May 31st, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Bartolo Colon

skoormit - Clayton Kershaw

La Osa Rosa - Shelby Miller (no pick - rainout)


The Big Hurst: Always pick the 40 year old, right?  He knows stuff.
La Osa Rosa: Thanks Felix Hernandez! You got me my first points. And I LOVE points. I’m picking Shelby Miller today, even though I unofficially picked him in the past and he burned me. Don’t let me down today, Shelby, or I’ll never forgive you.
skoormit: Clayton, Clayton, he's our man, if he can't do it, I won't get any points.
The Big Hurst: Holy cow, picking Kershaw in the thin air of Colorado!?! That's like the Battle of the Titans! Or Scylla and Charybdis! Or Joe Versus the Volcano! Who will win?!?

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: No charged pick for the Shelby Miller rainout. And Kershaw battled the Volcano to a draw. But it's one point to me today for every decade in Bartolo Colon's charmed life.


May 30th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Jeff Locke

skoormit - Jake Peavy

La Osa Rosa - Felix Hernandez 


La Osa Rosa: I am going to pick Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. According to Wikipedia, he threw a perfect game last year. Come on, Felix! I want a pitcher! Not a belly itcher!
skoormit: I'm taking the Mobile native and the most recent Alabama player to win a Cy Young. Can you name the last Bama Boy to win one before JP?
The Big Hurst: Maybe Bo Jackson?  Am I really picking two Pirates pitchers in a row? My how things have changed up there. And the King is definitely not a belly itcher.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: Two points to the Pink Bear!  Why won't they leave Hernandez in? He's no belly itcher. Serious congratulations to 31 year old Ed Lucas, who had his first major league at bat yesterday after 925 games in the minors.  Lucas started in the minors in 2004.  That's an odyssey. Also, some cool things courtesy of You Can't Predict Baseball: Travis Wood hit a grand slam off Jake Peavy.  It was Michael Wacha's major league debut and he got his first hit before giving up his first hit - not bad.
skoormit: Has anyone mentioned how maddening this game is? Well, it is. Would be even more so if we were docked points for bottom-five results.
The Big Hurst:  Wildly maddening! Because pitchers will break your heart. And Fun! Fun, fun, fun! Fun, I tell ya! We knew that going in! Peavy has a pitcher hit a grand slam against him?  Sanchez was cruising the other day until he let it all get away in the space of about seven pitches.  The real question is whether we're doing any better than random? If we had a computer pick a pitcher at random every day, what would the computer's score be?


May 29th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - A.J. Burnett

skoormit - Lance Lynn

La Osa Rosa - Anibal Sanchez


La Osa Rosa: I’m going to go with Anibal Sanchez. He pitches for the Tigers, which are playing against the Pirates again. Maybe the game tonight will go to the 12th inning!
The Big Hurst: And I think we have our first head-to-head matchup between Burnett and Sanchez. Best of luck.  (No, I don't really mean that.)
skoormit: I'll take Lynn so that I can get on the double-letter scoreboard.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: At least I'm not bringing up the rear again today. Darned Rays pitchers.


 

May 28th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Jeremy Hellickson

skoormit - Matt Harvey

La Osa Rosa - Jorge De La Rosa


skoormit: I dunno who's bumping who at this point, but my first choice is Matt Harvey. Second choice is Hideke Irabu Hiroki Kuroda.
La Osa Rosa:  La Osa Rosa obviously HAS to pick Jorge de la Rosa. I’m picking almost solely based on his name. Although, his ERA isn’t too bad and I feel like he might be lucky. Mark my words, I will never pick Brandon Morrow because I went to middle school with a person by the same name and he was a real jerk-hole to all of us on the bus.
The Big Hurst: I'm continuing my baseball jihad against the Marlins today.  I think the easiest rule is not to worry about bumping with more than two players.  The current rule is first come, first served.  But if you select an already-selected pitcher, you'll be subject to shame and public humiliation.  But there's no other real penalty. Yep, I can't think Hiroki without thinking about the fat pussy toad.  May he rest in peace.
The Big Hurst: Is there a way to upload a PDF file to this blog and link to it so you and other people can download it? If there is, I can't find it.  I see ways to upload pictures and video.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: So the Marlins can hit now? Is that really right? And now I'm bringing up the rear. A very tough day when a 76 gets you two points and a 65 gets you nothing. Funny that Harvey and Kuroda woulda got you the same score, when you kinda sorta picked them both. Brownie points. Congrats to Mike Kickham and Nate Karns, both pitching their first MLB starts.  What are the odds on two rookie starters with a "K" last name getting their debuts on the same day?


May 27th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Jake Odorizzi

skoormit - Adam Wainwright

La Osa Rosa - Madison Bumgarner


skoormit: Verlander's a bum. I've always thought so (since the last two times I picked him). Long live the wagon maker!
The Big Hurst: We might look back on today as the true start of Verlander's decline.  Alfredo Aceves is calling me, but I'll go with Jake Who?  I thought my youth would perish when Chipper Jones retired, but I think the real canary in the coal mine may be Tim Hudson.  We're the same age and I used to regularly go see him play when we were in college.  For $1.00 per ticket, I believe.
La Osa Rosa:  Well, I told The Big Hurst that I wanted to pick Arod/Derek Jeter, but turns out they're not playing today. Also, turns out they aren't the same person... Strange. So I picked Madison Bumgarner cause I remember hearing his name on the baseball radio once and he was doing good at pitching the baseball. Plus he's 6'5" and that's a hunk in my book.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: Well, I've got my first real stinker.  I've got to start seriously considering Samardzija, but there's always something about him that makes me skeptical.  Maybe it's because I can't spell his name.  And we would have all done better if we'd picked Verlander.  That goes back to the principle where a pitcher is almost guaranteed to do better if we all disparage him. Did you see the cool news item that Colby Rasmus doubled off his brother, Cory Rasmus?