*The Sox had a solid weekend in Arizona, although the bats are still quieter than I would like. Joshua dominated Friday, Julian took care of buisness, and Dice-K pitched good enough to win yesterday, says Jeff Horrigan. The Sox have today off, and get back at it on Tuesday they host the Rockies, and Soxgal.
*If you haven't read Curt's recap of his near no-no, please do so immediately.
*The Sox are now 40-22 on the season, and 9.5 up on the 2nd place New York Yankees, and 11.5 up on the last place Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
*After 6 weeks as #1 upon the ESPN Power Rankings, the Sox dropped to 2nd, with the Padres taking over the top slot.
*The Nuggets had a rough week, with J.R. Smith being thrown from a car during an accident and one of the passengers in the car having severe head injuries, and another Nugget DeeMar Johnson was tasered and arrested outside a night club.
*Julian Tavarez has his own cure to fix his own blister problem.
*Mike Reiss, as always has some good stuff.
*Chad Finn has a fun update. Including this tidbit via Peter Gammons:
"On April 20, Courtney Butcher of Worcester, Mass., a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, called her father, Jim, to talk about the Monster seats Jim had purchased for the family for the Sunday night game. Lowell was her favorite player. That night, right after Courtney talked to her father, she and three friends were killed in an automobile accident.
That Sunday night, Jim took his other children to the game. In the 4-HR inning, Lowell's shot went right to the Butcher family.The next day, a friend of the family called Sarah Stevenson of the Red Sox, who relayed the message to Lowell, and he signed a uniform with these words: "Courtney, May God Be With You, Rest in Peace." He also sent word to Jim Butcher that he would homer for Courtney. The wake was that Tuesday, April 24, and Lowell's uniform was draped over Courtney's coffin. That night, he homered against the Blue Jays."
*Jayson Stark ponders the question, is Curt Schilling the best pitcher to never win a Cy Young or pitch a no-hitter? I'm pasting the whole thing because I know not everyone has ESPN Insider.
Random thoughts, as we ponder the unique interleague magic of Rockies-Orioles:
IS CURT SCHILLING THE BEST PITCHER NEVER TO WIN A CY YOUNG OR PITCH A NO-HITTER?
Watching that Shannon Stewart single whoosh past Alex Cora on Thursday, I was struck by this thought: Can anyone think of a great pitcher who has done more specializing in the near-miss than Curt Schilling?
He has never pitched a no-hitter, but he has thrown three one-hitters. And among active pitchers only Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina (four apiece) have thrown more.
Schilling also has never won a Cy Young. But he has finished second three times. Among active pitchers, only Johnson, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine have more top-two finishes in the Cy voting than Schilling. But those guys have combined for 21 Cy Youngs, to Schilling's zero. In fact, according to baseball-reference.com, Schilling has the highest award-share voting score of any pitcher in history who has never won a Cy Young.
So if it sometimes seems as if all his great years have been trumped by someone else's great years, it's because they have.
He has won 20 games three times -- all of them in seasons when at least one other pitcher in his league won 20. He has struck out 300 hitters in a season three times -- two of them in years another pitcher in his league whiffed 300. And he has finished in the top three in his league in ERA nine times -- but never won an ERA title. So is timing everything in life, or what?
Have a nomination for some other great pitcher in the last 40 years (the era spanning the awarding of Cy Youngs in each league) who has never pitched a no-hitter or won a Cy? Send it along to uselessinfodept@yahoo.com. We can do a ranking in a future blog of the best pitchers ever in this funky category.
*My favorite blogger not named Schilling has updated a few times recently, Mr. Curtis Granderson. He has all kinds of good stuff.
*How did this guy only get a mild concussion and a sprained ankle?
*Lester is coming up to Fenway to throw with John Farrell and figure out a plan for the next few weeks.
*This Arizona columnist talks about how Curt is a jerk for not talking to them on Friday, because he owed it to the fans. A few things here:
- In the column, he says that Curt was traded to the Red Sox. He signed as a free agent. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to idiots.
- He also says he owes it to "the fans". The highest attendence in Arizona history was...Saturday night against the Red Sox? With Julian Tavarez starting? They didn't even sell out the clinching game of the World Series? I wouldn't worry too much about those "fans".
*Roger Goodell's myspace.
Showing posts with label Curtis Granderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curtis Granderson. Show all posts
Monday, June 11, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
First pumps for everyone...
Well, how about them Red Sox?
The Sox doubled up on the Tigers twice yesterday, beating the Tigers 2-1 in the first game, with Julian Taverez pitching a great game, going seven innings, allowing four hits and one run. Coco scored a run on a Manny RBI (both members of Sox Stalkers, not that it does me a whole hell of a lot of good), and then Okajima pitched a scoreless 8th and Papelbon K'ed the first two outs of the 9th before getting a weak grounder to Lugo for the last out. Tavarez also had a fantastic quote.
"Jonathan, we call him 'Gasolina'. This guy goes six, seven days without pitching and then he goes out there and throws 95, 96 without walking anybody. No panic with Pap. Once the game gets to the ninth inning, it's over. That's how we see it with Jonathan."
*Curt beat the Tigers 4-2 in the second game (although of course didn't get the win, because that would help my fricking fantasy team). (Confession time - I don't know too much about what happened last night because it was a very busy night with Grey's Anatomy and The Office season finales)
*Beckett is going on the DL. He is scheduled to return on May 29th against the Indians (guess who has tickets to that one?). Devern Hansack will take his start tonight against the Braves. (well, assuming that this rain stops anytime soon.) I'm in favor of him going on the DL, letting his hand heal completely, and getting this fixed rather than having to deal with it later.
*Michael Silverman says role players had a big role in the wins yesterday, with Eric Hinske making a huge catch in the 5th and having big HR in the 6th.
*Jackie MacMullan has a piece on Okajima continuing to dominate. Jackie Mac is pretty good when she isn't miserable or complaining.
"Okajima hasn't given up a run in 20 2/3 innings, has retired 56 of the last 65 batters he's faced, and has submitted a Papelbonesque ERA of 0.44."
*(is it too politically incorrect to call him Japelbon?)
*Amalie Benjamin has some Minor League notes. Says here that Kason Gabbard is going to be getting the spot start on Sunday, and also has this little tidbit.
Jon Lester is not taking it easy, that's for sure.
Instead of driving back to Boston and taking a flight to Ottawa before his start tomorrow, Lester elected to ride the bus tonight with the PawSox, a trip of about nine hours.
When Lester starts in Ottawa, he'll throw 50-55 pitches, going no more than four innings. He'll use his fastball, curveball, and changeup, though he will not be allowed to throw his cut fastball, a directive straight from Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.
Lester said the cutter would be shelved for potentially three to four starts while he concentrates on building his pitch count back up.
This will be his first game since he suffered forearm cramping May 2.
*Is their controversy brewing in the Big Apple? Kyle Farnsworth says that the Rocket shouldn't be allowed to leave.
*Jason Giambi thinks the MLB should issue an apology for the steriods. "I was wrong for doing that stuff. ... What we should have done a long time ago was stand up -- players, ownership, everybody -- and said, 'We made a mistake.' "
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Well, he's no 45 year old from Texas, but I guess he'll do...
Awesome game last night. Here are a few random thoughts because I'm too tired to put together a coherant paragraph.
*I'm very thankful that Curtis Granderson's HR didn't end up being the difference, after I jokingly cheered for him during introductions and kept singing his praises the first few innings.(he's a SoxStalker {my fantasy team} and he writes a great blog on MLB Insider on ESPN.com)
*Me and Katie were annoyingly keeping any eye on the empty owner's seats, and eventually they appeared to be filled with a tall blond and a tall dark haired gentleman with slight sideburns. We both immediately got nervous that it was Tom, so I had to go down and investigate. Alas, it was not Tom. I did find it funny thought that in the owners seats John Henry sat in the 2nd row and let his guests sit in the first. It wasn't a completely wasted trip however, because I did have a sweet seat for an inning or so.
*And on the way back up I saw Mrs. Papelbon, Mrs. Varitek and family, and Mrs. Matsuzaka, Baby Matsuzaka and their very large security guard.
*Dice-K had everything working for him last night...even some of the hard hit balls that screamed "hit" were gobbled up by the defense. Not so with the Tigers.
*When the Sox were up 3-1 it seemed that we were going to see Papelbon, but after the Sox tapped on some extra insurance making it 7-1, there didn't seem any reason not to let Dice-K finish his game. (luckily Sal isn't our manager).
*I was pretty surprised last night with how heartily Sheff was booed last night. I know there are steroid allegations, but now that they are testing with more regularity...he's still a house. And I know that he wore the pinstripes, but he said before the season that Boston was where he really wanted to play. (And he's on my fantasy team...really now guys).
Here are a few links...
*In case you haven't heard...Dice-K pitched his first complete game in the bigs...well, in our bigs.
*You know what I love about Bob Ryan? You can tell he really loves sports.
"Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a complete-game six-hitter. I just had to pound out those words one more time."
*Gordon Edes has the game story for the Globe.
*Gary Sheffield says that this is the best Sox team he's seen since he joined the Yankees in 2004.
*Edes notebook says Beckett is probably heading for the DL. I think they should get it fixed now and then they won't have to worry about it going forward.
*I'm very thankful that Curtis Granderson's HR didn't end up being the difference, after I jokingly cheered for him during introductions and kept singing his praises the first few innings.(he's a SoxStalker {my fantasy team} and he writes a great blog on MLB Insider on ESPN.com)
*Me and Katie were annoyingly keeping any eye on the empty owner's seats, and eventually they appeared to be filled with a tall blond and a tall dark haired gentleman with slight sideburns. We both immediately got nervous that it was Tom, so I had to go down and investigate. Alas, it was not Tom. I did find it funny thought that in the owners seats John Henry sat in the 2nd row and let his guests sit in the first. It wasn't a completely wasted trip however, because I did have a sweet seat for an inning or so.
*And on the way back up I saw Mrs. Papelbon, Mrs. Varitek and family, and Mrs. Matsuzaka, Baby Matsuzaka and their very large security guard.
*Dice-K had everything working for him last night...even some of the hard hit balls that screamed "hit" were gobbled up by the defense. Not so with the Tigers.
*When the Sox were up 3-1 it seemed that we were going to see Papelbon, but after the Sox tapped on some extra insurance making it 7-1, there didn't seem any reason not to let Dice-K finish his game. (luckily Sal isn't our manager).
*I was pretty surprised last night with how heartily Sheff was booed last night. I know there are steroid allegations, but now that they are testing with more regularity...he's still a house. And I know that he wore the pinstripes, but he said before the season that Boston was where he really wanted to play. (And he's on my fantasy team...really now guys).
Here are a few links...
*In case you haven't heard...Dice-K pitched his first complete game in the bigs...well, in our bigs.
*You know what I love about Bob Ryan? You can tell he really loves sports.
"Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a complete-game six-hitter. I just had to pound out those words one more time."
*Gordon Edes has the game story for the Globe.
*Gary Sheffield says that this is the best Sox team he's seen since he joined the Yankees in 2004.
*Edes notebook says Beckett is probably heading for the DL. I think they should get it fixed now and then they won't have to worry about it going forward.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Here is Curtis Granderson's blog entry from yesterday...
Remembering a tragic event
posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Print Entry
One always hates to witness a national tragedy like the one that took place on Monday in Blacksburg, Va. A horrific event took place -- one of the worst in our nation's history. I can't begin to comprehend what the family members of the victims are going through.
I remember checking my e-mail early in the morning the day of the tragedy when I first heard about it, and the first thing that started popping in my head was when I was on campus at the University of Illinois-Chicago and I found out the events of 9/11 were happening. I remembered how scared people were on my campus and the reactions of all the faculty and students. Now try to imagine being on the campus of Virginia Tech as a student while this event was going on.
One of the victims of the tragedy was 25-year-old Brian Bluhm. I never had the pleasure of actually meeting Brian. In just a few short weeks, Brian was scheduled to earn his master's degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. A bright future was in the works for this Detroit sports fan, who on his own Web site admitted that he either works on his thesis or reads about the Tigers. Now that's what I call a broad range.
There were 31 other innocent victims on Monday morning on Virginia Tech's campus. Some were teachers and administrators; some were students. They are all cherished.
Detroit sports message boards have been littered with thoughtful comments and messages for Brian. He had e-mailed me a couple of questions for my Q&A in the past, though his questions were not yet selected. Here is one of those questions that I will now answer:
Brian Bluhm (Blacksburg, Va.): What are your personal and team goals for the season?
Curtis: It's hard for us as a team to set a goal and say we want to win a certain amount of games or win the World Series, because it's too hard to focus on one specific thing for so many games. Our team goal is pretty simple, though -- basically prepare ourselves to play for nine innings every day, every series and against every opponent. For me individually, it's more of just trying to play my role the best I can every day. One day I may lead off and start in center field, where I'll need to set the tone and cover and control the outfield. Another day, I may bat eighth or ninth and I'll have to set the tone for the big guys at the top of the lineup.
I may not always start, but I'll still need to be ready to come off the bench to either run, hit or play defense to the best of my ability.
Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this senseless tragedy.
posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Print Entry
One always hates to witness a national tragedy like the one that took place on Monday in Blacksburg, Va. A horrific event took place -- one of the worst in our nation's history. I can't begin to comprehend what the family members of the victims are going through.
I remember checking my e-mail early in the morning the day of the tragedy when I first heard about it, and the first thing that started popping in my head was when I was on campus at the University of Illinois-Chicago and I found out the events of 9/11 were happening. I remembered how scared people were on my campus and the reactions of all the faculty and students. Now try to imagine being on the campus of Virginia Tech as a student while this event was going on.
One of the victims of the tragedy was 25-year-old Brian Bluhm. I never had the pleasure of actually meeting Brian. In just a few short weeks, Brian was scheduled to earn his master's degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. A bright future was in the works for this Detroit sports fan, who on his own Web site admitted that he either works on his thesis or reads about the Tigers. Now that's what I call a broad range.
There were 31 other innocent victims on Monday morning on Virginia Tech's campus. Some were teachers and administrators; some were students. They are all cherished.
Detroit sports message boards have been littered with thoughtful comments and messages for Brian. He had e-mailed me a couple of questions for my Q&A in the past, though his questions were not yet selected. Here is one of those questions that I will now answer:
Brian Bluhm (Blacksburg, Va.): What are your personal and team goals for the season?
Curtis: It's hard for us as a team to set a goal and say we want to win a certain amount of games or win the World Series, because it's too hard to focus on one specific thing for so many games. Our team goal is pretty simple, though -- basically prepare ourselves to play for nine innings every day, every series and against every opponent. For me individually, it's more of just trying to play my role the best I can every day. One day I may lead off and start in center field, where I'll need to set the tone and cover and control the outfield. Another day, I may bat eighth or ninth and I'll have to set the tone for the big guys at the top of the lineup.
I may not always start, but I'll still need to be ready to come off the bench to either run, hit or play defense to the best of my ability.
Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this senseless tragedy.
A few thoughts from last night and a few links...
*The GD shift pisses me off.
*Jerry sounds like he has chronic bronchitis.
*Curt talking to Dice-K and showing him the knuckleball yesterday was hilarious. Dice-K seems like a great time.
*Papelbon coming into save gives me butterflies...and not the nervous kind, but the, "we are about to kick some ass" kind. Also, I love when he throws a close pitch and stares down the umpire with a, "You better hope you never cross my path when I'm duck hunting" look.
*How about Dougie? Looks like he has single handedly taken care of the run support issues for Wake. Maybe we should have him catch Dice-K on Sunday. Actually, never mind.
The links...
*The Celt's lost their last game of the year with a last second shot by Flip Murray. I watched some of this game, actually. I love Big Al. I may even get a Jefferson shirt at some time. But I'm going to wait and hopefully get an Oden or Durant. Gary Tanguay was saying last night, he thinks if the Celt's get the #2 and get Durant that they are going to trade him. Sportsguy will absolutely hang himself.
*The knuckleball was in top shape yesterday.
*Dice-K is a hit on ebay.
*Here's a good one Adalius Thomas, the new LB for the Pats.
*Curtis Granderson's blog is outstanding. If you don't have ESPN insider, email me and I'll send you my password. He has an especially nice entry about a VT student who was an avid Tiger's fan.
Also, not to brag or anything, but I'll be bringing you some live coverage from Friday (thanks to Katelyn) and Saturday's (thanks to Kerry) Yankee's games. I'm still waiting for the Travis Roy Foundation to email me and tell me I won the raffle for the Dice-K tickets for Sunday's game, but when I do, I'll form some kind of contest as to who can come with me. I think they are EMC seats.
*The GD shift pisses me off.
*Jerry sounds like he has chronic bronchitis.
*Curt talking to Dice-K and showing him the knuckleball yesterday was hilarious. Dice-K seems like a great time.
*Papelbon coming into save gives me butterflies...and not the nervous kind, but the, "we are about to kick some ass" kind. Also, I love when he throws a close pitch and stares down the umpire with a, "You better hope you never cross my path when I'm duck hunting" look.
*How about Dougie? Looks like he has single handedly taken care of the run support issues for Wake. Maybe we should have him catch Dice-K on Sunday. Actually, never mind.
The links...
*The Celt's lost their last game of the year with a last second shot by Flip Murray. I watched some of this game, actually. I love Big Al. I may even get a Jefferson shirt at some time. But I'm going to wait and hopefully get an Oden or Durant. Gary Tanguay was saying last night, he thinks if the Celt's get the #2 and get Durant that they are going to trade him. Sportsguy will absolutely hang himself.
*The knuckleball was in top shape yesterday.
*Dice-K is a hit on ebay.
*Here's a good one Adalius Thomas, the new LB for the Pats.
*Curtis Granderson's blog is outstanding. If you don't have ESPN insider, email me and I'll send you my password. He has an especially nice entry about a VT student who was an avid Tiger's fan.
Also, not to brag or anything, but I'll be bringing you some live coverage from Friday (thanks to Katelyn) and Saturday's (thanks to Kerry) Yankee's games. I'm still waiting for the Travis Roy Foundation to email me and tell me I won the raffle for the Dice-K tickets for Sunday's game, but when I do, I'll form some kind of contest as to who can come with me. I think they are EMC seats.
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