I am reposting this old chestnut upon hearing the news that the Diamondbacks, perhaps under the influence of peyote, have signed Mike Hampton to a minor-league contract. With predictable results.
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Classic.
I was driving through Orlando and Gainesville yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of Braves radio affiliates. This is Braves Country!
To chris in the last thread: Will Carroll is reporting that Strasburg is headed to see Dr. Andrews. So, yeah.
The DBacks’ move makes perfect sense. Hampton replaces Webb as their groundball Godot.
Go Braves. Let’s murderize those bums.
Come on Braves….let’s score some runs today!
I feel bad for the Nats. They did absolutely nothing wrong, treated him with kid gloves, but the best player in the history of their franchise — or, if you prefer, most talented player in the history of the franchise — has arm problems.
AAR,
I feel sorry for the Nationals also. But in a perverse way, I feel happy for the teams that would have the greatest chance to see Strasburg over the next year.
So overall, I feel kind of pretty happy.
Also, I would feel way worse if this was some undrafted free agent who would be out of work for the next year. I don’t feel as bad for a player who will not only make more money in the next five years than I will over the next twenty years, but will also always be given a contract because of his past achievements (that is, being drafted #1).
We played better against Strausburg than most of the Nats pitchers.
1. Infante 2B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Prado 3B, 4. Lee 1B, 5. McCann C, 6. Cabrera LF, 7. Gonzalez SS, 8. Ankiel CF, 9. Minor LH
Bethany,
It was one game. I’m willing to bet quite a bit of my savings (which aren’t much at all) that the trend doesn’t continue.
Lou Piniella will be stepping down after today’s game to take care of his ailing mother. Link.
Has Minor learned how to win yet? I hope he didn’t hang out with Hanson last night.
Desert, I agree with you, Strasberg will be taken care of. He stayed healthy long enough to get paid in the 2009 draft. It’s just one of those issues of fate: sometimes you can do everything right and your pitchers still get toppled by the injury bug. So much of baseball, ultimately, is being lucky enough not to have your pitchers get injured.
sdp,
Oh wow. This will make it tough to win.
it’s hard to feel bad for someone who makes your annual salary in a couple of weeks worth of “work”
I wonder if Jim Bunning will keep calling Strasburg a wimp because of his limited workload.
I’d make the same joke I made a couple of years ago about Dr. Andrews evidently having bought another boat, but that made people inexplicably angry. So this is me not making that joke again.
No one should be happy that a player gets hurt no matter how much money he makes or how much it will help your team. It’s not all about money.
I love the Mike Hampton videos. Especially the King of Pop one.
“No one should be happy that a player gets hurt no matter how much money he makes or how much it will help your team. It’s not all about money.”
I’m not happy but neither am I sad. Nobody here is wishing him harm; rather, insofar as they care at all, most are either (1) glad for the Braves or (2) agnostic on Strasburg, who certainly deserves no pity. We talk about $2 million as “cheap” or $8 million as “standard for a league-average starter,” but we also need occasionally to get some perspective. Money does matter here. It’s the elephant in the room with professional athletes–always.
OH MY INFANTE!
All-Star.
he hammered that one
surprised Chip didnt start talking about the no-no getting blown up
Send Lou home in Cubs style: a loss.
I wish Bobby would bat McCann in front of Lee.
nice baserunning from Prado
Nats are putting some serious spin out on this Strasburg injury. They’re saying it’s happened before and he pitched through it. Yeah? Doesn’t make it any less worrisome.
Nice situational hitting by our #4 and #5 hitters.
once again, i have no faith in melky.
Chip: “15 of Melky’s 35 RBIs have come with 2 outs.”
Could there be a less important statistic?
Melk…..Dud.
Ugh.
only thing Id change with the lineup is flipping Melky and Ankiel
Again I say, WTF is a Darwin Barney?
Error.
Heyward is running figure 8’s in RF…FAIL
that was a strike…..
Sometimes I hate this team.
Braves defense in this series has been downright pathetic.
first inning mishaps again. Heyward has a ball hit off his glove, ump missed strike 3, and then they hit and run and hit it right where Prado was standing
goodness our defense is horrid. I know it was a hard hit ball but damn, make the catch.
Defense helps win championships, too.
Chip says, “Heyward’s back as far as he can go!” right about the time Jason sets foot on the warning track.
Trammell lost 300 games in three seasons as manager of the Tigers. I can’t imagine why the Cubs wouldn’t want him as their next manager, Chip.
Chip – “Castro doubles off the glove of Heyward.”
if the ball isnt lost in the sun and it hits your glove, its got to be an error
Well, the Phillies are currently winning behind Oswalt. We might want to get it together.
Oswalt is pitching into and out of jams in every inning. He’s also had 75 pitches through 4 innings so I don’t think he’ll last more than 6.
minor is getting squeezed big time
There’s no way that ball to Heyward wasn’t an error. If you’re doing pirouettes on your way to having the ball bounce off the closed-two-early glove, that’s an E.
JASON!
That’s good to see, Jason.
Marc Schneider owes Jason another Coke.
You know, seeing Jim Hendry next to Chip Caray in the booth makes me think — maybe we can blame Chip’s utter horribleness on the Cubs. Much like nearly every free agent they sign or blue chip prospect they promote, a few short years in Chicago were all it took to rob him of whatever talent he may have had. That also helps explain how, despite the fact that his father and grandfather were two of the greatest broadcasters ever, he might be the worst broadcaster alive.
I’m really getting to hate this Ramirez guy.
I’m officially putting Aramis Ramirez on my “never pitch to, under any circumstances” list, right next to Chase Utley and Dan Uggla.
I’m thoroughly convinced that if Aramis Ramirez had a full season of games against the Braves, he’d have a legit shot at breaking Bonds’s 73 HR season.
Hey, that looked like one of our plays!
There is very little in the world of baseball that I like less than two strike bunts.
Pitiful effort by Minor….
Mike Minor is no Micah Owings at the plate.
Omar’s an All-Star, donchaknow.
ALL-STAR!
ALL-STAR. Argument over.
OMAR!!!
Omar comin’!
Freakin’ awesome.
Can’t believe the Braves waited so long to play Infante everyday….
Glad he didn’t get the bunt down.
All-Star Bitches!!!
Just to be clear the Cubs are the “bitches” not anyone here who rightfully questioned the all-star selection. Also, going forward, any “bitches” referenced should be inferred to be against some outside force not on or itself this blog unless otherwise noted.
Thank you.
This is getting crazy. The Braves look really good right now for bring Minor up when they did.
The current season high for Ks in a game for the Braves is 10 by Tommy Hanson a couple of times and Mike Minor through 4 innings today.
Dear Announcers. Stop comparing Mike Minor to Kerry Wood.
This Minor kid might be good.
Considering he has 11 Ks in 4.1 IP, let’s look at Braves single game K leaders:
1) Spahn with a 15 inning complete game (ouch) against the Cubs(!), 18 K.
After that, three 15 K games. Smoltz lost a game, but threw 15 K in 7.1 IP. The other two are Spahn and Smoltz again with 9 inning complete game wins.
For those who had forgotten what a “Prado” was.
I freaking love Minor.
Aww shoot, Martin.
11 Ks ties him for 50th all time Braves single-game K. In just 4.1 IP.
88 pitches for Minor, so the 6th is probably his last inning. Way to leave an impression, kid.
Keith Law once called Minor a “back-end starter.”
Keith Law is a hack.
That’s what the BP guys thought about JJ, too.
@81, 82, with Hudson and Hanson in the rotation, at least one of those two has to be a back-end starter.
Every draftnik disliked the Minor pick, but Law has a condescending prickness about him, despite being a complete failure when he was in the Blue Jays front office.
The guys at BP are occasionally right – Law never is.
Chip – “A dirty dozen for Mike Hill”
Jeremy, I agree with you that Law can be condescending. But if you want to blame anyone for the Jays’ front office failures, blame Law’s old boss, J.P. Ricciardi. He was just terrible.
Way to go, kid.
I still cant believe Wren traded for Omar, MORON
86,
Fair enough. I just think Law is a jerk and not very good at what he does. Ironically, both Law and Ricciardi work for ESPN.
FWIW, he has backtracked a bit on the Minor pick. Saying if the added velocity is real, his ceiling is a #2 starter.
two straight 2 hit games for JHEY
Couple runs here, guys.
Part of what made Riccardi fail was hiring bad people. Law is a nice enough guy, but he does have an arrogance about him that doesn’t quite track to his career success.
I think those of us who can’t hear Chip get the point, apparently he’s not good, but all the comments about him is getting beyond ridiculous. Give it a rest, please.
Tom Glavine was a #2 starter.
Wow, Lou cant wait to get the heck out of town after yet another horrible play like that.
Tony, I’m not sure people who can’t hear Chip really *can* understand how bad it really is.
@89 – I havent seen the added velocity. Some were talking about him hitting 94-95 now. I dont think he’s thrown anything over 92 in his starts. Mike Minor knows how to pitch and get hitters out. When will they shut him down? 160IP, he’s at 138 right now
To be honest, I like Law — I think he’s a smart guy and a sharp writer. I know he can sometimes come off as curt or arrogant, but I like his analysis.
Dammit, Derrek, that ain’t gonna cut it.
Boy has Lee sucked for us so far.
its also only been 2.5 games
Haha Cubs.
FAIL…I dont care if the run scores. Our 4-5 hitters gotta do more than this
Thank God the Cubs are terrible. DLee and McCann need to get it together.
@93, I don’t think it can be emphasized enough. I just moved from radio to TV this half inning, and it’s pretty ridiculous. Powell is really good, Sutton is okay, and Chip is really bad. Enough internet chatter and the people that employ Chip might pay attention.
It’s such a stark difference that I’m considering a DVR just so I can implement the one-second or so delay I need to have the radio match the video feed.
AAR,
I think guys like Callis and Goldstein do a much better job than Law does.
To each his own.
Quick question, so Chip got fired from TBS last year…so how long do u guys think he stays employed with FSS?
Cody Ross is now a Giant
you know Torres will play, so who sits between Ross, Guillen, and Burrell now?
I really would like for Boog to come back
Haha Cubs!
That was just such a… Cubby play. It defies any other adjectives.
this should be our lineup come sept
Infante
Prado
Manny
Bmac
Lee
Heyward
Glaus
AAG
Cubs, lol
wow, the cubs are even worse than the braves in the field. what an awful defensive display this inning.
And some Braves fans wanted to trade for Soriano?? What a disaster he is on defense.
Really though, what a clownshoes organization.
I present to you the 2010 Chicago Cubs
Well, thanks a bunch. It is a fitting exit for Lou, not so sad to say.
Im guessing Venters was already warming up
We need Venters for a six run lead?
Yeah, he was warming up already.
If I understand what just happened there, I don’t think I agree with Gonzalez’ play. I think he intentionally trapped himself in a rundown to get Melky across the plate.
I could be wrong. He could have been trying to make second because no one was covering it.
Venters was up already. Hopefully Martinez or whoever the mop up guy is finishes.
#121
What don’t you agree with?
They gave AAG a 2-run single on that OF flub by Soriano? Ridiculous.
ALLSTAR with a 4 hit game
You could replace “Keith Law” with anyone who publishes draft coverage re: calling Minor a back-end starter. Law is simply being targeted, called a hack, et cetera because he’s an arrogant prick. I think he is very good at his job despite this and I greatly enjoy his smartass shtick.
Three-hit day for J-Hey.
nice 3 hit game from JHEY too
Arasmis MUST be stopped. Good googlymoogly, that man is just a beast against us.
More Cub-Quality Defense! (Patent Pending)
cubs bullpen is awful. Joe just said that the Cubs have had 2 more QS than the Braves this year. Yet they are about 22-23 games under .500
Powell’s citing Cot’s Baseball Contracts on Omar’s contract, promoting the picking up of the club option.
Even with the delay, I like the TV/radio combination.
there’s some RBI’s for DLEE
And Lee finally gets his first Atlanta hit.
“I’m wondering if Aramis Ramirez is ever going to get in front of a ground ball the rest of the year.”
Ainkel! Ainkel! Ainkel!
no chance the Braves wouldnt pick up Omar’s option. They may even try to extend him
I kinda feel bad for Lou, he shoulda retired yesterday
This Cub’s pitcher has about the worst motion i’ve ever seen. My back hurst watching him. His stuff is pretty bad too.
So, this Minor guy is pretty decent.
Go Braves. Go ‘Dores.
Wow….Brenly just called Aramis for not ever getting in front of a ball at 3rd base. I can’t wait to see JHey when his thumb is completely healed, u can tell it is still bothering him when he took off his batting gloves.
the point after is….GOOD!
Top 2 guys in the order today, Infante & Heyward: 7 for 8, 2 BB, 7 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI
Why Moylan? Why not Farnsworth or the Lisp- you know, guys you don’t want pitching tomorrow (or any other day) in Coors?
141—That’ll play.
C’mon.
Maybe this is why we’re burning off Moylan today.
Because you want Moylan to work out of whatever funk he’s in these days?
He looks out on the replay.
No, Hinske clearly wasn’t on the bag.
lets go Pete, just finish them off dangit.
Nice play Omar.
So, the Giants got Ross for nothing? What in the world happened to Florida’s astronomical pre-deadline price on him? Freaking Marlins.
Stu: pretty sure the Giants have 48 hours to work out a trade for Ross now.
Nope, the Marlins just gave him up after the Giants made the claim.
The Marlins could have done better keeping Ross and trading him in the offseason. Not the best move.
J-Hey’s power is back, methinks.
JASON HEYWARD IS SO CLUTCH.
It would be very good to have him wake up down the stretch.
Thats good to see from the kid.
Cody Ross for nothing, well played by the Giants.
It would take more for the Marlins to give Ross to a divisional rival than it would take for them to release him to SF.
Even if that’s true, it’s not hard to come up with a package of minor-leaguers consisting of more than nothing.
Omar Infante has 38 games to get about 175 AB and qualify for the batting title. If he qualified right now, he’d be in the lead by 30 points.
Giants lost. Phillies are up, but the rain’s almost certainly knocked Oswalt out, so the grand old seat of precious freedom and democracy has a shot. This could be a good day going into a few days where the Braves play at the Rocks and the Phillies host the Astros.
161, that’s PA, not AB. He would need 4.605263 PA per game, assuming he needs 175 and plays in all of those 38 games. Not going to happen, but he does have an outside chance of doing it.
And Lou Piniella’s 2010 managerial stint ends the way it began, losing 16-5 to the Good Guys.
Unless all comebackers are going to be bouncers right up in the glove Martinez might have to work a bit on his position following a pitch, right now it’s not exactly a defensive one 🙂
@163, but he gets to fill in the gap with outs, right? If he’s in the lead by that much, he could still win the batting title without full qualification.
Indeed. According to wikipedia,
[…] Since 1967, if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5 ABs, if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances) are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title. (This policy was invoked in 1981, securing Bill Madlock his third NL batting crown, and in 1996, when NL titlist Tony Gwynn finished the year with only 498 PAs.)
Correct. I’ll spare you the math, but right now, if he gets within about 30 PA of 502, that would be good enough.
Wasn’t the first game against the Cubs this year a 16-5 win?
Recapped.
If he gets a little over 50 hits over the rest of the season, then he’ll be at .333, which should at least put him in the mix. He still has to keep going at a fair old pace.
If he’s hitting leadoff, he only needs us to get 10 hits or walks a game to get a 5th plate appearance, something he’s done 13 out of the 23 games since he became an everyday player.