Tag: justin morneau

HEY, YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY

This trip to Minnesota isn’t going exactly as planned.  The White Sox lost again last night, lead down to 1/2 games, things are tightening up.  CLuke & his son were with me last night, but we couldn’t hang on to a 4-0 lead.  The Twinkies scored five times off Clayton Richard in the 5th, thanks in large part to Justin Morneau’s bases loaded, two out, double, that cleared the bases, and just missed going out, off the baggie in right.  My cell phone started ringing before the ball hit the wall, thought it was bad timing by the Baseball Zealot, but he was rubbing it in, as a Cub fan, Hey Buddy, Pay attention to your own game!  It should be noted the Cubbies are doing quite well in Milwaukee, distancing themselves from their 2nd place competition, beating the Brewers best two pitchers C.C. Sabathia & Ben Sheets in the first two games of their series.

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m bitter, but this isn’t baseball, or baseball as it was meant to be played.  It’s more like a pinball game with fast little gnats flying all over this fake grass surface.  Then there’s this ugly grey ceiling, with speakers (blaring out noise on every pitch), hanging down, in play, balls off the speakers are in play.

We still had a chance, had Ozzie gotten somebody up when the wheels fell off the rookie pitcher making his 2nd major league start, he only went 4 innings in his major league debut.  Also when Alexei Ramirez got on with a single ahead of Josh Fields & Toby Hall, sending him might have gotten us another run, that was when we were ahead four to zip.  BTW, Hall’s two out single would’ve scored Alexei rather than sending him to 3rd, where he was stranded.  Minnesota added an insurance run, which turned out to be the difference, as Nick Swisher hit a booming solo shot off Joe Nathan in the 9th to make the final 6-5 Bad Guys.

CLuke brought his girls to where the Sox were staying and got some autographs.  There were alot of dealers trying to get guys to sign, but the Sox were more than happy to sign for real fans, especially a couple of cute young girls wearing White Sox tees.

Soon I’ll be hoping on the Light Rail, for the 3rd game I’m on my own, just me & all my friends, hopefully I can help the White Sox salvage the last two games of this four game set.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!

Francona, AL get away with one in All-Star Game

Yes, the AL got lucky last night. 

No, I don’t mean with their 4-3 win… That was well-deserved.  However as Buck and McCarver talked about incessantly up until the end of the game, Francona breathed a sigh of relief when Michael Young drove Justin Morneau home on a sac fly in the bottom of the 15th.  As it was, he had already brought in Scott Kazmir, who was on his “Do Not Pitch List”, for one inning.  He didn’t relish the idea of bringing him for much longer. 

Maybe we haven’t learned anything from the 2002 All-Star game.  That was the year Bud Selig declared the game a tie after both teams ran out of players and relievers.  After Francona’s starter, Cliff Lee went two frames, none of the American League pitchers pitched more than one inning until George Sherrill who came in the 12th.  To be fair, no one thought this game would go 15 innings.  That said, perhaps we should start playing the All-Star game as a game to be won (I don’t buy into the whole idea that now that we’re playing for home field advantage, the game counts… it’s a game and it’s played to be won).

I don’t let NL Manager Clint Hurdle off easy either.  Why did he take out Brandon Webb, who pitched the 14th inning, after just one inning?  As visitor team and with a tie game, surely he knew that even in the best scenario, Lidge would have to pitch at least two innings for an National League win.  I would have left Webb in for just one more inning.

One more thought on the whole matter, if a manager is going to pick a pitcher for a game, even an All-Star Game, make sure he’s a pitcher who he is comfortable putting in the game.  Webb and Kazmir are most deserving of a All-Star nod but if they are taking up a spot on roster, the managers should be able to put them in with a minimum of mini-dramas described to us in full details by Buck/McCarver.  Less is better, guys.

Other comments on the Game:

Despite the long game, I thought it was exciting.  Kudos to the AL for their victory and the NL gave them an excellent fight. 

Fine job by the Cub pitchers.  Zambrano, Dempster and Marmol in four combined innings allowed just one hit and no runs with six strikeouts.

I appreciated the good defensive efforts on the NL’s part in the (I believe) 10th and 11th innings in dire base situations.  Three outs in five plate appearances were made at home plate.  Nice job, Russ Martin! 

I gotta feel for Dan Uggla.  Here’s a guy who’s had an awesome first half and he gets to his first All-Star Game and pretty much stinks up the place.  Oh for 4, 3 K’s and 3 errors (two in one inning).  Then Buckarver is telling me a heartbreaking story about his Dad too.

See you in St Louis, AL!