Fernando Perez was set to lead off and play center field. He was a late call up for the Rays last year and impressed everyone hitting 3 homers, stealing 5 bases and scoring 18 runs in the final 23 games last year. He dislocated his wrist diving after a ball in spring training this year and had been on the DL all year. He played a Gulf Coast League (Rookie Level) game earlier this week, but this was going to be his first true rehab start. I think he would have gone 5-5 with 4 steals-we’ll see tomorrow. I know the Rays are anxious to get him back on the base paths. Batting second was Shawn O’Malley at shortstop. This guy is one of my favorite Rays prospects; he is a 21-year-old right handed hitter who the Rays drafted in the 5th round in 2006 out of
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Crabs Game Washed Away and a Primer on Rays Prospects...
Today was supposed to be a busy day, but it ended up being a bunch of near misses…We (the wife and I) were supposed to go on a kayak trip this morning, but it was cancelled last minute. We ended up taking the new puppy to the vet to have her stitches (she ain’t having any babies!) removed and then took her to the dog park where she picked on (played with) a puppy that was half her size. Esther Gin had plans to hang out with her friend Michelle, so I figured I would head to P o rt Charlotte to watch the Stone Crabs entertain the Palm Beach Cardinals. It’s a pretty long drive, about an hour, and I nearly sweat to death it was so hot and sunny. My car is old enough to vote and drink (it doesn’t actually do either) but it does guzzle gas and shake to the point that you feel like its going to explode at speeds over 40 MPH. Anyway, it got me there, which was nice. It may have been the oldest car in the lot, but it wasn’t the only one. The place was packed! I paid 3 dollars to park in a field and walked about 2 miles to wait in line and bake in the sun at the ticket window. I got an excellent seat, 2nd row up behind home plate, but I never did get to sit in it. It had started to drizzle a little while I was in line for the tickets, by the time I got inside the park, it was full-blown downpour and the tarp was already on the field. Like the other 3,000 or so other fans, I found a spot under an overhang and tried to keep my camera and gear dry. I ended up hanging out in their gift shop and buying a whole bunch of useless things that I can’t afford emblazed with the awesome ‘Crabs logo. After about 5 minutes, it was clear that they weren’t playing baseball, but I ended up waiting for about an hour before I gave up. I’ve been going to games at a domed ball park for 12 years now; the rain delay thing is foreign to me. Honestly, the last game I went to that was called for rain was at Shea Stadium in 1990(remember that place?) and Doc Gooden (who went 19-7/3.85 ERA-superb run support) that year was set to face the Expos and Dennis Martinez (10-11/2.95 ERA-horrible run support). Coincidentally, Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez is the pitching coach for the Palm Beach Cards and I was really looking forward to meeting him. He is one of those guys, like Luis Tiant (229-172), Jim Kaat (283-237 and a million Gold Gloves), Tommy John (288 wins), Billy Pierce (211-169), Bert Blyleven (287 wins and 3701 Ks-it’s a joke that he isn’t in) and Lee Smith (478 saves) that come up often in talks about belonging in the Hall of Fame. Martinez is the winningest Latin-born pitcher of All Time with 244 victories, he won a World Series with the O’s in 83, he pitched a perfect game in ’91, he pitched 30 shut outs and had 122 complete games. He was 12-5 for the Indians in ’95 at 40 years old. He had the longevity, he had the control and he pitched a lot, topping 200 innings 9 times. Anyway, that is another blog for another day… Back to my rainy day. The game was called eventually; it has been rescheduled to be a 7 inning double header tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to work, so I will miss out. Jim Morrison (the Crabs manager) had posted his lineups as it was still bright and sunny twenty minutes before game time, so I can go over what might have been.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Bummer about the game. At least the big club picked up a game on the Sox!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's a great description of your car. The good car we have is only two years shy!
I'm glad I didn't plan to go to that one. I though about you after it started raining. I lucked into a card show at the mall in port charlette while I was there. Only 2 tables but I picked up a couple cheap vintage Red Sox.
ReplyDelete