Yankees @ Red Sox - April 26, 2009

Top 1

1- JMIL - "So he’s (referring to Masterson) more of a… get him to hit the ground ball at somebody guy? JMO - "Or break a bat"

Yes, precisely Joe. Masterson actually takes the mound and thinks, “I’m gonna break this guy’s bat. I don’t care if I give up a hit or a homerun or whatever, I just want to break his fucking bat. Cuz that’s the kind of guy I am. A bat breaker!” Expert analysis from ESPN’s #1 baseball man, yet again.


2- Discussing Red Sox getting lucky by not signing Teixiera and saving $180 million and keeping Lowell…

Not arguing the fact that it might have been lucky to not sign him to a ridic contract, but do we really have to say that got so lucky bc they get to keep Lowell? Teixiera>>>>>>>>>> Lowell. Better + younger = Tex. Lowell will turn 82 this year, so I’d find it hard to believe he can keep outproducing Tex. It’s fine to say that they saved a lot of money, but don’t try to argue that Lowell is better for them as a player on the team. Which is exactly what the top notch ESPN SNB crew did.

Bot 2

3- JMIL to JMO - "Enough for what, enough to make the Hall of Fame?"

Ok, we get it. Joe Morgan is in the Hall of Fame. Do we really need to remind the listeners every single broadcast? It’s almost like they need to remind you to try and validate his moronic announcing comments. Listeners are thinking, “well he sure sounds like an idiot, but hey, they told me he’s in the HOF so he MUST know what he’s talking about.”
If we’re going to remind listeners every broadcast about the credentials of the announcers, shouldn’t we remind them how Steve Phillips was an absolutely awful GM with the Mets? Only seems fair

4- SP - “That’s just a veteran hitter- never give up an at-bat.” (referring to Lowell’s 6 RBI performance on Sat)

He’s spot on here. It happens all the time when you’re not a “veteran” hitter, you’re in the middle of an at-bat and then maybe you get down 0-2 and you’re just like, “Fuck it, I give up. It’s too damn hot out here anyways.” Turns around to ump and says, “I forfeit this at-bat, it’s just too difficult.” Ump replies, “Pshhh, rookie mistake. You’ll stop giving up at-bats when you become a “veteran” hitter.
Where do you become a “veteran” hitter anyways. What the hell does that even mean? Is there a ceremony or something? ‘Congratulations sir, you are now officially a “veteran” hitter.’ ‘It’s an honor, and I hereby will stop giving up at-bats.’

5- JMO - “In all fairness to the Red Sox, they weren’t sure if Lowell was going to be able to come back and be the Mike Lowell that we have here now.”

What kind of Mike Lowell do we have here now, Joe? Please, tell me. Apparently I missed out on the memo that appointed Mike Lowell as the Jesus and savior of the Red Sox. Are they really basing this ‘Mike Lowell of now’ on what he did the day before with 6 RBIs? Or is it the grand whopping total of 16 games that has shown us the Great Mike Lowell? All, I’m saying is… small sample size.

6- JMO breaks down the Celtics-Bulls game

Don’t you love it when Joe breaks down basketball for us, too? We are so privileged to not only be able to listen to expert baseball analysis, but now we get basketball too? Kind of like a 2-for-1 deal. Thank you, Joe. You are too kind!

Top 3

7- JMO - “That may be one of those times where that hip surgery did bother him because he did not get down quick enough” – as ball hits the lip of the grass and takes no bounce at all under Lowell’s glove

Wow, wow, wow. I thought Lowell was a God among men here on the baseball diamond. Now all of a sudden, you’re gonna say he can’t field because of his hip surgery? So is that the “Mike Lowell we have now,” Joe?
Also, I thought you were a HOF second baseman, Joe. Have you ever had a groundball hit at you that hit’s the lip, does not bounce, and goes under your glove? It happens and it’s not Lowell’s hip surgery’s fault. Nobody fields that ball. Except maybe you, of course, Joe. (Lowell proceeds to make an error 3 plays later- def the hip!)

Bot 3

8- JMO - “He’s also so confident in his ability that he just never gave up. He just kept working hard and everything kind of fell into place.”

There you have it. The blueprint to becoming a successful Major Leaguer, Rookie of the Year, and MVP award winner… Just be confident and never give up. I’m going to enter an MMA fight and see how that works out. Will get back to you guys with the results ASAOOH. (As Soon As Out Of Hospital)

9- SP describes how scouts saw Pedroia had no tools. “He doesn’t have power, he doesn’t have speed, he doesn’t really have a great arm, but he’s a baseball player. The Red Sox didn’t worry about tools, they worried about the ability to play the game and he can clearly do that.”

No. Wrong. Stupid. I don’t even know what that means, “ability to play the game?” When I think of things that make up the “ability to play the game,” I think of the tools, which Steve claims he has none, and makeup. So the Red Sox drafted him in the 2nd round because he didn’t know how to play baseball well, but he seemed like a good guy. Sounds like pretty sound thinking to me. Just because he is small, does not mean he has no tools and is a gritty, hard-playing, hard-nosed competitor who just knows how to win.

Sunday Night Baseball

To start out, I will comment on the Sunday Night Baseball games every week with the most intelligent baseball announcers in the entire world, the genius ESPN crew of Joe Morgan (my fav!), Jon Miller, and Steve Phillips.

Will expand to comment on more broadcasts in the future if this isn't a complete, utter failure