Cardinals 11, Reds 6; 162-0 still within reach
The only team that looked more like the all-hit no-pitch Cardinals of 2003 and 2008 than the 2010 Cardinals yesterday was the Reds, who were helped in the impression by Scott Rolen pretending to be Scott Rolen with two shoulders. Eleven hits, two home runs (almost three) off of a Cy Young-caliber starter, a roughed-up bullpen—it's good to see, until the other team knocks your opening day starter out after five and then scores seven runs on the relievers.
As opening day scenarios go there are worse fates than being on the winning end of a wild game like that. As bullpen meltdowns go, at least, it was milder than last season's tone-setter, where Jason Motte entered the game as the flamethrower who had struck out 126 in 78 innings and left it as the guy who, at 90 or 95 or 100, could not throw his one pitch past anybody's bat.
An off-day this early is always tough for me to stomach, but the Cardinals go into it with a few 2010 milestones and questions checked; it won't be quite so bad as all the off-days we had between now and last October.
For one thing, we know that Chris Carpenter will have at least one win for two consecutive years, which is not a milestone for most ace pitchers but is reassuring here. Carpenter didn't look great, although the two at-bats against Rolen—first pitch mid-nineties fastball up in the zone gets taken out of the park—suggest, maybe, a familiarity with the Carpenter gameplan, but given the way Great American Ballpark was fooling broadcasters all day it could have been worse. (Carpenter, for his part, blames insufficiently muddy baseballs, which would make for a nice Cardinals braintrust meme now that John Smoltz is too busy broadcasting to tip his pitches.)
We know that Yadier Molina is ready to hit a baseball, which is heartening; is it still too early to thank the capricious gods of baseball that a strained oblique has finally healed within its original timeframe? As the Cardinals' bizarre catcher panic reached its late-March peak I half-expected the trainers' Western Front-style war of attrition with oblique muscles to be the first dragging concern of April, Matt Pagnozzi taking the opportunity to exhaust his rookie eligibility, but as of right now the Cardinals' asinine Memphis depth chart remains, thankfully, a minor league story. The Cardinals should be careful with Molina anyway, as the season opens—if nothing else it's an excuse to avoid another 140 game workload—but he's too important, on offense and defense, for the team to lose.
We also know that David Freese's defensive malaise could escape the other withering Spring Training storylines and become an April concern, which is less heartening. In the minor leagues Freese was never particularly error-prone, and his 11 chances at third in 2009 were error-free. I'd hate for Freese's long-delayed first impression to be colored by his uncharacteristically unsteady hand in March and April, in addition to all the other unsavory things it's been colored by; it's not something he can risk with Mather and Craig behind him and his hitting, even when it's valuable, not impressive enough to carry his reputation through.
Most of our remaining old-business questions about this team will take a few months to sort out—Craig and Stavinoha haven't even played yet—and the new-business concerns haven't yet cropped up. But it's safe to say, now, that the Cardinals will not lose 162 games this year, that Chris Carpenter will win one, and that Yadier Molina will make one start in defiance of his threatening oblique. That's better than we could do in March.
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Freese
Let’s hope the poor defense is just jitters from being the starter. I’ve only seen him in 6 or 7 games, but he has been very unimpressive defensively. His throwing has been erratic and he fails to challenge ground balls by getting in front of them. In the AAA championship game last year he tried to take a ball to his side instead of getting in front of it and I’ve seen the same thing now in a few spring training games. Let’s hope Oquendo can work his magic with him. If his throws continue to be off line, endangering Albert, and he continues to boot double play grounders his tenure as starter will be brief.
by vinniefromjersey on Apr 6, 2010 7:03 AM EDT reply actions
I thought it was jitters standing next to Scott Rolen's base while Scott Rolen batted
beware the curssseeee
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
For what it's worth
I believe a big part of “Oquendo’s Magic” is teaching third basemen to be comfortable fielding the ball off the to side with the backhand. I’m not sure specifically what instances of not-getting-in-front you’re talking about, but some of it may be Oquendo-recommended.
His defense seemed ok yesterday...
…apart from the one error. I think he’ll be fine. Opening Day jitters perhaps. As you astutely pointed out, Yeswecando will have him straight; he’s the Dave Duncan of Defense!
;=8)
Big McLargehuge!
:=8O
I liked the play on
Stubbs where Freese dove to his right and made a nice throw from his knees but unable to nab a quick runner. The bar for Freese is DeRosa circa 2009. I like his chances of meeting it both defensively at 3B and at the plate.
Yesterday,
Bernie posted this in his Bytes post:
In addition to hitting only .239 / .296 / .428 in games he played at 3B, De Rosa was rated 30th in the majors defensively among 3B by John Dewan. According to the Dewan plus-minus, DeRosa was a minus 12 at third and cost the Cardinals 9 runs. If Freese plays just average third base and is decent at the plate, the Cardinals will be better at 3B this season. If Freese cannot top the play that the Cardinals received at 3B last season, then he isn’t much of a player. And I think he will be just fine.
I agree with jjray that Freese ought to be an improvement over DeRosa at third.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
Even the error
was on a sharply hit ball…yeah, it was right at him, but it still wasn’t an especially easy play.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
I resemble that remark
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
by YesWeOquendo on Apr 6, 2010 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Did our great leader just ask for MORE memes?
Oh, and I am still not going to take for granted that Yadi’s oblique is healed;not completely anyway. I certainly hope that they are not gonna try to overuse him too much this early in the season. I’ve always thought LaRue was a pretty good one to have behind the plate, so I hope he gets a good share of playing time these next couple of weeks. It doesn’t exactly look like this team is going to struggle without Yadi’s offensive contributions.
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
if yadi doesn play yesterday, and we don't get a grandslam in the ninth
Franklin comes on in a save situation…better results for him? or does he still give up two runs? i’ve always thought it seemed like closers forget what they are doing in non-save situations
"Albert hits good pitches hard and bad pitches even harder. And when he gets in the batter's box, if you pray, then you start praying. And if you don't pray, you think about starting."--Brian Bannister
Luckily,
Yadi made the 9th inning Franklin-proof.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
by bgh on Apr 6, 2010 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Frazzy (Franklin + Izzy) does not inspire confidence. What are the options?
K-Mac – untested as closer and inconsistent other times
Motte – recall opening game last year. Recall opening game this year.
Reyes/Miller – not a chance
Hawksworth – worse than the above
One of the starters and cry havoc and let slip the Redbirds of Memphis??
An optimist is a man who upon discovering that a rose smells better than a cabbage concludes it will make better soup.
HL Mencken
I present the meme
Colby “Eye Fuck U” Rasmus
by FlimtotheFlam on Apr 6, 2010 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Honestly
after he hit the slam, and got to the dugout, it looked like he was uncomfortable, and was trying to stretch out his ribs (read: oblique). I’m sure he’s not 100% yet, and I hope he gets spelled a little more often than usual in April.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions
at least he took the bases at half-speed.
…..so yes, it was slow.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
For balance
4 Ladies acting like their boyfriends
Pepperoni donuts cracked me up.
You can read it in any tone you like.
I think it is time we DFA'd Skippy
I give him a week to turn it around
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
then he sat in the hot tub, weeping bitterly, until such time that his compatriots implored him to cease his lamentations
“Thou art our Gold Glove second baseman, O fashioner of shoes. They shall fear the might of thine arm.”
And thus the Skip believed, though still his gloves ripped in the spring air, as though to rend his agony.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
by Yadi2Second on Apr 6, 2010 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
I phoned that in,
but that’s how I picture it.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
well, he's already been put on notice here
perhaps that veb pressure is getting to him
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
good point
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I just want to see the team improve each day
and yesterday, Rasmus learned to sell it. So we improved!
pure, unfounded, irresponsible speculation
could it be that mr. freese has stopped drinking, and that’s related to his struggles in the field? i know a change like that would take ME quite some time to adjust to, both physically and psychologically.
Seems highly unlikely to me.
I doubt he was hitting over .300 in the PCL for two consecutive years while showing up at the park under the influence of alcohol. I think the most likely explanation is just a bad streak of fielding. It happens, just the same as a hitting slump. As an aside, what does it say about Skip the Second Baseman that we are dissecting Freese’s error on Opening Day but not Skippy’s?
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
Skippy's
looked like it took a very unexpected high hop. It didn’t really look like he misplayed it to me.
Might have hit a dirt clod from the baserunner's footprints.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
yeah someone said it was "an error on the groundskeepers"
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
Then again...
… remember that Darrell Porter never could hit after he sobered up.
But he could still walk. . .
which was what kept him valuable in those pre-sabremetric days of yore.
by SouthsideCardsFan on Apr 6, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Freese =/= Carbo?
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions
the same thing we do everyday here at VEB, Birdy
Try to take over the blogosphere!*
*Awesome cartoon was awesome
by mattyp on Apr 6, 2010 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions 7 recs
Rec'd harder than just about anything I've ever rec'd
Pinky and the Brain may well have been even better than the Simpsons…in its prime.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
To prove our bloggy worth, we'll overthrow the Earth
Poit.
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
ironically, the blog immediately annexed us right back.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
It's about money
If Opening Day gets rained out, they have to have a backup plan to salvage the extra money people spent on Opening Day tickets.
Not afraid to nitpick
don't get me started on rainouts
MLB, Roger Dean Stadium and Stub Hub and money. I’ll be angry all day.
voting and taxes
/politics.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
Money Quote from Carp
But the worst thing that could happen is, you come in here and you’re throwing cue balls up there and something gets away and one of their guys get hurt."
I take that to mean that if they don’t start putting some mud on their baseballs, Carp might just stick one in a Cincy player’s earhole the next time he pitches there.
Don’t mess with Chris Carpenter.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
but it slipped...
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
what i took away
it felt like to me that the cardinals are going to be busy outscoring teams this year, a la 2003 or 2008, like dan said. the cardinals had early, pretty significant leads yesterday that they either gave up or almost gave up, but always came back to score more runs and finally put the game away in the eighth inning. this doesn’t make for a good scenario, especially when the cardinals are going to be playing better teams or in the playoffs, but hopefully the bullpen finds something good about it eventually.
freese at third base also concerns me with his lackluster defense yesterday and 1 for 4 outing. i’ll attribute that to opening day, being the starter jitters, but i really would like to see more out of freese over the course of the season. i think they guy has a good amount of talent, and could really be mainstay over the course of the next few seasons.
franklin as closer just disgusts me, i think we’ll be in the closer market by may or june, unless tony hands over the role to mccellan (or god help us, motte). franklin (as we all know) was a huge beneficiary of luck last year, and that has finally run out. i just hope he can somewhat effective in his likely diminished role later in the season. as for motte, he still has a hell of a lot of promise, just needs to perfect that second pitch and consistently find the strike zone in order to be entrusted with coming in in a high leverage situation.
carpenter was carpenter. made some pitches that really made me feel good about what he’s going to do this year, and i attribute some of the other stuff to opening day jitters. hardly anyone can come out on opening day and shut a team down (dan haren not withstanding).
ryan, skippy, pujols, rasmus, molina, ludwick, holliday absolutely no complaints. but for the love of god will someone tell boog to actually throw it to first base once in a while. that weird side armed sling throw makes me nervous every time i see it.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 10:40 AM EDT reply actions
It's Opening Day.
I don’t think we’ll average 11 runs a game or average giving up 6 runs a game. It’s a bit early to draw conclusions after one game about how we will win ballgames. Heck, for that matter, May 1st is far too early to be drawing conclusions as to the team and players. Remember, last April, Brian Barden was the Rookie of the Month (an award he won by beating out Joe Thurston, his third base platoon partner), Chris Duncan OPS’d .936 in April as our starting left fielder, Chris Carpenter faced just 32 batters in April, Rick Ankiel hit .264/.341/.431 in April, and Khalil Greene started 17 April games at SS (he would start 22 games total the final 5 months of the season).
I’m not dismissing all of your thoughts. There was reason to be concerned about Franklin before yesterday, and, there would be reason to be concerned even if he had a 1-2-3 ninth inning. There was reason to be concerned about K-Mac before yesterday, too, because he K’s too few and walks too many to be a dominate set-up man.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
n/s
the points you make are valid. i didn’t spend much time here during spring training, so i guess i was just airing my concerns about this team from a speculative point of view, or a “hunch” if you want to call it after one game.
i really do think this team is going to have to out score people though. a 7-4 lead in the seventh inning is not going to be safe in this bullpen unless two more pitchers emerge that aren’t named trever miller. penny, lohse, and garcia we’ll be lucky to get six innings from on a regular basis, leaving at the very least 3 innings for the bullpen to try and cover and protect the lead.
as for averaging 11 runs a game and averaging giving up 6 runs a game, i will take that all day, every day.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
What are your thoughts on
Salas/Boggs/Otto/Sanchez and all of the other high-velocity shit command relievers? Surely one of them will pan out.
Also, our bullpen is really cheap, which is great when some teams are paying their bullpens more than our Matt Holliday.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
i would sure hope at least one of those aforementioned relievers will pan out
and i’m happier than bunches that are bullpen is filled with guys who are making league minimum (or at least close to it). but that doesn’t mean that i don’t still have concerns about it, especially from the right side. i’m very interested to see if either hawksworth or boggs can find their roles and really contribute this year. they’re both starters by trade, but if either one of those guys can find their groove, i would really like to see one of them (or both) take over the crucial 7th/8th inning type spots.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you have a twitterin' problem
but I am glad you enjoyed your lunch
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
my installation of tweetdeck yesterday is only going to make is worse.
it’s even worse when i have an undesirable task to achieve. like right now. glad you’re still following me though ;)
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I am starting to wonder if I really wanna use it on my phone
I MIGHT GET 1000 NOTIFICATIONS A DAY
luckily. I don’t know how to use it on my phone
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
what do you mean on your phone?
getting text updates when someone tweets or something?
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah, does it do that?
I am new to the fancy-pants smartphone world
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
I have a smart phone
but I don’t pay for the internet access. wish I could lol
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
twitter on the phone works however you want it to
are we talking strictly texting or are you going to have internet too?
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
internet too
I haven’t even figured out where to get it for the blackberry.
I want twitter on there for my baseball addiction
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
BlackBerry has an official Twitter client launching soon.
You can snag a copy of the beta version here. Make sure to download the one for your OS. It works well. You can change the settings so that it doesn’t harass you all day.
UberTwitter is also a good one. It also has a ton of settings.
You can read it in any tone you like.
i'm really liking the ubertwitter
Hope is the worst of all evils, for it prolongs the torment of man
ha!
well it’s just an app on the blackberry then. i have a samsung instinct and i use twitter both via texting (for sending tweets—i think it’s SMS code 40404) and the internet using the opera mini browser that i downloaded.
short story, you can have twitter on your phone and still get other tweets without having your phone go off 40,000 times a day.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
yah
Salas is the most major league ready one I think
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions
we need a flashcard with azru's guide.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
salas isn't such high velocity
and he has command, right?
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
yes
low 90s FB, decent curve. I like Salas quite a lot actually, but probably his closest comp in the current bullpen is KMac (with, perhaps, better control).
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 7:43 AM EDT up reply actions
did anyone else see Motte take off that much speed off his pitch
and get a K?
did I dream that?
am I out of my mind to need a towel for high 90s to low 80s?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I commented aboot it last night,
when I finally watched the game. Changeup?
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
baby steps, Mottie
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
pictures not to look at
don’t click. maybe.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24420819@N06/4497175376/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24420819@N06/4497174820/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24420819@N06/4497174910/
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
That beach ball totally has a phone number on it
Still got it, Rick… still got it.
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
if I had been really awful, I would've picked some from the brewers
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
man
kurt sure looks old. has the grayish spots showing up in his hair and facial hair a la brett favre.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions
brett favre = actual grandpa
trufax.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
oh god
and he’s still playing.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
LHC!
and then Amaury Marti Cazana visited him, and told him about particles and energy.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
He is the Higgs.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
yeah me too
and then the past three years happened.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I note that Ankkiel wore the collar yesterday,
in the cleanup spot, no less. What a mistake.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
In a completely non-political way
Obama is really terrible at throwing baseballs.
Not afraid to nitpick
I agree
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
the mayor of Cincinnati one
is easily the worst ever, even worse than Pariah Carey…
:=8/
Big McLargehuge!
:=8O
women get a pass
because they have to throw like girls
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
I wonder if they should go back to the tradition of just tossing the ball from the stands instead of actually trying to "pitch" one
I’m all for minimal political involvement in my baseball.
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
He's got a sweet jumper though
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
by jd is legend on Apr 6, 2010 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions
outside of being left handed
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
Better Nats lefty reliever:
Obama or Villone?
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
w bush >>>>> obama
in terms of throwing out the first pitch.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
well, that whole owning a baseball team gave him a leg up, I would imagine...
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
no way man.
he earned it.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
well, I mean in the sense that he had frequent access to actual, uh, baseballs. and baseball parks.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
i was just joking.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Obama's all about that sweet jumper from downtown.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 7:45 AM EDT up reply actions
i know a lot of women who own cars
doesn’t mean they know how to drive
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
see above
and if this whole post goes on this theme, I’m going to leave before the stabbings.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
my bad
that’s what happens when i attempt to multi-task
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
I think he was just referring to the stabby wrath of a few specific female commenters.
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
there could be random stabbings, too.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
i meant i had read the beginning of the post earlier
then i was doing other things. came back, hit ‘z’, saw a comment, and replied. i should’ve read all the way up…
in other news i’m all for stabbings
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
I feel like I've put myself at risk for a stabbing
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
It's the Nationals' apparel.
It has that effect on everyone who takes the mound in it…
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
God help Strasburg.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
even channeling his inner mark buhrle didn't help
(sox hat)
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
At least it wasn't "Natinals" apparel
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
They didn't
mud up the balls at the Phillies-Nats game, either. That’s why it slipped out of his hand.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Carp will soon be appointed ball rubbing czar
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
I wish I were ball rubbing tsar.
Wait, what were we talking about?
We all have ways of coping. I use sex and awesomeness.
by the red baron on Apr 6, 2010 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
need a towel?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
No such luck...
he’s above the nycbiro line.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
i smell a new meme
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I thought it was a time thing. I didn't realize there was a line.
SO WEIRD.
You can read it in any tone you like.
his jumpshot is puuurrreee
/Gus
"...and pujols has given st louis the lead"
The Best Defensive Play I Have Seen in Person
follow me on teh twitterz @greenfieldt
CG can't be happy
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/news/story?id=5059657
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
why?
Purnell was horrid in games that counted — This year marked his third straight first round exit from the Tournament. Unless you think a major program just getting into the Tournament is enough, then you probably won’t be too disappointed to see him go.
As a fan of a program
that hasn’t been to the tourney in 6 seasons, um, getting the tournament is kinda the whole point of college basketball.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
Maybe next year
with 96 teams in the tournament, your team will (should) make it, too.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions
That will ruin college basketball, imo
You’re going to have sub .500 teams getting in the tournament. That shouldn’t happen.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
i think it will cause the most controversy between the 8/9 seeds
i don’t think too much thought gets put into who is an 8 and who is a 9. they are essentially all equal right now. 9 seeds even have a winning record over the 8 seeds. but if it goes to 96 teams then 8 seeds will get a bye week and the 9 seed will have to play in. granted they will play the 96th team, but it’s still one more game
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
Who the hell would be
except the NCAA (more money, don’tchaknow)? I cannot imagine that it will make for a better tournament. The thing is too long as it is.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Let's see
A coach who’s been successful building the program (read: regular NCAA appearances) at a traditionally terrible basketball school up and leaves for a school who’s gone like 1-35 in the Big East the last two seasons. I’d be hurt that he left for a non-elite program and that we’d have to find someone who could duplicate the success at (as I said) a traditionally terrible basketball school.
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
re: bullpen
I remember years in the past the bullpen improved as time went on so I’m not panicking yet. Boggs and Hawk will get back to where they were last year. (fingers crossed) As for Franklin, I hope one of the young’uns can take over.
Fun with small sample sizes
Albert’s OPS+ right now is 567.
by mattyp on Apr 6, 2010 11:59 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
What a wonderful statistic
Thank you for that.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
I thought it seemed way low on first glance...
…and then I saw the +.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
NCAYFBT
Just got offered a trade:
Bobby Jenks (my team)
for
Brian Fuentes (his team)
thoughts?
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
No point.
You really don’t gain or lose anything. I just really hate Fuentes though.
In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his recievers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! "I hope I'll be safe at home!"
-George Carlin (RIP)
both the sox and the angels might be in a lot of close games
so I really don’t know. home runs tend to be plentiful at the Cell, but hell, I don’t know. It’s a sox fan proposing the trade.
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
I have a friend who picked up Chicago's set-up man
because he doesn’t Jenks lasting long as closer. I did not delve into why he thought this, so I can’t say whether his viewpoint has any basis in fact or rumor. I am just relaying what he told me about his Fantasy team’s relievers.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
both are shitty closers
Matt Thornton is looking over Jenks’ shoulder and Fernando Rodney is looking over Fuentes’. Both could lose their jobs at some point, but I’d say Fuentes probably has more fantasy value.
Do it
Fuentes is pretty well guaranteed to be the closer for the Angels all year, even if his peripherals aren’t good.
Jenks could be forced out of the job by Matt Thornton or JJ Putz if he stinks it up the first couple of months. Then he’s worthless.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
I decided to accept
thanks everybody for the input. I can only imagine how much help everyone would be if they actually cared about my fantasy team. I have Cordero and Franklin too (late-late pickups), so I think I might be all right this season in the bullpen, even with Franklin. I also have Timmy, Carp, Wainwright & Hanson…maybe I should trade for some Offense…
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
What's your offense look like?
You could definitely deal Carp and probably be ok, and he would be the guy in that foursome that I would trade. He’s not a great fantasy pitcher because of his lack of strikeouts.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
Friday, April 16
I’ve got tickets. If they go off of days, Carpenter will pitch. If they go off of rotation, Garcia pitches. Have they leaked their plans yet for what kind of kid gloves they are handling Jamie with?
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
i'm not sure if it's a garcia thing
as much as it’s a carpenter thing. i think they’ve said carp will pitch every fifth day, period.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
win/win for me I guess
either I see some luggage or the hopeful future
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
You may have to worry about
rainouts, and such, tho.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
well it's one of the all inclusive areas
so I’ll be there as early as possible until they kick me out. 2 hr rain delay last time I went with the all inclusive as well.
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
Carp is starting on Saturday.
Garcia is starting Sunday night.
At least, according to Leach.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
national game for Jaime!
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
hmmm
I wonder how that will play out with the off day on the 13th then….nothing against Lohse, but since he’s the only pitcher I’m not excited to see pitch this year, it will probably somehow be him pitching on the 16th.
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
if anyone's *really* bored
La Russa said the move was made due to matchups later in the month.
sooooo… which matchups?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
we touched on this a little bit last night
but what is Motte’s second pitch? gameday thought it was a curveball, but I highly doubt that’s what it was. just a nasty changeup? a wicked slider? some kind of slurve or other weird pitch? I really hope he becomes a good set up man, or maybe even the closer?
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
knuckler
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
Eliminator?
Take that, Winter!
by Bring Back Tommy Herr! on Apr 6, 2010 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't know if I'd go attributing the adjectives "nasty" and/or "wicked" to it yet...
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
How about "somewhat disheveled?"
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
That is a wonderful backhanded compliment.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
by bgh on Apr 6, 2010 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I think it misclassified it
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not talkin classification
Those two guys down there fit the bill of being slurvyish curves
Not afraid to nitpick
It's more of a power curve or a vertical break slider
As I said, it’s basically the same pitch that Lincecum throws.
that would be awesome
if only…
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
Looked like a downward-tilting slider to me, too
Of course, it can be hard to tell with the assy off-center camera angle…
Pitches
Based on what Gameday says…
In the Stubbs AB I see…
4 Seam fastball
4 Seam fastball
Change-Up?
2 Seam fastball (based on the lower velocity and greater tail)
It’s hard to say with the Henandez AB. His pitches are all over the place. He’s clearly trying to throw 2 pitches, but he doesn’t have a feel for the second one.
I don’t see any sign of a slider, or else it’s totally flat.
The pitch to Francisco looks like a 2-seamer, due to the lower velocity and greater tail.
He throws something to Dickerson at 81 or 82 that looks like a power curve, due to the vertical break. It’s like Lincecum’s and isn’t a bad pitch.
The bottom line is that I see at least 3 pitches…
1. His hard 4-seamer.
2. A mediocre 2-seamer.
3. A decent power curve.
4. A flaky change-up
This is progress.
that's good to hear
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions
It's also wrong.
Motte can’t throw anything except for the four seam fastball with any degree of regularity. Yesterday it was a 2 seamer or a curve, tomorrow it will be a slider, the day after a splitter. Motte doesn’t have command of anything beyond the hard fastball. He tries to throw different pitches but they’re wildly inconsistent in speed and delivery.
Go look at fangraphs → Motte → pitch f/x → velocity graph for the different pitches.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
it always seems like you are not a Motte fan
I am just saying it seems like there has been some progress. I jumped to conclusions a bit I’ll admit… he may not be that good til next season if he ever masters a second pitch that is. but I think eventually he will be able to be somewhat effective. he wasn’t even that horrible last season was he? he should be better this year with some kind of second pitch, even if only his glove knows what it is.
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think it seems as if Azruavatar isn't a Motte fan
It’s just stating simple fact. Motte has yet to prove that he has control of anything but that fastball. We can come back to this in a month, and hopefully he has shown some consistency with whatever that pitch was, but as for now I am not gonna get too excited about it.
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
all we were saying though
is that it is encouraging to see him throwing something other than a fastball.
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand
but I don’t wanna see him throwing pitches that he can’t get in the zone. I am still holding out a bit of hope, though.
Have I said I think they should call up Salas?
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
kinda too early to tell with motte imo
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions
I've seen this "second pitch" since his time in the minors as far back as 2007.
He’s been working on a “second pitch” for 3+ years now. It’s never coalesced. It’s a myth that he has any ability to throw a curve. He can throw a non-fastball but hell if he knows what it’s going to do or look like once it leaves his hand.
I really like Motte but I wish he’d stop tinkering. I’d rather see him work his fastball around in the zone. I think these attempts at other pitches screw up his fastball command.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
How many pitches is he actually attempting to throw?
Is it just 4-seam and curve, or is he really working on every out pitch in the book at the same time?
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
From what I've seen
there’s a 2-seam fastball/slider/power changeup that all comes in around 90 miles an hour but breaks in different directions. I think he’s also worked on a slower curveball but unsuccessfully. I don’t know if he’s struggling with the grip but I think it messes with his release point and then hoses his fastball command.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
Yeah
I think he pretty much has the 2-seam 91-94 type thing down, but he’s thrown anything from a cutter to a slider to a power curve to a loopy curve to a splitter(?)/changeup. Needs to figure out one of those and stick with it.
Not afraid to nitpick
There’s certainly some mis-classifications muddying the waters but you can see there’s a huge amount of variation in his non 4-seam fastballs.
Slider:

Curve:

Change:

2-seam:

Think; It's not illegal yet.
I hope that atrocious slider is just a mess of misclassed balls.
The two-seam and change have some overlap, but it looks like there might be two distinct clusters. Then the curve could just be the bottom end of the mess of sliderish stuff.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
I don't see any sign of a slider or cutter
He seems to have abandoned that pitch.
What I saw via Gameday and video is a decent power curve.
The whole thing is a bunch of mis-classified balls
You can’t trust the slider, curve, or change-up charts.
They all have garbage in them.
The 2-seam is the only one that’s close to being right.
Just to clarify your point:
Each of the above charts include some pitches that are incorrectly labeled.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
Use your mod powers to insert a subject line
This graphic is killing my browser
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
I realized that after I posted.
I don’t have mod powers that can do that. Apologies. I’ll warn myself behind the scenes.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
azru follows skip's example in self-flagellation
warm up the hot tub
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
He's throwing at least 2 fastballs
One mid 90s and one low 90s.
He’s also got the power curve at 80 or 81.
I think everything else is basically a mis-throw of one of those three pitches.
I thought I saw a change-up, but I think it was a mis-thrown 2-seamer.
That's a lot of mis-thrown pitches
He should just pump 98-99 mph heat in the strike zone and see what happens. Come with what brought ya son. Seems to work for Jon Broxton…
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
The concern yesterday was
it took him 2-3 hitters before he was actually up around 96, 97.
I dunno if he was intentionally starting guys with the 2-seamer, but he was low-to-mid-90s for his first 10-12 pitches. That happened at times last year two (mostly in the couple of months he got really crushed) and it’s a big worry.
That low-90s FB to the left-hander (Francisco?) that drifted over the plate and went for a hard-hit single would’ve landed somewhere in California if he’d thrown it to Prince Fielder or Ryan Howard.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 7:52 AM EDT up reply actions
That speaks to a very bad lack of mechanical consistency.
The kind that doesn’t belong in the major leagues.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
on the bright side
if no one knows what the second pitch is when he throws it, it will be impossible for him to tip his pitches! I guess so long as it’s a strike it will work
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
he does have a hint of wild thing
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions
how to make motte look even crazier
I like this thread…
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
facial tattoos
of unicorns
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
i'm not sure that qualifies as "crazy"
besides, look at his face. it would be like an English pub sign.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
really?
when i think facial tattoo i think mike tyson
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
of a *unicorn*?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I guess I"m more visual
it doesn’t scream “unstable” to me.
not good enough.
oh hey
what about BEES?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
maybe if it was a tribal unicorn

right on his temple
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
again, I think on his face it'll look like a pub sign
round, bordered by the whiskers, then the numerous hemp things…
UNLESS
the horn is pointing at his eye, or something.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
we could always photoshop this and find out.
science!!!
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
It's still a face tattoo!
Are there any MLBers with face tattoos?
You can read it in any tone you like.
was looking for
an image of martin on the simpsons getting the “face painting” of the unicorn, which actually was a tattoo.
bottom line… that search is NSFW
"Franklin has no patience for bloggers who believe because he pitches to contact, his start last season was something of a fluke."
oh btw
no goggles
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
tinted goggles would be cool
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
noooo his pitching suffered with the goggles.
NO GOGGLES.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
This could work...
Yadi: “Just so you know, I’m putting down a sign, but it’s really more of a wish or a hope. I really don’t know what he’s going to throw or where it’s going to end up, so do me a favor and watch yourself. I don’t want someone getting killed and their family blaming it on me.”
Yadi would use fewer words.
maybe cross himself when the batter’s looking.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I have less and less confidence in Motte as time goes on.
In many respects I’d like him to be used exclusively as a ROOGY, because he’s terrible against lefties but still seems pretty effective when he’s spotting the 4-seamer against righties, but it often seems to take him quite a lot of pitches to get “into” an inning. Yesterday he looked like utter garbage (low-90s fastball, poor control, no secondary pitch, command all over the place) for the first couple of hitters. That’s no good for a one-batter specialist.
He’s (I think?) 28 now, and has been working on a second pitch for a while. Nothing’s really stuck, and despite what the announcers on the Reds broadcast were saying yesterday, I just don’t think he has any sort of control on anything secondary. They can just sit on the fastball and crush it unless he’s 100% on and spotting it right on the corners of the zone at 96mph+.
I’d rather he stuck to the 4-seamer more or less, tightened up his control and stuck to being a one-out guy to right-handers, but I don’t have any confidence in him to get multiple outs this year, or to suddenly find a second pitch that’ll do anything much. It’s nigh on impossible to work on a second or third pitch whilst throwing every other day at MLB level anyhow, and I really don’t see any progress from last year (or the year before, when he stuck to the 4-seamer more or less exclusively when he was under any pressure in Memphis).
I think it’s going to be a fun season, but it’ll get a lot better when we finally trade for Heath Bell in July…
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Motte as a tinkerer
would be better than Motte as a one-pitch, one-speed pitcher, IMHO, even if he doesn’t have consistent command.
by SouthsideCardsFan on Apr 6, 2010 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions
exactly
seemed that the robot was being a bit too negative towards the sauce. granted, I would have rather have kept Perez at this point, but at least Motte is pretty damn entertaining
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Hey! Dudes!
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
I think there's something to be said for him making an attempt,
but how exactly is he planning to throw a second pitch with any command if he is trying out every second pitch at the same time? It seems like the “two seamer” and the “changeup” could just be him using the same grip and motion and just not having any command, but surely it’s not the same as his 4-seam grip. Then he’s throwing something sliderish too, which can’t come out of the same grip and motion as the FB/change, so that’s at least three different pitches.
Motte just needs to cut the crap. Why not just settle down with a nice slider, build up some confidence and command, and then start working on a change or some such.
The really worrisome thought is, that all of those four-seam/two-seam/changeup/splitters are all attempts at one fastball. That would mean his command isn’t just stagnating but is decaying.
I'm one of those "I don't care how you killed the cow; just serve me a great steak" guys. If the results are logical and easy to understand, I'm pouring some A1 sauce on that formula and eating it. UZR qualifies. -Bill Simmons
I guess it's good he acknowldges room for improvement
but his inability to come up with a pitch that’s even approaching average after 3 years, is troubling.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
His 2-seamer...
…has much more tail on it and comes in 3 MPH or so slower, so I think it’s a deliberate pitch.
Confidence?
he seems a guy (with all his jitters on the mound) who perhaps lacks a bit of confidence and is a little mentally hyperactive/unfocussed. I wonder if all the tinkering is something that comes from that part of him.
FWIW, I thought much the same of Franklin in that year he was awful (2008) and trying out every pitch under the sun, throwing garbage changeups and knucklers even though he’s better when he sticks to the sinker/cutter/breaking ball basics.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 8:00 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree
Reliever’s don’t need to have 4 pitches. A 95 MPH fastball and a show me slider should do him fine.
dangit.
http://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/11702470104
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
He'll be back.
They always come back.
Note: Above comment may contain gratuitous amounts of sarcasm.
BOYCOTT HASS AVOCADOS
can we bribe Costas to "reminisce" about St. Louis?
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
dude, Carp smiled.
“The catch reminded me of Jimmy,” a smiling Carpenter said.
- via Bernie
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
it was more of a rictus grimace...
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 8:01 AM EDT up reply actions
He was Grinning
IT was sweet… Strangely the smile reminded me of the grin on loopers face following dick’s showing of off his gun. It was almost as if Carp tipped his cap and said I’m buying you dinner tonight.
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
all night games today
my mlb.tv is sad. and since my girlfriend is a teacher, i’ll be sad later. no baseball. boo-hoo. i guess i’ll just watch some replays from yesterday.
Your girlfriend won't let you watch baseball?
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Lysacek: 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist ♥
no
probably not. she’s andi k’s friend. ask her.
she did buy some tickets for a game though, so thats pretty cool. she has a carpenter crush.
she thinks colby’s an ugly redneck.
I'm gonna put this out there
You should probably break up with her and never talk to her again.
Or at least just the latter
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
same with my girlfriend
She’ll watch a game, she just doesn’t understand why I want to watch all the games
i know what you mean
my g/f likes baseball, but if we’re both home, i can’t watch baseball every night.
i'm at her place
she would rather watch an old episode of the simpsons than watch joe saunders pitch
you need to get a second TV there
at least you can make a lot of trips to the bathroom, or something
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
One huge bottle
of Turbo-lax. That should do it.
Baseball's only fun if you're playing it, watching it, or thinking about it.
OK, that would do it too
but it would be MUCH less funny and you might have to hold her hair while she pukes, thus missing valuable baseball time.
Baseball's only fun if you're playing it, watching it, or thinking about it.
There's a lot of things I'd rather do than watch Joe Saunders pitch.
I’m sure watching old Simpson’s episodes in on that list somewhere.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
sounds like a keeper to me
have her pop in season 4 and let the fun times commence!
"...and pujols has given st louis the lead"
The Best Defensive Play I Have Seen in Person
follow me on teh twitterz @greenfieldt
this is the most annoying thing...
If I want to watch baseball, let me watch baseball, surely it’s better than hearing me make fun of the losers on (pick a VH1 reality show).
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
oh, I'm so glad I'm the girlfriend
by late july, my bf’s sick of baseball. unfortunately for him, it doesn’t matter
Try explaining to your wife
Why you hate the Cubs, but you watch the Cubs every night.
She ignored the first argument (Hey, it’s HD) and doesn’t get the 2nd argument (if you KNEW a trainwreck was coming, wouldn’t you stop and watch?)
by sdrone on Apr 6, 2010 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
can't you just say that you watch them to root for the other team?
and they are division rivals so you need them to lose?
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
nycbirdo looks better in italics
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Now to fix the rest of the thread being in italics....
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
...or not
Apparently just offering a closed italics tag doesn’t fix the rest of the thread…I figured it would
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
this whole thing just seems so much more urgent today
shouldn’t the signature be not in italics? that would be better
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions
FAIL
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
by bearcatcardfan on Apr 6, 2010 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions
What have you guys done to VEB?
1
2
I never would slip you Mickey! It is merely rhinoceros horn. This makes the champagna bubble.
by The Continental on Apr 6, 2010 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions
3
I never would slip you Mickey! It is merely rhinoceros horn. This makes the champagna bubble.
by The Continental on Apr 6, 2010 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions
4
I never would slip you Mickey! It is merely rhinoceros horn. This makes the champagna bubble.
by The Continental on Apr 6, 2010 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions
luckily my wife works 2nd shift
so baseball and diapers for me
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
whoa
how’d this get in italics? I missed something
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
Scroll down
And ye shall learn.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
it's like an episode of the Twighlight Zone
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
It's like my dad told my mom years ago.
Janet, I’m a fan of Illinois and whoever’s playing Kentucky.
Baseball's only fun if you're playing it, watching it, or thinking about it.
Does anyone know how to put a player up as a potential trade on Yahoo's
fantasy league?
I want to unload Kendry Morales but I don’t know how to dangle him out there.
Don't you put him on the "block"?
Or, you could seek out a player you want in return and just propose a trade.
"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."
--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS
by bgh on Apr 6, 2010 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I was about to ask the same kind of question
so let me know how you do it!
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
Okay, so in the trading block
It says trade next to all the name, but it says edit next to your username.
You can go in there and put up whoever you want and ask for certain positions.
So lets trade Franklin now
While his trade value is high(ish). Because everytime he pitches hes just gonna lower it a little more /(partial) sarcasm.
YOU ARE OUT of you kuku fufu mine craker laker Flaber baber FUNKI chunki brain-abayarde
I thought we *want* pitches low
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
throw moar sinkers
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions
ex-Cardinal news
Placido had 6 rbi’s yesterday and a grand slam
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:35 PM EDT reply actions
Is it just me,
or has Placido had one of the quietest very good, at times nearly great, careers of anyone in recent memory? (Emphasis on the “quiet” part…that’s the part that always gets me.)
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
yeah
he’s always done really well as far as I know. I know some of his Detroit years were not up to par, but overall he’s had quite a career. he always seems to come out of no where.
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions
NOCAYFBT
I feel like my team is freakishly solid for an 18-team league
C-Kurt Suzuki
1B-Jose Alberto Pujols
2B-Ben Zobrist
SS-Jason Bartlett
3B-Martin Prado/Casey McGehee
OF-Andre Ethier
OF-Colby Rasmus
OF-Franklin Gutierrez
UTIL-Nick Swisher
BN-Delmon Young, Clint Barmes
SP-CC Sabathia
SP-Ubaldo Jimeniz
RP-Frank Francisco
RP-Rafael Soriano
P-Jair Jurrjens
P-Phil Hughes
P-Jason Marquis
BN-Gio Gonzalez
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
dude
I have the exact same 1b/2b/ss in my league. except I have rolen at 3b, and nelson cruz, mccutchen, and jason werth in my outfield. and peavy and edwin jackson as my only two starters so far… the epic draft continues. now I just need a catch, the rest of my rotation, 2 relievers, and a utility guy (plus a bunch of reserves)
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
But how dreamy is my outfield?!
That might be the most attractive outfield ever. If you exclude Swish, of course…
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
Heresy!
No outfield can be called “the most attractive ever” unless it includes the greatWillie Dean McGee.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
nicely done
am I the only one who thinks Colby looks really really weird? I don’t get the attractive thing
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
he's like the white mcgee
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Eh.
I’ve not played much mixed-league before, but that roster strikes me as mediocre at best. In an 18-team mixed league with such small rosters (only 3 OF, no MI/CI, 1 C, only 7 active pitchers), I would think that you would need an above-average offensive player at every position, and All-Stars at at least 3 or 4.
Save for a breakout season, I would think that Rasmus, Gutierrez would be very marginal players in that format, and Casey McGehee would at best be a break in case of emergency reserve.
by SouthsideCardsFan on Apr 6, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
you're crazy
he has Albert F Pujols. means not mediocre. plus zobrist and bartlett are good gambles imo
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions
18 teams is the most I've seen
how high do they go?
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
not sure
but there’s also 18 teams in the VEB “epic draft” league… but we have more roster spots, which is nice.
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions
heh
hayward. cud you be any moore in character! you lucky cowstard
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
you must've been hungry
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Your bench is awful. That was my first thought -- if anyone gets hurt, you are up shit creek.
I don’t think you have enough pop in your outfield either. You’re betting on Zobrist to have a similar year to last year, although he might not be awful at 2B if he drops off to a 3 WAR player with the bat. Where are your steals coming from? You don’t have a real runner on your team, and only a couple guys who have the potential to swipe more than 20 bags.
The other thing I see is that you don’t have any depth to trade from if you need something, and counting on two non-set-in-stone closers may imply that you’ll need to make a trade at some point. Francisco gets hurt a lot, and if Neftali Feliz gets the closer’s job, he ain’t giving it back. Soriano hasn’t been able to hold a closer’s job at any point in his career. Don’t get me wrong, I like the non-elite closer strategy, but I always assume that I may have to trade for one as well.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
in a league with that small of a roster
wouldn’t that be a concern for every team?
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Not always
He has a couple of guys that qualify at a lot of positions (Swisher, Prado, McGeehee, Zobrist) but without a bench that’s worth a crap, the positional flexibility is a bit wasted. If you can just pick up players willy-nilly from the waiver wire than it’s not as big of an issue I guess, especially the trading aspects.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
I agree with you
I’m currently in the process of some roster restructuring… this is basically how the team looked right after the draft, which I autodrafted the last 7 rounds or so (Thanks for picking up Delmon Young and Madison Bumgarner for me!). I think every team in the league has the same essential issues, however, and I AM banking on improved years out of my outfield. Everybody on VEB has high expectations for Colby, and Ethier and Gutierrez and similarly young with just has high a chance of breaking out into superstardom.
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
not sure
but doesn’t Ethier steal some bases? maybe not a big SB threat, but at least he has some speed right?
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Gutierrez, Bartlett, and Zobrist all steal bags
Pujols had 16 last year, Barmes had 12
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
And if Colby's hitting 5th this year, I'm sure he'll steal a few more bases
Of all sad words of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'
I dunno how true that is.
He hit 6th and 7th a lot last year and didn’t steal a lot of bases, I’m not sure how moving him up one spot in a much improved batting order is going to elicit more stolen bags.
I think him being healthy might be a bigger factor, but I don’t think he’ll have more than 15.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
true
But one guy who has Ichiro, Figgins, or Crawford pretty much erases 4 of those guys.
I think in a small roster league you need one elite basestealer, especially if you’re 5X5 roto.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
it's weird
I’m in 4 leagues this year and only one of them is rotisserie. guess head to head is in? last year both of my leagues were roto
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions
I hate head to head
Points or roto for me.
I just had a league implode because half the league wanted to go to head to head scoring.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
Colby's catch #2 on wwl's top plays
]
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
that was an insane play
wizardry is right
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
let's not forget the barehanded grab by konerko too
it was sick all around. i have to agree with the sox broadcasters, we probably had the play of the year on opening day.
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
I think you are giving credit to the wrong person/people on that one
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
what buerhle did was amazing!
but if konerko doesn’t catch it then it’s all for nothing. he had a tough play too.
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
I mean that I am pretty sure
I was the first person to say it was the play of the year. The Sox announcers don’t count, they are too biased.
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
well
the indians radio guy called it a play of a lifetime and he’s biased the other way.
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks
I'd probably agree with that
but I wanna think about it before getting too hyperbolic
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
Hey check it out!
25.12% chance at the playoffs! Huzzah!
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
Why is half of this thread
in italics? Can we bold it too?
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
just saw this too
f’in sbn
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
that would be rad
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
how about comic sans?
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
that was my font on instant messenger for as long as i can remember
orange font with a black highlight/background type thing.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
how about curlz, papyrus, or rodeo?
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Does that mean a backflip is forthcoming?
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Didn't work anyways
And now with my unclosed bold tag, the rest of the thread will be in bold. FAIL.
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
Have you refreshed the page?
Because all the new comments are coming in fine until you come back to the page
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
so this is what happens when there's no baseball.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
Carp is mad that the balls are not gritty enough
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions
He should throw Miles then.
Baseball's only fun if you're playing it, watching it, or thinking about it.
by Eckstreem on Apr 6, 2010 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Shit
Well, we know that half the thread is in italics because nycbirdo left an italics tag open, and from here down the rest of the comments will be in italics AND bold because I left a bold tag open (for funsies I swear!!!!!!). Apparently you can’t just close the tag to fix the problem……strange.
I guess if a mod could do it, he could go in and edit the necessary comments and insert the closing tags where necessary
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
the thing is
it’s not all in italics for me.
the div tags are working in firefox.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
only some of it is in italics for me
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions
have you refreshed your page?
I made the mistake of changing pages and then coming back… it was fine until chrome reloaded the page.
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
well if all of you are warning against it, I'm certainly not doing that!
hahaha
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
oh please!
Come on, you know you want to!
Everyone else is doing it. ;)
It’ll be fun… just this one time.
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
Don't do it!
Refreshing the page leads to unwanted pregnancies!
Wait, no, that’s not right…
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
of course it's not right.
because it was whispered.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
that's what I said to her, and it didn't work.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
Umm...but the comments that autoload are fine, apparently?
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Yeah, I see that now.
I hadn’t refreshed the page since then, so I was wondering what the heck everyone was talking about…so I refreshed out of curiosity, and now I’m up to speed. Thank you, SBN.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Should we go ahead and leave open a strikethrough tag for "funsies?"
You can read it in any tone you like.
it is an off day after opening day after all
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
what are you doing?
check it
man work is slow today, but not as slow as the draft room
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions
well that didn't work
but I did quote myself
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
I would have thoroughly enjoyed it
if this would’ve translated the rest of the thread into Spanish for no apparent reason.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
by splhcb67 on Apr 6, 2010 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Congrats, all!
We’ve done what even a full year of Joe Thurston couldn’t do: we’ve broken VEB.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
by splhcb67 on Apr 6, 2010 3:29 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I'm just racking up the page hits
as everyone continually tries to refresh
Think; It's not illegal yet.
You sly dog, you!
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
why is this not in italics?
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
Because for some reason
The comments that autoload don’t become italicized until after you refresh the page. I have no clue why…someone who knows more about HTML might.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
VEB:
finding new ways to SBN ourselves.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I was talking about the VEB part...
And the lost thread of taglines…
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
refresh
and you’ll be able to read it in italics.
It’s like brand new content!
Think; It's not illegal yet.
All posts are italicized for me...
Old ones, new ones, good ones, bad ones…
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
And, of course, mondo page hits for the robot...
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Wait a minute...
…has anyone noticed that the Fanshots and Fanposts are all italicized and bold, too?
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
whaddup with the formatting issues everyone is talking about?
i don’t see it.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 3:31 PM EDT reply actions
I guess when you
leave an italics tag open it causes craziness
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions
could twitter him to do it.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
HOLY CRAP ZOMG
WHO BROKE VEB?!
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Looking through the source code...
First of all, the open tag in nycbirdo’s comment looks like [em /] (with html tags instead of brackets) and the one in mine where I bolded everything looks like [b /] (same). None of the comments where I tried to close the tag actually show up in the source code. This is weird.
In a quick response to splhcb…the fanshots and fanposts are italicized too because they come after the comments in the source code. Anything in the source code AFTER those are going to be italicized and bolded.
This is bizarre.
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
must be an april fools 1 week later thing
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
by bearcatcardfan on Apr 6, 2010 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Ah, that'll do it.
Yes, truly bizarre…but also rather funny, so there’s that.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
What happens
If I have some intentionally italicized comments.
And some not.
Think; It's not illegal yet.
if one is really, really bored
one could document Colby’s moles as a baseline, and make sure he doesn’t have a melanoma.
or maybe find the lost gold of Chennault Plantation.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
it's fixed!
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Apr 6, 2010 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Hey, no fair!
That’s almost as mean as rickrolling.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
that's harsh
Colby only had the one kid
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
by Yadi2Second on Apr 6, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Wow.
Vaguely wrong, and yet hilarious. Rec!
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
be careful where your reply-fail lands
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
Test
is VEB truly fixed?
Blaine Matthew Burns: Albert Pujols' biggest fan (his first words will for sure be "Albert Pujols is RIDICULOUS")
SBN’d
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions
I win
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
italic button asterisk SBN’d asterisk strikethrough I think it was
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions
I love how even the info line is striked out
it’s as if we never posted
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
VEB: We're such fast commenters, you can see the speed.
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
by TBender on Apr 6, 2010 3:58 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Random B-Ref stat of the day that surprised me:
Willie McGee has more career hits than Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, and Joe DiMaggio.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Let's try this...
/didIdoitright?
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
I see what you read there...
I blame the strikethoughbolditalics
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
well, this deserves italics:
FIrst visual is Jason LaRue sprinting in outfield with parachute attached.
via strauss tweet
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I don't know about this season, yet.
Since early ST, I have felt that there’s something missing with this team; some kind of uneasiness, like the players aren’t meshing the way we would all hope they would…at least, not yet. I feel like it centers around Holliday and Lopez, and the way that KMac was sort jerked around (I know, I know, Garcia outpitched him, barely). I’m glad Garcia is in the rotation and KMac is in the pen. I don’t think KMac is happy about it, tho. I have loved the way Rasmus has been hitting the tar off the ball the last few weeks…he’s gonna have a monster year, I think. But, it would be nice if he got more love from the man stew, IMHO.
"I actually used about nine pitches--two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a changeup, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman" - Bob Gibson
by ISawGodInGibby'sRightArm on Apr 6, 2010 4:07 PM EDT reply actions
I think K-Mac is more likely to get over it
and Lopez has old friends on the team. even Boog was seen chatting with him, and Lopez essentially took his playing-time before (well, that and injuries).
Holliday… I still have reservations about.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
i was under the impression that holliday, boog, big mac, and schu were all buddies
and albert says good things about holliday
I think it’ll be okay
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
yeah, but I mean on the field.
I dunno, I feel uneasy about any Cardinal who hasn’t played at least two positions / roles. or even moved around in the lineup. Albert’s done both.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
ahhh in that case I know exactly what you mean
it’d be nice if holliday could man 1b to give albert a days rest. we certainly have enough outfielders (though stav/craig/mather would probably man 1b, if that were to happen). there is no excuse to put yadi or lopez at 1b. I will flip out if that happens this year
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
I mean, I know that's just a small thing
and we’re not privy to how the clubhouse actually goes.
but some players get in a twist over changing roles or moving around. the thing is, even Smoltz finally caved to it just before the playoffs (per the tone of his statements finally changing about the whole preference thing), but I’ve never heard Holliday address it.
then just kind of bringing new tvs into the clubhouse seemingly without consulting anybody, a few off-hand comments about Albert (“I guess they don’t do that in Latin America”, though Albert went to high school in KC)… I dunno, it’s not bad. just makes me uneasy.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
this could be dangerous in the wrong hands
codyg
go over to bcb =P
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
If the robot can't fix it here...
It might be next year before they do…
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
why did rick ankiel curse this thread!
everything is one big strikeout!
"Moneyball: It's kind of like communism."
by prophetjohn on Apr 6, 2010 4:09 PM EDT reply actions 19 recs
Only one way to find out!
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
Dang...and I was looking forward to actually having a green comment for once.
Guess I’ll have to, you know, actually be witty or incisive or something.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
by splhcb67 on Apr 6, 2010 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
haha!
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
been avoiding Jimmy news, for some reason....
still:
Edmonds 1-3 in milwaukee dwbut. Does not look right in milwaukee colors. Randy flores just walked him to load the bases. 4-2 rox t7 about 24 hours ago via TweetDeck
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
he didn't look right in cub colors either
jimmy hasn’t been right for quite some time
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions
it's gonna be ex-Cardinals month
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
another experiment hmmm what will this do
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:13 PM EDT reply actions
it made a weird line
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions
VEB looks like a passive-aggressive person who doesn't want attention.
You can read it in any tone you like.
i fell like it is reading as some governmet document
"There's a lot of things we say that don't make sense to our viewers. Okay, primarily me." ~Al Hrabosky~
by YesWeOquendo on Apr 6, 2010 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
we'll be here till the cows come home
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
we did this thoughoff day shenanigans
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Try to fix again...
*_-
/well?
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
I wonder if it looks different in different browsers
I’m in IE here, going to check it in iron later to compare and contrast. by the way people have been describing it, it looks different than it does on my screen (basically it stops when each thread stops)
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, I'm in Firefox,
and it just starts from where each tag was left open, and goes through everything else on the page.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
woh
not doin that on my page! interesting. we are seeing how different browsers react to tomfoolery and sbn’ing
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, everything else in comments (and sidebars) after you've refreshed.
Anything that autoloads, however, is fine and dandy…until you refresh the page again.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
I still haven't
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Open up a new IE page
and open up this thread…but for the love of all that’s good, pure, and holy, leave the original one open!
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
ok, I took some screenshots
I’m going to refresh now
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
me neither....
I’ve opened the thread in a new tab though.
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
if this thread ever gets fixed
someone is gonna come in later and be very confused
"Moneyball: It's kind of like communism."
Chrome shows the special version...
I don't often comment, but when I do, I only comment on VivaElBirdos.
someone's taking screenshots, right?
because this is rather, uh…. special.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I took a few
I am going to refresh it now
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Pujols ad infinitum would be kind of cool...
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
there's a few with his tongue out
and then the one where he’s ripping plastic wrap with his teeth has gotten play lately
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
repimpin' like i'm bjr!
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
it would've been really funny if this was Talk like CJ Beatty day............
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
I am so disappointed that none of you brainy fucks has figured out how to fix this
watch, gdm will figure it out!
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
We tried doing the opposite, and then people gave up and decided to make it worse.
You can read it in any tone you like.
Worse...or better?
This has been your Invader Zim moment of the day.
"But I’m still hungry. I’ve got 10 fingers. There’s one that’s busy and I need nine more."
- Albert Pujols
I'm curious how this hasn't happened before.
This can’t be the first time a tag hasn’t been closed.
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
it's a glitch
i left open tags in another thread and no problem
"Moneyball: It's kind of like communism."
leaving your tags open in public
for shame
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
if you, by chance, need to convince someone to reload
tell them their comment just went green.
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
The Baron has a new
thread up that isn’t screwed.
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
wow this is crazy
it all started with the schadenfraude
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:41 PM EDT reply actions
BEWARE THE GOB
Lick that shoulder—you're in the doghouse now.
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there..." - THT
*schadenfreude
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Let's see if the open blockquote thing worked
Muahahahahahahahaha
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
I only see the blockquote around my sig on the first comment
Nothing after that
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
yknow jd
it really is
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions
EPIC FAIL THREAD
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
every post cancels itself out thread
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I apparently got the bold fixed
Or maybe the SBN programmers are working on it right now
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
My sig is preformatted in the first comment in this thread
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
I figured out how to do this mwuhuhuhuh
don’t mess with cfic heh heh heh
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 7:19 PM EDT reply actions
I have the solution
it’s in one of those comments I made above
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
i just want to be in this thread
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
why am i not crossed out?
it was when i typed it.
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
I have warmed up to your Rockies prediction for the NL west
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 6, 2010 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions
oh, good.
i didn’t want to be the only normal one in a roomful of nuts.
and chitown, yeah, i saw your comment on that. i wonder if there’s been any word on francis’ injury, though. guess i’ll have to check the rocks’ site.
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
So weird seeing all the mods' avatars and names crossed out at the bottom of the page.
You can read it in any tone you like.
it is a subtle sign
of the anarchy that has taken place today…
While Spinning.
How much were yours? 34 dollars. You know you got a pay raise... right?
by streamman on Apr 7, 2010 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
OK. I am CROSS.
literally.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Apr 7, 2010 9:23 AM EDT reply actions 6 recs
Gullible is written on the ceiling
"There's a new sheriff in town." - Brendan Ryan
by jd is legend on Apr 7, 2010 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It looks like it's crossed out.
Asshattery: it's an epidemic.
Also, Dave Concepcion.
by RiverRat on Apr 7, 2010 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
mine says "redrum"
what does it mean?
"Some days I feel like the hypotenuse in a love triangle; others as if my lucky number is pi."
by cardball on Apr 7, 2010 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
haha
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 8, 2010 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions
one of the best posts ever
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 8, 2010 12:15 AM EDT reply actions
it even crosses your name out!
"they make an adjustment or look into it, ultimately, somebody's going to get hurt" Carp was seen yelling at the home plate umpire
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Apr 8, 2010 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions
It's almost a month past
but i just wanted to post something to see it get crossed out
"...football games always make me thankful for two things:
1. Teams that pass the ball downfield.
2. Baseball games. "
--DanUpBaby

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