Frayed Knot

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Ozuna, as he does quite a bit when pressed into centerfield service, looks like hot garbage on the triple. But hey, he hits better than Lagares! He played that one the same way he played Granderson's deep fly in the early innings. Got away with it the first time, not so much on Nieuwenhuis's

Nailed his ass!!!! ... at home and then at 1st

Yanx deal with the A's for ex-Rockie LHP Jeff Francis in exchange for the old PtbNL/cash He had been pitching in relief for Oakland this season.

Frayed Knot wrote: Hope NYM bats take a Big Gulp of Henderson Alvarez. THAT was a big gulp!!

Grandy Muffy Davey Doodie (OK, perhaps I'll have to rethink that one) Travie Kirky Juanny Ruby Wheelie

Edgy MD wrote: His father Mike, who accompanied him at Citi Field on Friday, played linebacker at Penn State under Joe Paterno. His mother Tracie Ruiz-Conforto won two gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles in synchronized swimming, then a silver four years later in Seoul, South Korea. As long as it's not Rosie Ruiz-Conforto, otherwise we'd have to question whether or not it was actually her in the pool the whole time.

Lagares 2014 (Age 25) over 202 ABs -- .287/.321/.401 Carlos Gomez Age 25 (2011) only 231 ABs --.225/.276/.403 (missed July 20 - Sept 2 w/injuries) Closer stats than I would have thought: better Avg for Lagares, better power by Gomez (IsoP = 178 vs 114). Of course Gomez started to explode the following year and then really did by 2013, and while it's certainly possible that Lagares will follow a similar path it's tough to expect that he will. Lagares is three years, three months younger.

Pictures on the inter web of Conforto signing his deal. Figure he'll get 10 days or so in Florida to knock the rust off his swing and sweat out whatever Oregon microbrews he's spent the last two months sucking down, and that'll leave him with six weeks or so to rearrange the Brooklyn skyline.

Edgy MD wrote: Atlanta has a bullpen that can shorten games. That's got to frustrate Pythagoras at least a little. Yeah, but no better than Washington who are busy frustrating Pythagaras in the other direction. ATL Relievers-Against: .237/.312/.328; ERA = 3.17; WHiP = 1.28 WAS Relievers-Against: .229/.300/.332; ERA = 2.68; WHiP = 1.19 And Soriano is having every bit the season Kimbrel is - shade better statistically in fact. Wonder if the differences in rep there (amongst fans, media, ASG votes) is another example of the surly (or at least the impression of being so), black, non-English speaker vs white guy gap. The bullpen angle is one that folks usually first look to when finding variations from Pythagorean predictions, but I wonder how often that argument actually holds up.

Centerfield wrote: I can't believe how bad Colorado is. They looked unbeatable when we saw them. Lots of teams look unbeatable against the Mets ... and then suddenly, they're not. Funny how that happens. But, yeah, there is seemingly a huge disconnect between the Rox early and now, as posed to say the Cubs who, despite sweeping us, looked barely competent while doing so. And even with Atlanta, who the Mets have effectively played to a standstill (6-7; dead even in RS/RA) this season no matter how much the reputation continues that we're their beyotches, seem lucky to be as close to the top as they are.

MFS62 wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: "Partial tear" of UCL on Tanaka. Rest & rehab for now, TJ surgery possible. Listened during his last game. Ma and Pa Pinstripe were saying that in Japan, Tanaka only pitched every seven days. He had been pitching every five or six days with the Yanks, and this was his second start on a four day rotation. Suzyn said his arm looked "tired". Also heard one report saying that he had been using his splitter about twice as often over here -- up to 25% of his pitches -- as he did back in Japan, and splitters have been known to be tough on arms ... not that any one thing is going to be the culprit here. Botom line is that he was the starting pitcher in nearly 30% of the Yanqui wins this year (13 of 46) and they've now got just one of the five who were in their starting rotation as this season began. [crossout]Sabathia[/crossout] Kuroda [crossout]Tanaka[/crossout] [crossout]Pineda[/crossout] [crossout]Nova[/crossout]

Hope NYM bats take a Big Gulp of Henderson Alvarez.

HahnSolo wrote: He got hit in the face with a batted ball during BP on Wednesday. Ahhh, I did not see that. Last I heard about was the knee thing and that was back on Monday or Tuesday. Good thing I'm not a cynical guy. And, just because ... a93gTsNiW4k

By all rights--and especially by the sacred word of both Pythagoras of Samos and Bill Jamesoras of Kansas--the NY East should be a division more spread out than it is, with a clear leader, a clear bottom-feeder, and a three-way scrum for the best of the middle that'll have trouble producing a Wild Card candidate. I suspect it'll eventually wind up that way: Washington is now (mostly) healthy and has such a clear runs lead that I think they'll pull away and make this not very close by September; I'm not impressed at all with Atlanta as I don't see where an increase in their runs scored are going to come from; Miami is supposedly in a 'Go For It' mode but I'm not sure what that means realistically; and the Phils are more likely to shed parts than take new ones on. Below show each team's up to date RS/RA, their current spot and GB in the standings, and where they would be if everyone were obedient to Greeks and geeks. TEAMRS/RAPOSPROJWASH+56T1 --1st ---ATL+5T1 --2nd -6MIA-43rd -5.54th -7.5NYM+44th -8.03rd -7.0PHI-425th -9.05th -12.0

d'Kong76 wrote: Assuming it wasn't Dutch Leonard, who was the pinch hitter? It appears to be Duffy Lewis - who responded with a single, although did not score, and stayed in the game for the final two innings to play LF (a double switch!!) as Leonard replaced Henricksen in the batting order. Lewis, in 1914, was then in the middle of an 11-year ML career which would also take him from Boston to the Yanquis.

One hundred years ago today (Friday), 19 y/o G. H. Ruth made his ML debut on the mound and batting 9th as the Boston Red Sox hosted the Cleveland Indians. Ruth�s line: 7 IP, 3 Runs (2 earned), 0 BB, 1 K � and the �W� The Sox pushed across a run in the bottom of the 7th to give Ruth a 4-3 AT WHICH POINT HE WAS PINCH-HIT FOR and Dutch Leonard finished the final two innings (and got the save). Do you suppose Ruth was pinch-hit for because he was on a pitch count?!? Nah, probably not. Babe went 0-2 with the bat in the game with one strike-out. Ruth would go on to play in just four more games that season, a start five days later where he got tagged with the loss, then three more in October: a CG win vs the Yanx, once as a pinch-hitter, and once as a reliever. He spent time in both (minor league) Baltimore & Providence in between. Final 1914 stats: 2-1; 3.91 ERA, 4 games, 3 starts; 23 IP, 21 Hits, 7 BB, 3 K, 1 HR allowed, and with the bat: 2-for-10 with 1 double & 1 single The BoSox finished 2nd that season with a 91-62 record. Other players of note in that game * HoF-er Tris Speaker in CF for the Sox * Olaf Henrickson was in LF for Boston - I only mention him because I like the name so I looked him up and it turns out he�s the only major leaguer ever born in Denmark. * Shoeless Joe Jackson in RF for Cleveland, then in his 8th season and coming off a three year span (1911-1913) where he averaged .393/.462/.574 over just shy of 2,000 PAs * Nap Lajoie - the HoF 2nd baseman for the Indians (who was so synonymous w/Cleveland that some called the team the 'Naps') was then in his 19th season and about to turn 40 y/o * Ray Chapman, Cleveland�s SS who was to become the only MLer to be killed in a game six years later. The game lasted 1:33

sharpie wrote: And now Carlos Beltran is on the 7-day concussion DL. Which is a bit odd in that he's been not playing since Sunday but originally it was described as a sore knee or something like that. Not sure when the supposed concussion came about. Now if I were a cynical guy I'd be wondering if the Yanx are using the shorter DL time in conjunction with the ASB to get him some rest without having to commit to the entire 15 days. I'd also go out looking for a cynical girl. Anyway, didn't help them tonight as the Indians, down 3-0 for much of the game, stuck nine runs up late for the 9-3 romp.

Lot of 'almost HRs' from Cy Oung this year: either the almost-fair type or of the just-short variety.

'twould be real nice if we got to Walden and/or Kimbrel tonight.

Yadier Molina goes on the DL and should be out for between 2 and 3 months. And from the 'Irony can be so Ironic' department: Molina injured the thumb after grabbing 3rd base to steady himself following a feet-first slide. Brandon Phillips of the Reds also needs surgery on his thumb but he did that on defense.

"Partial tear" of UCL on Tanaka. Rest & rehab for now, TJ surgery possible.

I hate looking like shit against Aaron Harangutan.

Am always surprised at the level of detail that pitchers can remember (batters too in their own way), in this case it's Matlack talking about the pitch, location, and call of the pitch before the one that was lined off his head.

From a BA Q&A: Q: That [breaking into the Top-50 mid-season prospects list (at #40)] is serious helium for Kevin Plawecki. What's a realistic projection for him? A: (Matt Eddy - BA): A regular catcher who won’t have to bat eighth in the order! Just glancing at regular catchers from the past five years, Plawecki might have a batting average-fueled ceiling along the lines of Salvador Perez or Carlos Ruiz, though he probably won’t be as strong defensively.

Pierzynski always had the rep of being a bit prickly. I always figured it was one of those deals where you hated him if he was on the other team but liked him if on yours ... but maybe that generalization is a bit too general and the truth is that he's more just a general-purpose rhymes with glass-bowl. I think it was the first year they did that 'Final Vote' thing for the ASG when Pierzynski was one of the AL choices all of which came just a week or so after he had gotten into a home-plate brawl (I think during a Cubs/ChiSox game). Anyway, White Sox mgmt took advantage of the rep gained by the fight and built a week-long campaign around encouraging their fans to step up and [u:1et3hqx3]PUNCH A. J.[/u:1et3hqx3] I think it worked.