Frayed Knot

HOw 'bout trying to get on base down two runs John instead of swinging for the fences every time?

Gattis looked for a bit like he was slowing down and coming back to earth ... but lately he's picked it back up again. Biggest crime in this inning was, as usual, the two walks. We've been killing ourselves with that type of inning lately.

Frayed Knot wrote: Typical Uggla night so far: K - K - HR - ?? And now a walk makes it even more typical.

Typical Uggla night so far: K - K - HR - ??

Was hoping for a GiDP from McCann ... but I'll take the K

Braves have, what, six hits tonight? - and three of them have been accidents up the 3B line by LHBs

Edgy MD wrote: Pinch hit for Byrd with Valdespin here? Not if it were up to me - but I think I've been wrong about this exact question already this season.

Duda continues to hit with a limp-RiSP

And this is how it's been going -- the one time Muffy makes an out is the one Ankiel finally gets on. Last game it was Ankiel on base all over the place w/XBHs and David couldn't get out of his own way.

BASE HIT UP THE MIDDLE FOR MAUER!!! we now return you to your regularly scheduled New York Mets game, already in progress

Between innings O-o-T-S break Anibal Sanchez starts the inning with 114 pitches thrown and zero hits allowed. Jamie Carroll is up for the Twins -- AND HE STRIKES OUT LOOKING Joe Mauer coming up

Position Players (listed alphabetically) most likely to go at or near the top of the draft: Kris Bryant, 3B, University of San Diego: The best bat in the draft, Bryant is a 6-5, 205 bruiser with outstanding right-handed power and the ability to hit the ball out of any park to all fields. He also has good pure hitting skills, controls the strike zone well, and has a chance to stick at third. Even if he moves over to first base, this is an All-Star caliber bat. He's hit more home runs this year than most college teams. Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville HS, Loganville, Georgia: The red-haired, right-handed, 6-1, 190 pound outfielder has thrived in high school and may have even more bat speed than Bryant, although his approach to hitting (understandably) is less refined. He may wind up in left field, but his bat will certainly play there given his outstanding power potential. His makeup is considered a big plus. Reese McGuire, C, Kentwood HS, Covington, Washington: High school catching is a strength in this draft and McGuire is the best of the lot, a 6-1, 190 pound lefty hitter with athleticism and excellent defensive skills. His hitting is considered solid and this complete package should take him off the board before the middle of the first round, perhaps even in the top five. Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS, Loganville, Georgia: Often compared to high school competitor Frazier, Meadows is a lefty hitter at 6-3, 210 pounds. His across-the-board tools may be a bit stronger than Frazier's, but his bat has less zip in it and he plays with less energy. He still projects as a major-league regular and is a lock to go in the top half of the draft. Colin Moran, 3B, University of North Carolina: Bryant's outstanding season has overshadowed the progress Moran (listed at 6-4, 180) has made in tapping into his left-handed power. The nephew of B.J. Surhoff, Moran already had impressive pure hitting skills and excellent plate discipline. His defense has improved, and there are rumors he could go first-overall to the Houston Astros. Hunter Renfroe, OF, Mississippi State University: A burly-but-athletic type at 6-1, 215, Renfroe took a giant step forward this spring as a power hitter thanks to better plate discipline. He's a certain first-rounder at this point and could go in the top ten under certain scenarios. His strong arm would look good in right field. Dominic Smith, 1B, Serra HS, Los Angeles, California: Smith was seen as a first-rounder pre-season due to his bat speed and strong defense and he's done nothing to change that assessment, ticketed for at least the middle of the round and perhaps sooner. He's athletic at 6-1, 200 and projects to hit for both power and average from the left side. and others

By this point in the last two games we were already down 3-0 in each case - so, so far, we're off to our best start in a while.

Wasn't Miller going to be a star? Miller & Maybin both were highly touted at one point so it wasn't like that deal was denounced as stupid at the time, at least in the way of: well, if you're set on trading Cabrera for whatever reason, this wasn't a bad one to make. This trade just goes as evidence of the adage about one in the hand being worth two in the bush. Miller is currently doing OK in the Boston bullpen.

But think of all the money they saved!

Niese - 2.2 Hawkins - 0.4 Rice - 0.5 Murphy - 0.5 Duda - 0.7 Buck - 0.7

Marcum - 1.0 Burke - 0.5 Hawkins - 0.3 Lyon - 0.5 Byrd - 3.0 Ankiel - 1.0 Duda - 0.5

Zvon wrote: I'll stop in again during Colbert. If the next one isn't up yet, I had no idea Nate Colbert was still playing! Maybe he only suits up on throw-back days or something because I've never seen him in modern Padres garb.

That's the type of hitter that scouting reports label as someone who "can be pitched to". IOW, make a mistake and he might hit it a mile but make smart pitches and you'll get him out most of the time. And, although I don't know if this is provable statistically, that type also gains the rep as one who'll get almost all his hits in 'lost cause' situations but rarely in meaningful spots when pitchers are bearing down. I think I first heard that 'can be pitched to' term applied to Mike Marshall (the 1B/OF obviously not the pitcher).

Maybe - although I get the idea that Bo was just one of those ridiculously natural/strong guys who didn't need to do much of anything to look and perform like he did. George Brett used to say that he never wanted to be back in the clubhouse can when Bo came to bat because he didn't want to miss what might happen. And then he would add a mock complaint that he never saw the guy do a single sit-up. In either case, he would have been fun to watch over a longer career. For a guy who barely played in college and then had just 200 minor league ABs before his call-up, he was just starting to learn the sport when the injury from his "hobby" derailed both careers.

On this date in 1973 Mets history ... the Mets weren't doing anything because they had the day off. But on May 24th they were in LA and beat the Dodgers 7-3 in 19 innings!!* -- a win that would put jump them to 3 games above 500 at 20-17. That also turned out to be the last time they were as high as 3 games over again until the final week of the season. In fact, in that whole season they topped out at just 4 games above, hitting that mark twice: at 4-0 after winning their first four games of the season, and then again on April 29th when they got to 12-8 before going into a five-game losing streak. * Seaver started but went only 6 and trailed 3-1 when he left. Harrelson�s 7th inning double knocked in one, and then George Theodore�s 8th inning single tied the game. Phil Hennigan, Tug McGraw (5 innings!), George Stone (6 innings and the win) tossed zeros for innings 7 through 18 before Jim McAndrew (of Lost Nation, Iowa) pitched a scoreless 19th for the save. http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=1823&tabno=D

I'm not even talking about the politicians so much as about the political reporters. White House press conferences often become a one-upsmanship contest among the correspondents.

I also think the '69 rushing of the field was a more spontaneous and joyful act while the '73 rush was more planned, by some simply so they could say they did it. Plus by that point it wasn't even the second time it was being done, it was more like the 4th. In '69 all three clinchings [NL East, NL Pennant, WS] were at home. The '73-ers missed out on a chance for the division so some were no doubt laying in wait for that one.

Political folks are often guilty of that too. They ask questions with these ridiculously long preambles that sound designed more to impress their colleagues than actually get a coherent or usable answer.

vtmet wrote: Is it time to put Niese on the 15 day DL before he hurts himself? and then give him a "rehab" trip to St Lucie to work on his control issues? Something just ain't right with Jon... No, because (as far as we know anyway) he's not hurt. Yeah, the 1st inning yesterday was ugly as hell, but he could easily have slid away from that scoreless and bounced back nicely the rest of the way, He was even lobbying for one more inning despite the high pitch count. So, in all, he's allowed just 2 earned runs on 11 hits over his last 13/1 IP. Not exactly what I'd term "ain't right" or something I'd go inventing injuries over. Zvon: Cut and paste that stuff into a new thread if you want to discuss the '73 NLCS. This thread is soon to be filed away into the archives anyway so you're just going to lose it again. Plus, last time I checked, we're no where near our quota of threads for the month so it's OK to start a new one.