Knee Deep At the National Pop League: Game Thread, Team USA at Team Canada
by hugo on Mar 7, 2009 1:44 PM EST
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Threads
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PrintWhile the Jays take on the Reds in spring training, Team USA and Team Canada face off at the Rogers Centre. As we all know, Team Canada won the matchup 3 years ago, 8-6. Jake Peavy starts for the Yanks while Mike Johnson pitches for Team Canada. By the way, Team USA is actually the home team, even though the game is in T-Dot. Here are the starting lineups:
Team USA
Dustin Pedroia, 2bDerek Jeter, ss
Chipper Jones, dh
David Wright, 3b
Kevin Youkilis, 1b
Adam Dunn, rf
Ryan Braun, lf
Brian McCann, c
Shane Victorino, cf
Team Canada
Chris Barnwell, ssRussell Martin, c
Joey Votto, dh
Justin Morneau, 1b
Jason Bay, cf
Matt Stairs, rf
Mark Teahen, 3b
Nick Weglarz, lf
Pete Orr, 2b
Funny, one would think I'd be rooting for team USA, but I'm not really feeling a lot of national pride in the game for some reason, and I actually like the players on Team Canada more, though I do like David Wright quite a bit. Anyway, if you're around, stop by and chat with us about the game!
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wrong game
but pretty good performance by Litsch. 3 hits and a walk over 3 innings, 1 run, 2 Ks, 6 ground ball outs. With the Overbay-Hill-Scutaro-Rolen infield the Jays are set to field, getting groundballs is a very good thing.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Litsch has a lower career ERA and more innings pitched
than Marcum did at this point last year, and I’m sure Marcum got more respect than Litsch is getting.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
what's interesting too
is that if anything, Marcum may have been underrated at this point last year. Litsch is also quite a bit younger than Marcum was and has a more durable arm.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Martin with the 1 out walk
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Martin first to third on the Votto single
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
good start for Canada
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Bay with a chance
to give Canada a 2-0 lead
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Funny how they've taken down the rotating display
and added the virtual one.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Stairs up with 2 on
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Loaded on the plunk
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
hits Stairs in the forearm/elbow
to load the bases for Teahen
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Teahen strikes out on three pitches
Californian poseur
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
as the drunks would say
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
back from 3-0
to strike out Chipper looking
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Chipper
rung up on the 3-2 count. nice curveball
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Rings up Wright too
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
either a crafty pitch or a lucky one
to get Wright to end the inning
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Dutch won
3 to something
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I will be happy
if Italy wins tonight
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I just opened a Moosehead
which I guess resolves who I’m rooting for in this game
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
A little early for beer here
even if I drank beer, which I don’t.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Moosehead isn't good?
I like it
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I've had some fantastic microbrews
in Quebec and BC
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
yeah lots of good ones out there....
course all I have in the fridge is guiness (sp?), a little thick for this early in the day
The beer that eats like a meal
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
and yet they run commercials
bragging about how few calories it has
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
one of the few beers you can use a folk with....
someone gave me this bottle of Polish beer…I like heavier beers but this too much even for me.
Johnson missing a lot
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Slow developing play behind third
Force at second keeps the double play in effect
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I'm taking it as a good sign that Cito is only giving starters 3 innings yet....
Maybe he’s going to be gentle with the starters this year….
It's a long spring training
Plenty of time to stretch people out
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
seems like Arnsberg
is the man with the plan in terms of getting the pitchers ready
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
McCann ties it
with the flyball to Bay
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
interesting outing for Romero
3 innings, 5 Ks, gave up a couple of doubles and walked 2, but managed to keep it together and just give up the 1 run
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
didn't see it obviously
but it looks like he showed some poise
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Votto goes deep!
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Into the second deck
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he crushed it
we didn’t see many homers like that last season at the RC
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
it's not much of a defensive outfield
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Campbell with an RBI triple
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Did they just say Votto took the Go train to the ballpark?
I don’t remember the train from Brampton running on weekends. I had to take the bus last time I was there.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
there was a whole
article about it in the Star
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
sounds like maybe he did it yesterday
our commuter trains don’t run on weekends either, but New York’s do, of which I’m always jealous
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Any homers?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Millar has one
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
woulnd't expect you to mention that though
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
unfortunately for Lane
the Jays like Bautista and Millar has hit well this spring.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
and Millar can bail if he doesn't make the team, where I'm assuming that Lane can be optioned
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
But would we really care if Millar bailed
if Lane has this in him?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
no
the thing about Lane is he has always teed off against subpar pitching. it will be hard to get a read on him until he is actually playing in the bigs in real games
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
15 homers
sadly would have tied him for second for the team last season
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
yeah, it's interesting
the Jays confronted a similar situation last year – they had a better platoon guy in Johnson but went with what they thought was the well-rounded hitter in Stewart – it didn’t really work out
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I didn't understand their thinking then....
But part was I liked Johnson’s defense better….sort of like I like Lane’s defense
I agree with you
I thought Johnson was the better fit last season and I suspect that Lane is the better fit this season, especially if Wells is limited in his ability to play CF
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
in Millar's defense
and I’m no fan – he has always, before last season, offered good on-base skills on the cheap. A .361 career OBP isn’t too bad
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I talked up Campbell, so fair enough
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
ESPN
announcers just confused Johnson for Richmond. Whoops
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Johnson already signed to a Korean team, right?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
that's what I read
didn’t stop the announcers from saying he was “in the Blue Jays’ plans”
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Good inning for Johnson
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Dirk Von Hayhurst
is in
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Close play at first
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
very nice
no walks, no hits, 1 K
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
only problem
is that all his outings have come in the second half of the games when the other teams regulars are pretty much out of the game.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
He'll probably start in Vegas anyways
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
it will be a crowded pen
so I think he has to keep showing something just to make Vegas
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
yeah but still is against players that are trying to make an impression....
at some point you have to start thinking that there is a reason for the 0 ERA. I would think he’d be the first call up when there is a bullpen injury..
I want a giant poster
of Kevin Youkilis’ ugly face
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
To throw darts at?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I was going to ask if you thought
Mediocre pitchers who have good control have a bigger edge earlier in camp….as the hitter’s timing isn’t there yet
interesting question
I’m not sure, since most pitchers don’t have their location at that time of the year either. My guess is that control pitchers have better location earlier in the year than power arms, but I’d be interested in seeing stats on that.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Kids should aim higher
than being the next Stubby Clapp.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
McCann
crushes one to put Canada 2 runs behind
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Johnson finishes the inning
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Campbell just hit a 2-run double
he is a kiwi hitting machine
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
you might be looking for a fight
with comments like that. Like asking an irishman why he doesn’t play for England….
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
not actually like that at all, but you get the idea
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
With a Canadian ancestor?
So he could play for Canada, but I guess he’d be ineligible to play for New Zealand later if they got a team, or something?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I think the ads for vacationing in Cuba
during a game against the USA are an interesting choice.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
On the outfield displays
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
you know
I always wonder why the Jays don’t have a huge advantage in getting the Cuban defectors. It makes sense…
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Under Helms-Burton
if they scout them before defecting, can’t the scout not enter the USA?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
yes
the Jays as an organization would be in huge trouble if they did anything like that
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I read once
that in the mid-80’s, the Jays offered a contract to Cuban non-defector Omar Linares, who was their star 3B in international play at the time and considered by some to be among the top players in the world. The contract would have stipulated that he play only home games so as not to break the US embargo (by all accounts, he was a believer in the Cuban system with no desire to leave or defect). I always thought that was some cool, outside-the-box thinking by the Jays, even though it didn’t work out for the team.
Here’s the story from SI that I read: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1026273/index.htm
fascinating
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
the Jays invited Wade Miller
to camp. Yet another mid-decade hero
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Hayhurst strikes out the side
no walks, no hits, another shutdown inning
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
not yet
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
nice pitch to
get Chipper there
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Canada succumbs to the urge to put ads on their unis
I remember Japan did it last time. Did anyone else? Who else is doing it this year?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
good throw though
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Leadoff walk
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Stairs hit that one well
Braun just got back to it
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Teahen doubles Bay
over to third
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Dunn cut it off in the gap
and Teahen still made it to second.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Hanrahan fumbles
if Bay had kept going he’d have made it, but when it’s a comebacker you have to go back.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
In CF too?
Or just on the roster?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
To let Rios stay in his RF groove?
Because I doubt Lane is a better CF than Rios.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
really?
I would’ve thought Rios would definitely be in centre – that’s interesting. Lane hasn’t played much cf at all, and UZR seems to think he is terrible at it, though with very limited data
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
oh okay
that makes sense. By the way, UZR loved Rios’ work in centre-field. I liked it too.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
But his bat work while he was there
not as good, even though it shouldn’t have made a difference.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
it's true
cognitive dissonance on my part – it shouldn’t make a difference, so I just assume it was a blip
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
anyway
you have to try him again, UZR has Rios as the best defensive outfielder in the game over the past few seasons, and it won’t hurt in keeping Wells healthy either
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Bay
scores on the wild pitch!
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
terrible pitch
looked like a 56-footer
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
whoa
Dunn demolished that
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
How did pigeons get in with the roof closed?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
cool
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
no, didn't do anything
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
how about....
the Jays will win the world series because last season none of the ‘experts’ picked the Rays and this season none of them are picking the Jays.
by that logic, lots of teams should win unfortunately
also, the Rays didn’t actually win.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
been a busy week of people asking for Jay previews...
I wrote something for Pinstripe Alley they just posted
I'd settle for the pennant
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
well they asked for an answer for one of two questions...
The Jays will win the World Series because….
OR
The Jays won’t win the World Series because…..
Because the pitching won't be as much worse as everyone thinks
and the offense will be better than everyone thinks. (Is what I’ve have answered.)
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Martin
rocks the home run to put Team Canada back within 2
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
It's definitely the homerdome today
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Tying run to the plate
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Votto singles to bring up Morneau
as the tying run
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Morneau gets ahead 2-0
Foul, foul, swings over a curve
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Bay walks
tying run now on base with 2 out
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Just like we're used to seeing
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I like how Martin was asking for the fastball up and in
just like in the commercials. I don’t like how Aumont missed.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Aumont loads them
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
First out on the humpback liner
Now the double play could get him out of it
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Rings up Euclis
on 3 pitches
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Strikes out Granderson to strand them loaded
Thanks, Aumont. Thaumont.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Blair says....
‘Yankees will be better without ARod, less distracted’……ummmm I would think they would be better with his 35 home runs
The error loads the bases
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Another bases loaded inning ending strikeout
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Very close at first for Stern
out by a hair
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
From where I was sitting at the RC
It sure looked like he was safe. We didn’t get to see the replay on the big screen. What did it look like on TV?
Martin almost goes deep again
doubles off the wall.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Votto bloops one to the wall
One run game, tying run in scoring position
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Morneau grounds to short on the first pitch
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Bay flies out
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
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