Anyone have a firm grasp of Maddux's recent revival?

He doesn't seem to be striking out many people, but neither is he walking many. When the trade went down, Jon's post mentioned the case that he may have been unluckey, because his FIP was a run below his then mediocre ERA of 4.69. Jon also mentioned Maddux's good HR and walk rates.

So, even though Maddux isn't going to K gags of hitters, he keeps it in the park and doesn't walk many. In a stadium like DS, where HRs are neutral, but every other form of offense else is damped down, while Maddux himself keeps the walks down, does that mean that Maddux's revival could really last? Especially with Furcal's defensive recovery and Betemit at 3B? That Ned traded a banjo-hitting but fine-fielding SS for a solid no. 3 starter, perhaps even a solid no. 2, and one with playoff experience?

WWSH

Maddux's performance tonight was incredible. It's a pleasure to be able to watch a pitcher who works quickly, throws strikes, and is extremely efficient. He's my dream pitcher.

One the subject of ball scuffing, I noticed that Martin did not ask for a new ball when Maddux threw a pitch that bounced in the dirt and rolled a few feet away from Martin.

In your (pl.) esteemed opinion, is there any point in predicting if and when Prof. Maddux will be pitching at Shea during the period 9/7 - 9/10?

This theory doesn't make a lick of sense to me, but I'm guessing Maddux doesn't try to disuade it because it's just another way of winning the mental game against his opponents if they believe it.

:o)

thoughts of him being "that" have raised but I really doubt it, let's face it THE GUY IS GENIOUS.

Stan from Tacoma

Don't think it wasn't considered.

You were lucky to see that.

They play 8 these days right? So I'm not high on the facts tonight. High on the results I guess.

Wow.

Someone up above this post was kind of picking apart who Maddux is now, saying he doesn't strike out a lot of guys... From where I was sitting (just above Russell Martin's left shoulder in the loge section) it seemed to me that Maddux has transcended the need for strikeouts. He put that ball right where he wanted to, and made them hit his pitch, if they hit it, every time. So many pitches hit off the hands, or down off the bat. He got a few good fielding plays--especially his own, but also a couple from Betemit, at least one from Furcal, and one from Lugo out in RF -- where he hasn't played for five years.

Martin's home run was like a cherry on the sundae. Sent everyone home happy. But Maddux's 7 2/3 perfect innings were magical. (And Schmidt was pretty nasty himself.)

Oh and perfect weather, short lines for hot dogs and beer, and I didn't have to listen to Joe Morgan. I got Fernando Valenzuela to wave at my wife. Am I in heaven?

28 Sounds like we weres sitting next to each other!

A heightened reaction would give away that they didn't see something coming--that they were caught off guard. The Fonz is never caught off guard. His voice finally breaks from its charmless slumber only when an occurrence merely proves him correct. Then BAM! off he goes!

Guys like Morgan fancy themselves seers. They're deciphering things 10 pitches ahead of us. Hell, you ingrates probably weren't even listening! Which is why he has to start every third sentence with any number of narcissistic hiccups such as "like I said...if you recall me saying...which proves exactly what I said...as I pointed out earlier...now you understand why I'd mentioned."

Who marries these people?

And the thing is, for all his supercilious prattle, he's not all that bright. I've got a fairly informed uncle who could call a game as well as Morgan, and maybe even construct a proper sentence or two while he's at it.

3) Amoros off Berra, 7th game 1955 WS

2) LoDuca slides into dugout (not sure what year)

1) Gibson makes falling catch in left field, 1988 (or thereabouts)

Piffle. As I said in the previous post, no way Gibson's belongs at the top.

The Gibson catch is a great catch following a stumbling run, and again, was in a key situation.

I was at the game for LoDuca's catch ... I have to say, that really holds up on tape - mostly because of the dismount.

Just off the top of my head, Dave Roberts' catch on Tal's Hill to preserve one of Gagne's saves in Houston a couple years back was a tougher play than two of the three on this list - but ultimately, just wasn't as important. I just think context is a big factor.

They previewed the Padres' web gems and showed Ozzie's bad hop, barehanded grab and throw. That play is treeeeemendous.

I'd still have voted for Gionfriddo's, since that was also a WS.

More broadly, it was in the 1988 NLCS.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B06230LAN1995.htm

Fifth inning. Mark Portugal was the batter.

Tonight was a delight. 3 game sweep of the Giants and all by one run. Doesn't get any better then that.

I believe it was a game that had been postponed due to rain, so the field was a slippery mess.

I think this was also the game where Jay Howell was ejected for having pine-tar on his glove.

My guess is NLCS game three.

So Maddux has reached the same level of super-experience as a pitcher that Bonds has as a hitter...interesting... (no that was not a veiled steroid rumor, I really do think guys like these two are mentally on a whole 'nother level from the rest of MLB)

Does anybody remember an article about Maddux in USAToday earlier this season, where he claims someone (I want to say Rolen) actually dented a foul ball? And that he (Maddux) checked it after to see if he could take advantage of a misshaped ball...just one more card he can deal in the mental game, IMHO...

The Kiss Cam.

I've managed to avoid it for a long time, thankfully. Until today. And instead of going to the game with a girl I liked or was already dating, I was with my family. So naturally, they put me on the Kiss Cam with my baby (15 year old) sister. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, of course, and everyone in the stadium booed me.

So, yeah, I was personally booed by a sellout crowd. Within a minute, I was receiving text messages from friends I didn't even know were in the stadium, demanding an explanation. A couple minutes later, I was getting text messages from friends in other cities who had received text messages from our friends inside the stadium. All in all, an odd and amusing little experience.

So if you were at the game, yeah, that was me you were booing.

No will remember it cause it was Lee Lacy but he was playing RF one day and made a great catch headed to the corner, did a 360 spin and threw a beebee to nail the runner at home trying to score. Vinny compared him to Clemente that day.

---From game's gamenotes (available at least at ESPN here: http://tinyurl.com/gzyck

Anyway, when looking at the list of those who have given up 8 HR to Bonds, to quote the famous poet, "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong..."

"Hong-Chih Kuo pitched five shutout innings and hit a grand slam in a 6-2 win for Las Vegas. Kuo threw 85 pitches in six innings and gave up one run. His home run was part of a six-run fifth for the 51s."

http://tinyurl.com/ow4rc

Stan from Tacoma

Apparently, right behind the big four, tied for 2nd (5th?) is old friend Andy Ashby with 7.

Yes, I did a whole post on it at the Griddle. It's by Sean Forman.

But people kept getting on my case about his conclusions. It was very weird.

Making strides: Left- hander Hong-Chih Kuo, who is starting at Triple-A Las Vegas simply to get more innings to work on his command, appears to be forcing club officials to consider making him a permanent starter. Kuo, whom the Dodgers optioned July 4, allowed only a run on four hits over six innings in Saturday's 6-2 win over Fresno and added a grand slam at the plate.

Kuo was named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Week for July 31-Aug. 6, a week when he pitched 10 shutout innings over two starts.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said he plans to recall Kuo for the September roster expansion, but that it will be as a reliever. Colletti didn't rule out converting Kuo entirely to starting sometime in the future.

(On a side note, I decided to buy a ticket for this game last night. It being a sell out, I was able to get a seat in the Top Deck. Not only was I lucky to see Maddux and Martin, but I was one of the winners of those 55" Sanyo TVs!)

And, I still have no idea why anyone would listen to Joe Morgan willingly. I watched the entire game with the sound off - I'm sure I enjoyed it more than Little Joe's victims.

First time I saw Maddux in person was my first game at Wrigley. It was about 35 degrees in April, snowing sideways, and there were only a few thousand people in the stands (probably all from out of town like I was - the natives were smarter than that). Braves-Cubs, Mulholland vs. Maddux. This was about 10 years ago. I got to move to a seat right behind home plate, field level (since the place was empty). Just the radar guns and my friend and I. Both guys worked fast and well (Mulholland was good once). Wohlers came in to close, so I guess the Braves won (my memory froze). Watching his 98 MPH stuff after Maddux was impressive as well.

Took me over an hour to thaw my feet when I got back to the hotel, but it was well worth it.

The first game in months that is on tv, and I spend it tending a sick kid and finally falling asleep on the floor of his room (having not slept much the night before).

And then I wake up to read this!

The horror . . . thr horror . . .

I never knew the term stemmed from a famous moment in Dodgers history!

The Morgan name dropping bit went from uncomfortable to ridiculous. He simply kept adding names to pitchers he had dinner with. I thought he might go on forever. Then he brought it up again later just because he'd forgotten a big name. Such obvious displays of insecurity are forgivable in junior high girls, but downright embarrassing in grown men.

Jon Miller has a good voice, and he's a pleasant enough fellow. But he's grating in that he sounds like an over eager Disneyland guide. The same Golly-Gee Kids! shtick as Dick Enberg.

Miller, along this Duke Castiglione joker, gives the game a kid's feel. And not in a good way.

And yes, all this does matter. Because a bad announcer is no different than having to sit through a game with a highly talkative, annoying friend at your side.

What a shame this 10 second delay between TV and radio. I could have been listening to the great Charley Steiner last night instead of the ESPN clowns.

Should Pluto get the axe? http://tinyurl.com/lhtam

Xena info: http://tinyurl.com/cvngg

Poor Sedna -- discovered well before Xena and widely announced as the tenth planet -- gets no love these days: http://tinyurl.com/pvz6j

They came for Pluto, and I was silent . . .

I tell you, I may need to take these kids back to the shop because I'm finding it very hard to keep up with baseball-blog reading these days.

Or the job thing. I could certainly do without that.

In related news, that Steve Sisco is, among other things, an inveterate womanizer.

Not when you've already got the 8th best left-hander in the American League in your rotation...

That Wikipedia entry for "walk-off" is one of the more comprehensive I've seen in a while for any non-contentious subject.