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2009 MLB Thread - Page 26

post #751 of 1171
7/15/09 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
A day at the ballpark can look pretty darn good now and then! 
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post #752 of 1171
7/15/09 at 10:45am
I like Obama's security detail.  Previous presidents lived in simpler times.
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post #753 of 1171
7/15/09 at 11:58am
Thread Starter 
Was 41 a lefty?  I didn't remember that.

I knew 42 & 44 were. 
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post #754 of 1171
7/15/09 at 12:21pm
I had forgotten that Truman was a lefty.
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post #755 of 1171
7/15/09 at 12:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls View Post

I like Obama's security detail.  Previous presidents lived in simpler times.

It's a shame...the complications extend to us normal people in security lines and checks.
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post #756 of 1171
7/16/09 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post




Ah yes, I remember it well.  The Redcoats versus the Rabble.  Scrappy guys those Rabble.  They eked out a victory against all odds. 

Didn't see anything like it again until the 2004 ALCS. 

 

Led their ace and All-Star, George Washington.
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post #757 of 1171
7/20/09 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
So it was 40 years ago today that man landed on the moon for the first time.    Some interesting things happened on Earth's baseball diamonds that same day.

Click HERE for a full report.

Here's a peek on one such event (great story):


Quote:

The day man first walked on the moon started like any other game day for Gaylord Perry, a 30-year-old right-hander in the middle of a season for the San Francisco Giants in which he'd go 19-14 with a 2.49 ERA.

But though Perry would eventually qualify for the Hall of Fame as a pitcher, he never quite got his due as a hitter, and that was about to change -- sort of.

First, a flashback to 1964, Perry's third season in the Major Leagues.

As Perry recalls, his manager, Alvin Dark, and a sportswriter for the San Francisco Examiner newspaper, Harry Jupiter, were watching Perry take his hacks during batting practice.

"I was good friends with Harry, and he and Alvin were watching me in the cage, and Harry said something like, 'You know, Perry isn't a bad hitter. He might hit a home run or two for you,' " Perry says.

"Of course, Alvin saw a whole lot that he liked in my pitching and saw a whole lot that he didn't like in my hitting, and he said, 'Mark my words. A man will land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.' "

More than five years later, Apollo 11 landed on the dark, cratered lunar surface at 1:17 p.m. PT. Down among the green hills of Earth, a Sunday crowd of 32,560 had settled into their seats at Candlestick Park on the San Francisco Bay to watch their hometown Giants hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And in the bottom of the third inning, a not-at-all-serious prophecy was fulfilled.

"Well, about the top of the third, over the loudspeaker, they were telling everybody to stand and give a moment of silent thanks for the astronauts who landed on the moon," Perry remembers.

"And I'd say 30 minutes later, Claude Osteen grooved me a fastball, and I hit it out of the park."

Perry pitched a complete game and got the victory, one of the 314 he'd notch over a legendary, colorful 22-year career that saw him log more than 5,000 innings, strike out more than 3,500 batters and wear eight uniforms.

His moonshot 40 years ago was the first of six career homers and, as he explains, the thing he's talked the most about to this day. More than the Hall of Fame. More than the 300 club. Heck, even more than the Vaseline.


Apparently, Perry recently found--in a wooden crate--the bat he used that day while looking for something else in his garage!
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post #758 of 1171
7/22/09 at 6:51pm
looks like the Sox are in a mini-slump while the Yanks are firing on all cylinders.  good to see Arod not swinging for the fences everytime he comes to the plate (and yet he still has so many HRs lately!). 

i'm making the trek to NY for the August Red Sox series, looking forward to it.  

ESPN thinks that Wakefield's "injury" is just an excuse to give him a rest to showcase Buchholz in case the Jays come running for trade talk.  do the Sox have a SS for next year because the Jays' Scutaro is having a great year, is a free agent next year, and is exactly what they like (OBP machine).  
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post #759 of 1171
7/22/09 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
A mini-slump?!?  This is practically Armageddon! 

I think the Yankees have won 40 of their last 30 games.

And the Sox pickup LaRoche & Carter Duncan? 

In Theo we Trust???

Heeeeeeelllllp!

EDIT**  Don't know where I got the name "Carter" from above.  Meant Duncan.


Edited by Mike Frezon - 7/23/2009 at 01:16 pm GMT
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post #760 of 1171
7/23/09 at 6:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post

I think the Yankees have won 40 of their last 30 games.

Mike,

This is exceedingly difficult to do, even for the Yankees. :)
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post #761 of 1171
7/23/09 at 7:09am
Thread Starter 
Yet that's the way things seem to be going right now. 

All those little holes that Boston had in their line-up the first half of the year seem to have widened into major chasms. 

Six of Boston's next 10 games are with Baltimore.  I should be happy about that.  Yet I suffer trepidation.  We don't seem to be in a good place right now. 
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post #762 of 1171
7/23/09 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post

Yet that's the way things seem to be going right now.

All those little holes that Boston had in their line-up the first half of the year seem to have widened into major chasms.

Six of Boston's next 10 games are with Baltimore. I should be happy about that. Yet I suffer trepidation. We don't seem to be in a good place right now.

Mike,

 

Agreed. I'm not panicking. But for my own part, I don't think Boston is as good as the media paints them to be. They are, IMO, a mediocre team at best. But it could be that that mediocrity will still be good enough to get them into the postseason. The BoSox, Yankees, Angels, and Rangers seem to be the current class of the A.L.

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post #763 of 1171
7/23/09 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 
I'm still high on the pitching (and we all know that it's all about the pitching)...but consider these batting averages (accurate as of this morning):

  • Jason Bay         .252
  • Nick Green        .250
  • JD Drew            .233
  • Jason Varitek    .231
  • David Ortiz        .228

That is more than half of our line-up.  Not exactly something to strike fear into another team's heart, is it? 

Mike Lowell is batting .289.  But what is his status exactly? There is smoething amiss.  Maybe it is just a temporary team slump sort of thing.  Let's hope.  
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post #764 of 1171
7/23/09 at 9:54am
have any New Yorkers here ever gone to Scranton?  they have the Scranton/WB Yankees, and on my way to NY i drive through Scranton.  it'd be great to get a t-shirt that marries 2 of my favorite things: TV's "The Office" and the Yankees :)
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post #765 of 1171
7/23/09 at 9:55am
Mike,

Thankfully, it is all about pitching, especially in the postseason.

It had better just be a slump, or I'm going to hold you accountable. After all, you did promise that the Red Sox would win the next seven or eight World Series after the Yankees acquired Teixeira. In fact, I'm sure it was you who offered that wreckless, if somewhat passionate, opinion.
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post #766 of 1171
7/23/09 at 10:19am
Thread Starter 
I don't think it was me.  If it was, you'll have to find it...because I have no recollection.  I'm not usually the reckless sort.

I'm also not usually the kind to make brash predictions like that.  It's WAY too tough to win consecutive WS titles lately, let along that many in a row. 
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post #767 of 1171
7/23/09 at 10:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post

I don't think it was me.  If it was, you'll have to find it...because I have no recollection.  I'm not usually the reckless sort.

I'm also not usually the kind to make brash predictions like that.  It's WAY too tough to win consecutive WS titles lately, let along that many in a row. 

Mike,

I thought you knew that I wrote that.  Sorry.  It was tongue-in-cheek.  Is there an emoticon for that? ;)
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post #768 of 1171
7/23/09 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
Dude, I sometimes have  a hard time remembering what I had for lunch a half-hour ago.

Glad to be reminded that you're the reckless one! 
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post #769 of 1171
7/23/09 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post

Dude, I sometimes have  a hard time remembering what I had for lunch a half-hour ago.

Glad to be reminded that you're the reckless one! 

LOL.  Yeah, I think winning that many (or even close to that many) World Series in a row is a thing of the past.
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post #770 of 1171
7/23/09 at 10:31am
Thread Starter 
Unless, of course, you're the Yankees.  Because the Yankees can do anything they want.
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post #771 of 1171
7/23/09 at 1:24pm
Mark Buehrle throws a perfect game!  Wise made an awesome play in CF in the 9th to rob a home run and keep the perfect game going.  Got to watch the last inning or so on MLB.com and it was great to see.
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post #772 of 1171
7/23/09 at 1:41pm
Thread Starter 
  Dammit!  I missed it!  Just saw the replay of the 9th inning catch.  Wow! 

That is awesome.

Only the 18th-ever perfecto.  Just amazing.
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post #773 of 1171
7/23/09 at 8:18pm
Astonishing!  I heard the report on the way home from work, and then caught the highlights on three different channels.  MLB and ESPN had tons of coverage on it.  What a great effort -- and how about that catch?  Wise comes in late in the game and does that?  It begs the question whether that catch would have been made by his predecessor.  I doubt it.
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post #774 of 1171
7/23/09 at 9:05pm
Even as a Cubs fan, I tip my hat to Buerhle.  Remarkable performance considering that for the most part he pitches to contact, and the White Sox are horrible fielders (they even had some of the B team out there today).  The Wise catch was unreal.

Some interesting coincidences/notes:

Eric Cooper was the home plate umpire today and was also the home plate umpire for Buehrle's first no hitter two years ago.

The only thing keeping Buerhle from having TWO perfect games (something no one has ever done) is a walk to Sammy Sosa.  He proceeded to pick Sosa off first, so he faced the minimum 27, just as today.

We all know Buerhle is a notoriously fast-working pitcher...but I heard that he was on the mound today for all of 32 minutes!
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post #775 of 1171
7/24/09 at 9:48am
If Buerhle had pitched two perfect games, I'd have put him up there with Johnny Vander Meer, in a peripheral sort of way.  In other words, I would have listed the two of them horizontally rather than vertically. ;)  In any event, what Buerhle did was quite amazing.

I thought the catch by Crawford in the All-Star game was amazing, but I think Wise's (regardless of the circumstances) was a better catch. I think he jumped a bit higher too, although I'd have to check both films to be certain.
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post #776 of 1171
7/26/09 at 11:31am

Smoltz has had three out of four bad outings, and he's again getting pounded early.  He was great in his day, but he doesn't seem to have anything left any more.  We might as well pitch Matsuzaka for all the good it will do us.

I think the BoSox should dump Smoltz and Matsuzaka, or try to get something for them in a package deal.  I'm really sick of their mediocrity.  I think Buchholz should be given a second chance in the rotation (on a permanent basis) as he's young and has shown a bit of promise, despite a rough go of it last year.

Are there no more excellent pitchers in the game these days?  It almost seems to be a thing of the past.  If a pitcher wins fifteen games per year these days he's just about considered 'great.'

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post #777 of 1171
7/27/09 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 
Congratulations to Ricky Henderson and Jim Rice--who both acquitted themselves nicely at this weekend's induction ceremonies at the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

How about THIS NEWS that there seems to be further movement towards clearing the way for Pete Rose to someday be hall bound?  Hammerin' Hank is on board.  Even Joe Morgan who has been fervently opposed (even though Pete was one of his beloved Red Machine teammates) to the idea says he is now in favor...along with Frank Robinson. 

I am really torn on this issue.  Pete should definitely be in for his playing accomplishments.  But anyone who gambles on his own sport/team while still in the game should be banned.

Maybe twenty years is enough. 



How about Joe Jackson?  He should be in.

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post #778 of 1171
7/27/09 at 1:49pm
Hank Aaron (in an article in today's AJC, Atlanta's newsrag) said that cheaters don't belong in the  Hall of Fame, mainly talking about players who have tested positive for banned substance and will be on the ballot in the next few years, and called on the release of the other 102 names on "the" list, just to get the whole Steroid Era of baseball over with, so baseball can move forward and be a cleaner sport.
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post #779 of 1171
7/27/09 at 4:12pm
I agree with Hank's sentiment about the "need" to know who the others are, but the tests were anonymous then weren't they? So, it's not really anyone's right to know who was on an anonymous list. It strikes me as funny that a Hall of Fame player, has a problem with the steroid users, I have my own as well as do others in my circle of friends and yet the writers are always screaming "NOBODY CARES!!!" One day I'm going to get fed up and email Around the Horn and write "I CARE!!!" Anyway I have no problem with putting Pete or Shoeless in, Shoeless is dead after all so his ban is over.
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post #780 of 1171
7/28/09 at 10:35am
What a night for Willingham. The only two players I can recall (vividly) having done it are Nomar Garciaparra and Frank Robinson. I must have missed the others.  I don't know what I was doing when Bill Mueller achieved the feat.

And four players have done it while playing with Boston.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290727108

BTW, this is a good question posed by Tim Kurkjian. I'd like to know the answer as well.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=4359938
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