#1 Web Gem Grady and a hearty congrats

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Last Friday night’s game against the Mets saw Grady’s first Web Gem in years, and a #1 Web Gem at that.  After hitting a solo HR earlier in the game, Grady cleared the LF fence at Tropicana Field to steal a game-tying HR from Wilmer Flores.  Check it out below:

As I’m a bit behind on news, here’s an interview from postgame on 8/3/15:

Also, congratulations are in order as Grady and his wife, Brittany, welcomed their first child, a son named Luca Grey, on July 23rd in Arizona. Here’s to the happy family!

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Grady picked up by Rays, impresses in debut

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On June 15th, Grady Sizemore was signed to a minor league deal by the Tampa Bay Rays. After working out for a few days at their training complex in Port Charlotte, FL, Grady began a string of games with the High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs on Sunday, June 21st.

Just one short week later, the MLB club selected his contract and he made his debut with the Rays batting 2nd in the DH position vs. the Boston Red Sox on Sunday 6/28. Going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a double, Grady seems to have made a good first impression with his new club and their fans.

Check out his thoughts from before and after the game below:

Grady Sizemore Finds Opportunity To Compete With Rays – Sports Talk Florida
Grady Sizemore makes good first impression on Rays – Tampa Bay Times

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Sizemore makes most of his opportunity

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Since struggling mightily in the month of April (.147/.194/.176 — albeit in limited playing time), Grady seems to have heated up along with the weather. With a line of .368/.415/.421 in May so far, his numbers have quite improved, landing at .264/.312/.306 as of May 18th.

While the power doesn’t seem to be there (yet), it’s good news to see him swinging a hot bat this month. Is it the weather, the increased playing time, or just that he was in a slump the entire month of April? Will the power ever return? Those answers remain to be seen, but we’re enjoying this little hot streak while it lasts.

For their part, Grady and Philly manager Ryne Sandberg think it’s the more consistent AB’s that are helping:

“It felt good to have some good swings and get the win,” Sizemore said. “I felt like I didn’t have a lot of at-bats or a lot of consistent at-bats, so I try to just do what you can to stay sharp and relax up there and keep grinding it out.”

“Grady just seems to be clicking right now,” Sandberg said. “He gave us some real good pinch-hits, he got some hits and I think that got him rolling. Now with some starts, he seems to be in a groove. He’s just seeing the ball real good, squaring it up.”

Read more at Phillies.com

The Phils begin a long 10-game road trip, during which they’ll face the Nationals and Mets, following the 3-game set with the Rockies in Denver that begins tonight.

Filed Under: articles, interviews, news

Sizemore ‘forgotten man’ so far this spring

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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Grady Sizemore has become a bit of a forgotten ballplayer with the Phillies this spring.

The Phillies made bringing back Sizemore a priority, signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract in mid-October. But the 32-year-old Sizemore hasn’t been getting much time with the regulars in Grapefruit League games. He didn’t play in Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the Astros, one day after making the trip to Lake Buena Vista only to enter the game against the Braves as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.

Read more at The News Journal.

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Whoops… so much for the updates

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I lied when I said I’d do a news roundup last year. Got a bit busy and, near the end of the season, news and photos became sparse.

Since our last post, Grady was named the Opening Day starter for the Red Sox and started out the season well then inevitably slowed down as the time off started to show. The beginning of June saw his return to Cleveland with the Sox, but sadly the reception from Cleveland fans was pretty much nil. Not long after that series he was designated for assignment, then subsequently outright released, by Boston.

A week later, the Philadelphia Phillies took a chance and signed him to a minor league contract. After just a few weeks at AAA Lehigh Valley, the Phillies purchased his contract and he was back in the MLB, where he remained the rest of the season. Though his early playing time was bountiful, it soon dwindled. As the season neared its end, he was relegated to mostly PH duties due to Philly taking a look at their younger players. Despite this, Grady put up a respectable line of .253/.313/.389/.702 with Philadelphia in his first full season back from missing two from multiple injuries & surgeries. His full 2014 stat line (including Boston and Philly) was .233/.299/.354/.654.

Most importantly, however, Grady got through the entire season unscathed in the health department. Perhaps hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, on October 23rd the Phillies announced that they had signed Grady to a 1-year $2 million MLB contract for the 2015 season.

So, needless to say, 2014 was a busy one for Mr. Sizemore, and not just in the baseball world. Earlier in 2014, Grady wed his longtime girlfriend Brittany. Sorry ladies, there’s a real Mrs. Sizemore now. Congrats to the happy couple!

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