I have been suspecting that my new favorite pitcher was James Shields for some time.
On May 9, it was confirmed -- On that date, Shields pitched a complete game one-hit shutout with no walks against the Angels' offense.
The context of this performance is very interesting to me. In Shields' previous two performances, he had another CG shutout, and one game that was, shall we say, not so good. The Rays are going through an identity makeover, what with the new uniforms and new team name sans "Devil". They have commonly been considered a cellar-dweller for almost their whole existence, last year's W-L record was no exception. But their offense was not too bad in '07, it was the pitching that made them attrocious. Scott Kazmir, their ace, can't be blamed for the lackluster mound hurling, as he had 239 strikeouts and a respectable ERA around 3.4. And Shields quietly stood his ground behind Kazmir, pluggin away in his second year with only 36 walks for the whole season, while existing amongst the chaos that was Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine, and the batting-practice-bullpen. 2008 is the year when the Rays can no longer be viewed as the toilet bowl of the AL East (that job has been relegated to the Jays, not the Rays). 2008 is the year when Matt Garza steps in to the rotation and fortifies the lonely two at the top; 2008 is the year when BJ Upton builds on his breakout 2007, inscribing his name onto the stone tablet lineup next to Carl and Carlos; 2008 is the year when you begin to hear about Evan Longoria, and your brain begins to bypass Eva Longoria-comparison-mode; 2008 is the year when the AL East might be won by someone other than NY or Boston....
Shields' performance had put Evan Longoria, who had been in a slump at the time, in the drivers seat to rally the team with a walk-off home run. Longoria did it, he homered in the bottom of the ninth to win the 0-0 game for Shields. Shields and Longoria are best buds now, and will be forever linked to each other by this terrific game, as the moment when both stars helped each other reach their optimum performance levels, teammates. Crawford and Upton also made huge contributions in the game, each making "ESPN Top Ten Plays" calibre catches to hold the game at 0-0. The Rays are now a Team.
Today is the day after the amazing game, and now Scott Kazmir will take the mound in his second start after returning to the team from a strained elbow injury. If Kazmir can win it, it will mean further cementation of the Team, and astronomical confidence levels.
Go RAYS!
