TWiB 9/18 - 9/24

[vivalaultra 0]

I disagree with the Oriole fans.

 

The Astros might not make the postseason this year, but this Cardinal series is going to be a Hell of a series, if the first game is any indication. Pettitte vs. Carpenter, with Pettitte's dad having some pretty serious medical problems. Pettitte pitched pretty ok, but defensive miscues made him give up 5 runs in 5 innings, only 1 run was earned. Carpenter...not so much. He went 8 innings, gave up 9 hits and 6 ER. Lance "Big Puma" Berkman hit numbers 42 and 43 in dramatic fashion, the second with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th to give the Astros a one run lead. I think Garner finally realized tonite about 150 games too late that Dan Wheeler should be the closer and Lidge should be selling hotdogs.

[jwest27 0]

I hate Lance Berkman.

 

In other news, ESPN.com says that those dudes who wrote the Game of Shadows are going to prison. Well how bout' that.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

I can't believe LaRussa pitched to Berkman. Sure Scott's hitting .380, but for God's sake man, Lance is like 40% of our offense! Plus, he had already smashed a Carpenter pitch earlier in the game.

 

I'm sure glad he decided to pitch to him though. Keeps the Astros alive for another day at least.

[vivalaultra 0]

The Braves picked up Smoltz'z 2007 option. The only Brave that I remotely like is Smoltz. He's intense. And I like Adam Laroche's swing...and Andruw's ok, but I despise Chipper.

 

Telling Astros' stat of the nite:

 

Lance Berkman leads the team with 126 RBI. Adam Everett is second on the team with 56 RBI. I don't think it's a good thing when there's a 70 RBI differential between your number 1 and number 2.

[Bored 0]

I'm going to the A's/Angels game tommorrow night. Unfortunately it's not going to be the clinching game but looks like they'll be celebrating this weekend. Hopefully they can be a little more composed than the Yankees.

[Guest NYankees]

Lance Berkman has hit a homerun on September 21st 6 straight years now. Wow.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, he's nothing if not consistent.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The Twins do this in every series.Come out flat and do nothing. The second consecutive series, it's a game Santana pitched in. Forget about any talk of MVP for Santana.

 

Playoff spot looks secure.

[MFer 0]

the tigers wonder why they are slumping? they continue to field neifi perez & matt stairs in spite of having more talented younger stars on the bench. hey fuckers, if you won with marcus thames & omar infante, PLAY THEM.

They weren't really winning with Infante; they were winning with Polanco. Infante's a marginal upgrade over Neifi. And Matt Stairs has been with the Tigers for five games, played in four and has a whopping 12 official at-bats. Stop reaching for straws; the Tigers were faltering long before last Friday.

If you call Infante's .284 BA and .743 OPS vs. Perez's .193 BA and .507 OPS a marginal upgrade, I don't know what to tell you. Trust me, Tigers fans would have Omar in the lineup over Neifi in a heartbeat.

 

After last night's win, it looks like Detroit's safely in the playoffs. Whether they win the division remains to be seen.

The last thing I want to do is defend Neifi, but you're out of your mind if you think Neifi being there has caused the collapse of the Detroit Tigers. Trust me, these guys are still faltering with Omar god damn Infante at second. FWIW, the Tigers are still playing under .500 in the games Infante's appeared in since the Neifi deal.

 

As annoying as it is to see Neifi in the lineup, like with the Cubs, the problems are deeper than just his presence.

Oh I know it's not all his fault. It's just whenever I see Omar in the lineup, he seems to make a contribution, usually by getting a big hit. Meanwhile, Neifi just hits weak grounders to second. Hopefully Polanco will come back and it will all be a moot point. The real problem is the approach that most of the Tiger hitters have at the plate coupled with their piss-poor defense. But like most figured, their pitching is too good to let them fall out of the playoffs and it looks like they're going to make it.

[sfaJack 0]

In completely unsurprising news, all the stupid bullshit hype about Roger Clemens' "farewell" to Houston the other day was for nothing--he's starting the Astros' home finale on Sunday.

[CanadianChris 0]

In completely unsurprising news, all the stupid bullshit hype about Roger Clemens' "farewell" to Houston the other day was for nothing--he's starting the Astros' home finale on Sunday.

I'd laugh my ass off if he got shelled and had to leave the game in the second or something like that. They probably won't be cheering for him to come back out of the dugout after that.

[Mik 0]

Girardi with 0% chance of returning to Marlins next season.

[Guest Felonies!]

And yet we'll STILL sign Lou Piniella because of his "managing pedigree."

[vivalaultra 0]

Clemens is starting Sunday because if we sweep the Cardinals (which is a possibility...especially with Marquis, then rookie, then Jeff Weaver pitching for em), take the make-up game in Philly and then sweep the Pirates and Braves while the Cardinals struggle the rest of the season, we'd end up backing into the playoffs. It's certainly nothing about Roger's ego...

[Guest NYankees]

Clemens should start every game remaining for the Astros so he can go out on his 2006 farewell tour like he has done every single year since 2003.

[Guest NYankees]

Girardi with 0% chance of returning to Marlins next season.

 

In a perfect world the Yankees win the world series, Torre retires out on top and the other Joe takes over as manager for the Yankees.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons are now a New York Yankees minor league club.

 

In related news, the Yankees' old AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, are now with the Nationals.

The significant part of the shuffling is that the NY Mets are the odd team out and will play in New Orleans next season. That means there will be no Mets-Yankees games in AAA the next two seasons.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

FWIW, here are the top 5 MVP candidates in each league by VORP (not always the most perfect statistic, but a good starting point).

 

AL

 

1- Hafner

2- J. Santana

3- Jeter

4- Ortiz

5- Sizemore

 

NL

 

1- Pujols

2- Howard

3- Cabrera

4- Berkman

5- Beltran

[CanadianChris 0]

Continuing on, the leaders in win shares through yesterday's games:

 

AL:

1. Jeter (31)

2. Mauer (29)

3. Ramirez (28)

4. Ortiz (27)

5. Morneau (27)

 

Dye is 6th with 26; Santana is 9th with 24. Sizemore and Hafner also have 24.

 

NL:

1. Beltran (37)

2. Pujols (36)

3. Cabrera (33)

4. Berkman (32)

5. Wright (30)

[devo 0]

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons are now a New York Yankees minor league club.

 

In related news, the Yankees' old AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, are now with the Nationals.

The significant part of the shuffling is that the NY Mets are the odd team out and will play in New Orleans next season. That means there will be no Mets-Yankees games in AAA the next two seasons.

 

I don't mind that so much, and am actually kinda excited to see what the Mets do with the Zephyrs. I'm disappointed to see the affiliate leave Norfolk (and was really hoping they'd come to Columbus), but with the organization already saying that they'll play an active role in the rebuilding of New Orleans, I'm confident that they can use this affiliate to tap into a whole new market.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Continuing on, the leaders in win shares through yesterday's games:

 

AL:

1. Jeter (31)

2. Mauer (29)

3. Ramirez (28)

4. Ortiz (27)

5. Morneau (27)

 

Dye is 6th with 26; Santana is 9th with 24. Sizemore and Hafner also have 24.

 

NL:

1. Beltran (37)

2. Pujols (36)

3. Cabrera (33)

4. Berkman (32)

5. Wright (30)

 

 

Mauer is still second. He never seems to do anything in key situations. Yesterday in the third. Down 4-0. 1st and 2nd. He hits into a DP. When it's 6-0 in the ninth in he gets a hit.

[Guest Princess Leena]

*lame Mauer is like Gay-Rod joke*

[CanadianChris 0]

God, are we going to turn everyone into A-Rod now?

 

Just for kicks, I looked up Mauer's OPS overall and with runners on/RISP/RISP, 2 out:

 

926/978/1007/1193.

 

If you guys don't want him, send him to Toronto. We'll gladly take him.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

With Dusty's contract up and Girardi free, this almost seems too perfect for the Cubs. Redeem yourself, Jimmy.

[vivalaultra 0]

Why would Jim Hendry be interested in Joe Girardi? He's been retired for several years and I don't believe he ever played 2nd base...Certainly you weren't inferring that Dusty Baker's time managing the Cubbies to third or fourth place finishes might be nearing an end...

[Vern Gagne 0]

God, are we going to turn everyone into A-Rod now?

 

Just for kicks, I looked up Mauer's OPS overall and with runners on/RISP/RISP, 2 out:

 

926/978/1007/1193.

 

If you guys don't want him, send him to Toronto. We'll gladly take him.

 

 

He's my favorite player, but the past few weeks he's struggled in those situations.

 

I don't care if he drives runners in, and or just gets on-base. Do something.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Clemens should start every game remaining for the Astros so he can go out on his 2006 farewell tour like he has done every single year since 2003.

 

Wow, a bitter, angry Yankees fan. Who'd have guessed THAT?

[devo 0]

Well, at least the outrage is justified this time. Even though he's still an amazing pitcher, I'm so tired of Clemens and all the nonsense surrounding him that I just wish he would finally retire for good.

[Guest Princess Leena]

It's been justifiable since his 1st "retirement". I can't even keep up with them now. It's extremely ridiculous, and Roger is nothing but an attention whore.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The most frustrating part for me is that the Clemens to Boston rumors are already creeping back up on ESPN and on Sons of Sam Horn. It was hard enough dealing with the issue last offseason, at the trade deadline and during the waiver deadline. I really don't want another 6-10 months of debate on the merits of a Clemens homecoming.