Running Diary
If you liked last years Running Diaries, great news, they’re back.
Jorge Campillo getting the start tonight. King Felix will follow him. Let’s Play Ball.
9:05 PM EST Always fun to miss the first three pitches so that National Geographic can push some TV show that four people might watch. One down.
9:07 “Just in time… no, wait, he dropped the ball.” Dave’s in midseason form. But we love him anyways.
9:10 Change up. Curve. Change up. Curve. More like the Mexican Jamie Moyer.
9:13 Pitch sequence to Garret Anderson; change, change, change, curve (launched for a wind aided double).
9:16 Greg Dobbs is hitting 5th. I have no words.
9:18 RBI triple for Jeremy Reed. That ball was smoked.
9:22 Niehaus: “Dobbs this afternoon went 1-7, but hit the ball hard 4 times.” Meanwhile, he swings through a curve and strikes out.
9:31 Much easier second inning for Campillo, though I still doubt he’s cracked 86 on the gun.
9:35 Here comes the first pitch to Pokey…
9:36 I’m not trying to say he has a slow bat or anything, but he just now swung.
9:40 Pokey walks, then Ichiro hits into a double play. You might not see those two events happen again til May.
9:45 Pokey with some ridiculous range taking away a line drive base hit by Vlad. That’s one of those plays that nobody else in baseball makes. His glove is just something else.
9:55 ESPN.com’s main page current poll: “Is Allen Iverson a ballhog”? Tomorrow’s poll: “Is the sky blue”?
9:57 Despite the fact that the announcers want to call it a 12-6, Campillo’s curve is more of a slurve. Not a bad pitch, but its not an Aaron Sele curveball.
10:03 Dobbs smokes one for a base hit, making him 2 for 9 on the day. And now we get to hear about how hard he’s whacking the ball and his “outstanding stroke”.
10:08 Man, Olivo still looks like crap on curveballs.
10:14 The King is warming up. Hooray.
10:16 After five innings, “How To Be A Junkballer” by Jorge Campillo calls it a wrap. He threw 61 pitches, and by my count, only 32 fastballs.
10:20 Alright, here’s why we’re all watching. Felix is on his way to the mound.
10:23 Fastball, fastball, fastball. 1 down.
10:24 He’s not even trying. Two down.
10:25 Vlad up. Foul, foul, whiff.
10:27 After giving it some thought, I think Felix might be turn out to be something. Just call it a hunch.
10:39 You know, I’m openly rooting for the M’s to make outs so Felix can get back on the hill.
10:44 Round two. Here we go. There’s a base hit. Felix is gonna have to throw something besides a fastball eventually.
10:45 So there’s the big hook. Good luck hitting that, seriously. That’s just mean.
10:50 Bengie Molina whacks one, but Ichiro runs it down. Two easy innings for Hernandez.
10:52 Two walks for Pokey. Let’s have a parade.
10:56 RBI single for Reed. I made the comparison to Paul O’Neill a couple of years ago when I saw Reed pretty extensively, and that still stands up.
10:59 Dobbs up, bases loaded. If he goes yard here, I’m turning the sound off. Nope – fly out to center. 4-1 M’s.
11:05 Sherrill in for Felix. 1 pitch, 1 down. Nothing against George, but I’m now going to bed.
Comments
62 Responses to “Running Diary”
I thought that Felix was impressive as well, but what about Campillo? I thought that he did really well. He was all over the place in the beginning, but he really settled down and pitched a good game. That was the first time that I have gotten to see him pitch, and I am pleasantly surprised. He could be a good guy for the back end of the rotation sooner or later.
Off topic: apparently Letterman had a good comment on his show… something to the effect of “If there are so many performance-enhancing substances floating around in baseball, why don’t they give the Mets some”. 🙂
Finnigan and Bishop in today’s ST come up with some fun quotes about last night’s game, and they are the only ones who do.
Hargrove on Felix’s 3rd strike pitch to Vlad: “I’m not sure that Superman could have hit that ball. It’s one of the better pitches I’ve seen this spring.”
Felix himself on facing Vlad:
“It’s Vladimir Guerrero, so I’m thinking, ‘I have to strike him out.’ ”
I missed the game, but didnt miss Ron Farely, the worst broadcaster in baseball, second to none, not even Joe Morgan. I am liking what Im seeing with Sexson this last week. Great clutch AB in the ninth. And to go back to his monster drive against the giants, the 500+ footer. To put it in perspective, if they had been playing in SF, that homer would’ve landed in the HUGE GLOVE in left, which has never been done.
Sick.
My non-real-time thoughts about the game:
— Jorge Campillo looked quite good to me. Like Dave, I was thinking “Mexican Moyer.”
— Non-scientific hitter observations: Jeremy Reed looked locked in; Scott Spiezio looked in much better shape, but still lost at the plate; Greg Dobbs’ swin looked beautiful when fouling off a grooved fastball, and even better when swinging and missing.
— Did anyone else see Ben Molina’s gut? C’mon, Bengie, the league already has one catcher named “Pudge.” Maybe it’s South Beach Diet time.
— Pokey Reese’s range is great, but don’t forget his arm. Effortless motion, strong throw.
— If nothing else, this team will be much more fun to watch than last year’s group. That is to say, we’ll have more than Ichiro! to enjoy.
#54 – If Sexson stays healthy, he should have a very good year. He is a good ballplayer. It’s just … those injuries worry me so much.
Jeff K-
It was on the radio post game show. Dave N., our favorite announcer, said that after Campillo came out of the game he was told that he was going. They talked about it for quite a while.
Hopefully Dave and the guys won;t kill me for appealing to you baseball fanatics, but Dave once played in this league before he moved to N.C. so maybe he’ll le tme slide….
Desperation has set in. Our draft is This Saturday (26th) at 9am. It is an NL, 5×5, Rotis, Keeper, in-Person, auction draft. The league is normally $50, but I will offer you the one team we have available at no charge for this season only to re-build. This league is well-established but for some reason we’ve had trouble this offseason replacing this owner.
As a last resort I could possibly use someone who may just want to come participate in the auction. We could them find an owner for this team as the season goes on.
Please e-mail me for a copy of the constitution and to gain access to the web site to check out the rosters.
nick.paredes@verizon.net
#49:
Yeah, imagine my embarrassment when I approached Greg Dobbs and said “Mr. Reed…” He politely said something to the effect of “He’s over there practicing in the outfield. I’m Greg Dobbs — I get that all the time.” The next game I went to, I got it straight.
This spring has exacerbated that problem, too, in the way that they’re both hitting quite similarly. Dobbs as expected has a lower OBP, but a slightly higher slugging percentage. Yes, I know, ST stats are basically meaningless, and you guys are all quite low on Dobbs. Still, there is at least a resemblence there…
PositivePaul said:
#49:”Yeah, imagine my embarrassment when I approached Greg Dobbs and said “Mr. Reed…†He politely said something to the effect of “He’s over there practicing in the outfield. I’m Greg Dobbs  I get that all the time.†The next game I went to, I got it straight.
actually, it’s easy– just check the ears. Reed has the ones that stick out like open car-doors….
Checking the box score, Campillo went 5 innings allowing 3 hits, with no walks and only one K?
I wonder if he’s one of those guys who suppresses his hit rate… because DIPS says he was lucky. The Angels BABIP against him was only .176.
And he committed a balk. This guy whould be fun to watch.
First spring training game I’ve got a chance to see, and my biggest impression was that the defense alone is going to be worth watching. Pokey and Beltre were both amazing, and if Reed can win center field almost the entire team will look rock solid. Olivo even seemed a little better behind the plate (although I haven’t even been able to get most of the games on the radio, due to work, so I’m not sure). Even if the pitching does melt down that’s just more opportunities to be amazed by great diving plays and incredible throws.
I’m certainly not going to turn the channel to avoid seeing Beltre/Sexson knock Ichiro across the plate 150+ times this year either.