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2011 MLB Season


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Never mind Nolan Ryan, talk to Juan Marichal & Warren Spahn!

I don't think that anybody's gone over 120 so far this year. If they have, it's only been by a few. Usually the eyes come out around 100, and if a guy is still going good, they let him keep going until the signs of unmistakable tiredness manifest. Even then, if a guy's got a CG or a shutout going, they give a chance to finish, to dig deep to see if there's alittle something extra there (mentally or physically). Occasionally it's blown up on them, but not more than just a few times. It would be a lot less, uh...intense of an experiment if the bullpen wasn't so damn dysfunctional (although some preliminary signs are forming that that group is beginning to get it together), but I can't say one way or the other if it will prove to be smart long-term. Looking back historically, yeah, pitchers were expected to go deep, and by god, they went deep. Psychologically, I think it's a great idea for your starter to take the mound with the mindset that he's in there and that the game is his until absolutely proven otherwise. Physically, we'll see. These are different times in terms of overall conditioning practices, and I really don't know enough one way or the other to say more than that. But I do like the idea, and I gotta say that our starters seem to really be taking to it in a mostly agreeable manner.

Time will tell.

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I watched the video replays on Pedroia's tag of Pierre from the Bosox-Chisox game today, and it sure looked like Pedroia got him...but the Globe has photo-frame stills that make it appear absolute that the call was blown:

Pedroia-Pierre

608pedroiatag-thumb-608x489-43098.jpg

Two-run difference from that call.

Unreal that the umpire, standing right there, missed that call. Wow.

Course, the umpires are often standing "right there" when they miss calls.

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I watched the video replays on Pedroia's tag of Pierre from the Bosox-Chisox game today, and it sure looked like Pedroia got him...but the Globe has photo-frame stills that make it appear absolute that the call was blown:

Pedroia-Pierre

608pedroiatag-thumb-608x489-43098.jpg

Two-run difference from that call.

Unreal that the umpire, standing right there, missed that call. Wow.

Course, the umpires are often standing "right there" when they miss calls.

You ought to watch a Giants game.

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Dave Bush did indeed suck, but for just one inning and just for three runs. Nellie Cruz, 2-4, 2 runs, Endy Chavez, 4-4 , 2 runs, 1 RBI, now hitting .415, Feliz came in and dealt better than the night before, so all in all, another good win with positive leftovers.

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Giants still fuming about Cousins' collision with Posey. And this tweet tonight from Buster Olney of ESPN:

Was around the Giants on Monday/Tuesday, and their anger is really,really deep -- fueled, I think, by seeing Posey's pain in trainers' room.

The two teams don't play again until August 12th. Hopefully, by then, heads will have cooled. Nonetheless, if I was leading off for the Marlins that night, I would expect the Giant's pitcher to buzz my tower.

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Giants still fuming about Cousins' collision with Posey. And this tweet tonight from Buster Olney of ESPN:

Was around the Giants on Monday/Tuesday, and their anger is really,really deep -- fueled, I think, by seeing Posey's pain in trainers' room.

The two teams don't play again until August 12th. Hopefully, by then, heads will have cooled. Nonetheless, if I was leading off for the Marlins that night, I would expect the Giant's pitcher to buzz my tower.

I love the Giants, they have a great spirit about them, but now they're just coming off as whiners.

Edited by Matthew
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Giants still fuming about Cousins' collision with Posey. And this tweet tonight from Buster Olney of ESPN:

Was around the Giants on Monday/Tuesday, and their anger is really,really deep -- fueled, I think, by seeing Posey's pain in trainers' room.

The two teams don't play again until August 12th. Hopefully, by then, heads will have cooled. Nonetheless, if I was leading off for the Marlins that night, I would expect the Giant's pitcher to buzz my tower.

I love the Giants, they have a great spirit about them, but now they're just coming off as whiners.

"Why not be hard nosed? If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."

Way to take the high road Brian Sabean. Real classy.

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It's official, at least for a little while - Endy Chavez has bumped Julio Bourbon, not just from his gig, but from the majors.

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/foul_territory/2011/06/rangers-option-julio-borbon-to-triple-a.html

The story of Chavez' return from severe, possibly career-ending, injury, not just to the bigs, but to some pretty impressive production (again, to this point) is one of those things that just make you feel good in general.

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OGANDO!!!

Yeah, the obvious story is Hamilton & Cruz both stepping back in and going yard, good GOD have they been missed, but for this team and what it's going to really need, hey -

OGANDO!!!

Who knew? He was an emergency fill-in for Tommy Hunter, wasn't really stretched out, and prone to blisters. Now he's a serious All-Star consideration. And tonight, a nifty five-hit, 115 pitch complete game shutout eight innings of four-hit, one-run ball, 100 pitches exactly (68/32), still throwing strong at the end. Yeah, it's not quite a just a little more than a third of the way through the season, and yeah, there's been more than a few young starters burn brightly and quickly and then flare out, never to really return (Cecil Upshaw, anybody?), and sure, the Yankess schooled him bigtime & hopefully he learned from that, but hey, this guy right now is looking like the real deal, and if he ain't, I'll take him until the real thing comes along. Either way -

OGANDO!!!

Again. Even with the latest episode of Bats Gone Wild (traction beginning to form, hopefully?), again, the story for me is Ogando.

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As much as I hate to send kudos the way of anyone associated with the Boston Red Sox, I must say I am blown away by the season David Ortiz is having. I thought he was completely washed up two years ago, but he bounced back and I think, right now, he's hitting about as well as he ever has. I'll give credit where credit is due, and it's due here.

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Brewers defeat Marlins 6-5 on 9th inning pinch hit 2 run home run by Ryan Braun. :tup

The Brewers started off looking pretty bad, but they have really turned things around of late.

And in other news...I sure hope he goes with baseball, as talented as he appears to be. If he tears up a knee at Nebraska, we may never know how good he could be...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?id=6609946

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As much as I hate to send kudos the way of anyone associated with the Boston Red Sox, I must say I am blown away by the season David Ortiz is having. I thought he was completely washed up two years ago, but he bounced back and I think, right now, he's hitting about as well as he ever has. I'll give credit where credit is due, and it's due here.

With our luck, this will go to Papi's head and in November when Theo draws the line at a 2-year deal, new Yankee GM Stick Michael will swoop in with a three year offer and break New England hearts.

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Ever see Walter Johnson throw???? Didn't know there was this much footage of him....

Looks like a side-armer to me. Definitely not over the top. Wonder how successful he would have been in the modern era.

Of course, I tend to look somewhat askance at all baseball records before 1947 for obvious reasons.

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Ever see Walter Johnson throw???? Didn't know there was this much footage of him....

It would be interesting to find out how fast he threw. It's a weird motion, not just because he's a sidearmer, but because he doesn't seem to use his right leg to push off the mound. By the time he delivers the pitch, he's standing almost straight up if not learning backwards. The other interesting thing is the length of his arms. He reminds me of former NBA'er Sam Perkins who was 6'9" but whose wingspan penciled out to 7'8". That would create a fair amount of whip in his delivery not to mention the advantage he would have been afforded by his release point, one that would be considerably closer to home plate.

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According to the James & Neyer guide Johnson didn't develop a curve until mid-way into his career. It was mostly fastballs, or as Walter put it in 1913 "I used to pitch one wiggly one to about 4 or 5 fast ones." :) Despite the lack of leg drive the arm action is loosey goosey and I like that. I think the key to his ability to pitch today (other than needing to be alive & much younger) would be the movement. Depending on his grip(s), who knows?

Speaking of grips and movement, I wish there was film of how the ball moved when Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown pitched. He had a great "hook" curve according to the reports.

post-377-0-79969300-1307205862_thumb.jpg

Edited by Quincy
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