Comments on: Devil Rays Get Bargain in Iwamura

By: Jonathan C. Mitchell

Jonathan C. Mitchell — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:18:13 +0000

Thanks Jimmy! I really appreciate your suppoprt and rooting for my Rays! I hope you guys beat up on the Sox and Yanks too!

By: Jimmy Ardis

Jimmy Ardis — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 01:27:42 +0000

Hey man, I know you from myspace, I’m that Jimmy guy who’s always sending you random rants about the Rangers! Haha, great coverage and I wish your D-rays the best of luck next year (except when they’re playing the Rangers !) The Devil Rays look to be a very exciting team and honestly, it’d be nice to see someone besides the Yanks or Sox win that division! Blow ‘em out, boys!

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:14:37 +0000

I’ve never liked seeing Carl in a power position in the lineup. It always seems to me that he hits his HR’s when he doesn’t have to try to. Starting Iwamura down in the lineup may be good for the opening weeks, but if he has the patience and power to the gaps that he is said to have, I’d like to see him move up in front of Delmon so he could give the youngster more pitches to see. Also I still have faith in Gomes power, two years ago up until mid may last season he beat the ball to death, so I’d like to see him closer to the middle of the lineup. Thanks Jon, keep up the good work.

By: Jonathan C. Mitchell

Jonathan C. Mitchell — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:44:22 +0000

Thank you so much for your comment Tim. I’m glad there are other excited Rays fans in this world of bandwagon fans. I like your lineup but Joe Maddon has said it would look more like this:
1. R. Baldelli CF
2. D. Young RF
3. C. Crawford LF
4. T. Wigginton 1B
5. J. Cantu 2B
6. A. Iwamura 3B
7. J. Gomes DH
8. B. Zobrist SS
9. D. Navarro C

It’s explosive from 1-5 with “swing first ask questions later” hitters and 6-9 are more patient and love to work the pitcher.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 06:15:06 +0000

I’m pumped for this season. If we can keep ourselves away from injuries we could have one of the most explosive and exciting lineups in baseball. Hows this look?

1. C. Crawford LF
2. A. Iwamura SS
3. R. Baldelli CF
4. D. Young RF
5. J. Gomes DH
6. J. Cantu 2B
7. T. Wigginton 1B
8. B.J. Upton 3B
9. D. Navarro C

We can go from there and for happiness’ sake try not to think about pitching past Kazmir.

By: Jonathan C. Mitchell

Jonathan C. Mitchell — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 05:26:22 +0000

I think his bat will adjust just fine. Check these stats out:
1) He batted .389 in six games to help his team win the tournament.
2) He batted .440 with three doubles, one triple and seven stolen bases in the U.S.-Japan All-Star Series in 2004. He had a pair of hits off Roger Clemens in Japan’s 3-1 win in Game 5 of that series. The next day, he had a double, triple and an RBI in Japan’s 5-1 victory in Game 6. Iwamura then delivered a game-tying double in the ninth inning off Akinori Otsuka in Game 7 and subsequently scored the winning run in Japan’s 3-2 victory.

By: Russell Migl

Russell Migl — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:17:46 +0000

The Devil Rays got a great deal considering Akinori Iwamura is so good with the glove. Defensive is so under rated in MLB. I just hope his bat can adjust to the Major League pitching!

By: 3 Guys and a Sports Page - MySpace Blog

3 Guys and a Sports Page - MySpace Blog — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://sports.outsidethebeltway.com/) and I mainly cover the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but have permission to write about all Tampa area teams and all of the MLB. I hope you would all come by see my first post (http://sports.outsidethebeltway.com/2006/12/devil-rays-get-bargain-in-iwamura/) and comment on it. Thanks to all of you have not given up on us! We love and appreciat you all! Free in Christ, Jonathan C. Mitchell [IMG] Currently listening : Exit Lights By Falling Up