# MLB: May 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 2, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025 "2010-05-02T13:46:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 4, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/21 "2010-05-04T21:54:43Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Watched the Rockies beat the Padres (on TV) last night. > > Ubaldo Jimenez is a monster. He hit 101 mph in the first inning, was still hitting 98 in the sixth, and was fooling the batters with 88 mph change-ups. He struck out 13 Padres, although he had some help from an umpire who was apparently under the impression that home plate is about three feet wide, at least when the Padres were at the plate. That was Larry Vanover, and the Rockies announcers were just as critical. Vanover’s awful and was one of the umpires that resigned in 1999 but for some reason MLB hired him back along with Bob Davidson. Neither of those two should heve ever been allowed inside a MLB stadium, let alone on the field. Who’d a thunk that the best pitcher in baseball so far would play for the Rockies? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/22 "2010-05-04T22:35:50Z")
> [@Incensed](#): > > That article uses Brian Bannister’s words to try to make Zack Greinke look like he’s contradicting himself. IOW, it’s juvenile shit. I was inclined to agree with the commenters who suggested that the _NYT_ reporter didn’t understand what he was talking about as well as the pitchers did. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/23 "2010-05-04T23:01:28Z")
By the way, did anyone see the Phillies fan who ran on the field last night, and got tasered for his trouble? [Video and story here](http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/to-tase-or-not-to-tase/) (scroll down the page for the video). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/24 "2010-05-04T23:05:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > By the way, did anyone see the Phillies fan who ran on the field last night, and got tasered for his trouble? There’s a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561991) about the incident over in IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/25 "2010-05-05T00:39:33Z")
Some sad news out of Detroit; Ernie Harwell has [passed on](http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/sports/mlb/tigers/detroit-tigers-legend-ernie-harwell-dies) at the age of 92. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/26 "2010-05-05T00:57:27Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > By the way, did anyone see the Phillies fan who ran on the field last night, and got tasered for his trouble? I was there! Didn’t enjoy watching the Phillies lose. But, seeing that guy running around certainly made things interesting. Werth in glove up defensive mode was definitely something awesome to see. He was ready to do damage if the guy kept coming close to him. Luckily, he veered off to get tasered by the professional peace keepers. **KennerTheGreat** , didn’t you say you were going to your first Blue Jay game in a decade? (I guess you had a Halliday grudge that kept you away?) How was the game? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/27 "2010-05-05T01:45:47Z")
Any **Mets** fans watching the **Reds/Mets** series? I’m dying for interaction, help a lonely, only **Reds** fan out! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/28 "2010-05-05T02:33:31Z")
Anyone see that bizarre Eric Byrnes bunt attempt last weekend? Byrnes got released by Seattle after messing up that attempt and then took off on a bicycle. [Story](http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=5159122) That was just painful to watch. Reminded of watching a little league kid get all confused at the plate. That isn’t the only time I’ve seen some odd things from him. Last year, he was in the outfield for the D-backs and right before the inning began he ran into the area behind the bullpen, which is located in the outfield at the D-backs park. Not sure what that was all about. Bathroom break? He forget to put his jock on? Anyway, Byrnes got released on Monday. I’m sure he’ll end up with some other team as the D-backs are stuck paying most of his salary. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/29 "2010-05-05T02:39:01Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > **KennerTheGreat** , didn’t you say you were going to your first Blue Jay game in a decade? (I guess you had a Halliday grudge that kept you away?) How was the game? The game was fun, even though the Jays lost. It was circumstance rather than choice that kept me away so long. I’m a four hour drive from Toronto, and now I have two small children. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back next year. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/30 "2010-05-06T01:16:28Z")
Jays start off their 10-game road trip by sweeping the Indians, beating them 5-4 this afternoon thanks to Adam Lind’s homerun. On to the South Side of Chicago next. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/31 "2010-05-06T02:08:53Z")
> [@KennerTheGreat](#): > > Jays start off their 10-game road trip by sweeping the Indians, beating them 5-4 this afternoon thanks to Adam Lind’s homerun. Yet again the Jays win with home runs. They’ve now hit 43, leading the majors. Seattle is stuck at… 9. The whole team. The Mariners are being outhomered by Paul Konerko. Home runs are down substantially (so far) in the American League. Last year AL teams hit 1.13 homers per game; so far this year it’s .95 homers, a drop of about one in six home runs. That’s a big drop. It’ll be interesting to see if that continues. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/32 "2010-05-06T06:43:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Seattle is stuck at… 9. The whole team. The Mariners are being outhomered by Paul Konerko. Seattle got one off of the Rays last night, so I think that they’re at ten now. Not that it mattered much. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/33 "2010-05-06T15:55:27Z")
The Mets managed to double switch Jason Bay and David Wright out of the game yesterday. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t accidentally have any good hitters in the lineup once we hit extra innings. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/34 "2010-05-06T16:35:33Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > The Mets managed to double switch Jason Bay and David Wright out of the game yesterday. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t accidentally have any good hitters in the lineup once we hit extra innings. Well, if you want to miss the postseason you can’t just wait around until September or October, you really have to have a long term plan. ---
**Author:** ![Incensed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Incensed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incensed)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/35 "2010-05-06T16:48:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > …Home runs are down substantially (so far) in the American League. Last year AL teams hit 1.13 homers per game; so far this year it’s .95 homers, a drop of about one in six home runs. That’s a big drop. It’ll be interesting to see if that continues. I just checked the MLB numbers 2000-2009; the April HR rates lagged behind the seasonal rate by about 2.4%. Looks like the boppers generally start slow and should gain some of the discrepancy back this year. ```auto Season HR Rate/April Rate 2009 98.7% 2008 112.2% 2007 110.9% 2006 96.1% 2005 109.0% 2004 103.3% 2003 102.3% 2002 109.4% 2001 96.2% 2000 91.5% Total 102.4% ``` Good stuff **Hawkeyeop** , **ShibbOleth** -but then the Mets organization is a target rich environment. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/36 "2010-05-06T17:05:14Z")
My Braves may finally be hitting well enough on the road to be a contender. However, given the division they are in with all of the teams clustered as they are, this could play out well into September. Oh, and by ‘My Braves’ I mean I own the team. WHAT! Why are y’all looking at me like that!!! OK, ok, ok I have been a fan since they moved to Atlanta in 1966 and went to the second game that they played in the old stadium so they ARE my Braves. \ ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/37 "2010-05-06T17:58:11Z")
Bad week for baseball; first Ernie Harwell, now [Robin Roberts](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/05/06/roberts.obit.ap/index.html?eref=sihp), dead at 83. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/38 "2010-05-07T15:25:32Z")
I really, really dislike the rules about awarding wins to closers. I went to see my sad-but-beloved Dodgers play last night. We took a 3-1 lead into the top of the 9th inning. In comes Jonathan “Blown-The-NLCS-Two-Years-Running” Broxton to lock down the first major league win for rookie John Ely, who baffled the Brewers for 6.2 brilliant innings. What could go wrong? Well, as usual, if Jonathan Fucking Broxton feels the slightest bit of pressure (I guess we can add backing up your rookie pitcher to the category of “pressure” for him), he blows it. By the time the carnage was over, Broxton had blown the save and slumped onto the bench having allowed the game to be tied, narrowly escaping worse damage than that, and having ruined the kid’s great performance. Enter an actually awake Dodger offense in the bottom of the 9th. With one out, Andre “Walk-Offs Are What I Do” Ethier slams home a victory for the Boys in Blue, who win it 7-3 over Milwaukee. And who gets credit for the win? The guy who blew the save and was on the bench being pinch-hit for in the bottom of the 9th. Jonathan Fucking Broxton. Why can’t the same rule apply here that applies when a starting pitcher goes less than five full innings? Why not let the official scorer choose who gets the win? The Dodgers had two hitless relief appearances from Ronald Bellisario and Hung-Chi Kuo. Why not give one of them the victory? Wouldn’t that make more sense? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/39 "2010-05-07T15:41:00Z")
Yes, it would make more sense. The manner of awarding wins to pitchers is stupid. Saves are stupid, too. Why don’t they change it? 'Cause it’s always been this way so it’s hard to change and you might mess with the record books and nobody would ever agree on how to change it blah blah blah. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025/40 "2010-05-07T16:18:27Z")
I’m kind of worried that Lincecum might not win his third straight Cy Young this year, because he’s going to get beat out by Barry Zito… OK, maybe it’s a bit early for that kind of talk, but it’s hard not to be optimistic as a Giants fan at the moment. Their pitching is pretty much exactly as good as expected, and the seem to have figured out how to score runs, to boot! (Well, excepting road trips to Southern California, but there aren’t \*\*\*too \*\*\*many of those). Now if they can only hold steady for the next 5 months, and hope that someone throws a bucket of water on the Padres… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-may-2010/538025.md?page=3)