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This Week in Baseball 5/11 - 5/17

JHawk

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And you do know they haven't been playing like a championship team this year, right?
 

JHawk

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That may be true. I'm merely saying that, even as an Indians fan, I can't take scoring double digits on the Rays as a sure sign they're turning the corner with the way the Rays have played so far this year.
 

Precious Roy

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Michael Bourn stole home tonight on a double steal. Can anyone remember this happening so many times so early in the season?
 

alkeiper

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That's the third steal of home this season. Breaking down the steals by date would be a lot of leg work, but baseball-reference.com now has them by season. Last year there were 15 steals of home. In 2007 there were eight. Three in the span of three weeks might be noteworthy, but I'm sure it's not unusual.
 

the max

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I honestly didn't know there were 15 steals of home last year. I've definitely noticed a big difference in how up to date on the league I am now thanks to the MLB network. It's like ESPNEWS without any other sports. Instead of 4 minutes total for all of the MLB highlights, it's an hour every morning that repeats. It's wonderful.
 

Smartly Pretty

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John Maine's starts are always so interesting. It seems like every time out now he struggles through the first and then the next 4-5 innings are a breeze. I don't know what his numbers are on at bats the second and third time through the order, but I'm sure they're great.
 
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naiwf

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I don't think Jerry Manuel's going to survive the season if he keeps tinkering around with the bullpen and pulling guys at the wrong time.
 

devo

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It's pretty irritating. How is Feliciano not up there to face Ishikawa?

And just now Beltran had another crucial steal of third where he should have been called out. It's a staple of their offense at this point!
 

Smartly Pretty

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Did you honestly and truly suggest that Jerry Manuel is on the managerial hot seat? Jerry Manuel who's bullpen has an excellent ERA and team is in first?
 
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naiwf

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If he keeps burning through the bullpen every night, that excellent ERA and first place status won't be around much longer. We're already playing two men short on this road trip with Putz and Delgado both unable to compete but not on the DL.
 

alkeiper

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devo said:
It's pretty irritating. How is Feliciano not up there to face Ishikawa?

Is this really a source of contention? Behind Ishikawa were two right handed hitters, and a switch hitter. Bobby Parnell has been an excellent relief pitcher this season. And Ishikawa bunted. If you make the move to Pedro Feliciano, you either have to let him face the right handed hitters, bring in a lesser righty (Sean Green), or bring in Francisco Rodriguez for the five out save. And then the Giants likely pinch hit for Ishikawa anyway, and now you've got Feliciano against a right handed hitter. As it was, the Giants tied the game on an infield single. Frustrating, but that's usually not the fault of the pitcher.

Really, Ishikawa's career batting line is .263/.323/.389. He is not so devastating a hitter that you can never let your right handed pitchers face him.
 

devo

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As well as Parnell has done this year his location was lacking last night and Manuel should have been looking for an appropriate spot to replace him. Ishikawa's at-bat would have been a fine spot for reasons other than matchup. And even though he ended up bunting Parnell did a poor job of fielding said bunt, failing to get the runner at third even though the ball was hit right at him.

Honestly, I doubt I would have even mentioned it if Feliciano hadn't started warming up just as Ishikawa stepped to the plate. That, if nothing else, makes no sense.
 

CanadianChris

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Grown men who bring gloves to games deserve as much public humiliation as possible. This one deserves a good punch to the face.
 

devo

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I've gotta say, I don't understand the hate leveled towards guys who bring baseball gloves to ballgames. When I bring my mitt to the park it's not so it'll make it easier for me to catch a ball after charging down an the aisle and shoving an eight-year-old out of the way to get there - it's so that, should it happen to be hit directly at me, I don't break my hand attempting to snatch it.

Yes, I'm sure I look like a nerd sitting there with a glove on my hand. But if I was trying to look cool I wouldn't be at a baseball game.
 

Dobbs3K

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Yeah, it does seem pretty lame. He claims to be a huge Brewers fan, but puts on the other team's hat or jersey in order to pretend he's a fan of that team to get stuff. This same guy also caught Geoff Jenkins' 200th home run ball a couple years ago and demanded four signed bats for the ball...and he wanted them signed by other players, not Jenkins.
 

alkeiper

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I think a glove is ok if you're sitting in the danger zones, those in the first level between the dugouts and backstop and not blocked by the net.
 

Vitamin X

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On the other hand, why is it such a big fucking deal to get signed memorabilia from the players? How is it so difficult? It's not like he's actually holding it for ransom, demanding money from the players in the process.
 

Czech

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Caring deeply about owning sports memorabilia makes you a retarded manchild and caring deeply about profiting from sports memorabilia makes you a soulless monster.
 

alkeiper

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Vitamin X said:
On the other hand, why is it such a big fucking deal to get signed memorabilia from the players? How is it so difficult? It's not like he's actually holding it for ransom, demanding money from the players in the process.
I imagine it's pretty irritating.

"He wants a bat from Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson and Dan Uggla."
"What about me? I'll sign a bat for him."
"Sorry Emilio, he thinks you're bench material."

The Phillies have a nice program where if you catch a home run ball, the player will sign it for you. I can't imagine being in that position. I went to 50 games last year and sat in foul territory for 47 1/2 of them.

Czech: I don't think there's anything wrong with some sports memorabilia. A friend of mine has quite a bit from working with the Red Barons, but it's all personal. Bobbleheads of your favorite players are certainly ok, and I have a fair bit of autographs from my time. It all has a personal connection and I don't intend to ever sell them. I agree with the second part of your statement for the most part.
 

jimmy no nose

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alkeiper said:
Vitamin X said:
On the other hand, why is it such a big fucking deal to get signed memorabilia from the players? How is it so difficult? It's not like he's actually holding it for ransom, demanding money from the players in the process.
I imagine it's pretty irritating.

"He wants a bat from Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson and Dan Uggla."
"What about me? I'll sign a bat for him."
"Sorry Emilio, he thinks you're bench material."
In addition to that it's usually left entirely to the individual player to get the ball if he really wants it back. He may not have had to do it himself, but as a young player he may not feel comfortable having to force Hanley Ramirez to sign something for him so he can give it to a fan who has the ball he wants. The Yankee ticket part of his demands is also pretty tough for a guy like Chris Coughlan to come through with. It sounds like the team ended up working it out for him in the end, though.

I actually had a friend who was with me get a home run ball a few weeks back that for some reason Adam LaRoche wanted back. He didn't even try to do any negotiating, they said Adam wanted the ball and was offering to give him a hat and signed ball combo and he just took it. I never figured out why he wanted the ball back, I looked and it was something like his 113th homer of his career.
 

Czech

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alkeiper said:
Czech: I don't think there's anything wrong with some sports memorabilia. A friend of mine has quite a bit from working with the Red Barons, but it's all personal. Bobbleheads of your favorite players are certainly ok, and I have a fair bit of autographs from my time. It all has a personal connection and I don't intend to ever sell them. I agree with the second part of your statement for the most part.
Well, I mean, there are some exceptions, of course. My grandparents gave me a team-signed hockey stick from the year their radio station carried the Hawks. That's of clear personal value. Wrangling with other grown men over a foul ball is petty and ridiculous. Just give the ball to the nearest kid so he can be filled with childlike wonder before he grows up into a cynical jaded grouch who posts on message boards.
 

Smues

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The people who knock over everyone else in their way to get a ball deserve all the hate they get. However I don't have a problem with people who bring gloves to games, even though I've never done it. If I happen to catch a foul ball or a homerun I'd keep it, it'd probably be the athletic highlight of my life, sad as that is.

As for ransoming the ball, that's just sad. Asking a rookie on the Marlins for Yankee tickets is beyond a dick move. I could maybe understand if he asked for Marlin's tickets, which this kid could probably get, but Yankee tickets? Fuck him. I bet he asked for the $2,625 ones too.

The only ball I've gotten at a major league game thus far was a ball Fred McGriff threw too me during batting practice at Safeco. Some kid asked me for it, and I politely declined. Fred fucking McGriff gave me a ball it's mine, all mine!
 

devo

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The only ball I've gotten at a major league game I found under my seat at a Marlins game in Miami. The lower stands were so sparsely populated that there wasn't anybody close enough to bother tracking down a ball that had apparently been hit during batting practice.
 

Czech

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Smues said:
Fred fucking McGriff gave me a ball it's mine, all mine!
I hope the rest of your classmates in 2nd grade were impressed at show-and-tell the next day!
 

still fly

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I took my sister to a Dodgers-Rockies game in 2006, and we actually caught two foul balls sitting along the first base line. My sister caught the first one, the second one hit me in the knee. I gave the the second ball to some kid that looked teary eyed that he missed out on it.
 
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