Frayed Knot

We could do a Wifey/girlfriend watch thread for this team and label it the 'Teufelo Honeys'

Gallardo still in in the 9th for the Brew Crew working on a 2-hit shutout Hinske Ks ... Freeman bounces to 1st ... and (the devil wears) Prado grounds to SS And that means it's your (tied for) 1st Place Mets

Gwreck wrote: No taser action, unfortunately. So the cops used real guns this time?

Well NOW it's officially TH as Mr. alwayscomesthroughwhenyouneedhim strikes out to end the game. Now if the Brewers can hang onto their 1-0 lead in the 8th vs the Braves we're going for a Quad tonight.

Dickey - 3.7 Carrasco - 0.4 Harris - 1.8 Pagan - 0.6 Davis - 1.3 Thole - 1.0 Murphy - 0.6 Reyes - 0.6

The only thing better than a Met win is a Met win against Philly And the only thing better than that is flicking the channel after the final out to find that the Yanx blew a 4-run lead in the 8th and the Twinkies are currently threatening to bust up the tie in the 10th

They've not exactly been knocking the cover off the ball, but it's getting the job done. Be nice if Beltran joins the hit parade here.

* Weren't there a bunch of pictures of Ambler in those same poses and get-ups as Hamels? * Joke for old-timers only

I think - as did the panel - that the Alou reaction had a ton to do with the fan/media response to Bartman. Most of the crowd didn't have a good enough angle on things to know exactly what happened and how close it was to being interference. Alou's reaction certainly set the tone for all that. As for what it did to the Cubs ... who knows. The pitching and the Gozalez error were obviously the biggest things and it's hard to tie them directly to Moises's anger. Prior was pitching a gem up to that point but couldn't put Castillo away (but Luis was good at that sort of thing) and maybe was tiring. Farnsworth then threw gas on the fire but he has a reputation for never being good "in a big spot" although the rep was probably still being birthed on that night.

Yeah, it was amazing how quickly things came apart for Chicago after the Bartman/Moises incident - whether you believe the two were connected or not is up to you. - Juan Pierre got things off with a one-out double - Castillo ran the count to 3-2 and then starting fouling off a bunch. The Bartman ball was like the 3rd 3-2 pitch he wasted towards the LF stands; he then walked on the next one (1 post-popup pitch) - Pudge then hit an 0-2 pitch in LF for a single scoring Pierre (3 more pitches = 4 total) - Cabrerra hits a potential (though hardly guaranteed) DP ball on the first pitch he sees to Gonzlaez who flubs it (+1 = 5) - Derrick Lee doubles to LF on the first pitch he sees to tie the game (+1 = 6) ** Game tied - out goes Prior in comes Farnsworth ** - Intentional walk to Mike Lowell loads the bases (not going to count those as actual pitches) - Conine Sac Fly again on the first pitch puts the Marlins into the lead (+1 = 7) - Lefty-swinging Todd Hollandsworth hitting for Chad Fox is intentionally walked - Mike Mordecai (.213 hitter for the season, <.200 vs RHPs) drives a 2-1 into the gap for a bases-clearing double (+4 = 11) - Juan Pierre singles MM home on the first pitch for the 8th run of the inning (+1 = 12) - Castillo later popped out to end the inning So that's a 3-0 Cubs lead to an 8-3 deficit in a span of just 12 pitches (20 if you want to count the two IWs)

Thom Brennerman & Steve Lyons on the mikes. Once again the studio failed to land Joe Torre for the commentary so settled for the still-chipper though has to be nearing 80 y/o Jack McKeon*, Marlins' 3B Mike Lowell, and the Chicago half of the two Alex Gonzalez's who played SS in that game. The game itself featured a great cast of characters, some of whom looked almost in disguise compared to their today selves: Mark Prior was good and threw hard; Miguel Cabrera was skinny (and presumably sober); Sammy Sosa was still dark-skinned; Moises Alou wasn't injured at any point during the game; Derrick Lee was a Marlin not a Cub; Luis Castillo was good - y'know, things you wouldn't immediately think of now. Bartman was, of course, featured prominently although I still want to know how those other two guys who reached along with him escaped the same scrutiny. oe: McKeon just turned 80 in November

So as if the 17 in a row isn't bad enough, a quick check shows that 12 of the last 18 GS the Mets have given up have come with 2 outs.

I was intrigued enough by this flick to seek out and read the book that was the source. That's fairly unusual for me, first because I'm not much of a fiction reader but also if I'm going to read a book and see the movie I usually do so in that order. Can't think of a recent time when it's been movie first. Anyway, the book of the same name by Daniel Woodrell is a short little read (can knock it off in a few days) but the movie holds fairly true to the source. Aside from the usual caveat about how the book can flesh out the characters more fully, Ree's younger siblings are both boys in the book* and the character of her best friend is a bit more prominent. But mostly it's the same story and much of the dialog and great lines are ripped straight from the written page. The author turns out to be someone who both grew up and still lives in the Ozark Mountain region near the Missouri/Arkansas border, lending some authenticity to LWFS's idea about how people like this and the world they inhabit really exist. He's a guy who joined the marines the day he turned 17 before eventually getting a college degree in his late 20s and later attending writer's workshops in preparation for a literary career. * there was some note in the credits which indicated that the actor who played the little sister was a local, someone who lived at or near where the film was shot - that was possibly the reason for the change from two younger brothers to one brother and one sister.

I thought about pinch-running for Ike before Collins called for it but had rejected the idea just a second prior to seeing Hu trot out there. That said, I don't think it was a huge deal either way. Ike is the better fielder but Muffy more than held his own while he was there in '09 and there's probably at least as good a chance that the difference in speed makes up for the fielding gap (although I'm unsure at this point how fast Hu is). So far my only major complaint was when he had Pagan bunting in game 2. Even though the result worked out in our favor in the end I saw that less as brilliant strategy and more as luck.

And did it on the road ... against a division opponent ... one we've usually had trouble with ... and are behind only Philly in the East (who had a series at home with maybe the worst team in the NL). Really only 1 bad inning (pitch?) from Pelfrey and a blown Frankie save marred the whole weekend.

THESE are the Marlins I remember. Performances like they got from Josh Johnson cover up a lot of dreck, but they've been just awful defensively and otherwise since.

Gwreck wrote: DJ Carrasco - 903 Nope, Capuano = 903 Carrasco is 904

Yanx are cheating again today. They've put two pitchers on the mound at the same time but are trying to disguise it by stuffing them both into the same uniform. Apparently the names of the hurlers are Bartolo and Colon.

Only when you squat.

Or, as Lupica points out today: ... did Cashman tackle Scott Proctor in the old days when Joe Torre was running him out there every day?

Beato - 0.5 Harris - 1.6 Beltran - 1.4 Davis - 0.3 Pagan - 0.3 Boyer - 0.2

Niese - 3.6 Parnell - 0.5 Wright - 2.2 Davis - 1.0 Thole - 1.4 Harris - 1.3

Actually the LA/SF game is the fourth of this series and therefore not technically the 'rubber' or deciding game. It's also the ESPN SNB roll-out of their new #1 team of Dan Shulman, Bobby V, & Orel Hershiser. No longer is America held hostage to the inane babbling of Joe Morgan. Injuries starting to pile up: Magglio Ordonez out of today's game vs Yanx - ankle Evan Longoria with oblique injury trying to miss only a couple games and avoid the DL Cardinals still haven't put Holliday on the DL with his appendectomy. They think he may be able to avoid it which sounds real odd to me. Maybe the Cards & Rays should claim that Longoria & Holliday have concussions and use the new 7-day!

Edgy DC wrote: I could be wrong, but I have August 1, 2009 as the last Metly grand slam (Pagan vs. Diamondbacks at Seaver Stadium). You could be right, even if a little late. Grimm already won the Cadillac El Dorado for answering first here. Irish wins second prize which is a set of steak knives. You know what third prize is? Third prize means you're fired. The good news is that, faced with two separate bases-loaded situations last night, NYM pitchers didn't give up grand slams in either one of them. Niese in the 1st -- result = 2-run single and Rodriguez in the 9th -- bases-loaded pop-out Not that I plan on tracking this on a day-by-day basis, but last season Met pitchers served up salamis just over 6% of the time they set themselves up for one: 12 out of 197 It only seemed like 40%

Yeah, well that's why incentive clauses based on most 'outcome' stats aren't allowed. ABs, PAs, appearances and the like are usually something that's out of a player's direct control. 'Games Finished' kind of falls into more of a gray area.