An Open Letter To Joe Maddon

Dear Joe,

Welcome to Chicago! Ever since you opted out of your contract with the Rays, rumors have run rampant that next year would be sitting on the bench in Wrigley come next spring.  Even though it hasn’t been confirmed yet, seeing how Rick Renteria is now looking for employment, it looks like those rumors are actually coming to fruition.

So I figured I’d take this chance to reach out to you, one former Tampa Bay-area resident to another, to let you know a little about your new city. Things are going to be different, way, way different now that you’re coming to the Midwest. For instance, no more “Florida residents are so weird” jokes from the late night comedians. Instead you get, “Chicago politicians are so corrupt” jokes!

You're going to need that hoodie, and a hat, and some gloves, maybe a scarf, too.

Let us get the main issue out of the way first - the weather.  Dont' forget to pack your favorite hoodie. Yeah, winters in Chicago are a bit brutal.  As a matter of fact, as I type this, it is, in fact snowing outside.  The good news is that except for April, possibly a few weeks in May, ok maybe a day or so in June, the weather is pretty sweet during the summer.  Dining al freso at a local farm-to-table restaurant, enjoying a nice glass of wine after a day game victory against the Reds on a perfect July 72 degree night is one of the underappreciated joys of living in this town.  Not something you can really do in the middle of a sweltering St. Pete summer.

Speaking of weather - how about getting a chance to manage 81 games in Wrigley Field?  Kind of an upgrade from “The Pit”, huh?  (I’m kind of bummed your nickname for Tropicana Field never caught on).  Sure the friendly confines are a bit of a mess right now with the first phase of renovations going on, but trust me, watching baseball in one of the true historic fields in the league. You appreciate the fact that it is a true neighborhood park (even if the neighbors get a bit grumpy from time to time).

As far as the neighborhood itself, it is quite different than St. Pete.  While there is no Fergs to enjoy pre-game there are plenty of other options.  I’ve read that before your wife introduced you to the wine world you were a bit of a beer and whiskey guy.  Well welcome to Beer and Whiskey town!  On those nights that Castro boots an easy ground ball and costs you a game skip all of those bro-joints right around Wrigley and join me a couple of blocks south at a couple of true dives.

Just pop into Monsignor Murphey’s and put the first round on my buddy Dan’s tab…I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t even notice. Plus you can get a Flubby special from downstairs.  With Hot Doug’s (RIP) out of business, it’s better to go with the regular Chicago style dog than a gourmet encased meat dog. Just don’t put ketchup on it.  Some guy might lose an election because he made that mistake.

If you are looking for places with a bit of a better wine list we have that covered as well. Personally I’m a fan of the Purple Pig downtown.  Great wine, food is pretty good.  If you’re looking for steak, Del Frisco’s has you covered as well.  I understand they’re saving a very special bottle of wine for that moment you’ve been brought into town for - winning a World Series (no pressure, though). If you’re looking for something more “Chicago” then Gene & Georgetti has that old-school, rat-pack vibe to it.

Kudos to you for not backing out of the Italian restaurant you’re opening in Tampa. Nothing says sound investment like a restaurant! If you need menu ideas you are in luck because every other restaurant that’s opening in this city is an Italian joint.  While I haven’t had a chance to sample them all I can say that we have everything that you could need from family-owned neighborhood joint (Volare) to sports-celebrity-themed (Harry Carry’s) to super fancy (Spiaggia). And don’t forget about Eataly - the downtown temple that worships all things Italian.

We might be losing a Michelin-starred restaurant in L2O, but there is still plenty of fine dining options around.  If you put your name in now, you might get a reservation for Alinea by the time the season starts. Top Chef alums Fabio Viviani and Stephanie Izzard run pretty popular restaurants while Rick Bayless has built an empire of Mexican eateries downtown.

With the restaurant and your ties to the Tampa community I’m not sure if you’re looking to permanently relocate up here (state taxes are a bitch). If you do I hear there is some property available.  Johnny Toews has a sweet bachelor pad he’s looking to unload on the Gold Coast. If you want something a little more historic, a little fixer up that used to house Al Capone is looking for a buyer as well.  You might even be able to talk them down from their asking point.

Hipster Joe Maddon 

I know you like to bike so you might be tempted to buy a place in Wicker Park/ Bucktown and hang out with the rest of those kids.  While the greatest pizza place in the city is there (Piece) I don’t think you’ll like it.  First off - not enough tattoos, second - it looks like your bike has gears.  Not cool, man. Plus there is a 67% chance you’ll be run over by an enraged driver on Milwaukee Ave.

Lakeview wouldn’t be bad for you.  Walking distance to work, close to the lakefront trail and excellent dining options. You like your diners and Broadway has plenty of them. Melrose Diner, Stella’s, The Bagel and Yolk are all in the neighborhood.  All of them are nice places to grab a bite to eat on the way to the park.

But, hey, if you’re in town for a few years, feel free to move around and try a couple of different neighborhoods. The transit system is pretty great (when people aren’t getting attacked by machetes) and despite the occasional delay gets you from one part of the city to another in a quick fashion. I even have an extra Ventra card laying about that you can have (saves you the $5.00 sign up fee!)

As for your actual job, let me warn you, expectations are going to be a bit higher for you. While Chicago sports fans aren’t as insane as New York fans they are a bit more loyal than your typical Florida sports fan. For one thing, they pretty much all grew up here. Luckily there are approximately 164 professional sports teams in this city (165 if you include the MLS) so some of the loyalties are a bit divided.

 If you can keep the Cubs competitive from May to September you should be fine.  After that attention starts to drift to the Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks. The press is a bit more jaded than what you’re used to dealing with down south, but what would you expect if you had to cover a team that hasn’t won since Roosevelt was in office? And if you do struggle, at least the White Sox fans will like you more than whoever is coaching their team.

Your are coming into a pretty good situation. There is some considerable young talent on the team. Although it might be a bit odd for you to have young offensive talent as opposed to young pitching talent.  Pitching is a bit thin in the prospect department, but guest what - you have an ownership group that can actually spend money on high end free agents.  No more dumpster diving for players like James Loney and Roberto Hernandez!

See, they weren't always at odds with each other!

Remember how much fun you had with BJ Upton and his occasional “lack of hustle” and “mental breakdowns”? Luckily for you Starlin Castro is still a Cub.  You’ll get to bench him at least once or twice this season for not running out a ground ball or forgetting how many outs there are in an inning.  That way you can earn some street cred with the press while still being a friend to the players.

Of course, there is the outside chance that Castro is moved to some other team this off-season to help out with the pitching situation.  If that happens, Javy Baez can step in. Don’t be worried about his strike-outs.  The kid hits wherever he goes. He’ll figure it out.  Jorge Soler has the best bat speed I’ve seen since a kid named Sheffield.  Not a bid duo to build a playoff team around - and we haven’t even mentioned Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo yet.

You’ve already done what a lot of people didn’t think was possible - take a team that was a laughing stock because they had never won anything in the Tampa Bay Rays and make them respectable. Now you get to take a team that is a laughingstock because they are the Cubs and hopefully make them respectable as well.  Good luck with that.

See you at the Convention in January.

Good Luck,

Justin G.

P.S. It’s tradition that when you move to Chicago you crash on someone’s couch for 3-6 months.  If you need a couch to crash on, just hit me up.

P.P.S - If you could hook me up with tickets for the Foo Fighters when they play Wrigley this summer, that would be great!

Hey, Look Who's Finally Posting Something About Carl Crawford!

One Hundred. Forty. Seven. Million. Dollars. That’s a lot of money. Even in the convoluted world that is major league sports it’s a lot of money. Enough to walk away from the only franchise he ever knew. Enough to say good bye to a fan base that adored him (when they were involved enough to care). Enough to sign with a division rival so that those same fans can see him in the opposition’s colors 18 times a season.

I thought I would be more upset at Carl Crawford. Of course, I also thought there would be a Festivus miracle and the Rays would announce that they had resigned the four time All-Star from Waco. And yet here we are. Crawford flashed his charming smile as he donned the Red Sox jersey and I merely shrugged my shoulders and flipped the channel.

Twelve year old Justin G. would not have handled it so well. There would be moping, perhaps some tearing up of cards and other means of youthful, yet ineffective protest. It’s kind of sad to think that I’ve grown past that level of fan-dom. The blind, passionate devotion to a player or a team that kids possess. Kind of like believing in Santa Claus.

Tampa Bay Rays’ fans are at a crossroads. For the last three years they’ve tasted success, now they’re paying the price for that success. Other popular players had been moved out before, most notably Aubrey Huff and Scott Kazmir. Neither one of them had the cache of Crawford, though.

He was the one that had been there the whole time, the many years of the bad and the few years of the good. He had come up through the system, been the one constant through the long years. It was only in the last few years that Crawford had started to garner the adoration on the national level that had always been present on the local level.

Early in his career he relied on pure speed, lacking the mechanical fundamentals of more polished runners like Rickey Henderson or Vince Coleman. Few things were more fun then watching him leg out a triple. Rounding second it often looked like he was running two fast for his body. Arms wind milling wildly, legs churning it was a wonder he didn’t fall down more often.

I’m sure someone could look it up and dispute it, but it seems like nobody in the league got to two strikes faster than Crawford. It seems like he was always hitting 0-2 or 1-2. Sometimes he would concede to the two strikes and slap the ball on the ground to the left side. More times than not he would beat the throw out. Other times he would hack away, without a care in the world. Few batters look worse when they swing and miss, or look better when they connect and drive the ball a surprisingly far distance.

For years he toiled in obscurity. So long it seems impossible to believe he’s not 30 yet. I have a lingering image of him standing in left field with his hands on hips as Jesus Colome, Jae Kuk Ryu or Tanyon Sturtze jogged in from the bullpen in route to another 8-4 loss. He looked like a man who wanted to be anywhere else.

Yet in 2005 he signed a long, team-friendly extension. The rumors of the Rays dealing him away quietly died down and after Rocco Baldelli’s role on the team succumbed to health issues Crawford emerged as the face of the franchise. To Rays’ fans he was “our guy”. Maybe the rest of the league didn’t appreciate his talents, but for the loyal 10,000 fans in the TBA he was more valuable than Manny or god forbid - Jason Bay.

Then baseball changed around him. With the steroid allegations swirling and harsher drug testing imposed, home runs lost some of their luster. While the importance of a lumbering, slugging home run hitter being valuable to the team might not have totally disappeared, it has been at least devalued. Players who an run, hit and play a little defense suddenly became more important.

In addition Merlot Joe became the Rays manager. (Please note Merlot Joe is not my nickname, I am blatantly ripping it off from another site - Rays Index). Madden let Crawford be Crawford. Swing away, get on base and run till your heart is content.

Then the Rays started winning. Making it to the playoffs but the team on the national stage for the first time and even though Crawford struggled in the World Series (as did the rest of the offense) people took notice. The talking heads started talking about his talents and the TBA started to get nervous. He wasn’t our secret any more.

In the 2009 All Star game he robbed Brad Hawpe of a potential game winning home run and took home the MVP award. More national attention and more nervous fans. Swiping a record tying six bases against the Red Sox didn’t help. As the Rays dropped out of the playoff race that season the trade rumors started to swirl. Under contract for another year perhaps it was time they cashed in their chips and started over. Thus began the Desmond Jennings hype.

2010 saw the season begin with Crawford still in the blue and white of the Rays. Luckily for Rays fans the team was in contention from the get go. As a swan song Crawford rewarded his fans with the best all around season of his career. His first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, career highs in home runs (19), RBI’s (90), and batting average (.307). Leading the team to their second division title in 3 years he showed all of the potential and sealed his fate in Saint Pete.

The Rays will move on. Crawford’s records will be broken and there will be other players to cheer for. Who knows, in seven years maybe he comes back for a reunion tour. Even if he doesn’t he will always have a special place in the hearts of true Rays fans. In his first game back, welcome him warmly, but then remember he plays for the Red Sox now.

As for me and my personal Carl Crawford collection, well it’s time to move on. Over the next few months I will be liquidating my 100 or so card collection on the Bay. Certain financial obligations that cropped up during the typing of this post do not allow me to trade away the collection as was my original intent. However, if you’re interesting making an offer drop me a line and we might be able to work something out.

It was a good run, and I picked up some neat cards that I really enjoyed. There will be some sadness in seeing them go, but they’ll be another player to collect and more fun cards to discover. The player will be named shortly when I reveal the prestigious Hopeful Chase Card of the Year sometime next week.

Thank you Carl Crawford. Enjoy success in the future, well not too much success……

Quick Hits - It's Damn Cold Edition

Some thoughts while I watch the Ravens make this Monday night game way closer than it needs to be.


* The Linus Omark Spin-o-Rama Shootout Goal. I love the Lightning, but c'mon guys relax. It's a shootout, if he wants to add some flair let him. It wasn't that long ago that Marty St Louis suffered the same criticism for his backwards skating shootout goal. And Dan Ellis - if anything has been "disrespectful" this season it's been your goaltending.

* It was nice of Steven Stamkos to let Sidney Crosby back in the goal scoring race.

* Like (not love) the O's moves in the off-season so far. I have a feeling that Mark Reynolds will end up around .240 and 35-39 HR's. Look for Nick Markakis to rediscover some of the power he lost last year.

* Did Brett Favre die or just miss a game? Kind of hard to tell with ESPN's coverage today.

* In the middle of a Carl Crawford column in which I'll announce the fate of the personal collection.

* Not sure which verbal crutch I'm a bigger fan of - Jon Gruden's "THIS GUY" or Jaws' "NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE".

* Caps fans panicking over a six game losing streak in December is HI-larious.

* Loving the cold weather so far. Gives me an excellent excuse to not do anything except surf the web and drink hot chocolate.

* A lot of folks bemoaning the "demise" of the Rays. With their starters they'll still be in it at the end next year. Don't lose faith in Friedman & Co. Rays fans.

* Don't look for Steve Yzerman to make any rash moves in regards to the goaltending woes for the Lightning. There really isn't much out there that's available. The asking price for Tomas Vokoun is going to be too high and trading for Dewayne Roloson or J.S. Giguere doesn't exactly solve the problem. That being said I wouldn't be surprised if Yzerman hasn't at least put a call in to Evgeni Nabokov's agent. Why not give young Cedrick Desjardins a try in the meantime? Could he do any worse? I submit to you that he cannot.

* Nervous about the last three games for the Ravens. New Orleans will light them up. Cleveland is feisty and Cincinnati beat them once already.

Hey look it's and eight point game. Way to close strong boys!

If You Win It, Will They Come?

Via the Twitter:

THE_ADAM_JONES: If we were on the verge of clinching a playoff spot. How many fans would we have? Cause at the Trop there was about 1500 ppl. Ppl are pissed about 21 hours ago via Twitterrific


DAVIDprice14: Had a chance to clinch a post season spot tonight with about 10,000 fans in the stands....embarrassing about 21 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

"Obviously we want to bring a championship to Tampa. And we'd like more than 12,000 to 15,000 to know about it." --Evan Longoria

12,466 - Monday Night’s Attendence


Where to start? Will it ever end? While it might just now be perking the national consciousness, the attendance issue for Tampa Bay Rays games has been a bone of contention in the TBA for years. Ever since they’ve started playing in the Dome the radio airwaves have been filled with excuses as to why no one goes to the game.

For those of you not familiar with the arguments they go as follows:

St Pete is too far away and hard to get to. I mean there’s a bridge to cross!

In this economy who can afford to go to games what with their $5.00 parking, $10 tickets and bring your own food policy.?

The Trop is dreary. There should be an outdoor stadium.

The team sucks, why should I pay my hard earned money to go watch a minor league team?


For the longest time that last excuse was the most compelling. It was the easiest to throw out there, and perhaps the most true. After all, the majority of fans in the TBA aren’t natural Rays fans. The baseball fans have moved from other parts of the country so they are Red Sox fans, Yankee fans, Orioles fans (at least I was) first and Rays fans second.

Why should they fork over money to see Felix Martinez throw a ball into the stands or Ten-Run Sturtze give up another homerun? When their team was in town they would go, but that was it. Because they’re not Ray’s fans they are not going to the Wednesday night tilt to watch a bunch of castoffs play against the Royals.

Since 2008, however, that argument has been invalid. The Rays are no longer the laughing stock of the league. They have emerged as a legitimate power not only in the AL East, but in all of the major leagues. Even better, they are a fun team to watch. They pitch well, the run well, they hit...well not all the time, but most of the time.

You can make an argument that they have a potential future Cy Young winner in David Price, a future Hall of Famer in Carl Crawford and one of the best young hitters/fielders in Evan Longoria. With their level of talent and relatively bargain basement payroll this team is the envy of all other teams in the league. If the Rays players played for New York or Boston you would hate them because of all of the air time they would get on ESPN, MLB Network and the other media outlets in the world.

Not only are they a fun team to watch they are primarily a home grown team. Look at the starting rotation. With the exception of Matt Garza, the other 4/5ths of their rotation are comprised of players drafted by the organization. They aren’t the Yankees or Red Sox bringing in talent from the outside. These are “Tampa Bay guys” for the lack of a better term.

That’s why you’re seeing some of the disappointment seep through from the players (and I mean disappointment the same way you’re parents did when they said “I’m not mad at you, I’m just disappointed”). There was always that feeling that if the team was better the fans would rally up and support them and make the Trop a fun place to play.

You saw it in 2008 in the playoffs. When that building is full of Rays fans it is loud. Sure the cowbells are somewhat annoying, but it’s better than dead silence. It’s better than sitting in the left field bleachers and hearing the beer guy shout out his wares behind 1st base (that’s a true story, Rays vs. Pirates four or five years ago. “BEER HERE!” reverberated throughout the stadium).

Now they’re winning, and winning on a consistent basis. The town should be excited for the team, they should be supporting the team and yet the players look up and see row upon row of empty seats. This site has decried the presence of front running fans in the past, but now it would be nice to see them show up. Bandwagon, true fans, other fans, serial killer clowns, anyone would be welcome in the stands.

The players have lived up to their end of the bargain. No one likes owners based on principle, but Stu Sternberg has kept his promise. He’s funded a winning team. When the critics declared he would gut the team after buying them he proved them wrong by escalating the payroll and keeping the young talent around. When Andrew Friedman made the case for dropping $8 million on a closer, Sternberg signed the check. Everyone has kept their end of the bargain but the fans. They have to go to the games.

Where’s Sternberg’s payback? It certainly hasn’t been in his wallet. While he might not be hemorrhaging money or collecting food stamps he isn’t seeing the return he would like for the investment that he put in. At the end of the day it is, after all, his signature on the paychecks - not the fans. He has to see some sort of financial incentive or he will find a more lucrative place to house his team.

According to the U.S. Census there are about 2.7 million people living in the Tampa Bay Area. The TBA generally comprises Tampa, Clearwater, Sarasota, St Petersburg and the smaller surrounding cities like Brandon , Largo (LAR-GHETTO in the HOUSE!), and Dunedin. It’s hard to believe that out of that 2.7 million people there aren’t 150,000 folks dedicated enough to go to games on a regular basis.

Longoria and Price issued the appropriate apologies, but why should they have to? If they aren’t performing to par the fans have every right to criticize them. Can’t it work both ways? If the fans aren’t performing up to standard why shouldn’t the players be frustrated? Why do I ask so many questions in my posts?

Fans can’t have it both ways. If you say you won’t go because the team sucks, then you better go when they don’t suck. Simple isn’t it? If you don’t go then don’t get upset when the team is relocated to Las Vegas.

Congrats to Garza

Well done, Mr Garza. He's always had electric "stuff" nice to see him keep his head in the game long enough to close it out. Also, glad to see that ESPN set the record for number of times saying the word "no-hitter" during an actual no-hitter.

My five seconds with Matt Garza happened during the 2008 Spring Training. I was standing alongside one of the practice fields while he was making his way through the crowd signing autographs. Okay, it wasn't a crowd, it was like 10 people. Remember they hadn't transformed into the good Rays yet.

I offered him up a 2008 Topps to sign and he looked at it and said, "Yeah they took this right after I got my haircut." Ummm okay. It was an action shot of him pitching in a Twins road uniform. He chuckled signed the card and moved on.

Ever since he came to Tampa Bay he's been a bit of enigmatic wunderkind. From getting into a shouting match with Dionar Navarro on the mound to being named the ALCS MVP he's bounced all over the spectrum.

When Garza starts a game there is only one thing that is certain. He will spit. A lot. Other than that it's up in the air. He could throw 8 shut out innings or throw a hundred and twenty pitches by the fifth.

Despite a career high ERA (4.36 going into tonight's game) he's enjoying his best year in terms of winning. His 10 wins is only one off of his career high, and represent almost 30% of his career wins.

Perhaps he is starting to harness the movement that makes his pitches so hard to hit. His walks per nine winnings and his strikeouts per nine innings are both down while his WHIP is up. To me that represents more balls being put into play, which leads to fewer pitches per inning and he can last longer in the games. To point he has gone 6 or more innings in 13 of 19 starts before tonight. The no hitter makes it 14 out of 20, which my basic math puts at 70%.

Perhaps we are witnessing the coming of age of talented, but eccentric young pitcher. Bonus question for those of you still paying attention. Has any team been involved in 3 no-hitters or more in one season?