What Izz He?
I have now officially grown completely immune to Izzy's late inning non-heroics. The pointless drama just bounces off of me, because, I have a sense of assurance that he will get the job done. It kind of makes me sad, 'cause I know it's a sense of false confidence. Just to amuse myself:
Izzy, bases empty
OBA .268 SLGA .315, OPS allowed .583
Izzy, runner on 1st
OBA .293 SLGA .350 OPS allowed .643
Izzy, RISP
OBA .356 SLG .163 OPS allowed .519
Izzy, bases loaded
OBA .182 SLG .100 OPS allowed .282!!!!
This pretty much confirms what we all know--Izzy is lazy in situations where he can afford to be, but when he gets himself in a jam, he turns into the fucking hammer of God, or something. I had no idea just how rediculous the stats would turn out, however. In particular, those disgustingly low slugging percentages in the RISP situations are amazing. This also makes me feel a lot better about the Isringhausen pointless drama. I actually felt bad for the Houston fans I watched the game with, as they got excited during Izzy's late inning heroics.
But then I remembed the psychotic durnk girl that yelled "you suck" at Jimmy when he dropped Berkman's pop fly in the 1st. First, 99 times out of 100, Jed gets that thing. Second, someone cheering for a team starting Willy fucking Tavares has no room to tell anyone elses' CF that they suck.
But other than the group of drunk college kids out at the bar (they didn't really watch the game, anyway, they sat and chatted at each other, and then pretended to notice whenever the Astros got a hit), it was a pretty good day out in enemy territory. I sat next to a group of old Astros fans (guys who remembered the old Colt 45's), and we talked some baseball. One of the guys with me told me about the first game he saw at the Astrodome, where the Cards beat the Astros 1-0, off of a homerun, hit by one Bob Gibson. We compared stories of misery about having the Astrodome/Busch stadium being retired. We both thought that it was a shame that Busch is going by the wayside. They were knowledgable fans, and wouldn't let one guy get away with trying to argue that Pujols and Berkman were interchangable.
The only downfall was that game watching got harder when word got out that I am a physicist, and things degenerated somewhat into talk about the mysteries of the universe. It was fun to talk about, though, and I guess, evidence that science isn't as boring as it's made out to be. Some funny moments occurred when people from the other side of the room heard me cheering (the big double play being a key example of this). They would pass and ask me "You aren't really a cardinals fan, are you" (me, wearing a Pujols jersey)? Or, "were you born in St. Louis?" After I responded yes to this woman, then she was "Ok, I guess I understand--that's the only way I was going to let you off the hook."
As far as the game, it was a good time. I had a psychic moment, as I said "Reggie muders Pettitte", and two pitches later, the ball was deposited in the stands. I liked seeing Mighty Mouse Eck(doesn't he look like a mouse?) have a good game.
Above all else, however, I loved Carp's performance tonight. This is what champion ace pitchers do. He didn't have his best curve today, and seemned to have issues with his command. So, he just started beating the plate with his fastball, mixed it up when he needed to, and was effective. At times, he seemed on the brink of letting the game get out of hands, but then, he just hunkered down, threw his pitches, and did what he had to do. All the while, he didn't do it with the stony, empty face that you see on most premier power pitchers. Instead, his face was a very human flush of emotion. You could see the pressure on him to come out ahead in this game, and you could see his determination to not let his team, and the Cardinal Nation down tonight. Every hit hurt, and every strikeout was ectascy. He is my favorite Cardinal, and I hope he finishes his career with StL. I will relish every start he makes until then.
On to game 2! Let's go to Houston with two wins!
Izzy, bases empty
OBA .268 SLGA .315, OPS allowed .583
Izzy, runner on 1st
OBA .293 SLGA .350 OPS allowed .643
Izzy, RISP
OBA .356 SLG .163 OPS allowed .519
Izzy, bases loaded
OBA .182 SLG .100 OPS allowed .282!!!!
This pretty much confirms what we all know--Izzy is lazy in situations where he can afford to be, but when he gets himself in a jam, he turns into the fucking hammer of God, or something. I had no idea just how rediculous the stats would turn out, however. In particular, those disgustingly low slugging percentages in the RISP situations are amazing. This also makes me feel a lot better about the Isringhausen pointless drama. I actually felt bad for the Houston fans I watched the game with, as they got excited during Izzy's late inning heroics.
But then I remembed the psychotic durnk girl that yelled "you suck" at Jimmy when he dropped Berkman's pop fly in the 1st. First, 99 times out of 100, Jed gets that thing. Second, someone cheering for a team starting Willy fucking Tavares has no room to tell anyone elses' CF that they suck.
But other than the group of drunk college kids out at the bar (they didn't really watch the game, anyway, they sat and chatted at each other, and then pretended to notice whenever the Astros got a hit), it was a pretty good day out in enemy territory. I sat next to a group of old Astros fans (guys who remembered the old Colt 45's), and we talked some baseball. One of the guys with me told me about the first game he saw at the Astrodome, where the Cards beat the Astros 1-0, off of a homerun, hit by one Bob Gibson. We compared stories of misery about having the Astrodome/Busch stadium being retired. We both thought that it was a shame that Busch is going by the wayside. They were knowledgable fans, and wouldn't let one guy get away with trying to argue that Pujols and Berkman were interchangable.
The only downfall was that game watching got harder when word got out that I am a physicist, and things degenerated somewhat into talk about the mysteries of the universe. It was fun to talk about, though, and I guess, evidence that science isn't as boring as it's made out to be. Some funny moments occurred when people from the other side of the room heard me cheering (the big double play being a key example of this). They would pass and ask me "You aren't really a cardinals fan, are you" (me, wearing a Pujols jersey)? Or, "were you born in St. Louis?" After I responded yes to this woman, then she was "Ok, I guess I understand--that's the only way I was going to let you off the hook."
As far as the game, it was a good time. I had a psychic moment, as I said "Reggie muders Pettitte", and two pitches later, the ball was deposited in the stands. I liked seeing Mighty Mouse Eck(doesn't he look like a mouse?) have a good game.
Above all else, however, I loved Carp's performance tonight. This is what champion ace pitchers do. He didn't have his best curve today, and seemned to have issues with his command. So, he just started beating the plate with his fastball, mixed it up when he needed to, and was effective. At times, he seemed on the brink of letting the game get out of hands, but then, he just hunkered down, threw his pitches, and did what he had to do. All the while, he didn't do it with the stony, empty face that you see on most premier power pitchers. Instead, his face was a very human flush of emotion. You could see the pressure on him to come out ahead in this game, and you could see his determination to not let his team, and the Cardinal Nation down tonight. Every hit hurt, and every strikeout was ectascy. He is my favorite Cardinal, and I hope he finishes his career with StL. I will relish every start he makes until then.
On to game 2! Let's go to Houston with two wins!
posted by Valatan @ 9:03 PM
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