Ronostradamus Darling

[soupcan]

Apologies if this was already brought up.

Did anybody notice Darling predicting that Henry Rodriguez would throw away Tejada's bunt? Crap like this always impresses me.

Literally two pitches before Ruben laid it down, Darling said something like 'pitchers that throw hard have difficulties making the athletic plays like that of a ball hit back to them or a bunt'.

Couldn't believe it when it unfolded after he said that.

An inning or so prior he also wondered aloud if the Mets could pull off a double play in a big situation, the moment before they did exactly that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Tim McCarver used to do that to me all the time back in the day. "Mookie Wilson is playing too deep" moments before a dunker would land just in front of him.

[Edgy MD]

Back when Tim was Tim.

He also would do a great job telling me why, while former-shorstop Ron Darling was a fine fielder, it was Roger McDowell whose defense was the true asset to the team.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I was listening on the radio running last nite, and arrived home in the 9th, left the headphones on and turned on TV with no sound. Howie called that bunt play perfectly as it happened.

[Ceetar]

yup. He's good.

Obviously he was particularly on point last night, but this is why he won an Emmy (Emmy's the right award right? he won something..). Keith's good at this too though. They both are so keen to what's going on and what players are trying to do out there. And Gary's good about knowing when to shut up and just let them speak. There are times when you can probably imagine that you're overhearing conversations they probably had on the mound 25 years ago talking strategy.

And that's why they're so awesome at this.

[soupcan]

And let me just add that Darling was talking specifically about Rodriguez having difficulty with the throw.

It was a great call and I don't even think the other guys acknowledged it when it happened.

[TransMonk]

Ronnie was doing it all night - calling things right before they happened.

It led to an awkward exchange where Keith couldn't think of a symonym for Gary's description of "prescient", prompting Gary to offer up "clairvoyant" and "seer".

[Ceetar]

oh yeah, and don't forget Darling's "THERE IS NO BOOK!" rant about innings limits for young pitchers.

"You did everything by the book and look what happened, he had Tommy John in his first season. Congratulations. Good job. THERE IS NO BOOK!"

[TransMonk]

Yeah, Ronnie got pretty worked up.

Last night was a pretty great game on many different levels.

[Fman99]

They are top shelf, no doubt. I enjoy also them predicting pitch types and locations. They are completely on top of what's happening on the field, instead of ranting about every dumb fucking thing they can think of.

So, what I'm saying is, WAYNE HAGIN SUCKS.

[ashie62]

Ceetar wrote: oh yeah, and don't forget Darling's "THERE IS NO BOOK!" rant about innings limits for young pitchers. "You did everything by the book and look what happened, he had Tommy John in his first season. Congratulations. Good job. THERE IS NO BOOK!"

Was he referring to Strasburg or just speaking in generalities?

[G-Fafif]

Ronnie was his most impressive in six seasons last night. Most of the time, when it comes to opinion, he mostly seconds Gary to the point I think if Gary did a 180 on a given issue, Ronnie would seamlessly agree with that, too. He really offered up some analysis this time.

[Ceetar]

Ashie62 wrote: Ceetar wrote: oh yeah, and don't forget Darling's "THERE IS NO BOOK!" rant about innings limits for young pitchers. "You did everything by the book and look what happened, he had Tommy John in his first season. Congratulations. Good job. THERE IS NO BOOK!" Was he referring to Strasburg or just speaking in generalities?

prompted by Strasburg. I think Gary said Strasburg Monday, he pitched 7 innings on Opening Day, 153 to go. That's where it started, with Ron pondering why they open their mouths and tell people the innings limit. (probably because they're repeatedly asked) And then pondered about if the Nationals were relevant what would they do. Transitioned about how you have to let these guys be great and the idea is to keep them around and healthy to win a championship but what if you're ruining your chance to win a championship now by not letting them pitch...

and then he really got the head of steam talking about the tommy john and going 'by the book'. Really, the only thing missing was a "Fuck you Tom Verducci".

[Edgy MD]

The reason you tell people about it is to provide protection from backlash if he does get hurt. But how's this for a talking point?

We care very much about Stephen's future, and we're monitoring the health of his arm closely. We have a comprehensive plan, and we're all on the same page with regards to that plan. We'd rather not go into further details except to say that we're humble enough to know that calamity strikes even under the greatest plan. And what is there to do but to take what you've learned from that calamity and incorporate it into the next plan? It's all you can do. Learn and build. But Nationals fans need to know: for every hour they spend worrying about the health of their favorite players, we spend ten. It's part of our commission, as winning is part of our commission, and we're deadly serious about it.

[metsmarathon]

i need edgy to write up all of my public releases from now on. bravo.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: oh yeah, and don't forget Darling's "THERE IS NO BOOK!" rant about innings limits for young pitchers. "You did everything by the book and look what happened, he had Tommy John in his first season. Congratulations. Good job. THERE IS NO BOOK!"

Well, yeah. He's a prophet. Prophetics get dyspeptic from time to time. It goes hand in hand with the blinding migraines and whatnot.

He actually Twitter-trended briefly around this time, I think.

[ashie62]

G-Fafif wrote: Ronnie was his most impressive in six seasons last night. Most of the time, when it comes to opinion, he mostly seconds Gary to the point I think if Gary did a 180 on a given issue, Ronnie would seamlessly agree with that, too. He really offered up some analysis this time.

Maybe he wants a full time gig with Fox lol. Maybe he had a fight with his wife. Who knows.

[Fman99]

Called it again tonight, he said specifically that he thought Hanson's steady diet of curveballs would bite him in the hiney, that eventually he would hang one and it happened roughly 2 pitches later.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Fman99 wrote: Called it again tonight, he said specifically that he thought Hanson's steady diet of curveballs would bite him in the hiney, that eventually he would hang one and it happened roughly 2 pitches later.

"If Hanson had only listened to Ron this would have never happened."