This Week in Baseball 4/23 - 4/29

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Any Mets homers know why Matthew Holliday was pulled out of the game this afternoon? I hope it was just Hurdle with his usual Little League play everyone bullshit.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

-Derrek Lee is caught stealing third during an Aramis Ramirez at-bat that led to a home run.

In Lee's defense, he was safe on that play. No, he probably shouldn't have been running, but he was safe.

 

Come on, Czech. Those are all valid points you bring up, but it is still only April 25.

Valid points? They're damning indictments of a team that still has no grasp on basic fundamental baseball. Trust me, I don't like to go Chicken Little this early, but there's not a lot of encouraging stuff here, and watching your ace fritter away 5-0 and 4-0 leads in consecutive starts is as discouraging as it gets. It's a very very flawed team, as we're starting to see, from how it was assembled, to how it's sent out day-to-day, to what they do once they're out there. And yes, it is, in fact, April 25, and yes, we've only lost 13 games, but 11 of those 13 losses are divisional losses, and those are going to bite this team in the ass if they do end up pulling themselves out of last place. You don't win pennants in April, but you lose them in April.

Look at the list though. It isn't a lack of talent, but a lack of fundamentals. That's damning, but it can be taught.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Speaking of the Cubs, shocking news as Mark Prior is done for the season.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Time to cut our losses on this guy. He lied about being hurt so he'd get more in arbitration.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Jeez... he had his rotator cuff and shoulder fixed. Just give it up, Mark.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Introducing the Cubs newest prospect:

 

[sfaJack 0]

I returned from lunch to find a crudely-made tombstone with the letters RIP and a picture of Prior taped to it, hanging on the wall of my cubicle. Oh, the hilarity!

[snuffbox 0]

Cubs might pull out a win today!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Ted Lilly's certainly been golden so far. His two losses came on scores of 2-1 and 1-0.

[snuffbox 0]

And, in another stunning development, Sheets left the game with what might have been a groin pull. Brian Shouse also took a foul ball to the groin while watching the game.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Ted Lilly's certainly been golden so far. His two losses came on scores of 2-1 and 1-0.

Marquis has been a good starter as well, though I think Lilly's level is more likely to sustain than Marquis's. I expect that once the hitting heats up, the pitching cools down.

[vivalaultra 0]

A foul ball to the groin? Was he the designated 'bullpen guard' or was he just sitting with his leg spread reeeeeaaaaaaallly far apart?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Hey, there's always next year, right Cubs fans?

[vivalaultra 0]

The Cubs are GOING BESERK~!!!!!! with offense. They probably won't score any more runs for the next week or so.

[Annabelle 0]

Hey, stop being a fucking cunt and stop using full names for players, thanks

No.

 

And I'm very excited about Ra. Johnson. If he can return to previous hoss status, I see the D-Backs easily winning the West. Unless the Dodgers get like a couple good hitters via trades.

 

haha. good one. the dodgers are going to finish with the best record in the n.l.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

You mean NL Wildcard. The Padres or Mets are the class of the NL.

[treble 0]

Gregg Zaun broke his thumb and is out for 6-8 weeks. So Jason Phillips and Sal Fasano are the Jays catchers!

[snuffbox 0]

That's it. Season over.

[treble 0]

Jays/Yankees are cancelled tonight. Not sure what this means about Phil Hughes tomorrow, though.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

GRRRRR.

 

Why do these things always happen to Sheets.

 

He's not a pussy like Prior or Wood.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Neither is Wood. Prior, total nancy, though.

 

I like that the Brewers have brought snuffbox and Invader3k together. Invader must be goose-stepping with joy that the Brewers are in first.

[Slayer 0]

A foul ball to the groin?

It works on so many levels!

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

another well-pitched Jon Lieber game tonight would be a good thing. Hope the big three stay hot...five in a row? And I want to see a big Myers 8th inning lockdown.

[snuffbox 0]

A foul ball to the groin? Was he the designated 'bullpen guard' or was he just sitting with his leg spread reeeeeaaaaaaallly far apart?

 

He was sitting in a folding chair with his legs spread modestly (is that the word to use there?). A Cub hit a foul ball that lined into Shouse's foot and bounced back up into his whathaveyou. It was rather comical, really.

 

Also, it was indeed a 'right groin strain' for Sheets. Hopefully nothing too severe for our ace.

 

I think that, more than maybe anything else right now, the Brewers most glaring problem is that they are hitting an incredible amount of homeruns but they are far too often with nobody on base.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

A foul ball to the groin?

It works on so many levels!

2007 World Series: Mariano Rivera takes a foul ball to the groin?

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Howard just crushed one into the wind, 3-0 Phils and Lieber looks sharp.

[vivalaultra 0]

A foul ball to the groin?

It works on so many levels!

2007 World Series: Mariano Rivera takes a foul ball to the groin?

 

This contest is over! Give that man the $10,000!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Since the Red Sox hit four straight home runs on Sunday, there have been a few outlets listing the teams who have done it. One interesting note is that JD Drew was part of the festivities twice, joining the Dodgers' four home run explosion last season. A member of SABR noted that the Braves pulled the trick in 2003. Chipper Jones hit a walk-off home run on May 27. The next day, the Braves led off the game with three consecutive home runs by Rafael Furcal, Mark Derosa and Gary Sheffield.

[Guest Smues]

Since the Red Sox hit four straight home runs on Sunday, there have been a few outlets listing the teams who have done it. One interesting note is that JD Drew was part of the festivities twice, joining the Dodgers' four home run explosion last season. A member of SABR noted that the Braves pulled the trick in 2003. Chipper Jones hit a walk-off home run on May 27. The next day, the Braves led off the game with three consecutive home runs by Rafael Furcal, Mark Derosa and Gary Sheffield.

 

Wow I don't remember that one. I remember Gary-Chipper-Andruw going back-to-back-to-back that year though. Is that Braves four home runs in 2 days included when they say back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns have happened 5 times in history?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Since the Red Sox hit four straight home runs on Sunday, there have been a few outlets listing the teams who have done it. One interesting note is that JD Drew was part of the festivities twice, joining the Dodgers' four home run explosion last season. A member of SABR noted that the Braves pulled the trick in 2003. Chipper Jones hit a walk-off home run on May 27. The next day, the Braves led off the game with three consecutive home runs by Rafael Furcal, Mark Derosa and Gary Sheffield.

 

Wow I don't remember that one. I remember Gary-Chipper-Andruw going back-to-back-to-back that year though. Is that Braves four home runs in 2 days included when they say back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns have happened 5 times in history?

It's not, but maybe it should be.