Yet Another OOTP6 Dynasty, Year 2: One Flew Over the Pale Hose - Page 49

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:23 PM

First pitch to the home run hitting garbage picking field goal kicking third baseman is a fastball, carefully placed with pinpoint accuracy on the inside half of the plate for a strike. In the middle of Garland's delivery Jeter took off to second and Torrealba's throw was late. Oh no oh no oh no...
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0
Man on second, bottom of first

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:26 PM

Garland runs the count full, or maybe Rodriguez intimidates the count full. Payoff fastball down in the strike zone is fouled off, and the next 3-2 offering is a little outside but right in the middle of the zone, waist high. "Mr. Clutch" lashes at it and lines a rocket to the right side...

...but literally right at 1B Frank Catalanotto. Two down, barely, Godzilla coming up.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0
Man on second, bottom of first

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:28 PM

The left-handed hitting Matsui pops up a 1-1 changeup high in the air to left, and Scott Podsednik squeezes it for the third out. Even before the end of that at-bat, I came to my own little conclusion that, yeah, here it is Game 7 and it could go either way, Jeter be damned. Second inning coming up.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:33 PM

Schmidt comes out throwing strikes in the second inning, pumping in two quick ones to Vernon Wells. Forced to swing defensively with an 0-2 count, he doesn't get much wood on a fastball on the outside half and rolls over a little grounder to second for the first out.

Frank Catalnotto takes another overthrown fastball in the dirt for a first pitch ball, so Schmidt goes to the changeup on 1-0 and an eager Cat is a cranky Cat, because he hits a soft little liner towards center field that's no trouble for Randy Winn to haul in.

Adam Kennedy grounds out to third on a one-one pitch to end the inning. What scares me is that Schmidt got him on a slider. He doesn't have much on his fastball with so much mileage on his arm right now, but if he can snap off those sliders there might not be much scoring by the visitors until we get to the bullpen.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 heading to the bottom of the second

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:37 PM

One Giles after another in this lineup. Second baseman Marcus singles to right to start the inning, but aging older brother Brian erases him on the base paths with a fielder's choice, three-six in the scorebook. Jon Garland got that out thanks to snapping off a solid curveball with a full count, but one gets away from him in the next at-bat and plunks Jeremy Giambi. With the eight and nine hitters coming up, Garland just needs to get them out to get out of the inning.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0
Men at first and second, one out, bottom of second

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:43 PM

Garland snaps off a curve for a strike to the catcher Lunsford, who's hitting .125 in the postseason. Swing and a miss for strike two, in one of those classic scenes of a pitcher overpowering a weaker hitter that you can see at any level of baseball. Way ahead in the count, Garland can waste one but instead he goes for the K with another heater. But Lunsford cracks it right back up the middle on the ground. Garland knocks it down with the glove, scrambles, gathers it and flips it to second in time for the force on the extremely slow Giambi and record out number two.

Lunsford hit .237 in three seasons in the minors, .273 this season even though he's obviously been exposed this postseason.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0
Men at the corners, bottom of 2nd, 2 out

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:46 PM

The pitcher Schmidt singles to right on an 0-2 fastball. It's one-nothing, home team, and I break something.

Garland redeems himself, saving the inning and ending it with a strike out of Jeter which lowers his postseason average to .432. It's a huge out even though it's only the 2nd, because a big hit there makes it a three run or four run game. But there's a little bitter taste to that big out...if Schmidt holds us hostage and never lets up a run, the season's over for the Pale Hose.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after 2 innings

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 03:56 PM

C Torrealba is killing (yorviting?) the ball in the playoffs, I almost batted him sixth, but he grounds out to short on Schmidt's first pitch of the third, a slider disguised as a fastball. That pitch maybe is made even more dangerous because Schmidt doesn't have a ton of zip on his fastball, you can't tell the difference between the two that way.

Garland can't hit at all and grounds out to first. Leadoff man Vazquez tries to work the count and take a strike, but then Schmidt goes in the zone with his second pitch and that plan is all fouled. A waste pitch runs the count to 1 and 2 but a strikeout pitch, a nasty changeup that drops in the dirst, does just that to Vazquez, strikes him out. And with the three in the books, their ace pitcher's allowed one hit and no runs, throwing 28 pitches. More intimidating is, he's flashing that nasty slider and worked through first inning control issues to get ahead in the count on almost everyone. This is on three days rest. Wouldn't know it if I didn't already know it.
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after two and a half

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:00 PM

Garland could give the game away, maybe if it was April or August he would, but there's something about this 28 year old, some reason he didn't fade into obscurity after his 4-15 year two seasons ago. Randy Winn strikes out for the second time, Alex Rodriguez hits a rocket line out for the second time, and Hideki Matsui strikes out and I don't know what he did first time up but I'm cool with a strikeout. It's Garland's fourth punchout. He's already at 55 pitches which is just way way way way too many, but no worries, all hands on deck. The fourth inning's coming up, and it seems too soon. Let's get some runs!
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after three

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:01 PM

Here's craziness, Podsednik's leading off the fourth and what the hell, maybe you make him bunt even though he went crazy with these extra base hits and a home run in the ALDS, maybe that silly little bunt will wake the offense up, get something going.

Nah...

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:04 PM

Hey, what do you know, all it takes is one bad pitch and one pitch that just misses, and even Jason Scmidt will have an at-bat or two like that. Suddenly the count's 2 and 1, there's a fastball with just a little less mustard on it, one that's aimed rather then pumped out, and "ALDS Jesus" puts the round bat on the round ball and loops a hit into right-center. A baserunner!

Now maybe you let him run wild and try to move him over with a ground ball and get a sac fly...
Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1
Man on first, no outs, top 4

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:07 PM

Guess I'm not the only one going crazy with this thinking, "it's the playoffs, oh my god how do we score just one little run?" because after Schmidt's first pitch strike to Magglio Ordonez, catcher Lunsford fires one down to first base. He's trying to pick off a runner that's not moving, because really aren't you trying to outthink yourself with all this running and ground balls to the right side and stuff?

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:08 PM

Next pitch, Schmidt's sharp slider just doesn't break, and does our #3 hitter ever come through. Liner down the left field line, into the corner, "Speedy Gonzalez" comes all the way around from first to touch home and WE ARE TIED, BABY!
Pale Hose 1, Yankees 1
Man on second, none out, top 4

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:09 PM

Eric Munson strikes out, but it would have been a bad idea to ask him to bunt.
Pale Hose 1, Yankees 1
Man on second, 1 out, top 4

ifspuds · 07-02-2008, 04:10 PM

Woo!

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:19 PM

Going to the bump on three days rest from a 114 pitch outing, it's kind of playing with fire. A little bite off the slider, a few battles with your control here and there and you're left with a below average fastball, which is leaving Jason Schmidt burned right now. Maybe a young pitcher will try to get outs with that fastball, a veteran would try to allow the hitters to get themselves out. And this veteran Cy Young winner...he'll keep coming at it with everything he's got in that 88 mph fastball, that slider, the solid changeup, but one little miss and he's behind in the count 2 and 1. Going back to the slider, again there's a little bit of break missing and cleanup man Vernon Wells pounds a liner into left field. Ordonez romps home, there's no throw and I hate to bust out large font but
THE PALE HOSE ARE WINNING!
Pale Hose 2, Yankees 1
Man at first, one out, top fourth

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:23 PM

Frank Catalanotto at the plate, one of those hit or miss situations. Schmidt's obviously struggling, but Cat's been getting himself out a lot in the postseason, batting just .229, and going even further back he's below .250 since August. So maybe you take a gamble here, maybe you send the runner and see if the Cat can line one into the outfield...

...Or maybe you just go for broke and send the runner, and maybe it'll work because Schmidt's focusing everything on throwing strikes right now, or maybe the catcher Lunsford will throw the ball into center field...

Or maybe both. Who would have ever thought to send that runner, huh? I don't want to get a swelled head, though, plenty of ballgame left.
Pale Hose 2, Yankees 1
Man at third, one out, top fourth

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:33 PM

Catalanotto's behind in the count thanks to taking that first pitch to allow Wells to steal, but it evens up when Schmidt bounces a fastball that Lunsford has to smother just to prevent a wild pitch. A changeup right on the black puts the count at 1-2, but Cat fouls off one of those nasty strikeout changeups to stay alive, and Schmidt follows with a slider that's in the right handed batter's box. Two and two and Schmidt goes with as much heat as he's got left, and I'm as surprised as Cat is that the radar gun reads 93, but he gets a piece to keep the A.B. going. Going with a slider to put him away might have worked twenty pitches ago, but this one gets fouled away and Schmidt gets another new baseball. I guess he likes 'em dirty (stop, stop) because he buries this one in the ground, and the count's full. Again Schmidt goes with the change, by far his best offering at this point, but Cat lines it foul down the third base line. Then he does it again, same pitch and same result except with a little more air and depth under it, it ends up a souvenir in the seats midway down the left field line.

An inning ago Schmidt was at 28 pitches, his slider was sharp and it was an open question if three days rest even effected him. His fifty-first pitch of the game and twenty-third of the inning was also fouled off, a little pop up to the right side that just snuck into the seats. Finally on his fifty second pitch, twenty fourth of the inning and tenth of the at bat, he got Catalanotto to bite on a fastball that he probably shouldn't have swung at, but Cat got enough wood on it to loft a fly ball to center. Vernon Wells tagged and scored from third to make it 3-1.
Pale Hose 3, Yankees 1
Two out, top fourth

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:37 PM

If there weren't two outs, might have gotten more. Adam Kennedy singled to right to give Yorvit Torrealba a chance to lengthen his stellar postseason resume, but his hot smash up the middle was handled impressively by SS Jeter, and his throw to first finally gets Schmidt out of the inning. 3 RUNS, 4 hits, no errors, one man left. Maybe the best inning in Pale Hose history. Take a moment to soak it in before reading on, I'm going to.
Pale Hose 3, Yankees 1 heading to the bottom of the 4th

cknox0723 · 07-02-2008, 04:44 PM

If the Yankees don't score two more runs over the next eighteen outs, the Pale Hose are going to the World Series. Unbelievable.

It's going to be Buehrle time if Garland gets in serious trouble or there's any big boppers coming up in the late innings, two days rest be damned.

07-02-2008, 04:10 PM	#975
ifspuds Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 2,117	Woo! __________________ Jeff Watson Former dynasty writer and online league player, now mostly retired

07-02-2008, 03:23 PM	#961
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	First pitch to the home run hitting garbage picking field goal kicking third baseman is a fastball, carefully placed with pinpoint accuracy on the inside half of the plate for a strike. In the middle of Garland's delivery Jeter took off to second and Torrealba's throw was late. Oh no oh no oh no... Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 Man on second, bottom of first

07-02-2008, 03:26 PM	#962
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Garland runs the count full, or maybe Rodriguez intimidates the count full. Payoff fastball down in the strike zone is fouled off, and the next 3-2 offering is a little outside but right in the middle of the zone, waist high. "Mr. Clutch" lashes at it and lines a rocket to the right side... ...but literally right at 1B Frank Catalanotto. Two down, barely, Godzilla coming up. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 Man on second, bottom of first

07-02-2008, 03:28 PM	#963
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	The left-handed hitting Matsui pops up a 1-1 changeup high in the air to left, and Scott Podsednik squeezes it for the third out. Even before the end of that at-bat, I came to my own little conclusion that, yeah, here it is Game 7 and it could go either way, Jeter be damned. Second inning coming up. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0

07-02-2008, 03:33 PM	#964
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Schmidt comes out throwing strikes in the second inning, pumping in two quick ones to Vernon Wells. Forced to swing defensively with an 0-2 count, he doesn't get much wood on a fastball on the outside half and rolls over a little grounder to second for the first out. Frank Catalnotto takes another overthrown fastball in the dirt for a first pitch ball, so Schmidt goes to the changeup on 1-0 and an eager Cat is a cranky Cat, because he hits a soft little liner towards center field that's no trouble for Randy Winn to haul in. Adam Kennedy grounds out to third on a one-one pitch to end the inning. What scares me is that Schmidt got him on a slider. He doesn't have much on his fastball with so much mileage on his arm right now, but if he can snap off those sliders there might not be much scoring by the visitors until we get to the bullpen. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 heading to the bottom of the second

07-02-2008, 03:37 PM	#965
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	One Giles after another in this lineup. Second baseman Marcus singles to right to start the inning, but aging older brother Brian erases him on the base paths with a fielder's choice, three-six in the scorebook. Jon Garland got that out thanks to snapping off a solid curveball with a full count, but one gets away from him in the next at-bat and plunks Jeremy Giambi. With the eight and nine hitters coming up, Garland just needs to get them out to get out of the inning. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 Men at first and second, one out, bottom of second

07-02-2008, 03:43 PM	#966
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Garland snaps off a curve for a strike to the catcher Lunsford, who's hitting .125 in the postseason. Swing and a miss for strike two, in one of those classic scenes of a pitcher overpowering a weaker hitter that you can see at any level of baseball. Way ahead in the count, Garland can waste one but instead he goes for the K with another heater. But Lunsford cracks it right back up the middle on the ground. Garland knocks it down with the glove, scrambles, gathers it and flips it to second in time for the force on the extremely slow Giambi and record out number two. Lunsford hit .237 in three seasons in the minors, .273 this season even though he's obviously been exposed this postseason. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 0 Men at the corners, bottom of 2nd, 2 out

07-02-2008, 03:46 PM	#967
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	The pitcher Schmidt singles to right on an 0-2 fastball. It's one-nothing, home team, and I break something. Garland redeems himself, saving the inning and ending it with a strike out of Jeter which lowers his postseason average to .432. It's a huge out even though it's only the 2nd, because a big hit there makes it a three run or four run game. But there's a little bitter taste to that big out...if Schmidt holds us hostage and never lets up a run, the season's over for the Pale Hose. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after 2 innings

07-02-2008, 03:56 PM	#968
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	C Torrealba is killing (yorviting?) the ball in the playoffs, I almost batted him sixth, but he grounds out to short on Schmidt's first pitch of the third, a slider disguised as a fastball. That pitch maybe is made even more dangerous because Schmidt doesn't have a ton of zip on his fastball, you can't tell the difference between the two that way. Garland can't hit at all and grounds out to first. Leadoff man Vazquez tries to work the count and take a strike, but then Schmidt goes in the zone with his second pitch and that plan is all fouled. A waste pitch runs the count to 1 and 2 but a strikeout pitch, a nasty changeup that drops in the dirst, does just that to Vazquez, strikes him out. And with the three in the books, their ace pitcher's allowed one hit and no runs, throwing 28 pitches. More intimidating is, he's flashing that nasty slider and worked through first inning control issues to get ahead in the count on almost everyone. This is on three days rest. Wouldn't know it if I didn't already know it. Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after two and a half

07-02-2008, 04:00 PM	#969
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Garland could give the game away, maybe if it was April or August he would, but there's something about this 28 year old, some reason he didn't fade into obscurity after his 4-15 year two seasons ago. Randy Winn strikes out for the second time, Alex Rodriguez hits a rocket line out for the second time, and Hideki Matsui strikes out and I don't know what he did first time up but I'm cool with a strikeout. It's Garland's fourth punchout. He's already at 55 pitches which is just way way way way too many, but no worries, all hands on deck. The fourth inning's coming up, and it seems too soon. Let's get some runs! Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 after three

07-02-2008, 04:01 PM	#970
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Here's craziness, Podsednik's leading off the fourth and what the hell, maybe you make him bunt even though he went crazy with these extra base hits and a home run in the ALDS, maybe that silly little bunt will wake the offense up, get something going. Nah...

07-02-2008, 04:04 PM	#971
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Hey, what do you know, all it takes is one bad pitch and one pitch that just misses, and even Jason Scmidt will have an at-bat or two like that. Suddenly the count's 2 and 1, there's a fastball with just a little less mustard on it, one that's aimed rather then pumped out, and "ALDS Jesus" puts the round bat on the round ball and loops a hit into right-center. A baserunner! Now maybe you let him run wild and try to move him over with a ground ball and get a sac fly... Pale Hose 0, Yankees 1 Man on first, no outs, top 4

07-02-2008, 04:07 PM	#972
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Guess I'm not the only one going crazy with this thinking, "it's the playoffs, oh my god how do we score just one little run?" because after Schmidt's first pitch strike to Magglio Ordonez, catcher Lunsford fires one down to first base. He's trying to pick off a runner that's not moving, because really aren't you trying to outthink yourself with all this running and ground balls to the right side and stuff?

07-02-2008, 04:08 PM	#973
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Next pitch, Schmidt's sharp slider just doesn't break, and does our #3 hitter ever come through. Liner down the left field line, into the corner, "Speedy Gonzalez" comes all the way around from first to touch home and WE ARE TIED, BABY! Pale Hose 1, Yankees 1 Man on second, none out, top 4

07-02-2008, 04:09 PM	#974
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Eric Munson strikes out, but it would have been a bad idea to ask him to bunt. Pale Hose 1, Yankees 1 Man on second, 1 out, top 4

07-02-2008, 04:19 PM	#976
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Going to the bump on three days rest from a 114 pitch outing, it's kind of playing with fire. A little bite off the slider, a few battles with your control here and there and you're left with a below average fastball, which is leaving Jason Schmidt burned right now. Maybe a young pitcher will try to get outs with that fastball, a veteran would try to allow the hitters to get themselves out. And this veteran Cy Young winner...he'll keep coming at it with everything he's got in that 88 mph fastball, that slider, the solid changeup, but one little miss and he's behind in the count 2 and 1. Going back to the slider, again there's a little bit of break missing and cleanup man Vernon Wells pounds a liner into left field. Ordonez romps home, there's no throw and I hate to bust out large font but THE PALE HOSE ARE WINNING! Pale Hose 2, Yankees 1 Man at first, one out, top fourth

07-02-2008, 04:23 PM	#977
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Frank Catalanotto at the plate, one of those hit or miss situations. Schmidt's obviously struggling, but Cat's been getting himself out a lot in the postseason, batting just .229, and going even further back he's below .250 since August. So maybe you take a gamble here, maybe you send the runner and see if the Cat can line one into the outfield... ...Or maybe you just go for broke and send the runner, and maybe it'll work because Schmidt's focusing everything on throwing strikes right now, or maybe the catcher Lunsford will throw the ball into center field... Or maybe both. Who would have ever thought to send that runner, huh? I don't want to get a swelled head, though, plenty of ballgame left. Pale Hose 2, Yankees 1 Man at third, one out, top fourth

07-02-2008, 04:33 PM	#978
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	Catalanotto's behind in the count thanks to taking that first pitch to allow Wells to steal, but it evens up when Schmidt bounces a fastball that Lunsford has to smother just to prevent a wild pitch. A changeup right on the black puts the count at 1-2, but Cat fouls off one of those nasty strikeout changeups to stay alive, and Schmidt follows with a slider that's in the right handed batter's box. Two and two and Schmidt goes with as much heat as he's got left, and I'm as surprised as Cat is that the radar gun reads 93, but he gets a piece to keep the A.B. going. Going with a slider to put him away might have worked twenty pitches ago, but this one gets fouled away and Schmidt gets another new baseball. I guess he likes 'em dirty (stop, stop) because he buries this one in the ground, and the count's full. Again Schmidt goes with the change, by far his best offering at this point, but Cat lines it foul down the third base line. Then he does it again, same pitch and same result except with a little more air and depth under it, it ends up a souvenir in the seats midway down the left field line. An inning ago Schmidt was at 28 pitches, his slider was sharp and it was an open question if three days rest even effected him. His fifty-first pitch of the game and twenty-third of the inning was also fouled off, a little pop up to the right side that just snuck into the seats. Finally on his fifty second pitch, twenty fourth of the inning and tenth of the at bat, he got Catalanotto to bite on a fastball that he probably shouldn't have swung at, but Cat got enough wood on it to loft a fly ball to center. Vernon Wells tagged and scored from third to make it 3-1. Pale Hose 3, Yankees 1 Two out, top fourth

07-02-2008, 04:37 PM	#979
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	If there weren't two outs, might have gotten more. Adam Kennedy singled to right to give Yorvit Torrealba a chance to lengthen his stellar postseason resume, but his hot smash up the middle was handled impressively by SS Jeter, and his throw to first finally gets Schmidt out of the inning. 3 RUNS, 4 hits, no errors, one man left. Maybe the best inning in Pale Hose history. Take a moment to soak it in before reading on, I'm going to. Pale Hose 3, Yankees 1 heading to the bottom of the 4th

07-02-2008, 04:44 PM	#980
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	If the Yankees don't score two more runs over the next eighteen outs, the Pale Hose are going to the World Series. Unbelievable. It's going to be Buehrle time if Garland gets in serious trouble or there's any big boppers coming up in the late innings, two days rest be damned.