Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Dumping Ground



There is an lot of stuff going on and I am having a hard time addressing all of it. Instead, I'll mention some of it in passing. Lose-lose!

Social Media Dump


If you don't listen to the Getting Blanked podcast...you should. You can stream it here or download it here. I encourage one of each.

Speaking of media, the tidy GROF facelift comes courtesy of graphics God MPH. Check out his sweet site and follow him on Twitter. Thanks again Matias, great work!

You should also like Getting Blanked on facebook so you might enjoy both our empty pontification and good looks. This week we talk about no-hitters, and how we feel when they happen to "our" team. And cheap drugs.

Classy Segue


Though I didn't realize it then, my feelings on cheering for no-hitters was perfectly encapsulated by Tom Ley during Pitchers & Poets inaugural 90s First Basemen Week (keep your eye on that spot for a brief appearance by yours truly.)

Ley quoted a semi-famous joke by semi-famous genius David Foster Wallace, as seen below:
Two little fish are swimming around in the ocean and along their way they happen across a much bigger, older fish. The big fish nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The big fish swims on without the little fish answering; who stay silent for a few moments after the big fish has left. Finally, one of the little fish looks at the other and says, “What the hell is water?”
Which is to say: if you can't get out of your own way once in a while and appreciate something special going on around you, you're doomed.

Brandon Morrow's Identity


Am I crazy or do the Blue Jays and Brandon Morrow have a very different views of Brandon Morrow's abilities and durability? The DL session in the spring, the early hook based on a dropping arm slot - the team seems convinced his arm will come flying off at a moment's notice.

Morrow, as one would expect, feels differently. Can we safely say that the team doesn't have a great deal of confidence in Morrow to stay healthy? That the red flags shine brightly to the smart people who monitor such health risks? Consider what he told Shi Davidi:
"I didn’t really feel like I was losing velocity or getting fatigued," said Morrow. "I was throwing 88-89 mp.h. sliders. I didn’t hit 98. I hit 96, sat 93 most of the time. It was cold last night. The changeup I threw that Don Kelly hit was 89 miles per hour. Changeup."
Hard to argue with a man who says "changeup" to signify "boom - roasted."

Allow me to again voice my skepticism of the Jays offering to extend Brandon Morrow beyond his arbitration years. Based on nothing (really) I think the kid glove treatment reflects an organizational plan to get the most out of him while they can and let somebody else overpay when he is due to hit the open market.

Which isn't a bad idea at all, better to be cautious than go Dusty Bakering every young arm in sight, I suppose.

5 comments:

  1. I really like the new clean look of the site. Nice work.

    I know what your saying about Morrow, however, if they really didn't have any intention of keeping him long term, wouldn't they just let him pitch until his arm falls off, rather than treat him with kid gloves?

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  2. Not if they wanted to stretch his contributions over the life of his arb years. Why waste his limited health on a gap year like this one? Get him to an important year and then let him loose.

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  3. Morrow is to Toronto as Joba is to NYY.

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  4. Although I'm not aware of any specific issue with T1D and recovery, I wonder if their experience with McGowan and his almost bizarre inability to come back may have made them extra careful.

    Anyone have any specific knowledge about T1D and high level athletics? I know it's not common so there may not be much out there.

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  5. That's a great point, one I hadn't considered.

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Send forth the witticisms from on high