USF baseball faces elimination game

Posted May 24, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated May 24, 2012 at 12:02 PM

CLEARWATER—Before the Big East Conference baseball tournament began, University of South Florida coach Lelo Prado talked about the importance of starting strong.

“You want to win the first game, then you want to win the second game,’’ Prado said. “You fall into that losers’ bracket and you’ve got to fight like crazy to get out of there.’‘

The Bulls are there now.

Following Wednesday night’s 7-2 loss against Connecticut, a team they swept during the regular season, the Bulls (34-21) meet the Pittsburgh Panthers (28-27) in an elimination game this afternoon at 5 at Bright House Field.

USF took two of the three regular-season meetings at Pittsburgh, dropping the opener 2-1, then winning 6-5 and 9-8 on April 13-15.

The Bulls will start senior right-hander Derrick Stultz (8-1), a second-team All-Big East selection. Stultz must pick up the team after left-hander Andrew Barbosa, a first-team All-Big East selection, was beaten by UConn in the tournament opener.

Stultz missed two full seasons due to elbow and shoulder injuries. Prado said Stultz has made a complete turnaround physically, mentally and academically.

“There were a lot of people who told me not to take a chance on Derrick from the get-go,’’ Prado said. “There were a lot of people who thought I should just get rid of him. But this season, he has been a changed man. He had to clean a lot of things up, not just physically. He got his academics done. He made a commitment to push himself. That’s what it comes down to for all of us—that solid commitment to excellence—or else you’re just going to coast through life.

“Derrick has had a great season and we need that kind of effort to continue.’‘

Prado said the Bulls must get solid pitching, but also cash in on its opportunities. Against UConn, the Bulls left 14 men on base.

If USF defeats Pittsburgh, it plays Friday night at 6 against the loser of tonight’s game between No. 1-seeded Louisville and UConn.

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Tampa Catholic seeks lacrosse coaches

Posted May 24, 2012 by Rick Harmon

Updated May 24, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Tampa Catholic High School is looking for qualified candidates for head boys and girls lacrosse coaches.

Please forward résumés to Athletic Director Freddie Langiotti by June 1, 2012 at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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“Oil Can” autobiography takes reader out of comfort zone

Posted May 23, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated May 23, 2012 at 10:50 PM

Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd was a colorful, animated pitcher during his 10-year major-league career, winning 43 of his 77 career victories from 1984 to 1986 with the Boston Red Sox.

But he looks at his career and life in black-and-white terms. In his autobiography that will be released June 1, Boyd is controversial, foul-mouthed, funny and engaging — sometimes, in the same paragraph. Like a pitcher who can change speeds and throw to different locations, Boyd, along with veteran Boston sports journalist Mike Shalin, addresses racism, addiction and more in “They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs, and Life on the Edge” (Triumph Books; $25.95, hardback, 226 pages).

Boyd is not afraid to reach back and throw high and tight. That makes this book interesting, amusing, puzzling and at times unsettling. Without a doubt, Boyd takes readers out of their comfort zones.

He does not believe in integration, for example, writing that it “gave white people an upper hand; it didn’t give us a hand at all.”

“I couldn’t have been Jackie Robinson,” he writes. “Not for one day!”

Boyd saves his harshest words for Tampa resident Wade Boggs, and the two former teammates already have waged a war of words on Boston’s talk radio circuit. In the book, Boyd writes that the Hall of Fame third baseman was “a bigot, a modern-day Ty Cobb type.”

“I used to joke that if the ball was black he would’ve had 8,000 hits. In my opinion, he didn’t like anything black,” Boyd writes. “I don’t think he even liked nighttime. He probably wouldn’t even wear black shoes.”

“He was very unique, and most times he was an all-right guy.”

Boggs responded to Boyd’s radio attack (which was similar to his written attack) with his own broadsides.

“Absolutely, positively, 100 million percent, I am not a racist, I am not a bigot,” Boggs said on the air in early May. “You have a delusional drug addict who let not only his family down, but his team, the city of Boston, Red Sox Nation when it counted most. Now he wants the good people of Boston to go out and spend money on this garbage to support his habit. I find that extremely amusing.”

Boggs’ wife Debbie also chimed in: “We have relatives that are African-American in our immediate family.”

That last part is a bit of a stretch — unless you are into genealogy (which I am). Jason Anderson, the black relative referenced by Debbie Boggs, is actually the son-in-law of Debbie’s sister. Or, if you want to muddle it up, it’s Wade’s sister-in-law’s son-in-law. That was told to me by Jason’s father-in-law, by the way. Have fun diagramming that family group sheet.

Boyd even tweaks Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. “The guys who came immediately after Jackie (Robinson) had some kind of crazy attitude,” he writes. “Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and those guys, I got to hear them speak as I got older, and for some reason they felt like they were entitled to be there” in the majors.

Besides racism, addiction is a major subject in “They Call Me Oil Can.” Boyd still admits to having a drug problem (“I just maintain and go a day at a time”), and the stories he tells in his autobiography are well, mind-blowing.

Because of cocaine, Boyd almost missed his wedding. “I was so messed up that my friend had to dress me. I couldn’t even put on my own tux.”

Cocaine became like a person to Boyd.

“Hey, I’m down here. This is cocaine. Come get me.”

“I’ll be right there.”

He smoked crack in the Oakland clubhouse. He didn’t want to leave the remnants in his locker, so he put it in the lining of his cap and went out to pitch.

“I fired this one pitch and my hat flew off. I looked down at the mound and there were rocks all over. I picked up a couple of rocks, like I’m cleaning the mound,” he writes. “I’m picking it up, putting what I can in my pocket, cleaning that stuff off. I even mashed a couple of them into the dirt, ground them into the mound with my foot.”

In addition to cocaine, Boyd used marijuana on a daily basis.

“Nobody ever knew when I was high on weed,” he writes, “because I wasn’t ever not high on weed.”

Boyd even went to his car in the parking lot at Fenway Park between innings to smoke marijuana or crack.

“A few times I was almost late getting to the mound because I was running back down the runway,” he writes, telling his teammates he was using the restroom.

Boyd certainly tells some good stories and is not afraid to credit those who helped him along the way. As a youth growing up in Meridian, Miss., Boyd writes that he “really learned the game” from his high school coach, Bill Marchant, “especially the mental part of the game, which we didn’t know as black kids.”

“We would physically match anybody, but as soon as we got on the ballfield against white teams, they’d play with strategy.”

Boyd also writes about being taunted by opposing players on all-white teams and their fans, claiming he once was hit in the face by a banana peel as he headed off the field to the dugout.

There are several stories floating around about the origin of Boyd’s nickname. As Boyd tells it, he and his best friend, a distant cousin named Pap, broke into a local bootlegger’s place and stole corn whiskey. A local drunk homeless man (called Mr. Fat Mama) caught the pair drinking the whiskey out of oil cans in a tin shed. The next day, Pap called Boyd “Oil Can,” and the nickname stuck.

“They Call Me Oil Can” opens with Boyd’s disappointment about not getting the starting nod for Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. That went to Bruce Hurst, who had already beaten the New York Mets twice in the Series.

In one chapter, Boyd talks about his teammates from that squad, which was one strike away from winning the franchise’s first World Series title since 1918 until the Mets staged a remarkable comeback to win Game 6.

Boyd has warm recollections of Al Nipper and Rich Gedman (who wrote the book’s foreword), longtime coach Johnny Pesky (“He knew the dap handshake … I don’t know where he’s from, but that man’s hung out with some brothers.”), Dwight Evans (“he was like a big brother to me”), Mike Greenwell (“He was a redneck kid, but not a racist redneck kid.”) and Roger Clemens (“regardless of whatever he did or didn’t do, I love him to the bone.”).
He did have some differences with Bob Stanley (“I felt like he was belittling me …”) and Jim Rice, and had complicated feelings for Don Baylor.

“He was a big black Mandingo-kind of guy, but he had this white wife,” Boyd writes about Baylor. “That messed me up. It really did. I didn’t know how to talk to him.”

Boyd is at his best when he writes about the art of pitching, the ability to keep a batter off-balance with an assortment of pitches, pitching locations and speed changes. He remains a defender of the inside pitch.

“Mediocre hitters become above-average hitters and good hitters become great hitters without the knock-down pitch,” he writes.

He also offers some advice, noting that if Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett listened to him, “he’d go out there overnight and turn unhittable.”

“And if he’d let me call pitches from the dugout, he’d throw a no-hitter,” he adds.

Beckett, by the way, has won 129 games in 12 seasons and has 1,661 strikeouts (Boyd had 799 in his career).

After baseball, Boyd worked in real estate, trying to build a housing project in Meridian. He also tried to bring professional baseball to the city, but claims people in his hometown did not want to see him succeed.

“They weren’t proud of me when I left and they weren’t proud of me when I came back,” he writes.

Boyd is erratic at times, but Shalin keeps him on track and keeps the book’s pace brisk and snappy. Shalin is also savvy enough to let Boyd do the talking, and the result is a blunt, honest and sometimes painful work, although Boyd seems to be at peace with himself.

These days, Boyd does charity events for the Red Sox, goes to card shows and participates in fantasy baseball camps.

“One thing is abundantly clear to me,” he writes in his introduction. “Love me or hate me, people will never forget Oil Can Boyd.”

After reading his autobiography, people won’t be able to forget him.

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Rays 5, Jays 4 (11): Another walk-off win

Posted May 23, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated May 23, 2012 at 06:33 PM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG The Rays held another one of those on-field celebrations Wednesday afternoon, a gathering near second where B.J. Upton stopped after driving home Rich Thompson with the winning run during the 11th inning of the Rays 5-4 victory against the Blue Jays at the Trop.

It was the fourth walk-off win of the season for the Rays and the 12th in their last 54 home games.

It was the fifth walk-off hit of Upton’s career, four of which have come against the Blue Jays.

The win enabled the Rays to complete the .500 homestand with two straight wins and pick up a game on the first place Orioles, who now lead the AL East by one game.

Here are some notes from the victory:

—Upton extended his hitting streak to seven games. He’s batting .448 during that span with two home runs, four doubles, four RBI, five stolen bases and a .793 slugging percentage.

—James Shields completed seven innings for the first time since April 21 against the Twins. He allowed a solo home run in the first inning to Jose Bautista. It was the fifth time in 10 starts he has allowed a first inning run.

Shields recorded 22 swinging strikes, his most since tossing a complete game May 11, 2011 against the Marlins. Of those swings and misses, 14 came on changeups.

—Carlos Peña is batting 3-for-8 with a home run, three RBI, two walks, three runs and a hit-by-pitch in his two games at the leadoff spot.

—Drew Sutton made his first career start as a cleanup hitter and was 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the first inning and a two-out, infield single in the ninth.

—Joel Peralta suffered his third blown save of the season. He has allowed five home runs this year.

—The Rays are 10-5 in series finales this season … They are 2-1 in extra-inning games. Since 2007, the Rays are a major league-best 45-23 in extra-inning games … The Rays are 11-3 in one-run games, the second-best mark in the majors.

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Plant, Wharton set to compete in Heath Evans tourney

Posted May 23, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated May 23, 2012 at 04:59 PM

Defending Class 8A state football champion Plant High, along with Wharton, are two of 16 teams that will compete in the prestigious Heath Evans Foundation 7-on-7 Championship next month at West Palm Beach King’s Academy.

The invitation-only tournament includes the team the Panthers knocked off last season for the 8A crown, Miramar, Class 7A semifinalist Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer, Class 6A runner-up Miami Central and Class 4A runner-up Miami Booker T. Washington. The tourney is slated for June 9. Plant is the event’s defending champion while Wharton will be participating for the first time.

Teams will be split into two divisions and play a round-robin format starting in the morning. Following a lunch break, single-elimination play begins with the semifinals set for 3 p.m. and the championship game scheduled for 4 p.m.

The tourney is open to the public at a cost of $5 per person. Tickets are available at the gate. The King’s Academy is located at 8401 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, about one mile east of 441. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Heath Evans Foundation, a not-for-profit institution established to help abused children.

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Prado: Bulls have great opportunity

Posted May 23, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated May 23, 2012 at 02:37 PM

CLEARWATER – University of South Florida baseball coach Lelo Prado said the Bulls should have an advantage playing this week’s Big East Conference baseball tournament at Bright House Field.

But still, USF must live up to its potential, something that happened very unevenly during its 34-20 regular season.

The Bulls, who open tonight against Connecticut (29-25-1) at 8 p.m., had an impressive road victory at Florida. But overall, USF was just 5-7 against teams from the state.

The Bulls were 17-10 in the Big East, finishing one game out of first place. There were four one-run conference defeats. With a chance to contend for the No. 1 seed last weekend, the Bulls dropped two of three games at West Virginia, the league’s 11th-place team, which did not qualify for the conference tournament.

“There were plenty of times when we needed to play better, plenty of times when I expected us to play better,’’ Prado said. “Two of the last four seasons, we went into the final weekend with a shot to win the conference championship and haven’t finished the job. That probably eats at me more than the players. We’ve had our shots. We need to capitalize.’’

If the Bulls win the Big East tournament, they would clinch at automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, where they haven’t played since 2005.

Outside of that, Prado said he believes the Bulls could earn at at-large spot if they can play deep into the weekend. Getting off to a good start is important. Tonight, the Bulls start senior left-hander Andrew Barbosa (7-5, 2.37 ERA), a first-team All-Big East selection and follow with Big East second-teamer Derrick Stultz on Thursday against either Louisville or Pittsburgh.

“You get up to that 36-win range, you’re getting real close,’’ Prado said. “But you never want to leave it in somebody else’s hands. At the end of the day, you’re going to get your eight or nine SEC teams, your ACC teams and if there’s a fluke along the line, it can knock somebody out.

“We are in Clearwater and that should be an advantage for us, a huge advantage if we’re playing in the semis or finals with a big crowd behind you. It’s a situation where our team has got to lay it all on the line. Can we win this? Yes we can. But we have to seize every opportunity. We’ve got to take care of business.’’

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Collect call: 2012 Topps U.S. Olympic Team & Olympic Hopefuls

Posted May 23, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated May 23, 2012 at 02:37 PM

If you enjoy the Summer Olympic Games and love to collect cards, then Topps’ 100-card set is the perfect combination for you.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic Team & Olympic Hopefuls puts faces to the names we’ve been reading about as the United States prepares for the Summer Games in London later this summer. Even casual Olympic fans know about Shawn Johnson (gymnastics), Michael Phelps (swimming), Brandon’s own Chris Colwill (diving) and Florida State’s Walter Dix (track and field). But how about Sarah Robles (weightlifting), Matt Emmons (shooting) and Kari LaRaine Miller (volleyball)? You will know more about these competitors after seeing and reading their Topps cards.

Each card has a oil painting look to it, with each athlete in an action pose. The United States flag waves in the background, which makes for a nice, subtle patriotic feel.

A hobby box includes 24 packs, and there are eight cards to a pack. The biggest positive to this set aids the set builder — you should get every one of the 100 base cards. That was the case in the hobby box I sampled. The negative to this set is duplication — there were 27 doubles, or slightly more than three packs.

Each card has a parallel, with the athlete’s name and USOC logo stamped in either gold, silver or bronze foil (depending upon the medal that particular athlete has won before). The box I sampled had eight gold cards, 12 silver and 24 bronze.

Topps promises one autograph card, one relic and one commemorative relic per box, and the hobby box I looked at was right on the money. In fact, two of the special cards were of swimmer Nathan Adrian — an autograph card on a sticker, and a relic card that was a piece of one of Adrian’s swimsuit.

The commemorative relic was a U.S. flag patch featuring triathlete Gwen Jorgensen. A nice thick card, the flag was manufactured specifically for this Topps set. So it’s not a patch from an Olympic jacket, for example. But still, a good-looking card.

It didn’t happen in this particular box, but some collectors will pull U.S. Champions autographs, featuring big names like Bruce Jenner, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Kerri Strug and Mark Spitz. Olympic Games cut signature cards have even bigger names, like Al Oerter, Bob Beamon, Floyd Patterson, Glenn Davis and Joe Frazier (sure seems a shame that Topps couldn’t get Muhammad Ali, but the group of cut signatures are still formidable).

Some collectors will pull Olympic Games event pins, or USOC pins. Others will pull Olympic Games stamps or even commemorative gold, silver and bronze medals.

Topps is offering four different insert sets to chase. Games of the XXX Olympiad will feature athletes in 25 different sports, like Maya Moore (basketball), Hope Solo (soccer) Timothy Wang (table tennis) and Merrill Moses (water polo).

A second insert set is called London 2012 Olympic Games Venue cards. This 30-card set will feature many of the event venues for this summer’s games in London. A third insert set is called Heritage of the Olympic Games and features 30 cards, representing each of the Olympiads since the first Summer Games were held in Athens in 1896.

Finally, a 26-card Opening Ceremony set will feature the flame lighting festivities at the Games from 1896 in Athens to 2008 in Beijing.

There is plenty to go around for the Olympic collector. The card designs are simple and effective, and there is a wonderful cross-section of athletes represented.

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Rays v Jays: Pena at leadoff, Sutton hits cleanup

Posted May 23, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated May 23, 2012 at 12:33 PM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG The Rays will try to finish off this homestand with two straight wins when they play the Blue Jays this afternoon.

James Shields looks for his seventh win of the season.

Carlos Peña remains at the leadoff spot.

Ben Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez not starting. That’s Joe Maddon’s plan to get them two straight days off since tomorrow is an off day.

That means Drew Sutton is in the lineup and batting cleanup.

Here are the lineups:

JAYS
Johnson 2B
Escobar SS
Bautista RF
Encarnacion DH
Arencibia C
Thames LF
Lawrie 3B
Rasmus CF
Gomes 1B
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Romero LHP (5-1, 3.64)

RAYS
Peña 1B
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Sutton 3B
Johnson SS
Rhymes 2B
Gimenez C
Thompson LF
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Shields RHP (6-2, 3.77)

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Breakfast with the Terrapins

Posted May 23, 2012 by Rick Harmon

Updated May 23, 2012 at 12:35 AM

Join Tampa Tribune prep writer Rick Harmon Wednesday morning from Port Sr. Lucie as the Tampa Prep Terrapins battle Jacksonville Providence in a Class 3A state baseball semifinal.

Tampa Prep, under the direction of AJ Hendrix, is making its first appearance in the state Final Four. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. We’ll launch the live chat at 9:45 a.m.

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Rays 8, Blue Jays 5: Odds and ends from a win

Posted May 23, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated May 23, 2012 at 12:26 AM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG The Rays beat the Blue Jays 8-5 on Tuesday in a game that didn’t have to be that close.

The Rays led 6-0 after four innings, but rookie Matt Moore struggled in the fifth, walking the bases loaded before allowing a two-run single to Jose Bautista, and a pair of errors on one play led to two more runs.

“We let them up,” manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s why that game was close.”

The Rays snapped a two-game losing streak and can, with a win this afternoon, finish this homestand with a .500 record.

Here are some tidbits from the win …

—Carlos Peña and Luke Scott homered in the same game for only the second time this season. The first was in a 5-0 win against the Angels on April 24.

Peña became the third power-hitter following Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce to homer in their first career start as a leadoff hitter. Longoria and Joyce did it last season.

Peña was hitless in his previous five games and was 0-for-19 before driving one off the roof of the restaurant in center field. The three-run homer was his third hit in 30 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

—B.J. Upton homered on consecutive games for the first time since last July. He is 10-for-23 in his last six games after going 8-for-50 in his first 14 games of the month.

—Wade Davis picked up his first career win as a reliever.

—Fernando Rodney is now perfect in his 14 save opportunities this season. He’s two saves away from tying the team record for the most consecutive saves to begin a season. He is also one of three closers to not blow a save this season, joining Baltimore’s Jim Johnson (16-for-16) and Philadelphia’s Jonathon Papelbon (13-for-13).

Nine of Rodney’s 14 saves have been perfect. He has allowed only one earned run in 20 2/3 innings this season.

—The Rays failed to draw a walk for only the second time this season.

—The 14 hits were the most for the Rays at the Trop this season. The eight runs matched their season-high at home.

—The seven extra-base hits were a season-high.

—Drew Sutton, making his Rays debut, had two hits, including an RBI double.

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