This Week In Baseball 9/16-9/23

[snuffbox 0]

Ned Yost will have to hand the ball off to Turnbow or Wise at a few more points yet and those two don't seem capable of giving up less than 3 or 4 run in their innings.

 

Sheets/Gallardo/Villanueva seems to work...too bad Capuano fell off, and Suppan hasn't really panned out consistently.

 

Beyond whatever happens this season: The Brewers MUST re-sign Cordero.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Will Carroll believes Dr. James Andrews belongs in the Hall of Fame.

 

sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3024441

[mike546 0]

Joba, Rivera, Vizcaino and Farnsworth all not pitching tonight. Yankees need to score a lot of runs tonight.

 

edit: O's fans, how do you pronouce John Liecster? Kay and Singelton keep calling him John Lester.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I have to think the Bricktown Showdown is dead after next season when the contract expires. If nothing else though, Moneyball readers can catch a glimpse of Brant Colamarino and his titties.

[mike546 0]

Uh, what exactly is the Bricktown Showdown, Al?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Uh, what exactly is the Bricktown Showdown, Al?

It's a championship game between the winners of the AAA International and Pacific Coast Leagues. Every so often minor league baseball attempts to create a full championship. The Triple-A World Series in 1983, the Triple-A Classic from 1988-91, the Las Vegas Triple-A World Series from 1998-2000. Minor league playoffs attract little fan interest. Holding one at a neutral site (in this case they have a three-year deal with Oklahoma City at AT&T Bricktown Stadium, hence the name) ensures the game is held at a site where the fans really don't care. It did ok for the novelty the first year, but are fans in OK City really going to get excited for a game between Sacramento and Richmond? On top of that, a one-game playoff has no credibility.

[vivalaultra 0]

Ben Sheets, pitching on 3-days rest, just left his start against the Astros in the bottom of the 2nd because he hurt his hamstring warming up.

[devo 0]

John Maine has nothing left. Christ almighty.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

Congratulations, your 2007 National League Eastern Division Champion Philadelphia Phillies, and your 2007 National League Wild Card Winners, San Diego Padres.

 

See you in April New York Mets. You heartless, lethargic, pieces of crap. Let this lost season stick with you, especially considering what happened just across town in The Bronx this year.

 

With the state of the Mets, and Big Blue, the Rangers can't get started soon enough (I'd add the Knicks, but November is still a ways away and I'd rather not think about that mess too much)

[NYU 0]

You really are getting into Anglesault territory here.

 

I'm not going to say that the Mets aren't close to making my head explode at this point. But wait until the Phillies actually take first place before you write off the entire season. A week ago, this team was looking like the strongest in the majors. The tides can change quickly.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Steve J. Rogers, you're aware the Mets still technically have the best record in the NL right? And that Philly is currently losing? The Mets will be fine.

[strummer 0]

Damn is is tough to be a baseball fan at this time.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Congratulations, your 2007 National League Eastern Division Champion Philadelphia Phillies, and your 2007 National League Wild Card Winners, San Diego Padres.

 

See you in April New York Mets. You heartless, lethargic, pieces of crap. Let this lost season stick with you, especially considering what happened just across town in The Bronx this year.

 

With the state of the Mets, and Big Blue, the Rangers can't get started soon enough (I'd add the Knicks, but November is still a ways away and I'd rather not think about that mess too much)

Shut up.

[mike546 0]

Here's hoping Yankee secret agent Eric Gagne has been lulling the Sox into thinking he's good again the last couple weeks, I was really hoping for a Sox loss with the pitching mathups going into this game and the lineup the Sox threw out.

 

edit: GAGNE IS MY HERO!!

[treble 0]

Ha, Russ Adams.

 

The Jays are going to give the Yankees the division, though, which sucks.

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Astros are just giving wins away at this point, aren't they. They can't score on Claudio Vargas? Hah!

[snuffbox 0]

David Weathers is my friend.

[milliondollarchamp 0]

With the way the Mets are playing I am going to say they will win 3 of there last 12 games and the Phillies winning the division

[Slayer 0]

Oh man, I wanna see what al is like in the postseason chats if the Phillies are in it

[CanadianChris 0]

The National League is on pace to make history. Since the introduction of the 162-game schedule in 1961, no league has ever failed to produce a team that won more than 90 games, excluding strike-shortened years. The Diamondbacks are on pace to have the NL's best record at 90-62.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Oh man, I wanna see what al is like in the postseason chats if the Phillies are in it

Sneak Preview:

 

1. Well, what do you expect? The Phillies' pitching staff isn't that good and we've been lucky to get this far.

 

2. Another unclutch home run from the inconsistant Pat Burrell. [/sarcasm]

 

3. F!@#$#%'n Mesa.

 

4. Seriously, fuck Jose !@$#$!'n Mesa?!

 

5. Jose Mesa?! What the !@!$#$$#$@^%(*&**(^#%Q%^$^#%%%*&~!

[Dobbs 3K 0]

And so we have a tie again atop the NL Central...Cubs have one more win and one more loss than the Brewers, if you want to nit pick.

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Cecil Cooper sure did his part, trotting out the Roman triumvirate of suck that is Matt Albers, Felipe Paulino, and Juan Gutierrez.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I just wanna say this..

 

If the Os had sucked all year vs the Yankees like they usually do(Os are 8-6 vs the Yankees so far with 4 to play), the Yankees would probably be in first place by now. As it is, the Os sucking now is gonna put them there anyway.

 

The only thing the Os have to play for is to finish in 4th place and not last, as they're currently 2 games up on TB. TB hasn't finished higher than 5th in the history of the franchise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Wrong, Toronto fiished fifth in 2004.

[CanadianChris 0]

The only thing the Os have to play for is to finish in 4th place and not last, as they're currently 2 games up on TB. TB hasn't finished higher than 5th in the history of the franchise.

They finished 4th in 2004, ahead of Toronto. That's also the only year they've ever won 70 games.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Al's gonna be throwing a ton of 1-hour bans to me if the Phils make the playoffs.

 

Last night was Bizarro World, won by the performances of Jose Mesa, Rod Barajas (I thought he was dead), and Clay Condrey. Brett Myers BLOWS ANOTHER ONE, tho!

 

We should win tonight. Al, here's a stat question for ya...what's the Phils record in Wednesday games since June?

 

I ask this because there's a particular nightclub/sports bar, big Phillies hangout, Landmark Americana, I frequent on Wednesdays, and I swear EVERY Wednesday they lose, and mood there showing the CSN replays. Usually when I get there someone's hitting a walk-off on Gordon.

 

This Wednesday streak includes: THE ATLANTA DEBACLE.

[CanadianChris 0]

Phillies are 3-6 on Wednesdays since July 1.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The funny thing is that Rod Barajas is not really having a bad season. A .352 OBP from someone whose career mark is .288? I'll take it.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Francona stated today that the team is shutting down Hideki Okajima for a while, perhaps the rest of the regular season. Eric Gagne, despite last night's blow-up and the three previous blown saves, will serve as the team's primary set-up man for the remainder of the season. No plans to try MDC or Timlin in an expanded role.

 

I know that the most important thing down the stretch is resting players and aligning the rotation properly for the playoffs, but I'd really like to win the division. I just don't think I could bear all the Yankees' fans rubbing in the fact that they came back from a 14 game deficit. The front office seems more concerned with other matters, however, and will try to work out kinks before the playoffs. I hope it works out.