Finally, Baseball…..
Baseball is back and I always forget how much it consumes my life. The one thing that sucks about winning the World Series is that I go from a total focus and obsession with the game and my team to…nothing. My emotions are all over the place and then I’m hit with this unreal rush of excitement and happiness culminating with a deep exhale of completion. But then it all just stops. I get my b-a-s-k on, of course, but quickly I’m hit by a period of withdraw. Voids are created and filled, slowly, with other things in my life. There’s an adjustment of not setting my day around the time a baseball game is played and waking up and NOT checking the box scores or setting my line ups for the different fantasy teams I have. Haiku’s get written, BBOTD’s get uploaded and football happens and it’s darker and colder for a long period of time. And then Opening Day happens again and I get right back into the intensity and the excitement and the overall consumption that baseball brings to my life. I imagine it’s the same for all of you or maybe it’s completely different. I don’t know.
This year I have 5 fantasy teams, my team is defending it’s world championship, I have a full time job and a daughter who’s a year older and I don’t know how I’m going to fit all of this into my life. Except I know I will because it’s part of the cycle of my life. It’s like riding a bike or throwing a ball. I’ll be able to do it because even when it’s gone it’s still part of me. I love all of it and my life really isn’t the same unless it’s all happening at the same time.
So I’m pumped and excited for this season. Winter officially ended yesterday. What the calendar says means nothing to me.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
The beginning of the season marks the start of one of the great fan pleasures- second guessing. And it was begun in earnest yesterday-why wait? This one concerned the use of Kontos- Z was surprised to see him late in a game, delighted to see him pitch a flawless 7th but not happy to see him out there for the 8th- Salty wanted Affedlt, Chi seemed to agree, Z expected Casilla, Blue and Laskey didn’t like Kontos going out for the 8th either. My take was that Kontos was dealing- and that one of the set up guys would have used with a lead- tie game strategy is different…
Valid points from everybody, and when the pitcher rocks it out to dead center for his first big league dinger, there *are* going to be questions…
No, I’m not going to question the, uh, timing, of the second guessing- we’re not allowed to do that…darn.
Other than that- not a lot to dissect- Kershaw was dominant and Koufax was in the house, we’ll just try to get ’em tonight…
BTW, Ed has saved the Prediction thread as a PDF file and sent it to me. It’s in my shared folder on Sky Drive where it may be be viewed by all. After opening the file, just click on the link on top and you’ll be taken to the thread to see how right you were..
Link to shared folder:
http://sdrv.ms/YKPLzx
The KNBR guys went on and on and on this morning about the *misuse* of Kontos and how they don’t like him. It’s embarrassing that they know so little about the game of baseball. One of them listed off all the pitchers who threw 100+ pitches on opening day as evidence that Bochy screwed up by pulling Cain. They spent the rest of the time (that I listened in the car) telling Panda fat jokes. The worst one was “Hey, the Giants sell Panda hats when are they going to start selling Panda Belly’s?” This is the Giants flagship station and they are acting like side kicks on the Howard Stern show.
I don’t understand how these two clowns have their jobs.
got a funny text from Pawlie yesterday. I couldn’t upload it here from work for some reason but I tweeted it out.
@1flapdown77
So true, Pawlie, so true.
Winter, off-season, hot stove, snow
I had forgotten how much I love baseball and at 9pm BST 1 April, I got to watch my team. Back in action against a really great pitcher having a monster day and losing. But losing was not the wet-towel I might have expec_edd. Not with 161 games to go.
NOPE; BaseBall is back and I love it, not much in my life can interfere with the magnetic magic of this game played by a team that is as much a part of me as Janis Joplin, California coastline and my three grown sons.
now abideth faith, hope, benevolence, food, hot tubs and love; but the greatest of these is BaseBall.
Excellent thread, Flav. Had never really stopped and thought about how consumed I am with, and what a part baseball is in my life. Like you said…other sports and events in our lives come and go, but there is something special about baseball. It is definitely a huge part of the fabric of my life.
I probably pulled the trigger rashly on agreeing with Salt that Affeldt should have been out there in the 8th. On reflection, you have to agree that Kontos looked good in the 7th, and the damned pitcher coming up to start the 8th. Bochy, Rags, and Gardner have numbers, trends, etc. on pitchers vs. hitters that we, even the rabbid fans, do not. So I am not going to question Bochy and crew.
I heard a sound bite from Bochy this morning…he said basically that…that Kontos was dealing, and he made a mistake (mistakes happen to all pitchers). His happened to be to the pitcher who did something that has not happened since 1953 (complete game shutout and hit a home run). Shit happens. It is only 1 game of 162.
We strap it on with MadBum today against their new Korean pitcher and go get ’em. It can be tough on teams when they face a pitcher (such as Ryu) with little history (27.1 IP during 2013 spring training) on them. But I am confident that the Giants put one in the W column, today.
I don’t even think you can call the Kontos pitch a mistake (and Mac on KNBR referred to Kershaw as a “great hitting pitcher” as he skewered Bochy’s decision to leave in kontos). Huh? It was his 2nd extra base hit in his career. He’s had 335 plate appearances over 5+ seasons at the big league level. Come on, you don’t fucking corner pitch the guy, you go right at him. He hit it out, big deal, it was a lucky swing.
Good point. I was more pointing out that Bochy called it a “mistake” pitch. But I agree…a guy with those types of numbers you go after him. Kershaw was “in a zone” yesterday.
New day today…new game…GO GIANTS!
You should know better than to agree with me 🙂
Kontos had one issue last year- inherited runners. That was obviously not an issue last night. George earned the “promotion” in the hierarchy with an excellent 2012…knowing the way Bochy operates, my guess is that Kontos would have pitched to Kershaw and then Affeldt would have come in for Crawford. But after the HR, he stuck with Kontos because the first game is just not the time to pull a guy immediately after a big mistake like that. Bochy has always been about showing faith in a guy- it’s something that shows up later.
Maybe I’m over analyzing it. Maybe the paint fumes in the clubhouse got to Boch…
Kontos appears to be penciled in taking over Casilla’s spot with Santiago getting the 8th inning that had been held by Romo. It should be noted that Affeldt and Casilla made big mistakes that added to the deficit. Not loud ones, but critical none the less. The reason many like Romo in the 8th inning slot is his control- and lack of it led to 2 or 3 extra runs. I like Santiago starting an inning, not with runners on.
Well said, Flavor.
Just to clarify, As I said yesterday…”I saw affeldt warming I figured he was going to pitch the. 8th.. especially with Crawford due up 2nd…but as always, I defer to King Bruce.”
I had actually left the room and came back and caught Pagan looking at the ball landing over the fence and thought how the f*** did he hit that off Affeldt? 😉
But whatever..maybe overreacted to seeing the pitcher go deep.
Well, I’d say it *was* a mistake, George said “it was a two-seamer that stayed up and flat”- but you don’t count on that result from the pitcher. What’s more of an issue than Kontos,IMO, is that the whole staff gave up huge hits to the 9 spot last year( I can’t find a breakdown on just the pitcher). The 9 hole hit 50 points higher against us than the league average last year. This has to be a philosophy of how to go after the pitcher. Maybe Rags ought to try a new tactic..
Yeah, what is with the opposing pitcher? Those are some eye opening numbers.
TF, I totally see all you’re saying, and you said it well; the only thing I would say is that “technically” I don’t feel I’m second-guessing. I was watching the game and said all those concerns, before the start of those innings, to the people I was watching the game with. It just isn’t possible for me to always post during the games.
You’re just not trying, zumiee
NL should try the DH. Who wants to see a pitcher get a lucky one?
And here’s where you lose on this issue, Nipper. As much as I didn’t want to see it, what Kershaw did, by hitting that HR, was extraordinary and part of the “magic” of baseball. Like, Zito’s hits in the playoffs. The DH ruins that aspect of the magic of baseball.
Agreed 100%. Just like the two box scores posted yesterday from Loo and Chuck that featured great pitching performance and bombs from the SP.
Thx for posting those, guys it was great to see the names in the LU from back in the day.
I could be making too big a deal out of Kontos’ playoff ERA. It was a small sample size.
After a night of reflection I’ll soften my “bite me Kontos” comment from last night to just “Fuck Kontos”.
Speaking of losing it, Vin Scully! Maybe it’s just because it’s Opening Day and he hasn’t warmed up, or maybe it’s just because he’s 85, I don’t know.
I sent you an email, did you receiver?
I just checked and nothing yet.
TF said: “Bochy has always been about showing faith in a guy- it’s something that shows up later.”
I totally agree. A big part of Bochy’s mastery of the bullpen is the way he sees the big picture. The 162 game season.
Great intro, Flav.
I’m glad it’s a night game so I can watch Mad Bum’s start. Had to follow yesterday’s game on SFGate
Funny Barbasol commercial on the MLB network. A guy pitching in the 1920s. He turns to the camera and says: “I’ve pitched 17 innings so far; and that’s after having a breakfast of chipped beef and scotch.”
I see the baseball season as a long novel, a really cool long and complex Russian novel or something. It’s “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” and “The Brothers Karamazov.” There will be mountain-top highs and deep-valley lows. The everyday journey of it is an awesome thing. The Giants started last season 0-3!! It’s a LONG season, and that’s a very groovy thing.
Damn, what exactly is “chipped” beef? I remember Mom serving that sometimes when I was real young for those “special” Sunday breakfasts. On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know exactly what it is.
In the Navy it was called “shit on a shingle” served every morning along with the eggs and bacon etc.
It was (is) S.O.S. (Shit on a Shingle) in the Air Force, too. Great on top of your omelete, potatoes, etc. As the little ol’ lady in the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce commercials says “I put that shit on everything!”
Kids were conveniently at home yesterday and wife and two of them were sick, so the call into work taking a sick day to take care of the sick family on opening day…priceless. Kershaw hitting a home run while I was on the phone….excruciating.
I am in 3 other paid leagues this year outside of the Flap…I choked my NBA fantasy league semi-finals by 2 blocked shots..damn it!
So now my full attention on baseball. And like you, every day is set around the Gigantes during the season. One plus being on the East Coast with a young family and exhausted wife, they are all asleep by the first pitch. I have a feeling this is going to be a busy work/family year and I may be falling asleep during a lot of games. I am coaching my 7 year old’s Little League team and never coached with kids starting to pitch. So this will be interesting…Go Giants, take two in LA….
And of course, my Dodger friends here are already talking smack and attacking the Panda for his weight. I had to remind them that I will take a 3 homer Game 1 performance and all the buffet he can eat any year…how many Dodgers acomplished that???? Ron Gay Mustache???? Steve Gayvey????
I was mildly surprised Kontos was still in because I heard Scully mention Affeldt was warming up during the Giants’ half of the 8th. But really, Kontos had sailed through the bottom of the order, and there’s no reason to think he’s about to give up a homer to a pitcher who’s never hit one out in the majors. It’s one of those WTF-ya-gonna-do kinda sports moments.
Big positive for me was how Matty recovered and cruised through the next five innings after that very shaky very 1st, which he got out of with a huge assist from Crawford.
A big downer was how the Giants just can never do anything against Kershaw. I know he’s one of the top 5 pitchers around, maybe even better than that, but it shouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the offense to show some signs of life against the guy every once in a while. Or at least expect more than one real threat to score the entire game.
But it’s only one game. If the Giants take one of the next two, they’re off to a better start than last year.
Hey guys— here’s that article I was interviewed for. Check it out if you’re interested:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/Yankees-Red-Sox-Giants-Dodgers-Baseball-200488941.html
Bravo Flav.
“When Hanley Ramirez was trotting around the bases last year after he hit a home run off Romo, doing that stupid eye goggle thing, I still don’t even know what that was, but I was offended by it.”
And to emphasize the point they link to the stupid goggle thing with Theriot looking at Ramirez with disgust.
Ha! I like how what you said to them inspired them to use the Ramirez “eye goggle” photo.
yeah, that was cool. When I said it I thought “this guy is from NY, he won’t even know what I’m talking about” and he didn’t ask a clarifying question so I figured he wouldn’t use it. but I remember at the time thinking that would be the best quote for the topic of his article.
And it was the best quote. Fuck Ramirez and his goggles…Fuck the bums. I’m so ready to see them get their asses whooped by MadBum and the Giants tonight!
As much as we can become obsessed with baseball, none of us wants to be the guy in the novel “Universal Association of Baseball”, though. That guy is CRAZY. I started reading it this week. He makes up his own baseball board game, creates his own players and teams, and then starts believing they are real. Really real.
The novel was published in 1968, and it got me to wondering what baseball board games did exist in those days. Nothing too sophisticated, I would think. I remember the Stratomatic type of games in the ’70s, and those were getting pretty sophisticated. Of course, video games pretty much replaced the baseball board games, although I’m sure they still exist out there as kind of a retro thing enjoyed by a few people.
When I was a kid, I made up my own baseball game using a regular deck of cards. It wasn’t too complex. I remember that Aces were HRs, Kings were triples, Queens were double, and Jacks and 10s were singles. Deuces were walks. And I think 8s and 9s were strikeouts, but I can’t totally remember. All the other even numbered cards were fly-outs, and the odd-numbered cards were ground-outs.
More than you wanted to know about Stratomatic baseball:
Strat-O-Matic began as a company in 1961, when Hal Richman, a Bucknell University mathematics student, began selling an early version of his baseball tabletop game out of his basement, buying advertising space in Sports Illustrated to aid sales. Richman lost money until 1963, when his decision to release a game containing one card for each player in Major League Baseball resulted in greatly increased sales. Richman later released a football game in 1968 and an “advanced” baseball game in 1972.
Strat-O-Matic’s statistical research and game development methods are implemented with the intent of replicating athletes’ abilities as accurately as possible, giving the gamer the feel of making managerial decisions.
In February 2011, Strat-O-Matic celebrated its 50th anniversary with an opening day event at the Community Church of New York. This was a change from the normal opening day festivities of fans lining up outside the company’s headquarters in Glen Head to pick up their new baseball products. At this event, over 500 people attended and heard from panelists including Doug Glanville, Rick Peterson and STATS, Inc. founder John Dewan.[1]
In March 2011, Richman was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[2]
Strat-O-Matic games are generally recognized as very influential; they have been played by a wide variety of sports fans, including professional athletes themselves.
Former major leaguer Doug Glanville is an avid Strat-O-Matic player and advocate of the company,[4] and his ex-teammate and noted gamer Curt Schilling also plays.[5] Former New York Mets teammates Keith Hernandez[6] and Lenny Dykstra also have proclaimed their devotion. After homering in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 1986 National League Championship Series, Dykstra said that the last time he had done such a thing was when he played Strat-O-Matic against his brother.[7]
Broadcaster Bob Costas often played Strat-O-Matic in his youth, and credits the game with teaching him about baseball, for instance the importance of on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Author Buzz Bissinger says that “Strat-O-Matic changed my life.”[8]
Games of Strat-O-Matic were shown being played in the Spike Lee film Crooklyn.
Computer sports game designers and producers such as Trip Hawkins[9] and Richard Hilleman have been lifelong Strat-o-Matic players, indirectly influencing the development of rival computer baseball simulation games. In the book Magic the Gathering: the Pocket Players Guide, it was mentioned that Strat-O-Matic was a strong influence in the game design work of Richard Garfield.
[edit]
The last Stratomatic team I had was circa 1980. John Castino had a far better season for me than he did for the Twins.
Buzz was a fan, eh? Apparently he didn’t learn his lessons as wel as Costas.
Castino was the best defensive 3rd baseman I’ve ever seen. If I recall, he had back fusion surgery and that essentially ended his career.
I think he had a +9 defensive rating at 3rd 🙂
I guess that’s a smilng disagreement, I dunno. Did use the ole sniff test then and what people in the organization said. Saw him play in Oakland a few times, He made stops on balls that Brooks Robinson would wave at..
Actually, I think the +9 was a very good defensive rating. The smile was for the ridiculous possibility that my recall of something so trivial 30+ years later might be close to accurate.
The brontosaurus days. No UZR, no FIP…those of us who were one day to advocate a 2012 Presidentiial ticket of Bill James and Nate Silver suffered greatly in olden times…
Seriously, it can get silly, this SABR thing.I forget who it was, a commenter on the Splash said he had always thought that Bud Harrelson was a fine defensive SS. Only years later did he discover that Bud was really pretty average- those new fangled metrics told him so.
I say we should let those memories be..Bud would appreciate it.
I used good ole dice for my baseball games at home. Vowing every summer to play out an entire season for every team. That usually lasted for a couple of weeks….I also had one summer come up with a backyard game at a house we owned as a rental but stayed for an entrie summer there instead of renting it in Santa Cruz.
The backyard went downhill but had three levels with a cement partition for each level. So I would toss a tennis ball as hard as I could against the cement partition and if it got by me it was a base hit, if it went to the next level it was a double or if I caught it, it was an out. But instead of baseball teams, I used rock bands. Why? I have no frickin clue. But the battle of ELO versus Heart was legendary…
Read it and weep, one game is EVERYTHING:
http://lat.ms/XFASiX
EVERYTHING for a loser bum fan…and that ain’t saying shit. Fuck them!
30 minute line for a beer? Sucks for them! Friday night’s Bay Bridge game was a sellout, and I never waited more than 5 minutes to get a beer or a brat.
Hey, 130 years of Giants baseball. That is a LOT of baseball. And, in the history of those 130 years, NO OTHER PITCHER has better numbers against the Giants than Kershaw. Fuck it…I tip my cap to the dude for being dominant as hell yesterday. One game of 161. New day. New game. Let’s get it on!
Duck the Fodgers! BEAT L.A.!
As my buddy the A’s fan said, 161-1, still not a bad record.
Good article, good stuff from Craig…
Still thinking about second guessing. Look, it’s as much a part of our arsenal as the air trade, the predictions, heckling the ump, booing the Bums…sure, I’m a mite suspicious when I hear that a poster told the parakeet that Casilla should have been the guy ( BEFORE (fill in your choice) gave up the 550 foot shot) but I have my private and not so private grumblings myself. See, I’m above saying Bochy used the wrong guy, I just note, ever so calmly, that the offending party should be throwing his next pitch somewhere else…
like mothereffing Fresno 🙂
The way I look at it, Bruce is a fine manager and he’s doing as well he can filling in until I can cram into my uniform again….2017 sounds right…
Really? I was thinking you would make your debut no later than 2015. Damn.
Well, they went and extended him, obviously after checking on my progress
Wonderful intro by Flav, and good job on the article. Maybe the writer should’ve referred to you as Big Flavor, since that’s easier to spell.
I get another Opener today: My daughter’s softball team plays its first game. She made the varsity as a freshman. More than the other sports she does (soccer, hoops), softball is by far the most nerve-racking to watch. But the team should be pretty good. It helps to have a good pitcher, and she’s only a sophomore. BTW, my daughter plays at the same HS as Mark Leiter, the 1995 Wilie Mac co-winner with Mark Carreon. Go Central!
Recall there was some serious 2nd guessing in 2010 when another young reliever blew a save in early 2010 against the Dodgers (Manny took him deep) and were ready to send “that Frisbee throwing f— packing a couple of weeks later when Uggla also went yard to -I think -put Fla ahead in the 8th.
How soon we forget…winning TWO World Series in THREE years does things to the mind… (insert gay-assed smily face, here)….
Yes, that would be Romo and that happens to be the incident I was referring to when I said he should never throw a pitch in the bigs again…no one throws a nastier pitch than his slider but when he throws a hanger it looks like a pitch Nathan Lane might throw…
I’ll bet Sergio’s Strat O Matic card doesn’t penalize him for giving up his HRs on hanging sliders instead of belt high fastballs.
Well, I’ve got Dork-o-Matic and it penalizes him for sissy looking pitches..
I can totally get over a freaking lucky HR by Kershaw.
But when a pitcher hits 2″GRANDSLAMS”,like Tony Colinger did on July 3,1966 against the Giants at Candlestick and knocked in 9 runs total that can’t hit be all lucky.That’s tipping your hat to a once in a lifetime achievement !!!
April 2nd is the birthday of Jack “Just the facts, maam” Webb who would have been 93 today if he hadn’t–you know–died and stuff.
Little trivia for ya’ll. Sgt Joe Friday’s badge #714 was actually an homage to the Bambino as Webb was a huge baseball fan
Two old favorites:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043292/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042379/
Sterling Hayden does his best proto J. Friday in “Crime Wave,” which I caught for the first time last week. Highly recommended, if only for Timothy Carey.
I knew that Ted about his badge #.
I’m still packing for my boat ride aboard the Titanic.
after nailing Danny Boy Trivia from Where Eagles Dare…
That’s right you did nail that one
This Scott Ross guy obviously confused you with Ricky Vaughn. Or Mo Vaughn. Not sure which.
That L.A. Times column that Ed posted is kind of funny. We’ll see how things pan out for the Dodgers. Many miles to go this season.
Funny except standing in line for 30 minutes for a beer…well, funny if you are a Giant fan and NOT in one of those lines…
I didn’t know who Buzz Bissinger was. Wiki says he wrote “Friday Night Lights.” I never read that or saw the movie or TV series.
But this caught my eye: “In 1998 his article “Shattered Glass”, an exposé of the career of New Republic writer Stephen Glass, was published in the magazine Vanity Fair, where he is a contributing editor. The article was later adapted for the 2003 film of the same name.”
I saw that film. It’s very good.
Wiki also says Bissinger endorsed Romney for president. Say what? (grin)
He’s also a noted anti-Moneyball guy. Which is cool, if he didn’t, like so many others, conflate it with SABR analysis per se. Theo Epstein did not run the Red Sox on a shoestring.
Buzz became a Fox celeb overnight. Did you know his real name is ” Chester” ? OK, that’s not true. But “Buzz” is what a dweeb named Chester Bissinger would change his first name to..
Niners sign Nnamdi Asomugha to one year deal…
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2013/04/inside-the-49ers/49ers-sign-nnamdi-asomugha-to-one-year-deal/
Flav, I was also listening to the KNBR crew this morning, but it was later around 8:30 AM and they were talking about how much alcohol that some of the other countries let their baseball players drink in the dugout. They were talking about a Big Gulp cup with Rum and Coke in it. and the ballplayers would drink that all during the game. I don’t know if they could actually play if they were drinking that much, even if it was through out a nine inning game.
ROMO visits the chemist (pissed that he wasn’t called on on opening day)
ROMOat_theChemist
Well said, Magnus.
I enjoyed a very radio informative interview about baseball myths and managed to call in to the show while driving on Route 17 east of Binghamton en route to Connecticut. I guess I’m on a podcast of it. My call-in question asked whether it was more Horace Stoneham than Walter O’Malley who orchestrated the move West. The author, Bill Deane, did not claim to be an expert on that subject but said O’Malley went public first and therefore took more heat. But Deane’s book sounds great. He started off the radio show saying that what everybody calls a “ground-rule double” is no such thing; it’s a rulebook double. It’s in the rules. Ground rules are idiosyncratic to each ballpark. Okay.
very radio?? anyway, a link I meant to include: http://www.wskg.org/episode/baseball-myths-bill-deane-0
I’d read somewhere that MLB wouldn’t let O’Malley move West if they were the only team. From what I read he talked Stoneham out of moving to Minnesota and to move to SF instead. So mutual orchestration?
ESPN lineup says Arias at 1B. Hmmmmmmmm.
Can that be right?
Belt has a stomach virus. Darvish pitching a no-hitter. I just jinxed him.
Jackie Robinson gets all the attention. Larry Doby, who broke the same barrier in the AL weeks later gets little to none. Probably took every bit as much crap as JR if not more. I’d rather see a movie about him. At least he’s got a nice postage stamp. Doby is the Buzz Aldrin of baseball.
So very true. In fact I bought that Larry Doby stamp (and the rest of the set) today. It was the last the post office had. I used those stamps to send my book to Matt Cain because someone I know in Calif. knows someone who, yadda yadda.
Incidentally, Bill Deane pointedly noted that Jackie Robinson certainly was not the first African American in the major leagues. He cited someone who played for Toledo in the 1880s in the American Association, which was part of the major leagues. Plus, it is well documented that in the early parts of the 20th century several players who were at least part black played being known as Cubans or Native Americans, etc. In other words, taking nothing away from Jackie Robinson, but the history is more complicated than typically presented.
What are the odds that the Rutgers basketball coach is out of a job by this time tomorrow? Very, very good odds. That story was burning up the airwaves during my drive today.
Belt was warned about the Olive Garden.
I don’t think this fat pitcher is going to be any good. He might be a little trouble tonight, possible, because there’s no book on him.
But young, fattish Asian pitchers do not translate very well to the big leagues. I wonder if he’s throwing BP sessions yet?
I’m not sure what Korean baseball is like, but if it’s anything like the ball they play in Japan it’s always a crap shoot with the players trying to translate their game to MLB. There are too many differences to list off, though I’ve listed off many before…
The elbow has to bother Sandoval more from one side of the plate than the other. I don’t know which, but I would advise him to avoid switch hitting till it heals.
Both his elbows hurt after he leaves the postgame spread.Do they have hamate bones in elbows as well?
the snot rockets that Bum lets fly continue to blow my mind. I couldn’t fire off one of those unless I was at the end of a cold or I get hit with terrible allergies (that rarely happens). How does he do it? His nose is churning out shit most humans cannot produce….
Coaching?
During flu season he’s banned from every medical facility south of the Mason-Dixon line
Hilarious BF …Couldn’t agree more.He must go through a snot load of gloves in a season.
Arias. What a dig. With someone else’s glove. At a position he doesn’t play. Awesome.
If this guy keeps throwing his FB’s at the same speed all game he’s done.
Worst move to first I’ve ever seen, btw
Was that Pawlie? Fuck these DPs.
Why are the Dodger fans booing a DP?
They wete saying Cruz.
Wow. This is gettng blehh. The hope is we tee off on this hack. He doesn’t look very imrpessive, but not a good start.
Damn we are torching this pitcher.4 hits out of the first 6 batters,but the freakin DP balls are killing the rallies.
Andres Torres, hacking at the first pitch from a pitcher he’s never faced after the first two hitters reach. Nice AB, AT! MadBum looks sharp early,
Grab some Snot Meat!
Astros are 3 outs away from getting perfecto’d again.
Well at least they’re hitting against Ryu. The bad luck DPs suck but at this rate they’re bound to score soon. And Bum is shutting them down so far–not too worried at the moment.
Ranger game is on 676 for you Direct Tv Bay Area folks
This is getting ridiculous.
The fuck, Pagan? Not catching any breaks right now.
There are not a lot of witnesses left for this potential perfect game. Poor showing by the Astro fans. Wonder where Wilco Joe is these days, I love that dude.
Boy they sure are pressing to get that 1st run of the season on board.
Alright I need a prediction.Hunter Pence hits the 1st HR of the season for their 1st run.
haha, broken up at 8.2. Epic. Reminded me of Garrelts. Remember that one?
Darvish laid that one right in there…
Wow, too bad for Darvish.
And then they take him out? Let the guy finish his game.
BYE BYE DARVIS PERFECT GAME..
Houston denies him with 2 outs.
Screw Dervish,..Only Matt Cain is allowed to throw a Perfect game against the Astros.
Scully’s a riot.
Referring to yesterday’s pre-game festivities featuring 3 generations of great Dodger pitchers:
“Koufax, Hershaw, and Kershaw”
Last night he was a bit off as well. He talked about Pablo’s first hit in the WS (not AS game) against Verlander being a Triple. All Four runs were charged to Kontos and he mentioned, at every at bat, that Marco Scutaro was 5’10” and 185 pounds (like the guy had no other notes of any importance for Marco).
I caught that “triple” remark, too Bozo. Had me questioning my own memory for a few seconds.
Then again, Orel Hershaw was almost unhittable in ’88.
I thought I heard Scully say Pence’s misplay yesterday “led to a run.”
Yup, good old “Hershaw” had a great year that Vinny probably called each game. Hey, do you remember how that Hershaw pitched back in the day? I know that Vin is in his 80s and has probably been using acid since 63, so I shouldn’t give him a hard time.
And on the 8th hit, the Giants score.
A little luck that time.
Maybe we should’ve included Arias in the stat predictions.
Bum wipes snot drenched nose on forearm – spreads it around with his pitching hand. Definitely using it to improve his grip.
And his bat, snot rocket base hit.
Who needs pine tar?
Unbelievable 9-18 off of Ryu with Snots basehit.Then their 3rd DP…So freakin frustrating ,this bum should have been in the showers an hour ago
We are at 14 innings played so far this season. They’ve scored in 1 inning. And that was a bunch of fluky bullshit. The Dodgers are nothing more than a bloated payroll. They’re just men, they aren’t machines.
The idiot Dodger fans seem to enjoy booing Posey. Was it something he said?
“I’m not sure what Korean baseball is like . . . .”
Sky pointing after reaching base?
Nice Hustle Ryu …That was pathetic effort to run to 1st.
If I were Mattingly I’d tell him to pretend Godzilla’s chasing him.
ouch
Well atleast my CY Snot winner is pitching lights out..13 straight Bums retired.
Just wondering- how did Happy Hairston do against the Warriors? A couple buzzer beaters no doubt.