Mlb 2009

[Rusty Shackleford]

Brutal YB. Just like my Rays have been since my crowing post after the win in Toronto. TB experienced a similar swoon before the All-Star Game last year, but they had a seven game lead to play with then......

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

The 18th Perfect game in Major League Baseball's history was pitched last night, for some reason though the players name and team escapes me.....:whistling:

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

The 18th Perfect game in Major League Baseball's history was pitched last night, for some reason though the players name and team escapes me.....:whistling:

And I haven't got a clue who he was pitching against. Jokes aside, the Rays' batting was brutal - Pena couldn't hit a beachball thrown by Duncan Norvelle right now.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Rays knock off the Yanks - but too little, too late?

Scott Kazmir pitched a rare gem last night to defeat CC and the Yanks at the Trop, but the Bronx Bombers seem to have an insurmountable lead at the top of the AL East and look to be the favourites to succeed the Rays as AL Champs. Tampa Bay's best hope is for a wild card, and they have a realistic shot at that despite trailing both Boston and Texas. The Red Sox have crumbled since the All Star Break, and will do well to recover considering the amount of games they play against the Yankees and Rays. The Rangers have surprised everyone but I just don't see them keeping up the momentum and achieving the 90+ wins that are going to be required to duke it out with the eastern powerhouses. So, let's make a bold prediction:

American League:
East - Yanks
Central - White Sox
West - Angels
WC - Rays

National League:
East - Phillies
Central - Cardinals (sorry DS)
West - Dodgers
WC - Rockies

World Series: Yankees to defeat Dodgers 4-2

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

You may well be right about the Cards Rusty, the Cubbies have picked up since the all-star break though and are right up there with the Cards having played 5 less games. The bats are swinging far more consistently (Soriano has ended his drought, A-Ram is back from injury, Bradley is still **** though) and the bullpen has pulled it together somewhat. Unfortunately Lilly has moved to the DL, and Dempster although back last night is clearly ring rusty. The signs are good on the northside as the Cubs seem to have picked up a real fighting streak, and if we don't win the division then we could still claim the WC.

DS Predictions:

American League:
East - Yanks
Central - Tigers
West - Angels
WC - Rangers (sorry Rusty)

National League:
East - Phillies
Central - Cubs (gotta back 'em)
West - Dodgers
WC - Cards

WS: Yanks to beat Phillies.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Cubs won 12-0 v Astros last night, with Randy Wells earning his 7th Win. Wells has been one of the bright spots of the Cubs season, after events seemed to conspire against him to prevent him getting his first win, he now has the most Wins for a Cubs rookie since Kerry Wood in 1998. Should be a shoe-in as Cubs best Rookie.

 

[Benji91]

A good weekend for the Yankees. Friday nights game was very good - and it amazes me how the american public can buy into a 15 inning 0-0 game which started at 7 and finished 4.5 hours later with a walk off home run as an amazing game of baseball, but hate the idea a soccer match can finish 0-0.
Saturday i was in attendance (having carefully negotiated falling planes and helicopters on the hudson) for a 5-0 win against the Red Sux... Sabathia was immense and threw over 120 pitches. Didnt even need mariano to close out.
Last night was another close one for a lot of the gmae, but the Sux threw it away in the 8th.

I cant see anyone catching the yankees right now, they have all the pieces working together.. and i think the Sux need to start looking over their shoulders to make the wildcard places

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Have to agree with you there Benji, I reckon the Wildcard is between the Rays and the Rangers now.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Damn I hate those Phillies. 4-3L in the 12th last night.

Cubs have slipped to 3 games back from the Cards after a 3-1 series loss to the Rockies. Also 3 games back in the WC race. While we're not out of it, we've got to gets some wins against the Phillies & sweep the series against the Pirates to put ourselves back in there.

Rusty you could well be right on your predictions for the Cards & Rockies.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Rusty you could well be right on your predictions for the Cards & Rockies.

But I could well be wrong in picking the Rays for the WC in the AL! In a way, I'm hoping to see the Dodgers against the Yankees in the October Classic. Torre against his old team would make compelling viewing.

Who am I kidding? I want the Rays against whoever they can handle with ease (Washington would be nice).

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

No jokes about the Natinals please. My Reds have got them up next and given our injury woes and form over the last 15 or so games, I'm worried.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Basically the Cubs are screwed now.

that is all.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Basically the Cubs are screwed now.

that is all.

ESPN.com is predicting that the Rays will win 90 games and finish 3rd in their division. And they're probably right.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Anyone played The Bigs 2 yet? I have the original on Wii but never got to grips with the controls, far too complicated for a simpleton like me. They've added the regular season now though, and I figure I can't do any worse than the real life Cubs...

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Congrats to Randy Wells, the first Cubs rookie to claim 10 Wins for 11 years, the fact he also leads the pitching rotation (over Zambrano, Harden, Lilly & Dempster) could go a way to explaining why we've had a poor season.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Last night the Cubs tied a major league record with eight consecutive hits to start the game, in a 9-4W against Pittsburgh Pirates. The most recent team to do that was the New York Yankees, on Sept. 25, 1990 against the Baltimore Orioles.

 

[Irish_Shrimper]

Anyone played The Bigs 2 yet? I have the original on Wii but never got to grips with the controls, far too complicated for a simpleton like me. They've added the regular season now though, and I figure I can't do any worse than the real life Cubs...

Had the original on the wii also. Horrible control system - so I never gave it a fair chance. Have tried the demo on the Xbox 360 for the bigs 2, and it is alright. Bit too unrealistic for my liking: Crush a hit to right field for a definite single / possible double, and the first baseman jumps 50 feet in the air (I'm not exaggerating btw) and catches it.

Too arcade-ish unfortunately.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Ten defeats on the spin and the Rays are hurtling towards sub .500 ball. The Fat Lady hasn't just sung, she's recorded an album called 'Bullpen Meltdown'.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

My Reds got eliminated yesterday. I don't think they are a bad side when they can get their starters out there, but they lack the depth to deal with injuries.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The excellent Deadspin was guest-edited by FireJoeMorgan yesterday!

(Ken) Tremendous stuff.