Shot Of The Night

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

It may seem like I advocate drinking here with the shot recipes and drinking jokes but alcohol makes you do stupid things kids. Drunk dialing, drunk texting, drunk showing up at your ex's bar. All poor decisions after 2 am. Trust me. That said, let's take the shot of the night while I try to shake off some shame. The shot of last night is a California Dream: 2 oz 1800® Tequila, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 1 maraschino cherry and it's in honor of Buster Posey.

I realize I need to stop gushing over Buster Posey before Chase Utley and Mike Trout get jealous but he's just so good. Posey extended his hit streak to 18 games, going 4-5 and moving his slash line to .371/.407/.579. While Posey is a blog favorite, those are MVP caliber numbers. And he's a catcher. This brings up 2 questions. 1) How bad did Tampa Bay screw up in the 2008 draft by passing on Posey when they needed a catcher? 2) Bengie Molina?

Honorable Mention: Dan Haren
While the San Francisco Poseys were beating the Diamondbacks in extra innings, the Angels were beating their GM in making trades. You can catch my analytical/non-biased reaction on the trade here (now with 300% more bias) but Dan Haren was a pretty big winner without even playing last night. He gets to go play in his native SoCal for an annual playoff contender while the Diamondbacks are trending toward Pittsburgh Pirate territory. Haren's escape from the dessert to the beach is one of the best sand moves since that hour glass got the job on Days of Our Lives.



That reference was brought to you via my grandma. I promise I don't watch soap operas. Unless you count Gossip Girl.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Rolando Roomes.

Hey Sunday shut ins, I'll be covering our little round up today while Derwood is back from his vacation and had to go back to earning money. If you're in the Atlanta area, stop by the interstate and buy a sack of oranges from him. He needs the money. Crazy ain't cheap and he buys it in bulk from Costco. Let's take a spin through some of yesterday's games and if you're good, maybe I'll buy you some cotton candy.

Reds 8, Rockies 1. Edison Volquez made his first start after a little, good ole fashioned Tommy John surgery. And if he's going to pitch like this, the Cardinals need to start sweating. Volquez went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. The Reds offense smacked 4 home runs including another pair from Drew Stubbs. Cincinnati is starting to look pretty dangerous and they still have Aroldis Chapman waiting in the minors.

Red Sox 3, Rangers 2. Cliff Lee's second Ranger start went much better than his first one. Lee pitched, wait for it, 9 innings but allowed 2 runs and a walk. Another walk? I'm starting to doubt Derwood's robot theory. Youkilis drove in the tying run in the 9th against Lee and the Sox won in the 11th off of a Youkilis sac fly.

Twins 3, White Sox 2. There was no wasted pitching in this game. Blog enemy Carl Pavano went all 9 innings and only allowed 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6. Mark Buehrle went all 8 innings but allowed 3 runs on 9 hits to take the loss. Paul Konerko continued his above average season hitting his 21st homer of the year. That always makes Paul Konerko dog smile.

Marlins 2, Nationals 0. Josh Johnson thew another 6 scoreless innings and ran his record to 10-3. Just between us, Johnson's ERA is now 1.62 and he's the best pitcher in the National League. That's just our secret. I'm not sure anyone else has noticed yet.

Giants 8, Mets 4. Blog favorite Buster Posey hit another home run. That's 8 home runs and a .356/.391/.591 slash line for the Giants' clean-up hitter. Which begs the age old question, Bengie Molina?

Rays 10, Yankees 5. I covered A.J. Burnett's bad day in Shot of the Night.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Gary Disarcina.

Alright gang, Off Base is gearing up for some big coverage of the All Star Game. Which means Derwood is probably taking a nap. Plane rides make him sleepy. I'll be handling Jobu again so there will be lots more drinking and anger. I'm exactly like your step-dad.

Orioles 6, Rangers 1. Cliff Lee debuted for the Rangers and, surprise, threw a complete game and didn't walk a batter. He did, however, surrender 6 earned and 3 home runs. Cesar Izturis hit one of those home runs after being reminded he was still on a major league roster.

Giants 10, Nationals 5. Off Base favorite Buster Posey continues to flat rake. Posey went 4-5 with another home run and 3 RBI. In the past week, Posey has a .536/.563/1.107 slash line to go with 5 homers. Which begs the age old question, Bengie Molina?

Phillies 1, Reds 0. Pretty much covered this one in Shot of the Night

Diamondbacks 5, Marlins 4. Chris Coghlan made a ridiculous catch to rob Chris Snyder of a home run as he tried to make up for a pitiful 0-5 day at the plate. Snyder would get his revenge, though, and blast one well over Coghlan's head in the 6th. Mark Reynolds had a shocking zero strikeouts.

Mariners 4, Yankees 1. Remember when Joba Chamberlain was a dominant reliever? Then a starter, then a reliever, then a starter, then a reliever, then a starter? Well, now he's a reliever again and not very good. Joba took the loss after giving up a grand slam in the 8th to Jose Lopez. King Felix tossed a complete game allowing 1 run and striking out 9.

White Sox 5, Royals 1. Wilson Betemit went 2-2 as a pinch hitter and then DH. Wilson Betemit the DH. *shakes head*

Shot Of The Night

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

Tonight's shot of the night is a Home Run: 1 part(s) Vodka, 1 part(s) Triple Sec, 1 part(s) Lime Juice, 1 shot(s) Jagermeister, 1 shot(s) Goldschlager, 1 shot(s) Whiskey. Mix the first 3 to make a Kamikaze. Then set the 4 shots up as they were bases in baseball. First base is the Kamikaze, second is Jagermeister, third is the Goldschlager and the Home Run is the House Whiskey. Welcome to the club! Vomit. Yeah, that's a rough 4 shots but I had to break out the big guns tonight. The shots of the night are in honor of Adam Dunn and Buster Posey.

I'll give Dunn the top billing tonight but you couldn't go wrong either way. Dunn went 3-4 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI. It's a good thing he's not in the Home Run Derby. Instead of Dunn for the competition, I say we plug in Omar Infante and see how many infield singles he can hit in the Home Run Derby. Everybody loves a scrappy utility player, right Bud? When reached for comment, Stephen Strasburg said, "Couldn't you save like one of those home runs for my start?"

Buster Posey shares top honors tonight going 4-4 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Posey's 2 homers gives him (5) more than Mauer (4) in about 150 less at bats. Which begs the age old question, Bengie Molina?

Update: This post was severely delayed by the spotty Internet service I get in Baton Rouge. Come on neighbors' unprotected Wi-Fi, get your act together.