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Since nobody put up an entry for Game 31, I wanted to mention something I saw in the seventh inning of yesterday's game.

Here's the scenario: the Jays are up 2-1, and Doug Creek has just come in for Doug Davis. Creek, as regular Jay-viewers know, has a wee bit of trouble with his control. He walked the first batter he faced on four pitches, as the boo-birds began to warm up their vocal cords. The next batter, Eric Owens, saw ball 1, and then took a strike, to the derisive applause of the home fans.

Here's where, in my opinion, Owens blew the game. With a shaky lefthander on the mound, the leadoff hitter on base, nobody out, and a 1-1 count, Owens tried to bunt and missed. This gave Creek the free gift of a strike when he desperately needed one; ahead on the count, he was able to strike out Owens, and get the rest of the side out. The only possible explanation for Owens' behaviour is that he wasn't adequately prepared for his at-bat: someone should have told him that the Jays' bullpen tends to self-destruct, and instructed him to be patient. Of course, that's not Anaheim's way - the defending world champs tend to make things happen out there. It worked for them last year.

Other notes:
- Good outing by Davis, but 8 hits and 1 strikeout over 6 innings suggests that he did it with mirrors.
- A happy-making thought for all of you: we get to see that kind of defense from Vernon Wells for the next five years.
Game 31: It's all Eric Owens' fault | 8 comments | Create New Account
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robertdudek - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 09:50 AM EDT (#20349) #
It's a joy to watch a player dominate a game the way Vernon Wells did yesterday. I think he raised his OPS by about 135 points in that one game - another reason not to take stats this early in the season too seriously.
_M.P. Moffatt - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#20350) #
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Speaking of OPS, despite how rough Jayson Werth has had it since he's been up with the big club, he still has 97 more points of it than Huckaby did.

Of course, Reed Johnson is still leading the team in that category.

Question: Someone said Tam was designated for assignment. I can't see that anywhere. If he was, who took his spot on the 25? Davis took Walker's spot when Walker went on the DL.

MP
_Shane - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#20351) #
Doug Davis and "mirrors", I think is safe to say. Eight hits in six innings could have been worse. The Jays defence, which was quite sharp, saved three/four other hits. Hinske's & Wells sweet grabs and Hudson/Bordicks double play prettied things up quite a bit.

How about listening to somebody in the broadcast booth whose baseball knowledge rivaled that of Robbie Faulds? Move over Tom Candiotti, here's Colin Farrell. Wasn't that a treat. Where was the four second delay button on that one? You don't have to do much research to know ol' Colin loves the potty mouth. He does the same thing when he does the late night shows circuit. He got off a "F*&K" a "Jesus C*%!$T" and what was the other bomb? Nice work indeed.
_Shane - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 12:24 PM EDT (#20352) #
Mike, I said it yesterday.

Yesterdays Baseball Prospectus 'Transaction Analysis' released the roster moves from the past week, and it said that the day Davis was claimed, Tam was DFA'd. It had a written the epitaph and the works. The suppsoed move isn't anywhere else that I could find either, and a Jays beat writer mailed me back saying none of them have heard of it as well? It looks like BP has a publishing goof.

There is one possibility of how this could have happened that makes sense, but I don't want to speculate.
Craig B - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 12:28 PM EDT (#20353) #
Colin Farrell was hilarious, it got tiresome near the end but it was unpredictable at least.

Doug Davis gave us a Tommy John performance. Whether that type of performance can translate to long-term success in a turf park with an infield of Hinske-Woodward-Hudson-Delgado behind him is another matter. Thankfully the infield gave a good performance yesterday, and Bordick wasn't even called on to save their bacon (though he turned a pretty, pretty double play - I think it was the Wooten DP -where he stepped around the runner after a good feed and made a nice off-balance throw).
_M.P. Moffatt - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#20354) #
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Mike, I said it yesterday.

I should have known it was you. Troublemaker. :)

There is one possibility of how this could have happened that makes sense, but I don't want to speculate.

Do you have a certain window of time to undesignate someone? If so, that could have happened once they realized Walker would need to go on the DL.

MP
robertdudek - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 10:31 PM EDT (#20355) #
Prospectus jumped the gun a little. Someone had to be pushed off the roster for Davis and Walker came through with a trip to the DL. It would likely have been Tam if not for the injury to Walker.

Tam was warming up in the bullpen in the 8th (it was announced at the game) so I half expected to see him in the 9th.
_DS - Sunday, May 04 2003 @ 10:34 PM EDT (#20356) #
Maybe Tam being on borrowed time will force him to pitch better...or maybe not.
Game 31: It's all Eric Owens' fault | 8 comments | Create New Account
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