It was really the first weekend that actually felt like spring, at least from a baseball perspective. Yeah, the previous weekend was nice, but we were still getting a lot of rainouts and cold games. This weekend, no matter which game I turned to, it looked and felt like baseball. Ah.
- Roy Oswalt is on the DL. First chink in the Big Four’s armor? Apart from the fact that only Kyle Kendrick got a win in the Atlanta series?
- This item from Saturday about Jose Reyes was headlined “The Dumbest Thing You’ll Read Today.” I just read it again and it’s the dumbest thing you’ll read on Monday too.
- B.J. Upton got suspended because Joe West’s umpire crew is terrible.
- The Chase Utley shakedown cruise starts off well.
- Justin Verlander to the Blue Jays: “No, you cannot have hits. Not yours.” And he was still cooking with gas at the end of the game.
- Todd Wellemeyer retired. In five years he well be inducted to the Hall of Had A Pretty Good Half Season as a Swingman After Being Claimed Off Waivers By The Cardinals in 2007. It’s not a very big Hall, but the gift shop is pretty nice.
- The Julio Teheran Era did not start off quite as awesomely as one might have hoped.
- Andre Ethier fails to extend his hitting streak to 31. Vlad Guerrero, Ken Landreaux, Ron LeFlore, Rico Carty, Willie Davis, Vada Pinson, Sam Rice, Napoleon Lajoie, Ed Delahanty, and Jimmy Wolf continue their tradition of cracking open a bottle of champagne when yet another pretender fails to enter a tie for the 25th all-time longest hitting streak with them.
- Oh, and Joey Votto’s on-base streak ended at 33. No one cares about that one, though.
- The Red Sox call up Jose Iglesias. All leather, no bat at the moment.
- Tony La Russa has an awful eye infection thing and is going to have it examined at the Mayo Clinic. I hope he feels better soon. I also kind of hope that his course of treatment includes staying away from bullpen phones for 4 to 6 weeks.
- The number of reports about Derek Jeter which will use the hacky old “the reports of Derek Jeter‘s death …” cliche this morning will be considerable.
- Mike Scioscia gets his 1000th victory. Sadly, none of the Angels’ runs in yesterday’s game came as the result of a squeeze play or a delayed double steal or good catching defense or anything all Mike Sciosciay like that.
And into the new week we plunge.
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- Chris Fiorentino - May 9, 2011 at 8:32 AM
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The Oswalt story is so disappointing on so many levels. First, he had some soreness in his back. Then the tornadoes hit his home area and he went home to be with his family. I seriously doubt that Ruben thought he would be excavating and helping do the manual labor down there, as evidenced by his quote that he “didn’t think it helped that Roy did that kind of work down there”. The Phillies probably thought he would REST and be with his family, but instead he’s down there clearing roads. Ugh.
Then, instead of getting ripped by the media, he is hailed as a hero for putting his family first. I ask again…name me someone who DOESN’T put his family first? Then he says “Oh, baseball is only 4th in my life” Really? What’s 2 and 3? Hunting and building? Then go retire and do that if that’s all you want to do. Of course, those two don’t pay $16 million a year so I doubt it will come to that.
Makes me love the all-out win-first attitude of guys like Halladay and Lee all the more…and I am sure those guys also put their family first too.
May the “thumbs downing” commence….
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- Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward - May 9, 2011 at 11:17 AM
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Chris, relax, it’s May. He’ll kill is own mother to play in October. Boo hoo, you have three legitimate number one starters at the moment.
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- Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward - May 9, 2011 at 11:18 AM
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..but, I’ll give you a thumbs up for caring so much.
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- Chris Fiorentino - May 9, 2011 at 11:22 AM
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“relax” is for people happy to come in second place, Pedro. I have nothing at all against Oswalt taking time to go down and be with his family. But to partake in strenuous labor down there when he knowingly had a bad back, to the point where he is now on the DL and even his own GM rips him publicly for it, is ludicrous.
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- rebarratige - May 9, 2011 at 11:34 AM
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“‘relax’ is for people happy to come in second place, Pedro.”
You’re starting to sound like that guy who killed Juan Primo, dude.
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- xmatt0926x - May 9, 2011 at 2:10 PM
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Agree with Chris. It’s fine to leave and check on your family and hell, you have a balky back so maybe you need the time off anyway. But explain why a man making $16 million this year who admittedly has a bad back can’t hire a professional crew to clear up tornado debris. I get it. From the stories I’ve read he loves using his trusty ol’ bulldozer but do you not have any responsibility to the organization that is paying you those millions? This isn’t a case where he panicked and just started clearing this stuff on the spur of the moment to try and save somebody. Everything was over with and he should have hired someone else to do it espcially with his already sore back. He has also made it clear several times that Baseball isn’t a major priority in his life which is all well and good. To each his own. But again, what about the people paying that salary and your teammates that are counting on you?
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- umrguy42 - May 9, 2011 at 9:32 AM
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Actually, Wellemeyer will be in the Hall of Had a Pretty Good Year as a Dave Duncan Reclamation Project. It’s slightly bigger, and again, the gift shop is nice, but it tends to lose its luster after you leave…
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- jas131 - May 9, 2011 at 12:07 PM
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I would put Wellemeyer in the Hall of Had a Pretty Cool Major League Debut – he struck out the side in the bottom of the 17th for the save. (http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2003/B05150MIL2003.htm)
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- tomemos - May 9, 2011 at 12:48 PM
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I’m no Joe West fan, but it’s pretty ridiculous to blame West for Upton’s ejection and suspension. Did you see the video? A, the strike call wasn’t ridiculous, and B, Upton went absolutely bananas. Baseball can’t let that stand.
