He's kind of a big kid.
The Marlins went down to Puerto Rico to play a series against the Mets and build baseball interest in the Caribbean. Almost everyone else took the day off.
28 June
NPB No games
MLB New York Mets (3) at Florida Marlins (10). The Fish got some serious offense going last night. Mike Stanton hit his second major league home run, a 3-run blast, and Nolasco had himself a quality start for the first time in a while. The Mets scored all three runs on two Jason Bay home runs, but couldn’t do much else against the Marlins. Florida’s record improves to 36-40. Manager news might come at the end of the week.
Washington Nationals (0) at Atlanta Braves (5). On a night where Washington needed to knock the Braves down a peg or two, there’s no better pitcher to rely on than Stephen Strasburg, except he had what may have been his worst start of the season with absolutely zero run support. It’s funny, of course, when you consider a regular quality start the worst start of his career, but Stephen went 6.1, gave up 4 runs (3 earned thanks to Desmond’s league leading errors), two walks, with seven strikeouts. He can have off-days like this if his team scores him runs, but the sleeping offense led to their current 33-44 record. I’m hoping they pick it up, because Braves losses can only be good for the rest of the NL East.
Gonna see the Cubs this weekend!
17 June
NPB Nope
MLB Washington Nationals (3) at Detroit Tigers (8). Deja vu. Atilano loses again. Change of scenery tomorrow, but this sweep was ugly. 31-36 in last.
Texas Rangers (6) at Florida Marlins (4). Ricky Nolasco just hasn’t been the same in so long. Guy gets two earned, but the other unearned were on errors by him. 31-35 barely in fourth.
Tampa Bay Rays (1) at Atlanta Braves (3). Jason Heyward and the Bravos beat the struggling Shields. The Rays have not played well this month at all. They are still tied for first with their 41-25 record.
It may be blurry, but it's sad like I am.
The sad panda is sad like me because every team I follow lost last night.
16 June
NPB Still chillin’
MLB Baltimore Orioles (3) at San Francisco Giants (6). Lincecum only strikes out ten, which is a statement I heard one of my softball teammates utter yesterday. Guess what, buddy. 10 is GOOD. 10 > 1 K / Inning. The Orioles drop to 18-48.
Washington Nationals (3) at Detroit Tigers (8). The Tigers are a team no one seems to give much credit, but even I wouldn’t have expected them to crush Liván Hernández for eight runs in this game. The Nats drop to 31-35 in last.
Texas Rangers (6) at Florida Marlins (3). The Fish are killing me with their play. What’s wrong with the Marlins bullpen?! At least Cogz and Gaby are hitting well. Where’s Stanton’s power? The kid needs to relax, be patient, and start hitting! 31-34 in fourth.
Tampa Bay Rays (2) at Atlanta Braves (6). Tommy Hanson is an absolute stud. Wade Davis has been struggling. A lot. Thank god the Yankees lost too because the Rays are still tied for first at 41-24.
It's this guy, up front and on the right. It's his fault.
The Marlins drop a game they should have won in the 9th inning. It’s just disheartening.
15 June
NPB Still finishing up interleague make-ups.
MLB Washington Nationals (4) at Detroit Tigers (7). John Lannan just does not have a great outing. Can’t do much about that. Washington drops to 31-34 in last.
Texas Rangers (3) at Florida Marlins (2). It’s tough being a closer, I get that, but Leo Nuñez blows this game in the 9th by walking batters and screwing the Marlins over. Matt Treanor, former Marlins catcher, gets the game-winning hit with a triple and I just get mad. 31-33 in fourth. Pull it together, Florida!
Tampa Bay Rays (10) at Atlanta Braves (4). David Price saddles Kenshin Kawakami with yet another loss. David Price is easily one of the Rays best starters and this win ties him for most in the AL with 10. A Yankees win keeps them tied for first with their 41-23 record.
Baltimore Orioles (4) at San Francisco Giants (1). Jake Arrieta is finally doing what the Orioles youngsters are supposed to do: winning with good pitching. 18-47 in last.
Each year there’s maybe a team or two who has got a rock solid bullpen. The Rays had one in 2008, but struggled in 2009. The Marlins have had closer troubles for as long as I can remember. It’s just frustrating. Is there a way to improve bullpens? Most clubs look at the bullpen as a place to put pitchers who aren’t quite good enough to be starters. What if this is the wrong idea?
Washington drafted Drew Storen last year in the first round. I’m not part of the organizational brass, so I don’t know if it was their plan all along, but it sure seems to me that the kid was picked to be a reliever from the getgo. From day 1 of his callup, Storen has been in the Nats bullpen and it seems like specializing him this way is paying dividends.
His 11.2 innings are on the low side for conclusive evidence, but, still, he’s pitching with a 1.54 ERA this year in a bullpen that, outside its setup man and closer, has had its struggles.
Who’s to say that other teams aren’t really doing this, I know, but it just seems like, with Florida, at least, that the bullpen is composed of guys who aren’t making it as starters. You need good people to get you to your closer, so why not develop them that way, Florida?
I don't have any pictues of Kenta Maeda to put up, so this is the next best thing.
I don’t know why I’m surprised to see Maeda pitched when I see the Carp played a shutout. He really is the best pitcher in the Central League so far.
27 May
NPB Chiba Lotte Marines (0) at Hiroshima Carp (3). Maeda scatters four hits over 8 while Yokoyama notches the save. This brings Hiroshima’s record up to 20-29-0 in fifth.
Rakuten Eagles (3) at Yakult Swallows (3). Both teams battle into a tie in the 12th, unable to break the deadlock. Rakuten’s record kind of rises to 22-28-1, tying them with the Fighters in fifth.
MLB Washington Nationals (4) at San Francisco Giants (5). The Nats lose the game in a disastrous 7th inning pitched by Stammen, Burnett, and Walker. Their 24-24 record ties them for fourth with Florida.
Oakland Athletics (7) at Baltimore Orioles (5). Mark Hendrickson blows this game in the eighth by giving up three. It’s no wonder the Marlins got rid of him. Baltimore’s record falls to 15-33 on the year in last.
Atlanta Braves (8) at Florida Marlins (3). Ricky Nolasco has a mediocre start cut short at four innings by a rain delay and the Marlins relief corp couldn’t hold on. Their bats couldn’t contribute either, so the Fish went down, yet again, to the accursed Braves. They are now playing 0.500 ball again at 24-24
Chicago White Sox (1) at Tampa Bay Rays (5). It’s important to establish dominance yet again after the embarrassing sweep the Rays just suffered. Not to mention the fact that Jeff Niemann is the last remaining lossless starter in the American League. He holds on to that title, improving to 5-0 while the Rays increase to 33-15.
Q: When is it ok to get swept by the Red Sox? A: NEVER!
NPB Chiba Lotte Marines (9) at Hiroshima Carp (1). When you give up four home runs in one game, it takes some mighty fine offense to catch up. Hiroshima’s offense is so streaky, this will never happen when they need it. The Carp record declines to 19-29-0 in fifth. I want to see them be < 10 games back for the rest of the season. Come on, guys!
Rakuten Eagles (3) at Yakult Swallows (2). Rakuten just gets it done against the heavily struggling Yakult squad. Their manager has stepped down due to the ridiculous skip the team has faced so far. Rakuten's record improves to 22-28. They're getting there.
MLB Oakland Athletics (6) at Baltimore Orioles (1). After a stellar start to the season, Brian Matusz has been having some serious struggles, giving up all six of Oakland’s runs. Their record rests at 15-32 after the bloodbath.
Atlanta Braves (7) at Florida Marlins (3). When I left this game it was 1-0 Marlins. Then I check the scores after my softball game and they’ve somehow managed to blow it! The Hopper, Burke Badenhop, just isn’t getting it done for the Fish these days. This loss costs them second place with their 24-23 record.
Boston Red Sox (11) at Tampa Bay Rays (3). What is going on with the Rays these past three days? I would never have thought Matt Garza would give up six to the Sox. Baseball’s a game of ebbs and flows, but the Rays need to start flowing again and soon! Their 32-15 record is still good enough for first, but they can’t keep losing like this if they want to hold on to it.
Washington Nationals (7) at San Francisco Giants (3). The only team that I follow here to win last night, the Nats put forth a great effort against Tim Lincecum, of all people, notching six of the seven on his watch. They are now in a three-way tie with Florida and New York for third with their 24-23 record.
Seibu gets its revenge.
Hiroshima takes an ugly loss from the first place Lions, but at least they won the day before.
25 May
NPB Saitama Seibu Lions (10) at Hiroshima Carp (7). Takeya Nakamura blew this game open in the third with a grand slam. Hiroshima desperately tried to recover in the 8th with a five-run rally partially fueled by a Kenta Kurihara blast, but it wasn’t enough. The Carp record drops to 19-28-0 in fifth.
MLB Oakland Athletics (1) at Baltimore Orioles (5). Markakis homered and Baltimore managed another win, but there’s nothing less interesting to me than the Oakland Athletics. Sorry Oakland. Baltimore’s record climbs to 15-31 in last.
Atlanta Braves (4) at Florida Marlins (6). Atlanta is surprisingly not that great this year, despite everyone’s predictions to the contrary. Kenshin Kawakami has been beat up and sports an 0-7 record after this game. I really did not expect that at all. Florida ends the day with a 24-22 record in second, two games back.
Boston Red Sox (2) at Tampa Bay Rays (0). A very well pitched game, but Lester was better than Jamie Shields. I really hope Boston doesn’t return the favor and sweep the Rays at home. Come on Tampa Bay! The Rays are now 32-14 after their two game losing streak.
Washington Nationals (2) at San Francisco Giants (4). Liván Hernández has another bad day and the Nats bats can’t keep up. Washington is now tied for last with the Mets with a 23-23 record.
Home of the (evil) Philadelphia Phillies
Believe it or not, I didn’t always hate the Phillies. One of my earliest baseball memories is watching Darren Daulton in the 1993 World Series, don’t ask me why that name sticks out, but it just does. I was even on a little league team that took the name Phillies (even though I desperately wanted to play on the Marlins). My childhood hatred was mostly directed toward the Atlanta Braves, the most dominant team in the NL East, and baseball in general, throughout the 90s. It wasn’t until I was in college that I began hating the team, mostly due to a co-worker’s insane degree of love for the Phils. Now that I live in Maryland, the proximity of the state of Pennsylvania doesn’t help things either, meaning I have to deal with fans of Philadelphia teams all year round. Couple in their bad fan reputation and their winning ways the past five years and you’ve got yourself genuine hatred for the division rivals.
The face of evil?
All that preamble just to say that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going to Citizens Bank Park. I decided that I would wear my Marlins jersey to the park, but I was genuinely worried that I’d have to weather insults, jeers, thrown beer, or possibly worse. I mean, three days before I was set to visit the park, a fan was arrested for vomiting on an off-duty police officer and his children. I had no idea what I was in for, but after coming out of it alive, I’ll begrudgingly admit that Citizens Bank Park is one of the nicest parks I’ve ever been to.
The batter's eye is really nice looking.
Like all ballparks designed after Camden Yards, CBP (as it will be abbreviated from here on out) was designed with that faux-retro aesthetic in mind. It means lots of brick, lots of open spaces in the concourses, and plenty of sight lines pointed toward the plate. When you’ve got a nice, historic organization like the Phillies, you can afford to go this route. I think that’s the chief reason why Nationals Park stands out among its peers. The team had no real history, so there was no reason to call back to the olden days of the Senators (although they probably should have). Philadelphia’s park features statues of Phillies greats scattered throughout the entire park, a restaurant dedicated to Harry Kalas, and whole regions, like Ashburn Alley, named for the organization’s greats.
I always want to call it Crashburn Alley because of the Phillies blog with that name.
It’s an unspoken rule that all of the new ballparks need some kind of gimmick to make them stand out, architecturally, from their peers. Camden Yards has the warehouses, Citi Field has the Ebbets Field rotunda, Nationals Park has that weird, circular scoreboard, and CBP achieves this with a giant, replica Liberty Bell beyond center field. Whenever a home run is hit by the home team, the Liberty Bell actually rings, kind of like the Big Apple that rises out of the outfield after Mets home runs. It’s a neat little quirk that does give the park some flavor.
This one is cracked too?! What are the odds?!
Another little visual thing that I love are the flower planters along the left field wall. There’s not much more to say about them other than that they’re very pretty and add much needed color to the otherwise dominant red and green in the park.
I like flowers. So what.
Also like other new ballparks, a lot of CBP’s food options are actually local restaurants. There is a Chickie’s & Pete’s stand, one local cheesesteak restaurant is rotated into the park each year, and the ice cream comes from the local Turkey Hill Dairy. Unlike some other parks, CBP has a super liberal policy about food from outside the park. So long as there’s no glass, they’ll allow it in the ballpark. I saw a guy who was bringing in three boxes of pastries. The people sitting next to me pulled out sandwiches from a local deli, an entire bag of potato chips, and drinks to go with their meal. I’d like to see more blue collar policies like this with respect to out of park food. Sure, you lose a few sales at the concessions, but you earn so much goodwill I think it’s worth it. I wish I’d known how liberal their policy was, I had a whole cheesesteak hidden in my pockets.
I didn't know I was supposed to try the Crab Fries here. Next time, I guess.
This year Nationals Park started having a starting nine group of children come out before the players to add some local flavor and help introduce the team. I saw the same thing in Japan a few times, but in Japan and at CBP, they intelligently have the players each come out holding a baseball. When they reach their tiny counterparts, they sign the ball, give it to the kid, and then the kids leave the field after the National Anthem plays. Everyone loves kids. This is always a success no matter where I see it done.
Like all other ballparks, they grab (cheap) local talent to do things like sing the National Anthem.
No article about CBP is complete without mentioning the most ostentatious feature of the ballpark, the Phillie Phanatic. The green monstrosity is one of the more controversial mascots in baseball. His antics have made a few enemies, most notably Tommy Lasorda, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they’re mostly harmless pranks that seem to go a few steps beyond what mascots in any ballpark would do. It’s the kind of thing that fits the city of Philadelphia and their team aesthetic well and it’s insanely funny 99% of the time. In the one game I witnessed, I watched him mock Marlins players throwing, attack the Marlins broadcaster, get shoved by Hanley Ramirez, steal fan caps, mess up countless people’s hair, and ride all around in his little car. He’s a pretty cool mascot, even if he is evil.
This is my absolute favorite picture that I got of this evil bastard.
Citizens Bank Park is a great place to see a game, what can I say? The fan base is passionate and devoted to the team, the park is nice and new, and they have great food policies. They’re also ridiculously close to Maryland, so if you’re a local reader, you really should just pop up there if you’re interested. I was there and back before midnight after the game.
Another reason I'm sure I loved this park: Check out the Marlins score right now. This gap did not appreciably close all night.
The Marlins can’t quite lock down the sweep against the Cubs, but a series win is still more than they’ve done in recent history.
12 May
NPB Off Day
MLB Washington Nationals (6) at New York Mets (4). Tyler Clippard wins yet another as the Nats pull ahead into sole possession of second (again) with their 19-15 record, 1.5 back behind the Phils.
Florida Marlins (3) at Chicago Cubs (4). Carlos Zambrano keeps the Marlins bats just quiet enough to avoid the series sweep. The Fish’s record drops to 16-18, tying them with the Braves for fourth.
Seattle Mariners (2) at Baltimore Orioles (5). Go Orioles! The controversy-ridden Mariners drop game 2 of the series allowing the Orioles to climb to 10-24 for the season.
Tampa Bay Rays (4) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (3). The Tampa Bay (don’t call me “Devil”) Rays continue to recover from the three-game skid on their road trip to close it off with a win. They head home for a day of much needed rest and a 24-10 record good enough for first place.
It has nothing to do with baseball, but I hope to get to a beach this weekend.
Yesterday’s scores are brought to you by the warm beach weather that I crave and the letter ‘M’.
NPB Off
MLB Atlanta Braves (2) at Washington Nationals (3). Scott Olsen throws a near no-hitter as the Nats win yet another series pushing them to a tie for second with their 15-13 record.
San Francisco Giants (6) at Florida Marlins (3). The Giants continue to make me cry in both professional leagues by sweeping my beloved Fish. I can only take solace in the fact that Chris Coghlan managed a hit last night, but it seems that the Marlins relief corp needs some work. Florida is in third with their 13-15 record, four games back(!).
Baltimore Orioles (2) at Minnesota Twins (0). This is a shocker. Baltimore’s record improves to 8-21 against a hot team in a new ballpark. Congrats, Birdmen.
Tampa Bay Rays (8) at Seattle Mariners (0). I guess you gotta take the bad to get the good. Getting the best kind of sweep is a nice change of pace. Tampa Bay is now 1.5 games ahead with their 21-7 record.
