Baseball thread No. 7: Somebody slip the pinstripers a Mickey

[Football_Bat]

In honor of Oklahoma's second-best baseball player. The first being Warren Spahn.

(Johnny Bench is No. 3.)

 

[imjustagirl]

Poop. Now no one will see me begging for a date to the Phils-Mets game in two weeks.

 

[RickStain]

Poop. Now no one will see me begging for a date to the Phils-Mets game in two weeks.

I see you why broke out the Milano. Good call.

 

[spnited]

Now, as to baseball (well, maybe not realy since it is the ****ing Mets):

Has any closer ever had a worst performance than Frankie Rodriguez tonight?
Five batters faced, five runs...capped by walkoff grand slam. WTF?

 

[imjustagirl]

I'd say Kerry Wood's been not too far off from that this year. That guy kills me.

 

[spnited]

I'd say Kerry Wood's been not too far off from that this year. That guy kills me.

The most runs Kerry Wood has given up in a game this year is 4 and he at least got two outs in that appearance.

I'm talking about 5 batters faced, no outs, 5 runs, three walks, two hits, the second a walk-off grand slam. Come in with a 2-1 lead, lose 6-2 without getting a batter out!


The worst performance in the history of closers.

 

[BYH]

I'd say Kerry Wood's been not too far off from that this year. That guy kills me.

The most runs Kerry Wood has given up in a game this year is 4 and he at least got two outs in that appearance.

I'm talking about 5 batters faced, no outs, 5 runs, three walks, two hits, the second a walk-off grand slam. Come in with a 2-1 lead, lose 6-2 without getting a batter out!


The worst performance in the history of closers.

Only two and one third years left!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!

 

[spnited]

Frankie Rodriguez
First 31 appearances = 17 saves in 18 chances... 32 1/3 IP, 7 runs, 2 ER, 17 hits, 15 walks, 0.56 ERA
Last 18 appearances = 7 saves in 11 chances... 16 2/3 IP, 16 runs, 16 ER, 17 hits, 15 walks, 8.64 ERA

 

[YGBFKM]

Don't worry, spnited, he'll be injured soon enough.

 

[spnited]

Don't worry, spnited, he'll be injured soon enough.

Doesn't matter. The Mets have been dead for a couple of months now.
It was just stunning to see somebody not named Aaron Heilman be that bad.

 

[SoCalDude]

Last week, Angels closer Brian Fuentes had two consecutive appearances -- against the mighty Tribe -- in which he faced four batters each night and retired none. 8 batters, 6 hits, 2 walks, 6 runs, all earned.

 

[BYH]

Frankie Rodriguez
First 31 appearances = 17 saves in 18 chances... 32 1/3 IP, 7 runs, 2 ER, 17 hits, 15 walks, 0.56 ERA
Last 18 appearances = 7 saves in 11 chances... 16 2/3 IP, 16 runs, 16 ER, 17 hits, 15 walks, 8.64 ERA

Haha. [/Brian Bruney]

 

[buckweaver]

The worst performance in the history of closers.

This one's up there:

On April 6, 2002, in his
second appearance of the season, John Smoltz came into a 2-2 game against
the Mets and was torched for eight runs in two-thirds of an inning (as it
turned out, the last seven runs were superfluous). Over the next almost six
months, Smoltz was lights out, appearing in 73 games with a 3-1 record, a
league-leading 55 saves in 59 tries, and a 2.40 ERA. His season ERA
finished at a modest 3.25, with the one bad outing accounting for 27% of it.

 

[BYH]

The worst performance in the history of closers.

This one's up there:

On April 6, 2002, in his
second appearance of the season, John Smoltz came into a 2-2 game against
the Mets and was torched for eight runs in two-thirds of an inning (as it
turned out, the last seven runs were superfluous). Over the next almost six
months, Smoltz was lights out, appearing in 73 games with a 3-1 record, a
league-leading 55 saves in 59 tries, and a 2.40 ERA. His season ERA
finished at a modest 3.25, with the one bad outing accounting for 27% of it.

LEAVE THE GUY ALONE HE'S HAD A BAD ENOUGH WEEK ALREADY!!!!

 

[Moderator1]

six

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Moddy, how is the Nats' renaissance taking place? From a distance, they seem to be having a large number of mid and late inning rallies. That's pretty unusual for a team whose season was shot before the NFL draft took place.

 

[deskslave]

The worst performance in the history of closers.

This one's up there:

On April 6, 2002, in his
second appearance of the season, John Smoltz came into a 2-2 game against
the Mets and was torched for eight runs in two-thirds of an inning (as it
turned out, the last seven runs were superfluous). Over the next almost six
months, Smoltz was lights out, appearing in 73 games with a 3-1 record, a
league-leading 55 saves in 59 tries, and a 2.40 ERA. His season ERA
finished at a modest 3.25, with the one bad outing accounting for 27% of it.

Retrosheet dorkery: The pitcher who finished up that 9-run Mets ninth? Aaron Small, making his only major-league appearance between 1999 and 2003.

And I remember that whole season, every time Smoltz came on, his ERA came with a disclaimer.

 

[Moderator1]

Moddy, how is the Nats' renaissance taking place? From a distance, they seem to be having a large number of mid and late inning rallies. That's pretty unusual for a team whose season was shot before the NFL draft took place.

Zimmerman, Dunn, Willingham all hot. Guzman, too. Willingham has been borderline incredible for 6-8 weeks now. Morgan has been an impressive addition on both sides. Hitting about .380 as a Nat and running down everything. They have about 10 more SBs in the month he's been with them than they did in three months prior.

Relief pitching blowups have become an exception, not rule. Starting pitching is not as good as it was earlier but the rest of the stuff doesn't stink nearly as badly as it did earlier. Lannan has developed nicely. After him these days? I hope those hitters stay hot. Olsen pitched well after coming off DL and then got hurt again. Lord knows what is going on with J.Zim (see below). Garrett Mock, J.D. Martin and Collin Balester are a nice AAA rotation - but they're somehow winning with them.

Nats are 12-6 in the past 18. Riggleman has shown a little more fire than Acta. Anderson Hernandez threw his glove after being pulled in a double switch. Two days later, he was back with the Mets. Hell, that's worse than being farmed out. First time Riggleman came out to challenge an up, the place went ape****.

I really felt going in this was a .500-capable team. Never thought it was a playoff contender but didn't think it would suck. I look at who they had in the bullpen to start and shake my head. Only guy left is Saul Rivera and he spent three months in the minors.
MacDougal may be a mirage but he's pitching very well.
Sean Burnett has been very good. Gave up a home run to his first batter and then nothing for a month.
Clippard is pitching well as a reliever.
Logan Kensing is still there but you can't have everything.

Of course, even when it is good it is never good. Jordan Zimmermann, who has a chance to be extremely good, had a "setback" in his recovery from a "minor" elbow problem. Very uneasy about that. That **** is never good.

 

[Moderator1]

Let me add this (you've unleashed a monster here, Mr. Gee):

I admit I'm tunnel visioned and my range of baseball knowledge doesn't extend much beyond the Nats. I have no idea what was up with Adam Dunn anywhere else except he hit a lot of home runs.

Well, I freaking love the sumbitch, defensive adventures and all. First, he's the one guy who slides you to the edge of your seat when he comes up. Mammoth HRs are fun. I've seen him hit at least three shake-your-head blasts live.
The main thing is this: Zimmerman has already tied his career high in HR with 50 games to play. He's seeing better pitches. Willingham is benefitting, too. D-backs walked Dunn to get to Willingham last night and he promptly knocked in two. He hit slams in back-to-back at bats recently and I'm pretty sure Dunn was walked (not intentionally but not accidentally) to get to him.
He gives the Nats a feared hitter and it helps others. Yeah, he strikes out a lot. I'll take his current .280 and another 40-HR season.

I would take a power core (or corps?) of Zimmerman-Dunn-Willingham for a long time. Put Morgan-Guzman in front of them and Dukes-Flores behind them and you have a lineup that does not suck.

Good lord, please sign Strasburg. Please.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Don't worry, spnited, he'll be injured soon enough.

Doesn't matter. The Mets have been dead for a couple of months now.
It was just stunning to see somebody not named Aaron Heilman be that bad.

But Mike Francessa will tell you what a genius Omar Minaya is for signing him when every other team shied away. (Must admit he was solid for most of the year, but is he having some kind of arm trouble, or just not care?)