Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Santana out for the year


Johan. Bone chips. Surgery. See you next spring.

Rest now, Mets fans. There really is nothing else that can hurt you this year.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:15pm (13) Comments

Billy Wagner changes his mind, goes to the Sox


Some days I wonder why I even bother trying to get posts up quickly:

The Mets agreed to send Wagner to the Red Sox on Tuesday after the pitcher approved the trade, according to his agent, Bean Stringfellow. The talks were dead as of late Monday night due to Wagner’s refusal to waive his no-trade clause. But Wagner reconsidered at the last minute, lured by the pull of a pennant race.

Or else he did a quick analysis, realized that the Sox are a flawed team that won't be making the postseason and thus he doesn't have to worry about throwing any more pitches in Boston than he would have in Queens.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:01pm (16) Comments

ESPN’s east coast bias confirmed!


Sharur at Viva El Birdos has confirmed ESPN's east coast bias, and it has nothing to do with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Rob and Keith -- I'm guessing you could somehow use this glitch to your advantage with the payroll department, but I need to put more thought to it.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:19pm (11) Comments

My Morning in Exile


I would like to take this opportunity to once again apologize for the "I Walk the Line" reference in this morning's recaps which, in addition to being totally lame, didn't even fit the proper rhythm of the song. Which is a crime, because a jumpy rhythm makes you feel so fine. It'll shake all the trouble from your worried mind:

  • Does Jim Riggleman feature in the Nats' future? Is there a funnier manager's name than "Riggleman?" I think it would have to include the word "butt" to be funnier than that.


  • Some day I hope to take my children to Cooperstown so that they may have a chance to see Eric Bruntlett's jersey.


  • Would you give Rich Harden $60 million?


  • Nick Johnson continues to be hurt which is in turn hurting the Marlins.


  • I'm pretty excited for the Dodgers-Rockies series.


  • Billy Wagner says no to Boston. I equivocated a bit when I wrote this blurb this morning, but with a few hours' thought to the matter, I can't say that I'd make a different decision in Wagner's place. Look how quickly the Sox used and then cut Smoltz loose. Yes, playing with a winner is nice, but Wagner has been to the playoffs before. Apart from that, what possible benefit is there to him pitching in Boston this year?


    • Hmmm, now I'm wondering whether the lyric "shoeshine boy" is racist. I mean, it's possible that the character in the song really was a "boy" in the sense that he was 11 years-old or something, but it was recorded in Memphis in the mid 50s . . .damn, I like that song too.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:13pm (6) Comments

    And That Happened


    Rockies 6, Giants 4: Walkoff grand slam in the 14th for Ryan Spilborghs after the Rockies started their half of the inning down 4-1. Colorado is starting to smell like a team of destiny. At any rate, they've won seven of eight and are now four games ahead of the Giants for the NL wild card.

    Phillies 6, Mets 2: If I can't give John Smoltz full credit for pitching against the Padres on Sunday, I sure as heck can't give Cliff Lee full credit for pitching against, well, whatever it was the team in the orange, blue and white was forced to throw out there yesterday. I never thought I'd say this, but not having Jeff Francoeur in the lineup really hurt. Of course, Cliff Lee continues to be basically ridiculous (7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 5K), so the Mets probably could have thrown out the 1986 lineup and they wouldn't have done much. Ryan Howard drove in five, which led to this game story note: "The home run also pushed Howard past 100 RBIs, giving him four straight seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs. The only other Phillies player to accomplish that was Hall of Famer Chuck Klein from 1929-32." I would have bet my children that Schmidt had done it, but between his relatively pedestrian 1978 season, the strike in 1981, and some low OBP guys hitting in front of him, and the opportunities just never presented themselves.

    Red Sox 12, White Sox 8: We may have a winner for the most misleading line score of the year in the form of Jose Contreras' one earned run in 2.2 innings pitched. Here's Contreras' third inning: Single, out, out (ok so far), walk, HBP, error by Contreras himself, walk, wild pitch, home run. None of the six runs that scored that inning were "earned" because of the error. Except it was Jose Contreras' error, and it was surrounded with about the worst possible pitching imaginable. He more than earned those runs. He went out, tracked them down with dogs, hunted them to the ends of the Earth, killed them, and drove home with them strapped to the fender of his car with little tags on their ears. As for the Red Sox, a win is a win, but Clay Buchholz is as inefficient as a Caloric dishwasher. He averages something like 97 pitches but only a shade more than five innings a start. This one was a Buchholz special (4.2 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3K, 92 pitches). All in all it was a 3:42 game, and thanks to Contreras and Buchholz, it may very well have been the ugliest game of the season.

    Brewers 7, Nationals 1: A weird 4:30 start time. What's the story, here? It's a getaway day so I see why you don't go with the night game, but why not then make it an old-timey businessman's special and start the thing a 1PM? I guess they figure they can get people leaving work a bit early, but I've always found it easier to just never come back after lunch than it is to slip out the door at 4PM. Then again, I've worked at many, many places in my life so perhaps my example isn't the best one to emulate.

    Rays 12, Blue Jays 7: Roy Halladay's worst start of the year (6 IP, 12 H, 8 R) shoots his ERA over 3.00 for the first time since early May. As for the Rays, they keep a close watch on this heart of mine. They keep their eyes wide open all the time. They keep the ends out for the tie that bind. Because they're mine, they've won seven of nine.

    OK, I'm really sorry about that one. That was bad even for me.

    Twins 2, Orioles 1: Scott Baker allows one run on four hits in seven and beats Chris Tillman. The two Minnesota runs came off of a wild pitch (following a triple) and a sacrifice fly. Kind of a passive aggressive game.

    Indians 10, Royals 6: Luis Valbuena hit a three-run shot off of Joakim Soria -- who was apparently called in to get the nearly unheard of two-inning save -- in the eighth. Big game for Travis Hafner (3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI).

    Tigers 10, Angels 7: Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in five. Justin Verlander had a 10-run lead in the sixth inning when he started to get hit. Leyland: "He lost his tunnel vision. You got a 10-run lead, you got to go out there and pitch like it's a 1-0 lead . . . You can't worry about what the score was." So much for "pitching to the score." Umpire Tim Welke left the game in the bottom of the fourth after getting hit in the chest by a foul tip from Vladimir Guerrero. I didn't see it, but given that it's Vlad we're talking about, the ball was probably on Welke's chest protector already when he swung.

    Mariners 3, Athletics 1: Griffey hit a homer with his mom in the stands. "She doesn't get to see too many games live. She's going to take credit for that one." Actually, she could technically take credit for all 625 of your home runs, young man. Not that she'll ever get any thanks. And to think she carried you around in her body for nine months . . . but don't mind me, I'm just your mother . . . a call would be nice sometime too, and let me tell you what I think about those boys you've been gallivanting around town with . . .
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:45am (17) Comments