Mets Today (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
It’s safe to say that Omir Santos exceeded expectations in 2009. Santos was signed as a minor league free agent in mid-January, an under-the-radar move lost among announcements such as Casey Fossum, Bobby Kielty, and Valerio de Los Santos — not unlike a similar transaction that brought Ramon Castro to New York in the winter of [...]
Subway Squawkers (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
Joe Girardi's bizarre bullpen move in the 11th inning tonight reminded me of something that Jerry Manuel did way back in April. On April 29, the Mets were trailing the Marlins, 4-3, when they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottome of the ninth. Ramon Castro was coming up. Then Jerry Manuel pinch-hit Omir Santos for Castro. A righthanded catcher pinch-hitting for another righthanded catcher....
Chicagoist (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
No matter which team you prefer, you're either sad to see baseball go or glad the long, torturous 2009 season is done. Benjy will wrap up the season for both teams (and look ahead to 2010) later in the week, but for now, here's what went down yesterday. Sox Rally Falls Short Down 5-0, the Sox put on a small rally late in their season finale but couldn't quite catch up as they fell to Detroit 5-3 ....
6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
Tigers Survive A Scare To Clinch A Tie: Tigers 5, White Sox 3 Riding Justin Verlander on regular rest, the Tigers managed to get almost eight innings out of their ace. The big nail-biting moment came in the eighth, when Verlander gave up an RBI double to .184-hitting Ramon Castro, and an RBI single to .158-hitting Brent Lillibridge. After throwing a wild pitch in Scott Podsednik's at-bat and walking...
Mets Fever (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
I was never the biggest Willie Randolph supporter, I thought he lacked the interpersonal skills for the managerial position and made poor tactical decisions that cost his team several crucial games. So maybe my initial approval of Jerry Manuel was more my disapproval of Willie Randolph but in my opinion he turned around the 2008 team and all the way into July of 2009 I felt he had an injury riddled...
6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog (Free subscription) | 09/14/2009
Mark Buehrle pitched a quality start plus, but Torii Hunter's leadoff homer in the seventh provided the Angels their margin of victory. Considering Scott Kazmir lasted six innings and threw an unbelievable 118 pitches; despite his reputation, the pitch count was in fact high for him, the highest all year ; he's on pace for his usual ten or so games annually with over 110 pitches, and this was his sixth...
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 09/14/2009
Inspired by this post at Gas Lamp Ball ( ed note: "inspired by" is just a nice way of saying "stolen from" ), and with a lot of help from the Internet Anagram Server , I managed to kill quite a bit of time this weekend. I plugged all of the 2009 Mets into the old anagram machine and here are the results. Feel free to try it yourself and post any other good ones in the comments....
McCovey Chronicles (Free subscription) | 09/13/2009
While Connecticut dropped the third game of its playoff series, San Jose won its playoff opener. Individual highlights from those two Giants ' affiliates last night: (a) Clayton Tanner had 7.0 shutout IP, and (b) Nick Noonan reached base three times. AAA: Fresno ended its season on Labor Day AA: Connecticut lost to New Britain 6-1 (but still lead the best-of-five series 2-1) Connecticut: 1B Brett Pill...
McCovey Chronicles (Free subscription) | 09/08/2009
Highlights on the final day of the regular season for the Giants ' full-season affiliates (and with the short-season teams having already completed their regular seasons): (a) Josh Mazzola homered, doubled twice, and singled; (b,c) Matt Downs and Thomas Neal also had four hits each; (d) Brett Pill had three hits, including a big fly; and (e,f,g) Garrett Broshuis , Paul Oseguera, and Andrew Reichard...
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 09/08/2009
Before taking my seat in the Pepsi Porch for Friday night's Mets - Cubs game, I stopped by the game-used equipment silent auction, located at the top of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda escalators. The best items must have been won earlier this season, because these are some of the gems still available (with opening bid listed): Ramon Castro equipment bag: $300 Game used 2nd base from August 8, 2008 , innings...
The Mighty Quinn Media Machine (Free subscription) | 09/07/2009
I think it's safe to say that the title of this post belongs to one Jon Lester, who simply dominated the Chicago White Sox yesterday in putting the Red Sox back on the winning path, 6-1. Lester was superb, allowing just four hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking two. He was in trouble just once, in the first, when with two on and no out, Dustin Pedroia made a sensational over-the-shoulder...
Over the Monster (Free subscription) | 09/07/2009
by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP It's always nice when you have to choose whether it was the dominant pitching or productive offense that was the story of the game. Let's go with pitching for now. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) View full size photo uploaded September 6, 2009 After dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 17-3, the Sox looked to Jon Lester to play the role of stopper--a...
Over the Monster (Free subscription) | 09/06/2009
More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP Browse more photos » Lineup Boston Red Sox @ Chicago White Sox 09/06/09 2:05 PM EDT Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Jacoby Ellsbury - CF Scott Podsednik - DH Dustin Pedroia - 2B Jayson Nix - 3B Victor Martinez - C Paul Konerko - 1B Kevin Youkilis - 1B Jermaine Dye - RF Jason Bay - LF Carlos Quentin - LF David Ortiz - DH Alexei Ramirez - SS Mike Lowell...
Twinkie Town (Free subscription) | 09/02/2009
First Pitch: 12:10pm CDT TV: FS-N Radio: Twins Radio Network Know Thine Enemy: South Side Sox We know the score by now. While the Twins have found themselves on the rise, 11-3 in their last 14 games, the White Sox have now dropped five in a row and have erased all but the smallest of post-season hopes. It also bears noting that the Twins are undefeated in September. BRING OUT THE BROOMS! W-L G GS CG...
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 08/30/2009
Milton Bradley for Mets OF next year anyone? Buy low. Atleast He Didn't Hit A Home Run - Sam expresses his relief that Jeff Francoeur didn't kill the rally by hitting into a triple play. Baseball's Sad Losing Team: A Poem - Howard Megdal channels Tinker to Evers to Chance with this ode to Eric Bruntlett . Jeff Francoeur, Spartan - Mount17 gives us a layered FanShot about the quest for .300. Mets Top...
Videos