Frayed Knot

Generally moving back in the box would give you that extra split-second on a good fastball while standing up forward helps one get to a breaking pitch before it continues to run away off the outside corner. And while most batting stances are just individual preferences, a hitter could move around in the box within an AB anticipating a particular pitch - although that could then signal to the catcher what pitch the batter is now vulnerable to, something that's all part of the ongoing cat-and-mouse game. oe: what Chicken said

Yup! I rate those as a bit tougher than the others because of the angle the catcher has to deal with and the fact that his glove isn't ideal for the task -- but it was definitely another one where a NYM fielder, while camped under a ball, had said ball hit him dead-central in the glove and still pop out

No, nothing like that -- get your freakin' minds out of the gutter. Just picking up on a discussion from Monday's IGT New York Post: The personal highlight reel by Beltran was in keeping with his season, which has been off the charts. Not only does he lead the NL with a .400 average, but Beltran extended his hitting streak to 15 games. "My whole career I've been a pull hitter, and now letting the ball get deep has helped me to use the whole field," Beltran said. "Once you do that, you've got a lot of opportunities to help the team." Soupcan: What does Beltran mean here? Letting the ball go deeper in terms of the front and back of home plate/strike zone? So a pull hitter hits the ball towards the front of the plate/strike zone and if one is going to go opposite field then its not so much the swing but where the ball is hit within the zone? Interesting stuff. Frayed Knot: Yes - to all of the above. That's why inside fastballs are, in effect, faster than fastballs towards the outside corner. Hitters need to meet the inside pitch out in front of the plate or else they're getting jammed in on the hands. Outside pitches of the same speed aren't usually met until the ball has reached over the plate, maybe as much as a foot or so "later". Centerfield: When I was playing I always had the problem of letting the ball get too deep. Like in the catcher's glove deep. So Keith was clearly reading the 'Pool' in prep for Tuesday's game as he went to the tele-strator on some overhead shots outlining this exact subject. - First they had a shot of Prado's 7th inning double in to the LF corner, the overhead shot showing him meeting the pitch at least a foot or more out in front of the plate in order to pull the inside pitch down the line. - Then a same camera shot of an earlier Wright swing on a pitch on the outside corner. In this one he didn't meet the ball until it had reached over the plate itself which means the bat was still at an "open" angle and could only go towards RF (wound up being a foul ball I believe).

]- Tatis is 4 for 11 with a double and a homer. And I bet both Tatis & Park remember both those HRs well ... 'specially since they came kinda close together.

My only point in even bringing this up was that you generally see, what, maybe 2 of those in a season? And yet we've already seen 3 now with still about 85% of the year still to come. Plus one of them directly cost us a game (Murphy's) and Delgado's last night nearly did.

Hernandez - 3.0 Beltran - 1.5 Wright - 1.5 Delgado - 1.0 Castro - 2.4 Putz - 0.6

1) Let's see how this place plays over an entire season before we declare it (or YSIII for that matter) to be an extreme park in any direction. Traditionally Shea played like a better hitter's park in the Summer than it did in April & May. 2) No other park is like Coors. Not only does the high altitude give about 10% more carry to balls but the increased OF size to compensate for that extra carry also allows for more 1Bs, 2Bs & 3Bs. In retrospect they would probably have been better off to make the fences higher instead of further. Yeah it would resemble a pinball game occasionally but at least then you'd be turning HRs into doubles instead of the other way around 3) They DO have the option of bringing the fences in (and/or lowering them) after the season if the place does indeed turn out to favor hurlers too much. But, like I said, let's wait a bit before declaring that to be necessary.

More for both teams for sure. Consider that the average runs/game for both teams is about 9 these days - and these teams racked up a total of 23 hits, got issued 8 walks, and benefitted from 4 errors, yet only managed to get 7 runs and that was only after being handed their final 2 each. At least Livan can make the argument that he made his own breaks by inducing 3 DPs

That's one each for Murphy, Sheffield & Delgado so far this year. Am I missing any?

They were handed the insurance runs they needed. Expecting more out of all the runners we had is not greed.

Nobody ever listens to my good ideas

I got a good idea ... let's NOT bring the tying run to bat.

We score despite Jerry's strategy!

We can't be letting this Kamikazi guy off the hook with only 2 runs. Not after so many pitches and LOBs

Posada to the 15-day DL

Oswalt pulled with some kind of "bone bruise" on hand. Game called due to rain - will resume next time the teams get together (in Houston I believe) and pick up where they left off: tied in bottom 11 with a runner on and none out.

Looks like Houston scored 5 over the 7th, 8th & 9th innings ... but the Nats score [u:a92b7383f6]eight[/u:a92b7383f6] over that same span including 2 in bottom 9th to send it to extras. Tied at 10 heading for the 11th

Y'know if it were only a handful of people I'd be quicker to say they were dorks for listening to some usher who said something he shouldn't have and no big deal. But when "hundreds" leave on the advice of guys wearing stadium uniforms with "how can I help you?" buttons you start to think it's an organizational screw-up somewhere and less a case of gullibility. Over the years the Yanx have usually been pretty good at providing future tickets to fans who missed, or even sat through, a game that was severely delayed or hampered by rain. But that was under the old regime and in the old stadium. Be interesting to see how the Tross/Levine mafia plays this one, particularly in the face of all the bad publicity they've taken lately.

soupcan wrote: What does Beltran mean here? Letting the ball go deeper in terms of the front and back of home plate/strike zone? So a pull hitter hits the ball towards the front of the plate/strike zone and if one is going to go opposite field then its not so much the swing but where the ball is hit within the zone? Yes - to all of the above. That's why inside fastballs are, in effect, faster than fastballs towards the outside corner. Hitters need to meet the inside pitch out in front of the plate or else they're getting jammed in on the hands. Outside pitches of the same speed aren't usually met until the ball has reached over the plate, maybe as much as a foot or so "later".

NYDN: Yanx tell fans game was called off -- then won't let them back in when it starts. And that's after making them wait more than 2h-20m in the rain because the team didn't want back-to-back off days.

The Ankiel film was pretty scary-looking. Marlins finally won in the 14th inning but on a bullshit (non) call - so no ground gained on 1st place last night. 1st & 2nd/no outs in bottom 14: - Cantu hits a perfect GiDP ball but a slight bobble makes the throw to 2nd a bit late. - This allows runner Hanley Ramirez to take out the SS but with a slide that was nowhere near the base. - So the throw goes wide and the runner from 2nd comes around to score the winner. The right call there not only makes both runners out but sends the other guy back to 2nd base. Marlins still would have had one more shot at it but jeez blue, we know you're tired and want to get back to the hotel but Hanley wasn't within 5 feet of reaching 2nd.

BoSox putting up a picket fence over the first 4 innings on Phil Hughes and the Yanx: 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 Lester has struck out 7 MFYs so far Marlins & Reds in the 12th, still tied.

Takahashi - 1.6 Parnell - 0.4 Putz - 0.9 Murphy - 2.2 Castro - 1.5 Beltran - 1.4 Castillo - 0.6 Cora - 0.6

Maine 2.3 Beltran - 4.0 Wright - 2.5 Rodriguez - 0.7 Parnell - 0.5