Letters to the Editor
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Cueto is the real deal.
This was a fun game to listen to. It was a rainy day in Cincinnati too, and that game could have easily been called after 5, but it went the distance just like Johnny Cueto. Not only did he fan 10, he sat down the first 15 batters he faced, 21 in all.
Of course the Reds had to keep it close, Weathers went out and walked 3 to load the bases in the 8th. The doomsday inning to Reds fans. Thank Joe Nuxhall's ghost Cueto got the W. Like I said the other day, Cueto could be the Ace of the Reds staff next year.
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In case you are wondering...
Cueto pitched seven innings, and gave up a homer. His team hung on, though, and won 3 - 2.
"More On" the 0 - 3 Detroit Tigers: Their gigantic new free agent Miguel Cabrera was out injured today, and the guy he replaced at third, Brandon Inge, played third and hit a homer. Still, the mighty Tigers lost again to the lowly Royals. Last place super team with five disabled stars. Hang onto your stadium cushions.
[I intend to write "More On" features from time to time. "More On," as in Moron. e.g. More On Stupidity.]
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Kinda off topic, but King mentioned MLB.com
Sadly, I canceled my Premium MLB.TV subscription today, and listening to the person processing my refund, I'm not the only one. True, the video quality has improved steadily over the past two years, but they removed some of the best content this year.
First, it seems MLB has removed a lot of great free content. Notice how many fewer highlights there are this year? Maybe two per game. Last year there was a minimum of five per game...sometimes as many as ten or more.
Second, the condensed game is gone. This was perhaps their best (paid) content. Miss a game? No problem. Watch the whole thing in under ten minutes. You got to see the last pitch to most of the at bats in the game. Gone. Done. No more. The "daily rewind recap" is shit. At least it is free.
And this is putting aside other large issues I was already not happy with:
-The ridiculous and outdated in/out of market restrictions.
-The rest of the blackout rules...there are many.
-The poor structure of the media portion of the site and many many broken links. And this is particularly odd, because I think that of all professional sports, MLB does a great job with their team sites...they are all based on the same framework so that when I move from one to the other I can find what I am looking for easily.
Truth be told, I probably have more gripes. But I'm not sticking around to find them. I dumped it. Instead of paying $115 a year for what is left, I'll pay $15 for the audio (and get 14 free issues of SI) of every game through the World Series.
Nice work, MLB. I went from an ardent supporter (and payer) of MLB.TV to a heckler.
Swing, batter, batter! Swing!
And a miss...
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Suddenly...
I wish I'd named my son Bumpus.
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I ruined Tom Glavine's perfect game last September
He went into the sixth inning and I yelled to my son downstairs, "He's throwing a perfect game!"
The next pitch -- a single.
After the game someone asked Glavine if he ever expected to throw a no-hitter.
"Not with my stuff," he said.
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If I Was A Third Baseman
And the pitcher got the first batter out and go over to the mound and say----"Don't think about it. Don't worry about jinx. Just pitch your game. I'll keep every one else away from you."
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edit
At the top of p. 2, the word you need is "historic," not "historical." Go Reds.
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Dock Ellis?
I seem to remember reading that it was the legendary Dock Ellis (he of the "no-hitter on acid" fame) coined the phrase "no-no" and that apparently while he was throwing that infamous no hitter would be talking with his teammates in the dugout saying things like "hey man, I got a no-no going!" and apparently scaring the living bejeebus out of his team mates.
Love that Dock Ellis...
(does anybody know of any good biographies on him?)
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Final 4 Predictions
Gazing into my crystal ball...
Memphis over UCLA & UNC over Kansas.
In Final: Memphis over UNC
Go Tigers!!
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No Hitters and Nazism
Michael Kay has an interesting take on jinxing no-hitters:
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2006/08/idea-that-announcer-can-jinx-perfect.html
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Cueto
Wow, I had no idea that was going on. Shucks. I've never seen him throw and I sure as hell won't miss his next night start. Baseball fans can't expect a rookie pitcher to dominate, but it sure would be nice.
Finally. 4th time is a charm. The Buckeyes ended the season with a win.
King - since you watched the game - who does Cueto remind you of? Who is he similar to?
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no cookie for King
"...a chance to see the first no-hitter thrown in a major league debut since Bumpus Jones -- also of the Cincinnati Reds! -- dazzled the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1892.
From a mound 50 feet away, not 60 feet, 6 inches. Which I mention just to show off that I know it."
Close, but almost certainly not quite right. Most ballparks didn't have mounds back then. They were just starting to develop, originally more for drainage than to give the pitcher an advantage (apart from not having to stand in a puddle while pitching). It wasn't until well into the 20th century that mounds became the norm, and for a long time they varied greatly. Supposedly the Washington groundskeeper would level the mound when Walter Johnson was pitching, as they believed his sidearm delivery to be more effective from level ground.
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Dock Ellis No-No
By his own admission, Dock Ellis was tripping balls when he pitched his no hitter. His eight walks during the game bear this out.
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holy AP polls batman!
that's actually really really really really really amazing.
SI had it UNC, UCLA, Tenn., Memphis, Gtown, Kansas. Idiots.
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I Believe
It was Dock Ellis that served up that moon shot to Reggie Jackson in the all star game in Detroit. He went gun-shy and it ended his career.
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yeah
but before that homerun he was the baddest guy around. I read that he once started the season opener for the Pirates against the Reds and promptly hit the first 4 batters...and was tossed out after trying to hit the 5th!
(yeah, this is totally off topic...sorry)