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It didn't have to be that way last night. All you need to know to believe me is to read the LOB column in the box score. That column reads 3-4-0-4-3-1-4-6-2-2-1-0. That adds up to 30. 13 Team runners Left On Base. But the W came home off the bat of Albert Pujols and on the fleet feet of Mike Trout. 6-4 in 11 innings.
I can't blame Matt Shoemaker for extra innings, but last night's game became tied at 11PM. Game start was 7:10PM. That makes for a 3 hour, 50 minute game of 9 innings. (4 hours, 40 minutes overall.) It was a Matt Shoemaker game. Counting his sterling 2 hour, 37 minute game back on April 20th, Shoey's games are averaging 3 hours and 19 1/2 minutes. Outside of the April 20th game, his outings average 3 hours and 28 minutes. So far this season, he is averaging 26.9 seconds between pitches, the slowest of his career. And the slowest starter on the team. And even more, the third slowest in all of Baseball. Just imagine if Shoemaker had lasted more than 5.1 innings. I think I know what Commissioner Manfred thinks about this............
General question for Bud Norris, in case you run across him in the produce section or something: what's the point of trying so hard to hold the tying run baserunner at first base, pickoff attempt after pickoff attempt, if you are merely going to issue a 4-pitch walk to the next batter and park that baserunner into run-scoring position anyway?
Have some I-Survived-The-Marathon-Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Kudos to Cameron Maybin. Maybin with a glove, and Maybin with a bat, and Maybin with a glove again.
Mike Trout cares little for your 0-2 count, Mr. Pitcher of Base Balls............By the way, Trout's hitting streak is up to 15 games but I still say the more remarkable thing is that across 28 games he has been held hitless only thrice.
Billy Eppler's journey to Anaheim............
Albert Pujols is not monitoring his milestones. Pretty smart approach to his waning production, since it keeps attention off of him as his salary increases.............
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Everywhere In Baseball
Let's roll out the big story right off the top. Adam Jones met one of the ugly sides of Boston Monday night. He was taunted with racists shouts from the crowd behind him, and had what turned out to be a bag of peanuts tossed at him. ........This is Boston fans jumping into the fray that is growing between the Red Sox and Orioles, which started over the weekend with a Manny Machado slide that injured Dustin Pedroia. That was followed by a pitch to the neighborhood of Machado's head, then an ejection and suspension of BoSox pitcher Matt Barnes. So Boston is rather pissy and I would guess that local radio has been making a stink out things. They booed the shit out of Machado on Monday, when the Orioles opened a series at Fenway. Machado trolled them hard with a nice homer and slow trot. Boston fans lit on the near target of Adam Jones. MLB is pissed off about. The Red Sox front office is pissed off about it. CC Sabathia informs us that this is what the jackanapes of Fenway do. Interesting to think that such a dick in the stands would feel that they could get away with such behavior with impunity, not having to suffer consequences from surrounding citizens......Well, last night a bunch of fans did feel compelled to show some contrition for their reputation. BoSux pitcher Chris Sale stepped off the mound to allow the fans the time to support Jones. Immediately after Jones, though, Sale sent a pitch behind Machado. So much for bygones. Machado would later homer off Sale in the 7th, and gives us another slow trot. And O's pitcher Donnie Hart would run a pitch up at the head of Red Sox prize rookie Andrew Benintendi later that same inning. Remember that the umpire warned both benches in the 1st inning after Sale threw behind Machado. Since the ump did not chuck Hart (And Orioles manager Buck Showalter), it was considered nothing more than a wild pitch. But don't think that Red Sox fans are going to ignore this. I can tell you that Machado ain't going to forget it. So things are getting more and more ugly between the two teams, and more and more ugly from the fans............
And the attitudes of Boston fans will certainly not be helped by some among the local media, who are not going out of their way to call Adam Jones a liar............
So now, unfortunately, the dialog turns to the idea of policing the stadium bleachers in order to enforce civility and respect............
The Yankees are off to a pretty good start, and have some pretty exciting players worth watching. But when you combine one of the most expensive stadiums with one one the worst opponents, you end up with one of your lowest attendance figures. Bandwagoners.............
Bryce Harper is hitting like an MVP again. Pretty like he was doing up to this time a year ago. Before he went out and started facing more than the worst pitching staffs in Baseball. So far he has faced pitching staffs that rank 10th, 17th, 19th, 22nd, 25th and 28th. But, looking forward, he's got a pretty good run until August. He should have the MVP wrapped up by then...........
Derek Jeter and the Bush family might not end up buying the Marlins. But Tom Glavine and the Romney family is certainly in the running............
Imagine if Ted Williams had not lost all those years to military service in two wars...........
The editors of The Athletic believe that the downfall of ESPN lies with the Internet, our choice for free content, and the MSM failing to find a way to monetize it. Then again, throwing up a pay wall and creating an app to drive people to that pay wall, as The Athletic does, is not a serious approach to engaging readership in the modern era.............
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The Duffle Bag
Perhaps the most quiet and confusing triple play you will ever see.........The Cubs' World Series trophy went to a concert, got messed up. That trophy knows how to party............The Yankees just learned a lesson. Don't point your stadium TV's where they will be facing home run distance baseballs.............A's prospect Casey Thomas has died at the age of only 24. You and I may not have known of him, but he was a part of our baseball family...........The Art of Fielding is being made into a movie............When measuring players who are rising or falling in their K rate, how is it that no mention is made of Trout? He's moved from a peak of about 30% in 2014, continuing to improve to ~23$ now...........
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