2012 MLB Season

[Raysfan12]

No one is paying attention to the Rays this season. This team is 14-1 at home this year and are 10-1 against the AL West including a series win against the indomitable Rangers team. The offense is finally able to score runs at the right time and our pitching is excellent. Keep on dominating the AL East Rays.

[BigBubba]

Brandon Morrow, huzzah!

8 Ks and 3 hits over 9 innings. This guy is really starting to turn a corner. Regardless of how early it is, it's great to see guys like him, Alvarez, and Drabek do well and compliment Romero in the rotation.

Henderson Alvarez, huzzah!

Throws his first CG shutout of his career. Now if the offence would pick up...

No one is paying attention to the Rays this season. This team is 14-1 at home this year and are 10-1 against the AL West including a series win against the indomitable Rangers team. The offense is finally able to score runs at the right time and our pitching is excellent. Keep on dominating the AL East Rays.

It is kind of funny that the Rays, Jays, and O's are 1-2-3 in the AL East (with the latter two as the Wild Cards) and they still don't get half the attention as NYY-Bos. Really though, I couldn't care less as long as my team wins.

[CS85]

http://deadspin.com/5907902?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Hawk reminds all baseball fans why he's the best in the business. What a chump.

[NEW.ERA]

AL East is like upside down.

And Baltimore and Toronto occupy the two wildcard spots. Yes it's May I know, I'm sure one or both will fall off, but just enjoying the ride.

Hopefully Drabek can continue is solid start to the season. And shutdown the Halos again!

[Kramerica Industries]

There's no reason think Toronto is bound to fall-off. They were a popular pick to make some big noise in the AL East this season, and Morrow, Alvarez, and Drabek look to have taken the next step forward to becoming high-relevance pitchers. As far as I can tell, Toronto's winning even though Bautista hasn't been Bautista yet (though I guess one could say Encarnacion has played that role instead).

Baltimore? They're probably not as bad as people thought they were, but they're not really going to keep up all season, either. But Toronto's totally legit. And if the Rays keep on being the pain-in-the-as$es they've been so far (12 of 13 wins, 13-1 at home, four wins where they trailed in the 9th inning or later), then the two media empires in the northeast are going to have a hell of a hard time getting into the playoff fold. Maybe I'm a homer, but I do think the Yankees ultimately find their way in, because they've had a ton of slow starting players this season (Cano, ARod, Nova) and injuries (Gardner and Swisher) that will return soon enough. Boston just seems to be loaded with internal issues that are holding them back. Ellsbury and Youk on the DL, Ross and Aviles have both cooled off after their scorching road trip last week, BP still sucks, and shallow rotation. Pedroia/Gonzalez/Ortiz is as scary as it gets, just a team with no depth right now to back up their rather-high amount of starpower. That's the reason why they're off to an iffy 11-14 start.

[NEW.ERA]

I know Toronto's legit, and they will be for many years to come.

Just a little gun shy, and I'm sure i'm not the only Jays fan that is feeling that. AA and Ferrell have done a tremendous job. Yeah, the offense is starting to become more consistent, but more importantly, is our pitching has been very impressive. Romero is looking like that solid Ace we've been searching for, and the others are looking just as great.

The Yanks and Sox will turn it around. Maybe this division can be like the old AL West, where everyone was in the race until the very end. Doubtful, who knows.

[mania]

NAME THAT PLAYER:

.194 Batting Average

.237 On Base Percentage

.269 Slugging

.213 Weighted OBA

33 wRC+

.505 OPS

- .9 fWAR

[TFoA]

NAME THAT PLAYER:

.194 Batting Average

.237 On Base Percentage

.269 Slugging

.213 Weighted OBA

33 wRC+

.505 OPS

- .9 fWAR

Pujols. I remember reading somewhere that Pujols, according to WAR, is one of the worst players in the league right now. There's slumping, and then there's this.

[Kramerica Industries]

Knowing the Angels, that could also be Vernon Wells.

Jesus did Tony Reagins screw over that franchise in that deal. Both with trading for Wells, and actually giving away Mike Napoli in the process! I know Scoscia hated Napoli for no apparent reason, but still. That might be the worst trade in recent baseball history.

[Still MIGHTY]

Sigh... Enough... Please... It hurts.

[infrared41]

It is kind of funny that the Rays, Jays, and O's are 1-2-3 in the AL East (with the latter two as the Wild Cards) and they still don't get half the attention as NYY-Bos. Really though, I couldn't care less as long as my team wins.

As long as those three teams remain in the 1-2-3 spots, I don't really care what order they're in. Unfortunately, as long as the standings look the way they do in the AL East right now, all the talk is going to be "what's wrong with NY/Boston" instead of "the Rays, Jays, and Orioles are having great seasons so far." I'd imagine ESPN is in full panic mode right about now.

Of the three, Baltimore is probably the only one who isn't as likely to keep this up all season. Then again, we have a "surprise" team every season. Could the O's be this year's version?

In any case, I'm just enjoying it while it lasts.

http://deadspin.com/5907902?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Hawk reminds all baseball fans why he's the best in the business. What a chump.

Saw that same thing on Awful Announcing. Classy move Hawk. That guy is the only announcer in the business that bothers me to the point that I won't watch a game he's calling. I can't stand listening to him. That 'he gone" BS...hell, all of Hawk's "catchphrases" annoy the out of me. Fortunately, MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv carry the feed for both the home and away teams so I can watch the White Sox without having to endure that douchebag.

[loogodude90]

It is kind of funny that the Rays, Jays, and O's are 1-2-3 in the AL East (with the latter two as the Wild Cards) and they still don't get half the attention as NYY-Bos.

Unfortunately, as long as the standings look the way they do in the AL East right now, all the talk is going to be "what's wrong with NY/Boston" instead of "the Rays, Jays, and Orioles are having great seasons so far." I'd imagine ESPN is in full panic mode right about now.

Well, a couple of comments about that.

Of course NYY and BOS will continue to get attention because of the sizes of their media markets and the team's histories.

It is WAY to early in the season to really talk about who is having a "great" season. The Orioles always tease in April. I could have sworn there was a season recently where they were in first place on Memorial Day and ended up in last place in the division, or something like that. Frankly I'm glad the O's aren't getting attention because if and when (more likely when) they fall flat on their faces, it won't be as embarrassing.

The Rays have been a good team for the last 5 years or so, but they'll continue to get the attention the size of their media market gets them.

No team in the division has the same history and fan base size as NYY and BOS, so it's pretty easy to see why they get all of the attention even when losing.

[infrared41]

It is kind of funny that the Rays, Jays, and O's are 1-2-3 in the AL East (with the latter two as the Wild Cards) and they still don't get half the attention as NYY-Bos.

Unfortunately, as long as the standings look the way they do in the AL East right now, all the talk is going to be "what's wrong with NY/Boston" instead of "the Rays, Jays, and Orioles are having great seasons so far." I'd imagine ESPN is in full panic mode right about now.

Well, a couple of comments about that.

Of course NYY and BOS will continue to get attention because of the sizes of their media markets and the team's histories.

It is WAY to early in the season to really talk about who is having a "great" season. The Orioles always tease in April. I could have sworn there was a season recently where they were in first place on Memorial Day and ended up in last place in the division, or something like that. Frankly I'm glad the O's aren't getting attention because if and when (more likely when) they fall flat on their faces, it won't be as embarrassing.

The Rays have been a good team for the last 5 years or so, but they'll continue to get the attention the size of their media market gets them.

No team in the division has the same history and fan base size as NYY and BOS, so it's pretty easy to see why they get all of the attention even when losing.

But it's not "WAY to (sic) early" to talk about who is having a great season so far which is how I wrote it. Not to mention that I also said "Of the three, Baltimore is probably the only one who isn't as likely to keep this up all season." So I stand by what I said. Nice try though.

[Brass]

Will Middlebrook's first career homerun is a grand-slam that ties it up 5-5 for the Red Sox! Welcome to the big leagues, Will!

[RedSox44]

Will Middlebrook's first career homerun is a grand-slam that ties it up 5-5 for the Red Sox! Welcome to the big leagues, Will!

That was so awesome!

Right over Ryan Flaherty, the pride of my hometown.

[HolyStroke]

Who was the guy who played for the Red Sox who hit a grand slam on the first pitch of his big league career

[Brass]

Who was the guy who played for the Red Sox who hit a grand slam on the first pitch of his big league career

Daniel Nava.

[loogodude90]

It is kind of funny that the Rays, Jays, and O's are 1-2-3 in the AL East (with the latter two as the Wild Cards) and they still don't get half the attention as NYY-Bos.

Unfortunately, as long as the standings look the way they do in the AL East right now, all the talk is going to be "what's wrong with NY/Boston" instead of "the Rays, Jays, and Orioles are having great seasons so far." I'd imagine ESPN is in full panic mode right about now.

Well, a couple of comments about that.

Of course NYY and BOS will continue to get attention because of the sizes of their media markets and the team's histories.

It is WAY to early in the season to really talk about who is having a "great" season. The Orioles always tease in April. I could have sworn there was a season recently where they were in first place on Memorial Day and ended up in last place in the division, or something like that. Frankly I'm glad the O's aren't getting attention because if and when (more likely when) they fall flat on their faces, it won't be as embarrassing.

The Rays have been a good team for the last 5 years or so, but they'll continue to get the attention the size of their media market gets them.

No team in the division has the same history and fan base size as NYY and BOS, so it's pretty easy to see why they get all of the attention even when losing.

But it's not "WAY to (sic) early" to talk about who is having a great season so far which is how I wrote it. Not to mention that I also said "Of the three, Baltimore is probably the only one who isn't as likely to keep this up all season." So I stand by what I said. Nice try though.

Nice try on what? I wasn't trying to "prove" you wrong. This isn't an argument. Calm down.

It's still too early to really tell who is going anywhere this season. You must have orgasms when your team starts out 1-0 or 2-0.

[sportstar1212]

Looks like Pujols just hit his first home run of the year. It's a miracle!

[Still MIGHTY]

ALBERT PUJOLS GOES YARD!

Fina- ing-ly! Now let the dam break.