D-Rays and Red Sox

I think this whole upstart Red Sox/Devil Rays rivalry is ridiculous. For starters, you've got Lance Carter, who, while he was a 2003 All-Star, did not have his picture on ESPN.com until midway through the 2004 season. This is a fact. This guy is throwing the ball at guy's heads. Whether this was his intent, we'll talk about later. And you've got a bench-clearing scuffle, because that's all it was. (I wish Pedro was still on the Sox, because I would watch a D-Ray game if I thought there was a 1 in 5,000,000 chance I could see Lou Piniella rush him, a la Don Zimmer. I think Lou's got it in him.) But then, you've got Lou sticking up for Lance, saying, "We didn't throw at guy's heads, but if we're thrown at, we'll defend ourselves." Then, you've got Schilling calling Lou Piniella an "idiot" who doesn't know how to play the game, and mentioning that the Rays players were saying that Lou is the reason they're a lock to lose 100 games a year and that he makes them throw at guys. Then, you've got Lou firing back that he's forgotten more baseball than Schilling will ever know, and he's disappointed in Schilling and is sure none of his guys would ever say that.

Here's the bottom line. The Devil Rays aren't a team of fiery competitors. They're not the 1986 Mets, they don't have a Kevin Mitchell running around dragging guys around the infield. The Devil Rays are one of the worst teams in baseball. They're a team of unknowns. And they don't have a deep bullpen of relievers with pinpoint, Greg Maddux-like control. From time to time, the ball is gonna sail away from them. Now, I'm not saying Lance v. Ortiz was an accident. However, is it really that unlikely that Carter might've aimed for Ortiz's forearm, and missed by a few inches? Here's the other thing. Boston doesn't need to throw at Devil Rays. They're not gonna lose the division because Devil Ray hitters come a little inside on Arroyo's dish. On the same token, Devil Ray pitchers don't need to defend themselves, from anything. As has been mentioned, they can't even defend themselves correctly. So lets move on.

By the way, Devil Ray pitchers hit 3 Blue Jays the following Tuesday after the Boston Series.