Wait a minute… I thought the Rays were supposed to suck this year.

Remember how unfair this off season was?How Soriano, Crawford, Bartlett, Pena, Wheeler, Garza and everyone including Evan Longoria’s hat have left Tampa Bay and it was all that was wrong with baseball?How they had a nice team that the unjust baseball economics destroyed while the Yankees and Red Sox got stronger?Well here we are about 25% of the way through the season, the Red Sox can’t put a

Kyle Farnsworth's ability to disappoint never disappoints.

I will never understand how a major league pitcher could throw a game ending bases loaded walk. Seriously, lob the damn ball down the center of the plate? What's the worst thing that can happen?A walk off grand slam.But at least you made the hitter take a cut.Throw one away and you literally hand the game over.That's Kyle Farnsworth for you. The Rays are going to discover what the Cubs, Yankees,

MANNY RAMIREZ RETIRES!

Well it looks like Manny Ramirez used some fertility pills again.Evidently he was going to be asked to take part in some drug program for baseball and he said "Check please!"So he quit.Manny was Manny to the end.He retired after 5 games with Tampa.He hit his final home run last September 17th against Max Scherzer.He was a member of the White Sox.Now let the Hall of Fame debate begin.Thanks for

Looks like the Rays have a 2005 fetish as well

First the Yankees had their odd 2005 obsession.Now it is Tampa's turn.Damon and Manny are teammates for the first time since 2005.I am not saying the Red Sox don't have some holes. I am not saying the Red Sox off season has been flawless.But their off season requires a lot usage of the phrase "If they played like they did 6 years ago..."

My my my... the AL East just got a bit more fun

Manny and Damon reunited?Someone cue up Maroon 5. It is 2004 all over again.Hey, Gabe Kapler was on the Rays last year. If they bring HIM back they will have all three outfielders who were on the field when the Sox won the World Series in St. Louis.This off season has gotten so strange that the Rays have added more famous players than the Yankees.Actually, even before the Rays decided to bring

The Montreal Rays or the Montreal A's? Why not?

In my last piece for The Hardball Times, I wrote about how Tampa Bay used to be an ideal spot for THREATENING to move your team. There was a baseball stadium just sitting there and the good folks of Minnesota, Texas, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco all built new ball parks to keep their teams from the Sun Coast.Now that the Rays are playing in Tampa Bay, they can't wait to get out of the very

The Rays proposed stadium... or Jabba the Hutt's sail barge?

Well if the Rays build this, they should only hope to have as big and lively a crowd as Jabba's crew. Just beware of R2 units shooting light sabers from their head. They can bring the party down in an awful hurry.Either way, they should hire the Max Rebo band.

Tampa Bay—a place to move a team to, and from - My Latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I take a look at the two different perceptions of Tampa Bay as a baseball location:An ideal untapped revenue producer that was destined to lure an existing franchise...And a misguided Major League location that just isn't going to work.There seems to be no middle ground on the Sun Coast.To read the article, click HERE.Tampa Bay fans fans can send hate

Red Sox get Carl Crawford! Two can play this evil game!

It's starting to feel a lot like 2003, 2004 and 2005 in here. And your pal Sully couldn't be happier.As I wrote back in 2007, the Red Sox are an evil empire as well. And MAN it is fun to root for the bad guys!The Red Sox picked up the best two left handed bats available and didn't have to give up Jose Inglesias,, Ryan Kalish or Daniel Bard.They've gone from having a rotation of Darnell McDonald,

Come to Fenway, Carl

It's a little better than the Trop.There is the Green Monster in left rather than those stupid rings in the Trop that you could hit with a flyball.And oh yeah, they don't have to literally GIVE tickets away to fill up the place.I think you'll like it.I know trying to sign Crawford away from Tampa, which the Red Sox are evidently trying to do, makes my team as greedy and as vulture like as the

Am I high or did Bengie Molina just steal a base?

I SWEAR I've never used a hallucinogenic... but I my eyes are telling me that Bengie Molina stole a base... and my brain can't handle that.Maybe I dropped acid earlier today and didn't know it.If he did steal that base, it takes the sting out of the triple he hit against the Red Sox last July.Then again, maybe I'm high.I'll ask the dragon I am sitting next to if he saw it too.

SULLY vs. A FISH

Earlier this month made my picks for the post season series... as did my wife.When I made MY picks, I compared them to the picks of my kids (who just liked the sounds of certain teams) my sister in law (who was more interested in which players were vegans) a coin flip (always reliable) and my fish, Red.When Red made his choices, I held up a picture of the logo of each team playing in the series

Teams that avoided the big collapse

One of two things are going to happen today at the Trop:The Rays will complete a remarkable comeback in a series where they were 5 outs from elimination and looked dead from the neck up.OrThe Rangers will have fought off a gigantic scare and win their first ever post season series.Both are pretty dramatic.We hear a lot about the teams that have come back from deep holes to win the final 3 games

Can't Evan Longoria afford a new cap?

Seriously... if he lost his hat, buy a new one! He signed a $17 million contract. Go on line and get a new one.Why chase down that poor schmuck to a helicopter?And why is some yahoo going to Rays games (and taking public transportation) getting on a private helicopter?Sorry, but these things bother me.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2010 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPION NEW YORK YANKEES

The Rangers are still looking for their first home playoff win in their history... and after being 5 outs from sweeping their way into the ALCS, they are forced to play a winner take all game and either get eliminated or win but not have Cliff Lee ready for games 1 or 2 of the ALCS.Is there ANYONE who thinks the Rangers could actually beat the Yankees?And if the Rays win, they'll be throwing

Hey Tommy Hunter... no pressure

All you have to do is win today.And oh yeah, get the Rangers to forget the fact that they were 5 outs away from winning the first post season series in the history of the franchise.Oh yeah, if they don't win tomorrow, then they have to go BACK to Florida and face David Price in a do or die game.The direction of the franchise is at stake.So no pressure. Just win.Relax.

Girardi is not so dumb now, is he?

When the Yankees and Rays were going down the stretch, there were a lot of Yankee fans killing Joe Girardi for not playing all of his veterans in every game. "They HAVE to win the Division!" was the rallying cry.I heard one person KILLING Girardi for not using Mariano Rivera in both games of a double header in the last meaningless weekend of the series.The Rays won the Division... the Yankees are

THIS IS THE GREATEST RANGERS TEAM OF ALL TIME

This team has already scaled the Mount Everest of the Rangers franchise.They've won 2 post season games.In fact the 11 runs they've scored in the first two games are pretty damn close to the 18 runs they scored in the franchise's first 10 post season games combined.Look, I know the Rangers have bigger fish to fry... and they are one win and one Twins loss from having home field advantage in the

A SULLY BASEBALL VIDEO - What does Fox want?

Michael Young swung

Yup...He struck out.The video showed it.Instead they had to strike him out AGAIN and he hit a three run homer to break a playoff game wide open and possibly sink the Rays.Now were the Rays winning this game if Young struck out?We don't know.But we DO know is they unraveled after they were denied the strike out they earned.Remind me why Qualls needed to get FOUR strikes again?Oh yeah... the HUMAN