2011 MLB Season

[Dave James]

Quote from Ty Cobb after Detroit faced Walter Johnson for the first time on August 2, 1907;

“On August 2, 1907, I encountered the most threatening sight I ever saw in the ball field. He was a rookie, and we licked our lips as we warmed up for the first game of a doubleheader in Washington. Evidently, manager Pongo Joe Cantillon of the Nats had picked a rube out of the cornfields of the deepest bushes to pitch against us… He was a tall, shambling galoot of about twenty, with arms so long they hung far out of his sleeves, and with a sidearm delivery that looked unimpressive at first glance… One of the Tigers imitated a cow mooing, and we hollered at Cantillon: ‘Get the pitchfork ready, Joe– your hayseed’s on his way back to the barn.’

…The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn’t touch him… every one of us knew we’d met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park.”

[JSngry]

Pongo Joe?

[Neal Pomea]

Quote from Ty Cobb after Detroit faced Walter Johnson for the first time on August 2, 1907;

…The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger.

That's pretty literary! Who knew Ty Cobb had a way with words.

[Dave James]

Pongo Joe?

See second paragraph. This appears to be it as far as the internet is concerned. Before he was a big league manager, Cantillon was apparently an umpire in both the American and National Leagues, but he was not well thought of. At a game in Boston, he was actually attacked by fans and had to be rescued by some of the ballplayers.

http://books.google.com/books?id=D0u6nMN6iwoC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=origin+of+Pongo+Joe+Cantillon's+nickname&source=bl&ots=MrnE1clX6y&sig=qCqjFM-RP1uTGhG_j7Dxm7fuGxo&hl=en&ei=DdvqTZySN4f6sAPFpsn3DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Edited June 5, 2011 by Dave James

[Neal Pomea]

Nice link to the Google Books presentation of this excerpt.

Edited June 5, 2011 by Neal Pomea

[JSngry]

Two monster shots from Hamilton & Cruz, a couple of sparkling defensive gems from Elvis, Yorvit Torealba swings the bat well, but the real story for this lifelong pitching-deprived fan was Derek Holland - complete came shutout, 112 pitches (77/35) and, finally, the ability to pitch out a bit of trouble, not once, but twice (including a bases loaded 2-out fix caused by Beltre flubbing out 3. Beltre, good teammate that he is, apologized by making the play on the next hitter, and then leading off the next inning with a walk, being on board for Cruz' blast). If this is a hurdle finally cleared, it is a major one for Holland, who has been plagued by letting one inning get away from him in otherwise well-pitched games. And even if it is a hurdle to be revisited along the way to finally clearing it, just seeing that it can be done is a pretty damn cool to see out of this very conscientious young talent.

Added bonus was Holland doing this in front of a semi-hometown crowd (he's from Newark, OH, which I guess is sorta close to Cleveland?) and seeing his mom beaming with pride throughout the game. Mrs. Holland, btw, is a more-than-a-bit of a babe in that middle-aged happy mom type way that I grow more fond of with every passing year, now that I know what it really means to be there when you get there. Kudos to Mr. & Mrs. Holland for all of that!

If the Rangers' staff continues to build on this recent momentum, you can call me Pongo Jim for the rest of the season.To be able to see a season of consistently good starting pitching out of a staff that at the beginning of the season had more question marks than the Kardashian sisters at a spelling bee, hell, you can call me Pongo Pantymaria for all I care!

WTF sidenote - Matt Harrison, who missed his last start due to a blister, may or may not be ready for his next one due to a kidney stone. Geez dude, did you drink the pickle juice, or what?

[JSngry]

Wow...a tightly pitched 2-0 win, with All-Time Great Slugger Elvis Andrus going yard on one that's almost on the fists...fun day!

Now Detroit. Last time we played them, Hamilton got hurt and a long spell of nerves began. Not again, I hope.

But damn, Rangers having really consistently good starting? I don't know how to respond just yet. It seems too good to be true, but otoh, some teams actually do have that, so why not us?

[paul secor]

By the time the Yankees get back to New York, they will be under .500. Someone needs to sound the claxons. This is a team in some serious trouble.

I'm glad you were wrong with that prediction. I'm sure you're glad too.

[Dave James]

Three games with Boston in New York starting on Tuesday. Lester, Wakefield and Beckett vs. Garcia, Burnett and Nova. The pitching advantage looks to rest with the Red Sox. Both teams are winning. Should be interesting...as usual.

By the time the Yankees get back to New York, they will be under .500. Someone needs to sound the claxons. This is a team in some serious trouble.

I'm glad you were wrong with that prediction. I'm sure you're glad too.

I'm a big advocate of reverse psychology. You'll note that right after made my prediction, the Yanks started winning. I have that kind of power.

[paul secor]

Three games with Boston in New York starting on Tuesday. Lester, Wakefield and Beckett vs. Garcia, Burnett and Nova. The pitching advantage looks to rest with the Red Sox. Both teams are winning. Should be interesting...as usual.

By the time the Yankees get back to New York, they will be under .500. Someone needs to sound the claxons. This is a team in some serious trouble.

I'm glad you were wrong with that prediction. I'm sure you're glad too.

I'm a big advocate of reverse psychology. You'll note that right after made my prediction, the Yanks started winning. I have that kind of power.

I'm of the same philosophy. Say too much too soon and my team is jinxed.

[Tim McG]

For a team that is supposedly anemic offensively, the A's have been putting a lot of runs on the board recently. Seattle too, for that matter.

And you guys kept saying the same thing about the Giants all last season, too.

Guys, it's not the number of runs that matter, it is the number of wins that make the difference in a season.

To wit: Giants win today, 2-1. Nuff said?

[Neal Pomea]

Columbian District won a nice split with Phoenix today in 11 innings. We haven't won too many extra inning games, or one run games, this season! Hope this takes us on our way to inching toward .500.

[ghost of miles]

Three games with Boston in New York starting on Tuesday. Lester, Wakefield and Beckett vs. Garcia, Burnett and Nova. The pitching advantage looks to rest with the Red Sox. Both teams are winning. Should be interesting...as usual.

Yes, both teams are playing well right now, though I'd say the Bosox are performing at a higher level (outside of that four-game skid, they've been almost literally unbeatable the past several weeks). One slight change helpful to NY is that Girardi will start CC instead of Nova Thursday night against Beckett. It's a tough homestand in general, with Cleveland coming in after Boston, followed by Texas; like Dave James, I was pleasantly surprised that we ended this West Coast road trip 6-3.

In milestone news, Derek Jeter now needs just 14 hits to reach 3000. The Yankees' next 10 games are at home; after that, they travel to Wrigley Field to play the Cubs. My guess is that he'll fall just short at NY and will get #3000 at Wrigley.

Jsngry: maybe I hallucinated this, but I could've sworn that I read somewhere today that Texas is scoring a full two more runs per game whenever Hamilton's in the lineup. I know we're barely 1/3 of the way through the season, and that he missed a lot of games, but that's still a pretty wild differential.

Edited June 6, 2011 by ghost of miles

[papsrus]

Rays bullpen threw some nice batting practice for the Mariners today.

[JSngry]

Jsngry: maybe I hallucinated this, but I could've sworn that I read somewhere today that Texas is scoring a full two more runs per game whenever Hamilton's in the lineup. I know we're barely 1/3 of the way through the season, and that he missed a lot of games, but that's still a pretty wild differential.

I've gotta think that Hamilton & Cruz make a huge difference in how a pitcher approaches that batting order. With both of them out, a pitcher can afford to get tricky with the hitters & if the hitters win sometimes, it's not nearly as potentially lethal as it is with those guys in. Hamilton has crazymad skills, such an effortless swing, and Cruz, although not as fullbore "on" yet as Hamilton has been, has been getting hotter lately, and unless and until he's clinically declared finished, brings much the same potential to the plate. So with both of them in, the other guys are probably getting pitched just a teence more narrowly, and with hitters this good, a teence is all it takes.

Other than Ian Kinsler, though, the whole lineup can't be approached too casually. Andrus, Young, Beltre, Moreland, & Chavez all can and have established themselves as clutch performers. And I gotta think that Kinsler gets it together at some point. I sure hope so. Both catchers can hurt you if you're not careful, Napoli having had a few streaks of total scorchitude.

Yeah, Hamilton makes a difference. Cruz makes a difference. That we never went below .500 while they were both out was heartening. That the team has more or less taken up where they left off when Hamilton got hurt is very heartening. But as a Texas Ranger fan, I'm used to some pretty badass offense. Let's talk about the starting pitching to this point. This is definitely not something I'm used to, and I'm not ready to believe that it will sustain itself. At what point does Ogando hit a wall in terms of workload in his first year starting? How deep does the Inner Colby Lewis really go? How many more mental hurdles does Derek Holland have to clear? What malady will strike Matt Harrison next? But good god, so far....

And today, with Hamilton getting the day off, Dammit Darren Oliver did his job, and most importantly, Neftali Feliz came in and held a 2-0 lead w/no difficulty. He looked like we expect him to look, and he was relaxed and grinning after he wrapped it up. First time this season I've seen that.

Talk about heartening...

Columbian District won a nice split with Phoenix today in 11 innings. We haven't won too many extra inning games, or one run games, this season! Hope this takes us on our way to inching toward .500.

MLB Network was in and out of that game until the end...pretty wild and chippy, ejections galore!

[skeith]

Jsngry: maybe I hallucinated this, but I could've sworn that I read somewhere today that Texas is scoring a full two more runs per game whenever Hamilton's in the lineup. I know we're barely 1/3 of the way through the season, and that he missed a lot of games, but that's still a pretty wild differential.

I've gotta think that Hamilton & Cruz make a huge difference in how a pitcher approaches that batting order. With both of them out, a pitcher can afford to get tricky with the hitters & if the hitters win sometimes, it's not nearly as potentially lethal as it is with those guys in. Hamilton has crazymad skills, such an effortless swing, and Cruz, although not as fullbore "on" yet as Hamilton has been, has been getting hotter lately, and unless and until he's clinically declared finished, brings much the same potential to the plate. So with both of them in, the other guys are probably getting pitched just a teence more narrowly, and with hitters this good, a teence is all it takes.

Other than Ian Kinsler, though, the whole lineup can't be approached too casually. Andrus, Young, Beltre, Moreland, & Chavez all can and have established themselves as clutch performers. And I gotta think that Kinsler gets it together at some point. I sure hope so. Both catchers can hurt you if you're not careful, Napoli having had a few streaks of total scorchitude.

Yeah, Hamilton makes a difference. Cruz makes a difference. That we never went below .500 while they were both out was heartening. That the team has more or less taken up where they left off when Hamilton got hurt is very heartening. But as a Texas Ranger fan, I'm used to some pretty badass offense. Let's talk about the starting pitching to this point. This is definitely not something I'm used to, and I'm not ready to believe that it will sustain itself. At what point does Ogando hit a wall in terms of workload in his first year starting? How deep does the Inner Colby Lewis really go? How many more mental hurdles does Derek Holland have to clear? What malady will strike Matt Harrison next? But good god, so far....

And today, with Hamilton getting the day off, Dammit Darren Oliver did his job, and most importantly, Neftali Feliz came in and held a 2-0 lead w/no difficulty. He looked like we expect him to look, and he was relaxed and grinning after he wrapped it up. First time this season I've seen that.

Talk about heartening...

Columbian District won a nice split with Phoenix today in 11 innings. We haven't won too many extra inning games, or one run games, this season! Hope this takes us on our way to inching toward .500.

MLB Network was in and out of that game until the end...pretty wild and chippy, ejections galore!

We Tribe fans are in a state of shock, but I must take my hat off to you and your Rangers.

[Dan Gould]

Three games with Boston in New York starting on Tuesday. Lester, Wakefield and Beckett vs. Garcia, Burnett and Nova. The pitching advantage looks to rest with the Red Sox. Both teams are winning. Should be interesting...as usual.

Yes, both teams are playing well right now, though I'd say the Bosox are performing at a higher level (outside of that four-game skid, they've been almost literally unbeatable the past several weeks). One slight change helpful to NY is that Girardi will start CC instead of Nova Thursday night against Beckett. It's a tough homestand in general, with Cleveland coming in after Boston, followed by Texas; like Dave James, I was pleasantly surprised that we ended this West Coast road trip 6-3.

The Yankee homestand might be tougher if the Indians weren't fading back toward the pack, but I like the idea of the heating-up Rangers taking a couple from the MFY. As for the pitching matchup I think it clearly favors the Yankees overall. Lester in May was one of the five worst pitchers in the league for runners allowed, and Garcia's slop always gives us fit, it seems. Wakefield may be on or may be off but I'll put it this way: I'd rather be paying 82 million to Burnett than Lackey. Last game is just a toss-up with the two aces facing each other. We've gotten to CC before, as the Yankees have gotten to Beckett. We'll just see what happens.

One big question though: Does CC opt out at the end of this season? Because if he does I don't see how Theo doesn't jump into that bidding war. Worst case, the Yankees pay much more in years and money than they want to, best case we replace Dice-K with a bona fide ace.

[JSngry]

We Tribe fans are in a state of shock, but I must take my hat off to you and your Rangers.

Leave you hat on for me, I just had the tv on!

Seriously, I'm in a bit of shock myself, at least about a sweep, and especially about how the past week would have been a double sweep minus one Darren Oliver fuckup in St. Pete.

I like the idea of the heating-up Rangers taking a couple from the MFY.

I like it too, but our staff is still prone to making what mistakes they make in such a way that results in home runs. Against the Yankees, not too cool....

[JSngry]

How deep does the Inner Colby Lewis really go?

Pretty damn deep if the curveball's not there, the Tigers are finding out...

[jlhoots]

Brewers sweep Marlins 4 in a row on the road.

[Chalupa]

Thanks Milwaukee!

[Tim McG]

Told you so.

[TedR]

The Tribe is now playing as expected during spring training and as a carryover from last year. We're making every team look good. Ever since Boston crushed us, the Indians have looked particularly inept. This is more than a slump. First place was fun while it lasted.

[Tim McG]

A nice little come back for my guys last night against the Rocks!

5-4, in 13

[JSngry]

Matt Harrison is still scheduled to start tonight, in spite of still not yet passing his kidney stone. How is that supposed to work?