Maddon let Rays know he wasn't happy

Manager Joe Maddon has been unhappy with the Rays' lack of hustle and let them know after Saturday's game.

For the first time in his three-season reign, Maddon ripped into his team, delivering a brief but pointed message. Several players said he was obviously "hot,'' another described him as "borderline irate - for Joe."

"It was something that really needed to be said,'' LHP Scott Kazmir said. "It really needed to be said.''

Maddon's basic message was that everyone on the team needs to play hard for the Rays to be successful.

"Mistakes happen, but one thing you can control is your effort,'' he said before Sunday's game. "It takes no talent to hustle, whatsoever. It takes no talent at all.''

The fiery speech was brief, less than two minutes, but very much to the point.

"I think it had to be said,'' Maddon explained. "I've done it on an individual basis, and I still believe that's the right way to do it. But at some point it had to be done within the group, because you can lose a pennant by one game, and I've been there. Every game matters, every game counts, every play counts. The assumptionists of the world, I would like to eradicate. I want to eradicate assumptionism.''

Maddon was publicly upset with the lack of hustle in Saturday's game by 2B Akinori Iwamura, saying in his post-game media session that Iwamura "just didn't run hard enough" during an eighth-inning sequence in which he could have scored the go-ahead run.

But his displeasure was broader and had been building, and he picked his spot on Saturday, figuring the message would be received better after a victory. He walked from his office into the clubhouse before it was opened to the media, turned down the usual post-win music and made it very clear how unhappy he was.

"Play hard or don't play at all - that's what the message was,'' Miller said. "You could tell his heart was behind it 100 percent. When you have a manager who doesn't express a lot of emotion have a moment like that, you know it's serious, it's not for show. You accept it for what it was and listen to it - he didn't say anything that was not true.

"Every now and then, you need a little spark like that especially in the dog days. We need to respect what we're doing here - it's not every year you get to do something this special, the turnaround this organization's had. There's a responsibility, and respect for the game, to take into consideration.''

Said Kazmir: "He was just fed up with it. I think it meant a lot more after a win.''

Maddon's message was a reinforcement of what it is on the inspirational T-shirts he distributed earlier this season, that it takes nine players playing hard to nine innings to be one of the eight teams that make the playoffs. "9 = 8, or else we ain't going there,'' he said Sunday.

Comments

[G]

Once Joe Maddon has eradicated assumptionism, he should seek his Omega Point after creating an active Gestalt linkage! Don't you think?

Eating a Bellhop's cheesteak can make that all come about!

[T]

Why do they keep coddling CC as well? He is NOT a #2 or 3 hitter. He is a #1 hitter, but refuses, so they just let him pick his spot. In addition, how can the fastest runnner in MLB NOT BUNT? Pete Rose would probably spit on him back in the day

[T]

I think BJ is just trying to become the new "Manny".....too bad he forgot you can jog when you hit home runs, not balls to the infield. Someday someone will say, "That's just BJ being BJ"....when he's on his 6th team.

[Ray F]

As much as I call Upton a lolly-gagger, I think he is more effective in the leadoff spot than Aki.

I think his attitude toward the game he leads off is different. He has a great OBP and will steal. If CC stays at the 3-hole, I would hit Aki 2nd. But in my lineup, I would bat CC second where he is better and drop aki to 8th in front of Bartlett to give a lot of speed turning over at the end of the order.

But, I've said over and over again, I don't write the lineup card and have no say except for what I see from the confines of my couch or The Pit.

GO RAYS!!! I'll be there with the rest of you scumbags for game 1 vs the Tigers.

[J]

Andy. If you have watched any games this season, you would have seen Aki constantly popping up cans of corn to the outfield. He refuses to swing down on the ball to produce ground balls---a must for a lead off hitter. He very rarely bunts. Also, he is not aggressive stealing bases. Upton solves all these problems. Most importantly, Upton WANTS to be the lead off hitter. He says it is where he is most comfortable. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. That is what this blog is for. Just because my opinion does not mirror yours, does not mean I do not understand baseball theory. On the contrary, I have almost 40 years of tactical baseball experience. Sometimes, statistics are misleading...one must look beyond them to see the entire picture.

[MD]

Upton,Crawford,Reyes, & Percival for Hamilton!

[Brian]

I the psychology world, we call this "zero state power thrust". We feel crappy, so we attack someone or intentionally hurt someone. It makes us feel better, but only for a little while, then we feel worse than we did before. Give this a whirl guys, (although I hope your baseball expertise is translated to a high-paying job in the profession) we are in first place, ahead of the Yankess and Red Sox, and it's almost August. See you all for the Detroit series.

[Andy]

I don't think J knows how baseball works. Aki has an OBP of .350 which is the 4th highest on the team behind Upton, Navarro, and Longoria. Navi obviously isn't going to be leadoff and Longoria's power is far more valuable as cleanup. Aki sees more pitches per plate appearance than Upton.

BJ in the 2 spot works well because he is more disciplined at drawing walks than Aki and until recently hit for a higher avg. The threat of either one of these fast runners on base forces the 3 and 4 hitters to see more fastballs and the offensive generates runs when Crawford, Pena, and Longoria are swinging the bat well.

Right now the problem is Crawford. Despite the 2 triples in the KC series, I am disappointed by his lack of patience and dismal power output.

[White Castle]

He ran off the field because he A) wasn't close to the bag and B) couldn't have effected the throw.

As for the fielding numbers, try these on for size:

B.J. is third in the entire league for plays made out of zone, he's only behind Carlos Beltran and Carlos Gomez. His Range Zone Rating is .914, meaning of the 228 balls in zone he's caught 209 of them. Using data easily available at TheHardballtimes.com I found the totals for Balls in Zone, Plays, and OOZ plays. I added OOZ + Plays and divided them by BIZ.

Now you can get a number higher than 1. The average CFer is 1.16, B.J.'s numbers came out to 1.17. Now, to see how many more balls he gets than the average CF I used this formula:
BIZ*(Player # - Lg Avg #) or this:

228*(1.75-1.66)

That comes out to 20.52, or about the amount of PLAYS that Upton makes above the average CFer. The run value for an out is .8 runs, 10 runs = one win, .8*the amount of plays gives you an idea of how many runs B.J. has saved ABOVE AVERAGE this season.

.8*20.52 = 16.42, or roughly 1.6 wins.

B.J. is top five in the entire league in walks, ahead of Albert Pujols. B.J. ranks 20th in the AL for EqA, to give you an idea Evan ranks 9th.

Upton is one of the 20 best OFFENSIVE players in the AL and one of the BEST defensive centerfielders in the game.

Shame on anyone who takes him for granted because he doesn't hit a ton of homeruns.

[J]

Madden should be mad at himself. Aki is not a good leadoff guy, as he hits too many fly balls. B.J. should be leadoff. 1. Upton CF 2. Crawford LF 3. Longoria 3B 4. Pena 1B 5. Baldelli RF 6. Floyd DH 7. Navarro C. 8. Bartlett SS 9. Aki 2B The rotation: Shields, Kazmir, Garza, Price and Niemann. Pen: Percival, Balfour, Wheeler, Howell, Salas, Jackson and Miller. Bench: Aybar, Riggins, Hinske and Gomes.

[Ray F]

Kumar,

I wish I had your eyes because you are obviously seeing something that a lot of people aren't. I understand BJ's on-base% is better than most but his OPS is 5th among everyday players. He's 8th in HR's- less than Gross, Floyd, and Gomes; all players with considerably less AB's than him.

Also, he has only 1 more than Ben Zobrist.

I'll never say that Benzo is better than Upton (don't get me wrong), I'm just saying there is a noticeable drop in his overall play.

He has 11 errors in 100 games in the outfield compared to 2 in 78 games last year in the OF.

To add a little fuel. He started to run off the field on his way to 2nd instead of sliding and trying to break up a double play. Who does that?

[Kumar]

B.J. still gets on base more than any other Rays player too bad he's so lazy and takes all those walks. I wish he would ground out more so he could hustle to 1st. Walking as a means of getting on base is soooooo lazy.

[Jason]

I don't think Joe Madden is a person that will let this kind of play go on from BJ. I think he was smart to speak openly to all of the team to let them know that he sees what is going on. Joe is testing BJ to see what he will do. I think he will be in the middle of trade talks if he does not improve.

[Ray F]

I agree with Scott.

What are they waiting for???

If they don't make a move this year, it sends a message that they don't care about this year.

The Stankees stole Nady and Marte from the Pirates. We had far more to offer and we lost them to a rival. If nothing more, the Stankees took them so we wouldn't be able too.

I have a hard time believing attendance will continue to rise unless fans see that the team is serious about making a run. If the Rays sit on their hands this week, don't expect to sell many remaining prorated ticket packages by promising postseason priority.

[Scott]

I can't agree more about the lack of hustle from BJ. I don't think the speech from Madden on Saturday night sunk into BJ because in yesterday's game a ball was hit into right center and BJ nonchalantly jogged to the wall to get the ball.

Looks like management is missing the boat on making a trade. I have read some outside reports that the Rays should talk to Detroit about making a trade for either Ordonez or Sheffield. Not sure how they would fit with this team inside the locker room, but either one has the bad we need.

[JB]

Mr Bo Jangles, BJ is finally getting the disrespect he deserves. I agree trade his butt now, but he'd miss the south side of St Pete.

[Jason]

How can a standout CF like BJ go in a slump this long? Wouldnt you think that would of been broken awhile ago? I don't think lack of heart is the question here. Lack of money is!!! These issues are for offseason!!! Time to trade BJ to get our RF or RP and bring up some guys from the minors to fill CF. I have had enough of BJ! I get ticked every time I see him bat. Swing at pitches that he knows that are balls and watching the hitter pitches go by. There is no excuse for not hustling to the ball in the outfield!

[gott]

with guys like Gross, Gomes, Reyes; with so many LOB by game; with de DELIBERATE deision by almost every one to swing instead of getting a BB; everybody playing like they worht more than they really do, well, like this, you don´t take a spot from the Yankees or Red Sox. Calendar has been our main support and best player right now.

[Ray]

"Manager Joe Maddon has been unhappy with the Rays' lack of hustle and let them know after Saturday's game."

Seemed to really help in Sunday's game. Ouch!

[dick]

Jeff Kent???? Where the hell would they play him; sit Aki down and play Kent? I doubt it. The infield defense is pretty solid, would agree that Aki hasn't providfed much offensively but their problem is situated in CF and RF and a lefty in the pen. Pena, for all negative comments there are, is a potential gold glover at first and has saved both Bartlett and Longo a few errors. We have to play him and hope he can come around offensively. Rf is the main problem as we have nobody but scrubs out there. Gomes is useless, hitting 196 and a liability in the field. Might as well find Canseco or Greg Norton--we had two good ones--Hamilton and Young and at least we got something for Young. I wonder about the evaluation process on this team as Maddon once said about Shawn Camp--"he has the best stuff I have seen" and on Chad Orvella "he will be an all star some day" and believe he said some glowing stuff about Seth McClung and also said Longoria "isn't ready for the major league right now"...I would ask positive Joe just where this team would be without Longoria...

[Demetrios]

Aside from the obvious need for 2 more bats, I think we need to drop Sonny to the pen rather than Price when he gets the call. See how he does and IF we get into the playoffs, go to a four man rotation and let Price and Jackson fight it out for the 4 spot. That would give us six quality arms in the pen (Percival will be fine) with a lot of flexibility.

Read on mlb.com that they may be looking at Jeff Kent????? Oooh boy.

[Brian]

Marshall, your comments about laziness would be more poignant if you took the time to capitalize and provide spaces between sentences.

[Kevin in North Carolina]

I agree with this last post on BJ Upton...Every shot in the gap, and all I watch is BJ nonchalantly galloping over to get the ball...Its sickening to watch a 2nd year player think he's too good to sprint to the ball...Now, I have seen him run down some nice balls in the air, but every ball should be given the same damn effort...It is sickening when you have to watch Carl Crawford run all the way from his left field position and almost beat BJ to the ball that was hit over BJ's head...I didn't think that BJ would turn into a prima donna, but it looks like when we traded Delmon Young to get rid of such, well, it may just turn out that they still have one on the team...

[JeffC]

Tone - "simple trades" become complicated when the other teams are asking for players such as: Price, Davis, Hellickson, Brignac etc.

Small revenue teams like the rays can't mortgage their future for a rental player.

[JeffC]

Upton needs to start hustling. The FSN guys talk about how he has a long stride and covers a lot of ground, but I've been a baseball fan a long timem and I can tell if a guy busts it up the line or NOT.

I, can't remember a time that I HAVE seen BJ bust it up the line.

Disagree with the post that said Troy is a waste.

I agree with Price to the pen for the stretch run. He's not thrown a lot of pro. innings yet, so the pen for rest of '08 would be a good way to ease him in then he can start in '09.

I think they should have given Ruggiano a shot at RF. He lacks power, but had a good avg in his game up with the Rays.

[marshall]

upton is the worst. his name might as well be manny ramirez. he makes at least one play a game where he doesnt hussle on the basepaths or in the outfield and we get screwed over. and even worse, maddon keeps putting him in the lineup night after night. he plays every game. its almost like bj knows that no one on the team is playing well enough to take his place. wheres the leadership and accountability on this team?

[marshall]

upton is one of the laziest players ive ever seen. he might as well be manny ramirez. he makes at least one play a game where he screws us over by not running on the bases or in the outfield

theres no leadership or sense of accountability on this team. bj knows theres no one on the team playing well enough to take his place right now, so he thinks he can do whatever he wants

[Tone]

We need far more than a 2 minute scolding, make a trade - Bullpen, righty OF. So simple it's pathetic. Troy is a waste/ Reyes=waste/.. Aybar as DH? Gomes is not my favorite but he'd make more sense than Willy. Even a slumping Floyd is better than Willy. Frustrating. Evan and all the infield is amazing. We could do alot more with some simple trades.

[Danny]

Its not about winning anymore. Its a contest to see who can make the most money. The way these guys played today was disgusting. I am even more frustrated and discouraged about the fact that they have done nothing to help improve this team so they have a better chance of winning. Isnt it ironic that we gave away Josh Hamilton, when we are in need of a right fielder?

[dick]

Couldn't agree more Dave and I have seen Upton dogging it for several weeks. Some are saying that his shoulder still bothers him. Someone please tell me what his shoulder has to do with his legs and heart? On a positive side, in today's game, in the late innings, I noticed Upton busting butt in an attempted steal of 2nd--he was hauling and I thought "Finally!"..So, if Maddon lost his temper and chewed butt--GREAT!!

[Dave]

Maddon could yell at BJ Upton every game for not hustling. BJ acts like he's Barry Bonds. I don't get it. How do these young players get so entitled where they can disrespect this game?