I won a donut eating contest today.

Krispy Kreme.

Usually very delicious—but not in bulk.

It was to promote breast cancer awareness and push a partnership with Krispy Kreme.

But man o man does it hurt right now.

I feel so full, but I don’t really have anything to show for it (yet). Which got me to thinking about this year’s Tampa Bay Rays team.

I know, I know…strange segue.

The Rays came off an incredibly fun and successful season a year ago, yet managed to play alot of baseball this year that, ultimately, didn’t matter. I mean, these guys are sitting home while we watch the Yanks, Halos, Phils, and Dodgers (no nickname for them) fight it out to see who gets to play for the hill of beans.

As a fan, it makes you wonder if investing as much as you did in the team this past season was worth it. If watching the game, attending the minor and major league games, writing about the games, thinking about the team and debating who would be best at DH was all worth it.

I would argue that for about 95% of the season, it absolutely was. But during a 3 week stretch in August it seemed the Boys in Blue simply quit. Gave up. Had enough. And the season went kaput. Leaving fans feeling empty.

As I sit here feeling the opposite of empty (oh how I long for feeling empty soon), I think it is only fitting to consider the Rays’ positive accomplishments. The season disappointed, sure, but the fact is that many of the guys in uniform went all out. Left it all on the field. Played their hearts out.

Filled their stomachs with donuts (is that metaphor too forced?).

So over the next few posts I’ll be taking a look at the Rays good things from 2009.

I present the first post on the

2009 RAYS GOLDEN DONUT AWARDS.

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This Post: FIELDING

Most Fearsome Outfield Arm

This player’s arm is what makes him feared around the league. Not only can his speed take him to the ball quickly, but he is able to field it and throw it smoothly and accurately. Opponents do NOT run on this guy, but he is not a right fielder. What makes this player’s frustrating offensive numbers acceptable is that he more than makes up for it in center field. While he only tied for the team lead with 6 outfield assists, the fact is that that number would have been much higher had opposing teams dared to run home on him on singles up the middle.

THE GOLDEN DONUT AWARD GOES TO………

BJ UPTON

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Best “Incredible Catch” Maker

Though the name of this category might sound quite lame, the fact is that there is nothing lame about this guy’s incredible catch ability. He makes the difficult look routine—which is saying something considering the amount of ground he has to cover. Carl Crawford showed the world what he can do in an All-Star Game, but this outfielder does it every day on balls hit to left, right and center. His .990 fielding percentage was best among Rays outfielders, meaning he makes the tough catches and the easy ones equally well. I have seen some incredible catches made by this person, but the effortlessness he displayed catching a fly ball to the wall in the home opener against the Yankees was ridonkulous.

THE GOLDEN DONUT AWARD GOES TO………

BJ UPTON

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The “Love Him/Hate Him” Award

The Rays defense only got better when he arrived two seasons ago. His arm was strong and his range was sublime. He immediately made the team better. But you can often tell when he is going to float one over the first baseman’s head—typically on a smash he feels he has a ton of time to get over to first. His errors are often followed by something impressive in the field, but it is tough sometimes to overlook the .962 fielding percentage—well behind the league leader, Derek Jeter (.986). While his range is something to behold, his accuracy is not.  But let’s understand that range can save games even if the arm doesn’t hit its mark all the time.

THE GOLDEN DONUT AWARD GOES TO………

JASON BARTLETT

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The Game Saver

This position of this player is not easy—not that any of them are. But he makes every play that comes his way and never takes a play off. He doesn’t overthrow his first baseman and he miraculously will make the perfect throw to second base to start a double play whether he is running in towards home plate or diving to his right or left to snag a smash. It is a pure joy to see him field his position and you can typically depend on seeing at least one spectacular play per night. All I worry about is our becoming immune to the incredibly effortless plays he makes as we watch one of the best fielders in the league every single night.

THE GOLDEN DONUT AWARD GOES TO………

EVAN LONGORIA

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That about covers it as far as Fielding is concerned. The fact is that the Rays fell a long way in their fielding efficiency from their top 5 finish in 2008 to their bottom 11 finish in 2009 (after their bottom 5 finish in 2007).

Their record certainly seems to correlate with their fielding finish, that’s for sure.

It’ll be interesting to see what—or if—the Rays do to shore up their fielding in 2010. But rest assured, this is a team that relies on being able to get the ball where ever it is hit in the stadium. They thrive when they get it. They die when they don’t.

Next time I’ll award donuts to the guys on the offensive side of the ball.

Now where’s the Tums…

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 5:56 pm and is filed under News Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.