Tampa Bay Rays

As Ric Flair used to say “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, that is just not going to happen. Woooooooo!!!”

There was no way the Tampa Bay Rays could be fooled three times in one season, could they? First it was Dallas Braden. Then it was Edwin Jackson.

Rays manager Joe Maddon has been called unorthodox, outspoken, diligent, eccentric, eclectic, sociable, optimistic, passionate and wise. No one thought of him as a spokesman for a new stadium, but he changed that thinking after the Rays' 8-6 loss to the Twins Thursday afternoon.

Right after the game, Maddon talked about the catwalk's affect on the game as to why the Rays need a new stadium. Jason Kubel's popup fell on the A-Ring catwalk of the stadium, which meant it was a hit, and it led the Twins to score the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

Catwalk calamities like the Rays experienced in a loss to the Twins aren't new to them.

Jason Kubel smacked a ball into the catwalk below the roof of Tropicana Field on Thursday. The Rays infield had an eye on the ball until it hit above and landed several feet from any fielder near the pitcher's mound.

Mind you, incidents like these happen a handful of times a season and the more and more they happen, the more frustrating it is for the Rays who have abandoned their old uniforms and losing tradition.

The Tampa Bay Rays went 106 games into the season before starting a pitcher not named James Shields, Matt Garza, Jeff Niemman, David Price, or Wade Davis.

This kind of consistency in the rotation doesn't quite play into the managing style of Joe Maddon. 

If you watch the Rays two days in a row, you will rarely see Joe put the same lineup card out those two days. However, this rare occurrence has been a great thing to rely on for the Rays.

It's August 4th and the Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball. After easily defeating the Yankees last night, the Rays sit alone atop the American League East.

The Rays MVP to date? That would be Carl Crawford. The 29 year old outfielder is having a career year, hitting .309, with a career best .855 OPS and 38 stolen bases. Crawford is also one of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball. So far this season, he's saved his team nearly 20 runs on defense alone.

The face of the Tampa Bay franchise over the past decade is also the teams biggest problem going forward.

The Rays talked about Jeremy Hellickson going back to spring training. They felt he was untouchable when it came to acquiring a hitter.

On Monday night, Hellickson made his Major League debut against the Twins. It was a spot start appearance, and nothing more. He was going to be in the minors after the game was over, and that proved to be the case.

This Baseball Digest writer suggested the Rays trade James Shields for a hitter in the trade deadline, and he questioned why Joe Maddon would start the struggling
Shields in the divisional showdown against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium several weeks ago.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher James Shields is nicknamed “Big Game.” While Sunday’s series finale against the New York Yankees may not have been the biggest game of the year, Shields lived up to his nickname.

Shields tossed 7.1 scoreless innings to lead Tampa Bay past New York 3-0 at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay shutout the Yankees for the first time since an 8-0 win on Sept. 23, 2006. New York was shutout for the fifth time this season.

The Yankees and the Rays faced each other for the weekend series at St. Petersburg. This series has its significance not only for the standings, but it came down to which team made their moves.

On this Saturday, it was the Yankees that outmanuever the Rays in bolstering the club, and then after the deadline was over, the Yankees beat the Rays on the scoreboard to even the series at one.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Tampa Bay Rays are currently the "favorites" to land the Washington Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn.

Is there really another deal that makes this much sense? 

The Rays could use another slugger. Dunn could use the playoff spotlight to propel himself to a major contract in the off-season.

So why does this deal seem almost too good to be true?