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#641 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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Quote:
![]() Sorry, not one of those sadomasochists, taking pleasure in other people's pain, but I always enjoy these posts more than any. I don't know WTF makes this so enjoyable for all of you to read, but I am grateful, certainly it has given me a little perspective and prevented the dynasty from meeting an early crash to the bottom. Hopefully the Pale Hose will be back within a few weeks. Maybe that is optimistic but we'll see. I am getting restless, too, wanting to move ahead, but I am also glad in a way for this break, because I would be afraid of going too fast (ha!) and losing some storylines along the way in what has so far been a storybook season. Now is that a comedy of errors, or what? We're a game or three above .500, mostly because a kid (outfielder Brian Anderson for those who've forgotten) has taken two giant leaps forward in the last year and a half, and also because of fluky months from 2B Adam Kennedy (~15 doubles in April) and SS Ramon Vazquez (~.400 average in May) and 3B Eric Munson, who swatted a bunch of long balls in May and has hit about .150 besides. But don't forget about the pitching. Ohh, that pitching. Upon taking over this lot after a 1,000,000 loss season a year and a half ago, southpaw Mark Buehrle was one of two guys who were definitely going to help out the club for a while, rightfielder Magglio Ordonez, the MVP of three years past, being the other by virtue of his papal contract with the franchise. Then it occured to me that there are these tricky things called contracts, and Buehrle's was set to expire STAT. Somehow in the midst of an abjectly awful 2006 (that's last year in this universe, fubes), Buehrle, the latter-day Steve Carlton, was convinced to stay on the South Side for five years. I guess the $50 million helped. And the schools. Always the schools. Strangely enough, the pitching staff has improved almost to a man this season, despite undergoing very few changes. It is understandable that Esteban Loaiza would bounce back from an atrocious 2006 season, since "The Art of Suck" really wasn't so bad in two thousands four and five, posting identical ERA's of 3.xx; then again, Esteban is 35 and who am I to say that his above-.500 record this year is anything more than luck? But it's worked. Jon Garland's done some work, too, building on a fantastic last two months of 2006 to lead the staff in wins (I think?), but most importantly we have eliminated sub-replacement level innings from guys like Rick Ankiel and Jorge DePaula, Nate Cornejo and Jon "Hypothetical Power Forward" Rauch (sorry, Vris), instead giving them to...um, Jon Rauch and Jorge DePaula. Both were winless through April, but hard-throwing short reliever Kiko Calero was leading a much-improved bullpen to keep a lot of messes close. It didn't much reflect in the record, but then... Fortune smiled down for a bit, and that dame's been grinning ever since. Ryan Franklin, a 15-game winner as recently as three years ago, came back on a surgically repaired arm at the age of 34 (I think?) and a month and a half later...he's gotten hurt. Two seperate stints on the disabled list, in fact. But the handful of starts he's made have all been strong (save one), and the same goes for hale & hearty 26 year old Michael " " Nannini, rescued from a mediocre Montreal minor league squad for a short medley in non-prospect Andy Gonzalez, a 25 year old shortstop with limp lumber. If I start talking about the improved bullpen, I won't shut up for hours, so trust me when I say that they all swoll, too. And stuff.Point to all this is to prove just how awesome I am. Also to show that this team really is not very good (but you knew that already, yes?), and our strong record thus far has been mostly circumstance. And pomp. Lots of pomp. But, hell, we're here and why go away? So I was thinking about making a serious trade before the hiatus, and when my mind has turned to all things Pale Hose in the past few weeks it has been much of the same. Specifically, the thought is to trade last year's #1 pick in right-hander Chris Scarborough, the man who fanned about two batters an inning at the U of VA and the same young man who's already in triple-A and pitching well in a sort of swingman role after a rough introduction to the level. He would be a wonderful addition to the rotation next season, and who knows, maybe he could be a contributor down the stretch this season. But he also has some superb trade value, and would perhaps allow us to really strengthen this year's team. Food for thought for the interim.
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#642 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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PS - FINALLY reached page 17. You have no idea how glad I am for that.
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#643 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,496
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I will mutiny if you trade Scarborough Mediocre. The only acceptable return is Tyler Clippard who is my biggest non-Pale Hose obsession in this universe.
__________________
Delta Sigma Phi: Better men, better lives. How To Get A Warning: Quote:
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#644 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, Ont. Canada
Posts: 1,106
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I say trade the man named after a suburb of Toronto. Scarborough isn't called Scaryborough for nothing. He will do nothing but hurt your team. Trade him and make a run. As you have pointed out numerous times, "there is no such thing as a pitching prospect".
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#645 | ||||||||
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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Quote:
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And here all this time I thought he was named after a Maine fishing village! Learn something new everyday and all that.Quote:
Thought I might also look back on an old post from the preseason, reply #322, before checking out for the day. I must say, I can be awfully prescient sometimes. Quote:
![]() Quote:
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Obviously one position, no matter how bad, can't account for all of the struggles of the lesser New York club this year, but it sure hasn't helped and could even be a part of the reason why the pitching has seen some ups and downs this year. Or maybe that'll just tend to happen over a 60 or so game stretch. The Mets still have the talent to compete, and they're not in a too deep of a hole, but you have to wonder whether their early-season muddling along has simply made one aware of flaws that were there all along, and will continue to be there in October. Quote:
You know all about the American League ROY race, of course, because my boy Brian Anderson is still flirting with a 1.000 OPS and, really, what else do you need to know beyond that? That is one of those discussion-enders, but we will pick up the discussion again in August, because while Anderson may definitely be a .300 hitter in AAA (and probably better than that), even his biggest non-bandwagon fan (i.e. not me) wouldn't have dreamed that the 25 year old would make even Shane Spencer cry in his first extended taste of the big leagues. Quote:
Baby I've been here before I've seen this room and I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew ya I've seen your flag on the marble arch But love is not a victory march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah... Last edited by cknox0723; 01-19-2006 at 08:18 AM. |
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#646 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, Ont. Canada
Posts: 1,106
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I still say trade him. How often do you have a chance at a really special season? (Without restrictions in this game it is all the time, but you restrict yourself almost to a hinderance). It would be one of the more surprising stories in basbeall history if this group of rag-tags makes the playoffs. It seems to me that many are playing above their heads so while Scarborough may be a star in the making he may end up playing Roy Halladay, that is a dominant pitcher on a (last few years I mean, big things this year) medicore team.
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#647 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Watford
Posts: 903
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Trade him for Bartolo Colon, because if ever a player was destined to have a great nickname...
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#648 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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Quote:
![]() here is a bump for me. As soon as I beat this nasty flu bug, your 40-35 Pale Hose will be back and we'll all find out whether all of this build-up was worth it (pun intended...mucous build-up and all that), or if this supposed ballclub is just another brick in the wall. ?
Last edited by cknox0723; 01-19-2006 at 08:19 AM. |
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#649 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Watford
Posts: 903
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Another brick in the wall of Hell, Mwah hah ha haaaaah. Get well soon. (+1)
__________________
Talkin' 'bout the issues but keepin' it funky!
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#650 |
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Minors (Triple A)
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 294
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Listen, the Cirque du Soleil makes me tingle in strange places. But I like the Pale Hose even more than Cirque. Bring back the Pale Hose or bring me a McRib!
(This has been today's experiment in half-surreal, half-disturbing paragraphs. Enjoy! And get well soon, like Funk said.) |
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#651 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London, Ont. Canada
Posts: 1,106
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You gotta be better by now.
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#652 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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Quote:
![]() and so is the computer, so here comes some Pale Hose.
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#653 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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dear jon (garland/rauch)
Dear YOU,
It is of the oddest of coincidences that just the other day, I received a letter in the mail from an old friend. It was strange not only because I hadn't spoken with this person for many months, but because that so closely coincided with the time where I was just becoming re-acquainted with the Pale Hose, yet another old friend of mine. It is stranger still that old foe Texas is the first club to come to Chicago after the long hiatus, the hated Rangers being the club that hammered us down twenty-four runs to one in an infamous loss last year as well in addition to beating us eight of the other nine times we faced them, often by just a single run. It should logically follow, then, that this ballclub's reactions to this first game this season against the Rangers should be similar to this poster's reactions to that letter in the mail, and indeed that is exactly what happens. For me, there was an initial bit of reset as I read the first few words of the letter and realized, "Hey, I remember this person..." For the Pale Hose, it's watching Mike Nannini getting a rude greeting from our hated opponents when 27 year old leadoff man Ramon Nivar slashes a line drive down the right field line and into the corner for an easy two-bagger. My eyes drift down the page, still trying to become familiar with the words and the sentences and the structure, but my mind is three steps ahead, processing and understanding. This letter is meant for me, these words have been strung together expressly with me in mind, and that pop-up to right field, the third out in quick succession to leave Ramon Nivar at second base? Maybe it's Mike Nannini's own little mark, his way of striking back against history and against Texas. Or maybe he's just doing his job. One, two, and three, our side goes down in quick order in the bottom of the first, just like old times, same as reading "Craig, you make me laugh so much," once again. Note: I may or may not have ever actually been told that. You decide as you like. With each turn of phrase, I find myself trying to make sense of seemingly conflicting meanings. And I don't know if playing out the games is like this for you, but for me every batter is a small mountain to ascend, ascend, ascend...and then slowly climb down. Breathe in, breathe in, and...ahhhh, SS Mike Young bounced to his boy, my boy, Vazquez. OK, OK, let's go, and...awww, m.f., Mark Teixeira just jacked one to right. Goodbye, tie game. But righties give him more trouble than lefties! How the hell did that happen? Now we'll need one just to tie up. Ah, it's OK, it's only a run. Could be worse. Maybe I'm nuts, but every batter's like that for me. Punch, counterpunch. Up, down, good, bad, smile, frown. Frank Catalanotto singles to start the bottom of the second, and we're back in business. Streaky third baseman Eric Munson makes serious contact with a fat Jeff D'Amico fastball, and it's going, going, going... You see those three dots in the play-by-play of OOTP6, you know what's going to happen, but in this case, it's all good. It's just a letter, it's just three dots, it's just a two-one lead in the second, but what the hell, appreciate the little things. And realize that, nice as the little things can be, they are what they are, nothing more. Mike Nannini may get through the third with the lead, but Maggs Ordonez sure ain't going to add to that lead in the bottom half no matter how many runners are in front of him, and it's not staying 2-1 all game. The sweet-swinging Michael Young drives that lesson home when he drives one to the far reaches of U.S. Cell's left-center field bleachers to start the fourth, and suddenly we're tied. Then a walk to powerful first baseman Teixeira, and...that's how it all gets started. A little base on balls, a day or a week without talking to someone, and then you are writing these impersonal "catching up" letters five months later, then you are chasing a ball around the infield, futilely trying to nail out Ricky Ledee on the bases while the lead run is crossing the plate. The lead is gone, all sense of command of the situation is gone, but we're going to give it a try anyway. Here, I will write you a letter telling you everything about my life that you missed, everything I have learned in the past months. It goes a little like this: Quote:
26 year old Mike Nannini has been everywhere, man, from the depths of minor league systems in Houston and Montreal to an awesome debut against Oakland about a month ago and some ups and downs in between. He's been everywhere, but around the fifth inning today he kind of forgot some things, like locating the fastball, and after Andrew Wishy makes him pay with a one-out double off the right-center field wall, number three hitter Hank Blalock draws a free pass. Two batters later, the lousy **** happens when Mike Young wallops a fat one way, way up and out over the left-center field wall, even further than his first dong. Ding, dong, dung. Damn. Sometimes it makes you miserable, and sometimes you wish that it would end or someone would show up, but no one does and every attempt on our behalf to come up with the perfect response comes up short. We get some runners on, but somehow they get taken off, pegged out trying to get the extra base or doubled off after athletic plays by lithe defenders in their prime or something. Eventually we just give up, take our lumps and the L and just head back home to go to sleep and hope that Mark Buehrle (6-4, 3.10) will have a better go of it tomorrow. TEX 9 CHW 2 WP: J. D'Amico (6-4) - CG, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 11 K LP: M. Nannini (3-2) - 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 2 K (this is the fifth starter quality of start we expected from Rauch or DePaula but had not seen from man, I hope it is not a preview of things to come)You remember what this is like, right? Sincerely, the Pale Hose |
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#654 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Spokane WA
Posts: 2,117
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= Return of the Pale Hose = Bad start by my favorite Hoser, ![]() Maybe it's because the banana isn't dancing! You should check into that.
__________________
Jeff Watson Former dynasty writer and online league player, now mostly retired |
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#655 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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10:46 PM EST: The bananananana is dancing. Curse you, banana. Curse you.
But thank you for the reply, spuds, and anyone else is kind enough to drop a few words in here. It is truly a pleasure to get such a warm reception and I will do my best to provide a (timely) response in kind. Until next time, to all a good night. |
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#656 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Watford
Posts: 903
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.
__________________
Talkin' 'bout the issues but keepin' it funky!
Last edited by The Funk; 01-25-2006 at 10:52 PM. |
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#657 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In the middle of the Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry
Posts: 1,771
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And the iceberg represents what, exactly?
My interpretation: Even though the Pale Hose are cold (a small losing streak), the ice is building up and will form a mountainess presence. This is a team to watch out for. Worth noting: I went back to see when the last game was done.... the first half of December? Craig, what have you been up to caused this delay? I'm glad to see that your back.
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Do, or do not, there is no try! |
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#658 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 11,660
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Quote:
Welcome back craigareno!
__________________
PT21 ![]() ![]() PT22 ![]()
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#659 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,496
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Inspiration doubled, for I've more Morning revelations this afternoon.
The posting must wait until the evening, however.
__________________
Delta Sigma Phi: Better men, better lives. How To Get A Warning: Quote:
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#660 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NJ
Posts: 1,957
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thanks for the kind replies
I like books, but sometimes I wish a few thousand supposedly brilliant authors had listened to Voltaire, who once said, "It is far better to be silent than merely to increase the quantity of bad books." You can write something that can strike a chord with someone on multiple levels, or you can write something that is so lousy that the reader can only wish that you couldn't possibly have intended to construe solely what is written. I know, I know, this 700+ reply thread is definitely the latter. Shaddup. And I guess that principle, if you want to call it that, can apply to more than just writing.
Take the other day. My place of employment is a big store with plenty of employees, and last Saturday was the grand opening, so they told us to all get out of bed at 6 AM and come on down before the store opened for some sort of ceremony. I wish there was someone there with a wizard's hat, but it would be a lie if I said there was. Instead, we heard some speeches, some elementary school kids sang "This Land is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful" and so forth, since the store donated a few hundred bucks or some ****, and the world really is beautiful at 6 AM if you're at work. That wasn't all, though. They also gave us a T-shirt (kickass!) and...the kicker. A potted plant, an azalea or one of those perennials you can buy 6 for $10 at the local nursery. "Grow with us," said the general manager when he announced the brilliant idea with a smile on his face that just dripped seriousness. Y'get it? A plant, a store opening, growth? It's not ****ing Shakespearean, for sure. "Get the **** out of here," my always eloquent old man said when I came home that day. "They're not serious?" replied my boy Fahad later in the day when we both clocked into work around the same time. He hadn't been at the morning's ceremonies. He had no idea. They were, in fact, completely serious about the danged plant. Likely they are serious about the plant for the same reasons that they pay miniscule wages and ignore our supposed availability when scheduling, but maybe there's something to it. See, on the way home from the infamous plant-giving ceremony, I stopped at a little deli to pick up some breakfast sandwiches, still wearing my vest and nametag from work as I wandered in. I place my order, grab a gallon of milk from the refrigerator, walk over to the counter, and then I hear it pouring down from the heavens into my ears. "Come on down to Route 9 in Old Bridge to experience the GRAND OPENING..." I am sure you can play the rest of that commercial in your mind, so I'll leave it at that. It was just the stupid radio commercial for the store, but still a strange coincidence. Stranger still that the deli man who took my order saw my nametag and struck up a conversation about how he was a member of the store, and was glad it was opening, blah blah blah, the closest one had been 25 miles away, just give me my damned bacon and egg and leave me alone. The idealist might say that all of this junk really is symbolic, and something about growth, and maybe that is in fact the case, I don't know. I still think it's all a bunch of nonsense, and I would have been way better off sleeping in that morning. That story has nothing to do with the Pale Hose, of course, but keep in that back of your mind while I tell you about our final two games of a three-game set against Texas. You recall that they knocked us all over the park in the first game, yes? 9-2, to be exact, and scroll up if you don't know what I'm talking about, because it's all of five or six posts away. ... ... OK, all caught up now? So when I say that Texas is the same team that beat us nine times out of ten last year, it is old news to you because you just read it? Glad to hear it! The club that just beat us 9-2 is largely the same one that beat us up at various points last year, and that club won 86 games last season. The only difference on the surface is that athletic, toolsy centerfielder Corey Patterson is now in Cleveland, replaced by a younger, slower tools maven in 24 year old Andrew Wishy-"Washy". Also ancient right-hander John Smoltz is now the closer after a century down in GA. So it is some kind of accomplishment that this series in late June concluded with not one but two victories for the Pale Hose, huh? Granting that games started by Mark Buehrle really should lead to wins for his side, and granting that Esteban Loaiza has been some kind of different pitcher after an atrocious 2006... Eric Munson cracked a two-run home run to give us a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning of our first win (the second game of the series), and that is nice and all, but seeing as he is hitting .208/.263/.340 at home, I'm not sure it really means anything. Also you should really be aware that Frank Catalanotto has quietly burned brightly the last few weeks, winning Player of the Week for the last set of seven games with an 11 hit week at a 55% clip, and seven runs batted in for good measure, so his three-run home run to give us a 5-0 lead in the second of the victories should have an asterisk or something, as if he was on the 'roids. We never relinquished that 5-0 lead, by the by. Tried our damnedest, though! But more important than all of that is the fact that Texas is now third in the AL West at 37-40, something that quite simply attests that they are just not the same ballclub as last year, roster composition be damned. Their entire rotation from last year returned this year and has been healthy, yet it has seen two men's earned run averages jump more than two runs each. 27 year old Dewon Brazelton notched 15 of his 27 career wins last season, so his struggles should not come as a big surprise, but Chan Ho Park's 3-7, 5.56 mark is largely out of line with his past performance. That might inspire one to make a cruel joke about how the right-hander's real-life counterpart would need some kind of park to put up even a 5.56 ERA, but that would be missing the point. The first person to say, "See, Craig, this team is destined for good things this year. The Rangers kicked your ass all last year, and here you beat them two of three..." would probably be missing the point, too. Not that there's anything wrong with that, seriously. It is not nearly such a big deal as some folks make it out to be. Sometimes I just want to miss the point. Here we beat a team that is twenty-fifth in run prevention, and in large part beat them only because we had our two best moundsmen on the hill. Sure, they can score runs, but since Gerald Laird went on the 60-day DL at the beginning of June, this is a team that has handed the tools of ignorance to an A-ball backstop named Edmond Kirsch, a waiver claim in Raul Chavez, and a minor leaguer who has walked once and fanned 32 times in 104 AB (Adam Donachie). Laird, who was hitting just .215 before the torn hamstring that will likely sideline him for the remainder of the season, is no great shakes, but he is at least a .250 career hitter and has a stellar defensive reputation, having received the Gold Glove in 2004. The trio that's replaced him has struggled to hit even .200 and who the hell knows about the defense, with all the different guys back there. Still, part of me wants to go ahead and say, "This proves it, it's time to make that big trade now." But how long have you and I been thinking that? This ain't nothing, just two more wins in a season that has been, to everyone's surprise, full of quite a few wins. My plant is going to die within a few weeks because I know I won't water it, and in another world, it is June 28th, 2007, and maybe it is time to make a trade or maybe it isn't, but we've got a travel day to head up to Canada and play the Canucks or the Mounties or somebody like that. And, hey, come to think of it - my employer accepts Canadian currency. What the hell does that mean? ![]() ![]() TEX 1 CHW 6 WP: M. Buehrle (7-4) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K LP: M. Morris (5-7) - 7.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K (we scored three in the sixth and two in the eighth, and why the quirky AI left this Texas starter out there, I will never know) S: A. Otsuka (5) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K ![]() TEX 4 CHW 5 WP: E. Loaiza (8-4) - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K LP: C. Park (3-7) - 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K S: J. Roa (3) - one split-fingered fastball to cleanup man Hank Blalock, one ground ball to first base, one save to leave the tying run at third and the winning run at first So... it is time to make that big trade, yes? |
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