Comments on: Settling the Score: Friday’s results

By: southofheaven81

southofheaven81 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:41:47 +0000

I fail to see how I’m overly “wistful” when I’m calling for replay changes in the very same paragraph.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:01:09 +0000

Thanks, HCF-during the week I would’ve added some detail about the Span drop, but on the weekends the fashion is shorter posts…Anyway, you covered it nicely.

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:56:35 +0000

Russell Martin had an extraordinary evening. In addition to his 8th inning, game winning hit, he threw out 4 base runners, including Mike Trout attempting to steal 3rd, although the umpire botched the play, calling him safe. Mark Teixeira was busy all night sending tex-t messages, smashing 2 homeruns and driving in 5. Yankees with a .725 winning percentage since May 22nd. Best in the big leagues. Yankees now 20 games over .500. Also, best in the big leagues. Can’t wait to see what this team can do when it starts to approach its potential and perform at their capabilities.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:53:19 +0000

It may, in fact, be the very same ball that Aramis Ramirez hit out against Heath Bell on the night of his fifth blown save in Milwaukee.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:51:58 +0000

Feel free. Why, just the other night two lowerclassmen were caught rubbing linseed oil on the school cormorant.

By: lionsfan415

lionsfan415 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:41:46 +0000

6 in a row for my Tigers, it’s time for them to heat up and time for Raburn to get over that illustrious mark of a .180 batting average

By: natslady

natslady — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:36:14 +0000

Rubbing it in here:: Ryan Zimmerman hit a homerun into the waves, and Harper “stole” 3rd base while JJ looked at the ball and Reyes and Ramirez chatted each other up. All in all, a fun night.

By: jamessmyth621

jamessmyth621 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:32:34 +0000

I’m not a big fan of the new system either, but the Red Sox would only be four back if there was only one WC team. I think it speaks more to the parity we have this year, especially in the American League with six teams within a game and a half of each other.

By: hcf95688

hcf95688 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:30:08 +0000

Well done. The three at bats leading up to the Gomes AB were each remarkable in their own way: an infield single off of Liniano that Weeks beat out by less than a step; a dropped flyball by Spann, off of the bat of Cespedes; a walk by Carter (after starting the AB 0-2).

The pitch Gomes hit for the grand slam was quite similar (in speed location and result) to the one Willingham saw in his first at bat.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Looks like the Yankees were able to pick up after the All Star break right where they left off before the break, winning. Still with the best record in baseball and still giving us fans heartburn. Very few easy wins for the Yankees this season. But the win is all that matters. Good to see Martin finally contribute offensively to a win. But in all fairness Tex carried the Yankees on his shoulders for this one. A couple of missed opportunities for the Yankees in this game, fortunately it didn’t come back to bite them on the ass. Now the Yankees need Freddy to keep it going in the 2nd game of this series this afternoon.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:01:10 +0000

Gomes” HR in the A’s win over the Twins was a good example of a professional hitter making in-game adjustments. In his first at-bat, Liriano had struck Gomes out on changeup-slider-changeup. Gomes had not made contact on any of his three swings.

After loading the bases, Liriano faced Gomes and started him with a changeup. This pitch was poorly located (centered) and thrown too hard, at 86 mph, more like a batting practice fastball. Gomes, took a measured swing, which for him is the same as a caveman clubbing a mastodon, and the resulting no-doubter GS won the game, propelling the A’s over .500, much to everyone’s surprise.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:45:37 +0000

Faced with the challenge of their division leading rival Gnats out of the mini-orfseason gate, the Feesh showed what they’re made of by getting well and truly gagged and stomped as the Ex-pos seemed to be pointing out to them “Guys, this is the way it is.” Emerging from his own nine day midseason aestivation, Josh Johnson didn’t walk a batter and struck out six but otherwise looked as comfortable on the mound as a coelocanth trying out his lobefins in the shallows. JJ was wild in the strike zone, getting hammered for five runs in as many innings. For their part, the Feesh erupted for a run against Rodriguez in the seventh on two walks, a pair of stolen bases by Justin Ruggiano, and a bloop single by John “swing hard in case you hit it” Buck. Thet thar was it, though. It was Jordan Zimmerman’s first win against the Feesh after a few years of futility, and JJ’s first loss against the Gnats after as many years of dominance. Of course, these ain’t JJ’s mother’s Gnats anymore.

It’s going to be a long, long second half in Macondo.

By: napoleonblownapart6887

napoleonblownapart6887 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:29:41 +0000

What happened with those Seahawks is they knocked off a heavily favored Saints team. Baseball has the lowest percentage of teams make the playoffs of any of the 4 major sports. All I can say is this – having more teams in the playoffs gives more fans the chance to be excited about something, to witness huge upsets like the Seahawks one, and to give another group of guys that “anything can happen – just make the tournament” mentality. I don’t think the talent in the playoffs is as diluted as your making it seem. 5 teams from each league will deserve to be there, and that extra playoff game is going to be CRAZY exciting.

By: sal11

sal11 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:09:45 +0000

As fun as it is to be wistful about the “good ol’ days,” baseball still has the lowest percentage of teams make the playoffs. In football, 12 out of 32 teams (37.5%) make it. In basketball, 16 out of 30 teams every year are playoff-bound. Hockey is about the same. Baseball expanded all the way from 8 teams out of 30 to 10 out of 30, and 4 of those 10 will be hugely disadvantaged by having to play a one-game playoff.

By: southofheaven81

southofheaven81 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 13:23:10 +0000

Remember when only winners were rewarded in baseball?

What happened a few years back, when the Seahawks made a playoff run despite having a losing f###ing record? It’s coming to baseball. It’s just a matter of time & math. That, and a bunch of crappy calls that couldn’t be overturned because technology apparently started sucking after 1975.

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 13:13:32 +0000

The Red Sox: just broke the .500 barrier again, but only 1.5 games out in the wild card race. Welcome to your new MLB playoffs.