Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
"No we got nothing in common/No we can't talk at all"
The contrasting styles of the two American League wins leaders, groundballer Chien-Ming Wang and fireballer Josh Beckett, face off this afternoon in Fenway, with both pitchers looking for his nineteenth win, and the Yankees likely still flying high off their improbable win last night. That word improbable has been popping up a lot between these two teams recently, all in the Yankees favor. Things also went in the Yankees' favor the last time each of these two pitchers took the mound against today's oppenent. Beckett gave up a career-high 13 hits (including a solo homer by Alex Rodriguez) and allowed four runs in an otherwise solid outing, losing to tomorrow's starter Roger Clemens. The next day, Wang no-hit the Sox for 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit (to Mike Lowell) over seven scoreless to pick up his sweet sixteenth. Wang is 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA over his last five starts.
Many have positioned this game as a battle for the American League Cy Young. C.C. Sabathia and even Johan Santana may have something to say about that, but considering the inappropriate emphasis the voters place on wins, this game could indeed be crucial to their decision making.
It's been a rainy day in Boston thus far, but the late FOX start time should allow the weather to blow over, while the clouds could prevent the shadows from interfering as they often do in late afternoon contests. Here's hoping the Yanks can make tonight a wonderful thing.
Isn't Lackey worthy of Cy discussion? I haven't heard any mention of him, so maybe not.
What a brutal trifecta this year.
Actually I am a Packer fan(1-0 whoo-hoo!) as well as a Yank fan so I shouldn't talk. 1-6 vs. winning teams last year with the one win being against the second string Bears in the final game of the season.
My email is brstormer@roadrunner.com.
Please help!
http://www.myp2p.eu/MLB.htm
You have to install it, and the quality isn't as nice as mlb.tv, but it works.
pettitte was all business reading that lineup.
Go Wanger! Go YANKS!!!
And this conclusion is based on his 100 career games at DH, 45 this season? Ah, the idiocy starts early...
Actually, looking at VORP, he does deserve it. Only Hanley is ahead of him in the NL.
mccarver outdoing himself already. mute button, here i come!
At least we're 30 pitches closer to The Best Bullpen In Baseball
Too bad Hideki ruined things, there, but great ab out of everyone, especially Alex and Jorgie.
This game's ours...
Damon's career totals: .288/.353/.433
Career as DH: .284/.357/.407
Much, much better. Right.
This year, Damon is hitting worse as a DH - .238/.327/.342. But he's hitting almost as badly as a center fielder - .253/.354/.359. As a left fielder, though, he's tearing the cover off the ball - .347/.417/.554.
Any theories on that, Timmy? Or can we just call it small sample sizes?
ugh, wang and his struggles with the sox continue
Giambi flashes the leather!
He's still a douchebag. Knowing Sox fans, they're probably proud to have him on their side.
Alex actually seemed ok with that call, but that looked outside.
Damn it.
Wang pitches like a sea lion.
115 damn cult, that sucks! sorry, bro...
The whole update is funny, really.
Wow; Tito tells us the truth. Midget sucks. It's true.
If any person associated with this game could be struck with a train, I would want it to be:
A) Beckett
B) Papelbon
C) McCarver
In Actobah, we pahk thah cahs in thah yahd.
D) all of the above
good lord is jessica alba an absolute goddess. holy wow!!!
Beckett's line: 181.7 IP, 3.57 xFIP, 142 ERA+, 9.0 K/G, 1.9 BB/G, 0.73 HR/G.
Granted, he's been lucky w/r/t his HR/FB%, but he still has an identical xFIP to Santana, and is basically identical to Sabathia.
The reason CC is better and SHOULD win the Cy is because he's pitched a whopping 40 more innings at a 138 ERA+.
1) Santana
2) Sabathia
3) Blanton
4) Lackey
5) Carmona
McCarver's Cy Young ballot:
1) Beckett
2) Wang
3) Mayonnaise
4) Sabathia
5) I think Bob Gibson was the best pitcher I ever caught.
"I almost threw Dane Cook in here because he wore a Yankees cap to a Crank Yankers taping a few years ago even though he's allegedly a big Boston fan, then refused to laugh and took the holier-than-thou approach when my buddy Paul loudly farted in the studio. ... Five years later, he's taking dumps in a garbage can on the TourGasm bus and grossing out his buddies and pretending he's a guy's guy."
Don't worry RSN, you can have him.
boo. that sucked. don't want the fenway crowd in this game...at all. double play now! thank you, please.
Giving up hits to Nancy, Wang is not exactly lights out today.
This game is starting to turn a bit. After making Beckett work in teh firrs, he has basically cruised and should finish at least seven innings. Wang needs to limit the damage here.
i wouldn't be too very surprised if puke broke something there in his forearm. could be a blow to the 'nation.' we'll see...
Wang is starting to looked cooked.
Awesome Jorge!
Jorgie.
Wow.
hip-hip!
i abhor that fat man.
Damn shame the Yanks probably won't have home field in the playoffs.
He DIDN'T get the call right; he blew it COMPLETELY!
341 To whom, precisely, would you have gone in that situation? I guess Edwar, but v. Ortiz would have been pretty scary.
All right, it's only fair if we spot them a big lead anyway.
If he's loose, then what's the big fucking deal?
If I were in that situation, and I have the ball in my glove and am in the process of making a tag, only to see the ump call the runner safe before either I can tag him or he can get to the plate,I think my assumption would be that the ump thought I didn't have the ball.
The rule books beg to differ, assholes.
unless, of course...we come back and win again! : )
And there is the intentionally beaning. Of course, no ejection. Unbelievable.
A fucking WARNING.
Unbelievable.
1. Jessica Alba
2. The Yankees mounting a 2-out rally after that HBP
c'mon leche!
I might agree with the rest of your post, but this last sentence doesn't make much sense. If there is any pitcher you give perhaps too long of a leash to, to trust too far, it's your ace. If anything, Torre's M.O. is to pull his starters too soon, not too late. He made the call to stick with his best starter for one more out and he got burned.
Ahh, Melky... Well, they have to frustrate us first with LOB stunt before they start rippin'...
meanwhile, melky, you're making steve phillips look good ... stop that immediately!
That's when you go get him.
Other things the crew is not sure of:
1) Gravity
2) Whether or not they are color-blind
3) The Red Sox: awesome the the most awesome?
Feel free to add your own!
1. How to call a Red Sox game objectively
Perfect. Kill two birds with one stone.
4) How to promote MLB
5) What year it is
If Beckett doesn't get suspended, I will be seriously pissed. It's just getting old. Other teams have carte blanche to pretty much do what they want it seems, and the Yankees get suspended if they bat an eye.
Interestingly, he just brought in Villone, presumably because a lefty was up. If that's the cae, then why not have Villone warming in the previous inning? Not that I trust Villone v. Ortiz any more then the rest of them.
Whoever retailiates is going to sit for a few games, in the heat of a penant/WC race.
What a genius.
It's the ONLY thing that makes sense, assuming Edwar's OK and good to go.
good grief. do we have 2 5-run comebacks in a row on the road in us???
aaaaaaand....yet another pitching change...
I would also like to say that I CANNOT STAND Josh Beckett and would root for a line drive to hit him in his ass every time. But I don't thnk it's unimaginable and inconceivable why he didn't get tossed and Joba did.
Yankees pitchers, counting today, have hit Red Sox batters eight times. Red Sox pitchers have hit Yankee batters nine times, Alex Rodriguez accounts for four of those. Youkilis has been hit three times, but with his stance (hands in the strike zone, leaning over the plate) that's not surprising.
1. Leaving in Wang
2. Taking out Edwar
3. Bringing In Villone
4. Then Bruney
5. Now Henn
Well done. Only 7 million a year for this great managing.
eh, as long as Henn keeps them to single digits Yanks can rally against these fuckers.
shrug
I thought it was a pretty reasoned opinion. People wondered why they thought things ended up different in those situations, that's what I think.
Why do I feel like this game would still be close if Torre had just let Ramirez pitch? Not saying the Yanks would win or anything like that, but man, that hook was way too fast.
We won't play Boston until the ALCS anyway, assuming either of us make it that far, so we'll deal with it then.
I'm off to watch Arkansas at Alabama. See you tomorrow night guys.
Eric
thankfully, i have to scoot out for a gig in a few minutes and will miss the end of this debacle...
Well, now you guys have a chance to have an even more heart-destroying comeback. I'm in favor of that.
506 I wasn't being serious.
And f*ck Santana, the Twins, and anyone else on the Tigers schedule, and the Tigers too, for that matter. Yanks control the outcome. They take care of biz, nothing else matters.
It's theirs to lose...
I do hope the team has some more runs in them tomorrow. They've only had one good inning so far this series.
I want to see a thorough and merciless beatdown sweep of Baltimore to plant the seed in their collective lizard brains for the season finale series, if God forbid, the Yanks have not secured the wild card prior. They've had our number so far, and we need to set sh*t straight.
Not that a win Sunday would hoirt ;-), especially against Shilling.
I'm expecting some free swingin' Bomber bats tomorrow...
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