Well, we sure faded near the end of last season, but that isn't particularly unusual here. Now we are back for the 4th season of BHGM - or The Ballhouse. Not sure what I'm going to do about the name... anyway. Here is how this season is going to play out:
Now - May 23rd: Posting will be very irregular, due to a specific test I am taking on the 23rd, has to do with Medical School. I won't go into specifics, because I don't want to think about it much either.
May 23rd - May 30th: Will not be conscious posting.
May 31st- Rest of the Season: We'll be seeing some of the better posts again. Stuff like what was going up in 2005.
Until June, we're going to have to put up with shoddy formatting, poorly researched opinions, and short posts. Oh well. Lets get started!
Those of you readers with a halfway decent memory, (or those of you handy with Google,) will know that I was not very happy with Bobby Cox's handling of Tim Hudson last year. Namely, the fact the Huddy would get pulled in the 7th inning, having pitched only 78 pitches, with the score 1-1. I believe we kept a counter going; we hit something like five in a row before I stopped keeping track. Well, Bobby Cox is out as manager, but the pulling is still going in. After retiring 19 straight batters and throwing only 78 pitches, Huddy was pulled. Now, I know it's early in the season, but you can't help but question this, as well as about 116 other things that happened tonight.
1) The Nationals opened up their new park, called "Nationals Park." Did you know? I, for one, did not. Now that I do know, I do not care. With this new park, and this being the first game played there, (and, technically speaking, 'Opening Night',) you would expect a pretty packed crowd. Sadly, that was not the case. I do not think the game was a sellout, as people were able to purchase tickets at the door. Furthermore, the Nationals did not match their season ticket purchases from 2005. That does not bode well. Apparently, the magic of seeing a terrible team lose games in your city is beginning to wear off. Maybe this is because...
2) The Nationals starter, for their first game of the season, was one Odalis Perez. You may remember him from such things as, "I struck out 128 in 2004 (ERA 3.26), but haven't kept an ERA under 4.50 since then." In fact, the details are even scarier. 2005 - 108IP - 4.56ERA; 2006 - 126 - 6.20; 2007 - 137 - 5.57. This isn't the guy I want starting opening day. In fact, this isn't the guy I want starting my pickup games. This promises to be an interesting war for the Nationals.
3) I have to go back to Hudson getting pulled. He had retired 19 straight batters. Had not allowed a man on base since the first inning. No walks. Three hits. And they pulled him. And, in typical Braves fashion, the sticks tied it, only for the 'pen to blow it. Heartbreaking.
4) What was MLB thinking? "Braves v. Nationals. That is a game people will want to watch." If someone can explain this reasoning, please let me know.
5) How about this gem from Nationals manager Manny Acta? "[The new park] is top-of-the-line. It's exciting to come to work every day here." Sure, Manny. I guess if managing a Major League baseball team doesn't do it for you, a new ballpark will.
Thanks for sticking around guys. Leave some comments if you are still reading. To those of you still reading on BHGM, I'll direct you, once again, to http://ballhouse.blogspot.com/. Because I'm not sure how much longer I am going to keep BHGM. Although if MLBlogs wants to offer me a lifetime free subscription, I will certainly listen. And I won't tell anybody. If you need some convincing about the economic viability of such a deal, just Google "Greatest Play of All Time."
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