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I really picked a shitty time to watch JC Ramirez in person. Two brutal innings. Can't close out a batter with 2 strikes. Count close out an inning with 2 outs. Who the eff is calling the pitch selection, anyway? I'm sitting in the 3rd deck accurately predicting pitches. The two guys in front of me asked for lotto numbers. I shut up. I was being that guy...
And then, damage done anyway, we get to the 4th inning and Ramirez settled down, looking amazing. By then, who cared? And I got to watch Mike Trout hamstring his own hitting streak. I swear I was three times more passionate about the outcome than anybody in uniform. Sucks when that is your takeaway.
True to form, stay to the final out. Time for a comeback. Show some life. Show some give-a-shit. Show some patience and allow the few fans remaining to drain the parking lot before I walk all the way down. I do get a free preview of Kenyan Middleton. Way better than his previous outing. He actually struck a guy out before losing the strike zone, losing control of the game, and losing another 20% of the attendees. Oh shit! he struck out Justin Upton!! The same guy Ramirez greeted in the first inning with two outs with a sweet breaker directly into his power zone.
Bottom of the 9th. No such rally. No Yunel Escobar, 75% of the entire LAA offense. A KRod sighting, sure. But Angels lose 7-1, and it wasn't anywhere near as close as the score might lead you to believe.
Have some silent-drive-home-in-the-dark-to-crank-up-moar Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
It was just a couple of weeks ago that we learned that Andrew Bailey was soon set to throw a bullpen session. That should have been last week. Well, that session DID happen. And the result is that Bailey felt something and has been shut down until further notice..........
Damien had a far less than Magnifico first outing for Salt lake last night. He came into the game at the top of the 9th, Bees leading 6-2. Single, single, triple, coach's visit, strike out, single, coach's visit. Ugh............
Kaleb Cowart is not the answer to the sinkhole that Danny Espinosa has become. Just because Kowart has up-ticked his AAA batting average a bit does not, as Mike Scioscia points out, shortcut his path to experience as a defensive fielder at second base...........(By the way, folks, Andrelton Simmons is falling into that Espinosa sinkhole now. 2 for 33 over his last 9 games.)
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Everywhere In Baseball
The Oakland A's continue to make baby steps of progress towards moving out of their sewage dump and into a shiny new stadium. I may be reading this wrong, but it sure appears as if one of their favorite spots turns out to be right smack atop Laney College. I looked it up. Laney College is still in full operation. Maybe they are going to take over their sports facility land or something. Laney IS a part of Peralta Community College District, and there IS some land south of 5th & 8th as part of Peralta. Maybe that's it. The other site hot on their list is Howard Terminal. That's a nice, open, industrial parcel right on the water and, like Laney, not too far from downtown Oakland. But the big fear there would be some railroad tracks that fans need to cross to get onto the parcel. This is what the view of those tracks, heading onto the parcel, looks like from the street view. Yeah, that looks pretty formidable. I cannot imagine how such an obstacle could be dealt with to accommodate baseball fans seeking access to an appropriate venue? Can you??..........
Oh great. Now we have Sports Illustrated representing David Ortiz in a war of words with Bobby Valentine...........
Aha! The secret to success is out. Yonder Alonso is not amazingly better because of swing angle, as FanGrapsh suggests. And it is not because of the massive and sudden growth of his legs, as flailing suspects. Nope. It's a simple leg kick. Magic. Secret Sauce. Voodoo. Maybe it's just me, but I think that if Team Alonso wants to avoid suspicion, they should stick to the swing plane story...........
NY sports media is the worst. One guy, by way of example, finds a way to create a story rather than report a story, inventing a convoluted way to blame a lot of shit on a guy who is not even involved. Just because it's a good time to dogpile......I guess, by the logic, Harvey is responsible for blood clots, too...........
If I was walking around as King of All Baseball, just a couple of game out with about 79% of the season still to play, I wouldn't be pushing any panic buttons, either. But then, I'm not a suddenly spoiled-assed Cubs follower...........But here we are, coming up with all kinds of angles. Coming up with all kinds of excuses.............
Good call on my part. After confessing that mocking the Mets' being some kind of playoff team back in 2015 only to see them reach the World Series, I promised that I would not mock the high octane predictions for the Rockies. Smart(er) move...........
Fascinating. The yips can actually be medically diagnosed. As an actual physiological condition..............
Have I thanked MLB lately for moving the Houston Astros into the AL West, after 6 seasons of suckage where they capped off that run with 2 seasons of intentional tanking so they could reset their franchise just in time to dominate any other team that happened to find themselves in their neighborhood? We all thought we were finally getting our own doormat, the kind of team that gifts a 9-win head start on a Wild Card spot like the Rays had done for more than a decade for the Yankees and Red Sox. How stupid of us.............
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The Duffle Bag
Kevin Kiermaier is have a really, really sucky week...........Deadspin with some far more fun counter-programming to the MLB hype machine Derek Jeter moment tourney.............This is why we need netting everywhere. Maybe even out in the parking lots. People don't pay attention. Too busy doing anything else. Even with a no-hitter being tasted...........Brilliant Ball Boy snag, impressing even the pros............Somebody is a damned Michelangelo with the athletic tape............No comment necessary...............Ragnar Lothbrok launches a walk off.............From the Department of Hell Hath No Fury............
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Jordan Serena Destiny Watch
J-Ser had the night off last night. Calls to the 66er's Front Office for an explanation went unanswered. Having a wrong number might have been involved. But I would suggest this was actually some form of sympathy non-DL time out of respect for Mike Trout up in the Big Leagues. Just one more reason we should amazed at the character of this young man. Using NY MSM logic, it's clear that his mere presence was enough to drive the 66ers to a 5-3 win over Visalia, taking the series 2 games to 1. The legend grows.
Anyway, instead of any action recap, get some insight into the mind of The Vest Coast Vunderkind.
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