There was a game last night

[JackAstro]

Let's talk about baseball. I'm putting the shutout aside, because there's no point in reading too much into it. Ignoring the outcome, it was pure bliss getting to see a real live 'Stros game again. In the fog of mid-morning, here's some random stuff that stuck with me.

So far, so good in the Bourn era. Having a true central gardner and leadoff man is just a wonderful thing. He was an obvious distraction to Peavy, particularly in the 1st inning, and I'm look forward to seeing a lot of fidgety pitchers not paying enough attention to the guy in the batter's box this season. And man, he covers some serious ground out in center. That's good shit. Apologies in advance if I've now cursed him with James Mouton Exaggerated Expectation Syndrome.

Pence's 1st AB was baffling. I genuinely hope that's the last time we see that.

The left side of the infield didn't look half as sketchy as I thought it would. I'm still going to miss the hell out of the Field General this year, but maybe it won't be a train wreck over there. Fingers crossed. Tejada doesn't look too - how you say - rangey? But he's more fundamentally solid than I remember. Feel free to tell me I'm FOS.

When everything is in place and they're not facing arguably the best pitcher in the NL, I feel damn good about this lineup. And since I've been told that the division standings are at least 40% based on how I feel, that's a great sign.

I like Wesley Wright. I mean, not like him like him, but you know. Of course, if he said he liked me, maybe I could. I don't know. Great, now I'm blushing.

The opening series should absolutely not be on the west coast, ever. That is some seriously fucked up shit. I mean, give us a week or two to get eased into the shit before we have to stay up all night for three consecutive games. Some people in here are very, very old.

Tell me about what you saw.

[EasTexAstro]

I agree on Bourn. Forgetting about the big egg after nine innings, if he is setting the table like that, it will lead to some antsy pitchers going after some good hitters.

I thought Roy looked a little off after getting hit, but still not a terrible performance. Far from his best, but I think the problems were building up on him. The first run knocked in by Peavy was a nice hit, but had Wiggington not been pulled in for the guy in third, it might have been a ground out instead. There were some hard hits on him, but a couple of hits seemed not so solid that found the holes.

Speaking of Ty, he had a nice play to just get the runner on a quick release on the slow bouncer.

Peavy was fun to watch from a pure baseball sense. Heck, it was just good to see real baseball again.

[Emo Oranges]

I, like you, was very happy with Michael Bourn.  It is exciting to see the Astros have a speed threat on the bases again, even though Bard isn't known for his prowess at throwing out runners.

I felt that Roy O was a little rattled after the line shot back at him, I don't expect him to be Jekyll and Hyde like that for the rest of the year.  Just a tough outing against a tough pitcher like Peavy.

As for Tejada...he made a couple of plays, especially the one behind second to throw out the runner which I was pleased with.  

Pence didn't look comfortable at the plate last night, and I realize that Lee isn't there for his fielding, but it seemed to take him longer than normal to get to the grounders to LF.  

I'm excited to watch Backe tonight, and I think we'll see a few runs on the board tonight once the guys settle in.

[Taras Bulba]

That guy the Astros are facing tonight ain't no slouch.

Can anything be done to return to the road grays?

[subnuclear]

Watching the game, I kind of wish the Astros had signed Iguchi who looked exactly like the #2 hitter we hope Matsui would be.     Otherwise, MM summed it up nicely.  

[pravata]

Drops.  It's what I was looking for.  Last season, Maximus played deep, and made it a point to range out to get to those soft pop ups so that Lee could play as far back as possible.  We know how that ended up.  Tejada couldn't get to the two I saw.

Bourn is playing a little deep too and the loopers fell in. 

Wigginton, as I noticed last season, is still not quick to the line.  He did play the roller well, but got his feet crossed when he had the chance for the dp with the bases loaded.  It looked like he caught a spike, but he should have caught the grounder in position to throw and so would not have had to set again.  Good recovery on that play to get the runner at home. 

[Fredia]

I was listenting to the radio and they said the scouting report was out on pence. do you think he can adjust

[pravata]

I felt that Roy O was a little rattled after the line shot back at him, I don't expect him to be Jekyll and Hyde like that for the rest of the year.  Just a tough outing against a tough pitcher like Peavy.

Roy got played by Peavy.  Fastball on the attempted bunt, and then the next pitch, expecting another bunt, fastball right down the middle.  The next at bat, same thing, expecting the bunt, straight fastball.  The 3rd time Roy faced him, he came in tight on the first pitch.   Too late, the horse was out of the barn.  Peavy hit .233 last season, Roy shouldve known better.

[pravata]

...I realize that Lee isn't there for his fielding, but it seemed to take him longer than normal to get to the grounders to LF.  
...

That first one that went for a double down the line, he was expecting that to bounce out.  It took a wierd angle.  Double either way there.

[MikeyBoy]

I liked Bourn's third at-bat, Oswalt had just made the second out and Bourn looked hell bent on taking several pitches to allow Roy to catch his breath. Heady move that resulted in a BB.

[JackAstro]

...Last season, Maximus played deep, and made it a point to range out to get to those soft pop ups so that Lee could play as far back as possible.  We know how that ended up.  Tejada couldn't get to the two I saw.

Indeed. Tejada's limited range is going to open up a void in left, though it may also be the very thing that keeps him alive. If you can't get to Flapjack, Flapjack can't get to you.

...I realize that Lee isn't there for his fielding, but it seemed to take him longer than normal to get to the grounders to LF.

Last season, we got very used to seeing the slow camera zoom on the lonely ball in the left field corner. You could get off a 4 count before Lee finally appeared in frame to retrieve it - you could actually sense the producer in the truck nervously thinking about changing cameras because it was taking so long. So it's nothing new, but I'll give the man perhaps undue credit and assume he instinctively knows what the absolute minimum amount of effort is that he can put into chasing a ball down without giving the runner an extra base.

[Andyzipp]

I was listenting to the radio and they said the scouting report was out on pence. do you think he can adjust

There's your first mistake.

One game, against the reigning Cy Young winner has nothing to do with a book. 

Plus Pence had a horrid at bat in the first, technically, situationally, whatever.  That's on him.

[Matt]

Pence just looked jittery last night.  Well more so then usual. 

[pravata]

There's your first mistake.

One game, against the reigning Cy Young winner has nothing to do with a book. 

Plus Pence had a horrid at bat in the first, technically, situationally, whatever.  That's on him.

Right, a Peavy slider away isnt a Josh Fogg slider away.  And a Peavy high fastball isn't Jeff Suppan's high fastball.  They figured out Pence pretty quick last season, but knowing what to pitch and doing it is how the cow eats the cabbage.

[Reuben]

Indeed. Tejada's limited range is going to open up a void in left, though it may also be the very thing that keeps him alive. If you can't get to Flapjack, Flapjack can't get to you.

Last season, we got very used to seeing the slow camera zoom on the lonely ball in the left field corner. You could get off a 4 count before Lee finally appeared in frame to retrieve it - you could actually sense the producer in the truck nervously thinking about changing cameras because it was taking so long. So it's nothing new, but I'll give the man perhaps undue credit and assume he instinctively knows what the absolute minimum amount of effort is that he can put into chasing a ball down without giving the runner an extra base.

Exactly. Saving himself so he can bust it down the line on his next 6-3. He's learned from last year.

[BudGirl]

This morning I was thinking I'm glad the opening series is out west (granted it's not ideal but i found a reason not to hate it as much as usual) because it got one out of the way while I am extremely pleased baseball is back.

As I stated in the GZ last night, I love having a center fielder.

I'm not going to stress to much about Pence batting 2nd, because he should be moved out of there when Matsui gets off the DL.

Peavy is freaking good.

I'm hoping the Astros hits find holes tonight. 

I thought the bull pen did a pretty good job.


And Ausmus looked handsome behind the plate.

[Limey]

Watching the game, I kind of wish the Astros had signed Iguchi who looked exactly like the #2 hitter we hope Matsui would be.     Otherwise, MM summed it up nicely. 

How can you complain about Matsui when he wasn't even playing?

[Ty in Tampa]

How can you complain about Matsui when he wasn't even playing?

Cause Iguchi WAS playing. Duh!

[Limey]

Cause Iguchi WAS playing. Duh!

Sorry.  Forgot the ultimate equation:  Our Guys < Their Guys.

[BizidyDizidy]

How can you complain about Matsui when he wasn't even playing?

At the very least he can say that Iguchi isn't in to whatever causes anal fissures, which is an upgrade.

[Matt]

I like Tejada's swing and how he seems to use the whole field.  His stretching of the single not so much.

[subnuclear]

Sorry.  Forgot the ultimate equation:  Our Guys < Their Guys.

I guess I'm just saying that I wish Matsui would heal up and do as good a job in the lineup as Iguchi did last night.

[Noe]

I was listenting to the radio and they said the scouting report was out on pence. do you think he can adjust

What report is that... that he tends to be a Spaz sometimes?  Pence is a good player but his exuberance can be his best attribute and his worse attribute at any given time.  Pence just needs to have Jeff Bagwell's brain implanted into his own and he would be able to handle major league pitchers year in and year out (except for the throwing part, although Baggy's last few years in baseball, he displayed similar throwing deficiency as Spaz does).

[Limey]

I guess I'm just saying that I wish Matsui would heal up and do as good a job in the lineup as Iguchi did last night.

Bingo.

[Noe]

I like Tejada's swing and how he seems to use the whole field.  His stretching of the single not so much.

When guys like Moises Alou come up to bat, you just sense those guys are going to get a base knock and the pitcher is in trouble, same with Tony Gwynn and others.  What I saw Tejada doing last night was a thing of beauty.  It's subtle but my goodness that guy just knows how to hit a baseball.  It's only one game and all, so perhaps more data (observational of course) is needed, but if he continues to approach hitting a baseball throughout the season like he did last night against one of the premiere if not *THE* premiere pitcher of the NL (sorry Mr. Santana, Mr. Peavey is damn good!), we will have the same discussion we had last year about "the best hitter on the team".  You think talking about "best hitter" last year was controversial when it was determined that just maybe Carlos Lee was a better "hitter" than Lance Berkman... well, if what I saw last night in terms of approach and sound fundamental hitting technique from Tejada holds true... we're in for a 'nutter shooting match.

It could get ugly too if we talk moving Tejada to #3.  That, of course, is for the future...

[Noe]

BTW - Michael Bourn is a player.  That is all.

[believin]

I really enjoyed watching Tejada's ABs too.  He is a smart hitter.  I have not had the opportunity to see him in game situations very often in the past, but from what I saw last night, I think I am going to enjoy watching him this year.

Michael Bourn.  Watching him was very heartening.  It looks like he is going to be a good fit in an area the Astros had a glaring need at the end of last season, and I am glad he is going to be here for a long time.

Wright and Geary both looked good.  I like that Wright regained his composure after getting behind in the count.  It might also be a lot of fun to watch him develop over the course of the season.

[Astroholic]

When guys like Moises Alou come up to bat, you just sense those guys are going to get a base knock and the pitcher is in trouble, same with Tony Gwynn and others.  What I saw Tejada doing last night was a thing of beauty.  It's subtle but my goodness that guy just knows how to hit a baseball.  It's only one game and all, so perhaps more data (observational of course) is needed, but if he continues to approach hitting a baseball throughout the season like he did last night against one of the premiere if not *THE* premiere pitcher of the NL (sorry Mr. Santana, Mr. Peavey is damn good!), we will have the same discussion we had last year about "the best hitter on the team".  You think talking about "best hitter" last year was controversial when it was determined that just maybe Carlos Lee was a better "hitter" than Lance Berkman... well, if what I saw last night in terms of approach and sound fundamental hitting technique from Tejada holds true... we're in for a 'nutter shooting match.

It could get ugly too if we talk moving Tejada to #3.  That, of course, is for the future...

Why Noe Why?

[remy]

For me, the positives (pretty much those that have been listed in this thread) still somehow outweighed the negatives, even though the Astros lost.  It was the Jake Peavey show.  End of story.  Let's go shell that ex stRanger tonight.

[Noe]

I really enjoyed watching Tejada's ABs too.  He is a smart hitter.  I have not had the opportunity to see him in game situations very often in the past, but from what I saw last night, I think I am going to enjoy watching him this year.

Michael Bourn.  Watching him was very heartening.  It looks like he is going to be a good fit in an area the Astros had a glaring need at the end of last season, and I am glad he is going to be here for a long time.

Wright and Geary both looked good.  I like that Wright regained his composure after getting behind in the count.  It might also be a lot of fun to watch him develop over the course of the season.

Bullpen performance fluctuates throughout the season.  I found the conversation that Brownie and JD were having last night as the most interesting commentary all day from any baseball pundits calling games (note: I hate Brent Musberger... that is all).  They spoke about relievers having some nasty outings yesterday and while you don't put too much stock on the opening day performance of some (like Wood and Gagne and Gordon, et. al.), you can look at what happen to Lidge last year on opening day (and also Qualls) and establish a starting point of some concern.  JD openly questioned the Brewer's signing of Gagne because of the performance last year and then what happened on Opening Day.  But in essence, it's about following the progress from here on out.

In terms of Geary and Wright, while it was good (and in Wright's case, his was situational and he came back from 3-1 against a one-time top tier hitter who has lost a little of the luster, but none the less, it was good to see), the progress from here on out will tell the real tale on both.  Geary pulled out some nasty breaking stuff that I thought was somewhat mysteriously missing from Oswalt's arsenal against guys like Bard and McNulty.  Roy got hurt by the bottom of the lineup because he fed them a diet of fastballs.  By the time Geary, Moehler and Wright were facing the same guys, the breaking ball was re-introduced and that is generally what you'd expect out of spring training... hitters are behind the pitchers in terms of timing so you'll see more pitchers make hitters look foolish with breaking stuff.

Last night, while he used the bugs bunny curve effectively against Hairston, Roy Oswalt was primarily going with hard stuff on the corners, especially the left handed hitters.  Hitters love fastballs and while the perfomance was not bad for Oswalt, had he had his best breaking ball, change of pace arsenal ready to go, he would've matched Peavey inning per inning on performance.  Sort of like Zambrano and Sheets dueling yesterday.  The best way to beat Gonzales, Bard and McNulty would be to use changeups effectively away and hard inside stuff.  One his first time facing Gonzales, Oswalt did that and got him swinging on an inside fastball around the hands.  The next time, Gonzales beat Oswalt because he threw him a fastball away that the good young hitter hit to left centerfield for a rib-eye.  Bard and McNulty both had the opposite field stroke going last night taking any Oswalt fastball away to the other side and being effective.  Against Moehler and Geary, I saw Bard and McNulty both get beat inside with hard stuff because both Moehler and Geary fed them breaking stuff away to set up the inside.

It should be interesting to see what pattern Backe establishes tonight against these same hitters.

[Phil_in_CS]

Bullpen performance fluctuates throughout the season.  I found the conversation that Brownie and JD were having last night as the most interesting commentary all day from any baseball pundits calling games (note: I hate Brent Musberger... that is all).  They spoke about relievers having some nasty outings yesterday and while you don't put too much stock on the opening day performance of some (like Wood and Gagne and Gordon, et. al.), you can look at what happen to Lidge last year on opening day (and also Qualls) and establish a starting point of some concern.  JD openly questioned the Brewer's signing of Gagne because of the performance last year and then what happened on Opening Day.  But in essence, it's about following the progress from here on out.

In terms of Geary and Wright, while it was good (and in Wright's case, his was situational and he came back from 3-1 against a one-time top tier hitter who has lost a little of the luster, but none the less, it was good to see), the progress from here on out will tell the real tale on both.  Geary pulled out some nasty breaking stuff that I thought was somewhat mysteriously missing from Oswalt's arsenal against guys like Bard and McNulty.  Roy got hurt by the bottom of the lineup because he fed them a diet of fastballs.  By the time Geary, Moehler and Wright were facing the same guys, the breaking ball was re-introduced and that is generally what you'd expect out of spring training... hitters are behind the pitchers in terms of timing so you'll see more pitchers make hitters look foolish with breaking stuff.

Last night, while he used the bugs bunny curve effectively against Hairston, Roy Oswalt was primarily going with hard stuff on the corners, especially the left handed hitters.  Hitters love fastballs and while the perfomance was not bad for Oswalt, had he had his best breaking ball, change of pace arsenal ready to go, he would've matched Peavey inning per inning on performance.  Sort of like Zambrano and Sheets dueling yesterday.  The best way to beat Gonzales, Bard and McNulty would be to use changeups effectively away and hard inside stuff.  One his first time facing Gonzales, Oswalt did that and got him swinging on an inside fastball around the hands.  The next time, Gonzales beat Oswalt because he threw him a fastball away that the good young hitter hit to left centerfield for a rib-eye.  Bard and McNulty both had the opposite field stroke going last night taking any Oswalt fastball away to the other side and being effective.  Against Moehler and Geary, I saw Bard and McNulty both get beat inside with hard stuff because both Moehler and Geary fed them breaking stuff away to set up the inside.

It should be interesting to see what pattern Backe establishes tonight against these same hitters.

Noe's in mid season form, at least....

[austro]

Noe's in mid season form, at least....

He's got the arm stretched out, and he's ready to eat some innings.

[AtascAstro]

<Clark>

Overall, a pretty decent night for Ed Wade even in the face of a shutout loss.  Page 1 in the review of his off-season is now on record.  Regardless of one's opinion of the overall strategy, it can be said that the individual pieces (at least those that saw the field) delivered at or above expectations in their first outing.

In other news...Adam Everett missed a bases-loaded, two-out bomb by only a few feet.  I was emphatically begging that one to stay fair but alas it was not to be.  I didn't get a chance to see him field anything that would indicate his health status.  Has anyone else?  Is he 100%?


</Clark>

[matadorph]

Roy got hurt by the bottom of the lineup because he fed them a diet of fastballs.  By the time Geary, Moehler and Wright were facing the same guys, the breaking ball was re-introduced and that is generally what you'd expect out of spring training... hitters are behind the pitchers in terms of timing so you'll see more pitchers make hitters look foolish with breaking stuff.

Last night, while he used the bugs bunny curve effectively against Hairston, Roy Oswalt was primarily going with hard stuff on the corners, especially the left handed hitters.  Hitters love fastballs and while the perfomance was not bad for Oswalt, had he had his best breaking ball, change of pace arsenal ready to go, he would've matched Peavey inning per inning on performance.  Sort of like Zambrano and Sheets dueling yesterday...

Roy concurs, Noe.

"To keep the pitch count down, you have to have breaking pitches to get guys out front," Oswalt said. "That's one of the reasons my pitch count got up so high. I was throwing fastball after fastball after fastball. I was trying to mix in the four-seamer and two-seamer. It was 20-pitch inning after 20-pitch inning.

"I kept looking up, trying to have a quick inning ... if you don't have a breaking pitch where you get guys on first pitch, second pitch, out front where they have to respect the fastball, they can sit on the fastball all night."

[pravata]

<Clark>

Overall, a pretty decent night for Ed Wade even in the face of a shutout loss.  Page 1 in the review of his off-season is now on record.  Regardless of one's opinion of the overall strategy, it can be said that the individual pieces (at least those that saw the field) delivered at or above expectations in their first outing.

In other news...Adam Everett missed a bases-loaded, two-out bomb by only a few feet.  I was emphatically begging that one to stay fair but alas it was not to be.  I didn't get a chance to see him field anything that would indicate his health status.  Has anyone else?  Is he 100%?


</Clark>

Everett scooped up the groundball up the middle to end the game.  Made it look easy, as always.

[austro]

Everett scooped up the groundball up the middle to end the game.  Made it look easy, as always.

It was interesting to see the look on Nathan's face go from "Oh shit!" as the ball went past him to "Holy shit!" as Everett gobbled it up.  I imagine that he and the other pitchers will become quite accustomed to that.

[ybbodeus]

Noe's in mid season form, at least....

There's still time for him to elaborate...

[Noe]

<Clark>

Overall, a pretty decent night for Ed Wade even in the face of a shutout loss.  Page 1 in the review of his off-season is now on record.  Regardless of one's opinion of the overall strategy, it can be said that the individual pieces (at least those that saw the field) delivered at or above expectations in their first outing.

In other news...Adam Everett missed a bases-loaded, two-out bomb by only a few feet.  I was emphatically begging that one to stay fair but alas it was not to be.  I didn't get a chance to see him field anything that would indicate his health status.  Has anyone else?  Is he 100%?


</Clark>

Welcome Clarkie,

One thing I noticed was that AE now walks and jogs with the slightess of limps.  One thing did happen last night that was noticeable.  Gary Matthews Jr. lofted a shallow fly ball to left that AE ran back on.  The old AE is running full boar and listening for his left fielder to call him off.  Not the new AE... he ran back and then I noticed he slowed down to find where the left fielder was (Delmon Young) before picking up the flight of the ball again.  But too late the ball is falling fast and Young is a little late getting to what should've been a normal fly ball out.

I felt bad for AE because those are the types of range plays you'd get from him 24/7 but I'm sure it's going to come back to him in due time.  The freshness of being run over by Lee must still be there.  Later on, they showed AE, Young and CF Gomez taking practice fly balls *after* the game so they could get used to the Metrodome roof.  All three are new to the stadium so they were trying to work out how to read the ball and find it on this last of the old style domed stadiums.  I'm sure that it had something to do with AE not being able to go full boar as he was proned to do before on the short fly ball, but it just occurred to me at the moment when I watched the play that he was not as sure about going after that ball as what I was used to seeing from him.

In given time...

[JimR]

<Clark>

Overall, a pretty decent night for Ed Wade even in the face of a shutout loss.  Page 1 in the review of his off-season is now on record. 

</Clark>

what position did Wade play last night? i missed it.

[JimR]

Watching the game, I kind of wish the Astros had signed Iguchi who looked exactly like the #2 hitter we hope Matsui would be.     Otherwise, MM summed it up nicely.  

very different types of hitters.

Iguchi, to me, is more like a 6 or 7.

[JimR]

There's your first mistake.

One game, against the reigning Cy Young winner has nothing to do with a book. 

Plus Pence had a horrid at bat in the first, technically, situationally, whatever.  That's on him.

and a middle of the game AB where he futilely waved at sliders low and away. shades of Biggio....

[MusicMan]

very different types of hitters.

Iguchi, to me, is more like a 6 or 7.

Even having watched last night's game, I don't understand how the Padres are going to score regularly.  Nothing in their lineup scares me.

[tophfar]

and a middle of the game AB where he futilely waved at sliders low and away. shades of Biggio....

well he did take him under his wing last year...

maybe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Curly]

It was interesting to see the look on Nathan's face go from "Oh shit!" as the ball went past him to "Holy shit!" as Everett gobbled it up.  I imagine that he and the other pitchers will become quite accustomed to that.

Just as at the end of a game with the winning run in scoring position, the pitcher of record will be saying "Holy shit", we can win this thing, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

[tophfar]

Just as at the end of a game with the winning run in scoring position, the pitcher of record will be saying "Holy shit", we can win this thing, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

Holy dear lord, see in this new age of baseball, there is this thing called a "pinch hitter".  Sometimes it is used in late game situations in the hopes of generating runs.  One day, it might actually catch on.

[Curly]

Holy dear lord, see in this new age of baseball, there is this thing called a "pinch hitter".  Sometimes it is used in late game situations in the hopes of generating runs.  One day, it might actually catch on.

Ok, I can play that game....So it's the top of the first, with ducks on the pond, and the starting pitcher says "Holy shit", we can open this thing up from the get go, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

[tophfar]

Ok, I can play that game....So it's the top of the first, with ducks on the pond, and the starting pitcher says "Holy shit", we can open this thing up from the get go, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

Or more likely, if Everett is up to bat in the first inning, he's thinking "Damn, we already put at least three runs across, if Adam gets anything here its pure gravy".

[MusicMan]

Just as at the end of a game with the winning run in scoring position, the pitcher of record will be saying "Holy shit", we can win this thing, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

Twins shortstops, 2007:

.250/.322/.334

Adam Everett, career:

.247/.299/.356

[Matt]

Ok, I can play that game....So it's the top of the first, with ducks on the pond, and the starting pitcher says "Holy shit", we can open this thing up from the get go, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

I'd say the pitcher goes out and does his job of keeping his team in the game while the offense keeps trying to score in the other 8 innings.

[Curly]

Or more likely, if Everett is up to bat in the first inning, he's thinking "Damn, we already put at least three runs across, if Adam gets anything here its pure gravy".

As the pitcher walks out thinking...damn me and my 4.35 ERA.

[Curly]

Twins shortstops, 2007:

.250/.322/.334

Adam Everett, career:

.247/.299/.356

Twins shortstops, 2007:

.250/.322/.334

Adam Everett, career:

.247/.299/.356

Parallel suckatude?

[Jacksonian]

Ok, I can play that game....So it's the top of the first, with ducks on the pond, and the starting pitcher says "Holy shit", we can open this thing up from the get go, then turning to the batters box saying "Oh shit" it's Everett, nevermind.

Bottom of the 9th, 2 out, bases loaded, up by 1 and the pitcher gives up a grounder up the middle, says "Fuck!", turns to follow the path of the ball, then realizes Everett is scooping up and shoveling the ball to second in plenty of time to end the game and says "Holy shit, how did he get to that!?"

[Curly]

I'd say the pitcher goes out and does his job of keeping his team in the game while the offense keeps trying to score in the other 8 innings.

Tomorrow is promised to no man.

[MusicMan]

Parallel suckatude?

I understand that your intense hatred of Everett clouds the point, which is that they vastly upgraded on defense and gave up nothing on offense.

[tophfar]

As the pitcher walks out thinking...damn me and my 4.35 ERA.

See, in this new age of baseball, you get to bat again, even if you've already scored.  Unlike in apparently in Alternate Baseball Universi, where after one inning only Adam gets to bat ever again.

[Matt]

Tomorrow is promised to no man.

Apparently bitching about things is promised.

[Curly]

Bottom of the 9th, 2 out, bases loaded, up by 1 and the pitcher gives up a grounder up the middle, says "Fuck!", turns to follow the path of the ball, then realizes Everett is scooping up and shoveling the ball to second in plenty of time to end the game and says "Holy shit, how did he get to that!?"

Prior to the hit up the middle thinking damn if Everett could hit worth a damn I wouldn't be in this freaking jam game in and game out.  Thank god someone esle on the team can hit.

[Curly]

Apparently bitching about things is promised.

As is eternal glove sniffing.

[MusicMan]

Thank god someone esle on the team can hit.

Wait, wait, wait... you mean not every team gets to stock their roster with the bastard hybrid clone of ARod and Ozzie Smith at every position??

[tophfar]

Wait, wait, wait... you mean not every team gets to stock their roster with the bastard hybrid clone of ARod and OZzie Smith at every position??

You see in Alternate Baseball Universi, Evil Goatee Dimaggio was actually a shortstop.  56 game hitting streaks were the norm, and 61 HR's were pussy.

[Matt]

As is eternal glove sniffing.

Glove sniffing? I'm just shedding light on more then one perspective of how the game is played.

[Lefty]

I understand that your intense hatred of Everett clouds the point, which is that they vastly upgraded on defense and gave up nothing on offense.

If you go read interviews with Gardenhire & Ryan, that's exactly what they're saying.  Twins SS's had 27 errors last season; AE had 27 in the last 3 seasons (or something close to that).

[Noe]

If you go read interviews with Gardenhire & Ryan, that's exactly what they're saying.  Twins SS's had 27 errors last season; AE had 27 in the last 3 seasons (or something close to that).

Strop confusing things with facts... Curly is on a rant roll!

[Curly]

Just seeing if I can penetrate the blinders of great glove work no bat equals a must have player.  But since I seem to have completely taken away from the spirit of the thread I will shut it down.

[Curly]

I understand that your intense hatred of Everett clouds the point, which is that they vastly upgraded on defense and gave up nothing on offense.

I don't hate Everett.  Love his glove.