Toronto-Blue-Jays

Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Marlins 29 Sept 2012 Everyone’s thinking “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” right about now, but I still can’t help but feel so betrayed. You don’t really get to pick the teams you love. I mean, you do, obviously, but at the same time what rational human being would continue to love a team like the Marlins? Two World Series titles are rather nice, but every other year in the team’s history has been fairly miserable thanks to fire sales and borderline duplicitous frugality. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Time to check out my prediction score”] [/caption] Another season is now behind us and the playoffs begin this afternoon at 1330 EST in Tampa Bay. How did I do in my projections? Who do I predict for the World Series? Let’s check it out! ...

It’s All-Star game time again! This year the game is being played in sunny Southern California, down in Anaheim. Thanks to the peculiarities of baseball scheduling and the east coast focus of television, the game is actually being started in daylight hours, 1700 PST. The liveblogging experience of the year is about to begin yet again! Expect updates throughout the evening and night. Time: 1944 My cable woes are keeping me from watching the MLB Network this year (I hate you Comcast!), so instead I’m watching ESPN’s coverage, which has been somewhat interrupted with news about George Steinbrenner’s death by massive heart attack. It’s an odd thing to not have him around the Yankees anymore, even if he hasn’t really running things for two or three years. Despite my dislike for the Yankees, he will be missed as a figure in baseball. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Last night’s attendance was less than half. I guess that’s what happens when Strasburg’s not pitching.”] [/caption] Pittsburgh debuted some rookies last night too. The Nationals crowd of about 18,000 was not impressed. 10 June NPB Chunichi Dragons (7) at Rakuten Eagles (2). Wei-Yin Chen Tossed six scoreless with five strikeouts as the Dragons got revenge. Rakuten’s record slides to 29-31-1 in fifth. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“375” caption=““Honest” Abe and I fist bumping”] [/caption] For some reason Abe has become my favorite of the racing presidents. Maybe it’s his arrogant stride or maybe it’s the way he’s a sore loser when he doesn’t win, but I just love everything about the persona they’ve crafted for #16. 09 June NPB Chunichi Dragons (1) at Rakuten Eagles (4). Satoshi Nagai hurls eight innings of eight hit ball, miraculously only giving up one run. Nice work, Nagai. Rakuten’s record improves to 29-30-1, tied for fourth. ...

After two shaving cream pies, Strasburg got the silver Elvis wig for his game performance too. I’ll have a more detailed analysis about Strasburg’s start, but 14 strikeouts is not bad at all. Seven of those came in a row from the 5th to 7th innings. An impressive young pitcher. 08 June NPB Neither of my teams played. MLB New York Yankees (12) at Baltimore Orioles (7). My friends asked me to go to this game with them, but I couldn’t pass up seeing Strasburg. I’m surprised the Os scored so many, but it wasn’t enough for the Yankee juggernauts. Their record falls to 16-42. ...

The biggest story in baseball today is the blown call by Jim Joyce in the Tigers game last night. Umpires make mistakes, it’s a fact of baseball, but it’s rarely a mistake this huge that costs a man history. Armando Gallaraga, for his part, is taking it in stride. He says he knows he did it, so he doesn’t care, but I’m more concerned with the fact that: 1. The history books will say he didn’t, and 2. Something needs to change. Bad umpiring has been a story in baseball since last year’s World Series and it’s not getting any better. I think that MLB needs to do something to increase the accountability of its umpires. I kind of understand why it is that they try and keep umpire disciplining on the down low (votes of confidence and all that), but that needs to change. In this case, it doesn’t really matter anyway. Diehards will remember Jim Joyce long after this game is done. He will probably be booed every time he shows his face in Detroit. I would feel worse for the guy if he hadn’t made such a terrible call, but I just can’t feel sympathy for him yet. Not this close to botched history. ...

Three of my teams managed to notch wins in the final innings of their respective games. It takes a lot of luck and skill to take a game in the 9th. Bravo, teams. 1 June NPB Hiroshima Carp (5) at Nippon-Ham Fighters (4). Eishin Soyogi gets the walk-off RBI single in the 9th to push the Carp ahead while Ryuji Yokoyama holds on for the save. Hiroshima’s record rises to 21-31-0 after the tilt. ...

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=“375” caption=“I bet it was this partly this guy’s fault, too.”] [/caption] When you have a series against the Giants (and you’re the Hiroshima Carp), things can get ugly. PYS 2010 has taught me that as well, where my version of the Hiroshima Carp are barely a fourth place team. 23 April NPB Hiroshima Carp (4) at Yomiuri Giants (10). The Giants offense is potent, to say the least. ...