Friday, June 17, 2011

HERE AND THERE

***LET'S START WITH THE YANKS***
They say the Kentucky derby is the "...most exciting two minutes in sports." Maybe it's just me, but yesterday's game was the most boring seven innings in baseball. I guess that, like Paul O'Neil, I prefer 12-11 games rather than pitching duels, but I couldn't get interested in the game. Innings eight thru twelve were pretty good, though. The Yanks have been really lucky with their K-Mart pick-ups this year and Brian Gordon carried on the luck with five plus innings of good pitching, holding Texas to two runs. The Yanks did leave 13 men stranded yesterday, so they were close to dealing the Rangers another pasting.
Josh Hamilton does not look right. I know he got three hits the other day, but sometimes he swings like his back is bothering him.
I don't care about lefty-righty platooning. I'd rather see Gardner in there against lefties rather than Andruw Jones. As my Dad used to say, he's swinging like a rusty gate.

***WRIGLEY FIELD TODAY***
Everyone is talking about how historic this is, but in my opinion, Wrigley only looks good on TV. Annie-O and I attended a game there about 20 years ago and I found the seats too narrow, the rows too close together and our seats down the 3rd base line faced the left fielder. I spent the whole game craning my neck to the right to see the plate. I don't think it's improved any. Two hours before the game, I walked up to the second deck to take pictures and was treated very rudely by the ushers because my tickets were for the lower deck. I got my pictures, but the ushers weren't happy about it.
Yankee pitching coach, Larry Rothschild, is going home. He spent 9 years in Chicago and worked with Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano. I don't know if you really want to brag about those three, though. Two of them spend an inordinate amount of time on the DL and the third should spend a lot of time in anger management therapy.

***ODDITIES***
The Seattle Mariners are 1/2 game out of first, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are 2 games over .500 and only 3 games out of first. What's going on here?

Curt Schilling was the guest on ESPN's Cold Hard Facts, which, in his case, should have been called, Cold Hard Bull****. When asked if the Red Sox would win their division, he said they had the best lineup, the best starting pitching and, now that the relievers are doing better, they have the best bullpen. Well, I guess the season's over with. Thanks for saving us from watching the rest of the season, Curt.

The Mets lost a game when their pitcher balked with a runner on third in the 10th inning. ESPN, in a rare moment of lucidity, called it a "balk-off."
Speaking of balks, yesterday Al Leiter finally stated publicly, that ALL left-handers balk when they throw to first. Umpires allow them to step toward first at a 46 degree angle, when the rules specifically state that they "..must step DIRECTLY toward the base they are throwing to." Apparently, the umpires not only decide on their own what the strike zone is, they also have come up with a new definition of "directly."

The Yanks Andruw Jones and Jose Torrealba got into a little set-to a couple of days ago, when the Texas catcher accused Jones of stealing signs. First of all, there is no rule in baseball against stealing signs. Secondly, no one says you have to give signs, and if you do give signs, you do so at your own risk. As Jones says, " When you're getting blasted, you have to blame somebody."

***PERSONAL NOTES***
Picasner & family also congratulate Vod's #2 son on his achievement in medicine. Psychiatry would have been a good choice, since there is probably a career case study looking him in the face in the form of Daddy. Congratulations also go out to Chad's grandson, Andrew, who, in this week alone, took first place in the Scribner Road School Geography Bee and the Spelling Bee. (Must be the good genes)

CP-

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