Jon Jordan

While most baseball people will tell you that two fights in less than a week is far too much for any team, there is something positive to be said about the recent scraps involving the Tampa Bay Rays. The ferocity of the recent brawl with Coco Crisp and the Boston Red Sox has brought an already tight team even closer together. Some of the antics of some of the participants could surely be questioned, mind you, but the underlying message - that this team won’t back down from anyone - has been sent. And, yes, even the tussle between teammates Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro will prove to be a plus for a young club trying to inch its way up the ladder of respectability.

Good teams know they’re good. Good teams are confident. Good teams don’t take sh*t from anyone. Good teams can be downright nasty, even to each other.

The Red Sox had a couple of teammates at each other’s throats recently in Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis. They’ve had a bit of success in recent years.

And how about the Chicago White Sox? Their skip, Ozzie Guillen, the undisputed heavyweight champion of powderkeg managers, recently lit them up in a postgame interview, holding nothing back (as if he ever does.) They’ve responded and are now rolling.

What I’m saying, folks, is that Garza v. Navarro is the latest good sign in a season full of them for the Rays. Win or lose, all year long it’s been clear that this team leaves it all on the field and is willing to do absolutely anything for a teammate - absolutely anything to win.

Think a team like, say, the New York Mets could use a Guillen-esque tirade from their skipper, the beleaguered Willie Randolph? Think a pier 6 brawl with the rival Phillies or Braves wouldn’t liven them up? Think an Oliver Perez/Brian Schneider on-mound fracas might awaken that hibernating clubhouse?

Don’t expect it, though, Mets fans … that team is soft as a marshmallow.

I bring the Mets up because, right now, they are the antithesis of the Tampa Bay Rays. No energy, no grit, no spark whatsoever. And a-floundering they continue … content multi-millionaire prima donnas that they are …

I’m ecstatic to have the opposite over at The Trop …

Call me crazy, but the way this Rays team has looked through and through up to this point in the season, is looking more and more like what I consider to be the model for a wildly successful and entertaining baseball team.

Parts of me still can’t believe I just said that.

The rest of me is thrilled that I did.

jjordan79@tampabay.rr.com

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Jon Jordan

In a rehab start for the class-A St. Lucie Mets, Pedro Martinez had to be pleased with his outing against the Vero Beach Devil Rays - 6 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 runs and six strikeouts. But he did take the loss … and that was largely because the opposing pitcher, Rays’ 2007 1st overall pick David Price, was that much better. Price went 6 innings as well, blanking the Mets and allowing just 2 hits while striking out 9 in just his second pro start. He earned significant postgame praise from the veteran Martinez, who was awestruck at Price’s performance.

“He’s amazing, that kid. He’s amazing. That kid is very mature for his time and very talented. Oh my God. God bless him and keep him healthy.”

Comparing Price to himself at that stage of his career:

“He’s a big lefty with superb talent. At that age, I don’t think I was like that. He seems far superior.”

Differences in physical stature and hand preference, of course, duly noted …

On Price’s approach to the St. Lucie hitters:

“That kid did a hell of a job of throwing first-pitch strikes and pounding the strike zone and jamming hitters. I was watching that. He did it like a big leaguer. He had such a command. Right there, I’m challenging you. I’m going to do what I gotta do without any fear. That’s the kind of talent you love to see.”

Price was flattered, and rightfully so, when told of Martinez’s kind words:

“That’s definitely a big compliment coming from Pedro Martinez. That definitely does mean a lot to me. Hopefully I could face him in the big leagues one day.”

Martinez, surely in the twilight of his career (though he has recently said he would like to pitch at least this season and next) can only hope to return to the Mets next week and help them get back on track after a tumultous start to the year. Price, on the other hand, is just getting started, while his parent club rolls along atop the Major League standings.

In a season full of positives thus far for the Rays, Price’s immediate progress in his first two professional starts is just gravy. With no pressing need to rush him along, the 6′4″ lefty has the luxury of moving slowly through the minor leagues, adding invaluable confidence along the way.

While Pedro sees the light at the end of his big league tunnel, David Price is just beginning his journey.

If his first two starts are any indication, that Price v. Pedro matchup he wished for (schedule-maker permitting, of course) might not be all that far-fetched.

jjordan79@tampabay.rr.com

Hockey fan? Check out my Tampa Bay Lightning coverage at hockeybuzz.com!

Jon Jordan

Did I jinx the Rays with my praise-laden posts last week? I doubt it - they hardly know I exist yet. (Yet!) Did I jump the gun by giving them so much credit for their stellar start to the season? I still don’t think so. A couple of walk-off losses during an interleague series doesn’t - and shouldn’t - change my way of thinking about this club.

Dropping two of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis over the weekend leaves the Rays in 2nd place in the AL East, a game behind the Boston Red Sox. (Beantown will claim, of course, that this is how it should be, but at least the Rays have made a bit of a statement of their own - that, for now anyway, they live in the same neighborhood as the BoSox.) Still, you can’t complain about where they are at this stage of the season.

Putting the interleague series behind them, the Rays head out west for a 3-game tilt with Oakland, where they are just 10-35 historically. But that was when there was still a “Devil” in the team’s moniker and, as we’ve said time and again recently, this is a whole new ballclub.

The Rays will send James Shields (4-3), Scott Kazmir (2-1) and Andy Sonnanstine (6-1) to the hill against the A’s, who will counter with Joe Blanton (2-6), Greg Smith (2-3) and Dana Eveland (3-3). Rebounding from losing two of three is important, with a divisional matchup at home against Baltimore immediately following the quick west coast trip.

The challenge for the Rays is to continue their strong play and bounce back from this minor slip-up. The challenge for me this week will be to stay awake to take in these first two games.

That’s not nearly as easy for me as it used to be.

jjordan79@tampabay.rr.com