(Earth) Day in Review: Monday, 4.22.13

The above pinky belongs to Brewers SP Kyle Lohse.  He dislocated it when colliding with Padres 2B Jed Gyorko during a play at first.  It is on his non-pitching hand, so he should be fine for his next start (they say).  Still, ouch.  Easing the pain, I’m sure, is that Lohse and his Brewers won- the team’s 8th in a row after an 8-2 start.  And everybody’s favorite “innocent” PED user Ryan Braun got another HR.  Oh, joy.

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In that Brewers game, the Padres broke their unfortunate streak of innings without scoring a run at 25 2/3 when they scored in the 5th tonight.  It was their only run, losing to the Brew Crew 7-1.

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The Angels lost to the Rangers tonight on an A.J. Pierzynski 9th inning HR by the score of 7-6, but there was a bright spot. Josh Hamilton, who had an awful weekend and who saw Albert Pujols intentionally walked by the Tigers to get to him- a successful move each time- was finally moved in the lineup to hitting behind Mark Trumbo.  Hamilton went 4-4 for the 16th time in his career.  Of course, with Trout-Pujols-Trumbo going a combined 0-13 in front of him, it didn’t help the Angels fortunes much.  Still, it has to be heartening for Angels fans to see Hamilton bust out.  He did have 2 RBI and saw his average rise to .222.

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Mother Nature saw games canceled in Minneapolis and Denver again.  That makes 15th postponed games so far three weeks in.  USA Today’s Bob Nightengale in his piece pointed out that the record for postponed games is 26 in 2007.  A lot of whiny types are saying that the Twins should play in the Metrodome on days like today. The sky isn’t falling, it’s just snow.  It’ll all work out.

Twins closer Glen Perkins is proving to be a pretty funny guy.  Today on Twitter he posted: “If you like peeing in the snow, like I do, this has been a great spring!!”

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The National League teams with the two best records- Braves and Rockies -will attempt to play a double header tomorrow, but the Braves are going to be without Jason Heyward indefinitely as he was taken to the hospital today for an appendectomy. I was going to say “emergency” appendectomy, and maybe I’d be correct, but I have not heard yet of a scheduled one.  I’m sure there have been.  Moving on…

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In Houston, King Felix notched his 100th career win.  The Mariners beat the (Not-lowly) Astros 7-1. Hernandez pitched six innings and struck out 9.  Afterward it was reported that he had some stiffness in his back… Hopefully it isn’t anything serious. Michael Morse, who started off super hot with six HRs in the first six games before getting hit on the hand has been ice cold.  He didn’t go on the DL, but after taking a few days off, he has gone 3 for 28 since, a .107 mark…  Hernandez is the third pitcher to win 100 or more games in a Mariners uniform.  Can you name the other two?  (answer at the end).

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The Reds Shin-Soo Choo got hit by a pitch for the 10th time this month alone.  Enough of this bullshit.  The next starter to face him needs to give him some high heat.  A little chin music for Shin should back him off the plate.  Bring on Bob Gibson.

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The Nationals stadium featured “Sweet Caroline” today during the game.  Enough already.  Time to move on.  The tragedy in Boston was not about baseball… especially not in Washington D.C. three days after everybody else followed the Yankees lead.

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The Giants beat the Diamondbacks in dramatic fashion tonight.  Down 4-2 heading into the 8th, Buster Posey tied it up with his second HR in as many days to tie it.  In the bottom of the 9th, Andres Torres led off with a single, Brandon Crawford sacrificed him to second, and then the story got good.  1B Brandon Belt, who has been off to an awful start, and who was informed that he wouldn’t be seeing as much playing time (in fact, he didn’t start tonight, but came off the bench for defensive purposes) singled in the winning run in a walk-off 5-4 victory.  Hank Schulman, the Giants beat writer, wrote that manager Bruce Bochy himself worked with Belt in the batting cages before the game.  “Apparently, it worked” he tweeted. The Giants are a fun team.

Schulman and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostler also wrote a piece on the disappearance of the large plaque on the wall behind the center field bleachers that commemorated Barry Bonds‘ all-time record breaking HR missing.  Are the Giants trying to distance themselves further from the tainted player?  Did it get stolen?  Read it here.

Finally, Giants fans haven’t forgotten the heroes of the 2010 World Series, even though they just won another last year with a team that largely still plays for them.  They are happy to have Andres Torres back after he was traded to the Mets for Angel Pagan.  And they were happy to see playoff hero Cody Ross back in right field, even though for the Diamondbacks… or were until his RBI hit gave them the lead.  Later in the game though, the fans showed appreciation for a tremendous catch that Ross made to rob Buster Posey of a hit.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out.

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Trivia answer: The other two pitchers to notch 100 or more victories in a Mariners uniform besides Felix Hernandez are Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson…..

Day in Review: Tuesday, 4.16.13

1. It started with the Yankees announcing that as tribute to Boston following the terrorist attack yesterday, they would play the theme song of their longtime rival Red Sox during the game. Then, the Indians, who were hosting the Red Sox, announced that they would do the same. After that, I think every host stadium played “Sweet Caroline” today, a sweet enough gesture, especially by the Yankees…of course the hyperbole by some sportswriters/broadcasters, especially when the Red Sox won, was sports schmaltz.  Cranky?  No.  Emphasizing baseball too much in the face of real-life tragic events is embarrassing. Paying proper tribute/recognition is fine. Stating that the Boston Red Sox winning a frickin’ baseball game means anything to people affected by the bombings is moronic.

2. Teams that had an off-day yesterday observed Jackie Robinson Day today… Living in Portland now, I miss the Giants broadcasts so much.  Now I listen to the Mariners, which is fine- it is nice to have some baseball to listen to, but today one of the announcers (I don’t know his name) kept going on about how he loved the scene in 42 where Brooklyn Dodgers SS Pee Wee Reese comes up to Robinson during his first game and puts his arm around him, showing support.  That was a very fine gesture, but to pick that as your favorite part, and then to mention it again and again is, to me, akin to lavishing praise on Branch Rickey for promoting Robinson. Credit is due, but it is like making Kevin Kline the hero of a movie about Steve Biko.  It is Jackie Robinson Day– not a day for the white guys that did the right thing day. Again, not cranky, I just don’t see how so many middle-aged white guys can’t see the underlying aspect to their viewpoints.

3. Speaking of cranky, I loved Texas Rangers‘ Lance Berkman‘s comments about Wrigley Field today.  Click the link to read all of it, but my favorite part was: “But really, what kind of history is there? It’s not like there has been one championship after another. It’s mainly been a place for people to go and drink beer.”  I’m with Lance.  I am fine with the billy goat curse or whatever forever preventing the Cubs from winning the World Series. There are a lot of reasons, but the main one for me is the way they treated Steve Bartman.

4. April is wreaking a bit of havoc weather-wise. There was a fake tweet that made the rounds yesterday stating that MLB had given the Rockies permission to host a triple-header against the Mets. Well, they were snowed out yesterday, with a double-header scheduled for today.  They had tons of snow to remove, and so the first game started late.  There were so few people in the crowd, that the Rockies offered everyone brave enough to show up for the first game (which was scheduled to begin at 1:10 but was delayed two hours), were welcome to stay for free for the second game, which finally just ended at 11:06pm MT (the second game went into the 10th).  Any fans that spent ten hours at the games today should be given some kind of season-long discount.  Those that showed though did get to see the Rockies win both games against the Mets…  The Mets were snowed out two games in a row- both yesterday in Denver, and the day prior in Minnesota…  Minnesota’s Target Field, which opened in 2010, has a Rain Water Recycle System that has- according to the Twins official Twitter feed- has captured, purified, and reused more than 1.8 million gallons of rainwater… The start of the Reds/Phillies game in Cincinnati was delayed by 80 minutes. They then played to the middle of the 9th with neither team scoring before they were delayed again, the game eventually suspended and will be completed tomorrow before their scheduled game.  Fans from tonight were welcomed back to tomorrow’s game.

5. After taking the final two games against the Astros, the Angels troubles have resumed, losing the first two games against the Minnesota Twins– a team not picked to do much better than the Astros this year.  Josh Hamilton is back in a slump, now hitting .200.  Mike Trout continues to show life (up to .300 after flirting with the Mendoza line), but the Angels now sit at 4-10 and tied for last with the Astros in the AL West. Part of the problem is Albert Pujols.  He isn’t hitting poorly (.280), but he has foot/leg problems that make him a problem on the base paths, which isn’t great with speedy Trout ahead of him and two power hitters behind him.  That batting lineup needs a shake-up… It didn’t help the Angels that Joe Mauer is in prime form. After a slow start, Mauer (.368) has been on fire, getting four hits in each game of the series so far.

6. The Dodgers aren’t doing well either.  They dropped another (7-7, 4th place) to the Padres tonight, scoring only two runs (9-2 to Jason Marquis).  While Carl Crawford is performing well, something which seemed iffy when the season started, it has been canceled out by a dreadful start from Matt Kemp, who is now hitting .185…  Dodgers pitching injury woes continue.  Starter Chris Capuano left the game with a calf injury with no outs in the third after giving up 5 ER… Luckily for the Dodgers, Ted Lilly relented and agreed to make another rehab start, a situation that looked to be a problem for the Dodgers.  Lilly had declared himself healthy, and if the Dodgers hadn’t accommodated him, he would be free to sign with another team.

7. The Giants lost against the Brewers today, and with the Rockies winning both ends of a doubleheader vs. the Mets, the Rockies have overtaken first place. It was Barry Zito‘s first loss since last August, a span of 16 games in which the Giants won (including the post-season).  It also ended his run of 15 2/3 scoreless innings to start this season. Zito gave up 9 ER, 8 of them alone in the third inning. The Giants almost bailed him out, coming back only to lose 10-8, the last play of the game a deep drive from Andres Torres with one on that came up just short…  On the bright side, steroid boy Ryan Braun struck out four times!  (That’s a golden sombrero!).  Braun has been striking out a ton lately.  His neck is hurt more than he’s willing to admit. My heart bleeds for him…  Also, the Brewers bullpen stinks… Pablo Sandoval continued his hot start with 4 RBI.  Both Panda and SS Brandon Crawford extended their hitting streaks to 9 games.

8. The Braves continued their phenomenal start, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on the strength of five HRs- including Justin Upton‘s 8th- and won their 10th game in a row to bring their record to a remarkable 12-1.  The Braves lead the league in ERA and HR and on top of that, Jason Heyward showed he’s coming out of his slump, hitting 2 HRs in the game.  It is a good time to be a Braves fan.

9. The Rays continued their disappointing start (4-9), losing 5-4 to the Orioles.  On the bright side, The Rays scored more than two runs, which seems to be all they’ve been good for this year.  At the start of the game, six of the Rays starters were hitting below .200, and two of them were hitting below .100.  One of the few players that has been hitting- Evan Longoria– wasn’t hitting for power, but today, for the second time in two games, he hit a HR.  So that’s 2, but a good sign of things to come.  He’s heating up.

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