For last week’s blog, we showed you a pair of interviews that we conducted at 8/31’s Yankees/A’s game at Yankees Stadium and asked which interview you liked best. Of the 5 votes we received, 3 people chose Tracy and Cathy while 2 people picked The Family. We admit that this poll was pretty dull to begin with and since Tracy and Cathy didn’t win in a landslide, we have absolutely nothing witty to say about this. We apologize for being utterly humorless.
Fall is a beautiful time of year. The stifling heat and humidity recedes in favor of cool, crisp weather perfect for wearing just a sweater and a pair of boots. The leaves melt into brilliant colors of fire before fall from tree branches and carpeting the ground. Kids return to school on yellow buses, the glory of football begins, and October Baseball is upon us. With the post season mere weeks away, we’ve decided to bring to you our playoff picks. First, we’ll show you the current standings as of this morning and then we’ll break it down by Lisa’s picks for each Division, followed by Serena’s
Current Standings:
AL East:
Yankees
Rays (2.5 games back)
NL East:
Phillies
Braves (1 game back)
* Mets are 11.5 games back
AL Central:
Twins
White Sox (6 games back)
NL Central:
Reds
Cardinals (5 games back)
AL West:
Rangers
Athletics (7.5 games back)
NL West:
Padres
Giants (1 game back)
Lisa’s Post Season Contenders:
AL East:
I think that Tampa Bay will win the division and the Yankees will take the wild card. Had our ex boyfriend been pitching like a normal person and Andy Pettitte was healthy, I would’ve reversed it, but I believe that Tampa Bay has the better pitching.
NL East:
I am rooting for Atlanta. I like the team. Their pitching is strong and Tim Hudson is hot. I am hoping they can bring the title back for Bobby Cox in his last year. That would be real nice.
Phillies will wind up in the post season as the wild card…blahh booo hiss.
AL Central:
I am going with our M&M boys and the Twins.
NL Central:
I am going with St. Louis. I think they can make a comeback being only 5 games back from first place. They have strong bats and are always good contenders at the end of the year. I don’t see 5 games holding them back.
AL West:
I am going with Texas because I highly doubt Oakland will rise to the top and stage a comeback. It’s Oakland. Maybe Vin Mazzaro should consider coming to New York to be our new boyfriend.
NL West:
Going with Tiny Tim and the Giants. They have had a great year and their pitching has held up well. Their bats have been strong and they’ve been fighting the whole year with some come from behind wins.
Serena’s Post Season Contenders:
AL East:
I am 99.98% sure that the wild card is coming out of this division (like always). Despite the standings being extremely close, I think the Yankees are going to take it and leave the Rays with the wild card. My reasoning strictly has to do with offense. I feel that both teams have a concern regarding pitching. I am worried about the Yankees’ pitching rotation. For starters, AJ Burnett (and I swear, I’m not harping on him just to pick on him) gives me heart burn. When he’s good, the man’s good. But when he’s not? It’s like Joe Girardi rolled a pitching machine out to the mound to start the game. Second of all, I want Andy back! He’s like a familiar childhood blanket that you can’t sleep without. He finally had a rehab start in Trenton last night. He pitched pretty well, lasting 4 innings, striking out 4, and only allowing 2 hits, but I’m not comforted by this. I will only feel relief when he returns. Whenever the hell that is. For the Rays, after David Price and Matt Garza, they do not have anyone reliable to slide into the third slot. While Price and Garza are a nasty one-two punch, Price’s recent performance against the Red Sox proves that they’re not infallible. You can break them down. If Price and Garza both have uncanny performances, a series is toast and there may not be a man in the rotation to count on to at least salvage the last game of series. You cannot afford those types of mistakes this late in the year and in such a tight race.
Offense will be the game changer in the AL East. When you boil it down, the Yankees hit and the Rays don’t. They’re currently residing in the basement of the MLB pile in both team batting average and total hits.
NL East:
I think the NL wild card is coming out of the East as well. Both the Phillies and Braves have been extremely competitive and neither team seems to be budging an inch. However, I think experience gives the Phillies the edge as well as the division.
AL Central:
Twins all the way. I do not think that the White Sox are strong enough to climb themselves out of the 6-game hole that they’re in and the Twins aren’t weak enough to collapse that badly. Plus, my future second husband, Justin Morneau, is confident of a return to the lineup before the end of the season. He will be a vital asset to the Twins in the post season.
NL Central:
Reds. The Cardinals are a very good team, but the Reds have been hot all season. If this was any other year, I’d go with the Cardinals.
AL West:
The Rangers have been pummeling their competition. I will lick a garbage can in the Port Authority if the Athletics manage to magically overtake the Rangers and win the division. In fact, the Rangers have performed so well this season, that I’d go so far as to say that they’ll be representing the American League in the World Series this year.
NL West:
Even though the Padres are currently in first, I don’t see it lasting. I think the Giants’ momentum will surge them past the Padres. The Giants have won 8 of their last 11 games, while the Padres have been losing their grip on the situation, losing 11 of their last 14. The Giants handed Jon Garland his third straight loss and it’s the 13th straight game in which the Padres have only scored 4 runs or less. Combining the Padres’ inability to score runs and the Giants fierce pitching staff (Tiny Tim, Matt Cain, my future ex-husband), the Padres simply do not have the staying power to remain on top, let alone combat what the East has to offer in the wild card race.
Don’t agree with any of our statements? That’s cool. In fact, it wouldn’t shock us one bit. You can either post your choices to this blog or send us an Email. We can talk about it during next week’s posting
On to this week’s baseball notes. Sadly, there wasn’t much since today’s post basically covers baseball’s hot news. However, this little accomplishment is definitely celebratory worthy. Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th career save on Tuesday in the Brewers’ 4-2 rout of the Cardinals. The only player in MLB history close to this statistic is the one and only Mariano Rivera with 555 saves. We think that this feat definitely deserves TBB Super Hero of the Week honors, so congratulations, Trevor. This Bud’s for you.
With tomorrow being the somber anniversary of September 11th, we want to express a note of thanks to the selfless police officers and fire fighters who risk their lives every day to make us safe, as well as to the men and women stationed overseas. We hope that you’re brought home soon and safely.
“This is the time to remember cos’ the post season does not last forever. These are the division titles they need to hold on to cos’ some teams won’t, although we’ll want them to. This is the time, but some leads are gonna change. Some teams have given us the best of them and now the rest of the teams need to win.”
Showing posts with label Matt Garza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Garza. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
We Need a Hero
We’re aware that after two straight wins, that you probably think that this blog will be dedicated to begging AJ Burnett to come back to us, but you’d be wrong. We’re not that easy. It’s going to take more than 2 straight well-pitched games for us to forgive him for his inconsistencies. We know that he’s a good pitcher. We wouldn’t have dated him otherwise. He needs to prove that he’s reliable in order for us to take him back. That’s the point. We don’t want to spend our lives with a man who’s going to make us happy one minute and disappoint us the next. In light of his inconsistencies, we asked you what you thought AJ’s problem was. We care about him and want to get to the bottom of this so that he finds happiness. 4 of you sounded off. 2 people think that Dr. Phil is the answer, 1 person thinks that a Rock of Ages Circle Line cruise around Manhattan will cure his woes (and who wouldn’t enjoy a Rock of Ages cruise? C’mon), and 1 a-hole (who we’re wagering is an ex-employee of ours) seems to think that AJ’s malfunction has to do with us writing him letters. Well, guess what, jerk off? We wouldn’t have had to write that letter had he lived up to society’s accepted boyfriend standards.
Since we know you’ve been dying to find out, we must say that Winkie is handling this whole change heroically. Granted, he’s insisted on sleeping on AJ’s side of the bed every night, but we feel strongly that once he becomes acclimated to AJ’s absence, he’ll utilize more of the bed. And we’ll admit that when we watched AJ pitch against the Indians the other night, Winkie’s meows were a little sadder than usual whenever AJ’s face was shown on the television screen, but it’s only natural that he misses his daddy. He’ll get over it, especially since we’ve planned a weekend sleepover for him at daddy’s new apartment during the next Yankees’ homestand. His coping ability at such a young kitten age qualifies him as TBB Super Hero of the Week. Even though AJ and the TBB are in the middle of a rough patch, we’re confident that AJ will be proud of his little fur ball man.
Just 6 days before the trade deadline, the Angels acquired Dan Haren from the Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Joe Saunders, 2 minor league pitchers and a player to be named. During his first start as an Angel, Haren was forced to leave after his right forearm was hit by a Kevin Youkilis line drive. According to team doctor, Craig Milhouse, Haren has a bruised right forearm.
The Rays’ Matt Garza threw the 5th no hitter of the season in their 5-0 rout of the Tigers. It’s the first no hitter of the franchise. Earlier this year, two of the no-hitters thrown were perfect games against the Rays.
Rockies’ closer, Huston Street bruised the right side of his abdomen when he was hit by a line drive during batting practice on Tuesday. He was taken off the field by ambulance and transported to an ER for further examination. According to head trainer, Keith Dugger, Street passed out “2 or 3 times” and had ringing in his ears. One would think that this injury occurred while Street was on the mound, but it didn’t. In a weird turn of events, the ball hit off of Ian Stewart’s bat nailed Street while he’d been warming up in right field. Street also complained of pain down his right leg and stomach discomfort. Stomach discomfort? That’s putting it mildly. We’re thinking with all of his injuries lately, he might need to be put in a bubble. His availability is listed as day to day, but Street claims he’s ready to pitch. Easy, boy. You can’t go from fainting and ringing ears to Super Closer.
Wednesday was very exciting in the baseball market. The Dodgers traded for outfielder Scott Posednik from the Royals. Presumably this move is to make up for the fact that both Manny Ramirez and Reed Johnson are out without a definite time frame for their return. In exchange for Posednik, the Royals received top catching prospect, Lucas May and Class A pitcher, Elisaul Pimental.
Just prior to game time (literally. According to YES Network’s Kimberling Jones, during batting practice Peralta had no idea he was about to be traded), the Indians traded Jhonny Peralta to the Tigers for minor-league LHP Giovanni Soto. Peralta is expected to take over third base duties while Brandon Inge is on the DL with a broken left hand. He’s still an a-hole for spelling his name incorrectly.
A’s pitcher Ben Sheets is out for the season due to a torn flexor in his right elbow. So much for the A’s contending for the western division.
Roy Oswalt accepted his proposed trade to the Phillies on late Thursday. He waived his no-trade clause in order to be dealt for LHP J.A. Happ and 2 prospects, outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Oswalt has been with the Astros organization for 10 years. It will be extremely strange to see him in a Phillies uniform. We still haven’t adjusted to Roy Halladay in a red uniform!
The Orioles got busy yesterday as well! In addition to hiring Buck Showalter as manager, they shipped Miguel Tejada off to the Padres in exchange for Double-A RHP Wynn Pelzer.
Reviewing the extensive list of moves and injuries, one has to wonder why the three wealthiest teams in baseball (are you listening, Mets, Red Sox, Yankees?) have done absolutely nothing. It’s not like they don’t need it. The Red Sox are practically crippled by injuries, whereas both the Mets and Yankees lost a starting pitcher to injuries (we’re not even including the meltdown that Oliver Perez experienced). Thankfully, for the Yankees, Andy Pettitte is expected to return within a month or so (at this point in the season, a month puts us at the end of August, prime playoff contention time), but the Mets seemed to have lost John Maine indefinitely…not that he did much while he was here. The Tigers are another team plagued by injuries, but they’re at least making business decisions to improve their situation (i.e. Jhonny Peralta). While AJ’s had two good starts in a row, it means nothing in the grand scheme. This entire season has highlighted his tendency toward inconsistent pitching. We know that we sound like dogs with a bone in regards to this topic, but when it’s true, it’s true! Without Andy Pettitte’s reliability (plus, the man’s no spring chicken in the baseball world and the older you get, the more difficult it becomes to bounce back from injuries), we’re concerned for the stamina of the Yankees’ pitching rotation. Even if they make it to the post season, it’s not enough. You still have to be able to perform and compete. No one wants to make it to the playoffs only to be steamrolled, especially when you have a collective salary as high as the Yankees.
In addition to pitching, Lisa’s hoping that the Mets follow the Orioles’ idea and shank their manager. Or fire him. Whichever’s fine as long as Jerry Manuel is no longer running the SS Mets. It’s not too late to hire Serena. She’s still willing to take the helm and right the ship. Okay, no more nautical references.
The fact that the Mets desperately need help and that they’ve done nothing to get it is extremely troubling. It’s like the ownership doesn’t care. It’s not even just this season when the Mets need it the most. The team’s business decision makers have sat on their laurels long enough while the Phillies and Braves work hard to become stronger competitors each off season. It’s become clear that Johan Santana cannot win the NL East alone. Contrary to popular belief, he actually needs a team to back him. He’s not Jesus, ya know. Minnesota’s got Baby Jesus.
People speculate that the cost of ticket and concession prices have driven fans from the ballpark and that may be partially true. However, the fact remains is that their cross town counterparts have increased prices in their new stadium as well, but continue to perform to sell out crowds every night because on most nights (it would be a lie to say that it was every night), the Yankees perform as they should. No one likes to pay exorbitant prices for a hot dog, beer, pulled pork sandwich, souvenir, or whatever else they may sell at a sporting event, but certainly no one wants to pay these prices to watch a team run around a field like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Especially when the aforementioned players are being paid a boat load of money to act like sh*tstains. Say what you want about high-priced talent and the ridiculous cost of taking your family to a baseball game, but when your team wins, people tend to complain less. It has nothing to do with being a fair-weather fan and everything to do with having fan loyalty being taken advantage of.
Can we pretend that baseball execs really care about fans underneath the night sky? We could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now.
Since we know you’ve been dying to find out, we must say that Winkie is handling this whole change heroically. Granted, he’s insisted on sleeping on AJ’s side of the bed every night, but we feel strongly that once he becomes acclimated to AJ’s absence, he’ll utilize more of the bed. And we’ll admit that when we watched AJ pitch against the Indians the other night, Winkie’s meows were a little sadder than usual whenever AJ’s face was shown on the television screen, but it’s only natural that he misses his daddy. He’ll get over it, especially since we’ve planned a weekend sleepover for him at daddy’s new apartment during the next Yankees’ homestand. His coping ability at such a young kitten age qualifies him as TBB Super Hero of the Week. Even though AJ and the TBB are in the middle of a rough patch, we’re confident that AJ will be proud of his little fur ball man.
Just 6 days before the trade deadline, the Angels acquired Dan Haren from the Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Joe Saunders, 2 minor league pitchers and a player to be named. During his first start as an Angel, Haren was forced to leave after his right forearm was hit by a Kevin Youkilis line drive. According to team doctor, Craig Milhouse, Haren has a bruised right forearm.
The Rays’ Matt Garza threw the 5th no hitter of the season in their 5-0 rout of the Tigers. It’s the first no hitter of the franchise. Earlier this year, two of the no-hitters thrown were perfect games against the Rays.
Rockies’ closer, Huston Street bruised the right side of his abdomen when he was hit by a line drive during batting practice on Tuesday. He was taken off the field by ambulance and transported to an ER for further examination. According to head trainer, Keith Dugger, Street passed out “2 or 3 times” and had ringing in his ears. One would think that this injury occurred while Street was on the mound, but it didn’t. In a weird turn of events, the ball hit off of Ian Stewart’s bat nailed Street while he’d been warming up in right field. Street also complained of pain down his right leg and stomach discomfort. Stomach discomfort? That’s putting it mildly. We’re thinking with all of his injuries lately, he might need to be put in a bubble. His availability is listed as day to day, but Street claims he’s ready to pitch. Easy, boy. You can’t go from fainting and ringing ears to Super Closer.
Wednesday was very exciting in the baseball market. The Dodgers traded for outfielder Scott Posednik from the Royals. Presumably this move is to make up for the fact that both Manny Ramirez and Reed Johnson are out without a definite time frame for their return. In exchange for Posednik, the Royals received top catching prospect, Lucas May and Class A pitcher, Elisaul Pimental.
Just prior to game time (literally. According to YES Network’s Kimberling Jones, during batting practice Peralta had no idea he was about to be traded), the Indians traded Jhonny Peralta to the Tigers for minor-league LHP Giovanni Soto. Peralta is expected to take over third base duties while Brandon Inge is on the DL with a broken left hand. He’s still an a-hole for spelling his name incorrectly.
A’s pitcher Ben Sheets is out for the season due to a torn flexor in his right elbow. So much for the A’s contending for the western division.
Roy Oswalt accepted his proposed trade to the Phillies on late Thursday. He waived his no-trade clause in order to be dealt for LHP J.A. Happ and 2 prospects, outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Oswalt has been with the Astros organization for 10 years. It will be extremely strange to see him in a Phillies uniform. We still haven’t adjusted to Roy Halladay in a red uniform!
The Orioles got busy yesterday as well! In addition to hiring Buck Showalter as manager, they shipped Miguel Tejada off to the Padres in exchange for Double-A RHP Wynn Pelzer.
Reviewing the extensive list of moves and injuries, one has to wonder why the three wealthiest teams in baseball (are you listening, Mets, Red Sox, Yankees?) have done absolutely nothing. It’s not like they don’t need it. The Red Sox are practically crippled by injuries, whereas both the Mets and Yankees lost a starting pitcher to injuries (we’re not even including the meltdown that Oliver Perez experienced). Thankfully, for the Yankees, Andy Pettitte is expected to return within a month or so (at this point in the season, a month puts us at the end of August, prime playoff contention time), but the Mets seemed to have lost John Maine indefinitely…not that he did much while he was here. The Tigers are another team plagued by injuries, but they’re at least making business decisions to improve their situation (i.e. Jhonny Peralta). While AJ’s had two good starts in a row, it means nothing in the grand scheme. This entire season has highlighted his tendency toward inconsistent pitching. We know that we sound like dogs with a bone in regards to this topic, but when it’s true, it’s true! Without Andy Pettitte’s reliability (plus, the man’s no spring chicken in the baseball world and the older you get, the more difficult it becomes to bounce back from injuries), we’re concerned for the stamina of the Yankees’ pitching rotation. Even if they make it to the post season, it’s not enough. You still have to be able to perform and compete. No one wants to make it to the playoffs only to be steamrolled, especially when you have a collective salary as high as the Yankees.
In addition to pitching, Lisa’s hoping that the Mets follow the Orioles’ idea and shank their manager. Or fire him. Whichever’s fine as long as Jerry Manuel is no longer running the SS Mets. It’s not too late to hire Serena. She’s still willing to take the helm and right the ship. Okay, no more nautical references.
The fact that the Mets desperately need help and that they’ve done nothing to get it is extremely troubling. It’s like the ownership doesn’t care. It’s not even just this season when the Mets need it the most. The team’s business decision makers have sat on their laurels long enough while the Phillies and Braves work hard to become stronger competitors each off season. It’s become clear that Johan Santana cannot win the NL East alone. Contrary to popular belief, he actually needs a team to back him. He’s not Jesus, ya know. Minnesota’s got Baby Jesus.
People speculate that the cost of ticket and concession prices have driven fans from the ballpark and that may be partially true. However, the fact remains is that their cross town counterparts have increased prices in their new stadium as well, but continue to perform to sell out crowds every night because on most nights (it would be a lie to say that it was every night), the Yankees perform as they should. No one likes to pay exorbitant prices for a hot dog, beer, pulled pork sandwich, souvenir, or whatever else they may sell at a sporting event, but certainly no one wants to pay these prices to watch a team run around a field like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Especially when the aforementioned players are being paid a boat load of money to act like sh*tstains. Say what you want about high-priced talent and the ridiculous cost of taking your family to a baseball game, but when your team wins, people tend to complain less. It has nothing to do with being a fair-weather fan and everything to do with having fan loyalty being taken advantage of.
Can we pretend that baseball execs really care about fans underneath the night sky? We could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now.
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