Game 104 - Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves

April 30 at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA
Fox Sports Ohio

We'll start with a shot of Turner Field, which would have to be considered at Not Quite Capacity










And I also have a question & possible solution for the Braves.

Q: Kelly Johnson is your cleanup hitter?!

S: Perhaps it's time to find another cleanup hitter.

* Big day for Mike Leake, who tossed eight innings of two-hit, shut out ball in the Reds' 5-1 win. In his last two starts against Atlanta, Leake is 2-0 and hasn't allowed a run in 14 innings. Leake also hit one of Cincinnati's four solo home runs

* You know who else had a big day? Color commentator Chris Welsh, who said "lightning in a bottle,", "a hard-throwin', right-handed Texan" and "old country hard ball" in the same inning. Good work, Chris!

Game 103 - St. Joseph's at Monmouth

April 29 at MU Baseball Field in Long Branch, NJ
espn3.com

Let's start with color commentator Gary Kowal, who I like to call The Central New Jersey God of Baseball Phrases:

"Back in his natural habitat"
"Pitching to contact"
"You can't teach size"
"Some electricity in Yunginger's pitches"
"Caught in no-man's land"
"Playing with a purpose"
"All hands on deck"
"Deuces wild"
"A plethora of relief arms"
"Stinging the ball"
"Put it in your pocket"

The Ivan Ackerman of college baseball teams

Like Ackerman, St. Joseph's always seemed to do the wrong thing on Wednesday, always.

The Hawks made five errors, hit two batters, threw a wild pitch, balked once, walked six Monmouth hitters and struck out 12 times at the plate. Adam Yunginger had seven of those strike outs in six strong innings as Monmouth won its fourth straight, 7-0.

Game 102 - Houston Astros at San Diego Padres

April 28 at Petco Park in San Diego, CA
ROOT Sports

Color commentator and former Astro Alan Ashby's favorite word just might be "intriguing". He finds several things intriguing, whether it's how well Marwin Gonzalez will play in the absence of Jonathan Villar, or pitcher Roberto Hernandez's approach as a hitter. I was compelled (another word for intriguing) to find out how many times Ashby was going to say the word during Tuesday's broadcast and the answer turned out to be: a whole bunch.





















Houston is playing well - after a 14-3 victory the team is 13-7 and four games up in first place in the American League West - so Ashby is pretty excited. Here are his Baseball Phrases just during the opening of the broadcast:

"Timely home run"
"Just good old fashioned pitching"
"There's more than one way to win a ball game"
"On a road trip for the ages"
"Developing the confidence that builds a winner"
"Another chance to keep finding ways"

And it continued during the game:

"Pure scald right at the first baseman"
"Initially made quite a splash"
"Dead red"
"He looked like a spark plug ready to go"
"Oppo style"
"Nose to the grindstone"
"Day at a time"
"Tack on time"

The Astros had 17 hits Tuesday, including huge days for the top three in the order: lead off man Jose Altuve had four hits; Luis Valbuena added three and George Springer homered and drove in five runs. It's the best 20-game start for the franchise since the 2006 team started 14-6.

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Ashby - "Ash"
Color commentator Geoff Blum - "Blummer"

Webb Bobo All Stars

Let's welcome San Diego relievers Kevin Quackenbush and Odrisamer Despaigne.

Game 101 - Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees

April 27 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network

It was a surprisingly light night for Michael Kay Nonsense (MKN), though obviously as Andrew Miller was about to come into the game in the ninth Kay said "it's Miller Time". But I did want to point out one item from the broadcast.

YES has its SCOUTING REPORTS of each starting pitcher, and here was Adam Warren's:

1. "Run Support". Then Ken Singleton mentioned how Warren received a ton of run support the last time he pitched, which was last Wednesday against the Tigers.

2. "Taking care of business". Singleton then talked about how Warren has a degree in business from the University of North Carolina and the Yankees would like Warren to take care of business.

3. "'Heeling' power". This was simply about Warren winning his first 19 decisions at UNC.

This isn't a SCOUTING REPORT. This is Facts About Adam Warren.

I put together a new scouting report of Warren:

1. "Walk this way". Warren walked four batters in his last start.

2. "Garbage disposal". One of Warren's chores as a child was to do the dishes and put the uneaten food into the garbage disposal and the Yankees are hoping he disposes of tonight's opponent.

3. "Montana man". Warren once visited the state of Montana.

* The New York bullpen has been fantastic so far in 2015 and that continued Monday. It was the best of Warren's seven career starts (5 2/3 IP, 5 H, career-high 6 K), but the right-hander left with the game tied 1-1. Justin Wilson (one perfect inning to pick up the win), David Carpenter (1/3 IP, 1 BB), Dellin Betances (1 IP, 2 K) and Miller (1 IP, 1 H, 1 K) combined for 3 1/3 scoreless in a 4-1 victory.

* Brian McCann ripped a go-ahead, solo home run to right that put New York ahead 2-1 in the sixth. It was McCann's second home run and first since April 12 against Boston.

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Tropicana Field - "The Trop"

Game 100 - Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners

April 25 at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA
ROOT Sports

Saturday night in Seattle was all about Minnesota's Eduardos.

Eduardo Escobar ripped his first home run of the season, a solo blast in the second that pulled the Twins even at 2-2, and Eduardo Nunez drew a bases-loaded walk for the Twins' first run and added a double and an RBI-single in the fifth to put the visitors ahead for good in an 8-5 victory.

The Night of Eduardo also helped introduce a new segment here at 300 Game Season: the Season of Eduardo.

We'll be building a handy reference list through the 2015 season of every Eduardo (also Eddie, Ed and Edward) at every level of each of the 30 professional organizations.

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Play-by-play man Dave Sims' nicknames for Nelson Cruz - "Big Boy", "Nellie"

Game 99 - Lancaster Barnstormers at Sugar Land Skeeters

April 25 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, TX
espn3.com

The Atlantic League got its season underway this weekend, and these two teams are together for a rematch of last season's championship series. Lancaster won that best-of-3, but the first set of 2015 has gone Sugar Land's way.

The Skeeters got a tying solo home run from Denny Almonte in the fifth and the go-ahead solo shot by Beamer Weems in the sixth to win 2-1. Both were lead off shots against starter and losing pitcher P.J. Walters, who spent five years in the big leagues with three teams, with Weems taking the first pitch he saw from the right-hander and smacking it over the left field wall.

Lancaster had taken a 1-0 lead on Blake Gailan's third-inning RBI-single that hit first base umpire David Frame and halted the game briefly while Frame was attended to. Skeeters' starter Matt Wright, who also serves as an assistant pitching coach (independent league baseball!), allowed just that one run and he and five different relievers teamed up to hold Lancaster scoreless over the final six innings.

Beamer!

Weems, who added a double on Saturday, also became our first Webb Bobo all star from the independent ranks.

Independent League baseball: Major League Baseball Phrases

A nice night of phrases and complete nonsense (cn) for the broadcast team of Ira Liebman and Brett Dolan.

Liebman

"Smooth as silk"
"Big, fat pitch"
"Ran out of real estate"
"Behind the dish"
"Big, fat count"
"Hopefully the rain, rain goes away and won't come back for another few days" (cn)

Dolan

"Hitter's paradise"
"That's when they made a lot of hay" (cn)
"Old timey windup"
"Backdoor variety"
"Mother nature cooperating"
"The hat went flying, the hair went poof" (cn)

Game 98 - Clemson at Georgia Tech

April 25 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

Clemson was six outs from a win on Friday before Georgia Tech scored three times in the eighth to win 4-2. Saturday, the Tigers pulled even in the series, thanks to an unlikely power threat.

Eli White came into the day with just one home run, but the sophomore shortstop tripled that total against Cole Pitts, taking the slumping right-hander deep twice in Clemson's 11-3 victory. White added a triple and reached base five times out of the lead off spot, while No. 2 hitter Steven Duggar drove in four runs.

Nice day for the top two in the Tigers' lineup, who had combined to go 3-for-14 with two walks (both Duggar's) in the previous two games against Tech and Georgia.

Meanwhile, a difficult senior season continued for Pitts, who hasn't won in five decisions and saw his ERA balloon to 6.17 ERA in nine starts.

Clemson junior Zack Erwin struck out seven in seven strong innings to pick up his fourth win. Tech catcher A.J. Murray belted a long, one-out home run in the sixth - his team-high 10th - that was just the second ball to clear the batter's eye in dead center field at Russ Chandler (Florida State's D.J. Stewart hit the other last April 12) and drove in another run with a double in the first, but the southpaw had little trouble with the rest of the Yellow Jackets.


















Erwin delivers a third-inning pitch


Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Clemson

Tyler Slaton - "Slate"

Georgia Tech

Ryan Peurifoy - "Pure"
Kel Johnson - "Kel-Johns"

Game 97 - New York Mets at New York Yankees

April 24 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network

I was going to make this more of a eulogy to Carlos Beltran's offensive skills; how they've passed on to a better place and how we should remember the good at bats. But too many good things are happening with the Yankees lately.

1. Mark Teixeira's ability to drive the ball appears to be fully back.

Teixeira was one of the team's top run producers from 2009-2012, but wrist injuries drained his power and really seemed to make his baseball life miserable. It's only April 24, but Teixeira has a .673 slugging percentage and 11 of his 12 hits have gone for extra bases, including his 6th and 7th home runs, both towering, two-run shots off Mets' starter Jacob deGrom in a 6-1 win.

Another thing that is back is my ability to type Teixeira without misspelling it three times and then checking Baseball Reference for the correct spelling and then still misspelling it. I need a Mark Teixeira poster on the wall so I can just refer to it whenever I need to.

2. Michael Pineda is quite good.

It's an odd thing to look at the Yankees' starting rotation and see three pitchers 26-years old or younger (Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka and Nathan Eovaldi) and they're actually good pitchers (my apologies to Jeff Johnson, Wade Taylor and Dave Eiland). Pineda may be the best of the bunch. He probably had his best start as a Yankee on Friday (7 2/3 IP, 1 ER), mixing in a filthy slider with his usual good fast ball and a change up that seems to get better each start.

3. The Jacoby Ellsbury/Brett Gardner tandem at the top of the order has the potential to be really, really good.

For this team, Ellsbury is the perfect lead off hitter and I think Gardner is the perfect No. 2 hitter. I really wouldn't want either of them in any other spot in the lineup.

If they continue their hot starts (Ellsbury has a .294 AVG and .395 OBP after a 2-for-5 night and Gardner's at .304/.396 after his two-hit night), there should be plenty of opportunities to drive in runs for Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann as soon as I finish my time machine and travel back to 2010 and bring Brian McCann back with me to 2015.

Michael Kay: I don't like listening to you speak

It wouldn't be a Yankees broadcast on the YES Network without Kay making me long for the days of Phil Rizzuto talking about cannolis and the bridge and his wife, Cora. Those were simpler times; Kayless times.

Kay not only said "Subway Series" 11 times, but also:

"Just a tour de force for Ellsbury"
"The flags are flopping every which way"
"Injuries have really bedeviled him the last couple years"
"Buzzworthy"
"Shell-shocked"
"That says something about the stomach of this team"
"Major League debut on the Broadway stage"
"It gives it a little sexiness"
"That ball's ticketed for the right field corner"
"Wheeling and dealing"
"Pushed the envelope"
"Baptism by fire"

I can't begin to describe the euphoric feeling I get when Yankee games end and Michael Kay leaves me alone for the rest of the night.

Game 96 - Clemson at Georgia Tech

April 24 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

It's hard for me to recall the events of Friday's ACC series opener without thinking about Tyler Slaton's night. Now, things started off fine for the Clemson center fielder - his sacrifice moved runners up to second and third in the second inning and the Tigers would eventually score their first run, and he also singled to open the fifth.

Nothing really went right for Slaton after that.

Glenn Baston followed that fifth inning single with a double to deep center field and Georgia Tech executed a beautiful relay: Daniel Spingola (CF) to Connor Justus (SS) to catcher A.J. Murray and Slaton was gunned down at the plate. Clemson would go up 2-0 and still led 2-1 when Slaton was hit by a Jonathan King pitch to start the seventh. After a pair of outs in the air moved Slaton to second and ended King's night, reliever Matt Phillips served up a single to Eli White. Again Slaton came charging for the plate and this time Spingola took care of it himself, throwing a strike to the plate to nip Slaton and end the inning.

To cap a truly bizarre night for Slaton, he struck out swinging for the final out of a 4-2 Tech win.


















* The Yellow Jackets picked up that win, thanks in large part to closer Zac Ryan, who came in with no one out and a man at first in the eighth and recorded six consecutive outs for the well-earned victory. They also won because of a three-run, eighth-inning rally that began with a throwing error by Batson at third base.

That ended Matthew Crownover's night, but the junior left-hander pitched well once again. He came into the night leading the ACC in ERA (1.21) and wins with seven, then he tossed seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned) while fanning nine. Taylor Vetzel relieved and allowed a single to Murray and later threw a wild pitch to send the runners to second and third with one out. First baseman Andrew Cox gambled on Thomas Smith's chopper in what looked like an attempt to get Matt Gonzalez streaking for home, but Cox never got close to catching the ball and Gonzalez and Murray scored the go-ahead runs. Later, Ryan Peurifoy blooped a single down the right-field line to make it a 4-2 game. A truly miserable inning/finish for Clemson, which was six outs away from a win with its ace on the mound and instead fell to 11-10 in league play.

Our first ejection!

A 300 Game Season first as Tech coach Danny Hall was ejected following a stolen base call that went Clemson's way in the fifth. Cox beat the throw to second and was rewarded with the steal, but Hall didn't agree. The Tech skipper also was violent in pointing at second base several times and eventually was thrown out by third base umpire John Haggerty.














Haggerty out on the outfield grass where it's safer

The 300 Game Season All Star Team

We added our second member on the team Friday in Atlanta.

(* all of the names and statistical and biographical information is a work of fiction and should be taken fictionally).

Tyler Clayton
#16 - Dwayne County Astros



















Clayton, a nine-year old outfielder, is his team's leader in fouled bunts (8) and number of times forgetting his hat for both practices (3) and games (2).

* As an eight-year old in 2014, accidentally swallowed over four ounces of infield dirt after diving for various practice ground balls.

Game 95 - Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies

April 23 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA
Comcast Sports Net

Let's start with a pair of graphics provided by the broadcast team during the first inning.

1. Keys to the game












For some reason, this makes me not want to ever drive a Nissan.

2. But where did he go to college?
















Fastball velocity, OK. What kind of pitches does he throw? Sounds good, I like it.......ATTENDED UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME?!

That isn't a scouting report. That's a four-second internet search.

Phelps was able to rise above his scouting report and toss seven scoreless innings in Miami's 9-1 win. The right-hander, who was filling in for the injured Henderson Alvarez, retired 17 of the last 19 batters he faced. It helped that Philadelphia had a lineup that included Jeff Francoeur as the cleanup hitter, but Phelps still pitched really well. I watched him for three years as a Yankee reliever/sometimes starter and he never was able to fully reach his potential. He's only 28, so maybe he'll reach it with the Marlins.

* Couple quick Baseball Phrases from play-by-play man Tom McCarthy:

"Business person's special"
"He's stepping into the proverbial bucket"
"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
"Heat-seeking missile"

Game 94 - Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals

April 22 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO
Fox Sports North

This was the first time I had listened to Twins' announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven and I enjoyed the broadcast. These guys don't just say things without having to back it up as actual fact, which is, oddly enough, RARE in baseball broadcasting.

* Blyleven said Royals' starter Jeremy Guthrie had pitched 200 innings a season a number of times, and immediately I thought I bet he didn't have many and maybe not ANY. But a quick check at Baseball Reference and yes - Guthrie has five 200-inning seasons.

* Bremer said he remembered Paul Molitor stealing home a bunch of times. Again, I thought I bet it hardly ever happened. But Molitor swiped home 10 times.

I'm going to watch several more Minnesota games this spring and summer so I can listen to Bremer & Blyleven.

Blyleven did have some hilarious advice for the Twins that we need to go over:

Pre-game

"Need to pitch better and get better hits"

On Minnesota starter Mike Pelfrey

"He can not make any mistakes"

On lead off man Danny Santana

"Look for the fast ball early and make contact"

A win!

It was a great night for Pelfrey, who tossed seven shut out innings and picked up his first victory since August 20, 2013 as the Twins avoided a sweep with a 3-0 win. Pelfrey had gone 13 starts without a victory.

The Twins scored the only three runs of the game in the first, getting run-scoring singles out of Brian Dozier and Kennys Vargas, and a bases loaded hit batsman from Oswaldo Arcia.

Webb Bobo All Stars

Yohan Pino not only tossed three innings of scoreless relief, but he made the team. Congratulations, Mr. Pino.

Fan of the game

The broadcast team announced their Twins fan of the game:














The apparent criteria for being a "fan of the game" is: be wearing a Twins hat. It would've been better had it just been called We Found a Twins Fan.

Game 93 - New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

April 22 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI
Fox Sports Detroit

This game had a little bit of almost everything, including a snow shower in the top of the first inning.













That's a perfect graphic for that half inning because though the bases were loaded and he was already trailing 1-0, there were two outs and Detroit starter David Price had an 0-2 count on Chase Headley. Price would have a hard time getting strike and out No. 3, though. Headley singled in a run and later, Gregorio Petit, who came into the night with a .111/.150/.111 line, took a fast ball right down the middle and did what you're supposed to do with a fast ball right down the middle and he smashed it into the left-center field gap for a three-run double. The Yankees sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times in the first against Price, who threw 51 pitches in the frame.

Adam Warren tried to give it all back, walking four of the first five batters he faced and allowing four runs on only one hit in the bottom half.

But while Price wasn't able to rebound (2 1/3 IP, 8 ER and 4 1/3 IP, 16 ER in last two starts against New York, both in Detroit), Warren was. The right-hander got into the sixth without allowing another run and the Yankees erupted for seven more in a 13-4 victory.

"If we get into a tight spot, we need to pitch around Gregorio Petit" - no one, until Wednesday night

After Price allowed consecutive triples to Carlos Beltran (it was a gift, he really doubled and took third on the throw home) and Headley, the Tigers decided to intentionally walk Petit. It worked, but that doesn't mean it wasn't the silliest thing I've seen since Wade Boggs mounted a horse following game six of the 1996 World Series.

I think now is as good a time as any to take a look at the official MLB rule book:

Rule 1 - Don't intentionally walk Gregorio Petit

Miguel Cabrera

The Tigers' first baseman went after Headley's sixth inning foul ball near the first base dugout and couldn't make the play














and I timed him getting back to his position. It took 24 seconds.

24!

Headley had to step out of the batter's box and wait for Cabrera to get ready for the next pitch, which added three extra seconds.

Before Wednesday we only had a home run trot tracker, but it's time to implement a how long it takes Miguel Cabrera to return to his position after not catching a foul pop up tracker.

Game 92 - New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

April 21 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI
YES Network

Chris Young is considered the Yankees' fourth outfielder, but through the first two weeks of the season he's been their best. Young was a triple short of the cycle Tuesday, which included his fourth home run in a 5-2 New York win. He's put together a .344/.432/.844 line so far and is tied with three others for the team-lead in home runs. Here is that list:

- Young - back up outfielder
- Stephen Drew - Stephen Drew!
- Alex Rodriguez - had played 44 games from 2013-2014
- Mark Teixeira - wrist could detach from his body at any moment

Speaking of power, if you locate Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann's, please return it to the New York Yankees, Bronx, NY, United States of America.

Nathan Eovaldi was a bright spot as well Tuesday, holding the excellent Detroit offense to just one run in seven innings. Kyle Lobstein allowed one run in six innings, then the Tigers' bullpen was extremely helpful as four relievers combined to allow three earned runs over the final three innings.

Michael Kay

Any Worst Play by Play Announcers in Baseball competitions you hear about, let me know. I've got an entry.

"Glove was a many splendored thing"
"Let's do it here in Motown"
"Loud out"
"Pecking order"
"Ribbie"
"Electric stuff"
"They've got some hitters in the pipeline"
"Flashed the leather"

And let's not forget about Paul O'Neill

"There are pitchers that are pitchers"
"You need to put runs in the run column"
"Smarter than the average bear"
"Got the bat head out"

Game 91 - Kennesaw State at Georgia Tech

April 21 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

I believe there's an old saying that goes something like: "sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear keeps drawing walks and hitting routine ground balls that you keep missing." The bear tonight was Kennesaw State, which used four Tech errors and three walks to score seven runs (just two were earned) in an 11-batter sixth inning. That was enough for the Owls to leave Atlanta with an 11-6 victory.

It was the first time in program history KSU has gone on the road and defeated Tech in consecutive seasons.















Even though the big inning, which included just one hit (Colin Bennett's RBI-double), gave KSU an 8-3 lead, Tech came back with three in the eighth. A.J. Murray hit his second two-run home run of the night and team-leading ninth long ball to make it an 8-6 game. But the Owls, a Super Regional participant a year ago, responded with three in the ninth to pull away.

"I thought we kept a lot of pressure on (Tech) throughout the game," said KSU coach Mike Sansing. "We were just talking about having good at bats. We did a good job of laying off pitches out of the zone and when we put some barrels on it, good things happen."

Baseball Phrases, by Mike Sansing

"Put some barrels on it"

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Kennesaw State

Griffin Helms - "Griff"

Georgia Tech

Brandon Gold - "B.G."
Daniel Spingola - "Sping"
Matt Gonzalez - "Gone"

Game 90 - New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

April 20 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI
Fox Sports Detroit

The full list of ways to give me Baseball Nightmares:

1. Show me Kenny Rogers' pitching performance from game four of the 1996 World Series
2. Tell me David Ortiz is coming to the plate in the new Yankee Stadium
3. Mention the name Luis Gonzalez
4. Tell me the late innings in Detroit are about to begin

Nightmare No. 4 will come in to play later tonight because on Monday, and has been the case many times before in Detroit, things didn't go well for New York.

C.C. Sabathia had a 1-0 shut out through 6 2/3 innings until the Tigers did Tigers things to New York, getting singles from J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes in the seventh to score their only runs in a 2-1 victory. Sabathia picked up his first complete game since July 9, 2013 against Kansas City.

Mark Teixeira led off the second with a home run against Alfredo Simon, but that was it against the right-hander, whose joined David Price and Shane Greene to form a trio of starters that have a combined 0.81 ERA in nine starts.

* Baseball Phrases

"The Motor City"

* We close with the first edition of Yankees Sarcasm!

"After an 0-for-3, two-strikeout night, 38-year old Carlos Beltran has a .171/.222/.268 slash line! Good thing he's signed for next year, too!"

Game 89 - Wright State at Oakland

April 19 at Oakland Baseball Field in Rochester, MI
espn3.com

Oakland was five outs away from an upset victory, but the visiting Raiders scored a run in the eighth and put together a five-run 11th to win 8-3 and complete a three-game sweep. Wright State is atop the Horizon League at 13-4, a half-game ahead of 13-5 Illinois-Chicago.

WSU coach Greg Lovelady was ejected in the ninth after a play at the plate. It doesn't really matter about the play or the ejection, what's important is Lovelady waving goodbye with his hat. Excellent farewell.


There goes Greg Lovelady


Neal Ruhl: play-by-play person

It's almost as if Ruhl was consulting several textbooks of Baseball Phrases Throughout The Generations. Titles like What Did That Last Guy Say?, Silliness 101, or Ducks On A Pond. It reminded me of a dream I once had where a coach was video taping a speech he was making to his team and then made me watch the speech on VHS over and over again. I had to keep rewinding the tape by hand because we couldn't find the remote control......anyway, take it far, far away Mr. Ruhl:

"Speedster"
"A Wright State lineup that can absolutely rake"
"Behind the dish"
"Wind is...blowing in the batter's grill"
"Punishes mistakes"/"feast off mistakes"
"5-9, 160 pounds...his bat is much bigger than that"
"Wears one"
"The heart and soul of this Golden Grizzlies' team"
"Anyway you slice it"
"Ducks on the pond"
"It's a matter of repeatable mechanics"
"You go out of the fryer and into the frying pan"
"Your traditional 12-to-6"
"He uses a couple of choice words"

Game 88 - Gwinnett Braves at Charlotte Knights

April 18 at BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, NC

Chien-Ming Wang was a New York Yankee starting pitcher for five seasons. He won 19 games twice, including in 2006 when he was the AL Cy Young runner-up and in 2007 when he was the ace of the staff. In 2008, the Taiwan native hurt himself running the bases in Houston

"Pitchers should have to bat and run the bases! It's tradition! Get rid of the DH!"

- a few dozen old men in a tavern in West Palm Beach

and was never the same again.

After rough stints with the Nationals and Bluejays, Wang is trying to get back to the big leagues with Atlanta. I was headed to BB&T and didn't even realize Wang was starting for Gwinnett until about an hour before the first pitch.

















Wang is still the same pitcher he was in the mid-2000s - ton of ground balls, not a lot of strike outs and a lot of contact. Unfortunately, that sinking fast ball isn't coming out of his hand at 95 MPH anymore and Charlotte and the rest of the International League get to hit high-80s fast balls. Wang got 12 ground ball outs, but Charlotte tagged him for six earned runs and 12 hits in seven innings - the big hits coming from Matt Davidson (two-run HR in the first) and Neftali Soto, who brought the last two home with a single in the seventh - in a 6-2 victory.














Wang in a familiar position on Saturday: working from the stretch

I didn't see any Yankee games during Wang's five years with the team, so this was actually the first time I'd seen him pitch in person, which was nice. The 35-year old looks close to the end of his professional career (his ERA is 5.84 in two starts with Gwinnett), so in an odd way, and despite the fact he had a rough night, I felt like I was able to give Wang my own, personal (and unexpected) farewell for all the good things he did for the Yankees.

The 300 Game Season All Star Team

All summer, we'll be on the look out for the 300 Game Season all stars. Saturday in Charlotte we found our first member.

(* all of the names and statistical and biographical information is a work of fiction and should be taken fictionally).

Tommy Newell
#13 - Charlotte Renegades












Newell, a 12-year old shortstop/second baseman, currently leads his team in infield fall downs (seven) and is second in S.W.B. (sneezes while batting) with four.

* Had three A.S.T.S. (ankle sock + tube sock) combinations as a 10-year old in 2013.

Game 87 - Mississippi at Auburn

April 17 at Plainsman Park in Auburn, AL

A number of sophomores play key roles for the Tigers, and two of those second-year players shined on a rainy Friday night in Auburn.

Cole Lipscomb went the distance, striking out a career-high 10 in Auburn's 3-1 victory to open the SEC weekend series. The start of the game was delayed two hours, seven minutes, and thanks to Lipscomb's fine work, the game lasted just 29 minutes longer.

Big night for No. 9 hitter Damon Haecker, another sophomore, who had three hits, two of which drove in runs for Auburn.


















Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Auburn's mascot - "Aubie"

Game 86 - Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals

April 16 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO
Fox Sports Midwest

I really just want to talk about one discussion that went on in the sixth inning between announcers Dan McLaughlin and Rick Horton. They were talking about mlb.com's Franchise Four promotion, which aims to select the best four players in each franchise's history. Naturally, the topic came up about the Cardinals' four and this is basically what McLaughlin said:

"Will Yadier Molina be in the conversation? Let's give him another seven years or so, he might be in the discussion."

1. No, Dan. No he will not be.

Molina is having a great career, but:

Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby, Albert Pujols.

That's the four today and that will still be the four in seven years.

2. Yadier Molina is 32 and in his 12th season. He's also a catcher. If he's still active in 2022 at age 39, then maybe he belongs in the top four in franchise history because he will have declared himself an alien. Aliens: automatic induction into the Cardinals' all-time top four.

Cardinals top 4, 2022: 1. Musial. 2. Hornsby. 3. Alien Molina. 4. Zom-door 7

Games 84 and 85 - Salem HS vs Heritage HS

April 15 at Danny Blue Field in Conyers, GA

Usually when someone says "you really do see something new every day in baseball," I quickly disagree. Watch just one week of high school baseball and you may think you're seeing something new every day, but it's really just the same thing being done every day by a different player/team.

Oftentimes, what's "new" is really just another item that has been fried and available at 2 for $3 at the concession stand.

But on Wednesday, I actually did see something new: there were two high school baseball games and the bullpen wasn't used once. You see, to follow high school baseball on a regular basis is to at some point understand and accept the following things:

1. This pitcher will not throw a strike even if you allowed him to run the ball to the catcher and jam it into his glove. He'll slip and fall just as he's reaching the catcher and it'll be high and outside.

2. That lunatic in the crowd is not only someone's mother, but also someone's wife, someone's daughter and perhaps someone's sister. Just be happy you can leave and don't have to continue seeing her after tonight.

3. That lunatic in the crowd is not only someone's father, but also someone's husband, someone's son and perhaps someone's brother. Just be happy you can leave and don't have to continue seeing him after tonight.

4. When the seventh inning rolls around, HOT DOGS ARE GOING TO BE MARKED DOWN TO $1.

5. We're going to the 'pen, baby! We didn't convince to play varsity baseball this 6-2, 137-pound freshman with the 85 MPH fast ball that no one has any idea where it's going so we can NOT use him. 

So, two games and no pitching changes? Say it ain't Jack Chesbro.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh of game two I full expected a person who no one had ever seen before to come jogging out to the mound, make the call to the bullpen, take the ball from the starter and hand the ball to a new pitcher. Then the unknown person vanishes into thin air.

That didn't happen, though. No one vanished and Salem and Heritage, two old Rockdale County, Georgia rivals, produced a tidy, one-hour, 44-minute affair in the opener. Salem's Kevin Barham, who we've talked about before at 300 Game Season, had his control problems (seven walks, one hit batsman), but also picked up a pair of pick offs and showed a good, low-80s fast ball, striking out 13 batters in the Seminoles' 1-0 victory. It snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series for Salem, which last beat its crosstown rival in March, 2010.

Barham also drove in the only run of the game on a squeeze bunt in the sixth. He out-dueled Heritage ace Matt Studdard, who threw 50 less pitches than Barham (81 to 131), but his complete game resulted in a heart-breaking defeat.


















Barham


Beneath a rolling mist in game two, Yoiler Guevara twirled a five-hit shut out in a 4-0 Patriots victory. Jordan Johnson was the final piece of the complete game quartet, allowing six hits and four earned runs in seven innings of work.

That may be the last time I ever write beneath a rolling mist.

Frozen? pickle juice?

Stopped by the concession stand for some water and 25 or 30 napkins when I discovered this sign:
















That sign says FROZEN PICKLE JUICE - $.25

Concession stand worker No. 1: "It's like a pickle popsicle."

In my head: "That's a much better name than Frozen Pickle Juice. You're making it sound like it's a material that's being hoarded in case of a national emergency."

Concession stand worker No. 2, looked to be in her mid-30s: "It's been around for a long time. I remember it being around when I was younger at the skating rink."

Response: "Which skating rink was that?"

[No response from concession stand worker No. 2]

Concession stand worker No. 1: "So, do you want any frozen pickle juice?"

Response: "No. No I don't."

Game 83 - Western Kentucky at Kentucky

April 14 at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington, KY
SEC Network

The Hilltoppers were twice down to their last strike in the top of the ninth, but rallied to tie, then scored two more in the 10th to win 5-3. Any time another Kentucky school can sweep a season series from the SEC's Wildcats (WKU won 12-3 on March 24) it's a big deal.

Kentucky closer Spencer Jack got two strikes on both Leiff Clarkson and Anderson Miller, but made two terrible pitches and Clarkson went the other way with a single before Miller hit a line drive home run that got over the right field wall in about 2 1/2 seconds. 3-3 game.

It must've been Spencer Jack Appreciation Day because he was also allowed to start the 10th and allowed a lead off single to Ryan Church. After a sacrifice and a fly out, southpaw Brad Schaenzer relieved and immediately allowed a go-ahead triple to Harrison Scanlon. Paul Murray followed with a double that chased home Scanlon. Big, emotional win for the Hilltoppers.

The redshirt-freshman Scanlon also crushed his first career home run, a solo shot to straightaway-center field leading off the third, to get Western to within 2-1.

* We've got quite a number of Baseball Phrases to get to, so let's not waste any more time.

Play-by-play man Dick Gabriel:

"Hot match up"
"He's a five-tool entertainer"
"With the wind blowing out to right, you're heart's in your mouth"
"Steady diet of sliders"
"Sliver of breathing room"
"Hit it on the screws"

Color commentator Keith Madison:

(* Inductee into the Keith Madison Hall of Fame)

* "An opportunity to put a feather in your cap"
"Projectability"
"Athletic frame"
"Sophomore slump"
"Square it up"
"His swing got a little long"
"Battle mode"
* "Country hard ball"
"Making that mitt pop"

* Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Thanks to the WKU and UK players for this list.

Western Kentucky

Scanlon - "Scanno", "Hairy"
Cody Wofford - "Woff"
Phillip Diedrick - "Philly"

Kentucky

Thomas Bernal - "Bernie"

Game 82 - New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

April 15 at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD
MASN

Miguel Gonzalez seemed hittable his first time through the Yankees' order: Carlos Beltran and Chris Young each ripped doubles and Stephen Drew (walk) and Chase Headley (deep fly out) also had good at bats during the first two innings. Gonzalez was excellent the rest of the night, though, retiring 10 consecutive batters at one point and finishing with a career-high 10 strike outs in seven innings in a 4-3 Orioles win.

New York had gotten to within one in the eighth when Beltran knocked in a run with a Beltran (ground out to the right side of the infield) and Alejandro De Aza forgot to catch Mark Teixeira's pop fly.

Zach Britton got three ground ball outs in the ninth that went a combined 49 feet and Baltimore evened the series at one game apiece.

Jim Palmer Baseball Phrases

"Knee-high burner"
"Pitch presentation"
"If pitching is touch and feel, he's feeling it"

Jim Palmer what are you talking about

"Pretty select country"

Game 81 - Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants

April 13 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA
Comcast Sports Net

When I was a young lad my parents had a pizza party for one of my birthdays. Tony Zeoli came over, ate too much pizza, drank too much orange soda and threw up everywhere. Tony's parents had to come and pick him up and the party was never the same after that.

The Rockies are Tony Zeoli.

They came to San Francisco and ruined the Giants' world championship celebration, winning 2-0 behind a five-pitcher shut out.

Eddie Butler walked six in 5 1/3 innings, but didn't allow a run, while Boone Logan was the only one of four relievers to permit a base-runner (hit Brandon Crawford with an eight-inning pitch) in 3 2/3 innings of stellar work.

Mike Krukow

Before Monday, I had only spent time with Mike Krukow while trying to get Kent Hrbek out in RBI Baseball. Finally, we had a chance to just watch a game together, neither of us trying to get the ball to Scott Garrelts in the ninth inning with a lead.

Mike came through (like he usually did against Hrbek and Tom Brunansky), with his own special list of Baseball Phrases:

"He'll be in the squat, putting down the signs"
"That pitch will have some tilt"
"Very small take-back step"
"Sling shot toss"
"Tried to hump up on a four-seam fast ball"
"Reach-back velocity"
"This is a cookie right here"
"He's a get it and go guy"
"Plus arms"

Webb Bobo All Stars

San Francisco reliever Sergio Romo, welcome to the squad.

Madison Bumgarner on a horse

I know he had one of the most dominant postseasons in history to lead SF to the title, but that doesn't mean he should've mounted a horse and rode it around a baseball field.


Game 80 - Boston Redsox at New York Yankees

April 12 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
ESPN

After a miserable first two games of the series, which included a 19-inning loss in Friday's opener, the Yankees took their frustrations out on Clay Buchholz. In a marathon first, the Yankees scored seven times with the big hits coming from Alex Rodriguez (three-run double) and Chase Headley (two-run home run) and won 14-4 to salvage game three of the series.

Things got so bad for Buchholz in that opening inning, he even served up a solo home run to Stephen Drew, who followed Headley by taking a 1-0 pitch and bouncing it on top of and over the right-field wall to make it 7-0. The First Extra Base Hit of the Season bonus in Drew's contract kicked in and he received his loaf of bread (wheat) after the game.

Masahiro Tanaka looked fine (5 IP, 3 ER, 5 K), though with a 7-0 lead in the top of the second he had two outs and a 3-0 count on Mike Napoli. Here's what ESPN's John Kruk had to say:

"You give up a home run to Mike Napoli, it's 7-1, so what? Better than a walk."

Ladies and gentleman, Johnathan Ulysses Kruk.

Game 79 - Wake Forest at Pittsburgh

April 12 at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, PA
espn3.com

Before the game Boo Vazquez was named to the Webb Bobo All Stars, then the senior crushed a three-run home run in the fifth as part of an 8-4 Panthers' win. Vasquez, who was 0-for-7 in the series coming in, was also part of a four-run first for Pittsburgh as he walked and scored on Frank Maldanado's three-run triple.

Nate Mondou had three hits, including a triple and a two-run single that got the Demon Deacons to within 4-3 in the fourth.

* Webb Bobo All Stars

Vazquez is joined on the team by Pittsburgh senior right-hander Hobie Harris.

* Baseball Phrases, by play-by-play man Jeff Hathhorn:

"Baseball is full of ifs and buts"

Game 78 - Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies

April 12 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA
Comcast Sports Net

I've got to start with former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt, who does color commentary for CSN. Look, the man PLAYED THE GAME and HAS BEEN AROUND A CLUBHOUSE OR TWO, so he is free to say whatever he wants, even if it's Mike Schmidt Nonsense (M.S.N.).

Key

(W)
What is Mike Schmidt talking about? Did I spell/hear this wrong?


"He's a ball striker"
"The bo-lays are on the ground" (W)
"Humpback liner"
"Lumber company"
"Nice eye ball"
"Good peepers!" (W)
"Deader than a door nail"
"Tall stance"
"He's very connected to his core"
"He hits with big muscles"
"Back in the day"

* Ben Davis is another commentator for CSN and he described a seventh-inning walk as "the dreaded two-out walk".

So, pitchers, here's some advice:

1. Don't walk the lead-off man
2. A walk with two outs is dreadful
3. Son, can't you throw strikes?!

No one ever has anything to say about the DREADED one-out walk, but I think it deserves as much attention as the other two. The one-out walk is the middle child of walks.

Here's an amendment to the walks discussion: 1. WALKS ARE BAD.

And here's an extended list...

2. Walks are bad
3a. The intentional walk is almost always a terrible strategy
3b. Don't intentionally walk a batter in the first inning
4. Stop issuing intentional walks

* Couple quick things from the game, a 4-3 Nationals win in 10 innings:

- Ryan Howard went 0-for-4 with four strike outs, including three Ks and I believe one tip in nine total swings against Washington starter Max Scherzer, who allowed one run in six innings and got a no-decision. I ran the projections through my I Watched Ryan Howard Hit Against Max Scherzer (WRHHMS) system and Howard's next ball hit in fair territory against the right-hander is scheduled for June, 2019.

- Washington salvaged the third game of the series thanks to a pair of runs in the top of the 10th. Jake Diekman gave up a lead off double to Yunel Escobar and his wild pitch scored Escobar to put the Nats up 3-2. Clint Robinson (double) and Will Ramos (single) teamed up for what turned out to be a big insurance run because the Phillies scored a run in the bottom half on a couple walks and an infield single.

- Nice start for Washington's Sean O'Sullivan, who struck out five and allowed two earned runs in six innings. He also drew a two-out walk and scored the hosts' first run in the fifth to make it 2-1. Darin Ruf tied the game in the seventh with a no-doubt, solo home run to left off Nats southpaw Xavier Cedeno.

Game 77 - Virginia at Georgia Tech

April 11 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

While the pitching, defense and base-running have left a lot to be desired through the first two games of this ACC series, the offenses have not. Virginia clobbered Tech's Friday starter Jonathan King in a 14-4 win in the opener, and the Yellow Jackets used a five-run first to bounce back and take the middle game 11-4 on Saturday afternoon.

UVA starter Connor Jones, who came into the day with a 2.89 ERA in eight starts, did not fare well in start No. 9. Jones had retired two of the first three batters of the opening inning, but used 20 pitches to do it. It took Jones 29 more pitches to get the last out. Seven consecutive Yellow Jackets reached base and the Nos. 6-9 hitters each drove in at least one run (No. 9 hitter Ryan Peurifoy had a two-run single) in an 11-batter frame.















That turned out to be plenty for the Tech pitching staff, which allowed one run through the first six innings while building a 9-1 cushion. The Baseball America No 22 Cavaliers had 23 base-runners, including at least one hit in every inning, but left 11 in scoring position.

Home plate umpire strike calls

Scott Kennedy: "HI-HIKE!"

Game 76 - Oregon State at Oregon

April 10 at PK Park in Eugene, OR
ESPNU

The rivalry between the Ducks and Beavers is called The Civil War. If you didn't know that before sitting down to watch Friday's baseball game, ESPNU play-by-play man Roxy Bernstein let you know it. Often.

The words "civil war" were said 11 times during the broadcast in a variety of ways:

"Game one of this Civil War series" - said three times
"It's the Civil War" (2)
"No score in the Civil War" (1)
"The Civil War: game one" (1)
"It's the Civil War, so you know everybody's showing up for this one" (1)
"The Civil War, game one" (1)
"The Civil War series" (1)
"Their first indoctrination into the Civil War" (1)

Two hits = plenty

Oregon could only muster two hits in nine innings, but still came away with an emotional, 3-2 victory. Trailing 2-1 and down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth, the Ducks' Austin Grebeck (son of 12-year MLB vetern Craig Grebeck) reached on a fielding error by OSU second baseman Caleb Hamilton. Hamilton made matters worse by throwing wide of first, which chased home pinch-runner J.B. Bryant to tie things up at 2-2.

Freshman Luke Heimlich issued his second walk of the inning (he also hit a batter) to load the bases and OSU went with another freshman, Mitch Hickey. Kyle Kasser actually pinch-hit for a pinch-hitter (Nick Catalano) after Hickey had entered the game, and drew a walk, forcing home Mark Karaviotis with the winning run.

Moore & Irvin 

Before the ninth, starting pitching was the story, led by Moore. The OSU right-hander, second in the Pac-12 in ERA, allowed those two hits and an unearned run in 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven with excellent command of both his fast ball and curve. Moore lowered his ERA from 1.63 to 1.46 on Friday.

Oregon southpaw Cole Irvin allowed 11 base-runners, but just two runs (one earned) and struck out five in seven solid innings of work. Each team scored a run in the fifth before Grebeck kept the game tied by gunning down Kyle Nobach at the plate with a perfect throw from center field in the seventh. K.J. Harrison, whose having a phenomenal freshman season (sixth in Pac-12 with .366 BA) put the Beavers back out front 2-1 with a two-out RBI-single in the eighth.

Webb Bobo All Stars

Oregon State catcher Logan Ice, welcome to the team.

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Oregon State

Nobach - "Nobie"
Hamilton - "Hammie"
Joe Gillette - "Jo Jo"
Trever Morrison - "Mo"

Oregon

Jakob Goldfarb - "Goldy"

Game 75 - Virginia at Georgia Tech

April 10 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

We had to wait one hour, 42 minutes for this one to start as a rain storm hit the midtown-Atlanta area an hour before the regularly-scheduled first pitch.

















Once things got started, the Virginia offense unloaded on Tech's Jonathan King. The Cavaliers, ranked No. 22 by Baseball America, scored seven runs in the top of the third and picked up a 14-4 victory in the first game of an Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series.

The inning started ominously for Tech as King hit Ernie Clement with a pitch and Robbie Coman bunted for a hit with Clement moving to third on a throwing error by third baseman Brandon Gold. That began a string of six consecutive batters to reach base for the Cavaliers, including a three-run double from Matt Thaiss to make it 5-0 and after RBI hits by Pavin Smith (single) and Clement (triple) it was 7-0 following an 11-batter frame.













* And that was probably the first time I've ever used the word ominously and it certainly took me long enough to get it right. Four misspellings: ominiously, ominisly, ominisley, omonously.

* We're going to start tracking home plate umpire strike calls. Tonight we had Jacob Asher:

HRike! 
 

Game 74 - Houston Astros at Texas Rangers

April 10 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX
Fox Sports Midwest

Collin McHugh had a fine first full season in 2014, compiling a 2.73 ERA in 154 2/3 innings to finish fourth in the NL rookie of the year voting.

Year two for McHugh got off to a pleasant start on Friday afternoon as the righty scattered five hits and an earned run in six innings of a 5-1 Houston victory. Great day as well for the bottom of the Houston lineup, in particular a pair of No. 9 hitters in Jake Marisnick (RBI-double, RBI-single) and Colby Ramus, who went in to play left for Marisnick in the seventh, then ripped a two-run home run in the ninth.

No. 8 hitter Robbie Grossman also had two hits.

* Neftali Feliz, welcome to the Webb Bobo All Stars

* I was introduced to "Tex" during the bottom of the second inning.



Game 73 - Toronto Bluejays at New York Yankees

April 9 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network

CC Sabathia allowed four runs in the second inning, but struck out eight and surrendered just an unearned run in his other 4 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, that five-hit rally was enough for Toronto in a 6-3 win in the rubber game of the season-opening series.

Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira each hit solo home runs in the sixth to get the Yankees to within 5-3, but they had just a J.R. Murphy double (his second of the game) and a couple walks the rest of the way.

A few positives for the Yankees in a series they were pretty lucky to get out of with one win:

1. Jose Bautista was terrible. The Jays slugger was completely shut down in the three games, striking out eight times and going 0-for-12 with a walk in 13 plate appearances.
2. Michael Pineda was good and should only get better with better weather, and Sabathia had a bad inning, but otherwise looked like he may be able to have a bounce back season. Only one start in, yet encouraging things from each starter.
3. If he's in the lineup, Stephen Drew can only come to the plate once every nine batters.

* Dear Major League Baseball,

Please continue to schedule games in New York during the first week of the season. The weather conditions are always exceptional and never much of a factor.

Sincerely,

Not a single living human being

* Finally, just a quick programming note. YES ran a commercial mid-fourth inning for MLB Network announcing that 'Spring Training coverage continues through Opening Day'.

Sounds good, YES & MLB Network!

Game 72 - New York Mets at Washington Nationals

April 9 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
SNY

Let's get right to what's important. The color commentators for SNY - Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez - make all kinds of sounds during the broadcast. Sounds like 'mmm!', 'hmm!' and 'ooo' occur quite a bit during a Mets game on SNY.

Total 'mmms', 'hmms' and 'ooos' - 22

And some of the situations:

* Close pitch, may have been a strike
* Lucas Duda is hit by a pitch in the third inning
* After an error by Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores
* Reacting to the start by Dodgers' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez
* After a strike out
* Reacting to the difference in the ages of Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey
* Close pitch, may have been a ball
* After something said by play-by-play man Gary Cohen
* Error by an infielder

Harvey, making his first appearance since August, 2013, was excellent, tossing six innings of four-hit ball and striking out nine, including there swinging strike outs of Bryce Harper. Harvey also out-pitched Strasburg, who allowed six runs (three earned) and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-3 New York victory.

Travis d'Arnaud and David Wright each drove in a pair of runs for the Mets, who took two of three to open the season.

Someone put a cool rag on Keith Hernandez's forehead

"The train had already left the station - you're a little tardy"
"Buckled his world"
"You get jammed, you're going to have what they call 'bees in your hand'"
"Desmond being Santa Claus again in this series for the Mets"
"That one, as we used to say, had some hemp on it"

"Our nation's capital"

We need a new nickname for Washington D.C. That's enough of "our nation's capital". I would even take "the nation's capital". Perhaps it's the our that bothers me the most.

Game 71 - San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers

April 8 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA
Fox Sports San Diego

Here's the good news for San Diego's Andrew Cashner: Adrian Gonzalez doesn't also play for Arizona, the next opponent Cashner is scheduled to pitch against.
 
Gonzalez polished off a torrid opening series on Wednesday, homering in all three at bats against Cashner as LA won 7-4. Watching it on television, each long ball looked identically to the previous one, but think how Cashner feels. Gonzalez went 10-for-13 in the three-game set with five home runs (the most HR ever hit through the first three games of a season), which is quite good. It's not Mark Davis Baseball Phrase good, but it's good.

Mr. Davis, are you there?

"Home run haven"
"The starting pitching is where it starts"
"That is paint with movement"
"That's the one you call the tow truck"
"Two-out thunder for the Padres"
"Got some giddy-up tonight"
"Look at that right there: the proof is in the pudding"
"He's coming right at your hip pocket"
"One for the look-see, one for the putaway"
"The Padres pine snatchers"

Game 70 - Toronto Bluejays at New York Yankees

April 8 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network

I had a This Is Terrible, What Do We Do? recap all set to go.

I was going to ask the $7 question: who on earth is Devon Travis? and talk about how the Yankees were the worst 0-2 team since the last 0-2 Yankees team (last season). But sometimes a pair of Toronto Bluejays relievers tuck you in, give you a warm glass of milk and read you a bedtime story.

Tonight's story was titled The Rally That Went A Combined 237 Feet.

With the Yankees down 3-1, Chris Young pinch-hit for Didi Gregorius leading off the eighth and blooped a ball down the right-field line that fell harmlessly for a gift double. Jacoby Ellsbury reached base for the fourth time, ripping a single up the middle. That word ripping is important because it was truly the only ball in the inning that if you weren't able to see could even remotely be described as "possibly coming off a wooden bat swung by a living human". Aaron Loup's evening was complete after he hit Brett Gardner in the hand with a pitch to load the bases.

Brett Cecil was next to give the Yankees things they probably didn't deserve, but would gladly accept, and with Carlos Beltran up, he tossed a wild pitch to make it a 3-2 game.

Beltran struck out and after an intentional walk (more free base-runners: thanks, Toronto Bluejays!) loaded the bases, Brian McCann was hit in the back with a pitch. 3-3. All of a sudden the Yankees were one Chase Headley come backer off Cecil's glove that trickles past the shortstop and into shallow left-center field away from taking the lead.

Headley's "hit" brought home Gardner and after a dazzling New York debut for Andrew Miller in the ninth, the Yankees evened their record at 1-1.

Final thoughts

Here are things that you don't want if you're a Major League Baseball team in 2015:

1. Stephen Drew batting with the tying run at second base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

2. Stephen Drew batting.

Game 69 - Flowery Branch HS vs. Salem HS

April 8 at Salem High School baseball field in Conyers, GA

Wednesday was our third time seeing Kevin Barham pitch and after a pair of up-and-down performances the Salem lefty produced his finest outing on a warm evening east of Atlanta.

With several professional scouts in attendance, the spotlight was on University of Georgia signee Jonathan Hughes, but Barham was better. He allowed just two singles and worked out of his only jam of the night in the first inning when he walked two and allowed a single, yet left the bases loaded by catching Derek Eder looking for the third out.

Barham was rarely challenged after that and he tossed six innings and out-pitched the righty Hughes (4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER).

Salem didn't knock the ball around the park (of the team's eight hits only Yorel James' RBI-single in a two-run first could be considered a hard-hit ball), but all that mattered was the Seminoles came away with a 4-1 win and moved to 7-4 in Region 8-AAAAA.

Another nice win for the Seminoles, which followed a Monday victory over Winder-Barrow that snapped a seven-year, 11-game losing streak in that series.

Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

What do you have for us, Flowery Branch fans?

Andrew Nolt - "Nolter"
Stephen Skeggs - "Skegger", "Steveo", "Skeggy", "Skeggers"
Hughes - "J.B.", "John-Boy"
Trey Groves - "T-Bone"

Game 68 - Columbia at St. John's

April 8 at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, NY
espn3.com

Since beginning a four-game series with USC-Upstate on March 20, the Lions have been rolling. With Wednesday's 5-4 win, Columbia has won eight straight and 13 of 14 since sweeping all four in Spartanburg.

Ryan Marks came out of the bullpen in the third inning and after Alex Caruso's bunt single to open the frame, Marks retired nine straight. A much-deserved win for the southpaw.

* Ralph Bednarczyk and Bob Hieschfield had a nice day of Baseball Phrases:

"He has to live downstairs"
"Try to beat these hitters diagonally"
"Hitting a robust .368"
"Baseball hotbed"
"Monster blast"
"I wouldn't say he's a burner, or a rabbit"
"Big, healthy cut"
"Good, healthy cuts"
"Pitcher's best friend"
"That certainly puts out a fire for Magee"
"Square him up"
"Stay tall"
"He has a very green light" 

Wednesday at Jack Kaiser: not quite a capacity crowd


Game 67 - Colorado Rockies at Milwaukee Brewers

April 7 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI
ROOT Sports

Great start to the year for the Rockies, who pounded Kyle Loshe on their way to a 10-0 victory on opening day, then tagged Matt Garza for four runs in the middle innings Tuesday in a 5-2 win.

Colorado scored three in the fourth, including three straight doubles, then added runs in the fifth and sixth. The Rockies have won a road series (they won just three all of last season), and already have 12 doubles, which ties the modern record for two-baggers through the first two games of the season.

* Let's play What is Play-by-play Man Drew Goodman Talking About?

Goodman: "A blowout from jump street"
What is Drew Goodman talking about?: Colorado scored a lot of early runs in Monday's game.

G: "Fourth inning, Milwaukee had traffic"
What?: The Brewers had runners on base in the fourth inning.

G: "We'll check the gloves for the Rockies"
What?: These guys are playing these positions today.












G: "He's been a problem child for Jordan Lyles"
What?: Lyles has problems getting this hitter out.

G: "Had to jam on the brakes"
What?: The runner had to stop and hold at the base instead of advancing.

G: "There was the dirt ball"
What?: That pitch was in the dirt.

* Goodman also mentioned how bullpen coach Darren Holmes was a "tireless worker ", and I'm sure he is. But just as he said it a camera showed Holmes yawning:












Nicknames that aren't really nicknames

Troy Tulowitzki - "Tulo"
Carlos Gonzalez - "CarGo"

Game 66 - Stetson at Florida

April 7 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL
SEC Network

Sometimes you just pick the right game to watch.

JJ Schwarz may play baseball for the next 20 years of his life and never have a night that comes close to the night he had against the Hatters. Schwarz, a freshman catcher, hit a program-record four home runs and had 10 RBIs in the Gators' 22-2 victory. Schwarz, who also doubled in two runs in the eighth, victimized four different Stetson pitchers:

2nd inning - crushed a belt-high fast ball from losing pitcher Adam Schaly for a two-run shot that put Florida up for good at 3-2 (yes, at one point Stetson held a 2-1 lead).

3rd inning - high fast ball from Josh Thorne once again hit quite well over the left field wall for a two-run home run.

4th inning - line drive, three-run home run to left off Ben Rakus.

7th inning - solo shot to left-center field to break the school record. Four home runs in seven innings and five plate appearances.

How about the pitching performance from Ben Onyshko? Please disregard the four earned runs and seven hits the Stetson freshman allowed in two innings of work and focus more on the fact that he actually retired Schwarz on a fifth-inning fly out.

Some other Schwarz and non-Schwarz facts:

* He was hitting .143 in his previous 11 games before Tuesday.
* In his last game against Stetson on March 24, Schwarz went 0-for-5 and struck out three times.
* Lost in the brilliant performance by Schwarz was the fact that another freshman, Dalton Guthrie hit the first two home runs of his collegiate career.
* There was a 59-minute rain delay two pitches into the bottom of the third. College baseball means: player grounds crews!











* Miserable game for the Hatters, who had won four straight coming in. The DeLand school not only made Schwarz look like Hank Aaron standing on top of another Hank Aaron, but allowed runs in all eight Florida batting innings and were charged with six errors.

* Last thing comes from Schwarz, who told gatorzone.com:

“I’ve never hit two [home runs in a game] before. After my second one, I was really excited, and then after the third I was like, ‘Holy crap, what is going on?’”

Holy crap, what is going on. Well said.

Game 65 - Mercer at Georgia Tech

April 7 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA

Georgia Tech pitcher Ben Parr said his left-handed hitting teammates were known to be susceptible to side-arming left-handed pitchers. Not on Tuesday.

Daniel Spingola took one of reliever Austin Lord's side-arming deliveries in the seventh and deposited a three-run home run over the right-center field wall for the difference in Tech's 4-3 victory over Mercer at Russ Chandler.










Parr allowed three earned runs - one of which came in the third when he was late covering first on a two-out infield single and the other two were aided by a pair of errors and two singles allowed after Parr had left the game in the eighth - in 7 1/3 innings of work to pick up the win. And it was an important win for the Yellow Jackets heading into an Atlantic Coast Conference series with Virginia this weekend in Atlanta.

"They bring in a side-armer, which is supposed to be kind of lethal on our lefties (and Spingola) just put a big swing on one," said Parr, who improved to 5-1.

"That's a big hit, it's a huge hit," said Tech coach Danny Hall.

* Nice start for Mercer's D.J. Johnson, who went five innings and only allowed A.J. Murray's solo home run in the fourth. Johnson's had a tough senior season (9.36 ERA coming in), but made his first start since March 7 and scattered four hits.

* Parr called Spingola "Spingy", a nickname we discovered back on March 20. Some other nicknames that aren't really nicknames from Tuesday's game:

Mercer

Danny Edgeworth - "Edge"
Conrad Cornell - "Cor", "Rad"
Matt Meeder - "Meeds"
Jose Hernandez - "Hose"

Georgia Tech

Brandon Gold - "Big G"
Tanner Shelton - "Shelt"

Game 64 - Cleveland Indians at Houston Astros

April 6 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX
ROOT Sports

300 Game Season's first major league pitcher's duel of 2015 went to Dallas Keuchel and the Astros 2-0.

Keuchel, a southpaw coming off an excellent 2014, tossed seven scoreless innings and out-pitched Corey Kluber, though not by much. The reigning AL Cy Young winner pitched into the eighth and had a no-hitter until Jose Altuve blooped a single to center with two outs in the sixth. That was a first pitch from Kluber and Altuve didn't waste any time stealing second, going on the first pitch to George Springer. Springer took a bit of a hanger on a 1-2 pitch and roped it into left field for a go-ahead single and the only run the hosts would need.

It was Houston's first opening day shut out since Roy Oswalt beat Florida 1-0 on April 3, 2006.

Spills

* We had our first spill of the season Monday night. This young man went after an eighth inning foul ball and dropped his popcorn, which you never like to see.













Game 63 - Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds

April 6 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, OH
Fox Sports Ohio

Each team was let down by a reliever on opening day and the Reds were the final beneficiary in a 5-2 win.

Johnny Cueto was magnificent for Cincinnati (7 IP, 4 H, 10 K), but after the right-hander departed Andrew McCutchen ripped a two-out, two-run, eighth-inning home run off Kevin Gregg to pull the Pirates even at 2-2.

Francisco Liriano was very good for the Pirates (7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 7 K) as well and thanks to McCutchen had a potential loss turn into a no-decision. Tony Watson took over and did his best Kevin Gregg impersonation, serving up a three-run home run to Todd Frazier, who turned on a fast ball.

Couple other notes:

* Cueto could've gone 14 innings and might not have given up a run, he was in complete command from pitch one. He was the NL Cy Young runner-up a year ago and I think he could take the next step and win it this year. Well, first Clayton Kershaw would need to find Jesus and disappear into a mountain somewhere.

* Starling Marte had three of Pittsburgh's 13 strike outs Monday, but he finished 2014 strong, hitting .354 in September. Play-by-play man Thom Brennaman: "he was nearly impossible to get out...hit .354." Thom: that is nowhere near nearly impossible to get out.

* We're proud to welcome our first big league members of the Webb Bobo All Stars: relievers Jumbo Diaz of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh's Arquimedes Caminero.

Game 62 - Toronto Bluejays at New York Yankees

April 6 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
Yes Network

The season doesn't really open for me until the Yankees play their first game, but I now would pay as much as 75 poppy seeds to just go back to Monday morning before this game began.

Masahiro Tanaka started the third by giving up a hard single down the left field line to No. 8 hitter Kevin Pillar and walking No. 9 hitter Devon Travis. Those turned out to be the enjoyable parts of the inning. Jose Reyes tried to provide a free out, but the Yankees said "no thank you," and Chase Headley threw Reyes' bunt attempt past first base. That scored the first run of the game, and former Yankee Russell Martin poked a two-run single to the opposite field for a three-run cushion. Tanaka gave Edwin Encarnacion a fast ball right down the middle and Encarnacion, who hit 112 home runs over the previous three seasons, belted a two-run shot to left for a 5-0 lead.

Drew Hutchison made the start for Toronto and except for a solo home run by Brett Gardner in the sixth looked good in six innings of three-hit ball as the visitors won 6-1.

Alex is back

Alex Rodriguez made his return to baseball Monday after a one-season suspension and looked fine at the plate, which was really nice to see. It was just one game, but he along with Brett Gardner looked the best at the plate for New York. Rodriguez drew a lead off walk in the third, then had an opposite field single into the right-center field gap to start the fifth, though he never set foot off first base either time. And by that I mean the hitters behind him went 0-for-6 and I don't think he took a lead. Rodriguez has a decent chance of ending the season with less than 20 feet of combined lead off first.

Rodriguez also had a well-hit ball into the right-center field gap in the seventh that was tracked down by Jose Bautista, who had eight put outs in right.

The only problem with having Rodriguez back is that I have to hear YES announcer Michael Kay pronounce his name. It may be the only pronunciation of the man's name of its kind in all of baseball/the universe:

"Alex ROGG-REE-GIS"

This will almost certainly be a theme every time I watch the Yankees on YES. Here's the first of many Kay Baseball Phrases.

"Straight from central casting"
"Baseball gods"
"The biggest stage in baseball...opening on Broadway"
"You realize you have more career in the rear view mirror than in the windshield"
"Screaming line drive"
"Started off gang busters"

And one from Ken Singleton:

"Ron Karkovice, his nickname was 'Officer Karkovice' because he could catch you stealing"

Scouting reports?

Before the top of the first, YES had what they referred to as a "scouting report", but it actually contained things like this:

* Tanaka set the Japanese high school strike out record

That's not a scouting report. That's a Thing We Know About Masahiro Tanaka.