Three way tie for first place in the NL East after today's games. Nats are starting to make a move as they start to get back key players from the DL. The most important one, Ryan Zimmerman, came off the DL 6 games ago. The Nats are 5-1 with him in the line-up and by odd coincidence, starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has caught fire at the same time. He has started twice in those 6 games and is 2-0, allowing 0 runs over his 17 innings. Maybe, just maybe, the Nats are headed towards being the team the fans have expected them to be this season. If it weren't for a blown save, the Nats and Ryan Zimmerman would be 6-0 since his return.:wink2: -- Al
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Warrior
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Ok, whatever goofy pills Manny Machado is on, he needs to lower the dosage.
Friday night he got upset over what he thought was a hard tag, so as he fell to the ground, he threw his helmet at Donaldson, the guy who applied the tag.
Seriously?
A hard tag; I saw the replay, it was not a hard tag, no need to be a ******* about it.
Then today, the Orioles threw at Donaldson (really classy there Buck), so the A's then threw at Manny, who then throws his bat at Donaldson as part of a swing follow through.
Wow; talk about not wrapped too tight.
Take it down a couple of notches there Manny; throwing bats and helmets at players.
What a class act.
Friday night he got upset over what he thought was a hard tag, so as he fell to the ground, he threw his helmet at Donaldson, the guy who applied the tag.
Seriously?
A hard tag; I saw the replay, it was not a hard tag, no need to be a ******* about it.
Then today, the Orioles threw at Donaldson (really classy there Buck), so the A's then threw at Manny, who then throws his bat at Donaldson as part of a swing follow through.
Wow; talk about not wrapped too tight.
Take it down a couple of notches there Manny; throwing bats and helmets at players.
What a class act.
While the Nats are on an upswing, my other team, the O's, are just spinning their wheels. I blame the starting pitching and their failure to do their jobs in a major league fashion. The 5 main starters (59 of 61 games) are 20-20, with a terrible ERA average of about 4.55. They rank 29 out of 30 MLB teams in Quality starts and they are only averaging 5.2 innings per start. The two supposed best pitchers, Tillman and Jimenez, have ERAs of 5.20 and 5.01, respectively. If the O's didn't have such a good offense, this team would be buried instead of being in 2nd place in a mediocre AL East. There is not a single starting pitcher for the O's that could even crack the starting rotation for the Nats. Even the pitcher with the O's current best record, Wei-Yin Chen, (6-2), has an ugly 4.13 ERA and averages under 6 innings a start. I know I am being very critical of them, but this rotation just isn't very good. The O's can hang in there with their offense staying in gear, and may even be a title contender if Davis and Jones can get their Hr swings going, but that is a big if and the playoffs demand good pitching to advance. At the moment, I am very pessimistic that the O's will be anything but a .500ish team as long as this starting pitching rotation is what the O's are depending on. -- Al
I watched that game on Friday, saw that tag, and I'm still scratching my head over Machado's reaction. Perhaps he was just embarrassed that such a light tag caused him to trip and fall down. It was not an impressive sequence of events.:rolleyes2: -- Al
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Throwing bats and helmets at opposing players is not acceptable behavior under any circumstances Sammy, spin it anyway you want; it all started because he didn't like getting tagged on Friday night, the benches emptied twice in the series, both times due to his antics.
Flinging a bat recklessly at another player is over the top; Al will probably remember this one; Al, remember when Juan Marichal charged the mount with a bat in his hand and was trying to break it over the pitchers head?
Yes George, I remember the incident. Marichal was actually at bat at the time. There were bad feelings between the Giants and the Dodgers at the time, as both teams were involved in the pennant race. At any rate, the Dodger catcher, John Roseboro, was returning the ball to the pitcher and, according to Marichal, Roseboro's throw nicked Marichal's ear. Marichal lost his cool and hit Roseboro over the head with his bat. Marichal received a suspension that cost him and the Giant's some crucial starts, and, some feel, the pennant. It was a STUPID incident on Marichal's part, even if provoked. Odd thing is, Roseboro and Marichal are now friends. Ugly incident. -- Al
I see where the Tampa Bay Rays have resorted to a movie script to help them out of their problems. They have brought in a Seminole medicine man to rid them of bad spirits, very much like the scene in The Natural where a spiritualist is brought in. Roy Hobbs would have none of it. -- Al
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That crazy Joe I'm the smartest guy in the room, just ask me Maddon, nice trick but it didn't work as the Rays lost again, 13 out of 14, second worst record in the AL, wonder where Price will land at the trading deadline, I'll say the Dodgers.
Muchado is doing great tonight; so far, two at bats and he hasn't thrown a bat or a helmet at anyone yet.
Baby steps..................
Muchado is doing great tonight; so far, two at bats and he hasn't thrown a bat or a helmet at anyone yet.
Baby steps..................
Just wanted to clear a couple of things up. Marichal and Roseboro became friends but it took quite a while for this to happen. Roseboro passed away in 2002. In addition to being ejected from the game (naturally), Marichal received an 8 day suspension, which cost him 2 starts. The Giants lost the pennant by 2 games. The opposing pitcher in the game, Sandy Koufax, had a lead but the incident unnerved him and the Giants ultimately won the game 4-3. The game was in San Fran, Aug. 22, 1965. -- Al
More fun with numbers in regards to Ryan Zimmerman's return from the DL. The Nat's starting pitching has been on a tear since Ryan's return. If the Nats complete tonight's game at SF with a win (and they lead 9-2 in the 8th), the Nats will be 6-1 since the return but the pitching stats are the real surprise. Those 7 starts encompass 51 innings from the starters, who are 6-0 with the 1 loss being credited to a relief pitcher in extra innings. In those 51 innings, the starters have surrendered 30 hits and 7 earned runs. The shocker is they have fanned 51 men and walked 1 (one, uno)! According to the game announcers, this hasn't been achieved since 1914 over a 7 game span. The 1 walk occurred in the first game of Ryan's return which means the Nats starting pitchers have gone 6 straight games,without walking anyone. That's at least 43 straight innings walk free. I can't remember if I have ever seen anything close to this. Could Ryan Zimmerman be the ultimate good luck charm?:wink2:^&grin -- Al P.S. - Nats won 9-2.
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sammy719
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Wow Al, after posting this the other day Norris goes out and tosses a 3 hit shutout!!!...go figure right??
...SammyIt never fails, Sammy. I write something critical of the O's and then they make me look dumb. I call out the offense and they hit Hr's, I call out the pitchers and then they throw a shutout. Hmmm... Norris threw a real beaut of a game but it needs to become the rule, not the exception for the O's pitchers. I hope the pitchers step up over the next 12 games as they are all against AL East rivals.:wink2: Tillman is going tonight. I hope he can get right as 3 of his last 4 starts have been disasters. We need him to be right. -- AlWow Al, after posting this the other day Norris goes out and tosses a 3 hit shutout!!!...go figure right??
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Wow Al, after posting this the other day Norris goes out and tosses a 3 hit shutout!!!...go figure right??
Yep, the Red Sox this year have been doing a stellar job of making tomato cans like Norris look like sure fire Cy Young award winners, they put up a goose egg vs a guy who has two pitches, balls and home runs.
The Orioles got him from the Astros.
Or, the AAAstros.
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Sad news about the passing of Bob Welch, former A's Cy Young Award winner. He was 57.
He was always one of my favorites. Sad news indeed.
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Ok Al, I need your input here; I'm killing time waiting for game 3 of the NBA finals to start so I tune in for the Sox/Orioles game and there's about 137 people there.
The Orioles have had a good team now for three years and it's a beautiful ballpark, yet they can't draw flies.
So what gives?
I've got a friend who lives in the area and said Baltimore is like Baghdad with crab cakes and more deaths..................is it that bad?
I've been to that ballpark several times and the area is not that bad, help me out here................
The Orioles have had a good team now for three years and it's a beautiful ballpark, yet they can't draw flies.
So what gives?
I've got a friend who lives in the area and said Baltimore is like Baghdad with crab cakes and more deaths..................is it that bad?
I've been to that ballpark several times and the area is not that bad, help me out here................
George, I don't know what to say about B-more, safety wise. I actually can get to Gettysburg faster than I can the O's ballpark. The ballpark is a relatively save area but I actually know little else about the city although I know it has crime problems, like all cities. I can say that I have never had a problem when there and that includes going to old Memorial Stadium, which was located in a more 'difficult' area of the city. There are areas of B-more that have beautiful neighborhoods that have no city feel to them at all. As for the lack of attendance, I still blame the residual of all those losing seasons and the ownership. When the park first opened, the O's had a long history of being winners. It took years of effort to undermine that reputation and years for the attendance to fall off. That new park was sold out for years before the falloff began and the crowds started to shrink. I just think that it will take some more good years before a weeknight sellout becomes regular again. Speaking strictly for myself, I'm just not willing (or able) to make the 90 minute trek to Camden Yards anymore. But I don't go to DC either. At this stage in life, I am a baseball fan via cable TV.:wink2::rolleyes2:^&grin -- Al
sammy719
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Tillman is having a good nite Al, just need to score some runs, looks like the Jays will lose tonite so it would be great to pick up a game if we can score a few runs...Sammy
Well, at least we finally got a hit. Now for a couple of runs. I see Tillman is now out. Bad luck to throw so well and not get any support, but at least Tillman looked like himself tonight.:wink2: -- Al