This Week in Baseball 4/16 - 4/22

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Ok, the TRADE MO NOW stuff is funny.

 

Farnsworth as the Yankees' closer would be the greatest thing ever.

[Brett Favre 0]

It'd be the hilarity of all hilarities if A-Rod has a monster year but they fail in October because of that pitching and defense (seriously, WHY in the hell is Mientkiewizzizizi playing so far off the line during that Crisp AB? That's an easy groundout) and he opts out to sign another $150 million contract in Anaheim.

 

Not really.

[bob_barron 0]

Fuckin Yankees.

 

Great, now I get to hear it from my boss. He even called me after A-Rod hit that shot where CoCo almost died and I told him to fuck off. One thing I HATE about living in New York; all the crap I get for being a BoSox fan.

 

Oh well, it's only April.

 

Oh, Mole.

 

Braves kicked some ass tonight, hopefully they'll win tomorrow when I'm there

[vivalaultra 0]

So, Craig Biggio just hit a grand slam to give the 'Stros a 6-2 lead in the 9th inning against the Brewers. Where I come from, the way the 'Stros have been playing the last week or so, we call that clutch, yo.

[Guest]

Yes, really. Especially after the way that the fanbase treated him.

[Brett Favre 0]

I consider myself part of the fanbase, so I disagree. From my POV, it wouldn't be funny because I didn't boo the shit out of him.

[Guest]

But you also are not one of the season ticket holders that booed the shit out of A-Rod, which is the fanbase that I was speaking of.

[treble 0]

I guess my prediction of the Ryan injury only costing the Jays a game or 2 was off a little, as they probably win at least one of these last 2 games if he's in there. This is getting frustrating, especially since the last game they won, they probably should have lost.

[alfdogg 0]

I see the Sox had on their green unis to celebrate 4/20.

[Guest]

The real LA team is pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

 

If we had a power hitter, it would be even better.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

This year it only took Torre 15 games to break his promise to not use Rivera for any more than one inning.

 

Of course, it ended up being only 2/3 of an inning.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

What do you mean, promise? Promise to whom? How is Torre beholden to anyone but Steinbrenner with respect to how he uses his closer? Sometimes you need Rivera for more than the one-inning save.

[Guest Smues]

Maybe he has one of those promise rings like the ones highschool girls get to represent the promise to themselves or their parents to not have sex until their married/graduated.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Orioles are in 2nd place!

 

By this time next week they could be in 1st!

 

YES!

 

I just thought of an interesting scenario where A-Rod passes Bonds for HR in a season as Bonds passes Aaron for HR all time..wouldnt that be crazy?

[Precious Roy 0]

What do you mean, promise? Promise to whom? How is Torre beholden to anyone but Steinbrenner with respect to how he uses his closer? Sometimes you need Rivera for more than the one-inning save.

 

Yeah, and a 6-3 lead with 1 out and 2 on in the 8th in APRIL shouldn't be one of those situations. Christ.

 

I'm not that upset about the game, we've got two more in the series and it's too early in the season to worry about this stuff, but there's really no reason to ask Mo to get 5 outs in that situation, especially the way the game had been going up until the 8th, and when you've got Bruney and Farnsworth in the pen for exactly that situation. Does anyone have real confidence in Farnsworth? I guess not. Is Bruney proven? Not really. But fuck, if they can't get a shot to prove it now how can we ask them too when it really counts? And if we're never going to use them in an "important" situation and ask Mo to be the 1-2+ Superman reliever all the time we're not going to win.

 

I've still got all the confidence in the world in Rivera, but fuck, I really hated the way the bullpen was used in that game. The first thing I probably would have done differently is leave Proctor in. He got 2 quick outs relieving Pettitte in the 7th, I don't like pulling him for Mike Myers in that situation when you're just going to pull Myers after the Ortiz AB, I'm hate micromanaging a bullpen like that with a 4 run lead, and with hitters like Ortiz and Manny it's like you're playing right into their hands. You play it tight when you've got a lead like that and it gives them confidence, we've seen it too many times in these games.

 

And I didn't see Thursday's game, but based on how he struggled and how many appearances he's had I don't like using Luis Vizcaino over Bruney or Farnsworth.

 

We didn't lose because of Rivera even though he didn't get it done, or because Kevin Thompson was up there with 2 outs in the 9th (even though pinch running him for the DESIGNATED HITTER JASON GIAMBI was a superfluous move), we lost because the geezers in the dugout fucked up the transition from Pettitte to Rivera

[Guest Richard McBeef]

What do you mean, promise? Promise to whom? How is Torre beholden to anyone but Steinbrenner with respect to how he uses his closer? Sometimes you need Rivera for more than the one-inning save.

 

Yeah, and a 6-3 lead with 1 out and 2 on in the 8th in APRIL shouldn't be one of those situations. Christ.

A home run ties the game, and you're playing a divisional opponent. I might not use Rivera for the 9th, but I'd certainly go to him for the duration of the 8th. Who cares if it's April? Games are worth as much now as they are in September.

[Failed Bridge 0]

It'd be the hilarity of all hilarities if A-Rod has a monster year but they fail in October because of that pitching and defense (seriously, WHY in the hell is Mientkiewizzizizi playing so far off the line during that Crisp AB? That's an easy groundout) and he opts out to sign another $150 million contract in Anaheim.

I was thinking to myself that it would be a funny and ironic situation if A-Rod kept up a pretty good pace all season, even breaking Bonds' single season homer record just to watch the team not even make the playoffs due to their pitching. Then he has one of the greatest regular seasons stat-wise and can't even get the chance to prove himself in the post season.

 

I see the Sox had on their green unis to celebrate 4/20.

Bob Cousy was there and we all know The Cous wouldn't allow any cheebah smokin'

 

Funny story about Bob Cousy. As some of you know Bob Cousy makes and has always made his home in Worcester, where I'm from. When my father was a little kid his father used to deliver flowers for a living. Bob Cousy ended up being one to recieve a delivery. Evidently he didn't tip well and he was a real jerk to boot, and to this day my grandmother complains about the incident whenever he's mentioned (even though my grandparents have been divorced long before I was even born).

[KingPK 0]

What do you mean, promise? Promise to whom? How is Torre beholden to anyone but Steinbrenner with respect to how he uses his closer? Sometimes you need Rivera for more than the one-inning save.

 

Yeah, and a 6-3 lead with 1 out and 2 on in the 8th in APRIL shouldn't be one of those situations. Christ.

A home run ties the game, and you're playing a divisional opponent. I might not use Rivera for the 9th, but I'd certainly go to him for the duration of the 8th. Who cares if it's April? Games are worth as much now as they are in September.

 

But it was against the bottom of the Boston lineup, guys that haven't exactly lit the world on fire so far this season. Torre's going to have to depend on guys like Bruney, Farnsworth, et al this year, so you might as well find out if they can get it done now. That's why I'm liking Francona's use of the pen this year; Papelbon was unavailable, so he used Okajima since he was unfamiliar to the Yankee hitters. That's good managing right there.

[Brett Favre 0]

Farnsworth hasn't been doing good, but Bruney has already proven he can get it done in big spots. He pitched over an inning in extra innings against the A's. It's not like he was stinking it up. Opponents are hitting like .125 against him. That's why it's a little bit of a head scratcher.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I just thought of an interesting scenario where A-Rod passes Bonds for HR in a season as Bonds passes Aaron for HR all time..wouldnt that be crazy?

 

I dunno if A-Rod will get to 73 but he's really on fire right now. Eventually, though, I think A-Rod will own the career HR record because I believe he will be the youngest guy to 500 HR's.

[bob_barron 0]

The Braves are now 2-4 when I see them live. :-(

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Phillies just turned a 5-4-3 triple play on the Reds. I believe this is the 1st triple play I've seen (either in person or on TV).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Phillies just turned a 5-4-3 triple play on the Reds. I believe this is the 1st triple play I've seen (either in person or on TV).

Does the Mets scene in The Odd Couple count?

[Above Average 0]

As a Phils fan, all I heard when Myers was moved into the bullpen was that it was stupid to move your ace into the set-up role. Well, nobody would say it early cause it's the guys second year, but we all knew Cole was our true number one. His change-up is just nasty and that 15 K complete game tonight almost gets the bad taste from last game out of my mouth. Seeing an actual triple play on tv also helped a lot.

[vivalaultra 0]

Even if Cole Hamels is the ace of the staff, Brett Myers was still, at least, the best right-handed pitcher and the second best pitcher of the rotation. It's still a stupid move to put even the second best pitcher in the rotation in a set-up role. Making him a closer would have been a little more understandable, giving Tom Gordon's pitching thus far, but taking possibly the best pitcher on the team and putting him in an 8th inning role is a stupid desperation move any way you slice it.

[geniusMoment 0]

As a Phils fan, all I heard when Myers was moved into the bullpen was that it was stupid to move your ace into the set-up role. Well, nobody would say it early cause it's the guys second year, but we all knew Cole was our true number one. His change-up is just nasty and that 15 K complete game tonight almost gets the bad taste from last game out of my mouth. Seeing an actual triple play on tv also helped a lot.

Not to bring you down but he was pitching against the Reds, who are as bad offensively right now against left handers as any team I can remember.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Myers, who is 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA, needed to be moved to spark something. I would have rather them moved Myers than Eaton because Eaton blows whether he's starting or in the bullpen. We're not getting anything for our bullpen as of yet, so why not move Myers to bolster the pen? It's not a dumb move, especially considering the way he has been pitching out of the pen in those two games and the start Lieber had last night.

[Above Average 0]

Not much can bring me down on Cole considering all of his appearences this season have been quality starts or better and he's still building his arm strength. His fastball, using last season as a guide, can only get livelier since it's hovering around 90 right now.

 

And if shopping Lieber by keeping him in the rotation leads to quality starts and Myers suring up our scary bullpen, all the better. But Jon has to continue pitching like he did last time for that theory to hold water.

[vivalaultra 0]

Personally, I don't think Myers was given enough starts to pitch himself out of the rotation, nor do I think that 2 appearances out of the bullpen are enough to justify him being in the bullpen. Lieber was no great shakes this season before his start against Cincy, either. In effect, the Phillies weakened their rotation to slightly strengthen their bullpen. If a guy's a good pitcher and is able to be in the rotation, he should be in the rotation. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. If Myers was pitching shitty but striking out alot of guys in the middle of May and Lieber was doing mediocre to good in the bullpen, this decision would've made more sense, but since it came a week into the season, it's kind of a WTF decision that reeks of desperation and throwing shit at the walls.

[garfieldsnose 0]

I would rather them make up ground now, instead of later, since the Braves and Mets are off to hot starts. They cannot just give games away this early in the season, and they've already given up three or four. Whatever works in the short run will work right now, as long as they have a plan that goes beyond the short run.