Jake Kuharich's Tampa Bay Rays Fan Profile

Rewrite, Rewrite! posted on 08/01/2008

If your reading through Joe Torre's screenplay, with the working title, "How I learned to stop worrying, and love L.A.", stop and put it down. There's been some revisions. A new central character has been added; a wayward seeker of truth, named Manny. The new opening takes place at a religious monastery, somewhere high up in the Berkshires... A wise Zen Master, played by Terry Francona, consults the forlorn Manny; both have shaved heads and are wearing meager robes. They sit across from each other, eyes closed in the lotus position, on the stone floor of a main hall of the monastery. They remain motionless as their conversation is heard in narration...

Zen Master: What is it you seek, Weed Hopper?

Manny: Only eternal enlightenment for my soul, Zen Master.

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American League Trading and Demolition Limited posted on 07/31/2008

The air is beginning to clear, now, as the dust settles from both the Chris Angel demolition escape stunt and the major league baseball non-waiver trade deadline... Both of these events proved to be not much ado about anything; despite the hype that promised the World, as we knew it, would be very different, in their aftermath. About the only thing that has changed, today, is the skyline of Clearwater Beach, where the scheduled hotel demolition took place and provided the backdrop for Mr. Angel's latest illusion... As for the latest baseball trading deadline, well it was mostly a case of the more things changed, the more they stayed the same...

Entering the final two months of the season, teams are gearing up for their run at the playoffs. August,  the Dog Days of Summer that they are, is usually the point at which the contenders and pretenders start to separate. The trade deadline provides the opportunity for teams to think outside the proverbial box, and the restraints of waivers, and pursue, yea perchance, obtain that missing player they seek; the piece of the puzzle they believe will provide their exodus to the promised land of the playoffs! Well, something like that... Let's see now, the Angels (Los Angeles of Anaheim, that is, not Chris), the team with the biggest lead in any division, eleven and a half games at this writing, upgraded their first base position by trading Casey Kotchman for Mark Teixeira. Good move on their part. Did they need to make the move? No, but they couldn't pass it up. Will it help them win their division? No, they have all but won their division, already; but it certainly couldn't hurt!  You gotta believe the division is theirs and they will win it going away...  The Central Division is an interesting study. The Twins did nothing. They seemingly never do anything, except hang around to the end, waiting for teams in front of them to stumble, and then pounce on the opportunity and win the division! The White Sox may have opened the door with their trade for Ken Griffey, Jr. Hey, Junior was a great player, in his prime; and, he's still a very good player at age 38. I just don't think you can count on him to be your everyday center-fielder at this stage of his career. On the other hand, Chicago has always had that softball team mentality; defense isn't necessarily their forte and they're just as content, and capable of out slugging the opposition. Winning games 14- 12 doesn't seem to bother them, despite the implications. So, maybe this is a good move for them. I personally don't think it will work out for Gang of Oz. Then there's the Phoenix, in the form of the Detroit Tigers. These guys have been pronounced DOA more times than Rasputin, this season! They decided they'd be better off without the services of a disgruntled Pudge Rodriquez, and traded him to the Yankees, for Kyle Farnsworth. Hey, who am I to argue with Motown? I agree with their logic completely. It's a great move by the Tigers, and getting Farnsworth was a bonus. Can they win the division? You know, Jim Leyland does bear a certain resemblance to Rasputin; especially around the eyes!

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Just money being money posted on 07/30/2008

The word is Manny Ramirez wants to be traded... All of a sudden, Manny feels like a lost sock in the laudrymat of oblivion! Is it angst or too much chowder? What it is, of course is about money. Just Manny being Manny has been the mantra coined by the Red Sox Nation all along. Welcome to the other side of that coin... Besides, where would he go, anyway? Don't get me wrong, Manny is one of the best hitters the game has ever seen. Any team on the Planet would love to have someone that hits above three hundred, slugs thirty to fifty home runs, and drives in a hundred and thirty runs a year routinely. No doubt Manny produces offense; he always has. Now, his defense on the other hand is another story. Manny puts the adventure back into the pop up! Sure, he's a graduate of the Roberto Duran, hands of stone school of fielding, and most times, he couldn't catch a cold in a draft, but he can perform adequately most of the time. Any team could certainly live with his defense considering his offensive prowess. Let's just say the Red Sox are willing to trade Manny, and I believe they are. Boston has always been willing to part with a disgruntled player; they have a good understanding of the addition by subtraction theory. So, who wants him? For the sake of conversation, let's say all the details could be worked out to everyone's mutual satisfaction, and while I really don't think the Red Sox would trade him to any team in their division, they did that once and it came back to haunt them for quite awhile (some guy named, Ruth); again, just for the sake of argument, I offer up Manny and the Rays... On paper, it sounds like a great fit; Tampa could sure use a right handed power hitter in the middle of their line up, and Manny could just DH and never have to worry about the fielding part of the game. Bad idea. The Rays are where they are by building mostly from  within the organization. Yes, they've made some shrewd trades to get certain players and shown a willingness to go outside the orgaization to get the parts they feel will fit the overall chemistry of the ball club. Manny isn't a guy that brings chemistry to a team; lumber, yes. Besides, after the "Power Failure" gamble of the previous owner, I think the current ownership has the right idea, and would balk at getting Manny in the present mix... Very much like that Barry Bonds nonsense, earlier in the season; yes, the offensive numbers look very tempting, but, it's all about the luggage!  Until next time... Godspeed, Pilgrims. 

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