Frayed Knot

Didn't realize until just a few minutes ago that the Nats are finishing up their series in Pitt tonight. So we can root for a long extra-inning game there with multiple relief pitchers needed. Atlanta [crossout:2ox49ky0]also finishing a 'wrap-around' series in San Fran tonight[/crossout:2ox49ky0] starting up with Sandy Eggo tonight. Mis-read the sked earlier. Phils get to play Arizona now.

Whenever I flick over to check on a Yanqui game it�s usually the second inning or so and almost always I find the Yanx are already up by 2 or 3 runs so my first reaction is; �OK, who hit the homer?� And, sure enough, I find out that someone hit a 1st inning HR with one or two on base and the other team is trying to play catch-up for the rest of the night. So this led to a little investigating. - Despite playing the fewest games in MLB so far (18 games, all other teams have played between 20 and 23) the Yanx do indeed lead the majors in HRs: 36 while only Texas (30) has more than 27 - The Yanx are also way out ahead in R/G with 6.06, more than 3/4 R/G ahead of Texas and nearly 1.75/g above 2011�s ML average. Their BA (8th best of 30 teams) and OBA (3rd) are good, but hardly outrageous. - But what�s really stunning is just how dependent they are on the HR. More than 60% of their runs so far have come via the HR - almost double the league norm of 32.4% (Mets = 29.3%) Main �culprits� so far - Russell Martin (6 in 66 PAs) - he hit a combined 12 over the past two seasons in nearly 1,000 PAs - Jorge Posada - nearing 40 and manning the DH spot regularly for the first time, he�s hitting a robust .153 but 6 of his 9 hits are HRs - Curtis Granderson (7) - he hit 30 once in Detroit so it�s not like he�s incapable, but is on pace for about 65 and 12 of his 19 hits are XBHs. 7 also makes him tied for the ML lead with the likes of Pujols, Tulowitski, Bautista, Braun, & Beltre - Teixeira (6), Rodriguez (5), and Cano (4) are certainly more expected to have multiples. Andruw and Gardener have 1 each. Probably helps that 11 of their first 18 (plus their next six straight) are at home. The trick is going to be whether they can keep this up (not likely) OR whether the weak spots they do have in their lineup so far: Gardener (.140/.197/.263), Jeter (17 of 19 hits are singles), Posada (other than the power) are going to be there to pick up the slack when the homer barrage starts to fade.

- I always liked Van Slyke as a ballplayer - never had much of an opinion on him as a person one way or the other. But if he's going to all but call Bonds a prima donna asshole on TV then that's A-OK with me. Also (and I think I've told this story before here) I kind of met him once. A guy I went to college with played American Legion ball against AVS back in their mutual hometown outside of Utica and knew him casually (said he was clearly the best player out there but also a HUGE hot-dog). We went to the rail during warmups at Shea one day as Van Slyke's Cards were throwing and my buddy tried engaging him in a conversation. Wasn't too successful and I think Slick was trying to remember where he knew this guy from. "Never was the sharpest knife in the drawer" was my friend's assessment. - Every report I ever heard either from baseball or from football was that Deion was extremely popular with his teammates. That fact always baffled me given his penchant for constant self-promotion but seemingly sensible guys in both sports claimed it was so. I remember when he did his high-stepping check-me-out dance on his way to a TD in the closing seconds of a game the Falcons were losing by about five touchdowns. I figured that his teammates would want to pummel him at that point but apparently that wasn't the case and it wouldn't be the first time I've failed to understand the NFL mentality. - SEVERAL pitches were either questionable or just flat-out unexplainable, and they all seemed to come at really crucial times. - Lind always struck me as one of those artificial turf Gold-Glovers who had problems on the real stuff.

The most important thing is that Beato, as the guy with the least amount of ML time, still has to fulfill the role of carrying the snacks out to the pen in the Barbie bag. And, really, does anything else match that in importance?

Ceetar wrote: So what's the story on this Jeter book I'm hearing about that exposes him as the whinny selfish SOB we all know him as? It's just a few excerpts that have started to leak out from the upcoming unauthorized bio by Ian O'Connor. Billing it as "unauthorized" makes it sound more hard-hitting than I'm sure it's going to be. Think about say Sean Hannity writing an unauthorized bio of Ronald Reagan or Eleanor Clift writing one on the Clintons and you get the idea. The few blurbs so far deal with the diva wars he and Alex have had over the years.

... the loss that got me so mad that I went outside and picked up branches in the backyard Whoa, remind me not to get on your bad side. Jim Riggelman remains as the Nationals manager. He�s a local guy and there are no expectations of success for this team ... We�ll see how long this lasts once Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg are on the team. I've spent enough time over the years in No VA to know that local sports media in DC knows nothing about baseball - [we now interrupt this Redskins talk for some Redskins talk]. Right now one of the few things they do know is that the name 'Harper' is supposed to be as exciting as 'Strasburg' on account of their both being #1 overall picks. What they don't take into account (because I don't think they realize it) is the age/experience difference (you mean baseball players aren't all told exactly when they are to be drafted or forfeit their right to play ever?!?) so they don't realize that the paths are going to be so completely different. The upshot is that fans who don't know better are going to be very disappointed when Harper isn't in a Nats uni before this season is out just like Strasburg was during his first year as a pro. Harper just turned 18 and is in low-A ball (started slow, coming on strong). If he's in the starting lineup for the Nats on opening day 2013 he'd still be ridiculously ahead of the curve. The club of course knows this, I just think the fan base is being deluded into believing he's only months away.

Of course sticking around doesn't guarantee Gee a spot in the rotation. With Pelfrey, Niese, Dickey, Young (activated as Carrasco is demoted), & Capuano (plus a day off tomorrow) there doesn't seem to be a seat at the dinner table for young Dillon.

Some interesting plays at the plate this Easter Sunday ... - Andrew McCutcheon of Pitt gets thrown out at home trying to tag on a fly ball to Jayson Werth in RF to end the game. McCutcheon is super fast although the ball wasn't all that deep ... and here's the thing: Pitt was down by three at the time and there was no one else on base!! There is ZERO upside to tagging there unless you're 130% sure you're going to be safe because you need two more guys to score behind you. Also, he should have been safe (and might actually have been) but he didn't help himself by making a lazy slide. - In Bal'mer, Mariano blew a save in the 9th (his 2nd in a row btw). After a walk and a single sandwiched around two outs, Brian Roberts lined a double down the RF line to tie the game, but the winning run in the form of PR Roberto Andino was thrown out at the plate on a relay from Swisher to Cano. Looked like he might have been safe but, again, another less than great slide. Geez guys, how 'bout getting a wee bit aggressive now and then?!? It's only the game on the line. - Then, to return the favor a half-inning later, Yanx get 1st & 3rd with one out in Top-10 when ARod lofts a fly to medium-deep CF. Looked like it would score Jeter from 3rd fairly easily but Adam Jones uncorked a great throw and catcher Weiters added great plate blockage to stop Jeter from scoring the go-ahead. The Birds failed to score in bottom 10 so now it's on to the 11th ... and now it's raining and the game is being held. Stay tuned.

Pagan hasn't gotten to a few balls this year that Pagan should have gotten to. The biggest unforeseen negative so far this season has been the outfield defense. Bay was missing; Pagan not up to last season; Beltran is slower and playing in a new spot; Harris messed up a few for whatever reason; and Hairston/Duda just aren't that good. Maybe the weather, small sample size, and/or unfamiliar territory for newbies has contributed - but errors or just plain plays not made were killing us early on. Yesterday, Beltran didn't take a great route on the run-scoring bloop. Angel probably comes up with that one, but Carlos probably should have as well. The rest just seemed to find no-man's land; balls that weren't anyone's fault, just frustrating in that bloops represented four of the eight Arizona hits (4 of their 6 singles) on Saturday.

The ad adds: -- Wright famously shut down the block so a crane could lift a hot tub up to his "ultimate bachelor pad," but the fun doesn't stop there. Some brokerbabble for you Flushing Faithful: The great room is defined by a salt-water aquarium and a gas fireplace with glass and stone. The floor-through layout offers three bedrooms including an oversized master suite, a large media room featuring a wall of five flat-screen TVs, four and half stunning bathrooms plus a home office with bathroom en suite. The eat-in kitchen features professional appliances, tremendous storage and a marble island with wine cooler as well as space for a full-sized dining table. One flight upstairs, the roof deck is fully equipped with enclosed hot tub, sound system and gas grill. and then goes on to say -- CORE's Kirk Rundhaug has the listing, so maybe this mancave will wind up on a future episode of 'Selling New York'. 'Selling New York' just might be the most obnoxious "reality" show this side of 'Jersey Shore'. (mom watches it ... 'Selling NY' that is, not 'JS') Totally status-climbing wannabe high-end real estate agents try to out-do each other in fulfilling the stereotype of being ... well, pushy obnoxious status-seeking NYers. The show basically has all the warmth of 'Glengarry Glenross' only with sellers and buyers who aren't nearly as likable.

Ty Wigginton notched his 1,000th ML career hit the other day - a HR against the Giants. Can't claim I ever thought he'd get there.

Frankie winds up K-ing the sides in amongst the nerve-racking bloops and SB

Did I say four? I meant five. GEEZ

I kind of hope the ump said to Roberts; "take that stupid tattoo off your neck and maybe you'd get better calls" The D'Backs definitely brought their bloop bats today. What's that, about four of them now?

Reyes bunted - it was the wrong move - and it worked out well Murphy didn't - it was the right move - and it came up to bite us

Edgy DC wrote: Hey, Murphy's not bunting... again! Maybe he should have been.

Chance for our first series win since the first series.

Pelfrey - 4.2 Isringhausen - 0.8 Rodriguez - 0.4 Davis - 2.5 Beltran - 0.9 Wright - 0.7 Murphy - 0.5

Capuano - 3.5 Buchholz - 0.5 Wright - 2.2 Bay - 1.0 Davis - 1.5 Nickeas - 1.3

Dickey - 1.5 Isringhausen - 0.3 Reyes - 1.7 Beltran - 2.0 Murphy - 2.0

Ceetar wrote: Gwreck wrote: You know what the key play was? David Wright leading off the bottom of the 7th, fouling off several pitches on the 3-2 count before getting the walk. That's how rallies start. indeed. it was obvious from 518 too. Was NOT obvious from TV (or maybe I'm just stupid) and challenging the call didn't even occur to me until Terry came trotting out of the dugout. Once the slo-mo replays ran it was clear it was a HR and so there was little suspense waiting for the umps. Lotsa nice ABs from Wright in the last two nights.

Brandon Wood picked up by the Pittsburghers.

A BA Q&A doesn't rate Cohoon's ceiling all that high, but likes his fast start anyway. We may be witnessing the best three starts of LHP Mark Cohoon's season � 19 innings, 20 strikeouts, three walks � but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Like Mets big league RHP Dillon Gee, Cohoon's best pitch is "control." That plus control will keep him alive as a No. 5 starter candidate, but the Mets will take that from their 2008 12th-round selection.

Of course baseball started with the best record at the end of the year equals champion model. The creation of the World Series (which the NL champ simply opted out of in 1904) was more an 'our champ vs yours' kind of thing which only started becoming more of an internal 'playoff' only as the leagues slowly morphed together.