Rant 1
Stick a fork in the Braves! Ubaldo Jimenez no-
hits 'em a couple of weeks ago. Okay, whatever... he does have good stuff. But Jamie Moyer... 47 year old Jamie Moyer that had given up 7hr in 32ip headed into this game... 2 hits the Braves. Ouch.
Now, I like Jamie Moyer. Had him on my team the last two seasons. It's fun pulling for one of the few players in baseball older than myself. But, he's not exactly a talented pitcher at this point. He gets outs in good part because hitters aren't used to 80mph fastballs. He tends to get into serious trouble when he starts through a lineup for the third time. Hitters start to time his junk. Well, the Braves just faced him on April 22 (he beat them)... so I figured he was in for a bit of a beating this time around.
Wrong!
The Braves just don't have the bats to be competitive. Chipper is at the end of his line... they have a weak hitting CF and LF... the catcher is having eye issues again. Way too many holes. The pitching hasn't exactly been lights out either. Plus... the Defense has committed 25 errors (second most in the NL).
Jamie Moyer made it official in my mind though... this team is bad.
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Rant 2
My pitchers yesterday (May 7)...
Pitcher ip h+bb er
Z Duke 6.1 9+2 0
H Kuroda 5.1 9+5 4
B Bruney 1.0 3+2 1
R Troncoso 2.0 1+1 0
That's 14.2ip, 22 hits and 10 walks. Only 5er though and I did pick up 13 Ks. So for putting 32 on in 14.2... that's pretty good. Now, I realize my pitching staff is below average on its best day and that I have some pretty awful pitchers. So, I'm not expecting miracles here. But, having watched most of those 14.2 innings I have to say... the size of the strike zone in today's game is a complete and total joke. And with QuesTec it's not just sour grapes on my part either. You can SEE the missed calls.
Dan Iassogna was doing the plate in the Nationals game. Brian Bruney throws a 3-2 pitch literally right down the middle of the plate. Ball 4! The announcers say... that was "right down the middle" but you're not going to get that call when you've been wild. lol... how does one become 'not wild' if dead red fast-balls are called balls?
Iassogna was awful behind the plate, and I'm talking way more than just that one call. I don't know if announcers are instructed to 'play nice' with the umps... if they do it out of some sort of personal courtesy... they don't notice... I really don't know what the deal is, but harsh criticism of the umps is incredibly rare. Makes me miss Skip Caray. "This guy is a joke"... lol... he did not pull punches.
And then what exactly is the point of QuesTec? Gary Darling did the Dodgers game last night and he flat out refused to call the high strike. And by "high strike" I mean a strike right ~at~ the belt. The kind you ask for in softball. H Kuroda would throw a "strike" and Darling would call it a ball... Vic Scully would go to the replay and QuesTec would show indeed it was a strike... and Scully would say, "Darling thought it was a bit high."
Darling has been around forever... and he has NEVER been willing to call high strikes. Why? Why is he allowed to call his own strike zone? How come umps are never fired for poor performance... or, sent down to the minors?
I can answer my own question... Major League Baseball loves the small strikezone. It creates higher scoring games. So... Gary Darling squeezes a pitcher and thus forces them to throw fatter pitches (or walk batters)... and that's just fine.
I personally hate it! Beyond the rather major irritation of what it does to my mediocre pitchers (that really don't have the stuff to work in the meat of the strikezone)... I think it makes for a less interesting game. The more runs scored, the less drama when they do.
hits 'em a couple of weeks ago. Okay, whatever... he does have good stuff. But Jamie Moyer... 47 year old Jamie Moyer that had given up 7hr in 32ip headed into this game... 2 hits the Braves. Ouch.Now, I like Jamie Moyer. Had him on my team the last two seasons. It's fun pulling for one of the few players in baseball older than myself. But, he's not exactly a talented pitcher at this point. He gets outs in good part because hitters aren't used to 80mph fastballs. He tends to get into serious trouble when he starts through a lineup for the third time. Hitters start to time his junk. Well, the Braves just faced him on April 22 (he beat them)... so I figured he was in for a bit of a beating this time around.
Wrong!
The Braves just don't have the bats to be competitive. Chipper is at the end of his line... they have a weak hitting CF and LF... the catcher is having eye issues again. Way too many holes. The pitching hasn't exactly been lights out either. Plus... the Defense has committed 25 errors (second most in the NL).
Jamie Moyer made it official in my mind though... this team is bad.
_______________
Rant 2
My pitchers yesterday (May 7)...Pitcher ip h+bb er
Z Duke 6.1 9+2 0
H Kuroda 5.1 9+5 4
B Bruney 1.0 3+2 1
R Troncoso 2.0 1+1 0
That's 14.2ip, 22 hits and 10 walks. Only 5er though and I did pick up 13 Ks. So for putting 32 on in 14.2... that's pretty good. Now, I realize my pitching staff is below average on its best day and that I have some pretty awful pitchers. So, I'm not expecting miracles here. But, having watched most of those 14.2 innings I have to say... the size of the strike zone in today's game is a complete and total joke. And with QuesTec it's not just sour grapes on my part either. You can SEE the missed calls.
Dan Iassogna was doing the plate in the Nationals game. Brian Bruney throws a 3-2 pitch literally right down the middle of the plate. Ball 4! The announcers say... that was "right down the middle" but you're not going to get that call when you've been wild. lol... how does one become 'not wild' if dead red fast-balls are called balls?
Iassogna was awful behind the plate, and I'm talking way more than just that one call. I don't know if announcers are instructed to 'play nice' with the umps... if they do it out of some sort of personal courtesy... they don't notice... I really don't know what the deal is, but harsh criticism of the umps is incredibly rare. Makes me miss Skip Caray. "This guy is a joke"... lol... he did not pull punches.
And then what exactly is the point of QuesTec? Gary Darling did the Dodgers game last night and he flat out refused to call the high strike. And by "high strike" I mean a strike right ~at~ the belt. The kind you ask for in softball. H Kuroda would throw a "strike" and Darling would call it a ball... Vic Scully would go to the replay and QuesTec would show indeed it was a strike... and Scully would say, "Darling thought it was a bit high."
Darling has been around forever... and he has NEVER been willing to call high strikes. Why? Why is he allowed to call his own strike zone? How come umps are never fired for poor performance... or, sent down to the minors?
I can answer my own question... Major League Baseball loves the small strikezone. It creates higher scoring games. So... Gary Darling squeezes a pitcher and thus forces them to throw fatter pitches (or walk batters)... and that's just fine.
I personally hate it! Beyond the rather major irritation of what it does to my mediocre pitchers (that really don't have the stuff to work in the meat of the strikezone)... I think it makes for a less interesting game. The more runs scored, the less drama when they do.
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