Ray Stung By Stingray

07:19 AM ET 05.27 |

Ah, the irony. Infielder Sean Rodriguez earned a painful distinction this week he could do without: the first Ray to be stung by a stingray.

Rodriguez was on the beach Monday morning behind his Redington Beach rental condo when he took his 2-year-old daughter, Sofia, a couple of feet into the water for a closer look at some dolphins.

A few steps (and a stingray shuffle or two) later, he saw something flash through the water and felt something on his right heel. "I actually thought it was a catfish at first, that it grazed me. I didn't think much of it," Rodriguez said.

"And then I got out of the water, and I was like whoooaaaa."

St. Petersburg Times

Happy Birthday!

Tampa Bay Devil Ray (and Red Sox nemesis) Evan Longoria turns 24 today. He has run up an impressive resume for such a young player. However, I will always remember when he turned up in our Fantasy Baseball league in 2008 that Lee called him EVA Longoria. To me, he will always be Eva.

The 2008 Season is over.

The Phillies defeat the Devil Rays in 5 games.

While I obviously wanted the Sox to repeat, I think this is an okay runner-up scenario.

Cole Hamels was named MVP of both the NLCS and the World Series.

Joy of Sox put it best..."The Red Sox are no longer baseball's defending champions."

Wait 'Till Next Year

So they didn't make it. I think I am okay with it. I think that going to bed during game five thinking it was over helped soften the blow. And I think it would have been worse to go to the Series and lose there, to be honest with you. Looking at how far we made it in the condition we were in makes me happy.

I am quite impressed that NO member of the Sox is embarrassing themselves the way John Lackey did when the Angels lost. Look at these quotes:

    "I feel like there's no losers in here tonight," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "We got beat by a team that's playing great. We congratulate them. I still feel like this was a championship effort this year. [It's] something for the organization to be proud of. It's baseball. You don't win all the time. The effort was incredible. Every guy here left it all on the field." 

and

    "It definitely hurts," said Youkilis. "We battled so hard and had a great year of battling through a lot of adversity and a lot of things. We fell short. I feel like I should have done a little bit more, I think tonight and other parts of the series. I put a lot on my shoulders. I think I didn't carry this team enough tonight when there were some opportunities I could have."

and

    "You get used to a certain level, playing in this Red Sox uniform," said closer Jonathan Papelbon. "I don't think anybody else expected us to lose. It's just, these are the circumstances and it happened. We gave ourselves a chance to win. We fell just a little bit short. Year after year, we're going to put ourselves in a position to win championships. You can't ask for anything else." 

Pretty classy.

And once again.....

It all comes down to this man.....

Did You Know?

The Red Sox have history on their side.

Under manager Terry Francona, the Red Sox are 8-1 in potential elimination games.

Since the ALCS became a best-of-seven series in 1985, six teams have taken a 3-2 edge into Game 6 with the home-field advantage. Three of those teams won Game 6 to advance to the World Series, one lost Game 6 but then won Game 7, and two teams lost both Games 6 and 7 at home.

The last time...when the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in 2004.

One game, one inning, one out at a time!!!

I know a win is a win...

...but that was cheap.