His latest start on Friday night 7/25 was great. I was chatting with a friend for the last few innings but MB's 7 innings got charted. 2 ER, 4 hits, NO WALKS, 5 K. Pitch counts per inning: 15, 8, 7, 15, 11, 13, 14. 83 thrown over 7 innings. VERY impressive.
The JUICE improved to 5-0 on the season as of yesterday morning. 5 wins was our goal for 2009 in total. we were so terrible last year, and the thing is, nothing has changed. we have three new people taking the places of 3 players from last year. that's it. new management. it's remarkable. we come out on top every game by 10+ runs. i did just fine... the field was larger than regulation size so one particular at-bat could have been more, as I made as solid contact as i've made all season and drove it on a line to the 2nd baseman. the infield was so much bigger to begin with. i got a hit, and i did well in left field, assisted in a double play even :) not commonly done from way out there.
Charlie Zink.. walked about a batter per inning on sunday, but in the end only gave up a few hits (didnt score it... he went 6 innings, and i think it was only 2 hits through 5 innings, with 2 more in the 6th). We won, he got the win, it was pretty nice. They were making contact off him but not productively. Made sure I was there early to see him warm up (arrived well before that though, in time to catch a few side sessions featuring Gonzalez, Bowden, and Johnson.. that was an unexpected surprise) and was just as fascinated watching him pitch up close as I had been a couple weeks earlier. What a sweet pitch, the knuckleball. I've mused with friends here and there over the idea of pitchers learning the knuckler, not as a primary pitch, but as something to pull out a few times each game, to really just mess around with batters. They wouldnt have to be really strong knuckleballers, they'd just have to be able to command it (as much as you can command it) one pitch at a time, a handful each game. I wonder why pitchers dont. Maybe it's just that tough to throw correctly.
...here it is, nearly 48 hours after i started this post. Finally, it's hot out, the sun is shining. While i was walking outside during lunch, I actually thought to myself...
*Wild Thing just came on. PAPELBON flashed into my mind*
...I actually thought to myself that I was glad I was working today and out of the sun. Sounds crazy? Ever since I read about Kelli Pedroia's story a year or so ago, I have had very little desire to sit out in the sun. Dont get me wrong... I love playing outside. I love walking around Boston in the sun. I love sitting out on the lawn before a Paw Sox game, I love going to the beach though I never do anymore. But as I get "older" (almost 24, wow dee dow) I think more and more about the long-term reality of the body i'm living in. I have one semi-significant sunspot on my back and I really dont care to acquire any more. I'm also terrible at taking the time to put on sunscreen, so if I'm in the sun for more than 30 minutes I am burnt. It's just not good for me. Thankfully I've found good ways to be out and enjoying the warmth... more often than not I'm under an overhang at Fenway or McCoy, and even if I'm not I'm generally at evening games. Working through the day helps too for the same reason- when I get out, I can play soccer or wiffleball as the sun is fading.
When I was learning about audio engineering in college it changed the way I treat my ears. When I hurt my back in high school pole vaulting, it changed things too (it's never been the same... regardless of phys training sessions, etc, I think my back is always going to be slightly damaged goods from here on out). I'm really hoping I can continue to be smart about the sun/my skin.
This is a crazy tangent I just went off on.
Another day is passing by, and we still have some of the guys I've been most fearful that we'll lose. Watched another Bowden interview... he's got great composure, very well spoken- granted, everyone asks him the same things so he should have his answers down pat!
..speaking of whom, Twitter just informed me that the Red Sox made an offer of Buchholz, Bowden, and Westmoreland for Halladay. my heart is racing. i am not happy, and i dont understand this trade. i dont know how much you know about Ryan Westmoreland but he is just as much of a prospective-powerhouse as Buckaroo and Bowden have been considered over the past year+. i havent felt this unhappy and suddenly preoccupied in ages.
i need to go work. i can bury myself in research/searches. i try to tell myself that there's no way the jays will take 1 unproven major leaguer and 2 guys who are not major league ready for the best of the best, but i have no idea what's going to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment