I noticed something yesterday. I think it all began with my little Network-inspired-but-not-really-Network-related rage yesterday, that basically got my own jimmies a little rustled. I had infected myself with my own AIDS, so to speak.
Now, I'll start by pointing out that I really don't get mad at pretty well anything. I don't have much of a temper, and I never did. I was always quite a bit smaller than all the others growing up, and a little kid with a temper is bound to learn a lesson by way of violence pretty quickly. As result, I've always been pretty able to keep my cool and not really ever get emotional about anything, good or bad.
But man, does watching the Baltimore Orioles succeed get my blood boiling. I was just irrationally mad yesterday, all day long. I wrote yesterday's post, and was antsy. Then I read this, just to remind myself that the Orioles
It felt like Dickey threw 5 pretty good innings on Monday, and really only gave up a bunch of soft liners in that one inning where things went wrong. Markakis just sort of randomly stuck this bat out on an 0-2 pitch on Tuesday to win it, and the little threatened meltdown of the O's scoring 3 in the 8th, the Bautista errory thing, and the part of the JJ Hardy single before the Rajai Davis deletion just felt like enough to throw myself off the patio.
Fortunately we got ourselves the TSN turning point with the Davis assist, so I don't have to kill myself, and we're good to go. Having the O's bullpen (nevermind the best pitcher on the team) blow that one by walking in the winner was the icing. Things are good. Now let's keep the bats in motion.
Stuff
This video is something about JP Arencibia and his approach, and Tom Verducci trolling the SABR community again, but that doesn't really matter. What does matter is Dirk Hayhurst giving us an amazing impression of John Gibbons.
I'm only linking to this because of how terrible and ridiculous it is, but here is the steaming pile of Verducci article that Blair and Dirk are referencing in the video linked above. Basically, Verducci doesn't like how many walks Joey Votto, a major league baseball player, is taking. He'd rather Votto swing the bat and get extra-base hits when guys are on base in front of him, which is something Votto hasn't done yet in 2013. Tom Verducci, of course, is not a major league baseball player, and Joey Votto has avoided making outs better than anybody else in the league. Aaaaand just in case anyone was wondering who ranks first in win probability added (i.e. clutch performance) since 2010... Votto also has a career .412/.528/.751 slash line in high leverage situations, according to fangraphs. Basically, Tom Verducci just picked n Joey Votto and stuffed his fat fucking foot in his own mouth.
I'm amazed that this hasn't broken the internet yet, but best gif ever.
Finally, from the housekeeping department, Adam Lind's wife gave birth to their second child yesterday, and as result, the Jays have placed Lind on the paternity list, which is sort of like a little mini-DL without an injury or whatever, in that it opens up a roster spot for 1-3 games. The Jays have called up Brad Lincoln to take the roster spot. With the addition of Lincoln, plus the re-arrival (I guess?) of Aaron Laffey, the Jays are back to having an 8-man bullpen. The bullpen has been taxed a bit lately, and the Jays have needed to use the bullpen more than just about any other team, so I guess this kind of makes sense for now, but I was still surprised to find that they went with a pitcher instead of a position player.
With the injuries and performance issues to both teams, we're seeing some whacky looking lineups. Vernon Wells batting fourth, Ichiro hitting behind Francisco Cervelli, MUNI batting 2nd. Jose Reyes needs to come back.
Lineups
Jays
Davis DH
MUNI SS
Bautista RF
Edwin 1B
Cabrera LF
JPA C
Rasmus CF
Lawrie 3B
Izturis 2B
Buehrle
Yankees
Gardner CF
Francisco DH
Cano 2B
Wells LF
Cervelli C
Ichiro RF
Nunez SS
Overbay 1B
Nix 3B
Hirok P
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