Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[killeverything]

3 game series begins today between the sox and Yankees. so far this season the sox have won all 5 games.

A.J. does tonight. hopefully he does a lot better than his previous start vs the sox.

who else saw Hughes last night in relief? 1 inning only, but his fastball was around 96. not sure if he will remain in the pen for long, but it was great to see him get outs in a new role.

That's sweet, let's let the MFY get that whole "bridge to Rivera" thing figured out.

Fuck.

Annnnnnnnnddddddddd here it is.

MFY 34-23, 16-12 away at MIGHTY RED SOX 33-24, 18-8 at home
RHP Burnett 4-2, 4.69 255/344/433 @
RHP Beckett 4-2, 4.69 244/321/369

RHP Wang 0-3, 14.46 448/500/724 @
RHP Wakefield 7-3, 4.50 248/344/356

LHP Sabathia 5-3, 3.56 223/295/322 @
RHP Penny 5-2, 5.85 309/359/518

Now I kinda got into it with Itjogs over the rotation set up a few days ago. He was in the "why start Wang?" camp against the Mighty Red Sox. With how it's starting to look like it's just going to be these two in the East battling out for a Playoff spot, I'm in the same boat about Penny. Unless he does good, which will up his June 15 trade value.....if he's on the block. Unfortunately he's facing a LHP.....Sabbathia. I would prefer to have Lester face him personally.

Last nite's other come from behind win for NY had me doing a little bit of research. The MFY offense has been playing out of their fucking minds on the road. Check out these numbers....these are the leaders:

Jeter aOBP.389
Traitor Piece Of Shit aSLG.481
Arod aOBP.407
Cano aSLG.571 ( Cano has been wicked this season )
Matsui aSLG.571
Swisher aOBP.400 aSLG.708 ( .700 SLG on the road? When Swisher get's hot, he gets real hot. )

Team totals:
aBAA.284 aOBP.355 aSLG.468 aISO.184 aOPS.823

The OBP and OPS scare me, especially with Penny on the mound and his straight FB.

Ortiz has looked better as of late, hopefully Traitor's prediction is right.....that he's about to turn it around. If not I have some numbers John Dewan did about his hit distance the last three seasons. I'll save that for another post. When/If I get really fucking mad.

Hopefully the weather holds up. If there is one team NY doesn't want in a doubleheader it's Boston. If there's one team Boston don't want it's NY.

Oh yeah. Beckett has been real sharp recently. In his last 6 starts he's got an ERA of 1.94. I'd like to see this continue. Burnett has a 4.12 in that same stretch.

Go to hell MFY.

[Machado]

C'mon. Show those figures about ortiz and the distance his balls are going of late. I saw the figures last night on ESPN. Quite shocking.
Either his wrist is still hurt or the guy has just lost "it".

The arguement about "why" Wang is starting is a joke. You don't ask a 2-time 19 game winner to pitch in relief.
He injured his foot last year.
Was unable to throw because of the injury.
Now that he's had about 3 months to regain his strength, it's about time he takes the mound and pitches.
In his last start, I was not worried about his stats so much. Asking for a complete game shut out was a dream. So why have expections so high that he fails. You have to begin somewhere.
Let Wang pitch, get some starts under his belt and see if that sinker is working or not.

[killeverything]

C'mon. Show those figures about ortiz and the distance his balls are going of late. I saw the figures last night on ESPN. Quite shocking.
Either his wrist is still hurt or the guy has just lost "it".

The arguement about "why" Wang is starting is a joke. You don't ask a 2-time 19 game winner to pitch in relief.
He injured his foot last year.
Was unable to throw because of the injury.
Now that he's had about 3 months to regain his strength, it's about time he takes the mound and pitches.
In his last start, I was not worried about his stats so much. Asking for a complete game shut out was a dream. So why have expections so high that he fails. You have to begin somewhere.
Let Wang pitch, get some starts under his belt and see if that sinker is working or not.

Alrighty then.

All of it is speculation on what the hell is going on with Ortiz. The "Manny Protection" theory has been shot down, is it the wrist, eyes, PEDs, age, mental? I personally think the WBC has a lot to do with it.

Here are John Dewan's averages.

David Ortiz—Average Distance (feet)

2007 Liners: 205 Fliners: 302 Flies: 310
2008 Liners: 214 Fliners: 296 Flies: 275
2009 Liners: 58 Fliners: 278 Flies: 261

Pitching outcomes ( K rate )

2007 AB549 SO103 AB/K5.3
2008 AB416 SO74 AB/K5.6
2009 AB187 SO51 AB/K3.7

Distribution of Batted Balls

2007 BIP449 37% Grounders11% Fliners14% Flies37%
2008 BIP346 36% Grounders8% Fliners18% Flies37%
2009 BIP140 26% Grounders9% Fliners27% Flies38%

http://actasports.com/sows.php

I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from that yet. His ABs have looked a lot better with pitch recognition, etc. I suppose a lot of it has to do with confidence at the plate. I think/hope all he needs is to drive one really far, and he'll snap out of it.

Here's the armchair psychology stuff.

"He's a human being and his slump is causing him great anxiety," said Murray, who hasn't treated Ortiz but who has worked with dozens of professional athletes for more than a decade. "David Ortiz used to be in an automatic state, where he wasn't even aware of his performance. Now he can't relax."

"Elite athletes have extreme proficiency, lightning-quick instincts and rapid responses," Murray said. "But when their computers, their minds, are getting too much information, they freeze."

"An athlete is the sum of his thoughts, his feelings, his actions and his sensations," Murray said. "Big Papi has always been able to handle the noise, the distractions and the physical demands. But as his slump continues, he's beginning to exacerbate the situation internally. His desire to help his team, to please the fans and to produce are causing him to overcompensate.

"At its most basic level, thought precedes action. Ortiz is hardwired to play at a very high level, he's been successful his entire life. But now he's confused, and this increases his distress. High intensity and high anxiety are the cruelest combination."

"If this is in his head, there are actual clinical steps to be taken," said Dr. Murray. "Ortiz needs a full assessment done, mental and physical, to try and pinpoint exactly when his confidence started to fail. Then he might need a deep relaxation technique, to retrain his body that he is in control of it. Deep relaxation is the gold standard for anyone who has anxiety. It's the state of body and mind that you hear about when athletes say they are 'in the zone.'"


http://www.cbssports.com/cbssports/story/11834418

Then there's his quotes about it, which lets it seem like it IS effecting him.

"My body is resting every night," Ortiz said, "but my mind is spinning with all of this [stuff]. It's hard to sleep. This is hard. I've never been through something like this. But when you get older, and have a bad year, you never know what can happen. A lot of times, they don't let you come back."

Ortiz has a .197 batting average and only two home runs in 198 at-bats this season.

"People keep writing and saying all this [stuff]," he told USA Today. "They say I can't hit no more. That I'm done. What, I have one arm now? I'm not 45. I never struggled like this, but I'll be back. Then what are they going to say?"


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4240565

So there's that.

[killeverything]

Well the billion dollar team is 0-6 now. Granted you can't fuck with Beckett when it matters ( he's a lot like Schilling in that regard ). Ortiz hit a homer, that ( I haven't seen the hittracker yet ) I'm not sure would've been out anywhere else. Hopefully this fires him up....so to speak.

2 more games. We got Wakefield vs. Wang.

This could be Tim ( Pedro Martinez ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Mike Pelfrey ) Wang.

Of it could be Tim ( Matt Clement ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Randy Johnson ) Wang.

We shall see. No matter how well the MFY has been playing as of late.....and it has been good. They're still the same teams. Boston has a .714 wPct at home. There is still the Fat Penny start to avoid the possible sweep though.....he's facing Sabbathia. Who would you bet on?

[johnk5150]

Timmy Kurkjian said it best yesterday. It doesn't matter if the Yankees go 0-18 against Boston this year if they make the playoffs and Boston doesn't.

[Machado]

Well the billion dollar team is 0-6 now. Granted you can't fuck with Beckett when it matters ( he's a lot like Schilling in that regard ). Ortiz hit a homer, that ( I haven't seen the hittracker yet ) I'm not sure would've been out anywhere else. Hopefully this fires him up....so to speak.

2 more games. We got Wakefield vs. Wang.

This could be Tim ( Pedro Martinez ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Mike Pelfrey ) Wang.

Of it could be Tim ( Matt Clement ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Randy Johnson ) Wang.

We shall see. No matter how well the MFY has been playing as of late.....and it has been good. They're still the same teams. Boston has a .714 wPct at home. There is still the Fat Penny start to avoid the possible sweep though.....he's facing Sabbathia. Who would you bet on?

Of course ortiz goes yard last night. Of course beckett was lights out last night on the mound. i am not surprised one bit.
then again, it's only 1 game. not sure if any pitcher in the majors could have defeated beckett last night. all his pitches were dominating.

really looking forward to Wang's performance tonight. game is on ESPN. i will be watching via that network and then tomorrow via the MLB network.
here's hoping to many ground balls & easy outs for Wang tonight.

[killeverything]

Well the billion dollar team is 0-6 now. Granted you can't fuck with Beckett when it matters ( he's a lot like Schilling in that regard ). Ortiz hit a homer, that ( I haven't seen the hittracker yet ) I'm not sure would've been out anywhere else. Hopefully this fires him up....so to speak.

2 more games. We got Wakefield vs. Wang.

This could be Tim ( Pedro Martinez ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Mike Pelfrey ) Wang.

Of it could be Tim ( Matt Clement ) Wakefield vs. Chin Meng ( Randy Johnson ) Wang.

We shall see. No matter how well the MFY has been playing as of late.....and it has been good. They're still the same teams. Boston has a .714 wPct at home. There is still the Fat Penny start to avoid the possible sweep though.....he's facing Sabbathia. Who would you bet on?

Of course ortiz goes yard last night. Of course beckett was lights out last night on the mound. i am not surprised one bit.
then again, it's only 1 game. not sure if any pitcher in the majors could have defeated beckett last night. all his pitches were dominating.

really looking forward to Wang's performance tonight. game is on ESPN. i will be watching via that network and then tomorrow via the MLB network.
here's hoping to many ground balls & easy outs for Wang tonight.

The next two games are gonna be the biggest question marks. You don't know what Wakes or Wang will show up. Actually game three isn't that much of a question mark. I just hope Penny doesn't lower his trade value too drastically.

Ortiz seems to be coming out of his slump, except next they go to Philly. So he'll be on the bench for three games. Perfect timing eh?

[Machado]

have the sox already announced that he will sit those 3 games in philly? i would be surprised if he did.

shed some tears for my team. they are scheduled to play 9 consecutive games in NL parks.
(at marlins, at braves, at mets)
does that seem fair? talk about giving an AL team a disadvantage.
heard on Yes that the Yankees are thinking about playing Matsui in LF during that 9 games stretch. not sure if that is a good idea, but his bat will be needed.

[killeverything]

have the sox already announced that he will sit those 3 games in philly? i would be surprised if he did.

shed some tears for my team. they are scheduled to play 9 consecutive games in NL parks.
(at marlins, at braves, at mets)
does that seem fair? talk about giving an AL team a disadvantage.
heard on Yes that the Yankees are thinking about playing Matsui in LF during that 9 games stretch. not sure if that is a good idea, but his bat will be needed.

Francona hasn't announced it 100%, but come on. Aside from a pinch hitter role, how do you not sit him? It's not 2007. I found this quote.

We're trying to win games," manager Terry Francona said. "We want to put our best hitters, our best defense [on the field]. What do you do with Youk? We've got a guy that's won the Gold Glove that I would have a hard time saying, 'Well, we're not going to play our Gold Glove first baseman 'cause I wanted to take David's mind off of his struggles.' That doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

Ortiz said only, "I'm not talking anymore. Not for a while."

That might change, with Ortiz's bat getting a bit hotter, but his .198 average doesn't exactly call out for a need to sit either Lowell, who's hovering around .300, or Youkilis, who's batting above that.


I would have him riding the pine. Philly's been playing well lately ( although the majority of their wins have been on the road ). Even with a sweep against the MFY, it will still only be a small seperation in the standings.

It's stupid to have him at first IMO. What's important is winning games.

Check this out. I found it from the Associated Press. Heh.

"The last time the Red Sox beat New York six straight times to start the season, the Yankees were known as the Highlanders and it was the bandbox in Boston that was brand new."

[Machado]

found this tidbit online today.
i do recall the telecast when sutcliffe made this comments:

BOSTON - Hours before they were to do battle with the Red Sox Tuesday night, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez were involved in different type of confrontation, this one inside the Yankees' clubhouse.

Upset with an accusation made by ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe two weeks ago, the two players approached the former Cy Young winner to discuss the situation.

Sutcliffe said on the air that A-Rod had been feeding Teixeira verbal signs from the on-deck circle, giving his teammate a heads-up on the catcher's location before the pitch was delivered. Teixeira and A-Rod pulled Sutcliffe aside when they saw him in the clubhouse last night, expressing their displeasure with his charges.

"Me, Alex and him talked about it," Teixeira told the Daily News, confirming that the conversation took place. "No doubt it's disappointing when someone makes an accusation like that. Whatever. I can't control what they say."

Teixeira said he has known Sutcliffe "for years," adding that he's always considered him to be "a great guy and a great pitcher." Teixeira wouldn't comment any further on the tone of the conversation, although he and Rodriguez were clearly upset with Sutcliffe's words and let the former All-Star know it. Sutcliffe will be part of ESPN's broadcast team for tonight's game.

"You can ask him about it," Teixeira said.

[killeverything]

I don't think that's a big deal.

Surely it's not supposed to happen, but teamates are always trying to look out for eachother. It's not like Arod's accusations that he was helping out opposite hitters in Texas.

As for stealing signs from the on-deck circle or first base, show me an instance where you don't think that's happened. I'm still waiting for the MFY front office and the NYPost to spin this as another press release, about how good of buddies the Yankee players are with eachother. We haven't had a buddy update in almost a couple months.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Has anyone picked up Joe Torre's book? Saw that in the store the other day and I'm intrigued. Any comments about it?

[Machado]

Has anyone picked up Joe Torre's book? Saw that in the store the other day and I'm intrigued. Any comments about it?

I completed the book about a month ago.
I recommend the book.
My favorite parts of the book were mostly the "negative" items.
The stories you don't see on ESPN for the most part.

I don't think Torre disrespected anybody with this book.

[killeverything]

Has anyone picked up Joe Torre's book? Saw that in the store the other day and I'm intrigued. Any comments about it?

I completed the book about a month ago.
I recommend the book.
My favorite parts of the book were mostly the "negative" items.
The stories you don't see on ESPN for the most part.

I don't think Torre disrespected anybody with this book.

Jake recommends it too. I want to get it myself, but I have to finish some more books I found about Ted Williams first.

[JakeYonkel]

I'm sure if I dug around I could find my review of it - I got it and read it in about 4 days. It's really a book about the 96-07 Yankees by Verducci with just tons of quotes from Torre. It was pretty good.

[Tenacious_Dio]

Timmy Kurkjian said it best yesterday. It doesn't matter if the Yankees go 0-18 against Boston this year if they make the playoffs and Boston doesn't.

I like Timmy, but that's a pretty dumb statement. If the Yankees went 0-18 against Boston (which will obviously never happen), they would have to outplay them by 19 games over the course of the other 144. I know he's just being hypothetical and all, but come on.

[killeverything]

Timmy Kurkjian said it best yesterday. It doesn't matter if the Yankees go 0-18 against Boston this year if they make the playoffs and Boston doesn't.

I like Timmy, but that's a pretty dumb statement. If the Yankees went 0-18 against Boston (which will obviously never happen), they would have to outplay them by 19 games over the course of the other 144. I know he's just being hypothetical and all, but come on.

I was thinking the same thing. 18 guaranteed losses will pretty much fuck your chance of winning the Division.

I chalk Kurkijan's statements up to almost being the same as listening to Joe Morgan, just not as fucking stupid. That said I really like Tim's book 'Baseball For Brain Surgeons And Other Fans'. It gives you inside glances at the game from more of a manager's perspective.

Nuggets like if a RHH keeps fouling off to the right, it's because he can't catch up to the fastball. A slider is more than likely going to be hit for a homerun if you throw that next. Just things like that that the average fan doesn't know. Defensive postions, etc.

[killeverything]

Holy shit. This is becoming a great game.

Penny pitched out of his mind. I heard but didn't see on NESN that both Eliza Dusku and Jessica Biel were there in crowd. If there was ever a reason to up your game.........

The MFY took advantage of poor defensive placement, and scored a run. They were hustling on the basepaths like Torre's Yankees. I gotta say too, MDC is wearing fucking thin with me. Saito or Masterson would've done better.

2 and 1/2 innings left. Down by two.

Let's go Mighty Red Sox!



Welcome back, big guy.

[Machado]

Did you watch ESPN baseball tonight last night? They discussed A-Rod getting beaned. Including audio from nesn. The eck on the air mentioned that he believed A-Rod was being thrown at. Interesting.
penny missed on the 1st pitch and went for it again on the second.
problem is, both benches warned, so C.C. now has the cuffs on his as far as pitching inside go.
Memo to the blue's:
LET THE PLAYERS POLICE THEMSELVES ON THE FIELD!!!

[killeverything]

Did you watch ESPN baseball tonight last night? They discussed A-Rod getting beaned. Including audio from nesn. The eck on the air mentioned that he believed A-Rod was being thrown at. Interesting.
penny missed on the 1st pitch and went for it again on the second.
problem is, both benches warned, so C.C. now has the cuffs on his as far as pitching inside go.
Memo to the blue's:
LET THE PLAYERS POLICE THEMSELVES ON THE FIELD!!!

I wonder if it was intentional.

Of course a retaliation was going to happen at some point, from Joba the fat throwing at Youkilis. I'm wondering what "Yankee" Bob Watson is going to do about this. I wonder if he fines Penny.

Schilling was answering questions on 38pitches.com. Among them were the non-hit batter fines dished out. He said that Watson is a former player that forgot how the game is played. He said he respects him when he was GM of Houston, and all that crap.

Still I wonder if there is going to be fines. It seems to be the guy's MO now. Gotta stay relevant somehow I guess.

[bighairdiscs]

A-Rod getting beaned = 3 Yankee hitters hit this season by Boston pitching.......

Yankee pitching has plunked 9 Boston hitters this season.....

Do the math.

Penny did it the right way, and to his credit, A-Rod handled it the right way

[bighairdiscs]

Did you watch ESPN baseball tonight last night? They discussed A-Rod getting beaned. Including audio from nesn. The eck on the air mentioned that he believed A-Rod was being thrown at. Interesting.
penny missed on the 1st pitch and went for it again on the second.
problem is, both benches warned, so C.C. now has the cuffs on his as far as pitching inside go.
Memo to the blue's:
LET THE PLAYERS POLICE THEMSELVES ON THE FIELD!!!

I wonder if it was intentional.

It was 100% intentional..... A-Rod knew it was coming.... watch the way he flinched at the pitch that didn't hit him.... he knew he was getting plunked.

[Machado]

Believe me, incidents like last night make this the best rivalry in sports.
What bothers me is the warning from the blue's so soon.
The previous night delcarmen "attempted" to bean Jeter twice in the same at bat.
The way I see it, the sox missed their chance with Jeter, so the following day penny goes after A-Rod and again it takes more than 1 pitch to get the job done.

[Machado]

He said that Watson is a former player that forgot how the game is played. He said he respects him when he was GM of Houston, and all that crap.

Still I wonder if there is going to be fines. It seems to be the guy's MO now. Gotta stay relevant somehow I guess.

Watson and the MLB Offices could learn something from how the NBA handles suspensions.
The process in baseball is a joke. A player can be suspended, but continue to play for weeks or months. HUH???

[killeverything]

I'm trying to find some in-depth breakdowns of the 2009 MLB draft right now. When I do I'll post the results.

Maybe there's another Longoria. Right now the only thing that's stood out is possible nepotism. Frank McCourt's son, Carl Yastrezemski's grandson, Carlos Beltran's nephew, etc.

It looks like a bunch of Koby Clemens' to me. Although first round pick Reymond Fuentes ( ironically Beltran's nephew ) is supposed to be pretty good. 30th round pick Jeremiah Bayer was the Division III Pitcher Of The Year.

You would think you could find more of an available analysis Goddamnit.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Well, something happened to Roy Halladay in the 4th inning, and had to leave, got hurt somehow. Too bad. Tight game in TO, 1-0 Fish so far in the 5th.

[bighairdiscs]

Luis Castillo fucking sucks balls....... Nice win for the Sox in the 13th, what's up with Ramon Ramirez this week???.........that's all I got at this second.

[Sabu]

Luis Castillo fucking sucks balls....... Nice win for the Sox in the 13th, what's up with Ramon Ramirez this week???.........that's all I got at this second.

I feel awful for Castillo. Mets fans hate him to begin with... he's pretty much damned himself from here on out.

A Rod and Girardi owe him blow jobs for life after tonight.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Halladay has a sore groin. And Cody Ross redeemed himself for his fuckup on Thursday with a granny last night. Good guys win!

As for Castillo, I fucking love the guy, and I proudly wear his (Marlins) jersey when the Muts are in town. Everyone makes mistakes, and he's still one of the best 2B out there. F the haters. I feel for him...but I'm glad.

[Hootchietoad]

Luis Castillo fucking sucks balls....... Nice win for the Sox in the 13th, what's up with Ramon Ramirez this week???.........that's all I got at this second.

I feel awful for Castillo. Mets fans hate him to begin with... he's pretty much damned himself from here on out.

A Rod and Girardi owe him blow jobs for life after tonight.

The celebration the Yankees had after winning a game they should have lost was a bit over the top though. Arod hits a weak fly ball to shallow left, then is mobbed like hit a home run? I didn't look at the replays very closely, but I wonder if Jeter took part, or if he stayed back and thought to himself, "Who the fuck am I playing with, these assholes don't even know how to win right." By the way they acted, one would think they just beat the Sox or something.