Opening Day
First Pitch. Opening Day.
10:47: At home now, watching ESPN's pregame coverage of opening day. I have a stack of papers to read for work, a list of phone numbers to call for wedding planning, and a full lineup and 2 starting pitchers to manage on my fantasy baseball team. I'm remembering opening day at PacBell Park, sitting in the stands with Pete from the lab, sharing garlic fries. I'm remembering the first night game i ever went to at ole' Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The unreal brightness of the green lawn, the excitement in the stands. That first pitch that signifies the start to 9 innings, and maybe more, of at-bats, base on balls, steals, squeeze, strike outs, and put outs. I love this day.
10:53: I remember a night game my friends and i went to at Candlestick park, and sat in the bleechers...it was so roudy! Being high school students (we probably had a Mickey's or "old E" (40oz of awful malt liquor) before the game), we were causing all sort of trouble...i particularly remember jumping on the bleachers with the rest of the crowd (we may have sat in the seats for as little as $5, i can't remember) and making the structure shake till it was about to break....i think we were kicked out. ahhh, Giants orange. I can't believe Ray Durham is batting clean up. Since when is he a clean up hitter???
10:58: here we go. Kazmir vs Pavano, Rays, Yankees, ESPN. Smoltz vs Myers, TBS. "waking up refreshed from a long winter's nap..." "its stars and stripes, and the first day of the rest of your life. opening day, it's here."
11:05: Citizens Bank Park, 70 degrees. Looks beautiful. Kelly Johnson is a 2B with 26 HR in 110 at bats?? Who is this guy? First pitch i see in 2007 is from Brett Myers. A strike. down the middle. Slower start in NY. First K from Myers, he's looking strong.
11:10: Back to NY. Pavano on the mound. Gosh, he's gotta be nervous...he hasn't pitched in a year and a half, and he's in NY. first pitch, ball to carl crawford. then gives up a slap single through the hole. i predict pavano to be out by the fifth.
11:13: crawford steals a base, while myers gets out of the first inning. pavano goes full count to....Zorbist? who?? strikes him out on a nice left to right moving fastball. looked like a strong pitch. Hey, there's Matsui chasing down a Baldelli fly ball! nice to see godzilla back...he looks like he's aged a bit. OOO, Arod, horrible play missed a pop-up fly ball in foul territory. Gets booooed loudly, the officials give out his first error...not a good start. he had 24 errors last year. pavano gets out of the inning on a one hopper back to the pitcher.
11:29. Arod vs Kazmir. 2 on, one out. no score. runners at first and second. arod sees 6 pitches but gets K'ed to a chorus of new york booos. one E, one K, 2 LOB. not a good start. when does Arod get his RBIs??
11:32. Giambi smokes a 3-1 count to center right. the horde erupts to the 2 RBI single.
11:36: A look around the rest of the league: Bonderman's let up 3 against toronto. man, the blue jays have a great lineup. Florida went up 3-0 on a ground rule double with bases loaded by M cabrera. great hitter.
11:43: myers cruises through 3 in a great pitching match up. Iwamura! gets on base on an error by jeter. he sets up like matsui, and swings a little like ichiro. intriguing player. has a ton of speed, and should hit for average.
11:54: Brian McCann, ATL's catcher, smoked a nice slider-curve from myers over the right field fence. this guys has a good swing, that slider from myers was pretty nasty, it had some bite, but mccann took it out. off to cook up some dogs, and read some papers.
12:12: I watch the mayor of cinncinati throw one of the worst ceremmonial first pitches i have ever seen. he was about 30 feet left of home plate. he hit one of the umps who had his back turned because he was in a conversation...
12:33: Chipper Jones on second, 2 outs, top of the 6th. McCann is up to bat. A conference on the mound. McCann already hit a HR, so they're discussing whether they should put McCann on base (he hit .471 w/ RISP last year) and set up a force out situation for Francouer....I think Myers tells him he wants to go after McCann. He throws him 3 breaking balls in a row (the pitch that McCann hit out of the park in his previous at bat) to set up an 0-2 count, then throws a couple of fast balls, one smoked down the right field line for a foul, and the other outside. He sets up and uses a curve ball on the outside to strike him out. Great match up. Grab some pine, meat!
12:44. Pavano lets up 3 runs to TB in the fifth, and he's out of there! what did i say earlier?? i said by the fifth, he's out after 4 and a third. TB looks fast. 2 of their runs came from 2 SBs and 2 singles. Seems like they are going to focus on the small ball (they should, considering their lineup).
1:10: 2 outs, bottom of the 8th, myers pitching a gem....renteria is up. one more batter to go! he hits an 0-2 fastball out of the park. ND for myers. Fuck. i'm pissed because he was one out away from a possible W for my fantasy team...i'm no where near as pissed as he was when he had to leave the game.
1:20. bottom of the sixth, one out, yankees down by 2 in New York. Jeter's up at the plate. I could have turned the channel, you know what's coming next. Single to center, ball game tied, back to the bullpen for the 'rays. its amazing how the yankees are never out of a ball game (ok, this is the devil rays)...
1:26. Cubs reds bottom of the 4th. Zambrano's let up 3 runs, 2 HR's to adam dunn. Has he always been this jumpy? he still has some overpowering stuff, but he looks like he's had way too much coffee...he's also "throwing"...i don't think he's looking too sharp. True enough, his box score reads 5 hits, 3 BB, 3 RBIs so far. i don't remember him being so predictable...his pitches are so deliberate and rushed, i don't think he's fooling anyone...
1:46. bases loaded in cinci. 1 out. c zam still on the mound, looking horrible. ineffectively wild. he throws a 92 MPH 2 seam beauty on a 3-1 count, smooth and painting the outside corner, but then takes less than a 3 count for his next pitch, a ball way off the plate, walking in a run. he needs to settle down.
2:07. 2 in the books, a third on the way. FLA 9 WAS 2. this one was over before it began. ATL 5 PHI 3 in 10. This one got away from Philly...too bad for them, but they look like they have a good team. J roll looked especially good, i think he's in for a really big year. he's a true 5-tool. his defense is good, he has speed, power, and good plate discipline. Mo is closing out a 9-5 game in NY. 3 up, 3 down, Ks the side. he's incredible.
2:12. onto some more games! red sox, royals in KC. interested to see how JD drew hits in the Bo Sox lineup, how schilling pitches, and how the KC rookies alex gordon and mark teahen look. Also, COL ARI in CO is intriguing. Brandon Webb is on the mound for AZ and I imagine that the returning Cy Young pitcher is going to have a big year. Rookies Chris Young (OF), Conor Jackson, and Stephen Drew (SS) could be really good players this year....Also, Ianetta, a catcher on the rockies will be interesting to watch. he's their first power catcher out of their excellent farm system, a minor league team that has produced some notable power hitters recently.
2:25. Willie Taveras steals his first base. he might have 50 this year.
2:58. Someone needs to tell Schilling that this game actually counts. He's throwing like its spring training. he keeps going for the curve ball, but its not breaking and its reaching varitek about a foot over head high. He's laboring through 2 innings, throwing alot of pitches.
3:09. Schilling is throwing a 90mph fastball with a mediocre off speed/breaking pitch at 75mph. His 75 mph curve has no bite, no life. his fastball isn't looking live either, not at 90. seems like his arm doesn't have the strength (yet?) to be throwing 93-95 fastballs, or crisp 83-85 mph breaking balls. He's occasionally hitting 93. We'll see how it looks when his pitch count reaches around 90.
3:59: SB and Little B called in from San Francisco. S was was scoping out the games this morning as well...he had the same take on arod....its uncanny how at the end of the day, his line is great (2 for 5, a HR, and 2 RBI today, for example), yet he's a total non-factor in terms of contributing to the team win.
4:01. Hideki Okajima, the lefty middle relief pitcher from japan on the red sox, gave up a HR with his first pitch in the Major Leagues. booooooo. Schilling left the game, he looked horrible.
5:37. Morneau and Hunter launch back to back first pitch HRs off Bedard. Morneau is a monster, and Hunter, in a contract year, is looking hungry. We'll see how Bedard, the "ace" of the orioles responds. Santana, the legitimate ace on the other side, is cruising. he is simply the best pitcher in the major leagues today. he's in a different class.
8:53. back after a break...there's sammy sosa! guess he was out on strikes last time up. 2 on 2 out. gotta say, he looks good. looks thinner. but same stance, looks like he's got a good eye still. reminds me of moises alou. lackey walked him to load the bases, guess he's not feeling that good. g' damn gary mathews w/ an error in CF with 2 outs...lackey should have been out of this inning. Lackey looks like he has some good stuff though, a heavy fastball, and a quick diving breaking ball and a nice change up. he threw a great 84 mph changeup on 2-2 and blalock got contact, but the ball went foul. On a full count, he struggled to get an out pitch. Blalock is having a good at bat. He fouled off 3 or 4 after bringing the count full from 0-2, finally hitting a blooper on the 9th pitch, which mathews tracked well for the out. it was close though, blalock got good wood on that pitch, and he's seeing right through lackey's stuff...he hit a HR earlier, apparently.
10:48. Angles up 4-1 in the ninth. The last inning of opening day. first pitch from krod, a 93 mph fast ball on the outside, followed by 2 more 93 mph balls. what does he do on 0-3? comes back with two 93 mph heaters right to the center of strike zone. on full count, he keeps throwing fast balls and almost gave up a HR. Hey, where are his goggles? does he have contacts this year, did he have surgery? So he's thrown 9 93 mph heaters, then switches to a 73mph change up for strike 2 to the next batter, then back to 93 for a ground out. thats just nasty. last batter, fastball, fastball, fastball, (1-2 count), 83mph curveball, strike out. Fucking dominant. K-rod rules.
Well that's it. That's my coverage of opening day. My caloric intake:
2 hot links on french rolls with all the fixins for lunch. felt like i was at the game.
made a tuscan vegetable soup with susan for dinner. delicious.
kept hydrated with some water.
productivity, down....
did some stuff for our wedding, haven't read a paper (yet)....
161 more games, 181 more days to go. What a start to the season, I'm so glad its here.
(I calculated the dates, btw, on this nifty website: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html)
King Felix and Ben Sheets had really good pitching lines (a 12K, 8 inning effort from the 22 year old, and a CG two hitter from Sheets. We'll see how the rest of the league does tomorrow on their opening day...
10:47: At home now, watching ESPN's pregame coverage of opening day. I have a stack of papers to read for work, a list of phone numbers to call for wedding planning, and a full lineup and 2 starting pitchers to manage on my fantasy baseball team. I'm remembering opening day at PacBell Park, sitting in the stands with Pete from the lab, sharing garlic fries. I'm remembering the first night game i ever went to at ole' Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The unreal brightness of the green lawn, the excitement in the stands. That first pitch that signifies the start to 9 innings, and maybe more, of at-bats, base on balls, steals, squeeze, strike outs, and put outs. I love this day.
10:53: I remember a night game my friends and i went to at Candlestick park, and sat in the bleechers...it was so roudy! Being high school students (we probably had a Mickey's or "old E" (40oz of awful malt liquor) before the game), we were causing all sort of trouble...i particularly remember jumping on the bleachers with the rest of the crowd (we may have sat in the seats for as little as $5, i can't remember) and making the structure shake till it was about to break....i think we were kicked out. ahhh, Giants orange. I can't believe Ray Durham is batting clean up. Since when is he a clean up hitter???
10:58: here we go. Kazmir vs Pavano, Rays, Yankees, ESPN. Smoltz vs Myers, TBS. "waking up refreshed from a long winter's nap..." "its stars and stripes, and the first day of the rest of your life. opening day, it's here."
11:05: Citizens Bank Park, 70 degrees. Looks beautiful. Kelly Johnson is a 2B with 26 HR in 110 at bats?? Who is this guy? First pitch i see in 2007 is from Brett Myers. A strike. down the middle. Slower start in NY. First K from Myers, he's looking strong.
11:10: Back to NY. Pavano on the mound. Gosh, he's gotta be nervous...he hasn't pitched in a year and a half, and he's in NY. first pitch, ball to carl crawford. then gives up a slap single through the hole. i predict pavano to be out by the fifth.
11:13: crawford steals a base, while myers gets out of the first inning. pavano goes full count to....Zorbist? who?? strikes him out on a nice left to right moving fastball. looked like a strong pitch. Hey, there's Matsui chasing down a Baldelli fly ball! nice to see godzilla back...he looks like he's aged a bit. OOO, Arod, horrible play missed a pop-up fly ball in foul territory. Gets booooed loudly, the officials give out his first error...not a good start. he had 24 errors last year. pavano gets out of the inning on a one hopper back to the pitcher.
11:29. Arod vs Kazmir. 2 on, one out. no score. runners at first and second. arod sees 6 pitches but gets K'ed to a chorus of new york booos. one E, one K, 2 LOB. not a good start. when does Arod get his RBIs??
11:32. Giambi smokes a 3-1 count to center right. the horde erupts to the 2 RBI single.
11:36: A look around the rest of the league: Bonderman's let up 3 against toronto. man, the blue jays have a great lineup. Florida went up 3-0 on a ground rule double with bases loaded by M cabrera. great hitter.
11:43: myers cruises through 3 in a great pitching match up. Iwamura! gets on base on an error by jeter. he sets up like matsui, and swings a little like ichiro. intriguing player. has a ton of speed, and should hit for average.
11:54: Brian McCann, ATL's catcher, smoked a nice slider-curve from myers over the right field fence. this guys has a good swing, that slider from myers was pretty nasty, it had some bite, but mccann took it out. off to cook up some dogs, and read some papers.
12:12: I watch the mayor of cinncinati throw one of the worst ceremmonial first pitches i have ever seen. he was about 30 feet left of home plate. he hit one of the umps who had his back turned because he was in a conversation...
12:33: Chipper Jones on second, 2 outs, top of the 6th. McCann is up to bat. A conference on the mound. McCann already hit a HR, so they're discussing whether they should put McCann on base (he hit .471 w/ RISP last year) and set up a force out situation for Francouer....I think Myers tells him he wants to go after McCann. He throws him 3 breaking balls in a row (the pitch that McCann hit out of the park in his previous at bat) to set up an 0-2 count, then throws a couple of fast balls, one smoked down the right field line for a foul, and the other outside. He sets up and uses a curve ball on the outside to strike him out. Great match up. Grab some pine, meat!
12:44. Pavano lets up 3 runs to TB in the fifth, and he's out of there! what did i say earlier?? i said by the fifth, he's out after 4 and a third. TB looks fast. 2 of their runs came from 2 SBs and 2 singles. Seems like they are going to focus on the small ball (they should, considering their lineup).
1:10: 2 outs, bottom of the 8th, myers pitching a gem....renteria is up. one more batter to go! he hits an 0-2 fastball out of the park. ND for myers. Fuck. i'm pissed because he was one out away from a possible W for my fantasy team...i'm no where near as pissed as he was when he had to leave the game.
1:20. bottom of the sixth, one out, yankees down by 2 in New York. Jeter's up at the plate. I could have turned the channel, you know what's coming next. Single to center, ball game tied, back to the bullpen for the 'rays. its amazing how the yankees are never out of a ball game (ok, this is the devil rays)...
1:26. Cubs reds bottom of the 4th. Zambrano's let up 3 runs, 2 HR's to adam dunn. Has he always been this jumpy? he still has some overpowering stuff, but he looks like he's had way too much coffee...he's also "throwing"...i don't think he's looking too sharp. True enough, his box score reads 5 hits, 3 BB, 3 RBIs so far. i don't remember him being so predictable...his pitches are so deliberate and rushed, i don't think he's fooling anyone...
1:46. bases loaded in cinci. 1 out. c zam still on the mound, looking horrible. ineffectively wild. he throws a 92 MPH 2 seam beauty on a 3-1 count, smooth and painting the outside corner, but then takes less than a 3 count for his next pitch, a ball way off the plate, walking in a run. he needs to settle down.
2:07. 2 in the books, a third on the way. FLA 9 WAS 2. this one was over before it began. ATL 5 PHI 3 in 10. This one got away from Philly...too bad for them, but they look like they have a good team. J roll looked especially good, i think he's in for a really big year. he's a true 5-tool. his defense is good, he has speed, power, and good plate discipline. Mo is closing out a 9-5 game in NY. 3 up, 3 down, Ks the side. he's incredible.
2:12. onto some more games! red sox, royals in KC. interested to see how JD drew hits in the Bo Sox lineup, how schilling pitches, and how the KC rookies alex gordon and mark teahen look. Also, COL ARI in CO is intriguing. Brandon Webb is on the mound for AZ and I imagine that the returning Cy Young pitcher is going to have a big year. Rookies Chris Young (OF), Conor Jackson, and Stephen Drew (SS) could be really good players this year....Also, Ianetta, a catcher on the rockies will be interesting to watch. he's their first power catcher out of their excellent farm system, a minor league team that has produced some notable power hitters recently.
2:25. Willie Taveras steals his first base. he might have 50 this year.
2:58. Someone needs to tell Schilling that this game actually counts. He's throwing like its spring training. he keeps going for the curve ball, but its not breaking and its reaching varitek about a foot over head high. He's laboring through 2 innings, throwing alot of pitches.
3:09. Schilling is throwing a 90mph fastball with a mediocre off speed/breaking pitch at 75mph. His 75 mph curve has no bite, no life. his fastball isn't looking live either, not at 90. seems like his arm doesn't have the strength (yet?) to be throwing 93-95 fastballs, or crisp 83-85 mph breaking balls. He's occasionally hitting 93. We'll see how it looks when his pitch count reaches around 90.
3:59: SB and Little B called in from San Francisco. S was was scoping out the games this morning as well...he had the same take on arod....its uncanny how at the end of the day, his line is great (2 for 5, a HR, and 2 RBI today, for example), yet he's a total non-factor in terms of contributing to the team win.
4:01. Hideki Okajima, the lefty middle relief pitcher from japan on the red sox, gave up a HR with his first pitch in the Major Leagues. booooooo. Schilling left the game, he looked horrible.
5:37. Morneau and Hunter launch back to back first pitch HRs off Bedard. Morneau is a monster, and Hunter, in a contract year, is looking hungry. We'll see how Bedard, the "ace" of the orioles responds. Santana, the legitimate ace on the other side, is cruising. he is simply the best pitcher in the major leagues today. he's in a different class.
8:53. back after a break...there's sammy sosa! guess he was out on strikes last time up. 2 on 2 out. gotta say, he looks good. looks thinner. but same stance, looks like he's got a good eye still. reminds me of moises alou. lackey walked him to load the bases, guess he's not feeling that good. g' damn gary mathews w/ an error in CF with 2 outs...lackey should have been out of this inning. Lackey looks like he has some good stuff though, a heavy fastball, and a quick diving breaking ball and a nice change up. he threw a great 84 mph changeup on 2-2 and blalock got contact, but the ball went foul. On a full count, he struggled to get an out pitch. Blalock is having a good at bat. He fouled off 3 or 4 after bringing the count full from 0-2, finally hitting a blooper on the 9th pitch, which mathews tracked well for the out. it was close though, blalock got good wood on that pitch, and he's seeing right through lackey's stuff...he hit a HR earlier, apparently.
10:48. Angles up 4-1 in the ninth. The last inning of opening day. first pitch from krod, a 93 mph fast ball on the outside, followed by 2 more 93 mph balls. what does he do on 0-3? comes back with two 93 mph heaters right to the center of strike zone. on full count, he keeps throwing fast balls and almost gave up a HR. Hey, where are his goggles? does he have contacts this year, did he have surgery? So he's thrown 9 93 mph heaters, then switches to a 73mph change up for strike 2 to the next batter, then back to 93 for a ground out. thats just nasty. last batter, fastball, fastball, fastball, (1-2 count), 83mph curveball, strike out. Fucking dominant. K-rod rules.
Well that's it. That's my coverage of opening day. My caloric intake:
2 hot links on french rolls with all the fixins for lunch. felt like i was at the game.
made a tuscan vegetable soup with susan for dinner. delicious.
kept hydrated with some water.
productivity, down....
did some stuff for our wedding, haven't read a paper (yet)....
161 more games, 181 more days to go. What a start to the season, I'm so glad its here.
(I calculated the dates, btw, on this nifty website: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html)
King Felix and Ben Sheets had really good pitching lines (a 12K, 8 inning effort from the 22 year old, and a CG two hitter from Sheets. We'll see how the rest of the league does tomorrow on their opening day...
Posted: Mon - April 2, 2007 at 12:05 PM
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Published On: Jul 15, 2007 11:24 PM
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Published On: Jul 15, 2007 11:24 PM