Jamie-Moyer

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Strasburg-mania was in full force last night.”] [/caption] It’s the debut everyone was talking about, Stephen Strasburg, and I was there. Seated near the field, just past first base, I had a chance to really see the vertical break on his pitches and their effects on batters. 4-Seam Fastball This is the one everyone has heard of. Strasburg regularly broke 100 mph with his pitches in college. Then he signed with Washington and was throwing in the mid-90s all through AA and AAA. He had to either be lulling the competition into a false sense of security or just working on the rest of his arsenal, because his 98-102 fastball was back in full force last night. Hitters were completely embarrassed by it, no one could keep up, and I couldn’t move my eyes fast enough half the time. It’s that good. ...

I’m gonna blame Memorial Day weekend for making me forget that I was supposed to do this yesterday. All those barbecues were so good! 28 May NPB No games (with the Carp or Eagles) MLB Baltimore Orioles (0) at Toronto Blue Jays (5). Division rival mega match! Ok, I can’t keep a straight face on that one. The AL East’s two least interesting teams (to me) start a series that will inevitably bore me to death. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“The Phanatic likes to mess around with everyone, including reporters.”] [/caption] I spent a far-too-cold night at Citizens Bank Park freezing my butt off, but enjoying a Marlins victory over Fish-killer Jamie Moyer. A review of the park should be hitting soon, but I’ve got to finish writing it first. 16 April NPB Chunichi Dragons (3) at Hiroshima Carp (4). If I’m not mistaken, this one was won in extra innings. A thrilling victory for the Carp. ...

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. Baseball, sad as I am to say it, is nearing the end of its season. As pre-season stories begin to flood my RSS reader I can only lament the loss of the pure baseball period. That time of the year where the only professional sport being played in America is my favorite time of year. Turning on Sportscenter will only yield tiny stories and not spend long segments on the state of some team’s offensive line. ...

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. There was a lot of talk about the mistakes Joe Maddon was making in not bringing David Price up at the start of the year. I think last night speaks volumes about why he thought he needed more work. Price gave up ten runs to spearhead a 10-1 loss to the Phillies last night, meaning that he was embarrassed by a pitcher more or less twice his age (Jamie Moyer, age 46). ...

Jayson Stark had this to say about Randy Johnson’s recent 300th win: “It’s always a good idea to shoot for a milestone against those hospitable Washington Nationals. On Sunday, they were the victim of Jamie Moyer’s 250th career win. Four days later, they were on the wrong end of Randy Johnson’s 300th. So how rare is that? Glad you asked. If we use 200 wins as the official milestone cutoff, the last team to be victimized for two milestones (200, 250 or 300) in the same season was Rob Deer’s 1990 Brewers (Nolan Ryan’s 300th, Frank Tanana’s 200th). But if we raise the cutoff to 250, the Elias Sports Bureau reports, the Nationals become the first team to do anything like this twice in one year since Pop Corkhill’s 1891 Pirates helped Old Hoss Radbourn win his 300th and John Clarkson win his 250th. Hard to believe, folks.” ...

Game 2 went precisely how I wanted it to, which leaves today’s matchup, Garza vs Moyer, particularly big and important. It’ll probably be the coldest, temperature-wise, game the Rays have ever played, for one. There’s also that alarming statistic about dome-teams having a hard time beating non-dome teams in the postseason that needs to be proved wrong. The big important points for the Rays: -Score early -Help Garza manage the Phils and keep them off of base. -If previous fails, hope Garza doesn’t give up a home run -Stop letting the Phils get into scoring position. They may be 3-28 or some ridiculously low number like that, but this is baseball and they’ll start performing when you least expect or need it. ...

You’ve probably heard the saying that hindsight is 20/20 on Monday morning, so just imagine how well I can call ’em two days later on Wednesday. That’s right, it’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. Florida Marlins It’s been a while since you’ve last heard from me about the Marlins, but it’s funny how things haven’t changed much since then. The Fish remain 1.5 games back from the Phillies as of today and are, once again, in a series that will challenge the very fabric of their team. ...