Results tagged ‘ Josh Beckett ’
T time
Tony Gwynn said it every year. Paraphrasing:
Don’t talk to me about who shows up on Opening Day. Talk to me about who shows up the next day.
And the third. And so on. And he was right.
Opening Day winds up being populated by a lot of people you won’t see more than once or twice the rest of the year. They’re there for the event.
The folks who come back the next day and the day after that realize the event isn’t just Opening Day but everything that follows Opening Day, too. The marathon is the event. The miraculous comeback in May is the event. The blowout in August is the event. The whole thing is the event.
Opening Day is just like the birthday party.
So who showed up after Opening Day?
Brandon Inge did. Nick Markakis did. And Bonifacio! — Emilio did, two multi-hit games after his four-hit opener. Brad Lidge did, keeping his streak alive with another save to start off another season.
Miguel Cabrera and Josh Beckett did, although that’s sort of cheating saying Beckett since his was really an Opening Day start, delayed by a day. Cabrera didn’t get cheated at all with his two-homer game Wednesday.
Lots of guys showed up after Opening Day. Actually, they all showed up, and that was the point. Even if they didn’t do anything in any of these games, they show up trying to do something tomorrow. And keep on keeping on till there’s nothing left in October.
That’s what the Grind’s all about.
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Troy Tulowitzki,
Could this be a springtime sign?
Back to potential
Some moving stories
There’s something cool about a 6-foot-10 guy called Big Unit wearing a uni that says “Giants” on it. Kinda fits, no?
There’s something curious about a young superstar Matt Holliday having been traded, putting on the green and gold after wearing purple and black his whole career.
There’s something odd about seeing John Smoltz donning Red Sox and nothing that has little tomahawks on it.
And there’s nothing quite like that first week of Spring Training, is there?
Most of the players hitting the fields for the first time in 2009 are wearing the same uniforms they were wearing a year earlier, but plenty are donning new duds, and some changing colors for the first time. <p />
Randy Johnson has worn six uniforms in his career — seven if you count purple and red Diamondbacks/D-backs versions — but this one does seem to fit the XL in him. Others turn your head more abruptly, though. For example:
Seeing Holliday taking swings in the cage with Eric Chavez and A’s boomerang Jason Giambi, wow. And Smoltz going through drills alongside Josh Beckett and Dice-K? Weird.
But fun. Interesting. And perhaps more so if you’re not a fan of the Rockies or of the Braves, something to anticipate.
Like Trevor Hoffman’s first save opportunity for the Brewers, or Big Unit’s first home start at AT&T Park. Or whatever CC, AJ and Tex do in pinstripes. The list goes on.
An interesting crop of changelings, along with the boomerang boys like Griffey and Giambi, give us all ample opportunity to refresh our view of the stars this spring.
Yakyu haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Glavine three left turns
to greener pastures again…
still in Atlanta
Bottom line
Wow, a day when stuff off the field didn’t trump the stuff on the field and in the uniforms. What in the name of Yuri Sucart is going on around here anyway?
mlblogsthegrind1
Recent Comments