I wonder how Sosa will pitch. On FSN they are saying that he is weak against lefties and his splits look bad - OPS against .554/1.083. With Hinske, Cat, and Delgado (plus two switch-hitters) maybe we can get some runs on the board.

And we'll see how many innings he can go.

Even though a R hander is on the mound, I'm still suprised not to see Phelps in the lineup.

So much for the top of the 1st inning. Sosa looked nasty.

You sure that was Sosa looking nasty and not Vern's last swing?

lol

I'm anxious to see how Bush will do with this being his second start in a row against the pesky Rays.

Man, the 1-2 to Tino was a superb pitch, a lot closer to the corner than the 0-1 to Wells was. It didn't matter, as Zaun made the nice catch to end the inning. Good scoop by Delgado on the first out, as well.

Sosa does have great stuff, but he's not likely to sustain it for more than three or four innings, and he can get wild in a hurry.

All right, Carlos! Didn't even get it all, but lofted it out. 1-0 Jays.

Kablam by Delgado. He has a good history against Sosa.

The camera showed a few closeups of Delgado after he hit the HR. He does *not* look happy. I hope these rumours of a rift and peevish refusal to waive the no-trade clause aren't true; it would be terrible to fall out with a great Jays servant.

What channel is the game on ??

I'm watching mlb.tv carrying the Florida FSN feed (featuring the awful Dwayne Staats commentating -- possibly the most annoying voice on TV). I don't know what channels you have.

Fick! A home run for the Rays.

Found it!

I fickin' hate Fick

Fick! A home run for the Rays.

Hey Robert, where'd you learn to be such an ornery bastard?
Fick U.

http://occasionallywright.typepad.com/net_files
Bush's control is looking brutal tonight.

And the pounding begins...

Bush looks fine to me, but Carlos...my oh my.

Heh... just as I read that from Ben, Bush dropped a curve over for a strike and threw at pea at the knee.

I'm not saying you're wrong, Ben... but I love his control.

Ugh. And Delgado muffs another.

Shit!!!!

I bet on todays game too... arghhhh.... why do the Jays always play poorly when I have money on the line?

Warning for the kids on this site: Gambling is bad!

why do the Jays always play poorly when I have money on the line?

I can see a win-win solution here Ron.

http://occasionallywright.typepad.com/net_files
Fair enough. Maybe it has more to do with Tampa having seen him last Sunday but he's already given up 6 hits (two that Delgado could have had) and thrown a few in the dirt.

The fact that people persist in believing they can make money betting on sports amuses me to no end.

Do yourself a favour, Ron... next time, remember this moment!

Reminds me of Aaron's decision to stop making his picks on his blog. Wisdom beyond his tender years.

These are some of the cheapest hits ever off Bush this inning. One infield hit and one "double" that bounced over Hinske's head and another groundball double over the bag off Deglado's glove.

seems like bush doesnt have his best tonight, ja?

Bush isn't pitching any differently from how he usually does. They're just hitting him that's all.

When a gambling discussion arises, for those of you who haven't read it, Kent's article entitled For Pete's Sake is a manditory read.

Another broken bat single to make it 6-1. It's just not Bush's day.

Poor decision to take out Bush. Very little of what happened was his fault. This game is still winnable, but with Nakamura in there it becomes less so.

1.

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---
Throwing them in the dirt often pays off against the Devil Rays, though... viz. Carl Crawford chasing 1..
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Heh. My son dropped by and decided it was his turn to type. At least I was amused and entertained while the wheels fell off.

I know it's really hard to gamble and win on sports but it makes it so much more exciting to watch.

It suddenly makes you interested in games that you otherwise wouldn't care about.

I love betting every Sunday on the NFL and I almostlost on every single ticket last season (more than 50 in total) But when I bet I only do it a few dollars at a time.

I always only bet on what I can afford to lose.

That's two for Carlos.

Woo Hoo King Carlos .... too bad runners aren't on when he smacks them.

Huh... Da Box ate my last comment. Anyway, what I said was that Ben was right. Bush's control did sort of desert him there... he kept falling behind early though he had 40 strikes in 62 pitches. He had some bad (awful) luck and some ungenerous hit/error calls.

Delgado ding-dongs and he's hit 4 consecutive home runs off Jorge Sosa!? Wow.

I always only bet on what I can afford to lose.

The wise way to bet... bet so that you don't have to care.

That's two for Carlos.

Too bad the rest of the offense can't seem to figure Sosa out.

Heh, I thought you were doing some complex math equation there, Craig.

Delgado owns Sosa, holy crap.

*o[/o

33333333333323333 5

++++++--8/7

Jay, that's the kind of astute comment we've come to expect from your father. Slipping the "2" in there among all the "3's" was brilliant.

Ugh. Who out there likes their high-speed service and has 99% uptime? Sympatico's hiccups today (it's dying again) are the last straw. I can't believe the level of service I get considering the premiums I pay.

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I'm not so sure. Do you have proof of this, or is it just a wild-ass guess?

I like Rogers. I've had very very little downtime.

Who out there likes their high-speed service and has 99% uptime?

You're in Hamilton, right? If so, try Mountain Cable. I know a few people in Steeltown and they love it.

http://occasionallywright.typepad.com/net_files
Primus DSL has been good for me. I think it's been down 3 times in the 15 months I've had it and it was never for more than an hour or two.

Wow, O-Dog's bat continues to kill the Jays.

O-Dog really needs to work on his approach and his swing. Far too many soft grounders from him.

Sympatico's hiccups

We call them "Sympatico lulls" in this household, and strangely enough we haven't experienced any this afternoon. Could that be a function of locality??

I agree, Rogers is more reliable...

While on the Rogers track, how are they with cellphones? I might have to get one soon; might as well get a good one.

Anyone use Rogers/Telus/Bell and have any suggestions?

I don't care what anyone says, as far as I'm concerned, 2 half assed attempts by Delgado to snag grounders cost Bush the game tonight. The 2 jacks don't make up for it; I was almost screaming at the screen when he muffed the one that went into the bullpen. No excuses.

I'm pretty happy with the toronto free net

O-Dog's bat continues to kill the Jays.

Oddly enough, his glove has frequently kept them alive. I've suspected that something is physically wrong with Orlando for about a month now, and said it here several times. It could be wrist, elbow, shoulder, or rib cage, but his missing power might have a lot more to do with a sore front side (batting left) than his work ethic or approach. This hasn't been confirmed by anybody, it's just one of my many crackpot theories.

Sympatico's hiccups

The only grief I get on Sympatico (high-speed) is the occasional inability to access my e-mail on a Sat or Sun morning. Other than that, I rarely experience hiccups, glitches or lulls. Perhaps further credence to the locality theory.

Rob, unfortunately, I'm not in Mountain's area. Our cable company is Cogeco, and they suck worse than Sympatico.

Not that anyone is counting, but we're less than 100 hits away from a million.

Our cable company is Cogeco, and they suck worse than Sympatico.

Ohhhh boy. You don't want to get me started on Cogeco.

The official Burlington motto contains three words, the last two of which are "YOU, COGECO!"

Well, I was close. Bauxite #999924.

What happens at 10 million? Does it go back to 00000000?

Coach, Rob's question indicates that you added that extra digit to the counter so stealthily that nobody noticed. :)

I'm all about stealth.

999993, people!

Very nice on the banner. More stealth, I see.

Damn it! Nothing quite like being number 1,000,001. WHo got it?

Congratulations, Coach, Craig, Jordan and the rest of you. It's a hell of a site, and I know it's given me a lot of pleasure.

Congratulations!!!

My sympatico internet has been fantastic in terms of uptime.

However my satisfaction with the cell phone service is extremely non-existant. I've had collect calls billed to my cellphone almost every month (that have nothing to do with me), and Bell seems powerless (or in reality too stupid) to stop it. Every month I spend a couple of hours on the phone trying to get them to remove the false charges. Every month they promise it won't happen again. Yeah.

The best was the second time it happened there was $200 in collect calls on my bill. When I called them and told them the problem, the person on the other end argued with me for 15 minutes saying that it's impossible to get collect calls on a cell phone, and therefore the charges must be for something else. After putting me on hold for half an hour and checking my account they came back and asked me "Are you sure you didn't accept those calls?" Un fricken believable.

The countdown distraction is over; we now return you to our ball game. BOOM! Hinske goes yard. Heckle this!

Another excellent inning by Kevin Frederick, who has allowed just one baserunner in his three appearances.

Heckle that, heckler guy!

SMOKE THAT, YA HINSKE-HATING B****ES!

Is it "heckle that" or "heckle this"?

Congrats Coach and the rest of you guys on putting together one of THE FINEST websites on the net. This place is so informative and the discussions are just great.

And what do ya know, the first 2 Blue Jay at-bats since the 1 million mark?

A single by Rios and a Hinske homer of course.

Awesome, Congrats once again.

And the good luck continues with a Wells single.

Wouldn't this be a great time for "Going, going Zaun!!"

Or "DP, DP, GZ!"

Yes, Congrats to the people responsible for maintaining this site, and thank you for giving me something to read every day (and keeping me sane during the offseason.)

But about this game, seeing Trever Miller has made me wonder: What the hell happened to Valerio de los Santos? Was he DFA'd and I don't remember?

If Fick had control of that ball while he was still on the bag, I'll be a monkey's uncle.

THAT play by Hudson was Alomaresque. Yet the commentators didn't say a word. Why? No showy dive. Hudson kept his feet like you should. Terrific play.

Keep the faith. If the Jays can come back down 2 against Mariano Rivera, than Baez shouldn't be too difficult.

Okay, do you bunt here in hopes of having the tying run on at second with less than 2 outs?

The Sparkplug did his job, against a nasty RH pitcher. Cat keeps it going. I think Phelps should hit for Hudson.

A lot of faith by Tosca in the O-Dog. They're a single away from tying it up -- as usual, no quit in the Fighting Jays tonight, and a magnificent job by the bullpen.

Big spot here for Lexi

Hopefully he comes through

Bummer. I was hoping Alex would walk so Hinske would get another chance to silence the loudmouth.

Nice job to battle back and of course it's easy to say this looking back but ....

when you have a man on first and second with your number 8 man coming up and zero outs, I lay the bunt down and move both men in scoring position and the eliminatethe double play.

This team we've seen recently is the team I was hoping to see all year. They have given themselves a chance to win every single game.

Didn't see the game, but I've seen Tosca go for that bunt play in the past with runners first and second, nobody out.

Since that Yankee series I feel the Jays can win every game now with (wait for it ... the obligatory shot at CT) the right moves coming from the bench.

Oh, gotta say: thank god our GM hasn't lost his mind like seemingly everyone else out there. Holy smokes: what a crazy day. Do you think Paul DePosta wakes up with a sinking feeling in his stomach tomorrow?

I know this isn't the thread for it, but completing the thought: Marlins and Cubs to postseason, the Dodgers may still get there (who else in the NL West?), Red Sox: done.

when you have a man on first and second with your number 8 man coming up and zero outs, I lay the bunt down and move both men in scoring position and the eliminatethe double play.

No way. Play for the win on the road, not the tie, especially with a cold pitcher having just given up two hits. With it being Gomez, I sort of understand your point of view but Gomez has been swinging the bat well and if Baez puts him on base, all hell breaks loose.

'Oh, gotta say: thank god our GM hasn't lost his mind like seemingly everyone else out there. Holy smokes: what a crazy day. Do you think Paul DePosta wakes up with a sinking feeling in his stomach tomorrow?'

I'd say quite the opposite. DePodesta took the Fish for a ride. Then he got off the Fish, took shook the Fish down for their lunch money.

The Fish got the better of DePo - book it.

What is great is how the media and baseball fans are so divisive about these trades. It's going to make the next three months fascinating.

Well, the Dodgers basically get five years to show the worth of the LA-Florida deal, and the final upshot of the Devil Rays - Mets deal may not be known for a decade. The next three months will be interesting, but for the most part the deals that were going on this deadline day were long-term in implication.

By the way, I'm still open-mouthed at how screwed the AL East got to have Scott Kazmir dropped in their lap. Geez, it's not like Tampa needed prospect help!

About Valerio de los Santos: my memory about the event was foggy, but I seem to remember being at a game where he came in, walked a guy on four pitches, the trainer / pitching coach ran out to the mound, and he was pulled from the game. I do know that he was placed on the DL with shoulder problems immediately after.

ESPN.com tells me that he pitched on June 5th against Oakland gave up a walk on 5 pitches and left the game. He was placed on the 15 day DL on June 8th, and hasn't been heard from since.

Wow. The Oakland A's have very quietly taken the lead in the AL West. Half a game over Texas and 2.5 games over Anaheim. And this is despite Tim Hudson being on the DL since June 23rd and Barry Zito continuing to stink relative to his previous years. So folks claiming that the A's only have three ace pitchers to thank for their success might want to re-examine the situation.

Beane made a great move to get Mark Kotsay who has blossomed into a two-way star for the team in centerfield and is getting unexpected offence from Damian Miller. Erubiel Durazo is also having the type of year the A's were looking for and Jermaine Dye has also bounced back though he's still not quite work the almost $12 million he's making. The dropoff from Tejada to Crosby also hasn't been as dramatic as it could have been. The little engine that could in Oakland continues to chug along although the team is spending almost 50% more than they were in their $40 million days.

2004 is far from over but 2005 will be the A's biggest test yet as their Big Three really start entering the big dollar phases of their deals.

http://www.ihaterogers.ca/
I agree, Rogers is more reliable...

I use Rogers. Sympatico is not available in my area.

I vehemently dispute the claim that Rogers is more reliable.

Rogers 'service' has spawned a cult of rabid haters (COMN for some insight into the mind of a Rogers-hater)

Tony La Russa pinch ran for Yader Molina in the 9th tonight. With a pitcher, Jason Marquis. Don't think I've EVER seen that.

Not only have I seen a pitcher pinch run before but I've seen a pitcher pinch run in the American League. It was years ago but I remember the Jays playing Kansas City and the opposing manager brought Tom Gordon in to pinch run for someone. Gordon was still a starter in those days. That's a great way to bring a faster runner (but not necessarily a base stealer) and not lose someone off your bench.

Didn't Dave Stieb make a pinch running appearance way back when?

Has Mike Hampton ever pinch hit? (FWIW, I'd pinch him for Cash)

A, Hampton's hitting .119/.178/.238 this year... i.e. like a pitcher. His career line of .238/.290/.345 is heavily influenced by Coors Field.

And I'd *never* pinch-hit a pitcher for a position player - unless it was someone like Brooks Kieschnick, who had a defined role that included pinch-hitting. You wanted to cut a guy's balls off, you do that. But that player will never play hard for you ever again.

Incidentally, Hampton has a bunch of career appearances other than as a pitcher (i.e. as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner... he has never played a defensive position other than pitcher). According to Retrosheet, he has pinch-hit or -run 22 times. (Baseballreference seems to give faulty information). I've seen him pinch-run on TV, in a game versus the Braves.

He made 11 non-pitcher appearances in 2001 - 8 as a pinch-runner, 3 as a pinch-hitter. 6 in 2002 - four hitting, two running. He made one pinch-hit appearance for the Braves last year and made a successful sacrifice. There were scattered appearances before 2001.

Last quick thing on Hampton - one big reason he did so much PR/PH duty for Colorado was not just that he was hitting very well in those years (.300 with power) but primarily because the Rox almost always carry 12 pitchers, leaving themselves short on the bench. They have to do this bcause of the high-scoring, high-pitch-count games they play at home.

(I know from experience... playing in Coors Field in a couple of my DMB leagues, you really need 12 pitchers or you wind up in trouble a lot)

Dave Steib definitely pinch ran, and fell down rounding second base.

Tood Stoddlmyer (sp?) needed a pinch runner when in the World Series he thought a head-first slide into third was a good idea.

He was the third out of that inning, so he didn't need a PR.

I agree that pinch-running with a pitcher is a good move, as long as its not with a quality pitcher. I'd hate to lose Halladay for six weeks with some injury because he was involved in a close play at home plate. However, with a 4th or 5th starter its probably worth it in certain situations.