submitted by austro
Time To Go Bird Hunting
Baltimore Orioles (26-24) @ Houston Astros (22-32)
The Astros are returning from a very encouraging 6-4 road trip, and riding a 5-game winning streak! I don’t know when they last had a streak that long (especially on the road), but I suspect it’s been a while.
I’ve just returned from a road trip of my own to the western slope of Colorado. Grand Junction, where I lived until I was in junior high, hosts the Junior College World Series every year (and they’ve been hosting it since the 50’s, I think). I don’t go out there every year, but I go when I can to take in a really great celebration of baseball. The community really supports the tournament, and it’s a big deal both to the locals and to the teams that win their regional tournaments to qualify to compete for the national championship. This year was especially meaningful on a personal level, as a close family friend – who is now in his 80s and was an instrumental part of the tournament during the 60s and 70s – made the trip over from Denver for the Friday night banquet and the Saturday opening. Tony LaRussa was the speaker for the banquet, and even though he’s still a derp, he had some amusing stories to tell. His man-crush on Pujols hasn’t dissipated at all.
The late, great mihoba also hailed from Grand Junction, although he was a bit younger than me and I don’t think we ever met as kids. I like to think that we may have bumped into one another at the tournament, chasing foul balls and just generally goofing around.
Thursday, May 29, 7:10 CDT
Jimenez (2-6, 4.98) vs Peacock (1-4, 5.20)
Four or five years ago Ubaldo Jimenez was pitching for the Rockies and striking out everybody he faced. Now he has trouble getting anybody out. Go figure. Most of the Astros are young enough that nobody has much of a history: as a team they’re 9-for-31 in 34 PAs. Altuve and Krauss have two hits apiece, and nobody else has more than one.
From all appearances, Peacock is pitching to retain his spot in the starting rotation. Exactly one active (and I use the term loosely) Oriole has faced Peacock: David Lough is 1-for-2 (with a single) against Peacock.
NJCAA Tournament, Day 1, Saturday, May 24
The first day of the tournament is always great. There are four games scheduled for the day, everybody is psyched, and the energy level is high. The weather was great (50s in the morning, high in the 70s, typical 15-20% humidity), and everybody was ready to go.
Iowa Western and Columbia State (TN) kicked things off at 9am on Saturday, and it was one of those games in which one of the teams (Columbia) seems comfortably in control, and then everything gets turned upside down. Columbia went out to an early 5-0 lead, and Iowa Western didn’t seem like much of a threat. But in the middle of the game they chipped away, and when they came to the 9th they were only down by one. They wound up scoring two in the top of the 9th to take the lead, but Columbia loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 9th, and extra innings seemed likely, if not an outright win for Columbia. Then the Columbia batter absolutely smoked a ball up the middle, but the pitcher made an improbable snag of the liner and doubled off the runner on first. And just like that, the game was over. Everybody was stunned.
The second game at noon featured Midland College (TX) against Johnson County (KS). Midland came out crushing the ball, and it seemed like every batter was a carbon copy of the preceding one: wide base, fast bat, level through zone, and lots of contact. They wound up hitting several homers, and although Johnson County eventually scored some runs, the game was never really in doubt, with Midland winning 10-5.
The third game of the day was Cochise College (AZ) against Blinn College (TX). I took a break from the sun for this one, so I missed the Blinn starter, Robbie Dickey, who is apparently one of the hot pitching prospects for this year’s draft. He had a so-so outing, going 5.1 innings with 3 ER, 6 BB, and 9 K. Blinn wound up winning 7-4.
The final game of the day kicked off at 7:30pm, featuring Chattahoochee (AL) against Delgado (LA). I think this was the #1-ranked team against the #3-ranked team, but I’m not sure. Whatever the rankings, these two team were very evenly matched, and the game went to the 8th tied up 4-4. Delgado scored two in the top of the 8th to take a 6-4 lead, but in the bottom of the 8th they gave it back and then some, with Chattahoochee taking an 8-6 lead. Neither team scored in the 9th, and Chattahoochee moved to the winner’s bracket, and Delgado found themselves in the unenviable loser’s bracket.
Friday, May 30, 7:10 CDT
TBA (0-0, 0.00) vs Oberholtzer (1-6, 5.32)
Here comes TBA again. Seems like we’ve faced this guy a lot this year, and his ERA doesn’t make me feel all fuzzy. But we’re hot, and it seems like a good time to give this guy a shit-stomping.
Oberholtzer may or may not be the anonymous source of the sour grapes about Luhnow’s numbers-driven approach to team assembly. If I were Obie, I’d make damn sure that the numbers were on my side, which means that he’s got a ways to go to straighten things out. In his favor, current Orioles are sporting a .176/.176/.176 line against him in 17 PAs, which is pretty fucking stout. On the other hand, that’s not a lot of plate appearances, and Chris Davis appears to be heating up, so watch out.
NJCAA Tournament, Day 2, Sunday, May 25
Sunday dawned cloudy (and early: Grand Junction is far enough north that the hotel window starts to get light around 5:30am, even when it’s cloudy). There were three games scheduled for Sunday, but the committe’s worst fears materialized when the weather went south in the afternoon.
One of the cruel aspects of the tournament is that two teams will be eliminated by Sunday afternoon (even before two of the ten teams have played their first game). The first elimination game featured the first two losers from Saturday: Columbia against Johnson County. Johnson County scored two in the top of the 2nd, but Columbia came back and battered them with 9 runs in the bottom of the 2nd, and after that the outcome wasn’t really in doubt. Columbia wound up winning by 10 after 5 innings (the tournament has a 10/5-8/7 rule to try to limit the effects of blowouts on pitching staffs).
The 2nd game was also an elimination game, with Cochise playing Delgado. The game started under a drizzle and overcast, and the conditions were not very conducive to good baseball. Cochise got out to a 3-1 lead after 3 innings, and increased it to 7-2 after 6. There was a significant rain delay during the 6th and we decided to repair to my mother’s home, and when they returned (without us) Cochise dispatched Delgado 9-5.
The Sunday evening game was supposed to feature Spartanburg (SC; being a Marshall Tucker Band fan, they were my sentimental favorite) vs Miami Dade (FL), but the rain was too intense, and the game was postponed until the following day. But that allowed us all to get together at my brother’s and do some cooking and conversing, which was nice.
Saturday, May 31, 3:10 CDT
TBA (0-0, 0.00) vs Keuchel (6-2, 2.55)
Son of a bitch: TBA is such a stud that he can come back with no rest. That gives them a big advantage in pinch hitters, since they don’t have to carry as many pitchers. (For all I know, TBA slugs 4.000, too.) That can’t be good.
To this point in the season, Keuchel is this year’s Astros’ All-Star. I was always impressed by his mental toughness (first witnessed in the CWS for Arkansas), and I’ve hoped that he would be able to make the leap in the bigs. It appears that this is the year that he does so, and I’m delighted. Current Orioles are 7-for-26 against Keuchel, but that’s skewed by ex-Ranger Nelson “Please don’t hit it at me” Cruz, who has a 4-for-9 record against Keuchel. Considering Cruz’s defensive “contributions”, that’s probably about break-even.
NJCAA Tournament, Day 3, Monday, May 26
Monday dawned bright and clear, with a brilliant view of the Colorado National Monument that was breathtaking.
The first game on the schedule was the Spartanburg-Miami game that had been postponed from the previous evening. Ordinarily, Monday would be a three-game day, but because of the rainout, they had to squeeze four games in. This game started at 9am, and Miami ran out to a 3-0 lead and was never really threatened, winning 8-3.
The second game was another loser’s bracket game, Cochise vs Columbia State. This was one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far. Columbia jumped out to a big lead, leading 7-2 after 5, and from there it was a dogfight. Columbia was ahead 8-7 after 6, Cochise went ahead 11-9 in the top of the 9th, and Columbia tied it with 2 in the bottom of the 9th. Nobody scored in the 10th, and then a Columbia player fulfilled every kid’s ultimate dream, hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off homer to deep left-center to win the game in the bottom of the 11th, eliminating Cochise.
The third game of the day was Blinn against Chattahoochee. The game was even at 2-2 through 5, but then Blinn pulled away with 2 in the 6th and 6 (!) in the top of the 9th to win 10-2 to eliminate Chatahoochee.
The final Saturday game featured two unbeaten teams: Midland vs Iowa Western. Based on what I had seem from their earlier games, I expected Midland to spank Iowa. However, Midland apparently never received their wake-up call, and Iowa Western beat the crap out of them 9-0. (I have to admit that I didn’t attend the game, since it was the traditional Memorial Day game that features fireworks after the game, and there are a million people trying to attend; I find it much more relaxing simply to listen to that game on the radio.)
Sunday, June 1, 1:10 CDT
TBA (0-0, 0.00) vs Feldman (3-2, 3.02)
You’re fucking kidding me: TBA three days in a row? Might as well write this one off now. How can we compete with somebody that can throw three games in a row?
Well, there’s no “small sample size” issue here. Current Orioles are .278/.293/.456 against Feldman in 90 ABs. That’s not a particularly bad line, but when you combine it with TBA’s 0.00 ERA, I’m not optimistic about this contest. Somehow TBA is still winless even though he hasn’t given up any earned runs. Sometimes baseball is a funny game.
NJCAA Tournament, Day 4, Tuesday, May 27
The first game of the day was Chatahoochee against Spartanburg, another elimination game. This was perhaps the most bizarre game of the tournament. It started out normally: Chatahoochee scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st, but in the bottom of the 2nd Spartanburg scored 9 unearned runs after the Chatahoochee CF dropped a routine fly ball with 2 outs. Things only got worse after that, and Sparteanburg wound up winning 18-3 (after 5 innnings because of the mercy rule).
In the second game of the day, Midland got out to an early lead against Columbia and held on to win 10-7. Midland remains as an interesting team, but they seem to lack a killer instinct.
The third game of the day featured undefeated Blinn against undefeated Miami. Miami totally outclassed Blinn 11-2, sending Blinn to an elimination game against Spartanburg on Wednesday. The highlight of the game was the Bull Durham-esque “we’ve got a natural disaster” delay that occurred when the infield sprinklers all came on at exactly 8:30.
That ended my baseball marathon, since I had to return to Austin on Wednesday. But Spartanburg eliminated Blinn 10-2 Wednesday afternoon, and Iowa Western mauled Miami Dade 10-0 in a game that ended after 5 innings. That leaves Iowa Western as the only undefeated team in the tournament, and with a pretty well-rested pitching staff to boot. Four teams are still standing: Spartanburg will play Miami Dade in an elimination game Thursday afternoon, and Iowa Western and Midland will face off again Thursday evening, and the two winners will play Friday evening. If Iowa Western wins Thursday, that Friday game will be for the championship; if not, two of the three remaining teams will play Friday, and the winner will advance to the championship game against the third team on Saturday evening. (I believe that the bye in that case goes to the team that has played the most games, but if they have all played the same number of games at that point, it comes down to a coin flip.) I have to think that Iowa Western is the favorite, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Midland or Miami Dade take them down.
Injuries
Probably a bunch, but I’m too lazy to look them up.
Miscellaneous
If you are interested in the JUCO tournament, I encourage you to check out the jucogj.org site. The games are all being streamed live, and there are some good ball players there. And if you fnd yourself looking for something to do in late May some day, I encourage you to consider visiting Grand Junction and taking in the tournament; it’s really quite an undertaking, and a lot of fun to participate in. And even if you miss the tournament, consider Grand Junction as a vacation destination: the Grand Mesa and the Colorado National Monument are really spectacular.