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Just a morning conversation thread, really.  Not that there's much point since the Shout Box became The Monster That Ate Cleveland er, SSI.

Which raises a baffling question.  If the Shout Box is that peachy keen, so peachy keen in fact that it can obviate the very blog it is on ... and that being the best sports blog extant ... why don't we see this Shout Box all over the interwebs?

With a resigned air, the Editor's Choice shouts from last night:

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IcebreakerX: M's strike zone fun! https://twitter.com/MarinersUmp

And that's just what it is, "strike zone fun."  In the sense that it's fun to think about the kid who kicked your butt in the third grade.  But yeah.  Thanks Ice.  Please do link us up again whenever it looks good.

The strike zone has been maddening this series.  Is that a general tendency in NL-AL games?  But Dr. D has to admit, when he saw James Shields' name on the probables, he wrote this one off.  His fear of James Shields knows no bounds.  What his ERA is after a couple starts, I don't care.  If the Mariners are going up against James Shields, I'm staying home.

Under the circumstances, the M's put up a tremendous struggle.  Okay, back to tasks of non-Shields magnitude.  The Red Sox rotation appears to be badly lacking in James Shieldses. 

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SABR Matt: But, more realistic...why the heck is Ruggiano not being given these starts? Let him face some righties...when he comes in for defense, Ackley moves over, so why can't he play CF full time for now?

Yeah, why isn't Ruggiano being given more PT?  I got nuthin', man.  And I'm usually not shy about political opinions from two planets' distance.

Miller taking over DH is ... weird.  Playing there sometimes?  Fo' sho'.  Becoming the regular DH, when presumed McClendon NL vet cronies are seething on his bench?  Did not see that one coming.

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MtGrizzly: How predictable was that Ackley AB? Was there an M's fan anywhere that didn't know he was going to hit into the double play?

It is actually alarming, this predictability factor.  Alarming like hearing unexplained music, or your cat going "Halloween pose" at something tall in the kitchen, or like waking up, looking into the mirror and seeing nothing.  

Dr. D had a friend who was haunted by nightmares and she learned how to manipulate dreams ... yes, you can learn that.  The first step is to lock in "triggers" to remind the sleeping you that you're dreaming -- if you fire a gun at a bad guy and nothing happens, "Oh yes!  I'm dreaming!  I think I'll turn the bad guy into Ken Griffey III!"  

Since Dustin Ackley is 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position (.059/.053/.118) and Dr. D cannot see himself in a mirror, he can safely conclude that he has transitioned to a weird afterlife.  Can you think of any way to convince him that you are not all protocols in his matrix?  I thought not.  HAS Moe ever told us the names of his daughters?  Of course he can't.

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SABR Matt:  they just showed that Morrison's average batted ball is going 94.6 mph...HOLY CRAP! sixth in baseball in that category.

Yes indeedy, albeit this is based on a 40+ ball in play 'sample.'  LoMo is hitting the ball real good.  

If you got a 1B who is hitting the ball harder than Jose Bautista, you gotta allow this as good-and-sufficient-cause to let him play.  Raise your hand if you feel as sheepish as Dr. D about your April 28th comments on the subject.

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Justynius:  K-Pax threw 94 fastballs last night, a modern-day record (non-Bartolo division).  Now Taijuan throws 80 more tonight, 87 if you count cut fastballs.

Last night we thought this was funny.  Did you see the Padres yanking 97 MPH heaters foul down the 3B line?!  About the 3rd inning of Wednesday's game, it stopped being funny.  K-Pax and Taijuan have obviously been given V-E-R-Y complex instructions here.

Then again, maybe Rick Waits is a step ahead of us.  We did get two Quality Starts from the rooks.  And maybe this is a way station from Omsk to Tomsk, where "Omsk" is a 12-0 loss and "Tomsk" is the 2014 versions of the kiddie korps.

Okay, so "Justynius" is Dr. D writing under an assumed name.  If everybody else can write their own Letters to the Editor, why can't I.

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OBF: MILLER TIME! That was CRUSHED!

Chris Miller pickin' it at shortstop and Brad Miller floating around the diamond -- SS, CF, anyplace and everyplace -- now Dr. D knows for sure he is in a lucid dream.  If he can change an assailant's knife into a dip cone, surely he can change a 15-18 record into ... hm.

See you at the ballpark,

Dr D