Every team in the NL East has achieved loathesome status, starting probably with the Marlins and working down toward the insignificant Phillies. I hope all five teams finish tied at 81-81 and the commissioner forces them to cede the division's playoff spot to a more deserving team from the Central or West.

artie_fufkin wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

It's a good thing the Red Sox bought hitting because they have some terrible pitching.

You're not on board with the notion that five 3s equals 1-2-3-4-5?

Headline: Red Sox trade for Wade Miley
Pundits: Wade Miley is better than you think!
Reality: Wade Miley is mediocre

Headline: Red Sox trade for Rick Porcello
Pundits: Rick Porcello is better than you think!
Reality: Rick Porcello is only as good as the infield defense behind him

Headline: Red Sox sign Justin Masterson
Pundits: This is going to be a rebound year!
Reality: Justin Masterson is finished

The Red Sox have a history of trying to talk their fans into things. In 2003, they were too cheap to get a real closer, so they invented the "closer-by-committee" format ... which lasted until they had Chad Fox pitching in the ninth inning. The next year they went out and paid for Keith Foulke.
Then there was Theo's infamous "bridge year" comment when the team had the second-highest payroll and charged the highest ticket prices in American professional sports.
When they decided this winter Lester and Hamels were too expensive and settled on Porcello, they initially tried to pass him off as an ace, and when too many people called bullshit, they changed the conversation to depth being more important than having a top of the rotation guy.

With the notable exception of centerfield, catcher and maybe second base, the Brewers are going to have some defensive issues this season.

Not a very economical evening for Lynn thus far ...

Weird stuff going on in Pittsburgh right now ..

"in 1985 when Theo was still wetting his bed."

He would have been 11, but he grew up in Brookline, so it's possible. (Sorry. Some local humor. Brookline is sort of an amalgamation of the worst aspects of Tel Aviv, Havana, and Venice Beach.)

OK. Cabrera leading off the top of the ninth. 3-2 count. Melanson throws a pitch up around Cabrera's eyes. As Cabrera checks his swing, the ball glances off the catcher's mitt and hits Gerry Layne square in the mask, knocking out a tooth. He's examined by the Pirates' trainer, who apparently diagnoses a concussion and Layne has to leave the game.
At this point, no one has made a call, and all four umpires have left the field, leaving Cabrera no one to make his case to. So the Pirates fans between the plate and the Tigers' dugout start giving him a hard time. All of it's pretty good-natured. It was pretty clear from the replay Cabrera checked his swing and didn't foul off the pitch, which was well out of the strike zone.
After about 10 minutes, Davidson emerges from the Pirates' dugout in plate umpire's gear, and in very demonstrative Bob Davidson fashion waves Cabrera to first, drawing the ire of the catcher, Clint Hurdle and the entire crowd. The Tigers didn't score in the inning and it didn't impact the outcome of the game, but it was strange, and could have been handled a lot less controversailly if Davidson wasn't baseball's Angry Old Man.

artie_fufkin wrote:

OK. Cabrera leading off the top of the ninth. 3-2 count. Melanson throws a pitch up around Cabrera's eyes. As Cabrera checks his swing, the ball glances off the catcher's mitt and hits Gerry Layne square in the mask, knocking out a tooth. He's examined by the Pirates' trainer, who apparently diagnoses a concussion and Layne has to leave the game.
At this point, no one has made a call, and all four umpires have left the field, leaving Cabrera no one to make his case to. So the Pirates fans between the plate and the Tigers' dugout start giving him a hard time. All of it's pretty good-natured. It was pretty clear from the replay Cabrera checked his swing and didn't foul off the pitch, which was well out of the strike zone.
After about 10 minutes, Davidson emerges from the Pirates' dugout in plate umpire's gear, and in very demonstrative Bob Davidson fashion waves Cabrera to first, drawing the ire of the catcher, Clint Hurdle and the entire crowd. The Tigers didn't score in the inning and it didn't impact the outcome of the game, but it was strange, and could have been handled a lot less controversailly if Davidson wasn't baseball's Angry Old Man.

Pitiful. 
 

A couple of runs so they can save Rosenthal for tomorrow wouldn't be a bad thing here.

Christ. Here we go ...

tkihshbt wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

Well I hope Lackey is ready to go deep tomorrow.

I'm becoming convinced Matheny is just trolling us. There's no way he actually thinks this is smart managing.

He just said in the postgame that he doesn't want to burn through all his relievers, which is an odd sentiment since he could've double switched one of Wong or Jay out of the game and let Maness pitch the seventh. Or let Walden face Lind with a three-run lead. 

 
I listen to that as well.  While i didnt see much of the game i still found this statement odd.  I think he is just mocking tlr bullpen usage of changing pitchers 3x an inning.  Using guys like choate daily isnt that big of deal.  He just cant go maness, walden and rosenthal 5 nights a week.