Friday, September 11, 2015
"Strategy First" 4-part Interview Series with mlb exiled baseball player, Bill "The Spaceman" Lee
In 2012, Youtube Channel "StrategyFirstGames" uploaded these four long interviews with MLB exiled baseball player Bill "The Spaceman" Lee.
You can figure out where and in what year each interview is filmed by listening for references. Seems to have been shot at different locations in Canada and the US in the northeast and the northwest over three years.
Michael Holloway Playlist: "Strategy First" 4-part Interview Series with Baseball Player, Bill Lee - https://youtu.be/sr89Jyeza2Y?list=PLTpRV6DI_Sr2rl9qiouNQ70ukbPZVFewo
Part 1 Strategy First Bill "The Spaceman" Lee Interview Part 1 (48:34 - Toronto, Ontario - guessing summer 2007) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr89Jyeza2Y
Part 2 Strategy First Bill "The Spaceman" Lee Interview Part 2 (1:22:43 - Swanton, Vermont - fall/winter 2007) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY3vYNoQrok
Part 3 Strategy First Bill "The Spaceman" Lee Interview Part 3 (1:15:56 - Northern California, summer 2008) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm0xLasdW1w
Part 4 Strategy First Bill "The Spaceman" Lee Interview Part 4 (1:48:57 - Swanton, Vermont - spring 2009) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLs1J4Yg6xE
mh
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Hutchison tested - and fails; as Gibbons sets aside Gm 3 in Boston in preparation for Yankees series, Jays' Playoff run
(No sources, no quotes - just gleaning as much as I can glean from beside a radio in Leslieville, Toronto, Canada.)
Over the last 4 Drew Hutchison Starts* I've seen Jays management first, do everything they could to help Mr Hutchison succeed - and then after some success in that regard - begin to expose him to higher and higher leverage situations.
This start on the road against the Boston Red Sox was likely the last step in that process for Hitchison as Starter - and with minor league pitchers now up from Buffalo auditioning (badly) for the Jays' bullpen - we have likely seen Hutchison's last start in the Jays' rotation; and the beginning of his next life this season - as a member of the Blue Jays' bullpen.
This wasn't a plan etched in stone I don't think - but it must have been part of the way of going about these things for Jays' management that included an eye on the progress of Marcus Stroman (rehabbing since a ACL tear in spring training). Perhaps if Stroman wasn't progressing as fast as he appears to be, Hutchinson may have been left at home again on this road trip (as the Jays did on their last road trip - August 18th to 27th).
With Stroman on the Blue Jays bench since Hutchison's last start in Toronto, on August 29th (part of an array of increased leverage in the last application of it), it must have seemed serendipitous to start Hutchison in this second last road trip of the Blue Jays regular season.
This evening in Boston Hutchison was posting zeros, helped by his defense and luck, for 2 innings before getting shelled for 4 in the 3rd Inning. In the 4th all hell broke loose.
Hutchison lasted 3.1 Innings giving up 5 runs while in the game, plus leaving a runner on for Aaron Loup (inherited run NOT allowed), and Liam Hendricks (one inherited run allowed - on a double).
Steve Delabar, up from the farm auditioning for a playoff roster spot, got slammed in the 5th, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits while posting only 1 out. Jeff Francis (one inherited run scored) had to bail out Delabar, and continued to pitch for the rest of the game.... and looked good doing it; albeit in a laugher by that time, as by the bottom of the 6th Gibbons had substituted the Toronto Blue Jays for the Buffalo Bisons.
The question I'm looking to answer on the rest of this road trip: are the Jays really a .700 Ball Club (their pace since the trades) ... Or are they in fact mortal after all? With the Drew Hutchison as high leverage Starter experiment likely over - the Jury in that case, is still out. Time will tell.
On to New York City for 4, where the (really playing rather well right now) Evil Empire awaits.
* Baseball Reference | Drew Hutchison | 2015 Pitching Gamelog | http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=hutchdr01&t=p&year=
Box score for this game: ESPN | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350909102
mh
Over the last 4 Drew Hutchison Starts* I've seen Jays management first, do everything they could to help Mr Hutchison succeed - and then after some success in that regard - begin to expose him to higher and higher leverage situations.
This start on the road against the Boston Red Sox was likely the last step in that process for Hitchison as Starter - and with minor league pitchers now up from Buffalo auditioning (badly) for the Jays' bullpen - we have likely seen Hutchison's last start in the Jays' rotation; and the beginning of his next life this season - as a member of the Blue Jays' bullpen.
This wasn't a plan etched in stone I don't think - but it must have been part of the way of going about these things for Jays' management that included an eye on the progress of Marcus Stroman (rehabbing since a ACL tear in spring training). Perhaps if Stroman wasn't progressing as fast as he appears to be, Hutchinson may have been left at home again on this road trip (as the Jays did on their last road trip - August 18th to 27th).
With Stroman on the Blue Jays bench since Hutchison's last start in Toronto, on August 29th (part of an array of increased leverage in the last application of it), it must have seemed serendipitous to start Hutchison in this second last road trip of the Blue Jays regular season.
This evening in Boston Hutchison was posting zeros, helped by his defense and luck, for 2 innings before getting shelled for 4 in the 3rd Inning. In the 4th all hell broke loose.
Hutchison lasted 3.1 Innings giving up 5 runs while in the game, plus leaving a runner on for Aaron Loup (inherited run NOT allowed), and Liam Hendricks (one inherited run allowed - on a double).
Steve Delabar, up from the farm auditioning for a playoff roster spot, got slammed in the 5th, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits while posting only 1 out. Jeff Francis (one inherited run scored) had to bail out Delabar, and continued to pitch for the rest of the game.... and looked good doing it; albeit in a laugher by that time, as by the bottom of the 6th Gibbons had substituted the Toronto Blue Jays for the Buffalo Bisons.
The question I'm looking to answer on the rest of this road trip: are the Jays really a .700 Ball Club (their pace since the trades) ... Or are they in fact mortal after all? With the Drew Hutchison as high leverage Starter experiment likely over - the Jury in that case, is still out. Time will tell.
On to New York City for 4, where the (really playing rather well right now) Evil Empire awaits.
* Baseball Reference | Drew Hutchison | 2015 Pitching Gamelog | http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=hutchdr01&t=p&year=
Box score for this game: ESPN | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350909102
mh
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Tomorrow: another opportunity to be, in the swirl that is a universe of chaos
Orioles at Jays - September 4, 2015
Jays loose 10 - 2; Yankees win - Jays are .5 a game up in the Al East
I can think of dozen reasons this game played out the way it did:
Goins appears a lot in that list, but don't get me wrong, a cusp player who plays great with a winning team - that's winning - often looks much better than he actually is, especially on a team that's experiencing the inevitable losses that even great teams must suffer; the great team itself often better than the Team - against any team than is actually is.
These are the wages of excellence.
Key moments in a game often get magnified later. One was the odd play in LF in the 6th, when the Baltimore's re-took the lead just after the Jays had tied the game - when on a jump at the wall for an out, became a HR when the ball ricocheted out of Revere's glove in an unlikely, seemingly impossible single-bullet-theory bit of physics, finding itself on the other side of the wall.
MLB Advanced Media Embed
Also:
A test of faith in a game that offers a lot of that; tomorrow another opportunity to be.
mh
Jays loose 10 - 2; Yankees win - Jays are .5 a game up in the Al East
I can think of dozen reasons this game played out the way it did:
- the Umpire's wild strike zone;
- plays not made by the defense;
- Stroman arriving on the bench on a Hutchison Start day;
- Jays line-up (uncharacteristically) swinging at balls outside the strike zone;
- Jimenez's (Tactic?) of delaying throwing the ball in the early innings;
- a bad read by Goins of a hit ball to right - where he didn't advance to 3B with no outs;
- Goins triple clutch on a DP ball that went from a sure 2 outs, to perhaps one out, to no outs;
- Bo Shultz first time out in a hold-the-deficit-where-it-is situation (blows the game wide open giving up 4);
- On any given day Baltimore is better than the standings reflect.
Goins appears a lot in that list, but don't get me wrong, a cusp player who plays great with a winning team - that's winning - often looks much better than he actually is, especially on a team that's experiencing the inevitable losses that even great teams must suffer; the great team itself often better than the Team - against any team than is actually is.
These are the wages of excellence.
Key moments in a game often get magnified later. One was the odd play in LF in the 6th, when the Baltimore's re-took the lead just after the Jays had tied the game - when on a jump at the wall for an out, became a HR when the ball ricocheted out of Revere's glove in an unlikely, seemingly impossible single-bullet-theory bit of physics, finding itself on the other side of the wall.
MLB Advanced Media Embed
Also:
Baltimore Orioles IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA Jiménez(W, 10-9) 5.2 4 2 1 6 4 0 95-54 4.24
A test of faith in a game that offers a lot of that; tomorrow another opportunity to be.
mh
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Series Win over Tribe likely a Social Engineering play - courtesy of Jays Front Office
Indians at Jays September 2, 2015 - 7:07p
R A Dickey / Josh Thole batteried win tonight likely a brilliantly engineered, physiological management win - courtesy of the Blue Jays front office.
In keeping Thole on the roster for Dickey starts - by any-means-necessary (by optioning him first to AAA Buffalo in the last rotation which included 3 off days, and then to A Ball Lansing Lugnuts this week (which shortened his option because the league season ended - and that meant that - by MLB rules - his necessary stint there ended; which allowed the Jays to recall him to the 40-man roster early ... as in - for Dickey's next start) - allowed this feel-good start by the veteran knuckle-baller who goes to 10 Wins and 10 losses with a 4.09 ERA over 28 starts with a 7 win and no loses run starting after a July 18th loss to Tampa Bay that had the veteran at 3 and 10.
The importance of the 'Battery' when it comes to knuckle ballers was front and centre tonight. Through-out the game I recorded moments when Thole pulled into the strike zone, pitches that were called strikes - but which were in fact, balls.
The pitches that were fooling the Tribe, I thought, were also in the coarse of events, fooling Umpire Andy Fletcher. In one such instance - in the 3rd - the erratic-ness of the knuckle ball/fastball/change-up combination resulted in a 13-pitch inning - and that - the inning after Dickey fooled the opponents in a 3-up 3-down, 6 pitch inning in the 2nd - together which undoubtedly helped shut down the Indians over all but for 1 run in the 4th - their only run.
Image: BrooksBaseball | R. A. Dickey against Indians, September 2, 2015 - Inside/Outside pitch zone with number in at-bat | http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=9&day=2&year=2015&game=gid_2015_09_02_clemlb_tormlb_1%2F&pitchSel=285079&prevGame=gid_2015_09_02_clemlb_tormlb_1%2F&prevDate=92&league=mlb
Also of note in this game was the running play by Josh Donaldson in the 2nd with the bases loaded - that intuited the fact that the Jays weren't scoring a lot of runs against this hot Indians team* - Donaldson at third decided to make a try for a run with 2-out (after the hit-ball-out) with a 4-0 lead - to steal home on a high pop to shallow right-centre which Kipnis was peddling backward on when he made the catch - and beat the throw just up the third base line by jumping over the catchers' arm-swinging tag and landing with his left hand on the plate!
MLB Video:
On the defensive side of the equation - of note was the play by Goins in the 7th in which he tracked the ball hit to the deep hole at second (in shallow right-centre), made the catch of the ground ball and then planted and turned 270 degrees with his next step and panted a throw to the outside corner of the 1B bag - which Smoak scooped nicely for the out.
MLB Video:
* By "a lot" I refer back to my previous "Tweet-post" (see embed below) about the jays' scoring 'slump' following the Yankess series loss at the end of their 11 game winning streak - which meant they weren't scoring more than 5 runs per game; which matches their god-like scoring performance through that streak and in fact through the entire season (5.49 Runs/Gm).
Jays in a slump? In the nuclear juiced ball era (1994-): 1R = 3R; 3=5; 5=11 < 4R / Game is a slump. #BBBA #MLB @espn pic.twitter.com/8Who0PCEzO— Michael Holloway (@m_holloway) August 22, 2015mh
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Jays' experience essential play-off-team Learning Moment in loss to hot Cleveland Indians
The first indication that the Team was letting the recent record of this hot Indians Team effect them (which since August 15th mirrors the performance of the Jays in all of August), was the Goins throw in the first inning to 3rd to erase a lead-off double instead of going for the sure out at 1st. The throw to 3rd - which Donaldson couldn't clutch on the bounce - resulted in runners on 1st and 3rd (the next at-bats' double-play scored the runner which until the 9th was the game's margin of scoring).
That was the end of scoring in this game until the Bottom of the 5th when the Jays scored 2 - which was answered by the Clevelands in the 7th.
The next indication that Jays were trying to do too much was in the Top of the 9th when Donaldson cut in front of Tulowinski (the standard play - it's 3rds' ball if they can get to it) and tipped a hit ball to his left, which he then corralled and (as it was his only play) hurriedly threw (high) to third to try and get the lead runner - which tipped off Troy Hawkins' glove (covering) and ended up in the third base camera bay - resulting in a two bases for the runners on - a run scored (4-2) and the batter-runner to 3rd.
Interesting to see if the Jays can turn this Zeitabschnitt* around in game two.
* Zeitabschnitt | http://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Zeitabschnitt.html
mh
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Umpire Bob Davidson miss-uses Bench Warning in 1st after Detroit Purpose Pitch up-and-in to Troy Tulowitzki
Umpire Bob Davidson issues warnings to both benches after the Jays hit two home runs in the 1st - which results in Detroit pitcher throwing an message pitch high and inside to Troy Tulowitzki.
Now if Toronto pitcher Mark Buehrle hits a Detroit batter the Umpire will have to decide if it was intentional or not and perhaps choose to throw a Jays pitcher out of the game! This means the Blue Jays pitching now can't throw message pitches.
Moving a batter off the plate is part of the game - and because this Blue Jays team is hot and hitting the ball out of the park at an unprecedented pace as well, the advantage goes to the Blue Jays. On the other hand, if the Detroits start teeing off on Buehrle, he won't have the option of using the brush-back pitch.
The result of this early warning will likely be a greater slam-athon by the Jays than might of otherwise been a normal slam-athon - which Toronto's fans of winning Toronto sports teams will love. but which takes away from the quality of baseball game which we will witness today.
Rule 8.02: Throwing at the Batter(http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/rules_interest.jsp#8.02)
Rule 8.02 states as follows:
d. The pitcher shall not intentionally pitch at the batter.
If, in the umpire's judgment, such a violation occurs, the umpire may elect either to:
1. Expel the pitcher, or the manager and the pitcher, from the game, or
2. may warn the pitcher and the manager of both teams that another such pitch will result in the immediate expulsion of that pitcher (or a replacement) and the manager.
If, in the umpire's judgment, circumstances warrant, both teams may be officially "warned" prior to the game or at any time during the game.
(League Presidents may take additional action under authority provided in Rule 9.05)
Rule 8.02(d) Comment: Team personnel may not come onto the playing surface to argue or dispute a warning issued under Rule 8.02(d). If a manager, coach or player leaves the dugout or his position to dispute a warning, he should be warned to stop. If he continues, he is subject to ejection.
To pitch at a batter's head is unsportsmanlike and highly dangerous. It should be - and is - condemned by everybody. Umpires should act without hesitation in enforcement of this rule.
On this continuing power and run scoring show by this Blue Jays team - game, after game, after game - is starting to travel into a surreal universe.
Score after 4 innings: Tigers 0 - Jays 6
ESPN Boxscore - Tigers at Jays - Sunday, August 30, 2015 - 1:07pm start | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350830114
mh
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Indications that Blue Jays run scoring slump may be easing:
Jays Phoenix over immolating Angels
Toronto Blue Jays were the Dark Angels of mercilessness for the faithful at Angels Stadium tonight, scoring 15 runs on 20 hits. Only 2 home runs (plating 5 runs) as this 9-cyclindar offense catches fire.
Toronto starting pitcher Marco Estrada (W, 11-7) threw an excellent five and two thirds innings relinquishing 2 solo home runs late as he challenged the Angels hitters with a 10 run lead. Brett Cecil worked out of a jam caused by a Donaldson throwing error in the 6th - with one pitch. Then the team of Hawkins, Hendriks and Schultz held the Angels down for good, giving up just 1 hit over three innings stellar relief.
Felt guilty at the end.
(Not one of my worst quadruple-mixed metaphors).
Image re-purposed from screen capture of the game's scoring summary at espn boxscore: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350822103
mh
Toronto Blue Jays were the Dark Angels of mercilessness for the faithful at Angels Stadium tonight, scoring 15 runs on 20 hits. Only 2 home runs (plating 5 runs) as this 9-cyclindar offense catches fire.
Toronto starting pitcher Marco Estrada (W, 11-7) threw an excellent five and two thirds innings relinquishing 2 solo home runs late as he challenged the Angels hitters with a 10 run lead. Brett Cecil worked out of a jam caused by a Donaldson throwing error in the 6th - with one pitch. Then the team of Hawkins, Hendriks and Schultz held the Angels down for good, giving up just 1 hit over three innings stellar relief.
Felt guilty at the end.
(Not one of my worst quadruple-mixed metaphors).
Image re-purposed from screen capture of the game's scoring summary at espn boxscore: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350822103
mh
Friday, August 14, 2015
Yankees end Jays streak in 9-inning nail-bitter
Yanks at Jays - Friday, August 14, 2015 - 7:07 pm
Top-3 - Jays ask for a review after a close play at first on a tough hit ball to 3B by the Yankees nine hitter Brendan Ryan. Jays loose their review privileges as MLB review umps rule Ryan is safe for the visitors 3rd hit of this scoreless game here in the 3rd.
This can't continue much longer. But it does ... Price strikes out the Yankees four hitter Teixeira with 2 on to end the Top of the 3rd.
Top-6 - Chris Young's slow bounder off Price up the middle - Goins bare-hands it and in one motion throws for the 3rd out of the 6th ... another zero. This can't go on.
Bot-9 - Troy Tulowitzki at bat against Yankee closer Andrew Miller with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out down 4 runs to 3: Strike (looking), Ball, Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Strike (swinging).
This loss will have no effect on the team as they battled the evil empire right to the last out. Great streak.
Yankees lead the AL East by 1/2 a game.
The Jays bats have been struggling over the last 4 games - see if they can turn that around tomorrow; game 2 of 3 (1:07 start).
Scoring:
Bot-3 - Tulowitzki grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, Pillar scored. (1-1)
Bot-3 - Bautista doubled to left, Tulowitzki scored. (1-2)
Bot-3 - Encarnación hit sacrifice fly to center, Donaldson scored. (1-3)
Top-8 - Headley hit a ground rule double to center, Teixeira scored. (1-1)
Top-8 - Beltrán homered to right center, McCann and Headley scored. (3-4)
Score Card Line-ups:
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
B Gardner LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Headley 3B
C Young RF
(Top-8) Beltrán PH-RF
D Gregorius SS
B Ryan 2B
I Nova P (W, 5-4) 7.0 IP
D Betances P (H, 19) 1.0 IP
A Miller P (S, 26) 1.0 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
E Encarnación DH
J Smoak 1B
R Martin C
R Goins 2B
(Bot-9) C Colabello PH
(Bot-9) C Pennington PR
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
D Price P 7.1 IP
A Sanchez P (L, 6-5; B, 1) 0.2 IP
B Cecil P 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350814114
mh
Top-3 - Jays ask for a review after a close play at first on a tough hit ball to 3B by the Yankees nine hitter Brendan Ryan. Jays loose their review privileges as MLB review umps rule Ryan is safe for the visitors 3rd hit of this scoreless game here in the 3rd.
This can't continue much longer. But it does ... Price strikes out the Yankees four hitter Teixeira with 2 on to end the Top of the 3rd.
Top-6 - Chris Young's slow bounder off Price up the middle - Goins bare-hands it and in one motion throws for the 3rd out of the 6th ... another zero. This can't go on.
Bot-9 - Troy Tulowitzki at bat against Yankee closer Andrew Miller with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out down 4 runs to 3: Strike (looking), Ball, Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Strike (swinging).
This loss will have no effect on the team as they battled the evil empire right to the last out. Great streak.
Yankees lead the AL East by 1/2 a game.
The Jays bats have been struggling over the last 4 games - see if they can turn that around tomorrow; game 2 of 3 (1:07 start).
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
New York Yankees
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
-
|
4
|
13
|
0
|
8
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
3
|
6
|
0
|
7
|
Scoring:
Bot-3 - Tulowitzki grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, Pillar scored. (1-1)
Bot-3 - Bautista doubled to left, Tulowitzki scored. (1-2)
Bot-3 - Encarnación hit sacrifice fly to center, Donaldson scored. (1-3)
Top-8 - Headley hit a ground rule double to center, Teixeira scored. (1-1)
Top-8 - Beltrán homered to right center, McCann and Headley scored. (3-4)
Score Card Line-ups:
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
B Gardner LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Headley 3B
C Young RF
(Top-8) Beltrán PH-RF
D Gregorius SS
B Ryan 2B
I Nova P (W, 5-4) 7.0 IP
D Betances P (H, 19) 1.0 IP
A Miller P (S, 26) 1.0 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
E Encarnación DH
J Smoak 1B
R Martin C
R Goins 2B
(Bot-9) C Colabello PH
(Bot-9) C Pennington PR
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
D Price P 7.1 IP
A Sanchez P (L, 6-5; B, 1) 0.2 IP
B Cecil P 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350814114
mh
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Blue Jays win 11th in a row - sweep third consecutive series
A's at Jays - Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 1:07 pm
Nothing much to say about this game except that the expected god-like performance of the batting order and the pitching staff unfolded just as the universe apparently intended.
One note of interest: the line-up did not include Troy Tulowitzki at short stop and leading off - but instead the nine hitter, Ben Revere (LF), usually in the nine spot (to turn the line-up over) moved to lead-off; and the Jays most recent acquisition, Cliff Pennington (2B) took the turn-the-line-up-over spot in his second game for the Jays as Tulowitzki had a get-away-day off with Ryan Goins moving from second base over to short stop. That change seemed to have no effect on the team as the Jays go on to win their 11th in a row - the second time this season they have accomplished that feat (June 2-14).
Tomorrow evening it's the just passed for 1st place in the AL East, New York Yankees - in town for three. Interesting to note the NY bloggers are lamenting the Yankees lost offense this week, after the Jays held them to 1 run over 28 innings last weekend.
Usually the Yankees break out of slumps against the Jays at home - it will be interesting to see if that pattern holds this weekend - as it would appear this year is not like any other in recent baseball history for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Scoring:
Bot-2 - Pillar singled to right, Navarro scored. (1-1)
Bot-2 - Goins homered to right, Smoak and Pillar scored. (3-4)
Top-8 - Burns tripled to right center, Semien scored. (1-1)
Top-8 - Canha grounded out to second, Burns scored. (1-2)
Score Card Line-ups:
Oakland Athletics
B Burns CF
M Canha 1B
B Lawrie 2B
D Valencia 3B
J Phegley C
(Top-9) S Vogt PH
B Butler DH
J Reddick RF
C Crisp LF
M Semien SS
J Chavez P (L, 6-12) - 6.0 IP
Pomeranz P - 1.2 IP
Rodriguez P - 0.1 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
B Revere LF
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
C Colabello DH
D Navarro C
J Smoak 1B
K Pillar CF
R Goins SS
C Pennington 2B
Buehrle P (W, 13-5) - 7.0 IP
Sanchez P (H, 6) - 1.0 IP
Osuna P (S, 12) - 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350813114
mh
Nothing much to say about this game except that the expected god-like performance of the batting order and the pitching staff unfolded just as the universe apparently intended.
One note of interest: the line-up did not include Troy Tulowitzki at short stop and leading off - but instead the nine hitter, Ben Revere (LF), usually in the nine spot (to turn the line-up over) moved to lead-off; and the Jays most recent acquisition, Cliff Pennington (2B) took the turn-the-line-up-over spot in his second game for the Jays as Tulowitzki had a get-away-day off with Ryan Goins moving from second base over to short stop. That change seemed to have no effect on the team as the Jays go on to win their 11th in a row - the second time this season they have accomplished that feat (June 2-14).
Tomorrow evening it's the just passed for 1st place in the AL East, New York Yankees - in town for three. Interesting to note the NY bloggers are lamenting the Yankees lost offense this week, after the Jays held them to 1 run over 28 innings last weekend.
New Jason_IIATMS: Quick hit: The Yankees’ offense is offensively bad http://t.co/gzqOgQfQDT #BBBA
— Baseball Bloggers A. (@baseballblogs) August 12, 2015
Usually the Yankees break out of slumps against the Jays at home - it will be interesting to see if that pattern holds this weekend - as it would appear this year is not like any other in recent baseball history for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Oakland Athletics
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
-
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
6
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
x
|
-
|
4
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
Scoring:
Bot-2 - Pillar singled to right, Navarro scored. (1-1)
Bot-2 - Goins homered to right, Smoak and Pillar scored. (3-4)
Top-8 - Burns tripled to right center, Semien scored. (1-1)
Top-8 - Canha grounded out to second, Burns scored. (1-2)
Score Card Line-ups:
Oakland Athletics
B Burns CF
M Canha 1B
B Lawrie 2B
D Valencia 3B
J Phegley C
(Top-9) S Vogt PH
B Butler DH
J Reddick RF
C Crisp LF
M Semien SS
J Chavez P (L, 6-12) - 6.0 IP
Pomeranz P - 1.2 IP
Rodriguez P - 0.1 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
B Revere LF
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
C Colabello DH
D Navarro C
J Smoak 1B
K Pillar CF
R Goins SS
C Pennington 2B
Buehrle P (W, 13-5) - 7.0 IP
Sanchez P (H, 6) - 1.0 IP
Osuna P (S, 12) - 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350813114
mh
I Rue the day the Blue Jays lose 2 in a row
It started last week, on Friday, August 7th - the day after the Jays swept the Minnesota Twins - on the FAN590 Toronto Radio, on their flagship show, Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown --- for a full 2 hours before the away game against New York Yankees the round table talked baseball. Since then, the attention paid to this team on local media has gone from a space filler between talking about the National Hockey League Toronto Maple Leafs - to *THE* topic of discussion.
The fanatical shift turned up another notch last night as the Jays won and the Yankees lost; which saw the Jays vault into first place in the AL East: I hear Mike Wilner, the Jays' 5th inning play-by-play announcer and post game call in show host, say - this team might be a better than the 1992 World Series team.
After the post game phone-in on "Sportsnet Overnight", I hear announcer Mike Oz say this team might not loose another 10 games this year' (with 47 games to go, 9 loses a .801 winning percentage!).
So from a baseball fan living in a market that can't talk baseball for more than 1 minute before trying to make a allusion to Maple Leafs hockey - now once again, after 21 years of waiting - I live in a baseball town.
But don't be fooled (again), this is not a baseball town - this is a city of fans of winning home teams.
If the Jays loose 2 games in a row it is likely that Jays' General Manager Alex Anthopoulos will be run out of town by a torch and pitchfork wielding mob of insane former Blue Jays fans.
References:
Podcast | Prime Time Sports - August 7 - The Friday Roundtable - 5pm: http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/pts/pt_20150807_175553--Prime-Time-Sports---August-7---5pm.mp3
Podcast | Prime Time Sports - August 7 - The Friday Roundtable - 6pm: http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/pts/pt_20150807_185523--Prime-Time-Sports---August-7---6pm.mp3
FAN590 Toronto / Prime Time Sports / Recent Podcasts | http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/prime-time-sports/
Mike Oz Retweet announcing his Wednesday, August 12, 2015 "Sportnet Overnight" gig (real time widgets at the website disappear history):
More on the 1st place Blue Jays with @mikeoz next on @FAN590! Then a PGA Championship preview with @jasonSCOREGolf.
— Jeff Sammut (@JeffSammut590) August 13, 2015
Tweet URL: https://twitter.com/JeffSammut590/status/631675367393206272
mh
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The sun continues to shine brightly upon streaking Blue Jays
A's at Jays - Wednesday, August 12, 2015, 7:07 pm
Felt sure that with Aaron Loup coming in on long rest the Oaklands would score at least one in the 9th.
Top-9 - with Josh Phegley (PH) in scoring position, Mark Canha (3 for 3 at the time) flies out to deep right-centre, which as good as seals the glorious revolution. Aaron Loup strikes out Eric Sogard and it's done.
It's the Jays' 10th win in a row - and with another NYY loss - day one of 1st place in the AL East; the fact announced to the cheering faithful at the dome about 10 minutes after this 3-10 Blue Jays victory.
The sun continues to shine brightly upon the Toronto Blue Jays.
Scoring:
Bot-1 - Colabello homered to left, Tulowitzki and Donaldson scored. (3-3)
Top-2 - Valencia homered to left center. (1-1)
Top-2 - Sogard grounded out to second, Butler scored. (1-2)
Bot-2 - Donaldson singled to right, Goins and Revere scored. (2-5)
Bot-2 - Colabello singled to right, Donaldson scored. (1-6)
Bot-2 - Martin singles to centre, Bautista scored. (1-7)
Bot-2 - Smoak homered to center, Colabello and Martin scored. (3-10)
Top-4 - Canha doubled to left, Valencia scored. (1-3)
Score Card Line-ups:
Oakland Athletics
B Burns CF
B Lawrie 2B
J Reddick RF
D Valencia 3B
S Vogt C
(Top-9) J Phegley PH
B Butler DH
M Canha 1B
E Sogard SS
S Fuld LF
A Brooks P - 1.2 IP (L, 1-1)
F Doubront - 6.1 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
C Colabello DH
R Martin C
J Smoak 1B
K Pillar C
R Goins 2B
B Revere LF
R A Dickey P - 6.0 IP (W, 7-10)
B Schultz P - 1.0 IP
L Hendriks P - 1.0 IP
A Loup P - 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350812114
mh
Felt sure that with Aaron Loup coming in on long rest the Oaklands would score at least one in the 9th.
Top-9 - with Josh Phegley (PH) in scoring position, Mark Canha (3 for 3 at the time) flies out to deep right-centre, which as good as seals the glorious revolution. Aaron Loup strikes out Eric Sogard and it's done.
It's the Jays' 10th win in a row - and with another NYY loss - day one of 1st place in the AL East; the fact announced to the cheering faithful at the dome about 10 minutes after this 3-10 Blue Jays victory.
The sun continues to shine brightly upon the Toronto Blue Jays.
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Oakland Athletics
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
3
|
9
|
0
|
5
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
3
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
x
|
-
|
10
|
11
|
0
|
4
|
Scoring:
Bot-1 - Colabello homered to left, Tulowitzki and Donaldson scored. (3-3)
Top-2 - Valencia homered to left center. (1-1)
Top-2 - Sogard grounded out to second, Butler scored. (1-2)
Bot-2 - Donaldson singled to right, Goins and Revere scored. (2-5)
Bot-2 - Colabello singled to right, Donaldson scored. (1-6)
Bot-2 - Martin singles to centre, Bautista scored. (1-7)
Bot-2 - Smoak homered to center, Colabello and Martin scored. (3-10)
Top-4 - Canha doubled to left, Valencia scored. (1-3)
Score Card Line-ups:
Oakland Athletics
B Burns CF
B Lawrie 2B
J Reddick RF
D Valencia 3B
S Vogt C
(Top-9) J Phegley PH
B Butler DH
M Canha 1B
E Sogard SS
S Fuld LF
A Brooks P - 1.2 IP (L, 1-1)
F Doubront - 6.1 IP
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
C Colabello DH
R Martin C
J Smoak 1B
K Pillar C
R Goins 2B
B Revere LF
R A Dickey P - 6.0 IP (W, 7-10)
B Schultz P - 1.0 IP
L Hendriks P - 1.0 IP
A Loup P - 1.0 IP
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350812114
mh
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Blue Jays Sweep Yankees - allow 1 run; score 9 of 10 via HRs over 3 games - 1.5 back for AL East lead
Jays at Yanks - Sunday, August 9, 2015 - 1:05 pm
Top-4 - Bautista hits a solo home run to left.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching - Jays give up 1R to NYY while scoring 10R themselves over the weekend series.
Next: At home to Oakland A's on Tuesday, August 11 at 7:07 pm.
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
D Navarro C
C Colabello DH
J Smoak 1B
R Goins 2B
Top-7 C Pennington PH-2B
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
B Gardner LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Beltran RF
C Headley 3B
D Gregorius SS
S Drew 2B
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350809110
mh
ROSTER MOVE: Cliff Pennington has reported today and INF Munenori Kawasaki has been optioned to @BuffaloBisons (AAA)
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 9, 2015
Top-1 - Donaldson hits a solo home run to right center.Top-4 - Bautista hits a solo home run to left.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching - Jays give up 1R to NYY while scoring 10R themselves over the weekend series.
Next: At home to Oakland A's on Tuesday, August 11 at 7:07 pm.
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
6
|
New York Yankees
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
7
|
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
D Navarro C
C Colabello DH
J Smoak 1B
R Goins 2B
Top-7 C Pennington PH-2B
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA Estrada(W, 10-6) 6.1 3 0 0 3 6 0 89-56 3.21 Hawkins(H, 2) 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 9-8 0.00 Sanchez(H, 4) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 14-6 3.30 Osuna(S, 10) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 11-9 2.13
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
B Gardner LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Beltran RF
C Headley 3B
D Gregorius SS
S Drew 2B
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA Tanaka(L, 8-5) 6.0 3 2 2 0 5 2 80-51 3.79 Warren 0.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 17-8 3.38 Wilson 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 13-10 2.43 Pinder 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 0 18-9 2.81 Shreve 1.1 0 0 0 1 2 0 25-13 2.06
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350809110
mh
MLB Standings Saturday, August 8, 2015 - First Division Teams Delineated
Saturday, August 8, 2015 - MLB first division teams delineated on the basis of 60 wins; with the exception of the Kansas City Royals at 65 wins, and the St. Louis Cardinals, at 71 wins.
Images via active espn web page, on Sunday, August 9, 2015, 01:40 am - http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings
mh
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Jays win series; go for sweep tomorrow in NY; hold Yanks to 1R in first 2 games
Jays at Yanks Saturday, August 8, 2015 - 1:05 pm
Top-6 - Nova pitching, T Tulowitzki grounded out; J Donaldson walked; J Bautista singled; E Encarnacion walked; and then J Smoak hit the ball over the wall, for 4.
Top-7 - T Tulowitzki hit a solo home run to left.
Top-8 - Bautista safe at first on an error; Encarnación singled to center, Bautista to third (faked Ellsbury CF, stole 3rd on the cut-off throw); Martin reached on infield single to shortstop, Bautista scored.
David Price, Aaron Sanchez and Mark Lowe combine for 3H, 0R.
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
E Encarnacion DH
J Smoak 1B
R Martin C
R Goins 2B
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
C Young LF
(Bot-8) B Gardner PH-LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Beltran RF
C Headley 3B
D Gregorius SS
B Ryan 2B
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350808110
mh
Top-6 - Nova pitching, T Tulowitzki grounded out; J Donaldson walked; J Bautista singled; E Encarnacion walked; and then J Smoak hit the ball over the wall, for 4.
Top-7 - T Tulowitzki hit a solo home run to left.
Top-8 - Bautista safe at first on an error; Encarnación singled to center, Bautista to third (faked Ellsbury CF, stole 3rd on the cut-off throw); Martin reached on infield single to shortstop, Bautista scored.
David Price, Aaron Sanchez and Mark Lowe combine for 3H, 0R.
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
-
|
6
|
7
|
0
|
4
|
New York Yankees
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
Toronto Blue Jays
T Tulowitzki SS
J Donaldson 3B
J Bautista RF
E Encarnacion DH
J Smoak 1B
R Martin C
R Goins 2B
K Pillar CF
B Revere LF
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA D Price 7.0 3 0 0 3 7 0 110-71 2.35 A Sanchez 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12-8 3.34 M Lowe 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12-10 1.60
New York Yankees
J Ellsbury CF
C Young LF
(Bot-8) B Gardner PH-LF
A Rodriguez DH
M Teixeira 1B
B McCann C
C Beltran RF
C Headley 3B
D Gregorius SS
B Ryan 2B
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA I Nova 5.1 4 4 4 2 6 1 102-61 3.52 A Warren 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 0 9-6 3.38 B Mitchell 3.0 3 2 1 0 1 1 46-28 4.41
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350808110
mh
Friday, August 7, 2015
Jays beat Yanks Two HR's to One
Jays at Yanks - Friday August 8, 2015
Dickey great. Bautista solo HR in the 10th decides the game.
Donaldson homers in the 1st.
Great defense and pitching by both sides.
HR ruling in the 2nd Yankees only run.
Kawasaki's defence in the 10th perfect.
Toronto Blue Jays
T. Tulowitzki SS
J. Donaldson 3B
J. Bautista RF
E. Encarnacion DH
J. Smoak 1B
R. Martin C
R. Goins 2B
(Top-9) Colabello PH
Kawasaki PR-2B
K. Pillar CF
B. Revere LF
Dickey (7.0)
Hawkins (1.0)
Cecil(W, 3-4) (1.0)
Osuna(S, 9) (1.0)
New York Yankees
J. Ellsbury CF
B. Gardner LF
A. Rodriguez DH
M. Teixeira 1B
B. McCann C
C. Beltran RF
(Bot-9) C Young PR-RF
C. Headley 3B
D. Gregorius SS
S. Drew 2B
Eovaldi 6.1
Wilson 0.1
Betances 1.1
Miller 1.0
Pinder (L, 0-1) 1.0
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350807110
mh
Dickey great. Bautista solo HR in the 10th decides the game.
Donaldson homers in the 1st.
Great defense and pitching by both sides.
HR ruling in the 2nd Yankees only run.
Kawasaki's defence in the 10th perfect.
Boxscore
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
New York Yankees
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
1
|
Toronto Blue Jays
T. Tulowitzki SS
J. Donaldson 3B
J. Bautista RF
E. Encarnacion DH
J. Smoak 1B
R. Martin C
R. Goins 2B
(Top-9) Colabello PH
Kawasaki PR-2B
K. Pillar CF
B. Revere LF
Dickey (7.0)
Hawkins (1.0)
Cecil(W, 3-4) (1.0)
Osuna(S, 9) (1.0)
New York Yankees
J. Ellsbury CF
B. Gardner LF
A. Rodriguez DH
M. Teixeira 1B
B. McCann C
C. Beltran RF
(Bot-9) C Young PR-RF
C. Headley 3B
D. Gregorius SS
S. Drew 2B
Eovaldi 6.1
Wilson 0.1
Betances 1.1
Miller 1.0
Pinder (L, 0-1) 1.0
Stats via espn: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350807110
mh
Baseball is like Quantum Physics - you never know where the hit ball will land
Baseball is like Quantum Physics - you never know where the hit ball will land - you never know where the electron is
Tonight the high powered Jays line-up slaughtered the Minnesotan line-up; but it wasn't a thing where the outcome was predetermined - but rather one that was unceasingly over time predetermined - yet not that.
This is the lot of the fan - the fanatic who invests all into the frame of something that is all but a crap-shoot - the knowing and the not knowing at the same time.
I go into this kore but my keyboard is shot.
Happy Jays fans abound here in Hog-town.
Several Game notes that were interesting - but as I said above, I don't have a real computer.
Pissed beyond your ability to understand.
Here's the images of tonight's game notes that I hoped to include in this post: (the ideas here don't end up in the world wide web commons - they are but jpg's amoungst porn and LOLCats).
mh
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Jays win 4th straight since non-waiver deadline moves
Closer for tonight's game, LaTroy Hawkins appeared to throw something from his mouth in the 9th against Minnesota after giving up a hit to Núñez who hit for Fryer; Núñez singled to center, Escobar to second. No runs scored and the Blue Jays won their 4th straight coming exactly from the point of their trade extravaganza at the non-waiver trade deadline.
The game came down to Bautista's grand slam in the 2nd which over-came the Twins 3-2 lead; and then Encarnacion's 3 run homer in the 4th which accounted for the Jay's 9 runs. The Twins plated 4 runs in the 5th but were not able to plate another after the that inning.
ESPN Boxscore: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350805114 (annoyingly for baseball writers, not available during the game).
mh
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Steal of 3rd on foul pop - play of the game as Jays win series over Royals
Kansas City at Blue Jays
Sunday, August 2, 2015
1pm - Rogers Centre
Kansas City
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG Escobar SS 3 1 1 0 0 1 13 .279 .318 .348 Zobrist LF 3 1 1 2 1 0 22 .272 .355 .480 Cain CF 4 0 1 0 0 3 21 .314 .371 .503 Hosmer 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 16 .315 .372 .477 K. Morales DH 3 0 1 0 1 0 17 .284 .341 .451 Pérez C 4 0 0 0 0 2 11 .243 .257 .412 Rios RF 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 .241 .275 .309 Cuthbert 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 12 .240 .269 .360 Infante 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 .228 .241 .315
Pitcher IP H R ER BB K ERA E. Volquez P 6.0 4 2 2 3 4 3.20 F. Morales P 0.1 1 1 1 0 0 2.45 R. Madson P 0.2 1 0 0 0 2 2.28 K. Herrera P 0.2 1 2 2 3 0 2.14 L. Hochevar P 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 4.0
Toronto
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG Tulowitzki SS 3 0 1 1 1 0 25 .353 .476 .647 Donaldson 3B 3 0 0 0 1 3 25 .291 .357 .549 Bautista RF 4 0 1 1 0 0 13 .237 .364 .503 Encarnación DH 4 1 2 0 0 1 12 .244 .341 .455 Colabello 1B 3 1 1 2 0 2 17 .315 .358 .496 Smoak 1B 0 1 0 0 1 0 7 .228 .313 .451 Martin C 3 1 1 0 1 1 17 .264 .347 .482 Pillar CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 10 .267 .301 .383 Goins 2B 2 1 1 0 2 0 23 .223 .277 .313 Revere LF 2 0 0 1 0 0 8 .000 .000 .000
Pitcher IP H R ER BB K ERA R. Dickey P 7.0 2 0 0 2 6 4.06 A. Sanchez P 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 3.31 R. Osuna P 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 2.14
This is the first time the Jays have fielded the A-Team as starters, since the non-wiaver trade deadline deals.
Bottom of the 8th, Pillar fouled out to second, Smoak at 2nd, steals third. Smoak steal of 3B is on a foul catch by the 2nd Baseman Cuthbert, who failed to check the infield after his running catch; play gets the Insurance run to 3rd, 90 feet away.
Sac fly by Revere scores Smoak.
Tulowitzki bloop BH to right scores another.
Smoak's steal turns out to be the play of the game.
Final: Kansas 2 - Jays 5
Jays win series 3 games to 1.
Next: At home with Minnesota in town for 4 - with David Price pitching Monday August 3rd.
Stats via ESPN Boxscore | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350802114
mh
Saturday, August 1, 2015
The down-side of a great deadline trade experience - some players have to go
KC at Jays - Saturday, August 1, 2015
Game Notes.
Kawasaki is in the order to show case him for a waiver trade - and everyone in the dugout today knows it; not one person is even acknowledging that he's in the dugout - like the pitcher with the no-hitter going, no one's talking to him - no one wants to go near the guy who's going down in a clubhouse that is in the midst of a huge shakup.
Reveres grimaces when he tosses the ball back to the infield on a shallow out in LF.
With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out Buehrle hits the batter on the first pitch. Was that a pitch saving intentional BB? I think it looked like it was.
Jays lose 6-7 in 9 with the winning run 90 feet away.
mh
Friday, July 31, 2015
Are Jays, MLB in cahoots with Canada's Conservative Government?
Are Jays, MLB in cahoots with Canada's Conservative Government to produce a winner during the 2015 Federal Election?
The connections between Rogers Inc and this Federal Government are document-able. The MLB and the military have worked hand in hand to glorify the soldiers of our Imperial wars of conquest since 9/11 with parade marches and the playing of the nationalistic anthem "God Bless America" - which replaced the more baseball iconic tune "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch.
The tradition at Blue Jays games since the neo-conservative Harper Government attained a majority government in 2011 has been a march of a Canadian Military Honour guard marching to the Canadian National Anthem. This is not in keeping with Canadian tradition since the end of WWII.
This second majority term of this extreme right neo-conservative government would, as Harper stated in public two years ago, 'change this country to such an extent that you won't recognize it'.
This is for all the marbles - the end of the welfare state - in order to finance a global corporate expansion of the US empire over a 100 years in order to rule the globe.
Don't put it past them. This is an idea worth considering.
Jays beat KC in extra innings 7 to 6 after the umpire began to squeeze KC pitching in extra innings - and then a balk call that none of the umpires could have seen (it was a good call but un-see-able) that sent the winning run into scoring position on a day when the Jays finished off - at the non-waiver trade deadline - some excellent deals.
mh
Friday, June 26, 2015
Bad Pitching in the era of the Nuclear Ball
Another double digit shellacking of an opponent by the Jays.
A few years back Bill Lee was quoted as saying that the explosion of home runs during the Barry Bonds Mark McGwire era was the result of bad pitching. His take I think, was a function of a great pitchers' attitude (or understanding) that good pitchers have many, many more tools to get outs against any batter; that with discipline and right thinking, any era of baseball can be dominated by good pitching. He was talking about the steroid era coupled with MLB's latest Juiced Ball (or Nuclear Ball era - still ongoing).
He may have been wrong.
The Jays have scored double digits in 11 games this year when they win; and the opponents only 3 times against the Jays when they win. (Those are analog stats by the way - scrolled through the schedule and counted. :)
Jays pitching doesn't have to be as good as Buehrle's performance tonight - but there is the added pressure that effects the other bats when they're down by 5 runs or more, a situation that makes even good starting pitching better that it might be in a close game otherwise.
It's been all about the Jay's line up so far this year - with surprise replacements coming up all over the place - getting, and keeping, their spots in the line up with timely batting - s o while I hate to admit it John Gibbons has done a great job creating team - but what about the pitching (which he abuses mentally - regularly)?
More on that next time.
References:
ESPN Box Score (the accessible box score*) | Rangers at Jays - June 26 2015 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350626114
* (Boxscore at MLB is up quick tonight - but I can't copy and paste names and stats from it ... off to espn's box score once again).
Bill Lee quote: can't find it - Google Search Engine is fouled up with real time results and branded marketing by Big Media. (but I think you can find the quote here: http://www.chriscomerradio.com/bill_lee/bill_lee_archives.htm - will check it later when I can listen, and I'll point you to it.)
mh
A few years back Bill Lee was quoted as saying that the explosion of home runs during the Barry Bonds Mark McGwire era was the result of bad pitching. His take I think, was a function of a great pitchers' attitude (or understanding) that good pitchers have many, many more tools to get outs against any batter; that with discipline and right thinking, any era of baseball can be dominated by good pitching. He was talking about the steroid era coupled with MLB's latest Juiced Ball (or Nuclear Ball era - still ongoing).
He may have been wrong.
The Jays have scored double digits in 11 games this year when they win; and the opponents only 3 times against the Jays when they win. (Those are analog stats by the way - scrolled through the schedule and counted. :)
Jays pitching doesn't have to be as good as Buehrle's performance tonight - but there is the added pressure that effects the other bats when they're down by 5 runs or more, a situation that makes even good starting pitching better that it might be in a close game otherwise.
It's been all about the Jay's line up so far this year - with surprise replacements coming up all over the place - getting, and keeping, their spots in the line up with timely batting - s o while I hate to admit it John Gibbons has done a great job creating team - but what about the pitching (which he abuses mentally - regularly)?
More on that next time.
References:
ESPN Box Score (the accessible box score*) | Rangers at Jays - June 26 2015 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350626114
* (Boxscore at MLB is up quick tonight - but I can't copy and paste names and stats from it ... off to espn's box score once again).
Bill Lee quote: can't find it - Google Search Engine is fouled up with real time results and branded marketing by Big Media. (but I think you can find the quote here: http://www.chriscomerradio.com/bill_lee/bill_lee_archives.htm - will check it later when I can listen, and I'll point you to it.)
mh
Monday, June 22, 2015
The process of writing baseball - Jays at Rays game 1, June 22, 2015
What's the game about?
Jays score 1 in the 8th to counter the Ray's 2 in the 7th.
In the 8th, it's the Bull pen.
In the 9th the Rays mow down top of the order with authority.
The nut at this point in the season is: Do the Jays have a closer?
Osuna does it with a two inning Save, and a 1, 2, 3 against the Rays' 8, 9 and 1 hitters in the 9th.
Jays win 8-5
But it doesn't mean anything, yet. In fact, understanding their latest performance, this is an anomaly.
(I'd link the with the MLB Box Score - but 10 minutes after I published - the box score at espn was the first to publish; another lose for MLB advanced media.)
Jays at Rays game 1 Box Score, June 22, 2015 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350622130
mh
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Boston Red Sox Outfield
It has come to be my understanding through the years of watching MLB, that winning Boston Red Sox teams need to have 2 centre fielders on the field in order to cover Fenway's centre and right field with it's massive depth and vicious jog in right-centre.
 |
| Fenway Park Ballpark Diagram & Dimensions - via Baseball Almanac | http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/fenway_park.shtml |
The idea is that in the nuclear ball era, fast outfielders are essential because they can limit runs by reducing their opponents Total Bases totals - the fast and quick outfielder can cut off hot-shot ground balls to the gaps and hot-shot line-drives to the walls better.
In Fenway speed a quick reaction to balls off the bat was necessary in centre and right during the regular juiced ball era (1921-1993); now in the nuclear ball era this is even more important.
From my watching of three games against the hard hitting Jays this weekend, this year's Boston team doesn't have that outfield.
Jays at Red Sox Game 3 - June 14, 2015
(Jays win 13-5 and extend their winning streak to 11 games; sitting 1 game back of the Yankees and the Rays for the division lead at the end of the day.)
Boston Outfield:
Hanley Ramirez LF
Rusney Castillo CF
Alejandro De Aza RF
Boston 25-man Roster (Outfielders) - June 14, 2015
# NAME POS BAT THW AGE HT WT 50 Mookie Betts CF R R 22 5-9 155 38 Rusney Castillo RF R R 27 5-8 186 31 Alejandro De Aza LF L L 31 6-0 195 26 Brock Holt RF L R 27 5-10 185 13 Hanley Ramirez LF R R 31 6-2 225
To contrast, the 2007 World Series Champion Red Sox Outfield
# Name Height Weight Throws Bats Date Of Birth 10 Coco Crisp 5-10 185 Right Both 1979-11-01 7 J.D. Drew 6-01 195 Right Left 1975-11-20 46 Jacoby Ellsbury 6-01 195 Left Left 1983-09-11 32 Bobby Kielty 6-01 215 Right Both 1976-08-05 44 Brandon Moss 6-00 210 Right Left 1983-09-16 44 David Murphy 6-04 210 Left Left 1981-10-18 22 Wily Mo Pena 6-03 215 Right Right 1982-01-23 24 Manny Ramirez 6-00 225 Right Right 1972-05-30
Coco Crisp CF
Yr Age Tm G SB CS TB Pos 07 27 BOS 145 28 6 201 8
J.D. Drew RF
Yr Age Tm G SB CS TB Pos 07 31 BOS 140 4 2 197 9/8D
mh
Friday, June 12, 2015
#number9
blue jays come-back with 9R 7th takes them to 9 wins in last 10 in tumultuous game 1 in boston
mh
 |
| Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox Game 1: Friday, June 12 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350612102 |
MLB Advanced Media | Blue Jays plate nine in 7th - 06/12/15 | 00:02:38
mh
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Yankees at Jays - Game 3 of 3
Tried to form a composition about the game using position elements - the foundation of Web 3.0 coding - and the Compose wysiwyg didn't show what would publish - and the Preview wouldn't show that either.
Not impressed with New Blogger (Blogger in Draft).
Jays win the series 2 games to 1.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?id=350506114
mh
Not impressed with New Blogger (Blogger in Draft).
Jays win the series 2 games to 1.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?id=350506114
mh
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Rays still a Joe Maddon Team
With a runner at third, with 1 out, and the Jays intentionally walking a runner, the Rays are fainting a steal of home on the intentional ball pitch.
Every angle - and one's we didn't know there were.
Next batter the Rays take a 1 run lead on a sac fly in the 8th.
mh
Every angle - and one's we didn't know there were.
Next batter the Rays take a 1 run lead on a sac fly in the 8th.
mh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
