Brandon Motherfucking Belt: Giants Win, 5-3

This is the power I wield: not one hour after bemoaning the fate of Brandon Belt, the Giants call him up, and started him at first base, due to a "tight back" for Aubrey Huff. What does Belt do? Oh, just gets the Giants on the board with a sweet home run onto the arcade in his first at-bat, and rips a sensational two-out, two-run double down the opposite line (off a lefty) to put the Giants on top for good. Brandon Belt, god damn it.

Madison Bumgarner didn't get Sadison Bumgarnered for once, as the Giants score more than three runs for him at home for the first time this year. Even Brandon Crawford had a hit and two walks. Oh also, the Giants placed Miguel Tejada on the DL and traded some minor league C-level arms for the Astros' Jeff Keppinger, a league-average utility guy/middle infielder, which immediately gives the Giants an upgraded position. Nate Schierholtz had his first bad game in two weeks but still had a couple solid at-bats and a hit, so between him, Belt, and Sandoval, that's three more hitters than the Giants had a month ago. Get a for-real league-average catcher in there, and ALL BETS ARE OFF.

This was a good game. Giants try to avoid the sweep tomorrow on a getaway day against Clayton Kershaw. The snakes got mauled by the Brewers in the desert. Let's do this.

51-45

Giants Over Dodgers, 5-0

Herpin' my derp like yeah

Ryan Vogelsong qualified for, and now leads, the National League in ERA. Pablo Sandoval hit just the most massive home run. The defense was awesome. This was a nice, comfortable game. Maybe the first one this season. Refreshing.

The Brewers blew it in the desert, and today I found out that the Brew Crew just stinks on ice on the road this season. Hopefully that bears out when they come to AT&T in a few days, and also hopefully they get their act together and stomp on some snakes today. Just once guys, okay?

Today the Giants draw Rubby De La Rosa, who irks me endlessly because his name is "Rubby" BUT IT IS SOMEHOW NOT PRONOUNCED "RUBBY." The nerve of that guy. Hopefully the Giants can keep it up against him tonight, because tomorrow is Clayton Kershaw, and we all know how that one is playing out.

Injury news: Miguel Tejada went down with a lower ab strain, but somehow Aubrey Huff persists. Brandon Belt languishes. Aubrey Huff will outlive us all, smirking at us from above his massive soul patch. Aubrey Huff hit above Cody Ross in the order today. Guess which one didn't get two hits. I'm not calling for snipers at AT&T, because we know the lengths Bochy will go to in order to start a rookie over a gritty veteran. I'm not wishing for the possibility of injury to Aubrey Huff. I am honestly wishing for him to quit his Human Star Trek routine of only being good during even-numbered years. I am just thinking out loud, dudes. I am just saying.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2: So Dies The Dream

Alas.

My dreams of a four-game sweep of the Yankees and a return (return?) to almost-relevance in the wild card race have been shattered. Phil Hughes was actually, like, good yesterday, and that's pretty much all it took, because Villanueva, bless his heart, was not at his best. But whatevs: Jose Bautista comes back Tuesday night, and we will utterly ruin the Mariners. 


Probably. 


KS 

Giants Squeeze Out Series Win, Beat Padres 4-3 in 11th

Cody Ross shows Brian Wilson how many walks he gave up in that half-inning

The suicide squeeze. Bochy almost never uses it, but he used it yesterday, and it was awesome. The Giants tied a San Francisco record with six stolen bases, which they hadn't done since a Mike Krukow start in 1987. The Giants won another extra-inning game against San Diego, but if Eli Whiteside hadn't spent ten second trying to lie to an umpire while a dude was running to first base, it never would have gone past regulation. So it goes with these schnooks. Thank god for Chris Stewart, who executed two perfect sacrifices, including the game-winning squeeze, and started a game-saving 2-5-4 double-play on a bunt in the bottom of the eleventh. Go to hell, Eli Whiteside.

I've been sort of dancing around this all season, but Brian Wilson really isn't that great of a pitcher, particularly in save situations. "More guts than stuff" is pretty friggin' apt, but I have a feeling that bubble is going to burst at any time. I honestly trust him less than literally any other person in the bullpen, including Santiago Casilla and Jeremy Affeldt. If Sergio Romo were the Giants closer, I would breathe a sigh of relief knowing he was coming in for the ninth. With Wilson, it's how many walks and hits he's going to give up before wrapping the thing up. To be fair, he blows (relatively) very few saves, and I really hope for him to do well. When his stuff is working, it's ridiculously nasty, but all too often he is counting on a notoriously wide strike zone, nibbles at corners and ends up walking dudes, and either doesn't trust his filthiest pitches or can't find them. I can't think of a time where Wilson has come in for a save and I've thought, "Oh, we've got this one." Doesn't happen. But I guess that's what makes being a Giants fan so stressful/exciting, and I guess that's more fun and entertaining in the long run than games where you just score a billion runs and don't have to worry about saves at all. Phillies and Yankees and Red Sox and Rangers fans must be just so bored.

I was actively rooting for the Dodgers all weekend, but the Diamondbacks proved too much for them. Now I'm expecting the Dodgers to roll into AT&T and take two of three while stealing all of the guest towels and busking for bus fare back home. The Diamondbacks are hosting the Brewers, who I'm hoping just maul and annihilate them for three straight, but the snakes gave them fits back in Milwaukee, so who even knows any more.

Pennant fever: catch it!

50-45

Welcome back, Carlos Guillen

Barry Zito Returns to Form, Giants Lose 11-3

Well, at least it's always fun to see a live baseball game, regardless of the outcome. Let's try it again today.

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 1: I Have No Real Problem with This

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fat.

Hey. Sometimes a guy with thirteen wins by the middle of July is going to lock the door after giving up a run in the first, and that's going to be it. What are you going to do? Nothing, is what. C. C. Sabathia was awesome, allowing a mere three hits and three walks in eight innings, and although Mariano Rivera made things somewhat ticklish in the ninth, Travis Snider was unable to repeat the walk-off heroics of their encounter earlier this season (which was, of course, the coolest thing Snider has done all year, even cooler than getting sent down). Ricky Romero hadn't pitched in sixteen days, and you know how it is when you come back from vacation: sometimes you hit the ground running, completely re-energized and revitalized, and other times you come back and seem to have entirely forgotten what it is you do. Romero was closer to the latter yesterday, just missing his spots. Four runs through five is not so hot. 


Fun fact: in Ricky Romero's nine losses this year, the Blue Jays have scored a combined thirteen runs. 


KS

49-45

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 1: Maybe Start Freaking Out?

That is some look right there.

I said I wouldn't do this, but OK, with these back-to-back drubbings of the Yankees -- twenty-three runs in two games with no home runs? that's wild -- the Blue Jays are eight back of the wild card. That's still totally out of it. But what if Romero beats Sabathia today? That's not impossible, right? And Villanueva over Hughes on Sunday, why not? That would put us six back. Six. That wouldn't be that bad! I said these things to my wife last night and she quite rightly just shook her head. 


Brandon Morrow was fly last night, bordering on supa dupa fly: one run on four hits and a couple of walks through six and a third. I will take that literally every time. "Don't Ask" Dotel, Rzepcynski, and Frasor took it the rest of the way, and the bats just kept putting numbers up. Like, there was no single inning where the Blue Jays brought a million dudes to the plate; it was more the case of here's a run, now another, hey there's three this inning, and so on, and before you know it, it's 7-1 and you are having a really, really great time. Snider is hitting, Thames is hitting, Escobar is hitting . . . and E5 looked OK at third base! Go figure, man, go figure.


A few odds and ends: 


(i) "Feeling much better today! Getting treatment as I tweet!" Those are the words of Joeybats19, and I am not going to argue with them. Bautista will be fine. He'll probably be back Tuesday, they're now saying. 


(ii) Do you know who threw out the first pitch last night? Lil' Jose Bautista! Seriously! If you do not know who I mean, it is this guy:

(iii) Russell Martin is accusing the Blue Jays of stealing signs. Boo hoo, is my considered response to this whining. Mix them up, or start throwing at guys. That is how these things are settled, Russell Martin, come on. As Jeff Blair noted on the radio last night, the Blue Jays have long had a reputation in this regard: Cito was great at it; as was Alomar; as was Delgado. This is a legacy issue, basically, and Russell Martin should respect that.


KS

Giants Beat Padres 6-1, Move 4 Games into First Place

Andres Torres -- FROZEN IN CARBONITE

Well, Pablo's hitting streak comes to an end, but it's fun winning baseball games by a comfortable margin for a change. I'm sure that will dry up, just like I'm sure Aubrey Huff will continue to roll grounders over to the second baseman and swing at balls in the dirt for strike three. When you're hitting worse than Miguel Tejada, Aaron Rowand, Chris Stewart, Eli Whiteside, and Tim Lincecum, YOU SHOULDN'T BE THE STARTING FIRST BASEMAN. At one point when I was scoring last Saturday's game in San Francisco, Huff was at bat, and I decided to just go ahead and write in "4-3." A pitch later, he came through for me. It's a good thing, since I was keeping score in pen.

In conclusion, FREE BELT.

49-44

I Only Missed the Ten Uneventful Innings; Giants Win 6-2 in 12.

Aubrey Huff did something awesome [citation needed]

When the Giants loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the twelfth, I wondered how they were going to screw this up. When Michael Tejada was announced as a pinch hitter, I thought I had my answer. Sure enough, Tejada popped up in foul territory on the first pitch, then Andres Torres struck out. I thought man, that's it. The Giants aren't scoring here and the Padres will hit a few bloop singles in the bottom of this inning and walk it off. BUT NO. Fightin' Mike Fontenot drew a four-pitch walk for the go-ahead run, and Sandoval and Schierholtz tacked on four insurance runs for the hell of it.

The Giants still tried to give it away, though. The Padres loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, and Wilson had to come in with the bases loaded and one out and only gave up one run (charged to Javier Lopez), which I think counts as Wilson's second-least-stressful save this season. Least stressful overall if the All-Star Game doesn't count.

So three and a half games in first place, and I'm rooting for the Dodgers to sweep the Diamondbacks this weekend. I'll be attending the game tomorrow, along with 25,000 other Giants fans in San Diego (weep for the 8,000-10,000 Padres fans in attendance). During last night's game, I realized what the best thing is about playing the Andrian Gonzalez-less Padres at Petco: the game almost certainly won't be won on a walk-off home run.

Blue Jays 16, Yankees 7: Don't Freak Out

Soooooooo fat.

It would be nice if all we had to talk about today was the Toronto crowd of 37 342, the worst start of Bartolo Colon's career, the Blue Jays sixteen runs on twenty hits, and Jo-Jo winning a game in which he allowed seven runs in less than six innings pitched. These are all happy things (except that Colon was clearly hurting, and I've got nothing against Bartolo Colon). But, alas, Jose Bautista twisted his ankle sliding into third on a play where most players would probably just pull up and jog in, and while it didn't even look that bad, and x-rays revealed no fractures, we would all be well advised to hold onto our butts at least until the MRI. Again, even though Bautista was clearly in pain, I would be really surprised if this was much of anything. As a thirty-two year old guy who does judo, I am basically the world's foremost expert in minor joint injuries that swell up and hurt like hell for a little while but which are fundamentally no big deal. And from what I saw on the replays, I bet that's all this is. But if it's more than that, we are all going to have to ask ourselves very real questions about the status of our butts.


KS

Blue Jays At The Break: Not Exactly Awful, But Still Somewhat Hurtful

high five high five high five high five high five

When the season began, our proprietary Baseball Objectively Nonsensical Emotional Rating System predicted 84 wins for the 2011 Toronto Blue Jays, and thus far the Blue Jays are not far off that pace. Were we to take the .489 winning percentage the Blue Jays posted through their first 92 games and extrapolate from that in an actually pretty dazzling feat of mathematical wizardry, we would find a total of 79 wins: still well above the low-70s lines set by the bookmakers before the season began, and yet still not any good, really. Which is OK I guess. Heading into the year, it looked like this would be one of those sort-of-on-either-side-of-.500 seasons that the Blue Jays have specialized in over the now seventeen years since the lost age of awesomeness -- only twice since 1993 have the Blue Jays been truly horrible (1995, 2004), and only once have they finished less than ten games out of the A.L. East lead (2000) -- and that's what we're going to get, alright. Now eleven games behind Boston and ten behind the Yankees, there's no pretending the Blue Jays have a chance to make it interesting this year or anything like that, so it's really just about keeping their heads above water and hopefully finishing the year on the right side of .500, which, I grant you, is irrelevant in the sense of the long-term development of talent and overall betterment of the team, but extremely relevant in that I watch these games, man, I watch them.  You can be forgiven for not knowing offhand that the Jays have actually been a winning team in four of the last five seasons, but now that you do know that, you can not be forgiven for not knowing I would very much like for them to make it five out of six. 


What are their chances? Let's break things down in the analytic mode we all so enjoy. 


The Outfield: Has Been Garbage + Jose Bautista


Now that Jose Bautista is semi-firmly re-entrenched at third, we can say without reservation that the outfield has been an utter disaster. Defensively, it has been atrocious, and the bats, my god, the bats. Travis Snider was unexpectedly but totally deservedly demoted; Rajai Davis has rocked a legitimately shocking .264 OBP, dwarfed by the comparatively towering achievement of Corey Patterson's also awful .294; and Juan Rivera never failed to fill me with anger and shame. It is miraculous that he is now a Dodger (for a player to be named later, which is totally cool with me so long as they do not later name Juan Rivera). Now that Snider is back and getting better results -- although the jury is still out on aspects of his swing, particularly that one-handed nonsense that keeps happening on breaking balls -- and Eric Thames is up and hitting, you've got to think things are doing to be at least somewhat cooler going forward, right?


The Infield: On the Whole, Borderline Rad


So, Jose Bautista has a very real chance at turning in a better season (by WAR) than either Henry Aaron or Albert Pujols ever managed throughout their all-time great careers. This is to say that we are pretty much set at third now. Had E5 been able to be anything other than seriously one of the worst fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, Bautista could have stayed in right, but it was not to be. (Again, Edwin Encarnacion is, in my view, blameless; love the sinner, hate the sin. Let him be.) Third base was such a massive sinkhole for the Blue Jays for most of the first half, just such a sinkhole, but hey, if Bautista can handle it, at least until Brett Lawrie gets a look, then awesome. Yunel Escobar is turning in a fine, fine season at short, and has been duly rewarded with a contract extension. Adam Lind has rebounded as well as anyone could have hoped, and is on his way to the best season of his career. The only real problem on the infield, now that third base is being handled by a dude having an historically great season, is that Aaron Hill looks lost not only at the plate but, increasingly, in the field as well, and it's a real shame. He's probably on his way out, as there's just no way the team can pick up those extensions, right? I mean, I hope they don't. Everyone likes to rush in to say that Hill is really starting to square-up pitches and make good contact and hit the ball hard, but he's basically a replacement level player right now. It's brutal to watch. I don't think anyone saw this coming. Finally, J. P. Arencibia plays a competent catcher while hitting for no average and maybe twenty homers. I can live with that.


DH/The Bench: Let's Not Pretend Edwin Encarnacion is Even A League-Average Hitter (This is Getting Absurd); Everybody Still Likes John McDonald I Guess


It's the AL, who cares about the bench. And it has been a while since we have had a designated hitter who is someone you really would take a good hard look at and then designate to hit.


The Rotation: Did Not See This Coming


Rickey Romero is pretty awesome, and with even a little run support, everybody would know that, instead of just people who are clever knowing it. And thank goodness for that pretty awesomeness, because what the H happened to the rest of the rotation? Brett Cecil lost velocity and got sent down; Kyle Drabek led the league in walks and got sent down; Brendan Morrow as usual has such stuff but is not exactly translating that to such outings; Jesse Litsch got hurt; and Jo-Jo Reyes is, bless him, Jo-Jo Reyes. But Carlos Villanueva has come out of the pen and given us way more than we could have anticipated; Cecil is back and OK; Morrow might never really put it all together but sometimes he strikes out a tonne of guys; and Jo-Jo Reyes is, bless him, Jo-Jo Reyes. 


The Bullpen: Is Killing Me


I don't know, man, I just don't know. The bullpen's combined fifteen blown saves yeah fifteen blown saves trails on the Angels in the American League. I'm not even doing a thing where I am like, we could be fifteen games better! No, of course not. But I'm not asking for that; I'm not even asking to match Detroit's league-best five blown saves. What if the Blue Jays were just league-average? How much better would that be? Like, if they'd only blown ten, not only would the team be kind of a little bit back in the mix, but I would only have gone to bed angry 66% as often as I did. It's something worth considering. 


The Manager: Am Not A Fan of This Guy


Stop running all the time. Just stop it. Don't. Please. I hate it. It sounds like it's going to be fun, and then it isn't at all. No more safety squeezes. And I'm not even saying you told him to do this, but do not create a culture and a climate in which Rajai Davis twice tries to drop down a bunt with two out and a runner on second in a close game. I do however credit you for your attempt to restrain a rampaging Jon Rauch in what is, thus far, the finest ejection of the season.


In Summation: We Are Largely Junk


Hey. I know what this is. This is not the year. Nobody ever said it would be. I haven't been lied to or misled. I'm OK with how things are going. I'm loving baseball on a day-to-day basis. Nobody's scoring this season, but the Blue Jays are fourth-best in the league in runs. Sure, they're third worst in runs allowed, and a lot of that isn't just the iffy pitching, but incomparably shoddy defense, but what can you do? I heard the other day that the Blue Jays have, unsurprisingly, played the toughest schedule in baseball to this point, but that's the deal. They still have every chance to finish right around .500, which would be fine. On the Baseball Today podcast earlier this week, Keith Law was saying that it's kind of the worst possible position to be in, right around .500, because you can convince yourself that you're a piece or two away from ninety wins and a real contender, when that is often very far from the truth. It can be difficult to see through that, Law said, but on the same show he also pointed out that Alex Anthopolous is doing, on balance, as good a job as any GM in either league, so we can probably trust him to get this right. Or mostly right, right enough that I will not despair.


KS

Awesome. Now Let's Get Back to Baseball.

Bunch of rad dudes between a couple of giant dorks.

I love the All-Star game every year. Love it. Love it despite the players who decline, the coach favoritism, the stupid home run derby, the ridiculous home field stipulation, the terrible announcing, the stupid non-factoids on the screen, and the shuffling of the players every inning.

I love it despite the Arizona fans being the most ungrateful, bush-league fans I've seen in a really long time. I can only imagine how hard Roger Angell was shaking his head during all of this. I love the All-Star Game despite the staunchest complaining and whining from everyone on the internet, in every magazine and newspaper, and all over my television. Bruce Bochy picked too many of his own people! Bruce Bochy didn't play his own people!

I would probably love the All-Star Game if it were nothing more than a bunch of dudes in all different uniforms playing wiffle ball. Luckily -- and the past two years especially -- we usually get a well-played game that is both exciting and fun. This year's game took me back to watching Bo Jackson crush a monster home run onto the black tarp of the upper deck while every other superstar stood around gape-mouthed. It took me back to Barry Bonds picking up Torii Hunter like a ragdoll. It took me back to Benito Santiago watching a called third strike to send everyone home with a tie.

I listen to everyone from Joe Posnanski to anonymous blogger number 532 whine about how the game isn't fun any more; that it's obsolete and a mockery of baseball. I wonder what the hell game they were watching. Because baseball is amazing, and watching the best players -- or even second-best players -- in the world do their thing and truly have a good time doing it, that's amazing too.

This blog exists because baseball makes people catch feelings about it, for good or ill. It seems like a bunch of people to get paid to talk about and write about baseball have come down with Joe Buck-itis. They don't enjoy it any more for whatever reason, and now they have to make the rest of us as miserable as they are. Well you can go to hell, Joe Bucks of the world. The name of the game is BASE BALL, and it is glorious.

Now let's get back to business as usual.

- Bill

OH MY GOD!! THE METS ARE (NOT) HAVING A FIRE....sale....

"Just another hold, what now bitches"

When I'm on the ball, my morning routine consists of rolling out of bed at 5 AM, gulping down half a mug of cold coffee, and starting my daily hour on the exercise bike.  To keep my mind off of the fact that I am exercising when the rest of the sensible human race is asleep, I usually boot up my computer for music and to read the news.  

As a matter of chance, I picked last night as my Google Reader cleanup night, and went through, weeding out feeds that I never read anymore, catching up on various saved items, and reducing that bold number of Unread Items to zero, perhaps for the first time since I started using Google Reader.  Therefore, it was my dismay to see that I had awoken to 400 new Unread Items.  

One of the most recent was a post from one of the approximately one trillion Mets blogs that I subscribe to proclaiming that the fire sale had started, and K-Rod had been traded to Milwaukee.  

My first order of business, after securing 102 mph-hurling Bobby Parnell to my saves-starved fantasy team, was to marvel at how GM Sandy Alderson had managed to jettison Rodriguez, who needs to finish just 24 more games this season for his vested $17.5 million option to kick in.  The countdown to the magic 55 number has been a distraction all season, to the point that Adam Rubin has been keeping track of it in each of his postgame write-ups, and Alderson was questioned about it when he appeared with Gary Cohen and Ron Darling during SNY's broadcast of last Thursday's game.  

Now it's gone.  We don't have to worry about Terry Collins bringing in Rodriguez with a five run lead because he needed the work, or sweat out a tie game with Rodriguez pitching in the ninth, hoping that the Mets DIDN'T score in the bottom half of the inning, so that another pitcher could come in and THEN they could win. It was all so ridiculous.  So now Rodriguez is off to Milwaukee, where he will setup for the immortal John Axford and try to resist punching the Chorizo sausage in the face.  Melvin has already said there is no closer controversy, and nor should they be.  Rodriguez's velocity is in decline, he has posted the highest WHIP of his career during this season, and to call him a closer "in his prime," as Craig Carton did on WFAN this morning is completely laughable.  

This move is wonderful news.  It gives the team a chance to see what they have in Bobby Parnell, and whether or not he has the makeup to close, and frees up some extra money to put towards attempting to retain Reyes during the off-season.  One shaky closer isn't going to make or break a potential playoff run, no matter how long the odds.  

BREAKING NEWS: I have been named to the National League All-Star Team

I have, however, declined.


KS

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Dodgers

Fernandomania!

The first baseball game I ever watched was a Dodgers-Cardinals game. I will never forget it. I was at some store like Walmart or Kmart or something, some store where they have a million televisions lined up in a row and barrage you with some inane thing that is being displayed on every single set. Only this wasn’t inane. It was magical.

Unlike most baseball fans, I didn’t have parents who engraved baseball into my head at an early age. So I didn’t have this thing where I had to be a Brewers fan because I was from Wisconsin. In fact, the way my brain is wired, I have always avoided cheering strictly for the home team. There was something “too easy” about that, never mind the constant stream of information you receive about these teams from local news networks and the like. When you live out in the country and do not get cable (we wouldn’t be eligible for Directv service, it would turn out, until the very late ‘90s), you can imagine how badly this turned out, especially when you hated Brett Favre and the local news was sure to update you on his each and every bowel movement.

But there was something about baseball that captured my imagination from the very beginning. I picked the largest screen this particular chain store had and parked myself in front of it for the hour or so my parents shopped. I couldn’t possibly move; I might miss some of the action.

I decided for some reason that I really liked the Dodgers and their plump Mexican fireballer Fernando Valenzuela. Therefore, the Cardinals were the bad guys and I must root the Dodgers on to victory. I was hooked. The fact that the Dodgers won the game right before I had to leave only sealed the deal. I was set to be a fan for life.

Over the years I bounced around a bit in terms of fandom before latching on to the Oakland A’s and their Moneyball philosophy. They were my other favorite team growing up anyway, what with Jose Canseco and Rickey Henderson and the like. They were a fun team to watch. The fact that their General Manager, Billy Beane, seemed a few inches smarter than the rest of his colleagues helped make my decision.

I managed to convince myself that the American League was superior because of the Designated Hitter, because after all, pitchers pitching to other pitchers is something akin to cannibalism, isn’t it? It just never seemed right to me. Until something clicked in my head recently, watching several National League games in a row: they’re more exciting. There’s more strategy involved. It’s more of a thinking man’s style than the bash ‘em out American League style provides.

I started to remember the old fondness I had for the Dodgers, and since with the A’s I was an adopted Californian anyway, I figured the time was right to hop back on the LA bandwagon. It made sense anyway since I never liked the Giants (can’t stand Brian Wilson) and Rockies (bunch of farmers and hillbillies on that team; their farm system is an actual farm), and the fact that the Diamondbacks didn’t exist when I was a kid (therefore making them a shady team with questionable justification for existing), so it was a natural fit. I will still hope every season for a Dodgers-A’s World Series, but it is with the Dodgers where I stake my claim, now and forever. (I’m a bandwagon jumper in reverse, you might say. My favorite basketball team is the Clippers. I love cheering for bad teams. Since the Clippers are in LA, and the Dodgers are in LA, and I no longer give two scoops of Kellogg’s Fuck All about football since before the lockout, the LA connection just makes sense.)

Now, being a Dodgers fan isn’t without its problems, as fandom presents problems wherever you go with it. Growing up, the Yankees were my least favorite team by far. To this day, I wouldn’t be opposed to New York being physically cut out of the United States and forced to exist as a separate island onto itself. Their big star at the time was Don Mattingly. So to me, Mattingly embodied everything evil and hateable about Major League Baseball. The fact that he was a total loser whose teams never won a championship while he was playing was one of the best, purest forms of joy I have ever achieved in my life.

So of course he’s the manager of the Dodgers. Which is fine, though, because I am of the belief that coaching does not matter at the professional level. You have a bunch of spoiled, pampered millionaire athletes. You’re not going to be able to tell them what to do. LeBron James has never been truly coached in his life. He plays a certain way and nothing Mike Brown or Eric Spoelstra can say to him will affect him in any way whatsoever. The only time a coach truly matters is when he screws something up so badly, it actively works to hurt the team. The best example I can think of is Dusty Baker’s propensity for chewing up and spitting out young pitchers. Dusty Baker is a total idiot, a true black mark on the Dusty name.

So Mattingly’s not really a problem. Ned Colletti is a problem. He’s a total dumbass. Frank McCourt and his seeming autistic child getting hit repeatedly over the head with a hammer understanding of business management is a problem. Fans showing up in the third inning and leaving in the seventh is also a problem, but since I’m tucked away in Wisconsin and don’t have to encounter these people, I’m willing to ignore that one. The worst fans I have encountered in my life are by far Cubs fans. I don’t know if I can think of a single Cubs fan I would describe as a “good person.” Any person from Chicago that I actually like is a White Sox fan or doesn’t care about baseball. There are no exceptions.

I know I’m extremely late to the dance on this, but as long as I don’t get tarred and feathered for having gay opinionz 4 u, I plan on writing regularly on here about the Dodgers and their various trials and tribulations. It should be really interesting, especially now with them possibly looking at being overtaken by Major League Baseball (and you know how well *that* is going to go), and with them being a really bad team, but still doing just well enough where you can delude yourself into thinking they may be able to sneak into the playoffs if absolutely everything breaks right for them. I know we have a Giants fan on here, so I look forward to getting into many a lively debate with him and then crying myself to sleep when the result is them beating the Dodgers by ten.

Such is fandom. I hope Fernando would approve.

Live-Blogging the Home Run Derby or Chris Berman is a Fat Idiot

How do I shot dingerz

Home runs start at 8:00EST/5:00PDT.

4:51 - Really? The national anthem for this? Well all right.

5:00 - We're about to get underway. Strap in for two hours of lousy bands, terrible jokes, lots of Chris Berman, and occasionally a "home run." Spoilers: They're not actually home runs.

5:01 - They couldn't even get a name terrible new-country act for this thing, which should tell you a lot. When you can't even get Trace Adkins to appear on national television, you don't matter.

5:02 - The Diamondbacks' bobcat mascot -- yes, you read that correctly -- is TERRIFYING. Imagine if a furry's fursona was a baseball-playing Chewbacca. Now make it a nightmare.

5:03 - Scott Rolen's kids cover their ears, thus speaking for America.

5:04 - Chris Berman is pandering to the live crowd for some reason. Everyone hates him. "Are you guys ready for some long ball?" Yes, Chris. We didn't come for the lousy country-rock concert. Post-NutriSystem Chris Berman is so weird looking. Like, he lost a lot of weight but stayed roughly the same proportions. If he took his clothes off he'd look like his skin was made out of insulation and Oreo filling.

5:09 - As Matt Holliday is introduced and completely ignores everyone, Prince Fielder explains to his kids why everyone is booing him. Arizona demonstrates why they are the butthole of the nation by booing all the National League home run contestants, just because Fielder didn't pick a Diamondback for the Derby. I get it, I guess. I mean, Fielder made some weird picks, but what are you going to do?

5:11 - Nomar Garciaparra is amazed at how many players are sweating. I for one am looking forward to steady mansweat updates all evening.

5:13 - John Kruk predicts that Robinson Cano will hit a baseball into the pool in right field. I predict John Kruk will eat at least six gorditas during this telecast.

5:15 - In 2011, Billy Ripken looks more like Cal Ripken than Cal Ripken does. Berman says "Everyone is on their feet, as they should be." Yo Berman, it ain't the queen, it's Cal Ripken.

5:16 - WHY IS THERE A CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCH

5:17 - Why is any of this stuff happening? No one cares. why aren't they swinging bats right this second

5:19 - In case you tuned in for the Home Run Derby, ESPN is now showing highlight packages of players who are not actually participating in the Home Run Derby.

5:20 - I've watched the Home Run Derby pretty much every year, and I think it's time to start renaming it "Let's look at baseball players' kids Derby"

5:20 - OH HEY WE'RE STARTING

5:21 - Adrian Gonzalez is up first and grounds out weakly, then pops one up. WOOOOOOOO

5:21 - Our first home run, just fair down the right field line. Not a single "backbackback" from Berman. We haven't heard "back" one.

5:22 - Kruk was right, the second home run of the night goes in the pool, but off the bat of Gonzalez.

5:23 - I think Berman isn't doing his "backbackbackback" schtick because of the three-man booth, not because it is the worst feat of announcing in history. Four-man booth, counting Jose Bautista. Everyone talking all over each other. Just a mess.

5:25 - First "backbackback" despite hardly anyone paying attention to what is actually happening. This is reminding me of a late-1990s Monday Night Raw, where there's an awesome Intercontinental Title match but the commentators just won't shut up about what the Undertaker's going to do during his confrontation with Kane later.

5:28 - Berman reveals that the "gold balls" -- balls that, if hit for a home run, result in a donation to charity -- contain actual gold leaf. Reminds me of the David Cross bit about eating gold leaf while the gold miner loses his limbs on the other side of the world.

5:30 - My inaugural complimentary statement about the Home Run Derby: I like the spray chart being shown after the batter is done with their round.

5:31 - Matt Holliday takes "I don't give a shit about the Home Run Derby" to the next level by having his pitcher be catcher Yadier Molina.

5:34 - What I'd really like to see is how Matt Holliday does in a "Touch Home Plate Derby"

5:35 -Sometimes I really want to like Lance Berkman, but he has two huge strikes against him. One: he plays for the Cardinals. Two: He looks like a Harvey comics character featuring some sort of strongman baby. Baby Muscles, they'd call it.

5:36 - First commercial break. Rickie Weeks is up next. Hope he bunts.

5:43 - Robinson Cano is crushing everything. Actually pretty awesome. The punchable-faced Shane Victorino is joining the booth, which reminds me of this:

5:46 - David Ortiz's accent is absolutely the best. Highlight: pronouncing Mark Teixiera's name as "tech-sarah"

5:47 - There is a gangly teen in the outfield who is at least a foot taller than all the other kids. He keeps making awkward catches and then dancing around like he's an honorary Crazy Frog Brother.

5:49 - Just had a terrifying thought about how the Home Run Derby could be worse: if John Sterling were the "play-by-play" man instead of Berman. Ugh. "Cano! ...Canoodles this one into the right field bleachers! Oh, Robinson! Rockin' Robinson! Cano believe it? nnnnIt is high...nnnnIt is far...nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnRobinson!"

5:52 - Cano's done, now here's Weeks. Two meek popups and a fly ball and the crowd is really giving it to him.

5:53 - I love Rickie Weeks, but was Tsuyoshi Shinjo busy or something

5:54 - They're talking to Fielder about being booed as Weeks goes to 7 outs and 1 home run. I hope Fielder hits a hundred bombs in every round and asks Arizona how his ass tastes in his victory speech.

5:55 - My friend texts me with the pun of the night, suggesting that "Rickie Weeks" is what Julian Assange's website is called in Japan.

5:57 - Weeks finishes up with three home runs and a bunch of boos. Wild guess: the people who are booing have wildly unhappy lives.

5:59 - Here's an MLB commercial featuring a half-assed, poorly-autotuned collection of Jose Bautista home run calls. This is followed by a commercial for the final season of "Rescue Me." Not sure which is more up its own ass.

6:01 - More sweat talk! Chris Berman: "This is the definition of a 'four-shirt broadcast.'" Other Chris Berman activities that require four shirts:

- A trip to Buffalo Wild Wings

- A pool party

- Eating Doritos while watching NCIS

6:03 - Jose Bautista makes a couple of outs while ESPN shows us a wide shot of the field and some yellow lines.

6:04 - Bautista pauses to drink Gatorade and get advice from Ortiz and Cano. Advise, in a Home Run Derby.

6:05 - I hope Bautista finishes behind Weeks.

6:06 - OH MAN he just might!

6:06 - Well, he passes Weeks but just barely. He finishes with four, second-least so far. Top four hitters advance to the next round.

6:08 - Kemp vs. Ortiz next round. These two guys plus Fielder should be the best part, but the Home Run Derby is nothing if not endlessly disappointing.

6:13 - The current leader is Adrian Gonzalez, with 9 home runs. Who else misses steroids? Hint: not Albert Pujols! He's still on 'em!

6:16 - Matt Kemp is putting on a Home Run Derby appearance reminiscent of Brandon Inge's in 2009. Even his small child is mocking him.

6:17 - People of Arizona: "BOOOOO! BOOOOO! How dare you select the man who is second in the league in home runs for this home run contest?! Don't you know that Wily Mo Pena has upwards of THREE home runs! BOOOOOO"

6:18 - With 9 outs, Kemp cranks out two in a row, then pops up and goes, "Gdyawwwwww." Well said, Matthew.

6:20 - With just Ortiz and Fielder left to go, the bottom three are Bautista, Weeks, and Kemp, with 4, 3, and 2 home runs, respectively. I can't imagine Ortiz and Fielder will hit less than any of those.

6:21 - Ortiz up now, Fielder to follow. Finally, the answer to the classic battle, "Meat-eating juicehead vs. vegan juicehead"

6:22 - Andrew McCutchen joins the booth. If you're not rooting for the Pirates this season, man I just don't know. Also, if you don't think, "No deal, McCutchen. That moon money's mine!" every time he's mentioned...I similarly just don't know.

6:23 - Chris Berman leaps to assumptions that McCutchen must have admired David Ortiz from afar for a long time.

6:24 - Shots of Prince Fielder in the batting cage while Ortiz is hitting. It is a mystery to me why these guys say the Derby wears you out.

6:26 - Ortiz is at 4 home runs with 1 out remaining. He's not safe just yet.

6:27 - If Bud Selig really wanted to be radical, the Home Run Derby would determine home field advantage in the World Series.

6:28 - Ortiz finishes with 5 home runs. If Fielder hits more than 5, Ortiz and Holliday would have a "bat-off"

6:30 - wait a minute: this doctor in the Certain Dri commercial appears to be prescribing this product to attractive but smelly women that he has designs on! That seems unethical at best.

6:32 - More rousing boos for Fielder. "Arizona" is Spanish for "sour grapes" I guess.

6:33 - Prince Fielder might go down as the greatest fat muscle-bound vegan cheater showboating slugger of all time. (I love the guy.)

6:34 - It would be pretty awesome if the Giants could find $140 million in their payroll for Fielder next year.

6:35 - Home runs are down 40% from last year, but shockingly, "BACKBACKBACK"s are down nearly 70%!

6:36 - When even Chris Berman sounds bored, it's time to pack it in, fellas.

6:37 - Commentators saying Fielder is "Not tall, big." Does he also have a great personality? #fatshaming #nothowhashtagswork

6:38 - Fielder finishes at five home runs as well. A three-way Ortiz/Fielder/Holliday bat-off? Time to cross an item off my slashfic bucket list!

6:39 - They're describing Fielder's swing as "controlled aggression." Waiting for them to drop "testicular fortitude," "rabid wolverine," or "cerebral assassin"

6:43 - David Ortiz hits four home runs on five swings. Holliday had two, so Fielder needs at least three. Come on you cocky cheater, let's get this one done.

6:45 - LOL at the shot of Matt Holliday trying so hard to look like he doesn't care. Fielder eliminates him to be the last remaining National League guy, which was probably his plan all along. Which makes him the smartest man in baseball.

6:46 - Fielder goes 5 for 5 in the swing-off, and it was AWESOME.

6:47 - The semifinals will be Fielder, Ortiz, Gonzalez, and Cano.

6:48 - Chris Berman compares Fielder to "the boys in the Alamo, tryin' to fight 'em off!" I guess he's not to familiar with the fact that the state of Arizona is trying their damnedest to "fight 'em off" as we speak! (They hate Mexicans, is my general point.)

6:53 - Yo if the camera is on you and you're wearing a team shirt or jersey, pinching it near the letters with both hands and flouncing it up and down is like the bro-est thing you can do. Nothing makes you look like more of an assheaded schmuck, especially if it is a Sox or Yankees shirt.

6:55 - As Ortiz hits a home run, Berman squeals, "you can tell time by THIS!" apropos of nothing. what

6:56 - Ortiz asks them to turn on some home run hitting music. He then asks Adrian Gonzalez to fix him "my special shake I told you about" which he then follows with forty-five seconds of exaggerated winking.

7:01 - Heath Bell is walking around with a humorously oversized bat, cracking everyone up. This is the funniest thing to happen in baseball since Roger McDowell's hate-fueled homophobic rant in San Francisco. That guy's such a jokester!

7:02 - I believe "Fettuccini Alfredo Griffin" is Berman's first unnecessary pun nickname. Over two hours into the telecast! Chris Berman v2.0: now with a modicum of restraint.

7:04 - Robinson Cano really is hitting baseballs a real long way.

7:05 - One of Fielder's kids is hitting baseballs off a tee in the batting cage. Got a better swing than half the Astros lineup. Obvious jokes!

7:10 - Cano just won't stop hitting these g-d home runs.

7:12 - Looks like we're sticking with the three-man booth for the rest of the way. Cano's round brought out a plethora of "BACKBACKBACK" so here we go. For those of you watching along: guess the next Berman nickname. I'm guessing the obvious "Yo Adrian" and perhaps "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Fielder."

7:25 - Berman suggests an Adrian Gonzalez blast is "on its way to Yuma." Spoken like someone who didn't read Jon Bois's writeup at SBNation today.

7:28 - Gonzalez and Cano are tied at 20 home runs, so Fielder has to hit at least 15 to advance. Not looking good.

7:33 - Matt Kemp refers to his "homies" and Buck Gomez fights the urge to "slap him five"

7:34 - Yep, Fielder choked. Finals will be Cano and Gonzalez. Even the Home Run Derby manages to end up with ESPN talking about Yankees vs. Red Sox.

7:39 - In case there wasn't enough filler, here's a recap of the round you just watched.

7:40 - So they use a cumulative total for the first two rounds, but start a new home run total for the finals? Sure, whatever. Still shuddering thinking about John Sterling calling this.

7:42 - Nomar audibly gives not even the tiniest shit about any of this at this point.

7:43 - Lots of people in the pool at this point. Kudos to ESPN cameramen/director for not leering at the ladies.

7:44 - At least Berman doesn't try to shoehorn in current events. "He crushed that one like a car at the Tour de France!" "That ball was belted so hard it split Sudan into two countries!" etc.

7:48 - John Kruk announces he could go for some pork rinds, to the shock of literally no one.

7:49 - Gonzalez wraps up his final round with 11 dingers. Here's hoping Cano wraps this one up quickly so we can move along to looking forward to tomorrow night's slightly-less-meaningless festivities.

7:51 - Berman keeps referring to Gonzalez as a "Red Sock," singular, which either means he doesn't understand sports or doesn't understand English. There's a pick'em for you.

7:54 - It is revealed that there are cacti on either side of the ESPN announce desk. The production team was unable to locate napping Mexicans with serapes and oversize mustaches. Well, they located some, but Sheriff Joe shot them on sight.

7:57 - Pepsi has placed the "vacation Santa" from their "Take that, Coke!" ad campaign in the pool area next to a giant PEPSI logo. At least ESPN has held back on "Zookeeper" tie-ins thus far.

7:58 - They're playing Katy Perry's "Firework" which is unironically one of the best pop songs of the last few years. That's the most exciting thing that has happened in the past 20 minutes.

8:00 - "This is on its way to Flagstaff!" I guess he did read that article, after all! Everyone here owes Jon Bois a Coke! I mean Pepsi!

8:01 - Cano is going to win this. Which I guess Yankees fans will boast about when they miss the playoffs this year and/or get eliminated in the ALDS.

8:03 - ESPN is really pushing that we're supposed to be touched by Robinson Cano's terrifying-looking father pitching to him.

8:04 - Cano wins it with 12 in the Finals. Just a reminder: people presumably paid for tickets to this.

8:05 - Thanks for tuning in, BF readers. This was a good reminder than home runs, when removed from context or import, are usually super boring. Sleep tight, kids. And regarding the All-Star Game tomorrow: Go, National League! (Brian Wilson will blow the save.)

Giants Somehow Take Two of Three From Scott Hairston

All-Star. Fuck the naysayers.

I was actually in Northern California for this series, and attended Saturday night's game. It was one of the best baseball experiences of my life, and luckily the Giants won. I got to experience the catharsis of Sergio Romo striking out Giants-killer Scott Hairston on three brutal sliders, less than 24 hours after he destroyed the G-Men for the one hundred and seventh time in his career.

So we have a team that has been more than decimated by injuries to key players. A team whose offense is tied together by a legit All-Star and a suddenly-living-up-to-expectations Nate Schierholtz. The downside is that they are surrounded by a bunch of creaky old timers having career-worst seasons offensively, a couple of banjo-swinging youngsters, and Aaron Rowand. I imagine this is what the first draft of Bochy's lineup card looks like every day:

1- Whoever can walk and then get picked off first

2- Out

3- Sandoval

4- Out

5- Out

6- Schierholtz

7- Out

8- Out

9- Pitcher???? (Ask Righetti)

Still though, besides Wilson (more guts than stuff), the Giants pitching, particularly their bullpen, is out of this world. The Giants win on smoke and mirrors most nights, and especially at home they refuse to give up, and inexplicably -- honestly, I have no idea how this happened -- the Giants have the fifth-best record in baseball, and are entering the All-Star Break three games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. If they can even get a halfway-warm bat or two by the tradeline, and if Huff continues to completely Aubrey it up at the plate and Bochy can wrap his head around giving Belt some starts, it may end up being another great season. Amazing.

So why am I so worried?

- Bill

Can Mets Fans Justify Being Bitter? Giants 4, Mets 2

om nom nom

I don't want to waste a lot of time talking about Mike Pelfrey, having covered my frustration with him in earlier posts.  I just don't understand how he can hang fastballs like he did in the beginning of the game, and then suddenly figure out how to blow them by hitters, as he did when he struck out the side in the sixth.  Knowing the Mets' luck, he will be traded for a life-AA prospect, and then suddenly find his natural calling as a Brandon Webb clone (without the arm made of paper mache and hope), and pitch seven no-hitters.  

This weekend wasn't without silver linings.  

got heeeeeeem (courtesy The Agony of Defeat)

The Mets are in a stretch of seven games where they are facing seven All-Star pitchers and, if nothing else, they showed a little bit of fight against Vogelsong, Lincecum, and Cain.  It's too bad that the offense didn't show up (it seems like the team finally looked around and everyone kind of noticed, 'Hey, you seen Jose?  No, YOU seen Jose?  Hey....wait a minute!'" 

Before they entered this current stretch of 23 games that featured series against all six of MLB's first-place teams, I thought that 14-9 or better would be necessary in order for the Mets to think that they had a legitimate shot at a Wild Card.  However, that was before the Reyes injury, and so far they're 9-7 and now we're back to this bullcrap where every loss means that the Mets are 'inching towards unloading" and every victory means that they're merely "treading water."  This won't go away until if/when K-Rod and Beltran go, but thankfully, whatever happens, it seems reasonably assured that Reyes isn't going anywhere this year.  

That brings me to the first-half analysis that I was doing in my head as I drifted off to sleep last night, ("Hey, at least Beltran KINDA swung at THAT game-ending pitch...") and I came to the realization that despite every preseason assurance that the Mets would be dismantled and sold for parts, and playing meaningless baseball by June, that I have enjoyed this season more than any since 2008, and genuinely LIKED the players as a group more than any since the 2000 World Series team.  They are still playing meaningful, entertaining baseball and have a winning record at the All-Star break, which I would have gladly signed for before the season began.  Granted, I expected bounceback years from Wright and Bay, and a huge step forward for Davis, but instead, they've been getting solid contributions from rookies (Tejada, Justin Turner, Gee), Daniel Murphy, who finally seems to have found a place, and unexpecteds Paulino and Capuano.  I feel that these contributions are more encouraging than the ones that I was expecting, since it seems to reflect that the front office has a good eye for talent available within and from outside of the organization, and that Terry Collins knows how to implement and motivate the players that are available to him once they reach the Majors. 

These are all positive things.  Why, however, do I feel a sense of disappointment?  Probably because if the Mets had been able to play with any level of mediocrity when they were completely awful in the first month of the season, they would be right in the thick of things instead of on the fringe, deciding whether or not they were going to get involved.  They had six one-run losses in April, if they had managed to take half of those, then they're in a completely different place altogether.  

If I had to guess, I would say that K-Rod will almost certainly be gone for peanuts by July 31, most likely to become setup-man to Neftali Feliz or Mariano Rivera, and that his $17.5 million vesting option will remain unfulfilled. 

Beltran is harder to figure.  Obviously, with the deadline approaching fast, the first week back from the All-Star break (three against Philly, one against Florida, and three against the Cards) will most likely be the most crucial yet in determining what kind of team this is, and whether or not Beltran is worth a rental, albeit a pricey one, to a true contender.  Or maybe the decision's been made already.  

K-Rod and Beltran maybe on their way out.  Wright, Davis and Reyes on their way back, and Johan Santana seemingly in some state of limbo.  What will the second half bring? 

Blue Jays 5, Indians 4 (F/10), Blue Jays 7, Indians 1: And Yet I Am Still Bitter About Thursday Night

Having An Average Weekend

Nobody in baseball had a better Saturday than Derek Jeter, whose five-for-five with a home run for his 3000th hit was a suitably ridiculous thing for Completely Obvious Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter to do. But Jose Bautista had a pretty awesome day, too, belting a home run in the third and another in the tenth to win it. Had Jon Rauch not blown the save and spoiled Brendan Morrow's fine outing, Bautista never would have even had the opportunity, so thanks, Jon Rauch!  I actually enjoyed it more this way. After the drama of Saturday night, Sunday afternoon was a garden-variety drubbing, with Brett Cecil holding it down capably on the mound while the Blue Jays bats rattled off eleven hits. Bautista? A single, a double, a couple of runs knocked in, and half an afternoon off, as John McDonald replaced him in the field in the sixth. 

Much more on the state of the Blue Jays in the first half generally as the All-Star break gets underway, but for now I will merely say that but for that truly wretched walk-off grand slam Thursday night, we'd be looking at a .500 first half right now. Does that matter, particularly? No, but also, of course it does.

KS

49-43

48-43

The murder of Thomas Becket

Blue Jays 11, Indians 7: Travis Snider and Rajai Davis FTW

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

I don't know, man, with all due respect to both Zaun and Ashby, maybe Travis Snider really has straightened out his swing? Three hits last night, including a double and a home run, knocking in five. Add Rajai Davis' 4-RBI, 3-4 night, and not even Shawn Camp's hideous eighth inning could deprive Jo-Jo Reyes of his fourth win. It's particularly good to see Rajai do something, because he has been one of the worst regular players in baseball this year. And I don't say that idly: he's 414th out of 425 batters in WAR. His OBP is .268, if you can believe it. I will understand if you cannot.


KS 

This season....

I haven't written much on this blog, and I apologize for that. Besides some real life shit that would be tl;dr to go into (and no one would rightly give two fucks about), I've been kind of afraid to say anything about this season, as if mentioning it would cause me to wake up and find out it was all a dream and the Pirates were 15 games below .500 and 25 out of first place.

But it isn't.

Tonight's win clinched a winning first half of the season for the first time since 1992. Imagine that, if you can. A lot of teams have championship droughts, but consider this: an entire generation of baseball fans in this city have never seen winning baseball. There's more fans in Detroit with memories of Lions playoff games than fans in Pittsburgh with memories of Pirates playoff games. It's been said that Pittsburgh doesn't even care about baseball anymore, and there's been times where that's been hard to argue. That's no longer the case now. Not only is the team doing it's part, the fans have been too. It gets pointed out quickly that sellouts vs the Phillies and Red Sox included a large portion of visiting fans, but when you have standing room only in a game against a Cubs team that pretty much called it a season on Memorial Day you know you have something real.

It's been long forgotten that Pittsburgh was first and foremost a baseball town for nearly a century. The Steelers were an afterthought from their founding in 1933 to about 1969. They were lucky to break .500 and were barely covered by the local sports media. The Pirates were the kings of the city by a large margin. Even when football took hold, it was still neck and neck. Some of the most beloved sports heroes were Clemente, Stargell, and Maz. Even into the 80s, we had Andy Van Slyke, Doug Drabek, Bobby Bonilla, and yes, even that skinny young Bonds guy (wonder what became of him) giving the fans something to cheer for.

As we all know, times got hard. It hasn't been fun being a Pirates fan for a long while. There was the Freak Show team in 1997 that somehow contended until the last week of the season (still finished below .500) but that's been it until now. Now there's reason to believe again, and no matter what happens the second half of the year, this season is a success because of that alone. A city remembered it was a baseball town again.

48-42

All the fine ladies set to welcome Joe DiMagglio back from the dead.

Indians 5, Toronto 4: What Can You Even Say

Blargh.

Were I to focus on the positives from last night, I would have to say that by golly, we sure are getting a lot more out of Carlos Villanueva than anybody could have ever expected, and how about another home run from Jose Bautista! Rzepcynski and Frasor sure pitched well out of the pen! But of course the real story here is the Indians' five-run bottom of the ninth. Yes, it was Luis Perez who gave up the Asdrubel Cabrera RBI single and Travis Hafner's mighty wallop of a walk-off grand slam, but I choose to lay most of the blame at the feet of "The Closer" Frank Francisco, who opened up the inning like this: Single. Double. Walk. That is how you turn a four-run lead in the ninth into a shameful, grievous thing. That is exactly how you do it.


KS 

Mets at Giants Weekend Series

I rooted as they beat my sworn foes, the Braves and Phillies, and pulled for them as they won the World Series, beating the Rangers, about whom I am fairly ambivalent.  However...now...we must fight!

I have a very busy weekend that includes meeting my new nephew and attending a wedding, so my posting will be delayed, but with Reyes hitting the DL yesterday, and the Mets mired in a stretch where they will probably face seven All-Stars in a row, it's quite possible that when I return to writing on Sunday, I will be recapping the "WELP" packing-it-in-for-the-season game.  

I'll just leave this here, in lieu of a .gif of John Franco striking out Barry Bonds, which I just don't think the internet is ready for.  Everyone have a great weekend, except you Bill, who can burn in hell.  :-D   <3