Archive for May, 2009
Check out who is making news again, White! Take These Bobbleheads Home, Country Road Whimsy. :
Tonight was going to be, like, the most important night in the history of the West Virginia Power. It marked their first-ever bobblehead giveaway, and they decided to honor the occasion with an Obama-playing-basketball-in-high-school toy. Too bad the dolls got stuck in some reincarnation of Gitmo.
This — this! — is the worst type of government corruption, the kind that I thought had been hoped and changed out in November. Because even though the Power ordered the bobbleheads from an “unknown country,” they were held up in U.S. Customs and Border Protection for nine days. Do you know how much President Obama did in nine days? A lot! And it’s unjust not to allow his bobbleheads to do the same. This is America, after all.
The Power, consequently, had no idea what to do, so they called the White House. No dice. And just before shit got real weird, the team learned yesterday that the dolls had been released from detention, even if they likely won’t make it for tonight’s scheduled giveaway to underscore the night’s theme of “fitness and a healthy lifestyle.” To compensate, the first 1,000 fans instead will get “golden tickets” — they’re actually called that — and, in addition to a detained bottlehead that may or may not have been tortured in captivity, will receive snozberries, everlasting gobstoppers and an Oompa-Loompa.
Obama bobblehead dolls released from captivity — no one harmed The Vote Blog
Obama Bobbleheads Red Flagged At Customs Steady Burn
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How do you think this news will affect the team this season?
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Look who is in this news again: lowe! The Fugitive Helps Jays Escape With A Win! , we have a summary -
Hey, I could get up and back, right on track
(Is that gonna get you back?) It’s right on track, is that gonna get you back?
Casey Janssen had more close calls than Dr. Richard Kimble but he wiggled his way through seven innings to lead the Jays to a 6-3 win over Boston Friday night at Rogers Centre.
If there was ever a time for Janssen to earn his first victory as a starter since 2006, this was the night to do it as the Jays put an end to an ugly nine game losing streak. The 27 year-old righty knew he was going to be in for a struggle when he got into a bases loaded jam in the first. However, he had enough raspberry to keep the ball in the park as David Ortiz’s blast to center died at the warning track and into the glove of Vernon Wells to end the inning. Alas, the Jays were jammed themselves in the bottom of the first when Adam Lind hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases drunk.
The Red Sox got on the board in the second when Jacoby Ellsbury doubled home a run but Julio Lugo was left stranded on third. In the home half of the second, Lyle Overbay and Kevin Millar drew one-out walks and moved to third on a passed ball but the Jays would not score. Janssen gave up a leadoff single in the third but his defence bailed him out as the hit was erased on a 6-4-3 double play and then Overbay made a nice snare of a Big Papi liner to end the frame.
Toronto tied the game when they strung together a trio of two-out hits, capped out by a Scott Rolen double to score Wells. However, Lind was left at third when Millar struck out. The tie was short-lived in the fourth when Ellsbury knocked home his second run of the game with a single to score a double by Scarborough’s George Kottaras. However, another 6-4-3 double play got Janssen out of another jam. The Fugitive also navigated his way through the fifth by stranding a two-out two-bagger by Jason Bay.
Then the Jays offence got the bats going as they strung together a big two-out rally. Back to back RBI doubles by Rolen and Overbay put Toronto ahead 3-2 and Rod Barajas followed with a two-run single. In A Wide World of Sports moment (cue music here), Barajas rumbled 270 feet around the bases to score on a Marco Scutaro double to make it 6-2. Hopefully, Barajas will have caught his breath by the time you read this. After that, Tim Wakefield was pulled from the game and replaced by fireballer Daniel Bard.
Janssen did not have a clean inning all night but the only other run he gave up was a seventh inning solo blast by J.D. Drew to cut the Toronto lead to three runs. However, the bullpen was perfect as Brandon League and Scott Downs retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth respectively to preserve the ”W” for Janssen. Janssen was able to effectively scatter 11 hits and two walks in seven frames and struck out a pair. The only downside for the 32,000-plus in attendance was no pizza as League had the other Jays strikeout. Janssen also got 10 ground ball outs to go along with nine fly outs.
The Toronto offence collected 10 hits and five walks and got two-hit nights from Rolen, Barajas and Scutaro. Wells was on base three times with a hit and two walks and Millar also earned two bases on balls. They were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on.
This afternoon, lefty Brian Tallet goes to the hill for Toronto and Brad Penny will do the same for Boston in a 1:07 p.m. first pitch at the Concrete Cave. This was supposed to be Scott Richmond’s start but the Canadian righty will be in the pen instead this weekend. Roy Halladay will pitch Tuesday in their series opener against the Angels and he’ll be followed by Janssen Wednesday.
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In other TDIB notes….
* The Matt Wieters era begins in Baltimore with a 7-2 win over the Tigers.
* The Jim Tracy era begins in Colorado with a 3-0 win over the Rockies.
* Yankees upend the Tribe 3-1 and set a record in the process.
* The Rangers take two from the A’s.
* The Brewers Braden Looper gets a win under trying circumstances.
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How do you think this news will affect the rest of the team this season?
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I wonder how Gutierrez’s real fans feel -
4 1/2 games up after the sweep yesterday and Anaheim’s loss to the M’s.
Evan Grant says Scott Feldman had some mechanical issues yesterday, but managed to work through them to give the Rangers six solid innings in the nightcap.
Jeff Miller writes that Tommy Hunter didn’t get the win in game 1, but did his job in terms of giving the Rangers some innings and keeping them in the game, allowing them to come back in the late innings to get the win.
The Rangers made room for Hunter by putting Matt Harrison on the disabled list, but Vicente Padilla says he feels good and will be ready to make his start on Tuesday, which allows the Rangers to just slide Padilla into Harrison’s spot in the rotation, with Derek Holland remaining in the rotation for now.
Miller also has a piece up about Ian Kinsler sparking the offense by working the count and drawing walks in game 1, which allowed him to get on base despite his recent struggles with getting the ball to fall in.
Ron Washington says Andruw Jones is going to keep playing against most lefties — he’s missed only one start against a LHP this year — but may start getting a few more ABs against righties. With both Hank Blalock and Chris Davis having offensive issues so far this year, Jones’ presence and production has been huge.
T.R. Sullivan says that with the Rangers facing five lefties in the next 7 days, Hank Blalock could find himself riding the bench quite a bit in the next week. Blalock is hitting .163/.182/.256 against LHPs this season.
Jean-Jacques Taylor has a column up about chiding those who think the Rangers efforts to make their starters throw more innings will lead to injuries, saying that pitchers will adapt once they aren’t babied, and besides, if a pitcher can’t handle the workload, well, the Rangers don’t need him anyway.
what do you think?How do you think this news about Gutierrez will affect the team this season?
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My vote for MVP this year goes to Johnson -
What did I say? If I had time I would definitely go through and see what our record and runs scored is with Chipper, Escobar and McCann all in the lineup vs when we are missing at least one of them. Don’t get me wrong, we still need another bat (we picked up 11 of our 13 hits in the first 5 innings and put no runs on the board after the 4th), but it is funny to me how much worse we are when just one of those guys isn’t in there.
Jurrjens got the win even though pitched what was easily his worst start of the season. Maybe we should stick to giving the guy 1 and 2 run leads? He seems to be more comfortable that way. The bullpen was pretty solid in this one (you know… besides Moylan) and Gonzales even struck out the side. Which is good.
Anyways, good win for us, lets win the next two and take the series.
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Any thoughts on Game 48 Recap: Braves 10, DBacks 6?
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lowe sure has been in the news a lot lately -
This just in; the crane that we used for the Matt Garza game day threads is listed as day to day with a mild wing sprain. There is no word if the crane will need to go on the DL and if a furry will need to be called up to replace it. In all seriousness last night was just not a good game. From beginning to end the team just looked flat. I don’t know if it was a hangover from the previous night’s epic collapse or the loss of so many players in the past week, but the club just didn’t have much fire. I’m sure it didn’t help that they are stuck in their own house of horrors known as Progressive Field. The last time the Rays won a game in Cleveland, Seth McClung was their winning pitcher; that tells you it’s been a looooong time. 2009 staff ace Matt Garza was ok on the mound. He wasn’t particularly good, but he wasn’t bad either. He gave up four runs on five hits with all four runs coming off three home runs. The good news is Garza struck out seven and walked none. The first home run came off the bat of Ryan Garko, who continues to haunt the Rays. In 93 career at-bats against the Rays, he is hitting .312/.369/.602 with six home runs. The six jacks mark the most vs. any non AL-Central opponent. Garza was clearly frustrated after giving the home run to Garko and later in the game, Garko was hit by a Matt Garza pitch, but I doubt it was intentional. On a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the sixth, Garza drilled Garko in the back. The next batter, Mark DeRosa then hit an opposite field home run to make it 4-0. Intentional or not, it was the HBP that hurt Garza the most. Overall Matt threw 66% of his pitches for fastballs averaging nearly 94 mph while maxing out around 96. True to form, Garza maintained velocity through out the game and had his best fastball after pitch 90. I did notice Garza did not throw as many sliders as normal, but threw a lot more curveballs. Now a few sliders could have been classified as curveballs, but for the most part there is about a 10 mph difference on the two pitches. Garza threw 22% curveballs and averaged a wonderful 17 mile difference from his fastball Again, like the rest of the team it was just a meh performance. Carlos Pena provided the Rays only offense and Carl Pavano shut the team down with a fastball/changeup combo. Randy Choate fell on the sword and ate up the final two innings facing both left handed and right handed batters.To Choate’s credit he allowed just one hit, however it was a solo home-run to right handed batter Kelly Shoppach. He did get two strikeouts. .
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This evening’s game was a rough one. Today was supposs
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I have always been a fan of White, I have to say, seeing news like this gives me mixed feelings.How do you think this news will affect the rest of the team this season?
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The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It’s ok I know nothing’s wrong . . nothing.
No sense trying to be a wordsmith here. This series sucked turd from the get-go for the Jays as they lost 5-1 to the Red Sox Thursday evening.
This game was pretty much over after the first as the pitcher formerly known as Robert Ray was burned for three runs. A Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double and came around to score on a David Ortiz grounder. Kevin Youkilis extended the inning with a two-out walk and he came home on a historic Jason Bay blast to make it 3-zip Boston. What made it worse was Alex Rios appeared to have a shot at catching the ball before it went over the short fence in right but he didn’t get back to the wall in time. Another episode of right field follies starring the pride and joy of Coffee, Alabama. A cynic would suggest maybe he should take some java with him out to the field to stay awake out there. The Sox got another two-out run in the third when Youkilis singled home Dustin Pedroia and added their final run in the fifth on a Pedroia RBI single. Brandon League, Jesse Carlson and Jason Frasor combined to pitch 3 2/3 shutout innings out of the pen with League giving up just a single. Ray got nine groundouts and struck out four in his 4 1/3 innings but he gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk. Maybe Bobby should switch to Roberto next game. That’d be the opposite of former Yankee outfielder Roberto/Bobby Kelly.
At the plate, the Jays got at least one runner aboard in every inning save the sixth but could only muster an Aaron Hill RBI single in the seventh against “Razor” Ramon Ramirez. Toronto would leave the bases loaded later that inning to get back into the game. They collected eight of their 11 hits and two of their three walks against Sox starter Jon Lester but they couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Adam Lind was the poster boy for the team’s unclutchness as he left six men on base in an 0-for-4. Lind was the only starter not to get a hit in this one. In all, the Jays were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left a dozen on base.
Time for some interleague ball. The Jays head to Atlanta where they hope Roy Halladay can get things right on track. He’ll face Kenshin Kawakami in a 7:30 start at Turner Field.
In other TDIB notes……
* The White Sox get drilled by the Twins 20-1 (thank God for the rouge! Wrong sport? Who cares!?!) and find out Jake Peavy will not be a Pale Hoe. Isn’t hoe singular for hose? That’s hose, not hoes. Speaking of which……….
* You know what rhymes with hoes? O’s! Yes, they bowed down to the Yankees again 7-4 but Joba Chamberlain had to take one for the team.
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I have always been a fan of White, I have to say, seeing stuff like this gives me mixed feelings.This will be shocking news for White fans, but some of you who will say that you saw it coming. I can’t say I’m all that surprised. White is awesome, I hope this doesn’t affect the rest of the team.
Here’s a clip of White at his finest:
DOC FORD COUNTRY: BASEBALL FOR KIDS in CUBA
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Jays 3 Braves 4
Against the Red Sox we were getting lots of just no runs. Last night, not much for hits. Tonight we had some hits (7) and some walks (5). We even had a lead for a moment when Scoot drove in 2 with a double in the 3rd but the Braves got them back in the bottom of the inning. Braves got 1 more in the 4th on an RBI single by Derek Lowe. Yeah the pitcher, he was 2 for 3 today. Braves got an insurance run on a Kelly Johnson home run off BJ Ryan. It looked like a decent enough pitch, inside, but Johnson, a left handed batter is killing lefty pitchers, that was his 3rd homer off lefty pitching in 36 at bats. If Cito was gaining any confidence in BJ it’s gone now.
Jays didn’t do much else offensively till the 9th. Lind doubled, Rolen walked (now I complained about umps in yesterday’s game, today Rolen got a ball on one I thought he swung at, and the other balls were very close to the strike zone, but Scott showed a good eye). Overbay, allowed to hit against the lefty reliever singled, driving in Lind and Rolen went to 3rd, just barely getting in safe. Barajas walked on 4 pitches, not one pitch close to the strike zone. So we had bases loaded, one out.
Millar pinch hit, Braves brought in a right handed pitcher, but Millar is hitting much better against righties (.320/.370/.600) than lefties (.280/.308/.420). We needed a fly ball, but Millar struck out, not coming close on the swinging strike 3. Hard to get on him, cause he has done well, but man I wanted that fly ball. Then with 2 out Scutaro gave us that fly out. But with 2 outs already it was less good.
Janssen was good, not great, 6 innings 3 earned, 14 ground outs. Lowe did much the same job going 7.1, 2 earned and 16 ground outs, so he won the battle of the ground outs. Jay of the Day Lyle Overbay (.217 WPA). Suckage Jays are Millar (-.224), Scutaro (-.190), Rios (-.156) and Wells (-.129). I thought Rios had pulled out of his slump, he had been hitting great in May but he looked lost today. And so did Wells.
Yeah I don’t know what to do about the offense right now and I am sure Cito is not laying awake thinking ‘what would Tom do to pull us out of this’. Cito is a terrific batting coach, but me….I’d give the guys a couple of days off batting practice. I guess since tomorrow is a day game batting practice won’t be happening anyway. I think I’d also give Wells the day off tomorrow, but Cito has publicly stated he doesn’t believe in that. Maybe I’d take them all out to the bar tomorrow night and get them good and drunk.
Good news is thanks to a Papelbon blown save (couldn’t happen to a nicer guy), we are still in first. But we really could start winning again any time. Like tomorrow maybe?
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I have always been a big fan of Lowe, but I have to say, seeing news like this gives me mixed feelings.This will be shocking news for Lowe fans, but there are those of you who will say that you saw it coming from a long way away. I can’t say I’m all that surprised. Lowe is sweet, I hope this doesn’t affect the rest of the team.
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The O’s won their second straight low scoring game in a row against the Nationals. While the offense was pretty much non-existent, the Orioles bullpen turned in a gem of a game to keep the Nats to just one run.
Koji Uehara had to leave the game after pitching just three innings. In game it was described as a hamstring strain, but as Jim Palmer and some posters in the game thread speculated, it turned out to be more of an issue of dehydration and cramps. In his post game interview, Dave Trembley confirmed that Koji was feeling ill and crampy due to dehydration and that they’ll have to watch him closely in the future as he had the same issue in Spring Training.
Washington’s starter Ross Detwiler handled the Orioles easily for 6 innings. His only trouble came in the third inning, when he’d give up his only run. He had no control and walked Zaun, Koji(!), and Brian Roberts. With one out and the bases loaded there are no two batters you’d want up on the O’s more than Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, but they were unable to break it open. Detwiler made Adam Jones look just silly as he blew fastballs by him for the strike out. Nick couldn’t get a good swing either, but managed to chop an infield hit to the hole between SS and 3B which knocked in Zaun. Melvin Mora flied out to right to end the inning, and that would be the last time the Orioles would get to Detwiler. He pitched three more innings without allowing a hit.
Luckily, the Nats bullpen took over in the 7th. Aubrey Huff, who had been given the day off, came up to pinch hit with Cesar Izturis at first and two outs. He drilled a ball to the deepest part of Nationals Park. I thought for sure it was going to be a home run, but it hit off the top of the wall. Izturis raced home with the go ahead run and Aubrey huffed and puffed his way into third base with his first triple of the year. Brian Roberts stranded Aubrey at third, but the O’s wouldn’t need any more.
After Koji’s early exit, the bullpen put together six excellent innings. Mr. Reliable Kevin Bass pitched innings 4, 5, and 6 and allowed the Nats only run on a solo HR by Cristian Guzman. Matt Albers, Jim Johnson, and George Sherrill each pitched one inning to close it out. Only JJ had any troubles as he gave up 1 H and 1 BB. It was surprising to see JJ as he pitched 2 innings last night, his longest outing since June 29th of last year. George Sherrill continues his recent awesomeness by striking out the side in the 9th.
Notes:
- The resurgance of George Sherrill has been a sight to behold. Since Dave Trembley announced that he wouldn’t be the automatic choice for closer, Sherrill has pitched in 7 games and has allowed 0 runs on 2 hits and 4 walks. In his last 4 appearances he has not allowed a base runner.
- Chris Tillman was removed from the game in Norfolk this evening after pitching just two innings. He was pitching well and does not appear to have an injury, so speculation has begun that he’ll be the one to replace Adam Eaton in Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays. Of all the pitchers to call up, I’ll be shocked (but excited) if it’s him. (EDIT: Per MASN, he left with tightness in his groin. Should have known they weren’t going to bring him up)
- The game took place in a brisk 2 hours 31 minutes. Good pitching/inept offense will do that.
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I have always been a big fan of lowe, I have to say, seeing news like this gives me mixed feelings.How do you think this news will affect the rest of the team this season?
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Toledo 3, Gwinnett 9 - Final in 5 Innings
- B. Jones 1-2 RBI, BB
- C. Sammons 1-2 HR(2), 3 RBI, BB
- B. Barton 1-2 HR(2), 2 RBI
- T. Glavine 3IP 5H 3R 1BB 1K
So Tom Glavine threw a baseball tonight. I am so tormented by this, because I do love the guy. I mean he won like 270 games with us, he is a great guy and yada yada, but dammit he and Brett Favre need to know when its time. Obviously his start wasn’t great, so maybe that is something good? Hopefully.
Mobile 4, Mississippi 1
- G. Hernandez 2-4 CS(6)
- JC Boscan 2-4 2B, RBI
- E. Campbell 3-3
Mississippi chased super pitcher Jarrod Parker in the middle of the fifth in this game but couldn’t get anything else off the bullpen. Eric Campbell got his tonight, but he has really fallen off this season. I mean, I know he is a dick, but he has always been able to hit. Well, mark him off the list of potential 3B candidates. Jonny Venters pitched OK in t his one giving up 4 runs in 6IP.
Wilmington 6, Myrtle Beach 5
- C. Johnson 0-4 4K
- D. Linares 2-4 HR(5)
- J. Owings 1-3 HR(2), 2 RBI
Bad Cody. A couple of homers here were about all there was to get excited about in this game. Osuna was ok just like Venters and Heyward and Freeman didn’t do anything.
Asheville 13, Rome 1
Yeah, Jake Thompson was real bad in this one.
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I have always been a big fan of Hernandez, but I have to say, seeing news like this gives me mixed feelings.How do you think this news about Hernandez will affect the rest of the team this season?
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