The Blue Workhorse

What can we say about Mr. Hanley Ramirez, the preseason number 1 overall player? He just finished a week where a clubbed a couple grand slams and drove in 15 runs. His overall campaign now looks like .333 AVG / 47 R / 11 HR / 51 RBI / 11 SB; however all his owners would like the steals to increase from a guy who has stole 50 in the past.

“Bossman” BJ Upton had another nice week and continues to shine in the month of June. Upton went .348 over the past week with a homer and two steals, upping his total to 28 bags. It looks like the window has passed to buy low on Upton as he finally has things going and displaying that 5 category potential.

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In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we discuss the Braves come-from-behind victory over Milwaukee and Chipper Jones having possibly the greatest game of his career. We also discuss the Rays formerly reliable bullpen blowing a game against the Yanks and a chance to close the gap in the division:
Current Series:
Atlanta -

Friday: Brewers 4, Braves 0 (WP - Gallardo, LP - Jurrjens)
Saturday: Brewers 3, Braves 0 (WP - Suppan, LP - Vazquez, SV - Hoffman)
Sunday: Braves 8, Brewers 7 (WP - O’Flaherty, LP - Villanueva, SV - Gonzalez)

On Deck: Four game series vs. Pittsburgh Pirates beginning Monday
Tampa Bay -

Saturday: Rays 9, Yankees 7 (WP - Howell, LP - Rivera, SV - Choate)
Sunday: Yankees 4, Rays 3 (WP - Aceves, LP - Balfour, SV - Rivera)
Monday: @ New York (A) - 7:05 PM EST (Sonnanstine - Pettitte)

On Deck: Three game series @ Los Angeles of Anaheim beginning Tuesday

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One year ago on The Blue Workhorse it was the day after the benches clearing brawl between the Rays and Red Sox when Coco Crisp pulled a Matrix move dodging James Shields haymaker only to get pummeled in the pile. Heisman discussed the fight as well as some other less than flattering baseball fight moments.

Catfight [The Blue Workhorse]

In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we discuss the Rays’ epic fail known as the 8th and 9th inning of Monday’s game at Cleveland and the Braves falling in the first game of their west coast trip despite Brian McCann’s perfect offensive day:
Current Series:
Atlanta -

Monday: Giants 8, Braves 2 (WP - Sanchez, LP - Vazquez)
Tuesday: @ San Francisco - 10:15 PM EST (Medlan - Lincecum)
Wednesday: @ San Francisco - 10:15 PM EST (Kawakami - R. Johnson)

On Deck: Four game series @ Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Thursday
Tampa Bay -

Monday: Indians 11, Rays 10 (WP - Sowers, LP - Isringhausen)
Tuesday: @ Cleveland - 7:05 PM EST (Garza - Pavano)
Wednesday: @ Cleveland - 7:05 PM EST (Sonnanstine - TBD)
Thursday: @ Cleveland - 12:05 PM EST (Niemann - Huff)

On Deck: Three game series vs. Minnesota Twins beginning Friday

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Aki Iwamura was injured  on this “slide” by rookie Chris Coghlan. He had to be carted off the field following the play and is likely headed to the DL for an extended stay. (Photo: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we discuss the Braves sweeping the Blue Jays thanks to a 7-run, 7th inning [...]

In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we discuss Bobby Cox shaking up the lineup to success and the Rays’ missed opportunities that ruined a great outing by Big Game James:
Current Series:
Atlanta -

Monday: Rockies 5, Braves 1 (WP - Marquis, LP - Lowe)
Tuesday: Braves 8, Rockies 1 (WP - Jurrjens, LP - Hammel)
Wednesday: vs. Rockies - 7:00 PM EST (Jorge De La Rosa - Javier Vazquez)
Thursday: vs. Rockies - 7:00 PM EST (Aaron Cook - Kris Medlan)

On Deck: Three game series vs. Toronto Blue Jays beginning Friday
Tampa Bay -

Monday: Rays 13, Athletics 4 (WP - Niemann, LP - Gallagher)
Tuesday: Athletics 4, Rays 1 (WP - Casilla, LP - Wheeler)
Wednesday: vs. Athletics - 7:08 PM EST (Brett Anderson - Scott Kazmir)
Thursday: vs. Athletics - 4:08 PM EST (Dallas Braden - Matt Garza)

On Deck: Three game series @ Florida Marlins beginning Friday

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In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we discuss the Rays’ wild and wacky victory over Cleveland that included pitcher Andy Sonnanstine batting third, Carl Crawford with a catch off the wall that wasn’t really a catch, and a benches clearing roar caused by Eric Wedge putting in his closer just to try to hit B.J. Upton while the Braves were rained out:
Current Series:
Atlanta -

Friday: Braves 4, Diamondbacks 3 (WP - Gonzalez, LP - Pena)
Saturday: Diamondbacks 12, Braves 0 (WP - Scherzer, LP - Kawakami)
Sunday: vs. Diamondbacks - 1:30 EST (Jon Garland - Derek Lowe) rain out

On Deck: Four game series vs. Colorado Rockies beginning Monday
Tampa Bay -

Thursday: Indians 11, Rays 7 (WP - Carmona, LP - Shields)
Friday: Rays 8, Indians 7 (WP - Wheeler, LP - Vizcaino)
Saturday: Rays 4, Indians 2 (WP - Garza, LP - Pavano, SV - Nelson)
Sunday: Rays 8, Indians 7 (WP - Sonnanstine, LP - Huff, SV - Percival)

On Deck: Four game series vs. Oakland Athletics beginning Monday

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Every year, while others blatantly either just vote for players that play on their favorite teams (yea, you, Cubs fans) or from their country (yea, you, Japanese fans voting for Hideki Matsui) or just straight up don’t know anything about baseball (yea, you, anyone who didn’t have a problem with Jason Varitek being an All-Star last year), I try to come as close to being unbiased as is possible of a big-time fan when making my MLB All-Star votes 20-30 times.

So while everyone else is getting it wrong, here’s who I’ll be voting into this season’s MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis (all stats as of Saturday):