Let’s accentuate the positive
Maybe the most exciting play yesterday came in the 9th inning of the second game, when Lou pulled the old switcheroo:
The highlight of the day came in the top of the ninth of Game 2, when
Piniella moved pitcher Sean Marshall to left for one batter to replace
Alfonso Soriano.While the left-field bleacher bums chanted “We ARE Mar-shall,” copying
a Disney movie on Marshall University’s football team, Aaron Heilman
struck out Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded. Piniella then moved
Marshall back to the mound, where he got out of the inning with a
strikeout and a diving catch by Reed Johnson, who replaced Marshall in
left.Marshall said he was a little surprised but ready.
“I definitely could’ve handled it if they hit it to me,” he said. “I
shag a lot of balls in the outfield during batting practice, and in
high school and Little League I used to play outfield.”
Would you believe the evil one actually gave Lou credit for his ingenuity?
“I told (Cubs first-base coach Frank) Sinatro that was a classic,”
Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. “It was fun to be a part of. It
took creativity and guts by Lou however it turned out.”
And one more fun quote from Marshall:
“Reed made that great play and we got the call,” Marshall said. “I just
wish we could have got the win. It would have been funny if he (Ryan)
would have hit a shallow sacrifice fly and I could have thrown out
(Yadier) Molina at home plate or something. It would have been icing on
the cake.”
And don’t look now, but Alfonso Soriano looks to be turning it around since moving out of the leadoff spot:
Since moving out of the leadoff spot, Soriano has gone 9-for-29 (.310).
”He’s been doing well in the middle part of the lineup,” Piniella
said. ”He’s more selective and getting base hits. He had a really nice
at-bat. We need this young man to hit, no question.”
And even though he wasn’t happy about the called third strike he took in the ninth of the second game, Milty’s feeling much better these days:
“I walked about 37 times today, and suddenly I’m going to take a third
strike right there?” he said. “It’s disappointing, but what are you
going to do? You move on.”Asked if his work with hitting coach Von Joshua is finally paying off, Bradley said he “feels it” now.
“When I tell you I’m back, I’m back,” he said. “I’m going to be hitting for the rest of the year.”
It looks as though Jim Hendry has something on his to-do list for the All Star Break. Let’s hope he doesn’t require another angioplasty while he tries to sign another Blue Jays left hander:
The Cubs are expected to make a run at former Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan when he clears waivers Monday, possibly making room in the rotation for Sean Marshall.
Ryan
was put on waivers with $15 million remaining on his five-year, $47
million deal, and any team that claims him would have to pay the
freight. After Ryan clears waivers, he becomes a free agent, and any
team can sign him for $200,000 in ’09 and $400,000 in ’10.
REEDZ thinks he’s be a good edition:
Former
Toronto outfielder Reed Johnson said Ryan “would be a great fit in this
clubhouse,” but cautioned that several teams are likely to be
interested in signing him. The risk isn’t great because Toronto will be
paying the bulk of his salary, and the reward is there if Ryan can
regain the velocity that made him such a dominant reliever.
I don’t care so much about him being a great fit in the clubhouse as him being a great fit in the bullpen.
“I don’t care so much about him being a great fit in the clubhouse as him being a great fit in the bullpen.” — hear, hear, Carl.
i didn’t watch the game, i had… other things to do… but wish i’d seen that maneuver with marshall. pretty neat.
Another twist in the Cubs sale…
Cubs may file for bankruptcy.
I’m also on the Freddy Sanchez train … but I think it’s going to be tough for this team to take on payroll.
Also, Julie, Cubs can’t offer Donnie Veal as he is no longer on the team (was lost in the Rule 5 draft in April).
I think it would take some sort of Blanco/prospects deal, but again, I don’t know how much leeway Hendry has to pull the trigger on adding salary.
B.J. Ryan: from lights-out closer to LOOGY. I guess that would be a good move.
There are some tweets out there this morning about (belive it or not) Hendry dealing for Brian Roberts. I’m rooting around for more info.
i didn’t know veal was gone–i was just trying to think of someone who once was a big prospect but is now sucky.
Joe Buck is on ESPN 2 right now gushing about how awesome St. Louis is. Puke on a stick.
He just name dropped Troy Aikmen. What a dork.
this morning mlbtraderumors.com says that the pirates are not and never have been close to trading sanchez.
boo.
(like)
eh–scratch the brian roberts news. i think that tweet is a joke. i also think it’s really cruel for people to tweet things that make me hope we’ll get fontenot out of the lineup.
well, i take every rumor with a grain of salt… i still am holding out hope for sanchez, since the pirates are our farm team.
Dave Kaplan reporting the Ricketts deal is complete:
http://csnchicago.com/pages/new_landing?Kaplan-Cubs-Sale-to-Ricketts-Family-Comp=1&blockID=63566&feedID=661
still has to go through the owners for approval, right? not that i expect that to be a problem, but its not official till that happens?
also, doesnt the court have to approve it since the trib was in bankruptcy?
I’ll take all rumors right now just for something to keep me occupied, the All-Star break is boring
oh you just wait! not only do we have our annual “gameday all-star photos” balloting, we also have our “Juicy or Non-Juicy?” polling tonight during the HR derby.
thanks for thinking of my boredom during this time!
i heard the cards want aaron miles back and are willing to give up derosa to get him. . . .
Boo I’ll be on the road to DC tonight..
Roadtrip!!!!!
Yup got tickets for the whole series
im going with my uncles to the friday night game. but i dont think i can stomach much more, because i have a feeling they are going to come in and get swept by this really shitty team
I’ll be there with my Mom! I’m in section 107 by the left field foul pole.
Any check out this email I got from the Nats–
To Fans of the Washington Nationals,
No one is more dissatisfied in the first half of the 2009 Washington Nationals season than we are. Like you, we had hoped that some of our younger players would have matured faster and that the addition of some of our new veterans would have significantly improved our record from a season ago. Our hope was that solid club leadership would emerge on and off the field and that some intangible combinations would begin to click resulting in many winning streaks.
We definitely do see significant pieces materializing for the future, and there have been many close, exciting games and optimistic bright spots: Strong outings by John Lannan, the home run and RBI production of Adam Dunn, the All-Star selection and 30-game hitting streak of Ryan Zimmerman and the recent addition of speedster Nyjer Morgan. Much of the season, however, has been defined by weak relief pitching, poor defense, and youthful inconsistency. We have tried to work through this period with patience and focus but now we are faced with mounting losses which are beginning to take a toll on our entire roster. Clearly, some changes are required as we prepare for the second half of the 2009 season and, more importantly, build for a competitive future.
Today, we announced that manager Manny Acta is being replaced on an interim basis by Jim Riggleman, veteran manager, and currently the Nats bench coach. Both the Ownership and the entire Washington Nationals organization have the highest respect for Manny Acta and the role he has played in the short history of the Nationals. However, it is our belief that a fresh attitude and approach is necessary as we set out to improve our performance for the remainder of the year. We want to send a strong message to our clubhouse and our fans that the status quo is unacceptable. We believe that more is expected of everyone in the organization.
Baseball operations will be reevaluating all our players and our options for improvement over the next several months. We hope to sign our 2009 draft choices by the August deadline. We hope these new additions will join an already exciting Nationals youth movement headed by the likes of Lannan, Jesus Flores, Alberto Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Craig Stammen on our current roster, and the likes of promising Minor League stars like Chris Marrero, Michael Burgess, Danny Espinosa, Derek Norris and Drew Storen, among many others. But, we also will be determining the viability of trades or roster upgrades that can be made without doing damage to the farm system or the developing talent we expect to blossom within the next two years.
When we bought the Washington Nationals in the middle of the 2006 season – just under three years ago – we committed to a patient, long term approach, building a strong farm system and core foundation that would deliver a perennial and consistent contender; to provide a second-to-none family entertainment value at Nationals Park; and to investment and involvement in the metropolitan Washington, DC community. Today we remain steadfastly committed to each component of that mission. We are proud to represent the National Pastime in the Nation’s Capital, and we are proud to call the Capital area home.
We know we have a way to go, but the end result will be all the richer for the early days we’ve spent together at Nationals Park. We are getting better. We want you to be with us as the pieces of the puzzle come together. Your support is powerful to the Nationals and baseball in Washington. Thank you for your continuing patience and your commitment to a shared dream.
Sincerely,
Washington Nationals Baseball Club
Too funny!
Hey TDubbs! Good enough?
Well, I hope all those Nat’s fans enjoy losing with Jim Riggleman more than they did with Manny Acta.
Oh they will, they will!
Jim Riggleman?
Did you get this info from “The Onion?”
Its no joke:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4324006
This has been the rumor for a while, but now its fact.
Jim Riggleman must really be a nice guy…
or be really good in the sack…
because I can’t figure out how he people keep letting him manage baseball teams. With the aberration that was the 1998 season, this guy has been a bad manager in San Diego, for 5 years (!?!?!?!?!?!?!) in Chicago and a pathetic stint in Seattle last year. If I had the money back in the 90′s I would have had a http://www.firejimriggleman.com website. He was the worst manager (and that saying a lot) the cubs have had while the Tribune have owned the team.
The Onion produces much better reading that the Nats. However I found it fitting that they featured them [Nats} in an article last week. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/baseball_fans_delighted_by_new
whatever gets people into the stands, I guess.
See, this is what happens when you have a Democrat in the White House.
The Onion had a few years where is was really sucking…they’ve really done a good job over the last couple years, though.
fun times in the chat last night
that WAS fun. i’m trying to get us an embeddable chat that we can turn on for games and use instead of comments.
i like that idea
what time is the game today?
Oh…?
Damn.
This is going to be a long 3 days.
thanks for reminding me, meanie
but only 4.2 days left in the week, then I get my vacation!
Are we winning?
no, but we’re not losing…
This sucks…
I think we should just pretend that there is a game today.
Regarding chat, it is worthless for those who cannot be at the computer during the game unless you are going to save and post it afterward. And even then, it doesn’t have a lot of value because it would be difficult to continue a discussion from anything stated in the chat because most saved chats I have seen are usually just one long text message. So if I wanted to comment on something particular that was written, I’d have to cut and paste the remarks I’m commenting on into a new message rather than replying or quoting a comment.
On the other hand, if you aren’t saving the chats, then you are less likely to be challenged later for typing something that is inaccurate or incorrect because it has disappeared into fading phospor dots.
I kind of thought that part of the purpose of a blog is to keep a semi-permanent record of our comments.
i’ve always hoped we could do both: maintain a chat and a running game thread at the same time. unfortunately, it’s never really worked out that way.
what we’re trying to get is some kind of a hybrid. something that will move as fast as a chat but will be able to be preserved (and flipped to make it chronological) after the game is over so people can read.
Afternoon all…
Doc, I hope you were putting tongue in cheek about “a Democrat in the White House”-at least that Democrat is showing up to throw out the first pitch tomorrow night. I’m not looking forward to 3.5 days without “real” baseball, but it will be fun to see if the AL stars can retain home field advantage for the World Series.
Sad thing about Riggleman, only good thing he did in Chicago was the Richard Marx video that shows the Cubs winning the World Series!