PHILADELPHIA — Andy Sonnanstine is easy to overlook.
He doesn’t throw hard, he’s spent only two years in the major leagues and he’s the No. 4 starter on a Tampa Bay pitching staff primed with power arms.
But he’s reliable.
“The guy is a winner,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said Saturday. “I’ve talked about him for years. A guy like this comes through the minor league system, or even gets drafted in the first place — a guy like Andy to get drafted in the first place takes excellent scouting as far as I’m concerned. You have to read into the guy’s heart.”
Sonnanstine is scheduled to face Philadelphia’s Joe Blanton in Game 4 of the World Series tonight. The right-hander was 13-9 with a 4.38 ERA for the Rays this season and is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA in two playoff starts.
“I’ve had quite a few naysayers through my career,” Sonnanstine said. “So I kind of take that as a chip on my shoulder and I feel like I have something to prove at every level, and I think that’s helped me have success.”
The Phillies acquired Blanton from Oakland in a July trade and he went 4-0 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 starts for the NL champions. He was effective during the playoffs, going 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two outings.
Blanton hasn’t pitched since Oct. 13, and Sonnanstine’s most recent outing was a day later.
“Well, mentally you just kind of relax on those days off,” Blanton said. “But physically it’s just, try to keep it as much routine as possible. I’ve thrown a lot of bullpens. I threw a simulated game just one day just to have hitters in there, and that feel of a batter standing in and throwing different pitches to him.”
Rooting for Rocco: Jamie Smith is a die-hard Phillies fan and his parents are season ticket-holders.
For the World Series, though, Smith traded his Phillies shirt for one that reads “Root for Rocco!”
The 17-year-old Smith and Tampa Bay outfielder Rocco Baldelli both suffer from mitochondrial disorder, a condition that slows muscle recovery and causes extreme fatigue.
Smith, of Medford, N.J., wrote a letter to Baldelli this summer and the two finally got to meet Saturday night before Game 3 of the World Series. Baldelli spoke with Smith about baseball and living with the disorder in a lengthy conversation outside the Rays clubhouse.
“We’re actually talking about how we’re both alike in a lot of ways,” said Smith, sitting in a wheelchair. “I was also giving him one of the best pieces of advice I give him. Pace yourself.”
Baldelli gave Smith an autographed bat that read “To Jamie, best wishes, you are a true hero. Rocco.”
Baldelli questioned in spring training whether he’d ever play again, but made it back and now plays an important — albeit limited — role for the AL champions.
He appeared in 28 of Tampa Bay’s last 46 games, including 16 starts. He earned a spot on the postseason roster by showing he could hold up physically while hitting .263 with four homers and 13 RBI, displaying flashes of his old self.
Smith said his muscles sometimes hurt so much he can’t even open his eyes. He suffers from extreme exhaustion, has chronic pulmonary issues and requires supplemental feedings through a gastronomy tube.
He said he crosses his fingers and says a prayer before each of Baldelli’s at-bats. Smith and others suffering from the disease have left messages of support for Baldelli on the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Web site, www.umdf.org.
Smith and his parents have tickets for Game 5. He was hoping Baldelli would hit a World Series homer for everyone affected with Mito.
Left and right: Left-handed hitting Gabe Gross was set to start in right field for Tampa Bay, even though the Rays were scheduled to face soft-tossing lefty Jamie Moyer in Game 3.
“I really was pondering that one a lot,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “I was not comfortable making that decision until I really let it stir a bit. The way Gabe swings, the swing path where Jamie likes to throw the ball, I felt Gabe was the best matchup with him even over our right-handed hitters tonight. So we chose to go in that direction.”
Gross was 1-for-16 during the AL playoffs. He often struggles against lefties and was relegated to the bench against right-hander Brett Myers in Game 2.
“For those of you that have watched Jamie pitch in the past, sometimes it might be better left-handed,” Maddon said.
Status quo: Baseball commissioner Bud Selig opposes extending the first round of the playoffs from best-of-five series to best-of seven.
“I think that exacerbates the problem,” he said. “If you add two more in the first round, it just makes the playoffs longer.”
Next year, Game 7 of the World Series wouldn’t be until Nov. 5 under the current format.
“I’ve been worrying about that all day today,” Selig said.
Selig admits the length of the postseason increases the likelihood of playing in cold weather.
“I won’t do what Bowie used to do, though,” he said, referring to former commissioner Bowie Kuhn. “I will not sit outside without a coat.”
Speaking Saturday night, Selig repeated that he doesn’t envision playing World Series games in the daytime anytime soon because the television networks aren’t interested and ratings are lower. There hasn’t been a World Series day game since 1987.
“Someday I hope we can do that,” he said.
Around the horn: Temperatures were expected to dip into the
40s and 30s over the next few days in Philadelphia, and that could be bad news for Tampa Bay. The AL champion Rays, who play in a dome back home, went 0-5 this season when the game-time temperature was below 50 degrees. They lost two games at Yankee Stadium from April 6-7 and three in Boston from May 2-4, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … If there is a World Series game Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers plan to shift the start of their home opener against the Toronto Raptors from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. so fans have a chance to attend the NBA game and watch the Phillies afterward. Game 6 between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays is scheduled for Wednesday night at 8:35 p.m., if necessary.
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