He’s injured, but when he’s back the Marlins will be out of it anyways.
Woo! The Padres won an interleague game. Every year I despise this time of the year because they do so bad against AL teams.
One thing that caught my eye during the game against the Red Sox is they showed David Ortiz just sitting on the bench while his team was out in the field. This is what bugs me about the AL and the DH. I know the guy is a great hitter, but I just don’t think of him as a good overall player because he isn’t good enough to play the field. I heard they were talking about moving A-Gon to the outfield and putting Ortiz at first when they play in an NL ballpark. Call me old fashioned, but I just prefer good old NL ball.
^ Watching 99% of pitchers bat hurts my eyes. I really despise that NL rule.
Ironically Tim Hudson hit a 2 run game winning homer against the Jays on the 20th.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
Woo! The Padres won an interleague game. Every year I despise this time of the year because they do so bad against AL teams.
One thing that caught my eye during the game against the Red Sox is they showed David Ortiz just sitting on the bench while his team was out in the field. This is what bugs me about the AL and the DH. I know the guy is a great hitter, but I just don’t think of him as a good overall player because he isn’t good enough to play the field. I heard they were talking about moving A-Gon to the outfield and putting Ortiz at first when they play in an NL ballpark. Call me old fashioned, but I just prefer good old NL ball.[/quote]
I agree, but on the flip side, I hate watching pitchers hit. I dunno what the right answer is.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^ Watching 99% of pitchers bat hurts my eyes. I really despise that NL rule.
Ironically Tim Hudson hit a 2 run game winning homer against the Jays on the 20th. [/quote]
You mean the rule where every team use to have the pitcher bat? It wouldn’t be so bad if in college and the minors they would let pitchers bat. It’s funny though because when I use to play baseball, the best hitters were always the better pitchers.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^ Watching 99% of pitchers bat hurts my eyes. I really despise that NL rule.
Ironically Tim Hudson hit a 2 run game winning homer against the Jays on the 20th. [/quote]
You mean the rule where every team use to have the pitcher bat? It wouldn’t be so bad if in college and the minors they would let pitchers bat. It’s funny though because when I use to play baseball, the best hitters were always the better pitchers.[/quote]
Even if pitchers batted in the minors I still think they would be atrocious hitters.
They don’t get enough bats/year to really develop their hitting.
30 starts a year, 4ab/game = 120ABs a year. If they’re lucky.
Last year Roy Hallday ( a pitcher known for going deep into games) made 33 starts and 92ab’s
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^ Watching 99% of pitchers bat hurts my eyes. I really despise that NL rule.
Ironically Tim Hudson hit a 2 run game winning homer against the Jays on the 20th. [/quote]
You mean the rule where every team use to have the pitcher bat? It wouldn’t be so bad if in college and the minors they would let pitchers bat. It’s funny though because when I use to play baseball, the best hitters were always the better pitchers.[/quote]
Even if pitchers batted in the minors I still think they would be atrocious hitters.
They don’t get enough bats/year to really develop their hitting.
30 starts a year, 4ab/game = 120ABs a year. If they’re lucky.[/quote]
It’s not just about the game at-bats - it’s that it is a full time job to hone your pitching mechanics and ALSO a full time job to hone your batting mechanics.
You only got so much practice time. You really want your pitcher thinking about what’s wrong with his pitching motion while also worried about his batting motion, just so you can get maybe 1 extra hit per game?
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^ Watching 99% of pitchers bat hurts my eyes. I really despise that NL rule.
Ironically Tim Hudson hit a 2 run game winning homer against the Jays on the 20th. [/quote]
You mean the rule where every team use to have the pitcher bat? It wouldn’t be so bad if in college and the minors they would let pitchers bat. It’s funny though because when I use to play baseball, the best hitters were always the better pitchers.[/quote]
Even if pitchers batted in the minors I still think they would be atrocious hitters.
They don’t get enough bats/year to really develop their hitting.
30 starts a year, 4ab/game = 120ABs a year. If they’re lucky.[/quote]
It’s not just about the game at-bats - it’s that it is a full time job to hone your pitching mechanics and ALSO a full time job to hone your batting mechanics.
You only got so much practice time. You really want your pitcher thinking about what’s wrong with his pitching motion while also worried about his batting motion, just so you can get maybe 1 extra hit per game?[/quote]
Agreed.
They are also putting one of the most injury prone positions in the game at further risk. Do you really want a guy so integral to winning games to also run, slide and be hit by pitches?
Not gonna change my mind. I’m an old fashioned NL guy.
Pads take two out of three in Boston! Who would have thunk.
Apparently I was on TV last night at the Mariners-Nationals games. I have relatives out near Seattle who started blowing up my phone at 12am (guess they watched a rerun). Hopefully the TV caught me doing something cool like picking my nose.
Glad to see Boston get beat up.
What the fucking shit? Riggleman marches in the day we get 1 game over .500, demands his contrat for next year be renewed…then resigns on the spot when it’s not?
I really hope there is something not being reported here because that is all kinds of bizarre. Fuck that dude, you got us to .500 just for contract leverage then quit when you didn’t get your way? How bout the team who believed in you?
I personally think the impact of (most) managers is overrated, and their job is to manage people moreso than ballgames… but fuck that is unprofessional.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
What the fucking shit? Riggleman marches in the day we get 1 game over .500, demands his contrat for next year be renewed…then resigns on the spot when it’s not?
I really hope there is something not being reported here because that is all kinds of bizarre. Fuck that dude, you got us to .500 just for contract leverage then quit when you didn’t get your way? How bout the team who believed in you?
I personally think the impact of (most) managers is overrated, and their job is to manage people moreso than ballgames… but fuck that is unprofessional.[/quote]
You guys are tearing it up, too. There’s got to be something else to that story. It makes no sense at all.
[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
What the fucking shit? Riggleman marches in the day we get 1 game over .500, demands his contrat for next year be renewed…then resigns on the spot when it’s not?
I really hope there is something not being reported here because that is all kinds of bizarre. Fuck that dude, you got us to .500 just for contract leverage then quit when you didn’t get your way? How bout the team who believed in you?
I personally think the impact of (most) managers is overrated, and their job is to manage people moreso than ballgames… but fuck that is unprofessional.[/quote]
You guys are tearing it up, too. There’s got to be something else to that story. It makes no sense at all.[/quote]
There is a reason the Lerners (owners) are reviled in DC. They are incompetent assholes. They sign Werth for $130M but they pinch every penny they can with ballpark staff and upkeep, which makes NO sense because it is such a tiny fraction of total expenses. That gives you some insight into their personality.
Additionally, according to a column I read this morning, Rizzo (our GM) is not a very good communicator. Scouts have complained about this (weird because his background is as a scout), and he rarely talks to Riggleman whereas most GMs speak to their managers every day.
So yeah there are always two sides to a story… but you still don’t do what Riggleman did. You wait till the end of your contract and walk away, like our team president did back in Sept. I especially think it was underhanded of him to wait till we were a game over .500 to make his contract demand, it seems so calculated. Resigning in a random fit of rage I could understand a little better, though I still wouldn’t support it.
Wonder what the guys on the team think.
So anyone else surprised by Verlander’s performance this year?
He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball up to this point in the season.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So anyone else surprised by Verlander’s performance this year?
He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball up to this point in the season.[/quote]
Surprised? Not really, dude’s been one of the best in the AL for several years. I’d be surprised if he WASN’T the best at some point in his career.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So anyone else surprised by Verlander’s performance this year?
He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball up to this point in the season.[/quote]
Surprised? Not really, dude’s been one of the best in the AL for several years. I’d be surprised if he WASN’T the best at some point in his career.[/quote]
I’ve always considered him an all star calibre pitcher, but the stats he’s putting up this year are INSANE.
In June Verlander has thrown two complete games and gone eight innings in the other three outings. Heâ??s struck out 48 and walked four with a 0.86 ERA and 0.62 WHIP.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
Guy is unconscious.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So anyone else surprised by Verlander’s performance this year?
He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball up to this point in the season.[/quote]
No. That’s why he was the first pitcher I chose in my fantasy league (3rd round). I’m surprised that this is the first season where he has REALLY seemed to put it all together, though.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
What the fucking shit? Riggleman marches in the day we get 1 game over .500, demands his contrat for next year be renewed…then resigns on the spot when it’s not?
I really hope there is something not being reported here because that is all kinds of bizarre. Fuck that dude, you got us to .500 just for contract leverage then quit when you didn’t get your way? How bout the team who believed in you?
I personally think the impact of (most) managers is overrated, and their job is to manage people moreso than ballgames… but fuck that is unprofessional.[/quote]
You guys are tearing it up, too. There’s got to be something else to that story. It makes no sense at all.[/quote]
There is a reason the Lerners (owners) are reviled in DC. They are incompetent assholes. They sign Werth for $130M but they pinch every penny they can with ballpark staff and upkeep, which makes NO sense because it is such a tiny fraction of total expenses. That gives you some insight into their personality.
Additionally, according to a column I read this morning, Rizzo (our GM) is not a very good communicator. Scouts have complained about this (weird because his background is as a scout), and he rarely talks to Riggleman whereas most GMs speak to their managers every day.
So yeah there are always two sides to a story… but you still don’t do what Riggleman did. You wait till the end of your contract and walk away, like our team president did back in Sept. I especially think it was underhanded of him to wait till we were a game over .500 to make his contract demand, it seems so calculated. Resigning in a random fit of rage I could understand a little better, though I still wouldn’t support it.
Wonder what the guys on the team think.[/quote]
I don’t know the whole deal with the Lerners or Rizzo, but what Riggleman did was completely unprofessional and I have a hard time that there is anything in the history between these three parties that would justify Riggleman’s resignation under these circumstances.
I mean, this is a guy who has the worst winning percentage of ANY manager in the last several decades with a significant amount of time managing. This is a guy who managed the Cubs and didn’t do shit, didn’t do shit in San Diego and honestly hasn’t done shit anywhere throughout his career. And then he demands a contract extension in motherfucking JUNE because his team has climbed to a game above .500? That’s pathetic. The Nationals haven’t done a fucking thing since well before moving to DC but they aren’t so bad that moving above .500 is deserving of anything other than a half-hearted pat on the back. Shit, most of the players on the Nationals probably don’t even give a shit that they’re above .500. Why? Because it means nothing. This isn’t the NBA where a .500 record is going to get you into the playoffs most years.
Riggleman is a grade-A piece of shit and as someone who has coached baseball in the past, I can tell you right fucking now that anyone who leaves their team in the middle of the season like that is a complete piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to coach the motherfucking Fremont School for the Deaf, let alone pro ball players. He fucked that whole clubhouse right in the ass and I’ll bet that, privately, they all hate his guts and lost all respect for him now. In fact, they’re probably glad he’s gone so that they can get an actual winner with loyalty and dedication and work ethic. I hope that sack of semen never manages another game in his life. He quit on his team and I seriously hope, for the Nationals’ sake, that they hire someone with class and dignity next season. Fuck Riggleman.
I know I’m totally flying off the handle here, but like I said, I’ve coached in the past so I know what it’s like to have a group of young men look to you for leadership and guidance. I cannot picture a single fucking scenario in which I would be able to sleep at night if I abandoned my team. Nothing. I could never look myself in the mirror again if I did what Riggleman did. I can’t imagine how the kids I coached would feel and I would have put up with any and all shit until the end of the season rather than abandon them. That piece of fucking shit.