This Week in Baseball

[strummer]

Mets lose the game to a .178 hitter.  Sounds about right.  Mike DeJean sucks

It probably wouldn't have come to that if Mike Piazza could throw anyone out trying to steal.

true, but I don't put much stock in stolen bases. DeJean still should have gotten out JJ F'N Hardy. Oh, and I 've never seen a catcher short hop 2nd base on a PITCHOUT, great job Mike! The 2 guys in the sig pic could make better throws

[Bruiser Chong]

I hope they show this on Sportscenter- foul ball goes into the stands at the Giants game and rolls near a girl who couldn't be more than seven or eight. She's excited about getting it, but it rolls into another roll and when she realizes it, she throws the most ridiculous tantrum over a foul ball I think I've seen. She sat down and started SLAMMING her water bottle into her leg and then pulled her winter hat completely over her face and buried herself into her mom's side. She was crying for so long that one of the Giants' crew members in the booth went down the next inning and gave her spoiled ass a ball.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Charlie Manuel's stupidity leads to the first Cub win in over a week.  Zambrano walked the leadoff man (Abreu), who then advanced to second on a wild pitch.  A groundout sent Abreu to third, and a Ryan Howard groundout couldn't get the run in.  So with Marlon Byrd do up, what happens?  JOSE OFFERMAN TIME BABY~!!!  Offerman K's in a good battle, but the real kick was that Burrell was available to pinch hit.  Phew, my nerves are shot.

Manuel's infatuation for pinch hitting Jose Offerman for Marlon Byrd is really starting to piss me off. Here is a fun fact. Byrd and Offerman both have four hits this season. It took Byrd 8 at bats to get them, and Offerman 23. Offerman hit .256 in limited at bats last year, and somehow that qualifies him as a proven pinch hitter? The man has not been a credible threat at the plate since 1999.

He's a professional hitter! So says Charlie Manuel.

[mike546]

I hope they show this on Sportscenter- foul ball goes into the stands at the Giants game and rolls near a girl who couldn't be more than seven or eight. She's excited about getting it, but it rolls into another roll and when she realizes it, she throws the most ridiculous tantrum over a foul ball I think I've seen. She sat down and started SLAMMING her water bottle into her leg and then pulled her winter hat completely over her face and buried herself into her mom's side. She was crying for so long that one of the Giants' crew members in the booth went down the next inning and gave her spoiled ass a ball.

They showed it.

 

[KingPK]

Hey Al, can you give me the skinny on Jeremi Gonzalez? He's been pretty okay these last two starts, but I've never really looked into him much.

 

And right after that, a very good debut by Wade Miller. That makes me feel a bit better about a Schilling and Wells-less staff right now.

[Guest StylesMark]

Let's not be too happy about the Yanks just yet...they have yet to do the unthinkable this season...

 

3 IN A ROW!!!

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Hey Al, can you give me the skinny on Jeremi Gonzalez? He's been pretty okay these last two starts, but I've never really looked into him much.

 

And right after that, a very good debut by Wade Miller. That makes me feel a bit better about a Schilling and Wells-less staff right now.

Gonzalez is a minor league journeyman. He missed two years in 2000-01, then returned to post good marks primarily as a relief pitcher for AAA Oklahoma in 2002. Tampa Bay gave him an extended shot at the big leagues in 2003, and he posted a 3.91 ERA with unspectacular peripherals. Last season he bombed in Tampa, posting a 6.97 ERA with an abysmal K rate.

 

His numbers were not too spectacular this season in Pawtucket. 24 IP, 14 Ks, 6 BBs, and a 3.00 ERA. But in two starts in Boston, he has 13 strikeouts in 10 innings, with just three walks. The outburst puzzles me, to be quite honest. I doubt he is more than rotation filler in the long run.