Blatant Homerism

There’s just something about hearing that a pitcher has a no-hitter in play that makes you shed your team loyalty and cheer like mad. That’s how I felt tonight when I received the alert that Reds pitcher Homer Bailey, he who was separated at birth from Christian Bale, was working on his 2nd career no-no Tuesday night against the Giants.

A single career no-hitter is an amazing feat on its own. But two no-hitters, and you find yourself in the company of the likes of Nolan Ryan.

Bailey was perfect through seven, threw a total of 109 pitches, 74 strikes and struck out nine batters.

I doubt I’ll pay any more attention to Cincinnati from here on out. But for tonight, it was fun to cheer for the pitcher who delivered the first no-hitter of this season (and the last one of last season!)

Giants win World Series, bore some Ladies… to tears

A belated congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on winning their second World Series championship in three years with a 4-3 win over the Tigers last night, cementing the sweep and making me feel like that drubbing of my Yankees was all for naught. But to paraphrase Games Mistress, is it just us or was this series zzzzzz….? Mind you, Game 4 was probably the game I should have watched last night. But after our boy Verlander’s disappointing performance in Game 1, my heart wasn’t quite in it. The two shutouts didn’t help either. Yes, I know, Sandoval had a terrific series and Scutaro was a hero, but it would have been nice if Detroit showed up (in the first three games, at any rate).

So baseball is over and we’re all sad now. Let us know what you loved about the season, what you didn’t, and whether we are totally off base on our assessment of this 2012 World Series. Also, stay safe and dry my NYC area Ladies… and to our readers in Sandy’s path.

The Ladies… Make Their 2012 World Series Picks

We all agree on how awesome Verlander is.

The defending champs have been eliminated (sorry, GM. I was sad for you last night. For reals.) and the stage is set for the World Series Wednesday night (8pm ET on FOX and Sportsnet). You may remember the San Franscisco Giants from…two years ago! When they won it all and we cemented our crush on Buster Posey. The Tigers return for the first time since 2006, when they lost to the Cards in five.

We don’t have any love for either team (we do, however, have a holy hate-on for Brian Wilson. But that was a sidebar in our email conversation today and deserves its own post.) but we do love to make picks! Here’s who the Ladies… are root-root-rooting for in the Fall Classic.

Moneyball Lives…For Now: The End Of Season/MLB Playoff Omnibus

Although it wasn’t quite up to the standards of last year, with the meaningful games being all about playoff seeding instead of mere survival, at least we had the Oakland A’s and their surprising AL West Title win to entertain us. Is this truly the year of Moneyball? Or is it just going to be the Yankees, Cardinals, or Rangers taking the pennant again? We discuss!

So You’ve Got an Olympics Hangover

Maybe this was your first Olympics with access to NBC’s online feeds (or perhaps you are a lucky Canadian who can access live events all the time).  Maybe you coincidentally happened to have 14 days off work (counting weekends) during the 17 days of the Summer Olympics.  Maybe you are now exhibiting symptoms such as disorientation with your sudden abundance of free time, queasiness when watching sports where anthems are played before the game begins, and a compulsion to introduce Olympic athletes into only tangentially related topics (such as, say, Usain Bolt in a conversation about stealing bases on a Cardinals broadcast).  You may be suffering from an Olympics Hangover.  And, like those other types of hangovers, there are various methods for dealing with it.

Guess Who’s Back?

One of the great things about spring training isn’t just that baseball is back, but that it marks the return of many players who lost all or most of last season to injury. Like our shadow player below.  Can you guess who this is?

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Celebrate and remember Pat Burrell, a pillar of this site

Pat Burrell is retiring, which means this site now has to exist in a world without him. Ladies… without Burrell is like Seinfeld without Jerry, like a flower without petals, like Grady Sizemore without that one coffee cup. Just…totally naked, but in like a really sad way.

According to Google, the Ladies… have written about Pat Burrell 118 times. By no means is that the most we’ve ever covered a hottie of sport (paging Tom Brady, Ryan Lochte, etc.), but he is a part of the very fiber of our collective heart nonetheless.

In most of the rest of this post, we'll forget he has a face, too.

The value of your catcher

With the Giants losing Buster Posey to a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments, the conversation about whether or not players should be allowed to collide with catchers is once again front and center. Of course both Posey and the Giants GM have come out saying that the league needs to examine the situation.

The problem is – there isn’t really any rule governing the situation, so there’s no rule to tweak or overturn.

But the Posey situation has brought up an interesting point – should you have one of your offensive superstars playing behind home plate? Isn’t it bad business sense to put the future of your offense in the hands of some guy from the other team charging home plate?

Posey’s ankle is going to require some reconstruction and there’s some that say there’s no way he’s going to be able to squat on it or come out of a crouch a 100 times again on that surgically repaired ankle.

The Twins gave Joe Mauer $184 million and are having to go prolonged stretches of this season without him because his back and knees aren’t able to handle the stress the position puts on them.

Apparently Posey has spent time working first base – a typical spot for a superb hitter with minus offense (Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols). It would be hard to imagine the Giants would rather have Aubrey Huff in the game than not find a spot for Posey in the lineup.

What do you think? Are you for or against collisions at home plate? Should teams put more thought into whether or not they have an offensive star behind home plate?

 

Your wait is over.

The rotation that will haunt our dreams. (AP Photo)

High socks. Eye black. Dusty mounds. Cliff Lee. Baseball is back for reals, and we at Ladies… couldn’t be happier. Many of us have spent the last few days figuring out how to weasel out of whatever we’re going to be up to at the time our respective favorite teams are playing. Me? TWO HOUR MEETING when Mike Mussina throws the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium. How am I supposed to sneak my phone in to listen to the game? ARGH! (although Games Mistress told me there was lots of rain expected in New York Thursday, so I may get my wish after all.)

It’s Opening Day for these Ladies… faves. Let’s see what they’re up to today:

Advent Calendar of Hotness – Day 8

I am just going to make the “day 8” part of this, so it’s a good thing today’s ACoH selection has become very familiar to all of us over the last two months.  Ladies (and gentlemen, if you are so inclined), please enjoy the following views of NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey:

Hit and Run: Crazy Endings Edition

I mean, what else would you expect on Hallowe'en? (AP Photo)

There just something about Hallowe’en that brings out the crazy. Dressing like a zombie. Dressing like Gaga. Drinking booze that is clearly coloured by artificial susbtances and possibly has floating eyeballs. Eating far too many mini Coffee Crisps. These jackets. Whatever bizarre behaviour you engage in is perfectly acceptable on October 31st, or at least the Friday or Saturday closest to it.

The sports world was also full of crazy on the weekend. For instance…

7 Things I Learned Before the Seventh Inning Stretch of Game 1

1. Cliff Lee is not invincible. Which seems kind of obvious, but didn’t it sort of seem like he was for a few weeks, there? It appears the baseball gods do not take kindly to media designated storylines such as  “The Year of the Pitcher.”

2. Fox seems to have abandoned the  “solemn and momentous occasion” theme they’ve used for both the All-Star Game and the World Series the last few years in favor of their standard blaring trumpet sports theme.  So they’ve obviously been reading our All-Star liveblogs.

And Then There Were Four

Why yes, that is a picture of Placido Polanco stuffing Raul Ibanez’s glove down his pants.  Thanks for noticing!

Enough goofing around: the league pennants are upon us, Fox has to start acting like the MLB playoffs aren’t something that just gets in the way of its football coverage (although to be fair they have a truly awesome NLCS promo which I can not find on the web but which prominently features a couple great Cardinal playoff moments plus Bartman), and fans whose teams win this series can buy shirts that don’t look kind of pathetic. (Unless you are a Rangers fan — you’re allowed to buy a Divisional Series Champs shirt if your team has never won a playoff series before.)  Two teams swept their way in, one team needed all 5 games, and one would have swept if it were not for the heroics of one Rick Ankiel (it is, apparently, a good post season for Cardinals nostalgia).  Anyway, here’s who we have left:

Yes, Again: The (Last-Minute) Case For Tim Lincecum

There is a statistically-inclined rant after the jump that I think you all need to hear.

Why playing time is not an argument against voting a pitcher MVP

A hitter plays every day and hits once every nine spots in his team’s lineup.

A pitcher plays every fifth day and faces all nine spots in the other team’s lineup.

For example:

Albert Pujols has had 21 plate appearances in the last five games. For the season, he averages 21.3 PAs per five games.

Tim Lincecum had 29 plate appearances against him in his most recent game. For the season, he averages 28.6 PAs against per game.

Joe Mauer has had 20 plate appearances in the last five days. For the season, he averages 22.1 PAs per five games.

Zack Greinke had 29 plate appearances against him in his most recent game. For the season, he averages 28.2 PAs against per game.

The Last Time Your Team Won it All: Baseball Teams

I got the idea for this post when I was talking to my friend about the last time the Yankees won the World Series. It’s almost going to be nine years, but nine years isn’t that long. If I ever complained about a nine-year World Series drought to a Cubs fan, I would more than likely get a smack in the face…and it would be completely warranted.

However, when I think back to where I was the 2000, it seems like ages ago. The last time the Yankees won it all I was a freshman in High School. It feels like I graduated from H.S. ages ago; forget about actually being a freshman. The bottom line is we all follow our team with one goal: to see them win it all at the end. Don’t get me wrong, you can still enjoy the season, but you are never fully satisfied unless your team is the last one standing. Unless you root for the Phillies, Red Sox or Cardinals, the last time your team won it all can seem like a lifetime ago.

So let’s take a little trip down memory lane and see what life was like the last time your team were World Champions. Sorry to all Washington, Milwaukee, Houston, San Diego, Colorado, Tampa Bay, Texas, and Seattle fans. You need to have won at least one to qualify.

Hit and Run: In Which Barry Zito’s BABIP Regresses, Right Before Our Eyes!

A.k.a. the “Complete MLB Rundown (To The Exclusion Of Everything Else)” edition. Why? Because I can. Yesterday’s scores presented BBC-style for extra hilarity and confusion.

• Red Sox 3 – 5 Blue Jays. Sevven sollid innings from Tallet (see what I did there?) provide a lead for Scott Downs to preserve, bringing them back into 2nd place in the mighty AL East. Go Jays!
• Marlins 7 – 3 Mets. Tim Redding sucks. Josh Johnson doesn’t. Go Fish!
• Braves 2 – 3 Diamondbacks. There are a lot of 3s today. Eric Byrnes finally does something good; namely, driving in the winning run in the 11th. No, wearing awesome socks doesn’t automatically mean that you’ve done something good.
• Dodgers 0 – 7 Cubs. Eric Stults fails as Dodgers get shut out for the first time all year. You know, I like the guy, but hey dude, put up or shut up. As in, put up zeros on the scoreboard, or shut the hell up when the reporters interview you and ask why you sucked. Go ahead, say, “I sucked”. David Ortiz did, you can too! Ugh. STULTS. My boy Brent Leach faces 1 batter, records 2 groundouts, because he’s cool like that. Go Dodgers.
• Twins 2 – 5 Rays. David Price blah blah blah 11 strikeouts blah blah blah 1st Major League win blah blah blah Free Rick Porcello!
• Reds 5 – 9 Brewers. Some dudes hit some home runs.
• Tigers 6 – 3 Orioles. Is Luke Scott on steroids? Naw, he’s just in an un-slump.
• Astros 4 – 7 Pirates. Hey guys, the Pirates just won another game. Meanwhile, the Astros lost another one and are hopelessly out of contention. Kind of like the Nationals.
• Yankees 10 – 5 Indians. Your first double-digit scoring game of the night was notable only for the fact that CC Sabathia gave up runs. I really hate that guy. Oh, and Nick Swisher (perhaps better known simply as AJ Burnett’s new boyfriend) hit a home run. I’m sure they celebrated in an entirely appropriate fashion that didn’t involve ice cream or maple syrup or leather and chains. No, I didn’t just imply that.
• Nationals 6 – 9 Phillies. Cole Hamels gets shelled but gets the win anyway. Disgusting. Lidge doesn’t implode, but his ERA is still above 8. Good luck with that, buddy.
• White Sox 5 – 3 Royals. Gil Meche gets no love from the bullpen. Which sucks.
• Athletics 1 – 14 Rangers. The average Leverage Index for this game was so low that it actually may have caused a Fangraphs implosion. Seriously, check it out:

• Padres 7 – 8 Rockies. This game is actually so boring that there’s no proof it happened, so I can’t tell you what happened, although I’m sure if you really want to know you can look it up somewhere.
• Mariners 4 – 3 Angels. If you’re a Mariners fan, then Jose Lopez is your saviour. On the other hand, if you’re a Mariners fan, then you probably have bigger problems, including the fact that your #5 starter is actually a vampire. That’s my clever way of saying that I sort of have a crush on Jason Vargas.
• Cardinals 6 – 2 Giants. Zito was doing fine until he gave up 3 consecutive doubles in the 7th. Actually, on a team that didn’t epitomize suckitude, he would’ve had an easy shot at winning this game, except that 1) Albert Pujols is on steroids and 2) The Giants suck, ergo, their bullpen sucks, ergo, their starters don’t win unless they pitch complete game shutouts. Except for that one time, but I’m pretty sure that was an accident. Oh, and Albert Pujols did do something good; namely, he struck out looking on a curveball from Zito that came thisclose to making me scream in delight. (I did actually sort of whimper, but the sexual power of a pitch like that is a discussion for another time. Just watch any Roy Halladay start, or a good AJ Burnett start. You’ll understand.)

Good morning. I know in darkness I will find you giving up inside like me.

Hump Day Hotties: Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum

Good morning. Please bear with me as I attempt to explain why I’m the worst Dodgers fan ever.

Prettiness abounds. Hit the jump for more awesomeness.

The All-Star Break Called… Part Deux

So I’ll admit it, I am a total snob when it comes thinking that the AL is superior to the NL.  I don’t know if its the designated hitter deal, the difference in stadium size (I like my homers in the AL), or the tighter strike zone… whatever it is, I’ve always considered the NL to be the red headed step child of Major League Baseball.  But I set those feelings aside to bring you the All-Star Team of the National League,  Ladies… style.

The First Month of Baseball

We are only into the second month of this young baseball season. We still have four more months of regular baseball and then another month of lovely October baseball. There is still plenty of time for those last place teams to crawl out of the basement. But still so much has already happened in just a short month. Some things aren’t too surprising: Albert Pujols is still awesome. Some things are a tad bit unexpected: Forget Sabathia, Burnett, or Teixeira. Nick Swisher is turning into the Yankees best offseason acquisition. You better believe it!

Keep reading to find out what else we learned in the first month of baseball…

Baseball is MAGICAL: Walkoffs, 2000, and win streaks.

First off, the Ladies… wish a heartfelt congratulations to Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek on collecting hits #1999 and 2000 tonight. Grudz looked much younger than his 38 years as he cruised into first base, unable to hide a boyish grin as the crowd, fountains, and fireworks erupted.  Though he was soon erased in a double play, the hat-tip and ovation made for a really sweet moment for a very likeable ballplayer.

Congratulations, Grudz!!

More sweet baseball moments after the jump!

The five stages of Bacon Pants grief

The Ladies… count two Phillies homers among their ranks, so Texas Gal and I were hoping that our meaty, darling, grinder Aaron “Bacon Pants” Rowand would resign with the Phillies. His face-smashing entusiasm and team-first attitude were part of what made the Phillies so much fun to watch this season. Also, he wears his uniform pants really tight. We liked that.

2007 was a banner year for Bacon Pants, and with the cheapskates in the Phillies front office shying away from long-term contracts, Bacon Pants signed today with the San Francisco Giants. He’ll patrol the outfield for the next five years, taking home a cool $12 million per year.

The fans of the San Francisco Giants have to be happy — there’s somebody fun to watch out in the outfield again.

I, however, am taking this news a little harder. I am — if you will — a sad panda.

Hump Day Hottie: Noah Lowry

The Giants can use some lovin’ right now- they’re dead last in the NL West, they’ve got a record that’s worse than the Pirates and the Royals and they have to deal with the constant Bonds fiasco. But the Giants are the all-time winningest team in baseball- so it’s only a matter of time before the ship is righted, and things go back to being lovely in the Bay Area. And while they wait, fans can at least enjoy the scenery— and pitcher Noah Lowry can definitely help distract with his hottness.

The lefty hurler (who bats right- he goes both ways, y’all) from SoCal has five weapons in his arsenal: fastball, curveball, slider, his signature wicked changeup… and his total and complete hotness. The boyish grin! The beautiful eyes! The dark locks! That cutie-pie birthmark under his right eye! That ass! He’s the reason baseball unis were made- as cute as he is in civvies, he is just flat-out HOT in uniform. That head was made to wear a baseball cap. Barry Zito better watch out- Noah just about has the Giants Hottie Crown sewn up.

Tons more Noah goodness after the jump…

Bringing The Heat: San Francisco Giants

So what if the Giants is one of the oldest teams in baseball. That doesn’t mean that there are not hotties on the roster. Of course everyone on this list except for one hitter was born after 1975, which makes them younger than 30. But that doesn’t mean there are no hot 40 year olds.

Just not on this list. So to get things started, let’s just throw up the obvious first.

More Barry Zito and San Francisco hotness, after the jump.