Losing Mo sucks, but my Beloved Yankees should be fine regardless(Robertson is doing insane this year, for example). <a class="postlink" href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/04/his-injury-is-awful-but-the-yankees-will-be-ok-without-mariano-rivera/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... no-rivera/</a> Gardner(for an extended period of time) gets a little trickier...
Oh, I was doing it independent of the time the were gone. But considering the Yankees bullpen and their roster construction, I think losing Gardner for 30 games would be worse than Mo for the whole season. Also, Pineda for the season dwarfs everything else. Mo is great at what he does, but closers don't really matter all that much. The difference between Robertson and Rivera is nowhere close to the difference between Garcia/Phelps and Pineda, especially considering how few innings he pitches.
Normally, I'd add Hamels to my shit list for intentionally hitting someone. But it was Bryce Harper, who's a douche, so I'm cool with it.
Yes and no. I kind of liked him getting shown up later when Harper stole home. Harper is going to be a polarizing player moving forward. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a cocky shithead, but god damn is he fun to watch. Kid's been in the league for 2 weeks and he's already made multiple highlight-worthy plays.
Holy shit. Crackhead or not Josh Hamilton is fucking incredible. He's delicate, injury prone, yes, but that man's talent is jaw dropping.
That display he put on in Yankee Stadium at the HR Derby is legendary and the fact he can/could run like that at his size is unbelievable. "The Natural" suits him well
I've watched him play live numerous times since 07. He's amazing to watch. His athleticism is incredible.
It physically hurts me to think that Cincinnati could have both Josh Hamilton and Joey Votto right now. With Jay Bruce in the mix, too.
Am I the only one that thinks that, barring injury, Hamilton has a serious shot a cracking Bond's record? Granted, he just CAN'T keep this pace up forever, but even if he goes down a couple notches(again, barring injury) he's going to be hitting home runs at a pretty steady clip.
I found this highly amusing: <a class="postlink" href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/14/magic-johnson-hands-on-owner/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... -on-owner/</a> So does this qualify as an order to go on the DL? Honestly, the way he's playing, I wouldn't take any chances. Can't have a 50-50 season if you tear a muscle.
*sigh* Barring injury - he's got the potential to set a year of the purest records baseball has seen in a LONG time. He's clean, for EVERYTHING, and he's poetry in motion on the baseball field. But the heat hasn't hit here yet. That heat breaks you down. Even if the Rangers are on top of the division the whole year, come July they'll have a hard time selling out because of the heat. If he makes it through the heat, and has more highs than lows in his playing, I'm damn glad I get to spend most of the summer watching him do what he does.
No, Hamilton does not have a serious shot, even barring injury. He has an ok shot at 6, but 75+ is just a ludicrous number, and while Hamilton is very good, Steroid-era Barry Bonds was the best hitter since Babe Ruth. The thing he has in his favor is that the Rangers are really good, so people can't really afford to walk him intentionally incessantly.
That was one of the main considerations for me. Sterioid-Era Bond's OPS was INSANE for for several years(1.278 was the LOWEST from 2001-2005), and as a result got a lot of intentional walks from pitchers(I think he set a record for it back in 2004, but I could be wrong). Pitchers today don't have that option with Hamilton, because the batters around him are also offensive threats. Shimmered is right though, I didn't take into account the heat in Texas during the summer months. In any event, I didn't say it was a sure thing, I just think that he has more of a shot than anyone else since Bonds originally broke it.
Really interesting Josh Hamilton article, if you're into nerdery. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/josh-hamilton-king-of-swings/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph ... of-swings/</a> You know what, if I was as insanely hot as Josh is now, I would probably swing at everything too. The crazy thing is (spoiler alert!), he's swinging at everything, he's not even making an abundance of contact, it's just that 40% of the balls he hits in the air are going for home runs, which is absolutely ludicrous. It's going to be interesting to see how pitchers approach him, and how he tailors his approach. He's already getting fewer strikes than anybody else -- how much more can pitchers work around him?
Holy shit. The Cubs just won a game. The only reason to watch this team,,, is Starlin Castro, and Lahair. Everyone else is putrid.