Sessh

I have some unkind words for him about his decision to play GM, go over everyone's head to PA and lobby for Davis to be signed to the worst contract in Orioles history. He did wear out his welcome evidenced by the team quitting on him in 2017 and kept it going into 2018 which is the kind of player rebellion stuff that has happened to him in the past. We did get Rutschman, so it's not all bad. In his defense, if our FO wasn't so far removed from sanity, he would have never been allowed to meddle in the business of signing players and deciding who stays and goes to any degree. Buck's ok, but was never a huge fan of him personally especially after the Britton debacle. I have no ill will towards him as far as his future goes, though. More power to him getting a job with the Yankees. I think he'd be great in the role of an analyst and should do well there.

Alright, I've had enough mindless fun for one night. Thanks for the laughs there, Cy.

THAT is more like the Cy Bundy we all know. Great to have ya back, man.

Yup, just two. It's the first two he's made in his entire career actually. All the other runs and homers he gave up were the result of the intense heat on the field skewing everyone's judgement. He's been railroaded for years now.

Yeah, he was awful all game the first time too. He didn't retire 12 of the next 13 batters he faced after the first inning, either. I am aware of just how much you know as I've read more than enough of your posts here. You even got banned once for knowing so much which is impressive. I hope I can be so clever one day, too. It's not simple since you fail to grasp simple concepts, but hey, I'm glad you have taken the whole "ignorance is bliss" thing and run with it. It seems to be working out well for you and for that, I am happy. I can sleep well tonight knowing that and I appreciate it. He had the same stuff for four innings in his first start with similar results. There's no coincidence, you just fail to identify good pitching when you see it and don't understand how things like "changing speeds" works. I don't "need' to believe it, I just have better understanding than you do. It's okay, though. Kyle Hendricks is terrible everyday too with his 8th rounder, mid-80's nonsense. Also, Wilkerson was great; 1,2,3 inning. Should be entering the Cy Young voting any time now. Don't you mean skunk? I bet Tampa will be smelling that for weeks. Esh got 'em good.

You're quite amusing. I've seen enough of your posts here to know just how little you know about what you see in games and prefer to just troll away instead of trying to pretend like you do. You're much better at posting your little picture memes which are at least occasionally amusing. I will look forward to your criticisms of all of our pitchers when they get favorable calls from time to time or benefit from great defensive plays behind them as if this isn't a team game. You're right, it's not debatable that you're completely wrong. A "mistake' is only referred to as a mistake if it leads to hits and runs scored which is what it means to say a pitcher only made "x" mistakes because they led to runs scored. All pitchers miss their spots several times a game and get away with bad location all the time, but I know how hard it can be for a baseball fan to grasp simple baseball terms. It's totally my fault and you're right that I was completely wrong to assume you'd be able to and it's not debatable at all. Totally wrong, I should be ashamed of myself. (I am) Poor Tampa, having to play outside in the summer time. Maybe you can help carry them around the field in their palanquins, wave fans around their heads between plays and hold parasols over their heads when they are at bat. The poor guys having to play in such heat! Oh, the humanity. We definitely need a rule change to address that and I wouldn't be surprised if they protested the game based on the intense heat they had to endure the day before. It's amazing they came a few outs away from a perfect game, talk about luck. I think they should be allowed to bring their stadium with them so they can stay out of the sun. It's too hard to play outside in the summer time. Of course, they didn't get any favorable strike calls at all. The fact that you're complaining about the Orioles getting a favorable call just because of who the recipient of it was shows your lack of objectivity. Please, do continue posting paragraphs about a topic you don't care about. You could at least be good at trolling and not "atrocious" since that seems to be your favorite word today. What other hardships did the poor Tampa players have to endure during this series? I really want to know. Maybe Esh set off some stink bombs in their locker room before the game. I think he probably did actually. Fortunately for them, Stanek and Yarbrough caught wind of the scheme and started their warmups on the field early.

I watched the whole game and believe every word otherwise I wouldn't say it. He's not even the worst pitcher to pitch for this team this year. I can process the game rationally just fine, thanks. Just the fact that you think his pitches have no movement and had no command alone is pretty indicative of your ability to process anything about this game rationally. You don't get seven strikeouts throwing mid 80's without movement and command nor do you retire 11 in a row against one of the best offensive teams in baseball. You're either trolling or really just know that little about what you see during games.

Only six base runners in 5.2 innings. Retired 11 in a row after the Meadows HR in the third. Really made only two mistakes the whole game. Seven strikeouts. Got out of a bases loaded no out jam with only one run allowed. Threw first pitch strikes to 17 (according to Hyde in the post game) of the batters he faced. Seems to have an above average to plus curveball. Wasn't getting hit all that hard aside from the two mistakes. Makes up for what he lacks in velocity with very good command and the ability to change speeds effectively on both sides of the plate. He definitely knows how to pitch. He has shown more far more positive than negative in his first two starts both being against one of the best offensive teams in the league. If he is the "worst pitcher you've seen" in the last couple years, you either haven't seen many pitchers or don't understand pitching.

Ok, I kinda want to see the perfect game now.

Renato Nunez using Tony Wolters' on-deck circle.

Supposed to be a very strong draft. Looks like RHP Emerson Hancock is likely to go #1, but still too early to tell. Injuries can still happen.

I think that line drive he took off the leg ruined him mentally. Bergesen, that is.

Yeah well, now he knows how the rest of us feel when he does color on the telecast. I like McDonald btw. I wish Bordick and Hunter would just stay TF away from the telecasts.

Yeah I put salt on everything especially since I have low blood pressure all the time no matter how much salt I eat. I only like Heinz though. Hunts sucks. I never caught on with mustard for some reason. I used to put ketchup on eggs, too.. when I would scramble them up. Just a little, though.

I used to be the same with ketchup as Scott is with mustard, but I don't eat ketchup much anymore. Fries, tater tots.. I don't put ketchup on burgers anymore because I graduated to putting a small puddle of ketchup on the plate and dipping the burger in it before every bite. Haha

I like ketchup more than hot dogs.

The thing is Cashner's market would crash after just one bad start. This is a sell high situation and I understand Elias pulling the trigger early. He didn't have much value even with the hot streak, but if he strings together a couple of clunkers, we wouldn't even get what we got.

That's what it Means and that's a Givens. Boston can just give him the ol' Severino if they aren't happy with his performance, but I'm glad someone is taking a Chance on him, Ynoa? ...sorry, I like to amuse myself from time to time. A couple of 17 year old international kids, eh. I guess that's alright. It wouldn't surprise me if it's the best we were going to get for him anyway. At least they are young and we can develop them.

I think that goes to Smith Jr right now. There is literally nothing he excels at and several things he's horrible at. Martin, as a defensive replacement/pinch runner/backup player, is fine on this team anyway. So long as he's not starting on a regular basis, but at least he brings something to the table. I can't believe Smith is still getting in the lineup as much as he is at this point.

Broxton is nowhere close to the top of the DFA list right now. Smith Jr has no value offensively or defensively and his speed isn't good enough to be a bench asset. He literally brings nothing. Ynoa isn't helping the team, Wojo hasn't been great etc.. Both Broxton and Martin bring speed and defense off the bench and can start occasionally. They have SOME value.

While I certainly get where you're coming from, the kind of play we're seeing from some guys is just unacceptable. I would rather see some accountability rather than none. I think we've seen enough of Smith, so let's bring Mason Williams up or something and see what he can do. He has been adequate in other stints in the majors, so maybe he can be adequate now. I know that most of it will likely be exchanging lousy players for other lousy players, but I think it's something that should be done periodically. It's bad enough that Davis is still here no matter how bad he is, but that shouldn't apply to everyone else.

Oh, cool. I like him so far. Very nasaly voice, though. Probably a loud snorer.

I missed the very beginning of the broadcast, but who's in the booth with Thorne? I haven't heard that voice before. Is it Olson?

If the best team doesn't always win in 162, then perhaps the problem is how you define "best" and what you base that on. Maybe it also means that the regular season is pointless as well since not even 162 games is enough to figure out who the "best" team is and therefore maybe determining who the best team is doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how many wins they get in the regular season. So, best also has little to do with the regular season then. The best team to me is the team that finds ways to beat their opponents when the games matter the most. If you're the "best team" and you can't find a way to beat a team like the Orioles in one game with your season on the line, then they probably shouldn't be called the best team. The best team finds ways to win games and get the job done when it matters. The teams that don't do that lose. When you get to the playoffs, either you find ways to win or you lose. If those teams find some comfort in insisting they're the best team, fine. The best team, to me, endures to the end and wins it all otherwise how can you say you're the best team? You didn't rise to the occasion when it mattered, so maybe there's more to being the best team than stat sheets and regular season records.

The Orioles may have been better for six months, but they weren't better when it was all on the line. Being better for six months does not win you a championship if you aren't the better team for the final seven games of the season. Luck factors into every game no matter when it's played. A lucky bounce here, a bloop there, a timely seeing eye single etc. Luck doesn't just happen all of a sudden in the postseason. Just because you win 110 games in the regular season doesn't mean you deserve to cakewalk through the postseason. Heck, if you just want the best teams to win, just do away with the playoffs altogether and have the teams with the two best records play one series for the championship and everyone else can go home. Yes, I want it to be exciting otherwise what's the point? I would rather everyone in the playoffs have a chance than to have only one or two teams have a chance because then it really is pointless if you can be reasonably sure what the outcome will be without playing the games. The last thing I want in sports is too much predictability. The regular season has a purpose which is for teams to prove that they belong in the playoffs to play for the ultimate prize, but playoff action has a different feel and atmosphere to it than regular season play. That's one major difference and it is a significant variable. Much more is on the line and this can bring the best out of players. Stars are born under that kind of pressure. Unpredictable stuff happens and that's the way it should be. The more teams involved, the higher chance of something like that happening and the more competition you will have in the regular season. The alternative is half the teams in the league tanking for the best draft pick they can get because they have no chance of being in the top third of the league come October. I don't really see anything wrong with the team with the best regular season record falling to another team in the postseason. They aren't entitled to anything, they still have to beat the other team. If they can't, well, see ya next year. The best team in the regular season is not necessarily the best team in the playoffs. I think I am more the kind of sports fan that is not so much a huge fan of any particular team, but a fan of all the teams. I want to see good baseball/hockey regardless of who's playing it. The best team is the team that is consistently good and finds ways to win until the end. Teams lose to other teams who are better than them on paper all the time, but sports aren't played on paper and unpredictable stuff happens when the competitive side of people is brought out, "heart" if you will. That's the beauty of sports. I don't view the regular season as a predictor of the outcome of the postseason.