Tonight was really hard to swallow. It had to happen eventually with Jackson, he struggled tonight and that’s no surprise. I’m not saying he hasn’t improved, he definitely has, but there was no way he could have kept up the pace he started on. He’s still walking people a little too much but his mechanics look much better. He’s finishing better and tonight he was a victim of the umpires who seem to be afraid to call strikes against the Yanks and Sox. I would love to see how different these games would be if the umps gave our pitchers the calls the Yanks and Sox guys get. Could you imagine? Anyway this was tough tonight because it was a pretty well played game. Other than the little-leaguer that is Jason Bartlett everyone looked fine. Tough loss to a better team. I feel the need to respond a little here. Over at Rays Index they are getting on me about Bonds and my ridicule of Bartlett. I’ll take it for Bonds as this is my opinion based on my love of the way Bonds hits and plays. The steroids and moral issues involved is a never-ending argument I’m not gonna try to win (although everyone better be careful with their judgements in this moral haven we call Tampa Bay). My issue here is Bartlett. Anyone who has watched this guy play since the start of the season and thinks he has “great range” is a crazy person still buying the crap we were sold in the off-season. I judge baseball by watching the game, not stats. I know good and bad players. I’ve been around the game my entire life and this guy is an average major league shortstop at best. Anyone who wants to argue this with me I’ll gladly sit down and break down video with you and show you you’re nuts. No disrespect to Rays Index, I have tremendous respect for them and Cork Gaines who’s an accomplished writer and I’m a scrub typing on the net, but there is a serious problem here if they defend Bartlett over Harris. This flat tells me these are “strictly stats guys” and aren’t watching the games. The only game I have yet to see is the Thursday day game Jackson pitched because I do have a job and that wasn’t televised. There is no comparison at this point. I don’t care what Bartlett did in Minnesota, I’m judging him here. I don’t watch the Twins, I watch the Rays. If anyone wants to tell me that Bartlett is better here now than Harris was last year I advise you to rethink what you think you know about baseball.
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