Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
The frequent and occasional humorous musings behind two of the World's greatest underappreciated sports minds.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
It's Baseball Tonight!This is a special day, my first Mets game of the season and Pedro is going for his 100th home victory. Tonight's victims: The Natties.
Before tonight's diary starts, a quick word on last night's game -- Jorge Julio is a horseshit pitcher.
Moving on
7:13 p.m. (NYM 0, WAS 0) Pedro's bid for a no-hitter last one out as Vidro gets on, but Pedro gets Guillen to hit into the old 3-6-3 and inning over. Pedro hit the high 80s on the gun.
Tonight the Mets are sporting this following lineup:
Jose Ole
My man Duke
Weak Carlos
Strong Carlos
The Next Big Thing
Cliff Floyd
X-Man
Anderson Hernandez
Martinez
7:15: Ramon Ortiz is starting for the Nats tonight, I have nothing to add.
7:17: Reyes hits a blooper right in the empty short centerfield as I pencil in the SB right now.
7:18 No SB for Jose as Duke lines one in the outfield and the Mets has runners on the corners when the pint-sized bat of Beltran coming up.
7:20 Beltran gets behind in the count and settles for the old RBI fielders choice. Only 118 more RBIs and he'll match his salary, still no hits this season.
7:23 Delgado looks so right in a Mets uniform, we should've drafted him, I'm convinced. Ortiz is a little concerned with Beltran but why bother? Delgado pops it up after a little battle.
7:25 It's safe to say Met fans are a little excited about David "MVP" Wright, I haven't been this excited about a third baseman since HoJo. Wright's mere presence allows Beltran to steal.
Scary tidbit: The Mets have had 131 third basemen...Holy shit.
7:27 Ortiz went inside on Wright, he should be ejected!
7:28 Wright lines a shot in right and it's a 2-0 lead...MVP! MVP! MVP!
Poll Question: Is David Wright one of the top 10 players...of all time? :)
7:30 Ortiz, to his credit, has gotten ahead of every hitter but isn't making good out pitches. I say that as Floyd flies out to retire the side.
7:33 (NYM 2, WAS 0) Pedro misses his target against Nick Johnson and belts him in the shoulder. Johnson is a former Yankee right? Good!
7:35 Morgan turns Soriano's switch to left field into anecdote about himself. Gotta love him. Soriano flares one into no man's land.
7:37 Pedro's first victim: Ryan Zimmerman with a NASTY offspeed pitch. That was sick.
7:38 Clayton dribbles one off the hands but DAVID WRIGHT~! makes the superstar play.
7:40 Two outs and Pedro loads up the bases on an intention pass to face Ortiz.
7:41 Oh boy. Ortiz hits a dribbler and Pedro fires the ball over Delgado's head, two runs score and we're tied. Damn. It's Pedro's first error as a Met and the Nats still have runners in scoring position.
7:43 Pedro fans Watson, but the damage is done early.
7:45 X-man is up and he's been smoking at the plate since the Mets acquired him, but he goes quietly.
7:47: Every at bat with Anderson Hernandez is important because it keeps Kaz Matsui off the team. You see keeping Matsui away is a good thing :)
7:53 (NYM 2, WAS 2) Pedro's pitch count hits 30 as he walks Vidro, I'm smelling a five-inning stint here. I notice Pedro isn't sporting the jheri curl anymore, just a basic afro.
7:54 Another hit batsman (Guillen) and he's looking pretty wild, two-on with no outs isn't the way to start an inning. However Pedro orders Johnson to sit down and shut up, so things are back to normal.
7:57 Soriano goes down quickly.
8:00 Zimmerman gets fanned again and that's four strikeouts for the bull.
8:06 (NYM 2, WAS 2) The Duke gets on base again, which should make it that much easier for Beltran to ground into a double play. Beltran takes the high road and flies out and he is hearing it from the home crowd now. 0-for-8 to start the season. He should just bat seventh in the lineup.
8:08 Ortiz freezes Delgado, he's put together a nice little run of pitches.
8:16 Pedro walks Ortiz??? He doesn't have his stuff tonight, that's obvious, so he's really mixing up his pitches different as he gets Watson out to retire the side.
8:21 Wright fights off a couple inside pitches to line another one into right for his second hit of the night.
8:23 Floyd takes it the other way as Mets get the first two on for X-man.
8:26 X rips one off of Ortiz's foot and goes high in the air for an apparent hit. F-Rob has something to say about that, I doubt he was awake on the play to begin with. Either way the Mets load up the bases for Anderson Hernandez.
8:28 Hernandez pops up a short fly and that's a bad out.
8:29 PEDRO~! gets the big RBI single for his customary RBI of the season. Strong looking hit too. And a big smile from the Mets' ace.
8:31 Reyes rips one in the hole, Floyd scores easy and X comes in with the GREAT SLIDE! 5-2 Mets!! with the Duke coming up.
8:32 Duke hits into the DP to end the inning and save Beltran from failing again with runners on base.
8:37: Pedro walks Vidro and goes inside on Guillen again. Uh oh, Guillen is crazy. He's a damn nut, but Pedro holds his ground and everyone clears out just to dance around. Pedro never moved a step. That's Pedro's third hits batsman of the game, a career high.
8:42 Pedro shows he's learned his lesson by going inside on Johnson.
8:43 Johnson rips that one towards Arthur Ashe court and ties the ballgame. Pedro's obviously not himself as a 5-2 lead is usually automatic for him.
8:47 Pedro fans the next two and gets Clayton to ground out to Wright, but the game is tied.
8:50 Morgan says the Nats HAVE to retaliate but they should get two outs first. And of course there's no use in hitting "easy out" Beltran. Why even bother suiting up bro?
8:51 "Strong" Carlos rips one to right and it's GONE!!! Yeah baby!! 6-5 Mets! :)
9:02 Pedro walks Daryle Ward but does a relatively easy job of retiring the side and not facing Jose Guillen, whew.
9:18 I missed the most of the last half inning, it appears that Reyes grounded out with Nady on third.
9:19 A swollen throat ends the home umpire's night as one of Pedro's pitches that hit Guillen deflected on to his throat. Ouch.
9:39 (NYM 6, WAS 5) There was an umpire changing delay and after that and a pitiful fielding play by Beltran (yeah, like he can afford to half-ass it in the field) the bases are juiced with two outs for the Nats. Duaner Sanchez gets Schneider to pop up to Delgado and retires the side!
9:46 Duke opens the post-stretch period with a walk and the crowd cheers Beltran in hopes of getting him out of this horrible slump. And a little cheer brings up a BIG FLY!!!! There you go Carlos!
9:48 The crowd gets Beltran an extended ovation that includes a demand of the curtain call and a prolonged "Carlos Beltran" chant. Finally Julio Franco convinced Beltran to recognize the cheers and he does. Meanwhile Delgado strikes out.
9:53 Wright gets on with a walk and Floyd doubles him home. Very impressive showing from the top six batters for the Mets tonight. 9-5 good guys.
9:58 Randolph opts to leave Sanchez in to hit rather than go to another reliever.Sanchez pretty much swings like a reliever and harmlessly grounds out.
10:06 The at-bat obviously hyped up Sanchez as he struck the side out.
10:09 As the game hits the three-hour mark Reyes gets hit third hit of the game, a triple in the gap. My goodness, he's very fast and thank god we never traded this guy. Rodriguez beans the Duke and new home plate umpire Rick Reed sends Rodriguez packing and surely hear a mouthful from F-Rob if he's awake. This is a grade-A verbal battle, only thing missing...yeah there's the bump. Robinson's got a point I suppose. Surprisingly Robinson didn't get tossed, but the inning is young.
You know, a time limit for baseball probably isn't a bad thing.
10:24 Finally after another 15-minute delay Beltran hits a sac fly and Reyes scores, giving Beltran his fourth RBI.
10:27 Wright gets his third hit of the night and fourth time on base as Floyd gets another chance for an RBI.
10:32 Floyd strikes out and unless Bradford implodes, I'm calling this one a night and a Mets victory.
Before tonight's diary starts, a quick word on last night's game -- Jorge Julio is a horseshit pitcher.
Moving on
7:13 p.m. (NYM 0, WAS 0) Pedro's bid for a no-hitter last one out as Vidro gets on, but Pedro gets Guillen to hit into the old 3-6-3 and inning over. Pedro hit the high 80s on the gun.
Tonight the Mets are sporting this following lineup:
Jose Ole
My man Duke
Weak Carlos
Strong Carlos
The Next Big Thing
Cliff Floyd
X-Man
Anderson Hernandez
Martinez
7:15: Ramon Ortiz is starting for the Nats tonight, I have nothing to add.
7:17: Reyes hits a blooper right in the empty short centerfield as I pencil in the SB right now.
7:18 No SB for Jose as Duke lines one in the outfield and the Mets has runners on the corners when the pint-sized bat of Beltran coming up.
7:20 Beltran gets behind in the count and settles for the old RBI fielders choice. Only 118 more RBIs and he'll match his salary, still no hits this season.
7:23 Delgado looks so right in a Mets uniform, we should've drafted him, I'm convinced. Ortiz is a little concerned with Beltran but why bother? Delgado pops it up after a little battle.
7:25 It's safe to say Met fans are a little excited about David "MVP" Wright, I haven't been this excited about a third baseman since HoJo. Wright's mere presence allows Beltran to steal.
Scary tidbit: The Mets have had 131 third basemen...Holy shit.
7:27 Ortiz went inside on Wright, he should be ejected!
7:28 Wright lines a shot in right and it's a 2-0 lead...MVP! MVP! MVP!
Poll Question: Is David Wright one of the top 10 players...of all time? :)
7:30 Ortiz, to his credit, has gotten ahead of every hitter but isn't making good out pitches. I say that as Floyd flies out to retire the side.
7:33 (NYM 2, WAS 0) Pedro misses his target against Nick Johnson and belts him in the shoulder. Johnson is a former Yankee right? Good!
7:35 Morgan turns Soriano's switch to left field into anecdote about himself. Gotta love him. Soriano flares one into no man's land.
7:37 Pedro's first victim: Ryan Zimmerman with a NASTY offspeed pitch. That was sick.
7:38 Clayton dribbles one off the hands but DAVID WRIGHT~! makes the superstar play.
7:40 Two outs and Pedro loads up the bases on an intention pass to face Ortiz.
7:41 Oh boy. Ortiz hits a dribbler and Pedro fires the ball over Delgado's head, two runs score and we're tied. Damn. It's Pedro's first error as a Met and the Nats still have runners in scoring position.
7:43 Pedro fans Watson, but the damage is done early.
7:45 X-man is up and he's been smoking at the plate since the Mets acquired him, but he goes quietly.
7:47: Every at bat with Anderson Hernandez is important because it keeps Kaz Matsui off the team. You see keeping Matsui away is a good thing :)
7:53 (NYM 2, WAS 2) Pedro's pitch count hits 30 as he walks Vidro, I'm smelling a five-inning stint here. I notice Pedro isn't sporting the jheri curl anymore, just a basic afro.
7:54 Another hit batsman (Guillen) and he's looking pretty wild, two-on with no outs isn't the way to start an inning. However Pedro orders Johnson to sit down and shut up, so things are back to normal.
7:57 Soriano goes down quickly.
8:00 Zimmerman gets fanned again and that's four strikeouts for the bull.
8:06 (NYM 2, WAS 2) The Duke gets on base again, which should make it that much easier for Beltran to ground into a double play. Beltran takes the high road and flies out and he is hearing it from the home crowd now. 0-for-8 to start the season. He should just bat seventh in the lineup.
8:08 Ortiz freezes Delgado, he's put together a nice little run of pitches.
8:16 Pedro walks Ortiz??? He doesn't have his stuff tonight, that's obvious, so he's really mixing up his pitches different as he gets Watson out to retire the side.
8:21 Wright fights off a couple inside pitches to line another one into right for his second hit of the night.
8:23 Floyd takes it the other way as Mets get the first two on for X-man.
8:26 X rips one off of Ortiz's foot and goes high in the air for an apparent hit. F-Rob has something to say about that, I doubt he was awake on the play to begin with. Either way the Mets load up the bases for Anderson Hernandez.
8:28 Hernandez pops up a short fly and that's a bad out.
8:29 PEDRO~! gets the big RBI single for his customary RBI of the season. Strong looking hit too. And a big smile from the Mets' ace.
8:31 Reyes rips one in the hole, Floyd scores easy and X comes in with the GREAT SLIDE! 5-2 Mets!! with the Duke coming up.
8:32 Duke hits into the DP to end the inning and save Beltran from failing again with runners on base.
8:37: Pedro walks Vidro and goes inside on Guillen again. Uh oh, Guillen is crazy. He's a damn nut, but Pedro holds his ground and everyone clears out just to dance around. Pedro never moved a step. That's Pedro's third hits batsman of the game, a career high.
8:42 Pedro shows he's learned his lesson by going inside on Johnson.
8:43 Johnson rips that one towards Arthur Ashe court and ties the ballgame. Pedro's obviously not himself as a 5-2 lead is usually automatic for him.
8:47 Pedro fans the next two and gets Clayton to ground out to Wright, but the game is tied.
8:50 Morgan says the Nats HAVE to retaliate but they should get two outs first. And of course there's no use in hitting "easy out" Beltran. Why even bother suiting up bro?
8:51 "Strong" Carlos rips one to right and it's GONE!!! Yeah baby!! 6-5 Mets! :)
9:02 Pedro walks Daryle Ward but does a relatively easy job of retiring the side and not facing Jose Guillen, whew.
9:18 I missed the most of the last half inning, it appears that Reyes grounded out with Nady on third.
9:19 A swollen throat ends the home umpire's night as one of Pedro's pitches that hit Guillen deflected on to his throat. Ouch.
9:39 (NYM 6, WAS 5) There was an umpire changing delay and after that and a pitiful fielding play by Beltran (yeah, like he can afford to half-ass it in the field) the bases are juiced with two outs for the Nats. Duaner Sanchez gets Schneider to pop up to Delgado and retires the side!
9:46 Duke opens the post-stretch period with a walk and the crowd cheers Beltran in hopes of getting him out of this horrible slump. And a little cheer brings up a BIG FLY!!!! There you go Carlos!
9:48 The crowd gets Beltran an extended ovation that includes a demand of the curtain call and a prolonged "Carlos Beltran" chant. Finally Julio Franco convinced Beltran to recognize the cheers and he does. Meanwhile Delgado strikes out.
9:53 Wright gets on with a walk and Floyd doubles him home. Very impressive showing from the top six batters for the Mets tonight. 9-5 good guys.
9:58 Randolph opts to leave Sanchez in to hit rather than go to another reliever.Sanchez pretty much swings like a reliever and harmlessly grounds out.
10:06 The at-bat obviously hyped up Sanchez as he struck the side out.
10:09 As the game hits the three-hour mark Reyes gets hit third hit of the game, a triple in the gap. My goodness, he's very fast and thank god we never traded this guy. Rodriguez beans the Duke and new home plate umpire Rick Reed sends Rodriguez packing and surely hear a mouthful from F-Rob if he's awake. This is a grade-A verbal battle, only thing missing...yeah there's the bump. Robinson's got a point I suppose. Surprisingly Robinson didn't get tossed, but the inning is young.
You know, a time limit for baseball probably isn't a bad thing.
10:24 Finally after another 15-minute delay Beltran hits a sac fly and Reyes scores, giving Beltran his fourth RBI.
10:27 Wright gets his third hit of the night and fourth time on base as Floyd gets another chance for an RBI.
10:32 Floyd strikes out and unless Bradford implodes, I'm calling this one a night and a Mets victory.
Whitlock on Duke...
....The big boy knocked this one out of the park. Hanging with the boys is fine, hanging with the suds is fine, but put them together and the potential for disaster increases tenfold.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Who's Your Sandman?Despite the fact that I think Metallica is the suckiest suck band when it comes to what they are as compared to what they were, I give them props for respecting the original Sandman in this case:
Hmmm, since Billy didn't pitch in New York for his first 10 I'm wondering they will consider those years legit. Anyway Moron and the Rambling Pup can shut up now.
Not only should the Mets play "Enter Sandman" when closer Billy Wagner takes the mound at Shea, the manager of Metallica says they should turn up the volume.
For the record, Wagner used the song first, even if it's synonymous in baseball circles with Rivera's entrance.
While with Houston during Wagner's rookie season in 1996, teammate Jeff Bagwell disliked the lefty's entry music, George Strait's "They Call Me the Fireman," and persuaded Wagner to switch.
Rivera didn't begin using the song for another three years.
Hmmm, since Billy didn't pitch in New York for his first 10 I'm wondering they will consider those years legit. Anyway Moron and the Rambling Pup can shut up now.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Perfect Start......some quick thoughts on the Mets' opener.
-- David Wright is now fully established as the best player on the team and the team leader. He's basically the Mets' version of Jeter back when Jeter was young and talented.
-- Xavier Nady's hot bat carried over from exhibition season. Given the money saved in the trade that sent Mike Cameron away, this could be one of Minaya's best moves.
-- Tom Glavine is still a gamer.
-- Aaron Heilman got a little lucky and wasn't locating his pitches well at all, still he survived for the first of many holds.
-- Wagner did what was asked. He threw strikes, he got a break on a bad baserunning decision, but he threw his best stuff.
-- Carlos Beltran needs to get off to a hot start. I don't care if he has to bunt to get on base, he needs hits badly.
Otherwise it was a great day and even ESPN agrees.
-- David Wright is now fully established as the best player on the team and the team leader. He's basically the Mets' version of Jeter back when Jeter was young and talented.
-- Xavier Nady's hot bat carried over from exhibition season. Given the money saved in the trade that sent Mike Cameron away, this could be one of Minaya's best moves.
-- Tom Glavine is still a gamer.
-- Aaron Heilman got a little lucky and wasn't locating his pitches well at all, still he survived for the first of many holds.
-- Wagner did what was asked. He threw strikes, he got a break on a bad baserunning decision, but he threw his best stuff.
-- Carlos Beltran needs to get off to a hot start. I don't care if he has to bunt to get on base, he needs hits badly.
Otherwise it was a great day and even ESPN agrees.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Investigation?Buster Olney sets the record striaght on this joke of an investigation and lays the smacketh down.
They will investigate, but they don't want to find anything.
They will investigate, but they don't want to find anything.