MLB 2012 Season

[leo8877]

Heading to the Giants opening day today...hope the rain stays away!

[gellar]

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/10/9/2478697/a-compilation-of-hilarious-shane-victorino-gifs

[PeteRock]

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/10/9/2478697/a-compilation-of-hilarious-shane-victorino-gifs

While I watch a lot of Phillies games, I'm a little surprised that I saw all of them happen live.  The sniper and lawn dart ones were funny, but he looked pretty pissed after the earhole from the catcher when it happened.

My wife and I got a pretty good laugh when he rounded third in that minor league game and no one told him until he was almost home.   

[gellar]

The catcher one is probably my favorite.

[PeteRock]

The catcher one is probably my favorite.

One of the benefits of wearing a switch-hitter's helmet.   

[PeteRock]

So happy I went with the MLB package through Xbox.  Not only was it half price, but I also get the choice of feed, unlike the Cox MLB Extra Innings Package, which is not only predominantly in non-HD, but also typically features the away announcers (even if Philly plays at home).  The Mets announcers?  Really?  Ew.

Although with Dickey on the mound, the Phils can't seem to hit anything below 85mph, and this will screw up our hitting all the way into next week. 

On a side note, yesterday's Marlins/Phils broadcast was fun with Costas being part of the announcing team, especially when he made it a point to discuss Reyes' batting title and how he bunted and then took himself out of the game to preserve his lead.  Even though he's no longer part of the Mets franchise, he'll always be a Met, and therefore a target of scrutiny.  Douche.

[Jimmy the Fish]

Heading to the Giants opening day today...hope the rain stays away!

Must be having a good time. Matt Cain pitches a perfect game through six innings only to give up one hit all game to the pitcher of all people and the Giants stomp the Pirates 5-0. Guess that massive contract for Cain is worth it.

[leo8877]

Heading to the Giants opening day today...hope the rain stays away!

Must be having a good time. Matt Cain pitches a perfect game through six innings only to give up one hit all game to the pitcher of all people and the Giants stomp the Pirates 5-0. Guess that massive contract for Cain is worth it.

Yeah no hitter broken up by their pitcher. Perfect game I guess too. And there was no rain at all. Good times.

[PeteRock]

Mets announcers recently called R.A. Dickey "Hallayday-esque".  Really.  Really?  Dickey?  Halladay-esque? 

Jesus.

[Kagath]

That's a bigass flag.

[Asharak]

Mets announcers recently called R.A. Dickey "Hallayday-esque".  Really.  Really?  Dickey?  Halladay-esque? 

When did Scott Boras join the Mets' announcing team?

- Ash

[leo8877]

So Brian Wilson is apparently having season ending elbow surgery. So ends the beards run in SF.

[Isgrimnur]

So much for being Black Ops.

[PeteRock]

One gripe with the MLB.TV package through Xbox.  The Phils game started at 7:15pm, yet the listing on Xbox kept reading "upcoming" and when it finally became accessible I already missed two at-bats.     Granted not a whole lot can happen in that amount of time, but I have a personal obsession with seeing the first pitch of every game I watch.  I like to see a bit of pre-game and then the game's official start, yet Xbox didn't provide access until Victorino was on 2nd and Polanco was on 1st.  WTF?

I hate turning the game on with plenty of time to spare yet feeling like I came in late, after the start.   

[naednek]

One gripe with the MLB.TV package through Xbox.  The Phils game started at 7:15pm, yet the listing on Xbox kept reading "upcoming" and when it finally became accessible I already missed two at-bats.     Granted not a whole lot can happen in that amount of time, but I have a personal obsession with seeing the first pitch of every game I watch.  I like to see a bit of pre-game and then the game's official start, yet Xbox didn't provide access until Victorino was on 2nd and Polanco was on 1st.  WTF?

I hate turning the game on with plenty of time to spare yet feeling like I came in late, after the start.   

GO GIANTS!

[Doopri]

naednek howd the giants manage to wrap up madison bumgarner for a steal?

[leo8877]

naednek howd the giants manage to wrap up madison bumgarner for a steal?

Not naednek, but I'll chime in!  I don't know, but it's great!!  He did get the biggest contract extension ever for a player with his service time.  Still, a great move!

[naednek]

because the Giants management saw the future   I don't know, but the Giants did a great job shoring up the pitching staff for quite some time.  Now they need to think about getting a new closer

[PeteRock]

Lee pitches ten scoreless innings and we still can't get him one run.  Even with Chooch on 3rd with one out.  Pathetic.

Absolutely pathetic.  Having one of the best pitching rotations in baseball does little good without the ability to score a single run to support them.

[leo8877]

Lee pitches ten scoreless innings and we still can't get him one run.  Even with Chooch on 3rd with one out.  Pathetic.

Absolutely pathetic.  Having one of the best pitching rotations in baseball does little good without the ability to score a single run to support them.

You just described the Giants of 2011.

Also you did face Matt Cain and he's no slouch either.

[gellar]

Matt motherfuckin Cain.


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[PeteRock]

Matt motherfuckin Cain.

One of the best pitching duels I've seen in quite a while.  Way better than Halladay/Lincecum, only because Lincecum is struggling. 

Also you did face Matt Cain and he's no slouch either.

Our offense struggled against R.A. Dickey, who got completely hammered tonight by a mediocre Braves team.  Hunter Pence batting 4th just isn't working, Polanco is struggling, Thome hasn't earned a single RBI yet this season, Mayberry is struggling, etc.  Cain certainly pitched a gem, but we also didn't capitalize after he was done for the night.

[gellar]

Even without Wilson, the giants pen is plenty stout. No shame in this loss tbh.


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[gellar]

Also holy shit Jim Thome is still playing. He was in the league when I was in high school for fucks sake.


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[PeteRock]

Even without Wilson, the giants pen is plenty stout. No shame in this loss tbh.

Normally I wouldn't be as frustrated, as losses come in a 162-game season, however our struggles stem far beyond last night's pitching duel.  Lee and Cain were stellar, and I don't want to take anything away from them by attributing it in part to poor hitting (the Philadelphia announces made it a point to do the same while I was watching the game), but with Howard and Utley out and an offense that is currently 28th in the league in runs, the best pitchers in the league would be hard-pressed to earn victories without any runs.

While bringing up the rear in the NL East in April isn't time to panic just yet, if Manuel doesn't address our hitting woes soon it's going to be a loooooooong season.  You can only watch so much defense but wanting a little offense sprinkled in from time to time.

Also holy shit Jim Thome is still playing. He was in the league when I was in high school for fucks sake.

He's no 49-year-old Jamie Moyer, who also played for the Phils but at the time was known as "47-year-old Jamie Moyer" (that was the full name used by announcers throughout his tenure). 

Manuel brought in Thome for a decent bat, occasional games at 1st base, and for some passion and leadership as well.  Many are surprised that Manuel stayed with Thome when SF changed pitchers, blaming Manuel entirely for the loss, but who knows.  Age aside, Thome had no business batting in that situation.  After all, he's not the Thome from the early 2000's.

Regardless, time for our next series against the Padres.  And then next week an army of us are going to the entire D-backs series as we do every year, which win or lose is always a ridiculous time.

At least we didn't give up 18 runs like the Red Sox on Tuesday.   

[Isgrimnur]

Normally I wouldn't be as frustrated, as losses come in a 162-game season, however our struggles stem far beyond last night's pitching duel.  Lee and Cain were stellar, and I don't want to take anything away from them by attributing it in part to poor hitting (the Philadelphia announces made it a point to do the same while I was watching the game), but with Howard and Utley out and an offense that is currently 28th in the league in runs, the best pitchers in the league would be hard-pressed to earn victories without any runs.

It's the NL.  Maybe those pitchers should learn to hit and show the rest of the team how it's done.

At least we didn't give up 18 runs like the Red Sox on Tuesday.   

 

Go Rangers!

[PeteRock]

It's the NL.  Maybe those pitchers should learn to hit and show the rest of the team how it's done.

Lee has the 2nd most hits for pitchers in baseball.  And the Phillies' starting pitching rotation actually has an ongoing hitting contest.  I think Halladay is leading at the moment with two hits and an RBI versus Lee's two hits.  And they're both hitting better than Thome.     It's funny sometimes to see these guys competing over hitting rather than pitching.  

[JayDee]

Halladay left the Blue Jays because he wanted a chance to win a World Series. I now wonder that if this year he would have a better chance pitching in the Jays rotation with their bats behind him than with the Phillies.

In other words, come back Roy, we miss you.

[PeteRock]

Typically sports commentators joke about Yankees/Red Sox games taking far to long to end, and I've normally attributed that to the series itself.

But, lately whenever the Yankees are on MLB Extra Innings during our free preview prior to another game, the Yankees are always still on when the next game is scheduled to begin.

Come on guys, get your shit over with already.  The Yankees are slow.  Painfully slow. 

[Devil]

They see a lot of pitches.

[leo8877]

Devil what's up with Pujols??  No AL homers!

[PeteRock]

Nice work last night, Vanimal.  Nice work.  



7 innings pitched, 4 hits, and a career high 11 strike outs.  The ridiculous part about his SO's is that five were swinging and six went down looking.  With our bats continuing to struggle, and two very anticlimactic runs, his performance was a big part of last night's win, mediocre as that win was.

[Devil]

Devil what's up with Pujols??  No AL homers!

Still early (I hope!)

[leo8877]

Pete, this is why you don't pitch the 10th!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120421&content_id=29314604&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

[PeteRock]

Pete, this is why you don't pitch the 10th!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120421&content_id=29314604&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Heard about this over the weekend.  Fortunately the strain isn't too severe and the team is just being cautious.  It wouldn't bother me as much if we weren't going to tonight's Phils/D-backs game and Lee was originally slated to pitch.  Now we get Kyle Kendrick.  Tomorrow I'll at least get to see Vance Worley who I haven't seen pitch live yet.  I've already seen Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Oswalt (when he was with Philly), Kendrick, and I'm looking forward to seeing Worley, especially since our seats are always right above the Phillies' bullpen so we get to see our starting pitcher warm-up and exchange a few pleasantries before they take the mound.

[leo8877]

As if the Giants offensive woes couldn't get any worse, friggen Sandoval broke his hand AGAIN

http://www.csnbayarea.com/baseball-san-francisco-giants/giants-talk/Fractured-hamate-bone-for-Sandoval?blockID=701558&feedID=2796

And we're done.

[Isgrimnur]

I know it's a long season, but it warms the cockles of my heart to see the current standings with Texas, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay at the top of the standings with Baltimore sitting in the Wild Card slot. 

[Soulchilde]

They see a lot of pitches.

ALOT of pitches.  They can work a count

[PeteRock]

Sloppy Joe Blanton with a complete game shutout.  And the first on the Phillies staff to do it this season.

 

[Doopri]

pete i LOVED the interview last year at the start of the season, when all the phillies pitchers were up on the stage and it was like OMG hamels, halladay, lee, oswalt!!! and that guy.

at one point, i shit you not, a reporter is commenting on the "fact" that all the aces on the staff were hall of famers and not one had a world series ring, and how did they feel about a chance to get one.  totally ignoring "that guy" - blanton, sort of peeved is like "uh, i have one" - but it sort of sounded like he was saying "gees im sitting right here are you all really going to pretend like i dont even exist this WHOLE show"

it was pretty funny