Game Thread - Angels at Mariners - Escobar Vs. Hernandez - 7:05 p.m.
In the preseason, Blez from Athletic Nation and one of the guys who runs The Lookout Landing were having a debate about who was the best young pitcher (Rich Harden or Felix Hernandez) in the Division (buried here, 3/4 of the way down).
Well they got into it, in that smug "I'm so informed" way that baseball nerds get when they think that their feelings can be confirmed and quantified within the sphere of intellectual reasoning... and of course, it never got ugly, in fact, like most nerdy disagreements, it just got boring.
I didn't even say anything, because, oh yeah, I am just The Rev, you know, a fan out of love, not out of the deep-seated need to be The Correct Guy Who Predicted IT. I'm just the guy who is closer to his goal of truly FEELING the game way more than they will ever be close to their nirvana of COMPREHENDING the game.
I kept the piehole shut because many of these alleged Uberanalysts are flat out against any opinion proffered by the guy who doesn't try to be baseball's version of Mister Spock in an eBay-purchased Game-Used jersey.
And also, I didn't need to say shit because I knew Jered Weaver was in the pipeline and that they were man-crushing (with properly-aligned stat sheets, of course) two injury risks on the downslope of BLIP careers.
Well, it is a few months later and The Canadian Hard-en is playing long-toss on the Disabled list and the Young King is 10-12 with a 4.81 ERA.
Oh and, just like I FELT, Jered Weaver is 10-1 and since his call-up, his team has the best record in the big-leagues.
The lesson of the story: Mister Spock was the BAD GUY in that show.
Intentionally Altered Movie Lines:
Scioscia: Figgy, I need warp speed in three pitches or we're all dead.
Are you sick of second place? I know that I am sick of second place, and it has got to be gnawing at the Angel players, so it might sound irrational, and many people get antsy over rationalism being trounced, but, just for the next few weeks, fuck what you know and embrace what you feel: It is ours to be had, this is not a 2nd place team. It just ain't.
Beat My Runs and Hits Picks: LAA - 10, 19 ... SEA - 3, 7