Rays' Offensive Woes Continue

As the Tampa Bay Rays' enter into the dog days of August and thus officially participate in their first pennant race, several issues may become paramount as to their success.

The beauty of the 162 game regular season is that all warts become exposed, and rarely can a team keep winning an excessive amount of games without having the balance needed to contend with their two legendary and wealthy division rivals.

No pretenders allowed. And especially not in the AL East.

The first half of the season saw the Rays' surprise all of baseball with a consistent and sometimes blazing start, peaking with a won/loss record of 55-32 just prior to the All Star break. During that start they beat the best in their own division (Red Sox, Yankees), the best in the AL (Angels), and the best in the NL (Cubs) in an impressive fashion.

The Rays' suffered the ups and down of injuries ( Kazmir, Garza, Navarro, Pena), all spending at least 15 days on the DL, but persevered through it all by having different players step up with clutch performances almost on a nightly basis.

But magic only lasts so long. Remember, this is the AL East.

Struggles at the plate have haunted Carlos Pena (46 hr in 2007), and BJ Upton (6 hr in 2008) so far this season. Together, the two have left a gaping hole in run production of late, leaving the rest of the lineup to fend for itself. Evan Longoria has had his difficulties often, but has had several hot streaks thus keeping the middle of the lineup from completely disappearing.

Despite the won loss record (17-15), the team performance against left handed pitching has been abysmal. With the exception of light hitting Jason Bartlett (.325, LH), the Rays' fail to provide a hitter batting above .270 against southpaws. The middle of the lineup producers are struggling to hit their weight (Pena, .205, Longoria, .239, Gomes, .186, Floyd, .175, Upton , .264) against lefties.

This alone is cause for concern until one examines the Rays' performance with runners in scoring position (risp). Only Dionner Navarro has been productive in this area (.307, risp), while other expected run producers continue to struggle badly (Pena, .265, Longoria, .239, Upton, .265, Crawford, .275). Last season both Crawford and Upton were very productive with risp at .314 and .343 respectively.

Pitching remains fairly consistent, but not dominant as it had been. Troy Percival has battled hamstring problems along velocity issues on back to back nights. Depth in the bullpen remains adequate with the likes of Grant Balfour and the ever steady Dan Wheeler should Percival continue to have problems.

But the pitching may be good enough as is.

Team defense has been shaky of late, but much of that can be attributed to the loss of Jason Bartlett to a stint on the DL.

The question for the Rays' now is what to do. The trade deadline is fast approaching and the Rays' appear to be staying as is. The cost of acquiring a steady right fielder such as Xavier Nady was apparently too much for now, and pragmatically will probably turn out to be the correct decision.

But one thing is clear, that being the Rays' will need better and more consistent production with runners in scoring position. Securing a solid right handed bat may help matters against left handed pitching, but that doesn't appear likely, and still doesn't solve what the heart of the matter is.

Hitters bearing down, and getting focused while attempting to drive in runs with men in scoring position will solve many of the questions. Capitalizing on scoring situations early on in games will be critical for this teams success. This has been a significant team failure of late.

Taking advantage of runners on second and third and nobody out by executing solid fundamentals at the plate will keep the pressure off of this young pitching staff. Rays' starters face too many games that are tied 1-1 in the 6th inning, and it's only a matter of time before that wears thin on a defense and pitching staff.

And should any sort of meltdown occur, it can be traced back to performance with runners in scoring position. The question now should be, "is this a trend, or is this an identity? "

We'll all find the answer during the last 60 days of the season.

Baseball Returns With Dignity

For the millions of viewers on television and those also in attendance, the pre-game ceremonies should have left an indelible mark on how grand a sport that baseball still is. The sport that has endured countless self-destructive moments since it's beginning, just keeps on ticking.

America's pastime survives each new catastrophe by returning to the simple formula of connecting today with yesterday. Aligning the present along with the grace and glory represented by players from decades back, is a sight that evokes memories, stirs emotion, kindles a curiosity among others.

It was Mays, Aaron, Feller, and Gibson last night.

Legends of the game. Elder statesman. Baseball royalty. Dignity. Trust.

They never got caught with corked bats, using sand paper, taking steroids, or causing a brawl on the field. Mays and Feller gave up prime parts of their careers for military service, Mays for two years after his rookie year, and Feller for most of World War ll.

Aaron quietly went about his business hitting home runs for the Braves and Gibson acted as a leader and an enforcer on the mound while pitching for the Cardinals. As their careers wound down, each player simply walked away.

As Yankee Stadium provided the memorable scene last night hosting it's final All Star game, the event appeared to stampede over the miserable news and actions dominating the game for years. There was no talk of steroids, lying to Congress, team retraction, or Barry Bonds.

In fact, there was no Bonds at all. Nor McGwire, or Sosa, or Palmeiro, or even Roger Clemens. Their names were not even mentioned. Not once. Imagine, arguably the greatest hitter and baseball's best pitcher over the last 40 years and maybe ever, were ignored.

Their career achievements speak for themselves, but so does their absence. But enough of that.

Sizemore stood with Mays. Evan Longoria with Brooks Robinson. Justin Morneau with McCovey. Derek Jeter with Banks. And on, and on. Clearly a new path has been taken. Their future is bright, and each player gives baseball a look of innocence, which has been missing for a long time.

Removing the stain of the last era of what now appears to be invisible names will take time to distance itself from the past and consistency from future all stars.

Baseball identified last night as it's official "time to move forward" theme. Subtle, but effective. Just how many stayed up and watched the whole game because it was the last classic to be held at Yankee Stadium? Some, no doubt did, but most were enthralled at the drama of scoreless inning after scoreless inning.

Some of the new All Star heroes were named Holliday, Longoria, McLouth, Drew, and Kazmir.

The game is slowly returning to it's roots, and has an abundance of youth developing as the core of future legends such as sluggers Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols. Dozens of others will fight for supremacy over the coming years too, as did Gibson and Koufax, Mays and Aaron, or Mantle and Snider.

The elegance of the evening's beginning was demonstrated time and time again on the field in it's simplest form. Just play ball.

Let's hope that this only continues forward as baseball once again has proven to be ageless to all.

Magic Sign Pietrus, Maybe Lose Dooling

The Orlando Magic signed free agent swing man Mickael Pietrus to a four year, $24 million contract. He's expected to replace Mo Evans, last years' starting 2G on the roster. Pietrus brings brings athleticism and a solid defensive work ethic to the lineup.

Where this leaves the rest of the back court remains to be seen with today's announcement by Keyon Dooling's camp that he will not return to the Magic for the 2008/09 season. Dooling is seeking a contract in the $4 million per year range, but team president Bob Vander Wiede has recently stated that the Magic are unwilling to exceed the luxury tax cap threshold.

Dooling served as a combo guard specializing in defense, and playing the role of igniter with his consistently high energy level. His departure would leave the Magic currently with only one PG under contract, Jameer Nelson.

General Manager Otis Smith will have his work cut out for him in the coming months in trying to solidify a weak back court. The addition of Pietrus should be of help, but the depletion of the PG position has just become an urgent issue, and one that will be difficult to fix given the team's reluctance to exceed the luxury tax.

Whether or not the Dooling departure turns out to be a mistake is unknown at this time, but what is known is that the Magic are losing a player of high character, consistent work ethic, and having the ability to be versatile in the back court. Four million seems like a bargain.....