Game 159, A’s at Mariners
Oh, vagaries of chance. Doug Fister, who starts tonight, is regarded as a surprise, a revelation, a top contender for next year’s rotation, depending on who you listen to. But if you start stacking him against the other rotation guys, well… it’s not that great. Fister’s below-average K rate comes with a better-than-average walk rate, and he’s given up a lot of taters. In terms of pick-your-advanced-metric (say, FIP) he’s between Jason Vargas and Carlos Silva. And well behind Jakubauskas, who might get to relieve Fister tonight.
It’s not that I’m down on him. But it seems like the sentiment about Fister, who is a no-expectations fair-results guy, is a lot different than Ian Snell, who came in with the headcase baggage, or Vargas, who actually has performed a lot better than Fister.
In fairness, he is eight inches taller.
Can we please have a Branyan appearance tonight? Please, Wak? Give the people what they want (an album that contains one of my favorite songs, “Destroyer.” There’s a story. Don’t ask).
Woo-hoo! Go Kinks!
Add it Up is the hidden gem on that album…
Destroyer is such a good song the Kinks recorded it twice (the other time as “All Day and All of the Night”).
Next you’re going to tell me Luna just re-did lyrics for someone else’s song to produce “Dizzy”
Well, Branyan might get a token AB but we don’t want him to (further) hurt himself.
Anyway, he knows how to give the people exactly what they want.
And if the chord progression for those Kinks songs didn’t exist, neither would at least half of ACDC’s oeuvre.
It seems that Mariner fans fall for anyone who can string together a few good starts.
Say, didn’t there used to be a writer around here who was all over reports of cheating in baseball — you know, like pine tar incidents? What happened to that guy?
I thought you were referring to Joe Mauer stealing signs.
Ok, now Mike Blowers has hit it big–the front page of digg.com
Psychic Announcer Nails Homerun Prediction [Vid]
Is that Junior saying goodbye to Dave?
That was unexpected.
Fister sending a little sympathy out to Jamie Moyer there, I guess…
I didn’t know that Fister had another splitter.
Ouch.
It sure did feel as though Junior’s starting his own little farewell tour.
Even that, or he expects ol’ Dave to be put out to pasture this winter?
Hall makes a play on defense!
Yay!
That was Mr. Adrian Beltre.
Whoever we get to play third base should wear that blowup of Adrian Beltre’s head.
I thought the whole Duncan story was odd. The best line on the Mauer/signs story was Gardy “That’s why we’re three games back — we’re stealing signs”
Okay, Sims just suggested a “pick to click” for Lopez of a home run or double to right field. Look, it only works when you suggest something that actually has a chance of happening.
What shenanigans, Ichiro.
I just wish they would come clean when they are caught. The excuses made in that article are very childish.
The Condor would have had that.
What did Junior do with Dave? They were referring to it in the booth but my recording doesn’t go back that far.
The replay showed that it bounced off the scoreboard higher up, so that was a double all the way. Hall taking his sweet time getting to it after that made it a triple.
At the start of the first inning, Junior came into the broadcast booth with a poster size blow up of an old picture taken during Spring training of Dave Niehaus interviewing a very skinny Ken Griffey Jr.
Junior brought a big blown up picture from 1997 of the two of them together. Dave was in shorts!
Thanks!
I don’t know if he’ll be back or not, but this is the happiest I’ve ever seen him.
I’m glad he came back.
Yes, it felt very ‘it’s been great, Dave, think of me when you look at this.’
I’ve got this whole theory that Junior’s doing his own private farewell tour in his head. If so, classy way to do it.
This game has had so many unusual elements.
But, still, a win!
I missed the memo. How did the Condor nickname come about?
If we already have a Condor, doesn’t that mean that Fister needs a nickname?
How about “The Ferret”?
Fister doesn’t need a nickname, his name says it all. Maybe a picture to describe the action.
This is what wikipedia has to say,
Saunders must have felt great. Rookie, just up, and you’ve got a cool nickname already!
You only need to look at Fister’s MLB picture for picture that describes the action. Yikes.
Condor? I’ve been thinking of Saunders more as the Cadborosaurus — something from around Victoria that we hear about but rarely see.
It was 1989 Spring Training, according to Rizzs.
Well, there it is then for Saunders. Was just wondering.
I think Fister probably craves a nickname.
Imagine going through High School named Fister.
Yeeeeeessshh!
It’s always great to beat the A’s we took the season series from the A’s 14-5. We just drubbed them this series, and the M’s are a much worse offensive team than the A’s.
The M’s are last or tied for last in the AL in AVG, OBP, OPS, runs, and BB. The A’s are last in ISO and HR. And even though the A’s aren’t very good offensively, they’ve scored 131 more runs than the M’s.
It is just amazing that we’ve won 83 games with an offense this horrid. Viva la defense.
I don’t know when he had his growth spurt, but if he was 6’8″ in high school, and an athlete, I don’t think anybody said anything to his face. Lest he demonstrate on them that, you know, it’s more than just a name.
I hope he doesn’t have a sister, though. And yeah, there’s a rhyme, but I’m not going there.
And yet there are still people who insist a run saved is not as valuable as a run scored.
I know I’m not supposed to ask but does your fondness of the song have something to do with this?
Anyway, I just resolved to dig out my Kinks LPs over the weekend and listen to them a bit.
Ah, but it wasn’t just shorts– it was rather short shorts, knee socks, and a t-shirt from a restaurant.
What I like about Fister is that he doesn’t lose his composure or show emotion when he’s struggling. He’s done pretty well for a guy who doesn’t have a real fastball or an out pitch.
I see him as a potential #5 in the rotation or a long relief guy next season.