This Week In Baseball

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Too late to really start a May 24-30, I feel.

 

Couple good ones this weekend. Boston in the Bronx for a 3 game set, Pale Hosers against the Walker Texas Rangers. I get the feeling the AL East matchup will really set the tone for the rest of the year.

[Jericholic82 0]

ya good idea for a new thread. I'm looking forward to the showdown in the bronx of course. If Yanks take the series (at least 2 of 3), I feel it will keep them rolling and maybe a big step in whether or not they can catch the O's, who they won't play again until the end of June.

[Bored 0]

A's reach a new low getting swept by the Devil Rays. It's going to be a fight for this team to beat out the Royals as the worst team in the A.L. Won't be surprised if Ken Macha is fired by the end of the week. He got the dreaded vote of confidence from ownership recently.

[mike546 0]

Bedard goes on the DL for the Os, they really can't catch a break.

[Fartsauce 0]

Jays reaming the Red Sox early at Rogers.

[LooseCannon25 0]

Mets coming off a fantastic 0-3 against the Braves at Turner Filed (the house of horrors). Maybe one day before the season is over Piazza can come through with a clutch hit with a runner in scoring position. Fuck it, i'd suffice for him just making contact on the ball.

[Vern Gagne 0]

A's reach a new low getting swept by the Devil Rays. It's going to be a fight for this team to beat out the Royals as the worst team in the A.L. Won't be surprised if Ken Macha is fired by the end of the week. He got the dreaded vote of confidence from ownership recently.

How about they send the genius Billy Beane packing.

[treble 0]

Jays sweep the Red Sox, but none of the games were on TV here thanks to the Memorial Cup and basketball.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

That's a shame, Tim. I always take advantage of an opportunity to see those Toronto waitresses do their thing behind homeplate.

[treble 0]

It's also kinda funny that the Yankees (and the Jays, too) are a half-game ahead of Boston now.

[Fartsauce 0]

How about Aaron Hill? If he keeps this up, what are they going to do with him when Koskie returns?

[Guest Mosaicv2]

Toronto Blue Jays (a.k.a.) the team that blows-out their team in the division, but get killed by the Yankees... how convincing?

[Cuban Linx 0]

The Rangers sweep their second-straight series and are tied for the AL West Division lead. Of course the teams they beat are barely Major League-caliber teams (Astros and Royals), but still.

 

With Oakland and Seattle looking awful Texas should at the very least take another step forward to 2nd place, but i see no reason they can't compete with and beat the Angels for the Division crown, particularly if K-Rod and especially Vlad are hurting for any length of time, since nearly everyone else on the team isn't getting it done.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm sick to death of everyone dismissing the Orioles. They're tied with the Cardinals for the second-best record in all of baseball, and they're not going anywhere. If the Yankees somehow pull out a miracle and win 100 games to take the division then so be it, but this idea that the AL East is a two-team race between the Sox and the Yankees is just ridiculous.

 

So, Bedard's going to miss 2 or 3 starts. Big deal. Baltimore hasn't lost three in a row all year long, and both the Yankees and Red Sox have gone through stretches where they were wildly inconsistent. The fact is that the Orioles have the most complete team in the division right now, and the Orioles are the team to beat in the East.

[mike546 0]

How do they have the most complete team? Thats very arguable.

 

I'd put Bostons, NYs and the Os hitting all on the same level. Starting pitching isn't even close. For a whole season, its the Yankees and the Sox followed by the Os. Right now the Os rotation is better than the Sox. I just can't possibilly see Bedard, Jeckyl and Hyde according to BB2N keeping it up an entire season. Neither have pitched 200 innings in their careers. Ponson is a headcase, and can't be trusted. Chens great, but hes not going to carry your rotation. The Os bullpen is being overwork to death, Ryan and Julio our on pace for 90+ innings. You can hit all you want, but when it comes to the late months of September and October, I can't see this team staying in 1st.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

How do they have the most complete team? Thats very arguable.

 

I'd put Bostons, NYs and the Os hitting all on the same level. Starting pitching isn't even close. For a whole season, its the Yankees and the Sox followed by the Os. Right now the Os rotation is better than the Sox. I just can't possibilly see Bedard, Jeckyl and Hyde according to BB2N keeping it up an entire season. Neither have pitched 200 innings in their careers. Ponson is a headcase, and can't be trusted. Chens great, but hes not going to carry your rotation. The Os bullpen is being overwork to death, Ryan and Julio our on pace for 90+ innings. You can hit all you want, but when it comes to the late months of September and October, I can't see this team staying in 1st.

You forgot to mention fielding. The Yankees have the worst defense in professional baseball, and because of that they allow more runs than they should.

 

Are the Orioles for real? You bet your ass they are. This is a team with the best run differential in the A.L. East, and a 4.5 game lead. The Yankees are aging fast, and the Red Sox are without Schilling until July. The Orioles can very well win this division.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I'd just be worried about the end of the pen. We're seeing Julio and Ryan way too much this early in the season for it not to come back and be a factor later on.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm sick to death of everyone dismissing the Orioles. They're tied with the Cardinals for the second-best record in all of baseball, and they're not going anywhere. If the Yankees somehow pull out a miracle and win 100 games to take the division then so be it, but this idea that the AL East is a two-team race between the Sox and the Yankees is just ridiculous.

 

So, Bedard's going to miss 2 or 3 starts. Big deal. Baltimore hasn't lost three in a row all year long, and both the Yankees and Red Sox have gone through stretches where they were wildly inconsistent. The fact is that the Orioles have the most complete team in the division right now, and the Orioles are the team to beat in the East.

He's right. Can argue with him, but not the facts. Until they get usurped, the O's are the team to beat, and I'd say they do look the most complete in the A.L East.

 

I'd also offer that it's not just a two team, but a four team race in the East. The Jays look for real.

 

I said it earlier, though, and I will now. The series in The Bronx this weekend will determine the fate of the two teams throught the rest of the season. I'm calling a 2-1 Sox Series win.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'd just be worried about the end of the pen. We're seeing Julio and Ryan way too much this early in the season for it not to come back and be a factor later on.

Ryan's on pace to pitch 90 innings this year. He pitched 87 last year. He pitched very well in September last year. I don't see any indication that the workload will hurt.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I know its NEXT week..but the 4 game series in Boston will be very important.

The Orioles have played Boston pretty well recently up in Boston.

 

And after that series, they have @Pittsburgh and Cincy and Houston and Colorado in Interleague play, which looks to be a favorable schedule for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

 

Bedard's injury didn't seem to be serious, and putting him on the DL seemed to be more precautionary than anything. And I dont mind getting a look at Hayden Penn for a couple starts. I hope he pitches well, and maybe they'll consider moving Ponson to the Bullpen or something, but I have a feeling that Penn is being put on display for any potential trades here in the next 2 months.

 

Toronto has been more consistent than either the Red Sox or Yankees and the fact that theyre hanging in there has me a bit worried because the Orioles have historically (they have an all time losing record vs the Jays) not played the Jays well.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Toronto has been more consistent than either the Red Sox or Yankees and the fact that theyre hanging in there has me a bit worried because the Orioles have historically (they have an all time losing record vs the Jays) not played the Jays well.

Debatable.

 

The Sox yes, the Yankees no. The Yankees, I fear, are back on track, and weren't so much incosistent as they were sloppy for the first 4 weeks.

 

As for the Jays/O's comparison, that could go either way. All time Jays record may be better, but 2-4 against the Birds this year, including a 3 game sweep, worry me.

[MikeJordan23 0]

God Damn, Mark Prior just took a nasty lineshot to his right elbow. He's out the game.

[Fartsauce 0]

That guy and team has no luck.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Sox just took a 2-0 lead in the top of 5, Varitek with a 2 run dinger off Big Unit.

 

7-1 Twins in the bottom 5? Jays won the same pitching matchup last week 10-3. The fuck?

[KingPK 0]

Fucking Dale Sveum cements his reputation as the worst 3rd base coach in baseball. And of course his fuckups lead to the Yanks tying the game.

 

Hey Terry, might be time to take Wake out, ya think?

[mike546 0]

What I saw from RJ:

 

He was trying to shutup the critics by throwing real real hard in the early innings, because he was 94-97 for the first three innings. He couldn't control his fastball for shit, and his slider sucked again as Varitek hit it for the homer. He was gassed by the six, and if not for two great Yankee throws, he'd have given up 5 runs.

 

Bottom line: Not good, and don't read the papers tomorrow Randy

[KingPK 0]

Red Sox bullpen does it again.

 

So I guess they're trying to emulate last year since it worked so well: start off good, but suck for three months before finishing hot.

[MikeJordan23 0]

The Red Sox ruined the entire top of the 6th inning. The third base coach did anyway.

[mike546 0]

Has anybody before this hit a HRer into the upper deck of LF at Yankee Stadium?

 

What a shot.

 

edit: While Al proves me wrong basically everytime I disagree with him, STURTZE has been awesome this year, and no fluke.

[Brett Favre 0]

Yankees win again, and move to within 3.5 games of the Orioles. But the Orioles are for real, so might as well forget it! Those damn aging Yankees have won 16 out of the last 18 games. We need a spark!