Looks like it's not only the White Sox's turn to have a late-season skid, but also the Royals. And here we are to be a part of it - yay! It also could not be a better time for Sandy Alomar to take over as manager. Not because Manny Acta was running the team into the ground or anything - we all know he wasn't to blame - but because our team is on a little upswing and the last 2 teams we're facing here are on a bit of a downswing. Also the fans have been calling for Sandy since uhm...last year so it's nice for him to start off at home.
I got a baseball with Sandy and Manny's autographs on it last week. How about that? I can't tell if it's lucky or unlucky for anyone...
So, on to the game.
Our new favorite guy, David Huff, is now 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA. He went 6 solid innings today giving up only 3 runs and striking out 5. Yeah he gave up a homer but to Billy Butler who is dying to get #30 (it was #29). Huff only threw 89 pitches but Sandy was following Manny's lead - get your quality start and get the guy out of there before it goes south!
Cody Allen was back to his old self today. He threw an inning and gave up nothing. Scott Maine had the opposite fate - he didn't even get an out but gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. NOT COOL!
Even Sandy recognizes the value of Joe Smith and put him out there to finish the 8th. Chris Perez rocked the 9th and got his 39th save. Awesome - still 5 more chances to get his 40th!!!
The top of the order was solid tonight but there were so many hits, the bottom of the order got in on the act too!
CHOOOO went 2 for 4 with his 41st AND 42nd double - both of them packaged with an RBI! That puts him tied for 4th in the league with 2 other dudes for doubles! He also walked and scored a run. He's got an 8-game hitting streak with 13 hits in those games!
If Choo wasn't exciting enough, ol' Cord Phelps was shoehorned in the 2-hole (Asdrubal out with wrist again I guess) and went 3 for 5 with an RBI. Gotta love the new guys having a good September!
Kipnis was knocked down to 3rd, and kept up his hitting streak (10) going 1 for 4 with a walk. His one hit was pretty awesome, though - it was a 2-out bases-loaded single that scored 2. Choo and Phelps couldn't get anything done but The Kid came through! He got another RBI on a force-out, earlier in the game, for a total of 3 plus he got his 31st stolen base!
Santana didn't get a hit tonight - Ended his little hitting streak but he does have a 4-game walking streak. And his OBP for September is .389, so not bad. And look - we managed to win without Santana having a multi-hit game!
How is Russ Canzler doing? Just fine, thanks! He went 2 for 5 tonight with a run and is keeping his average over .300 (.313). So he's got a 5-game hitting streak with 10 hits in those games.
The Chiz Kid had no hits against lefties in 22 at-bats so far this year. Then tonight all of a sudden he's 3 for 5 against lefties. Bam! One of them was even a RBI double (his 4th double). It'd be pretty nice if something has "clicked" for him and he suddenly is hitting lefties like a champ. Heck it'd be good for any of our guys to hit lefties like a champ so it might as well start with him!
Brent Lillibridge was at short today and made ZERO errors AND he went 2 for 3, got hit by a pitch and scored 2 runs. A red letter day for Brent!
Zeke continues to be on the ball there in the 9th spot. Today he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and came around to score 3 runs. Incredible! He's got a 6-game hitting streak with 10 hits in those games, plus he's scored 7 runs and gotten 4 RBI! Who knew that goddamn Ezequiel Carrera would be such a useful addition to our team?? Now if only he were 50 lbs. bigger and had an arm we could put him in right - I hear there's an opening in 2013!
Still tied with Minnesota for last place. That blows! But we've got 5 more games against teams we've got no problem with all of a sudden.
Here's something nice - we won't lose 100 games this year! If you're curious we're 66 and 91. Pretty crummy, I agree. But hey at least the problem (Acta) is gone now - right?! (Woah, slow down, sarcasm)
Tomorrow is another one at 7:05 against the Royals at home. It might be rainy...but I hope people come out to the game anyway. Winning baseball! Go see who's on tap for next year!
I just sold my last two Perfect 10 Vouchers (for half price, yech!) but never fear, I've still got 2 more games on my slate. Monday I'm going to a special Social Media meeting which is swell, considering they keep passing me by for visiting their Social Media Suite. This seems like a pretty good consolation prize. And perhaps if Mark Shapiro is there I will plead with him to not get rid of Perez.
I'm going Wednesday too with some primo seats from StubHub. I've gone to the last 4 years final games so I've decided it's a tradition now and I made my friend go this year (she's been to 3). Gonna be cool. Free stuff!
Anyway, that's then, this is now. Tomorrow another rout of the Royals? Maybe! Tomorrow is Jeanmar (ack) versus RHP (5.06) that we had a good game against last week. Should be a good game...
See you there!
Sorry about the lack of Radio Chatter today. It was sort of solemn with Manny being gone, and sort of pro praising Sandy. I did what I could!
Radio Chatter:
"David Huff trying to make a statement this year. Basically 'Don't forget about me, I'm still here.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"There won't be any hugs after that ceremony."
- Tom Hamilton on Omar's retirement after blasting the Toronto club in the press
Showing posts with label Ezequiel Carrera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezequiel Carrera. Show all posts
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Watch Out Behind You - It's The Tribe!
What a game, boffins! And what a surprise, after proclaiming yesterday that the Tribe didn't "have the ability" to win today's game. Well, between all 20 players Manny Acta threw on the field today we pulled out a WIN in TEXAS!
The sweetest part? The loss went to Joe Nathan! (Yeah, he plays for Texas now)
Oh wait no, also pretty sweet was the fact that before today the Indians were 1-75 this year when trailing in the 8th. AGAINST ALL ODDS!
Zach McAllister was murdered last time he pitched against Texas. Absolutely murdered, folks (7 runs in 5 innings) - then put away and re-animated for another turn, this time in their home park where they hit a lot of homers. Well re-animated Zach McAllister had NO problem with these Rangers here today and only gave up 1 run in 6 innings, striking out 6. I'm serious! A quality start! Looks like the kid is making his way back to the top of the pitching heap for Cleveland.
It took 4 more arms to get through 3 more innings against Texas but Manny seemed pretty hungry to end this road trip on a high note. The game was tied at 2 when Esmil Rogers came in for the 7th. He is so much more comfortable in that early relief spot than the later ones, it's not even funny. He had a 1-2-3 inning, striking out 2. Of course it was the chaff of the Rangers' order but whatever, he did it with no runs.
Next was Joe Smith, who has been truly a gem in this snowstorm of a season (?). His infield let him the fuck down - both Lillibridge and Hannahan had errors which resulted in 2 runs. Yeep! Joe only lasted one out.
Scott Maine came in next, cuz, why not? He gave up a hit and everyone said "here it goes again" and then he got a guy to ground into a double play and NO ONE errored and that was that. Maine ended up with the win, too!
Chris Perez - FUCK YEAH! So awesome to see him without the qualifier "...needs work." We needed him this time instead! He blew through the first two batters in the 9th inning and then Elvis Andrus was up. Andrus has hit safely in all of the 31 games he's played against the Tribe in his career, but hadn't hit one tonight. But Chris Perez always gives up a hit and in his last at-bat, Andrus pulled out a triple. So....cool? It's cool. Interesting baseball stat. Especially cool because the next guy struck out and BALLGAME! (Still beardless. Still excited by winning. Still awesome.)
Crazy f'n lineup today, with tons of substitutions too.Carrera, Lillibridge, Kipnis, Santana, Rottino, LaPorta, Neal, Marson, Hannahan. That is not the lineup of a team that was poised to win today but there they were!
Zeke had a Choo-like night in the top spot, going 2 for 4 with a run and a RBI. Oh yeah those both came on a home run! I mentioned yesterday that hopefully Zeke has forgotten that when he first got here for a few minutes he had some power and then he goes and does this. Well, Zeke, you did strike out twice tonight trying to hit homers in your other at-bats so don't get too smug just yet!
Brent Lillibridge...oh man, that guy is just so bad at short. He just can't do it - two errors today and at least one previous in 13 games at short. He IS a utility guy but he doesn't really have much of a history at short. Asdrubal, come back! (He is going to see someone about his wrist but he actually came into the game for the 9th because there was nobody left!)
Lillibridge went 0 for 3 and had his 2 errors so it was nice to see him come out and Canzler come in to get some real man work done. He got a single and then a pinch runner in Jason Donald, who came around to score!
Kipnis! Homer! Ah, the JK Kid started off September with a bang then quickly turned down the "fizzle" road halfway through the Minnesota series. Last night he was shut out but tonight he hit the game-winning 2-run homer in the 9th! I'm serious baby - it was as dramatic as you think!
¡Mira!
Carlos Santana was the DH tonight. Then he was the catcher which meant we had to give up the DH spot which meant all of our pitchers technically got put into the lineup in the existing catcher's spot but none of them had to bat. It makes sense somehow but whatever. Carlos didn't care - he needed to stay in, he was hot hot hot going 3 for 5! I get to apply my "When Carlos Santana has a multi-hit game, we win" theory here yay! After all that, though, he didn't score any runs or get any RBI. Huh.
The Other Vinny Rottino was in at left today, cuz whatever. He got a single in 3 tries and then in the 8th there was a weird thing with a bat and a ball and a bunt and the foul line and ... sacrifice bunt. An "excuse me bunt" I guess you'd say. He did get the runner over but that inning was a bunch of August Sadness because the bases got loaded and nobody scored.
Matt LaPorta showed up BIG TIME tonight! He went 3 for 5 with his first homer of the year, and it was a 2-run jobby because Vinny Rottino was on base! It tied the game! Way to go Vinny! Haha just kidding, way to go Matt! LaPorta also had a coupla singles to go along with that homer. He's a guy that definitely needs to step it up this September if he wants to come back and play in the bigs next year. Everyone in the organization seems to love him - I hope it works out!
Hey what's up Thomas Neal? Inglewood always up to no good! I keep bringing up Neal's hometown like I might say "I've got a black friend!" What a loser. Thomas Neal, on the other hand, is no loser! Today he went 1 for 3 getting his second MLB hit! Nothing came of it but, hey man, keep it real.
We started against a lefty today so you know it was Lou Marson's turn. He went a respectable 1 for 3, then got pulled for Chisenhall from whom we all expected great things and...nothing happened. I bit my hat, I did!
Jack Hannahan did not get a hit today. His was the only slot in the lineup without a hit. Curses! He also had an error today which ended up in an un-earned run. Nobody likes to be disappointed in Jack Hannahan, yet here we are...
Brent Lillibridge, the other guy who gave up an error run and who didn't get a hit tonight (although someone else did in his spot) has already apologized. Warm fuzzies!
Now, go out and beat those Tigers for me tomorrow!!
So tomorrow it's Corey Kluber versus a certain RHP (2.91). But we have the secret element - surprise. Surprise and fear. Two elements, surprise, fear and the craziest unknown lineup in baseball at the moment. I mean, who would be more afraid to lose to the worst team in baseball than Justin Verlander? It looks bad, man!Better not choke!
Tomorrow I get to go to the game with my little buddy SMac and I think it's gonna be a pretty rockin' time. There will be fireworks! Provided the weather holds up, of course, but Weather.com was right on the money for me last week so let's hope it's on the money this week too. Storms over at 7 PM. Fireworks after a win!
Can't wait - See you there!
The sweetest part? The loss went to Joe Nathan! (Yeah, he plays for Texas now)
Oh wait no, also pretty sweet was the fact that before today the Indians were 1-75 this year when trailing in the 8th. AGAINST ALL ODDS!
Zach McAllister was murdered last time he pitched against Texas. Absolutely murdered, folks (7 runs in 5 innings) - then put away and re-animated for another turn, this time in their home park where they hit a lot of homers. Well re-animated Zach McAllister had NO problem with these Rangers here today and only gave up 1 run in 6 innings, striking out 6. I'm serious! A quality start! Looks like the kid is making his way back to the top of the pitching heap for Cleveland.
It took 4 more arms to get through 3 more innings against Texas but Manny seemed pretty hungry to end this road trip on a high note. The game was tied at 2 when Esmil Rogers came in for the 7th. He is so much more comfortable in that early relief spot than the later ones, it's not even funny. He had a 1-2-3 inning, striking out 2. Of course it was the chaff of the Rangers' order but whatever, he did it with no runs.
Next was Joe Smith, who has been truly a gem in this snowstorm of a season (?). His infield let him the fuck down - both Lillibridge and Hannahan had errors which resulted in 2 runs. Yeep! Joe only lasted one out.
Scott Maine came in next, cuz, why not? He gave up a hit and everyone said "here it goes again" and then he got a guy to ground into a double play and NO ONE errored and that was that. Maine ended up with the win, too!
Chris Perez - FUCK YEAH! So awesome to see him without the qualifier "...needs work." We needed him this time instead! He blew through the first two batters in the 9th inning and then Elvis Andrus was up. Andrus has hit safely in all of the 31 games he's played against the Tribe in his career, but hadn't hit one tonight. But Chris Perez always gives up a hit and in his last at-bat, Andrus pulled out a triple. So....cool? It's cool. Interesting baseball stat. Especially cool because the next guy struck out and BALLGAME! (Still beardless. Still excited by winning. Still awesome.)
Crazy f'n lineup today, with tons of substitutions too.Carrera, Lillibridge, Kipnis, Santana, Rottino, LaPorta, Neal, Marson, Hannahan. That is not the lineup of a team that was poised to win today but there they were!
Zeke had a Choo-like night in the top spot, going 2 for 4 with a run and a RBI. Oh yeah those both came on a home run! I mentioned yesterday that hopefully Zeke has forgotten that when he first got here for a few minutes he had some power and then he goes and does this. Well, Zeke, you did strike out twice tonight trying to hit homers in your other at-bats so don't get too smug just yet!
Brent Lillibridge...oh man, that guy is just so bad at short. He just can't do it - two errors today and at least one previous in 13 games at short. He IS a utility guy but he doesn't really have much of a history at short. Asdrubal, come back! (He is going to see someone about his wrist but he actually came into the game for the 9th because there was nobody left!)
Lillibridge went 0 for 3 and had his 2 errors so it was nice to see him come out and Canzler come in to get some real man work done. He got a single and then a pinch runner in Jason Donald, who came around to score!
Kipnis! Homer! Ah, the JK Kid started off September with a bang then quickly turned down the "fizzle" road halfway through the Minnesota series. Last night he was shut out but tonight he hit the game-winning 2-run homer in the 9th! I'm serious baby - it was as dramatic as you think!
¡Mira!
 |
| Sad Joe Nathan |
The Other Vinny Rottino was in at left today, cuz whatever. He got a single in 3 tries and then in the 8th there was a weird thing with a bat and a ball and a bunt and the foul line and ... sacrifice bunt. An "excuse me bunt" I guess you'd say. He did get the runner over but that inning was a bunch of August Sadness because the bases got loaded and nobody scored.
Matt LaPorta showed up BIG TIME tonight! He went 3 for 5 with his first homer of the year, and it was a 2-run jobby because Vinny Rottino was on base! It tied the game! Way to go Vinny! Haha just kidding, way to go Matt! LaPorta also had a coupla singles to go along with that homer. He's a guy that definitely needs to step it up this September if he wants to come back and play in the bigs next year. Everyone in the organization seems to love him - I hope it works out!
Hey what's up Thomas Neal? Inglewood always up to no good! I keep bringing up Neal's hometown like I might say "I've got a black friend!" What a loser. Thomas Neal, on the other hand, is no loser! Today he went 1 for 3 getting his second MLB hit! Nothing came of it but, hey man, keep it real.
We started against a lefty today so you know it was Lou Marson's turn. He went a respectable 1 for 3, then got pulled for Chisenhall from whom we all expected great things and...nothing happened. I bit my hat, I did!
Jack Hannahan did not get a hit today. His was the only slot in the lineup without a hit. Curses! He also had an error today which ended up in an un-earned run. Nobody likes to be disappointed in Jack Hannahan, yet here we are...
Brent Lillibridge, the other guy who gave up an error run and who didn't get a hit tonight (although someone else did in his spot) has already apologized. Warm fuzzies!
Now, go out and beat those Tigers for me tomorrow!!
So tomorrow it's Corey Kluber versus a certain RHP (2.91). But we have the secret element - surprise. Surprise and fear. Two elements, surprise, fear and the craziest unknown lineup in baseball at the moment. I mean, who would be more afraid to lose to the worst team in baseball than Justin Verlander? It looks bad, man!Better not choke!
Tomorrow I get to go to the game with my little buddy SMac and I think it's gonna be a pretty rockin' time. There will be fireworks! Provided the weather holds up, of course, but Weather.com was right on the money for me last week so let's hope it's on the money this week too. Storms over at 7 PM. Fireworks after a win!
Can't wait - See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Texas looks like a softball team here with these red jerseys. They crush the ball like a softball team too."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's a moral victory, keeping Texas off the board for two innings."
- Tom Hamilton
"Nobody wants to hold off on their swings with 2 strikes."
- Tom Hamilton is not happy with all our utility guys and their penchant for striking out
"It's frustrating to watch a team like Texas say 'Here, we'll give you the run' and watch guys swing away like it's the Little League home run derby."
- Tom Hamilton is catty meow!
"The door man has better teeth than anyone I've ever seen."
- Tom Hamilton is extremely impressed with the hotel
"When I grow up, I want to towel off the forehead of Jessica Simpson."
- Tom Hamilton
"Is there anybody, Rosie, that you root for more than Matt LaPorta?"
- Tom Hamilton is a believer
"This is as drastic an outfield shift as you have ever seen on a lefthanded batter!"
- Tom Hamilton on Carrera's at-bat in the 6th
"Hey I got a seven dollar baseball, but I lost a tooth!"
- Tom Hamilton on Ranger fans scrambling for foul balls
"One thing we have found out about the base lines here in Tezas - they are slanted to favor the hitter."
- Tom Hamilton in the 8th
"Well Rosie, I bet you didn't know that when you jumped into that pool this morning, full of senior citizens in their water aerobics class, that was as good as it was going to get today."
- Tom Hamilton
"These fans are like the Romans awaiting the Christians at the Coliseum. Let the tigers loose! We want more blood!"
- Tom Hamilton
"Texas looks like a softball team here with these red jerseys. They crush the ball like a softball team too."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's a moral victory, keeping Texas off the board for two innings."
- Tom Hamilton
"Nobody wants to hold off on their swings with 2 strikes."
- Tom Hamilton is not happy with all our utility guys and their penchant for striking out
"It's frustrating to watch a team like Texas say 'Here, we'll give you the run' and watch guys swing away like it's the Little League home run derby."
- Tom Hamilton is catty meow!
"The door man has better teeth than anyone I've ever seen."
- Tom Hamilton is extremely impressed with the hotel
"When I grow up, I want to towel off the forehead of Jessica Simpson."
- Tom Hamilton
"Is there anybody, Rosie, that you root for more than Matt LaPorta?"
- Tom Hamilton is a believer
"This is as drastic an outfield shift as you have ever seen on a lefthanded batter!"
- Tom Hamilton on Carrera's at-bat in the 6th
"Hey I got a seven dollar baseball, but I lost a tooth!"
- Tom Hamilton on Ranger fans scrambling for foul balls
"One thing we have found out about the base lines here in Tezas - they are slanted to favor the hitter."
- Tom Hamilton in the 8th
"Well Rosie, I bet you didn't know that when you jumped into that pool this morning, full of senior citizens in their water aerobics class, that was as good as it was going to get today."
- Tom Hamilton
"These fans are like the Romans awaiting the Christians at the Coliseum. Let the tigers loose! We want more blood!"
- Tom Hamilton
Thursday, August 30, 2012
There's a Time for Taking And a Time for Giving...
...but being on the losing side of a winning streak is how we make our living!
Here's your song for this game. Listen while you read this post. It doesn't mean anything, it's just in my head and it seems to fit well with my mood this afternoon. I mean, perhaps we have angered the Volcano Gods?
I'd like to help you son but you look like a goat.
I had a dream last night that we had won the game last night. And there was a good play at the plate. I think my brain is tired of losing baseball and made up a good story to sleep along to.
Masterson had a shit outing, only 1 outing removed from his last shit outing. So he's given up 16 in his last 3 outings.
The bullpen was terrible - although we'd lost the game by the time Masterson came out and Seddon came on for the 5th. He gave up 2 runs, Sipp walked 4 and gave up a run. Joe Smith - good ol' Joe Smith - he didn't give up any runs but Perez gave up a homer. But no one really cared because what's one more run when they've already got 11?
There were 371 pitches thrown today - at least the count wasn't lopsided. The average is just under 300. The game took 3 hours and 35 minutes, too.
We did get 10 hits and 7 walks. With out one HBP, we had the same number of guys on base (18) as the A's. We even had the same number of doubles! Only we didn't get our hits in the right order or something. They also got 4 home runs to our 2, and the difference in score was 5 runs - the same number of runs they got off homers.
Everyone actually had a decent day at the plate, numbers-wise. I'd say the pitching lost this one for us...which is a recent development! Or a recent re-tread of most of the rest of the season. Just something that hasn't been happening to us lately as our ability to score has been pretty weak all month. In fact we haven't scored 7 runs since August 5 when we scored 8. And lost.
Kipnis went 2 for 4 with a homer (13), a double and a walk. He walked in a run! Kipnis scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI! That's a real shot in the arm for him - hopefully is a foundation for a good, relaxed September.
One guy who is just NOT relaxing is Asdrubal, who is still swinging at shit. Seriously it's very obvious that he's trying to make up for something and failing miserably. He did get a walk and stole a base but otherwise he went 0 for 4 today and has a pretty sorry record over his last 40 at-bats.
Choo and Brantley each went 1 for 4, and Choo's was a huuuuuuuuuuge bases-loaded single (after Asdrubal had popped out). He got 3 RBI on the day. Brantley didn't score any runs or have any RBI but he did walk and got his 35th double!
Santana didn't hit but he did get 2 walks and came around to score.
Kotchman is still hangin' tough, getting his expected once-in-a-while hit. He went 1 for 5 but was also stellar in the field because, dammit, not everything has to go to pot!
Zeke had a good day at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs. He also stole a base, which he should do more of but he's only got 4. He had an error out there in left, no doubt the ghost of Shelley blowing the ball around! Woosh!
Hannahan came out of nowhere to go 2 for 4 today, with an RBI and a run! Waaaat?
Marson was holding down the end of the lineup in the 9 spot, and went 1 for 4 with an RBI.
Fairly impressive bit of hitting today on our side, although it was against a RHP. It was like the A's were conceding the win! But our pitchers had to give it away.
But, at least they're losing as a team eh?
Tomorrow the Rangers come to town. They are good - first place in the West - but at least they're not on a winning tear like the A's. In fact they lost their last one. Woohoo!
It's Ubaldo versus RHP (5.46). Oh man - we totally got that! Provided Ubaldo does not throw it away. I have a very good feeling about Friday's game! I had a good feeling about today's game, which was true - I knew we'd do well unless Masterson sucked, which he did.
So everyone have a good evening off and I'll see you tomorrow night!
Here's your song for this game. Listen while you read this post. It doesn't mean anything, it's just in my head and it seems to fit well with my mood this afternoon. I mean, perhaps we have angered the Volcano Gods?
I'd like to help you son but you look like a goat.
I had a dream last night that we had won the game last night. And there was a good play at the plate. I think my brain is tired of losing baseball and made up a good story to sleep along to.
Masterson had a shit outing, only 1 outing removed from his last shit outing. So he's given up 16 in his last 3 outings.
The bullpen was terrible - although we'd lost the game by the time Masterson came out and Seddon came on for the 5th. He gave up 2 runs, Sipp walked 4 and gave up a run. Joe Smith - good ol' Joe Smith - he didn't give up any runs but Perez gave up a homer. But no one really cared because what's one more run when they've already got 11?
There were 371 pitches thrown today - at least the count wasn't lopsided. The average is just under 300. The game took 3 hours and 35 minutes, too.
We did get 10 hits and 7 walks. With out one HBP, we had the same number of guys on base (18) as the A's. We even had the same number of doubles! Only we didn't get our hits in the right order or something. They also got 4 home runs to our 2, and the difference in score was 5 runs - the same number of runs they got off homers.
Everyone actually had a decent day at the plate, numbers-wise. I'd say the pitching lost this one for us...which is a recent development! Or a recent re-tread of most of the rest of the season. Just something that hasn't been happening to us lately as our ability to score has been pretty weak all month. In fact we haven't scored 7 runs since August 5 when we scored 8. And lost.
Kipnis went 2 for 4 with a homer (13), a double and a walk. He walked in a run! Kipnis scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI! That's a real shot in the arm for him - hopefully is a foundation for a good, relaxed September.
One guy who is just NOT relaxing is Asdrubal, who is still swinging at shit. Seriously it's very obvious that he's trying to make up for something and failing miserably. He did get a walk and stole a base but otherwise he went 0 for 4 today and has a pretty sorry record over his last 40 at-bats.
Choo and Brantley each went 1 for 4, and Choo's was a huuuuuuuuuuge bases-loaded single (after Asdrubal had popped out). He got 3 RBI on the day. Brantley didn't score any runs or have any RBI but he did walk and got his 35th double!
Santana didn't hit but he did get 2 walks and came around to score.
Kotchman is still hangin' tough, getting his expected once-in-a-while hit. He went 1 for 5 but was also stellar in the field because, dammit, not everything has to go to pot!
Zeke had a good day at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs. He also stole a base, which he should do more of but he's only got 4. He had an error out there in left, no doubt the ghost of Shelley blowing the ball around! Woosh!
Hannahan came out of nowhere to go 2 for 4 today, with an RBI and a run! Waaaat?
Marson was holding down the end of the lineup in the 9 spot, and went 1 for 4 with an RBI.
Fairly impressive bit of hitting today on our side, although it was against a RHP. It was like the A's were conceding the win! But our pitchers had to give it away.
But, at least they're losing as a team eh?
Tomorrow the Rangers come to town. They are good - first place in the West - but at least they're not on a winning tear like the A's. In fact they lost their last one. Woohoo!
It's Ubaldo versus RHP (5.46). Oh man - we totally got that! Provided Ubaldo does not throw it away. I have a very good feeling about Friday's game! I had a good feeling about today's game, which was true - I knew we'd do well unless Masterson sucked, which he did.
So everyone have a good evening off and I'll see you tomorrow night!
Radio Chatter:
"He makes those tougher plays - that a lot of people don't realize are tougher plays - look a lot easier than they really are."
- Tom Hamilton on Casey Kotchman
"We talk so much about leadoff walks but as we saw right there - it doesn't matter where they are, they hurt."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Masterson loading the bases then giving up a 3-run double
"If Kotchman can't come up with it, chances are nobody else can either."
- Tom Hamilton
"Melky Cabrera being eligible for the National Leage batting title is something baseball needs to examine. It's like Al Capone being eligible for a tax break."
- Tom Hamilton
"Boy Oakland is putting on quite a ralley. They just returned a fastball for a touchdown."
- Tom Hamilton on some scoreboard shenanegins
"Jim Leyland may be going through a carton of heaters per day."
- Tom Hamilton on the frustrating Tigers
"Boy this is like an epidemic this inning. None of the Indians pitchers able to throw strikes."
- Tom Hamilton
"There hasn't been anything attractive about this game today."
- Tom Hamilton
"If you didn't know better, folks, you'd think today's date is March 17 and everybody was trying to get sharp for the season that starts in 2 weeks."
- Tom Hamilton says there have been 300 pitches thrown by the 7th
"There's no margin for error for those guys."
"They have to be 100 percent 100 percent of the time."
"We might start doing play-by-play of the jets, soon."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus on the jets flying over, practicing for the Air Show
"He makes those tougher plays - that a lot of people don't realize are tougher plays - look a lot easier than they really are."
- Tom Hamilton on Casey Kotchman
"We talk so much about leadoff walks but as we saw right there - it doesn't matter where they are, they hurt."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Masterson loading the bases then giving up a 3-run double
"If Kotchman can't come up with it, chances are nobody else can either."
- Tom Hamilton
"Melky Cabrera being eligible for the National Leage batting title is something baseball needs to examine. It's like Al Capone being eligible for a tax break."
- Tom Hamilton
"Boy Oakland is putting on quite a ralley. They just returned a fastball for a touchdown."
- Tom Hamilton on some scoreboard shenanegins
"Jim Leyland may be going through a carton of heaters per day."
- Tom Hamilton on the frustrating Tigers
"Boy this is like an epidemic this inning. None of the Indians pitchers able to throw strikes."
- Tom Hamilton
"There hasn't been anything attractive about this game today."
- Tom Hamilton
"If you didn't know better, folks, you'd think today's date is March 17 and everybody was trying to get sharp for the season that starts in 2 weeks."
- Tom Hamilton says there have been 300 pitches thrown by the 7th
"There's no margin for error for those guys."
"They have to be 100 percent 100 percent of the time."
"We might start doing play-by-play of the jets, soon."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus on the jets flying over, practicing for the Air Show
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Shelley No More
Shelley Duncan was designated for assignment, guys.
That doesn't necessarily mean that he's gone forever. That's what it meant for
Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe and Jose Lopez this year...but it doesn't
have to come to that. He also could be released and come back again some other time or even traded away and traded back, like Austin Kearns!
DFA'd for Jeanmar Gomez. Gah. Gomez better have been fitted with a cannon on his arm to justify this, is all I gotta say.
Tom Hamilton did say that the entire team was pretty bummed to see him go. He is really well-liked. I still want to know what the people who make the decisions knew that we didn't know. Why didn't he get to play every day? Why did they spend the entire season and spring saying "WE HAVE NO LEFT FIELDER!"?
Of course this is mostly Johnny Damon's fault, and I'll never forgive him for it. But I can't dislike the man more than I already do so the point is pretty much moot.
Hey, Corey Kluber had a not-too-bad game today! He had 3 earned runs in 6 innings, which is way better than 6 in 3 innings (it's happened!) And he struck out 7!
The rest of the guys didn't look so impressive...Cody Allen has lost his magic. He gave up 2 runs in just 1 inning, which would be the losing run and its cousin. He did strike out the 3 guys that didn't get hits. Good try?
Jeanmar Gomez came in for the 8th, courtesy of Shelley Duncan. He didn't give up any runs or any hits and struck out one. What else is there to say?
Poor Vinnie came in for the 9th and gave up 2 runs. Holy smokes! The dude is just wasting away in the bullpen I suspect. He struck 1 out too, and the staff struck out a total of 12 today. That's pretty crazy - I guess the last time (before last night) we struck out 16 and lost was a game Bob Feller pitched. I can only imagine what sort of new words he taught the younger players that day!
The game started off pretty promising. In the pre-game "Ask The Manager" show Manny Acta described some special game the guys played instead of batting practice, to help them loosen up. Choo and Cabrera were captains and they picked teams and they played a simulated baseball game of some sort. Not sure exactly what it entailed but it sounded super neat. If only I was able to go to batting practice TODAY!! The losing team had to collect all the balls from the field.
I bet everyone was like "Man, you know who would dig this? Shelley would dig this. Man I miss that guy."
Regardless, they did say that the players were laughing and trash-talking and in the best mood they'd been in since the slide started. And then the game rolled around and it was a rough start (Asdrubal got thrown out of the game for arguing strikes) but they score in the third. First off Jason Donald's weak-but-it-counts solo homer, followed by Zeke absolutely screaming around the bases to get a triple (I didn't see it but I couldn't believe it when they said he was already at second!) and Kipnis actually hitting him in to score a second run on a fielder's choice. Hurrah! Teamwork!
Then that was pretty much it except for a walk and a hit-by-pitch. In the 7th they put together 2 singles to start the inning but nothing came of it.
In the 8th there was some more action, with bases loaded and no outs. Bases got loaded on some way goofy error that is not a video highlight. I don't know why...aside from Donald's homer this is the only Indians offensive highlight video from tonight. It's a video of Kotchman hitting a slow roller to the second baseman while Marson scores. Yawn yawn and double yawn! Why not show how Michael Brantley got on base before that? Why not show Zeke's triple? Bad video picks!
Anyway so Kotch got a sac ground out and Marson scored. Before that Lillibridge had a sac fly and Choo scored. In case you didn't follow, that is TWO runs with bases loaded and no outs!! HOLY MOLEY I think they got it! Very sad that we have to be excited for two sacrifice RBIs (in fact, 3 of our 4 runs today were sacrifice) but considering our non-ability for scoring with bases loaded this is pretty exciting. Next stop - bases-loaded singles!
Zeke got a double in the 9th, giving him 2 extra-base hits on the night. And I guess that's why Shelley is gone. Dude's had 3 triples in 23 games with the Indians this year. Shelley had 11 homers, though (in 81 games).
Michael Brantley did not get a hit, in case you were curious. He did walk, though.
They managed to score 4 runs today which is the most runs they've scored since the 18th when they scored 5 against the A's in Oakland. That was 9 games ago. It's also the first runs they've scored since Sunday.
So did the little pick-up game before the real game help? Probably. It is definitely about relaxing right now. I think now that there is no more playoff dreams, they are all worried about keeping their jobs. Understandable, I guess.
Tomorrow is Justin Masterson versus RHP (3.52). I actually have a good feeling about the game. We've got a little hitting momentum, Masterson is on an upswing (his new pattern seems to be 2 good games and 1 bad, and he was bad just 2 outings ago).
It's a 12:05 game tomorrow. I hope people show up! The weather will be good. I'll be listening from work - see you there!
Oh as a tribute to Shelley Duncan - who no doubt enjoyed a good Nerf gun - and also to get more hits on my blog, I am going to share a secret I discovered today for modifying a Nerf Big Bad Bow.
I'll hide it for you, though, if you don't care. Click here to view.
 |
| WAT?! |
DFA'd for Jeanmar Gomez. Gah. Gomez better have been fitted with a cannon on his arm to justify this, is all I gotta say.
Tom Hamilton did say that the entire team was pretty bummed to see him go. He is really well-liked. I still want to know what the people who make the decisions knew that we didn't know. Why didn't he get to play every day? Why did they spend the entire season and spring saying "WE HAVE NO LEFT FIELDER!"?
Of course this is mostly Johnny Damon's fault, and I'll never forgive him for it. But I can't dislike the man more than I already do so the point is pretty much moot.
Hey, Corey Kluber had a not-too-bad game today! He had 3 earned runs in 6 innings, which is way better than 6 in 3 innings (it's happened!) And he struck out 7!
The rest of the guys didn't look so impressive...Cody Allen has lost his magic. He gave up 2 runs in just 1 inning, which would be the losing run and its cousin. He did strike out the 3 guys that didn't get hits. Good try?
Jeanmar Gomez came in for the 8th, courtesy of Shelley Duncan. He didn't give up any runs or any hits and struck out one. What else is there to say?
Poor Vinnie came in for the 9th and gave up 2 runs. Holy smokes! The dude is just wasting away in the bullpen I suspect. He struck 1 out too, and the staff struck out a total of 12 today. That's pretty crazy - I guess the last time (before last night) we struck out 16 and lost was a game Bob Feller pitched. I can only imagine what sort of new words he taught the younger players that day!
The game started off pretty promising. In the pre-game "Ask The Manager" show Manny Acta described some special game the guys played instead of batting practice, to help them loosen up. Choo and Cabrera were captains and they picked teams and they played a simulated baseball game of some sort. Not sure exactly what it entailed but it sounded super neat. If only I was able to go to batting practice TODAY!! The losing team had to collect all the balls from the field.
I bet everyone was like "Man, you know who would dig this? Shelley would dig this. Man I miss that guy."
Regardless, they did say that the players were laughing and trash-talking and in the best mood they'd been in since the slide started. And then the game rolled around and it was a rough start (Asdrubal got thrown out of the game for arguing strikes) but they score in the third. First off Jason Donald's weak-but-it-counts solo homer, followed by Zeke absolutely screaming around the bases to get a triple (I didn't see it but I couldn't believe it when they said he was already at second!) and Kipnis actually hitting him in to score a second run on a fielder's choice. Hurrah! Teamwork!
Then that was pretty much it except for a walk and a hit-by-pitch. In the 7th they put together 2 singles to start the inning but nothing came of it.
In the 8th there was some more action, with bases loaded and no outs. Bases got loaded on some way goofy error that is not a video highlight. I don't know why...aside from Donald's homer this is the only Indians offensive highlight video from tonight. It's a video of Kotchman hitting a slow roller to the second baseman while Marson scores. Yawn yawn and double yawn! Why not show how Michael Brantley got on base before that? Why not show Zeke's triple? Bad video picks!
Anyway so Kotch got a sac ground out and Marson scored. Before that Lillibridge had a sac fly and Choo scored. In case you didn't follow, that is TWO runs with bases loaded and no outs!! HOLY MOLEY I think they got it! Very sad that we have to be excited for two sacrifice RBIs (in fact, 3 of our 4 runs today were sacrifice) but considering our non-ability for scoring with bases loaded this is pretty exciting. Next stop - bases-loaded singles!
Zeke got a double in the 9th, giving him 2 extra-base hits on the night. And I guess that's why Shelley is gone. Dude's had 3 triples in 23 games with the Indians this year. Shelley had 11 homers, though (in 81 games).
Michael Brantley did not get a hit, in case you were curious. He did walk, though.
They managed to score 4 runs today which is the most runs they've scored since the 18th when they scored 5 against the A's in Oakland. That was 9 games ago. It's also the first runs they've scored since Sunday.
So did the little pick-up game before the real game help? Probably. It is definitely about relaxing right now. I think now that there is no more playoff dreams, they are all worried about keeping their jobs. Understandable, I guess.
Tomorrow is Justin Masterson versus RHP (3.52). I actually have a good feeling about the game. We've got a little hitting momentum, Masterson is on an upswing (his new pattern seems to be 2 good games and 1 bad, and he was bad just 2 outings ago).
It's a 12:05 game tomorrow. I hope people show up! The weather will be good. I'll be listening from work - see you there!
Oh as a tribute to Shelley Duncan - who no doubt enjoyed a good Nerf gun - and also to get more hits on my blog, I am going to share a secret I discovered today for modifying a Nerf Big Bad Bow.
I'll hide it for you, though, if you don't care. Click here to view.
Radio Chatter:
"It looks like Bartolo Colon ate Popeye."
- Tom Hamilton says Colon didn't get good on spinach
"One thing about [umpire] Gary Darling - he's got every hitter on both sides talking to themselves."
- Tom Hamilton
"How on earth does somebody from New Jersey qualify for a higher academic institution like that? Explain it, Rosie."
"There are some people that can be very persuasive."
"Is the guy's name Guido?"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus riff on New Jersey
"What is wrong with you tonight?"
"What's wrong with me? It's 6 to 2. I gotta pick on somebody."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton
"You can't argue dumb baseball. Might as well go back to the dugout."
- Tom Hamilton on the goofy play in the 8th
"It looks like Bartolo Colon ate Popeye."
- Tom Hamilton says Colon didn't get good on spinach
"One thing about [umpire] Gary Darling - he's got every hitter on both sides talking to themselves."
- Tom Hamilton
"How on earth does somebody from New Jersey qualify for a higher academic institution like that? Explain it, Rosie."
"There are some people that can be very persuasive."
"Is the guy's name Guido?"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus riff on New Jersey
"What is wrong with you tonight?"
"What's wrong with me? It's 6 to 2. I gotta pick on somebody."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton
"You can't argue dumb baseball. Might as well go back to the dugout."
- Tom Hamilton on the goofy play in the 8th
Monday, August 20, 2012
Aquatic Maintenance Uniforms
Man, I'm tired. I'm not tired of baseball or anything. I'm just really tired as of this moment and ready for bed - even though I took a little nap after work and didn't do anything exciting enough to make one tired. I even had an extra Pepsi MAX for lunch. MAX!
I almost got woken up at the end of this one, but poor ol' Sad Jason Kipnis couldn't capitalize on one out and bases loaded in the 9th.
Don't be too sad, bro - most of the other guys on the team would choke in that situation too.
Ubaldo was the starter and he was markedly better than Bad Ubaldo but not exactly Good Ubaldo. He went 5 2/3 and only gave up 3 earned runs, but it was in the form of two 2-out homers. Basically everyone hung on to the edge of their seats waiting for things to get much, much worse but thankfully they never did. He did strike out 8.
Joe Smith came in to finish up the 6th and suddenly Joe Smith isn't consistently good and in fact he is consistently not so good having given up 3 runs in his last 2 OUTS of work. Yeah man, just 2 outs, 3 runs. He gave up 1 tonight but granted it was after getting the last out of the 6th and then walking a guy in the 7th who then came in thanks to a homer from a guy Sipp pitched to. You follow? Well follow this - Smith got the loss.
Sipp finished that inning with no more runs and started the 8th. He pitched one out then they brought in Cody Allen who still fucking rocks, and he still gave up zero runs and is a total stud!
Quick thing about Chris Perez - he got into a shouting/swearing match with an Oakland fan which didn't seem cool. But today we find out that the fan had been heckling him for 4 years and Perez was trying to avoid the guy but it didn't happen. His nickname is Pure Rage, anyway. So, after a morning of being slightly disappointed with Perez I am now back on his side. I mean, heckling the Indians closer...in Oakland...for FOUR years? Who does that?!?! Probably the same dickhead who puffs away at a vuvuzuela at all the A's games.
Send him a positive tweet if you think he's cool. I did.
Sad Kipnis shouldn't be too sad - he DID start the game off with a homer! And he went 2 for 5 on the night with 2 RBI. His first multi-hit game since August 3 and his first multi-RBI game since July 18! Boy do I hope it's an upswing for the Kid...
Asdrubal is back in his upswing, after being shut out last night he went 2 for 4 tonight. He's gone 2 for 4 in 4 of his last 5 games!
Oh, but it's apparently lonely at the top as Choo was shut out again and Santana only managed a hit and a walk, again. His hit was a double and everything but he is just not getting any RBIs lately. Is it Choo? Is it Asdrubal? I guess he does need someone to hit in and stuff.
Brantley didn't get a hit today but he did walk, so he went 0 for 3. Phil Dawson got himself a Fresh Brewed Tee today. Surely Brantley is the Tribe's version of Dawson (however short-lived his tenure thus far) - his tee must be on the horizon!
Casey Kotchman went 1 for 3 with a walk today. Yeah buddy!
Zeke got on base in the 5th with a bunt, then came around to score. Just like we planned! But later in the 9th, he got an almost-home-run-BROKEN-BAT-double off the wall! Off the wall! They don't want him swingin' for power, though. How do you even deal with that? He has power, except when he doesn't. No reason to swing for the fences when you can guide it 20 feet down the line and easily reach first. But...broken bat double off the wall! Bother...
Jason Donald's hitting streak ended. Sucks.
So after all that, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm coming down with a case of last-minute allergies, now that we suddenly have rain and grass. Only one more late night game then we're done with that for the SEASON! Tomorrow we're back in Seattle versus...uhm...well it's Hernandez versus Hernandez. We're gonna need a bigger boat.
I highly recommend tuning in on the radio tomorrow night if you can. It's the last night game of a long west coast trip and maybe, I'm thinking, it just might be a blowout. Hammy and Rosie were starting to lose their noodles today, it can only get worse tomorrow. So put on the radio behind the TV, I think you'll end up hearing something good.
It's at 10:05 - see you there!
I almost got woken up at the end of this one, but poor ol' Sad Jason Kipnis couldn't capitalize on one out and bases loaded in the 9th.
Ubaldo was the starter and he was markedly better than Bad Ubaldo but not exactly Good Ubaldo. He went 5 2/3 and only gave up 3 earned runs, but it was in the form of two 2-out homers. Basically everyone hung on to the edge of their seats waiting for things to get much, much worse but thankfully they never did. He did strike out 8.
Joe Smith came in to finish up the 6th and suddenly Joe Smith isn't consistently good and in fact he is consistently not so good having given up 3 runs in his last 2 OUTS of work. Yeah man, just 2 outs, 3 runs. He gave up 1 tonight but granted it was after getting the last out of the 6th and then walking a guy in the 7th who then came in thanks to a homer from a guy Sipp pitched to. You follow? Well follow this - Smith got the loss.
Sipp finished that inning with no more runs and started the 8th. He pitched one out then they brought in Cody Allen who still fucking rocks, and he still gave up zero runs and is a total stud!
Quick thing about Chris Perez - he got into a shouting/swearing match with an Oakland fan which didn't seem cool. But today we find out that the fan had been heckling him for 4 years and Perez was trying to avoid the guy but it didn't happen. His nickname is Pure Rage, anyway. So, after a morning of being slightly disappointed with Perez I am now back on his side. I mean, heckling the Indians closer...in Oakland...for FOUR years? Who does that?!?! Probably the same dickhead who puffs away at a vuvuzuela at all the A's games.
Send him a positive tweet if you think he's cool. I did.
Sad Kipnis shouldn't be too sad - he DID start the game off with a homer! And he went 2 for 5 on the night with 2 RBI. His first multi-hit game since August 3 and his first multi-RBI game since July 18! Boy do I hope it's an upswing for the Kid...
Asdrubal is back in his upswing, after being shut out last night he went 2 for 4 tonight. He's gone 2 for 4 in 4 of his last 5 games!
Oh, but it's apparently lonely at the top as Choo was shut out again and Santana only managed a hit and a walk, again. His hit was a double and everything but he is just not getting any RBIs lately. Is it Choo? Is it Asdrubal? I guess he does need someone to hit in and stuff.
Brantley didn't get a hit today but he did walk, so he went 0 for 3. Phil Dawson got himself a Fresh Brewed Tee today. Surely Brantley is the Tribe's version of Dawson (however short-lived his tenure thus far) - his tee must be on the horizon!
Casey Kotchman went 1 for 3 with a walk today. Yeah buddy!
Zeke got on base in the 5th with a bunt, then came around to score. Just like we planned! But later in the 9th, he got an almost-home-run-BROKEN-BAT-double off the wall! Off the wall! They don't want him swingin' for power, though. How do you even deal with that? He has power, except when he doesn't. No reason to swing for the fences when you can guide it 20 feet down the line and easily reach first. But...broken bat double off the wall! Bother...
Jason Donald's hitting streak ended. Sucks.
So after all that, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm coming down with a case of last-minute allergies, now that we suddenly have rain and grass. Only one more late night game then we're done with that for the SEASON! Tomorrow we're back in Seattle versus...uhm...well it's Hernandez versus Hernandez. We're gonna need a bigger boat.
I highly recommend tuning in on the radio tomorrow night if you can. It's the last night game of a long west coast trip and maybe, I'm thinking, it just might be a blowout. Hammy and Rosie were starting to lose their noodles today, it can only get worse tomorrow. So put on the radio behind the TV, I think you'll end up hearing something good.
It's at 10:05 - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"You never know what you're going to get with Ubaldo Jiminez. Lately, a lot of those chocolates have no filling."
- Tom Hamilton channels Forrest Gump
"John Rocker [...] was getting heckled by a group of fans during warm-up, and he threw a cup of lemonade at them. Only it wasn't lemonade. [...] John Rocker is undoubtedly the biggest idiot in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton
"That's not going from the frying pan to the fire. That's going from the frying pan to the furnace."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians facing Felix Hernandez tomorrow
"Ed Hickox must feel like one of those ducks at the county fair that everybody is shooting at to try to win a prize, and nobody is missing."
- Tom Hamilton on the home plate umpire getting hit a lot
"You never know what you're going to get with Ubaldo Jiminez. Lately, a lot of those chocolates have no filling."
- Tom Hamilton channels Forrest Gump
"John Rocker [...] was getting heckled by a group of fans during warm-up, and he threw a cup of lemonade at them. Only it wasn't lemonade. [...] John Rocker is undoubtedly the biggest idiot in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton
"That's not going from the frying pan to the fire. That's going from the frying pan to the furnace."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians facing Felix Hernandez tomorrow
"Ed Hickox must feel like one of those ducks at the county fair that everybody is shooting at to try to win a prize, and nobody is missing."
- Tom Hamilton on the home plate umpire getting hit a lot
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Click Here for the Good News
A rundown of good things from today's game...
- Kluber sucked, wow. And so did Tomlin. But the good news is that he's Corey Kluber and not our "ace" (Masterson) nor is he the guy we paid a lot of money for to save us (Jiminez). He's just some kid that had to come up because Lowe was toast and Tomlin was failing. Oh and Tomlin did bad because Tomlin is failing.
- Cody Allen still pitching 0.00, now over 11 innings.
- Santana in left. Ha!
- John Lester had a hell of a game. He was pitching like people had hoped he would pitch but he never actually did pitch. Perhaps we could have eked out more than 1 run but it wasn't likely. I don't think we can necessarily say there was bad batting today.
- Ha!
- Jason Donald is still showing up, going 1 for 4 today. Not sure how long he will keep it up (not like he's a stuperstar or anything...) but good to see him not totally failing.
- Zeke is also still showing up and not a fluke. He went 1 for 2 today with a walk and a double. Batting .393.
- There wasn't a pitching meltdown on Gaylord Perry day, because that would have been embarrassing. Although he would have had some fantastically southern things to say about it.
- It was a lovely day. The weather turned out to be nice, I hung out on a playground with my niece. I ate a piece of cake. Couldn't really let a baseball game turn it sour. Hope you didn't either!
Onward and upward to tomorrow. The boys are no doubt already in Anaheim to play the Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim. Or the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles? I hope you all brought your sleeping bags because it'll be 9 days of late games (4:05 Sunday woohoo!) against the Angels, A's and Mariners.
Tomorrow (yeah, no day off!) is Masterson versus LHP (3.34) who has been struggling lately. Behind Justin will no doubt be a team ready to rip the cover off the ball. Yeah!
10:05 - see you there!
- Kluber sucked, wow. And so did Tomlin. But the good news is that he's Corey Kluber and not our "ace" (Masterson) nor is he the guy we paid a lot of money for to save us (Jiminez). He's just some kid that had to come up because Lowe was toast and Tomlin was failing. Oh and Tomlin did bad because Tomlin is failing.
- Cody Allen still pitching 0.00, now over 11 innings.
- Santana in left. Ha!
- John Lester had a hell of a game. He was pitching like people had hoped he would pitch but he never actually did pitch. Perhaps we could have eked out more than 1 run but it wasn't likely. I don't think we can necessarily say there was bad batting today.
- Ha!
- Jason Donald is still showing up, going 1 for 4 today. Not sure how long he will keep it up (not like he's a stuperstar or anything...) but good to see him not totally failing.
- Zeke is also still showing up and not a fluke. He went 1 for 2 today with a walk and a double. Batting .393.
- There wasn't a pitching meltdown on Gaylord Perry day, because that would have been embarrassing. Although he would have had some fantastically southern things to say about it.
- It was a lovely day. The weather turned out to be nice, I hung out on a playground with my niece. I ate a piece of cake. Couldn't really let a baseball game turn it sour. Hope you didn't either!
Onward and upward to tomorrow. The boys are no doubt already in Anaheim to play the Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim. Or the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles? I hope you all brought your sleeping bags because it'll be 9 days of late games (4:05 Sunday woohoo!) against the Angels, A's and Mariners.
Tomorrow (yeah, no day off!) is Masterson versus LHP (3.34) who has been struggling lately. Behind Justin will no doubt be a team ready to rip the cover off the ball. Yeah!
10:05 - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"You can almost gaurantee that's what Acta went to the mound to tell Kluber and Marson - 'Hey, fix it up! Didn't you learn anything from Kansas City?'"
- Tom Hamilton in the first inning
"If everybody in the ballpark can see you're upset with the umpires, good luck getting any close calls."
- Tom Hamilton
"Starting to look like a spring training scorecard with all the changes."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th
"Well we told you he's never been out there before and he looks like it."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's catch in left
"This is one game that is certainly not going to go into anyone's scrapbook if you're an Indians player or fan."
- Tom Hamilton
"You can almost gaurantee that's what Acta went to the mound to tell Kluber and Marson - 'Hey, fix it up! Didn't you learn anything from Kansas City?'"
- Tom Hamilton in the first inning
"If everybody in the ballpark can see you're upset with the umpires, good luck getting any close calls."
- Tom Hamilton
"Starting to look like a spring training scorecard with all the changes."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th
"Well we told you he's never been out there before and he looks like it."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's catch in left
"This is one game that is certainly not going to go into anyone's scrapbook if you're an Indians player or fan."
- Tom Hamilton
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Brent Lillibridge - Amen!
Back to great starting pitching and great defense, and good-enough hitting for the win! Literally - a win!
Zach McAllister starter today and he totally shook off that "zomg that was awful!" start against Minnesota (where he only had 2 ER but there were like 10 runs in the 2nd inning) and pitched a beauty! He went 8 innings. EIGHT! Not only did he win the game but he saved the bullpen. In his 8 innings he struck out 4 and only gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. He's our new rotation stud! So nice to have someone reliable around.
Speaking of reliable, ol' Smooth Face Perez came up for the 9th and just wasn't having any of it. He got 2 outs really quick then got Pedroia to 2 strikes then gave up a single. Then he was like "Yo, Justin, I'm really happy for you. Imma let you steal that base but I just want to say that Ezequiel Carrera is the best left fielder we've had this year." BALLGAME!
Zeke wasn't the only defensive highlight today. Asdrubal was hot stuff, natch. Not just once but twice! Brantley and Lillibridge teamed out for a super sexy outfield assist, as did Duncan and Lillibridge. Plus there was some baserunning going on - double steal!
Man did you hear the "Let's go Red Sox!" chants at one point? Who ARE these people? I think Red Sox "fans" are just IRL griefers. They probably go home and steal kids' money on World of Warcraft. That shit didn't last too long beyond the 6th inning. "Red Sox fans" are fickle as hell.
The hitters were totally chipping away at the score today. They scored in 5 out of 8 innings, albeit 1 run at a time. They only got 6 hits but coupled that with 4 walks and then of course, as I said, double steal!
Kipnis was out again today. I guarantee he is aggravating his neck by being upset about his neck. He needs to relax his TMJ muscle. Too bad our friend Jen is on vacation - she's got the magic touch when it comes to massage, I'd totally get him an appointment with her. Everyone send him well wishes on Twitter! Oh, looks like he's got a Facebook page now. And he's really stepping out into the community, which Kenny Lofton urges all players to do. Bravo!
Jason Donald was leadoff today and he continued his hot streak (work with me here) going 1 for 4. Unfortunately that didn't translate in to any runs or RBI.
Asdrubal's only appearance on base was from a walk, but he made the best of it. Choo also didn't get any hits but he was on after Asdrubal when he got hit by a pitch. That's when they did the double steal! Then Santana gets put on and Brantley hits a sac fly to score Asdrubalfor the go-ahead run.
Santana went 1 for 3 with a double in the 8th inning. He came around to score when Zeke came in to bat in Shelley's spot and got an RBI single. He's hitting .385! (Not Santana - he's only hitting .240)
The man of the night was Brent Lillibridge. In fact he was one of Head & Shoulders' Mane Men tonight and they made a whole video about it! He went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Plus he had that sweet play to get Ellsbury at 3rd. Oh and he was a triple shy of the cycle. Yeah, he got a homer in the 3rd inning, his first of the year! If you didn't know, we got him from Boston, but he only played 10 games with them (they were "renting" him?) They got him from the White Sox, where he hit under .200 and he hit .125 with Boston. So far he's hitting .300 with us in 11 games. I am, without a doubt, coming around fast on this guy!
Oh crap - I just decided to see if he had a Twitter account (@BSLillibridge) and he does and uh it's uh...well he loves Jesus. Don't get me wrong - Jesus is just all right with me. But Brent is sort of enthusiastic about it on his Twitter account. But what the heck, I'll give him a chance. Maybe that's why he's thriving here? A good chunk of our team is Crazy4Christ. Those heathens in Boston did not jibe with his exuberance for the Lord and today Brent and the Lord made them pay.
Sweet Lou executed a perfect suicide squeeze today, to score Lillibridge after Kotchman moved him over to 3rd. Praise be!
Nice game all around today and Brent Lillibridge played a big part, no doubt. Kind of fun seeing some new faces when those new faces are doing well and making a difference. Unlike when we saw Johnny Damon's stupid old face and he ruined everything.
Tomorrow is the 4th and final game against the Red Sox at 1:05. It's Corey Kluber versus LHP (5.36). If we can score another 5 we'll be golden. Have a nice fresh bullpen waiting too if Kluber can't hack it but his last start was great so I'm hoping to have a nice Sunday win for a change! Of course I'll be out kid wranglin' at a first birthday party so you'll have to wait for my witty and clever commentary, and over-abundance of exclamation points.
See you there!!
Zach McAllister starter today and he totally shook off that "zomg that was awful!" start against Minnesota (where he only had 2 ER but there were like 10 runs in the 2nd inning) and pitched a beauty! He went 8 innings. EIGHT! Not only did he win the game but he saved the bullpen. In his 8 innings he struck out 4 and only gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. He's our new rotation stud! So nice to have someone reliable around.
Speaking of reliable, ol' Smooth Face Perez came up for the 9th and just wasn't having any of it. He got 2 outs really quick then got Pedroia to 2 strikes then gave up a single. Then he was like "Yo, Justin, I'm really happy for you. Imma let you steal that base but I just want to say that Ezequiel Carrera is the best left fielder we've had this year." BALLGAME!
Zeke wasn't the only defensive highlight today. Asdrubal was hot stuff, natch. Not just once but twice! Brantley and Lillibridge teamed out for a super sexy outfield assist, as did Duncan and Lillibridge. Plus there was some baserunning going on - double steal!
Man did you hear the "Let's go Red Sox!" chants at one point? Who ARE these people? I think Red Sox "fans" are just IRL griefers. They probably go home and steal kids' money on World of Warcraft. That shit didn't last too long beyond the 6th inning. "Red Sox fans" are fickle as hell.
The hitters were totally chipping away at the score today. They scored in 5 out of 8 innings, albeit 1 run at a time. They only got 6 hits but coupled that with 4 walks and then of course, as I said, double steal!
Kipnis was out again today. I guarantee he is aggravating his neck by being upset about his neck. He needs to relax his TMJ muscle. Too bad our friend Jen is on vacation - she's got the magic touch when it comes to massage, I'd totally get him an appointment with her. Everyone send him well wishes on Twitter! Oh, looks like he's got a Facebook page now. And he's really stepping out into the community, which Kenny Lofton urges all players to do. Bravo!
Jason Donald was leadoff today and he continued his hot streak (work with me here) going 1 for 4. Unfortunately that didn't translate in to any runs or RBI.
Asdrubal's only appearance on base was from a walk, but he made the best of it. Choo also didn't get any hits but he was on after Asdrubal when he got hit by a pitch. That's when they did the double steal! Then Santana gets put on and Brantley hits a sac fly to score Asdrubalfor the go-ahead run.
Santana went 1 for 3 with a double in the 8th inning. He came around to score when Zeke came in to bat in Shelley's spot and got an RBI single. He's hitting .385! (Not Santana - he's only hitting .240)
The man of the night was Brent Lillibridge. In fact he was one of Head & Shoulders' Mane Men tonight and they made a whole video about it! He went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Plus he had that sweet play to get Ellsbury at 3rd. Oh and he was a triple shy of the cycle. Yeah, he got a homer in the 3rd inning, his first of the year! If you didn't know, we got him from Boston, but he only played 10 games with them (they were "renting" him?) They got him from the White Sox, where he hit under .200 and he hit .125 with Boston. So far he's hitting .300 with us in 11 games. I am, without a doubt, coming around fast on this guy!
Oh crap - I just decided to see if he had a Twitter account (@BSLillibridge) and he does and uh it's uh...well he loves Jesus. Don't get me wrong - Jesus is just all right with me. But Brent is sort of enthusiastic about it on his Twitter account. But what the heck, I'll give him a chance. Maybe that's why he's thriving here? A good chunk of our team is Crazy4Christ. Those heathens in Boston did not jibe with his exuberance for the Lord and today Brent and the Lord made them pay.
Sweet Lou executed a perfect suicide squeeze today, to score Lillibridge after Kotchman moved him over to 3rd. Praise be!
Nice game all around today and Brent Lillibridge played a big part, no doubt. Kind of fun seeing some new faces when those new faces are doing well and making a difference. Unlike when we saw Johnny Damon's stupid old face and he ruined everything.
Tomorrow is the 4th and final game against the Red Sox at 1:05. It's Corey Kluber versus LHP (5.36). If we can score another 5 we'll be golden. Have a nice fresh bullpen waiting too if Kluber can't hack it but his last start was great so I'm hoping to have a nice Sunday win for a change! Of course I'll be out kid wranglin' at a first birthday party so you'll have to wait for my witty and clever commentary, and over-abundance of exclamation points.
See you there!!
Radio Chatter:
"New floormats are nice this time of year."
"Why don't you purchase them for Andrew?"
"You brought it up - just making suggestions from the accessories department."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on what could be given away instead of a Nissan for a grand slam
"Ellsbury probably still can't believe that wasn't a home run!"
- Tom Hamilton on Brantley's outfield putout of Ellsbury in the 6th
"If you can't turn your head, it makes it tough in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' stiff neck
"He's got 106 pitches now and he looks like one of those olympic runners staggering to the finish line."
- Tom Hamilton on Franklin Morales before he's taken out
"Good to hear John Adams banging the drum in the bleachers. When the Indians were in a losing streak he was banging his head in frustration."
- Tom Hamilton
"New floormats are nice this time of year."
"Why don't you purchase them for Andrew?"
"You brought it up - just making suggestions from the accessories department."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on what could be given away instead of a Nissan for a grand slam
"Ellsbury probably still can't believe that wasn't a home run!"
- Tom Hamilton on Brantley's outfield putout of Ellsbury in the 6th
"If you can't turn your head, it makes it tough in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' stiff neck
"He's got 106 pitches now and he looks like one of those olympic runners staggering to the finish line."
- Tom Hamilton on Franklin Morales before he's taken out
"Good to hear John Adams banging the drum in the bleachers. When the Indians were in a losing streak he was banging his head in frustration."
- Tom Hamilton
Sunday, August 5, 2012
No Alarms and No Surprises, Please
I can't believe I did it. I came home and I read the box score and even after that I flipped to the audio archive and sat here and listened to today's game. I had to, though. I had to hear how that 4 hours and 10 minutes of baseball went down. Because really, it was pretty much the best baseball we've played on this road trip. It was a great game. It was full of surprises!
Surprise 1: The new guy, Chris Seddon, could have been much worse. Yes 4 runs in 4 innings but he was better out of the gate than Corey Kluber.
Surprise 2: Christ on a cracker - Ezequiel Carrera! I was saying yesterday how it was fun to watch him go but I didn't think it would last. But here he is continuing on - 3 for 5 with a HOMER.
Surprise 3: Josh Tomlin just killing the 9th inning. The game was supposed to be over after Jackson's lead-off triple. No. Josh Tomlin said no.
Surprise 4: Travis Hafner hitting a home run. Yeah I know technically that's what we pay him to do but he doesn't lead the team in homers. And this team doesn't do comeback wins anymore. And he was hurt just yesterday. Him getting a 2-run bomb to un-tie it in the 10th is a total, TOTAL surprise.
Surprise 5: Chris Perez spectacularly blowing everything at the end. If you've been around past the 1st game of the season you know that doesn't happen. You know that after Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez is the most sure thing on this team. Giving up one run when we've got a 2+ run lead? Always. Giving up 5 to lose a game in the 10th? Ne.ver. I'll guarantee you no one is more surprised than Chris Perez. I would hate to be a wall fixture in the visitor's clubhouse tonight.
The surprises were all good, except for the one that was really, really bad. You can't even imagine how hard it was to get to that 10th inning for me, listening to the archive. Like waiting for "that moment" in Old Yeller.
Anyway, on to the game.
Seddon started. Here's a picture of him pitching:
I happened to catch some of the game on TV today and I was all "wow we got our own Lincecum!" You know - tall, skinny, hair. Turns out he's 5" taller than Tim and not nearly as stupid looking - he just happens to have long hair. I don't get out much.
He gave up 4 runs to a team that had 3 starters batting over .300. So far he's just as good or better than the dude he replaced (Lowe). Hopefully every start is a little better. His line was 7 hits and 4 runs in 4 1/3, 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Only one home run.
Manny threw the entire contents of the bullpen up there today. Here's another small surprise: the only guy other than Perez to give up a run was SMITH. Not Sipp, not Accardo, not even Tomlin. Joe Smith, I'm sure, is equally surprised.
The arms we saw were Allen (still pitching 0.00!), Sipp (still under 5!), Smith, Pestano (still calls your mom!), Tomlin and Perez. Pestano went 2 innings and struck out 3 because he is a man.
I don't have to go over Perez's inning. You got the gist.
Here's another surprise (THEY DON'T STOP!) - on a day when everyone was getting in to the act, and a day when he got 6 at-bats, Jason Kipnis did nothing. No walk, no sac fly, no nothing. He struck out twice and otherwise hit in to outs. I am totally wearing my We Are All Kipnises t-shirt to the game tomorrow because clearly the JK Kid needs some inspiration.You should tweet him.
Nice game for Asdrubal who went 2 for 6 and came in to score 2 runs. One of his hits was a double, his 24th. He also stole 2 bases which give him only his 3rd and 4th for the season. Ever since he pulled a little trick some time just before the break by dancing around at 3rd and coming home to score, he seems to be concentrating a little more on his running game. He's scheming to try to make it work. I think he's been caught stealing and caught trying to stretch out a single a couple times since then but perhaps today he's broken through a barrier of some sort.
Choo wasn't seeing it today, going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. But when he DID see it was when he Scherzer deep in the 3rd for a solo homer! I seen it on TV! They took him out in the 9th during that Tomlin madness to put in Lopez to have a 5-man infield. I am pretty sure that was a good decision because the batter ended up grounding in to an inning-ending double play. You never like to lose your Choo but this time - what fun!
After being shut down last night, Santana was back in full force today going 2 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. He also walked. He's walked in 6 of his last 8 games and gotten 7 hits. Keep going!
Brantley was smoothin' it out today, going 3 for 4 with his 31st and 32nd doubles. Still not ahead of Choo but still squarely in 3rd place! He also got an RBI and a walk. Finally his average is moving again, up to .293. He now leads the team! (Leads amongst qualifying players. Zeke's average is .583 but that's just over 3 games!)
Once gain with the baby power is Travis Hafner (see Hannahan, Choo, Damon, Duncan) who went 3 for 5 today after coming off baby leave and then a day of a sore back. Before he got his homer to crush Detroit in the 10th he got a RBI single in the first and one in the seventh. He also struck out twice. But all of that together is exactly what every team wants their DH to do. Fan-friggin-tastic day for Pronk!
You don't expect your fast little rookie outfielder to do the same. He also went 3 for 5 with a homer and 2 strikeouts today. And he stole a base. How does this happen?? He's now 7 for 12 since he got here. Way!
Brent Lillibridge was in for Hannahan and struck out 3 times before Manny realized we were still in this game, so he put Jack in for the 7th and Jack ended up going 1 for 2 with a run scored. That's nice to see - being able to make effective changes in a lineup like that.
Laser Lou was back today. Not only did he go 2 for 5 but he caught a guy stealing and presumably shut down their base-stealing game because nobody else tried. Marson's only caught 6 this year and has let 42 go. It's crazy because he got 30 of the buggers last year! Ah well - nice to see him snag one today, hopefully it will be a trend! His last hit was an RBI double that put us up 3 runs in the 10th, so he was just contributing all over today!
So yeah it ended in deafening heartache. We've lost a team-record-setting 9 games on the road and a season-high 9 games in a row. But what are you going to do? Not tune in tomorrow? There are 54 games left - 1/3 of the season. We've got new players to watch develop and original players pledging to only do better. Yeah, we're probably out of the playoffs but it's Cleveland, bitches. It's not within your idiom to get what you desire.
Just remember to love baseball, because when it's cold and dark and the Browns are doing no better than the Tribe is now due to a complete lack of linebackers, you will miss it.
I'm off to the game tomorrow (7:05, McAllister versus Twins LHP) so post will be late. Gonna be rockin' the top of the bleachers I hope. Anyone else going? I'll see you there!
Surprise 1: The new guy, Chris Seddon, could have been much worse. Yes 4 runs in 4 innings but he was better out of the gate than Corey Kluber.
Surprise 2: Christ on a cracker - Ezequiel Carrera! I was saying yesterday how it was fun to watch him go but I didn't think it would last. But here he is continuing on - 3 for 5 with a HOMER.
Surprise 3: Josh Tomlin just killing the 9th inning. The game was supposed to be over after Jackson's lead-off triple. No. Josh Tomlin said no.
Surprise 4: Travis Hafner hitting a home run. Yeah I know technically that's what we pay him to do but he doesn't lead the team in homers. And this team doesn't do comeback wins anymore. And he was hurt just yesterday. Him getting a 2-run bomb to un-tie it in the 10th is a total, TOTAL surprise.
Surprise 5: Chris Perez spectacularly blowing everything at the end. If you've been around past the 1st game of the season you know that doesn't happen. You know that after Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez is the most sure thing on this team. Giving up one run when we've got a 2+ run lead? Always. Giving up 5 to lose a game in the 10th? Ne.ver. I'll guarantee you no one is more surprised than Chris Perez. I would hate to be a wall fixture in the visitor's clubhouse tonight.
The surprises were all good, except for the one that was really, really bad. You can't even imagine how hard it was to get to that 10th inning for me, listening to the archive. Like waiting for "that moment" in Old Yeller.
Anyway, on to the game.
Seddon started. Here's a picture of him pitching:
He gave up 4 runs to a team that had 3 starters batting over .300. So far he's just as good or better than the dude he replaced (Lowe). Hopefully every start is a little better. His line was 7 hits and 4 runs in 4 1/3, 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Only one home run.
Manny threw the entire contents of the bullpen up there today. Here's another small surprise: the only guy other than Perez to give up a run was SMITH. Not Sipp, not Accardo, not even Tomlin. Joe Smith, I'm sure, is equally surprised.
The arms we saw were Allen (still pitching 0.00!), Sipp (still under 5!), Smith, Pestano (still calls your mom!), Tomlin and Perez. Pestano went 2 innings and struck out 3 because he is a man.
I don't have to go over Perez's inning. You got the gist.
Here's another surprise (THEY DON'T STOP!) - on a day when everyone was getting in to the act, and a day when he got 6 at-bats, Jason Kipnis did nothing. No walk, no sac fly, no nothing. He struck out twice and otherwise hit in to outs. I am totally wearing my We Are All Kipnises t-shirt to the game tomorrow because clearly the JK Kid needs some inspiration.You should tweet him.
Nice game for Asdrubal who went 2 for 6 and came in to score 2 runs. One of his hits was a double, his 24th. He also stole 2 bases which give him only his 3rd and 4th for the season. Ever since he pulled a little trick some time just before the break by dancing around at 3rd and coming home to score, he seems to be concentrating a little more on his running game. He's scheming to try to make it work. I think he's been caught stealing and caught trying to stretch out a single a couple times since then but perhaps today he's broken through a barrier of some sort.
Choo wasn't seeing it today, going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. But when he DID see it was when he Scherzer deep in the 3rd for a solo homer! I seen it on TV! They took him out in the 9th during that Tomlin madness to put in Lopez to have a 5-man infield. I am pretty sure that was a good decision because the batter ended up grounding in to an inning-ending double play. You never like to lose your Choo but this time - what fun!
After being shut down last night, Santana was back in full force today going 2 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. He also walked. He's walked in 6 of his last 8 games and gotten 7 hits. Keep going!
Brantley was smoothin' it out today, going 3 for 4 with his 31st and 32nd doubles. Still not ahead of Choo but still squarely in 3rd place! He also got an RBI and a walk. Finally his average is moving again, up to .293. He now leads the team! (Leads amongst qualifying players. Zeke's average is .583 but that's just over 3 games!)
Once gain with the baby power is Travis Hafner (see Hannahan, Choo, Damon, Duncan) who went 3 for 5 today after coming off baby leave and then a day of a sore back. Before he got his homer to crush Detroit in the 10th he got a RBI single in the first and one in the seventh. He also struck out twice. But all of that together is exactly what every team wants their DH to do. Fan-friggin-tastic day for Pronk!
You don't expect your fast little rookie outfielder to do the same. He also went 3 for 5 with a homer and 2 strikeouts today. And he stole a base. How does this happen?? He's now 7 for 12 since he got here. Way!
Brent Lillibridge was in for Hannahan and struck out 3 times before Manny realized we were still in this game, so he put Jack in for the 7th and Jack ended up going 1 for 2 with a run scored. That's nice to see - being able to make effective changes in a lineup like that.
Laser Lou was back today. Not only did he go 2 for 5 but he caught a guy stealing and presumably shut down their base-stealing game because nobody else tried. Marson's only caught 6 this year and has let 42 go. It's crazy because he got 30 of the buggers last year! Ah well - nice to see him snag one today, hopefully it will be a trend! His last hit was an RBI double that put us up 3 runs in the 10th, so he was just contributing all over today!
So yeah it ended in deafening heartache. We've lost a team-record-setting 9 games on the road and a season-high 9 games in a row. But what are you going to do? Not tune in tomorrow? There are 54 games left - 1/3 of the season. We've got new players to watch develop and original players pledging to only do better. Yeah, we're probably out of the playoffs but it's Cleveland, bitches. It's not within your idiom to get what you desire.
Just remember to love baseball, because when it's cold and dark and the Browns are doing no better than the Tribe is now due to a complete lack of linebackers, you will miss it.
I'm off to the game tomorrow (7:05, McAllister versus Twins LHP) so post will be late. Gonna be rockin' the top of the bleachers I hope. Anyone else going? I'll see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Marson was out by anywhere from 15 to 20 feet."
- Tom Hamilton on Marson trying to be a hero in the 2nd
"If either team was going to be on edge this weekend you'd think it'd be the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton on Jim Leyland getting tossed in the 2nd
"You don't get a really good feeling watching Chris Seddon today, from the standpoint of the Tigers are having really good at-bats."
- Tom Hamilton
"After he hit it he thought it may go out but then he remembered where he was and took off."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Fielder's long fly out in the 5th
"If you're hitting .179 you'd better be able to get a bunt down."
- Tom Hamilton on Brent Lillibridge
"One win could change everything."
- Tom Hamilton
"Talk about inheriting an explosive situation."
- Tom Hamilton on Vinnie being brought in with 2 on and no out
"Is this how Russell Crowe felt in the final scene of Gladiator?"
- Tom Hamilton on Tomlin's 9th inning
"It's as if that home run by Hafner lifted a weight off the club mentally."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"I mean if you gave this script to Hollywood they'd say 'Nah, sorry - we don't deal in make-believe.'"
- Tom Hamilton when the game is tied in the 10th
"How about all of those people who left the ballpark early now probably pounding their dashboards, driving to the suburbs of Detroit? Indians fans have probably driven off the road."
- Tom Hamilton
"There's gotta be another word other than 'unbelievable.'"
- Tom Hamilton's last word
"Marson was out by anywhere from 15 to 20 feet."
- Tom Hamilton on Marson trying to be a hero in the 2nd
"If either team was going to be on edge this weekend you'd think it'd be the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton on Jim Leyland getting tossed in the 2nd
"You don't get a really good feeling watching Chris Seddon today, from the standpoint of the Tigers are having really good at-bats."
- Tom Hamilton
"After he hit it he thought it may go out but then he remembered where he was and took off."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Fielder's long fly out in the 5th
"If you're hitting .179 you'd better be able to get a bunt down."
- Tom Hamilton on Brent Lillibridge
"One win could change everything."
- Tom Hamilton
"Talk about inheriting an explosive situation."
- Tom Hamilton on Vinnie being brought in with 2 on and no out
"Is this how Russell Crowe felt in the final scene of Gladiator?"
- Tom Hamilton on Tomlin's 9th inning
"It's as if that home run by Hafner lifted a weight off the club mentally."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"I mean if you gave this script to Hollywood they'd say 'Nah, sorry - we don't deal in make-believe.'"
- Tom Hamilton when the game is tied in the 10th
"How about all of those people who left the ballpark early now probably pounding their dashboards, driving to the suburbs of Detroit? Indians fans have probably driven off the road."
- Tom Hamilton
"There's gotta be another word other than 'unbelievable.'"
- Tom Hamilton's last word
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Meryl Masterson's Home Plate Cookies
Thought we'd keep the mood light today and start off with a little home-baked cookie goodness from Mrs. Masterson. I'd never heard of this Indian wife venture until tonight but it's been a thing for a year or so. If you go on the site there's a video clip from Fox News from 2011. The clip is crazy - Meryl is wearing like a 50s housewife dress and holding their flowery-dressed baby while gleefully pulling just-finished cookies out of their double oven. It's super sweet or super funny or whatever you want it to be but I guarantee you it's better than tonight's baseball game. And hey - maybe you will buy some cookies! Oh and according to the news report, Masterson himself designed the site. As a professional Web designer it's cool to see that I do one thing better than Justin Masteron. Maybe two, but I haven't pitched in years. Ba-dum-bum!
Also way better than tonight's game is this documentary I watched on Netflix today called 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King. It's about Pete Rose's career, up to and ending with his 4192nd hit. No mention of gambling other than a bet he made with Tony Perez on being the first player to use the new Riverfront bathrooms. The movie showcases Rose's incredible and un-apologetic winning spirit and is basically a reminder to a new generation of fans that he needs to be in the HOF. And also a reminder to a new generation of players to put themselves out there and get it done. I just tweeted Manny Acta and suggested he gather the boys around the Playstation and check that movie out. You should too, really, because it's 2 hours of nothing but exceptional baseball. It's been at least a week since we've seen that.
Hmm so other than cookies and Pete Rose, what else good happened today? Oh! Ezequiel Carrera went 2 for 3 with TWO TRIPLES! The first one spoiled a perfect game, even. I think the spoiler was mightily helped along by Tom Hamilton who talked constantly about it for 5 minutes before Austin Jackson mis-read the ball and Zeke raced on to third. Well done, Hammy and Zeke! That kid can fly though huh? He didn't really embarrass himself in the field today so that's improvement. He's 4 for 7 over his last 2 games. Not saying he's the second coming of Trout or anything but at least we have someone fun to watch right now. At the plate, I mean - don't watch him in the field. Your opinion may sour.
Tomorrow's another day, and we won't be facing Verlander, just Scherzer (RHP). Also it'll be the debut of Chris Seddon so that'll be interesting. And by "interesting" I mean "actually interesting." I'll be late with the post because presumably I'm taking my niece swimming and much like cookies and Pete Rose, that pretty much beats out a Tribe game right now (of course I'm going to the game Monday anyway).
So eventually I'll see you there!
Also way better than tonight's game is this documentary I watched on Netflix today called 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King. It's about Pete Rose's career, up to and ending with his 4192nd hit. No mention of gambling other than a bet he made with Tony Perez on being the first player to use the new Riverfront bathrooms. The movie showcases Rose's incredible and un-apologetic winning spirit and is basically a reminder to a new generation of fans that he needs to be in the HOF. And also a reminder to a new generation of players to put themselves out there and get it done. I just tweeted Manny Acta and suggested he gather the boys around the Playstation and check that movie out. You should too, really, because it's 2 hours of nothing but exceptional baseball. It's been at least a week since we've seen that.
Hmm so other than cookies and Pete Rose, what else good happened today? Oh! Ezequiel Carrera went 2 for 3 with TWO TRIPLES! The first one spoiled a perfect game, even. I think the spoiler was mightily helped along by Tom Hamilton who talked constantly about it for 5 minutes before Austin Jackson mis-read the ball and Zeke raced on to third. Well done, Hammy and Zeke! That kid can fly though huh? He didn't really embarrass himself in the field today so that's improvement. He's 4 for 7 over his last 2 games. Not saying he's the second coming of Trout or anything but at least we have someone fun to watch right now. At the plate, I mean - don't watch him in the field. Your opinion may sour.
Tomorrow's another day, and we won't be facing Verlander, just Scherzer (RHP). Also it'll be the debut of Chris Seddon so that'll be interesting. And by "interesting" I mean "actually interesting." I'll be late with the post because presumably I'm taking my niece swimming and much like cookies and Pete Rose, that pretty much beats out a Tribe game right now (of course I'm going to the game Monday anyway).
So eventually I'll see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"The way this offense is going right now, a no-hitter or a perfect game would not surprise you."
- Tom Hamilton
"The Indians are closing in on history, and not the kind of history you want to make."
- Tom Hamilton says the Indians have never gone 0-9 on a road trip
"Miguel Cabrera gives you very little effort on any ball he feels he doesn't have a chance to beat out. You can kick a ball around 2 or 3 times and still get him out."
- Tom Hamilton
"Austin Jackson is out there in left field probably pleading that somebody on the Indians get a legitimate hit. Otherwise he spoiled a perfect game."
- Tom Hamilton
"The way this offense is going right now, a no-hitter or a perfect game would not surprise you."
- Tom Hamilton
"The Indians are closing in on history, and not the kind of history you want to make."
- Tom Hamilton says the Indians have never gone 0-9 on a road trip
"Miguel Cabrera gives you very little effort on any ball he feels he doesn't have a chance to beat out. You can kick a ball around 2 or 3 times and still get him out."
- Tom Hamilton
"Austin Jackson is out there in left field probably pleading that somebody on the Indians get a legitimate hit. Otherwise he spoiled a perfect game."
- Tom Hamilton
Friday, August 3, 2012
Damon Designated for Assignment
I knew that would make you smile! And we all sure could use a smile right now. Forgetting the miserable loss today, the news of today is that we are free FREEEEEEEEEEEE of Johnny Damon!
What sort of sucks about the situation is that in the "Ask The Manager" show on WTAM today, Manny Acta indicated that not only was Damon bad but since he was bad he was absolutely no help in the clubhouse. So he was even more of a waste of money than I thought he was. What a dingleberry.
So Damon's gone and our old pal Zeke is back. Ezequiel Carrera was in playing left today - why it wasn't Shelley I DON'T KNOW. I don't think I'll ever understand the Indians' left field. I guess it's not for me to know.
In case you were wondering, Chris Seddon (who has some Major League games under his belt) is coming up to replace Lowe on Sunday. He's 4-0 in July. Ace!
Ok so speaking of our ace...Justin Masterson did not do it today. He gave up 7 over 4 innings. He actually struck out 4 over those innings but that was inbetween 10 hits and 4 walks. I dunno what to say about that. What can you say?
Accardo did his thing, and by that I mean he gave up 3 runs in middle relief. Shoulda been Rogers but he was used yesterday. Accardo pitched the 6th and 7th and gave up 6 hits and struck out none.
Cody Allen! Now there's a pitcher! He's throwing 0.00 over 5 appearances. Tonight he took the 8th and 9th with no hits, no runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Secret weapon?!
Bad pitching but also our old friend Useless Hitting is back as well. Yesterday's stellar 4 LOB was obliterated by today's 8 LOB and 10 strikeouts. Pants!
Acta mixed it up today and put Kipnis in the leadoff spot. Not a bad move, since he wasn't getting Choo in while at 2 or 3, and Choo wasn't hitting the non-existant 8 and 9 guys in. It also took some pressure off Kipnis (they say that Pestano is his best friend on the team and he was all "Kipnis sucks hitting 3rd and is very sad" or something) and if he got on someone was behind him to hit him in. This worked in theory as he went 2 for 5 with a double, and it's the first time he's had a multi-hit game since July 23. He even happened to get an RBI because the #9 guy happened to go 2 for 4 as well.
But that was it. Choo left 4 on base and Cabrera 3. Oh, both got hits of course (yay!) but just...no one was synched up to score runs.
Santana was nearly shut down but he did manage to get his walk on. He did strike out twice which is actually unusual for him.
Brantley went 1 for 3 and his average stays locked in at .288.
Lopez and Hannahan both went 1 for 4, but both also struck out once. And neither got a run or a RBI. Hannahan did have a fancy play, worthy of Jack Hannahan!
Zeke, Zeke, Zeke...he did go 2 for 4 and scored a run. He didn't leave anyone on base or anything. He didn't even technically score an error. But boy did he look like shit out in left. He delayed the first inning getting sunglasses and then lost a ball in the sun in the 2nd. He did a "No you got it!" in the 6th. But then he threw a guy out at the plate! Seems like hitting-wise he's a step up from Damon (for now) but defense-wise it was a lateral move.
I don't know what to tell you boffins. Just keep on going, because it's still summer and we've still got baseball. Things have been shaken up with FIVE new faces in the clubhouse (Zeke, New Vinnie (Rottino), Lillibridge, Kluber and the upcoming Seddon) and Johnny Damon is gone. Don't forget your curiosity about what Roberto Hernandez will do.
I met a British guy today who says he likes baseball, he recognizes Chief Wahoo, and is going to try to hit up the team shop tomorrow. He also says that cricket is shit. I suggested he take home some Stadium Mustard. If you're curious, check out Richard Walters. Maybe he'll have some special contingency of fans in Cleveland.
Tomorrow is Ubaldo versus RHP. Hopefully everyone is all settled down and ready to play some ball. Like really, for real this time guys.
I know I'll be tuning in at 7:05. See you there!
What sort of sucks about the situation is that in the "Ask The Manager" show on WTAM today, Manny Acta indicated that not only was Damon bad but since he was bad he was absolutely no help in the clubhouse. So he was even more of a waste of money than I thought he was. What a dingleberry.
So Damon's gone and our old pal Zeke is back. Ezequiel Carrera was in playing left today - why it wasn't Shelley I DON'T KNOW. I don't think I'll ever understand the Indians' left field. I guess it's not for me to know.
In case you were wondering, Chris Seddon (who has some Major League games under his belt) is coming up to replace Lowe on Sunday. He's 4-0 in July. Ace!
Ok so speaking of our ace...Justin Masterson did not do it today. He gave up 7 over 4 innings. He actually struck out 4 over those innings but that was inbetween 10 hits and 4 walks. I dunno what to say about that. What can you say?
Accardo did his thing, and by that I mean he gave up 3 runs in middle relief. Shoulda been Rogers but he was used yesterday. Accardo pitched the 6th and 7th and gave up 6 hits and struck out none.
Cody Allen! Now there's a pitcher! He's throwing 0.00 over 5 appearances. Tonight he took the 8th and 9th with no hits, no runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Secret weapon?!
Bad pitching but also our old friend Useless Hitting is back as well. Yesterday's stellar 4 LOB was obliterated by today's 8 LOB and 10 strikeouts. Pants!
Acta mixed it up today and put Kipnis in the leadoff spot. Not a bad move, since he wasn't getting Choo in while at 2 or 3, and Choo wasn't hitting the non-existant 8 and 9 guys in. It also took some pressure off Kipnis (they say that Pestano is his best friend on the team and he was all "Kipnis sucks hitting 3rd and is very sad" or something) and if he got on someone was behind him to hit him in. This worked in theory as he went 2 for 5 with a double, and it's the first time he's had a multi-hit game since July 23. He even happened to get an RBI because the #9 guy happened to go 2 for 4 as well.
But that was it. Choo left 4 on base and Cabrera 3. Oh, both got hits of course (yay!) but just...no one was synched up to score runs.
Santana was nearly shut down but he did manage to get his walk on. He did strike out twice which is actually unusual for him.
Brantley went 1 for 3 and his average stays locked in at .288.
Lopez and Hannahan both went 1 for 4, but both also struck out once. And neither got a run or a RBI. Hannahan did have a fancy play, worthy of Jack Hannahan!
Zeke, Zeke, Zeke...he did go 2 for 4 and scored a run. He didn't leave anyone on base or anything. He didn't even technically score an error. But boy did he look like shit out in left. He delayed the first inning getting sunglasses and then lost a ball in the sun in the 2nd. He did a "No you got it!" in the 6th. But then he threw a guy out at the plate! Seems like hitting-wise he's a step up from Damon (for now) but defense-wise it was a lateral move.
I don't know what to tell you boffins. Just keep on going, because it's still summer and we've still got baseball. Things have been shaken up with FIVE new faces in the clubhouse (Zeke, New Vinnie (Rottino), Lillibridge, Kluber and the upcoming Seddon) and Johnny Damon is gone. Don't forget your curiosity about what Roberto Hernandez will do.
I met a British guy today who says he likes baseball, he recognizes Chief Wahoo, and is going to try to hit up the team shop tomorrow. He also says that cricket is shit. I suggested he take home some Stadium Mustard. If you're curious, check out Richard Walters. Maybe he'll have some special contingency of fans in Cleveland.
Tomorrow is Ubaldo versus RHP. Hopefully everyone is all settled down and ready to play some ball. Like really, for real this time guys.
I know I'll be tuning in at 7:05. See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"This guy, with men in scoring position, is like a mountain lion when he sees an antelope."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera
"This is a losing streak that's not going to end until the Indians get a starting pitcher that steps up and says 'Enough.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"At some point you would think a Tribe pitcher would get tired of getting their brains beaten in and move a hitter's feet."
- Tom Hamilton thinks guys are getting too comfortable in the box
"If everybody has his attitude and how he plays the game, the Indians would be in first place. We need about 12 more Kipnises."
- Tom Hamilton
"I tell you what - Ezequiel Carrera supposed to help the Indians? He is having an awful night in left field..."
- Tom Hamilton is not amused
"The Indians LOOK like a team that got to bed at 4 o'clock in the morning."
- Tom Hamilton said the team got in at 4 AM
"Not much you can say right now except 'You're going to be out here for a while,' not going to blow up our bullpen because this game is over."
- Tom Hamilton on Scott Radinsky visiting Accardo on the mound
"This is like a softball game. Austin Jackson has hit in 5 of the 6 innings."
- Tom Hamilton
"Fans here are just waiting around for the fireworks now. They know the outcome of this game."
- Tom Hamilton
"At some point an Indian's pitcher is going to say 'You're up 8 runs and you're trying to hit a ball to Toledo? Hit this!'"
- Tom Hamilton really wants someone to get beaned (Rick Sutcliffe wouldn't put up with this)
"That's now the new signal for a foul ball. We don't point fair or foul we just raise our hands up and go 'howdy!'"
- Tom Hamilton doesn't like the way the ump calls foul balls
"Can you imagine Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saying 'Let's become teammates - we're not good enough on our own.'?"
- Tom Hamilton thinks the NBA has changed
"This guy, with men in scoring position, is like a mountain lion when he sees an antelope."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera
"This is a losing streak that's not going to end until the Indians get a starting pitcher that steps up and says 'Enough.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"At some point you would think a Tribe pitcher would get tired of getting their brains beaten in and move a hitter's feet."
- Tom Hamilton thinks guys are getting too comfortable in the box
"If everybody has his attitude and how he plays the game, the Indians would be in first place. We need about 12 more Kipnises."
- Tom Hamilton
"I tell you what - Ezequiel Carrera supposed to help the Indians? He is having an awful night in left field..."
- Tom Hamilton is not amused
"The Indians LOOK like a team that got to bed at 4 o'clock in the morning."
- Tom Hamilton said the team got in at 4 AM
"Not much you can say right now except 'You're going to be out here for a while,' not going to blow up our bullpen because this game is over."
- Tom Hamilton on Scott Radinsky visiting Accardo on the mound
"This is like a softball game. Austin Jackson has hit in 5 of the 6 innings."
- Tom Hamilton
"Fans here are just waiting around for the fireworks now. They know the outcome of this game."
- Tom Hamilton
"At some point an Indian's pitcher is going to say 'You're up 8 runs and you're trying to hit a ball to Toledo? Hit this!'"
- Tom Hamilton really wants someone to get beaned (Rick Sutcliffe wouldn't put up with this)
"That's now the new signal for a foul ball. We don't point fair or foul we just raise our hands up and go 'howdy!'"
- Tom Hamilton doesn't like the way the ump calls foul balls
"Can you imagine Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saying 'Let's become teammates - we're not good enough on our own.'?"
- Tom Hamilton thinks the NBA has changed
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Milestones
It's pretty fitting that a game that started with Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel hugging at home plate (after exchanging lineup cards) ended with both Travis Hafner and Asdrubal Cabrera reaching milestones and breaking records. The new face of the Tribe? Absolutely.
Hafner got his 1,000th career hit tonight. A double. He hit that right after Asdrubal hit his 25th homer of the season, the most ever for an Indians' shortstop. Asdrubal also has the most RBI for an Indians' shortstop since Lou Boudreau in 1948 with 96 (Boudreau had 106).
It was a milestone game for me tonight too. Sort of - it was my 10th game. I think my previous record was 6 unless we ended up going to more games than I thought in the 80s.
It was the second time in history that the Indians have had 2 home runs to start the game at home. Last time was 1971, 40 years ago.
It was Asdrubal's second 5-RBI game of the year and guess what? I was at both! My friend OMG was only at one, sadly.
I made a call to add another game to Everybody Hits over there. I added it with an asterisk. Because the only guy who didn't hit (Hannahan) got 2 walks and came around to score 2 runs. So it's my blog and I put it up there. In the tradition of baseball, I gave it an asterisk!
After all of that milestoneage, I decided to walk all the way up 5 floors of the parking garage to get to my car. First (and last) time for that! BAM!
Where was I? Special game indeed. Let's get to the stats!
Jeanmar Gomez? Awesome! He's gone 5 and 2 this year with a 3.52 ERA so far. Tonight he only gave up 1 earned run and struck out 3 in 6 innings. Perfect, perfect outing for any of our starters, let alone our newest! He has gone 5-0 in his last 5 starts and in those 5 starts has given up 5 runs. Think we'll see that guy next year??
Joe Smith came in to handle the 7th, which was great because by then we were only leading by 3. Your reliever with a 1.82 ERA is exactly the guy you want to see in that instance.
Once we were leading by 7, it was time for Putnam and Kluber to stretch their arms. Guess what? They did AWESOME, with Putnam going 1-2-3 and Kluber walking two but striking out one. BALLGAME!
If you didn't hear, the game started with 2 home runs. First Fukudome knocked one out on his 2nd pitch then Kipnis followed up with one of his own. Fukudome has more homers, more RBI and fewer strikeouts than he did with Chicago this year, in 30 more games!
Fuku (or as Acta says "Fuky") ended up going 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, a walk and 2 runs. He also looked great out in the field, catching a fly from Adam Dunn who is not slated to get any more hits this year.
Kipnis hasn't gotten a homer in FOREVER (since before he got hurt) so it was great to see him go yard. Although he hasn't had a homer, he has gotten 14 hits in the 12 games since he's been back!
Asdrubal, Asdrubal, Asdrubal. Did not let me down! I showed up with my sign and dragged it aaaaalll the way up to the upper deck (which, as it turns out, does not have cupholders or even a practical place to lean a sign) and the usher at the front of the section said "Oh, you know he's out for the rest of the year?" I told her no way, but then I hadn't heard any news.
Yeah so she came an apologized to me for her misinformation about the 3rd inning. Heh.
Tonight he went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI and 1 run. No strikeouts. Some nice field play - although nothing TOO crazy... you can tell he's being a bit conservative with his body out there. GREAT night for me to be out there with OMG but section 457, in the upper deck above the plate? Not particularly good for camera exposure. Oh well, I think my section appreciated it. A bit.
This is 3 homers in a row for Asdrubal, too, having homered Monday, Tuesday and now tonight. He also has 12 RBI in his last 4 games. I am sure there is some sort of stat about that that involves Venezueleans and short stops but I am no statistician!
Also mentioned above was Hafner's 1000th hit. I don't think I've ever been in the building when a guy hits a milestone. That was really special for me, to be able to cheer for him like that. I really wish you could see the ovation (and we had 21k fans out there tonight!) but alas, MLB.com does not see fit to share it with you.
Hafner, by the way, looked just ducky running around the bases in the 6th (he got on on an FC) so Dr. Me says "Foot all healed! Look out, 2012!"
Carlos Santana did not want to be left out, so he got a hit. But it turns out he did get left out because he didn't get any RBI or score any runs or even get extra bases. He does have 10 hits in his last 10 games including 3 homers so....THERE!
Grady Sizemore, he got a hit.
LaPorta was making me nervous about getting a hit but he came through in the 6th AND it was an RBI hit. Regardless of that, he was a MONSTER in the field tonight. Not sure why there are no highlight videos of his stuff but I guess he was just doing his job. I think he saved a few runs for sure and just looked TIGHT out there.
Jack Hannahan is the guy who didn't technically get a hit tonight. But like I said he walked twice and scored twice. Plus HE was a monster in the field tonight. Not only did he do a classic Hannahan bare-handed put-out from across the diamond, but he had another play where he flattened out on the line and stopped a ball from going through. He didn't get the batter at first but he still got a wild round of applause for that niceness!
Zeke was looking great tonight. He is so super-fast! He almost got a triple but Chicago whined about it and it ended up a ground-rule double. He also had a walk, a single and a stolen base, and came around to score every time he got out there! Zoom!
Such a great game tonight and I was so lucky to be there. It was reminiscent of the first game I went to with this very group of friends, exactly 4 months ago. On May 22 we saw Asdrubal get 5 RBI as we smacked the Reds 12-4. My friends and I also completely BAKED in the sun that day. Then I took them to a game in August where it poured rain and there was a 2-hour delay and then 14 innings of boring baseball. So this time I got the weather right AND the team had the bats going. So I'm hoping my friends will remember this all winter and want to go back next year!
We've got 4 games in 3 days against the Twins. It's gonna be AWESOME and we're gonna score tons of RUNS. Especially Asdrubal, and anyone else who wants to get in on the hit parade. And Shelley Duncan.
Speaking of which, I sent Shelley "his" picture tonight on Twitter. He was asking fans to sum up the season. I think that sums it up, don't you?
7:05 tomorrow night - see you there!
Hafner got his 1,000th career hit tonight. A double. He hit that right after Asdrubal hit his 25th homer of the season, the most ever for an Indians' shortstop. Asdrubal also has the most RBI for an Indians' shortstop since Lou Boudreau in 1948 with 96 (Boudreau had 106).
It was a milestone game for me tonight too. Sort of - it was my 10th game. I think my previous record was 6 unless we ended up going to more games than I thought in the 80s.
It was the second time in history that the Indians have had 2 home runs to start the game at home. Last time was 1971, 40 years ago.
It was Asdrubal's second 5-RBI game of the year and guess what? I was at both! My friend OMG was only at one, sadly.
I made a call to add another game to Everybody Hits over there. I added it with an asterisk. Because the only guy who didn't hit (Hannahan) got 2 walks and came around to score 2 runs. So it's my blog and I put it up there. In the tradition of baseball, I gave it an asterisk!
After all of that milestoneage, I decided to walk all the way up 5 floors of the parking garage to get to my car. First (and last) time for that! BAM!
Where was I? Special game indeed. Let's get to the stats!
Jeanmar Gomez? Awesome! He's gone 5 and 2 this year with a 3.52 ERA so far. Tonight he only gave up 1 earned run and struck out 3 in 6 innings. Perfect, perfect outing for any of our starters, let alone our newest! He has gone 5-0 in his last 5 starts and in those 5 starts has given up 5 runs. Think we'll see that guy next year??
Joe Smith came in to handle the 7th, which was great because by then we were only leading by 3. Your reliever with a 1.82 ERA is exactly the guy you want to see in that instance.
Once we were leading by 7, it was time for Putnam and Kluber to stretch their arms. Guess what? They did AWESOME, with Putnam going 1-2-3 and Kluber walking two but striking out one. BALLGAME!
If you didn't hear, the game started with 2 home runs. First Fukudome knocked one out on his 2nd pitch then Kipnis followed up with one of his own. Fukudome has more homers, more RBI and fewer strikeouts than he did with Chicago this year, in 30 more games!
Fuku (or as Acta says "Fuky") ended up going 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, a walk and 2 runs. He also looked great out in the field, catching a fly from Adam Dunn who is not slated to get any more hits this year.
Kipnis hasn't gotten a homer in FOREVER (since before he got hurt) so it was great to see him go yard. Although he hasn't had a homer, he has gotten 14 hits in the 12 games since he's been back!
Asdrubal, Asdrubal, Asdrubal. Did not let me down! I showed up with my sign and dragged it aaaaalll the way up to the upper deck (which, as it turns out, does not have cupholders or even a practical place to lean a sign) and the usher at the front of the section said "Oh, you know he's out for the rest of the year?" I told her no way, but then I hadn't heard any news.
Yeah so she came an apologized to me for her misinformation about the 3rd inning. Heh.
Tonight he went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI and 1 run. No strikeouts. Some nice field play - although nothing TOO crazy... you can tell he's being a bit conservative with his body out there. GREAT night for me to be out there with OMG but section 457, in the upper deck above the plate? Not particularly good for camera exposure. Oh well, I think my section appreciated it. A bit.
This is 3 homers in a row for Asdrubal, too, having homered Monday, Tuesday and now tonight. He also has 12 RBI in his last 4 games. I am sure there is some sort of stat about that that involves Venezueleans and short stops but I am no statistician!
Also mentioned above was Hafner's 1000th hit. I don't think I've ever been in the building when a guy hits a milestone. That was really special for me, to be able to cheer for him like that. I really wish you could see the ovation (and we had 21k fans out there tonight!) but alas, MLB.com does not see fit to share it with you.
Hafner, by the way, looked just ducky running around the bases in the 6th (he got on on an FC) so Dr. Me says "Foot all healed! Look out, 2012!"
Carlos Santana did not want to be left out, so he got a hit. But it turns out he did get left out because he didn't get any RBI or score any runs or even get extra bases. He does have 10 hits in his last 10 games including 3 homers so....THERE!
Grady Sizemore, he got a hit.
LaPorta was making me nervous about getting a hit but he came through in the 6th AND it was an RBI hit. Regardless of that, he was a MONSTER in the field tonight. Not sure why there are no highlight videos of his stuff but I guess he was just doing his job. I think he saved a few runs for sure and just looked TIGHT out there.
Jack Hannahan is the guy who didn't technically get a hit tonight. But like I said he walked twice and scored twice. Plus HE was a monster in the field tonight. Not only did he do a classic Hannahan bare-handed put-out from across the diamond, but he had another play where he flattened out on the line and stopped a ball from going through. He didn't get the batter at first but he still got a wild round of applause for that niceness!
Zeke was looking great tonight. He is so super-fast! He almost got a triple but Chicago whined about it and it ended up a ground-rule double. He also had a walk, a single and a stolen base, and came around to score every time he got out there! Zoom!
Such a great game tonight and I was so lucky to be there. It was reminiscent of the first game I went to with this very group of friends, exactly 4 months ago. On May 22 we saw Asdrubal get 5 RBI as we smacked the Reds 12-4. My friends and I also completely BAKED in the sun that day. Then I took them to a game in August where it poured rain and there was a 2-hour delay and then 14 innings of boring baseball. So this time I got the weather right AND the team had the bats going. So I'm hoping my friends will remember this all winter and want to go back next year!
We've got 4 games in 3 days against the Twins. It's gonna be AWESOME and we're gonna score tons of RUNS. Especially Asdrubal, and anyone else who wants to get in on the hit parade. And Shelley Duncan.
Speaking of which, I sent Shelley "his" picture tonight on Twitter. He was asking fans to sum up the season. I think that sums it up, don't you?
7:05 tomorrow night - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Humber is the pure definition of a 6-inning guy."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th, before we scored our 5-6-7 runs off Humber in the 6th and 7th
"You know what Ron Washington would say to that? 'That's the way baseball go.'"
- Jim Rosenhaus on the possible insanity that is the AL Wildcard
"It's an infield convention."
- Tom Hamilton in the 8th when there was a high pop-up above the pitcher's mound. Asdrubal took care of it.
"If the Mariners ever make another trade with the Indians, it may be after we're dead and gone."
- Tom Hamilton
"There was no drama when the month began for the Major League Baseball playoff races. None!"
- Tom Hamilton
"Any time you've got a shortstop with 25 homers and 90 RBI, look around and see how many shortstops there are that can do that."
- Tom Hamilton
"Humber is the pure definition of a 6-inning guy."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th, before we scored our 5-6-7 runs off Humber in the 6th and 7th
"You know what Ron Washington would say to that? 'That's the way baseball go.'"
- Jim Rosenhaus on the possible insanity that is the AL Wildcard
"It's an infield convention."
- Tom Hamilton in the 8th when there was a high pop-up above the pitcher's mound. Asdrubal took care of it.
"If the Mariners ever make another trade with the Indians, it may be after we're dead and gone."
- Tom Hamilton
"There was no drama when the month began for the Major League Baseball playoff races. None!"
- Tom Hamilton
"Any time you've got a shortstop with 25 homers and 90 RBI, look around and see how many shortstops there are that can do that."
- Tom Hamilton
Friday, September 9, 2011
That's What I'm Talkin' 'bout!
Nice bit of baseball going on in Chicago tonight. Especially by the Indians!
Jeamnar Gomez had a lovely lovely start tonight, giving up only 2 runs and pitching 6 innings with 3 strikeouts. The kind of thing you want to see from, say, guys who are not just up out of Columbus.
Good thing he only gave up 2 because Smith is into giving up runs lately (albeit just 1 tonight) and we're also giving Nick Hagadone a chance to show his stuff and you never know how that's going to work out (tonight - one run and one hit in one inning but he also struck out 1!)
Very nice hits-to-LOB ratio today with 11 hits and 6 LOB. We did have 10 strikeouts and maybe that helped us not leave too many on base (they never got there - HA!) but, 8 runs? Yeah, I'll take it!
Fukudome was leading off today. I haven't been keeping up with what's going on with Grady. But, he wasn't starting tonight.
That's ok because FUKUDOME STILL ROCKS! Isn't it awesome to have a trade like that go so well? His 2 hits tonight has him surpassing Asdrubal as the team's best "qualifying" hitter (awwww Asdrubal!) and gives him 2 more RBI. They like to say how he's gotten more RBI with us this year than the Cubs and well...it's true!
He shoulda had a 3rd hit tonight but it was caught on a stupid good play. Or really a poor play in which the player got lucky at the end.
Jason Donald is back to being hot, which is pretty cool. He's got 11 hits over 10 games, close to Fuku!
OMG Shelley Duncan are you for real?! Two more hits today! No homers, but a double so that's cool. He's not a "qualifier" (3 at-bats for every game the team has played) but Duncan's up there at the top of the Tribe for slugging and OPS. Right up there with Asdrubal, Hafner and Santana.
Boy I just looked at the stats for our team and you know how many "qualifiers" we have? Just 3 - Asdrubal, Santana and Brantley. Brantley will end up about 35 at-bats short of qualifying by the end of the season, too. Now, most other teams only have 5-7 qualifiers but we'll only end up with 1/3 of that. Yikes!
But, we can at least have fun with the new guys while everyone convalesces. For example - Lonnie Chisenhall! Where did this dude come from?! He's having a Shelley Duncan sort of week with one homer on Wednesday with 2 RBI, and TWO more homers today with 4 RBI! But, he had an error because he's not Jack Hannahan. But, his new batting sure as hell does help ease the pain!
Sweet Lou, my new best friend, raised that batting average tonight by going 2 for 4. He also stole a base. Yeah he did!
Trevor Crowe still hasn't gotten a hit, so his average remains at .000. He DID walk today, not once but twice, and turned both of those into runs. And he stole a base. So, you GO, little brother!
Zeke was batting 9th today, so we're back to having 2 leadoff guys. Except he was in a super slump, something like 2 for 26 after being fairly consistent. Well today he got 2 hits and one of them was a double (his 7th) and he got 2 RBI. His second hit was a FC double or something...where he fell down turning the corner around first. Look at the video, I thought it was pretty scary watching his legs bend like that. I really really hope he's all right. Because this trend of players being hurt is just NOT FUN.
But the game itself was pretty fun tonight, with lots of hits and lots of runs. All from weird people too. 'Cuz it looks like Asdrubal is done at the plate and Santana is perhaps back to forgetting not to move his foot around. And Thome wasn't even in. At least we got Fukudome!
Tomorrow is 4:10 PM if you can stand it. I know for me it'll cross over with some plans (mom's all turning 60 and stuff) so you might not get my post until later.
But you know I'll be there eventually. See you then!
Jeamnar Gomez had a lovely lovely start tonight, giving up only 2 runs and pitching 6 innings with 3 strikeouts. The kind of thing you want to see from, say, guys who are not just up out of Columbus.
Good thing he only gave up 2 because Smith is into giving up runs lately (albeit just 1 tonight) and we're also giving Nick Hagadone a chance to show his stuff and you never know how that's going to work out (tonight - one run and one hit in one inning but he also struck out 1!)
Very nice hits-to-LOB ratio today with 11 hits and 6 LOB. We did have 10 strikeouts and maybe that helped us not leave too many on base (they never got there - HA!) but, 8 runs? Yeah, I'll take it!
Fukudome was leading off today. I haven't been keeping up with what's going on with Grady. But, he wasn't starting tonight.
That's ok because FUKUDOME STILL ROCKS! Isn't it awesome to have a trade like that go so well? His 2 hits tonight has him surpassing Asdrubal as the team's best "qualifying" hitter (awwww Asdrubal!) and gives him 2 more RBI. They like to say how he's gotten more RBI with us this year than the Cubs and well...it's true!
He shoulda had a 3rd hit tonight but it was caught on a stupid good play. Or really a poor play in which the player got lucky at the end.
Jason Donald is back to being hot, which is pretty cool. He's got 11 hits over 10 games, close to Fuku!
OMG Shelley Duncan are you for real?! Two more hits today! No homers, but a double so that's cool. He's not a "qualifier" (3 at-bats for every game the team has played) but Duncan's up there at the top of the Tribe for slugging and OPS. Right up there with Asdrubal, Hafner and Santana.
Boy I just looked at the stats for our team and you know how many "qualifiers" we have? Just 3 - Asdrubal, Santana and Brantley. Brantley will end up about 35 at-bats short of qualifying by the end of the season, too. Now, most other teams only have 5-7 qualifiers but we'll only end up with 1/3 of that. Yikes!
But, we can at least have fun with the new guys while everyone convalesces. For example - Lonnie Chisenhall! Where did this dude come from?! He's having a Shelley Duncan sort of week with one homer on Wednesday with 2 RBI, and TWO more homers today with 4 RBI! But, he had an error because he's not Jack Hannahan. But, his new batting sure as hell does help ease the pain!
Sweet Lou, my new best friend, raised that batting average tonight by going 2 for 4. He also stole a base. Yeah he did!
Trevor Crowe still hasn't gotten a hit, so his average remains at .000. He DID walk today, not once but twice, and turned both of those into runs. And he stole a base. So, you GO, little brother!
Zeke was batting 9th today, so we're back to having 2 leadoff guys. Except he was in a super slump, something like 2 for 26 after being fairly consistent. Well today he got 2 hits and one of them was a double (his 7th) and he got 2 RBI. His second hit was a FC double or something...where he fell down turning the corner around first. Look at the video, I thought it was pretty scary watching his legs bend like that. I really really hope he's all right. Because this trend of players being hurt is just NOT FUN.
But the game itself was pretty fun tonight, with lots of hits and lots of runs. All from weird people too. 'Cuz it looks like Asdrubal is done at the plate and Santana is perhaps back to forgetting not to move his foot around. And Thome wasn't even in. At least we got Fukudome!
Tomorrow is 4:10 PM if you can stand it. I know for me it'll cross over with some plans (mom's all turning 60 and stuff) so you might not get my post until later.
But you know I'll be there eventually. See you then!
Radio Chatter:
"I guess the White Sox are celebrating St. Patrick's Day in September today."
- Tom Hamilton on the White Sox green uniforms
"Jack Hannahan didn't open the door, he kicked it down."
- Tom Hamilton on Hannahan's entrance into the team this year
"this is a night when somebody in the marketing department ran out of ideas. [...] How much green beer was consumed at that meeting?"
- Tom Hamilton again on the green uniforms
"I wouldn't know what goes on at 3 in the morning, except for when I have to get a cab to go get Rosie."
- Tom Hamilton on having fun in Chicago late at night
"You're saying there are some things you miss about Winterhaven?"
"Well I miss the Super Wal-Mart, since Wal-Mart is one of our sponsors. I also miss driving down the street and seeing a denture maker on every corner, and a chiropractor across the street."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on the former Indians Spring Training site
"I guess the White Sox are celebrating St. Patrick's Day in September today."
- Tom Hamilton on the White Sox green uniforms
"Jack Hannahan didn't open the door, he kicked it down."
- Tom Hamilton on Hannahan's entrance into the team this year
"this is a night when somebody in the marketing department ran out of ideas. [...] How much green beer was consumed at that meeting?"
- Tom Hamilton again on the green uniforms
"I wouldn't know what goes on at 3 in the morning, except for when I have to get a cab to go get Rosie."
- Tom Hamilton on having fun in Chicago late at night
"You're saying there are some things you miss about Winterhaven?"
"Well I miss the Super Wal-Mart, since Wal-Mart is one of our sponsors. I also miss driving down the street and seeing a denture maker on every corner, and a chiropractor across the street."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on the former Indians Spring Training site
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Bleh
I don't know what was up tonight, boffins.
Did you know that we've faced Luke Hochevar twice this year and got 12 runs off him? We sure did.
But tonight we got just 1 run (unearned!) and that wasn't enough to overcome David Huff giving up 5 runs. Is that guy streaky or what?
He is a "rainmaker", that's for sure. In that he's been the starter in 3 PPD games this year. At least tonight he didn't have to be taken out due to rain! He pitched 6 innings today striking out 3, but 5 runs was just too much.
Josh Judy got an inning of relief in, and got one hit and one strikeout. Same for Chad Durbin.
The stand-outs tonight were Jack Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall. They got 2 of our 3 hits. Also Lonnie was at 3rd, not looking too bad, and Jack was covering for Asdrubal at short.
Zeke was the only other guy to get a hit, and he put his speediness to work by getting to third on a throwing error during a steal attempt. Carlos Santana was able to hit him in with a sac fly.
Jerad Head got on base by an error, and then stole second with his whole family watching. His whole family was watching because some nice folks with the Royals organization made it happen. It's a midwest thang!
So that's it, really. We'll try again tomorrow at 2:10 with Genmar Gomez. I think we're ready to have a winning Sunday, don't you?
Did you know that we've faced Luke Hochevar twice this year and got 12 runs off him? We sure did.
But tonight we got just 1 run (unearned!) and that wasn't enough to overcome David Huff giving up 5 runs. Is that guy streaky or what?
He is a "rainmaker", that's for sure. In that he's been the starter in 3 PPD games this year. At least tonight he didn't have to be taken out due to rain! He pitched 6 innings today striking out 3, but 5 runs was just too much.
Josh Judy got an inning of relief in, and got one hit and one strikeout. Same for Chad Durbin.
The stand-outs tonight were Jack Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall. They got 2 of our 3 hits. Also Lonnie was at 3rd, not looking too bad, and Jack was covering for Asdrubal at short.
Zeke was the only other guy to get a hit, and he put his speediness to work by getting to third on a throwing error during a steal attempt. Carlos Santana was able to hit him in with a sac fly.
Jerad Head got on base by an error, and then stole second with his whole family watching. His whole family was watching because some nice folks with the Royals organization made it happen. It's a midwest thang!
So that's it, really. We'll try again tomorrow at 2:10 with Genmar Gomez. I think we're ready to have a winning Sunday, don't you?
Radio Chatter:
"There's a reason why The Wizard of Oz took place in Kansas. And these skies are part of that scene."
- Tom Hamilton on the weather
"Maybe the Indians can do something out of the Tigers' comeback book..."
- Tom Hamilton after Detroit came back to win after losing 8-1
"If you come to Kansas City and drop 2 out of 3, you're basically putting yourself in an impossible situation."
- Tom Hamilton
"There's a reason why The Wizard of Oz took place in Kansas. And these skies are part of that scene."
- Tom Hamilton on the weather
"Maybe the Indians can do something out of the Tigers' comeback book..."
- Tom Hamilton after Detroit came back to win after losing 8-1
"If you come to Kansas City and drop 2 out of 3, you're basically putting yourself in an impossible situation."
- Tom Hamilton
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Death Penalty
That was probably the saddest baseball game I've heard this year. Not because we lost, but because I listened to the end of it first and went back and listened to the beginning and middle. The hard part was that the Tribe kept getting guys on base and the fans kept cheering away and the announcers kept saying so-and-so would "break out right here" or "keep it going again" or "get another one" and....none of that happened.
I think it gave me heartburn.
Anyway the big problem in this game today was first pitching, second fielding and third hitting.
Zach McAllister bombed big time, his second game in the bigs. His first two innings garnered nothing but one double and 7 batters, but just like a happy infant one minute he's giggling and having a good time and the next - peas and milk all over the front of your shirt.
So he gave up 8 earned runs in 4 innings (well in the last two of his four innings) and then Hermann gave up one and Durbin did the same. And the fielders gave up 2 un-earned runs of their own from errors. Go team!
Our batters weren't particularly bad but some key guys - Asdrubal and Santana - did not "do it to it" tonight. Neither guy got a hit, a run or an RBI.
Zeke continued his decent streak from earlier today, going 2 for 5 with an RBI and a stolen base. He did get picked off, though. Our team has just not been the team for running this year.
Now, CHOOOO, he's our man today. Working off the high of the birth of his daughter the night before and getting that walk-off homer this afternoon, he kept on going tonight. He went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. A homer and a triple!! Did you know Choo's only got 8 homers? So he got 25% of his season's homers just TODAY! CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Dunc Tank was back this evening in the DH spot, where a man of his talents should be, and he went 2 for 4. He got his 10th double which is pretty impressive for 44 games! If we can't get Jim Thome...well it looks like Shelley Duncan is going to be our man of the moment. He'll do, right?
Fukudome also continuing the awesome today. Three hits this afternoon and 2 more tonight. He ALSO got a homer and it ALSO was 25% of his homers for the season. How'dya like that?
Jason Donald was also at the game and he got a hit. But it was an RBI single so good on Jason Donald.
But JACK HANNAHAN....now, there is a man! He went 4 for 5 tonight after going 0 for 3 this afternoon! It all only translated into one RBI and one run, however. Such is life at the bottom of the lineup...
So that was tonight's game. Up and down like this afternoon's game. And they did work pretty hard for those 7 runs they did get, only they did leave a lot of guys on and they did have a deficit. I don't know who to blame for all that...everyone coulda just been better.
BE BETTER NOW, OK!?
Tomorrow's game is at noon and it's Tomlin versus Felix Hernandez who is good. So if anyone remembers the strategy we need to have patience and work to get to their bullpen while our starter cruises through scoreless innings. Everybody got that?
See you then!
I think it gave me heartburn.
Anyway the big problem in this game today was first pitching, second fielding and third hitting.
Zach McAllister bombed big time, his second game in the bigs. His first two innings garnered nothing but one double and 7 batters, but just like a happy infant one minute he's giggling and having a good time and the next - peas and milk all over the front of your shirt.
So he gave up 8 earned runs in 4 innings (well in the last two of his four innings) and then Hermann gave up one and Durbin did the same. And the fielders gave up 2 un-earned runs of their own from errors. Go team!
Our batters weren't particularly bad but some key guys - Asdrubal and Santana - did not "do it to it" tonight. Neither guy got a hit, a run or an RBI.
Zeke continued his decent streak from earlier today, going 2 for 5 with an RBI and a stolen base. He did get picked off, though. Our team has just not been the team for running this year.
Now, CHOOOO, he's our man today. Working off the high of the birth of his daughter the night before and getting that walk-off homer this afternoon, he kept on going tonight. He went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. A homer and a triple!! Did you know Choo's only got 8 homers? So he got 25% of his season's homers just TODAY! CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Dunc Tank was back this evening in the DH spot, where a man of his talents should be, and he went 2 for 4. He got his 10th double which is pretty impressive for 44 games! If we can't get Jim Thome...well it looks like Shelley Duncan is going to be our man of the moment. He'll do, right?
Fukudome also continuing the awesome today. Three hits this afternoon and 2 more tonight. He ALSO got a homer and it ALSO was 25% of his homers for the season. How'dya like that?
Jason Donald was also at the game and he got a hit. But it was an RBI single so good on Jason Donald.
But JACK HANNAHAN....now, there is a man! He went 4 for 5 tonight after going 0 for 3 this afternoon! It all only translated into one RBI and one run, however. Such is life at the bottom of the lineup...
So that was tonight's game. Up and down like this afternoon's game. And they did work pretty hard for those 7 runs they did get, only they did leave a lot of guys on and they did have a deficit. I don't know who to blame for all that...everyone coulda just been better.
BE BETTER NOW, OK!?
Tomorrow's game is at noon and it's Tomlin versus Felix Hernandez who is good. So if anyone remembers the strategy we need to have patience and work to get to their bullpen while our starter cruises through scoreless innings. Everybody got that?
See you then!
Radio Chatter:
"There are 4 sides to a baseball. Inside, outside, top and bottom. Well, really, it's a circle..."
"You're going to confuse people!"
- Mike Hegan trying to explain how to hit a baseball to Jim Rosenhaus
"This is the worst offense in the American League and they've sent 17 batters to the plate in the last 2 innings."
- Mike Hegan
"Mike this is one of those nights when the Indians look out of synch in various areas."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"Carl Willis out stalling for time and everybody in the park knows that."
- Tom Hamilton
"Yikes, that's a batting practice fastball."
- Tom Hamilton on a 79 MPH fastball
"Have you ever met a bartender who threw at 97 miles per hour?"
"Maybe at 3 AM."
"That was a good one..."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on comeback pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen
"If this continues, he'll have to work on a couple hours of sleep every day."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo's fantastic day, having had very little sleep after the birth of his daughter
"The Mariner PR people with a little extra time on their hands...Mike Carp had a 20 game hitting streak come to an end last night, equalling the longest hitting streak by a 'fishy' type last name. Tim Salmon and Kevin Bass each had 20 game hit streaks."
- Tom Hamilton
"Franklin Guitierez became an Indian when Milton Bradley learned that a cab ride from Kissimmee to Winterhaven would cost $57.60..."
- Tom Hamilton talks about the end of Milton Bradley's time as an Indian
"Kind of a cardinal rule in baseball that if you lose 17 in a row you're not going to stay in the playoff hunt."
- Tom Hamilton
"One bad week this time of the year is like the death penalty."
- Tom Hamilton
"There are 4 sides to a baseball. Inside, outside, top and bottom. Well, really, it's a circle..."
"You're going to confuse people!"
- Mike Hegan trying to explain how to hit a baseball to Jim Rosenhaus
"This is the worst offense in the American League and they've sent 17 batters to the plate in the last 2 innings."
- Mike Hegan
"Mike this is one of those nights when the Indians look out of synch in various areas."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"Carl Willis out stalling for time and everybody in the park knows that."
- Tom Hamilton
"Yikes, that's a batting practice fastball."
- Tom Hamilton on a 79 MPH fastball
"Have you ever met a bartender who threw at 97 miles per hour?"
"Maybe at 3 AM."
"That was a good one..."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on comeback pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen
"If this continues, he'll have to work on a couple hours of sleep every day."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo's fantastic day, having had very little sleep after the birth of his daughter
"The Mariner PR people with a little extra time on their hands...Mike Carp had a 20 game hitting streak come to an end last night, equalling the longest hitting streak by a 'fishy' type last name. Tim Salmon and Kevin Bass each had 20 game hit streaks."
- Tom Hamilton
"Franklin Guitierez became an Indian when Milton Bradley learned that a cab ride from Kissimmee to Winterhaven would cost $57.60..."
- Tom Hamilton talks about the end of Milton Bradley's time as an Indian
"Kind of a cardinal rule in baseball that if you lose 17 in a row you're not going to stay in the playoff hunt."
- Tom Hamilton
"One bad week this time of the year is like the death penalty."
- Tom Hamilton
Mut-jju-yo!
That means "awesome!" in Korean, or so I have been told by a Korean.
I was getting a little perturbed that I had used my "*headdesk*" title on yesterday's post. Because GEEZ what a frustrating game!! We had 12 hits and 4 walks, and it felt like there were more than 8 LOB. We were on base every inning but the 3rd, and did score in a lot of innings but it was just one here, one there. We were ahead, tied, ahead, behind, tied, ahead and behind. ACK!!
Thank God for Choo. I mean really. Thank God that his baby daughter Abigail was healthy and that he could come play in today's game (on just a few hours sleep) and go 2 for 4 and WIN THE GODDAMN GAME!!! Woohoo CHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! He's also got a 7-game hitting streak.
Justin Masterson was ok. He went 8 1/3 innings. Probably 1/3 innings too many because he let 2 guys get on before he was yanked for Chris Perez.
And then Chris Perez, wtf?
Anyway, Masterson only gave up 3 runs in his first 8 innings, then 2 more at the end there. So he wasn't too bad and he did what he needed to do - save the bullpen for tonight's game.
Brantley was out today because Manny Acta says his wrist hurts and he can't hit the ball. All of that actual ball hitting he's been doing since he got hurt must have gotten to him. I hope cousin gets some rest while we're playing these not-so-good teams then comes back for an awesome September.
Zeke lead off today instead and he looked pretty swell going 3 for 5. Except he fucked up some bunt attempts and made Tom Hamilton say "mmm mmm mmm." You know that means he's mad! I think Zeke did some good base running today. Someone needs to tell Santana that it's ok for Zeke to go around like a madman, but when you're Santana-sized you just stay put.
Santana's got an 8-game hitting streak!
Nice solid showing from the middle of the order today, who weren't so hot yesterday.
Fukudome rocked the house today going 3 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Two of those hits were doubles, giving him 22 on the year.
Lonnie was in today at DH, because Duncan is attending to some stuff with his mom in the hospital. Lonnie didn't do too bad, not sure why everyone hates his hitting so much. He went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Better than Austin Kearns woulda done, amirite?!
LaPorta got a double too, and he managed to get a sac fly RBI in the 6th which was pretty important. Especially since LaPorta has not been able to get those sacrifices or hits at key times.
Valbuena...was sent down this afternoon so McAllister could come up to pitch. Whew. Valbuena had his best at-bat of the season today when he walked. 'Nuff said.
Everybody go take a little nap, I'm going to go get some fondue, and we'll meet back here late tonight for another round of winning.
Oh God, I hope there's some winning...
Update: Oh yeah I forgot to mention there was an earthquake during today's game. An earthquake! Tom Hamilton felt it and so did I, some 20 miles away. Actually the quake was in Virginia and we just felt the shocks. Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer Tweeted:
I was getting a little perturbed that I had used my "*headdesk*" title on yesterday's post. Because GEEZ what a frustrating game!! We had 12 hits and 4 walks, and it felt like there were more than 8 LOB. We were on base every inning but the 3rd, and did score in a lot of innings but it was just one here, one there. We were ahead, tied, ahead, behind, tied, ahead and behind. ACK!!
Thank God for Choo. I mean really. Thank God that his baby daughter Abigail was healthy and that he could come play in today's game (on just a few hours sleep) and go 2 for 4 and WIN THE GODDAMN GAME!!! Woohoo CHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! He's also got a 7-game hitting streak.
Justin Masterson was ok. He went 8 1/3 innings. Probably 1/3 innings too many because he let 2 guys get on before he was yanked for Chris Perez.
And then Chris Perez, wtf?
Anyway, Masterson only gave up 3 runs in his first 8 innings, then 2 more at the end there. So he wasn't too bad and he did what he needed to do - save the bullpen for tonight's game.
Brantley was out today because Manny Acta says his wrist hurts and he can't hit the ball. All of that actual ball hitting he's been doing since he got hurt must have gotten to him. I hope cousin gets some rest while we're playing these not-so-good teams then comes back for an awesome September.
Zeke lead off today instead and he looked pretty swell going 3 for 5. Except he fucked up some bunt attempts and made Tom Hamilton say "mmm mmm mmm." You know that means he's mad! I think Zeke did some good base running today. Someone needs to tell Santana that it's ok for Zeke to go around like a madman, but when you're Santana-sized you just stay put.
Santana's got an 8-game hitting streak!
Nice solid showing from the middle of the order today, who weren't so hot yesterday.
Fukudome rocked the house today going 3 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Two of those hits were doubles, giving him 22 on the year.
Lonnie was in today at DH, because Duncan is attending to some stuff with his mom in the hospital. Lonnie didn't do too bad, not sure why everyone hates his hitting so much. He went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Better than Austin Kearns woulda done, amirite?!
LaPorta got a double too, and he managed to get a sac fly RBI in the 6th which was pretty important. Especially since LaPorta has not been able to get those sacrifices or hits at key times.
Valbuena...was sent down this afternoon so McAllister could come up to pitch. Whew. Valbuena had his best at-bat of the season today when he walked. 'Nuff said.
Everybody go take a little nap, I'm going to go get some fondue, and we'll meet back here late tonight for another round of winning.
Oh God, I hope there's some winning...
Update: Oh yeah I forgot to mention there was an earthquake during today's game. An earthquake! Tom Hamilton felt it and so did I, some 20 miles away. Actually the quake was in Virginia and we just felt the shocks. Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer Tweeted:
Mariners have been in Cleveland for snowed out series, double-rainout series, now earthquake. Locusts and rivers of blood next.HA!
Radio Chatter:
"Blake Beavan. He's 6'7", 240 pounds. I'll give you one guess as to where he's from."
- Tom Hamilton thinks they make 'em bigger in Texas
"This is one of those days where if you're a player you'd better have thick skin. The fans' barbs can be heard all around the park."
- Tom Hamilton
"The Indians are very smart, they didn't combine Puppy Palooza and Dollar Dog Night."
- Mike Hegan
"I don't wanna hear 'well, they're young players.' That's a high school play."
- Tom Hamilton is pissed that Zeke can't get a bunt down
"I always wonder how many cocktails mom and dad had when they decided to name their son Casper."
- Tom Hamilton
"He hasn't been as good as last year but nobody is lining up outside Manny Acta's door saying 'please put me in tomorrow.'"
- Tom Hamilton on facing Felix Hernandez tomorrow
"Just when you think this team is failing, they pull a Lazarus!"
- Tom Hamilton
"Blake Beavan. He's 6'7", 240 pounds. I'll give you one guess as to where he's from."
- Tom Hamilton thinks they make 'em bigger in Texas
"This is one of those days where if you're a player you'd better have thick skin. The fans' barbs can be heard all around the park."
- Tom Hamilton
"The Indians are very smart, they didn't combine Puppy Palooza and Dollar Dog Night."
- Mike Hegan
"I don't wanna hear 'well, they're young players.' That's a high school play."
- Tom Hamilton is pissed that Zeke can't get a bunt down
"I always wonder how many cocktails mom and dad had when they decided to name their son Casper."
- Tom Hamilton
"He hasn't been as good as last year but nobody is lining up outside Manny Acta's door saying 'please put me in tomorrow.'"
- Tom Hamilton on facing Felix Hernandez tomorrow
"Just when you think this team is failing, they pull a Lazarus!"
- Tom Hamilton
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
More Sweet Stuff from the Sprouts
So the Tribe is .500 right now for the first time since April 5. We're 4 games out of first place. Last night, Bob Frantz was pondering whether or not "this is it."
GROAN! First off, no this isn't it. There are 2 more months left. We've got three more players left (Sizemore, Choo, Jiminez) an the possibility of signing someone off waivers.
All that AND our new guys are kicking ass!
Kipnis tonight with his 4th home run in as many games!
Lonnie with a big double late in the game, coming in to score when...
Zeke batting leadoff (love him but BOY did we need Brantley tonight!!) gets a ground-rule double and RBI to tie the game in the 8th.
The only other producers tonight were our steadfast Asdrubal and Hafner, who followed up Kipnis's solo shot with a single and an RBI double.
No help from any other guys. I heard someone say earlier, I think on the radio, that Santana was going to strike out and hit a home run. Well the guy was half right - 4 times!
Now that some of the chaff has been cleared from our lineup (Orlando, Buck - sorry guys!) Austin Kearns sort of sticks out like a sore thumb of badness, doesn't he? Swell guy and his kid is getting good treatment at the Autism Center but...well maybe he can just retire and stay in Cleveland?
If we're going to have guys suck in our lineup let it be the fresh new Fukudome, the wishy-washy LaPorta or Carlos "For fuck's sake stop wiggling your foot at the plate!" Santana. Kearns just isn't doing it for us anymore.
Carlos Carrasco composed himself today and only gave up 2 earned runs. He went as far as the bottom of the 8th, too. Not bad at all - someone must have had quite a talk with him. He definitely had opportunity to melt down, especially after Kearns' run-scoring error in the 1st, but he did just fine. That coolness we saw all through June that had completely evaded him through July.
Our man Sipp looked good in the 8th, striking out 2. Not sure how Smith let the game go but ... well I know how and the answer is FUCK BOSTON ARGH!!
Turns out the game wasn't on WKYC today but it is tomorrow! Not bad because I forgot to tune in until halfway through today anyway.
Still have a chance to split the series. Tomorrow's gonna be a great game between Masterson and Boston's new stud Erik Bedard. Well it'll be awesome as long as Ellsbury doesn't bat in the 9th - amirite?
Only 2 more days until Ubaldo!
See you tomorrow at 7:10!
GROAN! First off, no this isn't it. There are 2 more months left. We've got three more players left (Sizemore, Choo, Jiminez) an the possibility of signing someone off waivers.
All that AND our new guys are kicking ass!
Kipnis tonight with his 4th home run in as many games!
Lonnie with a big double late in the game, coming in to score when...
Zeke batting leadoff (love him but BOY did we need Brantley tonight!!) gets a ground-rule double and RBI to tie the game in the 8th.
The only other producers tonight were our steadfast Asdrubal and Hafner, who followed up Kipnis's solo shot with a single and an RBI double.
No help from any other guys. I heard someone say earlier, I think on the radio, that Santana was going to strike out and hit a home run. Well the guy was half right - 4 times!
Now that some of the chaff has been cleared from our lineup (Orlando, Buck - sorry guys!) Austin Kearns sort of sticks out like a sore thumb of badness, doesn't he? Swell guy and his kid is getting good treatment at the Autism Center but...well maybe he can just retire and stay in Cleveland?
If we're going to have guys suck in our lineup let it be the fresh new Fukudome, the wishy-washy LaPorta or Carlos "For fuck's sake stop wiggling your foot at the plate!" Santana. Kearns just isn't doing it for us anymore.
Carlos Carrasco composed himself today and only gave up 2 earned runs. He went as far as the bottom of the 8th, too. Not bad at all - someone must have had quite a talk with him. He definitely had opportunity to melt down, especially after Kearns' run-scoring error in the 1st, but he did just fine. That coolness we saw all through June that had completely evaded him through July.
Our man Sipp looked good in the 8th, striking out 2. Not sure how Smith let the game go but ... well I know how and the answer is FUCK BOSTON ARGH!!
Turns out the game wasn't on WKYC today but it is tomorrow! Not bad because I forgot to tune in until halfway through today anyway.
Still have a chance to split the series. Tomorrow's gonna be a great game between Masterson and Boston's new stud Erik Bedard. Well it'll be awesome as long as Ellsbury doesn't bat in the 9th - amirite?
Only 2 more days until Ubaldo!
See you tomorrow at 7:10!
Radio Chatter:
"Boy oh boy - with Gonzalez at the plate, not quite sure where Pedroia was going."
- Tom Hamilton on Pedroia getting picked off
"He forgot his pre-game plan against the knuckeballer was to hit from the left hand side."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Carlos Santana switching from a right-handed batting helmet to left-handed
"You are living a charmed life in this ballpark when you have 2 runners on in almost every inning."
- Tom Hamilton
"It used to be 'Jim Wisenhaus' when he was in Buffalo but now it's 'Rosenhaus' since he's in the big leagues."
- Tom Hamilton mocking the change in the pronounciation of Marco Scutaro's name when he left Cleveland
"Neil Diamond recorded that song when he had his own hair, and it's become a Fenway tradition."
- Tom Hamilton on "Sweet Caroline"
"You come to Fenway Park and you'd better not go into the 9th tied with the Red Sox coming to bat."
- Tom Hamilton
"Boy oh boy - with Gonzalez at the plate, not quite sure where Pedroia was going."
- Tom Hamilton on Pedroia getting picked off
"He forgot his pre-game plan against the knuckeballer was to hit from the left hand side."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Carlos Santana switching from a right-handed batting helmet to left-handed
"You are living a charmed life in this ballpark when you have 2 runners on in almost every inning."
- Tom Hamilton
"It used to be 'Jim Wisenhaus' when he was in Buffalo but now it's 'Rosenhaus' since he's in the big leagues."
- Tom Hamilton mocking the change in the pronounciation of Marco Scutaro's name when he left Cleveland
"Neil Diamond recorded that song when he had his own hair, and it's become a Fenway tradition."
- Tom Hamilton on "Sweet Caroline"
"You come to Fenway Park and you'd better not go into the 9th tied with the Red Sox coming to bat."
- Tom Hamilton
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