Rays Attendance Discussion Continues: 9=8's Response

Lack of attendance at recent Rays games has garnered much media attention including:

The Heater: Where are the fans?

Tampa Tribune: Rays Churn Through Empty Seat of Blue

St. Pete Times: Pennant Fevor? Not Around Here

I recently wrote an article trying to put some context on the Rays attendance issue that has been much discussed recently (especially in light of the 13,000 and 12,000 "strong" crowds for the currently ongoing home stand - I'm proud to say I was one of the 13,000 and will be going tonight as well with my son). The piece was called "Understanding Attendance: Tampa Bay Rays and the Trop 2008" and I tried to explain why our attendance figures are not all that great (or why they are actually pretty good, all things considered). In short, there are a number of reasons discussed and data shared to put things into context. One that I did not discuss was the impact of school starting (August 18th in Hillsborough Cuunty and August 19th in Pinellas County). Below is a comment I made on The Heater blog earlier today. I'll track attendance and post an update at the end of the season.

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Since everyone keeps saying "other cities have school, too" here are the actual facts (not sound bites with no backup)

Boston 1st day of school: Sept. 4, 2008
http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/797

New York 1st day of school: Sept. 2, 2008
http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm?mo=9&yr=2008

Chicago 1st day of school: Sept. 2, 2008
http://www.cps.k12.il.us/calendar.html

Tampa/St. Pete 1st day of school: Aug. 18-19, 2008

The fact is most schools in the US start after Labor Day, but TB area schools started Aug 18-19th. It's too easy to say stuff without backing it with the facts (a common thing on this board). Our attendance is still really low, but this is a big factor as the data show. More data for you to solidify the point:

Last weekday home stand BEFORE school started (vs. Cleveland Aug 4-6th)

• Monday Att ~ 17,000
• Tuesday Att ~ 20,000
• Wednesday Att ~ 27,500
• TOTAL Att ~ 64,500

Still not great, but you can see that school has a 5,000-10,000 PER GAME difference in attendance.

Last Weekend homestand (vs. Detroit Aug 1-3rd):

• Friday Att ~ 26,400
• Saturday Att ~ 36,000
• Sunday Att ~ 33,400
• TOTAL Att ~ 95,800

The fans are here (check out our TV ratings and 75%-100% increase in merchandise sales), school being in session makes a difference as does location and lackluster 10 years of building no fan base. Watch attendance grow substantially beginning Friday vs. Baltimore and continue strong throughout the year as the race heats up and kids settle into their school routines (25,000+ avg. for the last 13 home games is my prediction). This Toronto series will prove to be a blip, in my opinion, and the Angels series was the first 3 days of school, so it's also a bit of a special case (again, just my opinion). We shall see. I will post this on my blog so it's easy to track and will report back at end of season.

Finally, all this talk about moving the team is way too premature. I venture to guess that if you had told "Stu and the Crew" they'd achieve the 2nd best attendance in Rays franchise history in less than 3 years from when they started, I think they might have been pretty happy with that prospect.

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Rays Fans, We Have A Problem: TB on the Wrong Side of Too Many Ridiculously Bad Calls

The Rays have been on the wrong side of two very mysterious calls over the last few days (not to mention a whole host of other "close calls" that went against them throughout this year). The first incident involved a phantom turn toward second by BJ Upton on Tuesday, August 19th against the first place LA Angels. BJ Upton busted it down the line and beat out a ground ball. The umpire called BJ out when he ruled that BJ made an attempt to head towards second. Joe Maddon lost it and was thrown out of the game for arguing the call. Incidentally, the Rays came back to win the game despite this unbelievably bad call.

Tonight, the Rays headed into extra innings against the Chicago White Sox. In the bottom of the 10th, A.J. Pierzynski reached base on a single and advanced to second by tagging up on a fly ball to deep center field. On the ensuing at bat, Jermaine Dye hit a hard ground ball to shortstop Jason Bartlett who promptly got Pierzynski into a run down between 2nd and 3rd. When Aybar (playing 3B) threw the ball to Bartlett, he clearly moved to the left to get out of Pierzynski’s way, but Pierzynski threw his arm out to the side making contact with Aybar (albeit very slight contact). The umpire (Eddings), stopped play and called obstruction awarding 3B to Pierzynski. This ended up being the winning run and the Rays lost the game in the bottom of the 10th.

VIEW THE VIDEO OF THE PLAY HERE

Here is what one of the other esteemed members of the umpiring crew had to say about the call after the game:

"What Doug ruled at second base was, even though A.J. did kind of stick his arm out to make contact, Aybar was still in his way, so A.J., if he would have turned, he wouldn't have been able to continue on to third," said third-base umpire Ted Barrett, who addressed the situation after the game. "So after making the throw, Aybar is no longer in the act of fielding and he can't obstruct the runner, which is what Doug ruled happened. In a rundown, even though A.J. was going back to second, the rule of obstruction during a rundown is he gets his next advanced base and that's why he was rewarded third base."

So, a baserunner can legally “kind of stick his arm out to make contact” with a fielder and wind up being awarded a base? Are you kidding me? To make things even worse, the umpire said "if he would have turned, he would not have been able to continue to third." So, according to Mr. Barrett, baserunners can legally stick their arm out to make contact with a fielder AND they don't even need to turn around and run towards 3rd to get an obstruction call!!! Icing on the cake is that Burnett did not fully cover Eddings' back on the call (note the bolded section above). He simply says that this is what Eddings ruled and did not affirm that the ruling was correct.

Regardless of the crew's explanation above, I thought I would do a little research and here is what I found in the MLB rulebook regarding the definition of offensive interference:

INTERFERENCE
(a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with,
obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play.
If the umpire declares the batter, batter-runner, or a runner out for interference,
all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the
umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise
provided by these rules.

The umpire says Aybar was not in the act of fielding, but the rule book does not say that. The rule book says “any fielder attempting to make a play.” If it weren’t bad enough that Aybar clearly would not have made contact with Pierzynski had Pierzynski not stuck his arm out, the umpire misquoted the rule book (or so it appears from one spectators chair). You can check out the rules for yourself HERE. Comments encouraged.

Rays September 1st Call-ups: What Moves Should the Rays Make?

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Maddon said he has met with his coaches and executive vice president Andrew Friedman about the team's September call-ups, and "we pretty much have an idea of what we'd like to do."

I took this snippet from a St. Pete Times online article and thought it would make for some interesting discussion. So, in short, what would you like to see the Rays do going into September to shore up the team for the pennant race (remember, the roster expands on September 1st)?

Here are a couple of possibilities/likelihoods:

1) Add David Price - starter or bullpen? He has looked very sharp in the minors with his smokin’ 98+ MPH fastball, among other things. He would bring a powerful lefty to the starting rotation or the bullpen (what do you think the right answer is for DP?). Of our 5 starters, 4 of them are right handed. In the bullpen, we only have 2 LHPs. So, our pitching staff is very right heavy and DP could provide a boost in this area (and this will be boosted once rosters expand on September 1st). A second LHP in the 5-man rotation could create a very tough setup for the opposition going forward (especially in the playoffs where you don't really need 5 starters). The difficulty with this decision is that the starting 5 have been SO GOOD this year and are getting better (all 5 starters have 10+ wins except our ace - he will get his today ;) ). Edwin Jackson might have been the odd man out, but he’s really heating up (5-1 in his last 6 starts giving up a total of 11 earned runs over 34 2/3 innings. Sonny is also pitching extremely well in August at 3-0 in 4 starts with an ERA of 2.92 (his no decision was actually his best outing giving up 1 earned run in 7 innings). Slotting David Price in the bullpen might be the answer, although that could disrupt what’s he’s got going on. If Troy Percival can't get healthy in September, perhaps Joe will put Balfour in the closer role and Price can assume the "strikeout" situation role that Balfour now fills (Price averages just over 1 SO per inning pitched).

2) Which other pitchers will contribute? Joe Maddon has shown a propensity to call on a lot of bullpen help in match-up fashion. Once rosters expand, it would not surprise me to see the bullpen swell quite a bit so that Joe can exact his match-up magic. It's possible that we might see some of our better talent join the team including Wade Davis, Jeff Nieman or even Mitch Talbot (who made a very brief appearance on the roster in July 2008). Who do you think deserves a slot on the roster, if anyone, and how can they contribute?

3) How much PT will Jonny Gomes get after roster expansion and will he be back? He’s got real power, but he is an all or nothing bet. Regardless, he might provide an emotional lift for the team down the stretch and could give the team a powerful right handed bat if Rocco struggles with his health. However, after starting hot in his first few games at AAA Durham, he’s only hitting .227 with 2 HR and 20 strikeouts in 16 games (ouch). I really like Jonny (he’s a super guy, the fans love him and he brings A LOT of energy to the clubhouse), but I fear he is going to be the odd man out unless he gets things going. Still, I do expect to see him rejoin the team in September.

4) Who plays right field? The reality is that the Rays are going to have some decisions to make once Carl Crawford rejoins the team. Ben Zobrist can play right field (his .250 BA, .345 OBP while only striking out 2 times is not bad), but he's unlikely to see much time with only 1 slot to fill. Willy Aybar is a utility guy, but won't get any work in Septemeber if no further injuries occur (he's got no PT in OF and the infield is spoken for when Longo gets back - it's too bad since he’s had 2 or more hits in 7 of his last 11 games and is hitting over .300 with 3 HR, 5 doubles and 9 RBIs since replacing Evan Longoria). So, it looks like right field will be split by Rocco against lefties (he’s hitting a solid .300 in August and hit his first HR last night), Hinske against righties and Gross against some righties and in defensive situations (e.g. after 7 innings if the Rays have the lead). The reality is, barring further injury, the Rays are going to have to make some decisions when Carl gets healthy, but Joe has a lot to choose from. I suspect we'll see a lot of "match-up" baseball down the stretch with the right field position.

The good news is that these are “high class” problems. The Rays have proven to have exceptional depth at pitching (with a huge potential “wild card” in David Price) and in the field/batters box. All of this depth is underscored by a team that has tremendous chemistry and strong leadership. I like where we stand and trust that Joe, Andrew and company will make the right decisions as tough as they may be.

So, tell me what you think?

Understanding Attendance: Tampa Bay Rays and the Trop 2008

I've noticed a lot of discussion recently about the "poor" attendance at Tampa Bay Rays games. ESPN as well as other national media and the local media continuously harp on the Rays low attendance and slap the great folks of Tampa Bay for not supporting their winning team. So, I thought it might make sense to do a little bit of analysis (don't expect the media to analyze anything) to put some context around the discussion. While it may not result in any good soundbites, I think it will help people understand that the attendance, relative to a number of factors, is not all that bad in Tampa Bay.

Here is the data I utililized for my analysis:

Local Population per Team
2008 YTD and Per Game Attendance (from ESPN.com)
2008 Payroll Figures
Age of Franchise in Current market

I ran a few simple calculations and came up with the following summary:

• Tampa Bay ranks #26 (of 30) in attendance per home game for 2008 with 21,304 per game.
• Tampa Bay also ranks as #26 (of 30) in total population
• Tampa Bay ranks #29 (of 30) in payroll for 2008 (approx. $44 million)
• Tampa Bay is the youngest franchise in all of MLB (tied with Arizona)

So, from the outset, it looks like the Rays attendance is roughly in line with the size of its market and is actually better than its rank for payroll and age (nothing too earth shattering here). But, that is not nearly satifying enough for me, so I dug a little deeper.

What about looking at the attendance relative to the size of the market? After all, it is logical that a place like New York, despite having two teams, will have more fans. For example, the New York market is approximately 21.2 million people. With two teams, that makes 10.6 million people per team (21.2 divided by 2 teams). Tampa Bay, on the other hand, is an area of only 2.4 million people (about 1/4 the number of potential fans relative to each New York team). So, I decided to look at all teams and calculate the percentage of the market population that attends a game each year. Here is the formula I used:

• % of Mkt Pop Attending = ((Avg. Attendance per Home Game / Total Pop per Team) * 81 Home Games)

This calculation helps to adjust for market size and yielded the following results:

• Tampa Bay ranks #12 for % of Mkt Pop that attends a home game

Other notable cities include Milwaukee at #1, San Francisco at #7, Chicago Cubs at #11, New York Yankees at #27 and Florida Marlins at #30. Tampa Bay is not looking too bad once you normalize for the size of its market.

But, that also got me thinking - isn't this about putting on a production (e.g. entertainment) for the fans and won't the end result be better if you spend more money for "better" players? Some might argue that the teams with more attendance spend more money, but I wouldn't let that deter my analysis. So, the next thing I looked at was a measure of payroll vs. attendance and here is what I found:

• Tampa Bay ranks #29 (of 30) in Payroll per Home Game Attendee

Thus, one might even argue that Tampa Bay management spends its money more efficiently than nearly every other team in MLB. The Rays spend $25.50 per attendee per home game on payroll vs. nearly $50 for the Yankees. So, since we rank #26 in attendance per home game (and #12 if you factor in market size), that means we are doing better than what one might expect based on the amount of money spent on our production.

Finally, I wanted to know if age matters. The Tampa Bay Rays are the youngest team in Major League Baseball and are still building their fan base (or so one might argue). So, I looked at the average home game attendance for the 10 oldest baseball franchises (ranked based on how long they've been in their current market) and the 10 youngest baseball franchises. The 10 oldest teams had an average age of 122 years and the 10 youngest were about 27 years old. Here is what I found:

• The 10 oldest teams averaged 32,800 per home game
• The 10 youngest teams averaged 26,600 per home game

That's about 19% less just based on the age of the franchise.

So, in summary, while we would all like to see the Tampa Bay Rays sell out all of their games, the attendance is not nearly as bad as the folks in the media might suggest. The Rays attendance is:

• Roughly in line with its market size
• Above average given the age ranking of the franchise
• Well above average when attendance is adjusted for market size
• Among the best in the league in efficiency (payroll per game per Attendee)
• Up 24% over 2007 and the highest its been since the inaugural season!

Go Rays!!!

Rays Radio Report

Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times talks Rays Baseball in his weekly audio report. He does a nice job talking about a number of interesting topics including the BJ escapades, the Rays winning record against high caliber teams, team defense and pitching. The audio report includes a pretty cool photo essay as well. Check out his report below at TampaBay.com. Nice work, Marc.


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Rays Win and Take Over MLB's Best Record: A Win to Remember

I wasn’t at the game tonight since I am out of town, but I was able to catch it on TV. WOW! I believe we are going to look back on this game and realize that it was clear statement game for our young team. This game is classic 2008 Rays. There were so many things worth noting:

1) Stellar starting pitching: James Shields had great stuff tonight pitching 8 innings giving up only 2 runs and Dan Wheeler closed it out with a strong 9th inning.

2) Great defense: not only were there no errors by the Rays, but Gabe Gross made a leaping catch up the left field wall (Web Gem #4), Jason Bartlett made a great leaping grab doubling up the runner at first and BJ Upton made a sensational throw to home plate saving a key run (can you say laser show? - Web Gem #2).

3) Very timely “hitting”: hitting is in quotes because the game was actually tied on an RBI walk to Carlos Pena (3 walks on the night). Appropriately, Willy Aybar stayed hot (the Rays fill in player for Longoria) and stepped in and drove in 2 runs with 2 outs in the 8th to seal the victory. He is now batting .364 with 3 HRs, 9 RBIs and 6 extra base hits since taking over 3rd base for the injured Evan Longoria on August 8th (11 games).

4) Finally, you had Joe Maddon aggressively back up BJ Upton when the first base umpire made one of the worst calls I’ve seen all year. Maddon was ejected and BJ now knows that his coach and team mates have his back despite the couple of rough weeks he’s been through. This year is all about TEAM and this aspect of the Rays showed up big tonight.

This game puts the Rays into first place in all of MLB and it is appropriate that it happened the way it did. Remember this game as the year nears a close. I’ll be at the game tomorrow night with my brooms. Go Rays!


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Tampa Bay Rays Win Another Series (8-0-1 since All Star Break)

The Rays began the game tonight with yet again a different lineup (when was the last time the team used the same lineup twice in a row?). Akinori Iwamura is out of the lineup (given the day off) and Ben Zobrist fills in at second base while BJ Upton assumes the leadoff role. Additionally, the lefties are all back in the lineup (most notably, Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske). Scott Kazmir took the mound for the Rays opposite Dustin Nippert from the Texas Rangers.

The Rays first two at bats began with an eerie similarity to last night with 3 up and 3 down for the Rays in the first (3 quick outs on 11 pitches) followed by 3 outs in 4 batters in 11 pitches in the 2nd. Kazmir also looked pretty sharp in the first 2 innings, although he did run up some pitches in the second inning (35 total after 2).

However, things changed in the 3rd inning for the Rays. Gabe Gross led off the inning with a hard line drive down double the left field line. He nearly ruined his great hit by stopping at first (he thought it was foul). He still managed to get a double, but it would have been a triple if he’d run hard (the ball was mishandled in left field). Ironically, after being advanced from 2nd to 3rd by Jason Bartlett’s soft ground ball (he would have scored easily from 3rd on the soft ground ball) BJ Upton smoked a double down the left field line making the game 1-0 Rays, which bailed Gross out of his base running mistake. Ben Zobrist hit a hard single to right field setting the stage for Carlos Pena (1st and 3rd with 1 out). Carlos very quickly blasted a 3-run HOME RUN to right field on a hanging changeup making the game 4-0 Rays. Carlos is getting hot at the right time having now hit 6 home runs in the last 12 games.

Scott Kazmir struggled a bit in the bottom of the 3rd and gave up a run on a bloop double down the left field line. Plays like that one show how much this team misses Carl Crawford. Carl would likely have caught that ball and, even if he didn’t, the threat of him catching it would likely have held the runner. Later in the inning, Carlos Pena made a spectacular leaping “snow cone” catch to end the inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Chalk Carlos up for generating 3 runs on his homerun while also preventing 2 more runs on the great catch.

Eric Hinske hit a double off of the left field wall to lead off the 4th and he was driven in on Jason Bartlett’s base hit. BJ Upton followed Jason’s hit with a 2-run HOMERUN to the opposite field giving the Rays a 7-1 lead in the 4th inning. BJ appears to be atoning for his base running issues and I am happy to see it. The Rangers added a run in the bottom of the 5th off the solo home run from Travis Metcalf making the game 7-2.

The highlight of the 6th inning is that Scott Kazmir came back out to pitch despite racking up nearly 100 pitches in the first 5 innings. He looked very sharp taking down all three hitters faced including 2 strikeouts. Kazmir finished the day having pitched 6 innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 4 and collecting 7 strikeouts.

The 7th and 8th innings were clean on both fronts with no real action. Juan Salas, who made his 2008 debut tonight, made things a little exciting in the 9th by giving up a single and a walk with nobody out. He then struck out Travis Metcalf before Maddon called on Grant Balfour. Balfour did not look sharp getting only 1 out while giving up 3 walks (including a rarely witnessed bases loaded intentional walk 7-4) before being replaced. Dan Wheeler was called on with 2 outs remaining in the 9th and the bases loaded (winning run at the plate). Wheels looked very strong striking out Marlon Byrd and collecting a save. The Rays thus completed their longest road trip of the year with a 7-3 record and 4 ½ games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.


Other notes: BJ Upton asserted himself today after being benched for a game. He went 3-5 with 3 RBIs including a 2-run home run. The Rays defense continues to play very well even with the loss of Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett over the last few weeks. Willy Aybar, in particular continues to play a strong 3rd base for the Rays as Evan Longoria is recovering from his broken wrist. In fact, the Rays have not missed much of a beat since Evan went on the DL. He’s hitting .275 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 7 RBIs over 10 games. Juan Salas also made his 2008 debut tonight. He entered the 8th with 1 out and struck out the first hitter he faced.

The Saga that Has Become BJ Upton: Let's Give the Guy a Chance

I expect to receive a lot of negative commentary on this posting, but I believe it's a perspective that needs to be shared given all of the radio host and blog comment rantings by many fans (and I am sure those that are not Rays fans) recently.

If you were fired for every less than 100% effort at your job (think about that 2 hour lunch you take every now and then), I think we'd all be jobless. We should certainly have a very high standard for our baseball players, but don't crucify them when they make a couple of mistakes. I don't excuse what BJ Upton has been doing on these occasions, but I do think that Joe Maddon is handling this appropriately at this point (the punishment for the "relapse" has being escalated to get through to BJ).

But, rather than make this a purely emotional argument, let's take a more analytical approach. If you look at all instances where Joe Maddon or others are unhappy with BJ Upton, they are situations that have highly likely outcomes (routine ground balls, routine gap doubles, etc.). BJ Upton seems to think it's OK to dog it to first on sharply hit, cleanly fielded ground balls or on balls to the gap that will be doubles whether he sprints to the ball or half speeds it. Joe Maddon is clearly addressing that mindset and has let BJ know that he is entirely wrong to think that way. From the way folks talk on the message boards or on the radio shows, you'd think BJ is walking to first on every play and never hustles in the outfield (that is simply not true and any fan who has watched any meaningful number of games know).

Let's recall BJ's first benching. BJ was benched for not running out a ground ball against Cleveland on August 5th. But, also recall that he very likely won that game for the Rays when he made a SPECTACULAR catch in the deep left center field gap (I think it might have even been a Web Gem). BJ runs hard on the vast majority of plays and makes some ridiculous catches, so it does not appear to be a total laziness or unhappiness thing to me. I also don't think it's BJ wanting out of Tampa Bay (as some have suggested) as building a reputation as a lazy dude is not going to help him sign a big deal with a different team. I honestly think he believes it's OK to give half effort on balls blasted into the gap (that will probably be doubles anyway) or if he hits a routine ground ball out (where he will be out 95% of the time regardless of his effort. Maddon and BJ's team mates need to get through to him and change that mindset. This mindset might be acceptable in some clubhouses, but Maddon and the Rays are playing a different kind of baseball and BJ needs to get on board.

I think it's time our local radio hosts and blog commentators should give the "get rid of BJ" talk a rest and let things play themselves out. I have confidence that Maddon and the team are going to work on BJ and he is going to be a key member of the team for this pennant race. A talent like BJ Upton does not come along very often (just look at the guys in our farm system now - some decent talents, but no one with BJ's potential). The intelligent decision is to give this some time, let Joe and the team work with the guy and see how BJ develops as a person and as a ballplayer. Some things are fixable (effort and mindset) while others are not (lack of talent or injury). Let's get behind BJ and encourage him to join the team.

COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT by Matt Garza: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers: August 15, 2008

Matt Garza pitched an absolute gem today with a 2-hit shutout (it should have been a 1 hitter, but the scorer was harsh on a ball that bounced off of Ruggiano's glove). He was throwing smoke early in the game (96-97 MPH) in all the right locations. The offense didn't need to do too much today, but they did deliver 4 long balls and some great hustle on the bases (especially Cliff Floyd). The only blemish on this win (6-2 on this road trip) was that Joe Maddon had to yank BJ Upton from the game for not running out a double play. It's just too bad that BJ has not gotten the message yet. Doesn't he realize that this opportunity doesn't come along everyday (just ask Carl and Johnny who've been in a Rays uniform for many years). Here is a quick and dirty summary of the game:

It's great to have Jason Bartlett back at short stop today for the first time in over a week. Mat Garza came out hot today and really found his groove in the 3rd inning with a 1 pitch pop out and 2 3-pitch strikeouts. That must have inspired Willy Aybar who hits a first pitch HOME RUN in the top of the 4th!

The Rays really opened the floodgates in the 5th inning even though Texas registered 3 strikeouts in the inning (Upton, Aybar and Riggins). Carlos Pena started things off when he smoked a slider into the right field seats for a solo HOME RUN. Cliff Floyd kept things going with a sharp line drive into the left field gap and legged out a double. Hinske then followed up with a 2-RUN BLAST to center field and Gabe Gross finished things off when he hit a FROZEN ROPE over the left field wall. So, the fifth inning featured 3 home runs and 3 strikeouts from the Rays giving them a 5-0 lead. Meanwhile, Garza continues to look very strong striking out the side in the bottom of the 5th (no hits thru 5).

Things were a little more interesting in the 6th inning when BJ Upton hit into a double play and didn't quite hustle to 1B, so Joe Maddon immediately yanked him for Justin Ruggiano. In addition, Kinsler hit a looper into center field that bounced off of Justin's glove and was ruled a hit (this probably should have been an error, in my opinion). Josh Hamilton did hit a hard single up the middle in the 7th inning, so the potential controversy from the prior inning was lessened. The Rays did add another run in the top of the 7th on the double by Cliff Floyd that scored Carlons Pena.

After a strong 8th inning from Garza and some additional insurance in the 9th inning (1 more run scored on a ground out by Eric Hinske), Garza successfully lobbied Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey to allow him to finish off the Rangers, which he did 1-2-3 (culminating in a line-drive out from Josh Hamilton).

When it was all said and done, the Rays won another road game (6-2 on this road trip) against a contender with contributions up and down the line-up. In fact, every slot in the line-up had a hit and four different guys WENT YARD. Great game Rays.

Visit ESPN for the complete box score.

How Do the Rays Keep Winning with So Many Injuries (sorry, Hank, I am not going to whine about it)?

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How can the Rays be in the midst of a 5-2 road trip (3 more games to go) despite losing their #3 (Carl Crawford) and #4 (Evan Longoria) hitters, who were both getting hot right before their injuries (Carl and Evan accounted for a whopping 25% of the team's RBIs for 2008!!!)?

The answer lies in players like Ben Zobrist, Willy Aybar and Rocco Baldelli. Since being recalled on August 5th, Ben Zobrist has a hit in 8 of 9 games played (he's hitting .272 during this stretch - not huge, but respectable) and has an on base percentage of .400 (that's strong for a #9 rookie hitter). Additionally, he's had some clutch hits such as his double in Oakland that proved to be the winning run. For a rookie who doesn't know whether to unpacl his suitcase or not, this is a major contribution to a team at a critical time.

Another great story is Willy Aybar, who has also hit .272 during the same stretch (filling in for Evan Longoria). Not only has he played a very solid 3B having committed 0 fielding errors and turned a healthy number of key double plays, he also had hist first 2 homerun game (August 10th at Seattle) and drove in 2 key runs on August 14th (Rays won the game by 1 run).

Finally, the return of Rocco Baldelli has been an emotional lift for this team. Rocco has been working with the Rays training team for months trying to deal with his medical condition and his return is a true testament to his tenacity and strong will. He has also made a huge impact in the field running down two awesome diving catches in right field (including the #1 ESPN Web Gem on August 14th). Rocco's ability to deal with this adversity demonstrates the heart and character of this team, which is the clear reason they continue to win. Oh, and let's not forget great pitching - giving up about 3.5 runs on this road trip.

Welcome to 9equals8.com (9=8.com): The Unofficial and Unsanctioned Blog of the Tampa Bay Rays

Welcome to 9equals8.com (9=8.com, but you can’t use “=” symbols in website addresses), the unofficial and unsanctioned blog of the Tampa Bay Rays’ hunt for October! As an avid Rays fan and regular home and road game attendee, I thought it might be fun to share my perspectives on the Tampa Bay Rays quest for the “Holy Grail” of Major League Baseball. Thus far, this season has been one of the most memorable ones in recent baseball history and includes a special story of intense competitive spirit and can-do attitude, teamwork, heart and character. My goal with this blog is to inspire dialogue and provide everyday fans with a different viewpoint and perspective on this remarkable team and season. The MLB.com news and analysis is great, but I’ve found it to lack a personal touch and connection with this team. Whether it's Carlos Pena's recent 12th inning blast at the A's, Gabe Gross' right field wall shot to right field against the Indians (and Carlos' ensuing walk-off shot to center field), Evan Longoria's epic at bat against Roy Halladay for his 1st career grand slam home run or any one of the other tremendous wins this ballclub has experienced this year, this blog intends to cover and talk about it all. I plan to take this discussion much deeper and to a personal level with the coaches and players. I hope you enjoy this blog, please comment regularly and freely and GO RAYS!!!

For those of you that are Rays newbies, you might be wondering what 9=8 is all about. In summary, this symbol represents Joe Maddon's (the Tampa Bay Rays' Manager) philosophy that 9 guys playing 9 innings everyday, the Rays will be one of 8 teams in the playoffs. Joe distributed 9-8 tee shirts to the team and it has become the rallying cry of this remarkable team in 2008.