Fox Sports Channels return to DISH TV
Tampa Bay Rays fans who are Dish TV customers who have been without the 12 regional Fox Sports channels, National Geographic channel and FX will be happy to know that the Fox channels have returned this morning. There was a possibility that all Fox broadcasting services would be interrupted as of November 1st due to contractual problems.
There now will be no disruption in the Fox broadcasts of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.
Tampa Bay Rays fans who are also DISH TV subscribers will now get to watch their favorite team next season as well.
Top 10 prospects for the Tampa Bay Rays moving forward
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The Tampa Bay Rays finished the 2010 season in dismal fashion and the doomsday soothsayers were out in force after their loss in the ALDS about how the Tampa Bay Rays were about to become irrelevant in Major League Baseball.
While the Tampa Bay Rays are going to take a hit, losing the likes of LF Carl Crawford and RP Rafael Soriano, all is not lost my Tampa Bay Rays friends. While the front office has been frugal with the payroll, all those lousy seasons added up to the stockpiling of some pretty amazing talent in the minor leagues.
Matt Hagen of the Hardballtimes.com, broke down the Rays top 10 prospects moving forward, and there should be every reason for optimism with the Rays in the future. In his estimation 7 of the top 10 prospects for the Rays are pitchers, a hot commodity in MLB.If Joe Maddon is retained in the longrun for the Rays as manager, his hit and run NL style of offense will need to be supplanted with strong pitching.
Hagen ranks OF Desmond Jennings and SP Jeremy Hellickson basically 1A/1B in the top prospects for the Rays and that goes without saying, both will be in the starting lineup for the Rays in 2011. At number four, Hagen ranks SP Matt Moore who should make some noise about breaking into the starting lineup next season. Moore struck out 208 batters in 144.2 innings this season in single A ball for the Rays organization, following a 176 strikeout in 123 innings performance in 2009. While he might not break into the starting rotation next season, I think at some point in 2011, you’ll see Moore with the Rays.
Hagen also ranks the top 10 players in the Rays organization under the age of 26 on April 1, 2011. Six, possibly seven of those players could be on the opening day roster for the Rays. So as disappointed as I was after this season and the way it ended prematurely, there is a lot of talent in the Rays pipeline. While fans will be quick to point out that the Tampa Bay Rays won’t be able to compete in the AL East, I’d have to ask New York Yankees fans what that 207 million dollar payroll bought this season? A trip home to watch the World Series on their HD TV’s, that’s what.
I think the Rays should move a pitcher, either James Shields or Matt Garza in the offseason in a trade and continue to re-load. Garza is the most likely candidate as his contract is not as friendly as Shields’ is. I am not buying into the fallacy that the Tampa Bay Rays are done for the next several years for post season play simply because they are going to have a reduced payroll. What’s the payroll of the Texas Rangers who are playing in the World Series right now while the rest of the AL sits home? $55,168 million, less than the Tampa Bay Rays and the Rangers club underwent bankruptcy this season, so spare me the garbage talk that Tampa Bay won’t be able to compete.
San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum can’t throw a curveball
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San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum can’t throw a curveball, according to a report published by the website PLOSOne.com. Curveballs aren’t actual curveballs but an optical illusion according to the scientifically reviewed report. In a report titled, Transitions between Central and Peripheral Vision Create Spatial/Temporal Distortions, curveballs are nothing more than an optical illusion for the batter.
The report states that “Given the anatomical and physiological differences between the central and peripheral visual systems, it should not be surprising that the central portions of the visual image are seen at a higher resolution than the segments that fall in the visual periphery.
To see a demonstration of what the paper is stating, you can click here to see the optical illusion.
Now, I watched the demonstration, but this study still does not produce for me the facts about an actual curveball moving. When you watch a baseball game with the outfield camera shot of a pitcher throwing a curveball to a batter, there is actual movement on the ball, what accounts for that movement? Fans at home watching on television aren’t having a ball thrown at them in the batter’s box and the ball appears to move.
I can’t say that I agree with these findings at all, and after 20 years of watching baseball, curveballs move. And if they don’t move, why do pitchers throw them?
Carl Crawford to become a Boston Red Sox player?
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It is becoming more and more evident that the Boston Red Sox are going to go hard after Tampa Bay Rays LF Carl Crawford. ESPN analyst Peter Gammons said on WEEI radio yesterday that he fully expects the Red Sox to go hard after the speedy outfielder.
“There is no doubt in my mind that they(Red Sox) are going to go really hard after Carl Crawford. That will be a matchup with the Angels, and you know there will be some puffs of smoke coming out of New York that suggests the Yankees might go after him, even though their primary need is pitching.”
A column submitted to the Detroit Free Press suggests that the Detroit Tigers must sign Carl Crawford. The writer, Josh Huebner, suggests that because of all the money coming off the books of the Detroit Tigers this offseason, makes the Tigers a force to become a player in the offseason bidding for the Tigers.
Tampa Bay Rays P David Price the best
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Though Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher David Price didn’t have his best stuff working during the ALDS against the Texas Rangers, the lefthander is highly thought of by his fellow players. It was announced on Thursday that he was voted the best pitcher in the American League by fellow players in the Players Choice Award.
David Price beat out fellow American League pitchers, New York Yankees C.C. Sabathia and Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez. Price finished the season 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA.
Price told reporters on Thursday that he does feel honored to earn the award which was voted on by his fellow players. “That does make it a little more special. That means a lot more than some sports writer or sports analyst. The guys I’m playing with, they feel that I deserve this award so that does mean a lot to me”.
