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Baseball season 2007
- Thread starter SoComSurfing
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Actually, after watching Proctor work about 3-6 inches off the outside corner today - maybe he wasn't throwing at Youk yesterday.
When you dig out those numbers perhaps you should subtract out the errant Wakefield knuckballs (that the Yanks and others actually sort of lean in on so that they do get hit). While you are at it, deduct all the glacing blows off elbow pads that would not have hit the batter if they hadn't been wearing protective gear (A-Rod yesterday) - if I were Commissioner that would be ruled a ball. You may also look to see if the Yankees as whole seem to get hit by everyone as opposed to the Sox who seem to be able to hit the ball without hanging over the plate. There may still be an edge to the Sox, but it is my contention that successful pitchers throw inside and the Sox have had more successful pitchers lately.
So with proper adjustments yesterday would read:
Sox hitting Yankees: 1
Yankess hitting Sox: 2 - one potential broken hand (Lowell taken out of the game and had X-rays); one fastball under the chin that if Youk doesn't get out of the way; he is out for a few months recovering from jaw surgery.
Hey, even Tim McCarver said the Lowell-Cano play was perfectly OK; as long as the runner doesn't interfere with the catch; he is entitled to try to get to second. Cano was in the way; what do you suggest he do? Better was that McCarver made his comment after Joe Buck whined about the play for what seemed like eternity. Lowell seemed to have a little extra fire today and made the Yanks pay for hitting him yesterday.
Perhaps instead of trying to show their toughness by having their pitchers hit batters the Yankees could try a little mential toughness - maybe catching balls hit near a wall (Abreu); throwing accurate balls to the shortstop so you can get the inning-ending double play (Cano) and catching one-hoppers hit right at you (Jeter) to start a double-play. Wasn't it a Yankee that said 90% of this game is half mental?
And now Roger has a sore groin - the Yanks have a lot of bad karma to work through - like I said before, this has the potential to get a lot uglier.
Well, it's safe to say which side of the "party line" you stand on!
And no Red Sox fan worth his salt can say that their pitchers haven't consistently been beaning the Yankee batters for at least the last 6-7 years, and it has very little to do with Wakefield. Actually, from the study I read, it was Pedro that was the #1 by a large margin.
And just like the Rodriguez distraction play (which I hated), the Lowell shoulder was "school in the summer". Note that even with his best hit, Cano still made the play.
That said, neither team played worth a darn today. The Yankees D looks horrible, MM couldn't keep the Sox off the bases, and while the bats are coming alive that doesn't offset the D and the pitching. If they don't tidy things up, it'll be a long season.
And Roger? Didn't shock me in the least to hear he's hobbled. I never believed that the Yanks answer lied there, and I still don't...
11 runs, no errors for the Sox. You must have higher standards than me for what constitutes playing worth a darn.
Beaning is such a strong word and is a much more difficult thing to parse than hit batsman. That said, what you may be alluding to is that the Sox have been much more successful when pitching inside. It seems that when the Yankees actually throw a purpose pitch it is painfully obvious and either not particularly effective (thrown too soft) or downright dangerous because they lack the pinpoint control of Schill or Pedro (Exh. A - Proctor's chin music to Youk).
Regarding Cano, I'm on the same side of the line as Joe Torre and the instructors in the Yankee farm system who taught Lowell "the Yankee Way" of running the basepaths. I agree that Cano completed the play well. However, his whining about it afterward certainly eliminates his chances of ever achieving the status of a TRUE YANKEE. I see complaining about rough but legal play as one more leak in the good ship SS Yankee.
Pedro was not afraid to pitch inside - he hit a lot of players Yankee and non-Yankee alike. I understand that many Yankee fans believe that the baseball world begins and ends in the Bronx.
How is that different than charging a catcher? Cano was in the direct bass path.
As a cather I got mowed over a couple times and expected it when I was in the base path.
As a cather I got mowed over a couple times and expected it when I was in the base path.
It seems like just about the only thing a baserunner can do. Cano was guarding the base; its at the end of the basepath. If Cano was on the opposite side and Lowell came BACK to body-check him, I'd consider that unsportsman-like.
Should he have just stopped mid-track, given up and let himself get tagged? If you're gonna stand there in front of a running target, you're gonna get hit.
What about sliding into a second baseman in an attempt to break up a double play? Happens all the time. I think A-Rod bouncing up off second base and elbowing Pedroia was WAY more unsportsman-like.
Don't worry, I don't mean your opinion is wrong or anything silly like that, but it makes sense to me why Cano got rammed. To bad Pedro isn't around anymore to throw fat, old, bald men to the floor.
Should he have just stopped mid-track, given up and let himself get tagged? If you're gonna stand there in front of a running target, you're gonna get hit.
What about sliding into a second baseman in an attempt to break up a double play? Happens all the time. I think A-Rod bouncing up off second base and elbowing Pedroia was WAY more unsportsman-like.
Don't worry, I don't mean your opinion is wrong or anything silly like that, but it makes sense to me why Cano got rammed. To bad Pedro isn't around anymore to throw fat, old, bald men to the floor.
First and foremost, some of your posts seem a touch "sharp". If you don't mean them to come off that way please realize I'm not worried, just pointing it out to you as I'm not looking to rile anyone up. I'm only concerned that you are seemingly taking this WAY more seriously than I do.
That said...
11 men left on base and a sub-par performance from your starter do not a great performance make.
Nope. What I am alluding to is that the Sox have thrown at the Yanks far more than the other way around. Everyone I have ever discussed it with sees it clear as day. Even the Boston sportswriters I hear interviewed here on WFAN. I applaud the Bosox pitchers as it is how a pitcher stakes his territory. The Yankee pitchers simply have not been doing it (ie not "less effective" at it). And I think we have different definitions of "pinpoint control".
Well, Joe only said it was legal, not that he approved of it (beyond that it might help further fire up the Yanks). I don't believe Lowell for a second though. I played baseball for years, and have watched MLB for 3 decades, and have never seen what happened yesterday (ie a full body check in the middle of the baseline that far away from a base). Legal? I'll give you that. Good baseball? Not imo.
Many? Yes. Me? No.
I'd admit to taking it more seriously and I appreciate your indulgence. I can not detach myself quite so far as you can as I am Red Sox fan first and a baseball fan second. I'll try to back away from the sharp line.
Schill was not sharp especially after the rain delay which affected both pitchers. But the way the Red Sox have been winning is that if one part of the team is playing average or even below average (in that case the starter, then the other parts of the team have excelled) - that is the mark of a great team; if not a great game but certainly one that is worth a darn. Even the Sox this year have not put together too many error-free games with a starter who went 7+ innings of 2 or 3 run ball while scoring 7 runs or more and leaving fewer than 6 men on base. Which leads me to: Men Left on Base is a pet peeve - used in isolation it is pretty worthless as a stat. 11 runs is 11 runs whether you leave 3 or 24 runners on base - when a team is getting people on base (a good thing); a team will end up leaving people on base (which is not as good as scoring all your men that reach base but is better than never getting anyone on base in the first place). It could als mean that the defense in not turning the double play. If you tell me that a team is not scoring runners from 3rd with less than 2 outs; or doesn't have too many runs scored with 2 outs, that tells me something - LOB in isolation - no, thanks.
Boston sportswriters with few exceptions - another pet peeve - the less written about that the better.
Lowell's play - it is not a play that happens often. Often a runner will stop or even try to get the fielder to chase him back to first in order to give the batter enough time to get to first - Cano was too close to first to make that play. It is legit to disapprove of Lowell's decision; however, I wouldn't question Lowell's integrity. Torre's response combined with the 100% absence of any teammates coming to Cano's defense and Cano dropping the topic himself give credibility to Lowell's claim of learning this move at Yankee School - of course, that doesn't make it right or good. For me, it was a legit play, in spite of it being part of the Yankee Way.
Last night was an exciting game. A couple inches either way and it is another Sox win but Abreu made the catch on Pedroia and Papi's ball was over the bullpen if not for the topspin. The Yanks still blew leads, but they earned the victory.
No doubt that Lowell is making the more aggressive choice for its "fire them up" affect. Don't forget he was still quite literally sore from getting hit by a pitch off the hand/wrist.
Yanks blew a 4 run lead; Sox blew a 1 run lead, but he who blows last loses
. It hasn't happened often this year for the Sox. Will this win give the Yankees something to build on? Yeah, it should. Will they - remains to be seen.
Yanks blew a 4 run lead; Sox blew a 1 run lead, but he who blows last loses
. It hasn't happened often this year for the Sox. Will this win give the Yankees something to build on? Yeah, it should. Will they - remains to be seen.
Are there other baseball teams besides the Yankees and Red Sox? And which one of those two teams was in the World Series last year? It doesn't matter because everyone in the American league is just playing for the right to lose to the Tigers in the playoffs. All this other stuff is just academic.
Are there other baseball teams besides the Yankees and Red Sox? And which one of those two teams was in the World Series last year? It doesn't matter because everyone in the American league is just playing for the right to lose to the Tigers in the playoffs. All this other stuff is just academic.
Good point. Anything of note happening in baseball in Detroit?
The Tigers certainly look like they will return to the playoffs where anything can happen. However, I like the Sox' chances - they just took 3 out of 4 from the Tigers at Fenway a couple of weeks ago. I was at the game where the Tigers only managed 1 run against our 5th starter.
Right now the Tigers are a very good team. But keep in mind they have three key pitchers out on the DL, Zumiya, Rodney and Rogers. All of which will return by the end of July. That is a very good mid season boost. Right now the Tigers are crushing the ball (hitting .286) and Ordoinaz is putting up MVP numbers (.362 13 HR, 52 RBI's). Last year they led the AL in pitching, this year they're mid pack. It's likely those pitching numbers will change drastically with the addition of those three pitchers. Barring injury they're as good as anyone by the end of the season.
Sounds like the Sox caught them at a good time.
Injuries can make a huge difference - last year was pretty tough for the Sox in that department but so far this year has been pretty good.
Right now the Sox can't buy a hit though the A's pitching may have something to do with it. I do like the big Schill in the position of "ace who will stop the skid" today - he tends to rise to the big occasion. Some brutal umpiring last night behind the plate; though to be honest he made bad calls both ways - it seemed ours hurt more. It gave Terry the chance to get himself tossed out in one of those classic "maybe I'll try getting tossed out of a game to turn around our luck" moves.
I can't help quoting myself here - I haven't been right too often.
I'd say that a no-hitter broken up in the last at-bat for a 1-hit shutout qualifies as rising to the occasion.
Couldn't have come at a better time since a first inning homerun by Papi was all the Sox gave him to work with.
The Tigers did it again, getting Rick Portcello in the draft. The second highest pitcher, who ranked on draft boards as high as 3, and no lower then seventh with the 24th pick. The 6'5" righty has a mid 90's fastball with great control. He has been compared by many to Kevin Millwoood. The reason he dropped, Scott Boros is his agent, well they signed Miller with Boros, Dombrowski is a genius.
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Nice one! In some ways, it let's the guy who made the error off the hook though.
a 1-0 pitcher's battle is my fave kind of baseball...
I wasn't thinking about the error breaking up the perfect game - it was Lugo who doesn't need to do anything else to upset the sports radio crowd so it is just as well. No walks and the mandatory spectacular defensive play - Crisp catching a bomb hit to the wall on pretty much a dead run. With his defense, he could hit .265-.270 and people would be OK with that.
The good thing about a 1-0 game is that it only took 2 hours and 10 minutes - it seems like the average Sox-Yanks game takes 3 to 3 1/2 hours with tons of men left on base.
glad i had schilling on ym fantasy team today!!
i also had snell and rich hill starting...solid work gentlemen.
i also had snell and rich hill starting...solid work gentlemen.
$5,000,000 bonus for a high school kid
That is an expensive lottery ticket. He would also be the first HS pitcher that the Tigers have drafted in the first round since June 2000. There was an interesting article in Salon.com about the difficulty of drafting baseball players when compared to other sports. It also contains a link to the baseball-reference.com draft database which is like turning me loose in a candy store.
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