Finally Baseball is here! 2009 Edition, (April thread)

[silenus]

I don't know which makes me happier: that the Dodgers have the longest win streak in the majors so far, or that the Giants have the longest losing streak.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

My kid caught part of the Cleveland/Yankees game, and he was ecstatic: His first grand slam!

[Laughing Lagomorph]

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More serious note. The Bird passed away yesterday. I think all baseball fans flipping through and seeing Sportscenter last night probably recognized the pictures of him in his rookie season instantly. I have rarely thought about him in the last two decades but once upon a time he was the most amazing shooting star I had seen. Rest in Peace Mark Fidrych.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... l/?eref=T1

I didn't realize he only lived a few miles away from me. He really kept a low profile in the baseball-mad Boston area.

One thing that struck me on reading his biography was how differently his career would have gone if he had been just a few years younger. His arm injury went undiagnosed for years, that would never happen in this era of high salaries and sophisticated surgical procedures. Such obvious talent as he had would have meant every possible avenue would have been followed to get him to recover and pitch in the majors again.

He also just missed the era of huge free agent contracts, if he had been a couple of years younger he might have cashed in and not had to spend his 50s hauling gravel for money (unless that was truly his heart's desire), which was indirectly the cause of his death.

My only comment on the Yankees' home opener was how P.O.ed I would be if I had paid $2600 each or whatever it is for four seats to watch that debacle. Ouch.

[silenus]

And Broxton saves another one! I do hope he can stay healthy all season. We're going to need him in the crunch. I almost see him as Eric Gagne at his peak, when an entrance onto the field meant "Game Over."

But it is still very, very early in the season. I mean, even Seattle is winning!

[Boozahol Squid, P.I.]

Watching the Indians-Yankees game right now. The only thing that can salve a two-run homer from the third batter.... a 7 seven run second inning, with Wang getting pulled* after an inning and a third.

The pitching on both of these teams is inexplicably terrible.


*hee hee

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Just watched the Blue Jays put it away in the bottom of the 12th, A walk away homer, huzzah!

[Boozahol Squid, P.I.]

Okay, so this game (Yankees-Indians, 4/18) has just gone stupid. Cleveland is about to wrap around the order a second time in one inning.

[Julie]

Holy crap, Jim. You're going to need some serious heart burn meds watching the Yankees play in that ballpark all season. The ball FLIES out of there.

[hawkeyeop]

Is there a point I'm supposed to not want the Indians to score more, because we are at 20-2 and I'm not there yet.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Heh, my kid came in, turned on the Cleveland game, and came running downstairs: "I'm going mad!"

[Laughing Lagomorph]

22 to 4? I thought it was a typo! The Yankees need to bring in Swisher.

[silenus]

Wang - ERA 34.50
Claggett - ERA 43.20
Marte - ERA 21.00


That's gonna take some innings to work off!

[dread pirate jimbo]

Hearing that the Yanks gave up the biggest run-scoring inning in their franchise history this weekend made my year.

It sure would be hella-sweet if the Yankees missed the playoffs again! I doubt it'll happen, but I can dream...

Padres still have the wildcard spot in the NL. Woo Hoo!

[jimmmy]

"Natanals" funniest mispelling ever as the newsreel footage rolls on the next 40 years the 15 world championships in 30 series we will look back on this and laugh ... but it ain't funny now.

[What Exit?]

The Yanks are struggling and winning anyway. CC is pitching badly but the Bullpen is pulling together nicely. Wang is completely lost and down in Tampa getting review by all the Yankees' pitching gurus. The Yanks, Boston and Seattle are all tied for second behind the Jays at 11-5.

The good news for the Yanks is Wang and CC should improve and A-Rod will return and Teix is beginning to warm up. Posada's arm look good and was one of the big worries. Rivera looks great and that was a small worry some others mentioned. As Swisher and Gardner have cooled of Damon and Melky have got hot and Matsui started hitting.

What's the update on your teams?

[silenus]

What's the update on your teams?

We actually have a pretty strong team this year, so far. (Fingers crossed). The pitching was my major concern, but they are all producing quality starts so far. McDonald needs to settle down, but Kershaw, Wolf(!) and Stults are doing what they have to do. So is Billingsley. I'd feel better if we had someone to back Broxton as a closer, but what can you do?

Offensively, this is the strongest Dodger team I've seen in years. We are dangerous anywhere in the order. Even our pitchers have decent on-base percentages. Kemp and Ethier can hurt you quickly, and Manny is just...Manny. Defensively, see previous. Damn-near all of our infielders are multi-position players, which gives Torre unheard-of flexibility. The outfield is solid, except for Manny, who is still better than Pierre. I don't think the Dodgers are going to break my heart until well into the post-season this year.

[What Exit?]

... and Manny is just...Manny. Defensively, see previous. Damn-near all of our infielders are multi-position players, which gives Torre unheard-of flexibility. The outfield is solid, except for Manny, who is still better than Pierre. I don't think the Dodgers are going to break my heart until well into the post-season this year.

Manny is a force all by himself. Many, many Met fans are really pissed the Mets did not grab him.

I have never seen you this hopeful during the season. It is refreshing. Maybe we can finally get that classic Yankees-Dodgers World Series this year. Your bonus is a much easier division, mine is the Giant Payroll from Hell and A-Rod still due back.

[Julie]

The Indians are completely erratic and unpredictable, which doesn't really surprise me very much. Lee is definitely coming around and Victor Martinez can flat-out hit. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[silenus]

I have never seen you this hopeful during the season. It is refreshing.

It is, isn't it?

Signing Hudson and Loretta on the off-season has really shored up the infield. DeWitt could have filled in at Second, but Hudson playing that position really helps. Orlando is a much better fielder/hitter. Since Loretta can fill in at any base, Torre can rest people all year long without hurting our run production. Hopefully, that will keep us healthy well into September.

Too bad the Dodgers aren't pursuing Peavy as an additional starter. Yet.

[What Exit?]

I have never seen you this hopeful during the season. It is refreshing.

It is, isn't it?

Signing Hudson and Loretta on the off-season has really shored up the infield. DeWitt could have filled in at Second, but Hudson playing that position really helps. Orlando is a much better fielder/hitter. Since Loretta can fill in at any base, Torre can rest people all year long without hurting our run production. Hopefully, that will keep us healthy well into September.

Too bad the Dodgers aren't pursuing Peavy as an additional starter. Yet.

Torre has a good team to work with, you just need to worry about him with your bullpen as the year goes on. As I expect the Dodgers to lead the division comfortably all season, I think you'll be OK. If it gets tight, he tends to fry the better setup guys.

I hear the Mets are interested in Peavy which means the Dodgers will get him.

[silenus]

Joe can't be nearly as hard on a bullpen as Tommy was. Lasorda burned through more pitchers than should be legal. Of course, Tommy concentrated on killing starters, which Joe doesn't do.

[dread pirate jimbo]

<snip> The outfield is solid, except for Manny, who is still better than Pierre.

Whoah! Let's not get crazy now. Manny is the worst defensive outfielder of his generation, IMHO. The only thing he has going for him is a plus arm which he uses to throw to the wrong base and miss cut-off men all day long. The Dodgers would be almost as well served by having Manny just go sit in the bullpen and watch while the Dodgers play defence with 8 guys. Pierre is not a Gold Glove, but he's a career .990 fielder with a 2.42 RF/9, compared to Manny's career .978 and 1.85. Defensively, it's no contest. Of course, offensively it's also no contest -- Pierre could be a legitimate threat if he walked more and pushed his OBP up over .350 (he hasn't been there since his Florida days), but Manny is an absolute freak at the dish and will probably produce 50 more runs than Pierre could ever hope to.

[silenus]

And a great offense can make up for a lack-luster defense any day.

If Pierre doesn't catch the ball, then every hit in his sector is a double, easy. My grandmother has a better arm than Pierre, and she's been dead 50 years.

[dread pirate jimbo]

I will grant you that Pierre is basically a poor man's Willie Wilson in overall makeup, from the warning track power and excellent speed to the great glove and no arm, but my biggest knock against Pierre is his stupid cap. Hey, dummy -- the brim of your hat should be curved, not straight, and it should point forward and not be cocked off to the side like an idiot or a leftie pitcher! At least his uniform isn't six sizes too big like the clown jammies Manny wears.

Manny is undisputably an upgrade in the batting order and I will agree that that makes him a bigger asset than a defensive guy. He just scares the bejeesus out of me every time a ball is hit to left.

[dread pirate jimbo]

Did anybody else here about minor-leaguer Jason Tyner getting traded late last week from the Brewers' AAA affiliate to Detroit's AAA team... for nothing? No player, no money, no future considerations. Not even a bag of balls. How embarassing! Maybe it's time for him to think about hanging 'em up. Or maybe he's just happy to still be getting paid to play ball at a high level after ten years of toiling in the minors...

[Taumpy]

My first thought was "Jason Tyner is still playing?". Hadn't heard his name since he played for the Rays what, like six or seven years ago now?

Anyway, Red Sox win streak is up to 11 games, and Jason Bay is on fire. Manny who?

[What Exit?]

Depressing weekend for a Yankees fan but of course the NY papers are overreacting. They want Joba back in the bullpen with Bruney hurt. They are all over the place on Wang and Hughes.

Me, I'll sit back, recall it is a long season and watch Hughes pitch tonight.

[silenus]

Looks like all the streaks have ended, both good and bad. Philly has a mini-streak going though.

"Long season" is what keeps me going sometimes.

[What Exit?]

Last night Hughes pitches a 6 inning gem. The Ranks put up a big inning in the top of the 7th to get him a W. Molina of all people capped off the 10 run inning with a Grand Slam and the kid reliever Mark Melancon looked very good again.

So after a horrible weekend, Yankees fan are chirping again.

[Julie]

The Boston streak ended on a hilarious play. Well, hilarious to me since I'm an Indians fan!

[What Exit?]

The Boston streak ended on a hilarious play. Well, hilarious to me since I'm an Indians fan!

Please describe it in detail. I am sure I will enjoy it at least. :smile:

[Julie]

Well, the biggest aspect of the joy was the Indians have been playing very poorly, defensively especially. But last night Boston was awful defensively. Bottom of the 9th. Tie score. Runner on 2nd, two out, Asdrubal Cabrera comes up and hits a grounder to the right side. Youkilis makes a nice play on it and right when every Indian fans' hearts were sinking, he flips it to the pitcher who never caught the ball. DeRosa scored from second. It was exactly the sort of error the Indians have been making, so it was very lovely to see.

[What Exit?]

Thanks Julie, I just wish the Tribe had pulled out yesterday's too.

The Yanks got another very good pitching performance. This time from Joba and Phil Coke but then a 9th inning scare from Jonathan Albaladejo and Rivera. The Yanks also had some good hitting, especially from Swisher.