"Brilliance is in asking the questions." |
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| Who is this Greg Smith guy and why should I care? |
The key with Greg Smith is to not get over-excited and just watch him work. This is a great test of you as a baseball fan to understand the basis of the game; controlling the strike zone. Smith, depending on who you read or talk to, doesn't have the 'stuff' to be a start in the major leagues. But these same people project him as a 4th or 5th starter? Huh? How? Why?
Smith is a 'soft-tosser'. A 'crafty-lefthander'. A 'smart pitcher'.
He features what Keith Law called a "solid fastball" that tops out around 90 mph and a 12-6 curve which has been called a plus pitch and his out pitch. His third pitch is a change-up which is a work in progress or above-average depending on who you talk to. What Smith does well is add, subtract with his fastball and while it tops at 90 he 'lives' anywhere between 86-89.
| Didn't you just describe Barry Zito? |
Sounds like Zito, huh? He's not Barry Zito. He can be as effective as Zito was early in his career without the exaggerated K Rate and Smith does not pitch passively. What Smith does not do is give up the long ball. In 350+ minor league innings he has given up just 26 HR. That's pretty good. Not great and Smith doesn't have a tremendous GB/FB rate. But he is effective. Smith is only 24 years old and 'polished'. He is not going to light up the gun or even excite the average fan.
Just sick back and get ready for a Slow Ride...
Notice the cymbals in the beginning? They are actually 'backward'. They were recorded and then mixed in so that cymbal sound actually ends with the cymbal being struck.
The Beatles used it on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
IT'S A ROTATION; PEOPLE ROTATE
Rich Harden is scratched and delayed. Chad Gaudin is up, Greg Smith will be up to spot start for Justin Duchscherer.
Slusser has the particulars:
- (4/8/2008) 04:00 PDT Toronto -- The A's have scratched Rich Harden for tonight's game in Toronto with back soreness, specifically in the lat area.
The injury is believed to be minor and it might have been the aftereffects of the long flights to and from Japan last month. Harden is now expected to start at Cleveland on Saturday.
Harden threw only 86 pitches in his last outing after having thrown 95 in his first start. He has missed much of the past three seasons with injuries, but the only problem he had had since the end of last season was biceps tendinitis over the winter.
Chad Gaudin will come off the disabled list to start tonight's game, and the team is not listing a starter for Wednesday, when Justin Duchscherer was scheduled to go. Duchscherer told The Chronicle on Sunday that he would need to skip at least one start because of a right biceps strain. According to a source, left-hander Greg Smith will be called up from Triple-A Sacramento for Wednesday's game. In the event Harden isn't ready Saturday, long reliever Lenny DiNardo is a likely candidate to go at Cleveland.
The A's will have to make a roster move to activate Gaudin, so Duchscherer might be a candidate for the DL if his biceps strain has not improved significantly. If not, first baseman Dan Johnson is likely to be put on waivers, because he is out of options. A less likely scenario: The team could return Rule 5 draftee Fernando Hernandez to the White Sox.
Smith is not on the 40-man roster. It is possible that third baseman Eric Chavez could be placed on the 60-day DL if the team does not expect him back before the end of May, as seems likely. Or if Johnson or Hernandez comes off the roster, a spot would open up that way.
Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle
This should not be a surprise. Rich Harden doesn't pitch through injury. And if you need it necessary to deem him a "pussy", then do so. Then Recall what happened with Mark Mulder pitching through injury. Erik Hiljus. Huston Street early last year.
Point taken?
BLACKOUT BLACKBALL
So MLB has decided to up their MLB.com content and offerings with a 'faster' version of MLBTV and added new application software from Microsoft and running their Game Day with Flash Player 9...
Is it MLB's contention that they should make sure a large portion of their audience is effectively blocked form their content? As we get deeper into the digital age companies are becoming better and better at blocking their employee's ability to install even the most minor of upgrades. Such as Flash 9. Does MLB have a lesser version, no. No need to mention that their Flash 9 version of Game Day takes up the entire page and there is no compact mode.
As far as MLBTV is concerned, it is a necessary evil and by that - a necessary evil like acne, not a necessary evil like crime. Acne serves no purpose whereas crime has root causes and is a societal restriction on the freedom of its people, etc.
Streaming content via MLB has been haphazard at best. While having the most technological advanced fiber-optic cable and server processing technology available MLB is still unable feature their 1.2 MB with their Premium version on a consistent basis. There are ticks, tremors, delays and enough hassles in general to force one to drop to the 800 KB version. Further, Ray Fosse and Glen Kuiper are still audible. This must stop. It would be preferable to have a thumbnail version of the video and zero Ray Fosse and Glen Kuiper. The House Public Address will do nicely along with a microphone near home plate.
Ray Fosse will not shut up about Jason Kendall and has mentioned him at least once in detail in each broadcast this season. You have to wonder what bond these two share besides being, for all tense and purposes, typical jock assholes.
As far as the traditional ridiculousness of MLB blackouts on TV and online that is coming to an end in 2009. So they say.
"At the owners' meetings in May, all 30 teams are expected to deliver reports outlining the territories in which they currently broadcast games or have concrete plans to in the future, according to an MLB source. Based on the information, MLB will redraw its territorial-rights map - the outdated gerrymandering that causes areas such as Las Vegas and Iowa to be blacked out from 40 percent of games on a full schedule - to better reflect the present broadcast landscape."
- Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
Quite honestly, hearings on Roger Clemens' PED use is for the lack of a better word, dumb. It only fuels Clemens' ego. Congressional hearings on MLB's television deal, marketing and merchandising - that is a worthy investment of taxpayer time and money. MLB.com generates $2 Billion worth of revenue. And how many teams cry poor, still?
The MLB Channel promises to be even larger. And right around the corner will be the Minor League Baseball Channel.
If you're going to broadcast it, can we pretty please watch it and maybe pay for the service so we DO NOT have to watch as many advertisements?
Please?
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