Shelley Duncan Had a Chance to Crush a Ray at Home Plate

And he'd didn't.

This from Chad Jennings' great Scranton blog, which tells more about the Yanks than half the NY sportswriters' do, while they suck-up and slobber.

There's recent history between the Rays and Devil Yanks. Thursday, it came to a play at home plate, when Shelley Duncan -- our most badass bad ass -- came a-thunderin' round third. For a moment, you better believe Tampa manager JoJohn Maddon figured his catcher was about to face retribution for the Rays did two weeks ago to Francisco Cerveli.

Shelley could done to the guy what the Meramec River is doing to Missouri.

Level the playing field, I believe it's called.

This is what he did, captured by photog Jason Farmer, whose spectacular sequence of shots can be seen here.


It's what Elliot Johnson, the famous death Ray, should have done two weeks ago, and what Tampa ought to admit he should have done.

In an exhibition game, you play hard. You do not spear a guy at home plate.

And if you're the manager, a day after one of your players did it (which was the case going into the Yankee game), you take your team aside and you say... guys, let's not do that.

That's all this was ever about:

The wisdom of encouraging players to smash into each other in meaningless situations.

Maddon may be a decent guy. He was wrong. Girardi was right.

And in the regular season, when Shelley comes a thunderin' round third...