Thursday, April 15, 2010 |
Stuff Left Over From Yesterday
Joel Pinero Doesn't Suck, For One Day: Angels 5, Yankee 3
David Pinto suggested yesterday that Joel Pineiro learned how to control his walk rate last year with the Cards, and that it was this which helped him in yesterday's win. (He had a 1.1 BB/9 last year, versus a 2.1 rate over his career.) I'll take that as a reasonable explanation, though I do notice that in short work he's already back up to 2.1 BB/9 (3 BB in 14 IP) for the season.Brandon Wood went 1-for-4 and scored a run, which hopefully means we won't get to read more stories like this Bull Durham-platitude-laced Lyle Spencer piece in MLB.com.
"If you look around, there are plenty of guys who have had slow starts. With a guy like [Yankees first baseman and former Angel] Mark Teixeira, you know he's going to end up with his numbers even though he gets off to slow starts. The difference with a new guy like me is that I'm just getting started, so naturally there are questions.That makes one of us."I know I'm not an 0-something hitter. I've had slow starts in Triple-A. I haven't been in the big leagues long enough to know what kind of hitter I'm going to be at the beginning of a year. But I'm confident I can hit at this level."
Four Hours And Russ Ortiz, Too? Shoot Me Him Now: Diamondbacks 9, Dodgers 7 (11 Innings)
Chad Billingsley has yet to complete a sixth inning this year, albeit he's only had two starts; still, neither of them were particularly graceful. The first three frames were excellent, with only a one-out double in the first getting between Bills and nine straight laid down. His second trip through the order went far less successfully, with a Stephen Drew leadoff homer that was mere prelude to the battering Billingsley was to take; by the time Joe Torre belatedly yanked his harried starter in the sixth, the Snakes had acquired the lead on Conor Jackson's screaming smash down the third base line.
The Dodgers fought back to tie the game 7-7 in the ninth on Casey Blake's RBI double, but that was as close as the Dodgers would get to winning this one, whose most brutal feature was its confounding length; Vinny said something like, "It's 11:00, and you've got to have a lot of spirit to still be in the stands at this point", a sentiment I rather quickly agreed to by leaving to walk the dogs. A four-hour game by the end of the ninth, by the time we returned, Russ Ortiz had loaded the bases and given up the go-ahead runs. I don't know why anyone thought he had anything left; good springs are chimerical.
Opening Day Fun At Dodger Stadium
My friend and boss Tom MacNeil went to the madness known as Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. According to him, he arrived at the park at an REM-crushing eight o'clock AM, and still was nearly unable to get off-site parking in nearby Elysian Park. The crowds continue to get bigger and earlier each year, so now he talks of getting there at 5:00 AM; that, my friends, is dedication I can only admire from afar. People, apparently, are not only not even getting into the park, but half of them are just hanging out near the stadium — the point of which would be, what, exactly?The news, though, seems to be mainly about a sizeable scuffle between Dodger Stadium security, complete with stadium security telling the camera operator to stop recording. Nice.
Apparently 132 people were arrested for drinking in public, though I was assured that the cops were willing to look the other way so long as you had no open beer cans in evidence.
Labels: angels, diamondbacks, dodgers, recaps, yankees
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