TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Maddon finalizes AL All-Star roster

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: July 5, 2009

Updated: 07/05/2009 12:24 am

ARLINGTON, Texas - Sometime around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Joe Maddon completed his first major mission as manager of the American League All-Star team, submitting his choices to fill out the AL roster to Major League Baseball.

After spending the better part of three days poring over statistical reports, consulting with his coaching staff and calling around to four or five other managers for input, getting it out of the way was a relief. Maddon's choices and the rest of the All-Stars will be announced at 1 p.m. today on TBS, and the Rays' manager will appear on the show via satellite hookup to review his squad.

"It's really good to get the choices all done," Maddon said. "It's one of those processes that, it's not easy, but you also know at the end that you're not going to please anybody by any stretch of the imagination.

"When you think about all the players and how statistical information is channeled and utilized today, it's hard - there's so many close calls. But you have to make that call. I think with all the information that we've gotten and all the conversations I've had, I feel comfortable with the names that we're presenting."

It sounds as if Maddon will have at least a few of his own players in the dugout for the July 14 game in St. Louis. He said on his Twitter account that the Rays "will be adequately represented" and later joked to reporters that he had no complaints.

"The manager did a nice job," he said.

Return to the scene

Rangers Ballpark brought out the best and worst in Matt Garza last season, with the latter leading directly to the former.

"I had a good one and a bad one," Garza said.

The bad one, June 8, included a confrontation with Dioner Navarro that began on the mound and spilled into the dugout, earning Garza a strong rebuke from Maddon and the coaches for his behavior.

He was a changed man from that point forward, tearing through the rest of the summer and posting a pair of complete-game shutouts along the way. The second of those came Aug. 15 back in Arlington, when he stifled the Rangers on two hits.

So even though Garza and the Rays have moved on, being here inevitably brought back memories.

"It's a blessing in disguise," Garza said. "It should have never gotten to that point, where I needed to reevaluate that bad, but it happens. It's over with and I'm better for it."

Can't stand the heat

The Rays didn't blame their sluggish performance in Friday's series opener on the searing Texas heat, but they did decide to alter their pregame routine for the rest of the weekend.

Tampa Bay's hitters didn't take batting practice on the field Saturday afternoon, as the sun beat down and pushed the heat index to 105 degrees. Instead, hitters did their own work in the indoor batting cages. They'll do the same before tonight's game.

It wasn't a big adjustment, as the Rays probably take on-field batting practice less often than any other team. Maddon prefers his hitters to just get loose and save their bullets for the game whenever possible.

"If you come out here on a warm day in Texas with the wind blowing out, it turns into home run derby anyway," Maddon said. "That's more for show than actual functionality. I like inside, in the tunnel, in a confined area, where all you're trying to do is hit line drives back where the ball came from. There's a lot to be said for that."

Farm facts

RHP John Meloan, acquired Thursday from the Indians, made his debut for Durham on Saturday. He allowed three hits and a run in one inning. ... The Rays released Durham RHP Dewon Day and demoted IF Chris Nowak to Montgomery.

Marc Lancaster

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT