Thursday, October 23, 2008

[RIGO!]
World Series Game 2: Random Thoughts Thread, Game On!
No live blog...but let's throw this up as a place to throw out some random thoughts, grumblings and bad jokes.

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101 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am so tired of the media dumping on the Trop

8:25 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

How far has Gabe Gross fallen. Rocco Baldelli is starting tonight even though he rarely started against righties since coming back and has never faced Myers

8:26 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

My pick for Todd Kalas Pimp Daddy Player of the Game is Cliff Floyd who has 3 career home runs off of Myers

8:27 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

interesting that the Phils are not going with Matt Stairs at DH considering he is one of the few guys on the roster that has ever even faced Shields and he has a home run.

8:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My TKPDPotG is BJ Upton. Dude was killin it last night and is ready to break out. 2 home runs tonight.

8:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm with Elijah on this one. B.J. is ready to bring the hugeness tonight.

8:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It would be nice to see a Rays starter get through the 1st 2 batters in less than 10 pitches

8:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that would be nice...but i'll take 3 consecutive outs

8:36 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

swing and miss on the change is a good sign early

8:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So are you not happy with the Rocco choice, Prof?

8:40 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

not at all. it is just odd. Maddon seems to just be hoping that somebody will step up in right field and it is pretty obvious he has little confidence in Gross right now

8:41 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

i can tell i haven't watched a lot of Phillies games this year...When the hell did Brett Myers eat one of the bat boys. Dude is huge.

8:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doesn't BJ's swing look tenative? --- Nevermind

8:44 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

what a great jump by Upton.

9:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sometimes it is good when the other team hits the ball hard. if he hits that any softer it is 2 runs

9:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

39 pitches in 2 innings is not so good

9:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Prof LOVES BJ!

9:02 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

that's what she said

9:03 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

I also love The Fat Catcher

9:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

why don't they show the swing from the other side of the plate? and who else hates mccarver?

9:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The punch out walk is Kerwins way of saying Philly balk

9:10 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

everybody hates mccarver

9:11 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

2 outs. gotta send Baldelli. took a perfect throw.

9:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice bowl over attempt baldy!

9:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Baldelli didn't have much of a chance there, I think Ruiz has about 70 pounds on him.

9:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

God ... I hope the Roc is OK .... Everyone should love the Roc!

9:15 PM  
Blogger Possum Avenger said...

Myers has very similar splits between righties and lefties. Thus, Gross offered no advantage (maybe defense) over Baldelli.

9:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aki: talk about quietly doing a ton for the Rays

9:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Um, Prof?

We're up by three.

So why did our hitters throw that inning away?

9:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its starting to rain

9:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think it's time for james to make an adjustment for howard

9:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tim McCarver makes me think I could be a sportscaster. Which, if you knew me, no way in hell.

9:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

tim mccarver makes everyone think they can be a sportscaster :p

9:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is Howards spray chart courtesy of our buddies in beantown: http://boston.inside-edge.com
/bostonScoutingReportRosters.aspx?
Team_ID=22

9:41 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Evening... I guess one could say about Baldelli being thrown out it took a perfect through - however the Rays lead MLB in getting thrown out at the plate.

Did you hear about how Baldelli's legs start to burn about the 7th inning. No wonder he is exhausted.

9:46 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Booo hisssss - bunts are evil! I thought Maddon knew this. At least it was a safety squeeze.

9:48 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

sacrifices are evil. Maddon loves squeezes

9:49 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

leadoff walks suck

9:52 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Shields change is much MUCH better tonight than game 6 of ALCS

9:54 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Shields is already up around 75 pitches. probably will be done after 6

9:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Everyone was all gooey about Hamel last night. James doesn't look all that bad.

9:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Everybody Loves Baldy! Who's tired?

9:58 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

that double play by Rocco helped Shields' pitch count. Only 80 now. Might get into the 7th afterall.

10:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the rays need to hit more

too many dramatic top of the innings cept' 1st

let's be frank as a batter evan has been PATHETHIC in the series so far (here's hoping maddon straightens him up on the trip to philly)

plus, man where were these rays in game 1? was Hamels that good? (even though it was a close game)

10:09 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

This is great - found the FOX fan cam on the MLB website - now I can watch the game - though the video cutting is erratic.

Yes - Longo is "due", but so is Pena and Upton. Rays should be blowing the Phillies pitchers out of the water.

10:16 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

that short hop by Upton probably saves a run...same with the deflected ball stopped by Aki in 4th

10:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love how I'm seeing someone always backing up BJ - was that Rocco?

10:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

theyre outhitting us...not good

10:23 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

yep Rocco. Zobrist had one last night also on a ball that got by Upton

10:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

can a brotha' get a 1-2-3 inning rays defense?

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wasn't that a great defensive game by Zobie? Third time playing RF! Has he played other OF positions?

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

they can get more hits and 1-2-3 innings then us...not good enough for me, we're up 4-0 and im still biting my nails

darn alcs game 5

10:32 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Zobrist actually played 21 games in the OF this season. not sure how many of those were starts though and 14 were in LF

10:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prof, doe this game worry you at all?

No HRs.

Not a huge amount of runs so far at home,

I'm a little worried about going into Philly.

10:33 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Stick with Wheeler. it is 9-1-2...righty, switch, righty. and the Switch (Rollins) is about the same from both sides of the plate

10:34 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

likely see Price if Utley gets up (4th batter)

10:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i don't like that rocco had to sit down before going out to the field. he should come out and rest

10:35 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

i'm surprisingly calm about this game...they just look like they are cruising right now. couple of breaks and close calls. but no runs. good baseball even if not a lot of hits. think this bodes well for game 3.

Stella got her groove back. only thing missing is the home runs

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hopefully that was the only cardiac moment...

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If the Rays can score runs without having to hit home runs, I think that's a good thing.

Then when they decide to drop some bombs on the Phillies' pitching staff, that'll be better.

10:38 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

with Rocco having just batter.. surprised Fernando or (gasp) Gabe Gross is not in RF to give Rocco a break. but i guess they have the day off tomorrow so rest then

10:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why does Maddon tempt fate with Wheeler?

10:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wheeler is screwing things up...again

10:40 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Wheeler? lead is safe right now and 2 of first 3 are righties. Not saying it is right. But that is the thinking

10:41 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I can't tell - anyone warming up?

10:43 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

i know he walked the lead off guy but Wheeler's pitches look as good as i have seeen in a while. Lots of good movement and they are down in the zone

10:44 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I say this because after Werth is NL's version of ARod (lefty though) and some other lefty.

10:44 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Price is warming up. will be in for the next batter (a lefty)

10:44 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Say Wheeler - who does not look bad - gets Werth - leave him in? Only 2 runs could be scored....

10:46 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

i dont think so. has close to 30 pitches

10:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hopefully price lights em' up the way he has in the alcs

a 4-0 lead, 7 outs from tiying the series...too nervous

i hope the rays play like this in philly all we need is 1 road win to take it back to st.pete

10:49 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

You are correct - good call, did not see pitch count - and there is your answer. Crowd seemed to appreciate Wheeler's performance. One of the nice features about this coverage on the internet is that we see the entire pitching change. Maddon was talking to most of his infielders on a one-by-one basis.

Now for a complaint - the advertisement time is getting ridiculous! I was away for 10 minutes between innings and only missed one batter.

10:50 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Balfour is now warming up

10:52 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Intentional non-intentional? Or is he wild?

10:53 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

wild

10:53 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Price is mad at himself. never seen this side before. Not quite Balfour mad. more annoyance.

10:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i wonder what he's screaming into his glove.

10:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good stuff from price there after walking the 1st

the bad? theyre still otuhitting us and getting out of the bottom easily, im sick of these dramatic top of the innings

10:55 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Myers only has 76 pitches

11:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

let's all thank Fox for giving us the ever-important bullet point regarding what BJ stands for :)

11:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

home umpires have been erratic so far this series, not good

11:05 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

wonder if they would have bothered telling the world what CC stands for in Sabathia's name. Not likely.

11:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

im really PISSED w/ how easy they defend and how dramatic our top of the innings have been,i cant say that enough

6 more outs, 4-0 lead and i'm still not confident, it feels like its a 1 run game to me and im hoping theyll improve when they get to philly

11:08 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Luis. Love ya dude, but you crack me up. I am trying to imagine you ordering food at a restaurant and then worrying for the next 15 minutes that it is either going to come out as the wrong food or it will be overcooked. maybe pace near the table a little. a little random commentary to the neighboring tables about how worried you are and how maybe you should just go to McDonalds

11:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

homer, not good

im freaking out

11:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We've got 3 runs to work with. Balfour closing?

11:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lol ya prof im very pessimistic when my team has the pressure to win

you should have seen me during the lightning's comeback down 3-2 to win the stanley cup, hehe i was about to have a heart attack lol

11:16 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Luis buddy - have a nice glass of Pinot or maybe Joe can recommend a good Merlot.

The game is essentially over - coming back from 7 run deficit is a once in a 5 year event. Coming back from a 3 run deficit... well, that happens more frequently.

I think they are playing, between innings, your Seven Nation song, Prof.

11:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

3 more outs and we go back to philly w/ anything possible at a tied series needing just 1 road win to take it back to the trop

i know they can.

i know they can.

i know they can.

11:23 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Is Jonny Gomes drunk?

That entire conversation with Sonny reminded my of every conversation I have ever had with a really drunk person and you just sit there agreeing and giggling and hoping the other person gets distracted by something shiny

11:25 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Gomes drunk? What did I miss?

11:30 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Gomes mic'd in the dugout talking about people visiting from europe and being freaked out about the mohawks and such

11:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wtf was that?!

11:33 PM  
Blogger The Professor said...

Howell and Bradford both starting to warm up

11:34 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Longo booted that one just for us... Got to make it exciting.

11:35 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

.... Phillies still have a chance.... its not over yet.... oh... nevermind.

11:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

too dramatic getting guys, got outhit i believe, and 4-2 felt like 4-3, horrible errors

that said we win and we go into philly w/ the series tied, hopefully we'll still at least 1 there

11:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

steal*

11:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

how funny does that reporter look dwarfed in between shields and price

11:38 PM  
Blogger Robert Rittner said...

Apparently Myers has a strange split in that he has had more luck with lefties than righties (while Hamels has done better against righties.) So Maddon decided to hold out Rocco from last night's game since he could not play two straight and insert him tonight. I think it is more a strategic decision based on splits than it is a lack of confidence in Gross although I am sure that is also a factor.

Actually, the split is quite substantial-righties have over 100 points of OPS better than lefties do against Myers this year and are substantially better for his career as well. And lefties have hit substantially better against Hamels both this year and for his career. (Although Maddon did not turn Zobrist around as some thought he might.)

2:40 AM  
Blogger Robert Rittner said...

Joe Sheehan at BP offers reasonable arguments as to why my view of what Maddon did in RF (and why) is wrong.

2:46 AM  

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