I’m just wondering how many Red Sox fans flashed back to Bill Buckner when the ball went by Ortiz for two runs?
Posted by David Pinto at 11:12 pm | Defense | Permalink | 3 Comments
June 30, 2004
Silly Things
Jon Leicester was pitching in relief for the Cubs today. I can’t hear the announcers say his name without thinking of this Monty Python sketch.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:06 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
June 30, 2004
Vincent on Failure
Matt Barr sends this link to Fay Vincent’s commencement address at Canisius College. He speaks of learning from failure, and has this to say about his time as commissioner:
Failure of Persuasion: Sadly, my tenure as baseball commissioner ended in failure. I failed because I couldn?t persuade the owners or the players to avoid war. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:53 pm | Commissioner | Permalink | No Comments
June 30, 2004
St. Louis Swept
The Pirates win another in the bottom of the ninth, this time on three singles with 2 out. It was a poorly pitched game for the Bucs, as four pitches combined to allow 10 hits and 7 walks. The 6-5 loss once again gives the rest of the NL Central a chance to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:23 pm | Games | Permalink | 2 Comments
June 30, 2004
Lost in the Sun, Lost for a Run
Craig Biggio popped up the first pitch from Matt Clement, but Aramis Ramirez lost the ball in the sun and let it drop in foul territory. Biggo took the next pitch into the stands for a HR. Ramirez was not given an error on the dropped fly, so it will be an earned [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:27 pm | Defense | Permalink | No Comments
June 30, 2004
Simon Sez, “Take a Pitch”
Randall Simon just drew his 11th walk of the year. The announcers were commenting that since coming back from his rehab, Randall has been more selective at the plate. Before the injury, Simon drew 2 walks in in 32 AB. Since, he’s draw 9 walks in 65 AB. In 410 [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:02 pm | Players | Permalink | 3 Comments
June 30, 2004
Games of the Day
The the battle of the Clems on the north side of Chicago today as Roger Clemens battles Matt Clement. Both have exellent ERAs, although Roger has been slipping of late, posting a 5.60 ERA over his last three starts. With Randy Johnson reaching 4000 K last night, similar comments apply to Roger’s chances [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:42 am | Games | Permalink | No Comments
June 30, 2004
4000 Club
Congratulations to Randy Johnson on his 4000th strikeout! Johnson is 40 years old and still is striking out batters at a prodigious rate, better than 9 per 9 innings. In other words, the end of his career is not in sight. While I doubt he’d last long enough to catch Ryan, I [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:21 am | Pitchers | Permalink | 2 Comments
June 29, 2004
It’s 52
The Chicago White Sox continue to have Carlos Silva’s number. He allowed six runs in 8 2/3 innings tonight, bringing his season total against the White Sox to 16 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings. Buehrle strikes out seven and walks none over 8 innings to earn the 6-2 victory.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:40 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
June 29, 2004
We Don’t Need No Stinking Thome
The Phillies scored 17 runs on 17 hits tonight, but none of those hits came from super slugger Jim Thome. Jim was the only starter without a hit tonight; even Eric Milton managed a single and 2 RBI. Seven Phillies had 2 or more RBI tonight, while Bell and Michaels each scored [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:32 pm | Games | Permalink | 2 Comments
June 29, 2004
Low Scoring Losses
After tearing up the AL West and NL Central, the Cardinals offense has been stymied by the Pittsburgh Pirates the last two nights. They’ve only allowed five runs; most days that would result in two wins. But they’ve only scored 1 themselves. It’s a great chance for some other NL Central team [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:50 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
June 29, 2004
Taking a Base
I always enjoy looking at the Cleveland Indians boxscores, especially the ones that list OBA. Just look at those OBA’s. Coco Crisp is rightly in the 9th slot with his low .300’s, but the rest of the Indians all do a good job of getting on base. They need a pitcher or [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:08 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 1 Comment
June 29, 2004
I Hope It Doesn’t Pop Out of His Chest and Start Eating Teammates
Jason Giambi has a parasitic infection. I’m waiting for someone to tell me that it’s a sure sign of steroid use.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:02 pm | Illnesses | Permalink | 4 Comments
June 29, 2004
Keeping the Ball Lowe
Derek Lowe has given up seven runs through four innings against the Yankees. Three ground balls he’s induced have turned into errors, and four of those seven runs are unearned. Derek has only struck out one so far, so he’s given the defense plenty of opportunities to make mistakes. Lowe has now [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:43 pm | Games | Permalink | 4 Comments
June 29, 2004
Games of the Day
It’s big series day. We’ll start off with the Red Sox visiting the Yankees. When last we saw our antagonists locked in mortal combat, the Bostonians had swept a three game series in the Bronx by a combined score of 16-4. Boston had a 12-6 record at that point, and a 4 [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:08 pm | Games | Permalink | No Comments
June 29, 2004
Washington, Selig and the Expos
Off Wing Opinion links to an excellent three part series in the Washington Post on the behind the scenes scheming that will or will not bring the Expos to D.C. It’s very long, but well worth the read. To sum it up as briefly as possible, MLB uses it’s anti-trust exemption to cajole [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:28 am | Team Movements | Permalink | 6 Comments
June 28, 2004
Jack In the Box
Jack Wilson uses some aggressive baserunning to beat the Cardinals in the 9th. With one out, he lined a double down the left field line. As he was approaching 2nd, he noticed that no one was covering 2nd to take the throw. He didn’t stop, and headed for third. Womack [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:03 pm | Base Running | Permalink | 6 Comments
June 28, 2004
Luck Continues
Another lucky night so far for Victor Zambrano. He’s allowed 4 hits and 3 walks through five innings, but only 1 run. All the hits have been singles, but only one came with a man in scoring position. One runners was taken out trying to stretch a single into a double, another [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:40 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
June 28, 2004
Suppan Supreme
Jeff Suppan is off to a perfect start tonight. Through three innings, he hasn’t allowed a base runner while striking out four. He’s averaging 14 pitches per inning.
Update: Suppan has the no hitter through five innings. He’s walked a batter and Rolen made an error. A double play, however, means that [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:29 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 3 Comments
June 28, 2004
Games of the Day
Trailing by 4 1/2 games, the Toronoto Blue Jays send Roy Halladay to the mound against Victor Zambrano of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Zambrano continues to be haunted by walks. He’s given up 20 in 25 innings this month, and has only struck out 17. For the year, he’s walked 69 [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:54 pm | Games | Permalink | No Comments
June 28, 2004
Break Up the Cardinals
The Cardinals have jumped out to a five game lead in the NL Central with the help of an excellent record in interleague play. The Cardinals have gone 8-1 against the American League so far, while the Cubs have posted a 5-4 record and the Reds have only won 3 of 9. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:49 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 6 Comments
June 27, 2004
Nightmare on 35th St.
The White Sox have obtained Freddy Garcia from the Mariners. The White Sox are currently 9th in the AL in starter’s ERA. Their top four starters all have ERA’s in the 4’s, so this should give them a very solid five man core once Schoeneweis comes back from the DL. Garcia has [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:24 pm | Trades | Permalink | 1 Comment
June 27, 2004
Happy Anniversary
Congratulations to the SOMBILLA on their 25th anniversary. Sorry I could not make the party today.
You can read the history of the Pinto Hatchbacks’ best SOMBILLA season here.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:01 pm | Simulations | Permalink | 1 Comment
June 27, 2004
Family Ties
So far, it appears that the return of Jose Contreras’ family has had the desired effect. Through three Jose has allowed only 1 hit to the Mets while striking out three. Reyes, who led off with a hit, was caught stealing so Contreras has faced the minimum 9 batters.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:56 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
June 26, 2004
Where to Throw?
I saw one of the worst defensive plays I’ve ever seen today in the Mets-Yankees game. In the top of the fourth, with runners on 1st and third, Reyes tries to steal 2nd. Halsey, however, has Reyes picked off. Giambi takes the ball, and instead of turning and throwing to 2nd, looks [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:13 pm | Defense | Permalink | 2 Comments
June 26, 2004
Out Hit, But Not Out Scored
The Red Sox offense, on the surface, had a pretty good day vs. the Phillies. They belted 14 hits, including three doubles. They had hits in every inning but the 9th; but no more than 2 hits in any inning until the 8th. The Phillies, with 13 hits, also took advantage of [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:02 pm | Games | Permalink | 1 Comment
June 26, 2004
Games of the Day
With the rain out last night, the NY battle of the lefties moves to today. See yesterday’s post for details.
An excellent pitching matchup in Cleveland after last night’s slugfest. Joe “The Patriarch” Kennedy takes on CC “Milliliter” Sabathia. Kennedy has been fairly amazing this year, posting sub 4.00 ERAs at home and [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:24 am | Games | Permalink | No Comments
June 25, 2004
Games of the Day
It’s the weekend of the interleague rivalries as MLB tries to take advantage of natural matchups wherever they can. One of the better matchups tonight takes place at Yankee Stadium, where Al Leiter faces Brad Halsey. Leiter was once the up-and coming Yankee lefty. Now Leiter is a big part of the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:55 pm | Games | Permalink | 1 Comment
June 25, 2004
BALCO Leaks
Here’s the latest story from the BALCO scandal .
Of course, there’s now a scandal over the scandal, as leaking of grand jury testimony is illegal. I thought this was the most interesting thing I read in both articles:
Montgomery did testify that Conte began giving him banned substances soon after the 2000 Olympics, the newspaper [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:31 am | Cheating | Permalink | 8 Comments
June 25, 2004
Triangle Trade
A three way deal sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros, Octavio Dotel to the A’s, and three young players to the Royals.
Here’s the view from Oakland.
Unlike Arthur Rhodes, who began the season as the A’s closer, Dotel has an established track record finishing games, with 14 saves in 17 chances this year. Over the past [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:12 am | Trades | Permalink | 8 Comments
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