The Rays are different, but are they better?

July 29, 2017 Baseball

Saturday, 2 a.m. The newly reconstructed Tampa Bay Rays face an age-old question these days. Are they better off? A flurry of activity – three trades in two days, six in six weeks – didn’t help the Rays Friday night in a 6-1 defeat by the New York Yankees at Yankee  Content beyond this point […]

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Evans hopes to make the grade for Bucs

July 28, 2017 general

Friday, 4 a.m. When he was 21, it was a very good year. Mike Evans kicked the doors in on the NFL. Right out of the box, he had 68 catches, and he gained 1,051 yards despite dodgy quarterbacks. He scored 12 touchdowns. You might say he jumped right to the head of the class. […]

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Routine ground ball sets up Rays’ defeat

July 28, 2017 Baseball

Friday, 2 a.m. After their latest loss, the Tampa Bay Rays will not remember a walk-off home run by the Yankees’ Brett Gardner in the 11th inning. Nor will they remember a leadoff triple by Gardner in the 9th that led to the tying run. No, this game will forever be remembered for a routine […]

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Ask the expert: Jerry Angelo

July 27, 2017 general

Jerry Angelo is a former personnel director for the Bucs and former general manager of the Bears. Each week, Angelo answers your questions regarding the NFL. Send your questions to GarySheltonsports@gmail.com with “ask the expert” in the subject line. The most interesting questions will be selected. Thursday, 4 a.m. Most NFL teams report for training […]

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The schedule gets trickier for the Tampa Bay Rays

July 27, 2017 Baseball

Thursday, 3 a.m. For the Tampa Bay Rays, this may be where the wildcard is won. Or lost. The water is about to get deep … and treacherous. There are sharks and barracuda, crocodiles and sea snakes. This is where a team gets hot, or where it gets left behind.  Content beyond this point is […]

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Cobb getting better and better after win over O’s

July 27, 2017 Baseball

Thursday, 2 a.m. For the first five innings, you could understand much of the recent slump by the Tampa Bay Rays. For the last three and a half, you could comprehend why the Rays may still have a chance. The Rays, one-hit until the sixth inning, broke loose to win their series against the Baltimore […]

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Bucs prepare to open a most anticipated preseason

July 26, 2017 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. Hope sweats. Good thing, because Hope is preparing to report for training camp. Given the heat of the summer, Hope had better be in pretty good shape. It’s the most optimistic time of the year, a time where every fat running back thinks he has 1,200 yards in him, where every quarterback […]

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Rays hold off O’s, finally end their losing streak

July 26, 2017 general

Wednesday, 3 a.m. They ended the game hanging on by their fingernails. They had to scrap to outlast a sub-.500 team. They spent much of the game being shut down by the opposing pitcher. But they won. Finally, the Tampa Bay Rays won. The Rays, riding a five-game losing streak, held on to beat the […]

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Rays fall again despite Snell’s good outing

July 25, 2017 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. All of the sudden, there is a hink in their dinky. There are termites in their bats, scorpions in their gloves, black cats on their base paths. They are making that little beep-beep-beep sound of a golf cart backing up. Natural catastrophes are all around: The sky is falling, the creeks are […]

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When do the Tampa Bay Rays start to worry?

July 24, 2017 general

Monday, 2 a.m. In the case of the Tampa Bay Rays, we are down to a couple of questions. When do you start to sweat? When does a slump become a new reality? And can anyone please keep the ball on this side of the fence? The Rays lost their fourth game in a row […]

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