Open Thread Baseball vs Louisville

Submitted by formerlyanonymous on

I'm going to record thoughts here as the game goes along.

Meh Video

Crappy Live Stats

Oaks isn't settled in yet. Gave up a lead off double then a wild pitch that bounced in the grass/dirt border. Lots of stuff in the dirt.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 8:07 PM ^

Royse is living on the low and away corner. The screen may be blurry, but he looks like he's getting some Maddox calls.

EDIT: Right as I say that, a pitch that Toth struck out on is called ball 4 for Dufek.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^

Oaks is looking a bit better now. Got 1-2-3 in the second with an easy fly out and two ground outs. Louisville is aggressive at the plate despite Oaks' rough first inning. Swinging at a lot of pitches that would be close otherwise. Granted, the way Gillis was calling strikes for Royse, it was probably for the best.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^

As an umpire, I don't question strike zones too often. Gillis is killing me though. The Louisville catcher has repeatedly gone to his knees because the ball is right above the dirt and he's anticipating having to block it. They're all called strikes.

I think I'm turning into Tim with my disgust with officials in Michigan games.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 8:31 PM ^

Berset catches him stealing with a gun. Aided by Oaks' quick delivery. 0-1 in mid 3.

Oaks is looking good. He's more of a fly ball pitcher than I'd like, but he has been getting plenty of outs with very few pitches.

Time to get more aggressive at the plate.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^

Garrett Stephens is our back up first baseman. He's in left and Biondi shifted to center. Defensively, it's not a very great choice, but offensively, Stephens has a solid bat. I think he's a middle of the lineup guy next whenever Dufek leaves.

Home run Louisville to make it 2-0.

EDIT: Obviously no one can replace LaMarre. Stephens isn't a horrible replacement, but there's no way he'll match half of LaMarre's production. And yeah, that whole defensive liability.

Naked Mile Swim

February 26th, 2010 at 9:18 PM ^

I am waiting for a "and boom goes the dynamite" comment from this guy. I do appreciate the feed though, since the U of L audio feed wanted a $15 subscription fee.

Also, the live stats look like something out of mgopaint.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^

He got excited to end the Minnesota game. Got a little crackly. They were supposed to have CSTV gametracker. That fell through apparently. EDIT: Despite their ugly, they're a lot quicker.... AND FUCKING DAMMIT, THE UMPIRE JUST FOOLED THE ANNOUNCER. EVEN HE THOUGHT IT WAS LOW BUT HE CALLED IT A FUCKING STRIKE. [/caps-angry]

So we've got our like rain on your wedding day moment: Dufek is one of 2 Michigan batters not to strikeout this game.

formerlyanonymous

February 26th, 2010 at 9:46 PM ^

Krantz showed he's the better defensive option in left, getting to a ball quick and throwing out a guy trying to stretch a single to a double. Great play.

Middle of 8, still down 0-2.

Krantz, Dennis, Biondi due up. Time to see if the defensive play picks up Krantz and gets him a leadoff hit.

EDIT: Or we could just pinch hit with Stephens and have him strikeout. Interesting move.

Naked Mile Swim

February 26th, 2010 at 9:55 PM ^

Strikeouts continue to be a problem for this team. I know Louisville has some very very good college pitching, but I'd like to see the ball in play a little more often. I am very impressed with Oaks tonight. With this tough out of conference schedule, I'd have to say that anything over a .500 record before Big 10 play would be a nice accomplishment without LaMarre. Bot 9, let's see some magic!