Frayed Knot

There are also several players assigned to a kind of AFL taxi squad who are only eligible to play twice a week or something like that. The Hawaii league scraps were supposed to be taken up by a kind of junior Arizona Fall league, one that is set aside for the younger/lower players the AFL normally doesn't take. Not sure of the exact status of that project.

I don't have a problem with any of this.

No (to the 2 or 3 people actually paying attention here) I didn�t abandon this project with just two days to go. Actually the Mets had TWO days off between game #160 and #s161-162, games which looked like they�d be crucial just a few weeks back but are now just window dressing as a mere 10,000 fans �pack� Wrigley Field Wednesday, October 1 - Wrigley Field: Mets 6 - Cubs 5 -- Jerry Koosman vs Ken Holtzman Teams trade runs early to make it a 3-3 game by the 4th. It stays that way until the 9th when Agee�s 2-out 2R-HR off starter Holtzman puts them up 5-3 but the Cubs answer back with two in their half and it�s on to extras (bet the Cubs loved that) It takes until the 12th when Harrelson�s leadoff double is knocked in by Shamsky�s single Bob Johnson - the Mets sixth pitcher of the day - appears in his 2nd and last game as a Met while earning his first ML save. It�s also win #100 for the Mets on the season and their 9th straight. Game Time = 3:20

'Torn' is my brother. I thought this thread was about us. I'll look to see if I have a picture.

It's impossible to put into words how much this team is sucking ... so I'm going to try anyway. 7th inning: - Parnell walks the first batter he faces ... never a good sign - Then comes a come-backer which is turned into a force play when it at least could have been a GiDP - next comes a weak grounder where they got no outs. They at least got out of that inning with a grounder & IF pop-up. 8th inning: - a leadoff groundout is followed by a solo HR. OK, Zimmerman's a good hitter, shit happens. - In comes Feliciano to get his guy on an IF pop-up, but then comes Green. - You ever notice how weird shit just seems to happen when Green is on the mound? Some of it's his fault, some seems to just follow him. - First guy = error by Wright and the next guy walks. He gets out of the inning with another weak grounder but the inning should have been over two batters earlier 9th inning: - Infield single which could have (should have IMO) been an error ... seeing-eye single up the middle ... sac bunt (hey, at least they got him out) -- 2nd & 3rd, 1 out. - so now what else do you need but another walk in front of the 3 & 4 hitters? -- Bases loaded - he then Ks the toughest guy, but then walks the next one bringing in a run - now up comes the defensive replacement getting his first AB of the game and the 99th of his ML career (spread out since 2007) but of course the previous shit has left no margin for error, and going 3 & 2 on HIM makes things even worse. And while I can't say I foresaw THAT happening, I had totally given up on coming out on the winning end of the game by then. I knew something was going to happen. So, from the 7th inning on the Nats sent 18 batters to the plate. THREE!!! of those batters hit the ball out of the infield (a weak grounder plus the two HRs) and yet they still scored 6 runs. Seven infield grounders were hit which the Mets managed to turn into a whopping 4 outs even though four of those seven were hit w/less than two outs and a force play in order. Two of the three leadoff hitters in those innings reached, as did two of the three second hitters. Four walks were issued Mets bats, meanwhile, managed to squeeze one run from those same innings after starting one with a leadoff double and another with three straight hits. I missed Keith's comments too. Was there something specific he was bitching about?

Pelfrey - 3.0 Wright - 2.2 Pagan - 1.8

The Rockies are really leading a charmed life. There seem to have been a bunch of games down the stretch here where they've played like shit and still managed to win. Last night: - Their closer blows a 3-run lead in the 9th last night (giving up a HR to Jason Kendall of all people) - They get their best pinch-runner on in the 10th and he promptly gets picked off - In the 11th, Chris Ianetta looks like he's K'd on a 2-strike half-swing but gets the benefit of the call ... and then hits a walk-off 2R-HR on the next pitch

Minny came in to this series having to take at least 3 of 4 - so now it's the last 2 or forget it. Splitting will just spin their wheels and take two more days off the schedule. Their biggest obstacles are having to face Verlander & Grienke in two of their last five games with virtually no margin for error. BoSox clinched the WC even though they lost again and are essentially playing like shit lately. Yanx - courtesy of their league's best record - get to pick their schedule for the first round. Either they can choose the 5 games w/one day off or 5 with two days off. Be interesting to see which they opt for. The extra day off allows you to only go with three starters but of course it allows the other squad to do that too. Verlander & Edwin Jackson twice each (assuming Detroit makes it) might be better for the Tiggers.

19 LOBs in 2 games

Either of those line-outs that inning could have broken the game open, although neither was particularly scorched. On the other hand we picked up a pair after the 2nd inning's lead-off double and Pelfrey's has had hisself two 10-pitch perfect innings so far.

Gardenhire called for 4 sac bunts in the first game. Actually maybe more since those were only the ones that were successful. One of the ones that wasn't was his squeeze play into a DP in the 9th inning (bunt was popped up). Tigers called for at least one too. I thought this was America League ball?!?

I can't believe we had the sacks loaded with no outs and a run already in and didn't tack anything on. Yeah I can.

Nationals have a magic number of 1 for clinching the #1 draft pick in next year's draft - although I'd just as soon they get it via a Pittsburgh loss. Historically no one ever had back-to-back years of #1 picks because they used to alternate which league started things off (I guess to cut in half the number of teams with an incentive to tank the season). They did away with the alternating league stuff only a few years back.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: My complaint about it was that it in order to become a movie about immigrants, they had to jam a lot of baseball life experiences into a slim timeframe. In reality, Sugar's experience probably plays out over a period of years and not months. I was thinking, this kid showed enough promise to come back or the least be assigned to a lower league no matter what and probably should have. But I understand, it would have taken too much time to play out. Not sure what was so time-condensed. He was about 19/20 y/o during the movie and it was implied that he was and had been in the Dominican League when we join the story. Starting out in America at the low-A level at his age would be logical. Whether he'd get frustrated and/or burned out enough to chuck it all after less than one season is, I suppose, questionable but I didn't see that as unreasonable. 'Bridgetown' was a stand-in for Davenport, Iowa - not that they tried all that hard to disguise it. You could see a sign that said Davenport in the background of one scene and 'The Swing' is the real Midwest League team in 'Quad Cities' (Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island). That bridge in the background of the stadium is one that crosses the Mississippi. Liked the Spanish language version of 'Hallelujah'

Twins win 3-2. Tiger's lead down to 1 game.

Mostly this is based on my observation of watching him in dozens of games per year over 14 seasons now. And while I don't have any stats on hand, I have seen some that have him almost never being thrown out on the basepaths (other than in steal attempts).

Nathan in Detroit on a mission to save the Twins' souls (see what I did there?) gives up a leadoff HR to Granderson in bottom 10.

I'm not buying into any myth. I've got maybe half-a-hundred posts here over time that say otherwise. The Jeter myth is about him being the 'clutch-est' person in the world and about the strawman argument involving intangibles and about performances that go on around him that are automatically attributed TO him. It's the columnist from earlier this year who claimed that any credibility that the WBC had is all due to Derek Jeter. It's about Rick Sutcliffe saying during the WBC that Brian McCann going to the opposite field could only have come about as a result of his pre-game conversation with Jeter. It's about the joke that made the rounds after ARod kept that kid from walking into traffic in Boston which said that Jeter wouldn't need to do that because he automatically makes everyone around him a better pedestrian. It's about repeating how he can raise his game when pumpkin-selling season rolls around when it's a claim that's demonstrably untrue. It's about making believe the catch he made while crossing the foul line before not being able to stop was one he didn't catch until he was air-born over Row C. Ironically, the Jeter myth-makers have been so busy over-selling mystical powers he doesn't have that they often miss or under-sell the fact that he's a terrific fundamental player and THAT is what I'm talking about. So, no, it's not about him never making a physical error, it's about rarely making play 'A' when play 'B' is the better choice. It's about never taking plays for granted and therefore being prepared if the unexpected does happen. It's about not staying put when he should be running and not running when he should be staying put. And it's about never NOT hustling. In short, it's a standard players should aspire to and so when one who claims to want to do just that doesn't it's a situation worthy of comparison - particularly when the two share both a city and a face-of-the-franchise label.