Things Read in Other Moms' Basements - Around the NL East 04.24.10

Happy weekend, everyone. Welcome back to Things Read in Other Moms' Basements. Don't look now, but we're on a three-game losing skid at the moment. Not a whole lot I can say on the topic that already hasn't been said by everyone else. All I can really do is hope that the team turns things around, and hope for the best. And suggest to the two factions of members we have right now that, there will always be pessimistic naysayers who will say some pretty pessmistic things in a vain attempt to reverse-jinx their hopes and woes. And there will always be fans who will never say die because Goonies die hard fans never say die, and get miffed by the pessimism. Just remember that we're all rooting for the same outcomes, but we just have different ways of coping with defeat.

But as I reminded all of you last year, defeat happens. To get outrageously upset over an outcome that even the best of teams still face at about a 40-45% clip is pretty silly. Losing hardly angers me any more, because all I have to do is comb through the OTs to see more than adequate anger to cover for my lack of. But I don't hold it against any of you personally, because it's how we cope and act in real life (or at least I hope).

Anyway. I went and saw Kick-Ass. I enjoyed it. Enjoy the rest of your weekends, everyone.

Jason Marquis put on DL for sucking bone chips in elbow - MLB.com
After giving up 19 earned runs in only 8.1IP, and in his last start not actually being capable of recording a single out, there's clearly something wrong. Despite insistence that there was no injury, it's revealed that Marquis has some bone chips floating around in his right elbow. No surgery will be necessary. But, he'll be out for the next six weeks. In his place, the Nationals call up Luis Atilano, whom gondeee was quick to point out was the result of a trade the Braves made for Daryle Ward years ago.

Ryan Zimmerman out with sore hamstring - MLB.com
Don't look now, but Ryan Zimmerman seems to be stumbling around with some nagging injuries. He's already missed a few games due to his left hamstring, but now his right one began acting up while running the bases against the Rox. The latest one is a sore hamstring, and in his absence, Jim Riggleman has been forced to put guys like Willie Harris and Cristian Guzman in the three-spot in the batting order.

Baseball's best third baseman? - Federal Baseball
A sabermetrical examination at whom the best third basemen are in baseball, with a game of blind numbers, as well as examination of WAR and other advanced statistics - the conclusion? A very, very, very slim, and very debatable one.

Jason Bergmann outrighted to Triple-A - MLBlogs
Beachball Bergmann, he who once admirably dueled with John Smoltz and threw seven no-hitting innings in the process, passed through waivers, and is now back in AAA-Syracuse. Nobody picked him up, and he opted to not file for free agency, citing that he'd actually like to stay with the Nationals. Now that's just mean - I know quite a few Nationals fans pissed at hearing that news; he's slightly better than the equivalent of Manny Acosta to them.

Stephen Strasburg interview from ESPN - Federal Baseball
A good transcript over at Federal Baseball taken of Strasburg's appearance on BBTN, answering a myriad of questions.

Bryce Harper initial scouting report - Baseball Prospectus
Harper, whom everyone pretty much expects to be the #1 pick by the Nationals next season, who rushed himself out of high school, and at the age of 17 is raking .401/.494/.866 at JuCo while using wooden bats, gets his critique by the folks at BP. And as impressive as bullet points 1, 2 and 3 are, number 4 can be the deciding make-or-break factor for this kid's entire career. Nobody likes an arrogant jerk, with an air of self-entitlement. And nobody needs Bryce Harper as much as Bryce Harper and his family need baseball. Saddest thing is that BP is not the first sources to have made points about Harper's attitude problems.

Guess what? The Nationals don't stink this year - Nationals Journal
At the time of writing this, the Nationals are at a cool .500, and have already gotten six of their 18 games with the Phillies out of the way. They're playing more confidently, and here's the secret to fun baseball - have fun. Otherwise, it's a job we feel obligated to, and where's the fun in that? And in a more interesting twist, Jayson Stark actually has some words of praise for the Nationals as well - a little risky hopping on the train early.

Anonymous MLB player declares Nationals to have the worst fans - DC Sports Bog
Let's see, only the Phillies and Brewers have had series in Washington, and only the Brewers have had to endure any kind of rain whilst there. If I could pick any one of the Brewers who speaks like a snarky 26-year old doing his best impression of Comic Book Guy, and would have a reputation enough to uphold to where he wished to stay anonymous, I'm going to go with Prince Fielder.

Jose Reyes finally to bat third - Amazin' Avenue
Looks like Jerry Manual can finally change his diapers after finally getting his wish to have the most electrifying player in baseball bat third in the lineup.

David Wright getting booed at iti - New York Daily News
You guys think it's bad that some people at Turner Field boo Troy Glaus? At least he's this imported patsy that it's okay to apparently hate on. Well imagine them booing Chipper Jones or Brian McCann, or worse yet, Jason Heyward for slumping? Because that's pretty much what's happening to David Wright for not hitting the ball well at home.

K-Rod may be used to get more than three outs a save - New York Daily News
This can only be good news for the rest of the NL East. Sure, he needed over 20 pitches to nail down the save against us on Friday, but if K-Rod is to be counted on to do more than that on a regular basis, then his arm's going to fall off soon. Baffling, considering how good Takahashi and Mejia have demonstrated to be out of the bullpen this season thusfar.

Because K-Rod gets pissy if his teammates ruin a save chance by scoring those pesky run things necessary to win baseball games - MLB.com
Kind of like John Rocker used to get, K-Rod apparently got upset by a two-run homer by Fernando Tatis that took a 2-0 score to a non-save situation creating 4-0. Sure, it's always cool to see a guy with 40-50 saves at the end of the year, but typically a team without a closer with that many saves means there's better offense, better distribution of innings, and an overall healthier pitching staff.

Carlos Beltran still not cleared to do any baseball activity - Hardball Talk
Anyone else not surprised by this news? This currently puts him at an estimated 2-3 weeks behind schedule that was slated to have him returning to the Mets by mid-May. As it stands right now, he's not even allowed to be running.

Mike Jacobs accepts assignment to Triple-A - MetsBlog
I'd almost wanted to say why not take a whirl on Jacobs, but then I remembered that he's like the left-handed version of the current Troy Glaus, with no optimal upside really in sight.

Mets potential 2011 payroll perils - MLB Trade Rumors
Even if you have the bankroll of the Mets, some financial restraint is still necessary, and in a nutshell, if the Mets are expected to keep several key contributors, they could see their payroll increasing by as much as $10M next season.

Baseball needs the Mets to be good again - MetsBlog
Apparently, Jayson Stark thinks that the only good rivalry to come out of the NL East is the Mets and Phillies. Nevermind the fact that the Phillies have pretty much owned them over the last few years, as have the Braves, and the Marlins for that matter. But that's why Stark works for the four-letter afterall.

Take solace in the small victories - The Apple
Earlier this week, the Mets took 3 of 4 from the Chicago Cubs, and thus giving them their first winning series of the season. Cue the apple, bust out the Cristal, and clear the Canyon of Heroes.

Five worst moments in Mets history - MetsBlog
Hint: Andruw Jones' walk-off walk against Kenny Rogers is one of them. Where does it rank though?

J.A. Happ to the DL with elbow pain - Philly.com
Never a good sign, when it pertains to the elbow. It all started with pain in the pitching forearm on his last start against the Marlins when he walked six with erratic control. Tim Hudson also felt pain in his forearm before he actually felt anything in his elbow, that was prior to his inevitable sabbatical down to Birmingham. Nelson Figueroa will likely take his place in the rotation until Joe Blanton comes back.

Maybe Ryan Howard should learn how to drop a bunt - Phillies Nation
An interesting thought of combating the overshift by having the most powerful slugger in the game drop some bunts down the third base line in order to simply get on base. Apparently Carlos Pena has been adopting such a method as well to some moderate success, so perhaps Howard should think about it too, especially with all the protection he has in guys like Werth and Ibanez (when he's actually hitting again).

Jamie Moyer's foundation raises $100,000 for Haiti relief - MLB.com
Ignore the fact that Moyer dominated us with his sizzling 82mph fastball just the other day. I'll admit that I have a little bit of a soft spot for Grandpa, even if he is a Philly, but I was always fond of Julio Franco as well. There's something admirable about an old guy who manages to keep doing what he does, but most importantly, there's more to admire about Jamie Moyer, whose Helping Hearts Campaign successfully raised $50,000 for Haitian children, which Jamie and his wife have graciously vowed to match.

Historic reasons why the Phillies should worry about Brad Lidge - Philly.com
(Hat tip: The Good Phight)
These things always crack me up - Duane Ward, Mitch Williams, and Ron Dibble were all relief pitchers whose careers basically came to a careening stop by the age of 31-32. Guess how old Brad Lidge is?

Phillies demonstrate above and beyond customer service - mcall.com
The family that got deliberately vomited on last week at Citizens Bank Park was given the VIP treatment by the Philadelphia Phillies, which was a kind gesture, and most certainly not necessary. But CBP does care about its Philly fans, and this is a good story of some innocent victims of stupid fans getting some nice retribution.

Jorge Cantu is a huge Oakland Raiders fan - Miami Herald
Figure that, Cantu, who pushed his hitting streak to 20 games earlier this week, considering he did most of his growing up in Texas, but Cantu is a die-hard Raiders fan that actually attends several Raiders games, and in the Black Hole no less, wearing a skull mask.

Chris Leroux gets an autograph - Fish Stripes
A reliever for the Fish, whose parents are huge Blue Jays fans, gets a ball signed by Roy Halladay, the once great Blue Jay, while the Phillies were in town. And apparently it's a big deal to some that he didn't personalize it.

Miami audit threatens the operations of the new park - Field of Schemes
What this means is that although the new field may be ready for next season, they might not have parking garages in time for them. Not like people were going to show up for Marlins games or anything.