up to bat. I bet ESPN is crying.
Bounces ball 4 to Alex. No boos necessary! Juiced for Jorge–again.
Gamecast is sloooooooooooooooooow. Giambi’s first pitch just registered.
Canseco has been throwing in some games. I could only dream the Yanks would sign him to the pen.
That Texas trip appears to have performed a miracle….ARod just seems so much more confident right now. Go ARod!
3-1.
Rob: I just switched to GameChannel this very moment for the same reason you are describing. So slow.
Jorge! Good eye!
Jorge walks in a run!
Bernie time.
Righty Chad Harville in for Corcoran.
Out of town scoreboard update:
O’s up on ChiSox 4-1 in the 4th
Tiggers 2-0 on the Twins after top 1st (2 runs off Liriano…impressive!)
On a side note….Pedro got smacked for 4 runs in the 1st inning in his return from the DL.
Away board: Minnesota and Chisox both losing early.
3 1/3 IP….6 BB’s. This kid is a control master!!
Ugh. Bernie pops out to left. Gonna need another 2 out hit here.
Andy up with a chance to do some damage….
YM is waaaay ahead of me. Great minds….
Who needs hits? Another run saunters home.
Walk this way…Andy with good patience this time forces in another run.
Someone throw a strike down the middle so the bases can be cleared and start over.
AP! Clutch non-hit!
LOL, Rob!
Melkster grounds out. Another 3 stranded. 5-0. Yanks have stranded at least 2 on in every frame….
9 LOB so far…after 4 innings. Ugh.
Excuse me. Miggy’s DP liner meant only 1 stranded in the 3rd.
Melky swings and disrupts the motions of the universe. We could have been walked in at least a couple of more.
Bye-bye no hitter :-(
Ach. There goes the perfecto. Blame the long inning.
BitWatching™ feels so anemic.
There goes the perfecto. Now I can talk about how good Wang seems to look digitally.
YF: I guess I owe you a Coke.
This is a painful game to watch….
Meanwhile, there’s a slugfest going on in Atlanta with Pedro and his old man hip getting slapped around for 4 runs so far.
Instead of baseball, I get to watch the Giants and the Pirates, while “Logical Song” mercifully comes to end on the juke box. Wretch.
That’s 9 ground-outs to 5 fly-outs for Wang so far.
Cairo up for the Yankee 5th.
We’re only in the 5th and Damon is already 1-4. Crazy.
And Jeter is 3-4. Crazier.
Jeter creating havoc.
MFP, I find the tone you take in your comment offensive. I respectfully ask that you turn your aggression away from your posts here.
Sorry, wrong thread.
Blah…Giambi continues sucking, his HR in Texas nonwithstanding.
I really wish I could watch this game. I hate missing Jeet’s at bats this year.
Gah! That foul by Gomes just made my heart skip a bit.
Giambi’s avg. is dogshit. This season feels like 2003 when he hit .250, had 40+ homers, 100+ ribbies, and had a OBP above .400
Enjoy the game, folks. I have to get home and don’t know if I will be able to hop back on the thread.
Bye Gerbil. Have a safe trip home.
Worm killer Wang gets Gomes to ground out sharply to Jeets. That was a good AB by Gomes.
Kay was saying Gomes had a heart attack when he was younger…really makes you pull for the kid. When he’s not playing Yanks, that is.
Lugo sneaks a grounder just under Cairo’s glove for a 2-out single and steals 2nd.
Crawford walks on a full count, Lugo to 3rd on a wild pitch. Come on, Wangster!
….and Wangster responds with a fly ball to Damon to end the threat.
I’m in the negotiations with my fiance to name our first son Wang.
Out of town scoreboard: ChiSox still down 2-4 in top 7th; Twinkies have tied Detroit 2-2. Man, that Liriano is studly…6K in 4 innings.
BIG BERN!!!!!!!!!
Bernardino with a solo shot to dead center!
Predictably followed by a curtain call…sorry SF :-)
Curtain call. We do love our Bern. Somewhere, SF is twisting….
I love it when Graybeard the Pirate hits one out.
YF, are you my next-door neighbor? Our posts are eerily similar…..
Bern must have crushed that ball, Gameday has it landing past the wall in staight away center.
BY78, I love the Grey beard moniker. I’m going with it from now on. Hilarious.
BY: he did. It landed just beyond the 400′ sign.
Another easy 3 grounder inning for CMW.
The fiance prefers Chien-Ming. We’re going with it.
Liriano update: 8K through 5. Scary…
Even in his old age you gotta love the Bern.
Wang and his ability to get GBDP is amazing.
Wang walks the leadoff guy in the 8th, then induces a DP from Gomes…completed in large part thanks to a nice play by Andy. Navarro flies out to Johnny D for the 3rd out. Wang’s been cruising tonight.
Captain with an ugly swinging K on a breaking ball for the first out.
NY fans *heart* ARod!
ARod Ks looking. Wangster back in there to try to close it out.
BALLGAME!
2-hit shutout for the Wangster on just 104 pitches. Brilliant!
Make your Wang goes deep jokes now…..
9 inning 2 hit shutout. Money.
Brilliant night of baseball.
lets hear it for mr. wang!!!!!
man amazing game
peace
For f*ck’s sake! Dear old Steve Phillips on BBTN: Yankees want to make a deal for Wilson Betemit so they can deal with the ARod throwing error situation. Can this guy ever get his head out of his ass????