Frayed Knot

AG/DC wrote: Why no taggie? On the fly to Burrell from 1st base?!?? Hell No! Ralphie Newhouse (aka Raul Casa-nova) walks and puts to go-ahead into scoring position

4 straight hits and Eaton's gone after stumping us for 5 innings. Now we just need a quick poke and then 4 good innings for the pen ... no problem!!

AG/DC wrote: Grounder to short The inning looked ova But Bruntlett can't peg Raul Casanova Burma Shave

Bullpen for the last 5 games: 16-2/3 IPs; 3 Runs; 9 hits; 6 BBs; 16 Ks; 2 HRs; 0.90 WHiP; 1.62 ERA

AG/DC wrote: I'm going to think that, with Pagan out of the lineup, Randolph thought they looked weak down the bottom half of the lineup. An alternative was sticking the little-used-thus-far Chavez in the second slot, but Randolph, and all of us, have an interest in rehabilitating Castillo and his confidence, and that might mean an occasional return to the two hole to see if he can re-assert himself. It happens. That's pretty much what Willie said on the pre-game. Schneider's day-to-day at this point ... but, then again, aren't we all? In a surprise move the Phillies DL'd Jimmy Rollins after sitting him out for 10 days in which he got only 4 PHs or so. So no back-dating either since he PH'd just yesterday. Also, the recently called-up Chris Snelling is also DL'd (I think that's the 400th time in his career although I'd have to check on the exact amount). Two scrubs I've never heard of were called up for tonight's game.

Perez - 3.1 Reyes - 2.5 Wright - 2.0 Heilman - 1.0 Wagner - 0.7 Sanchez - 0.3 Church - 0.4

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Whoever that was doing the play-by-play with Tim McCarver made the same mistake that Gary Cohen made a few days earlier; saying that Paul Lo Duca was traded with Lastings Milledge for Church and Schneider. Kenny (son of Marv) Albert ]Also, how about that Ryan Howard? For the first time ever, I had absolutely no fear of him. I'm sure he'll snap out of it, but right now he's looking awfully washed up. He's what we fear Delgado will be. He's where Mo Vaughn was headed in 2003. He's a big dead space in the middle of the Phillies lineup. IIRC, he looked lousy at this time last year too. ]I wasn't aware that Jason Werth was Dick Schofield Sr.'s grandson. I guess that makes him the nephew of our Dick Schofield, huh? I knew that in the past but I constantly forget about it to the point where I'm temporaily surprised anew each time I hear it. I guess he's the son of of sister to Dick Jr. He's cetainly not built like his middle infielder relatives ... similar to the Larry Bowa - Nick Johnson syndrome.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Frayed: For how long do you get to be John Franco? I'm sorry but that information is classified.

Wagner in 2008: 25 batters, 1 walk, 24 outs.

The journey through Met-dom from the obscure to the mediocre and on into the land of the good is a fun one. Enjoy it, embrace it. And just think, only 8,500 more and you get to be John Franco.

Heilman (temporarily) shuts up his critics with a (shoulda been caught) bloop, followed by two straight Ks against the not-inconsequential duo of Jenkins & Werth

Nice 1st inning: Reyes - 2B Church - 1B (though Reyes didn't advance, he thought it was caught) Wright - 2-RBI 2B Perez = 1-2-3 inning GO, K, FO

Nah, lucky you has 1,000 posts to go before you reach Willie-dom

Reyes Chrurch Wright Beltran Delgado Pagan Schneider Castillo Perez Taguchi - RF Werth - CF Utley - 2B Howard - 1B Burrell - LF Feliz - 3B Coste - C Bruntlett - SS Moyer - P

Did you really want to get from Tommy Herr to Juan Berenguer THAT badly?

"Coulda fooled us" say most fans and announcers who have trouble remembering any since he's been here -- but Willie claims (on the pre-game radio spot) that the squeeze was on Friday night and that it was [u:4f5c36c8f8]Castillo[/u:4f5c36c8f8] who missed the sign*, not Pagan. He went on to add that he's always liked the squeeze play as a tactic but hasn't felt he's had guys who were comfortable pulling it off when they absolutely, positively had to get one down. But he does feel that with Castillo and went with it. * For those not watching, Pagan came charging in from 3rd on the pitch and probably stained his undies when Castillo, batting RH-ed, swung away ... fortunately for both stategy and health he fouled it off to the 1st base side.

Santana - 4.0 Wright - 2.3 Wagner - 0.7 Pagan - 1.0 Church - 1.0 Schneider - 1.0

Maine - 3.3 Beltran - 2.5 Reyes - 1.3 Smith - 0.5 Wagner - 0.6 Church - 1.2 Castillo - 0.6

Figueroa - 3.0 Heilman - 0.5 Sanchez - 0.6 Wagner - 0.5 Sosa - 0.8 Smith - 0.6 Reyes - 1.0 Delgado - 1.5 Easley - 1.0 Church - 0.5

It became fashionable a while back for teams to pursue long-term deals even in the pre-arbitration years to those players had shown a good start to their careers. Well Tampa Bay has decided to lock up one of their recent top draft picks - 3B Evan Longoria - to a 6-year deal with options for several more after playing just 6 days in the majors Nice work if you can get it

A fugly beginning (4 starts each) from some high-rent hurlers: - Sabathia: 0 -3; 18 IP; [u:2708680a2f]27 ER[/u:2708680a2f]; [u:2708680a2f]32 Hits[/u:2708680a2f]; 14 BBs; 14 K; 13.50 ERA; 2.56 WHiP - Verlander: 0 - 3; 24-1/3 IP; 24 ER; 22 Hits; 12 BBs; 14 K; 7.03 ERA; 1.40 WHiP - Zito: 0 - 4; 22 IP; 11 ER; 28 Hits; 9 BBs; 8 K; 4.50 ERA; 1.68 WHiP - Oswalt: 1 - 3; 23 IP; 17 ER; 35 Hits; 4 BB; 16 K; 6.65 ERA; 1.70 WHiP And to think, Met fans are booing Santana's first 3 outings: 1 - 2; 20-1/3 IP; 7 ER; 16 Hits; 4 BB; 18 K; 3.05 ERA; 0.97 WHiP

metirish wrote: Tejada should be forced to pay one of his former teams two years wages. A lot of the teams aren't so innocent on these birth date shenanigans either. Many have a pretty good idea about the slight-of-age and some absolutely know. I remember the Yanx having trouble keeping a straight face when talking about El Duque's age upon first signing him while, at virtually the same time, they were taking a different Cuban signee to court on account of an age-deception in an effort to get their money back after he turned out to be not as talented as they hoped. They were shocked, *SHOCKED!* to discover that there was age-lying going on. I believe they wound up settling somewhere in the middle. Meanwhile, Tejada's got, what, a year or two left on that long-term he signed with Baltimore? ... so it's not like it's going to continue into his baseball old age. Oakland & Baltimore got prime years out of him and Houston dealt for him even as he was prominantly mentioned in steroid rumors. All teams involved will survive quite nicely.

Alright, it's been like barely a week since we played these guys so if you need help knowing them you've got bigger problems then my essay here will solve - but a little update on what's been happening in the last 9 days never hurts. The Phils come in at 8 - 8 having just took 2 of 3 from the struggling Astros. That leaves them 1 game behind the 8 - 6 Mets (we've played fewer games to this point than every other team in the majors) and 1-1/2 behind the 1st place Florida Marlins (9 - 6) Friday - 7:05 (SNY) Santana vs Cole Hamels (L): 3 starts; 2-1; 22 IP; 0.82 ERA; 0.82 WhiP (check out that ERA/WHiP coincidence) The top-dog matchup that didn't happen during the first go-round leads this series off Saturday - 3:55 (FOX) Perez vs Jaime Moyer (L): 3 starts; 14-2/3 IP; 5.52 ERA; 1.84 WHiP The (sorta) young vs the (very) old as we continue to see a steady diet of southpaws even as Schneider and especially Church are spending the early season giving a big F.U. to the practice. These two hooked up in the first game of last week's series. Mets got 2 off Moyer in 6 innings while Perez was yanked in the 6th despite still having a shutout. Eventually the Met pen caved in (Schoeneweis, Sosa, Heilman) and the Phils won 5-2 Sunday - 8:00 (ESPN) Pelfrey vs Adam Eaton (finally a RHP!): 3 starts; 19-2/3 IP; 4.12 ERA; 1.39 WHiP Yes, for the 2nd week in a row ESPN schedules (read as: MLB allows them to) a Sunday game at night, in April, in the northeast. Mets built a 3-0 lead on Eaton last week before the pen (Heilman again) let the Phils tie it up in the game the Mets eventually won in the 12th when Pagan's hit scored Reyes on a close play at the plate. Jimmy Rollins has had only 3 ABs since twisting his ankle last week (our pick-off strategy worked in other words) and isn't expected to play until Saturday at the earliest. That leaves Eric "E-6" Bruntlett manning the position who, in addition to not fielding, isn't hitting either (.176/.222/.265) Shane (the flyin Hawaiin) Victorino has been DL'd with a calf problem. So Taguchi is getting most of his ABs and the spot on the roster is being taken up by the Florida-born, Australian-raised OFer Chris Snelling. The lefty-swinging Snelling was a top prospect in the Mariners system where his style of play often had him referred to as a down-under version of Lenny Dykstra. He put up some real good minor league numbers and even made hi ML debut way back in 2002, but his Lenny-like penchant for running into walls and other people kept shelving his progress as he missed major chunks of several seasons. The Phils are his 4th organization in the last 4 years. Pat Burrell (.373/.492/.804 - 6 HR); Chase Utley (.317/.400/.651); Chris Coste (.400/.478/.800 - 20 AB); and Jayson Werth (.370/.514/.556) are the hottest hitters for the Phightin's Eric Bruntlett; Carlos Ruiz (.186/.239/.233); and Ryan Howard (.211/.361/.456 - 4 HR) not so much Relievers Rudy Seanez (6 IPs); Brad Lidge (5 IP); and J.C. Romero (6-2/3 IP) are unscored upon so far this season.

Not surprising that this game was played in San Diego and not Denver. Jake Peavy (8 IP - 4 hits) & Jeff Francis (7 IP - 3 hits) started and both left the game scoreless as the team [u:45ccf27758]traded runs in the 14th[/u:45ccf27758]!! for the only scores until top 22. Total time = 6:16 LOB = 30 Combined hits = 25 Combined XBHs = 3 (all doubles) pitches = 658 Rusch not only lost the game (on an unearned run) but struck out to end it (no pinch-hitters left) Longest ML game since 1989 Sleepless in San Diego

Interesting concept; the offense trying to advance runners kept giving the defense outs while the defense kept trying for outs but wound up giving offense all kinds of extra bases.