MLB 2008

[Dan Gould]

Well, it must be said that Dice-K looks very good through his first three starts of his second season, even better if you presume that his 5 walks in Tokyo were a function of being over-amped up for playing in front of the home fans. It was nice today to see similar results as his second start against the A's yet this time he didn't have the really great breaking pitches working.

If Dice keeps it up and Beckett gets into his usual groove, I'll feel much better, regardless of what the current record says. Lester and Buchholz have shown glimpses, and Colon shouldn't be too far away since his injury is just a minor oblique strain.

[Chalupa]

Good to see the Phils and Mets picking up exactly where they left off last September.

Chase Utley got hit 3 times by a pitch today tying a MLB record.

[Chuck Nessa]

Went to a Cubs game on Sunday. Zambrano got his first win, Lee and Soriano hit homers and Wood closed 'em out. For a Cub fan, it don't get any better.

[Dan Gould]

Went to a Cubs game on Sunday. Zambrano got his first win, Lee and Soriano hit homers and Wood closed 'em out. For a Cub fan, it don't get any better.

Dare I say - only better if those three things happen 11 times in October.

[Chuck Nessa]

Went to a Cubs game on Sunday. Zambrano got his first win, Lee and Soriano hit homers and Wood closed 'em out. For a Cub fan, it don't get any better.

Dare I say - only better if those three things happen 11 times in October.

Correct, but fun in April.

[papsrus]

Nice to see Buckner getting some love today.

[jlhoots]

Brewers win again (3-2 in ten innings).

[Tim McG]

Hey, Molina puts one in the left field seats for a walk-off HR!

Giants win! Giants win! Giants win!

A one game winning streak....BOO-Ya!

Edited April 9, 2008 by GoodSpeak

[Dan Gould]

Hey, Molina puts one in the left field seats for a walk-off HR!

Giants win! Giants win! Giants win!

A one game winning streak....BOO-Ya!

That's really amazing. But it must suck to know that the season highlight happened on April 8.

[papsrus]

How are the umps doing?

Rays have had two awful calls go against them (in NY) and one highly questionable call (in their home-opener last night) already. The two calls in NY were clearly blown calls (runner called out at first when the tag missed by a foot after the throw pulled Giambi off the bag; the second was one where the base runner had clearly made it to second before the throw on a force-out. No question on either of those. ... Last night on a closer play, Upton slid into third on a would-be triple before the tag and was called out. OK ... human error. It was a close play in real time. But in a tight game it was a big factor.

These things are supposed to even out over time, so I'm looking forward to some favorable calls here soon.

[BERIGAN]

How are the umps doing?

Rays have had two awful calls go against them (in NY) and one highly questionable call (in their home-opener last night) already. The two calls in NY were clearly blown calls (runner called out at first when the tag missed by a foot after the throw pulled Giambi off the bag; the second was one where the base runner had clearly made it to second before the throw on a force-out. No question on either of those. ... Last night on a closer play, Upton slid into third on a would-be triple before the tag and was called out. OK ... human error. It was a close play in real time. But in a tight game it was a big factor.

These things are supposed to even out over time, so I'm looking forward to some favorable calls here soon.

They didn't show those "highlights" on baseball tonight, but some of the pitches that A-Rod was called out on(He struck out 4 times, 3 looking for those that don't know) were terrible....

[Dan Gould]

How are the umps doing?

Rays have had two awful calls go against them (in NY) and one highly questionable call (in their home-opener last night) already. The two calls in NY were clearly blown calls (runner called out at first when the tag missed by a foot after the throw pulled Giambi off the bag; the second was one where the base runner had clearly made it to second before the throw on a force-out. No question on either of those. ... Last night on a closer play, Upton slid into third on a would-be triple before the tag and was called out. OK ... human error. It was a close play in real time. But in a tight game it was a big factor.

These things are supposed to even out over time, so I'm looking forward to some favorable calls here soon.

Yeah that call on the swipe tag at first was pathetic. The Rays player had every reason to be pissed and the umpire should be suspended for not moving further into the infield to get a view. He saw the glove swipe past him before he touched the base and assumed he'd actually been tagged. Pathetic.

The Sox should expect some good calls their way too, between Varitek's home run that wasn't, and Ellsbury's catch that wasn't (what is lame is that managers and umpires have complained that lighted part of the Toronto scoreboard makes it hard to see but it still hasn't been changed. Tito didn't even argue that long because he said that he couldn't really see what happened anyway.)

[Dan Gould]

They didn't show those "highlights" on baseball tonight, but some of the pitches that A-Rod was called out on(He struck out 4 times, 3 looking for those that don't know) were terrible....

Well there was one that looked down and away but I don't know that all of them were bad calls.

[papsrus]

... Floyd is guaranteed to hurt himself at some point ...

Well, that didn't take long. Floyd and Garza both placed on 15-day DL -- Floyd with a meniscus tear in his right knee, and more importantly Garza with an irritation of the radial nerve.

EDIT: ... which brings to nine the number of Rays on the DL ... yeesh.

Edited April 10, 2008 by papsrus

[Dan Gould]

All due credit to Wang tonight but Jesus Christ, how many times can he serve up a pitch that gets hit on the nose and then hang in the air for the outfielder? There must have been four balls like that that should have been hits.

In the meantime, the Yankees got notice that Clay Buchholz looks like a pretty damn good pitcher, and I have to believe that every godawful day Ortiz has at the plate means he's one more day closer to making someone pay, big time. I still like our chances this weekend with Beckett vs Mussina Saturday and then Dice-K vs Hughes Sunday night.

[papsrus]

All due credit to Wang tonight but Jesus Christ, how many times can he serve up a pitch that gets hit on the nose and then hang in the air for the outfielder? There must have been four balls like that that should have been hits.

In the meantime, the Yankees got notice that Clay Buchholz looks like a pretty damn good pitcher, and I have to believe that every godawful day Ortiz has at the plate means he's one more day closer to making someone pay, big time. I still like our chances this weekend with Beckett vs Mussina Saturday and then Dice-K vs Hughes Sunday night.

Here's hoping! I'll be watching Sunday night.

I like the fight I saw from the Rays tonight (with a big assist from an imploding Baltimore pen). ... Still, two bombs from Pena and five players with multiple hits. O's were coming off a double-header, so once they fell behind by 3 in the 8th, they pretty much conceded, opting to save the rest of the bullpen. Sarfate had real trouble finding the plate in the 8th. Heat right down the middle on one pitch, the next two a foot or more off the plate. Pretty shaky.

And Crawford gets his 1,000th hit.

This club seems to have matured from last season -- showing good aggressiveness at the plate while still being smart. Pena taking ball four on a full count with the bases loaded in the 8th to push the go-ahead run home was a good example of that.

[papsrus]

I love it!

Report: Worker tries to jinx Yanks with buried Red Sox shirt

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Say it ain’t so, George!

A construction worker on a concrete crew at the new Yankee Stadium secretly buried a Red Sox T-shirt under the future visiting clubhouse in an effort to jinx the Yankees, the New York Post reported Friday.

The paper cited two construction workers it did not identify, saying they were not authorized to speak with the media. One of the workers said the T-shirt was poured in a slab in the visitor’s clubhouse.

“It sounds like a tall tale, and it would take more than a Red Sox T-shirt to put a curse on the Yankees,” team spokesman Howard Rubenstein was quoted as saying.

The Yankees move to the new ballpark in 2009.

[Chalupa]

I love it!

Report: Worker tries to jinx Yanks with buried Red Sox shirt

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Say it ain’t so, George!

A construction worker on a concrete crew at the new Yankee Stadium secretly buried a Red Sox T-shirt under the future visiting clubhouse in an effort to jinx the Yankees, the New York Post reported Friday.

The paper cited two construction workers it did not identify, saying they were not authorized to speak with the media. One of the workers said the T-shirt was poured in a slab in the visitor’s clubhouse.

“It sounds like a tall tale, and it would take more than a Red Sox T-shirt to put a curse on the Yankees,” team spokesman Howard Rubenstein was quoted as saying.

The Yankees move to the new ballpark in 2009.

UPDATE

Report: Workers dig furiously to rid new Yanks stadium of Red Sox jersey

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3344825

[Dan Gould]

Doesn't it say everything about the way things have changed between these two ballclubs that they'd go to this trouble to remove a potential "hex"? I guarantee that if Yankee fans could still be chanting "19-18," the Yankees would say "who cares? We are the YANKEES. There are no curses that can stop us." In fact, you would think given Li'l Boss's obnoxious comments that he would give the order to leave it be, with a statement that no so-called "curse" can stop the Yankees.

But no. The biggest choke in history, no crowns in 8 years, another championship parade in Boston, and they are beside themselves making sure that this shirt gets dug up.

I tell you, the Yankees aren't the Yankees anymore.

[papsrus]

UPDATE

Report: Workers dig furiously to rid new Yanks stadium of Red Sox jersey

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3344825

:rofl:

[Patrick]

I'm confused. Nats/Braves on a DC sportstation, flip over to TBS to see what's up there, and they are showing Cubs/Phillies. Why? Does TBS have a general NL deal? Or are people concerned that the lovable Cubs just don't get enough nationwide exposure on their own superstation? Or is it a Caray thing (...and I wouldn't understand)?

[Dan Gould]

I'm confused. Nats/Braves on a DC sportstation, flip over to TBS to see what's up there, and they are showing Cubs/Phillies. Why? Does TBS have a general NL deal? Or are people concerned that the lovable Cubs just don't get enough nationwide exposure on their own superstation? Or is it a Caray thing (...and I wouldn't understand)?

TBS has dropped the Braves. They have a national Sunday afternoon broadcast now, and I believe that they will have the NLCS as well.

[Patrick]

I'm confused. Nats/Braves on a DC sportstation, flip over to TBS to see what's up there, and they are showing Cubs/Phillies. Why? Does TBS have a general NL deal? Or are people concerned that the lovable Cubs just don't get enough nationwide exposure on their own superstation? Or is it a Caray thing (...and I wouldn't understand)?

TBS has dropped the Braves. They have a national Sunday afternoon broadcast now, and I believe that they will have the NLCS as well.

Cool. Did not know that. Just shows how much time I spend clicking by WTBS.

I haven't been watching much baseball yet--though enough to notice Sabathia is off to a lousy start, Borowski is still terrible (and maybe injured), but Westbrook and Lee are pitching well (at least against Oakland).

[papsrus]

Former Rice star and first-round pick Jeff Niemann (at 6-foot-9!!) wins his major league debut after a shaky first inning. Nice breaking ball to go with the fastball. Rays at .500 with the Yankees coming to town.

And after an 11-0 loss to the White Sox, the Tigers are pretty much officially a train wreck.

[GregK]

I'm confused. Nats/Braves on a DC sportstation, flip over to TBS to see what's up there, and they are showing Cubs/Phillies. Why? Does TBS have a general NL deal? Or are people concerned that the lovable Cubs just don't get enough nationwide exposure on their own superstation? Or is it a Caray thing (...and I wouldn't understand)?

Yes, TBS dropped the Braves to show us more of those rare Red Sux (last week, and probably 90% of the rest of their Sunday games) and this week the Cubs, two teams you simply CAN'T see anywhere else. Why don't they just give up baseball altogether and show Raymond 24 hours a day?