Not your sister's little mermaid.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Let's Do "Chuck!"
Toledo's starting pitcher yesterday was Charlie Furbush. Yes, Fur - Bush. Surprisingly, he didn't stink. And I though JJ Furmaniak (fur - maniac) had it bad.
Out into the rain, my pretties.
Flick to Click: Fight For Your Right - Revisited
Drops 05.03.11 with Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, but I'm sure you could find it somewhere sooner.
I Need Singles For The Clip Joint
It wasn't the first time that Columbus tried to waste the superb start by Alex White (1.64, 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 7 K). A Jason Kipnis first inning error and a Luke Carlin second inning passed ball led to two unearned runs and a 2-zip deficit.
The O was baffled by the Toledo staff all night long, to the tune of 11 strikeouts. Kipnis (.250) had 3 hits (RBI) and seems to be turning it around at the plate, Ezequiel Carrera (.313) stroked 2 hits and scored a run, and Cord Phelps (.406) continued his hot hitting with a single, a run scored and 2 RBI. Chad Huffman (.077), on the other hand, regressed via an 0-for-5 (3 K) and left 5 stranded.
I will be in attendance for the Clippers home opener tomorrow. If the rains abate for long enough, I hope to have some pics and/or video for you. Don't expect to see it until Sunday.
Other Minor Points of Interest --
Not much to say. Akron and Kinston got knocked around pretty good. The most troubling part for me was Bryan Price's performance for the Aeros. In taking the loss, Price (1-1, 10.13) allowed five earned on six hits, including a pair long balls, over two iinnings. In case you've forgotten, Price came from the Red Sox in the Victor Martinez trade. Yep, that's why I'm interested.
Down in the Midwest League, the Lake County Captains lost in extras to the Bowling Green HotRods. BG includes St Ignatius grad Derek Dietrich. DD played high-A ball last season and OPSed .759. It is, then, unclear why he took a step back this year. Derek is playing short (his natural position) for the HotRods after spending most of 2010 at third. Perhaps the D-Rays brass thinks he needs some defensive seasoning. I will have to look into it. Whatever the reason, Dietrich is tearing the cover off of the ball. Tonight, he was 3-for-5 with a dong, a walk, 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. Through the season's first week 21 year old is raking at .478 with a 1.623 OPS. Yowza.
Sleep well, kids. Tomorrow will be a good one.
Cheers
Friday, April 15, 2011
A Quest Called Tribe
Both pitchers threw well, running into only one inning of trouble apiece. The difference was the Justin was able to manage the O's in the 4th while Britton gave up six straight hits to the Tribe in the third. I will freely admit that I was among the those that doubted Masterson's future as a starter during the off season. Last season the big right hander lacked command within the strike zone. That resulted in a lot of hard hits. This tendency bred the urge to nibble which, in turn, led to a bunch of walks. So far in 2011, Masterson (1.33 ERA) has been a strike throwing machine. Against Baltimore, 66 of his 90 pitches were for strikes. More importantly, he was spotting his pitches where he wanted them. Ergo weak swings and, for Masterson, ground outs. Justin lives on ground balls, to the tune of 12 of his 21 outs this evening and 36 of 61 on the season. Similar to Fausto Carmona, you cannot count on the punch outs, but you do not need to. Over 7 beautiful innings, Masterson allowed that lone 4th inning run on four hits and a walk. He struck out three.
As has been the case in many games this season, the Indians offense was opportunistic and several players made nice contributions. Travis Hafner (.293) cranked a 6th inning long ball into the gale of 20MPH headwind (Did anyone else see the shot of Pronkz Donkz during the IBB?). Asdrubal Cabrera (.302) now leads the league in RBI. Still, nothing was better than Michael Brantley (.333) beating out a would be sacrifice in the four run third. On some nights, like tonight, even Matt LaPorta (.225) looks like a major league hitter. It is truly a shame that those nights continue to be so few and far between. Also, Josh Rupe stinks. No complaints though.
Joe Smith waded through three hits and a run in the ninth. It was his first game back from rehab. If his oblique injury lingers, his effectiveness will be severely hampered all season. Grady Sizemore and Jason Donald both got the night off for Columbus.
Tribe wins, Tribe wins. That's your 9-4, first place Tribe (the ChiSox are losing). And all of you successfully dodged my rant on why Jackie Robinson is merely iconic and not a folk hero.
Cheers.
P.S. Has anyone else noticed how quick these games have been (2:26, 12 innings in 3:16, 2:15, 2:25 over the last 4). That's the mark of good pitching. Remember 1p start tomorrow.
Fake Nipples
Such asexual teasing falls into a disturbing pattern that I have found with the fairer sex. Most girls (this is based on direct statements from a number that I have conversed with and additional extrapolation) want every dude on the street to want to have sex with them. Nice. I can dig it. The issue is that they don't actually want to nude up with all of us guys, they just want us to want to. Get it? They want to irritate us. This is the latest and greatest piece of evidence that the femmes are just bat-shit crazy. Men want all of the chickadees to want to do the deed AND we would very much prefer the shades (and other things) to actually fall. No muss, no fuss.
I can grasp the concept that, sometimes, the chase is fun. Often, I agree. The pea in my mattress is that there is no reason, in this age of decadence and consumption, for the status quo to be one of lies and aggravation. Yeah.
I suppose that I will never truly understand women (shocker), but there is absolutely no way that anyone can convince me that there is a sliver of sanity involved in a thought process designed to frustrate and enrage.
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