“Please, beat those Cardinals,” says the Pirates fan in this house, who has acquired an acute aversion to Red Bird over the last few years. When they eliminated Pittsburgh last fall… well. No fan escapes the game without scars, right?
The A-grade aces will be missing this series as they both twirled on Sunday. But I think we can expect a corker of a series. At the very least, it’s fun to take on a franchise and a fan base that doesn’t suffer from a crippling inferiority complex. I’d rather see this play out in October some time soon (can you believe it’s been 50 years since they met in the Serious?), but hard to beat Memorial Day afternoon.
Photo by Beth Crawford
Yes 50 years ago since that last WS meeting, and the beginning of the Yankees nuclear winter. I was 7 years old, and Ken Boyer made me cry. Remained a proud Yankee fan when the city turned its back on them, and paid attendance seemed to average less than 5,000 at the stadium. It's easy to love a front runner...
Hey yeah, particularly significant series for you [1].
I'm looking forward to this one. As an appetizer, have a look at the Red Sox game (I think it's on ESPN). Laptop just left with nobody out in the fourth. He walked eight, and is pretty lucky to be tagged with only four runs (plus responsibility for two more as Badenhop enters).
Bad news: it's camo cap day. I'd wish the Yankees would be allowed to use the 1914 red white & blue cap.
Good news: Boston on its way to the eleventh straight loss.
Badenhop allows both inherited runners to score.
BJ drove in Justin! That must be fun.
I'm going to have to keep an eye out in my neighborhood. RSN suicide watch.
Uh-oh. Tex scratched. No idea why...
[4] we've been working on the house, so I forgot the game was on. Just put Sutton on the radio.
Go Bravos!
Papi ties the game with a 3-run bomb after My Little Pony knocks a 2-run single.
This could be the game! Red Sox Nation holds its collective breath...
Man, there were two out and nobody on and the Sox scored five in the fifth. Ervin Santana really spit the bit.
Also, the Uptons are not good at fielding. Seriously bad.
I guess that was my fault...
I fucking HATE that fat lying piece of dogshit. I really want him to retire...
Teix's wrist is stiff. "Not unexpected", which I guess means the docs told them it would stiffen up from time to time.
Hey, Ozzie Smith will be on the field for a pregame Jeterfest. Very cool. Also Red Schoendienst! I figured he was dead. (He wore #2.)
As long as Gibson ain't pitching we gotta shot.
Rain rain go away.
[11] not too many of us remember Schoendienst, a great shortstop.
Ah it's Fozzie Bear on the mound.
Play ball!
[14] No. But I remember his name. I guess my dad talked about him.
This is starting off very nicely!!
Go off to feed the dogs and come back to a nice surprise.
Goddamit. Not as nicely now.
In ATL loaded with one out in the seventh for Papi.
Sac fly.
The NESN crew was very, very excited. It did look like he slammed it, but caught in front of the track.
Ichino.
Ichiro is a better fielder than that.
Heh.
Awesome camera direction at ESPN. We got a great view of Brian McCann as the runner slid into third.
C'mon Chase.
Hey, all. Off topic but did anyone else hear about Manny Ramirez becoming a player/manager for AAA Iowa? I give this pr stunt less than a week before imploding.
http://tinyurl.com/kjb8adh
[26] Yeah, I saw that. I like it! I mean, suppose it implodes, so what?
By the way: our long RSNational Nightmare is over. (The Red Sox beat the Braves.)
Fug, ESPN just dropped the game.
Does that mean I can now watch in on mlb.tv??
It does!
Just in time to see Ellsbury run that one down.
Woo hoo!
Time for Chase to get his first rbi.
Or not.
Hey, I like this inning. Good inning.
Now let's make it very good.
Oh yeah, I forgot that mlb.tv is about 40 seconds behind. I won't read comments...
Brett gets one rbi.
[27] So what? So what? I demand my news to be Manny-free! ; )
[35] All Manny news drives RSN absolutely nuts. That's not the sole reason I enjoy it, but it sure don't hoit.
Shoulda had it, Brett.
[37] agree. Bit of field unfamiliarity contributing too
C'mo, triple play.
Why does JP kill us regardless of his uni?
Oh well, it could have been worse.
Capt shoulda been swinging on gtitners steal try..
[40] Why would his uniform matter??
The real question is why do some teams seem to have our number no matter who's in the unis?
Can Dellin pitch another inning? Please?
[44] sounds good
This will be interesting, to see how Joe plays this. Of course the problem of batting for the pitcher puts constraints on it, but also offers opportunities for creativity!
100 mph for Betances
Good. I was beginning to despise Alan Craig.
Okay.
So now we must score, lest we have Aceves forced upon us.
Oh goody, "free baseball." Yeccchh!
not too many of us remember Schoendienst, a great shortstop.
Great second baseman; 17th-most games ever at the position.
Ugliest beard YTD 2014...
Hm. Yeah, Trevor Rosenthal. So, we'll need another inning to win.
And no, Trevor is not Jewish.
[51] I stand corrected. I was like 9 years old when he was great - and I was an AL fan.
Oh, god. Fully expected, but still unhappifying.
Can we please just cut Aceves already? He's freaking useless.
Any opinions on why Girardi, if he was going to use Betances anyway, didn't use him where he used Claiborne?
The game has felt like a guaranteed loss since then.
Hah!
Damn, Ryan, very very nice. Wow. Smart, too.
Damn.
God, I hate Aceves. I really hate him. He's the only Yankee I hate.
Love post [1], btw.
[56] Girardi thinks relief pitchers like to have set situations. And he wants Betances to be the Mo to D-Rob's Wettland.
I don't think it matters too much, strategically -- the only time it's really a problem is if there's a very high leverage situation in, say, the seventh inning. And Joe may well be right about the psychology.
I spent a long series at old Busch at the courtesy of that organization, and I confess that my opinion of those fans is very high.
We're gonna see another inning of Ace, aren't we?
[59] I know that's his preference, but hasn't he shown a willingness to move DB around? Or is that willingness fading as his importance has become more apparent? It just seemed like that was so clearly the best opportunity to get this game from point A to point B.
[61] What do you think? Versus 3-4-5. Well, this will end well.
[60] Hey, so did I, when I was a child. My cousins lived there. I saw Lou Brock. Gibson didn't pitch, unfortunately.
[62] Yes, exactly -- when he realized Betances was going to be really, really good, he slotted him into the eighth inning.
Yeah, I agree, I give us about a 20% chance to get to the twelfth now. However, I believe we'll win if we get to the twelfth.
[51] Red is worshipped in St. Louis. I'm guessing he still shows up at batting practice every single day.
Oh, nice job, Ace, nice job.
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends...
That's our Aceves
Gritner!
Gawd.
There is no justice. Two Cardinals just crush the ball and Ace is unscathed.
Well, so far.
Well there you have it. Can't predict baseball.
Now I'm feeling good. I think we have these turkeys right where we want 'em.
[64] It wasn't the most impressive park, but the surrounding concourses, and the whole vibe was great. Wish I could have seen Brock. Instead, I saw McGwire's 67th and 68th, and then all that turned out to be a farce.
Well, you got the 12th - Gardner jumping above the wall probably represented your 20%, a number that may have been a little high!
Ahhhh.
Remember when our crappy relievers used to walk Ellsbury in extras?
Oh, god, he won't bunt, will he? No. Good.
Come on, Brian!
It was interesting - the one time I wanted Gardner to stay put, he actually goes. That guy's move seemed too quick, when combined with YM. Throw was perfect to get him, in fairness.
Molinas are dangerous in the regular season too, no stealing please.
Attaboy.
Ellsbury really knows how to steal.
[76] He beat you YM!!!!
Got a great jump.
[76] Ellsbury is Molina-proof.
Glad he didn't listen to me.
Uh oh.
Hmmmmmmm.
I dunno. Probably not overturnable, right?
All that blabber the other day about how dangerous hands first sliding is when a runner can easily bust something up feet first.
Seems like the Cards kind of took a flier there. I don't think they were convinced they had him.
Excellent.
I like Brett, but Ells just has steal-intelligence or something.
Ha ha, right in the good part of the keister. That's probably one of the better places to get hit if you have that kind of backside.
Bunting is correct here, by the way. One of the very few situations in which it's clearly correct.
Uh, well, assuming he can get it down, I mean. Hm.
He did it!
That's very good, I'm proud of Joe and of Solarte, both.
[84] I think Ellsbury's instincts are in a different universe from Brett's. He's mentally a plus when he's considering going, and the struggle remains for Gardner.
And this IBB is not terrible either. It feels wrong to me, but I just checked. (Feels wrong because there's so much pressure on the pitcher to throw strikes.)
Time to step up Brian
Oh fucking yes!
Beautiful Brian!
Yes! Hammer time
Now one more, please. Come on Sori, just a fly ball baby. (Squeeze? I bet he can bunt. I might squeeze here, if Sori knows how...)
That was muy bueno. Please more.
Btw, as to [89], do they say what the difference is with bases loaded depending on whether the first pitch is a strike or a ball?
Well that was highly unexpected.
[93] Bunting seems like the kind of specific skill that Sori would be terrible at. Not sure what the numbers say, but my gut says that he is not a good bunter. Too little bat control.
So, will Joe remember that Ace got his shit blasted, or will he just remember that he held the Cardinals scoreless for two extras?
If Cashman owed me a favor, I would cash (so to speak) it in for the elimination of Aceves from the team.
[94] No, that's too fine-grained info for my source. I bet you could work it out from the general effect of a first-pitch strike, but I wouldn't want to rely on that.
Ha! That'll do.
Ahhhhhhhhh.
Hell yes. Hell yes. I'll take that for sure.
Thanks, Sori. Better than a bunt.
That worked out DELIGHTFULLY!
Oh, was I happy when he went down to his knees.
[98] They just always say how crucial that first pitch is, and I'm inclined to agree with them, but I wonder if the numbers back that out.
[97] I don't know - they have to see how consistently ineffective he is. I still think he may have been roiding in Beantown.
Who is your top candidate to replace him on the roster?
More runs!
Okay, Brendan Ryan can definitely stay. He can have Ace's salary.
Ryan just got a hit. Well, I was about to make a watching Brendan Ryan hit is like watching a fish trying to fuck a rooster joke, but now I am just astonished. That was a rope.
It's too bad I hate Papa John's and everything about Papa John's.
Ryan!
Where are you going, Best Fans in Baseball? Support your team!
[102] In general they do. They affect batting average in general about the way you would expect. I don't have anything that says specifically what win expectancies are broken down to pitch count, but I know somewhere I have batting average on pitch count info. I'll look that up another time for you.
To replace Aceves I'd just bring up a batter and let one of the other bullpen mediocrities take his innings, honestly. I don't think we need such a big bullpen.
[107] I kind of was more specifically wondering if there was space between the effect of the first pitch of an at bat versus the effect of the first pitch of an at bat with the bases loaded. Did that sentence make sense?
Maybe if we can get Kelley back, I start to feel pretty good about this bullpen.
[106] Hey man, traffic is traffic, lol. I remember it being a bit dicey getting away from that ballpark, and memorial day traffic has got to be brutal in that neighborhood.
Oh come on, Jetes.
Derek? Mentally I had one down.
F'ing facepalm. Why did I have that weird dread as soon as that ball was hit?
[108] Yeah, it might make a difference. I don't know if I have that. I'll check some time.
YOU GOT NAILED, MY BOY.
[113] Thanks.
That was an appealing looking third strike.
Hm. Tying run to the plate...
Both Johnson and Ryan having problems adjusting to 1st baseman mitt. Balls falling out of fat part of the mitt.
I'm not concerned. I'm very confident.
Argh, I'm pretty committed to this one at this point. Please shut them down.
That's two.
YOU GOT HAMMERED!
Very nice, aesthetically pleasing win.
Hamma!!!!!
Yes. That's a nice win.
Great win.
A "struggling" win
Woo hoo! My touchpad went on the blinkers there for a minute.
Yippie, a great win. Glad to see the last three innings.
Ryu is no-hitting the Reds through six.
If he can complete the no-no, the Dodgers will have accomplished a feat no team has ever managed to pull off: consecutive no-hitters.
Through seven...
Todd Frazier doubles to start the eighth and end the bid for history.
Too bad.
[130] Ryu had to hit and run the bases in the bottom of the 7th. my guess is that ill-affected him. i really wish pitchers never had to hit...
Could some one explain to me how wearing ugly, absurd disgusting camo hats and numbers honors veterans (living and dead)?
It's like suggesting that wearing a ski mask honors terrorists.
I suppose this is against the rules. Sorry Alex, guys.