The strange little details of the game Options

[AaronSmith]

Have fun, Ron. And watch out for Pujols! He just might be the best hitter of his generation.

[Ron Fortier]

I agree about Pujols, but tonight wasn't his night, as the Rocks clobbered the Cardinals 15-4. What a game! We had a blast and Coors Field is a great ballpark.

[AaronSmith]

Yeah, I just looked at the box score of last night's Rockies game. You picked a good night to go!

[Ron Fortier]

It was incredible, Garcia was 5 for 1 pitching, and ended up throwing 50 pitches that first inning and giving up 6 runs. The Rocks got his number and never looked back. Wow, what a game. Rocks fans were going nuts, and to be fair, the Cardinal fans for good sports.....keeping in mind the Cards had one the night before. Today is the rubber match. We'll see who takes it.
Meanwhile now watching Red Sox and Tigers play first of their double-header due to rain-out last night. Damn, but foul weather has really played havoc with MLB teams this year.

[AaronSmith]

It was an amazing weekend for the Yankees. They won on both Sunday and Monday, but the great thing is how they won. Earlier in the year, they were criticized for relying too much on home runs and not playing "small ball" enough. This weekend, while there were still a few homers (Texeira hit one in each game) they did all the little things like baseball played the old-fashioned way. Bases were stolen all over the place, including a double-steal by Brett Gardner and the backup catcher of all people! Bunts were used to move runners into scoring position! Doubles were stretched into triples! Speed and strategy were in use.

The best part, something very rare in recent years: Two complete games! On Sunday, CC Sabathia pitched all nine innings of a 7-1 win! Then yesterday, the old veteran Bartolo Colon threw a complete game shutout! No pitch limits or mix and match bullpen moves, just real baseball! I love it!

[Ron Fortier]

Considering the Prima Donna status of pitchers, especially in the American League, seeing any of them throw complete games is truly a rarity these days.
Of course I'm wondering where all those millions of dollars go. The Red Sox have lost their last three games, pitched by their supposed big guns,
Buckholz, Lester & Beckett, whereas the previous two games were won by their bullpen B-players, Wakefield & Aceves. If the front office isn't scratching their heads, they should be. What is wrong with this picture?

[AaronSmith]

They need to stop treating their young pitchers like babies. They're so worried about these kids getting hurt BEFORE they even know if they're going to be any good that they don't learn to really work. I think every pitcher should start out (in the minors at least) as a starting pitcher and be expected to pitch a FULL game unless they get smacked around too much. Later, once they've learned to pitch the old-fashioned way, then and only then can they be assigned to a shorter role like a closer or something. Loook at the greatest closer ever, Mariano Rivera. He didn't come out the minors as a full blown closer. He started games his first season, then became a regular reliever before officially becoming a closer. That was 16 years ago. Look at the difference now with all those "rules" placed on Joba Chamberlain when he came up a few years back. One guy was thrown out there to pitch and see what happened, while the younger guy was treated like a fragile piece of ceramic. They should be treated like men, men in the best league in the world, not like children or delicate heirlooms. And the pitch counts annoy the hell out of me. Let them pitch till they either get in deep trouble or can't go anymore.

[Ron Fortier]

We are so on the same page here. The old time pitchers were real ball players. We need to toughen these kids up in the minors exactly as you said.
Not babysit them.

[AaronSmith]

What a show Derek Jeter put on today! He got his 3000th career hit with a home run, making him only the second ever to do it that way! But that wasn't all he did. He went 5 for 5 with a double, 3 singles, and even stole a base and had two RBI! If it wasn't his 3000th hit day, it still would have been one of the best games of his long, glorious career!

[Ron Fortier]

A heartfelt congratulations to Mr.Baseball, Derek Jeter. A future Hall of Fame candidate if ever there was one.

Hey, Aaron, just saw that A-Rod won't be making the All Star roster because of an injury and they've asked Kevin Youklis to take the spot. Certainly works for me.

[AaronSmith]

It works for me too, Ron. I like Youkilis. He's one of my favorite non-Yankees to watch. Any guy who can hit a baseball with a stance like THAT deserves some respect!

[AaronSmith]

Hey Ron,
I think we'll have a Yankees/ Red Sox battle for the MVP this year!

Your Gonzalez is leading the league in batting average and hits, but the Yanks' Curtis Granderson is leading in runs scored, rbi, triples, and has now tied Bautista in home runs with 33! And he has 22 stolen bases too. This is getting interesting.

[Ron Fortier]

Yup, been following that myself and don't count out Jacoby Elsbury, having his best year thus far of his young career. He's also posting some very impressive on-base numbers. No doubt in my mind, the Sox and Yankees will be squaring off in the playoffs. So, what's new. Ha. Any thoughts on the League's wanting to create a second Wild Card team for next year...and then letting them both duke it out in a one-game take all contest at the end of the season. Could prove interesting.

[AaronSmith]

Wow! My Yankees just became the first team EVER to hit three grand slams in one game! Cano, Granderson, Martin!

[AaronSmith]

Hey Ron, Wakefield finally got that 200th win! Congrats.

And over in Yankeeville, on the same night, Mariano Rivera gets his 600th save!

[Ron Fortier]

All because Pedroia came out of his slump. Saying in the locker room is, "As Petey goes, so does the team." And boy he proved it last night. After suffering his worst road trip record in his pro career, he came back to the Fens roaring, his swing back and loaded. And whammo, the entire team was hitting again, just like that.

Much to Wakefield's benefits. We are damn happy for him, and Rivera to boot. And lost in the shuffle, Marco Scutaro, against his only Bluejays team hit his 1,000 hit last night. Teammates made sure to give him the ball after he got back to the dugout.

Been a rough year for both Sox and Yankees, heh, amigo. Nice to see them come alive again.

[AaronSmith]

And Rivera has now broken the record with his 602nd save! I think this record will stand for a very, very long time.

[Ron Fortier]

Agreed. He's certainly got a spot in the Hall of Fame waiting for him. Wish I could be happy about Red Sox, but no this year. I would love to see them get a new manager and some decent pitching arms for next year. Right now we're about to get booted out of the play-offs for the second year in a row. Front office concentrated only on getting hitters this year and now they are realizing its pitching that wins ball games...I don't care how good you can hit. Would love to see them ditch Lackey once and for all and am praying Wakefiled hangs it up and retires. Props to the Rays, they never give up.

[AaronSmith]

Sorry about the Sox, Ron.

[cougar18]

Sorry about the Sox, Ron.

It gets worse. Now the Onion are taking the proverbial 'p' out of the Sox. And I have to say upfront, I have no clue as to the details of Baseball, American Football etc, but this was heckuvalot of funny. Not because of who they were making fun of, just because it's the Onion. The same people who have created satirical videos like 'Nation's Girlfriends Unveil New Economic Plan: 'Let's Move In Together' '.

The Onion

This post has been edited by cougar18: Oct 1 2011, 12:37 PM