Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Arizona Diamonbacks and Milwaukee Brewers, two teams that had losing records in 2006, are considered contenders entering the 2007 season. There's reason to believe that the Colorado Rockies, who finished 2006 with the exact same record as the Diamondbacks, could surprise some people as well. Over in the American League, the two teams that lost 100 or more games last year, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Kansas City Royals, are two of the teams that intrigue me most entering the 2007 season. Not because I think they'll contend like that NL trio, none of which lost 90 games last year, not even because I think they'll be particularly good, but because I think they'll be better, and better for rather compelling reasons.
In the case of the Royals, they've added the game's top prospect, third baseman Alex Gordon, 23, finally rid themselves of no-hit, no-field, no-run shortstop Angel Berroa (in favor of Tony Pena Jr., who can't hit or run, but sure can pick 'em), and constructed a lineup in which poor man's slugger Ryan Shealy is hitting seventh. Meanwhile, they've got one of the most compelling stories in the game in Zack Greinke, who returned from a battle with social anxiety to dominate in spring training and break camp as a member of the major league rotation. The combination of Greinke and Gil Meche, who landed one of the most perplexing contracts of the offseason, will be curious to say the least.
The Devil Rays, meanwhile, have surprised many by breaking camp with troubled prospects B. J. Upton and Elijah Dukes in their Opening Day lineup at second base and center field respectively. Twenty-two-year-olds Upton and Dukes join 21-year-old Delmon Young, established homegrown stars Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli, both 25, and former New York prospects Dioner Navarro and Scott Kazmir, both 23, to form one of the most exciting young squads in baseball. That's a big deal for a team that scored the fewest runs in the major leagues last year, in part due to the plate appearances wasted on Travis Lee (388: .224/.312/.364), Damon Hollins (355: .228/.269/.423), Tomas Perez (254: .212/.224/.286), Toby Hall (234: .231/.261/.398) and busted prospect Jorge Cantu (448: .249/.295/.404), the last of whom failed to make the team this spring.
That's not to say that Upton and Dukes, let alone Young and Navarro, or even the gimpy Baldelli (who will start the season as the DH due to chronic hamstring problems) are guaranteed to produce (it seemed Upton forgot to pack his bats for his brief major league stint last year), but the upside to this year's Devil Ray offense is miles higher than that which the team ran out there last year. And I haven't even mentioned Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura, who just might prove to be the most underrated addition in the division.
The problem, of course, is pitching. After Scott Kazmir, the Rays will get a full season out of 25-year-old James Shields, who acquitted himself well as a rookie last year and is the sort of young, homegrown, mid-rotation starter they need to succeed, but that's it. Jason Hammel, who was supposed to compliment Shields, failed to make the team, as did J. P. Howell, the lefty starter acquired from the Royals for Joey Gathright. That means more Casey Fossum, Jae Seo, and busted Dodgers prospect Edwin Jackson. Things look even bleaker in the bullpen, which is the usual assortment of journeymen and busted prospects and opens the year without a clear closer. Without pitching, everything can break right for the Devil Rays' offense and the team still won't win, particularly in this division and this league. There are pitching prospects on the way (assuming you believe in such creatures) such as Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot, Jacob McGee, Wade Davis, and Wade Townsend, but due to either injury concerns or inexperience, none are particularly close to helping. That leaves it to General Manager Andrew Friedman to properly leverage his outfield glut (Crawford, Baldelli, Young, Dukes, Jonny Gomes, possibly even Upton if he fails at his third infield position) for young arms that can help. The Gathright for J.P. Howell deal was a declaration of intent. Expect a more substantial swap this summer.
Until then, Rays will have keep Kazmir healthy and cash in his starts as often as possible (the high upside would look like a modern-day version of fellow lefty Steve Carlton's 1972 campaign). As exciting as the Rays' young offense might be, there's not true masher in the bunch, nor are players such as Crawford, Baldelli, or Young particularly adept at inflating their on-base percentages via bases on balls. There are still major concerns over Upton's fielding and Dukes' disposition, and neither Dukes nor Iwamura has ever played a regular season game in the major leagues. So the Devil Rays aren't necessarily going to be good, but they sure will be interesting.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2006 Record: 61-101 (.377)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 65-97 (.401)
Manager: Joe Maddon
General Manager: Andrew Friedman
Home Ballpark (2006 Park Factors): Tropicana Field (102/102)
Who's Replacing Whom?
Akinori Iwamura replaces Jorge Cantu (minors)
Elijah Dukes replaces Aubrey Huff, Russell Branyan, and Joey Gathright
Delmon Young inherits Damon Hollins' playing time
B. J. Upton inherits Travis Lee's playing time
Dioner Navarro replaces a half-season of Toby Hall
Ben Zobrist replaces two-thirds of a season of Julio Lugo
Carlos Peña replaces Greg Norton (DL)
Brendan Harris replaces Tomas Perez
Jae Seo takes over Tim Corcoran's starts
James Shields takes over Doug Waechter's starts
Edwin Jackson takes over the starts of Mark Hendrickson, Seth McClung (minors) and Jason Hammel (minors)
Brian Stokes replaces Brian Meadows
Gary Glover replaces John Switzer (DL)
Al Reyes replaces Tyler Walker and Travis Harper
Jae Kuk Ryu replaces Chad Harville and Chad Orvella (minors)
Juan Salas replaces J. P. Howell (minors) and Dan Miceli
Opening Day Roster:
1B – Ty Wigginton (R)
2B – B. J. Upton (R)
SS – Ben Zobrist (S)
3B – Akinori Iwamura (L)
C – Dioner Navarro(S)
RF – Delmon Young (R)
CF – Elijah Dukes (R)
LF – Carl Crawford (L)
DH – Rocco Baldelli (R)
Bench:
R – Jonny Gomes (OF)
L – Carlos Peña (1B)
R – Brendan Harris (IF)
R – Josh Paul(C)
Rotation:
L – Scott Kazmir
R – Jae Seo
R – James Shields
L – Casey Fossum
R – Edwin Jackson
Bullpen:
R – Shawn Camp
R – Brian Stokes
R – Ruddy Lugo
R – Gary Glover
R – Al Reyes
R – Jae Kuk Ryu
R – Juan Salas
Lineup:
L – Carl Crawford (CF)
S – Ben Zobrist (S)
R – Rocco Baldelli (R)
R – Ty Wigginton (R)
R – Delmon Young (R)
L – Akinori Iwamura (L)
S – Dioner Navarro (S)
R – Elijah Dukes (R)
R – B. J. Upton (R)
Incidentally, here's who's replacing whom for the Yankees:
Who's Replacing Whom?Full seasons of Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui replace Bernie Williams and Gary Sheffield
Doug Mientkiewicz replaces Craig Wilson, Aaron Guiel and some of Melky Cabrera
Josh Phelps replaces Andy Phillips
Wil Nieves replaces Sal Fasano and Kelly Stinnett
Andy Pettitte replaces Randy Johnson
Kei Igawa replaces Jaret Wright
Carl Pavano replaces Shawn Chacon and Cory Lidle
Luis Vizcaino replaces Ron Villone
Sean Henn replaces T.J. Beam, Aaron Small, Scott Erickson etc.
For me, Cliff was completely right on the radio, it is indeed Pavano's break or make day today. I really think he's already got more chances than he deserves thus far. He's gotta show he's determined to do his job this season.
Ok, Pavano, settle it down...
and Shaun, I usually use Yahoo's or ESPN...
Seems quiet on the Banter today. I was expecting a 500+ thread today...
Nice! Phelps is starting!
"Ty Wigginton continues to bat after dropped foul fly ball to A. Rodriguez"
20 word. i was expecting a packed house here. it's still early.
that's two years in a row for damon getting an opening day hit in his first PA. nice.
I'm glad that Jeter didn't try to bunt Damon over. =)
On another note, I checked out mlb.tv's new 700k stream for the yes feed today, and its awesome...
20 Same here. But it's a long afternoon.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B04030OAK2006.htm
Good old Bobby leaving off right where he started...
A-Rod gets a nice standing O, a half inning after booing him in the field, and probably a few pitches before booing him
Those sound like biggest cheers thus far, no?
Abreu singles, A-Rod up with runners on first and second...
Count is 1-1.
And Arod ks and the boos, as predicted, start...
(Yuck.)
Scotty k looks rusty and off, not too surprising...
Also, make sure you have flip4mac installed 58
Jeter makes an error and gets no boos :)
Ouch. Our infield not looking good so far.
Cripes. Walking Dukes in that situation, not good.
And theres the Jeter range factor to haunt us, and combined with his error, costs us a run. But, you know, he's Derek :)
Cano K's.
Robby needs to take #22 back.
How long before we see the relievers of the Rays?
No reason to be drastic and use a pc, lets not be extreme here :)
Murcer is on right now. He looks great!!
Huh, Jetes has to find the range!
It's time for FJK.com
... after Crawford steals a base.. "That's what make this a GREAT team"
... Matsui makes a decent/routine catch.. "GREAT play by Matsui"
It's so stupid. Everything is GREAT with Kruk. Does he think he's doing a Little League game?
On a dark, damp, windy day, that pop that ARod missed was not an easy play.
Phelps tries to catch, instead of block Jete's bad throw.
Pavano has been decent. Our fielding and throwing has been p*ss poor (notice the throw into 3rd from Damon? 10' offline from short CF).
We'll chalk it up to rust.
Anybody see the PhD Mathimatician who predicted the Yanks win 110?
Murcer not only looks great (and looks cool with the new bald style), sounds energetic. He's expressing his gratitude for all the care, concern, and love he received over the past months.
He said he can't imagine missing the Opening Day.
Just showed Murcer on ESPN, lookin good Bobby!
Really Kruck, is that what it does? Is that why its good to hit doubles and triples? I thought it was because it puts runners in scoring position and often knocks in runners, but what do I know??
Never thought I'd hear Bobby say the words "Britney Spears."
It was akin to hearing Bob Sheppard say:
"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. Now batting, Paris Hilton."
Anyone notice the pitch location of Giambi's hit? Low and outside half of the plate... a ball he would have missed or hit weakly last year. I won't say he's trying to go the other way, but maybe he's not trying to pull everything.
You know, it just feels different. I've been watching a little spring training, it's not as if I've literally not seen baseball in months, yet it feels like it.
Time begins indeed.
Poignant stuff with Bobby.
We'll see.
I think he'd normally take that one, it was just outside of his personal zone, I think, but we'll see...
I missed his first ab.
LET'S GO BASEBALL!
Is ESPN (and Fox) that lame? With their choice of just about ANY announcer on the planet, where do they find Kruk, Morgan, McCarver, et al?
It is near impossible to get any decent analysis of the game. Wheres Kaat when you need him?
128 Yea, he is enjoying it!
129 I am sure and I hope they will. It's really a much better and bigger news than Arod (I am not being sarcastic here).
Did you see that?
Now that is off-field hitting!!
4 innings without an earned run?
all aboard the 'wagon.
Quick, pull the Bucky Dent tape.
It's much more real, and you see things about the art of hitting, about how hard it is to actually hit a baseball much better, I think.
I wish they'd use it far, far more often.
What do we think?
Oh, but he's earning the 1B job in my heart, anyway, and I don't care about his missing that pick-up in the first inning. Two very nice walks.
74rd pitch coming up for Kasmir.
Tough pitch to take.
The Banter is alive and well.
Welcome back ladies and gentleman.
I have missed your brilliance and wit.
(Thanks again Alex and Cliff).
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
(I feel much better now)
Hello, Ray's bullpen?
Let's go DO-nuts.
He's my kind of pitcher.
Man, look at that control.
That strike three to Jeter was a little low, of course, but Kasmir put it exactly where he wanted it.
And he's got a good slider.
Well, let's see if I'm right about Kazmir next inning.
(some supermodel is in for a long night).
Right on.
Continue to get well, Murcer!
A 'True Pitcher'?
A 'True Ballplayer'?
A 'True Pavano'?
162 Can I join your cheering?
Pavano may not quite have earned his stripes yet.
No break.
sit back and enjoy the show. we are witnessing a historical ascendance from the depths of the DL all the way to the majestic heights of league averageness.
comeback carl is spinning (what is for him) an absolute gem!
I'm just hoping this isn't a little microcosm harbinger kinda thing. Bad defense, and explosive Pavano to erase all that nice Yankee hitting.
And what's with the infield?
Phelps, another DH is making?
What does that mean?
I had no expectation he'd score on that ball, that was laced!
5 inninngs into the game, is it wrong to say that the only one who will be able to prevent Arod from being the headline tomorrow is Pavano?
I gotta love the game on these Tampas.
D-Rays Bull-Pen
Clap Clap *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*
Wang...get well soon and get yourself back to NY.
...for mr. pavano, that is.
be gentle, people. the soundwaves created by excessive booing could potentially shatter his tibia.
203 I seriously get dizzy sometimes watching them run.
Here we go, A-lex, here we go!
Look at Andy, suddenly the Elder Statesman!
I love it.
Pettitte is gotta be a nice person, who befriends Pavano, no?
I'm surprised, given his troubles last year. It doesn't seem like they should be letting him throw 90 pitches today.
Bring up Hughes, buy Clemens, and put the hit out on Matsuzaka now!!!!
Fundamental baseball.
A joy to behold.
It is definitely too early to panic -- wait until Thursday.
218 It's way too early. Take a deep breath and remember the Yankees always had strange performances against the Devil Rays.
Hello, Mr. Proctor. Now this is early...
He's really got talent.
"Two innings ago, it completely felt like an exciting Opening Day, not so much now...this is more like a tiring cold day in September."
:)
Very well said.
228 WORD!
GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Dammit, Pavanomaas, I actually had hope for this game...
Jorgie's going the other way was a classic case (in my mind) of situational hitting.
The others still keep trying to pull the ball off a guy with amazing control.
(As Jorgie fouls away the 3-2, trying to pull.)
Is anyone a little uncomfortable by how he concedes the outside corner?
He stands so far off the plate.
WTG, Jorge. Nice, 2-3 off Kazmir, who should be done now, no? Up over 100 pitches.
I wish I wasn't stuck at work, so I could watch... though the errors would've really pissed me off.
I do have to say, at least Carl pitched in a real game.
Damon has cramps.
Nice.
Damon cramps in both calves. Weird. What does that mean?
That is a DP waiting to happen.
BTW, I listened to the lead melt away on the radio. It didn't take Sterling and Suzyn very long to start campaigning for Mientkiewicz at first. "Well Jeter should have made a better throw, but Mientkiewicz would have picked that ball out of the dirt." "I don't have anything against Phelps, but this is what's going to happen every time Mientkiewicz isn't out there." Sheesh.
242 Those errors would make you wonder what kind of party the infielders had last night, and that specific thought would make you even more pissed.
There's no excuse for (not only) 3 errors but also a few other bad plays.
I don't really think he's too far off the plate, I'm just saying when I watch him up there, I kind of feel his vulnerability over there.
Just a visceral thing, really.
By and large, however, it might be wise to play MCI when Pavano or Wang is the SP.
How glorious!
So, we bring in our starting first baseman to PH bunt. That may be 'good fundamental baseball', but it doesn't make me happy. I'd prefer a Josh Phelps walk there.
Now it's probably true that Phelps can't bunt, but that's pretty funny (in a sad sorta way).
C'mon, Cap'n.
WTF is Mientkiewicz bunting when the Yanks are down 2, against the Rays' bullpen?!?!?!
First pitch swinging, or work it?
The sacrifice bunt and the runs brought in with a single up the middle!
So it appears to me.
That said, I heart Jeter and his bat.
It's ok, Melk, I love you anyway.
Especially at home.
All we needed to do was tie the ballgame up.
It's ours to lose now.
:)
I'm all for fundamentals... like not falling down. But let's not give away outs.
Oh...I forgot we have a new guy who gets to save Proctor's arm this year.
He needs a nickname...
Not sure I follow.
Didn't the sacrifice put runners on second and third in the first place?
Could not the pressure of said runners being in scoring position have contributed to Melky's being hit by the pitch?
And did not the basehit up the middle actually score the runners who reached scoring position on the sacrifice?
I don't quite follow...
If it were ANY other hitter on the team, save maybe Nieves, I think you don't bunt. Minky.....maybe not awful.
"Vizier \Viz"ier\, n. [Ar. wez[=i]r, waz[=i]r, properly, a bearer of burdens, a porter, from wazara to bear a burden: cf. F. vizir, visir. Cf. Alguazil.] A councilor of state; a high executive officer in Turkey and other Oriental countries. [Written also visier, vizir, and vizer.]"
via dictionary.com
And it was boneheaded by Melky. Just chalk it up to opening day jitters.
(Last time I rant about that this year.)
It's not giving them away, but rather trading them for greater control over the game situation.
Second and third, 1 out is arguably more of an "offensive" position than first and second, no outs, because of the spectre of the DP.
Two runners in scoring position, for a pitcher, means that any kind of single equals two runs.
That's pressure on each pitch, no?
Good inning from the Vizier ;)
Mean time, nice job by Alex and Jason. Jason is lookin' gooooooood.
The Vizier it is.
Is that not a fair statement?
Stick that in yer pipe and boo him why dontcha?
This Opening Day has just about everything in baseball. HR, RBIs, errors, bunts, steals, getting the lead, losing the lead, getting, the lead back, excitement, tiring feeling of Sep, Murcer, cheers for Pavano, boos and cheers for Arod.
And why not think about what kind of situation puts pressure on a pitcher?
That's part of the game, isn't it?
It's a legitimate factor, if hard to quantify.
No statistician, I.
Not complaining about the run this inning, but the way we pounded the ball it should've been three. Oh well.
In other words, what are the variables in which that's not the case?
And were they operative here?
As for the bunting thing... yes, 1st & 2nd w/no outs does result in more scoring than 2nd & 3rd and one out, but you do have to consider the hitters & baserunners in question. Phelps is a PRIMO double-play candidate (hard contact, slow as molasses), and ManCaveItch isn't much better. So while 1st & 2nd has more upside, it also carries a certain risk of bad downside (DP). So I understand why Torre did what he did. This is one I can live with.
Jeter bunting in the first inning of a playoff game, on the other hand...
Because if the likelihood of that were nil, I'd see your point.
But it seems as if that likelihood might in some cases be quite high (slow runner, groundball pitcher, whatever).
Anyway, I don't mean to be so sabermetric, so I'll stop now.
It is left bracket "[" then the number then right bracket "]" Without the quote marks.
The bad news is they're replacing it with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Not to many guys can hit 40 HRs and do that!
I gotta wonder, if Minky starts the game, how does that effect the score? Jetes throw was catchable.
:)
No problem, I'm actually quite fascinated, because I don't get sabermetrics and peoople who do seem to have a very different baseball experience than I do.
So I'm mostly curious about seeing things from that perspective.
Maybe one day it'll click and I'll get it.
Anyway, we're up 6-5, eh?
How 'bout that!
http://www.tangotiger.net/RE9902.html
It says that teams in those seasons scored, on average, 1.573 runs when there were runners on 1st/2nd 0 outs. Teams scored 1.467 runs when they had runners on 2nd/3rd and one out. So the decrease in run expectancy is not all that great. And in a tie game in the later innings, with a hitter who could GIDP (run expectancy of runner on 3rd, 2 outs: 0.387)- this is a bunting situation where it's about break even.
356 It does account for the possibility of a DP, yes.
I'll give in to mikeplugh, I guess: it's not an awful decision, in this context.
(Of course, the game was not, in fact, tied; we were down by two.)
Okay, so here I'm neutral on the bunt. That one didn't hurt us. (I mean Melky's.)
With Mo waiting in the bullpen...thanks for coming Devil Rays...
But check out the Win Expectancy Finder on the two situations and you'll see the Win Expectancy basically didn't change at all.
How many times did the 1st and 2nd situation lead to either 1 run or less and 3 runs and more? As the home team, we needed TWO runs in that situation. Sure, 3 or 4 is better, but we needed 2 (and at worst, one). So, in the statistics you quoted, which situation had a higher probablitly of scoring one run? Which had a higher probability of scoring 2 runs?
I would rather have an 80% chance of scoring 2 runs then a 60% chance of scoring 4.
Again, these statistics are general in nature. Most are not specific to any one exact situation. Yes, they should always be know and taken into account, but that does NOT mean they should always make the final determination.
The table, of course, combines data from all innings. If we are to take into account the game situation (down 2) the inning (sixth, sorta late) and the hitter (ew), we can make a case that the sac bunt was, at worst, a break even strategy (same number of expected runs scored) and could possibly even help (compared to outcomes such as GIDP, allows for Sac Fly, etc).
Make sense?
382 I believe we lost a couple of percentage points of win expectancy by bunting in the sixth. Not much. You can check it out yourself:
http://winexp.walkoffbalk.com/expectancy/search
Woo hoo, Alex!!!
Late to the party again, Alex!
:)
Powerful. Smooth. Comfortable. Quiet.
Typical A-Rod.... taking Mo out of the game.
BOOOOOOO!
That will wipe the sabermetrics off BB, if anything will!
Kidding...HOORAY!
In this situation, down by 2, no outs, he has at least a 36% chance of not making an out.
In his career, DM has ground into 70 DPs in his career (3265 PAs) - which means the odds of him GIDP are about .02.
.36 >> .02 - hence, the bunt was a bad move.
I agreed with you 100% up to 368, RIYank.
BTW, no sabermetrics there, just a little math.
(Don't ya love watching really slow guys run for their lives?)
ARod's gonna have a good year.
when was the last time these two had a sleep over? is there a rift between these two stars? alert murray chass!
watching people run as a subway train's doors begin to close or as a walk signal on a street corner changes will always make me smile. everytime. i feel a little guilty, but not nearly enough to get me to stop.
Schrill to start the season for the Sox in a minute or so.
Why take an inning out of Mo's arm here?
He's not exactly a spring chicken...
Mo Time!
Thats a weak single and a cheap/lucky SB.
If there's a "saves" incentive in Mo's contract A-Rod owes him a root beer.
Now if he can K Upton on a change, it will be a perfect finish.
408 Same here. Funniest was watching a guy running to catch a train (Metro North) while pointing at his watch and yelling that he still had two minutes. Conductor didn't stop the train for him...
Sure, I know he was up, but still, why waste him?
He doesn't have to come in.
Anyway, he's on fire.
A joy to watch.
Oh my God.
That third strike was just unfair.
Vicious.
I can't wait to get home and watch the game on TV this time!
Mo's so good...
Although, in a few years, this lineup will be LETHAL.
Mo is god.
And go Royals!
(And no, 422, no change-ups.)
Didn't need 'em.
:)
That was fun.
Oh, stinking Papi drives in the first run with a double.
Manny lines out deep.
I forsee a split-page, two photos. The missed pop up on the right, the follow through of the home run on the left.
Headline: Boo! Ya!
Subheader: Opener is Tale of Two A-Rods
BTW, don't know if you saw it or not before the 350-400 comments were hidden, but I thought your original analysis of Mientkiewicz's bunt was spot on.
Thanks. I did check the Win Expectancy Finder and the Melky bunt left the Win Expectancy unchanged. Now as you mentioned, that doesn't account for abilities of the particular batters, so maybe you're correct that it was a bad move, but I think it must have been pretty close to neutral.
Yanks winning and Curt Schilling getting racked by the Royals. He walks home a run in the first. I guess everyone still here knows that.
Schilling walked in a run.
Nice win by the Yanks. Hope Damon is okay.
233
463
Yeah, a little bit.
Here in New England, the fan base is very badly overestimating how much Schilling will give them this year. It's annoying, but I feel better when I think about how disappointed they're going to be. Today is a good start.
But I'm happier about the Yankee outcome than about the (presumed) Sox/Schilling loss.
All over now. What a great baseball day! May Josh Beckett suffer a similar fate.
An ARod HR...
A Sox loss...
A Schilling choke...
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
If we could only do something about global warming...
485 If only...
despite the fact that i spent the night in JFK airport experiencing a delay only to get home in time for a 1/2 hour of sleep, followed by a 9 hour work day and not one, but 2 mid term exams (currently waiting for #2 to start), today has been pretty beautiful.
bee-yu-tee-full.
thanks, curt.
4-6, 2 2B, 4 R, 1 RBI
Owned by none other than Hanley Ramirez
Here's to hoping that the Sox are a house of cards. I'd like one season where they just stink from the beginning and I don't have to get all wound up every game. Today was a good start.
BTW, I read on waswatching.com that this is the first time in 148 games that Curt didn't pitch at least 5 innings.
488 Surely you can get some good sleep tonight?
489 Mmmmm, I'll be sure to mention it to all my Sox buds. And Trot Nixon, 3-for-4. Though J D Drew didn't do badly today for Boston. I mean, he can still walk, so that's a plus.
A few things I am sure have been rehashed a lot already:
Crappy ass play by the Yanks
Awesome bullpen save for Bruney
Mo was throwing total gas
Meat pitched a bit better than it shows
Looks liek Phelps will never play again after Doug out showed his "belly full.."
Bruney: Vizcaino got the win, is that what you meant? The whole pen was excellent, though.
Mo: pure joy
Meat: I agree. Not good, but not awful.
Phelps v. eye chart: I hadn't thought of that. Depressing.
We had a great time postgame enjoying Curt Schilling & Co., too. Make sure to take the day off for every remaining game, Zack.
Bruney allowed an inherited runner IIRC, so while he did ok, not as good as the others...
And yeah, the offense was there, but 3 errors and the baserunning, blah...
Always great to see the Sox fall on their faces on opening day against KC. Not that I expect it to last, but for one day its awesome!
493 Same here, haven't scanned the posts yet, but will risk stating that Ca$hMoney is indeed a genius with the DougOut signing. We'll hit 500 here, no problem — maybe 550-600 when the rest of us Left Coasters file in...
On another note, I'm hatin' life thanks to the unholy alliance of MLB and DirectTV. Watched today on ESPN in HD and it was sweet, but from here on out I am at the mercy of the four letter network's programming schedule, as I refuse on principle to switch from Comcast to Direct. It'll be Sterling and Waldman on GameDay Audio this year, but that's OK. Plus, I'll see the Yanks when they invade S.F. for interleague...
Yankee baseball is back. And not a day too soon...
There was also "clutch" RBI by the Cap'n and the winning 2-run HR by Arod. Great battings by Jorge.
No, meat wasn't awful but not being able to last 5 innings is not good at all no matter how he pitched in the 2nd and 3rd. What he's done today can be concluded as worse than Jared Wright. As simple as that.
And once again, Mo's performance was a pure beauty.
And for that matter, the D-Rays made Matsui's arm look like Bernie's today.
Yeah, #500!
Also: ESPN Bias In Full Effect on Day One:
'Toronto' (1-0) occupies the top slot in their AL East Standings over 'New York' (1-0).
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings
Don't get me started. It's only Opening Day for cripes sake...
501 They have to put someone in the first slot, cripes.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.