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"What the deuce got into Don tonight?" - Fred Gladding
"Four greenies." - Jack Billingham, "Ball Four"
I mighta mixed the names up ... the above was an exchange in the 1969 Astros' clubhouse after their ace, Don Wilson, recovered from a terrible pre-game bullpen session to fire a three-hit shutout. "Greenies," for those who just joined us, were the illicit "speed" supplements of the day.
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The F/X gave 97.7 MPH as Garrett Richards' average fastball velocity. To make matters worse, he was cutting the ball so hard that it was finishing to the glove side of center. Hey, man, you throw a pitch 99 MPH and it swerves in onto a lefty's bat handle, you win. End of story.
Garrett Richards doesn't throw like that every game, or he'd be well on his way to Cy Young votes if not the Hall of Fame. But that's baseball, and it's why nobody goes 150-12. On this particular night, we got a taste of Earl's Fifth Law: Momentum Is Only As Good as the Following Night's Starting Pitcher.
There are a lot of weird things that go on behind the scenes. Dr. D could speculate as to just how far the Mike Scioscia and the Anaheim Angels would go, to avoid a complete whitewash at the hands of the Seattle Mariners. But he'll heed his better judgment and leave it right here.
In any case, Richards nuked us till we glowed, so tip of the cap to him. Felix next.
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Game Within the Game
After about the 2nd inning, Dr. D was mostly interested to see which Mariner hitters were most comfortable with a 98 MPH swerveball. They were, in order:
- Abraham Almonte
- Corey Hart
- Justin Smoak
Everybody else, up to and including Robinson Cano, was just blown down like dandelions under a Weed Eater. But the above three batters enjoyed the heat wave. Just keep it in mind, for future reference.
Slap me silly and call me Shar-pay. Corey Hart can pull a 30-06 rifle slug foul, down the LF line. This man may hit 30 for us after all. Remember that we pulled the LF scoreboard in?
Remember, now, before his 2013 injury, the age 28-30 Hart never slugged LESS than .507. Somehow we've lost sight of the fact that Hart has been a legit All-Star, and that he hasn't (yet) declined at all. He's simply missed a season.
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Roenis Elias
Dr. D saw the flicker of a major league game out there. It occurred when Elias threw one of his dead-fish changes, low and away.
For some reason we couldn't begin to fathom, Elias is accustomed (yes, he is) to throwing his 85 MPH changeup INSIDE, and at other times actually OUT AND OVER. It goes along with his zany pitching mentality.
But it was also a high changeup that was tater'ed by Albert Pujols .... anyway, when Elias throws the change like Moyer used to, flopping like a trout (not that kind of trout!) just off the knees away, it then set up the high fastball. Voila! Swings and misses.
Mark Dr. D's words. If and when Elias gets MLB(TM) stamped onto his forehead, and learns to throw that change with MLB(TM) stamped on it, then his other pitches will play up. His K rate will go over 6 and then we'll be talking a real ML career.
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For those who just joined us, Taijuan fired a 1-hit shutout with 10K's in 5 innings. Absolutely ZERO reason for him not to fire his next one for the Mariners. Remember, kiddies, he was in the ML rotation before the shoulder.
BABVA,
Jeff