Forrest’s Fanatics Blog

The Tampa Bay Rays have made their way to the 2008 World Series, and it has been done in absolute storybook fashion. They won the talented American League East Division, which consisted of two of the richest franchises in all of sports, the New York Yankees and the defending World Series Champion, Boston Red Sox. In addition, they also got past a tough mid-pack Toronto Blue Jays team, and a lowly-but-upset-worthy Baltimore Orioles ballclub. After a year filled with drama and key injuries to players at the seemingly worst times, they have punched their ticket to one of the most exciting fall classics in recent memory.

Tampa Bay Lineup Rundown

Catcher - Dioner Navarro: The former Yankees top prospect has been stellar behind the plate for the Rays, and he has also delivered for the lineup as well. Navarro hit .295 with 7 home runs for the Rays during the regular season, and turned into one of the league’s best young catchers.

First Base - Carlos Pena: After failing to make clubs like the Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, and New York Yankees, Pena caught on with the Rays and turned in a stellar season. Though he only batted .247 on the year, he was the main source of power on this power/speed hybrid lineup, contributing 31 home runs. He also drove in a significant amount of runs, with 102 RBI on the year. Pena is a reliable mid-lineup bat who should drive Philadelphia pitchers crazy when he hits a tater or two.

Second Base - Akinori “Aki” Iwamura: Iwamura was brought over from Japan to solidify the Rays middle-infield, and he has certainly done his part. Aki led the team in at-bats, and led the team in runs (91), providing a stable force at the top of the Rays lineup. Despite not being the flashiest player, Aki knows exactly what he needs to do: get on base so the big bats in this lineup can drive him in.

Third Base - Evan Longoria: The top prospect on this Rays ballclub, Longoria broke through with a massive statistical year, providing 27 home runs and an above average .272 batting average. He was injured for a bit of the season, however, so his statistical numbers could have been even better. Longoria has obviously been one of the biggest contributors to Tampa’s postseason success: keep a close eye on him as he is the main driving force behind Tampa’s ability to generate offense.

Shortstop - Jason Bartlett: Trading away Delmon Young and middle infielder Brendan Harris didn’t seem like the best idea on first glance, but Bartlett has done just as much as Harris, just in different statistical categories. With a .286 batting average and 20 stolen bases, Bartlett is one of the more underrated offensive players on this Rays ballclub. The guy obviously doesn’t hit for power, but the team appreciates his consistent batting style of play and his grittiness. Bartlett normally hits 9^th for the Rays.

Left Field - Carl Crawford: The longest tenured Ray on the roster, Crawford has matured quickly and taken to his veteran role on the young club. As a whole, Crawford did not have that impressive of a statistical year, but it was still solid. Part of the reason of this is due to injuries, but his .273 batting average and 25 stolen bases certainly contributed in their own way. Many fantasy baseball owners were expecting Crawford’s power to improve, but it regressed this year (8 HRs).

Center Field - BJ Upton: Another former top prospect on the Rays roster, Upton is merely a carbon copy of Crawford, with more speed. Upton has a better batting eye than Crawford, but also strikes out fairly often. On the season, Upton was successful on 44 out of 60 stealing chances, and his speed will undoubtedly affect the outcome of this postseason for Tampa.

Right Field - Gabe Gross: A pickup from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier on in the season, Gross has provided a decent amount of power (13 HRs), but his batting average is still well below replacement level. Gross does get on base more often than Crawford and Bartlett, however, so he is pretty darn good for a weak cog in the lineup.

Designated Hitter - Cliff Floyd: Who would have thought that Floyd would have responded with the kind of offensive season that he has? It won’t knock your socks off, but Floyd has hit .268 with 11 home runs on the season: not bad for a player who merely DHs and can’t play defense.

Rotation Breakdown

Scott Kazmir: Kazmir was injured during the course of the season, and stumbled a bit coming into the playoffs, but this guy can certainly pitch at a high level. The Rays have been dependent on this guy since he came over from the New York Mets in the lopsided Victor Zambrano deal. Kazmir strikes out batters like nobody’s business, and should find continued success as he starts off Game 1 for the Rays this year.

James Shields: Arguably the best pitcher on the Rays, Shields led all pitchers on the Rays with 215 innings pitched on the year. His K-BB ratio was better than Kazmir, coming in at 160-40. He was 14-8 with a 3.56 ERA on the year. Shields is solid and a great #2 behind Scott Kazmir.

Matt Garza: Also involved in the Delmon Young deal, Garza has matured quickly into one of the league’s best young pitchers. He had a 3.70 ERA on the year with a 128-59 K/BB ratio. In addition, Garza also pitched a fantastic game in Game 7 of the ALCS. Look for Garza to also find success pitching against the Phillies in the World Series.Andy Sonnanstine: Sonnanstine is purely a control artist, but he can dominate in style at times. He only walked 37 batters in 193.1 innings pitched, which is a stellar number. “Sonny” should be pitching in this series as well, and is a stellar option as a fourth starter: he would be #3 or #2 on most other teams.

Bullpen Breakdown

JP Howell: Howell quickly evolved into one of the league’s best long relief guys, acquiring a 6-1 record with a 2.22 ERA on the year. Howell pitched some big innings for the team in the playoffs so far, and he is great for 6^th and 7^th inning duties. I expect Howell to do a great job against the Philly hitters.

Dan Wheeler: Wheeler had been solid for the Rays up until the ALCS, where he contributed to one of the biggest playoff game collapses of all time. There’s no denying his skills though: he was 5-6 with a 3.12 ERA on the season.

Grant Balfour: The former Minnesota Twin had even better in-season numbers than Wheeler, but he has not played well in this year’s playoffs. Balfour’s role may be reduced in the World Series, because it appears as if he is struggling with his control.

David Price: The Rays secret weapon is going to be used early and often in this series, but not necessarily in the closer’s role. Look for the former #1 overall pick to have a significant impact from here on out. I think Price may be as good, if not better, than Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees. Watch out for his killer fastball and lots of baffled Philadelphia hitters.

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Absolutely incredible.

There is only one way to describe how stellar the Tampa Bay Rays have been this year. Quickly turning into “America’s Underdog,” the media kept doubting this young ballclub before they finally won the ALCS last night, capping an awesome season and proving their worthiness at the top of baseball.

The Rays took down the defending World Series Champions, the Boston Red Sox, and they did it with class and style. They didn’t lose their poise after blowing a seven run lead. Even a pressure-packed Game 6 loss didn’t seem to faze this young team: they were good to go for Game 7 and gave it everything they had.

The Red Sox and Rays looked to be fairly evenly matched, but make no doubt about it: the Tampa Bay Rays have the better baseball club in 2008, and they will represent the American League well.

The National League Championship belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, and they did it with ease as they took down the Los Angeles Dodgers and their newest acquisition, Manny Ramirez. The Phillies will be going on to the World Series, something they haven’t since 1993.

Led by major power hitter Ryan Howard and speedster Jimmy Rollins, this is a lineup built to go deep in the playoffs. However, question marks at the starting pitching level will knock this team down a notch. Can Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer hold up behind the resurgent Brett Myers and the top pitcher Cole Hamels? It is yet to be seen.

One thing that both of these teams have in common is a stellar bullpen. Both bullpens are deep and can work anywhere from mop-up duty to holding late inning leads. I am fond of Brad Lidge as a closer for the Phillies, so they have somewhat of an advantage here. The Rays had problems finding consistency at the end of the playoff series, but I really like David Price to contribute in a big way in the 2008 World Series. The guy can really pitch despite only being a rookie: his fastball is extremely deceptive.

All in all, it is difficult for anyone to pick a winner of the series. If I had to pick today, I would go with the Rays in seven. There is so much truth to the statement, “There’s only one October.” This is sure to be one for the ages, and will be an absolute joy to watch and follow.

The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots will battle it out tonight on Monday Night Football. Who has the upper hand in this matchup?

DENVER BRONCOS KEYS

New England’s defense is undoubtedly in for a big challenge tomorrow night. The Broncos high flying offense has regressed to the mean as of late, but they are still incredibly efficient. Led by top QB Jay Cutler, look for an aerial assault against a weaker New England secondary. The running game is questionable, which is rare for the Broncos, but RB Michael Pittman should provide good short yardage and goal line carries, making this unit even more dangerous. As for the defense, look for them to have some trouble as well. If the defense can prove to stop the run early on, they will force New England QB Matt Cassel to make passes that he really won’t want to make. If they can force turnovers, they will win the football game.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS KEYS

Led by QB Matt Cassel, this isn’t your 2007 New England squad by any means. However, the backfield should be fairly productive tonight. Look for RB Sammy Morris and RB Kevin Faulk to split carries, and Faulk should also contribute in the receiving game. Cassel has top WR Randy Moss to throw to, and he should take advantage of a potentially great matchup against the Broncos secondary. On defense, they will struggle to defend against the pass, as the Broncos could chuck it 30+ times. However, if they can stop the short-yardage, third-down running from Pittman, they could win this football game.

After the Red Sox-Rays game last night, I couldn’t sleep.  I stayed up real late and didn’t even turn on Sportscenter to watch anything sports.

How can a team blow a seven run lead like that?  It was one of the most heartbreaking things to watch and have to experience.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

When David Ortiz homered and the score became 7-4, all Rays fans around the world started cringing.  When JD Drew homered, we started worrying.  When JP Howell came on and couldn’t seal the deal, it was one of the most disheartening things I have ever seen in sports.

I woke up this morning and had to pinch myself: did I really see what I saw last night?  Scott Kazmir actually pitched well, and the (normally)  lethal bullpen combination of Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler, and JP Howell blew it?

As a Rays fan, you have to trust Joe Maddon’s moves.  His outside-the-box thinking has been a big reason why the Rays have found the success they have this season.

James Shields better pitch a complete game shutout tomorrow night.  Or I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Never in my entire life would I have imagined that I would have cared so much about this news, but my 1-5 fantasy football team just lost its’ starting quarterback for the entire year.  Jon Kitna, a quarterback that football fans have to just LOVE over the past few years, was placed on the IR today.

Heres a hint Jon: STOP PREDICTING TEN WINS.  Your offense is horrible (see Dan Orlovsky), your defense is horrible, and the Lions are the worst team in the league.

Not to mention, the Lions traded away the good Roy Williams today to the Dallas Cowboys.  This team is going nowhere fast anyway, so why not stock up on the draft picks that they’re just going to blow.  Hopefully with Millen gone, they can start making some good selections with regard to their draft selections.

Fantasy football players actually viewed Kitna as a pretty good player, so this news was a bit of a surprise when I turned on ESPN today.  Hopefully, Orlovsky gets the message to NOT step out of his own endzone this week.  That was really embarrassing for him…almost as embarrassing as Kitna running up the wrong score at the end of the Green Bay game.

More posts coming in the future…had a busy week preparing for midterms but it seems to be mostly in the past now.

If any day in the fall is the worst day for sports, it has to be Wednesday.  Think about it:

Monday -> Monday Night Football

Tuesday -> “Interactive Tuesday” (normally featuring a college football game between teams from the Sun Belt or other comparable, crappy conference)

Wednesday -> ???

Thursday -> College football spotlight matchup, normally!

Friday -> (See Thursday)

Saturday/Sunday -> Self-explanatory.

Heck, the MLB playoffs aren’t even on tonight.  Guess it’s probably a good time to get some homework done (NOT!).  Here’s a rundown of some headlines that are catching my attention tonight.

Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was fired by the Tigers head coach, Tommy Tuberville.  Does this really come as a shock to anyone, really?  Auburn’s offense is a standout (in a bad way) 104th in the NCAA in total offense.  103rd in scoring.  103rd in passing offense.  Yeah, that’s pretty bad.

And not too long ago, Tony Franklin called it “the best problem he ever had.”

The spread offense has really caught on and become the next big thing in college football, but I truly question its’ effectiveness unless the system has the right players.  I mean, look at the disaster of Michigan football, and you get my point.  Good luck to Mr. Franklin on finding a new job, but this move was definitely made at the right time…Auburn would have lost a few more games if he had stayed at the helm.

Sox and Dawgs  put together a nice news and notes piece on the Red Sox-Rays series.  Lots of good information in there that you should probably check out.  This is going to be a great, action-packed, potentially-fight-ensuing matchup, so you better be watching.  The Rays are going to win this series without a problem and advance to the first World Series in their franchise history.  Can’t wait.

Without being a homer here, I’d have to say that the Rays have the advantage from a pitching staff and bullpen standpoint.  If they can continue to play solid, fundamental baseball both at bat and in the field, they should be good to go.  I smell another massive series for Evan Longoria.

Adam “Pac-Man” Jones is nuts.  The guy is going to be out of the league in a short time…no one is going to put up with these kind of antics.  Well, everyone except the Bengals.

Marcus Ginyard of the UNC Tarheels is out for eight weeks.  One big side note, Ginyard went to a high school about 20 minutes away from mine!  Okay, now thats out of my system…this could really hurt UNC in the short term.  Ginyard’s a true leader and will be depended on to get some big minutes logged for Coach Roy Williams.  Hope the guy gets better soon.

Week 5 was a week jam-packed with excitement, culminating in a last minute victory for the Vikings on Monday night.  Which players had the most impressive performances from Week 5?

QB - Kyle Orton, Chicago Bears (24-34, 330 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 121.4 QB Rating)

Before you jump to any massive conclusions about the young slinger, realize that he was playing the lowly Detroit Lions.  But if you watched this game on Saturday, you saw a quarterback who appeared fearless: he delivered good throws to his receivers all game long.  He had a great start to the football game, delivering the football to six different receivers and willing to spread the ball around.

RB - Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants (15 carries, 136 rush yards, 2 TD, 9.1 yards/carry)

I could have easily given the gameball to Portis, but Jacobs simply put up a massive stat line this week for his owners.  This guy is a member in a three-headed backfield, and he is still able to post this line!  One big reason to his inflated numbers were his two breakaway runs.  Yes, two breakaway runs of 44 and 38 yards.  Big guys can run after all!

WR - Andre Johnson, Houston Texans (9 catches, 131 rec yards, TD)

So the Colts have a terrible defense…good news for all of you Johnson owners!  He absolutely manhandled the Indianapolis secondary, playing a physical style of play against CB Marlin Jackson, and making tough catches in traffic.  The former Miami star has really blossomed into one of the best WRs in the league.  Not to mention: he posted these numbers with SAGE ROSENFELS.  More like Sage Rosen-Bust.  Okay, bad joke.

TE  - Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins (8 catches, 109 yards, TD)

The overly effective Jason Campbell has allowed Cooley to step out onto his own in the fantasy spotlight.  Weeks 2, 3, and 5 have been his best statistical weeks, and I’m sure there are more to come in the near future.  The guy is just so “cool”: I mean, he has his own blog and everything.  Any guy who can post on a blog and then go out and catch 8 balls for 109 yards is a winner in my book.  Ohh, and thanks for holding Santana Moss catchless (had him on two of my four teams as a starter).

K - John Carney, New York Giants (3-3 FG, 5-5 XP, 14 total points)

I really ponder the necessity of a kicker gameball, but this just in: Carney is the best kicker in the league.  The NYG offense has been flying high and providing him with a plethora of kicking opportunities to date.  If he is still available in your league (his bye week was two weeks ago), roster this guy and forget about the position for the rest of the season.

Terrell Owens took some time after today’s game to explain his post-game comments yesterday.

First off, Terrell Owens said that he has never talked to Romo about getting the ball more.  Honestly Terrell, do you really think anyone is going to buy that?  Owens knows how important he is to the Cowboys, and his skill set is still elite.  Jerry Jones took the effort and money to bring him into the organization…so why don’t you actually target him in the first half?

Owens got a ridiculous number of targets (18) in the Redskins game the previous week, so the few opportunities that he received today was quite a surprise.  Look for his targets to pick up, and quickly.  Other than Witten, who does Romo really have to throw to?  Miles Austin?  Patrick Crayton?  Give me a break!

More news out of Dallas today, as well, with the former Longhorns WR Roy Williams possibly in trade discussions.  Let me get this straight…you draft all of those bust WR’s (Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, etc.), and you trade the only one that pans out?  I’ll give the Detroit organization credit for Calvin Johnson, though.

They want DeMarcus Ware.  Sorry Dallas, you’re going to get ripped off if you trade Ware or Carpenter.

Well, here I am again!  My name is Forrest Kobayashi, and this is my brand new sports blog, Forrest’s Fanatics.  Well, kind of brand new…this blog was one of the most popular blogs in the SportingNews blogging community, and I hope that I can bring you some exciting, fresh, thought-provoking content in the future months and years!

The main reason for creation of this blog was for one sole reason: sports should have no boundaries.  While some people may “like” certain sports over others, I feel that any sport has the ability to make a significant impact on us as a people.  This blog is going to defy traditional “niche blogging” standards…no one team or sport will dominate the content.  

Why no real focus?  Because I love sports.  Sports have had a profound impact on my life, and I’m sure they have probably impacted your life as well, in one way or another.  Growing up in the DC area, I found it incredibly difficult to latch onto “hometown” teams.  Some people have even called me a bandwagoner.  Despite all of this, my intense love for sports has never failed me, and I have learned a lot over the past two years of my in-depth blogging.

And another thing…sports should be fun.  Everything about them.  Whether it’s the intense last minute drive down the field, winning a fantasy football championship, or watching TO’s latest antics, everything about sports is fun.  I hope that the content I provide you on this website is always high quality, laid back, and most importantly, demonstrates my incredible passion and love for sports.

Well, thanks for reading this short introduction.  If you want to learn more about the blog and get a short FAQ…I’m going to have to refer to the “About” page of this website (it should be completed later today).  There, you should receive more (useful) information than you would ever imagine.

Forrest