Friday, September 5, 2008

Bow Down

Imagine how good this kid will be when he actually has the opportunity to pull the ball? It's insane really. Going up the middle, going away, taking "what's given to him" and doing something with it. With two strikes and everything. Amazing.

A quick nod to another bad ass. Amy Rosewater of ESPN did a nice piece about Jim Abbot today, on the anniversary of his no-hitter. That is all kinds of bad ass. He's working as a spokesmen for disabled people in America. Good for him.

Even more Badassery: Thursday's Version of Wednesday's with JP!

First off, during his trumpet solo at the top of the show with Wilner, JP dropped the magic words Meaningful Baseball in September. Good work JP, always with the hard sell. Five wins a row, will the JP be served the poo-poo platter? JP stated after the show that this was the best show he's been on in Toronto, giving me only JP's lies to work with. Without the low-hanging fruit I'm nothing.

Before the callers Wilner tries to ask why Kevin Mench is here pinch run, something Buck Coats is far more capable of. JP seems to think Mikey wanted them both here, and balks at the thought of paying both men. Gimmie my Coat JP!

Guy that obviously hates JP, yet wants to know he runs his business: I'm going to go ahead and ramble on and on and on and on and on, but basically it's like this JP: you have the audacity to stick by the players you draft and invest millions of dollars in. Don't insult my intelligence JP, why the fuck do you do that?

Man without the benefit of hindsight, and occasionally foresight: Honestly, what do you want from me? What could I possibly say here that would sate you thirst for blood? You people ride me about giving Wilkerson & Mench jobs, then claim calling up Snider is just PR and too early. If I call up one of my AAAA draft picks, I'm just favoring "my guys" and trying to look better. My job is hard, my head hurts. JP then states that Cliff Lee will win the Cy Young this year. What, no support for Roy? What about A.J "LULZ" Burnett?

Guy that probably has a blog I'll never read: I have a healthy attitude, and get it to a degree, but that shouldn't stop me from prattling on endlessly about players still under contract. STOP YELLING AT ME WILNER!

JP Riccardi, horn tooter: We've got lots of pitching, and we sure as shit aren't giving it up. JP runs some misdirection about signing a bat, meaning he surely will.

Guy that is smarter than me: Guys with bad mechanics get hurt, no? The young guys that aren't bad motherfuckers like Travis Snider sucked a little this year, are they going to get better?

JP wrote Two Princes: BJ Ryan's mechanics aren't horrifically bad, they're deceptive. Marcum didn't go on the DL, ditch his cutter, and change his arm slot because of wear and tear related to faulty mechanics; he's got attitude problems! Casey Janssen once fell off the mound, throwing a pitch into the dugout, but he's smoooth. I DRAFT SO GOOD, MY KIDS MAKE THE LATE ROUNDS PICKS WHEN THEY AREN'T SHAKING DOWN THE PLAYERS.

JP and Wilner proceed to send David Eckstein the kind of love letter that drove me crazy in the spring. Let's move on.

Great Big Pasty White Hope's biggest fan: Travis Snider: good prospect or the greatest prospect?

JP Riccardi stars in Glengarry Glen Ross: He's a GOOD outfielder too. GOOD. Wilner mentions Cito wanting to play him in right field this weekend. What the fuck? I didn't authorize that! Grrrr.

Can't see the forest for the trees: Remember when you drafted college guys to restock your depleted minor league system? Why'd you do that again?

JP the Mystical: I can't remember. Ask Aaron Hill, Casey Janssen, and Shaun Marcum. But not Russ Adams. Leave him alone. JP makes a good point about the draft not being the be-all, end-all. I agree.

Heidi and Spencer FTW: Hank Steinbrenner said.....

JP: Fuck him. The players cluck more than a thousand hens. Just because Hank pops off in the paper doesn't mean the talk around the batting cage is any different.

Wilner prods about Rolen's future, and alternatives if he's hurt. JP offers Jose Bautista and then compares Joe Inglett to Reed! It's true, they're the same guy. Except Inglett is a better every day player.

Other than the lady that pretty much nailed JP over signing Eckstein to play shortstop and not playing him, everybody else played nice and knew their shit. A guy called and asked about "stretching out" Brett Cecil while limiting his innings. JP used the last year's innings plus 30 rule to explain his progress. Another guy called an asked about the club using Pitch F/X! Who let Hale out of his analysis-hub/cage? JP even admitted that Matt Stairs played too much this year. What planet am I on?

I also realize that tonight's excellent callers are Toronto's few, true baseball fans. There simply aren't enough of them in this town. Lots of sports fans, lots of people willing to treat the Rogers Centre as a giant bar with a tremendous cover but no atmosphere. Not enough ball fans though. Which sucks. But we'll still be here.

3 comments:

  1. I find this bit very funny. But not so much that you imply I would call in myself though. Hmph! Maybe if they call me...

    So what did he say about pitch f/x other than "no?". Was it "huh?". I know the Jays aren't particularly one for data mining as scouting approach.

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  2. He went on about people shilling their new technological wares at Spring Training, and how it depends on the coaches. In short, he said no.

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  3. Hahaha...I know someone shilling those wares at the last ST, and that's exactly what he got told.

    WHICH MAKES NO FREAKING SENSE TO ME.

    I mean obviously it's not everybody's cup of tea, but why wouldn't you have the data around if someone wanted to take a look? Some guys just go up and hack, others like to keep crazy notes. Have a book there that says "oh yeah, pitcher X throws his curveball in 2 strike counts more than anyone else in the league" or "Umpire X's strike zone is wide" and if it helps some guy making 8 million dollars a year 1% then you break even.

    On the other hand, Denbo was supposed to be a huge tech/video guy. Maybe it just hurts their brains. See ball, hit ball...

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