Rays Ramblings

 

 

Dancing With the Red Sox
 

I was wandering through the Internet the other night and came upon this quaint little Boston Red Sox article about Mike Lowell’s  Foundation charity event earlier in the year.  “Dancing with the Red Sox” sounded like an awesome event  which included such Red Sox stars as Jonthan Papelbon, who actually turned down the real life “Dancing with the Stars” show, and current American League MVP Dustin Pedroia. The event did raise over $ 190,000 for the Mike Lowell Foundation. One item that was up for bid was a 2007 Authentic World Series ring that went for $ 32,000.
 

In a mild upset, Lowell did win the dancing portion of the event over Papelbon, but the true star of the event seemed to be Perdroia, who lashed off his shirt in the middle of his routine to show that he had scribbled “Daddy” on his chest. The unfortunate person to receive Dustin’s shirt was Red Sox team own John Henry. But it was his manager Terry Francona that might have summed up Pedroia’s night up best to Boston.com, “I haven’t had a heart attack, I think I’ve come close,” manager Terry Francona said. “My chest hurt I was laughing so hard. I got a headache I was laughing so hard. Pedroia is a moron. I mean, you can write that. Pedroia is a moron. He looked a puppet on a string.”  Ah, what some of us will do for charity!

 
The Max Blog Tourney

 
Now I will be the first to tell you that I thought this idea was fantastic and had a lot of great potential. the fact that so far a few people who you might have considered almost concrete to get into the Final Eight spots have fallen in the early round. I man, who would have thought that Future Angels and even 1 Constant would go by the wayside in the first round of the contest. But recently we have begun the second round, and there have been a few outcries and behind the scenes bickering about where certain people will end up in this whole contest.
 
 
 
 
 
I will be totally honest with you, I voted for both ladies in yesterday’s poll because I think both Jenn and Jane both deserved votes. One is a great up and coming writer who will do great things both on and off the blogging scene in years to come. The other is a great author who has written a very humorous look at life as a Yankee fan. I was perplexed as to who needed to get my votes, so I split them and let the rest of MLBlogs.com’s readership take it from there.
 
 

But now I am hearing things that there were negative comments going around, and some spiteful words might have been written.  I know I enjoy writing, and I have had my share of bad reviews or comments, but to even consider throwing mud at either of these two ladies is insane to me. Both of them represent two proud and great franchises in the MLB, and both have a unique writing style that is all their own.  But to let any form of pettiness come through and take someone out of a tourney based on anything more than their skill and knowledge is……….well, junior high at best.  I truly do not care if I advance or not, but it is a fun thing to check on and wonder if you have what it takes to get to the top. Whatever happens from here on in this tourney, I hope people take the time to really think who is the better representative for them from the two selections. It should not be about ego, popularity or even spite that a vote be cast.  Every votes counts, but the best one is a vote with a clear conscience.

 

 
 

Rodriguez goes back to Chicago
 

The Tampa Bay Rays decided today that their 2008 Rule 5 Draft pick, pitcher Derek Rodriguez would not make the final cut for their 25-man roster and they returned him to the Chicago White Sox.  The Rays of course, offered Rodriguez back to the White Sox, and they agreed to take him back and give the Rays $ 25,000, which is half of the original fee. During his time with the Rays, Rodriguez did show a bit of the lack of finesse and maturity needed to compete at this level. But he also did have some fine moments late in games that showed he will develop into a great pitcher.
 

This spring with the Rays, he went to the mound in relief five times this spring. He ended up with one save this spring to go along with a robust 7.50 ERA. Rodriguez threw 6 innings of work and gave up 10 hits and  5 earned runs to go along with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. But it might have been his lack of control, witnessed by his two hit by pitches, that made the final difference for the Rays. This is one of the first seasons in Rays history that the Bullpen had only a handful of positions to play with even before the Spring Training games began. With less than two weeks until the first game, the team will also be making more changes in the coming week to shore up the Bullpen competition and let the final guys get ready for the season.  Rays Renegade wishes Rodriguez lots of luck this season in the White Sox farm system, and we know we will see you again on the mound.
 
 

Photo credits:  1) http://www.boston.com
                      2) RRCollections