3 Try having him on your own team for awhile, where you have to endure things like him being so gung-ho about crashing into a catcher that he forgets to do little things like touching home plate. In a playoff game. For a run that would win the series for you.
5 Well, thankfully, my team already traded him away. And now have nothing to show for that trade, which is already a better deal than trading him away for Juan Pierre.
He didn't have that PVL going for him back then. I'm not even an A's fan and I still hate bad Giambi for letting Jeter wear a halo when I was rooting for them.
I like how the pregame montage felt the need to take a dig at Dodger fans by saying they leave early.
oh wait, did I say "like?" I meant to say, "go screw, Fox."
I, for one, resent the whole "Who are these Rockies" meme. If you've been following baseball, you know who at least a few of these Rockies are. I had Tulowitski on my roto team, for Pete's sake.
I like Byrnesie, though. He is one of the few who seems to say what he thinks. Although, like with players like Drew and Nixon and Pete Reiser, it must be incredibly frustrating to watch talent missing months with injuries.
Half bad?! The only problem with Byrnes's announcing is that he hasn't yet found a way to work a somersault in, after each comment. Probably stupid Fox won't let him.
Something that drives me bananas is the notion that Beckett gets that call because he "has good control", but Dice K won't because he "has control problems". That's a load of crap. The pitch is a strike or it isn't, and it shouldn't matter who is on the mound.
27 - those are fighting words, I think, if I could only remember how to do those right... dang things kept me out of one of those high faluting colleges with a football team in the Pac-10
Get used to it. That 3rd best ERA in the majors in the 2nd half is about to take a beating against a real offensive baseball team that isn't scared of it's own shadow like the Phillies were.
The DH in the nine hole for the Rockies, especially in a WS game, looks so strange. I do believe Tommy Lasorda did the same thing, though, in the '78 series, with Vic Davalillo. The Dodgers lost that WS.
51 - because I'm stuck trying to bring myself to root for Jeff Kent as a second baseman. Other than that, I'm not sure... I pretty much feel about the Red Sox how I feel about los yanquis
57 Now you made me look! In 1978 MLB was still under the every other year DH for the whole WS rule, so here's Davalillo, DH, hitting ninth, in Dodger Stadium.
I can't figure out what McCarver said earlier in the first after Ortiz attempted to bunt. I had to rewind to make sure I heard it right. Here's the quote:
"Here's a guy who disdains the [OBP]. He hates the {OBP]. Bunting a guy over in the first? Shocking."
I don't think McCarver understands on base percentage. Or the words hate or disdain.
Jeff Francis pitch sequence isn't what it was in Phillie, in Phillie he was:
Curve ball, Curve ball, fastball or fastball, curve ball, curveball (some change ups also I think). Maybe I'm wrong but his pitch sequence isn't what it was in the Phillie series were he had a no-no for a few innings. I guess he's also leaving the ball high.
ps later on during that Phillie game he started throwing more fastballs, but he was masterful in the Philadelphia game.
68 Good question. The only DH monkeyshines I can recall is Weaver, naming the previous day's SP as his DH, having no intention of letting him hit, so he can pinch hit with the appropriate handed hitter at the right time.
They changed the rule to say that the DH had to bat at least once before pinch hitting.
Well, Jeff Francis often has starts where he gets cuffed around a bit in the first and settles down to pitch multiple shutout innings. Let's hope that is the case tonight.
97 I really hope this series goes 7 games, if only because that would be on November 1, perhaps proving the Dane Cook Theorem wrong that there is, in fact, more than one October.
I just want to defend myself a bit. I see that Toy Cannon used my name as a verb. As much as I do like that, I have never done the "what's the deal with that" Seinfeld-esque comedy entry into a bit. I'm not really an observation comic. Having said that, the necklaces are ridiculous. My wife hates necklaces on men, loves baseball, so it's a difficult mix for her.
psh. all of these "sexiest whatever alive" contests are politics man, politics. I'm still pissed I was left off of Barbara Walters 10 most fascinating people list last year. and the year 28 years before that.
Oh and for those that are interested, I have a defending Dane Cook piece coming up when I get a chance to finish it. No really. Before you hate me for it, let me give my reasons in the piece.
Wow, a tease for my blog in the comments section. How gauche.
Baker used Dunston, Shinjo and Feliz as his DHs, ALL batting 9th. SF lost that WS, as we all remember.
LaRussa's DHs, Duncan and Speizo both hit 2nd. Taguchi did hit 9th once, but played in the field. (He is probably perverse enough to batter pitchers 8th, but DHs 9th, though.)
118 Taveras has a better angle. Holliday would have had to grab the ball and throw against his momentum. I just replayed it and Holliday was playing Ortiz to go the other way, but unless he fell down as the ball was hit, I don;t understand how he couldn't get to that ball before it got to the wall.
128 it was a bad throw, but not because of his arm, at all. It looked to me like the outfielders were just confused and it threw him off. I asked this before- why in the hell is Spilborghs not in the outfield? He's better defensively than Hawpe and Holliday. Would those two just not be comfortable at DH?
133 I get the impression that Hurdle is using the DH as a replacement for the pitcher batting, i.e., batting ninth, not in the field. He probably thinks it's less disruptive to his lineup. My attitude is any lineup with Taveras leading off could use disrupting.
136 I think Dusty Baker thought like that in 2002. Taking strategy tips from Dusty is not advised.
Taveras may have zero power, but his .367 OBP this season is OK enough to lead off. But I would move Matsui to ninth to keep the speedsters together and move a better bat - Tulowitzki for example - into the two spot.
134 there is no way in hell that Taveras's arm is comparable to the others on that list. I think you're judgement is clouded by the fact that you hated him when he came over from the Astros (note: so did I)
161 McCarver was a rookie broadcaster for the Phils the year after he retired and was pretty good. Then he got cut when the team changed stations/owners--his was the only contract with the old channel. The next time I saw him he was doing Mets (WOR) games and had worked his way onto some national games and was a blowhard who was at least somewhat more knowledgable than today. Hell, Gammons was revelatory in his day, a hundred years ago.
175178 It has to be worded very carefully. A leadoff HR is more likely to lead to a multi-run that a leadoff walk (rate stat), but more multi-run innings start with a leadoff walk (counting stat) than a leadoff HR because leadoff walks happen much more often. The way 175 is worded, it might be true, ¿quién sabe?
"I tell you, I don't know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that (expletive) up," Ortiz told the paper. "I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it. You've got to be careful.
"I used to buy a protein shake in my country. I don't do that anymore because they don't have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I'm off buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican (Republic). But it can happen anytime, it can happen. I don't know. I don't know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it."
That's a whole lot different than injecting something without knowing what it is.
Because our Congress is a bunch of useless whores, it is true that you have no idea what is in dietary supplements and vitamins in this country. I can only imagine it is worse in the Dominican Republic.
Wait, how does that free taco at Taco Bell thing work? The first stolen base and everyone gets a free taco? Like anytime you want, you just say, "there was a stolen base in the world series and I want my taco?" Or do you have to be in a Taco Bell right at the moment a stolen base occurred?
This is all just thinking out loud, since I hate Taco Bell.
That Montague explanation of the balk is the same thing they always called on Carlton. I remember some explanation of an invisible dividing line between first and home and making sure you were on the 1B side of it.
245 in 20 minutes, a realiy show about Criss Angel starts, along with a reality show about models and a reality show about kids. I think you'll be staying right here, thank you very much.
243 I understand. It actually isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
It did give my wife a chance to crack off a few good one liners. Since she helped me manicure the area in question the night before, she went to work the next day dying for someone to ask her what she did the night before.
Wow, Ken Rosenthal just seriously dissed the NL, the Cubs, the DBacks and the Rockies, all in just a couple of sentences. Nicely done, Ken! Here's your damned taco.
265 because they're from the national league. The national league is lucky they don't play the winner of AAA, according to most writers. Really, the Rockies should just thank the Sox for the opportunity to tour Fenway. Kiss the ring!
The wildly inferior National League has won exactly 50% of the last six World Series. Why would it possibly be in Fox's interest to denigrate the Rockies? They are part of the show THEY ARE TRYING TO SELL for at least three more games.
Look, the Rockies were extremely due for a loss, and figured to have it be a bad one. And were rusty. And facing likely the hottest pitcher in baseball. This game, and even this blowout, are not a surprise. Nor a sure sign of how the rest will go.
I'm saying this to Tweedlejoe and Tweedletim, who can't hear me anyway.
288 that was my first thought too, but I'm not so sure. Especially because I often pass the Goodyear blimp landing field in Carson, and I think of all the cool stuff you could do with the space, like low income housing, or a sweet water slide. you couldn't use Joe Buck's space for a water slide.
Well, hopefully the Rockies can stay patient, grind out some at bats, chip away, and me and four other people on the East Coast can still be watching when this game ends at 2:45 in the morning.
By the way, this is currently the most lopsided game 1 all time. Atl-NYY 1996 (11-1) and White Sox-Dodgers 1959 (11-0) currently hold the "record" and both those teams eventually lost theor Series.
I'd love to see someone try to steal a base for that promotion though. It would either be a boneheaded play for the Rockies down 12 runs - might give McCarver an aneurysm - or a severe case of rubbing it in by the Sox. What Sox batter would be going down after that?
I think the three stages of a young player are not as much fun as the five stages of death.
I got so angry once when I tried to bargain with a depressed person that I just refused to believe that the guy wouldn't believe what I was saying so I just gave up.
Sheez, Ashanti's around 18. She looks like she's been through rehab and is ready to join Diana Ross in the old age home. Nice cracking note there, by the way.
This game fits right into my plans. Rox in five. The guys needed a game to see live pitching. Now they've got it. Plus, their embarrassed and pissed. They will come after the Sox tomorrow and tear them up.
You forget how dispirited the Rockies are because they just found out that they were supposed to play the Cubs in the first round instead of the Phillies.
Hey, i saw those margin of victories stats somewhere, but I can't remember where...Way to stay on top of things, Fox! I guess they had to do all those Taco Bell promos instead.
354 Did anyone outside of LA ever see the Blasters? They ran the city for a few years in the 80s, but they never seemed to pick up a following anywhere else.
Phil Alvin made a great solo album, too, called "Unsung Stories." I had the tape and played it constantly. It has never, to my knowledge, been released on a CD.
Just one game MTRD. This series is going to work out fine.
Not me, that's for sure! No way! Not nervous at all! Uh-uh!
oh wait, did I say "like?" I meant to say, "go screw, Fox."
I, for one, resent the whole "Who are these Rockies" meme. If you've been following baseball, you know who at least a few of these Rockies are. I had Tulowitski on my roto team, for Pete's sake.
Not that that means I can spell his name.
that should be, ISN'T have bad as a broadcaster. I actually enjoy his announcing.
Bastards.
Does the "half bad" announcer + "not half bad" announcer = one average announcer?
CAN we have a rulebook strike zone just once in my life, please?
It was a ghost pitch.
I thought flame throwers didn't get that "generous strike zone"
Pedroia go boom
They used Lacy/Monday/Lacy and none of them batted 9th according to baseball reference.
I'm very anti-RedSox, of course, but I don't hold the laundry against individual players. But I really don't like Pedroia at all.
But if you meant, he's a good player, no argument there.
http://tinyurl.com/2gsrhf
"Here's a guy who disdains the [OBP]. He hates the {OBP]. Bunting a guy over in the first? Shocking."
I don't think McCarver understands on base percentage. Or the words hate or disdain.
Nice, I only looked at the Yankee home games. I didn't even remember they used to do it that way until you mentioned it.
That's a double; Pedroia's was a homer. Go figure.
Curve ball, Curve ball, fastball or fastball, curve ball, curveball (some change ups also I think). Maybe I'm wrong but his pitch sequence isn't what it was in the Phillie series were he had a no-no for a few innings. I guess he's also leaving the ball high.
ps later on during that Phillie game he started throwing more fastballs, but he was masterful in the Philadelphia game.
He'd have to pitch more then 7 innings and throw 120 pitches. Does anyone do that anymore?
They changed the rule to say that the DH had to bat at least once before pinch hitting.
You go, boys and girls in the truck.
GO ROCKIES!!
Baseball is very strange.
the BoSox have better hitters also though.
In 78 Lee Lacy was the RH slugger off the bench. He had the 3rd highest OPS+ on the team.
Wow, a tease for my blog in the comments section. How gauche.
Baker used Dunston, Shinjo and Feliz as his DHs, ALL batting 9th. SF lost that WS, as we all remember.
LaRussa's DHs, Duncan and Speizo both hit 2nd. Taguchi did hit 9th once, but played in the field. (He is probably perverse enough to batter pitchers 8th, but DHs 9th, though.)
Willy does indeed have a strong arm.
Sincerely,
anyone who has seen the Rockies this year.
worst CF arm in the last 20 years:
Bernie Williams
Johnny Damon
Willy Taveras
Juan Pierre
other ...
If the Red Sox didn't have Josh Beckett, it would be even better.
Dane Cook singing "This is Our Country"
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/VcFj
Gorman Thomas is coded incorrectly.
AL DHs have just 9. But I can't figure out how to make the list just come up with World Series games.
maybe because the field is wet & Holliday running for force could have caused an injury to him self or Tavares.
Even Gorilla Monsoon ???
I agree with you Valgus, he was a very respectable arm in my opinion.
Whoever said Willy Taveras has a good arm, you're crazy. Willy Taveras's arm is like the rest of him save his speed: it sucks.
1. Sharp Televisions
2. Chevrolet Trucks
He's got a good enough arm Mark (above average if you ask me) & I think the wet field has more to do with that play than you guys are saying.
I listened to Morgan on the way home. He was awful. Especially because for the World Series, he is likely told to "dumb down" his comments.
The mind reels.
139 - what's the lethal injection option?
If anyone is not aware, Conan O'Brien convinced him to say it during a broadcast.
Taveras may have zero power, but his .367 OBP this season is OK enough to lead off. But I would move Matsui to ninth to keep the speedsters together and move a better bat - Tulowitzki for example - into the two spot.
... like a tilted slot machine.
That's 10,9 & 7 more than our little Juanito Pierre!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhymOlaYEcE
Though I do recommend skipping the replay of Papelbon's "dance."
I overcame that personal demon of mine. It took a lot of effort and a visit from a deprogrammer.
McCarver was great, until he started reading how great he was ...
McCarver was bearable when he started out. Then he started to read his own press clippings and he became a caricature of himself.
I was great until I read dianagramr's posts and copied them.
spooky!
... and I actually self-edited my "he became a parody of himself"
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/aDQT
And then again, there's Wayne Garrett.
175 178 It has to be worded very carefully. A leadoff HR is more likely to lead to a multi-run that a leadoff walk (rate stat), but more multi-run innings start with a leadoff walk (counting stat) than a leadoff HR because leadoff walks happen much more often. The way 175 is worded, it might be true, ¿quién sabe?
If the Celtics win the NBA title this year, I really will go make a trip to Mac Court.
As it is, I bought a round trip to Munich for January.
David's not sure whether he took roids or not. I mean, he took stuff and all, but he's not sure what it was.
Sometimes I blindly pour chemicals into a syringe and shoot up. Not knowing what I'm injecting is a big part of the fun!
Darn. You'll be sorry when Miltie goes on and on about how great "The Pit" is.
Not other than his admission that he took stuff but doesn't know whether it was roids or not.
Oh wait.
Ortiz is running like a big, slow guy, but I can't see a noticable limp.
Oh, the things I'd do for that to actually happen.
"I tell you, I don't know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that (expletive) up," Ortiz told the paper. "I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it. You've got to be careful.
"I used to buy a protein shake in my country. I don't do that anymore because they don't have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I'm off buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican (Republic). But it can happen anytime, it can happen. I don't know. I don't know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18551856/
So, how does U. Jiménez vs. C. Schilling figure to play out?
That's a whole lot different than injecting something without knowing what it is.
Because our Congress is a bunch of useless whores, it is true that you have no idea what is in dietary supplements and vitamins in this country. I can only imagine it is worse in the Dominican Republic.
Congress is useless only because they are not your whores.
You can hide black smudges under the brim ...
Ubaldo Jimenez if he throws strikes can be overpowering so I really hope he throws strikes.
If Kaz Matsui is hitting grand slams off of you, you know you're not a World Series bound team.
Schilling is Schilling so I hope the Rox lay off his splitter & concentrate on his 88-90 MPH. (very hittable)
ewww, as they say in IM land.
I thought this was an episode of "House" for a while.
Seriously, it's damn hard to deaden the cheese this kid is chuckin'
This is all just thinking out loud, since I hate Taco Bell.
http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/TracerGun.html
I seriously doubt that one could sell that as a toy today.
Anyone else expect him to finish the sentence "bright future for Franklin Morales" with "probably with the Yankees or Red Sox"?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T3ANUkOyDNQ
CATCHER: "I don't know. I haven't caught that many."
Kevin Youkilis grumble grumble grumble
Could the tacos be redeemed for a more competitive game?
Someone put a taco in Joe Buck's mouth.
Hope the Rockies come back in the next one. Make you BoSox fans sweat a little, at least.
It went like this. I typed my name into the website and it said I could come in tomorrow at 8:30 am.
Yeah, that story ain't helping.
Okay, night everyone.
It did give my wife a chance to crack off a few good one liners. Since she helped me manicure the area in question the night before, she went to work the next day dying for someone to ask her what she did the night before.
because God knows y'all ain't going to keep watching this turkey.
Last I checked, winning the most games in the regular season means that you were the best team in the league during the regular season.
And don't give me no talk of pythag
Why am I still here? Hm, the Louis Malle festival continues on TCM. I think I'll switch to that.
Cheers.
I remember the first two games of the 1996 World Series and how the Yankees were just considered cannon fodder for the Braves.
I remember all the back to last week when the Red Sox were doomed after losing Game 2 in the ALCS.
Seriously, though-this is their JOB. Everybody on here has day jobs, and we all knew-within seconds-that it was the Phils.
This is their JOB, for pity's sake. They should know the last 10 years' playoff teams by heart! I don't, but then again, this is not my PROFESSION.
The NLCS wasn't over and on the day of Game 3 of the ALCS, the Cardinals lead Houston 2-1.
But of course, everything is determined by how you do in the magical postseason series, according to Tweedletim and Tweedlejoe.
isn't this how we ended up in Iraq?
ha! nice.
Not quite, but Robert Novak is ready to out me as a CIA operative I hear.
But I'm jumping the gun on him.
I believe Tim McCarver is actually an operative for the NSA.
But the movie is funnier than the game. And shorter, it appears.
especially a blimp advertising for DirectTV, which will never get the rights to the game they are hovering over?
I'm saying this to Tweedlejoe and Tweedletim, who can't hear me anyway.
Sacre bleu. Sacre bleh, I mean.
Justin Speier has the guy who has been around the block, down the street, and up the chute.
I'm not satisfied until they can be read unmagnified from the blimp.
If you ask me, they looked pretty good (some of them) against the mighty Beckett.
Diff GameWinner RWinner GameLoser RLoser yearID DateNum
14 NYA 18 NY1 4 1936 19361002
13 ARI 15 NYA 2 2001 20011103
13 NYA 16 PIT 3 1960 19601006
12 DET 13 SLN 1 1968 19681009
12 NYA 12 PIT 0 1960 19601012
12 NYA 13 NY1 1 1951 19511009
12 SFN 16 ANA 4 2002 20021024
12 SLN 13 ML4 1 1982 19821019
11 ATL 12 NYA 1 1996 19961020
11 CHA 11 LAN 0 1959 19591001
11 KCA 11 SLN 0 1985 19851027
11 PHA 13 NY1 2 1911 19111026
11 SLN 11 DET 0 1934 19341009
I'm afraid that all Bob Costas would do now is whine about the DH, the wild card, and tell tales of Mickey Mantle.
By the way, this is currently the most lopsided game 1 all time. Atl-NYY 1996 (11-1) and White Sox-Dodgers 1959 (11-0) currently hold the "record" and both those teams eventually lost theor Series.
And I would add that the 1959 Dodgers were viewed as one of the worst teams ever to make it to the World Series.
Or maybe you posted before that last walk. :)
I got so angry once when I tried to bargain with a depressed person that I just refused to believe that the guy wouldn't believe what I was saying so I just gave up.
Speaking as Baseball Toaster's resident epileptic, that kid is really having something more akin to St. Vitus Dance.
Now you just have to wait for someone who has St. Vitus Dance to complain.
A-when ya take me in your arms
To talk romance
My heart starts doin' the St. Vitus dance
And I'm pantin'
And I'm shakin'
They don't play koto music during them.
This game fits right into my plans. Rox in five. The guys needed a game to see live pitching. Now they've got it. Plus, their embarrassed and pissed. They will come after the Sox tomorrow and tear them up.
350 I believe that's "Shakin'", right? Dave Alvin had a great solo album a few years back.
I wish the Clipper game was at least on TV. I gave up the game to watch the WS. How bad can a WS game be that I'd rather be watching the Clippers?
Folks, we (and I do mean "we") are one win away from tying this up. That's the best thing that happened tonight.
Phil Alvin made a great solo album, too, called "Unsung Stories." I had the tape and played it constantly. It has never, to my knowledge, been released on a CD.
Just one game MTRD. This series is going to work out fine.
Is the game still on? It seemed eternal enough when I stopped watching 2 hrs ago.
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