Tomorrow's the Day (Starcraft II Content Incoming)

Well tomorrow is the big day: Starcraft II finally comes out. Unfortunately, I can't afford it, so I will likely have to wait a week or two for one of those lovely birthday checks to come in. But to anybody out there who loves Starcraft as much of me, enjoy the game!

PS: 5th no-hitter of the year thrown tonight by Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays. Crazy. More on that later, perhaps.

My First Link!

I was linked by LenNY's Yankees Blog! Here's the post. I made a post on his site about how I was against moving Phil Hughes to the pen until his innings limit was reached. I was honored to even be mentioned by Len, so I definitely appreciate that. Definitely check out his blog, it is very good. Here is the link to his blog.

The Mariners Are Good at Trades

So remember that Cliff Lee trade? You know, the one where they balked last minute on the Yankees and sent Lee over to the Rangers instead? Well, here is one of the pitchers they got in return.

Good stuff, right?

Girardi's Brilliant Managing

Joe Girardi often gets criticized by fans and the press by how he manages the bullpen. In the playoffs last year, he made some questionable bullpen decisions and he sometimes gets a little obsessed with the mix and matching. But all the credit in the world should go to Joe for today's big win against the Rays. After Andy Petitte had to leave the game with a groin injury with one out and two on in the 3rd inning, Girardi had to go to his bullpen way earlier than he anticipated. He could have turned to somebody who could go longer, such as Chan Ho Park, but he made a gutsy move and called on David Robertson to get the final two outs. This was the right call; the score was still close at 3-2, and this was a huge game. If the Rays won, the Yanks would have had only a one game lead in the AL East. While Robertson walked the first batter he faced on a 3-2 pitch (he came into the game with the count 3-1), he got Sean Rodriguez to pop out to Derek Jeter, and then retired BJ Upton on a fly ball.

Of course, the game wouldn't have been won if it weren't for the great offense. But the great managing by Girardi in that inning was really the key to this 9-5 win.

Why Do People Like John Lackey?

When RHP John Lackey signed a 5 year $82.5 million dollar contract with the Red Sox over the offseason, it was generally agreed that it was a great signing by the Sox. If Lackey stayed healthy, so they said, the Sox would have the best rotation in the league with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Lackey leading the rotation. Lackey has certainly avoided the injury bug that has hit the Sox this season, but that doesn't mean he has been good. Indeed, despite posting 9 wins Lackey sports a 4.78 ERA with 46 walks. To put that in perspective, he had 47 all of last season, and 52 in his best season in 2007, when he won 19 games. So Lackey has certainly been a disappointment; but was he ever really that great to begin with?

As I said before, his best season came in 2007 when he posted those 9 wins as well as a great 3.01 ERA. Before that, he was basically an average pitcher, averaging about 14 wins from 2004-2006. Lackey has basically built his reputation as an elite pitcher with his performances in big post season games. In Game 7 of the 2002 Angels Lackey, then with the Angels, clinched the series, holding the Giants to 1 run over 5 innings. Maybe not the prettiest of lines, but he was just a rookie. But just because you are a great postseason pitcher, doesn't mean you should be up there with the elite pitchers. And really, aside from that 2002 postseason, when he went 2-0, he really was nothing special in the postseason. Sure, his overall ERA is 3.12, and you can't necessarily control your wins in baseball, but he didn't win his third postseason game until last year. He went 0-3 from 2005-2008.

So really, John Lackey got paid ace money when he was really never an ace. Yeah, I guess he was the "ace" of the Angels when he was with them...but that's because they didn't really have anybody that great to begin with, until Jered Weaver came along, and he was developing when Lackey was with them. So when I hear people say how much Lackey is a horse, I can't help but chuckle a bit.

Holy S%$^ the NL Won! Also, thoughts on George Steinbrenner

So the NL finally won the All Star game, the first time since 1996. Brian McCann (the All Star MVP) came up with a three run double off Matt Thornton, who can apparently only throw fast balls, giving the loss to Yankees starter Phil Hughes (who started the inning giving up two singles after getting the first out). I know home field advantage is a big deal, but I still don't think the game is as important as people make it out to be. The good teams are able to win at home and on the road.

Of course, the story of the day was the passing of Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner. Everything has been said already, but this was obviously a sad moment for all of baseball, not just the Yankees. Although The Boss is known for his brash style, I wasn't aware of all the charitable things he did. He was a trailblazer in this business and there will never been someone like him again. RIP, George.

AL/NL Starting Lineups for All Star Game

Watching the All Star press conference on MLB Network (can I just point out this station is one of the best things to happen to baseball?). They are announcing the starting lineups and starting pitchers for each leagues' All Star squad. And here are the lineups:

AL:

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Derek Jeter SS
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vlad Gurrerro DH
Evan Longoria 3B
Joe Mauer C
Robinson Cano 2B
Carl Crawford LF

Starting pitcher: LHP David Price

NL:

Hanley Ramirez SS
Martin Prado 2B
Albert Pujols 1B
Ryan Howard DH
David Wright 3B
Ryan Braun LF
Andre Ethier CF
Corey Hart RF
Yadier Molina C

Starting pitcher: RHP Ubaldo Jiminez

And there ya go. Pretty good lineups on both sides, as well as pitchers. Should be a great game.