TCR Friday Notes
...been doing it clean since 2005.
- The Congressional Hearings were the big topic of the week and I'll add my final two cents. It seems to me now that there are two likely scenarios. In one corner, Roger Clemens is guilty as sin and flat out lying. Or Brian McNamee is the new "Verbal" Kint. He's pieced together all these little snippets of information (team BBQ, B12 injections, things on Clemens's butt, Petitte using HGH, etc) and then he weaved this incredible tale to get him out of jail time. If we see him limping out of the courthouse one day into a waiting car that whisks him away to never be seen again, then I might just believe Clemens. In the meantime, I'm going with guilty as sin.
- While I applaud Zambrano's attempt at humor, there were so many things that could have gotten lost in translation with his little prank today. Hopefully Fukudome has a good sense of humor, because you need one to be around the Cubbies.
- Congrats to Pat Hughes on being named Illinois Sportscaster of the Year. Although it's a limited pool of candidates when you think about it (heck this is Hughes 4th win) and I think just about any sportscaster in Illinois will end up with the honor if they stick around the state long enough.
- I'll be on with Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage on their podcast, "The Pitch" today. I dont' believe it's live anymore, but the podcast should be available to listen or download sometime later this afternoon. I'll post the link when it becomes available.
Enjoy the holiday weekend....
UPDATE: False alarm on the podcast appearance, going to be pushed back until Tuesday now.
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Sandberg never made sense as a base coach because he was best going from third to second.
"The Houston Astros say they have signed right-handed pitcher Mark Appel of Stanford, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft earlier this month.
Terms were not disclosed Wednesday ahead of a news conference with Appel."
http://espn.go.com/mlb/draft/2013/story/_/id/94038...
Somebody e-mailed me to ask why Gerardo Concepcion is eligible for selection in the December 2013 Rule 5 Draft if he signed his first contract in March 2012.
Concepcion is eligible because any player who has been outrighted previously in his career is eligible for selection in all subsequent Rule 5 Drafts, even if he otherwise would not be eligible.
Have they changed the meaning of extend again? Kids these days, just when I've gotten used to bad meaning good.
The Cubs should extend Marmol now while he's in his little slump.
(Ducks)
A+
Cubs can build on that foundation of Sweeney and Ransom.
almost 9% of MLB players have ADHD/mental-health exemptions for amphetamine use (well more than the population average at large)...and the amount who use stimulants not on the banned list bumps that up quite considerably...from the ones who pound redbull to the ones taking the newest GMC stimulant(s) that hasn't appeared on the ban list (yet).
stimulants and baseball is the way it's done...from those who like to get pumped up before a game to those that are trying to deal with 200+ days of travel.
Hmmm...
"But whatever players put into their bodies today to fight fatigue, it no longer includes amphetamines — or at least it doesn't unless those players want to risk getting slapped with a stiff suspension."
hahahahahhaha...oh my...my sides...phew, good one.
Hitters swing at more bad pitches as the season goes on, and a group of scientists at Vanderbilt University believe it's because they're not sleeping long enough or well enough. http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/...
the DP would have most likely been turned...castro had a decent amount of time and was in good position to throw.
robinson's take-out slide was a bit silly...he was way off the bag.
Would they have gotten the DP anyway?
Also, while I tend to be a pretty big supporter of pitch counts, I can definitely see why they kept ninja in so long with our bullpen and Gregg pitching so much.
lololol...interference by robinson on a crappy slide going for castro (well off the bag getting ready to toss to 1st after stepping on 2nd) rather than bag forces a double play.
k.gregg gave up a 1 run single...got the "weird" double play...cubs win. STL fans are pissing themselves in rage.
it was a fair call, fwiw...robinson was no where near the bag on the slide.
...and 2 singles later (men on 1st/2nd) he's done after 115 pitches. almost...
ninja going into the 9th, 104 pitches.
3 96mph fastballs in a row to start the 9th...followed by an 84mph off speed pitch for the ground out.