Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Last night was ugly, but the Yankees have still won four of their last six games and have Chien-Ming Wang, the only baseball player to make Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list this year, starting for them today against the Jeff Weaver and his 18.26 ERA.
And he missed his plane, and hence his doctor's appointment.
Methinks he's in the doghouse, big-time.
Let's hope we get 7+ out of Wang today. We need it badly considering what we are likely to get the next two days.
I guess signing Ted Lilly, Keeping John Lieber and El Duque wasn't such a bad idea after all. Why do that when you have a bunch of bums in AAA and AA, Phil Hughes and Carl Pavano though, right?
Anyone else expecting the Yankees to go down 1-2-3 to Weaver in the first? Just thier luck that Weaver would rediscover something today.
Its still on MLB.tv for international viewers I think. Please dont make me watch the Angels, pretty pretty please. It is on MLB.tv because you will be able to get it in the archives after today. Am I wrong?
It could be worse. Could have been Erstad standing in Center last night letting a fly ball drop right behind him. Luckily they were west coast fans and it wasnt that bad for him.
Yes. Does anyone have it?
12 Because Fox is run by drugged wombats, they showed Jason Patric reading the lineup instead of the fan reaction to Weaver.
jon lieber just threw a 1-2-3 inning on my fox broadcast w/ mark grace & duane kuiper.
really wish i could see my yanks today. : /
What a mistake the Pavano signing. Should have signed Gil Meche in the off season.
Being patient and taking walks is the hallmark of this team, and one of the reasons for it's success. I don't think Melky and Cano should be allowed to not conform.
Don't bunt, Derek, don't do it!
Jeez, I hope he's not hurt too bad.
Terrible bunt. Terrible baserunning by Melky. Melky is screwing up too much. Time to read him the riot act. I can forgive a low batting average, but not all these mistakes.
Remember when nationally televised baseball games didn't cut to "faces in the crowd" every thirty seconds?
NBC's Game of the Week with Scully and Garagiola, back in the 80's seems so, so long ago.
-John Sterling, just seconds ago.
This inning is a long one... I hope it doesn't affect CMW too much.
Bad news is it's taking a while ...
Also, I sure wish Jeter had done that in the 9th last night...
I'm glad they finally torched Weaver. I thought it was October for a second there. But this brings up what I always hated about Jeff Weaver- he gets pissed when something doesn't go his way (like A-Rod's bleeder up the middle) and then gets wild and rarely recovers (see: 4 pitch walk to Giambi, fastball at Matsui's leg, etc).
I hope 9 more worms get killed today. In order.
It's getting to me. o_O
117 Simone, my impression is that he has the usual number of grounders, only a handful of flies. No?
Hey, I hear there's some other important sporting event about to occur...
Except GameDay is stuck. What's going on?
I'm watching all of Wang's pitches, though.
Giambi singles, two on, no outs.
Phelps in to pinch-run for Giambi.
123 THere was a brief delay while Monahan came out and looked at Alex's elbow. HBP. Now Giambi mashes a hit.
arrragh. still great game though
I really think the pressure was getting to him. He just didn't look the same.
Hm, he must be tiring.
You know, the big 3 have looked pretty darn good their last starts. Throw in The Chosen One, and there's no reason to give up yet.
6. Eligible Candidates — Eligible candidates must be selected from:
(A) Major League players who competed in any portion of at least ten (10) championship seasons and who have been retired as players for at least twenty-one (21) years. In addition, players whose service in the Negro Baseball Leagues prior to 1946 and the Major Leagues thereafter total at least ten years or portions thereof are defined as eligible candidates.
(B) Baseball Executives and/or Managers and/or Umpires who have been retired from organized Baseball as Baseball Executives and/or Managers and/or Umpires for at least five (5) years prior to the election. If the candidate is 65 years old at the time of retirement, the waiting period is reduced to six (6) months. If the candidate reaches the age of 65 during the five-year waiting period the candidate becomes eligible six months after the candidate's 65th birthday.
(C) Those whose careers entailed involvement as both players and managers/executives/umpires will be considered for their overall contribution to the game of Baseball; however, the specific category in which such individuals shall be considered will be determined by the role in which they were most prominent. In those instances when a candidate is prominent as both a player and as a manager, executive or umpire, the BBWAA Screening Committee shall determine that individual's candidacy as either a player (Players Ballot), or as a manager, executive or umpire (Composite Ballot). Candidates may only appear on one ballot per election. Those designated as players must fulfill the requirements of 6 (A).
(D) Any person designated by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball as ineligible shall not be an eligible candidate.
But the next fifteen years... now that's a nice thought.
"It usually takes two games for the Yankee starters to go eight."
It's huge as a good sign, as a good thing for the long run, and as something we needed today.
I hope A-Rod's ok...
Phil Hughes spent an hour of his Saturday morning in an MRI tube, and when his chance to see the image of his strained left hamstring came around, Hughes instead opted for the door.
"I was just ready to get out of there," Hughes said. "I was just sore and stiff from laying down for an hour."
The 20-year-old right-hander worked out with Yankees team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon on Friday on a battery of flexibility exercises, and according to Cashman, Hughes tested very well.
"Maybe it's not as bad as we first expected," Cashman said.
The Yankees still maintain their initial projection of four to six weeks on the shelf for Hughes, who suffered the injury while working in the seventh inning of a no-hitter on Tuesday at Texas.
Anyway, this just reinforces the notion that Wang should have been sent out for the 9th--on a short leash, so he does't throw 130 pitches.
He was not thinking about the perfecto. He knew how important a long start was today. He's pretty cute.
I don't think he's on the team anyway
Anyway, I am picking at nits and swatting at gnats. Can't complain too much about tonight!
Things are different now. Many offensive all-time records are being broken or approximated, while there are very few true aces in the game. Raising the mound now won't return us to 2-1 games, but there may be fewer 15-11 games.
It was lowered for a very specific reason. That reason doesn't even come close to applying now. Smaller parks, the dh, better bats, players working out, body armour and other 'enhancements' primarily favor the batter.
Plus if it DOES lower the number of pitching injuries, that will make the game better.
TV/radio ad revenues went down dramatically in the late 60s because nobody wants to watch hitters make that many outs. When teams score just over three runs a game there's no excitement.
I don't see why the Yanks wouldn't consider this trade if the Giants offered it to them.
Great post. I couldn't agree more.
226
It hurts my brain to think about it. We shouldn't even be in a position to be thinking about trading Melky. But alas, we have found ourselves here. I still say no to that trade. I have a feeling about Melky. Remember, he's only what, 22? Either way, I had this same feeling about Adrian Beltre. I live in LA now and the fans and my friends would always give me grief about it as the best defensive third baseman in the game (You have to give it up to his defense, Chavez should never win a Gold Glove again if Beltre is healthy), would finish up another season batting .250. Then, he had a monster season and carried them to the playoffs. He hasn't matched that in Seattle but he's a third baseman I would certainly want on my team.
I don't want to give up on Melky just yet. Once he gets some confidence I think he'll be ok.
Not to mention, I am always iffy on NL pitchers like Lowry. Most notably because he pitches in such a poor division.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.