The Nats got Johnson his first win as Nats manager last night in another well-pitched and played 2-1 win, with the winning run coming in the bottom of the 9th. This win got the Nats back to .500 at 41-41. The Nats continue to get outstanding pitching. In their 82 games they have played 29 1-run games, going 14-15. Not great, but hidden in there is a remarkable stat. The Nats have played 11 2-1 games, going 8-3 in those. They have also gone 1-3 in 1-0 games and are 5-11 in shut outs, overall. These stats are indicative of a team ERA of 3.47 and a team BA of only .232, averaging just 3.7 runs per game. Thus a .500 record. Great pitching, iffy hitting. Still, it is a far better team than last season and will only get better. The Nats have a legitimate ROY candidate in Danny Espinosa, their 2nd baseman. He is only hitting .235 but has 15 Hr's and 48 RBI's, and fields well. On the other hand, Jason Werth, he of the 126 million dollar contract, is only hitting .223 with a paltry 10 Hr's and 27 RBI's. A BIG bust, so far. Ryan Zimmerman, the franchise player, has only returned from the DL 16 games ago and has not gotten untracked. When he does, the hitting should improve overall. We shall see. As long as the pitching holds up, and it should barring injury, the Nats will remain competitive, a nice change from the last few seasons. The future looks good at the half-way mark. ^&grin -- Al
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Louis Badolato
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Some of my fellow Yankee fans have very short memories. On sports talk radio in NYC, the two topics that seem most discussed are (1) Jeter needs to retire or be moved down in the lineup and moved to another position and (2) the Yankees are in first place, Swisher and Posada are finally hitting, and the team is getting Hughes and Colon back, so they don't need another pitcher to win the Wold Series.
As far as Jeter is concerned, he's the team Captain, plays error free defense - maybe his range is limited, but he catches whatever is hit near him, and never throws the ball away, unlike Nunez, his replacement, who has made 10 errors in 26 games - and is hitting .260 with a .340 OBP, which, while no where near his career averages, isn't keeping the Yankees from winning. I think the fans need to remember the 5 Championships, 11 All Star Seasons, (clean, steriod free) career .313 batting average, and shut the heck up.
With regard to the Yankees having a chance to win the world series without picking up a quality (preferrably left handed) starter and a quality lefty reliever, all I can say is take a look at the pitching matchups they would probably have to match up against in the ALCS and World Series. Boston, the team they would most likely play if they made it to the ALCS, can run Beckett (who owns the Yankees lineup), Lester and Bucholz out there in a 7 game series. Beckett will beat CC, Lester will beat Colon or Hughes and Bucholz will beat Burnett (unless the "unhittable Burnett" you see once every 4-5 starts decides to show up) way more often then not.
Then, assuming somehow the Yanks get past the Red Sox, or the Red Sox somehow fail to make the ALCS, in the World Series, the Yankees are going to be matched up against either the Giants or the Phillies. Who is going to match up with Halliday, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt or Tim Lincecum and Caine?
The Yankees pitching can hold up against primarily right handed line-ups, but consistently gets knocked around by teams with a lot of lefty-power hitters, like, for example, Boston or the Phillies. The Yankees also beat up on "good teams" from the rest of baseball, but have trouble with elite teams with both quality starters and line-ups (i.e. Boston and the Phillies).
Unless the Yankees find a way to get a legitimate #1 or #2 starter by the trade deadline, this season will be a repeat of last year - we will make the playoffs (probably as the wildcard), maybe win a short series against one of the pretender division leaders from the central or west, and then lose in the ALCS, a disappointing season when you have a 200 Million Dollar pay roll.
As far as Jeter is concerned, he's the team Captain, plays error free defense - maybe his range is limited, but he catches whatever is hit near him, and never throws the ball away, unlike Nunez, his replacement, who has made 10 errors in 26 games - and is hitting .260 with a .340 OBP, which, while no where near his career averages, isn't keeping the Yankees from winning. I think the fans need to remember the 5 Championships, 11 All Star Seasons, (clean, steriod free) career .313 batting average, and shut the heck up.
With regard to the Yankees having a chance to win the world series without picking up a quality (preferrably left handed) starter and a quality lefty reliever, all I can say is take a look at the pitching matchups they would probably have to match up against in the ALCS and World Series. Boston, the team they would most likely play if they made it to the ALCS, can run Beckett (who owns the Yankees lineup), Lester and Bucholz out there in a 7 game series. Beckett will beat CC, Lester will beat Colon or Hughes and Bucholz will beat Burnett (unless the "unhittable Burnett" you see once every 4-5 starts decides to show up) way more often then not.
Then, assuming somehow the Yanks get past the Red Sox, or the Red Sox somehow fail to make the ALCS, in the World Series, the Yankees are going to be matched up against either the Giants or the Phillies. Who is going to match up with Halliday, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt or Tim Lincecum and Caine?
The Yankees pitching can hold up against primarily right handed line-ups, but consistently gets knocked around by teams with a lot of lefty-power hitters, like, for example, Boston or the Phillies. The Yankees also beat up on "good teams" from the rest of baseball, but have trouble with elite teams with both quality starters and line-ups (i.e. Boston and the Phillies).
Unless the Yankees find a way to get a legitimate #1 or #2 starter by the trade deadline, this season will be a repeat of last year - we will make the playoffs (probably as the wildcard), maybe win a short series against one of the pretender division leaders from the central or west, and then lose in the ALCS, a disappointing season when you have a 200 Million Dollar pay roll.
All good points, Louis. The NYY cannot afford to mess with changing Jeter's position either in the field or batting order. Nunez can't field his way out of a wet paper bag. His FA is 91.5% compared to Jeter's 98.1%, a huge difference especially when considering the position and it's importance to everything on the field. Both of them are hitting about the same so no push there to put out Jeter. Throw in the morale factor, what Jeter means to the team. Jeter is the man, no contest. The hitting is great, as dangerous as it has ever been so that leaves the pitching which absolutely MUST be addressed. -- Al
Sahara
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Hey lets not jump the gun. I think my Detroit Tigers have just as much a chance as the Red Soxs or Yanks to make the ALCS. As long as Verlander and Scherzer keep on pitching lights out then the Tigs will always be around to pull out another 2006 on them there Yanks.
Oh yeah, lets say N.Y. gets knocked off by your so called pretender from the central or west, then what? I guess one could then say that the Yanks were the pretenders all along.
Before we start making such bold predictions and having such confidence in our teams lets just sit back and realize that there is a lot of baseball to play this year. There is just to much that could happen such as trades and injuries that could determine the fate of any season.
Oh yeah, lets say N.Y. gets knocked off by your so called pretender from the central or west, then what? I guess one could then say that the Yanks were the pretenders all along.
Before we start making such bold predictions and having such confidence in our teams lets just sit back and realize that there is a lot of baseball to play this year. There is just to much that could happen such as trades and injuries that could determine the fate of any season.
Almost the All-Star break and not a moment too soon for the Orioles. If one compares them to a B-17 bomber, one would have to concede that two engines are on fire and the plane is going down. The O's starting pitching has all but collapsed. Guthrie, Britton, and Arieta are taking the ball as scheduled but are not getting results. The 4 and 5 positions are in disarray. Matusz can't find last year's form (ERA over 8 in limited action) and the stop-gap Jakubauskas isn't much better with an ERA of 6.75. Team hitting is good at .260, with Markakus and Reynolds on fire. The pitching just can't match up with the team ERA at 4.51 (near the bottom in baseball) and the staff only has 35 quality starts, thus the 36-46 record. The O's went into the season with the idea that Guthrie, Matusz, Bergensen, and Tillman would carry the staff with Arieta in the final spot. Well, it hasn't worked out. Matusz, Bergensen, and Tillman have been busts, so far. Arieta has a 9-5 record but a high 4.74 ERA. Guthrie has been hot/cold and the surprise rookie, Britton, started out hot but has cooled off. All this spells trouble for the second half of the season if Showalter and the front office can't figure things out. The plane hasn't crashed yet, but it doesn't look good. -- Al
Addenda: Forgot to mention that the O's starters are averaging a MLB worst of 5.55 innings per start. :redface2: -- Al
sammy719
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Yea Al, the perverbial wheels have fallen off the wagon
our O's are now 10-11 games under 500, I think 14 games or so out of first so not looking good..once again, I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo tired of a having a losing baseball club until it sickens me, of course I'm a die hard Oriole for life, and I'll root and watch as always for my boys, but man, year after year after year ect.....gets so old, esp. this year I really thought the way we played last year after the All Star break,(great!!) and hiring Buck S. things were a chang'n for us, the only things changing are the L's in the losing column, I don't post much on this thread because it's so dishearting for me, you guys that have winning teams..Yanks/Redsox/Phils and so on be glad that at least you have a team in the hunt, and as I seem to say every year about this time..come on football, can't takes no more...SammyI know, bud. It is disheartening, especially this season as, I too, thought that big things were possible. After last nights fiasco, a 13-5 massacre at the hands of the Rangers, the O's are now 12 games under .500, 14.5 games out, and firmly last in the AL East. Quite simply, as I stated a couple of posts back, the starting pitching has collapsed and the O's chances have gone with it. Oh well... -- AlYea Al, the perverbial wheels have fallen off the wagon
Louis Badolato
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The Giants did it last season . . . :wink2:
Just awful. The man was reaching for a ball tossed into the stands by the Texas outfielder after a foul ball. -- Al
Congratulations to Derek Jeter on becoming the latest member of the 3000 hit club. Did it with flair, too. Went 5 for 5 in the 5-4 victory over the Rays today. Led off the game with hit#2999 and then in the 3rd inning, he got hit #3000 with an exclamation point by hitting a no-doubt home run. Of the total of 28 major leaguers that have now reached 3000 hits, only Wade Boggs and Jeter did #3000 with a homer. Not bad for an old guy.{bravo}} -- Al
Louis Badolato
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Jeter also was the only player to ever go 5 for 5 in the game when he reached 3,000 hits (Craig Biggio went 5 for 6).
Of the 28 members of the 3,000 club, Jeter was the 4th youngest to do it, did it in the 7th fewest games, and 10th fewest at bats.
When you look at the names of the other members of this elite fraternity, you realize just what an accomplishment it is: Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose, just to name a few. Derek Sanderson Jeter has punched his ticket to the hall of fame, and I for one feel very lucky to have been able to see him play in person over the years.
Of the 28 members of the 3,000 club, Jeter was the 4th youngest to do it, did it in the 7th fewest games, and 10th fewest at bats.
When you look at the names of the other members of this elite fraternity, you realize just what an accomplishment it is: Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose, just to name a few. Derek Sanderson Jeter has punched his ticket to the hall of fame, and I for one feel very lucky to have been able to see him play in person over the years.
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Engine #3 is now smoking and the pilot is close to hitting the "bail out" alarm. O's limped into the All-Star break on a 7 game losing streak and a 6-21 run to a record of 36-52, 18 games out of first. Since the above post, the team ERA has climbed to 4.72 (league avg. ERA is 3.89), which is officially the worst ERA amongst the 30 teams in major league baseball, and this was before giving up a further 8 earned runs to the Red Sox today. Quite the accomplishment. The rookie left-hander, Britton, was sent down which means that 3 of 5 O's starting pitchers as of opening day, are now in the minors (Matusz, Tillman, Britton). Well, I guess its time to say, "Wait till next year..."
{sm5} -- AlReached the break at .500, a big improvement over last season. Since the above post, the Nats have been involved in a further 8 one run games, winning 4, for a 18-19 record in 1 run contests. That's a lot of 1 run games. Nats are also 8-8 in 2 run games. Very competitive. Hope the record keeps improving. Go Nats! -- Al
Louis Badolato
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At 2:00 a.m. this morning, in the bottom of the 19th inning of an incredible game between the Braves and Pittsburg, the home plate umpire Jerry Meals, who should never, ever be allowed to umpire even a little league game again, deliberately blew the call at home plate because he was hot and tired and wanted to go home, and dropped the Pirates from 1st to 3rd place. It was literally the worst call I have ever seen. The Braves commentator called the runner out by 5 feet, then increduously remarked "he called him safe . . . that's the worst call of the night and it ends the game."
If this does not bring about instant replay, the commissioner of baseball should be shot. By the way, I am a Yankee fan and could care less about whether the Braves or Pittsburg wins this game. To me its simple: the only human element I want in sports is the players. Umpires, referees, linesmen, etc., are not humans in my eyes for the purposes of the game, they are just robots intended to make the correct call. In baseball, where umpires are never fired or disciplined no matter how badly they blow the call, and where they almost never get together and talk and try to get the call correct, the officiating has become a bad joke.
MLB loves to spout off that the Umpires get 98% of the calls correct. Thats because 97.5 percent of the calls are obvious, not even close. I bet if you kept track of close calls, where the networks show the type of slow motion replays that should be used to correct errors, about 50% of the close calls are wrong. The other night the first base umpire blew two calls at first base in favor of my team, the Yankees, in the same inning (the bottom of the 4th), allowing the Yankees, who should have scored one (unearned) run in the inning, to score 5 and put the game away against Seattle, dropping them to their 16th straight loss.
And the argument that it would slow down the games is just stupid. After alomost every blown call there is a 5 minute shouting match between the victimized team's manager and the umpire who blew it, while the rest of the umpires stand around looking sheepish and don't tell the umpire who blew the call that he got it wrong. If instead the manager could request a replay, like they do with contested home runs, in about 45 seconds they would have the correct call, and the game would go on.
We've already had bad calls change the outcome of a World Series (Kansas City vs. Saint Louis back in the late 80's), a playoff game (Yankees vs Twins in 2009 - two bad calls in extra innings cost the Twins a run, the Yankees win on a walkoff homer by Teixiera in the bottom of the inning) and a perfect game (last year), and now, very possibly, a Division title (the loss last night dropped the Pirates from 1st to 3rd in a very close race). This has got to change. Safe-out calls and fair-foul calls have to be reviewable, or MLB is going to drop to third behind the NFL and the NBA (which also has a huge officiating problem) in American sports.
If this does not bring about instant replay, the commissioner of baseball should be shot. By the way, I am a Yankee fan and could care less about whether the Braves or Pittsburg wins this game. To me its simple: the only human element I want in sports is the players. Umpires, referees, linesmen, etc., are not humans in my eyes for the purposes of the game, they are just robots intended to make the correct call. In baseball, where umpires are never fired or disciplined no matter how badly they blow the call, and where they almost never get together and talk and try to get the call correct, the officiating has become a bad joke.
MLB loves to spout off that the Umpires get 98% of the calls correct. Thats because 97.5 percent of the calls are obvious, not even close. I bet if you kept track of close calls, where the networks show the type of slow motion replays that should be used to correct errors, about 50% of the close calls are wrong. The other night the first base umpire blew two calls at first base in favor of my team, the Yankees, in the same inning (the bottom of the 4th), allowing the Yankees, who should have scored one (unearned) run in the inning, to score 5 and put the game away against Seattle, dropping them to their 16th straight loss.
And the argument that it would slow down the games is just stupid. After alomost every blown call there is a 5 minute shouting match between the victimized team's manager and the umpire who blew it, while the rest of the umpires stand around looking sheepish and don't tell the umpire who blew the call that he got it wrong. If instead the manager could request a replay, like they do with contested home runs, in about 45 seconds they would have the correct call, and the game would go on.
We've already had bad calls change the outcome of a World Series (Kansas City vs. Saint Louis back in the late 80's), a playoff game (Yankees vs Twins in 2009 - two bad calls in extra innings cost the Twins a run, the Yankees win on a walkoff homer by Teixiera in the bottom of the inning) and a perfect game (last year), and now, very possibly, a Division title (the loss last night dropped the Pirates from 1st to 3rd in a very close race). This has got to change. Safe-out calls and fair-foul calls have to be reviewable, or MLB is going to drop to third behind the NFL and the NBA (which also has a huge officiating problem) in American sports.
Just saw the replay. Bad. Bad. Bad. I agree that something has to be done and replay seems like the easiest, fastest, and safest choice. MLB is just too hidebound to move on it.
Another crime will go unpunished.
-- AlLouis, who are The Bombers going to get to shore up the pitching? I haven't heard a thing. AJ Burnett is driving me nuts. I'd rather see Nova put back in the rotation than take further chances on Hughes or Burnett. -- Al