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Bleed Cubbie Blue

Overflow Thread: Cubs vs. Pirates, Friday 4/18, 1:20 CT

Hope it's not raining right now.

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Comments

Dang Fukudome out
Weird foul tip...

INTO Paulino’s chest protector….

Why isn't that an out?

He didn’t drop it…

Quoth Ron Santo:

“These fingers couldn’t text anything.”

I'd love to get one more out of Richie
and would love to get to his spot next inning for a PH
Nope, Lieber in.
ask and ye shall not receive

my crystal ball doesn’t lie

I guess lou didn't want to temp fate
I don't blame him...

...and Leiber needs work to stay sharp anyway.

Yeah, he's probably trying to build Hill's confidence.

I hope Rich gets the win.

NEW PITCHER

32 Lieber RHP

Jon Lieber is an absolute horse...
we will see...

marmol and woody today… both well rested

what was

Ritchie’s pitch count?

82
82

But only 49 for strikes. Would love to see a much higher strike/ball ratio but let’s get the win first then work on control.

I was a "meh" voter

back when the Cubs got Lieber, but now I am like the Buddy Jesus with the thumbs up. find that pic for me too Santoswoodenlegs! :-D

I still think there is a spot in the rotation for him...

he works fast which the Defense behind loves… and yes, what a horse

Here comes the Marshall
Was that a confidence builder for Lieber, too?
he just pitched yesterday
Did he?

I didn’t know that.

I dunno - but I don't really like burning bull pen pitchers in the sixth with the lead.
Lou is using that bridge...

...to get the end result. The way Hill was behind in the count all day, he was just asking for a big inning anyway.

Talk about polar opposites - Lieber is a strike machine!!
Lieber only faces 3 hitters - slacker
there is a fine line

between efficient and lazy isn’t there? lol

haha

I like that.

Marshall is what...

6’ 12” ?—Tom Arnold

I missed Arnold yesterday.....heard he was tanked though
I thought he went through rehab.
He did.

He’s just a hyper person and comes across as thought he’s on something.

Tom Arnold

wouldnt be anywhere without Roseanne

In fact.

he can’t go anywhere w/out her. Her gravitational pull is rather strong these days. Have u seen her? Tom must have been high and/or drunk to marry that. ALthough, he is from Iowa

I resemble...

that remark!

If Lou would have let...

...a guy who is 8 for 14 hit against, Leiber, and he crushed one, everyone would be all over him.

Ah, the truth is revealed.

And Marshall gets it done. Very nice.

Hey D Lee

is it a coincidence your bobblehead doll had a gold glove?

If I have to hear one more Cards fan

saying that Pujols is a better fielder…I’m going to lose it…

No way no how.
Um.

Pujols is a better fielder than Lee. Just because he’s a Cardinal doesn’t mean we have to try and deny that.

start drinkin early today did we?

it shows

Pujols can't throw. Or range to the right like Lee can.

It has nothing to do with him being a Cardinal…He also has had a better infield to work with (most importantly Eckstein) which makes a huge difference.

Pujols would have been a plus defensive third baseman...

...for any other team in the majors; he just happened to have been blocked by Scott Rolen, an exceptional defensive third baseman. Pujols is the real deal defensively.

He is not better than Lee defensively

period.

Well, I'm glad you're around to clear that up for us.

Glad to see you’re able to back your arguments up with something other than simple force of will, too.

But I don't see much more than will in yours, either.
Pujols is a better fielder than Lee. Just because he’s a Cardinal doesn’t mean we have to try and deny that.

Do you have some numbers? I’d be interested in ‘em.

According to the Fielding Bible...

...Pujols is the most amazing defensive first baseman pretty much ever. I exaggerate, but not by much.

Lee was also injured in '06

so that is not a fair comparison. Who knows what those rankings would be if he had played in 2006

Well, let's look at 2007 only...

...and Lee doesn’t even crack the leaderboards.

We can do this all day – look at UZR, TotalZone… if you give me time, I can even look up numbers on first basemen picking balls out of the dirt. Pujols is simply an amazing defensive first baseman.

Lee also has a better fielding percentage

(taking out the small ‘06 sample) and fewer errors…Which to me, seems more valuable than plus/minus….By your logic you would rather have Kotchman, Overbay, Klesko or Pena than Lee? Because that’s what your argument is turning into…

Fielding percentage only measures...

...a small part of a fielder’s ability – it completely ignores a fielder’s range, for the most part. +/- does a much better job of accounting for range.

So Carlos Pena and Ryan Klesko. Really? Really?
seeems odd

that lee wouldn’t even be in the top 11. especially odd that he’d be behind klesko. and just looking at the plus minus methodology, there would seem to be all sorts of chances for problematic results. number of chances, for one.

and pujols complete inability to throw the ball must count for something, even if the plus minus range can’t account for it.

that said, he has really good hands and is a lot better than cubs fans give him credit for.

Pretty sure that Fielding Bible...

...normalizes +/- out to 150 opportunities.

As far as throwing arm – how important is the throwing arm on a first baseman, anyway?

If youve watched Lee

and I know you have. You can answer that question yourself, very strong, very accurate turns the DP at first better than any righty Ive seen.

Which adds up to less than 20 plays per season.

First basemen don’t start a lot of double plays.

Better than having a bad arm
Sure.

But you have to evaluate it in the context of the entirety of a player’s skillset.

interesting

would’ve guessed more. pujols actually started a lot more apparently. have to factor in the pitching staff here, of course. but apparently his arm isn’t as bad as it was when he was in left.

Not necessarily THAT important...

...but still noteworthy that his arm is a liability, and he NEEDS surgery.

At some point, yes, Pujols needs TJ surgery.

But that doesn’t change the fact that he is almost in a league of his own when it comes to first base defense.

Since we are running out of room...

...and neither of the aforementioned has the “scrappy attribute” I might just chalk this up to a draw. Which Bill James would apparently disagree with. I watch a lot of Pujols since every game is on FSN here, but still would rather take Lee (bias aside) from a defensive standpoint.

Bill James is largely a branding issue.

Fielding Bible is created by John Dewan, the guy who created Zone Rating for STATS, Inc. Really smart guy.

I don’t have access to Excel here at work, so I can’t look up the UZR stats from 2005 and see how those look.

Let me know when you do...

I would actually be really interested to read them!

not massively important

but important. turning the DP. making throws after cutting off throws from the outfield.

hard to tell from that link if it is indeed normalizing.

and again, it’s an interesting system, but i question a full loyalty to a system that wouldn’t rank lee in the top 11 and would put klesko ahead of him. klesko’s one of those “make easy plays look really hard” 1basemen to me.

Klesko looks like a one-year aberation to me, honestly.

I’d have to dig around in the data more to see how I felt about Klesko’s defense, and I don’t think anyone here actually cares that much about the answer to that. And you have to account for regression to the mean.

Guys like Pujols, Mientkiewitcz, and Youklis, who consistantly put up great numbers – those I believe pretty confidently in.

yeah

i agree with all three of those. and seeing these numbers gives me a lot more respect for pujols than i had.

but i’d love to see an explanation for why lee does so poorly in this. i mean, i can see why jeter would appear to be making great plays but not actually do well in zone rating. but lee? constantly digging balls out, constantly catching line drives that shorter, slower first basemen wouldn’t….seems strange.

I don't have one readily available.

Looking at THT’s ZR stats, it looks like Lee was close to Pujols (but not quite as good) in 2004 and 2005. After that he kind of fell off the table. It’s something I’d like to take a closer look at once I can get home and have access to more data.

Maybe 2007 was just an overall down year for Lee after his lost 2006 season, and we can expect his defense to bounce back along with his hitting this season. Here’s hoping, anyway.

sounds reasonable

maybe he was gunshy after the way he broke his wrist.

Sweet, thanks.

I’d seen this before but lost track of its location. Thanks cwyers.

Pot calling kettle black?
He was actually

moved to LF when Rolen got to STL, but then was an injury liability so he was put at first…Not disputing that he is a great fielder, just don’t think as good as Lee. And he needs Tommy John (is the word in St Louis)

Cards fan?

Are you sure that wasn’t Marty Brenneman who said that?

i hear it everyday at school from them...

But maybe I’m just a classless fan (Brenneman theory…)

No double switch? I guess Marshall is history...
why
somebody will get on - pitchers spot coming up
We'd need a baserunner first.
ask and ye shall receive
now he's definitely done
I thought Mark Grace was good...

but D Lee is in a league by himself…

Rich was pretty good today.

He has great stuff. Just needs to get ahead.

base hit for Reed!
I love me some

Reed Johnson.

Don't Jinx him!
Soto...

...continues to impress me. That breaking ball (on outiside corner) he drove to right center, was something only 1 or 2 other guys on the team could have done.

He is developing very good pitch recognition and he doesn’t miss too many fastballs that are hittable – the sign of a good hitter.

He's strong...

... I hope he develops that opposite field power.

Time to pour it on

NOW! c’mon D Ward—you’re Due too

he is waaaaay due
nice time for your first base hit daryle
* of the season
Johnson...

Has been a pleasant surprise this year. Especially since he kinda just fell into our laps.

Nice ball player - A good Henry pickup
While some of us are speaking

about D-Lee. I really think he is climbing the ranks of greatest Cubs of all time.

D Ward has been a bit of a disappoint
Ward is not someone you should worry about

he has solid at bats

I'm not worried - just wish had gotten out of the blocks sooner
Ward is kinda Cedeno-y thus far
Ward wishes he had Cedeno's production thusfar on the season.
Poor Cedeno...

can we change that “damnit” phrase for a while to “Fontenot?”

That's a good idea

pass it around a little bit.

Okay, but...

... I want to go down in BCB lore as the guy that started it!

I hope it becomes my legacy, and/or, epitath.

You mean Pie
Pie would be ok to toss in there too

only I would be more inclined to say things like he must have had some poo pie before the game.

We'd be just as good with...

Micah Hoffpauir off the bench.

I agree with that too

He was hot during ST

We kind of pooped on that opportunity
That's for Sue to decide.
Home from work

Listened to the last inning on XM on the way home, but missed the first part of the game… how did the scoring happen?

I love getting off early on fridays…

E-Pat

needs to get more playing time. He seems alittle rusty. He is not the type to get better by sitting on the bench.

He shouldn't be rusty...

...because he has been getting AB’s at AAA. He looks like he is overly anxious and trying to do too much.

EPat isn't

impressive at the plate at all. I’ll take a slumping __ (fill in the blank) over him any day of the week and twice on sunday

how many at bats

have you seen of him in your life? today only? give the kid a break

he was hitting the ball hard...

in AAA.

Despite his .222 BA?
as far as it goes....I think Patterson will be fine

and to judge him on today’s game is weak, IMO>

Batting average measures how hard the ball was hit?

I never knew that!

Exactly

Thank you, Lemon. He’s had low BA in the minors, why would we expect it to be better in the bigs?

He had a relatively high contact rate...

...there are a hundred things clubs look at these days besides just batting average before they call people up. BA is the result of hitting, yes, but also defense and ballparks and weather and whatnot…

From my anectdotal evidence of half-watching the game and 1/2 watching twin toddler boys, he hit the ball deep into the outfield hard 4 times at the game I saw.

sorry but i'm just

not impressed with his swing or his choice of pitches to swing at.

little early to be making judgements
E Patt

should forfeit that RBI to someone else to make up for his crappy performance.

Wicked 2 seamer from Marmol today...
Lou trying to get 2 innings out of Marmol today?
or will he risk Howry/Wuertz in the 8th?
2 innings is what my crystal ball says...

and its never wrong

No...

we’ll probably see Hart in the 8th.

I was just about to ask that

lol

Maybe - long weekend coming though
I think Lou tries to get 3-4 innings out of Marmol every single ballgame.

He wants to break the record for most relief innings pitched in a season.

JUST

a bit outsiiiiiiiide!

Harry Doyle would be proud
your handle reminded me of it!!!
Marmol = good stuff for my fantasy team
good game so far
how was hill today?
Marmol is our

Joba Chamberlain. I wonder how would of progressed as a starter. He always had the stuff of a #1.

always got hit

2nd or 3rd trip through the lineup when guys saw that nasty slider

I think he's in the right spot now
yeah,

but he has learned how to “pitch”. He “threw” alot when he was called up intially.

He seems a lot more mature now. He was kind of a deer in the headlights. He's good a lot of confidence and he knows he can get good hitters out
Marmol is unhittable.
Very good slider...

...but when they call them strikes 3-4 inches off the plate, no one will touch him.

Marmol = DIRTY
I would kill to have an arm like Marmol - what a stud
Me too...only it wouldn't match the rest of my while body...

but I wouldn’t mind.

"white body"
With an arm like that, who cares?

n/t

When Marmol can throw that slider...

at the batters butt…and make it hit the inside of the K zone…it’s not even fair.

Lieber and Marmol

Have the exact same ERA 1.64

Not anymore

Marmol’s is now 1.59

White Castle

is in FI-YAH!

MARMOL DOMINATES!!!
Carlos Marmol

is good at baseball

sweet

It’s a K-fest with Marmolon the mound

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night. What a nasty pitch!!
that should be..

on baseball tonight, tonight..

Sorry, Yankees and Red Sox both have games today.
said that to my ex

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night. What a nasty (rhymes with) pitch!!

lol!!
Rhymes with pitch?

As in Fitch Park? I don’t know, it seemed pretty nice for a ST facility to me….

Could Marmol be a starter?
I say no

he is one hell of a fireman. a fabulous weapon to pull out of the arsenal.

tried it in '06

without much success…

If Wood

can be a closer, why not? Similar make up no?

He was an interim starter for us a couple years ago I believe
When he did

he seemed to tire after 3 or 4 innings. Delivery got a little sloppy. I always thought he would be better in the pen.

I say yes.

I know i’m the minority. But he has improved since he started in 06. He started in Iowa in 07 and dominated and then came up to the MLB and was converted as a reliever.

Problem wasn't his stuff

Even in ‘06 he started most games with good stuff but then tired. He may just not have the stamina for more than an inning or two.

I guess.

I mean he threw alot of pitches, and as a result he got tired. But like I said he started in Iowa and progressed, and he dominated. I think he would be a great starter. But I also think he’s just as good if not better closer/set-up man. Like I said, he is our Joba.

Marmol

shouldn’t start… but be a bad ass closer? indeed—its such a good problem to have

The guys

did a nice job singing.

WTF were the clown singing TMOTTBG?
chicago blackhawks....
agree
sorry meant

to post under love the ivy

That was a really good 7th Inning stretch

always good to hear.

How was Hill today?

Couldn’t see him pitch. I saw on gameday he was erradic at first

effectively erratic...if that makes sense

a lot of junk today - as in off speed stuff - got out of a few jams effectively… but stupid walks (i.e. the pitcher)

OK just abit on the wild side still
but at least he is progressing, right?
when he missed it was usually up in the zone...which isnt good...

but he was OK

as someone pointed out earlier

if we weren’t playing the Bucos… it’d be a whole diff ballgame indeed

A patient team would have had his lunch today
He improved.

A step in the right direction.

between

a 4th and 5th starter

gah!! come on Rammy

don’t swing on 3-0

Yeah really

What was that?

Lilly and Hill

both a little better this time around…good sign, no?

as in should we feel better?

yes… but it’s still the pirates.

marmol back out
this is a fine decision
I agree - Only 14 pitches last inning
maybe I jinxed him
told u..

my crystal ball doesn’t lie.

shit

3-2

i believe the word you're looking for is...

poop

Oh Fontenot!
Many thanks!

FONTENOT!

What did he do?

Is he in the game ? Only following the score

Throw hard,

hit hard.

This guy

is unbelievable!

Wish we had him...

but Pirates would be really stupid to trade him…

The wind

might have helped that a bit

Great ab though...

Marmol put it where he wanted too…just really good piece of hitting

Yeah, McClouth has the makings of a Cub Killer of the future. Good hitter.
yeah.

Barely got out.

McLouth can play ball!
Im thankful for Eric Pattersons RBI
Is it just me...

or does Marmol seem to fall off when he pitches more than one inning? I think I would tend not to use him for more than one inning unless absolutly necessary.

Nah,

he just put the bat on the ball. Nate just did a good job, buddy.

Is Jack Wilson still on the Bucs?
DL

I believe …

Gary Varsho!

bench coach for Pirates…BCB regular!

see wicked slider and another K
I have McClouth on my fantasy team

Kudos to me

While we have Alfo out...

I say we give D-Ward another start. He was killing the ball in ST…it’d be nice to give him 4 AB’s or so to get on the board for the season.

White Castle

mmmmm sliders

Did I miss something?

...what are all these white castle references?

That's what those burgers are called

sliders.

Ahh...see...

You don’t have Maidrite in Chicago… No White Castle in Iowa.

horrible

3-1 pitch! Go after Nady, Carlos!

I don't like this....

X-nads is a good hitter….. bad feeling in the gut

If Marmol

could throw an off-speed pitch…he’d be unhittable.

Did theriot just dive at a ball20 feet from him
He is, in fact, Pasta Diving Theriot.
You mean Pastadivin?
I love how he dove into 3B earlier when he didn't need to...

...a sure fire sign of scrappyness.

shitachi mushrooms!
Did Theriot

dive for that ball 10 feet away?

lol red said same thing
basehit

could have been worse

Just One More

OUT—c’mon Fans… help him out

stand up crowd!
im sitting

but im at work…no one is working here, fridays are pointless

Marmol

Finish Him!

MaKe SoMe NoISe!!!!!

High Heat

This is

KILLING ME!

throw him a breaking ball

disagree bob

slider down and in ends this at bat
Laroche is a K machine

come on ring him up

Finish him

Karate Kid reference?

Mortal Kombat reference
Mortal Combat
Thank you

didn’t know…not a gamer.

this is from like 1995
That's a reference

from way back in the Nintendo days, lol. That is when you were doing the dizzy dying spin and the opponet finishes you off and blood goes everywhere. It was actually pretty controversial at the time. I thought it was from before 95 though.

I think it was Sega
Yeah, def wasn't Nintendo!
Look here for what the almighty Wiki says about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_kombat

Technically, yeah!

It could be a Karate Kid reference. The graphic though is a giveaway.

now you go back up stairs with high fastball
Generally speaking...

...you need to sometimes throw the “wrong” pitch in a sequence in order to keep the hitter from sitting on the pitch. So even if the high heat is the optimal pitch to throw in that situation (I’m at work, so I don’t know if it was or wasn’t) you can’t throw it all the time.

C'mon, I was supposed to be at a meeting five minutes ago.
hahah

lets get some insurance for woody

Great AB

for LaRoche

strike out!!!

hi oh!

YEAH!!

All I can think of

with all this White Castle talk is Harold and Kumar. I can’t wait to see the new one.

Yum, yum, yum.....

I want sum, sum..

I'm starvin like marvin !!!!
I can't stand white castle sliders

nasty,

Give me a In ‘n out double double any day

Animal Style!
Animal style fries baby..

Now thats not fair!!!

mmmmmmm

is that gravy?
grilled onions, thousand island dressing, and cheese...
Thousand Island dressing with chopped onions and cheese.......

but don’t tell anyone, its a secret

You have to go to an L & L Hawaiian Barbecue...

to get good gravy fries.

please tell me where

If you go to Uncommon Ground, near Wrigley, you can get Biscuits and Gravy Eggs Benedict….fricken amazin

I will second that

but until we get a Mormon who can throw “animal style” we will have to suffice with White Castle

Amen.

In-N-Out rules.

I freaking love In-N-Out Burger

Amazing cheeseburgers.

Any place with a secret menu is tops in my book.

Never had

White Castle.

IMO

you’re not missing much.

i recommend it

but not more than once every 3 years

or when your wasted
A rite of passage...

:)

It;s good going down

but get ready for the yeah! pepto bismal!

Hmmm, maybe

I’m glad I haven’t tried one then.

WHEW!

alright… some insurance runs here might bring my blood pressure out of the red zone

43 pitches for Marmol...

hope we get ahead big tomorrow.

Chill...

that’s why Lou didn’t go with Hart for the 8th.

no worries..

Lieber still has 40 innings left in him this weekend lol

Lieber is a modern day Will White...

...anyone who is not familiar- this is my favorite stat line. EVER. Behold.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/whitewi01.shtml

How do you pitch 680 innings and only walk 68?

Nice…

After all that

Ill bet his best memoryt would be his 1 home run.

It appears Dusty managed back then...
Len says

Fukudome is MLB’s most patient hitter. 4-point-something pitches seen per plate appearance.

Too bad

he swung at ball 4 though

I read an article today

that said at its publication Fukudome had only swung at 11 pitches out of the strikezone all year. Unreal.

Amazing how he makes it look so simple
C'mon Geo

go yard

Also pretty patient...

if my mind serves correctly

I wish that patience would wear off on Pie
a homer here

would be preferable over just getting on base. not a lot of game left

good eye

2 out rally would be just what the Dr ordered

or we hope for

someone else to do it now

For the 9th

Put Pie in CF. Shift Johnson to left and move ReRosa back to 2nd and then you might actually have good fielders in close to their regular spot
( don’t know how much LF Johnson has played

doh!

thats how it is now

love the high socks, Brian MacRae...

...I mean Johnson.

Aye...

Pressure’s on Woody

To the ninth with...

zantac

I was thinking...

Wild Turkey, but same idea.

that'll work too
or the pepto I

suggested to Sue upon he first White Castle meal

Ok into the boss' office for the bottom of the 9th

Gotta love that he’s also a diehard.

please hire me
OK Woody

Go after these guys – hate this…one mistake can cost you.

Woody never feels pressure...

Who's up for the Pirates?

n/t

mientkiewicz, bautista, and a PH
I anticipate seeing good Wood

No Fontenotish pitches allowed today!

I don't know about you ...

but I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!

um.................

alrighty then

1 in the well...

2 to push in

hehehe

good one…never heard that..:)

1 down

2 more left

2 pitches

1 out!

Yes DLEE

best 1st baseman in the leauge (just kdding cwyers)

97 MPH for Kerry
that's some...

GAS!

what is up with the Cards schedule

they are playing these shitty teams early on, and Wellemeyer is pitching well for them? That is just BS

won't last
he isnt pitching deep into games though
Strike machine

why couldn’t he do that as a starter…he was wild.

WHIFF

Do I smell a 1 run winning?

thanks EPAT for your fielders choice…come on woody

ONE MORE Left!!

until Steve Goodman!

cubs win!

ha

great timing, you had that ready to go.

Clap Clap Clap!
if only

i could fire them off as fast as you!

I think you just got

a bravo from the guru of pics!

Good part of the batting order for us
Katta Katta Mata Katta!

Just accidentally woke up and witnessed the final moment…
Dome’s triple was good one?

Kachi - the flag for win

Good night happy Cubs fans!

HEY--------CUBS WIN
Yes...

but of course, all triples usually are. He made a great catch in foul territory as well.

I love that dragon!!!
Nothing cheap about his triple!
How about waking up to a Cubs victory, df?

And yes, it was a great triple. Hit it deep to CF, McLouth stretched out and had it go off his glove. Dome sprinting all the way around the bases for a triple.

Can you remind me

what katta katta mata katta translates to, please?

"We won! We won! We won again!"
I love it.

Thanks dragons!

thank you guys

it’s almost 6AM,,,, going back to sleep….

WOOHOO

Cubs win!!!!!!!!

With ease

Photobucket

I like that one the best!

nice pic!

the first line of my signature says it all
The flag is all ready back up on the porch!

Had to take care of that first thing!

Where do you live

Im about to start that tradition as weell

Canton, IL

The neighbros enjoy it

I try to keep it

proudly displayed on win days and loving place it inside on the days without a win. Someone asked if I have an L flag. What kind of Cubs fan would do that??? I guess I might expect that out of a really disturbed hate filled Cards or Sox fan.

Yeah

Photobucket

Is that Chris Farley?
I can't resist...

O. M. G. HA HA.
that's insane! LOL
oh that poor girl....
Wow, she

does resemble him.

I just pissed myself

This is the funniest thing i think I’ve ever seen.

SWL...

...that’s a fine piece of work.

Keep em coming.

he does look like he

may have a piece of polish sausage lodged in the lining of his heart, lol!

Hey how many heart attaaaacks is thaaaat for you there Bob?
That makes a baker's dozen.
Gives ya somethin to shoot for.
6 pitch save for Kid K!

n/t

Looked good out there...
He looked awesome on Gameday! LOL

Love it when the last PH swings at the first pitch.

Fly it baby Fly it!!!!!!!!!!!
6 pitches for Kerry

nice

And somewhere in Ohio

A broadcaster gently weeps.

oh yes

another great thought to top off this game!

Isn't funny how............

stats can be deceiving. Rich Hill is now 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Not quite representative of how he has thrown this year.

Hill

It was smart of Lou to take Hill out after 5, when he was looking a bit shaky but still had a chance to win. Hopefully a confidence builder for Rich.

Meanwhile, with just 6 pitches today, Woody should be available for two innings tomorrow if needed. I guess Marmol won’t be an option, so maybe Howry will step up.

Lou managed a good game today.

He seems to be getting a real good feel for how the guys can perform.

That's why each...

...single pitching performance can be so deceptive.

The only think he had today, was good break on his curve ball, but he had no clue where the ball was going. He was very fortuanate to give up one run to a poor hitting team.

He really needs to get this command stuff straigtened out.

Works every time.

Leave for my meeting, come back to a win. Great to hear Woody mowed them down again.

Let's hope

Next time Hill can go more than 5 innings.

I love the way Lou is using Marmol. It would be a shame if Marmol was turned into one of those ubiquitous one-inning relievers who seem to think they should never have to face more than three batters per appearance. He’s too good to waste in that role.

Yeah, but...

...if that role puts a WS ring on his finger I bet he wouldn’t mind.

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