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16
Apr
2009
Oh What A Night! PDF  | Print |  E-mail
Fantasy Baseball Blog
Written by Sean   
On Wednesday morning I tweeted the following:

“Watched 2 games last night ARZ/STL & OAK/BOS - amazing reminder of how watching baseball is so much more fun than looking at fantasy stats”

The fantasy season began less than two weeks ago and I was already being enticed and jaded by the great starts of Emilio Bonifacio and Adam Lind and the horrible starts of Justin Upton and Lastings Milledge. The injury bug has already bitten some players we would not expect, players like Ichiro, Brandon Webb, Geovany Soto and even sleeper DeWayne Wise. Out of my 11 fantasy baseball teams every one was in the middle of the pack. Even my H2H team went 6-6-2 in week one. To make matters worse, I had just heard that Josh Beckett was being suspended and Lastings Milledge was sent down to the minors. I really needed a reminder of why I love baseball.

Luckily that Tuesday night I decided to take a night off from looking at my fantasy teams and just watch baseball. These two games seemed to have everything I needed to cure me of the early fantasy blahs as I watched using my MLB.TV subscription (shameless plug) flipping back and forth. I saw great performances, injuries, stars being stars, stars being duds, great fundamentals, ugly baseball, rookies coming through, streaks ending, extra innings, and late game heroics. Sort of like the Prego guy saying “Its in there” and it really was!

Here are some things I watched in these two games:

Chris Carpenter began the night pitching great in one game, only to suddenly get pulled out after the third inning with what we now know as a strained ribcage muscle. Heartbreaking for the Cardinals' fans like Rhett Oldham who know their season may hang on how well and often Carpenter pitches.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was getting shelled and didn’t come back after the first inning due to arm fatigue. The announcers made reference to the WBC as being a possible cause.

Young Max Scherzer looked like he was hyperventilating with every pitch thrown. I am pretty sure that these were his normal breathing mechanics, but man did it make me laugh. For his 5 innings pitched I was thinking he was in a Lamaze class pushing out babies, not throwing pitches.

Jason Motte looked excellent in his almost two innings pitched, but they were in the sixth and seventh innings. I really understand why some people think so highly of him. I am guessing Tony La Russa was trying to give him some confidence back by pitching him in the sixth.

Justin Masterson came in during the second inning to pitch four very good innings. He is so good every time I see him pitch when his team needs him the most. As a Red Sox fan I sometimes wish he could pitch every inning of every game.

Juan Gutierrez looked really good out of the Diamondbacks' pen. I had never seen him pitch so had to go look him up afterward. It looks like he got shelled in a game against the Dodgers the other day, but has been perfect besides that. He is a name to watch for future closer discussions.

Eighth inning heroics: first Justin Upton, the same guy that was 0-15 at that point on the year, had an amazing at bat with two outs and a runner on first. He started behind 0-2, worked the count back to full, then Josh Kinney hits him with the next pitch to put runners at first and second. Then Conor Jackson comes in and hits a pinch hit home run. Priceless baseball moment in April!

The Cardinals executed a perfect hit-and-run, setting up a rally in the ninth. Albert Pujols comes through two batters later with a bases loaded hit. Cardinals' baseball really is all about playing the percentages and this was Cardinal baseball at its best.

By the way, the announcers made sure to announce that Chad Qualls hadn’t allowed a run in 17 games as he then came in to blow the two run lead. Isn’t this always the case?

I am amazed at how grey Jason Giambi’s beard is. However, as an old man he is still smart enough to get in front of the ball on a liner to first to knock it down in front of him, getting the out to end the Red Sox’s rally in the ninth inning.

10th inning heroics: Justin Upton after his good at bat in the eighth gets his first hit of the season. A few moments later, Eric Byrnes who at that point is hitting .057 on the season is up with two outs and Upton on third and Felipe Lopez on fist. Again the announcers harp on how Byrnes is the goat. First pitch Eric smashes the first pitch into the left-field corner and Upton comes home with the winning run. Great win for a struggling team.

12th inning Heroics: Oakland loads the bases, two outs to Travis Buck who hits a high chopper to Dustin Pedroia, who could not have fielded or thrown the ball better. Buck legged out the infield single. Oakland wins. Heartbreaking for me as my Sox continue to struggle to win games. However, I watched great baseball at 2 in the morning eastern time.

Oh what a night! To be able watch two games simultaneously in April beats looking at my middle of the pack fantasy teams stats any night. If you ever need a reminder of why many of us play fantasy baseball in the first place, then watch the games! It is Fantastical!

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