Great outing for Russ Ortiz today. Bochy almost pulled him before Duffy's at bat (118 pitches), but he left him in to get the CG and Duffy took him deep. Still good to see the old Russ throwing for the Giants.

Giants scored runs. Yay!

Oh my goodness, the Astros created some offense! Carlos Lee with three jacks, woohoo!!!

I'm preserving this, because I get the feeling we're going to be able to bump this about 3 times this season. :D

I drafted Lee and Berkman this year in fantasy baseball and man had I been disappointned until last night. What's going on with Berkman though?

Berk will get his, don't you worry...

I'm holding you to that. So far my stars haven't been playing up to par. He, Harang, and Webb just haven't been producing too well.

Was this on the road or that little league park in Houston? :p

The Nationals are look good in preseason.

On the road, punk... :mad:

:D

It's funny how we all thought the Dodgers got a steal when they signed Jason Schmidt. Instead, we should have been wondering if the Giants knew something and were staying away from him. From Olney's blog:


• A scout who watched Jason Schmidt the other night: "He had nothing on the ball early. Eighty-one, 82 miles per hour. He kind of loosened up and got up to 85-86, but he really had nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up on the disabled list."

Said another talent evaluator: "You don't go from throwing 94-95 mph to 84-85 without having some kind of an issue."

The same person that warned them about Schmidt should have also told them that Zito is nowhere near the same pitcher he used to be also. ;)

No kidding. Although in their defense, maybe they thought they'd get a couple of decent years out of Zito (specifically, one very good one to coincide with what is probably Barry's last very good season), whereas with Schmidt, they had serious concerns whether he'd be able to contribute anything starting in 2007.

Nah, I can't defend the Zito signing. I understand it, but I can't defend it.

Thankfully Sabean saved Bill Bavasi from a horrible signing of Zito. And I guess maybe we can thank Colletti for saving us from Schmidt as it sounds like he's damaged goods.

Jesus.

Zack Grenkie just threw 50 pitches in the first inning of the Tigers/Royals game and only recorded two outs for his troubles.

The O's just made THREE errors on the same play.

He was anxious

p.s. i can make this joke as a sufferer of panic disorder. you normal people better not make this joke.

Now Millar just got screwed out of what should've at least been a ground rule double. He hit the rafters in fair territory, and after they said it was a double, then a HR, they decide it's a foul ball somehow.

I subscribed to MLB.tv and I've had a chance to watch most teams already this year. One thing has really stuck out.

Josh Hamilton is a wonderful story and a guy I'm definitely pulling for, but I can't help but wonder what might have been. This is a guy that was considered one of the best high school hitting prospects ever. On the same level as Griffey Jr. and A-Rod.

His patience at the plate is stunning for a guy that hasn't played hardly any baseball in 4 years and had limited ABs above high A ball. The fact that this guy could still very well develop into an all-star is amazing.

I also hate Steve Philips even more for the shots he takes at the Reds for putting him on the Major League roster (he was a rule 5 pick, they didn't have much choice). As one of the worst GMs in the past 20 years, he should be thankful he still has a job in baseball and stop spreading his idiocy over the airwaves.

Come on, have some fairness. He may have sucked as a GM, but he ROCKED as a sexual harasser!

It may be damning with faint praise, but Phillips was 100 times better than Jim Duquette!

I don't want anyone to freak out, but Jeff Francouer is on pace for 75 walks.

His career depends on it.

So the first manager on the hot seat is.......
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2841584


I wish this would have been caught on tape. Hal McRae might have had some competition.:D

Gord Ash was a worse GM than anyone you're talking about.

I hope Manuel gets fired. I never liked the hiring in the first place. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who has control over a clubhouse or who does the little things to get to know what makes his players tick.

Did I miss it, or was there no discussion of the pizza-throwing incident at the Red Sox game? Jerry Remy is awesome! "The gentleman has been asked to leave the game for ruining a perfectly good piece of pizza."

If you haven't seen it, here it is:

hxxp://youtube.com/watch?v=oOZm8gUdr-Y

On a foul ball down the left field line, dude gets soaked when Garret Anderson's glove clocks his beer as he attempts to catch the ball. But for some reason, and you can see it on the initial play if you're looking for it, some other dude hurls a piece of pizza at the guy, hitting him in the side of the face. It's sucks for the guy who got beer AND pizza all over him, but it's so absurd it's funny.

An xcerpt from an article dissecting the incident:


Drew lofted a foul toward Box 82, which juts into left field foul territory. Sole stretched for the ball as the Angels’ Garret Anderson reached the stands. They collided, spilling beer everywhere, and the ball bounced away.
As if the slo-mo spill and requisite grimacing weren’t enough, a large slice of cheese pizza then arced perfectly through the crowd, hitting Sole’s shoulder and face. Once he realized what hit him, he went ballistic while girlfriend Anya Ho, 29, tried to wipe off his face.
A few rows away, Madore and buddy Danny Kelly beamed. It turns out Sole had given them grief about having a large pizza in the stands just moments before the at-bat. He wanted to know where they got it.
“He turned around and said something like, ‘Your mother,’ ” Sole said.
“No,” interjected Ho. “He said, ‘The pizzeria.’ ”
Either way, all parties were annoyed.
“They had been giving us (expletive) about it,” Madore said. “Next thing I know, there’s a fly ball to left field and it goes foul and my buddy says, ‘You want some pizza now?’ And he hits him right in the face. Hey, the guy wasn’t paying attention. When you’re in the stands you’ve got to be ready for anything - a foul ball, a flying slice of pizza, everything.”

Thats awesome.

I never knew pizza was so aerodynamic

For those that have never read or heard of firejoemorgan.com, I'm gonna toss it out there because its one of my favorite websites. Its not your typical firexxxxx.com, its a blog that points out how bad sports jounalism can be, although Joe Morgan is their favorite target.

hxxp://www.firejoemorgan.com/

The link below is probably my all-time favorite Colin Cowherd showing how stupid he really is moment. Its definitely recommended reading.

hxxp://www.firejoemorgan.com/2006/01/12-minutes-of-hell-with-colin-cowherd.html

I don't get it. That was akin to reading some ahole dissecting an idiot's message board post. If I want to do that I could do it here. I have never heard of Cowherd, but it seems like he is trying to drum up some conversation.

I will admit I am not a big fan of critics.

I'm not either, but this guy nails CC dead on. I was listening to ESPN online rather than the music station they pipe in here at work and eventually would turn it off during his time because of his idiocy. I was pretty much in agreement with 95% of the dissection and I would imagine it was the build up of listening to CC more than once that led up to the eventual blow up that resulted in that post.

Think the Phillies slow start is getting to them?

Manager Charlie Manuel's frustration was evident after the game. The normally mild-mannered manager challenged a radio talk-show host to a fight. Manuel had to be restrained by hitting coach Milt Thompson at one point.

Brett Myers is now the second closer for the Phils.

I read he's just a setup man. Where did you see he's the closer? Or is this the intention on this move?

The article I read said he would the closer when Tom Gordon was not available.

Either way that is a stiff drop for the "ace" of your staff.

Yep... Colin Cowherd gets completely destroyed. He really is that much of an idiot, yet has a show on ESPN radio... it's insane.

Zambrano is injured. Not officially yet, but he's throwing 91-92 and has dropped down to 3/4 on several pitches. He should have signed that contract before the season started because he won't make it through this season.

Another Dusty Baker casualty. Thats 3 young pitchers he's ruined.

Wow, no one watching White Sox game?

And the no-no is complete for Buehrle. 1 walk, Sosa in 5th, followed immediately by a pick-off.

I have a friend who passed up great seats for tonights game because he went last night. He'll hear about this for awhile ...

Luckily I caugth the last out since the Brewers announcers mentioned it and I flipped over.

For all that is holy, I'm hoping Felix's injury isn't anything arm-related.

I've never heard anyone more repetitive in any medium, or in my own life. He literally comes up with a point to make, and then repeats 3 sentences for 5 straight minutes. It's almost fascinating.

No-hitters are one of the many things that makes baseball great and in my mind, better than almost anything.

Fernando Vina on Baseball Tonight doesn't seem too bad.

I just listened to that whole debacle on ESPN just now. I think that radio guy was just trying to push Charlie's buttons.

If he thinks he said something clever or funny you'll hear it in just about every other sentence the rest of the show and a lot of times he'll carry it on through several shows.

There's no real discussion on the show. He'll bring up a topic and if anyone calls in that disagrees with his view he'll either repeatedly interupt them or just drop the call and go off for a few minutes on why his view is right and everyone else's is wrong.

He's also been known to steal stuff off of message boards and passes it off as his own material. He's so uncreative he'll actually read it word for word.

Anyways, I love the firejoemorgan blog. Its nice to see someone at least attempt to hold poor sports journalists accountable for spewing out garbage, relying on cliches throughout their writing, or just simply making up stats to support their point.

Fuck me - elbow tightness. Are the baseball gods really so cruel as to strike Felix down so early in his career, just as it seems he's ready to fulfill the enormous expectations heaped upon him? Has the Mariner's pitcher prospect injury curse struck yet again?

Isn't that the first no-no in 2 or 3 years?

I drafted Felix to be my #2 pitcher in my fantasy league and was ripped by a couple of people for not going with safer picks such as Sabathia or Bonderman. Well, I looked like a genius his first two starts and had contemplated trading him thinking that his value wouldn't get any higher. I decided not to....

And Bonds goes yard to tie the game in the 8th for the Giants!

Ping: Ryan Anderson!

That's why you don't kill an albatross on a long sea voyage, I thought?

Ryan was done in by a torn labrum, the worst possible injury for a pitcher. Sounds like Felix's issue is his elbow - no word yet on how bad it is.

Damn, that sucks.

And with Zambrano, I have never liked him. He's Bartolo Colon - certainly has the ability to be a great pitcher, but he's the kind of guy I would commit more than 3 years to. I just don't have any confidence in him being consistently good over a period of years.

I saw the last inning of the Buerhle no-hitter. Always a great spectacle to watch. I even didn't instinctively gag at the double "YES!" from those asshole White Sox announcers.

That's just the opposite of what I thought of Zambrano. I think he's been really consistent- he's not quite a super-ace but the notch below, better than a 2 but not a super #1 (those guys who have that season in the mid 2's for ERA), and that's what you'll always get: 200 IP, 15 W, 200 K, 100 BB, and an ERA in the low 3's. His stats over the past 4 years have been very similar and for any pitcher in this day and age, that's saying something.

That said, there's always been the danger of him breaking down because he's been badly overworked those four years.

SI

I see him as an overwight pitcher who will break down once he gets into his late 20s, early 30s. He might win the Cy YOung one year, but then he'll go down like Colon the next. Not the guy I'd want to put a ton of money behind for 5-7 years.

That piece of shat!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins threw one last September. But those two (last night's and Sanchez's) were the only two since Randy Johnson's perfect game in 2004.

Hawk: The term is becoming more popular with posters, you didn't hear it too much in the past, but...Ksyrup is just a message board poster. And that is a tremendous compliment. Because there are some guys who post on the big boards who are really not message board posters. They're just either typists, o -- or, you know, good arguing trolls. But they're just not message board posters. They don't have real good instincts. [Skydog posts a message.] So here's Skydog. And I think that probably the "instincts" is the key word in being named a "message board poster."

DJ: I'd agree and also, I'll take it -- I'll add to that, in the fact that I look at a screen name when I sit there and say "He's just a message board poster," it's just somebody that can do everything out there. Just everything. Joke, get dirty, form sentences at all times, kind of "heads and above" the others that are out there. Not that they're not message board posters, but when you see Ksyrup, or anybody else -- like, if JeeberD, you know? Giving everything they have on the board, you just say, "Man, there's a message board poster!"

HE GONE

I know Zambrano has been sucking, but do we really think he's hurt? I have him and Felix on my squad (with Santana, Bonderman, and Beckett, so my pitching is stacked) but this would be a bad time to trade him when his value is low. Plus losing him and having Hernandez hurt would kill my strength.

Sounds a bit too much like what happened with Francisco Liriano last season. Hopefully not though.

Now that I think about it, Francisco first had soreness in his forearm last season.

I haven't really heard much on Liriano this year - any word on his recovery? Dude was brilliant last year, it would be a shame if he couldn't recover. That said, his delivery sure seemed destined to result in injury...

Cleveland fans: might want to start picketing for the release of Borowski and the firing of Wedge.

A-Rod with another walk off as the Yanks come back from a 6-2 defecit in the 9th, all with two outs against the Indians.

Indians are vastly overrated. Love that "sexy" pick that never comes right.

I'm going to say that while I thought A-Rod would be MVP, this is sick. Dude is seriously going to push for the Triple Crown.

Good to see A-Rod's finally becoming a true Yankee. Maybe Jeter will graciously move over to 3rd to let A-Rod's newly found clutchness shine at the most important infield position.

He could put up "Casey at the Bat" numbers, but if Mighty Alex strikes out in October, they'll still boo him.

Something wasn't right last night with him. I saw his fastball hit 94 once and the rest were around 92. I saw him hand 4 breaking pitches in 2 innings and stopped counting there.

Could be a really bad day, could be a mechanical flaw, or he may just need the weather to warm up, but with his workload, I'm thinking there's something wrong with his arm.

What does "becoming a true Yankee" mean?

Hitting game winning home runs, channeling your inner Yankee, playing like a winner, not wasting home runs in the 1st inning, make sure all your errors are before the 7th inning, having pyjama parties with Derek Jeter, and rating a 5 out of 5 in intangibles.

Weird. My version was getting overpaid by a team with (almost) unlimited funds, and then taking it up the wazoo when your team doesn't win it all.

Yanks aren't winning it all this year with that pitching staff. Who will take the heat for it this year?

Initial word from the M's after the team doctor examined Felix's elbow is that there doesn't appear to be any structural damage. Hopefully they're right, but I also hope they tread veeeeerrry carefully with him and give the elbow plenty of time to calm down. The long-term benefits of being cautious with him are orders of magnitude better than the short-term benefits of rushing him back.

You're writing off Cleveland after 12 games and a .500 record? O-kaaaaaay...

Don't kid yourself. Yankee fans will find a way to blame it all on A-Rod, even if he hits 80 HRs and has an OPS of 1.500, and continues on that pace in the playoffs.

Then they'll jeer as he takes the option to become a free agent and laugh as they unsuccessfully try to replace his bat.

I don't know...they don't have anything that even resembles a bullpen.

Not true. Borowski is a weak closer and Hernandez is about done, but Cabrera and Betancourt are good relievers, Fultz is a decent lefty on lefty option and Miller is OK. If they need an immediate infusion of help, they could bring up Adam Miller and/or Chuck Lofgren, either of whom could provide a short-term boost to the 'pen (though both are currently starters). They also have enough talent in their minors to swing some deals for relief help.

Now, you could argue that Wedge should abandon Borowski as the closer and use Cabrera as the primary relief ace with Betancourt as his primary setup guy, but the pieces are there for a decent or better 'pen.

I'll accept your analysis, as I'm sure you know the team better than me. But, IMO, if your closer (whoever it is now) sucks, your bullpen sucks. And it's always an "easier said than done" when it comes to throwing a new guy with potential into the closer role.

Felix is out 10-20 days with a "flexer pronator strain" according to the team doctor, the same injury that temporarily shelved M's closer J.J. Putz this Spring. It's about the best possible news for an elbow injury, so hopefully his diagnosis is correct and the team and Hernandez give the injury plenty of time to heal correctly.

Grand Theft Game by the Sox, who come back from down 6-2 in the 8th against Rivera to win 7-6.

Even a weak line out in the 9th can't make A-Rod a goat, 2 HR (one monster shot), 3 Extra Base hits, 3 Runs scored, 4 RBI

That's the storyline I want to see in every Yankees game this year - ARod lights it up, other Yankees blow the game. I hope ARod has a career year and then opts out of his deal - "I really want to play for a winner, so I think I better go elsewhere."

Rivera's green bars went down and the Yankees scout just noticed it. :)

WE BEAT THOSE FRIGGEN CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, uh, Tony Armas came into the game with a 7.88 career ERA at Dodger Stadium.

He left under 3 innings later with a 10.90 career ERA at the Ravine.

It can't possibly get worse than that, can it? :D

Russ Ortiz beat the DBacks tonight. He has looked pretty good so far. SF has some pretty good pitching this year.

Five wins in a row for the Astros (and eight of our last nine) to move into first in the NL Central! Yes, I know it's early but we need to get off to a good start if we're going to convince Roger to come back again...

I was at the Phils-Reds game tonight... Jon Lieber (5.2 IP, 1 HA, 1 BB, 0 ER) looked pretty good and that probably says more about the Reds offensive woes than anything. Kyle Lohse again looked outstanding for the Redlegs tonight, allowing the Phils' only run albeit unearned.

So here was the situation: 1-0 Phillies, bottom 9th, 2 outs, 0 on, Hatteberg up. Solo shot to RF. We're going extras!

And Flash Gordon just didn't have it in the 10th either giving up a bases loaded single to Brandon Phillips to give the ole Redlegs the victory. It was a great game to go to!

Brad Lidge would like to talk to you about that :)

He is just brutal. How long can you keep throwing him out there in the ninth inning when it's clear he just doesn't have it mentally right now.

I'm aware it can get worse in general. But in one place where you pitch something like 6 innings every 2-3 years...can't possibly go much higher...right? :)

Well, I don't think it was a save situation so I guess Garner thought that maybe the pressure wouldn't get to him.

I love the guy, but he's absolutely useless right now...

I haven't had anything to do with it since the playoff game against the Cards, Jeebs!

So, do the Yankees hit Ortiz? Matsuzaka hit A-Rod in the first, but something tells me the Yankees could care less if A-Rod gets hit.

Boston goes back to back to back to back

And all four were 425 feet+ I think.

Only the 2nd time a single pitcher has given up four HR in a row.

fozzie...you're supposta be on AIM celebrating that with me right now

yeah...i'd be curious to see...i think lowell's may have actually gone farther than manny's.

That was crazy.