# MLB: April **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 30, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370 "2013-03-30T19:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/341 "2013-04-21T21:44:09Z")
I’m gonna keep this up until we get two losses in a row. That shouldn’t take too long. 🙂 “The lowly Pirates” have won 9 of their last 12 games, and took 3 of 4 from the National League-leading Braves. Jonathan Sanchez needs to do better, to say the least, but the Bucs won again. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/342 "2013-04-21T23:45:42Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Yankees and Indians both played “Sweet Caroline” at the games yesterday in a sign of solidarity and support for Boston. Pretty classy. > > Anybody know if other teams did too? Can someone explain to me why this song is the anthem for Boston? I hate the song, so I’ve never listened to the lyrics… Does the song mention Boston? (I usually turn the station before hearing “Sweet Caroline!” > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I’m gonna keep this up until we get two losses in a row. That shouldn’t take too long. 🙂 > > “The lowly Pirates” have won 9 of their last 12 games, and took 3 of 4 from the National League-leading Braves. Jonathan Sanchez needs to do better, to say the least, but the Bucs won again. The Lowly Pirates? Woo hoo! After starting the season a dismal 1-5, they have played some pretty good baseball. I refuse to get jacked for this team until they hit September with a winning record, but I am very happy with their performance over the past week plus. They swept the Reds, and took three of 4 from the Braves (I think). Plus, they won in their cool 1971 retros… I love that uniform, and wish they would take the names off the back and make the numbers match the 71 team, but I’ll take what I can get. I for one was ticked that they traded Joel Hanrahan, but Jason Grillis so far has been perfect in save opportunities. I hope that continues. I loved Hanrahan. It’s a great name for a closer, and every time I hear it, I think of the goaltender in the movie “Slap Shot”. “Hey Hanrahan! Hey Hanrahan! Suzanne sucks pussy!” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/343 "2013-04-22T00:14:04Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Can someone explain to me why this song is the anthem for Boston? [It just sort of caught on.](http://boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/05/29/another_mystery_of_the_diamond_explained_at_last/) There’s no Boston connection, even if you buy Neil Diamond’s story about it being about Caroline Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/344 "2013-04-22T00:21:15Z")
Jesus the (lowly) Buccos just keep winning! The Reds still hold the best record in the majors at home at 10-3, but have won a paltry ONE game on the road out of SIX…pathetic. That’s going to have to change if they are going to go anywhere. The Reds were a better road team than home team last season (I think), and while they have key injuries right now (starting LF Ludwick DL, best pitcher Cueto DL, RP Mareschal DL, starting C Hannigan, DL) they seem to be keeping afloat. Tony Cingriani is going to be key. I PRAY that he pitches well enough to bench Mike Leake once Cueto comes back and further strengthens the rotation. And hardly any pitcher so far this season has pitched better than Mat Latos without a win through four games. Four walks in four games (26 innings), 11 runs allowed (8 earned), 2.73 ERA…he’s pitched well in games where the Reds offense has failed. I hate it when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/345 "2013-04-22T00:47:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Jesus the (lowly) Buccos just keep winning! The Reds still hold the best record in the majors at home at 10-3, The Rockies just lost their first home game today, (on a cheap chopper that bounced over the head of a drawn-in third baseman) they just haven’t played as many home games. They’re 8-1 at home. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/346 "2013-04-22T01:33:50Z")
> [@drm](#): > > I am not a Jays fan so spend my time more focused on other teams but have you noticed a decided lack of plate discipline? For really shitty plate discipline, you want the White Sox. They have 29 walks, lowest in MLB, versus a league average of 51. Their OBP of .273 is last by far in the American League, and in MLB, leads only the woeful Miami Marlins whose pitchers bat. No pitch is too high, or too far outside, to flail at. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/347 "2013-04-22T01:43:11Z")
> [@drm](#): > > Just randomly looked at a bunch of team stats and Toronto should count themselves lucky that they have the record they do. It’s interesting you should say that, because I note after winning today they’re 8-11. I find that astounding. It FEELS like they should be 5-14. They have played dreadfully, and pretty much every player on the team is playing badly. Emilio Bonifacio might be the worst player I’ve ever seen. Except for the bullpen, nobody’s playing as well as you would have hoped, except maybe Arencibia, who is doing what he does, which is hit homers but never get on base otherwise. Going into today, the best OBPs among regular who aren’t on the disabled list: Bautista, .313 Lind, .310 Cabrera, .308 So you literally have a team where nobody is good at getting on base. How the Yankees let them score eight runs, or for that matter how any team could walk Adam Lind four times, I cannot imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/348 "2013-04-22T02:25:34Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > The Lowly Pirates? Woo hoo! After starting the season a dismal 1-5, they have played some pretty good baseball. I refuse to get jacked for this team until they hit September with a winning record, but I am very happy with their performance over the past week plus. You are a wise man. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > They swept the Reds, and took three of 4 from the Braves (I think). Plus, they won in their cool 1971 retros… I love that uniform, and wish they would take the names off the back and make the numbers match the 71 team, but I’ll take what I can get. > > I for one was ticked that they traded Joel Hanrahan, but Jason Grillis so far has been perfect in save opportunities. I hope that continues. Grilli’s doing great, Mark Melancon is as well, with a sub 1.00 ERA in 11 IP. He came over in the Hanrahan trade. [Stormy Pimento](http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=piment001sto&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.typepad.com), who also came over in that trade, is doing well at AA and still has a chance to show us something at the ML level. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I loved Hanrahan. It’s a great name for a closer, and every time I hear it, I think of the goaltender in the movie “Slap Shot”. “Hey Hanrahan! Hey Hanrahan! Suzanne sucks pussy!” What a joyously wrong movie. I love it so. I may have to put on the foil and watch it again. **NSFW LANGUAGE** [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dW1Grq1r3l0/hqdefault.jpg "The Hanson Brothers Various - Slap Shot") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW1Grq1r3l0) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/349 "2013-04-22T11:59:58Z")
Stormy Pimento? Jeez, what a cool name! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/350 "2013-04-22T12:53:36Z")
Stolmy Pimentel may or may not make it. He’s looked great at the AA level before, and got totally shellshocked at AAA. Finally the Red Sox gave up on him. But he’s still young. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/351 "2013-04-22T13:14:25Z")
I am highly disappointed that his name is actually Stolmy Pimentel. \*Highly \*disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/352 "2013-04-22T14:16:07Z")
Stoly Pimento would have been the greatest baseball name ever. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/353 "2013-04-22T14:39:24Z")
So the Cardinals pretty officially have a bullpen problem. Lots of blown saves, multiple blow late leads - I think in at least 6 of their losses they had the lead in the 8th or later. And its not just one guy - almost nobody in the pen seems reliable right now. Fortunately the SP has been great. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/354 "2013-04-22T15:31:27Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Stoly Pimento would have been the greatest baseball name ever. That was Billy Martin’s favorite player. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/355 "2013-04-22T18:52:51Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I am highly disappointed that his name is actually Stolmy Pimentel. \*Highly \*disappointed. He’ll always be “Stormy Pimento” to me. . .mainly because I’ll have to look up the correct spelling every time I talk about him otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/356 "2013-04-22T19:10:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > **So who peed in Marty Brennaman’s porridge?** > > I tuned in to the Reds radio broadcast last night on the way home, and Brennaman (the Reds’ play-by-play guy) and his sidekick were giving hell to Tony Cingrani, just called up from Triple-A to make his first career start for the Reds. The kid was relying way too much on his fastball, couldn’t put away hitters, was throwing far too many pitches, not what the Reds need with Cueto injured, blah blah blah. > > I figured from this litany of woes, the Reds had to be down at least several runs in the early going. Instead, after Cingrani struck out the next batter to retire the side, it turned out that his team was leading 5-1 and Cingrani had struck out eight batters in five innings. > > One earned run and 8 Ks in five innings in your first major league start sounds acceptable to me, but since he didn’t immediately impress as a combination of Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax and Greg Maddux in their primes, I supposed he should be sent back to the minors on the very next bus. :rolleyes: Listening to Marty and Joe Nuxhall is a sweet memory from my childhood, but Marty has seemed to get very grouchy as he has gotten older. Joey Votto has had a bit of a power drought to begin the season. I will admit that sometimes his swing did not look like his usual self, but he was not getting much to hit. He was walked 24 times in the first 16 games. Marty complained when he drew a walk with runners on base in the late innings of a close game. Marty thought he should have been able to drive in those runs. He said the Reds “are not paying him to walk”. That is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard an announcer say. He also complains incessantly about Jay Bruce failing to hit with runners in scoring position despite the fact that Bruce career batting average with RISP is just a few points below his overall average. I swear I think Jay Bruce could win consecutive games with walkoff two-run homers (a runner on first), but if he then came up in the next game with a runner on second and struck out we would hear about how he doesn’t hit with runners in scoring position. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/357 "2013-04-22T20:10:10Z")
> [@MentalGuy](#): > > Joey Votto has had a bit of a power drought to begin the season. I will admit that sometimes his swing did not look like his usual self, but he was not getting much to hit. He was walked 24 times in the first 16 games. Marty complained when he drew a walk with runners on base in the late innings of a close game. Marty thought he should have been able to drive in those runs. \*\*He said the Reds “are not paying him to walk”. \*\*That is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard an announcer say. Through my limited opportunities (thank you, MLB Radio/TV) to listen to him, along with my wife’s tales of growing up in Ohio, I have really enjoyed Brennaman’s sarcasm and cynicsm. Your quoted statement, however, sounds suspiciously like a Joe Morgan-ism, and I do not approve. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/358 "2013-04-22T22:16:32Z")
I really enjoy Jeff Brantley, Marty’s sidekick, so much more than Marty these days. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/359 "2013-04-23T02:57:20Z")
Well, “the lowly Pirates” didn’t pull this one out, and lost to the Phillies 3-2. Burnett had some issues, and got out-pitched by Jonathan Pettibone in his first MLB start. Over the past several years, it seems no pitcher has the Pirates number like a AAAA pitcher or a MLB pitcher making their debut. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370/360 "2013-04-23T14:38:43Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Well, “the lowly Pirates” didn’t pull this one out, and lost to the Phillies 3-2. Burnett had some issues, and got out-pitched by Jonathan Pettibone in his first MLB start. Over the past several years, it seems no pitcher has the Pirates number like a AAAA pitcher or a MLB pitcher making their debut. If you include the “the” in the quote then it doesn’t work! You changed it! It’s supposed to be the “lowly Pirates”! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-april/654370.md?page=19)