Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Few Random Thoughts

Look at Giambi's numbers the last 7 games - anyone else but me have suspicions that he is back on the sauce?

I"m going to echo Scooter's comments from today regarding the Joba rules - in the recognition that it cost the team a game, and I don't like them any longer. He's strong enough now, start him in a week, and cap him at 7 innings or 100 pitches.

And on pitch counts, I agree with an interview I heard with Zim on XM's Home Plate - pitch counts? Are bull s**t. If they can pitch, then pitch.

Dice-K having his shoulder evaluated - that could be a disaster for the Sox.

I'm not sure with whom I am more impressed with in terms of dependability - Mo or Matsui.

Is anyone sold on the division leaders in the NL?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't care if Giambi's "on the sauce", as long as he keeps hitting and doesn't fail a drug test.

Hawkins and Ohlendorf need two or 3 days off. Hawkins is quickly becoming the same as last years Farnsworth. Bringing him in is signaling the end, and not in a good way.

I agree with Zim to a point about pitch counts. If you've been starting, there is no reason to panic at the 100 pitch count. However, if you've been in the bullpen and are only use to throwing 15 pitches every other day, you can't just decide to start throwing 100-120 pitches. It would be very similar if you asked a sprinter to run a marathon. Yes they both can run, but the sprinter has no endurance and after a couple hundred meters he would be calling a cab to finish the race. Joba needs to work up to 3 innings, then to 5 a couple of times. After that he's good to go.

Cubs will be in first the rest of the season in the Central. D'backs should win the West, but have come back to the pack a bit. The East can draw straws. Marlins won't last, they have no pitching. Phills, Braves, and Mets (Mets especially) are all overrated.

The Scooter said...

I like the Toledo Mud Hens in the National League.

I will personally inject Giambi if he continues to rake like he has been.

The Scooter said...

Crash, here's an article on Kimbo Slice and how CBS executives are banking on him to bring MMA to the masses.

http://msn.foxsports.com/
boxing/story/8187922/
Kimbo-the-next-Tyson?
-Yeah,-that's-the-idea

old professor said...

Crash, if Giambi's on the sauce again and is tested say goodbye to him for the rest of his Yankee career.

With Joba in the rotation due to Kennedy's injury, there are two questions: a) how many innings can he go in his first outting and b) who is going to be the bridge to Mo.

old professor said...

Scooter, being in Washington, I was not able to read the earlier postings. So what is your beef with lacrosse. One of the most enteraining games there is. It combines the best of football, basketball and soceer. And oh yes, I coached it for 11 years.

Syracuse football and basketball cannot come close to having the fan base as their lacrosse team.

The Scooter said...

Prof, I have no real beef with lacrosse...I just don't really know the game and I'm too old to find a new sport to get into.

Besides, I grew up in North Jersey...we wouldn't have known a lacrosse stick if someone hit us over the head with one.

Anonymous said...

I think it's funny how geographical lacrosse can be. I grew up in central NY. Geneva had Hobart winning all the D3 titles. In high school you had Waterloo, Geneva, Canadaigua, Penn Yan, Mynders all very competitive. Obviously Syracuse is huge and the Rochester area it's huge. You go 30 minutes to the west of Rochester and nobody has even heard of it.

Long Island is another lacrosse hot bed, but northern NJ wouldn't recognize it if someone slashed them in the head with a stick.

Scooter thanks for the Kimbo article I'll give it a read.

Anonymous said...

Just what I thought...the network sees Kimbo as a marketing gimmick and a dollar sign. A way to bring the fastest growing sport out of cable and onto network TV.

He will get viewers and he will get a "W" this week (NBC to debut it this Saturday) as he is fighting another nobody. If Kimbo keeps training with Bas Rutten he could become great. But he's not there yet...

If you want to see a great fight, the WEC is running a live event pretty much at the same time this Saturday on the Vs. station. Faber vs. Pulver is the main event and should be fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Correction...the WEC fight is Sunday night.

57 said...

Kudos to Met Fans... after Joe Torre made a pitching change last night, he was given a standing ovation at Shea when he walked back to the dugout. Say what you want about Met fans, but that was pretty classy.

***

Mets have won 3 of 4... i wont beging to applaud until Sunday night after a big series with the Dodgers. If we are 5 of 7 by Monday, then we have things to talk about.

Anonymous said...

Oh crap...Pavano is throwing off a mound.

57 said...

any love for the Mets fans??? Wow...

The Scooter said...

This is the only Mets fan that I will ever show any love to:

http://images.smarter.com
/blogs/New%20York%20Mets%
20Women's%20Burnout%20V-
Neck%20Tie%20Top.jpg

57 said...

you got me all excited because I thought that was going to be Anna Benson... (who will be back with the Mets this year... watch)

Middle Relief said...

Joba to start Tuesday night.

The Scooter said...

I like than Moose "manned up" and picked up his struggling defense. A true professional pitching outing by a true professional pitcher.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!!

The Scooter said...

and I almost forgot...I don't know if Old Prof participates in this blog on the weekend...but to me, the game was saved by a sparkling defensive play by The Captain in the first. Great diving stop and flip to Cano for the second out...if that ball goes through the games over.

Anonymous said...

Scooter I knew you were going to do that stupid moose call. The fact is he tried everything in the first inning to blow it. After that he got it together. I tip my cap to him for manning up and getting the job done.

Last night Wang didn't look great, I thought the bullpen did a good job and the Yanks pulled it out in 12. Abreu is having a great year.

Be interesting to see how Joba does Tuesday. I'd like to see him go through a line-up more than once. He is supposedly on a strict pitch count (~75 pitches) let's see how many innings he can go. If he gets pulled after 2 or 3 innings it could mess up the bullpen for the rest of the week. Girardi better have a long man waiting in the wings on Tuesday.

MMA front (I know Scooter was wanting this). Kimbo got a gift last night. The ref's are supposed to be sanctioned by the governing state's athletic commission, I don't know why they were all wearing Elite XC shirts. In my opinion that ref received specific instruction to do everything he could for Kimbo and not to let him lose. I watched it live then went back and watched it again. Here is what I noticed: 1. The ref did not warn Kimbo for an illegal elbow strike to the back of the head. 2.Thompson had a dominant position in the 1st and 2nd round. The ref stood them back up in the first round bcz lack of action despite the fact that Thompson was controlling Kimbo easily, standing them up is advantage Kimbo. In the 2nd round the ref tells them to work or he's going to stand him up. He says this as Thompson is pounding Kimbo in the face with punches and elbows. 3.The ref can stop the fight if a fighter can't defend himself. Kimbo was taking a pounding on the floor and not defending himself for nearly 2 minutes of round 2. The ref told him to defend himself, Kimbo merely put his hand over his face and the ref let it continued. Should not have happened. The fight could have, and probably should have, been stopped. 4. The third round Thompson was definitely rocked but not out. He was in more trouble in the second round and the ref let it continue. There is no way that fight should have been stopped. If I were Thompson I would call for an investigation into that referee, he was on the take 100%.

Kimbo showed his MMA weakness and it was exposed by a weak fighter with a glass jaw (and exploding ear).

Tonights Faber/Pulver match will be much better. If you tuned in to watch the freak show that is Kimbo, watching Faber and Pulver will give you an understanding of what MMA is supposed to look like.

The Scooter said...

Stupid Moose call? Ask yourself where they would be without him.

Wang looks out of sorts. He better get straightened out in a hurry. I don't thin Molina is doing him any favors by calling so many change ups. While he is better defensively than Posada, I think Jorge calls a better game.

Watched the Kimbo Slice show last night, Crash. You hit the nail on the head. He has a long way to go. I also think the ref was told "Kimbo wins this fight". I also got the feeling that the announcers were told (in their ear pieces) to "back off" questioning the decision to stop the fight. Elite XC see's him as their meal ticket and they don't want the gravy train to end before it even begins. They better not put him in the ring with anybody with a real good "ground game" (is that what it's called?) for a while.

I'll try to catch the Faber/Pulver match tonight...it's on VS, right? What time?

Support the Troops