Hey Announcers: Call the Damn Game

I am very well aware that baseball is a slow sport. At times, it is agonizingly slow. So sometimes, announcers have to talk about something else so they aren't stuck saying nothing. I understand that. These days, however, I feel it's going too far. Right now, I'm watching the Yankees-Dodgers game on ESPN. It's the top of the third inning, a man on second, Jeter is at the plate, looking to get his team on the scoreboard in what is currently a scoreless affair. So what are John Miller, Joe Morgan, and Orel Hershiser talking about? Whether Stephen Strasburg should pitch in the All Star Game. Throughout the entire inning. And in the opening of the inning, they were talking about Joe Torre's job security...even after Brett Gardner was hit by a pitch. And an inning before, they spent most of the time talking about the latest injuries to the Boston Red Sox. Are these announcers, or are these just a bunch of guys talking about baseball in their living room? (Over paid guys, at that).

Of course, ESPN is not the only network guilty of this. YES does it a lot, Fox is almost absurd in the way they do it, and many, many other stations do it as well. The only person I know of who doesn't do it all that often is the great Dodger's announcer Vin Scully. Watching games these days really makes me wish he did every game I saw. Because it's getting to the point where I'm having to mute the games a lot because these guys just are giving me no information about the game...you know, the game they are supposed to call.

Edwin Jackson No-Hits The Rays...With 8 Walks

UPDATE: And MLB Network answered my first question. The Padres were the last and only team (in the modern era) to be no-hit twice in one season. That was in 2001 when AJ Burnett (who walked 10 in that game) and Bud Smith no-hit them.

Has a team ever been no-hit twice in the same year? Well, apparently the 1898 Boston Beanbeaters were, but I'm not sure if that counts. Either way, though, the Rays became the first team (this year, anyway) to be no-hit twice after Edwin Jackson of the Dbacks hurled a no-no against them tonight; Dallas "get off my mound" Braden threw a perfect game against them on Mother's Day. This wasn't your typical dominant no-hitter--Jackson walked 8 batters--but in a way, that is what made it all the more impressive. He made some great pitches in hitters counts, and he worked out of a bases loaded no out situation early in the game (third inning, I believe). He also threw a whopping 149 pitches. There was certainly a case to be made to take the young hurler out of the game, but the Dbacks aren't going anywhere, and I thought it was the right call by AJ Hinch to leave him in.

So counting Armando Gallagraga's near perfect game, there have been five no-hitters this year. This certainly is the year of the pitcher.

Insanity of the Day

The Blue Jays are playing the Phillies tonight. It's Roy Halladay against his former club. It's a home game for the Jays, so Doc will also be facing the Toronto crowd, it will be interesting to see how--wait, what? They aren't playing in Toronto? That's right, the Jays are playing a home game...in Philadelphia. Why, you ask? Well, it's because of the G20 summit! So get ready for DH in a National League park! It's going to be funny if there is a walk off for the Jays. I wonder how the "home crowd" will handle that.

Here's what I want to know...why was this game even scheduled at home? I'm pretty sure that they knew the G20 summit was going to be in Toronto. Did they not think it was going to be absolutely crazy? Also, funny note: the Phillies were actually known as the Blue Jays for a short period in the late 40s (1948, I believe).

Epic Wimbledon Match Comes to an End

I have to take a break from baseball right now to write about the absolutely epic Wimbledon match that just ended. John Isner, the American, just defeated Nicolas Mahut, the Frenchman, 70-68 in the deciding fifth set. Now as much as I love baseball, I love tennis just as much. I've watched (and played) a lot of games inn my days, and this was definitely the best I have ever seen. Over 11 hours long; 193 aces between the two players. It was just an epic in every sense of the word. And both players gave their all. Watching each man just absolutely put their entire being into the match was just a sight to behold. And when Isner hit that winning backhand past Mahut, three days of magnificent tennis was summed up by an exhilarated John Isner falling back first onto the grass court. What an incredible game.

Baseball is Screwy Sometimes

So the Red Sox manage no runs, NO RUNS, off rookie pitcher Jhoulys Chacin last night. Now they already have five off Ubaldo Jiminez, who entered the game 13-1 with a 1.15 ERA. I also think it is pertinent to note that Daniel Nava drove in three of those runs. Also, he allowed a game tying home run to Darnell McDonald. Also, he just allowed a double to John Lackey. Sometimes it's best not to predict this game. Yet it's unpredictability is what makes it such a fun game.

Marlins Fire Gonzalez...Really?

The Florida Marlins are 34-36, good for fourth place in the competitive NL East; they are 7 1/2 games back. Certainly they have underperformed this year a little bit, but I would hardly say they are horrible. So what does the Marlins ownership do? They fire him and replace him with AAA coach Edwin Rodriguez. I gained a lot of respect for Gonzalez when he had the courage to bench star shortstop Hanley Ramirez for not hustling for a ball that he booted in the field. I also like how he benched him for a second game. No player should be immune from being benched for being lazy, and Fredi's move showed something to me, as well as to his players I think.

And it's not as if the Marlins have been terrible recently, either. Yeah they are only .500 in their last 10 games, but they took two of three games from the Rays, and they had just beaten the Orioles (yeah I know, big accomplishment) when the news broke. I have to wonder if this move was solely to appease Hanley. He wasn't pleased, to make an understatement, about being benched. Jeffery Loria, the owner of the Marlins, is very close with Ramirez (he even made him a nifty necklace last year to celebrate his batting title). No party is going to admit this, but I am willing to bet this firing is because Mr. Ramirez doesn't care for Gonzalez. And that is just a sad statement, indeed. At what point do players become accountable to their performance on and off the field (I'm looking at you, Orioles).

Slow Day

Only three games on the schedule today (including the Yankees vs. the Dbacks). Does anybody else think the coverage of Manny's return to Fenway was overblown? I even heard someone on the MLB Network say "who cares?" when they asked "what is Manny doing now?" when looking at a ballpark cam view of Fenway. I mean maybe the first day was warrented, but they were obsessed with this all through the series. And now I'm watching this overdramatic recap of his series, complete with generic adventure music. I know that's the state of our media these days, but damn, but it's starting to get obnoxious. I mean, the third start of Stephen Strasburg, a much more exciting player than Manny, was interrupted so we could see Manny's first at bat. Really?

Another thing that is starting to annoy me is the constant interruptions during the game. By this I mean sideline reports about things that have little to do with the game on the field (YES is especially guilty of this) and guests to the booths. These are nice now and again, but do we really have to have Curt Schilling's perspective on the game? Why not, I don't know, just call the game instead of talking to Curt Schilling about games that were played six years ago? I'm more interested in hearing what is happening on the field, not what happened in the past.