Frayed Knot

Boston's switch-hitting catcher, Blake Swihart, came up thinking he was going to bat right-handed. But then when Venditte indicated he wanted to throw righty, Swihart had to return to the dugout to get his left-hand hitting batting helmet. Venditte's line: 2 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, pitched LH to the first hitter then RH to the remaining five (there was a GiDP thrown in so he faced the minimum despite allowing the one single)

Murphy: .409/.458/.568 over the last two weeks; .358/.408/.495 over the last four Ahhh it's OK, we were scoring too many runs on this team anyway. On the positive side, d'Arnaud & Herrera are playing rehab games.

Zvon wrote: Do the Mets have a problem with Matt Reynolds? Not on the 40-man so there could be complications involved from that angle. Also not hitting well lately after a hot start. There's also the feeling that they'd rather keep him down until they've got a more permanent position open as opposed to bringing him up for just a (hopefully) short stint. Either that or there are some incriminating pictures involved, who knows! Tonight's lineup: Curtis Granderson, RF Ruben Tejada, 2B Lucas Duda, 1B Michael Cuddyer, LF Wilmer Flores, SS Juan Lagares, CF Eric Campbell, 3B Anthony Recker, C Niese, LHP

TransMonk wrote: Wait, he's a switch-pitcher? Yup. Did it all through college and the minors (almost exclusively as a reliever). He must declare prior to each batter which hand he intends to pitch with and then must stick to it through the entire AB. But he's got a custom made glove that fits on either hand and he's free to swap for the next guy and then back again for the one after that and so on.

Called up to the majors by Oakland. Wait, who? This guy, that's who. [fimg=400:3d7d4zgs]https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/venditte.jpg?w=720&h=480&crop=1[/fimg:3d7d4zgs] The 29 y/o draft pick of the Yanx in 2008 (20th round - also 45th round in 2007 but didn't sign) was 1-0 with a 1.36 ERA and 0.97 WHiP with AAA Nashville so this is no Veeck-ian stunt. And, in what's unusual in today's game for a reliever, has 33 innings pitched over just 19 game appearances. Oakland is in Boston this weekend.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could find video of every catch made running up that hill during the 15 years it's been in existence? Of course it would!!

A savvy manager might go to Robles here. We've already burned Robles. Do you do the same for Goeddel, or one of the Torrii? Terry opts not to.

MAYBABY!!!!!

Yeah, I thought Houston quirked-up that park just for the sake of quirk in a lot of cases. I wasn't as anti-hill as many were, but just the whole package there with the ridiculously long CF next to the far too short LF plus some other stuff was too cute by half IMO.

** Game Break ** Nats down 2-1 w/2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, tying run on 2nd (Michael Taylor), winning run on 1st (Clint Robinson), and the just activated Anthony Rendon at the plate -- Robinson gets picked off of 1st to end the game. Six outs away from 1st place

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: If you're around Shaq's balls and wondering what that smell is, it's probably Gold Bond. And, let's face it, most of us are around the height of Shaq's balls.

What's the record for popped-up bunts in one season do you suppose? Seems like this team's gotta be working on a dozen already this year.

Lagares has two hits tonight w/Mayberry on 2nd but neither one can get him in.

Finally we hit something that those OFers out there can't run down. Nice night for Mayberry

'I'm telling you I'm tired' [fimg=500]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-suILC94t63U/Tc-CYH5g7VI/AAAAAAAACxA/wjkg9WEVzVY/s1600/winner.jpg[/fimg]

I blame Gelbs for that HR.

Frayed Knot wrote: Why do you suppose the D'Backs are having a Tony LaRussa bobblehead give-away? (acc to the sign behind home plate). Duh, because he's running the team now. I totally forgot about that. Anyone notice the folks in the dugout-like seats behind the plate? ... Not ONE OF THEM is watching the game.

Mayberry doubles on the first pitch of the 2nd inning so we've got the leadoff guy in scoring position with no outs ... which means this inning's doomed. Now it's 1st & 3rd ... this is getting worse by the minute!!

Why do you suppose the D'Backs are having a Tony LaRussa bobblehead give-away? (acc to the sign behind home plate).

That's the day the subject came up.

So the right to speak out should be dependent upon recent on-field performances?

Kwickie KTE: Yesterday's trade of OF Mark Trumbo for various minor leaguers represents an increase in playing time for the other 3 OFs who had been swapping around for the first two months of the season Inciarte RF -- Likely to get the majority of the RF time with Trumbo gone, but has been playing most everyday up until now anyway (200+ ABs) just never in the same spot Pollock CF -- Getting on base at a good clip (.370 OBP) and, IIRC, is a pretty go-get-em CF too Goldschmidt 1B -- Really. Fucking. Good. .349/.470/.667 Tom�s 3B -- 24 y/o (or say he claims) Cuban was brought up in mid-April after an extended stay in ST [.331/.364/.414 w/1 HR in 133 ABs] Peralta LF -- Been sharing time with Inciarte so will probably see his time increased now w/o Trumbo Owings 2B -- One of those many rumored NYM middle infield targets over the winter. Just 23 and already in his 3rd season, has been stunningly mediocre. Salta'ia C -- Just picked up after being dumped by Miami earlier. Starting catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (no really, that's his name) is injured. Ahmed SS -- So this is the guy Chris Owings got bumped over to 2B for? [.221/.288/.329 w/3 HRs in 140 ABs] Ray P -- 23 y/o LHP is up from the minors to make his 2nd ML start of the year. The nine he made in the minors weren't much to write home about.

Ceetar wrote: It's a dumb phrase, sure. but he's not saying being against 'more' but being against 'any'. i.e. "If you don't think there should be controls set in place on guns, you're basically advocating a world of guns everywhere and violence will ensue." If you're going to play Mr. Semantics on this topic then at least acknowledge the difference between believing that reduced controls (or even none*) will lead to more violence (opinions vary as do different studies) and saying that being for less control is a blatant endorsement of senseless violence. Those a very different things and there's a gap between the two big enough for a Duda HR. 'Hi, I'm Dillon Gee, pitcher for the New York Mets, and I'm in 100% favor of senseless gun violence' The one thing Deadpan gets right here is that Gee should take better care to know ahead of time what he's volunteering for, although ballplayers and others in the public eye get dragged into this kind of stuff all the time at the encouragement of the team or agents and the like (wasn't there something a couple years ago with Wright and some medical quack?). * although I'm not buying the angle that objecting the Bloomberg's position is the same as being against "any" laws - there is a ton of ground in between

Don't be absurd, Ceets. Argue for more gun regulations if you want, or for fewer. But being against more is hardly a "blatant endorsement of senseless violence" any more than being against martial law is a blatant endorsement for anarchy in the streets. And Deadpan can spare me the "real world" stuff.

Deadpan: "In the real world, opposition to gun control is blatant endorsement of senseless gun violence, whether Dillon Gee is aware of it or not." Umm, no it's not. And while you're free to believe that it is, it doesn't mean those who don't join you aren't in the "real" part of the world.