Results tagged ‘ Jake Peavy ’
2,430
Stream of consciousness in the wee hours PT between the Sunday opener and Opening Monday, the happiest day in ball:
One down, 161 to go? Nope. One down, 2,429 to go.
CC’s career doesn’t depend on Monday’s start, but it sure will make its mark on it, one way or the other.
Petco Park and Jake Peavy should be enough to contain Manny Ramirez, especially with his self-professed lack of AB’s. But it probably won’t be.
Rays-Red Sox: The new “it” rivalry in baseball.
Predictions: Red Sox over Cubs, Red Sox/Indians/Angels/Rays and Phillies/Cubs/Dodgers/Mets, Sizemore/Sabathia/Francona/Wieters and Manny/Zambrano/Piniella/Schafer.
Line of the spring: “He should put a towel on.” — Randy Johnson, to real Tim Lincecum about video-game Tim Lincecum.
OK, real line of the spring: “One hundred percent. I’d sign up right now. This has been one of the best baseball experiences I’ve had in my career. This is an incredible honor. I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun. I’d recommend it to anybody. If you’d let me sign up right now, I’d do it.” — David Wright on the World Baseball Classic.
What does Opening Day mean to you?
Can’t remember the last time Opening Day got snowed out a day early. White Sox, figures.
The A’s could be this year’s Rays.
The Rays could be this year’s Angels.
The Angels could be this year’s Yankees.
The Yankees could be this year’s Tigers.
The Tigers could be this year’s Giants.
The Giants could be this year’s Brewers.
The Brewers could be this year’s Indians.
The Indians could be this year’s Red Sox.
The Red Sox could be this year’s Phillies.
Whoa.
March Madness? How about April Awesomeness — 12 straight hours of ball on the tube or streamed on the laptop?
Dang. Only 2,429 to go.
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Lowe blow in Philly,
Braves hammer it in April –
Only one game though
Grind Confessional
Yikes, The Grind did go on hiatus for a few days (again with the false advertising up top, oy). But it’s that time of year when it’s more important to get set up for every day in the regular season, right? Uh, right. Anyway, back to the Grind, and ready for 2009, all official-like. And after Opening Monday, it’ll start in earnest with Tony Gwynn Day on Tuesday — explanation pending there.
Neder saw this coming
How weird is it to think that Team USA in an elimination game? Not that weird, considering how the World Baseball Classic has gone for America’s team thus far, not exactly a model of consistency and proficiency.
How weird is it to think that it’s The Netherlands who could give USA the boot?
Yeah, that’s a little weird. OK, a lot weird.
But honestly, isn’t it something worth watching, and isn’t something that you had to hope for heading into this Pool 2 second round in Miami? Big, bad U.S. taking on cute, orange Netherlands. Too cool.
It got there in an ugly way for USA, a mercy-rule loss to Puerto Rico, 11-1. This one got away early, and you might say it got away before the game’s first pitch.
Ah, yes, said it right here in this space yesterday: “Dustin Pedroia will do something that makes Team USA win a game.” Got that backwards. Should have been Pedroia will do nothing, and Team USA will lose the game — that’s nothing, as in he’s got a mild strain in his left side, bye-bye, paging Brian Roberts.
And, boy, did it ever go downhill from there. Jake Peavy had another tough one, and the stacked ‘Ricans absolutely pounced. This is a very dangerous club, Puerto Rico.
As we all know, so is The Netherlands. After two upset victories over the D.R., the Dutch haven’t been blown out yet, making Venezuela a little nervous for a while Saturday.
Makes for an intriguing matchup that any aficionados of Team USA have to hope is a nice, boring game, followed by a nice salute to the Dutch’s run. They do not want it to be history.
Because, as you know, that’ll mean that they are.
A world of ball — Classic
Ichiro, Papi and Jeter. Bay, Morneau and Peavy.
See you in St. Louis for the All-Star Game?
Well, probably. But, first, see you in San Juan for the World Baseball Classic. And Toronto, Mexico City and Tokyo. And then Miami and San Diego.
Then, finally, in Los Angeles, at venerable Dodger Stadium for the finals.
Baseball’s round-the-world journey of a tourney is about to begin, and the stars are shifting their springs around to play for their countries. The rosters were set Tuesday, and the first games are about a week away.
Can it top 2006? Absolutely not. There’s no way to recapture the newness, the freshness and, for most everyone, the surprising degree of entertainment and competition. From the fundamentals and fire of the Cubans to the wave of Korean fans in Anaheim to Aki’s celebratory shout in San Diego, it was an amazing spectacle — and considering Team USA didn’t exactly set the world on its ear, that’s saying something.
But the 2009 Classic will be something to watch. WBC 2.0 is just brimming with possibilities, starting with possible redemption for the U.S. But what’s cool is that there is a world of possibilities, starting with defending champ Japan’s chances of repeating.
How much has Cuba’s team changed? You know it still has a battery of Pedro Lazo and Ariel Pestano that can stack up with anybody, and a ton of talent throughout. How much better are the teams on the lower end of the totem pole, like South Africa and Australia? And how about China?
Ah, more ball to discuss. More teams, more players to watch in a different setting. It’s the World Baseball Classic again, and it’s a good thing.
What’s not to like?
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Ichiro, sumo
in the sun, just watch him hit!
Some kind of freak, dude
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