ALDS Live Blog: Chicago vs. Tampa Bay

So many storylines to follow here for this ALDS Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. Hmm, let's see....Ken Griffey Jr. (pictured above, Thanks to the Chicago Tribune) with his son. He hasn't been to the playoffs for over a decade. What about the entire White Sox team. They did something that had never been done before just to get here. They beat three opponents in three days to earn their spot.

OH, and those pesky Tampa Bay Rays. First playoff appearance in the franchise's 10 year history. And all they did was just take the devil out of the name. How simple! All kidding aside, it was more than just the devil. A good mix of players and a manager who held them all together. And they were only the best in the East division, which also includes the Yankees and Red Sox.

Some storylines, huh?

WHERE: Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, FL
TBS Television Broadcasters: Don Orsillo and Harold Reynolds
ESPN Radio Announcers: Gary Thorne and Chris Singleton

PREDICTION: I'm not really sure where to go on this one, but I'm someone who looks at pitching as key, especially when you have a team that has never been to the playoffs before. The Rays have James Shields. Not their ace, and not someone with big time playoff experience. Javier Vasquez does have the experience and can be considered one of a group of aces on the White Sox staff. I'm going Chicago in game one.

By the way, management has told me that we are joining the game in-progress on-air at 9 am (Honolulu is joining at 10 am, so I guess it isn't so bad). I'll be keeping the blog updated as the game goes along, however, so you don't miss anything here.

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And we are underway! James Shields off to a great start for the Rays, getting his first strikeout of the postseason to DeWayne Wise for the second out after a fly out. Jermaine Dye grounds out, and a 1-2-3 inning for Shields!

Javier Vasquez off to a great start in the opening frame. A couple of quick outs to Iwamura and Upton (I think he hustled) and now the team's best power hitter, Carlos Pena. Vasquez was criticized by his Manager, Ozzie "The Mouth" Guillen after his last start of the regular season. Pena strikes out and the inning is over.

AFTER ONE INNING: Chicago 0, Tampa Bay 0

To the second inning, and the Home Run hero from the AL Central tiebreaker Jim Thome is up first. The 38 year old has set some home-run milestones this year, and whether you believe it is juiced or not, this has been a comeback in regards to numbers. He grounds to short, however, for the first out.

Konerko grounds out on one pitch for the second out. I wonder how much better this team would be if a healthy Carlos Quentin was in the lineup. He had a MVP-like year for Chicago until he went down with a bum wrist. Shields strikes out Griffey on a changeup way out of the strikezone, and we head to the second with no score!

Bottom of the second, and the Rookie of the Year (in my opinion) is at the plate in Evan Longoria. And the first ever playoff homer at the Trop! Evan Longoria knocks one out to left center for the first run of the game. 1-0 Tampa!

Let's see how Javier Vasquez reacts to giving up the homer. Gets Carl Crawford on a foul tip for the strikeout, and then Cliff Floyd flailing away for the second out. Navarro gets a double on a tough pop up for the defense. Give credit to Navarro for hustling out the two-bagger when he easily could've just jogged like he believed it would be an easy out. Gross strikesout to strand Navarro in scoring position, but the damage is done from Evan Longoria!

AFTER TWO INNINGS: Chicago 0, Tampa Bay 1

Our first injury storyline comes here in the third as Carlos Pena leaves the game. Gary Thorne just said that Pena was hit in the throat with a practice ground ball from, of all people, Evan Longoria earlier in the game. Willy Aybar comes in to play at first, and that is a HUGE power bat out of the lineup early on.

ROY Runner-Up Alexei Ramirez with a single, followed up by a Pierzynski single to put a couple of runners on as the White Sox try to answer the Rays homer. Uribe moves both runners into scoring position on the sacrifice bunt, and now Orlando Cabrera with his enormous amount of playoff experience with the Angels and Red Sox steps up. And Shields gets him to pop-up to second! Big at-bat for the Rays starter.

HOME RUN! DeWayne Wise, the fill-in for Carlos Quentin, hits a 3-Run Homer! White Sox go up 3-1 here in the 3rd....what a clutch at-bat! What a way to send Tropicana Field's fans from a frenzy with the Longoria shot to a huge low with Wise's crack. And now, Dye picks up a double to deep left-center. Shields is really shaky right now. Someone might wanna go out and talk to him. And almost on cue, the pitching coach comes out to chat.

Thome grounds out and the inning is finally over. But, DeWayne Wise turns this game around for Chicago to make it 3-1!

***Just an FYI, the live blog takes a break just before 10 am for a little bit. Yours truly is filling in for Jill Taylor on the KBIG-FM Middays. There is a possibility that I may have a guest live blogger for the time being.***

Bartlett bounces one by third to get on base to start the inning, followed by an Iwamura swat to deep center that bounces off the wall! Akinori goes for a triple as Bartlett goes home and the Rays get within one. 3-2 Chicago!

Strikeout on Upton by Vasquez, and Javier has a lot of work to do to keep that tying run from coming in at third. I'm surprised that the infield is coming in here in the 3rd inning. Aybar hitting for the first time and immediately makes a difference with the fly ball deep enough to left field to drive in Iwamura. 3-3 Tie! That was a close play at the plate. Good throw by Wise.

WHAT!?!? Longoria goes out again! Down the left field line and Longoria hits his second home run! 4-3 Tampa Bay!

I have a feeling that Javier Vasquez won't be lasting too much longer for the White Sox. He's been tagged over the past inning plus. Carl Crawford up, hard to top the act that Longoria has put up so far. Crawford flies out and ends the inning, but the Rays answer the 3-Run White Sox inning with three of their own!

AFTER THREE INNINGS: Chicago 3, Tampa Bay 4

USELESS STAT OF THE NIGHT: Evan Longoria is the youngest 3B since 1951 to hit two home runs in his game. Good work.

INJURY UPDATE: Slightly blurred vision in the left eye of Carlos Pena has knocked him out. He suffered the injury at home last night. Yikes. How many times have we heard of injuries suffered outside of the game (a la Monta Ellis moped incident) that has cost players some time? Hope Pena is okay.

Shields starts this half of the inning with a strikeout to Konerko looking and a Griffey grounder, and now working hard against Rookie Alexei Ramirez to try to end this frame. Gets a grounder to first and Shields retires the side!

To the bottom of the frame we go, and this is an important recovery inning for Javier Vasquez. The offense for Chicago will get more runs, I'm sure. But can the pitching staff hold down the Rays attack? Cliff Floyd strikes out for out number one.

Navarro up, and he doubled his first time up, but he pops up here. I didn't realize that Vasquez already has six strikeouts. Maybe the trouble has outweighed the K's so far. He's close to walking Gabe Gross, however. And there it is.

USELESS STAT ALERT: Evan Longoria is the first player in MLB Postseason history to hit home runs in his first two postseason at-bat's

Nice aggressive base running by Gabe Gross to steal 2nd with two down. Bartlett pops up and the inning is over. We're done with four!

AFTER FOUR INNINGS: Chicago 3, Tampa Bay 4

***BREAK TIME: Gotta fill in on the KBIG FM Mid-days. Be back in a little bit!***

Alright, we're back, and what did we miss?

SCORING PLAYS:

5th - Evan Longoria RBI Single followed by a Carl Crawford RBI base knock

AFTER SIX INNINGS: Chicago 3, Tampa Bay 6

James Shields has loaded the bases thanks to a walk, HBP, and a single, and his night is over. Grant Balfour has two outs to keep all of the runners on base, and Juan Uribe is the first man to face him. And Balfour delivers with a key strikeout to keep em loaded with two down!

Uh-oh. Tempers are flaring! Grant Balfour and Orlando Cabrera are kicking dirt and yelling at one another. I'm not sure what may have happened there, but it's the playoffs, and this is the time where emotions come out!

WOW! Balfour strikes out Cabrera! Now Ozzie Guillen is screaming at his players to get control of themselves. Yeah, he should be one to talk, right? Balfour saves the day for Shields and the Rays still lead by 3!

***PROGRAMMING NOTE*** Tomorrow on "The Josh Pacheco Show", BYU-Hawaii Women's Volleyball coach (and Laupahoehoe alum) Wilfred Navalta joins us to preview the matchup against Hawaii-Hilo, and Rosey Rosenthal calls in to talk BIIF Football. We run until 11:35 am as we will have Game 2 of the ALDS between these two teams.

Bottom 7, and BJ Upton goes after a slider in on him, and flies to right. One down. Nice stab by Uribe to get Aybar, and now comes the game's star, Evan Longoria, who's driven in three runs! And, to be expected with a nice sized Rays lead, Longoria gets walked to bring up Carl Crawford.

Also, not to be surprised at this, but Ozzie Guillen jawing at Rays fans. Who doesn't he jaw at?

Longoria nearly caught in a run down, but it's been his night tonight. Konerko could release the ball from first, and Longoria steals second. Crawford grounds out to end the inning and strand Longoria.

AFTER SEVEN INNINGS: Chicago 3, Tampa Bay 6

***One more break on the live blog...gotta go to the bank***

That's it! Dan Wheeler made this one interesting, but Tampa Bay holds on to win 6-4!

Milwaukee and Philadephia coming up in about 15 minutes. Thanks for logging on!

MLB Trade Deadline: Winners and Losers

What a day. I woke up extra early (3:30 am, to be exact) so I could stay on top of the trade deadline. What a waste of time to see that the only "MAJOR" trade was an aging Ken Griffey Jr, and that was about an hour later.

Needless to say, I've been a grouch all day long, and have pretty much not helped any with the fact that I'm still feeling the ill effects of a cold that some of my other co-workers passed along.

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With the MLB Trade Deadling come and gone, it's time to announce the three Big Winners and the three Big Losers from the drafting game:

THE WINNERS



They only needed one trade to set themselves as the best TEAM in baseball. Picking up 1B Mark Teixeira gave them a bigger bat and a better glove at first base. While the Braves didn't lose here in getting Casey Kotchmann, the Angels definitely improved. And more importantly, the best 1-2 punch in baseball now resides in Anaheim with Vladimir "Vlad The Impaler" Guerrero and Mark "Tex Mex" Teixeira".

Some people may question the move because they already had a big lead in their division (see the NY Mets 2007 for why you should never settle for a big lead), but they are looking ahead to competing with the rest of the best in the AL. Great move.



Although they didn't make the blockbuster deal for a superstar player, they picked important role players to fill voids. With Hideki Matsui out of action in LF, they picked up Xavier Nady from Pittsburgh, while in that same move picking up Damaso Marte to give them a solid left-handed middle reliever. And if that wasn't enough, days after C Jorge Posada was deemed inactive for the rest of the year, they made the decision to go after 14-time All-Star Ivan Rodriguez from the Tigers, getting rid of strong, yet erratic right-handed reliever Kyle Farnsworth.

I've said all along that it doesn't take an all-star lineup to win championships, which explains why the Yankees haven't won a championship in a while. But, these moves put the Yankees in the right direction.



No, I'm not making them a winner just by getting Manny, although the trade did give them a big boost. But, they also made some quality trades beforehand, picking up SS Angel Berroa, former Rookie of the Year, to help out their middle infield defense, and picking up 3B Casey Blake, which was great timing because Nomar Garciaparra is out indefinitely with injury.

With the D-Backs doing little to nothing to help their team, and the rest of the division at a stand still, look for this move to send the Dodgers to another NL West crown.

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THE LOSERS



For a team that is tied for second in their division and is in a big hunt for the Wild Card, they sure did NOTHING to help their cause. All they did was trade away a veteran middle reliever, and didn't pick up any help. Granted, they got help from within with Chris Carpenter returning the other night, and more help down the road with Adam Wainwright, but they could've helped themselves out instead of staying put.



Maybe it's because this franchise is still considered "small market" and they have never been in the position of possibily being a buyer to help improve their odds of winning a division crown, but could they have at least done something? Let's see, Arthur Rhodes, Jason Bay, all went elsewhere. Couldn't lure away Jose Guillen or Raul Ibanez from their respective teams. Great job doing nothing. Just watch the Yanks cruise right past everyone to the top.



No, they didn't get put in the losers category because they traded Manny Ramirez away. I mean, yes, their team isn't as good, and yes, the batting order isn't so fearsome now. But, don't you think with all of the trash and distractions that Manny was causing over the last week that the Red Sox were having a hard time dealing with it?

The bigger problem for Boston is this: Outside of this move, they did nothing. Their bullpen has been dicey, and instead of making a move to improve it, they traded away one of their younger talents. Yeah, offense is good, but if you can't hold on to a lead, it's worthless, just ask the Denver Nuggets and the Texas Rangers.

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"Rocket" Rod calls in from Oahu to say he is extremely excited about the trade which got his team a big time hitter in Manny Ramirez. He also makes sure to note that Bobby Brown is going to be at the Pipeline on Saturday. Yeah, THAT Bobby Brown. The drug addict who married Whitney Houston. Glenn Medeiros is opening for him.

Manny being Manny is getting old

We all have probably seen the reports of the tumultuous game on Thursday between the Rays and Red Sox which saw two different sets of fights, one involving both teams on the field, and the other between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis in the Sox clubhouse. ESPNdeportes.com's Enrique Rojas said on the story:

Ramirez pointed at Youkilis before being escorted down the runway at Fenway Park toward the clubhouse by trainer Paul Lessard and a few other players. Later in the game, NESN, the team's broadcast network, showed grainy footage of Ramirez apparently taking a swipe at Youkilis.

A Red Sox source told ESPNdeportes.com that the cause of the dugout disagreement was Youkilis' temper following a poor at-bat.

Yes, you read it. Over a poor at bat. It's like a child crying over spilled milk. It's insane.

I have no problem with a player who gets frustrated after having a bad at-bat. You know what that shows me? He's a winner. He's a perfectionist. Why should you have a problem with that? He wants to produce for your team each and every time he is at the plate. To me, the attitude that you can always get better is encouraged, even if that means a little frustration. He's giving himself a chip on his shoulder.

And, you know what? It's working. Coming into this post, he is hitting .306 with 9 home runs and 36 RBI's. You don't think the attitude isn't working for him?

And, the Red Sox players feel he is being selfish in showing his frustration. That couldn't be farther from the truth. And, with Youkilis being upset after another bad at bat, Manny decided to take it into his own hands, and that is where the problem lies.

Manny is not the captain. Let your captain, Jason Varitek, handle the situation if you have a problem. Don't start causing problems and making the situation worse. There is always a right way and wrong way to handle things.

Thanks to Jooce.com, here's the other fight everyone is talking about between the Rays and Red Sox.