Longoria being the cover athlete is a gigantic leap in the right direction for not only putting Longoria on the face of baseball for today’s youth, but also, helping to put Tampa Bay on the map as a fixture in the MLB.

I was concerned at first how the review would go. As a Sony PlayStation 3 owner, I have ALWAYS been a fan of the MLB “The Show” series, largely because I had bad experiences with games freezing when I last owned something from the 2kSports line. However, I figured, I owe it to Rays fans everywhere to review this latest edition, due to the emphasis put on the Rays team by Longoria being a cover athlete.

So, here is what I found…

The Good aspects of MLB 2k10

This is a tremendously feature rich game. I felt that in comparison to “The Show”, that the stat overlay and user interface on the menus was much easier when playing MLB 2k10. I saw very useful statistics come up when I was playing. For example, I was playing an exhibition game as the Rays. In the game, I was playing the Philadelphia Phillies. The game showed me what Jason Bartlett’s numbers looked like against right handed pitching. These numbers change throughout the game obviously to fit the scenario which you are facing. The stat overlays and constant flow of information made me feel like I was REALLY WATCHING a broadcast

Me, being a statistics guy, I LOVED this feature.

Another aspect I LOVED about the game was the living rosters feature. Rosters that sync up with what is actually going on in Major League Baseball may seem rather gimmicky, but for someone like me, who plays through at least one 162 game season each year, it is a pretty neat feature, that adds a ton of realism to the game. I can remember when Pat Burrell first signed with the Rays, I hit about 45 home runs with him in the game, while he proceeded to tank in real life. This always irked me, as I felt that the game was not as “real” as it could be.

Some of the other features ad realism by allowing you to:

Work the corners –This is based on each individual pitcher’s mechanics and official scouting reports. Couple this data with Total Control Pitching which lets you put the ball exactly where you want it. Pitching has never been as realistic as it is in 2kSports.

Work the count – With Total Control Hitting you can time your swing to hit for power, put the ball in play or take a defensive cut. Total control of where the ball heads when it leaves your bat—if you are good enough. You can also use Batter’s Eye. This feature uses a hitter’s real-life eye rating to help you identify Fastballs, Breaking Balls and Off Speed pitches before they get to the plate. Again, more realism makes the game robust and fun to play.

The Best Play Like the Best – You favorite superstars are now even more realistic when portrayed by their digital replicas. The True-to-Life Player Rating System, Signature Styles and a new Motion Model ensure every pitch, swing, catch, throw, steal and slide looks and feels like you’re at the ballpark, again, a step toward realism.

Authentic Presentation – As I mentioned earlier, the stats during the game blew my mind. The MLB Today feature delivers real-time scores, standings, news and stats to ensure timely commentary that reflects what’s actually going on in the Majors—awesome if you take advantage of the living rosters feature.

Knowledge is Power – With a game that has tremendously realistic game play, planning is more important than ever before. Use Inside Edge to scout players, assess strengths, weaknesses and tendencies, and then exploit them to get the upper hand. This is huge if you are into the “GM” side of the game.

The Bad aspects of MLB 2k10

As good as all the new game play enhancements are, and how realistic the stat overlay and actually playing interface is, the fact remains, if the game doesn’t look appealing, it won’t hold the average, casual gamers attention.

My honest first assessment when I put the game in—I thought I had been sent the PS2 version. The stadium designs lack a lot of the detail that makes them so great in MLB “The Show” the players, up close look great, but from a distance, need some work. I did like the crowd animations, and the way the menus and overlays looked, but other than that, I was not impressed.

Little details such as HUGE numbers on player jerseys that were totally disproportionate to the players backs was a huge pet peeve, and lack of detail in jerseys and accessories did not help the games cause either.

It is hard to find a sports game that embodies the great graphics and features that you all want. The Madden franchise does a good job of it. I think, that continued work on the robust features and game play, coupled with a complete graphics engine overhaul, and MLB 2k10 would be unstoppable as a series.

Since these reviews of video games seem to always be quantified with a rating system, I will throw a 6.5 out of 10 stars on MLB 2k10. The great features and enhanced game play really scored this game some points, but the graphics, or lack thereof, really put a damper on the gaming experience for me.

Shoppach was injured during a collision at home plate. The Rays were hoping for Shoppach to provide some offensive pop from the catcher position this season, but so far the incumbent Dioner Navarro has outperformed Shoppach in some aspects of his game.

Shoppach was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a trade that sent career minor league pitcher Mitch Talbot to Cleveland.

John Jaso was called up from Durham to fill Shoppach’s roster spot.

So has Pat Burrell finally started to awaken from his era of slumbering lumber?

It will take more time to know for sure, but judging from his recent efforts, the signs are intriguing. What began quietly a week ago with a few singles in a loss to the Yankees became an exclamation point Saturday night with his Boston tee-off party and pair of big, game-winning hits.

To read more of Scheiber’s piece, click here.

Dave Scheiber of FoxSportsFlorida.com takes a look at this unprecedented feat…

The Rays find themselves in uncharted territory today: the first time in their 13 seasons that they’ve won five of the opening eight games. But the stunning manner in which the team got there Tuesday night – and the message sent in the process – is arguably a whole lot more important than a first-ever 5-3 record

Anybody watching Baltimore lefty Brian Matusz shackle Tampa Bay batters through seven innings – allowing only a bunt single by Ben Zobrist and check-swing infield hit by Carlos Pena – could have understandably concluded that it just wasn’t the Rays’ night on a chilly, raw evening at Camden Yards.

To read the rest of Scheiber’s story, click here.

Pena hits game winning home run

The Tampa Bay Rays sure are making every effort to keep us on the edge of our seats this year. The Rays beat the Orioles in the 10th inning with a home run from Carlos Pena. The 8 -6 victory over the Orioles improved the Rays record to 5-3, good for third in the AL East behind the division leading Toronto Blue Jays at 6-2 an the New York Yankees at 5-2. The Rays will look to complete a sweep of the Orioles in the rubber game today at 1:35. The momentum of a sweep could be crucial for the Rays as they will face the Boston Red Sox for the first time this season starting on Friday.

We know that the Red Sox will be tough throughout the season, so wins early in the season while Boston is struggling will be very important for the Rays.

Shoppach sent to the DL

New catcher Kelly Shoppach was placed on the 15 day disabled list with what was termed as a “right knee sprain” following a collision at home plate with the Yankees Curtis Granderson earlier this week.

John Jaso–a personal favorite of mine–was called up from Durham to replace Shoppach.

Shoppach had started the season with the Rays batting .250 in 4 games, with no home runs or RBI’s and four strikeouts.

A prediction…

I think the Rays will earn their first sweep of the year, with today’s game against Baltimore. The Orioles have started the season a very sad 1-6–their only win was against the Rays, but that was what I consider to be an anomaly due to the freak injury to Jeff Niemann. With David Price on the mound today, I expect to see an 8 or 9 strike out game, and home runs from Evan Longoria & B.J. Upton.

For this I apologize, I always hate letting down my readers, especially if you are itching to check out this page for your daily Tampa Bay Rays news.

However, the reason for the neglect is actually a very good one.

At around 11pm on Thursday, April 13^th, I found out I am going to be a father.

That’s right me and the first lady of TampaBayRaysFan.com have our first lil Rays fan on the way. Of course, I took the weekend off to celebrate and let our parents know they are going to be grandparents—for the first time!

With the baby on the way, we are going to be moving from Kentucky back to Florida so we can be closer to family. Which is also great news, because truth be told, I hated being this far away from all the Rays fans.

We had our first doctor’s appointment today, and found out we are about 5 weeks along. My only regret is that my first child will not catch any of the Rays games this season—guess I need to subscribe to MLB TV and hook the headphones up to Kim’s belly.

I will keep you all posted on the latest news with our lil one—the soon to be newest lil Rays fan in Florida.

ST. PETERSBURG — Jeff Niemann left Thursday night’s game against Baltimore after taking a shot off his right shoulder.

Miguel Tejada, leading off the Orioles’ second against the 6-foot-9 right-hander, hit a ball up the middle that caught Niemann square on the back of the shoulder. The ball then ricocheted to Carlos Pena at first for the unusual 1-3 putout.

Niemann appeared to be in some pain, bending at the waist before being tended to on the mound by a contingent of trainers and manager Joe Maddon. After Niemann threw several pitches, Maddon signaled for Andy Sonnanstine to come into the game.

Niemann threw 12 pitches, 10 for strikes, and had retired each of the four hitters he faced. He was making his first start of the season after leading the team in wins in 2009, when he went 13-6 with a 3.94 ERA in his rookie season.

Recent reports say that Niemann’s early exit were strictly precautionary, and that the pitcher is listed as day to day with a shoulder contusion.

Keep checking back with www.tampabayraysfan.com for all the latest on this injury.

Predictions that reign true…

Before yesterday’s games, I made two predictions via Twitter–that Matt Garza would strike out ten , and that Evan Longoria would go yard, again.

Okay, so maybe the Longoria thing was NOT a prediction, and I was one off on the Garza strikeout tally. They say that almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but dammit, I was close–so I am going to go with it! Follow me on Twitter (@ThomasGemkow) to see what my predictions are for tonight’s game.

A Rays dude worth following

I have always had a load of respect for Cork Gaines over at RaysIndex.com. Having been a reader of his blog prior to starting TampaBayRaysFan.com in January of 2009, I guess you could say he was influential in my development and determination as a blogger.

I have always found his commentary to be insightful an witty, and he is very interactive with his readers. While I encourage you all to subscribe to my RSS feed, and to follow me on Twitter, I also encourage you to do the same with Cork.  Read more about his “Raysheads Army Social Universe“, and be sure to start following him!

Soriano making an impact

Rafael Soriano, the new pitcher that we spent too much money on this off season–has notched a win and save in his first two days. At least he is earning the large payout we gave him (note:if he proves to be the shut down closer that we have not seen since the Roberto Hernandez days, then I will retract my “paid too much” statement, but until he closes out some BIG games, I will just say the Rays are down with O.P.P.–over priced pitcher)

At any rate, read about the start to Soriano’s season here.

According to the simulation from MLB 2k10, the Rays will close out the series with the Orioles with yet another win, beating Balitmore 5-4.

So far, the computer has been inaccurate, selecting the Orioles to win the first game, with results of the second game unknown due to a server issue.

In this Digital Diamond game, Rays starter Jeff Niemann goes 6 innings, giving up 4 runs and striking out just three, before giving way to Randy Choate, who pitches the final three innings in a dominating fashion, giving up no runs while surrendering just one base hit, a performance that is enough to gain him the win.

Both Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist tally three hits, while slugging first baseman Carlos Pena drills a home run in the first inning, driving in three runs of his four RBI’s for the day.

The Rays also look as if they turn up the heat on the base paths, with Crawford swiping two bases, and Zobrist, Jason Bartlett and Sean Rodriguez all getting in on the base stealing fun with one a piece.

Side Note:Game 2 of the 2010 season was unable to be simulated, due to a server issue with the 2kSports online gaming network.

Lead by a near dominating performance from Matt Garza, the Rays downed the Orioles in game two of the 2010 season by a score of 4-3.

Garza went 8 strong innings, allowing just four hits and two runs one his way to striking out 9. Newly acquired closer Rafael Soriano came in for the top of the 9th inning, and gave up two hits and one run, but was still able to notch his first save as the Rays closer.

Other news worth talking about, slugging third baseman Evan Longoria hit his second home run of the season, though this one was not as impressive as his 473 foot blast in the season opener on Tuesday night.

Carlos Pena also looked strong at the plate, going 2-4 with a double.

The Tampa Bay Rays will look to close out the series with a win tonight against the Orioles. Last years most solid pitcher for the Rays, Jeff Niemann will look to build off of the success from his strong rookie campaign, as he faces off against Orioles youngster Brian Matusz.