On the Road Again
More (yeccccchhh) interleague play.
Please note that the past 3 games at home, Phil sent the same linup on the field THREE days in a row. Well, we gonna be in AL parks with the (yecccccch) abomination called the DH. Fortunately, we have a guy on the team who is a born DH named Mike Lamb, but Phil is planning to have Berkman DH (WHY????) and I guess play Lamb at first (WHAT is the point of this) or have Biggio be the DH, put Burke at second (where he hasn’t played all year, and ?? who in left? Palmeiro, who does NOT do well in left? Bruntlett? (PLEASE, Lord, NOT Lamb) Wouldn’t it make a LOT more sense if Biggio gonna DH to have either Viz or Bruntlett play second and keep Burke in left where he has played all year? I do NOT understand Phils obsession with having so many players play musical positions – guys need to be used to throwing to the same fielders, with occasional substitutions. Did yall see how well the guys did yesterday for Roy – balls hit everywhere and great fielding backing up great pitching.
But anyway, I am NOT gonna care because I HATE interleague ball and I really AM gonna boycott this time. NO watching. NO radio. NO checking box scores except the next morning.
Well, maybe just a peek couldn’t hurt – after all it IS Brandon Backe tonight and he IS hot…
(all stats from thebaseballcube.com, yahoo.com and espn.com)
So here are the matchups for tonight:
6/13 – Brandon Backe, RHP vs Hayden Penn, RHP:
has faced the Orioles lineup 4 times when he was with the D-Rays, as a reliever – 4 H, 1 BB and 3 K over 5.2 IP
this year: 6-3 in 12 GS, 7 QS, 2 IP in relief, with 1 CG SO – 7 HR, 29 BB, 50 K over 79.1 IP with a 4.31 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and a .267 BAA
vs Orioles lineup:
| Opposing hitter | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
——
Hayden Penn, RHP – drafted 5th round 2002 by the Orioles from a La Jolla, Ca HS
brought up when Erik Bedard, their ace, went on the DL.
so far, he’s 0 -0 in 3 GS – 1 HR, 10 BB, 7 K over 15.1 IP with a 3.52 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and a .211 BAA.
It’s really crazy that we have to use a *($%#@! DH when Brandon KNOWS how to hit ML pitching!!!!!!!!!!!
I hate the DH too – if you can’t play the field in a major league baseball game at least decently, then you have no business playing MLB, period. The DH is there to give aging players who can’t field worth a damn anymore a chance to play some more – when your fielding skills start to decline, it’s time to to think about retirement.
Jared,
it ALSO gives a spot for guys who can’t do anything BUT hit – can’t fun OR field. i know the DH lovers say they would rather see a guy who say they don’t care if he can’t catch, throw or run, they just don’t want to see a pitcher “hit.” me – i think that a guy who can’t throw catch or run should be a pinch hitter, not have a full time position. watching pitchers hit ROOLZ.
i notice that brandon backe has lost BOTH starts when he had a DH in the lineup. hmmmmmmmmmmmm
lisa
Hey Lisa- I agree I can’t stand this stupid interleague play. It takes the mystique out of the World Series if you ask me. That and selfishly I feel the mets don[‘t fair too well against the AL at all-even the really bad teams, so there’s a bunch of extra losses I can live without. I also hate the DH, to me it’s just a cop out to get rid of one possible automatic out instead of having to work around the pitcher’s spot in the order and use your head.
Not to mention that pitchers take hitting a LOT more seriously these days – a lot of pitchers now, like Dontrelle Willis and Jason Marquis, are particularly tough hitters to get out because they’re both capable of taking you out of the ballpark at any time. Wouldn’t be surprised if one of them (or Backe) ends up hitting eighth in the order at some point – they produce enough offense to hit in that slot, and all of them have served as pinch hitters before (Marquis was the usual pinch-runner for Tony La Russa in the playoffs last year when he wasn’t pitching).