By JoeI mentioned on Opening Day how much I would have enjoyed watching the pitching dual between Seattle's Felix Hernandez and Oakland's Dan Haren. Neither pitcher yielded an earned run with Hernandez racking up 12 strikeouts en route to a 4-0 victory. For someone who enjoys a low-scoring, well-pitched game, this is about as good as it gets. Luckily, I had a free night Wednesday and sat down to watch highly-touted Cole Hamels make his 2007 debut for Philadelphia against Atlanta in the second game of the series.
I wasn't disappointed.
Hamels looked dominant in his seven innings of work, allowing four hits, one walk and fanning eight. This was the first time I have seen Hamels pitch for more than an inning and my first impression was how well he changed speeds. The 23-year old worked ahead in the count on nearly every hitter, pitched out of a couple jams and even made a nifty put out on a Craig Wilson slow chopper in the seventh. Hamels spotted his fastball on both sides of the plate and then used a hard slider and a change to keep the Braves off balance. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
More surprising than Hamels great pitching was Atlanta's Tim Hudson. Now, I know all about Hudson. I had Huddy on my fantasy team last year and he was downright putrid. I drafted him with high hopes and he was completely worthless for my team. Basically, he stunk. Needless to say, I now despise the guy. But tonight he looked like the Hudson who won 20 games in a season for the A's a few years ago. Sure, he walked too many (four), but he shut down the Phillies offense, besides one bad pitch that Carlos Ruiz belted for a home run. The Braves certainly paid good money to Hudson for outings like tonight's. If he keeps this up, Atlanta could challenge New York for the N.L. East crown.
And as I'm writing this ... Tom Gordon blows the save and costs Hamels a win. That ruined my night. Unbelievable.
I've always wondered what it's like in the dugout after a starting pitcher fires an absolute gem only to watch the closer screw everything up in about four minutes. Does the starter ignore the closer the rest of the night? Does he wait until the closer sits down near him in the dugout, then jumps up and move to the other side of the bench? Does he go up to the closer at the dugout steps, give him a high-five and say sarcastically, "Hey, nice job %&*#ing that up for me. No, really, good work. I mean, I only asked you to get three outs. I took care of the first 21. We all just asked for three. Don't worry, I didn't want the win anyways. A no-decision is way better."
I'd love a dual camera shot with one lens on the starter and one on the closer. Maybe we could even follow them into the clubhouse or after they leave the park. This could be its own reality series. If I just threw seven shutout innings and some chump who's making way more money per pitch than me gives up a gopher ball, I'd probably slap him in the face. I bet this has happened at least a few times.
Couple other things:
Did you SEE Jason Michaels' catch to save the Indians against the White Sox? He looked like a lost Little Leaguer out there, but somehow managed to pull it down. Another nice win for the Tribe. Gotta love taking two in a row on the road from your division rival.
Hey, Florida, how's Jorge Julio working for you? Instead of blowing $3.6 million on a terrible closer, owner Jeffrey Loria should have gotten $20s, gone to a strip club and "made it rain" like Pacman Jones. I'm no math major, but I'm pretty sure you can make a lot of rain with $3.6 million.
And the Phillies' Ryan Madsen gives up another extra-inning home run. At least he's consistent.
Right now, the Pirates are up 5-3 on Houston in the fifth. What were the oddsmakers putting on Pittsburgh to sweep its opening series? My guess is 450,000-1.
The Mets' John Maine is shutting down the Cardinals offense through seven. This is exactly what New York needs with all those question marks in its rotation.
Well, I'm off to watch some of the late games. Will try and post before the night ends.
I wasn't disappointed.
Hamels looked dominant in his seven innings of work, allowing four hits, one walk and fanning eight. This was the first time I have seen Hamels pitch for more than an inning and my first impression was how well he changed speeds. The 23-year old worked ahead in the count on nearly every hitter, pitched out of a couple jams and even made a nifty put out on a Craig Wilson slow chopper in the seventh. Hamels spotted his fastball on both sides of the plate and then used a hard slider and a change to keep the Braves off balance. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
More surprising than Hamels great pitching was Atlanta's Tim Hudson. Now, I know all about Hudson. I had Huddy on my fantasy team last year and he was downright putrid. I drafted him with high hopes and he was completely worthless for my team. Basically, he stunk. Needless to say, I now despise the guy. But tonight he looked like the Hudson who won 20 games in a season for the A's a few years ago. Sure, he walked too many (four), but he shut down the Phillies offense, besides one bad pitch that Carlos Ruiz belted for a home run. The Braves certainly paid good money to Hudson for outings like tonight's. If he keeps this up, Atlanta could challenge New York for the N.L. East crown.
And as I'm writing this ... Tom Gordon blows the save and costs Hamels a win. That ruined my night. Unbelievable.
I've always wondered what it's like in the dugout after a starting pitcher fires an absolute gem only to watch the closer screw everything up in about four minutes. Does the starter ignore the closer the rest of the night? Does he wait until the closer sits down near him in the dugout, then jumps up and move to the other side of the bench? Does he go up to the closer at the dugout steps, give him a high-five and say sarcastically, "Hey, nice job %&*#ing that up for me. No, really, good work. I mean, I only asked you to get three outs. I took care of the first 21. We all just asked for three. Don't worry, I didn't want the win anyways. A no-decision is way better."
I'd love a dual camera shot with one lens on the starter and one on the closer. Maybe we could even follow them into the clubhouse or after they leave the park. This could be its own reality series. If I just threw seven shutout innings and some chump who's making way more money per pitch than me gives up a gopher ball, I'd probably slap him in the face. I bet this has happened at least a few times.
Couple other things:
Did you SEE Jason Michaels' catch to save the Indians against the White Sox? He looked like a lost Little Leaguer out there, but somehow managed to pull it down. Another nice win for the Tribe. Gotta love taking two in a row on the road from your division rival.
Hey, Florida, how's Jorge Julio working for you? Instead of blowing $3.6 million on a terrible closer, owner Jeffrey Loria should have gotten $20s, gone to a strip club and "made it rain" like Pacman Jones. I'm no math major, but I'm pretty sure you can make a lot of rain with $3.6 million.
And the Phillies' Ryan Madsen gives up another extra-inning home run. At least he's consistent.
Right now, the Pirates are up 5-3 on Houston in the fifth. What were the oddsmakers putting on Pittsburgh to sweep its opening series? My guess is 450,000-1.
The Mets' John Maine is shutting down the Cardinals offense through seven. This is exactly what New York needs with all those question marks in its rotation.
Well, I'm off to watch some of the late games. Will try and post before the night ends.
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