The Baseball Thread 2007

[Dan Gould]

If Mariano keeps pitching like this in save situations, it's gonna be a long year for the Yanks. Damn, I love beating Schilling and he should definitely have had an "L" for that effort.

The possibility that Mariano is toast (never thought I'd write those words) is quite tantalizing to someone who has been on the opposite side for so long. That, combined with the pitching problems and how much work the bullpen has been forced to do (I think I heard its been about a 50-50 split between bullpen and rotation innings) gives me hope that it won't matter how many runs the Yankees score, they won't steamroll everyone.

[zen archer]

What a GAME !!!.....what a win for the SOX i agree why are they pitching to A-Rod ?

time for some chin music he looks to comfortable at the plate look for Beckett today to pitch way inside

like he did with Vlad.

[Big Al]

The Rangers suck. BIG TIME. Zero pitching, and even less offense. What, we've only had one game where we scored more than four runs? To top it all off, we have a manager who's looking at his team with rose-colored glasses, not blaming McCarthy for his pathetic performance last night.

I knew it was gonna be a long season. This is gonna be like watching the Mavs back in the gory days of when they were winning 10, maybe 11 games all season.

[zen archer]

No home runs for Mr. April today !!!!!!!

[Chalupa]

Hamels fans 15 and the Phils turn MLB's first triple play of the season to raise their record to 5-11.

"Just six teams in baseball history have started a season 5-11 or worse and made the postseason: the 1908 Detroit Tigers (5-11), 1914 Boston Braves (3-13), 1951 New York Giants (4-12), 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates (5-11), 2000 San Francisco Giants (5-11), and 2001 Oakland Athletics (5-11)."

Sigh.

[Quincy]

Hamels fans 15 and the Phils turn MLB's first triple play of the season to raise their record to 5-11.

"Just six teams in baseball history have started a season 5-11 or worse and made the postseason: the 1908 Detroit Tigers (5-11), 1914 Boston Braves (3-13), 1951 New York Giants (4-12), 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates (5-11), 2000 San Francisco Giants (5-11), and 2001 Oakland Athletics (5-11)."

Sigh.

While it doesn't look good, you can more optimistically rephrase that as "2 teams since 2000 have made the playoffs with similar poor starts." The expanded playoffs help your chances, unfortunately for Phillies fans the Mets & Braves seem to be better teams in the division and more likely to grab the wild-card.

Meanwhile the dismal Mariners are under .400 but just 2 games out of 1st in the AL West.

[Guy Berger]

Bonds hits #740!

Guy

[alocispepraluger102]

red sox have just hit 4 straight home runs against yankees wright in fenway on espn. not sure i have ever seen this.

Edited April 23, 2007 by alocispepraluger102

[GA Russell]

red sox have just hit 4 straight home runs against yankees wright in fenway on espn. not sure i have ever seen this.

I remember when the Twins, who were my favorite team at the time, did it - I think it was 1965, the year they won the pennant. It could have been '64.

Maybe the four were Killebrew, Allison, Jimmie Hall and Jim Lemon, but my memory is pretty sketchy on that.

[J Larsen]

This Cain fellow on the Giants seems like he ain't so bad. I just wish the Bonds era would end so that I could root for my hometime without mixed emotions.

[Dan Gould]

red sox have just hit 4 straight home runs against yankees wright in fenway on espn. not sure i have ever seen this.

Yeah but Dice-K has looked absolutely horrible at the worst time. I think part of the problem at the start was the pitch selection. He's been setting up hitters with breaking pitches at the start, and I think that Varitek said to himself, "the Yankees have seen him doing this, let's start with fastballs tonite" and it really hasn't worked. When he's gotten them out, he's thrown first pitch strikes with off speed stuff.

Meanwhile Pettite is on in relief for the second time in this young season.

Think Torre is desperate for a win here? Unbelievable. I guess the second day after a start you're supposed to throw a bullpen, but asking Pettite to come in? He did it earlier when the pitching was so terrible, but there are a bunch of guys who didn't throw yesterday - obviously Torre has no faith in any of them.

Then again, the old man got a DP grounder from Papi so I guess it worked - he gave him an inning and didn't get hurt in the process.

I just can't believe how bad Dice-K was. Hitting A-Rod, hitting Jeter. I swear, he acts and talks so confidently but I think he's giving these big bad Major League hitters too much respect and letting them into his head. He was afraid of Frank Thomas and walked him in that single disastrous inning in Toronto, now he decides to throw inside to A-Rod, hits him. Inside to Jeter, hits him. Pedro would go up there and throw his pitches and say "hit it if you can, punk."

I expected this guy to have the same attitude but he ain't showing it to me. The question will be what he does next Friday in the Bronx. I'm sure there are a bunch of Yankee fans who will look at this game and say, "we've seen him, he doesn't have much, we're gonna crush him next time" and I honestly can't say that I disagree.

[Soulstation1]

didn't the dodgers hit 4 or 5 hrs in a row 2 or 3 years ago?

IIRC it was in the bottom of the 9th

[Aggie87]

didn't the dodgers hit 4 or 5 hrs in a row 2 or 3 years ago?

IIRC it was in the bottom of the 9th

JD Drew hit one of the four homers for the Dodgers last year, and now tonight for the Sox.

[zen archer]

red sox have just hit 4 straight home runs against yankees wright in fenway on espn. not sure i have ever seen this.

Yeah but Dice-K has looked absolutely horrible at the worst time. I think part of the problem at the start was the pitch selection. He's been setting up hitters with breaking pitches at the start, and I think that Varitek said to himself, "the Yankees have seen him doing this, let's start with fastballs tonite" and it really hasn't worked. When he's gotten them out, he's thrown first pitch strikes with off speed stuff.

Meanwhile Pettite is on in relief for the second time in this young season.

Think Torre is desperate for a win here? Unbelievable. I guess the second day after a start you're supposed to throw a bullpen, but asking Pettite to come in? He did it earlier when the pitching was so terrible, but there are a bunch of guys who didn't throw yesterday - obviously Torre has no faith in any of them.

Then again, the old man got a DP grounder from Papi so I guess it worked - he gave him an inning and didn't get hurt in the process.

I just can't believe how bad Dice-K was. Hitting A-Rod, hitting Jeter. I swear, he acts and talks so confidently but I think he's giving these big bad Major League hitters too much respect and letting them into his head. He was afraid of Frank Thomas and walked him in that single disastrous inning in Toronto, now he decides to throw inside to A-Rod, hits him. Inside to Jeter, hits him. Pedro would go up there and throw his pitches and say "hit it if you can, punk."

I expected this guy to have the same attitude but he ain't showing it to me. The question will be what he does next Friday in the Bronx. I'm sure there are a bunch of Yankee fans who will look at this game and say, "we've seen him, he doesn't have much, we're gonna crush him next time" and I honestly can't say that I disagree.

Dan , i think Dice K will be fine i do the same thing comparing him to Pedro but thats not fair Pedro

was special and it will be a very long time before you see the likes of him again.

I still say that all the hype around Dice K is setting unreasonable expectations this is all new to him and

the level of talent he faces in the AL is like none he has ever faced. He will be fine i for one was glad to see

him pitch inside and plunk A-Rod.

And if he got the run support in his last 2 games he would be 4-0 !

[MartyJazz]

red sox have just hit 4 straight home runs against yankees wright in fenway on espn. not sure i have ever seen this.

Yeah but Dice-K has looked absolutely horrible at the worst time. I think part of the problem at the start was the pitch selection. He's been setting up hitters with breaking pitches at the start, and I think that Varitek said to himself, "the Yankees have seen him doing this, let's start with fastballs tonite" and it really hasn't worked. When he's gotten them out, he's thrown first pitch strikes with off speed stuff.

Meanwhile Pettite is on in relief for the second time in this young season.

Think Torre is desperate for a win here? Unbelievable. I guess the second day after a start you're supposed to throw a bullpen, but asking Pettite to come in? He did it earlier when the pitching was so terrible, but there are a bunch of guys who didn't throw yesterday - obviously Torre has no faith in any of them.

Then again, the old man got a DP grounder from Papi so I guess it worked - he gave him an inning and didn't get hurt in the process.

I just can't believe how bad Dice-K was. Hitting A-Rod, hitting Jeter. I swear, he acts and talks so confidently but I think he's giving these big bad Major League hitters too much respect and letting them into his head. He was afraid of Frank Thomas and walked him in that single disastrous inning in Toronto, now he decides to throw inside to A-Rod, hits him. Inside to Jeter, hits him. Pedro would go up there and throw his pitches and say "hit it if you can, punk."

I expected this guy to have the same attitude but he ain't showing it to me. The question will be what he does next Friday in the Bronx. I'm sure there are a bunch of Yankee fans who will look at this game and say, "we've seen him, he doesn't have much, we're gonna crush him next time" and I honestly can't say that I disagree.

Well, I don't know if we'll "crush" him next time around - he is a very professional pitcher - but I was pretty well satisfied to see how well the Yanks handled all three of Boston's top pitchers over the weekend. What should be obvious in terms of the disappointment over being swept this past weekend is for this fan, Mariano's performance in the first game. That was truly a blown game, and one that simply had to be won, given the quality and inexperience of the pitchers we had to go with the final two games. That said, it certainly is a little too early to tell how the season will go, but if Mariano is done........., I don't want to finish the sentence.

One final thought - what was truly awful about Yank pitching this past weekend, Pettite of course excepted, was the inability of the starters and relievers to close the deal after getting two quick strikes on the Boston hitters. Far too many walks and hits by Boston hitters after getting ahead 0-2, 1-2, etc.

Yet another final thought - Okajima looks like one hell of a setup man!

Edited April 23, 2007 by MartyJazz

[alocispepraluger102]

didst yanquis know something when they didnt reup mariano?

no way is the frank of torre lasting the year. jeter player/manager?

then we will have torre plus all the others in the booth on sunday night beezball.

Edited April 23, 2007 by alocispepraluger102

[Dan Gould]

Well, I don't know if we'll "crush" him next time around - he is a very professional pitcher - but I was pretty well satisfied to see how well the Yanks handled all three of Boston's top pitchers over the weekend.

And yet overall I was not greatly disturbed by Schilling or Beckett. Schilling made one obvious mistake - A-Rod's first homer - and the second one was a case of a locked-in hitter squaring up a good pitch on the outside corner. Take away A-Rod being in such a zone and Schilling had a pretty good night - and he still pitched seven innings.

Beckett gave up hits yet kept the ball in the yard, which is one huge difference so far from last year, and after those first two innings really settled in. For throwing so many pitches in the first two innings and still lasting 6 2/3 is pretty impressive. The old Beckett might have started getting frustrated and just rearing back and firing but he kept to the game plan and threw his curve and change and was really pretty good from the third inning on. At least Jason Giambi said it was the best curve/change he's seen Beckett throw since he joined the league. That's a good thought for the future.

Yet another final thought - Okajima looks like one hell of a setup man!

You and me both are suspecting that, Marty! Great to have a lefty who can get righties out. I still worry about him leaving curveballs over the plate for homers, but I like the way Francona is utilizing the people he has. It looks like if there is a lead, seventh and eighth inning outs will be handled by Donnelly, Hideki and Timlin and with Paps in the ninth, I think there is potential there for the same kind of bullpen performance the Yanks got during the last dynasty. Best of all, it keeps Piniero and JC Romero away from high-leverage innings until they show they can handle them. Snyder I guess is the long man but I felt coming out of spring training that he has the stuff to get outs in the eighth inning. He might get a chance if Timlin or Donnelly falter.

But as it is, Hidecki looks very good, and the one part of the roster everyone questioned - the bullpen outside of Papelbon - currently leads the league in ERA, and because the pitchers have been so good, they also lead the league in fewest innings pitched by the bullpen - just over 40.

On the other hand, the Yankees are worst in the league in bullpen innings - over 70 now - and I'd be very concerned about that, Marty, even if Mo regains his form. Torre has never shown a great talent for managing the bullpen and typically over-works the handful of pitchers who earn his "trust". Its a very bad sign that the bullpen is throwing this many innings, and has had this many breakdowns, this early in the season.

Edited April 23, 2007 by Dan Gould

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

as much as i loathe contributing to the non-stop AL east fest, papelbon looks fucking crazy just before he pitches. that guy is awesome. I do wonder though if he will flame out gagne-style or go mental brad lidge style. if not, hes gonna be the real deal.

with that said, the season has been pretty cool thus far. I'm particularly happy about the development of adrian gonzalez, and barry bonds homering like crazy (despite how everyone hates him for using steroids, he really is an exciting player to watch. I had the good fortune of seeing Greg Maddux shut him down at Petco a few weeks back)

Edited April 23, 2007 by donald byrd 4 EVA

[sheldonm]

as much as i loathe contributing to the non-stop AL east fest, papelbon looks fucking crazy just before he pitches. that guy is awesome. I do wonder though if he will flame out gagne-style or go mental brad lidge style. if not, hes gonna be the real deal.

with that said, the season has been pretty cool thus far. I'm particularly happy about the development of adrian gonzalez, and barry bonds homering like crazy (despite how everyone hates him for using steroids, he really is an exciting player to watch. I had the good fortune of seeing Greg Maddux shut him down at Petco a few weeks back)

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me).

m~

[J Larsen]

as much as i loathe contributing to the non-stop AL east fest, papelbon looks fucking crazy just before he pitches. that guy is awesome. I do wonder though if he will flame out gagne-style or go mental brad lidge style. if not, hes gonna be the real deal.

with that said, the season has been pretty cool thus far. I'm particularly happy about the development of adrian gonzalez, and barry bonds homering like crazy (despite how everyone hates him for using steroids, he really is an exciting player to watch. I had the good fortune of seeing Greg Maddux shut him down at Petco a few weeks back)

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me).

m~

I'm right there with you - he is now a poor fielder, poor runner and streaky hitter with a knee held together with duct tape and no respect for the strategic nuance of the game - not at all exciting to me.

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

you guys are insane. at 42, hes hitting bombs like hes possesed (1 per 9.1 plate appearances), single handedly winning games, and getting the crowd excited everytime he comes up to bat. if this were ted williams doing this, you'd probably be wetting yourself.

[Soulstation1]

shit barry stole a base the other day

A-rod belted 2 more HRs last night

[Tim McG]

as much as i loathe contributing to the non-stop AL east fest, papelbon looks fucking crazy just before he pitches. that guy is awesome. I do wonder though if he will flame out gagne-style or go mental brad lidge style. if not, hes gonna be the real deal.

with that said, the season has been pretty cool thus far. I'm particularly happy about the development of adrian gonzalez, and barry bonds homering like crazy (despite how everyone hates him for using steroids, he really is an exciting player to watch. I had the good fortune of seeing Greg Maddux shut him down at Petco a few weeks back)

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me).

m~

Non-steroids day...?

I wasn't aware there was any proof to that effect. Besides, he's 42 years old and with bad knees. Anybody would slow done at that point.

For the record, Bonds was MVP seven times before being accused.

[Quincy]

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me).

m~

Non-steroids day...?

I wasn't aware there was any proof to that effect. Besides, he's 42 years old and with bad knees. Anybody would slow done at that point.

And their foot size would go from 10 1/2 to 13, and hat size increase despite the loss of hair. Rather than just 'roids, HGH is the factor here.

Yes I agree, pre-pharmacology Bonds was a more exciting player due to a deadly power & speed blend.

[Soulstation1]

bonds' bat speed is incredible