MLB 2008

[BERIGAN]

Dan, you've got pull with your team, right? Josh Anderson, rotting away on the Braves AAA team, would make a perfect 4th, 5th outfielder. No power but he has stolen 248 bases in the minors, and is supposed to be great defensively. We got him from the Astros in the offseason, and was thought to be a possible replacement for Andruw Jones. Then we traded for Mark Kotsay. He had a great spring, was considered the 2nd fastest guy in camp, just a tick slower than Jordan Schaffer (What's with all these fast white guys in baseball right now??? ) He cooled off the last week, and Gregor Blanco won the 4th outfielder job. Talk to Theo about it....

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/A/Josh-Anderson.shtml

[papsrus]

Papsrus, glad you went to the game! You are clearly a real fan, now I hope more folks will show up. Honestly, I couldn't figure out how a team with so many good young players was not making strides in the standings year after year, but perhaps they are going to be like the Braves of 1991, a worst to first team!!!

Whatever happens this year, they have turned a corner, and thats the most important thing!

Thanks. We had a blast. First row, second deck, first-base line. Perfect. While I hated to see it go out, Matsui's bomb streaked right across in front of us. Pretty impressive. ... Percival said in the paper today that he made the pitch he wanted on that HR. Said he had no idea how Matsui hit it.

Speaking of attendance, while it was an OK-sized crowd last night for a Tuesday I guess (16,500), and pretty noisy, but they should be packing the house now. I'll be disappointed if they don't break at least 20,000 tonight. 30,000 would be more like it. Shields-Mussina? And then Kazmir on Thursday? Baseball is the best ticket around, IMO.

News conference tomorrow on the new stadium, which apparently won't require any new taxes. People here should be getting fired up about this team. I don't know how long the ride will last, but it's a great ride right now.

[WorldB3]

Well the Rays fucking deserve to be in first place considering that the fucking assholes once again fuck away a 3-0 lead, load the bases with no out and a two run deficit in the seventh and can't even score a fucking run, and earlier Drew has come out of the game with a sprained wrist and Youkilis was forced into right field when Crisp got sick to his stomach. Jesus Fucking Christ.

If your like this in May after your team has WON TWO out of the last four WORLD SERIES TITLES, I can't imagine what you were like after game 7 of the ALCS in 03.

Paul Byrd is roider but sure looked good last night, plus the Indians had five web gems behind him. The A's are streaky with the bats, I am just happy the Duke is working out as a starter after spending his career on the bullpen or on the DL. If the pitching can stay consistent I will be happy, of course going into this season I was picking the A's to finish last so its been a good ride so far.

[Dan Gould]

Dan, you've got pull with your team, right? Josh Anderson, rotting away on the Braves AAA team, would make a perfect 4th, 5th outfielder. No power but he has stolen 248 bases in the minors, and is supposed to be great defensively. We got him from the Astros in the offseason, and was thought to be a possible replacement for Andruw Jones. Then we traded for Mark Kotsay. He had a great spring, was considered the 2nd fastest guy in camp, just a tick slower than Jordan Schaffer (What's with all these fast white guys in baseball right now??? ) He cooled off the last week, and Gregor Blanco won the 4th outfielder job. Talk to Theo about it....

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/A/Josh-Anderson.shtml

With Moss probably three weeks from a return and Kielty in reserve, we don't need to make a move for help. The problem is we were well-situated for OF back-ups until the injuries happened to the regulars right after the two best guys at Pawtucket went down. To top that off, I doubt that Ellsbury is 100% yet after getting nailed with a pitch on the side of his knee in Minnesota, but he'll have no choice but to play TFN.

[BERIGAN]

Well the Rays fucking deserve to be in first place considering that the fucking assholes once again fuck away a 3-0 lead, load the bases with no out and a two run deficit in the seventh and can't even score a fucking run, and earlier Drew has come out of the game with a sprained wrist and Youkilis was forced into right field when Crisp got sick to his stomach. Jesus Fucking Christ.

If your like this in May after your team has WON TWO out of the last four WORLD SERIES TITLES, I can't imagine what you were like after game 7 of the ALCS in 03.

Dan is downright calm, compared to the folks on this Red Sox forum...check it out, especially during a game the sox are losing....language that would make a sailor blush!

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=108

PS, couldn't find this site for a long time, cuz I was thinking it was Sonsofsamhorn.com

[Dan Gould]

MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST another three run lead PISSED away.

I FUCKING KNEW that three GIDP in the first four innings would fucking kill us in the end.

And with a GRAND FUCKING SLAM Okajima has now allowed something like 90 FUCKING % of inherited runners to score. Kinda puts his sub 1.00 ERA into a different light, doesn't it?

[Dan Gould]

Well the Rays fucking deserve to be in first place considering that the fucking assholes once again fuck away a 3-0 lead, load the bases with no out and a two run deficit in the seventh and can't even score a fucking run, and earlier Drew has come out of the game with a sprained wrist and Youkilis was forced into right field when Crisp got sick to his stomach. Jesus Fucking Christ.

If your like this in May after your team has WON TWO out of the last four WORLD SERIES TITLES, I can't imagine what you were like after game 7 of the ALCS in 03.

Dan is downright calm, compared to the folks on this Red Sox forum...check it out, especially during a game the sox are losing....language that would make a sailor blush!

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=108

PS, couldn't find this site for a long time, cuz I was thinking it was Sonsofsamhorn.com

And I heartily endorse this comment from today's game thread (emphasis mine):

Absolutely SHAMEFUL performance by this fucking horseshit team.

Awful. Just an awful inning by an awful fucking team. They're crap. Goddamn them all. Fucking useless assholes.

[Big Al]

Good Lord, if I acted like that every time the Rangers lost (like today, f'rinstance), I'd be dead of ulcers by now!

Hey Dan and all you Red Sox fans: wait until your team is as bad as mine before you start calling them an "awful fucking team." Geez, at least you guys are above .500, have a couple of WS Rings in the last couple of years, decent pitching, decent hitting..... you know, all the things us Rangers fans wish our team had.......

[papsrus]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir has agreed to a $28.5 million, three-year extension through 2011, a deal with a club option that could raise the contract's value to $39.5 million over four seasons.

Woo-Hoo!

Looks like a pretty good crowd tonight too. ... Down 2-0 in the fifth, but hanging in there.

[Dan Gould]

Its too bad the M-F assholes fucked the game away again, because otherwise we'd be talking about Manny's amazing catch, high-five of a fan and throw to complete a double play.

[papsrus]

Man ... Chipper Jones just keeps cranking it! ... Looking on the highlight reel like he can put it anywhere he wants any time he wants.

ESPN's Manny career highlights were priceless! ...

Rays busted 20 grand tonight, barely. Attendance: 20,936 (50.7% full). Kaz should pack 'em in for the finale Thursday. ... I like our chances against Kennedy.

[Patrick]

Holy smokes, another complete game Tribe shutout! Worth recapping the last turn through the rotation:

May 10. Aaron Laffey, 7 IP, 0 ER, 6H, 1BB, 2K, beat Toronto 12-0

May 12. Fausto Carmona, 9 IP, 0 ER, 5H, 4BB, 2K, beat Toronto 3-0

May 12. Cliff Lee, 9 IP, 0 ER, 7H, 2BB, 5K, lose to Toronto 3-0 in 10 innings (thanks Betancourt!)

May 13. Paul Byrd, 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 5H, 0BB, 7K (!), beat Oakland 4-0

May 14. CC Sabathia, 9 IP, 0 ER, 5H, 2 BB, 11K, beat Oakland 2-0

Haven't yet seen any highlights or discussion about how recently something like this has happened. Some will point out that Toronto is in last place and recently lost Wells. This is still pretty damn impressive. Even with Laffey and Byrd perhaps over achieving this week, I think this rotation can hang with just about anybody (and Jake Westbrook is on the shelf right now).

If only they could reliably score a few runs...

Edited May 15, 2008 by Patrick

[Dan Gould]

Well, even if it hurts the Sox, I had to root for the Rays today, if only so that the Yankees would know that neither Kennedy nor Igawa make much of a number five starter - and so far, its gone exactly according to plan. Third pitch deposited into the right field bleachers by the same dude who ruined Buchholz gem. Another run across in the third, and after two were out in the fourth, a double ripped to right followed by a tape measure shot to left.

So what do the Yanks do? They are really in a quandary because they sent Kennedy down with the intention to make him pitch his way back to New York. That takes more than the one strong outing he had, but Igawa absolutely sucked in his debut, and they knew they didn't want him to pitch against the Mets. So now what do the Yanks do? If they send Kennedy back down, they are admitting he wasn't ready to return, but then they are stuck with Igawa or some other AAA pitcher.

Actually, I think the smart decision is to give one of the other guys a shot, and send Kennedy down with the commitment that barring an injury to one of the other starters, he is going to pitch at SWB until he fully gets his act together. But its really a bad situation - send him down and play with his head some more, or keep him up and allow the rest of the A.L. to tee off on his mediocre pitches, playing with his head in a different way. Better to just admit the mistake and try to get him right so that when he does return, he may stick.

[Dan Gould]

Interesting news about who might replace Clay Buchholz while he waits for his fingernail to grow back - Colon made his second rehab start today, six innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 65 pitches, topped out at 95 mph. With the day off, Colon is actually on target to start the next time Buchholz turn comes up - could they be thinking about letting Bartolo make his final rehab start in the majors? Normally subsequent rehab starts call for an increase of 30 pitches in the pitch count. That would put him in position to throw 95 pitches on Tuesday, but normally teams have rehabbing pitchers reach 100 pitches before they return to the majors.

Its not like the Sox to take such a step, but its a possibility because of the way the pitchers have lined up. The advantage would be an extra look at Colon before Clay is ready to return. I really do have high hopes though that Colon can be a two or three type who just happens to be in the back of the rotation.

And to tie it all together: I'll take the Sox with Colon as the number five over the Yanks with Kennedy or Igawa.

[Patrick]

A streak continues (i.e. no earned runs from the Tribe starter):

May 15. Aaron Laffey, 7 IP, 0 ER, 5H, 1BB, 6K, beat Oakland 4-2.

Laffey throwing error generated an unearned run in the second, so maybe he really "earned" it. Kobayashi wild pitched home one of the three baserunners (!) Betancourt put on in the ninth, but then fanned Sweeneys Mike and Ryan to earn his second save in as many chances. Too bad Borowski will be back soon, and will be given the closer job. Hopefully some colossal flameouts will ensue and Wedgie will go with someone else. If only it were that easy! And Travis Hafner stole a base!

Next 3 at Reds and 3 at WSox.

[papsrus]

Well, even if it hurts the Sox, I had to root for the Rays today, if only so that the Yankees would know that neither Kennedy nor Igawa make much of a number five starter - and so far, its gone exactly according to plan. Third pitch deposited into the right field bleachers by the same dude who ruined Buchholz gem. Another run across in the third, and after two were out in the fourth, a double ripped to right followed by a tape measure shot to left. ...

Didn't see much of the game today as it was moving day here. Actually had forgotten that it was an afternoon start. And yes, very nice sending the Yankees home in last place. Lets hope it's a sign of things to come. ...

[BERIGAN]

Man ... Chipper Jones just keeps cranking it! ... Looking on the highlight reel like he can put it anywhere he wants any time he wants.

ESPN's Manny career highlights were priceless! ...

Rays busted 20 grand tonight, barely. Attendance: 20,936 (50.7% full). Kaz should pack 'em in for the finale Thursday. ... I like our chances against Kennedy.

You know, Chipper has made it look so easy, for so long, and since he never drove in more than 111 in a year, I....never really saw him as a superstar! I knew he was good, but he didn't seem to join the elite players.

But, when you aren't on Roids, or HGH, and look like a normal player, and put up what used to be very good numbers, you do tend to get overlooked! He is hitting so much better right handed this year(Last year, it looked like he should just give it up-that was a weak .274 RH)

He hit .337 last year, a career high. Hitting .418 now. If he hits .300, lets say over the next 400 ABs, he would hit .332 for the season. If he hits .325 over the rest of the season, he would finish at .350. Not bad for a 36 year old!

He still might not with the batting title this year....Lance Bergman is hitting .391. I think he's 28 for his last 47 ABs!!! He might hit .500 for the month of May! Now that's hot!(Paris, get off the Computer!)

[skeith]

A streak continues (i.e. no earned runs from the Tribe starter):

May 15. Aaron Laffey, 7 IP, 0 ER, 5H, 1BB, 6K, beat Oakland 4-2.

Laffey throwing error generated an unearned run in the second, so maybe he really "earned" it. Kobayashi wild pitched home one of the three baserunners (!) Betancourt put on in the ninth, but then fanned Sweeneys Mike and Ryan to earn his second save in as many chances. Too bad Borowski will be back soon, and will be given the closer job. Hopefully some colossal flameouts will ensue and Wedgie will go with someone else. If only it were that easy! And Travis Hafner stole a base!

Next 3 at Reds and 3 at WSox.

I guess the streak is over, but our boys are looking pretty good lately!! And let's not forget Asdrubal Cabrera's unassisted triple play.

[Aggie87]

Lance Bergman is hitting .391. I think he's 28 for his last 47 ABs!!! He might hit .500 for the month of May! Now that's hot!(Paris, get off the Computer!)

Astros have won 11 of their last 13 games, and Berkman leads the majors in HRs at the moment. I think ESPN this a.m. said Berkman's hitting .556 during his current 14 game hitting streak.

After being down 6-0 last night to the Giants, the Astros came back to tie the game off an Erstad pinch hit HR in the 8th, then in the 9th Berkman hit the game winning HR into McCovey Cove.

I don't think the Astros are a complete team this season by any means, but Berkman certainly deserves some props for what he's doing.

[Big Al]

Lance Bergman is hitting .391. I think he's 28 for his last 47 ABs!!! He might hit .500 for the month of May! Now that's hot!(Paris, get off the Computer!)

Astros have won 11 of their last 13 games, and Berkman leads the majors in HRs at the moment. I think ESPN this a.m. said Berkman's hitting .556 during his current 14 game hitting streak.

After being down 6-0 last night to the Giants, the Astros came back to tie the game off an Erstad pinch hit HR in the 8th, then in the 9th Berkman hit the game winning HR into McCovey Cove.

I don't think the Astros are a complete team this season by any means, but Berkman certainly deserves some props for what he's doing.

Oughta be an interesting series this weekend: two teams that are doing pretty well right now squaring off in another round of the Texas Shootout. I'm going to Sunday's game!

[MartyJazz]

Well, even if it hurts the Sox, I had to root for the Rays today, if only so that the Yankees would know that neither Kennedy nor Igawa make much of a number five starter - and so far, its gone exactly according to plan. Third pitch deposited into the right field bleachers by the same dude who ruined Buchholz gem. Another run across in the third, and after two were out in the fourth, a double ripped to right followed by a tape measure shot to left.

So what do the Yanks do? They are really in a quandary because they sent Kennedy down with the intention to make him pitch his way back to New York. That takes more than the one strong outing he had, but Igawa absolutely sucked in his debut, and they knew they didn't want him to pitch against the Mets. So now what do the Yanks do? If they send Kennedy back down, they are admitting he wasn't ready to return, but then they are stuck with Igawa or some other AAA pitcher.

Actually, I think the smart decision is to give one of the other guys a shot, and send Kennedy down with the commitment that barring an injury to one of the other starters, he is going to pitch at SWB until he fully gets his act together. But its really a bad situation - send him down and play with his head some more, or keep him up and allow the rest of the A.L. to tee off on his mediocre pitches, playing with his head in a different way. Better to just admit the mistake and try to get him right so that when he does return, he may stick.

Interesting, helpful advice from the enemy. I've been keeping quiet thus far this year, but now with a full 1/4 of the year gone, I gotta admit, it's a pretty bleak situation if, a big if, you're a Yankee fan. The young pitching simply has not panned out, but I'm still glad they resisted a trade for Santana because it would have cost them Cabrera. And while the latter is only hitting around .270, he does throw people out from CF, and that I always like to see. What I don't understand, aside from the less than mediocre pitching, is how terrible the Yankee hitters are, even with the absence of A-Rod and Jorge, and more importantly, how Joe G could sit a .300+ clutch hitter like Matsui on the bench in yesterday's game. WTF is he thinking?

[Dan Gould]

Couple of observations, Marty:

It seems to me that Melky's arm has suffered a noticeable decline in accuracy. He did throw someone out on Wednesday but I can recall a good half a dozen times to date that the catcher had no shot because the throw was offline. So I am not so sure that Melky's arm is helping as much so far. Of course, when the trade they contemplated would have left Damon in CF, anything Melky does is a plus.

As for Matsui - I can only assume that Matsui has awful splits against Kazmir, or that Giambi has really good splits. Otherwise I agree it makes no sense whatsoever to rest Matsui and bat Giambi, who truly looks cooked whenever he doesn't face a junkballer.

It will be interesting to see what happens when A-Rod comes back. Its a lot of pressure on him to produce, which is something he wasn't doing much of when he got hurt anyway. I could see the boo-birds come out with a vengeance if A-Rod doesn't hit.

Interesting too is whether Mussina and Pettitte will continue to produce as they have. I'll admit that Mussina has done much better than I expected, but I don't know that he can sustain it. But the Yanks surely need him to continue, not least if Andy's near 4.5 ERA continues.

Anyone notice the recent reporting about the differences in offenses between the NL and the AL? I think that the big difference is that the AL has become the home of excellent young pitching. Aside from the D-Backs, and to a lesser extent, the Cubs and maybe the Dodgers, I don't see great pitching in the NL, the kind that could shut down a top AL lineup. So I don't think that this is a signifier that the NL might win it all this year. And I like the fact that its the Sox offense that ranks with the best NL teams, well ahead of most AL teams. That tells me that if they just manage to pitch a little, all should be OK in the end.

And for the Yanks - well, at the 1/4 mark, they only project to score 688 runs. The last time they scored so few, they ended up in last place in 1990. I don't think that's possible, but a lot of guys have to pick it up for them to score 850, let alone the 950 a lot of people expected.

[Patrick]

Interesting too is whether Mussina and Pettitte will continue to produce as they have. I'll admit that Mussina has done much better than I expected, but I don't know that he can sustain it. But the Yanks surely need him to continue, not least if Andy's near 4.5 ERA continues.

Part of the Mussina success may be due to the fact that two of his wins have come against the anemic Indian offense (facing Byrd and Laffey). The NY/Cle season series is now over. His other wins have been against TB (twice!), CWS, and Seattle.

[Dan Gould]

Interesting too is whether Mussina and Pettitte will continue to produce as they have. I'll admit that Mussina has done much better than I expected, but I don't know that he can sustain it. But the Yanks surely need him to continue, not least if Andy's near 4.5 ERA continues.

Part of the Mussina success may be due to the fact that two of his wins have come against the anemic Indian offense (facing Byrd and Laffey). The NY/Cle season series is now over. His other wins have been against TB (twice!), CWS, and Seattle.

Well TB is 6th in runs scored in the AL; Cleveland 9th, White Sox 7th and Seattle 11th, so yeah, he's done well against teams in essentially the bottom half of the league. It will be interesting to see if he keeps it up against Detroit, the A's, Halos and Rangers (I kinda doubt they'll let him pitch against the Red Sox again ).

[Dan Gould]

When the heck did they decide to postpone the Yankee-Mets game?! Its not even thirty minutes after the scheduled start, and on the weather.com radar, it looks like the rain should pull out of NYC in the next thirty minutes. There isn't any possible reason not to expect that the game could start by 8:30 at the latest, and have no trouble playing nine innings.

Meanwhile, in Boston, there is heavy rain moving toward the Fens but there still only in a rain delay.