This Week in Baseball 5/19 - 5/25

[Bored]

ESPN/FOX/TBS Games to Poison Our Youth

 

MONDAY

Cubs (Ted Lilly) at Astros (Brian Moehler), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

 

WEDNESDAY

Mets (Mike Pelfrey) at Braves (Jair Jurrjens), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

 

SATURDAY

Diamondbacks at Braves, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

Angels at White Sox, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

Mets at Rockies, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

 

SUNDAY

Mariners at Yankees, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, TBS

Angels at White Sox, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

[devo]

Really, FOX? Mets at Rockies is the game you decide to pick up?

 

Won't be watching that 'til about eight that evening.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

I'm disapointed in the lack of a mention in the subtitle of the thread.

 

For the record, on Wednesday night if you see someone in an orange brimmed hat in RF bleachers/2nd row..it'll probably be me.

[Bruiser Chong]

I'd say Astros/Cubs is damn near must-see TV considering we'll see the two hottest hitters in the NL squaring off.

[Bruiser Chong]

That's the first inside-the-park homer I've ever seen as it happened. And Soto of all people, even though the replay shows it was clearly a straight-up homerun, anyway. Wasn't tough to tell even when it happened.

[naiwf]

Turned to ESPN just in time to see Jim Edmonds with a Jim Edmonds special.

 

[devo]

Here's hoping the Royals get a hit in the next couple of innings, or else every other word uttered on ESPN for the next couple days is going to be "cancer".

[jimmy no nose]

Josh Hamilton homered in the first inning to pick up his 50th RBI in game 46. Not that it really means anything yet, but that projects to 176 over a full season.

[Guest Desensitized]

Here's hoping the Royals get a hit in the next couple of innings, or else every other word uttered on ESPN for the next couple days is going to be "cancer".

Well, three outs to go here. I have faith in you, Kansas City Royals.

 

EDIT: Oh cool, now I can't watch the Cubs game. Now I want a Royals hit just to spite ESPN. They should've put this on ESPN2.

 

Okay, he got it, now please take me back to the game you were contracted to air. There's a close and important game going on and we're lingering here on Hot Ass-Slapping Action. The Eastern Seaboard Programming Network strikes again.

[Vampiro69]

Jon Lester throws a no-hitter tonight against the Royals.

[Mik]

Here's hoping the Royals get a hit in the next couple of innings, or else every other word uttered on ESPN for the next couple days is going to be "cancer".

Well, three outs to go here. I have faith in you, Kansas City Royals.

 

EDIT: Oh cool, now I can't watch the Cubs game. Now I want a Royals hit just to spite ESPN. They should've put this on ESPN2.

 

Okay, he got it, now please take me back to the game you were contracted to air. There's a close and important game going on and we're lingering here on Hot Ass-Slapping Action. The Eastern Seaboard Programming Network strikes again.

 

That's a bit inaccurate as every no-hitter and subsequent celebration gets broadcast.

[the max]

Here's hoping the Royals get a hit in the next couple of innings, or else every other word uttered on ESPN for the next couple days is going to be "cancer".

Well, three outs to go here. I have faith in you, Kansas City Royals.

 

EDIT: Oh cool, now I can't watch the Cubs game. Now I want a Royals hit just to spite ESPN. They should've put this on ESPN2.

 

Okay, he got it, now please take me back to the game you were contracted to air. There's a close and important game going on and we're lingering here on Hot Ass-Slapping Action. The Eastern Seaboard Programming Network strikes again.

 

That's a bit inaccurate as every no-hitter and subsequent celebration gets broadcast.

 

Don't you know? Any and all people or teams associated with the city of Boston are terrible. Their very existence is loathed. All no-hitters should be celebrated with firm handshakes (no hugs!) and leaving the field quietly and in an orderly fashion so as not to distract from the other games.

 

 

Edit: Not to take away from the usual complaining in these threads, but Jason Varitek has now caught four no-hitters. Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz and now Jon Lester.

[Guest Desensitized]

When you're carrying another game, then okay, he got it, get back to the game, OR, BETTER YET, move one of the games to ESPN2 and bump arena football. The no-hitter is one thing. America doesn't need to watch the ass-patting.

[the max]

Yes, bump another sport on another channel so as not to take away from Astros/Cubs. We obviously never see enough of them. I mean, we see no-hitters all the time, never the drama of an Astros/Cubs game in mid-May.

[Guest]

Any and all teams associated with the city of Boston are terrible.

You know what, I agree 100%.

 

But still, ESPN should show the ass-patting and all that stuff. It's a no-hitter!

[Guest Desensitized]

Yes, bump another sport on another channel so as not to take away from Astros/Cubs. We obviously never see enough of them. I mean, we see no-hitters all the time, never the drama of an Astros/Cubs game in mid-May.

It has been a very close game, for your information. I'm pretty sure the pecking order goes No-Hitter in Progress > Nationally Featured Baseball Game > Everything Else in the Fucking World of Sports > Arena Football, so there was no reason why one game or the other could've been aired on ESPN2.

[Bruiser Chong]

Carlos Marmol, dude. Serious man crush. Stranded all the runners despite getting jobbed on the botch call at second. This has turned into a hell of a game.

[Guest Desensitized]

Man, I missed pivotal ass-patting for that eighth inning.

 

Stranded all the runners despite getting jobbed on the botch call at second.

Calls like that are why we need instant replay only to determine fair balls from foul balls.

 

[the max]

Yes, bump another sport on another channel so as not to take away from Astros/Cubs. We obviously never see enough of them. I mean, we see no-hitters all the time, never the drama of an Astros/Cubs game in mid-May.

It has been a very close game, for your information. I'm pretty sure the pecking order goes No-Hitter in Progress > Nationally Featured Baseball Game > Everything Else in the Fucking World > Arena Football, so there was no reason why one game or the other could've been aired on ESPN2.

 

Because it's a different sport and ESPN has, like, millions of dollars invested in the arena football league. The Astros/Cubs play the same sport as the Royals/Red Sox, so their game was bumped for a little while. BFD. If it was a game in september that had anything to do with anything besides being another number in one column or the other, I might see your way. Otherwise, bumping a baseball game to play the end of another baseball game that happens to have something historic happening there...makes sense. Certainly makes more sense than:

 

"Sorry football fans, I know you're enjoying [Whofuckingcares Team 1] and [Whofuckingcares Team 2] here at the Arena Football, but there's a no-hitter going on in Boston. We're going to that."

[Jorge Gorgeous]

I hate the Sawx, but good for Lester.

[Guest Desensitized]

It's farcical that ESPN is so invested in arena football that they can't keep their fucking priorities straight. ESPN doesn't need to invest in marginal sports. It isn't 1981 anymore.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

It's farcical that ESPN is so invested in arena football that they can't keep their fucking priorities straight. ESPN doesn't need to invest in marginal sports. It isn't 1981 anymore.

 

ESPN had the World Series of Darts on last year.

 

darts > arena football

[Smartly Pretty]

Arena football advertisers would probably prefer being interrupted by a baseball game.

[Guest Desensitized]

I mean, this is the kind of marginal sport worthy of little more coverage than buying time on local UHFs and cable sports channels, and then selling the advertisements themselves. I find the whole thing ridiculous. I can't even be bothered with college football's complete inferiority to the professional game, let alone a bunch of schmucks playing on an astroturfed hockey rink. But that's more important than a nationally televised game.

[Guest Smues]

I sure hope I can catch one of these historic moments ESPN interupts good games for some day, so that I can tell my kids I saw .05% of a game.

 

"Billy, when I was your age I saw THE Barry Bonds hit homerun #714."

"714? Not 715 or 756?"

"Nope, 714. Awesome huh?"

"Umm, I guess. So was it a good game?"

"Game?"

 

Really, watching the last out of a no hitter means jack shit, because you can see that in the highlights. If you're watching the whole game then sure, but interupting EVEN ARENA FOOTBALL gets annoying. Wow I saw 1 out out of 27, that sure is historic and meaningful to me.

[Guest Desensitized]

What an excellent point. Smues wins the argument.

[KingPK]

Forgive me if this interrupts the Arena Football talk, but THIS is what I've been wanting Lester to do ever since he came up; not pitch a no-no, of course, but attack the zone and get ahead of hitters with regularity. He always seemed to nibble way too much when he has the stuff to challenge guys and get strikeouts; as the game went on, he was just blowing Royals away left and right and getting stronger. I hope this is the start of something really good with him.

[Craig Th]

Lester should retire now. He beats cancer, wins game 4 of the WS and pitches a no-no. I never though he was THAT good, so I can see this being the high point of his young career. Still nice though.

[nl5xsk1]

In all the complaining about switching games & Arena football, no one mentioned that Czech called game #45 of the season "important".

 

I think it's a stretch to call a game in mid-May "important". If either team finishes one game out of the playoffs, I'll gladly eat my words. But even then, missing one inning of one game is, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential at best.

[Guest Smues]

Except to the people watching the game. I don't care if the game is the Pitt/KC, it isn't fair to the people watching the game to cut to something else that they'll be able to see 1,000 times on SportsCenter after the game. Maybe it is only ONE INNING OF GAME you miss, but when you're watching the whole thing getting cut off for an inning can fuck up the flow of the game for the viewer. I just don't see the need to interept regular programming for these things. Hell, I'm still bitter about missing the end of PTI to show Kobe Bryant walking into a courthouse. It isn't like these things don't get replayed 10,000 times.