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MLB: Tempers flare in Yanks-Rays matchup
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog — MLB: Tempers flare in Yanks-Rays matchup I’ve had it up to here, here, and here with the Duncan family. One day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi insisted his club would not retaliate for a violent home-plate collision in Saturday’s game against the Rays, both clubs spilled onto the field at Progress Energy Park in a bench-clearing incident Wednesday. In the first inning, Yankees starter Heath Phillips was ejected for throwing an up-and-in fastball to Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, grazing the batter and earning an immediate thumb from home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild. ...

Spring Training Fights Are Awesome!
AwfulAnnouncing — I'm trying to find video for it now but it looks like New York might be a bit upset about the Rays playing hard in Spring Training..... One day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi insisted his club would not retaliate for a violent home-plate collision in Saturday's game against the Rays, both clubs spilled onto the field at Progress Energy Park in a bench-clearing incident Wednesday. In the first inning, Yankees starter Heath Phillips was ejected for throwing an up-and-in fastball to Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, grazing the batter and earning an immediate thumb from home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild. In the home half of the first, the Yankees' ...

Armando Benitez Has NO Natural Cow Sense
Eephus Pitch — Spring training news and notes: *The Mets have the right idea. They're occupied with trying to surreptitiously balance things on Luis Castillo's head -- bubble gum, plastic cups -- while the Yankees are getting into shoving matches with the Devil Rays to defend the honor of Francisco Cervelli. Or something. *Logically, I realize it must somehow seem like a good idea to sign Armando Benitez... because teams keep doing it. But I'm damned if I can understand why. The Blue Jays must not have watched many Giants games last season. *Young Yankees pitcher Ross Ohlendorf has "a lot of natural cow sense." That's good to ...

Couldn't resist...
Strike Zones and End Zones — ... with the Yankees is the dumbest publicity stunt I've seen in years. What is the point of this? When was the last time Billy Crystal was relevant? And did anyone ask Kevin Youkilis if he was ok with sharing his Baseball Jew title? Second, the Yankees fight with Tampa Bay ? Awesome. If they show this much fire during spring training, I can't wait for the season to start.

Have ax, will travel: Why your club should sign Jonny Gomes
Big League Stew — The Rays won the AL pennant last year and they would have done it even without Jonny Gomes. However, there's not a chance they would have won it as colorfully if he weren't around. Gomes batted a dismal .182/.282/.383 in '08, easily the worst of his four seasons in St. Petersburg. He had only 11 plate appearances after Aug. 4 and was inactive for the entire playoff run. Therefore it came as no surprise that Tampa Bay non-tendered him on Friday, sending Gomes to the free agent ranks. Non-tender is an excellent way of putting it because it's very un-tender to cut someone who's been with your organization since turning pro in 2001. And Gomes, ...