Baseball Thread

[jordmundt6]

The Cubs lost on consecutive days. The Tigers won on consecutive Days.

Papa Grande blew his first save opportunity in a Tiger uniform, wasting an excellent outing by Verlander. Fister had some sort of intercostal strain and is on the 15-day DL, but it didn't matter today because Beckett served up home run derby to Cabrera, Fielder, and Avila. Weirdness.

[DeathlyH]

Spring comes around, baseball season starts, and hope springs eternal.... until the Red Sox play their first two games. I don't know what was worse, Alfredo Aceves blowing the first game in the 9th, or the 10-0 loss where Beckett guarantees that nobody forgets about the fried chicken and beer anytime soon. The questioning of every move Bobby V makes has already started.

[jordmundt6]

Imagine if they hadn't managed that rally against the Jays two days ago. Staring down the barrel of back-to-back season opening sweeps in consecutive seasons would not make anyone happy. Even with that rally, things still look ugly at the start.

Jeter's having a pleasantly warm spring. Four for Four with a double and an RBI followed by a leadoff dinger is an interesting open to his reacquaintance with the Orioles.

Another April and the Cubs look pathetic again.

The Tigers are 4-0, with no wins by their starters. That's a bit deceiving because Papa Grande managed to spoil the gem Verlander threw on Opening Day, but since then we've seen an injury (Fister) and a pair of guys with control issues. Is this bothering anyone else? You get the sense that they're hoping for a Midwest version of the Bash Brothers from Fielder and Cabrera with contributions from Avila, but remember the '90s? Decent offense (as far as power) but no pitching? I seem to recall an SI cover with mug shots of the starting pitchers in Detroit (when they were all over four and some over six). Of course, I think Jose Lima was on that staff.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Imagine if they hadn't managed that rally against the Jays two days ago. Staring down the barrel of back-to-back season opening sweeps in consecutive seasons would not make anyone happy. Even with that rally, things still look ugly at the start.

Jeter's having a pleasantly warm spring. Four for Four with a double and an RBI followed by a leadoff dinger is an interesting open to his reacquaintance with the Orioles.

Another April and the Cubs look pathetic again.

The Tigers are 4-0, with no wins by their starters. That's a bit deceiving because Papa Grande managed to spoil the gem Verlander threw on Opening Day, but since then we've seen an injury (Fister) and a pair of guys with control issues. Is this bothering anyone else? You get the sense that they're hoping for a Midwest version of the Bash Brothers from Fielder and Cabrera with contributions from Avila, but remember the '90s? Decent offense (as far as power) but no pitching? I seem to recall an SI cover with mug shots of the starting pitchers in Detroit (when they were all over four and some over six). Of course, I think Jose Lima was on that staff.

That stinks . Hopefully their starters will get straightened out there and help to win games. Which guys have the control issues? As for Fister and his injury, hope he gets well soon, the more pitchers we have that are healthy, the better .

Yep. Wasn't Cecil Fielder on that team? He was an ok hitter (but he had quite an attitude on him), but just that.

[merrymarge]

Cubs won yesterday, 8-0 and today they are leading 9-5. I want them to do well.
Tom Ricketts, the owner, wants to update Wrigley. He wants to get rid of the manual scoreboard and put up a Jumbotron and electric scoreboard. some fans don't want a new scoreboard. that's part of Wrigley Field's charm.

Cubs win 9-5. it was a very wet and and cold game. Glad they finally won. That's two in a row.

[Fawkesfan1]

Great news about the Cubs!

That's just wrong. about the scoreboard being part of the field's charm. It's part of the history of the field and the team.

[merrymarge]

Yet again, the Cubs aren't doing too well. what is wrong with this team? Every year, we hope we will achieve a good season, and every year we are disappointed. I wish magic did exist, so we can find a charm or a spell that can be cast so the team succeeds.

[jordmundt6]

Half the Cubs wins are against the Cardinals. I don't get this at all. With a week to go, Jeter is having the best April of his career and Pujols might actually be scuffling, in spite of that 3 double game.

[merrymarge]

The Cubs are in last place. they lost to the Phillies.

[jordmundt6]

Yes, and the Phils are struggling. The weird thing is...the day before yesterday the beat the Phils and touched up Roy Halladay (which isn't easy). Jeter had his 15-game hitting streak snapped and has two consecutive 0-fers. Pujols is in what might be the first genuine slump of his career and has his longest homerless streak ever. Strange, strange, STRANGE.

[merrymarge]

I heard the Cubs might send Randy Wells either to Triple A or the bullpen. I wonder if he will be traded next? he's been the number two starter for the past two years and now they want to send him to Triple A?

[jordmundt6]

Maybe they think Samardjia can maintain.

Sad news from KC. Mariano Rivera tore his ACL (and maybe his miniscus) taking a funny step while shagging fly balls in centerfield during pregame batting practice. Very possibly the end to his career. I'm not a Yankees fan, but that would be an awful way for a great pitcher and by all accounts a good guy to end his career.

In other news, Dempster threw 8 innings of shutout ball and the Cubs lost AGAIN. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because practically the same thing happened to Dempster on opening day. He pitched 7 and 1/3 shutout innings (scuffling a little with his control) left with a guy on first and the bullpen proceeded to blow a one run lead. This was worse because he locked it down for a full 8 innings. He scattered three hits and a walk, and used only 101 pitches. He's coming off the DL, so they were extra cautious. I've seen this break terribly both ways in the saga of Verlander this season. On opening day, he pitched 8 shutout innings with two hits, one walk and seven strikeouts having thrown 105 pitches. He left to prevent early overstrain, and Valverde blew the save. Next time out (against the Rays), he pitched 8 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts allowing fewer hits (but not a no-hit bid) with something like 86 pitches. Remembering the last Valverde fiasco and seeing how low the ptich count was, Leyland left him out there. No problem, right? WRONG!

Verlander's ninth inning.

single, strikeout, single (runners on first and third), walk (runner scores on wild pitch), single (runner scores from second score tied, runners on first and second) Good night. The Tigers lost that game.

So, as I said, I've seen that situation blow up either way this year, but given the bullpen's track record, it might have been advisable to run Dempster out there for another batter or two.

[merrymarge]

I think they should have sent Marmol to the Minors and left Wells in the bullpen.

[jordmundt6]

That's just supremely expensive and embarrassing (for him and the club but mostly for the club). I don't think they'd EVER do that (even if they should). His replacement did nail down the save today, though. Jeter just keeps humming along. 2-5 with a two-run home run tonight.

[merrymarge]

Cubs win some and lose more than I can care to admit. My poor Cubbies. I wonder if they will ever lift the jinx that is plaguing them.

[jordmundt6]

Well, it doesn't look like it'll happen this year. I'm amazed Dempster isn't tearing his hair out after his lack of run support and bullpen support this season.

Lahair has been playing very well (especially for a "feel-good story" who was just supposed to be a placeholder until the blue-chip prospect in the minors was ready).

I'm rather surprised no one weighed on on Hamilton's 5-5, four dinger night. An absolutely awesome power display and these Orioles have been playing well to start the year. This is rather unusual. It could be that giving something like that up could shake their confidence and cause them to plummet back to earth, but that remains to be seen.

[merrymarge]

Kerry Wood retired yesterday. After 15 years, he will be missed by teammates and fans alike. I hope someday he goes into the Hall of Fame. Thank you Kerry, you were a bright star on the Cubs.

[Lord Godric]

Originally Posted by DeathlyH

The questioning of every move Bobby V makes has already started.

Well for good reason. The Red Sox are not doing well. I'm pretty sure they never broken above .500 this year so far. And a lot of the early loses had to do with decisions Bobby V did (or actually didn't) make regarding injuries and the bullpen. With 39 games gone so far this year, I'm not impressed with Bobby V and I think it was a hasty decision to get rid of Tito last year because clearly the Red Sox troubles have continued without him, which more than likely means he wasn't the problem.

[merrymarge]

After losing 12 games in a row, the Cubs finally won. Maybe now they can start winning again. Hope springs eternal for Cub fans. They are totally in a rebuild mold, there are very few old players, most of them have just come up from the minors.

[merrymarge]

I voted for the All-Stars players. There were several Cub Players that I voted for. Starlin Castro is one of them.