Archive for May, 2009
I wonder how young’s serious fans feel:
So if you think back to the doomsayers regarding the Jays this offseason, many folks thought that the reason the Jays couldn’t compete was the starting rotation - namely, injuries to Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum and the departure of A.J. Burnett to free agency. Here on Bluebird Banter, we disagreed, saying that the rotation would be, while not as excellent as last season’s, fully competent, but let’s put that aside for now. Throw in the fact that Jesse Litsch has basically missed the entire season thusfar and David Purcey’s ineffectiveness, and one might think things would be even bleaker for the starting rotation (and the Jays) than was suggested in the offseason.
This hasn’t happened. The Jays starting rotation ranks 5th in the AL in ERA, 7th in OPS against, and 1st in the league in K/BB ratio. The Jays have gotten the expected fantastic contribution from Roy Halladay and good performances from Brian Tallet, Ricky Romero, Scott Richmond, Brett Cecil, and lately, a couple of quite servicable starts from Casey Janssen. These pitchers all deserve credit for stepping in, and have gotten plenty of kudos, but just as importantly to the performance of these gentlemen has been the great job their friends behind them are doing.
John Dewan, he of the the Fielding Bible, highlighted just how good the Jays defense has been with his recent stat of the week (h/t to our good friend, Mockingbird) Dewan ranks the Jays tops in the AL East in defensive runs saved this season, and second in all of baseball (just behind the Texas Rangers):
| Defensive Runs Saved—Top Five Teams | |
| Texas Rangers | 28 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 25 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 21 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 18 |
| Houston Astros | 14 |
According to Dewan, Marco Scutaro (9 runs saved) and Aaron Hill (8 runs saved) are leading the way. The defense’s proficiency at turning batted balls into outs has really helped the Jays’ young starters do the great job they’ve been doing and keep the Jays in almost every game this season, even during our horrendous 10-game losing streak. It’s hard to draw up a better defensive infield than Lyle Overbay, Aaron Hill, Marco Scutaro, and Scott Rolen.
The fact that the Jays’s starters lead the league in K/BB ratio means that if they can do a bit of a better job limiting home runs (not a particular strenght for the starters thusfar), their performance could even be expected to improve, especially with the defense continuing to do such a fantastic job.
Our title today comes from Green Day’s great friend anthem “Pop Rocks and Coke”. See you all in the game thread!
what do you think?How do you think this news will affect the team this season?
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have lots of different products, and pretty low prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get fantastic autographed baseball memorabilia now.
hill is featured in todays news:
Hey, I could get up and back, right on track
(Is that gonna get you back?) It’s right on track, is that gonna get you back?
Casey Janssen had more close calls than Dr. Richard Kimble but he wiggled his way through seven innings to lead the Jays to a 6-3 win over Boston Friday night at Rogers Centre.
If there was ever a time for Janssen to earn his first victory as a starter since 2006, this was the night to do it as the Jays put an end to an ugly nine game losing streak. The 27 year-old righty knew he was going to be in for a struggle when he got into a bases loaded jam in the first. However, he had enough raspberry to keep the ball in the park as David Ortiz’s blast to center died at the warning track and into the glove of Vernon Wells to end the inning. Alas, the Jays were jammed themselves in the bottom of the first when Adam Lind hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases drunk.
The Red Sox got on the board in the second when Jacoby Ellsbury doubled home a run but Julio Lugo was left stranded on third. In the home half of the second, Lyle Overbay and Kevin Millar drew one-out walks and moved to third on a passed ball but the Jays would not score. Janssen gave up a leadoff single in the third but his defence bailed him out as the hit was erased on a 6-4-3 double play and then Overbay made a nice snare of a Big Papi liner to end the frame.
Toronto tied the game when they strung together a trio of two-out hits, capped out by a Scott Rolen double to score Wells. However, Lind was left at third when Millar struck out. The tie was short-lived in the fourth when Ellsbury knocked home his second run of the game with a single to score a double by Scarborough’s George Kottaras. However, another 6-4-3 double play got Janssen out of another jam. The Fugitive also navigated his way through the fifth by stranding a two-out two-bagger by Jason Bay.
Then the Jays offence got the bats going as they strung together a big two-out rally. Back to back RBI doubles by Rolen and Overbay put Toronto ahead 3-2 and Rod Barajas followed with a two-run single. In A Wide World of Sports moment (cue music here), Barajas rumbled 270 feet around the bases to score on a Marco Scutaro double to make it 6-2. Hopefully, Barajas will have caught his breath by the time you read this. After that, Tim Wakefield was pulled from the game and replaced by fireballer Daniel Bard.
Janssen did not have a clean inning all night but the only other run he gave up was a seventh inning solo blast by J.D. Drew to cut the Toronto lead to three runs. However, the bullpen was perfect as Brandon League and Scott Downs retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth respectively to preserve the ”W” for Janssen. Janssen was able to effectively scatter 11 hits and two walks in seven frames and struck out a pair. The only downside for the 32,000-plus in attendance was no pizza as League had the other Jays strikeout. Janssen also got 10 ground ball outs to go along with nine fly outs.
The Toronto offence collected 10 hits and five walks and got two-hit nights from Rolen, Barajas and Scutaro. Wells was on base three times with a hit and two walks and Millar also earned two bases on balls. They were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on.
This afternoon, lefty Brian Tallet goes to the hill for Toronto and Brad Penny will do the same for Boston in a 1:07 p.m. first pitch at the Concrete Cave. This was supposed to be Scott Richmond’s start but the Canadian righty will be in the pen instead this weekend. Roy Halladay will pitch Tuesday in their series opener against the Angels and he’ll be followed by Janssen Wednesday.
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In other TDIB notes….
* The Matt Wieters era begins in Baltimore with a 7-2 win over the Tigers.
* The Jim Tracy era begins in Colorado with a 3-0 win over the Rockies.
* Yankees upend the Tribe 3-1 and set a record in the process.
* The Rangers take two from the A’s.
* The Brewers Braden Looper gets a win under trying circumstances.
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I wonder how this is going to effect the rest of the season.
Here’s a clip of hill:
Sam Singer Baseball Skills Tape 2008
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have lots of selection, and pretty low prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get fantastic signed baseball memorabilia now.
Moreno needs to be traded -
Virginia — which, for the record, was absolutely hosed by the selection committee — jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with a 400-foot homer and secured a second run in the second off Strasburg, who bore down in his final five innings to surrender just three more hits and walk none in the entire game. So now Strasburg will be drafted by the Nationals, and he should probably accustomed to losing a lot. Here’s one hint: Don’t make silly excuses for giving up two runs in seven innings. “Everybody had the jitters,” Strasburg said. “It was tough playing a team we’d never heard of. There was no scouting report to rely on the first time through the batting order. We thought they were tipping our pitches when catcher Erik Castro set up so we changed it up a little after the first two innings. We went more to sinkers, sliders and the changeup earlier in the count.” San Diego State had never heard of Virginia? There was no scouting report for the Cavaliers? They were tipping Strasburg’s pitches? Come on. Virginia just plain-old beat the best pitcher in the country by hitting a few bombs. Give the team some credit. In other ping-related news, Southern Mississippi beat Elon 17-15, Gonzaga beat Georgia Southern 19-10 and Georgia beat Ohio-State 24-8, thanks in part to Knowshown Moreno’s 210 yards and three touchdowns. But nope — metal bats are the way to go. Cavalier attitude Baseball America
Stephen Strasburg, who almost every scouting executive in the world cites as the most can’t-miss prospect ever, struck out 15 last night in the NCAA tournament, but took the loss by allowing two earned runs in a 5-1 loss. The defeat likely ended his college career. It was 3-years-old.
Strasburg should get used to struggle Yahoo! Sports
Friday Recap, Saturday Preview Baseball America.
Tell us your opinion!
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It seems like all the news has been about bell -
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Thoughts and get well wishes go out to our friend Big Al Beaton, who underwent back surgery at the University of Michigan hospital yesterday. If you know Al at all, you know what he’s been through with his health. So while this procedure and recovery will be grueling for him, it gives him a chance at a better quality of life.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t make him less crabby during the Lions’ season.
Yahoo! Sports‘ Jeff Passan writes about the impressive season Rick Porcello has had so far, along with another Tiger who found himself pitching in the majors at the age of 20, Edwin Jackson. How did the two players handle their respective early success?
(Thanks to Kmann for posting this in the FanShots)
And while we’re talking about Porcello, I never thought I’d see him in the same sentence with John Doherty. But Mack Avenue Tigers found one. The rookie is the first Tigers pitcher with five wins in May since Doherty did it in 1994.
Peter Gammons praises Mike Ilitch for doing all he can to keep the Tigers competitive and give fans a diversion during rough economic times in the state of Michigan. Defying Bud Selig’s wishes to follow salary slots for draft picks with the contract he gave Porcello is a great example of that.
With all the hullabaloo surrounding Matt Wieters‘ debut for the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, MASN’s Roch Kubatko is also excited about another rookie starting for the O’s tonight. Pitcher David Hernandez has thrown 60 strikeouts in 43.1 innings for Triple-A Norfolk this season.
Hazaa points out that this 2009 Tigers pitching staff is on pace to break the franchise record for strikeouts. The 1968 team struck out 1,115 batters.
Get well wishes also go out to Tigers radio play-by-play announcer Dan Dickerson, who had surgery to repair a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his left leg. Dickerson suffered the injury in a fall while jogging on Tuesday in Kansas City. (I’m going to add this to my list of many, many excuses for not jogging. It’s a very comprehensive list.)
No word yet as to who will fill in on play-by-play for the Tigers’ series in Baltimore, or if the Tigers will continue to go with Jim Price, assisted by FOX Sports Detroit’s John Keating.
Want to ask a Tigers prospect about life in the minor leagues? Pitcher Andrew Hess, currently with the Lakeland Flying Tigers (and also a former Michigan Wolverine), is taking questions from Tigers Minors readers on any subject they’d prefer.
(via TigerBlog)
And, of course, congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings for making it to the Stanley Cup finals for the second straight year by beating the Chicago Blackhawks (sorry, ‘Duk) 2-1 in overtime. (I love the Wings’ superstition about not touching the Clarence Campbell trophy.)
How much will Pittsburgh hate Detroit if when the Wings beat the Penguins again (and after Marian Hossa left the Pens to join the Wings this season)?
.:”
What do you think.
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Check out who is in this news, young! Neither Kobe Bryant’s Lakers Nor LeBron James’ Cavaliers Will Make The Finals. For you convenience, we have a summary -
From the very beginning of the year, I have said two things:
The Lakers won’t win a championship because Kobe isn’t Michael Jordan, and won’t be able to carry the Lakers unless Andrew Bynum becomes a key part of their offense.
The Cavaliers won’t win a championship because they don’t have that second star to compliment LeBron.
Even as the Cavaliers and Lakers both dominated opponent after opponent on their way to the two best records in the NBA, I still wasn’t satisfied.
As I have said many times, being great in the regular season doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be great in the playoffs. Certain teams are built for the playoffs, and I didn’t believe the Lakers and Cavaliers were.
However, before the playoffs, I started wondering whether my predictions weren’t going to come true. The Lakers and the Cavaliers were almost everybody’s favorites to clash in the finals, and I wondered if I was just afraid to take my predictions back.
Throughout the season, most Cavaliers fans have accused me of not actually watching the games, being biased, or not realizing how good Moe Williams was.
I would tell them that I actually liked the Cavaliers, but respected the history of basketball and believed that Moe Williams was not a true superstar. Besides Hakeem in 94, history has shown it is impossible for one man to carry a team on his back to a championship.
LeBron needs that second guy that he just doesn’t have. So far Moe Williams has shown that he is no Scottie Pippen, as he has shot poorly all series long.
Most Lakers fans have failed to see the lack of mental toughness the Lakers have. Besides Kobe’s horrid shooting (.405 FGP) in the finals last year, the main problem for the Lakers was that they couldn’t handle the Celtics physical play.
When Andrew Bynum got hurt, I immediately pronounced that the Lakers weren’t going to win a championship. Bynum brings that big physical presence that the Lakers need in order to win a title.
However, once he came back before the playoffs, I was no longer sure the Lakers weren’t going to win it all.
Obviously, I knew it was going to take Bynum a while to get back to where he was before he got injured. However, even so, I expected him to be a key contributor, especially deeper in the playoffs.
However, the Lakers haven’t let Bynum play enough. And when is playing, he is not getting the ball enough. For a young player like Bynum, it is very important for the Lakers to let him get in rhythm.
However, when he has started off poorly, the Lakers foolishly tend to ignore him the rest of the game. If the Lakers do lose to the Nuggets, it’s because they never tried to get Bynyum going.
As it stands, the Cavaliers are down 1-3 to the Magic, with the series likely over. The Magic just have too many weapons and the Cavaliers frankly don’t have enough.
Although the Lakers are tied with the Nuggets 2-2, the series could very well be over already.
The Nuggets, after leading in both 4th quarters of the game one and three, basically gave both games away.
This series isn’t like the Rockets-Lakers series, because there is no underdog. No team is at a disadvantage at any position, like the Rockets were down low.
The winner of this series will just come down to who is playing better. Right now, I don’t see how you can’t say that the Nuggets are playing better than the Lakers.
Right now, my predictions from the beginning of the season look accurate.
Sorry David Stern, but no Kobe or LeBron in this year’s finals.
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How do you think this news will affect the team this season?
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have tons of different products, and reasonable prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get authentic signed baseball memorabilia now.
A lot of people really like this guy. I think Rodriguez is interesting:
This evening’s game was a rough one. Today was supposs 
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Tell us your opinion.
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have tons of signed balls, bats, programs, gloves, and pretty low prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get authentic autographed baseball memorabilia now.
Check out who is in this news, Hill! This time, Swept Away At Fenway. In the interest of saving time:
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It’s ok I know nothing’s wrong . . nothing.
No sense trying to be a wordsmith here. This series sucked turd from the get-go for the Jays as they lost 5-1 to the Red Sox Thursday evening.
This game was pretty much over after the first as the pitcher formerly known as Robert Ray was burned for three runs. A Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double and came around to score on a David Ortiz grounder. Kevin Youkilis extended the inning with a two-out walk and he came home on a historic Jason Bay blast to make it 3-zip Boston. What made it worse was Alex Rios appeared to have a shot at catching the ball before it went over the short fence in right but he didn’t get back to the wall in time. Another episode of right field follies starring the pride and joy of Coffee, Alabama. A cynic would suggest maybe he should take some java with him out to the field to stay awake out there. The Sox got another two-out run in the third when Youkilis singled home Dustin Pedroia and added their final run in the fifth on a Pedroia RBI single. Brandon League, Jesse Carlson and Jason Frasor combined to pitch 3 2/3 shutout innings out of the pen with League giving up just a single. Ray got nine groundouts and struck out four in his 4 1/3 innings but he gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk. Maybe Bobby should switch to Roberto next game. That’d be the opposite of former Yankee outfielder Roberto/Bobby Kelly.
At the plate, the Jays got at least one runner aboard in every inning save the sixth but could only muster an Aaron Hill RBI single in the seventh against “Razor” Ramon Ramirez. Toronto would leave the bases loaded later that inning to get back into the game. They collected eight of their 11 hits and two of their three walks against Sox starter Jon Lester but they couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Adam Lind was the poster boy for the team’s unclutchness as he left six men on base in an 0-for-4. Lind was the only starter not to get a hit in this one. In all, the Jays were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left a dozen on base.
Time for some interleague ball. The Jays head to Atlanta where they hope Roy Halladay can get things right on track. He’ll face Kenshin Kawakami in a 7:30 start at Turner Field.
In other TDIB notes……
* The White Sox get drilled by the Twins 20-1 (thank God for the rouge! Wrong sport? Who cares!?!) and find out Jake Peavy will not be a Pale Hoe. Isn’t hoe singular for hose? That’s hose, not hoes. Speaking of which……….
* You know what rhymes with hoes? O’s! Yes, they bowed down to the Yankees again 7-4 but Joba Chamberlain had to take one for the team.
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How do you think this news about Hill will affect the team this season?
Here’s a vid of Hill:
Prospect Hill “Break Down”- Version 3.0 “The Real ‘ FINAL CUT’ “
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have loads of selection, and reasonable prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get fantastic autographed baseball memorabilia now.
I wonder how hill’s serious fans feel - It’s the 23rd day of May. The Jays just went into Boston and sent three pitchers to the hill who had started a grand total of 6 major league games in their careers before this season.
Naturally, they got swept.
Roy Halladay just gave them seven shutout innings in Atlanta, but the artist formerly known as Jesse Carlson stepped up with another late inning failure. (This is getting old, Jesse.)
They’ve now lost four in a row.
Meanwhile, the Beasts of the East are en fuego. The Yankees just ripped off nine wins in a row - the Red Sox had an 11 game winning streak just a while back.
Have we been mathematically eliminated yet? Just how far behind have we fallen?
Say what?
Well, I feel fine now.
what do you think?This might be shocking news for hill fans, but there are those of you who will say that you saw it coming. I can’t say I’m all that surprised though. hill is great, I hope this doesn’t affect the rest of the team.
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I can’t get enough of Rodriguez:
You could wait around all season for a win like that. For a while it looked like Mike Pelfrey’s boo-boo to Kevin Youkilis in the bottom of the first was going to be the difference in this one. The Mets had managed just six baserunners in eight innings against Josh Beckett, scoring a fortuitous run in the first thanks to two defensive miscues by the Red Sox. Then bupkis.
The Mets remained with in striking distance because Pelfrey was terrific, notwithstanding the two-run single to Youkilis. He walked just one and struck out six in seven innings, rolling twelve groundball outs to just three in the air. He left on the short end of a 2-1 ballgame, and things looked dismal after David Wright and Jeremy Reed whiffed in the ninth, overmatched by Jonathan Papelbon’s heater.
Gary Sheffield had walked to lead off the inning, but he remained at first with two outs when Omir Santos strode to the dish. Santos, blissfully unaware that he was in fact Omir Santos, jumped on Papelbon’s first offering and drove it towards the zenith of the Green Monster. On contact, Santos reacted as if the ball was sure a goner, but the first teevee view was inconclusive and the umpires initially ruled it a double. A brief video review later Santos had a two-run homerun, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Yay, we all thought, though we quickly choked on our optimism as J.J. Putz was shown warming up in the bullpen. Francisco Rodriguez was nowhere to be seen, having collapsed earlier due to back spasms. Dang! Putz reaffirmed our concern by walking Youkilis to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but three great defensive plays (and one bad Wright throw) sandwiched around a J.D. Drew fliner to right put this one in the books.
Plenty of credit goes to Santos, obviously, but also Ramon Martinez, who played a terrific game at shortstop. This game doesn’t change the fact that neither player is really qualified to don a big league uniform, but for at least one day we can all be glad they’re Mets.
Swag Contest
Swag contest results can be found here and the next game’s swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.
SB Nation Coverage
* Boxscore
* Amazin’ Avenue Gamethread
* Over The Monster Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Omir Santos, +79.9% WPA, J.J. Putz, +20.9% WPA
Big losers: David Wright, -18.6% WPA, Daniel Murphy, -15.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: You know what it is, +71.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Youkilis leadoff walk in ninth, -13.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +37.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +12.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Omir Santos
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I wonder how this will effect the rest of the season.
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have loads of different products, and super prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get fantastic autographed baseball memorabilia now.
I can’t get enough of bell,
Toledo 3, Gwinnett 9 - Final in 5 Innings So Tom Glavine threw a baseball tonight. I am so tormented by this, because I do love the guy. I mean he won like 270 games with us, he is a great guy and yada yada, but dammit he and Brett Favre need to know when its time. Obviously his start wasn’t great, so maybe that is something good? Hopefully. Mobile 4, Mississippi 1 Mississippi chased super pitcher Jarrod Parker in the middle of the fifth in this game but couldn’t get anything else off the bullpen. Eric Campbell got his tonight, but he has really fallen off this season. I mean, I know he is a dick, but he has always been able to hit. Well, mark him off the list of potential 3B candidates. Jonny Venters pitched OK in t his one giving up 4 runs in 6IP. Wilmington 6, Myrtle Beach 5 Bad Cody. A couple of homers here were about all there was to get excited about in this game. Osuna was ok just like Venters and Heyward and Freeman didn’t do anything. Asheville 13, Rome 1 Yeah, Jake Thompson was real bad in this one. .
Post your replies!
Searching for autographed baseball memorabilia? There is only one place you can go to ensure that the signatures are real - IronClad Athetics. These guys have lots of different products, and super prices, plus they have an Iron Clad Signature Authenticity guarantee, ensuring that every signature is 100% real, no imitations and no forgeries. Get great autographed baseball memorabilia now.