Wednesday, September 07, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
Red Sox 3, Angels 2
Was there some compelling reason why Mike didn't leave Escobar in for more than an inning? And was that walkoff home run not predictable? And for God's sake, why use Finley -- Finley! -- as a pinch-hitter? And especially replacing Quinlan?Update: ha, as an anonymous commenter pointed out, the Times reported Scioscia pulled Escobar because he might be needed to replace Colon on Saturday. So much for the bullpen help.
Dodgers 4, Giants 2
This is probably the last regular season Dodger game I'm going to attend this year; the team's essentially done, yet Tracy still doesn't bother doing things like playing Choi. A lackluster game, played in front of a crowd whose paid attendance was nominally estimated in the mid-30,000's, but which looked to me like it was no more than 20,000 listless, bored fans. The team itself played listless, bored baseball to go right along with that, with Jayson Werth bobbling a routine single in left. Somehow, homer scoring prevented that from being listed as an error, with J.T. Snow getting the credit for a triple, but such are the breaks. By the time we got to the tenth, I was already eyeing the exits; mercifully, Kent managed to get us out on a win. It felt more like a loss; really, how can you not hit Brett Tomko?The taste of ash, a wasted season, and the knowledge of all the holes that need filling don't make me enthusiastic for next year. Neither was the acquaintance I ran into, someone I've gone to several Dodger games with before, a fellow who frequented the Dodger boards before they became stupid. He bluntly said he didn't think he'd be spending any money on the team if they weren't going to put a quality product on the field. I can understand that.
Update: I failed to mention something that's been bugging me about the way things have gone at Dodger Stadium of late. First: the only time we see the Angels game highlights appear on the video board is when they lose. Second: Angels scores continue to show up as "ANA". Both are remarkably petty.
Christiansen Bonds' Sparring Partner
We heard earlier in the week that Barry Bonds had got to the point of fisticuffs with a teammate. Thanks to Rich for forwarding this story unmasking the player as Jason Christiansen:Giants spokesman Blake Rhodes told the AP that Bonds told him, "I never had a problem with that player."Christiansen said he gets along well with Bonds.
"I don't know why someone would say something like that," the pitcher said Tuesday night after the Angels lost 3-2 at Boston. "Me and Barry have a good relationship and I wish him all the best. It's sad that someone would come up with something like that on a day like this when Barry is starting to come back. You never know what motivates people, but I'm glad to see Barry back on the field."
That was a slight change from what Christiansen said when he joined his new team, telling reporters he was eager for a fresh start -- and to get away from Bonds.
"It's good to get out of there," Christiansen said. "You pitch a good game and they come over and they ask, 'Hey, did you guys miss Barry today?' I mean, life goes on without that guy coming out to the ballpark. Over the last five months of the season, we probably saw him for a total of maybe 20 days, so it was tough to answer questions about somebody you don't know anything about -- unless you go onto his Web site. I've never been on it, and don't plan to. I wish him well and I hope he gets better, but I have no need to get on there."
: 9/07/2005 09:18:00 AM
: 9/07/2005 10:38:00 AMI think acquiring Christiansen was dumb. But not using him in precisely the situation he was acquired for is doubly dumb.
At least see if he's up to the task. Especially given how gassed Shields has looked lately.
: 9/07/2005 12:04:00 PM : 9/07/2005 04:36:00 PMHell, I was only there because I got free tickets from a coworker anyway. That may well have been the last nail in the coffin of my attendance at Chavez Ravine.
: 9/07/2005 10:48:00 PMWell, what do you expect from a bush-league team toiling in the shadows of a class organization in the same city, er, metro area?
: 9/09/2005 01:01:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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