Results tagged “devilrays”

Former A's pitcher Joe Kennedy, 28, died at his home in Florida this morning. At this time the cause of death is officially unknown, but it was "sudden" and a brain aneurysm is rumored to be at fault, according to the Chronicle. Making his major league debut in 2001 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kennedy went on to play for other teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Toronto Blue Jays, and of...

We have to admit that we're not terribly excited about the All Star Game next Tuesday. None of the players who play really care despite the "This Time it Matters" hype and usually by the sixth inning, when most of the actual stars are flying back in their rented private jets, you get all the excitement of watching some reliever for the Devil Rays facing off against some guy from the Nationals. The only thing that will make it worth watching is to see the ball park and the city get shown off. Well, that and they're expecting so many boats in the Cove that the Giants will only allow boats that register to be out there. We love when the Cove is filled with boats.

Sometimes a loss can be a victory and this is one of those losses that looks like a victory. Except in the win column where it really counts. The Niners came out right from the start loaded for bear and scored a TD with Alex Smith hooking up with Vernon Davis on their very first drive. The Cards then went on to take a 21-7 lead but the Niners kept coming and coming and coming, only to finally go down in defeat when Smith's Hail Mary pass fell incomplete. In fact, the Niners could claim they won all the big things but lost due to the small things, like penalties and missed passes and one missed field goal. Which sounds pretty bad if you're a contending team but really good if you're pretty much not. Oh, and Frank Gore is the man. His two-yard TD run where he basically just pushed himself into the end zone was the kind of football that would have made Vince Lombardi smile.

These are not good days for the Stanford University Cardinal. In an upset with all sorts of subtext, the Cardinal lost to San Jose State University, 35-34 as SJSU came from 20 points behind. This is a huge victory in the same way it was a huge victory when all the slobs beat the snobs in those early 80's teen comedies. Stanford turned the ball over three teams in the second half-- one of them being an interception in the end zone-- and were completely unable to stop a rampaging Spartan running game. With two minutes left in the game, Stanford drove down the length of the field only to have Spartan defender Rakine Toomes knock the ball from WR Evan Moore's hands. SJSU is now 1-1 and Stanford is 0-2.

It's looking like one of those pitching kids the Giants have been bragging about for years might be living up to the hype. We're talking about Matt Cain, of course, who won yet another game, 4-0 against the Whale Vagina Padres. We love when the Giants play the Pads because they seem to beat them everytime, even when the Pads are in the midst of a five game winning streak. Anyways, Cain pitched seven innings, gave up one hit (he had a no-no going into the sixth), and no runs. In his past five starts he has given up one earned run in thirty-four innings and an era that was once over seven is now under four. Expect his arm to blow out sometime early next season.

For perennial doormats like the Chicago Blackhawks, snakebit franchises like the Arizona Cardinals, and irrelevant standings stuffers like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, hope springs eternal in the preseason. So it is, yet again, with this year's East Bay ballers. For about the fifth year in a row, the Warriors' marketing department is trying to hype us on the upcoming season as one of promise and playoffs. To quote Jim Mora, "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs?"

When the A's left the Bay Area for nine games against Tampa Bay and Cleveland, we at A's Brand Baseball wrote: