November 4, 2024

Vote for James Shield, err Chevrolet

September 21, 2011 by · 1 Comment 

This morning while I was racing through my emails, I received a request from The Tampa Bay Rays to cast my vote for James Shield for the Roberto Clemente humanitarian Award. In addition to being an ace pitcher, James does a lot of great work for the Tampa Bay community, and I was eager to […]

The Time Has Come for TV Replays in Baseball

June 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Last night in Detroit, Rays outfielder Justin Ruggiano came flying around third and slid hard into home plate, avoiding the sweep tag of Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila. Ruggiano slid past the plate, spun around and nailed the plate with his foot just before Avila went to tag him again. (The second tag was further […]

Budweiser’s Sudsy Salute to the Troops

May 10, 2011 by · 2 Comments 

Budweiser beer, a major sponsor of the Tampa Bay Rays, has a commercial running at the Trop that I and a number of friends find really offensive. Whenever a company (or a political party) wants to curry favor with “American citizens,” it makes a big show of saluting the troops. No team salutes the troops […]

George Steinbrenner’s Dirtiest Deed

May 10, 2011 by · 2 Comments 

Recent FBI documents dug up by the Associated Press reveal that George Steinbrenner blamed his lawyer for his troubles relating to the illegal campaign contributions he made to the Committee to Reelect the President, who at the time was Richard Nixon. Nothing could be further from the truth. In 1981 while researching my book George: […]

The Rays’ Amazing Rebound

May 4, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Last September, in the middle of the pennant race, Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg announced he was going to get rid of half his players so he could save $40 million dollars or so. Considering that he’s worth $3 billion, he really pissed off a lot of Rays fans. After the 2010 season in […]

Rays Fans Will Eventually Come Back

April 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

With the 0-6 start, the departure of Manny Ramirez, and the injury to Evan Longoria, Rays fans stayed away in droves for the opening two victories against the Minnesota Twins. Coupling all that with the dumping of salary and the constant drumbeat from owner Stuart Sternberg that the fans don’t deserve their baseball team, I […]