Hot Water For Wander

When Wander Franco got called up to the Tampa Bay Rays in June of 2021, there was a lot of hype around him. He was being billed as the next big thing to come up at shortstop and was look upon to be the next, or one of the next, faces of the Rays franchise. Now it looks like we could have seen the last of Wander Franco in a Rays uniform. Or any baseball uniform for that matter.

TMZ reported that "social media posts emerged over the weekend that allegedly showed [Franco] in an inappropriate relationship with a minor." (Bleacher Report with the info) Reports of this had been circulating around last weekend. Franco was pulled from a game last Sunday against Cleveland and did not make the current West Coast road trip that the Rays are currently on. There's no word yet on what his status is for when the Rays return home to Tampa this upcoming week.

This isn't the first time the Rays have not had Franco in the lineup. He was taken out earlier this year for not being the best teammate, but the two situations are not related.

Because of the nature of the current investigation with Franco, he has been pulled from advertising here in the Tampa area, which is never a good sign. Anytime something like this comes up its never a good sign. And according to some insiders on Twitter, it looks as if, based on the way the investigation is playing out, Franco may never see an MLB field again.

From a personal perspective, this is a black eye, so to speak, for Franco career and him as a person. I don't know what happened and I don't even want to speculate. Anytime a minor is involved in any time of relationship with an adult its not good. It's even worse when that adult is a high profile athlete. Again I have no idea of what actually happened and what is going on, but the fact he was even implicated in this isn't good. Combine this with the issues that were talked about earlier this year, its been a horrible year for the young shortstop. One in which it looks like it could be almost impossible to try and rebound from.

As for the Rays, its like the hits just keep on coming, no pun intended. Aside from this, Shane MccClanahan, it was revealed, is in for having Tommy John surgery and will be out for the next year if not more.  The Rays are getting delt one blow after another. They had a big lead in the AL East and it has now turned into chasing down Baltimore for first place, sitting two games back of this writing. Tampa should be in great shape still to make the playoffs, but with everything going on right now, who knows how the next month plus of the regular season will play out.

Broadcasting Legend Passes

Sports announcers. The men and women who make the games come alive each and every night. They are the soundtrack to the events. For many of us, the call of the play can be just as memorable as the play itself. For people in Western New York, and a handful of hockey fans around the world for that matter, Rick Jeanneret did that like no other. The longtime voice of Buffalo Sabres hockey passed away Thursday night after a long battle with illness. He was 81.

For 51 years, Rick was behind the mic for Buffalo, calling all of their major moments on TV and radio. His one liners became the stuff of legend, not only in Buffalo but around the league as well.

Top Shelf Where Mama Hides The Cookies, Roll The Highlight Film, Oh Brother We Are Not Worthy, La-la-la-la-Fontaine, MAY DAY.

We could go on and on with those.

But its more to it then that. He was behind the mic for almost every game for the team between 1972 when he got hired and 2022 when he finally retired. In 2012, the man known to all as RJ, was given the highest honor somebody in the game could get. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as the winner of the Foster Hewitt award for Broadcasting Excellence. He then was given another huge honor by the Sabres in 2022, having a banner raised to the rafters in Buffalo. He's one of 11 people to be so honored by Buffalo, and only the 3rd non player. The others are the team's founders, brothers Seymour and Northrup Knox. 

Jeanneret provided the soundtrack to winter nights in Western New York. And having spoken to quite a few people in that area when I was in school there, he was the reason that a lot of people wanted to get into the broadcasting industry. He had a way about him being able to call a game that few in the industry had. He was outstanding at being able to paint a beautiful word picture for the action happening on the ice. He did on both TV and Radio, which is a very tough thing to do.

RJ will be greatly missed by hockey fans around the world!

Florida Baseball All Time Lineup

We had done this once before here on our blog so figured Lets kick it up again now. Last time we did it, we had done it from the state of New York. Now we going south to the other state we cover here on the show. Florida.

Rules for this are as follows. To make this list they have to have been born and raised in the state of Florida. There are limits to the number of games you have to have played to make the cut. You'll see a starter and backup for each position if possible. Plus a starting rotation, a bullpen and a starting 8 lineup.

So lets get into it and let the debate begin.

Manager: Tony La Russa (Tampa FL)
Bench Coaches: Lou Pinella (Tampa FL), Davey Johnson (Orlando FL)

Catcher:
Starter: Charles Johnson (Fort Pierce FL) Backup: Jonathan Lucroy (Eustis FL)

The sole reason for going with Johnson over Lucroy is experience. Johsnon played in the majors longer then Lucroy did but the numbers favor Lucroy. Still its a good choice going with either one behind the plate.

1st Base:
Starter: Fred McGriff (Tampa FL) Backup: Pete Alonso (Tampa FL)

Nothing against Alonso, who's quickly sestablishing himself as one of the best hitters in the sport. Having said that McGriff was a solid hitter and power hitter in his own right. He is a slightly better overall hitter than Pete, which is why he gets the starting node over Pete.

2nd Base:
Starter: Jay Bell (Pensacola FL) Backup: Howie Kendrick (Jacksonville FL)

Bell gets the edge at starting because he may have had a better glove then Kendrick did and that's not a knock against Howie by any means.

3rd Base:
Starter: Chipper Jones (DeLand FL)  Backup: Howard Johnson (Clearwater FL)

Now HoJo was a big threat for the Mets when he really came into his own. But I don't think there's a doubt in anybody's mind that the best 3rd baseman to come out of this state is Chipper.

Shortstop: David Eckstein (Sanford FL)

Sadly there's no other really good shortstops that have come out of the state so Eckstein is the guy to help turn two up the middle. He had a good glove and was pretty good with a bat in his hands

Left Field:
Starter: Tim Raines (Sanford FL) Backup: Louis Gonzalez (Tampa FL)

Gonzo was a good hitter and a good leader during his time in Arizona. He had a really good stretch right at the start of his time in Arizona. But Raines gets the edge because of his speed, bot in the field and at the plate. The guy was probably the best base stealer out of anybody to come from the state of Florida, or one of them anyway.

Center Field:
Starter: Andrew McCutchen (Ft Mede FL) Backup: Mickey Rivers (Miami FL)

Again, another position that comes down to a speed edge. McCutchen had a great mix of power and speed, more so during his prime years with the Pirates. Now Rivers had a couple really good years swiping bags, and had a solid glove in center, but McCutchen put it all together a little better than Rivers did.

Right Field:
Starter: Gary Sheffield (Tampa FL) Backup: J.D Drew (Tallahassee FL)

Drew was a solid hitter, but lets be real here, 500 plus home runs for Sheffeld is going to get him the starting nod without even thinking about it.

Starting Rotation: 
Steve Carlton (Miami FL)
Doc Gooden (Tampa FL)
Zach Grenkie (Orlando FL)
Jacob deGrom (DeLand FL)
Chris Sale (Lakeland FL)

Bullpen:
Wade Davis (Lake Wales FL)
Andrew Miller (Gainseville FL)
Darren O'Day (Jacksonville FL)
Jay Howell (Miami FL)
Rob Murphy (Miami FL)

Closer:
Tom Gordon (Sebring FL)

Batting Order
Raines
McCutchen
Chipper
Sheffield
McGriff
Eckstein
Bell
Johnson
Pitcher

Broadcaster Suspended

Being a broadcaster for a professional sports team is a tough job, but for those who do it its a very rewarding one.  The job of the broadcaster is to relay information on a game to the fans. The Baltimore Orioles have one of the best young broadcasters in the game in TV announcer Kevin Brown. Brown was recently suspended by the team for making a comment about the team (and it wasn't even a negative one at that).

What happened was the O's we're playing here in Tampa at Tropicana Field against the Rays in late July. Brown said on the TV broadcast that the O's were 0-15-1 in the last 16 series here in Tampa. That's all he said. It was put up on a graphic and everything, which is what you would normally do for something like that in a broadcast. it wasn't anything offensive it was just stating a fact that the O's struggled in Tampa. Well Baltimore ownership wasn't happy with it and have suspended Brown over this.

What?!?!?!?!

How can Baltimore ownership be so thin skinned to suspend a good broadcaster over simply doing his job. I'm sorry but there has to be more to this here that O's owner Peter Angelos isn't telling us.

As somebody who watches sports on a regular basis, as a fan, I want to know stats and stuff like this I find it interesting. I would like to know stuff like that, because its interesting, especially since the Rays and O's are in a battle for the top spot in the AL East. Baltimore hasn't been this good in a long time, and they've struggled playing against the Rays in Tampa. That's the kind of stuff that sports fans want to know about their teams.

As a broadcaster, we have a duty to the fans to tell these facts. I've been in his spot I've called sporting events before I called radio broadcasts for College Hockey and I've produced college football and basketball. I know what goes into broadcasts, as a broadcaster and I know what I'd want to hear as a fan as well. Being able to relay the facts to the fans as to what's going on with the team, both good and bad, is our job. What Brown did on the O's tv broadcast was just doing his job. He didn't say it in a negative way, he was just stating fact. O's ownership got upset over it and suspended him indefinitely.

For a team that's finally on the upswing and is actually playing good ball for the first time in quite some time, its a refreshing sight (but the O's are a thorn in the Rays side right now in the division race). The fact that Baltimore is now doing this over one comment that was just stating fact is so sad. It's a joke to be honest.