Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Youth of Today



Tonight's game provided many reasons to stay positive, but let's remember a few things:
  1. Baltimore is really, really bad.
  2. Shaun Marcum got knocked around
I wasn't alone in predicting historical ineptitude for the O's. They hit home runs like crazy, but they might be the worst pitching staff ever. My Adam Lind boner is raging, but looking at the video of each of his hits reveals every pitch he hit missed by a mile. His three run home run? Awesome. The pitch? A hanging slider that was supposed to be down and away but ended up belt-high and in. On a tee, as the smart kids would say. He did a good job staying back on a breaking ball in the 2nd inning, but Tabler pointed out that Brian Roberts was caught cheating towards the hole only to have the ball beat him up the middle. But who fucking cares, the Jays obviously haven't been punishing mistakes all year long, so watching them do it for one night is certainly a good thing.

As for Marcum, it is hard to fault his lack of sharpness. While going 12 up and 12 down against the Rocco-less VB D-Rays is one thing; getting most of the Orioles out is another. While he didn't have his usual pin-point control, he didn't miss by much. Just enough that Professional Hitter Melvin Mora hit him hard most of the night.

More random Blue Jay thoughts
  • Good to see Brandon League avoid the trip back to Syracuse. He looked pretty good (but certainly not pretty) in his last outing. Cito (I'm going to give Cito the credit here because Cito is a kindly man that looks something like a blacker version of my dad) has belief in League, and continues to slot him into medium leverage situations hoping he improves his command. Conversely, the round righty Brian Wolfe was send down to Syracuse to make space for Marcum.
  • This whole "Mench thing" can end any time now. 6 of his 16 hits have been doubles, which isn't terrible, but he doesn't have a single home run or add anything to the team right now or down the road. With all the rain we've been getting in Toronto, I think we might need a Coat to keep us dry. Zing! So what if he's a taller, gawkier Brad Wilkerson? His name is Buckskin fucking Coats, what else do you want?
  • Jeremy Guthrie has been tough on the Jays for his career, but he is exactly the kind of shitballer (though an eco-friendly shitballer) they need to beat up on if they want to reach Cito's new mythical figure of 10 games over .500.
  • The new Hold Steady record is kinda, sorta, only okay. I like it, but it isn't the religious experience that Boys & Girls in America was. Someone should get me Wakestock tickets so I can see Hot Water Music.

3 comments:

  1. I can never ask Wilner another question ever again. From the July 19 edition of the blerg:

    #
    19.
    July 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am

    Mike,

    So what did you think of The Hold Steady? Saw them in TO last summer during the August long weekend and it was the best show I’d been to in years. If I had a band, I’d want it to sound exactly like them.

    Cheers

    MW: Again, not sure what to think of them. They seem to be teetering on the brink between real rock band and early Barenaked Ladies.
    - johnny was

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wilner must not drink. That is only way one could confuse earnestness with dorky, Wrath of Khan referencing nerdiness.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm with you on "Stay Positive". I'm disappointed, but I can't stop listening to it.

    ReplyDelete

Send forth the witticisms from on high