Perhaps when you read the title of this post you thought I would be writing about the awful oft-witnessed marriage proposal at MLB diamonds across the country (Two diamonds for the price of one!), but alas, I am not.
On Sunday I drove up to Seattle with one of my kids, his best friends, and his best friend’s dad to watch the Mariners play the Rays. Because of the Providence Bike Pedal, we were routed around Portland using I405 instead of shooting straight through on I5. As we crossed the Fremont Bridge I looked north to the proposed site for a new stadium to be built which would be the location of Portland’s first ever MLB team. The remaining three hours of the drive made me long for the day when there will be a team (hopefully!) in Portland so that I don’t have to traipse all the way to Seattle to catch a game.
The long drive was made better by two things:
- This weekend the Mariners celebrated Edgar Martinez’s induction into the HOF. Before the game on Sunday they had a cadre of former players, and Edgar himself, sitting on the field having a discussion over the PA about Edgar and his amazing accomplishment. Even The Kid was there, hat backward and all. (Do you know that Edgar could come back and go for 0 for 385 and still have a career OBP over.400?) As part of the festivities they gave everyone in attendance an aluminum Edgar Martinez Dr. street sign which is, I must confess, much cooler than I anticipated it would be. That made the drive worth it.
- The game lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes! After one hour the game was already into the 5th inning, and I leaned over to the other dad and said, “I’ve been at Red Sox-Yankees games when they aren’t out of the 2nd inning after one hour!” The game finished 1-0 (the Mariners lost) and neither team walked a single batter the entire game. One fascinating moment came on the bottom of the 9th, when Nate Yarbrough was one batter away from pitching a complete game shutout. He had only thrown 97 pitches to that point, and was due to face Domingo Santana with two outs and no one on base. Just when I thought I was going to potentially see a Maddux in person, out walked Kevin Cash from the Rays dugout to remove Yarbrough from the game. Can you imagine? I later saw a post where Yarbrough said, in fairly gentle terms, that he was so angry at Cash for removing him, though he understood why. Cash brought in Emilio Pagan, Scott Servais pinch hit Omar Narvaez for Santana, and he promptly grounded out to Eric Sogard (whose HR was the only run of the game) to end the game.
One the way home as we passed the 405 exit I again thought about how wonderful it will be (one day?) to have an MLB team in Portland (sign the petition here!), and to only have to drive/take public transportation for under an hour to see a game. But until then, I’ll continue to find my way to Seattle a few times a year, hoping for good baseball like I witnessed last Sunday.
PS: the photo is a rendering of the initial ballpark plan when/if it ever gets built in Portland.
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Portland Rosebuds |
78 |
42 |
.649 |
— |
740.5 |
543.1 |
Flint Hill Tornadoes |
74 |
46 |
.620 |
3.6 |
746.3 |
581.4 |
Old Detroit Wolverines |
70 |
50 |
.587 |
7.5 |
702.9 |
581.3 |
Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
65 |
54 |
.549 |
12.1 |
618.9 |
551.6 |
Peshastin Pears |
62 |
58 |
.521 |
15.4 |
631.7 |
603.3 |
Haviland Dragons |
61 |
57 |
.515 |
16.2 |
647.7 |
621.5 |
Kaline Drive |
58 |
60 |
.492 |
18.9 |
555.9 |
567.9 |
Canberra Kangaroos |
59 |
61 |
.492 |
18.9 |
661.3 |
676.6 |
Cottage Cheese |
53 |
65 |
.449 |
24 |
662.8 |
718.4 |
Bellingham Cascades |
53 |
66 |
.447 |
24.3 |
570.0 |
637.4 |
Brookland Outs |
49 |
69 |
.418 |
27.6 |
584.0 |
689.1 |
D.C. Balk |
47 |
73 |
.388 |
31.3 |
535.7 |
675.1 |
Portland: DNP, (-6)-0 (36 PA, .182, .250, .424; 6.7 IP, 7 ER, 9.45 ERA) Aquino hit another HR…who is this man they call The Punisher? Is there not a pitch to be thrown that he can’t hit over a fence? Besides him and the boringly named Kevin Newman (I mean, how can you compete with Aristedes?), the rest of the Rosebuds went the way of the Tornadoes, OPSing a paltry .674. The continuing good news for the rest of the league? Rosebud pitching was also sub-par. Keep it up, Buds!
Flint Hill: W0, L2; 12-14 (30 PA, .167, .333, .375; 6 IP, 3 ER, 4.50 ERA) There is just nothing good about being a Tornado these days. In two days we have dropped 2 more games behind the Rosebuds, and it didn’t help that the Yankees played a DHer yesterday in terms of our pitching. However, several unused PA were released, and they were good ones. But the fear we are attempting to place in the Rosebuds is slowly dissipating, as the fear the Tornadoes are feeling because of the Wolverines approaching is palpable.
Old Detroit: W1, L1; 18-14 (28 PA, .346, .393, .846; 10 IP, 4 ER, 3.60 ERA) The commissioner opined yesterday that I may desire to take his spot as commissioner. His players responded accordingly, convincingly stating their preference for him as the league’s ultimate authority. And it is a preference I echo. My campaign slogan would be, “Jamie: Worse than Ron.” It is a bit passive but it conveys my feelings, however ambiguous it might be. Oh, about their game – 6 batters came to bat, and 4 of them had HRs, including the previously slumping Josh Bell. And his pitchers got lucky (a team FIP of 4.81). And he moved closer to the Tornadoes.
Pittsburgh: “L,” 9-7 (15 PA, .429, .467, .786; no pitching) Ron seems to think there might be something fishy going on with the Alleghanys, and perhaps that is true. However, with a line like that, even over so few PAs, it is bound to produce a good outcome, and it did (despite the “L”). Bo Bichette continues to punish opposing pitchers, making them long for his father’s inferno which is surely cooler than Bo’s BBQ.
Peshastin: DNP, 0-0 (34 PA, .375, .412, .719; no pitching) I was at the draft so I know this is a fact: Gio Urshela was put up for bidding. Phil Smith said, “who?” Ron Mock said, “Urshela, starting 3B for the vaunted Yankees.” Phil said, “Hold on – let me look him up.” After a couple of moments, Phil placed a bid on him. Portland also wanted Urshela, so it went back and forth for a little bit, but 250k increments, until Phil decided he wanted him badly enough to bid the most. Portland gave up and the Pears, rather serendipitously, were the new owners of Urshela. I’m thankful for that, even though it often bugs me when people bid on people they didn’t research or know about before the draft (there’s no rule against it, just a little pet peeve of mine). Because if he was on Portland it might mean I am down by 4 or 5 games now. Urshela’s line this month: .476, .522, 1.071 with 7 HRs and 4 2Bs).
Haviland: DNP, 3-1 (22 PA, .350, .409, .650; 2.3 IP, 3 ER, 11.57 ERA) Last night I listened to the end of the Red Sox/Indians game, and thus heard the tying RBI double off the bat of the Tornado’s Bogaerts and then the walk off HR from the Dragons Santana. Later I turned on the Padres and Rays game, and watched Wingenter give up all of his runs to the surging Rays. I’m not sure what to make of these two facts – listening caused the Dragons to get a game-winning HR over my beloved Red Sox, and watching caused the Dragons/Padres to cough up 3 runs in one IP. As a Red Sox fan I needed the opposite to happen, for the sake of the Red Sox getting into the postseason this year. I guess tonight I’ll have to watch the Red Sox and listen to the Rays. I’ll let you know if it changes anything.
Kaline: DNP, 1-1 (35 PA, .281, .343, .500, no pitching) I saw an infographic that showed Judge’s HRs this year have all been to right field. Isn’t that odd? They didn’t know why, but were merely noting it is abnormal based on his history of blasting balls to LF. Last night he only managed 2 walks, so he stayed away from all the fields. But Avisail Garcia wasn’t cowed by the spacious confines of Petco Park – I watched him hit his HR of Wingenter, as I already mentioned.
Canberra: DNP, 0-1 (13 PA, .308, .308, .462; 7.7 IP, 7 ER, 8.22 ERA) I told you earlier that Old Detroit’s pitchers were lucky last night. Well, Canberra’s pitchers were unlucky – their FIP was 6.08, though their ERA was 2 runs higher). You can pitch your heart out and still end up giving up a run or two too many, which doesn’t seem fair, but that’s baseball!
Cottage: DNP, (-4)-(2) (9 PA, .111, .111, .111; 6 IP, 2 ER, 3.00 ERA) So few PAs, but at least it created a fun slash line! And newly drafted Cheese, Eric Fedde, pitched a great game (look at that, head Cheese! You just needed new pitchers to carry out your commands).
Bellingham: L, 4-8 (5 PA, .400, .400, .600; no pitching) The Commissioner emailed this morning noting the paltry line of the Cascaged – but at least it was good! One player played and he did a good enough job to score 4 runs! Good job, Jarrod!
Brookland: DNP, 2-0 (16 PA, .250, .438, .333; no pitching) This might be the first time all year that a team had zero strikeouts! How exciting is that? It is quite a feat in today’s game to go 16 PAs without a single K. And the Outs accrued 4 walks, which is also great. They actually had more walks than hits – 4 to 3. Too bad no one pitched…
DC: DNP, 5-6 (33 PA, .355, .394, .613; 4 IP, 6 ER, 13.50 ERA) The Balk were led by the Frat Bros – Danny, Andrew and Ryan – to a great offensive day. But Adrian Sampson’s 135.00 ERA (5 ER in 1/3 of an inning) were too much for the bros to overcome.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2014
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
New York Yankees |
79 |
41 |
.658 |
— |
Flint Hill Tornadoes |
74 |
46 |
.620 |
4.6 |
Old Detroit Wolverines |
70 |
50 |
.587 |
8.5 |
Tampa Bay Rays |
70 |
50 |
.583 |
9 |
Boston Red Sox |
62 |
59 |
.512 |
17.5 |
Toronto Blue Jays |
50 |
72 |
.410 |
30 |
Baltimore Orioles |
39 |
80 |
.328 |
39.5 |
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
Atlanta Braves |
70 |
50 |
.583 |
— |
Washington Nationals |
63 |
55 |
.534 |
6 |
New York Mets |
61 |
57 |
.517 |
8 |
Philadelphia Phillies |
60 |
58 |
.508 |
9 |
Canberra Kangaroos |
59 |
61 |
.492 |
11 |
D.C. Balk |
47 |
73 |
.388 |
23.4 |
Miami Marlins |
44 |
73 |
.376 |
24.5 |
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
Cleveland Indians |
72 |
47 |
.605 |
— |
Minnesota Twins |
71 |
47 |
.602 |
0.5 |
Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
65 |
54 |
.549 |
6.7 |
Chicago White Sox |
52 |
64 |
.448 |
18.5 |
Bellingham Cascades |
53 |
66 |
.447 |
18.8 |
Kansas City Royals |
43 |
76 |
.361 |
29 |
Detroit Tigers |
35 |
80 |
.304 |
35 |
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
Chicago Cubs |
64 |
54 |
.542 |
— |
St. Louis Cardinals |
61 |
55 |
.526 |
2 |
Milwaukee Brewers |
62 |
57 |
.521 |
2.5 |
Cincinnati Reds |
56 |
61 |
.479 |
7.5 |
Cottage Cheese |
53 |
65 |
.449 |
11.1 |
Brookland Outs |
49 |
69 |
.418 |
14.7 |
Pittsburgh Pirates |
49 |
69 |
.415 |
15 |
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
Houston Astros |
77 |
41 |
.653 |
— |
Oakland A’s |
67 |
51 |
.568 |
10 |
Haviland Dragons |
61 |
57 |
.515 |
16.2 |
Texas Rangers |
59 |
59 |
.500 |
18 |
Kaline Drive |
58 |
60 |
.492 |
18.9 |
Los Angeles Angels |
58 |
62 |
.483 |
20 |
Seattle Mariners |
48 |
71 |
.403 |
29.5 |
TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
Los Angeles Dodgers |
79 |
41 |
.658 |
— |
Portland Rosebuds |
78 |
42 |
.649 |
1.1 |
Peshastin Pears |
62 |
58 |
.521 |
16.5 |
Arizona Diamondbacks |
60 |
59 |
.504 |
18.5 |
San Francisco Giants |
59 |
60 |
.496 |
19.5 |
San Diego Padres |
55 |
63 |
.466 |
23 |
Colorado Rockies |
53 |
66 |
.445 |
25.5 |
A Royal Chulk from Adrian Sampson! The Balk will do anything to get a headline.