As an update to our illustration of Jeff Francoeur's fielding ineptitude yesterday, I discovered this lovely little moving picture, courtesy of Walkoff Walk.
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/144164/failcoeur_duck.gif
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, but I don't know if that's possible.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Words From The Road
Given the extraordinarily monumental events that have occured in the baseball world recently, it seems appropriate to weigh in from the road- even though I had hoped to abdicate all responsibility for posting regularly on this trip and dump all the responsibilities in Alec's lap. What was that he said in his first post about total lack of ambition (or basic human decency)? Anyway, having attended a game in 20 of the 30 major league stadiums this summer, I find myself in northern Minnesota...ok, ok, it's basically Canada- with some time and some news.
First off, Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church- really? I mean really? And then Oman Minaya's comments today about how he wouldn't hesitate to add people because a "couple" teams are in front of the Mets for the Wild Card spot? Try seven. And try this on for size, Omar- your team is f***ed. F***ed like the Germans at Stalingrad. F***ed like anyone Clint Eastwood has ever pointed a gun at. (finally saw Gran Torino tonight- great movie) F***ed like a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest. F***ed like the Mets in September...wait...scratch the "in September" part. Anyway, as a Phillies fan, nothing does my heart more good than to see a delusional idiot running the Mets- the only thing that scares me is that one day his employers are bound to catch on to this little fact and can his ass like a tuna. And here is Omar's new star RF, who he traded a surprisingly useful player in Ryan Church to get, making his new boss proud:
http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b84f69e2011572264466970b-pi
Sports Hernia has the pic- I got linked to them from one baseball writer's blog or another- can't remember whose. Anyway I'd say this pic just about sums up the Mets' season so far. I'm just praying that the Mets don't play .875 baseball the rest of the way and make me eat these words. Note to Ruben Amaro, Jr.- for the love of God, please trade for Roy Halladay. Bonus points if you can convince JP Ricciardi that Carlos Carrasco is as good as everyone thought he was two years ago and that the Jays therefore don't need little old Kyle Drabek.
Moving on, the Phils have picked up Pedro- I look forward to seeing him pitch when I get back from this four-wheeled madness. I know he doesn't seem to have much left in the tank- but I'd rather watch Pedro get shelled than Clay Condrey. My distaste for Clay Condrey is rather unwarranted, but I can never shake a great line I saw on Beerleaguer (a great Phillies blog) a year or two ago- "Having to choose between Clay Condrey and Chad Durbin in the late innings of a tie game is God's way of telling you you don't have a very good bullpen." We'll see- honestly, I could give f***-all about how well Pedro pitches in a Phillies uniform- the sheer novelty will be enough for me to enjoy it either way. I am infinitely more concerned about Lit Up Lidge and Gas Can Madson, because the fact that we rely on those two to hold late-inning leads is a fact that never fails to scare the shit out of me.
And now to the tidbit that anyone who reads the header of this blog has been waiting for us to deal with- the Boston Red Sox have, at long last and with much lamentation, parted ways with their most stellar of shortstops, Julio Lugo. No longer will his gloriously goldless glove grace the middle of Fenway's infield. Seriously though, can we consider this a minor miracle that the Red Sox traded him for a cost-controlled major leaguer who has the potential to be moderately useful without paying a nickel of his salary? Granted, Lugo has not been the Antichrist this year at shortstop- his wOBA on the season is .329, which puts him at roughly a league-average hitter. Considering his position, a league-average bat is perfectly acceptable.
Lugo's defense, however, looks to be just as bad as everyone who ever watches the Red Sox believes it to be. His UZR rating in runs above/below average right now is -8.3 (all these stats are from Fangraphs), which means he's cost the Sox nearly a win in the field at shortstop compared to an average fielder. (10 runs is roughly equal to one win) This he has managed to accomplish in a grand total of 32 games [27 starts] at shortstop. What is amazing, though, is his UZR/150- his projected UZR over the course of 150 games, or a full season. Lugo's UZR/150 is an unbelievable -43.6. Lugo projects to cost his team over four wins with his defense if allowed to play shortstop every day. What astounds me is that John Mozeliak not only gave up someone with the apparent (if not real) usefulness of a Chris Duncan for this guy and the roughly $12 million remaining on his contract, but that he is also is due to send the Sox either some cash or a PTBNL. Good God. Chris Duncan either kills kittens in the clubhouse for fun or slept with Mozeliak's daughter, because this is a guy who posted a .360 wOBA in his most recent healthy season (2007) and a .390 wOBA in the half-season before that. (06 was his first extended playing time in the majors) Granted, the past year and a half he has been rather abysmal, but he apparently has been dealing with injuries during that time, or so I've heard a number of other (more informed) people say. All in all, it seems that while Julio Lugo has more value than Red Sox fans were willing to give him credit for, the Cardinals managed to overpay drastically for him considering the fact that he was a couple days away from being released.
I would expect that John Mozeliak will be getting a number of thank-you letters from Mets fans in the near future- with all the rumors of a Mets-Lugo matchup, (once Lugo was released from the Sox) Minaya would have been one more man closer to accomplishing his goal of turning Citi Field into the leper colony of the major leagues. To that end, rumor has it that Minaya was narrowly outbid by Dayton Moore for Yuniesky Betancourt's services, and that he is on the phone right now trying to pry Barry Zito away from the Giants, Jose Guillen away from the Royals, and Carl Pavano away from the Indians.
That's enough for now. Words of wisdom for the day- don't leave meat in a cooler for a week in warm weather. That shit gets nasty.
First off, Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church- really? I mean really? And then Oman Minaya's comments today about how he wouldn't hesitate to add people because a "couple" teams are in front of the Mets for the Wild Card spot? Try seven. And try this on for size, Omar- your team is f***ed. F***ed like the Germans at Stalingrad. F***ed like anyone Clint Eastwood has ever pointed a gun at. (finally saw Gran Torino tonight- great movie) F***ed like a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest. F***ed like the Mets in September...wait...scratch the "in September" part. Anyway, as a Phillies fan, nothing does my heart more good than to see a delusional idiot running the Mets- the only thing that scares me is that one day his employers are bound to catch on to this little fact and can his ass like a tuna. And here is Omar's new star RF, who he traded a surprisingly useful player in Ryan Church to get, making his new boss proud:
http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b84f69e2011572264466970b-pi
Sports Hernia has the pic- I got linked to them from one baseball writer's blog or another- can't remember whose. Anyway I'd say this pic just about sums up the Mets' season so far. I'm just praying that the Mets don't play .875 baseball the rest of the way and make me eat these words. Note to Ruben Amaro, Jr.- for the love of God, please trade for Roy Halladay. Bonus points if you can convince JP Ricciardi that Carlos Carrasco is as good as everyone thought he was two years ago and that the Jays therefore don't need little old Kyle Drabek.
Moving on, the Phils have picked up Pedro- I look forward to seeing him pitch when I get back from this four-wheeled madness. I know he doesn't seem to have much left in the tank- but I'd rather watch Pedro get shelled than Clay Condrey. My distaste for Clay Condrey is rather unwarranted, but I can never shake a great line I saw on Beerleaguer (a great Phillies blog) a year or two ago- "Having to choose between Clay Condrey and Chad Durbin in the late innings of a tie game is God's way of telling you you don't have a very good bullpen." We'll see- honestly, I could give f***-all about how well Pedro pitches in a Phillies uniform- the sheer novelty will be enough for me to enjoy it either way. I am infinitely more concerned about Lit Up Lidge and Gas Can Madson, because the fact that we rely on those two to hold late-inning leads is a fact that never fails to scare the shit out of me.
And now to the tidbit that anyone who reads the header of this blog has been waiting for us to deal with- the Boston Red Sox have, at long last and with much lamentation, parted ways with their most stellar of shortstops, Julio Lugo. No longer will his gloriously goldless glove grace the middle of Fenway's infield. Seriously though, can we consider this a minor miracle that the Red Sox traded him for a cost-controlled major leaguer who has the potential to be moderately useful without paying a nickel of his salary? Granted, Lugo has not been the Antichrist this year at shortstop- his wOBA on the season is .329, which puts him at roughly a league-average hitter. Considering his position, a league-average bat is perfectly acceptable.
Lugo's defense, however, looks to be just as bad as everyone who ever watches the Red Sox believes it to be. His UZR rating in runs above/below average right now is -8.3 (all these stats are from Fangraphs), which means he's cost the Sox nearly a win in the field at shortstop compared to an average fielder. (10 runs is roughly equal to one win) This he has managed to accomplish in a grand total of 32 games [27 starts] at shortstop. What is amazing, though, is his UZR/150- his projected UZR over the course of 150 games, or a full season. Lugo's UZR/150 is an unbelievable -43.6. Lugo projects to cost his team over four wins with his defense if allowed to play shortstop every day. What astounds me is that John Mozeliak not only gave up someone with the apparent (if not real) usefulness of a Chris Duncan for this guy and the roughly $12 million remaining on his contract, but that he is also is due to send the Sox either some cash or a PTBNL. Good God. Chris Duncan either kills kittens in the clubhouse for fun or slept with Mozeliak's daughter, because this is a guy who posted a .360 wOBA in his most recent healthy season (2007) and a .390 wOBA in the half-season before that. (06 was his first extended playing time in the majors) Granted, the past year and a half he has been rather abysmal, but he apparently has been dealing with injuries during that time, or so I've heard a number of other (more informed) people say. All in all, it seems that while Julio Lugo has more value than Red Sox fans were willing to give him credit for, the Cardinals managed to overpay drastically for him considering the fact that he was a couple days away from being released.
I would expect that John Mozeliak will be getting a number of thank-you letters from Mets fans in the near future- with all the rumors of a Mets-Lugo matchup, (once Lugo was released from the Sox) Minaya would have been one more man closer to accomplishing his goal of turning Citi Field into the leper colony of the major leagues. To that end, rumor has it that Minaya was narrowly outbid by Dayton Moore for Yuniesky Betancourt's services, and that he is on the phone right now trying to pry Barry Zito away from the Giants, Jose Guillen away from the Royals, and Carl Pavano away from the Indians.
That's enough for now. Words of wisdom for the day- don't leave meat in a cooler for a week in warm weather. That shit gets nasty.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Swings and Misses
The Red Sox blew a 10-1 lead in the 7th inninng to the Baltimore Orioles, losing 10-11. The Orioles returned the favor the next day, flowing a 5-1 lead in the 9th inning, losing 6-5 in 11 innings. We haven't seen such high fail-to-baseball game ratios since the Mets tried to play an intrasquad game.
Suspended slugger Manny Ramirez has completed his rehab assignment and is expected to rejoin the Dodgers on Friday. This seems reasonable based on Ramirez's well-known history of appearing in a timely fashion following long vacations.
The Seattle Mariners are said to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline, despite injuries to Erik Bedard and Adrian Beltre. If they expect to get much in return for their other "tradeable" pieces, then these sellers have been using a bit too much of their own product.
I forget the 4th news tidbit, but the punchline was probably the Washington Nationals.
Ian Kinsler is Jewish. How did I not know this?
In the last year, the Pirates have traded Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan, 4 more quality players than anybody believed that Pittsburgh had.
Milton Bradley has succeeded again in revealing that racism is still present in baseball, as his recent dispute with his own manager shows that the white man is keeping the black, problematic .734 OPS-ing corner outfielders down.
The Yankees have expressed their worries about rising homerun numbers in New Yankee Stadium and are searching for solutions. The leading idea seems to be hiring Barry Bonds to sit behind home plate where the gravitational pull from his giant head will be enough to keep any balls from passing the fence.
Suspended slugger Manny Ramirez has completed his rehab assignment and is expected to rejoin the Dodgers on Friday. This seems reasonable based on Ramirez's well-known history of appearing in a timely fashion following long vacations.
The Seattle Mariners are said to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline, despite injuries to Erik Bedard and Adrian Beltre. If they expect to get much in return for their other "tradeable" pieces, then these sellers have been using a bit too much of their own product.
I forget the 4th news tidbit, but the punchline was probably the Washington Nationals.
Ian Kinsler is Jewish. How did I not know this?
In the last year, the Pirates have traded Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan, 4 more quality players than anybody believed that Pittsburgh had.
Milton Bradley has succeeded again in revealing that racism is still present in baseball, as his recent dispute with his own manager shows that the white man is keeping the black, problematic .734 OPS-ing corner outfielders down.
The Yankees have expressed their worries about rising homerun numbers in New Yankee Stadium and are searching for solutions. The leading idea seems to be hiring Barry Bonds to sit behind home plate where the gravitational pull from his giant head will be enough to keep any balls from passing the fence.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Miracle averted, Jeff Francoeur avoids 3-walk game
Jeff Francoeur does not walk much. Coming into last night's game, he had 7 walks in 223 plate appearances. Pitcher Jamie Moyer has 6 in 25 plate appearances. He holds a career 4.9% walk rate (for reference, Dontrelle Willis has a career 5.2% BB rate), with this year being a career low 3.2%. Pretty ridiculous
As of this post, Jeff Francoeur has never walked more than twice in a game. Including tonight, he has 11 multiwalk games (each with 2 walks) in 604 career games, with two walks in each game.
2009: 2
2008: 2
2007: 6
2006: 0
2005: 1
According to Las Vegas odds, the Phillies pitching staff has a better chance of throwing back to back perfect games than Francoeur does of getting 3 walks in a game.
Tonight/last night, Francouer was putting up his normal 1-4 line through 9 innings. But that's when he broke out. He walked in 10th inning on an intentional walk, which is stunning as this guy has struck out on balls to the backstop, pitchouts, and pickoff throws to first. Then in the 12th inning, he walked again, this time unintentionally.
All of baseball watched with bated breath to see if Francoeur would get another chance at history. The game went to the 13th, the 14th, and finally Frenchy got another chance in the 15th.
He then failed at a sac bunt. Pathetic. He then managed to score the winning run, ruining his chance at history.
Viewers were left disappointed, but enjoyed their chance at seeing something that is slightly more common than a no hitter but rarer than hitting for the cycle (since Francoeuer entnered the league, there have been 6 no hitters and 17 cycles)
(I apologize for the comparatively serious posts from me lately that are more "that's true and really sad" than "here's some hyperbole to make it funny")
As of this post, Jeff Francoeur has never walked more than twice in a game. Including tonight, he has 11 multiwalk games (each with 2 walks) in 604 career games, with two walks in each game.
2009: 2
2008: 2
2007: 6
2006: 0
2005: 1
According to Las Vegas odds, the Phillies pitching staff has a better chance of throwing back to back perfect games than Francoeur does of getting 3 walks in a game.
Tonight/last night, Francouer was putting up his normal 1-4 line through 9 innings. But that's when he broke out. He walked in 10th inning on an intentional walk, which is stunning as this guy has struck out on balls to the backstop, pitchouts, and pickoff throws to first. Then in the 12th inning, he walked again, this time unintentionally.
All of baseball watched with bated breath to see if Francoeur would get another chance at history. The game went to the 13th, the 14th, and finally Frenchy got another chance in the 15th.
He then failed at a sac bunt. Pathetic. He then managed to score the winning run, ruining his chance at history.
Viewers were left disappointed, but enjoyed their chance at seeing something that is slightly more common than a no hitter but rarer than hitting for the cycle (since Francoeuer entnered the league, there have been 6 no hitters and 17 cycles)
(I apologize for the comparatively serious posts from me lately that are more "that's true and really sad" than "here's some hyperbole to make it funny")
Friday, May 29, 2009
I Am Still Alive...
Much to Alec's disappointment, I'm sure. The posts have been scarce lately first because of finals, then because of a housing issue, and then because I began a summer-long road trip to attend a game in all 30 major league baseball stadiums. But I can't continue to neglect the blog, because DYFS will eventually come and take it away from me if I do.
One of the lovely things I've seen so far is the self-destructive nature of the Blue Jays' bullpen. Some bullpens, like the Phillies and Mets, essentially constitute throwing gasoline on the fire. What I observed from the Jays' pen on Wednesday wasn't just gasoline, I think it was more along the lines of an entire oil refinery being dumped on a fire. Highly amusing, though. In fact, our games so far have been an exercise in god-awful bullpen outings. Only the first game, in Fenway on Friday 5/22, did not feature some kind of grisly bullpen freak show on par with the finest ones Shea Stadium ever saw.
5/24 Phillies at Yankees
Brad Lidge 1 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 1 K
This one was absolutely fantastic. Lidge blew the save in the 9th in ALMOST THE EXACT SAME FASHION as he had lost the game the day before. Robinson Cano single, a steal of second (this time by PR Ramiro Pena, but still), and then a Melky Cabrera single to plate the run. I honestly could not stop laughing.
5/25 Nationals at Mets
Bobby Parnell 1/3 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 1 K
Just a generally attractive line. Good thing he was facing the Nationals, who got so confused at the concept of a late-inning rally that after Parnell was pulled, Adam Dunn went to the plate with his batting helmet on backwards and wet his pants in the batters box.
5/26 Marlins at Phillies
Chad Durbin 1/3 IP 1 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 0 K
Scott Eyre 0 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K (only batter faced reached on an error)
Brad Lidge 2/3 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 1 K
This was horrible. You would think that sending Chad Durbin out to the mound in the 9th inning of a game you are leading 5-0 to face John Baker, Dan Uggla, and Cody Ross shouldn't be that dangerous of a move. Unfortunately, "you" would have been horribly, terribly, awfully wrong. And of course Lit Up Lidge had a role in this, allowing an inherited runner to score and walking a batter of his own. All in all, this game was a refreshing reminder of what it's really like to be a Phillies fan, i.e. all of those pre-2008 Phillies teams whose bullpens were always wonderfully combustible.
5/27 Blue Jays at Orioles
Jesse Carlson 1/3 IP 3 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 1 K 1 HB
Brian Wolfe 0 IP 3 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 0 K
Watching the Jays blow an 8-3, 8th inning lead to the Orioles was lots of fun. Watching them give the game away after they had taken the lead in the top of the 11th was even more fun. Carlson's line was part of that spectacular 8th inning meltdown, and Wolfe's line was part of the 11th inning final collapse. Until this game, I had never realized that the reason why pitchers are usually in the bullpen is that they aren't actually all that good. Apparently the way baseball works is that the really good pitchers start the game, and the kinda-not-as-good guys pitch later. I never would have guessed.
Next game is Giants at Nationals 6/3/09...going to see Randy Johnson take a crack at #300. If Johnson can stay in the game long enough for the Nationals' starter to be gone, I like his chances- right now the Nationals' bullpen is so unsightly, they actually think that Mike MacDougal will IMPROVE their bullpen. That isn't a typo.
Also, right now Matt Wieters' major league debut is being delayed by rain. Looks like even the Apocalypse can be rained out.
One of the lovely things I've seen so far is the self-destructive nature of the Blue Jays' bullpen. Some bullpens, like the Phillies and Mets, essentially constitute throwing gasoline on the fire. What I observed from the Jays' pen on Wednesday wasn't just gasoline, I think it was more along the lines of an entire oil refinery being dumped on a fire. Highly amusing, though. In fact, our games so far have been an exercise in god-awful bullpen outings. Only the first game, in Fenway on Friday 5/22, did not feature some kind of grisly bullpen freak show on par with the finest ones Shea Stadium ever saw.
5/24 Phillies at Yankees
Brad Lidge 1 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 1 K
This one was absolutely fantastic. Lidge blew the save in the 9th in ALMOST THE EXACT SAME FASHION as he had lost the game the day before. Robinson Cano single, a steal of second (this time by PR Ramiro Pena, but still), and then a Melky Cabrera single to plate the run. I honestly could not stop laughing.
5/25 Nationals at Mets
Bobby Parnell 1/3 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 1 K
Just a generally attractive line. Good thing he was facing the Nationals, who got so confused at the concept of a late-inning rally that after Parnell was pulled, Adam Dunn went to the plate with his batting helmet on backwards and wet his pants in the batters box.
5/26 Marlins at Phillies
Chad Durbin 1/3 IP 1 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 0 K
Scott Eyre 0 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K (only batter faced reached on an error)
Brad Lidge 2/3 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 1 K
This was horrible. You would think that sending Chad Durbin out to the mound in the 9th inning of a game you are leading 5-0 to face John Baker, Dan Uggla, and Cody Ross shouldn't be that dangerous of a move. Unfortunately, "you" would have been horribly, terribly, awfully wrong. And of course Lit Up Lidge had a role in this, allowing an inherited runner to score and walking a batter of his own. All in all, this game was a refreshing reminder of what it's really like to be a Phillies fan, i.e. all of those pre-2008 Phillies teams whose bullpens were always wonderfully combustible.
5/27 Blue Jays at Orioles
Jesse Carlson 1/3 IP 3 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 1 K 1 HB
Brian Wolfe 0 IP 3 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 0 K
Watching the Jays blow an 8-3, 8th inning lead to the Orioles was lots of fun. Watching them give the game away after they had taken the lead in the top of the 11th was even more fun. Carlson's line was part of that spectacular 8th inning meltdown, and Wolfe's line was part of the 11th inning final collapse. Until this game, I had never realized that the reason why pitchers are usually in the bullpen is that they aren't actually all that good. Apparently the way baseball works is that the really good pitchers start the game, and the kinda-not-as-good guys pitch later. I never would have guessed.
Next game is Giants at Nationals 6/3/09...going to see Randy Johnson take a crack at #300. If Johnson can stay in the game long enough for the Nationals' starter to be gone, I like his chances- right now the Nationals' bullpen is so unsightly, they actually think that Mike MacDougal will IMPROVE their bullpen. That isn't a typo.
Also, right now Matt Wieters' major league debut is being delayed by rain. Looks like even the Apocalypse can be rained out.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Guys you never heard of lead league in HR, Wins
SOMEWHERE YOU DIDN'T KNOW HAD A BASEBALL TEAM -- Baseball fans around the country were startled when it was reported that two guys you've never heard of lead the majors in homeruns and wins.
The story broke early this morning, as the ESPN Fantasy Sports department finally checked their email, and found hundreds of messages pointing out what many assumed to be a glitch, such as some guy who was 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA, as well as the obvious error that some guy playing for "SDP" had been credited with a laughable 18 homers.
However, ESPN checked with a trusted team of basement dwelling stats nerds, who revealed that the numbers were indeed correct. They reported that some guy named Zach Greinke (a name you may recognnize from your fantasy team's bench from when you left autodraft on while you went to get a beer after the sixth round) is dominating opposing hitters throughout the league. Even more stunninng is the fact that he reportedly has 8 wins while playing for the Kansas City Royals, a team that most experts were pretty sure had been demoted to AAA at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, a man supposedly named Adrian Gonzalez has 18 homers, though our sources are unsure as to where he plays. We hear it's San Diego, though we were pretty sure they don't have a team, and if they do, it's in the NL West or something and nobody cares about them. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that this Gonzalez had 30 homers and 100 RBI in each of the last of the two years, which seems odd, as you'd think we'd have heard of a guy like that, or that the Yankees would have bought his entire team in order to sign him.
More news as it breaks.
The story broke early this morning, as the ESPN Fantasy Sports department finally checked their email, and found hundreds of messages pointing out what many assumed to be a glitch, such as some guy who was 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA, as well as the obvious error that some guy playing for "SDP" had been credited with a laughable 18 homers.
However, ESPN checked with a trusted team of basement dwelling stats nerds, who revealed that the numbers were indeed correct. They reported that some guy named Zach Greinke (a name you may recognnize from your fantasy team's bench from when you left autodraft on while you went to get a beer after the sixth round) is dominating opposing hitters throughout the league. Even more stunninng is the fact that he reportedly has 8 wins while playing for the Kansas City Royals, a team that most experts were pretty sure had been demoted to AAA at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, a man supposedly named Adrian Gonzalez has 18 homers, though our sources are unsure as to where he plays. We hear it's San Diego, though we were pretty sure they don't have a team, and if they do, it's in the NL West or something and nobody cares about them. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that this Gonzalez had 30 homers and 100 RBI in each of the last of the two years, which seems odd, as you'd think we'd have heard of a guy like that, or that the Yankees would have bought his entire team in order to sign him.
More news as it breaks.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
World Series IV Game 6
The Yankees entered Fenway for a must win game, trailing in the series 2-3.
With the day off, it seems that the Yankees regained their plate discipline, tiring opposing pitchers and working counts in their favor. Even though he had struck out 11 and had only allowed 1 hit and no runs, Curt Schilling had to be pulled after 5 2/3 due to his rising pitch count. Gary Sheffield greeted Keith Foulke with an out of the park homer to left to give the Yankees an early 1-0.
1-0 was enough for the Yankees pitching staff, as El Duque and Mussina combined for a shutout, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 13.
Tim Wakefield came in in the top of the 9th with 1 on and 1 out to face Sheffield. When Jeter stole second (the first Yankees steal of the series), Wakefield was behind in the count and decided to intentionally walk Sheffield. But Matsui made him pay, golfing a hanging knuckleball to right for a 3-run bomb, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead. His postseason ERA jumped from 0.80 to 2.19 with the outing.
The win seemed to take the air out of the resurgent Red Sox, whose postseason struggles at Fenway continued. Manny Ramirez reportedly left the stadium after striking out in the 8th inning to take a nap, and Kevin Millar was found on Yawkey Way, passed out drunk and wearing nothing but a cowboy hat.
Sox manager Alec admitted that the defeat was "demoralizing", and bemoaned the Yankees recaptured plate discipline. He stated "I don't take many pitches, the least they could do would be to not take pitches either. It's unfair." Yankees mananger Terence could not be reached for comment, though he was heard screaming "Yeah baby, GIT SOME!" and cackling in the visitor's clubhouse.
Yankees - 4 @ Red Sox - 0
WP: E. Duque (2-2)
LP: K. Foulke (0-2)
HR: A. Rodriguez (2), H. Matsui (3)
~~Red Sox~~
J. Damon: 0-4, 2 K
O. Cabrera: 0-4, 2 K
M. Ramirez: 1-4, 2 K
D. Ortiz: 0-0, 4 IBB
J. Varitek: 0-3, 2 K, BB
T. Nixon: 0-1, K
a.) K. Millar: 0-3, K
B. Mueller: 1-4
M. Bellhorn: 0-1, reach on error
b.) D. Roberts: 1-3, SB, GIDP
C. Schilling: 0-1, sac
-K. Foulke: 0-1, K
==Pitching==
C. Schilling: 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 H, 11 K, 0 BB
K. Foulke L (0-2): 2 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB
T. Wakefield: 0 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 2 H, 1 K, 1 BB
~~Yankees~~
D. Jeter: 1-4, 3 K, R, SB
A. Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, HR, RBI, R, K
G. Sheffield: 0-3, K, IBB
H. Matsui: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, 3 K
B. Williams: 0-4, 2 K
J. Posada: 2-4, K
J. Olerud: 0-4, 2 K
M. Cairo: 0-3, K
E. Duque: 0-1, K
a.) J. Giambi: 0-2, K
==Pitching==
E. Duque W (2-2): 5 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 H, 6 K, 2 BB
M. Mussina: 4 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 2 H, 7 K, 3 BB
With the day off, it seems that the Yankees regained their plate discipline, tiring opposing pitchers and working counts in their favor. Even though he had struck out 11 and had only allowed 1 hit and no runs, Curt Schilling had to be pulled after 5 2/3 due to his rising pitch count. Gary Sheffield greeted Keith Foulke with an out of the park homer to left to give the Yankees an early 1-0.
1-0 was enough for the Yankees pitching staff, as El Duque and Mussina combined for a shutout, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 13.
Tim Wakefield came in in the top of the 9th with 1 on and 1 out to face Sheffield. When Jeter stole second (the first Yankees steal of the series), Wakefield was behind in the count and decided to intentionally walk Sheffield. But Matsui made him pay, golfing a hanging knuckleball to right for a 3-run bomb, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead. His postseason ERA jumped from 0.80 to 2.19 with the outing.
The win seemed to take the air out of the resurgent Red Sox, whose postseason struggles at Fenway continued. Manny Ramirez reportedly left the stadium after striking out in the 8th inning to take a nap, and Kevin Millar was found on Yawkey Way, passed out drunk and wearing nothing but a cowboy hat.
Sox manager Alec admitted that the defeat was "demoralizing", and bemoaned the Yankees recaptured plate discipline. He stated "I don't take many pitches, the least they could do would be to not take pitches either. It's unfair." Yankees mananger Terence could not be reached for comment, though he was heard screaming "Yeah baby, GIT SOME!" and cackling in the visitor's clubhouse.
Yankees - 4 @ Red Sox - 0
WP: E. Duque (2-2)
LP: K. Foulke (0-2)
HR: A. Rodriguez (2), H. Matsui (3)
~~Red Sox~~
J. Damon: 0-4, 2 K
O. Cabrera: 0-4, 2 K
M. Ramirez: 1-4, 2 K
D. Ortiz: 0-0, 4 IBB
J. Varitek: 0-3, 2 K, BB
T. Nixon: 0-1, K
a.) K. Millar: 0-3, K
B. Mueller: 1-4
M. Bellhorn: 0-1, reach on error
b.) D. Roberts: 1-3, SB, GIDP
C. Schilling: 0-1, sac
-K. Foulke: 0-1, K
==Pitching==
C. Schilling: 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 H, 11 K, 0 BB
K. Foulke L (0-2): 2 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB
T. Wakefield: 0 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 2 H, 1 K, 1 BB
~~Yankees~~
D. Jeter: 1-4, 3 K, R, SB
A. Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, HR, RBI, R, K
G. Sheffield: 0-3, K, IBB
H. Matsui: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, 3 K
B. Williams: 0-4, 2 K
J. Posada: 2-4, K
J. Olerud: 0-4, 2 K
M. Cairo: 0-3, K
E. Duque: 0-1, K
a.) J. Giambi: 0-2, K
==Pitching==
E. Duque W (2-2): 5 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 H, 6 K, 2 BB
M. Mussina: 4 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 2 H, 7 K, 3 BB
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