Curveballs for Jobu 8/23/11

Curveballs for Jobu is the trip around the ballparks Offbasepercentage keeps forgetting to take.

Today's honorary bat boy is Kiko Garcia.


[Kiko Garcia autographed 1982 Donruss. Estimated value: 24 cat hairs]



Braves 3, Cubs 0. Jair Jurrjens allowed 13 base-runners, but no runs because the Cubs stink. Jurrjens was helped by rookie Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla, who each hit a solo home run. Have you seen Uggla's arms? They look like my arms in that dream I had the other night when the I rode a bear around solving the townspeople's problems. I had a patch of a head of lettuce on my chest, but that's the part of the dream I didn't really understand.

Orioles 4, Twins 1. Carl Pavano: 7 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, LOSS. Just 27 more bad starts and I can move on from the New York Carl Pavano Era. We're almost there.

Phillies 10, Mets 0. Cliff Lee pitched seven shut out innings, yes, but here at Jobu we're more about the guys who give off a distinct odor while on the mound. Dillon Gee? He smelled like Cecil Fielder's undershirt after an August day game in Texas. Gee walked six and allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings, putting the Backmans in an 8-0 hole after just four innings. That's not going to win you any of Lenny Dykstra's licorice. Ross Gload: 0-for-1.

Tigers 5, Devilrays 2. Justin Verlander gave up a lead off home run to Matt Joyce and just two hits after that in winning his seventh consecutive decision.

Mariners 3, Indians 2. Chance Ruffin didn't let having the first name of Chance hold him down as the right-hander picked up his first major league win with a scoreless eighth. Seattle won it a half inning later on Franklin Gutierrez's sacrifice fly. Casper Wells Watch: 1-for-3, run scored.

Rangers 4, Redsox 0. I'm always a fan of new Boston players failing, so Monday's 6 IP, 4 ER performance by Erik Bedard was a pleasant experience for me. And for Vinny in Jersey.




Other games, but down here.....

Milwaukee 8-2, Pittsburgh 1-9
Nationals 4, Diamondbacks 1
Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1
Rockies 9 Astros 5

Curveballs for Jobu 4/18/11

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Calvin Shiraldi.




Yankees 6, Rangers 5. I'd like to start today's Jobu with one of the top-17 stupidest things Bobby Valentine said during ESPN's Sunday Night broadcast. In regards to the Yankees success since 1996: "The reason for the Yankees' success the last 15 years is (Mariano Rivera), and no one else."

Anyway, NY got a two-out single from Eric Chavez to snap a 5-5 tie in the eighth and take two out of three in a 2010 ALCS rematch. C.C. Sabathia allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings, and because Chubbs Chamberlain gave up the tying run in the sixth, Carsten Charles is still winless, which would mean something if pitcher wins meant something, which they don't. Vinny in Jersey can put that talk radio rant he wrote out on loose leaf paper back in his desk drawer for at least one more day: Rafael Soriano had a scoreless eighth inning despite temperatures in the Bronx dipping into the low-50s.

Indians 4, Orioles 2. That was a cute, little 6-1 start for Baltimore, wasn't it? Like when your friend's kids are two and three-years old, carrying around a teddy bear named Alex and dancing to Tina Turner songs. Then, one day they're 12 and they start skateboarding and getting pimples. The Orioles are the kid who started skateboarding and got pimples. Sunday's loss was Baltimore's seventh consecutive as Grady Sizemore played his first game since last May 16 and homered in his first at bat. Cleveland is 11-4.

Mets 3, Braves 2. Mets win! Mets win! Mets win! Mets win! Dillon Gee, as in "gee, I didn't think the Mets were ever going to win again this season," allowed an earned run in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of 2011.

Mariners 3, Royals 2. Chris Gimenez: DNP

Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1. 1. Matt Kemp is good at hitting: 3-for-4, walk-off, two-run HR in ninth, .474 average; 2. Ryan Franklin may need to try throwing left-handed: that was the second time in the series Kemp homered off the Cards' closer in the ninth (though Thursday's solo shot didn't mean much in a 9-5 Cards win), and Franklin has four blown saves and an 11.57 ERA. Simply Irabuian.

Angels 4, Whitesox 2. Dan Haren continued his excellent April, tossing 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball as The LA-Anaheim Angels of one of the Parts of Southern California completed the sweep. Meanwhile, Chicago has Riggleman'd four in a row and five of their last six since a 6-3 start.

Pirates 7, Reds 6. Miguel Cairo: 3-for-4, HR (1).

Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5 (12). During the final six innings of Saturday's game, these four pitchers-Juan Gutierrez, David Hernandez, J.J. Putz and Josh Collmenter-

A. Organized a rally outside Chase Field to help raise awareness of eye black
B. Went in foursies on a goldfish
C. Pitched six scoreless innings, struck out eight batters and allowed one single

The answer, of course, is C.

While the Four Raccoonmen were mowing down the defending champions, Stephen Drew helped Arizona avoid the sweep with a 12th-inning single that sent a reported 446 people at the ballpark into a frenzy.


Other games, but down here....

National 8-5, Brewers 4-1
Padres 8, Astros 6
Rockies 9, Cubs 5
Athletics 5, Tigers 1
Twins 4, Devilrays 2
Redsox 8, Bluejays 1

Putting a Stamp On Camp

A few times a week Offbase will recap the day in Spring Training. We'll call it Putting a Stamp on Camp until we think of a better name.

Let's start with a flashback from our buddy Jose Canseco, unofficially the Offbase mascot. We can't get enough of this guy.




The Yankees had some controversy on their first day of camp! Unbelievable, I know. Why must people keep bothering this quiet, little franchise? Can't everyone just let them go down to Tampa and train in peace? Anyway, C.C. Sabathia hinted Monday there was a chance he could opt out of the final four years of his contract and test free agency after the 2011 season, even though he had said previously he wasn't going to do that. If Sabathia opts out, it's the right thing to do because he could get a new and longer deal on the open market after the '11 season, and he'll still be younger than Cliff Lee, who was the prize of this past winter's free agency class. I also think the big lefty would end up staying with and extending his contract with the Yankees because he likes playing in NY. So, Anthony in Poughkeepsie and Vinny in Jersey should put the whale sounds CD on and have a canoli.

Meanwhile, in Jupiter, Albert Pujols set a new deadline-Wednesday-for the Cardinals to sign him to a new contract or he's playing the 2011 season and then testing free agency in the winter. Here's Cards manager Tony LaRussa talking about Pujols and distractions and engine coolant.


Elsewhere...

* John Lackey dropped more than 10 pounds in the off-season, but this is still his face:



First jab at a Redsox in 2011. Baseball is back! Tomorrow: what's so great about Jacoby Ellsbury anyway?

* Maury Brown explained on Twitter that Toronto was postponing arbitration talks with outfielder Jose Bautista "to allow further negotiation between the player and the club." Before the Jays go crazy, remember: Bautista's 2010 season was excellent (166 OPS+, 5.3 WAR, .617 SLUG, 54 HR), but it's the first even pretty good season of his seven-year career. Career highs prior to 2010:

OPS+ - 99
WAR - 2.0
SLUG - .420
HR - 16

There were thousands of Bautista-Brady Anderson comparisons last year, but Anderson had two more really good seasons after he hit 50 home runs in 1996 (which bested his career high in long balls by 29). I say we leave poor Brady Anderson out of this and start making some Dan Pasqua comparisons.

Greatest Yankees 3B Ever To Play In 1998 World Series To Coach USA Baseball

I like to take every opportunity to mention Scott Brosius, not because I'm Vinny in Jersey and I think he should've been the Yankees' third baseman instead of Alex Rodriguez, or that he helped evoke some kind of fat-drunkman-ghost's-magical-powers in the 2001 WS, but because I appreciate his effort during the 1998 WS and I think he's a good guy.

Well, the good guy just got a big break. The former WS MVP was named the new head coach of the USA Baseball 18-under National Team, which will compete in the COPABE Pan American Baseball Championships in September. Brosius, who is in his fourth season coaching his alma mater Linfield College (Oregon), and is 100-38 with two conference and regional titles, will coach a team picked from the Tournament of the Stars competition at the USA Baseball national training complex, June 22-26.

One of Brosius' assistant coaches will be Brian McRae, son of former Royals manager, Hal. That gives us a great opportunity to show this video from Hal's managerial days.



This post may have just been an excuse to show that video.