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Lookout Landing

2009 Regular Season Opener Game Thread

Phillies v Braves, 5pm pacific time. ESPN2

It's a beautiful gorgeous fantastic pretty day in Seattle, but if you are staying in, catch some baseball that counts in the statbooks. Brett Myers faces off against Derek Lowe, starting for the Braves on loan from the Mariners after we signed him after the Braves signed him. It's all very complicated.

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BBBBAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Phillips and Joe Morgan in the booth. Holy crap.

Bloody hell
Save us Mute button
It's just not baseball without the Two Horsemen of the Ignoramus Apocalypse.
Man it would be weird if MLB implemented a player-loan system.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I'm gonna be so fucking hyper 24 hours from now...
Why is the stream not working? :(
Coverage starts in 10 minutes.
Of the game, anyway.
"Who is going to be the next Rays?"

If there’s one question I’m going to get really sick of hearing real quick….

The Rays are going to be the next Rays. Next question.
Pirates probably.
I agree with this.
The Rangers
Nah.
Hate to break it to you.
Please impart your vast baseball knowledge unto me.

I am but a novice to this game and its analytical ways.

Well hold on are you talking worst-to-first seasons? Or are you talking dynasty-building?
Being first in this division barely even counts anyways.
I'm talking about never giving up.
Fuck you're slick
I'll say Orioles.
John Kruk thinks the M's got worse by losing Putz and Ibanez

I don’t really care if these guys think we got worse (we obviously didn’t) but they could be a little more informed. Even if you don’t think we won the Putz trade we still didn’t lose him, we traded him in a deal that our Front Office (smarter than Kruk) thinks will help improve the team in other areas. Whatever, I’m just excited for the season, not going into work tomorrow!

Don't expect good analysis from TV personalities.
Looks like ESPN is in good form for the season.

Outdated Mariner coverage? Check.

You mean Beltre ISN'T a disappointment?

Krukkie seems to think otherwise.

I hope Miguel Cairo gets significant playing time today
Ahhh, the Philly fans, they have no clue of the hilarious defense they are about to see in LF.
I want a GIF tonight.
YES!!! Steve Phillips!!

Damn you Mickey.

John Miller is going to kill himself by the 7th inning.
LET'S GO BASEBALL!
Steve Phillips looks like such a goober
Predictibility??

Is that baseballs version of drinkability?

My word, the quality of mlb.tv is just incredible. What a fantastic product.
Speaking of which, mlb.tv is a little different again this year.
This new Flash player is wonderful.
No more Silverlight!

Now mlb needs to take care of those retarded blackout rules and we’ll be all set.

I need it to also be able to stay in fullscreen mode with dual monitors when I try to do work on the second monitor

Then we’ll be all set

"If he's on, look out for the rest of the league"

The better Ryan Howard hits, the better the rest of the league is?

Didn't Jon Miller used to have a moustache?
Ok Atlanta...

…HIT IT TO LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A stunning day indeed.

Supposed to be the same tomorrow. Absolutely perfect for baseball.

I watched a couple of innings of the Seattle U game

and it always amazes me how being in the sun watching baseball makes me feel.

I'm bored already.

When does hockey season start?

That fancy OPS

I tell you what

Adam Jones catches that
I'm developing an irrational urge to watch Chipper Jones suck.
Chipper is awesome and underappreciated.
He kinda blew it in the WBC though.

Small sample aside, 0-10 with a walk pretty much sucks.

He's very good and very underappreciated but he's a douche and I don't like him.
Chipper Jones donates over $50,000 a year to help save abandoned puppies in the Atlanta area.

How dare you.

They're probably all pit bulls.
Those puppies could be used to feed Atlanta's homeless
And donate vital bits to Raffy Soriano's shoulder
I had forgotten about Raffy.
He got his money.
Raffy Soriano having dick friends and catching a cold fucked up my life

Fuck him

Not all his friends are dicks...
Having some friends who are dicks then
Seriously deepthroat the nearest lighthouse
Hey the Chip is the man.
Chipper Jones is a douche but holy fuck is he a good player
Miller talks about OPS, Morgan quotes batting average.
Miller talking about OPS

Morgan counters with batting average. Awsome.

And Phillips adds in with batting order...
Holy fuck that was clobbered
Yeah, there's your depth, Phillips.
Destroyed.
Damn

That was hit very very well.

McCann hit that harder than Myers hit his wife
Obligatory, I guess.
That was one shitastic pitch.
GA!
I hate the Angels but seeing GA in a Brave uniform makes me sad
It makes me happy because it probably means he's not in ours
And thus ends the first inning of 2009

Welcome back, baseball

Get used to that Brave fans.
No irritating ads on mlb.tv this is a very promising start for the new player indeed...
Three lefties in a row

Yikes

How the fuck did Derek Lowe end up back in Atlanta?
See OP
God damn you

Amateurish prankster

They act like Billy Wagner wasn't kinda good when he pitched last year for New York.
I was just commenting on that.
Ryan Howard is stranded on deck?

That’s a new one

I think the Mariners are going to lead the league in men stranded on deck this season.
What, they're gonna play the most extra-inning games?
I suspect more teams will have walk-off hits
Uh that was unexpected
New swing, new look, same approach!
The pitch was right in his wheelhouse though
Yeah, Myers is pitching terribly
As much as I hate the Braves I love Francouer succeeding.
And also fuck Brett Meyers.
I don't because people who play like he does either need to be Vladimir Guerrero or suck
Well then good news!
I just feel really bad for him.
Generally it's a player's own fault when he sucks
You should feel bad for players who don't deserve to be bad
I think that someday, when we are defending our world title, we're gonna lose 26-1 on opening day.
They should take away the rings if that happens
And give them to who?
The Rangers
The Steelers
See what you did?

If this triggers a Robert Rant, Jeff, I will not be happy about this

Two for the thumb!
Chris Carpenter hasn't won a game since the 2006 WS
This guy did roids?
JORDAN SCHAFER!!!
SON OF A BITCH
Myers looks really flat today
Now that Jordan Schafer is offically in the books, put an asterisks next to it!
Well that's a good way to start your career
I want to hit in this ballpark.
Sooo, whens the next time they have the All Star game there?

Home Run Derby will be fun to watch

Should happen soon given that it's a relatively new park
Yeah, but the Phillies had in last in 1996
Hmmm...seems to be an extra 'in' there
Brett Myers sucks
He's REALLYYYYY missing his spots
Shouldn't they be ignoring him?
Jordan Schafer is the best CF ever to wear #24!!
I was just telling Matthew that if I was a rookie in a hitter's count

And I knew a fastball down the middle was coming, I’d go for it. 10 seconds later…

BASEBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
This has been on facebook like eighty times today.
I am one of those eighty.
Not necessarily with this many Ls
True. Mostly it's been a lot of the other letters.
I spell baseball with 7 U's.
I spell it with a z
Hmm can't find the WPA chart at fangraphs for this game.
The slinker!
Ryan Howard stranded in the batter's box
Reminds me of Verne Lundquist fellating DeJuan Blair during the Pitt/Nova game.

He actually called a play with Blair as the defender without once mentioning the guy with the ball backing him down.

Raul still efficient with pitches
Nobody cares about basketball.

Especially women’s basketball.

They should affix hand towels to the bottom of their shoes so that they at least clean the court while they're busy not dunking
You have surpassed my own misogyny.
I give that a D-
Women on the bench should be making the refs sandwiches. since they aren't playing.
Nicely played good sir

Womens basketball is just about as exciting as watching paint dry. With all of their fundamentals

Any sport is as good as the crowd.

I’m not really into soccer, but the crowd at the Sounders games makes me want to go. If you could get a very excited fan base into women’s basketball, you could make it work.

That's about as likely as getting an excited group of people to watch me water the lawn
Supply the booze and people would do it.
Women's basketball needs to embrace dollar beer night.
The last thing this world needs is more drunk lesbians gathering together in large groups.

Unless, of course, those lesbians are crazy hot. Then please, drink up.

The sport has to be somewhat interesting to get the crowd into it
Auto racing proves otherwise.
Crashes
I want to see Microsoft sponsor one of those teams
Just have a blue car, nothing else on it
Or a blue car with a big wall of white text all over it
I think Sue Bird exploding into a giant fireball would help the WNBA
Courtney Paris eating the rest of the final 4 teams might have helped the ratings.
That didn't happen?
She must of devoured them quickly, cause I missed it.
I just assumed.
Sports car racing and rallying are awesome.
I can understand it being awesome for about an hour.

After that, I do not get it, but meh, to each their own.

Well, with sports car racing I don't sit down and watch the whole thing.

I bounce in and out. And with rallying, they don’t really show anything but highlights because it’s tough to have cameras on the whole course.

I have only been to the Indy 500.

And it was incredible for a little while and then not.

For me to care the cars have to at least kind of resemble real cars.

Formula 1 and Indy Car racing bore me to tears.

That strikes me as odd since I see F1 as about the only possible interesting racing since

it does not involve driving in continuous ovals.

Sports car racing is on road tracks.

Formula 1 is just too good. The cars are basically robots and the drivers are perfect, so it cars going 240 MPH and never missing anything.

I like seeing NASCAR drivers die in crashes
This doesn't surprise me.
Agreed

Isn’t that what keeps the "sport " afloat?

This seems a little morbid
Um, reply to Graham
I don't understand why actively wanting people I don't like to die is weird
I didn't say it was weird
I tend to prefer the oval races

I’m mostly a casual observer, but for me, the excitement is in the drivers racing against each other, not the drivers racing against the course. On road course races that I’ve seen on television, there’s a lot less room to make passes and fewer passes makes for less interesting racing.

As long as they aren't just driving around in circles I can kind of see the appeal of it

Still not really my thing though.

Wrong on both accounts
Butthol doesn't count
That meme is retired
The Phillies hitting approach strongly resembles the Mariners last year

I blame Raul’s leadership

So Myers is awful.
What the fuck

Meyers is getting lit up.

So, so, so glad it’s baseball season.

oh and.... Baseball!
Baseball!
Is Chipper Jones the only player in baseball with an OPS > 1.000 the last 3 years?
Pat Gillick left. Begin shitshow.
2 at bats, two easy grounders to first.

Suck it Anderson.

In his defence he did absolutely hammer one foul

Although the way Myers is pitching that might not be such an achievement

Holy hell Brett Myers
Yeah, because when I think of get together meals for the family. I think of donuts.
If you're trying to break the divorce to your kids you might as well give them something sugary
Kelly Johnson likes catching baseballs
"he's hanging curveballs in the plate, and on the plate, and at the plate."

Good work Joe.

So Gameday has a whole lot of new stuff this year as well...

No mention of whether this will be free with mlb.tv premium though. :/

There don't seem to be many improvements.
Heh, the profile for Jimmy Rollins:

Loves to face-Sliders
Hates to face-Sliders

Its like me and the Mariners the last few years
There goes the perfect game :(
Oh well guess we might as well let them keep him
You be pissed if the Phanatic was blocking your view.
Wrestlemania is tonight?
On right now I believe for the east coasters.

A friend of mine is recording it, I’m picking it up after the game.

So that's how Michael Phelps does it
OK Franceour looks like a giant douche waiting for the pitch
Holy shit that's an amazing constipated batting face
Why is the resident cop in the dugout a Philadelphia HIGHWAY PATROL?
What in the fuck is Joe Morgan talking about?
I sat here for like

3 minutes trying to come up with some comment to describe how I felt about that conversation, but this suffices.

Jordan Schafer is obviously the greatest player in the history of ever.
Schaefer is having a good day
Only a double and a triple away from the cycle
Holy crap did Miller just mentioned Wrestlemania?
Why does Thompson's Waterseal see a need to buy a behind the plate advertisement?

If you’re sealing your deck they’re pretty much the only brand of deck sealant anybody buys (and stores even carry). They’ve got to have at least 90% of the market share

"This is beyond optimism"

Pirates fan “we’re going in the right direction.”

Myers is just horrible right now.
GA's still getting his Angels style hits.
Logan Schafer?
He must have made an impact

Joe Morgan doesn’t forget just anybody’s name, after all

The Phillies have figured out Jordan Schafer is the greatest player in the history of ever.
I'm leaning more towards Myers being complete shit right now.
He truly is.

Why else would anyone give him an IBB when the pitcher is up next

Dobby the bench elf being productive saddens me.
Thornton still pisses me off way more.
I'm just glad that he's not on our team anymore
Agreed
But fuck him for turning into BJ Ryan
Hey it's Greg Dobbs
that is a SWEET swing
I wish we had somebody with such a fundamentally correct swing
The only thing that sucks about opening day is the lack of Griffey playing for the Braves
Aumont --> bullpen
We're gonna have the best bullpen in the history of baseball in 2011.
Sooooo...our last three first round picks have been spent on relief pitchers?
Like I said...

FUCK!

This makes no sense.

I felt I had to say that.

It makes sense if they're just doing that to keep his innings under control for this season (given the injury last season)

but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.

I THOUGHT GMZ WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME SMILE
Our pitching staff is going to be hilarious in 2011
Just wait until Felix "decides" that he wants to close...
FUCK YOU COACH
I'M REALLY BILLY BEANE!!!

MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I hope you get hit by a bus for that comment
That seems far-fetched
Ah, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff. All this time I merely pretended to be a moron. Then, when you would suggest

a smart move, I would simply steal it. Good times, eh?

The gay one?
That's Billy Bean you fag
It's prounuced the same so I would argue that you are in fact the trash compactor
I'm increasingly convinced that GMZ is being held hostage by Billy Beane
Didn't Churchill say that was a good thing?

To monitor his innings?

Oh ok and here i was worried
Uh-oh.

Just read Dave’s post. Hmmm….

Well everything's alright then
I blame the WBC
BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA BABVA

http://www.npbtracker.com/2009/02/ichiro-working-out-as-a-pitcher/

WRONG THREAD SORRY
TIM LINCECUM WAS WEARING A MARINERS HAT IN THAT PICTURE
And what a closer he would make
HEY EVERYBODY JEFF FRANCEOUR HAS A NEW STANCE

Think with your dipstick, Jimmy

Damnit, I forgot a subject line
LET'S MAKE HIM A CLOSER
There is no way that Lowe should be throwing a complete game shutout in his first start of the year
Derek Lowe is good
There are approximately 2 commercials on ESPN360.com

one is the “espn.com / bill simmons / two dogs fucking” and the other is worse.

And the world collapses for Jordan Shafer.

Welcome to The Bigs, son.

AND HERE COME THE PHILLIES!
THE PHILLIES SCORING A RUN DOESN'T MAKE ME ANY LESS SAD
Mile Gonzalez is a steaming pile of fucking useless

Where is Soriano?

Nice job Howard.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO RAUL!
NICE SWING RAUL
It all comes down to Raul Ibanez

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

You know who wouldn't of swung at that slider?

Pat Burrell.

Oh that's right, Raul can't hit lefties.
Hahaha! Get used to that Philly.

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