DocTee

That guy gives historians a bad name. I'll see to it that his credentials are revoked.

If Matz (72) got 895K something's amiss since I was told Colorado OF Tim Wheeler (30) got 900K. Is there that big of a value added by being a LHP?

BMFC: Kuiper and Krukow were ragging on some dude in a chef's hat down the LF line in the first two innings. He was sporting a FAFIF retired numbers tee, that Krukow was able to decipher.

Giants broadcasters commenting on a FAFIF tee worn by a CitiField spectator. The Polish Prince able to identify the numbers easily.

95 consistently. Even in the sixth.

This weekend, the Mets host the surprisingly strong San Francisco Giants in a matchup that features bullets dodged (Barry Zito), history honored (NY Giants), and kung fu pandas (Pedro Sandoval). The team made some solid offseason moves, providing manager Bruce Bochy with a puncher's chance in the weak NLWest. GM Brian Sabean added SS Edgar Renteria (failure), LHP Randy Johnson (ditto) and some solid bullpen arms (Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry) to bridge the late innings to closer Brian Wilson (a heart attack for all Giants fans). The lack of any one superstar--only one player has more than 15 HR, none has more than 70 RBI, only one is hitting over .300 and only one has an OBP above .35-- means that the team has to rely on pitching to win, and boy do they have it. The arms: Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are a combined 24-7 and erratic lefty Jonathan Snachez has a no-hitter to his credit. The Freak is already over 200 K's and Barry Zito has proven to be an effective 5 inning pitcher, but rarely gets the run support given to his teamates. He's hot since the break, and could pose trouble for the Mets in the opener. The Giants enter CitiField with a record of 62-52, 6.5 games behind the division-leading Dodgers and 1.5 games behind wild-card leading Colorado. They narrowly avoided a sweep at the hands of thier archrivals this week, and have been scuffling of late, splitting their past ten games (all home contests, where the G-men are unusually good this year, with an NL best 39-20). Just our luck, we miss the Freak, Tim Lincecum. Leading Offenders: Pablo Sandoval: 17/68/.329 and a pleasure to watch. This guy is one helluva talent and has no idea how good he is. B. Molina: 14/61/.262 and a very good defensive catcher. Probable Lineup: 1b Ryan Garko/Travis Ishikawa 2b Freddie Sanchez (professional hitter) 3b Pedro Sandoval SS; Juan Uribe (he of the walkoff HR that avoided a Dodger sweep) LF: Eugenio Velez (implausibly hot) CF: Aaron Rowand (overpaid douchebag) RF: Randy Winn (I got nothing) C: Benji Molina Bench: Edgar Renteria, Nate Schierholz, Fred Lewis Probales: Zito 8-10 4.40 (3-1 2.32 since the ASB) Cain 12-4, 2.44 (winless inlast three starts) Sanchez 5-10, 4.61 (the Ollie Perez of SF, only cheaper. lots cheaper) Joe Martinez 2-1, 6.00 (rookie with live arm, holding down Big Unit's spot) Ex-Factor: None I know this is sparse, and though I live in the Bay Area, I've been way too busy to really focus on MLB this summer. Apologies for not meeting the standard set by my 'pool chums. Ex-Factor: None

Don't look now, but the MFYs have the best record in baseball. Is there no God?

Mets-Phillies: Shift on for Ryan Howard. Victorino on second. Howard hits a high pop to shallow right field that causes 1B Murphy, RF Reed and SS Tatis to collide. 2B Castillo retrieves dropped ball, fires it to the plate-- his throw hits and injures a concered 3B Wright, who has hastened to the scene of the collision. All four go on the DL simultaneously in a fitting conclusion to 2009.

Buccos continue bullimic purge, sending Grabow and Gorzelanny to Cubbies. Also, Dodgers land Orioles closer George Sherill to bolster bullpen.

SF--Pitt: 10 innings in 2:32

On Wednesday morning, Tim Stronach may not have seemed the most likely candidate to flirt with a perfect game. He was lugging around a hefty 6.59 ERA, and opponents were tagging him for a .367 batting average. Well, surprise. In an early afternoon game, Stronach turned in a masterful performance for his St. Lucie Mets against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. He rolled through six perfect innings and carried a no-hitter into the ninth, earning the win in St. Lucie's 10-0 rout of Palm Beach. "I sort of surprised myself today," Stronach (1-1) admitted. The 23-year-old righty signed with the Mets after being selected in the 22nd round of the 2006 Draft and posted a 4.59 ERA over his first three years as a pro. He began the 2009 campaign in extended spring training with rotator cuff tendinitis and didn't make his first Florida State League appearance until mid-June. The rotator cuff, Stronach said, "feels fine now. It felt great today." His outings this season have been brief, and Wednesday marked only his second start this year. In his first, he took a loss after allowing three runs on eight hits over a season-high 3 2/3 innings against the Tampa Yankees on June 19. Stronach, who's been sharpening his sinker since coming to the Mets organization, got 14 ground-ball outs in Wednesday's game. "I noticed they were swinging early [in counts], so I just tried to throw the sinker in there," Stronach said, "I threw [the sinker] more than the four-seamer." Palm Beach's Adron Chambers was hit by a pitch in the first at-bat of the seventh to become the first Cardinals baserunner. "I was much more frustrated than nervous," Stronach said of hitting Chambers. "It just nicked his sleeve. He was hanging out over the plate a little and the pitch didn't get down enough. That was a frustrating way to see the perfect game end." But Stronach went back to the sinker and induced a grounder off the bat of Charles Cutler, the next hitter. All three batters Stronach faced in the eighth also grounded out. The no-hitter continued when Thomas Pham hit a fly ball to right for the first out of the ninth, but Oliver Marmol followed with a double to left. Chambers worked a walk, and Stronach's day was done. He was relieved by Edgar Ramirez, who got the next two batters in the air. "I was a little tired [after the double], but the no-hitter being gone was on my mind. I was overthrowing to [Chambers]," said Stronach. "I didn't get the end of the no-hitter out of the back of my mind." Even when Stronach was cruising, though, there was one batter in the Cardinals lineup who added some pressure. Troy Glaus, who's recovering from shoulder surgery, is rehabbing with Palm Beach. "I was nervous about facing Troy Glaus," said Stronach. "But he got himself out. He popped up three times." Stronach had no other problems with nerves. Although he hadn't thrown four full innings in a game this season, he wasn't worried about his stamina wearing down. "I felt strong all day. I've been starting all my life. I never thought once today that I wasn't going to back out there. I felt great today, and my body felt great. The fielders were playing great behind me." As solid as he looked throughout the start, not every aspect of Stronach's game was working for him Wednesday. "I didn't have too many two-strike counts. My slider wasn't really getting over the plate, and they weren't chasing it. Sometimes you can't get that strikeout pitch to work, and you've got to find a way to get outs without it." He struck out just one batter in his outing, but he clearly made the adjustment he was seeking. Wednesday's game was "by far," the best of his professional career, Stronach said. "I didn't really expect to be a part of something like this." And he wasn't the only Mets pitching prospect to shine in a Wednesday matinee -- Savannah Sand Gnats hurler Jeurys Familia took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Kannapolis Intimidators before surrendering a run on a walk and a hit in the Class A South Atlantic League. Familia (7-6) recorded the win in the Sand Gnats' 3-1 victory.

Did anyone broadcast the Triple-A ASG? Nelson Figueroa pitched a scoreless frame, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Mebbe the Mets should bring this guy aboard: [url:r0m1vf1g]http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/14/SPE718LA3T.DTL[/url:r0m1vf1g]

Castillo with three hits and three runs. Nice

Tito Francona, too.

]Francouer is spitting tobacco juice in the outfield. What a lovely first impression.... You can take the boy out of Georgia, but...

Dislike. Church is better.

]Walks less than a paraplegic. Slugs less than Church. This is the funniest comment I have read in ages. And it almost distracts me from the fact that I hat this transaction.

More from Schmidt: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/sports/baseball/08injuries.html?hp

Ryan Freel is a Royal. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=4309328 (I would love Freel as a Met.) I'd have preferred: [url:23k612go]http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sweetspot/0-4-15/A-s-swipe-Hairston-from-Padres.html[/url:23k612go]

Now he's calling his teamates and GM out: [url:2ph3knm0]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290705116[/url:2ph3knm0]

Stay classy, Jimmy: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4301980

But did HoJo or Carter ever have candybars named after them? Didn't think so.

DeRosa could've played first...and his 12 homers would lead the team. just sayin'

DeRosa to Cards: [url:3oagxll6]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4292371[/url:3oagxll6] Gotta think we could've offered a better deal. Darn.