Keep this to yourself...I don't want Coach JOCO going high and to the right on this...but the Cards have taken the first 2 from the blue boys...Thank GOD they're starting Martinez over Waino for the ESPN Sunday night MLB game...that might throw him over the edge....anyway, just between you and me right?....good.
Damn, I was hoping the Dodgers would at least show up in St. Louis. My poor Brewers need some help in fighting off the Cardinal charge.
JIFFER!! Speaking of genitalia....BoSox looking like $2 hookers at Mardi Gras Last place for the DWC's?....time to lower the cost of parking pal...
BOBDA!!....me thinks Cards are acting like landlords, and they have served an eviction notice... This never works for me BTW...every-time I start to feel Froggy, I always miss the Lilly pad....
It's hard for me to do much analysis when I have no access to the games. They aren't on TV out here and we don't get radio reception either, although last night's game was on national TV so I did get to see that one. Here's all I have... re: Game #1 The losing pitcher was Dan Haren. That doesn't bother me one bit, because he went to Bishop Amat HS. re: Game #2 It looked like the Dodger defense was shoddy and Greinke had one bad inning. I believe he's only had three bad innings all year, do I don't even worry about him. Of more concern to Dodger fans is: 1. The front office GM Ned Colletti has unlimited amounts of money to spend, so he has handed out unlimited contracts. The foolishness of this approach can be seen in the Dodger outfield. The best Dodger outfielder is Joc Pederson, who is stuck in AAA, because there's no room for him in the majors. Yasiel Puig is next, which leaves two openings for $300 million worth of contracts. Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp are both owed more than $20 million per year and signed through 2019, which makes both of them untradeable and neither is as good as the other two outfielders: Van Slyke and Ethier. Even Ethier would be difficult to trade on his bloated contract. It's been estimated that the team will have to eat more than $100 million just to get rid of Kemp, and Crawford is untradeable at any price. Meanwhile, Pederson sits in the minors... 2. Poor defense It's just swell to have the greatest (and most expensive) pitching in MLB, but wouldn't it be nice to have a defense that could help them out? This is the fourth year where the defense has been poor and the second consecutive year where the defense has been arguably the worst in baseball... 3. Low baseball I.Q. Last night, Dee Gordon is on 1st base, with a left-handed hitter, Carl Crawford at the plate. Since the catcher can't see him, this situation is perfect for Gordon, who is the greatest base-stealer in baseball... So Crawford swings at the first pitch and grounds into a double play. This is dumb baseball. Even worse, it's selfish, dumb baseball. The Dodgers take fewer pitches than any team in MLB, despite having the one player who usually takes the most pitches: A.J. Ellis. Being the best team in MLB on paper is just swell, but the Dodgers must correct these on-field problems or teams that spend their money more efficiently (like the Cards or A's) will pick them off.
Don't know who is worse the Astro's mgmt or the Dodgers. Astros refuse to pay anybody. They kept Stringer in the minors when he should have come up so they could low ball him, they were going to keep Singleton down as well until he agreed to a favorable deal with mgmt. Then of course they tried to lowball our #1 draft choice and as a result not only lost him but two other pitchers further down the draft list because of their tatics. Oh and I can't watch the Astros either, our fearless leader of the Astros is in some stupid battle that he blames on everybody but himself and net result is fans can't watch the Astros.
We need bats by the 31st deadline....lack of hits ain't gonna cut it in this division.... Milwaukee 54 45 .545 - St. Louis 54 45 .545 - Pittsburgh 52 46 .531 1.5 Cincinnati 51 47 .520 2.5
Last night's game demonstrated that things are getting a little testy between the Dodgers and the Cards. Hanley Ramirez was head-hunted and hit on the shoulder. The Dodgers retaliated by plunking Holiday in the arse with the first pitch. This caused Holiday to go after Ramirez on a slide breaking up a double play. Later in the game, Ramirez was hit again, but the Cards pitcher wasn't tossed. This means that the Dodgers MUST retaliate if the two teams meet in the playoffs. Remember, Hanley was hit last year in the playoffs. As Alice said when she went through the looking glass: things are getting "curiouser and curiouser..."
:idea: At least modern teams can't keep a player down forever. Sooner or later, they must bring him up, trade him or release him. Back in the 1950's, teams could keep players stashed in the minors until the end of time. A good example was the Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills. He spent NINE seasons in the minors, because the team had Hall-of-Famer Pee Wee Reese at shortstop. In modern baseball, they would have to bring him up at least five years sooner...
What did Ramirez do?...is there a beef?......the first pitch looked like it got away from Martinez, plus his reaction was one of disapointment that he hit him.....motte's coming of the DL list, so his control is all over the place......just saying.... Frickin' Brewers keep winning.....
I agree with you that each incident appears to be innocent..., but that doesn't matter now. The war has started. Imagine that you're in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. A shot is fired. Maybe it's just a coinky dinky that some crazy kid brought his rifle to work that day. But when the third shot hits the president in the head, it's time to react. Three shots is not an accident. The Cards won the playoffs over the Dodgers last year when they eliminated Hanley Ramirez by breaking his ribs. That pitch looked to be accidental too. Maybe it's just a coincidence that Hanley Ramirez was the greatest player in the National League at that time: maybe. Now we have Hanley hit again, by the same team, just as the pennant race is getting underway. Retaliation is automatic, so Kershaw plunks Holiday in the arse. That "warning shot" should have evened things up. It was just a reminder...a message from Mattingly to Matheny that these "accidents" will not be tolerated this season. Then Holiday goes after Hanley and attempts to injure him on a double play... Then Hanley gets hit AGAIN and the pitcher doesn't get tossed, in spite of the umpire's prior warning to both benches... Matheny was a catcher. He knows exactly what's going on here. Innocent people are hard to find in these baseball wars, because everybody is usually guilty, starting with the managers. Intentional or not, the Dodgers must retaliate, because the warning wasn't heeded. That's hardball and it's fair.
Took 2 of 3 from the Crew.....Lackey as advertised.....gave up some quick runs, but settled down real quick, and went deep into the game.... There is no tighter race in a division than the NLC right now..... 4 teams could win this thing by Septembers end.....