A New Level of Suckdom

Last night, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took their punchline status to a whole new laughable low, giving up six (6) runs in the bottom of the ninth, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-11. I watched the whole thing. It was brutal, pathetic. Pitchers Shawn Camp, Chad Orvella and Tim Corcoran looked terrified out there. Hitting a baseball is arguably the hardest thing to do in sports, and they made it look as easy as Whack-a-Mole. I've interviewed manager Joe Maddon, and he's a cool guy. But jeez, man, your loyalty to lousy players, your incessant need to boost their confidence, is gonna cost you your dream job.

Anway, enough of that. Here's a playlist dedicated to one of the sorriest sports franchises in history. If you'd like to dedicate a song to the Rays, and maybe make yourself feel better, have at it. If you want to just flat-out rage about the Rays, go to sports-page supastar Tom "Two Cents" Jones' blog. And a one, and a two, and a 10, 11, 12...

Loser -- Beck
I Started a Joke -- the Bee Gees
Blowin' in the Wind -- Bob Dylan
It's a Laugh -- Hall & Oates
Sucks to Be You -- Danielle Peck
You Think We Suck -- Ape Fight
Bad -- Michael Jackson
Another One Bites the Dust -- Queen
Mr. Pitiful -- Otis Redding

Comments

[bassnote]

Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - Eric Clapton
Blow Away - George Harrison
U.G.L.Y.- Fishbone
Take Me Out To The Ball Game - Ozzy Osbourne (durring 7th inning stretch at Wrigly Field)
Seasons In the Sun - Terry Jacks

[Brett]

How about "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," originally written by the late, great Warren Zevon...

[Sean Daly]

Wow, that's a helluva rant, tho. And I agree. There was no reason to pull Glover. The guy's no superstar, but he showed his stuff was on last night. Just let him finish the game. Go for the win. Instead, Maddon is so worried about the mental state of Orvella et al, he tries to boost spirits at the wrong time.

If they win that game last night, they're 6 games out of the wild card, 2 games out of second place. Listen, I'm not saying they have a shot at the postseason, but changing a losing culture, THAT'S how you boost confidence.

Okay, back to music...

[Jim Dietrich]

Wow, did you breathe anywhere in there? Seeing as this is the POP MUSIC blog, your rant was better suited for Tom Jones' 2¢ Blog; all Sean asked for was what song would best suit the occassion.

Sean, I think what H.B. was going for (or at least I am, anyway) is "Never There" by Cake; the bullpen's never there when we need them!

[H.B. Gonzalez]

Again, again and again, Rays fans have been forced to witness the stupid, idiotic and
insane way their pitching staff has been managed. Last night, June 5, 2007, has to be the
nightmare example of all examples and the epitome of how NOT to manage a pitching
staff. It makes absolutely no sense!!!

The rookie starting pitcher, Sonnanstine, had thrown 90 pitches over seven innings,
striking out five, walking none, and going into the eighth inning had a lead of 11 to 6. He
is removed from the game, rightly or wrongly - unless there is something I don’t know,
wrongly - being replaced by reliever, Glover, who throws thirteen pitches, ten strikes,
resulting in a hitless, walkless, scoreless eighth inning, with two strikeouts. What is it that
Manager, Joe Maddon, doesn’t understand about not fixing something that isn’t broken?
Wasn’t that enough evidence that Glover had his stuff and should be allowed to finish a
game with a five run lead? Why in the world would any manager take him out unless he
went out in the ninth inning and showed that he had completely lost it? My only answer is
stupidity, idiocy or insanity! Even a cave-man could do better.

Now we come to the final insult. The team’s closer, Reyes, who has yet to blow a save
this year, is not available when the four relievers sent in to pitch, after Glover, blow the
game in the ninth inning, because he has pitched in the three previous games including a
non-save situation. This is at least the second game lost this year that Reyes has been
unavailable to pitch in a save situation because he had previously been used in a non-save
situation. Let’s see, the logic is that the team’s closer must be used in non-save situations
to keep him sharp enough to continue to save games, but then he can’t be used in save
situations because he’s pitched too often. Brilliant!

Prior to spring training and repeatedly during the season I have said that, we are
witnessing Rays’ pitching problems that are many times self-inflicted, primarily by a
negative mind-set, and a pitching staff, that is being babied and over-managed.

Here is a very simple solution for the Rays. If a starting pitcher is pitching well, LET HIM
PITCH, even if he has reached the ridiculous, artificial, 100 pitch limit, unless he says that
he can’t go any longer. If a reliever is brought into the game and is pitching well, LET
HIM PITCH, until he loses it. Finally, save the closer for SAVE SITUATIONS!

Even with their other deficiencies, except for the way the Rays pitching staff has been
managed to this point in the season, they would be over .500, in second place in their
division and thinking about being a wild card team in the playoffs. No matter what the
players say for public consumption, they have to be affected by the way many games this
year have been lost. Look at the tape of last nights game and see the disinterest CF Dukes
showed when retrieving balls hit over his head and the half-hearted way he returned them
to the infield during the ninth inning debacle. That’s also unacceptable, but predictable.

This team has the talent to be winning NOW! Play the games to WIN, not to develop for
the future and watch how they respond. It’s not too late to salvage the season, but I will
say again, again and again, that how the pitching staff was used last year DIDN’T WORK,
how it is being used now DOESN’T WORK, and if used into the future WON’T WORK.
The scheme must be changed, NOW! Not later. Not next year. NOW! NOW! NOW! Get
rid of the STUPIDITY, IDIOCY and INSANITY. NOW! End the nightmare, before
thousands of us Rays’ fans are also driven insane! I’m losing it fast. Can’t you tell?
See: BAZIL BALL at www.mlblogs.com

[sparky]

Tampa Bay D-Rays Manager "Dream Job". C'mon Daly. The poor guy would have to be in for some serious S&M to have his Dream Job be the D-Rays manger. Why do you think the team sucks, is it because management is cheap. They keep their prospects down in the minors the who year so they don't accumulate any major league service time and therefore are not eligible for Free Agency sooner.

By the way, here is you Joe Maddon trivia question of the day.

Where is Joe Maddon from? tick, tock...

I hear his favorite song is "Mas Tequila"