TWiB 8/7 - 8/13

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Liriano gets owned by the Tigers AGAIN!!! Yeah some ppl will say that he wasn't himself cause he skipped a start. But if u look at the numbers, Detroit is the only team that he really has trouble with.

What are you basing this on? Nine of the 13 runs he's allowed to Detroit this year have come in two games: one came earlier in the year as a reliever and last night, where he admitted the pain was so great he had trouble throwing any of his pitches. He went eight innings, gave up two earned and struck out 12 against them two weeks ago. That's hardly getting owned.

[Vern Gagne 0]

According to the idiots on ATH the Twins overworked Liriano. That's utter bullshit. The Twins are one of the most cautious teams in reguards to monitoring pitch counts, and not wearing out their starters.

 

Twins put Liriano on the D.L.

 

 

Matt Garza the 1st pick in 2005, is going to start Friday against Toronto.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Who the fuck is Murray Chass and why is he allowed to write about baseball? Check out this line from his NYTimes article:

 

Bruised and bloodied, the Yankees have been winning with players named Melky and Bubba. With only a third of the season to go, they have won more than the Red Sox, who until catcher Jason Varitek had knee surgery last week, had not dealt with the extended absence of an everyday player.

 

Sure, he qualified it by saying "everyday player", but does he even realize that David Wells, Matt Clement and Tim Wakefield, who made up their 3, 4, and 5 starters, have all missed the majority of the season. Their long man/#6 starter (DiNardo) is out indefinitey, and their insurance starter (Papelbon) out of the pen moved to the closer role because Keith Foulke was injured.

 

Coco Crisp also missed a good chunk of the season, as has Wily Mo Pena. Trot Nixon is on the DL. I know these names aren't as sexy as Matsui and Sheffield, but the Red Sox have had major injury problems this year. The pitching staff is a wasteland. Why he concludes that they should have run away with the division is beyond me.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I always get a kick out of people acting as if someone's name is an indication of talent.

[devo 0]

As expected, Piazza got a great reception his first time up. He stepped out of the batter's box twice before the crowd calmed down enough for play to continue.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

I heard Keith Olbermann on the Dan Patrick show the other day trying to convince the world that David Ortiz is not an MVP just cause he's a DH and doesn't play the field. He also pointed at ONE play where David made an error and focused on that for a good while as evidence for his case. ONE ERROR! Now looking at my sig, I have a biased opinion, so I'm not gonna go on a crazy rant on why we should storm MSNBC and rip Keith's head off (he was wanting Derek Jeter as MVP. SHOCKING I KNOW!)

 

So I'll ask ya'll a couple of questions. In your mind, does being a DH hurt David Ortiz's shot at being MVP? And if the Red Sox just barely miss winning the division, does David deserve to win the MVP? And if not, who?

[Guest]

And if the Red Sox just barely miss winning the division, does David deserve to win the MVP? And if not, who?

THE CAPTAIN

 

On a serious note, Ortiz or Hafner are the guys that I would vote for. If the Twins make the playoffs, I think Mauer is most deserving.

[Bored 0]

I'd vote Jeter over Ortiz at the moment. People forget Ortiz has had to make up a lot ground after a very pedestrian May put him well behind the other top candidates. If he keeps hitting like he has the last month and a half he'll probably emerge as the legit winner of the MVP but as things stand right now the race is hardly over no matter what ESPN tells you.

 

Let us also not forget about Manny Ramirez. There's a serious argument for him but he's just being tossed aside.

[devo 0]

Ortiz looks to be the most likely MVP candidate at this point despite not even being the best hitter on his team. Hafner and Thome have both been remarkable (and arguably better than Ortiz), but they've got the DH strike against them as well in addition to not having had nearly as many high-profile hits. Plus, I seriously doubt that Hafner is getting more than a handful of votes playing on the Indians.

 

If I had a vote (and believe me, it pains me to say this) I probably actually would give it to Derek Jeter. Guy's been unbelievable this year. I wouldn't mind Ramirez as MVP either.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The AL has determined the DH to a position on a baseball team. There should be no reason to disqualify a DH from MVP discussion. Good defense should be rewarded accordingly, but just being a position player doesn't make one inherently more valuable.

 

Last year, I had A-Rod over Ortiz for MVP. My decision was based on the fact that their numbers were essentially equal, but Rodriguez had plus defense at 3B, and I felt that was enough to separate the two. But this year, I don't see any reason to discount Ortiz or Hafner when they are having the best offensive seasons.

 

KO was way off base on the Dan Patrick show. He kept pointing out that Ortiz was so horrible defensively that he couldn't be an MVP. Someone should let him know that Ortiz really isn't that bad as a 1B. He moved to DH due to concerns with his knees over a 162-game schedule and the fact that the Sox had the luxury of letting him DH. If he were in the NL, this wouldn't be an issue at all.

[devo 0]

How long has Scott Spezio had that ridiculously gay little beard? He needs to shave immediately.

 

Also, three doubles in three at-bats so far for Beltran.

[strummer 0]

Paul Konerko takes Rivera deep in the 9th. Tie game 5-5

[Longdogger_Pete 0]

So much for Boston "raping" Kansas City.

[naiwf 0]

Who would have guessed that Mo would blow a 1 run lead and Wagner would save one on the same night?

[Guest StylesMark]

Damn...Rivera.

 

Did Boston lose?

[devo 0]

They're down by two in the bottom of the eighth.

[naiwf 0]

Damn...Rivera.

 

Did Boston lose?

 

Not yet, they're down 6-4 in the bottom of the 8th to the Royals. If Liriano hadn't gotten hurt Boston would be dead because they'd be trying to chase Minny and the ChiSox. Now they just need to worry about one team down the stretch.

[naiwf 0]

Manny's up now as the go ahead run with 1 out as Papi draws a walk.

 

EDIT: He pulled an A-Rod aka struck out looking.

 

Boston loses 6-4 on a force out by that Greek guy. The chokejob continues!

[Guest Princess Leena]

That was unnecessary.

[naiwf 0]

Johnny Damon's cannon of a left arm allows Chicago to win as he 4 hops a ball home

[Guest StylesMark]

EDIT: He pulled an A-Rod aka

 

Won MVP beating out a DH?

 

Oh well...Sawks are still 2 games back.

[MFer 0]

Liriano gets owned by the Tigers AGAIN!!! Yeah some ppl will say that he wasn't himself cause he skipped a start. But if u look at the numbers, Detroit is the only team that he really has trouble with.

What are you basing this on? Nine of the 13 runs he's allowed to Detroit this year have come in two games: one came earlier in the year as a reliever and last night, where he admitted the pain was so great he had trouble throwing any of his pitches. He went eight innings, gave up two earned and struck out 12 against them two weeks ago. That's hardly getting owned.

 

Alright how many losses does Liriano have? Three. How many have come against Detroit? Two. OK so he pitched great in one game and was hurt in another. I guess I'm just basing it on wins and losses. I'm just excited that the Tigers are going to the playoffs for the first time since i was only a few days old so forgive me if I sound a little delusional. They do own the Twins this year though, despite tonight's game.

[KingPK 0]

Damn, the starter can't even get into the 6th against the ROYALS? What the fuck is going on here?

 

The Red Sox are literally a four man team right now, counting on Schilling and Papelbon to anchor the pitching and Manny and Ortiz to bring the offense. And now Coco Crisp is leading off again, but they already have a guy that plays defense and can't hit...although he's actually hitting BETTER THAN CRISP right now (post-ASB); Gonzalez' OBP is 10 points higher and Coco is slugging just .392 while Gonzo is at .507.

 

Ye gods, wake the fuck UP already.

[vivalaultra 0]

I have a crazy theory. The Astros would be winning the Wildcard right now if they would start winning games on days when the rest of the WC contenders lose. They've picked up some ground over the last week, but it seems like they win when everybody else wins and lose when everybody else loses. Tonite was a good sign. If Brandon Backe can go 7 innings and give up 1 ER each start, and Lidge can strike out the side on 10 pitches every time he comes in, good things will happen. It was made official that top Houston pitching prospect Jason Hirsh is getting called up to start on the 12th against the Padres. Astros' fans everywhere are talking about him like he's the Second Coming of Roy Oswalt. He was voted as having the 'Best Control' in the Texas League in 2005. He was also voted Pitcher of the Year last year. This year, he rode a 40 some odd inning scoreless streak and he's 12-3 with a 2.13 ERA. And he's really tall-6'8". I'm excited to see him, but I was burned by Buchholz, so I'll wait to see him pitch before I get too high on him.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Something to watch for. Two catchers with a chance at a batting title. Mauer leads the A.L. and McCann would leave the N.L. with enough plate appearances. He's about 26 pa's shy.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Don't overlook Michael Barrett. They were talking about that on the Brewers' feed tonight. He's only a few PA's shy of being eligible for the batting title.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Barrett should be on the leaderboard by Thursday.

[Precious Roy 0]

On MVP, I'd vote for Ortiz. Last year he and A-Rod had a push on numbers, so a very good year defensively gave him the edge. This year nobody is matching Ortiz's numbers and making an impact on the other side of the ball. Jeter would be my runner up.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Joe Mauer would be my choice for A.L. MVP. You've got a catcher who's on pace for the batting crown and contributing plus defense. I think that's far more valuable than a straight DH.

 

Does being a DH hurt? Yes. It's not that it's easier to hit as a DH or anything. It's that defense is a plus in the same way offense is a plus. A DH is only earning points on one side of the board. Mauer has nailed 16 baserunners. That's a huge credit.

 

Also, to clear up something Cheech said, the DH is not just an American League innovation. The NL is practically the ONLY league in the world that does not use the DH at the point.

[CanadianChris 0]

At this point, the only people I'd be seriously looking at for MVP would be Manny, Mauer and Jeter. Those three also happen to be the AL leaders in win shares.

 

Ortiz isn't so far ahead of the field with his bat that it makes up for his lack of contribution on defense.