BK Fails to Walk the Walk
I tend to hate it whenever a player proves Clint Hurdle right, because I’d like to see him gone sooner rather than later, but the decision to keep BK out of the starting rotation certainly seems like a good one after today’s performance, especially considering the performances of Hirsch, Lopez, and Fogg so far. That was only one sentence right there, so I’ll also add that this just about ought to do it for BK as a Rockie starter, and maybe as a Rockie as a whole. We’ll see what happens when Tom Martin comes back into the picture.
And you know, it’s hard to back BK up when he selfishly whined about the move to the bullpen and then completely failed to back up his talk tonight when Hurdle gave him a chance over someone who could be more deserving, like, say, Taylor Buchholz. So yeah, just wanted to show everyone how stupid BK now looks, because the dude really pissed me off with his whining.
Speaking of which, I don’t know why I went on the gay tangent about Hurdle and LaTroy yesterday. I guess the futility of the game got to me a bit, especially when everyone who’s been a Rockies fan in the last three years could see it coming when LaTroy took the mound. That and the fact that Hurdle is probably THE most least likely person in the world to be gay, and unfortunately also one of the most likely to be homophobic. Anyhow, later and welcome back Jeff Francis tomorrow.
Hurdle in love with LaTroy?
So let’s get right down to it: Why the hell does Hurdle have it set in his mind that LaTroy Hawkins MUST be the 8th inning guy? There’s only one explanation, and I’m sorry Mrs. Hurdle, but your husband is gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but he has pretty bad taste as well. Hurdle’s crush throws one of the worst, flattest 95 MPH fastballs out there.
Seriously though, sometimes it seems like the Rockies have a patent on tonight’s 5-4 loss to Arizona. It’s eerily familiar, and I often predict it to out-of-towner’s when I see it coming: the offense gives us a late lead, the stubborn manager puts in a reliever who’s always trouble, and you just know what’s going to happen…(right down to Helton getting on base in the ninth only to be let down by basically the rest of the order).
Ok, so there’s only one SERIOUS explanation for having LaTroy take the eighth in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s a stupid idea, and sure, I see the value of having a veteran presence in the eighth. But in the interest of science, I took a look at LaTroy’s line, and it’s atrocious.
He’s given up a run or more in three out of his seven appearances, and allowed more than one run twice. All this gives LaTroy a solid 7.20 ERA for the season, and while I’ll grant that it’s still early in the year, it’s pretty clear that Mr. Hawkins is simply not cut out for regular work, and Hurdle should not be turning to him anymore.
Obviously, some of the blame tonight falls squarely on Affeldt’s shoulders, but what’s clear is that this bullpen has three good pitchers who should be our regular 7, 8 and 9 guys (that’s usually your three best pitchers, right?). Ramon Ramirez may be young, but he deserves the 8th inning by default at this point. Even tough he trailed off a bit late last season, his body of work was still impressive, and continues to be this year - his 0.00 ERA, 2 hits and no walks in five appearances pretty much speaks for itself. He certainly was the only one who seemed capable of closing out the 8th tonight, and though he did allow the go-ahead run, it’s pretty hard to knock the guy for inheriting a bases-loaded, one out situation and only giving up one run, and on a shallow sac fly at that.
So we’ve seen LaTroy six times now, he’s already single-handedly cost the Rockies three games, and I’m pretty well convinced that it’s time for Hurdle to scrap his master plan and turn to Ramirez. I know Clint’s not very flexible, but if he insists on giving LaTroy chance after chance I’m going to be forced to continue to assert that he’s gay (not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just the only possible explanation).
P.S. Speaking of completely baseless assertions, more proof tonight that Eric Byrnes plays baseball high. Anyone else see him put his hands on his head and go ‘woh, where’d my bat go, that was crazy man’ after he flung it into the stands? Definitely high all the time.
This is Sparta!
In case you didn’t already know, THIS IS SPARTA!
p.s. sorry for stealing this from whoever made it.
Todd Helton Looks Like Rory Bellows
I thought it needed to be pointed out: Todd Helton’s new facial hair makes him look like Rory Bellows. If you don’t remember, that was Krusty’s new identity after he faked his death in a plane crash. Just watch.
Rory Bellows:
Todd Helton:
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Marge: You’ll feel better knowing your money’s in the hands of professionals.
Clerk in an ape mask: Uk, uk, are you folks ready to go ape?
Lisa: Mom…
Marge: A professional in an ape mask is still a professional.
TOPICS: Miscellaneous | 0 Comments
A ‘Vintage’ Opening Day - Snakes 8, Rox 6
Boy was Russ dead on in his opening day prediction, as heard on the first Rockies Disaster Report Podcast. Sure enough, Cookie had a decent (but not great start) that gave the Rox a chance to win, but the bullpen, at least one member of the bullpen, completely blew it late.
There is some good news, though. Unlike last year, I’m fairly confident that this team can score, and they won’t always have to overcome their starter giving up five runs in six innings. Tulo, Ianetta, Hawpe, and take note of this, because I think he’s gonna give the team a boost over what a lot of analysts are saying - Kazuo all looked good. And any time Todd Helton starts a season hot, you’ve got to be excited. Even though they didn’t show up today, Atkins and Holliday will both come around, at least at the plate.
But parts of the game, especially the deciding part of the game, looked eerily like 2005 and the latter half of ‘06. LaTroy Hawkins simply cannot pitch. Even though I was sitting some 400 feet away, I feel very qualified to say that his fastball must be as flat as Kansas, because the Diamondbacks were pounding him. And though I don’t want to take any blame away from LaTroy, Hurdle certainly deserves a share of the loss given his terrible decisions both to remove Corpas for the eighth and leave Hawkins in after he failed to retire even one of the first four batters. Why Clint refuses to acknowledge that his young guys can pitch in pressure situations is beyond anyone at this point, but had Corpas stayed in for the eighth (and with Fuentes in the ninth) we might be writing about an entirely different ballgame.
Score aside, it was still a pretty entertaining game, and Sam and I had fun at the ballpark. On the subject, we were able to entertain ourselves to no end by asserting that Eric Byrnes probably plays baseball high (Sam to a friend of ours via text message: Just look at him!), and imagining him slipping on one of the plastic bags that had made its way to the field. Seriously, take a moment and picture Eric Byrnes tripping on the outfield grass. Hilarious!
I personally can’t wait for Coors to be empty again, when I won’t have to park eight blocks away to avoid paying $30, won’t have to stand in line to get in or buy a coke, and most of all won’t have to deal with obnoxious fans. We had one behind us today who could not stop screaming (at the top of his lungs) about how bad the Rockies were and how pitiful he felt to “be a fan,” a term used pretty loosely in my opinion. Even when we were winning, he would qualify it by saying, “mark it on the calendar, the Rockies are ahead!” Really disgusting. I’m taking solace in the fact that he, like the majority of the 50,000+ who crammed into Coors today, probably won’t be back for another year. And that’s the beauty of Rockies baseball.
