Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Quote of the Day


Everyone says baseball is fun, well, you know what? It is.

-- Greg Maddux, as usual, making something everyone else makes so difficult seem so simple.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:37pm (2) Comments

Halladay “emotionally gone”


At least that's the hearsay Heyman is peddling via Twitter:

based on halladay's candid comments about wanting to win, a halladay acquaintance says this: "he's emotionally gone.''

Of course, given how wrong Heyman was about the Mets rumor, it's just as likely that Roy is in the clubhouse dancing jigs and talking about how these are the best days of his life.

(link via MLBTR)
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:24pm (7) Comments

Even More Jenkins


Boy, Bruce is dealing today. I serve this one up without comment, Quote of the Day-style:

Aside from building a deeply flawed ballpark that has done nothing but embarrass upper management (absurd ticket prices, right field playing like a Little League park, you name it), the Yankees play a loud, ominous-sounding siren -- suggesting air raids, car wrecks or a house on fire -- when one of their players hits a home run. Who thinks of these things? I'm sure it calls up some great memories for people who associate sirens with the most tragic moments of their lives. Then again, it has been that way for years at Yankee Stadium. You go there expecting class and sophistication, and you get the loudest, most juvenile marketing nonsense imaginable, an overbearing assault on the senses. Hard to believe such a regal structure is run by idiots . . .
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:48pm (7) Comments

Deep Thoughts


Also inspired by Jenkins: Jason Giambi goes on the disabled list and the Athletics' offense explodes. Coincidence? Quite probably! But that doesn't mean that Giambi doesn't suck!
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:45pm (5) Comments

Nobody’s catching the Dodgers


We all kind of knew that already, but Bruce Jenkins tells us why:

Jason Schmidt took the mound for the first time in a couple of years, and he was unbelievably bad. Three guys crushed the ball in the first inning. His curveball was all over the place. His fastball had no life. He hit a guy (harmlessly) in the helmet. The Reds took a 3-0 lead, and it felt like 10-0. Guys were running up to the plate for a chance to face him. By the time the Dodgers finishing hitting in their half of the first, they had a 4-3 lead. Schmidt -- and I'll never know how -- got through the fifth inning to get the win. My wife looked at me in disgust and said, "Nobody's catching the Dodgers. Not if they win that game."

Wow. Jenkins' wife watches baseball with him and actually has strong feelings about it. I'm so jealous.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:41pm (6) Comments

Julio Castillo on trial


Remember Julio Castillo? The Peoria Cheifs pitcher who threw a ball into the stands and set off a brawl in Dayton last year? Well, his trial started today:

In opening statements during the trial of Julio Castillo, assistant Montgomery County prosecutor Jon Marshall said the evidence will show that Castillo, 22, of the Dominican Republic, committed felonious assault.

"He decided he was going to hurt someone, anyone," Marshall said. "He had in his hand a hard dense object, a baseball. He decided to hurl that baseball, that object, with great force . . ."

. . . Marshall said Chris McCarthy was sitting in the stands with his wife and young son when the ball hurled by Castillo hit him.

"The ball struck him square in the temple," Marshall said. "He didn't have time to react. The stitching of the ball the defendant threw was imprinted on Chris' head."

Oooh, sounds damning. Of course, you can't make up your mind simply after hearing the prosecution's opening statement. The defense gets a turn too!

Defense attorney Dennis Lieberman said that as tensions between the two teams escalated, Castillo threw the ball at the Dayton dugout to keep Dragons' players from rushing the field.

"He throws it at the dugout — at the fencing in front of the dugout — to hit an inanimate object to scare them away," Lieberman said. "He does it because he can't talk. He can't speak English. ... He wasn't throwing it at an individual."

Um, yeah. You really goin' with "trying to scare them away" as a case theory, Dennis? Hey, it's your trial. Far be it from me to criticize a fellow Shyster.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go bake Castllo a cake with a file in it, because this trial ain't gonna last long.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:30pm (5) Comments

Yankee Stadium


The possibility was broached back in May, but now it's official:

The Yankees said Notre Dame and Army would play the first football game at the new stadium next year, reigniting one of college football’s great rivalries. The game, which is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2010, will most likely be the first of several football games a year at the stadium.

The teams played 22 times at the original Yankee Stadium, including several games during the 1940s that helped decide the national champion. When they played in 1928, Notre Dame Coach Knute Rockne urged his team to “win one for the Gipper.” Those games regularly drew more than 70,000 fans.

Only difference, I suppose, is that back then Army was good. Notre Dame too, actually, and neither of those things are the case anymore. At least Notre Dame still draws, though, so this should be a success. In any event, my offer of a good football team to play there still stands.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 12:07pm (13) Comments

My Morning in Exile


Things to read while you realize that high-volume blogging is a lot more like running a radio broadcast than it is like writing . . .

  • Jon Heyman said that the Mets rejected a reasonable Roy Halladay deal.


  • Wait, no they didn't. Heyman is full of it.


  • In light of all of that, I'm a little more prepared to believe Adam Rubin at the Daily News than Heyman on this one.


  • Oh, and no matter what Gammons says, the Phillies don't need Halladay.


  • OK, enough about Halladay. Let's talk steroids and the Hall of Fame!


  • Too controversial? Fine, let's just talk about how Jose Guillen sucks, because everyone agrees on that. And I mean everyone.


    • OK, go ahead caller . . .
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 11:27am (5) Comments

    And That Happened


    Pirates 8, Brewers 5: Pittsburgh snaps their 17-game skid against Milwaukee, and the Brewers look pretty damn immature in defeat, plunking Jeff Karstens in what I guess was retaliation for him hitting Ryan Braun back in April. This despite the fact that they hit three Pirates the day after the Braun thing, and had an opportunity to hit Karstens if they wanted to the same day he hit Braun (why John Russell so frequently has his relief pitcher hitting is a topic for another day). Jason Kendall had to be restrained from, it appeared anyway, going after Pirates' pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, and then after the game kept calling him "Dave Kurwin," even after being corrected. So apparently Kendall is 6 years-old.

    Athletics 14, Twins 13: You don't win a lot of games when your starter gives up 11 runs on 10 hits in 2.2 innings, but the A's did. Yep, the Twins led this game 12-2 at one point, but after Matt Holliday's grand slam in the seventh, followed immediately by a Jack Cust solo shot, the lead was history. Largest blown lead for the Twins in 25 years. Largest comeback for the A's in 84 years.

    Dodgers 7, Reds 5: Jason Schmidt threw his first pitches in anger in over two years, and got the win to boot. Oh, and Manny Ramirez hit his 537th home run to pass Mickey Mantle into 15th place on the all-time list, which should inspire about 125 rage-filled, single-sentence paragraphs from Bill Plaschke or someone like him. Mantle was pure, you see. At least once you took away the booze and the speed and the painkillers.

    Mets 6, Nationals 2: Jeff Francoeur! Livan Hernandez! Now if those two just keep on producing like we know they can, well, then, um . . . crap, this was a fluke, wasn't it?

    Phillies 10, Cubs 1: Now that is seems the Phillies have figured out how to win at home, there seems to be nothing that can stop them. Jack Nicholson was at the game, and according to the game story, the Phanatic wore a Batman suit. That's kind of cool, but it would have been way cooler if he had dressed up like Nurse Ratched or the waitress who wouldn't hold the chicken. I mean, I love Batman as much as the next guy, but Nicholson has had better foils.

    Braves 11, Giants 3: The Braves hit Jonathan Sanchez and then continued hitting Segio Romo. Tommy Hanson, on the other hand, was much harder to hit (7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11K). And as Mac notes, not all of those earned runs were really "earned."

    Astros 3, Cardinals 2: Carlos Lee hits a three-run homer, receives "stingy kisses."

    White Sox 4, Rays 3: Carl Crawford hit an inside the park home run, but as is the case with so many of those things, it was the product of a bad defensive play. In this case, a crappy jump by Scott Podsednik. Sox won, anyhow, and are only a game and a half behind Detroit.

    Rangers 6, Red Sox 3: There are a lot of smart people working for the Red Sox, so surely someone will soon realize that John Smoltz only pitches effectively for a few innings and then falls apart. If only there were some place he could pitch where his outings would be shorter, and maybe more frequent as opposed to longer and more sucky (5.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER).

    Yankees 2, Orioles 1: Eric Hinske has started off with a bang in New York, hitting four homers in his first five games. Jose Molina turned in two sweet plays behind the plate late in the game. No need to congratulate him, though. He's a Molina and that is what they do. Walkoff for Matsui, and after the game he was hit in the face with a cream pie. Those zany, zany Yankees.

    Marlins 3, Padres 2: The Padres have lost 15 of 19. I'm assuming that will all turn around once Oscar Salazar gets a chance to play more.

    Rockies 10, Diamondbacks 6: With Colorado's win and the Giants' loss, the Rockies take a half-game lead in the wild card standings. And no, I don't think it's too early to talk about it. There isn't a ton going on right now, so I'm totally cool with getting an early start on pennant race stuff.

    Angels vs. Royals: Postponed: The fitful alternations of the rain/ When the chill wind, languid as with pain/ Of its own heavy moisture, here and there/ Drives through the gray and beamless atmosphere.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:46am (78) Comments