Cardinals lineup
SS Rafael Furcal
2B Skip Schumaker
LF Matt Holliday
RF Carlos Beltran
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
1B Matt Carpenter
CF Shane Robinson
P Adam Wainwright
Cubs lineup
RF David DeJesus
CF Tony Campana
SS Starlin Castro
1B Bryan LaHair
LF Alfonso Soriano
3B Ian Stewart
2B Darwin Barney
C Geovany Soto
P Ironhide
Obstructed View Forum
Obstructed View is a blog created solely for entertainment and informational purposes. It is not affiliated with the Chicago Cubs or Major League Baseball in any way. The opinions on Obstructed View are not endorsed by the Chicago Cubs or Major League Baseball and do not represent their views.
Copyright © 2012 Obstructed View
stercus ad temere intempestivo temporibus
I really loathe having to root for Luke Scott.
EDIT – not too much, actually, cuz I don’t give a shit about these players off the field and I’m sure Scott’s not the only whacko. But he’s still not a savory character.
Samardzija throwing a little harder today. Saw him hit 96-97
Groundouts for first two. That’s good, yes?
Mish wrote:
Is Luke Scott really a racist asshole? There isn’t consensus in the scientific community. The media really needs to Teach The Controversy.
Last pitch to Holliday was 97.
@ Rice Cube:
Is that what gameday is recording too? WGN gun could be fast
MLBAM braindump from the end of the last thread
It looks like the mobile site ate my comment, but everyone gets the FOX games, and ESPN and TBS games are carried in all basic cable packages. There’s also MLBN and whatever local RSN, which are a little spottier in standard packages to varying degrees. MLB highlights are available on their own site, and FWIW I hate the NFL site as much as I hate mlb’s. I’ve never been to NBA/NHL since I don’t follow those sports at all.
I don’t think MLB directs teams not to do deals with local channels, I think it has more to do with how much MLB is desired by the local stations. No networks want to cut into their weekday primetime ratings (though I think NBC affiliates should push harder for live sports considering their ratings). And the big problem is volume. The NFL has it easy because it’s such a weekend sport and there’s just one a week so you don’t want to miss it. With mlb, it’s more meh with 162 games. It’s going to be a lot harder to slice up that package across various channels unless they’re all owned by the same media corp (Like the Trib with WGN/WCIU/the stake in CSN).
One other thing that I’m too lazy to look up is what the market penetration is on cable tv and other video outlets. MLB.tv has expanded to a TON of streaming platforms (basically anything that has netflix), and young people value broadband and cable tv access far, far more than older folks these days. GW has a good point with the advertising and the interwebs stuff but I think most of the younger generation has access anyway.
Then again, the entire internet flipped its shit when netflix was going to raise its fees by $3 or something so I don’t know shit about what most people want to pay for streaming video (dying laughing)
Our views could also be pretty skewed having grown up with so many free games on WGN. Growing up in the DC area you couldn’t get jack shit as far as live O’s broadcasts even if you did have cable went but fan sentiment was still very strong.
DeJesus got good wood on that pitch
What’s wrong with Wainwright? Think he’s still injured-ish?
WTF with bunt.
GW wrote:
Where exactly are these things posted, GW? I don’t visit any sites that embed NFL videos. I’m not being subjected to youtube after youtube of NFL highlights that grab my attention and make me want to be a fan. I’d guess I see more NFL videos embedded on this site than I do on all the other sites combined (that I visit). I see 50 times the number of baseball videos embedded. Probably a lot more than that. Most of the people who visit this site are already baseball fans.
That’s what I’m asking. Where exactly are these awesome advertisements that I’m apparently not seeing? Are these really advertisements? I don’t think so. I see embedded baseball videos because I visit a lot of baseball sites. I visit no NFL, NBA or NHL sites.
Here’s the only question that matters: does MLB make more money forcing people to come to MLB.com to view recent videos or would they make more money if they allowed them to be posted elsewhere? Considering how MLB has maximized their revenues over the last decade I’m going to say that they’re making more money forcing people to come to MLB.com. No sport has maximized their revenues like MLB has over the last decade. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I’ve also added it up before and forcing people to watch those videos on mlb.com generates MLB at least $5 million per year in ad revenue.
Regarding blackouts, I agree with you, but I couldn’t care less what territory MLB claims. That shit is nonsense. I expect the blackout restrictions will be lifted at some point in the near future.
Terrible call by the umpire
@ Rice Cube:
Some guys take longer to come back from TJS, especially wrt control.
Awful call, but I was surprised it was so close. Thought DeJesus would score easily.
The offspeed stuff seemed to work.
@ mb21:
I assume DeJesus was out at home?
I’m watching the Goonies instead while following on Gameday (dying laughing)
Jaime Moyer’s ERA: 2.49
Berselius wrote:
Yeah, this is baseball’s problem and I think it stems from so many teams being eliminated early on. By the end of the season you usually only have a couple teams looking for a spot.
There’s now more than one major sport and some fans have left baseball. MLB has done a good job at finding other markets, but they’ve given up on trying to attract a larger audience here. Even their inner city program is nothing more than PR in my opinion.
@ Rice Cube:
Actually he wasn’t out and he wasn’t safe. He never touched home and after Yadier jumped up to tag DeJesus before he did touch the plate the umpire called him safe. Yadier started arguing and he had every right. I really don’t know how the umpire standing over that play missed it. I saw it live. I didn’t even need replay to see that DeJesus didn’t touch home.
Looks like we got good Samardzija tonight.
@ Berselius:
4 runs in 5 innings?
@ mb21:
Probably more like 0 runs in 5 innings, 6 runs in 6 innings
Couldn’t F7 at least cut his ridiculous fucking hair?
@ mb21:
No. Today is a good day to pitch.
/Klingon joke
@ mb21:
Just saw the replay via Gameday. That’s a terrible call, but I’ll take it (dying laughing)
I will also argue once again for instant replay review.
@ Rice Cube:
Robot umpires please
Rice Cube wrote:
very curious about this myself.
mb21 wrote:
right, but there is a tradeoff between maximizing revenue currently and capturing the attention of casual fans (not you). and they are ads in the strictly classical sense of getting people interested in the product. this has been explained to stern, and thus youtube is filled with nba highlights that get millions of views, often by people who would not otherwise see them, myself included.
do you think it would be wise for mlb to restrict any mention of its teams outside of mlb.com domains? (not they could do that, mind you, but lets assume for the moment). should they host one cubs blog and try to shut the rest of them down? should they restrict all baseball news to their own domain? these things woud surely maximize revenue in the short term. they would also be retarded.
Have you noticed that the pitch marked “slider” from F7 is straight up and down and has almost no horizontal movement?
Barney is pretty damn fast at getting rid of the ball.
I think Beckett just got tossed for bitching at the umpire.
Edit: I guess not.
Rice Cube wrote:
i’ve been very amused lately by everyone blaming obama for everything, no matter how ridiculous the connection. so it’s probably his fault somehow.
I just turned the game on. How is Samardzija looking?
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Change you can believe in.
Rice Cube wrote:
just noticed that pittsburgh’s obp is .249. holy shit is that not good.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Looking pretty good. Velocity is up, cutter working.
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
Not-so-average speed at work.
@ Rice Cube:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/black-guy-asks-nation-for-change,2409/
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing)
Pujols is now: .235/.288/.338
@ ACT:
BUST
Looked like F7 just jammed Holliday way inside.
GW wrote:
Basketball is seen as more exciting than baseball.
GW wrote:
Obviously that would be stupid, but I’m fairly sure MLB has done the analysis here. Maybe they reached the wrong conclusions. I don’t know, but I’m not willing to say they’ve made an obvious error. Especially not when you factor in the way in which they’ve raised revenues over the last 10 years.
Like I said at the beginning of this discussion, as long as I can watch the games I just don’t care about this stuff. I usually avoid any of these discussions because taking part in them assumes I really care and I don’t. I give zero fucks about MLB’s blackout restrictions, their video policy or their new gif policy. If at some point I’m no able to get as many games as I do now I may feel differently, but at the moment, this is just a waste of time for me. 1) MLB doesn’t care what I think and 2) I’m perfectly happy with how things are. I’m not going to be any more pleased if they get rid of the blackout restrictions or change their video policy.
I also don’t care if MLB is creating a situation in which there will be fewer fans. I’m going to be dead before that’s a major issue. Not to mention there are some obvious ways to make the game more entertaining (speeding it up, DH in both leagues). MLB doesn’t care. It’s also not like I’ve spent the majority of my life watching good baseball. I am a Cubs fan. (dying laughing)
@ EnricoPallazzo:
The Pirates don’t have much offense.
XBH!
I can now tell my kid that I was watching when Soriano got his first extra base hit of 2012. (dying laughing)
Soriano finally gets his first XBH
Goddammit Stewart.
Wainwright is all of a sudden Nolan f’n Ryan…
What a fucking CHC situation. 2 &3 nobody out, 2 K’s on 6 pitches
I’m calling a grand slam for F7 here.
Marlon Byrd got a hit.
F7 —> grand slam
/wishful thinking
@ mikeakaleroy:
Nice.
That was fucking pathetic (dying laughing)
Recalcitrant Blogger Nate wrote:
Site fail….there is an ad at the bottom of this page to purchase Cards World Series gear…
Recalcitrant Blogger Nate wrote:
Rice Cube wrote:
@ mikeakaleroy:
#winning
F7 has some really good stuff tonight
So. Good F7.
Hell Samardzija looks good tonight
@ mikeakaleroy:
This post mentions the Cardinals so that’s why it’s there.
@ mb21:
Figured as much, but still… Maybe we should talk about boobs and beer for better ads. (dying laughing)
Damn, it’s easy to get TOOTBLAN’d by Molina, but why test that arm?
tootblan. and campana can’t bunt for shit despite the tournament
I hate this bunt so much.
What a TOOTBLAN
True Cubs. Double with no outs, and the end of the inning 4 pitches later.
Wainwright hung clown shoes on Castro in that PA
@ mikeakaleroy:
He wasn’t trying to. Campana missed the bunt.
@ Berselius:
I love how he pitched backwards; 2 nasty curves, then a 92-mph fastball.
@ ACT:
I maintain that they should not have been bunting. If Campana is a fucking auto-out, DON’T BAT HIM SECOND.
FUCK.
Whatever Gameday is calling a “slider” still shows no horizontal movement.
Oh wait, that was a hanging slider and it sort of moved a bit (dying laughing)
Wow he just made Holliday look foolish.
@ Rice Cube:
I’d rather have Barney 2nd than Campana. I have some confidence in Barney’s ability to make contact.
Whoa, looks like F7 is kinda good again.
Rice Cube wrote:
I actually don’t have a problem with Campana bunting some of the time, given who he is (his bunt attempts are too predictable, though). That said, he’s quite bad at hitting and shouldn’t be starting very often let alone hitting high in the order.
ACT wrote:
(dying laughing)
So far…
55 strikes, 19 balls.
RC –> wow
Okay, now the slider is starting to slide. Cool.
Darvish has held NYY scoreless into the 6th
Great start for samardzija so far. Pitches have a lot of movement
Bullpen —> Cubs lose?
Samardzija’s mullet twin gets them out of the inning.
Edit: My bad. wasn’t paying attention and thought Russel was in. Plus I’m drunk.
What a great throw by that Cards pitcher
So wait a minute. We’ll double-switch in like the fifth inning to get our best hitter out of the game but won’t do it in the bottom of the seventh to protect Darwin Barney? Not that we need to see more than one batter of Shawn Camp, but…I dunno.
minor league thread is ready for tomorrow MD. I wont be around in the morning.
I’m also surprised they haven’t subbed out Soriano for defense
i know how this is going to end
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
He preemptively shut you right up.
@ Rice Cube:
Now he actually shut you right up.
Off Topic Comment: If anyone is wondering what happened to Corey Patterson, I get to see him in Des Moines leading off for the Nashville Sound against the iCubs on Thursday. Anyone have a message for him?
(dying laughing)
Cubs.
mb21 wrote:
I don’t think they have a clue. Every move they make smacks of the lawyers having the reins. I think they saw $ signs after they released mlb.tv and have been focused on squeezing that ever since. MLB.tv has jumped in price such that you might as well get extra innings now. They tried to shut down fantasy baseball, which has to be the major driver of their mlb.tv subscriptions (along with transplants). Their blackout zones are inane. And the vehemence with which they go after video clips is staggering.
Well, shit
Is there anyone who didn’t see that coming?
We came back last night, we can do it again!
/sarcasm
@ GW:
I don’t think mlb.tv’s price has changed in the past few years. Maybe just the added “premium” tier when they started streaming in HD
@ mikeakaleroy:
They haven’t used Mather yet, so no worries.
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
This bullpen is so bad
it’s to the point where i’m actually surprised they haven’t gone after the bloggers. i think if they had to do it all over, they would keep all the reporters out of the clubhouse save for those from the team website.
Bowden warming up.
Heard someone yelling, “You suck!” on the radio.
@ GW:
They did shut down Cubscast sometime in the last year or so, not sure if it was under their “express written consent” boilderplate or not
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
I thought Holliday would draw a walk. Then again, that’s always my prediction with Marmol.
@ Berselius:
hmmm… well i can’t say for sure regarding that, but i seem to remember getting it for in the neighbohood of forty bucks a few years back. (and had my subscription autorenewed, despite cancellation)
They should’ve pinch-hit for Campana.
@ Berselius:
yep. forgot about that.
darvish has been ridiculous
Great outing by Darvish. Against the best offense in baseball, no less.
Bowden in!
That inning when DeJesus lead off with a double and got picked off, they should have scored, as well as the one where they had 2 and 3 with nobody out
Everybody following this one closely? It’s had doom written over it the entire time.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Yup.
Bowden was DFA’d? The best the Cubs could do for Byrd is someone who was DFA’d? The Cubs probably should have waited until Byrd turned things around.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Not much you can do about that pickoff though. Campana bunted right through the ball.
@ mb21:
Well, he’s pitching for the Cubs, which is kind of like pitching for the iCubs.
starlin had a bad night
@ mb21:
I’m starting to think Campana might not be very good at his job.
GW wrote:
agreed. it’s easy to assume that they must know what they are doing since there is so much $ at stake but they have proven us wrong on that many times.
@ mb21:
Plus a PBTNL!!!1!
darvish out for the 9th
I’ll be laughing when Bowden establishes himself as the setup guy, when he wasn’t good enough to stick in the awful Boston pen.
Darvish is back on the mound in the ninth.
Danger! Danger!
@ ACT:
You can’t second guess Sveum’s lineups though. Didn’t you get the memo from Rogers?
@ mb21:
It sort of sounded like the Red Sox wanted to keep him, but then again if they did, why would they have traded him?
@ mb21:
yeah, seems like a little extra love for the guy they picked and developed
mb21 wrote:
huh? i thought lopez got DFA’d so bowden could take his place?
mb21 wrote:
He forgot to put on the cover sheet, so I wasn’t sure what to make of it
/TPS
Royals = 12 straight losses, and have somehow moved up to 1st in the SI power rankings.
BABIP smiles upon the Cubs. Sort of.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Yeah, I’m confused too.
Strike out instead of a lineout and he could have applied to be the new Marmol.
They had to complete the trade first and then DFA’d Rodrigo Lopez to make room. Bowden was DFA’d by Boston a few days ago before the trade and I guess that was within that period where he could be traded.
GW wrote:
You were better off getting MLBEI before. I’d rather pay 3 times as much to get EI than mlb.tv. Fortunately it’s not even close to 3 times more.
LaHair!
LAHAIR ZOMFG
The Coif!!
LAHAIR
Fuck yeah!
LABOMB
LaHair is a badass
@ Rice Cube:
ah. gotcha.
i like bryan lahair
he should honestly work at LF before every game
Corners!
an error by the shortstop works in our favor???? huh. kind of forgot that was possible.
Two nights in a row. It’s going to happen.
Mather time (dying laughing)
@ GW:
Which is kind of funny because one of the arguments against Hendry was that he loved his own players. I don’t know how good Bowden is. The numbers look OK and it’s probably not a bad return for Byrd, but he was DFA’d. I’d rather the Cubs have taken a chance that he’d clear waivers. I don’t like the idea of selling low on a player and getting a DFA’d player in return. Why not wait a month for Byrd to rebound? If he does you’re going to get more. If he doesn’t, you’re going to get the same return.
Glass half full approach:
2nd night in a row the Cubs have really tamed the best offense in the NL.
@ mb21:
yup
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
Lopez was DFA’d. The Red Sox DFA’d Bowden on April 15th. If no team claims him after 10 days Bowden is free to sign with any team. If a team claims him the Sox can pull him back, let the team take him or work out a trade. My guess is that if the Cubs claimed Bowden they could have gotten him for less than Byrd. You usually don’t see an established MLB player traded for someone who was just DFA’d. Weird.
Fuckin’ Mather, he’s done nothing lately.
Bullpen game. Ugh.
GBTS wrote:
Trade him for a DFA’d reliever!
@ GBTS:
He’s been white.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
I doubt they’re the best without Berkman in the lineup.
James Russell didn’t suck.
@ Rice Cube:
JR is pretty great in relief. the starting thing? Epic disaster
@ mb21:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xinzdo_it-ain-t-easy-being-white-it-ain-t-easy-bein-brown_shortfilms
Steal all three.
Safe……?
I know Campana was successful, but stealing on Molina is generally not a smart idea and that close call is a good demonstration why that is.
Replay review would have kept Matheny in the game.
mb21 wrote:
It’s possible that Bowden was DFA’d with the knowledge that this deal would get done, and the Sox used the ten-day window (I think) where a team can stash a guy in DFA limbo to fill some other roster need. I think stuff like that happens on a semi-regular basis.
As for the return on the deal, I think at least part of the reason for making the trade is likely that the Cubs were doing Byrd a favor by trading him to an ostensible contender, or for some other reason that Byrd might have requested. Favors like that are done not only for players, but also sometimes at the request of agents who a team might want to maintain a relationship with.
Also, I think that some trades include PTBNLs that are contingent on the performance of a player post-trade. In this instance, the Red Sox might have provided more than one list of acceptable players to the Cubs — perhaps one to be used in the event that Byrd continues to suck, and one to be used if he’s good from here on out.
I don’t know if any of these things are a factor here, but stuff like that does happen, especially in low-stakes deals like this one. Given the relationship between the front office principals, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to the deal than meets the eye.
2 big breaks for the Cubs tonight.
@ Rice Cube:
so would better concussion treatments.
uncle dave wrote:
*inserts another Transformers joke*
meep meep
@ Berselius:
Maybe he needed that Great Gazoo helmet.
@ uncle dave:
All good points, Dave.
Third K of the day for Castro.
re: campana being safe
good call or bad call? i don’t have a tv.
Berselius wrote:
The jokes tell themselves at this point.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Pat and Keith made it sound really really close. Keith thinks he was safe.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Bad call after the replay, but prior to it not bad. It’s one of those calls that could either way so I’d definitely not call it a bad call by the umpire. Greene did a great job of blocking the bag with his foot, but the umpire missed it.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Bad call. Green blocked the bag from Campana with his foot
I have to admit that I really enjoy watching Molina catch. Watching him throw is fun too, but has the best receiving skills I’ve ever seen.
Sori!
@ mb21:
He’s stepped up his game offensively in the past few years too
ZOMFG
back to back walk-offs. Fun.
fuck yeah
Bad defense, or hit so hard he couldn’t catch it?
first series win of the year
first series win
@ mb21:
He’s awesome. I had a friend who’s a Cardinals fan give me a “meh” on Molina, and thought they should have let him go FA. I couldn’t believe it, honestly.
Looking forward to the reaction from Baseball’s Best Fans.
@ Berselius:
Yep. I remember when he was an automatic out, but he’s not that anymore. He’s just a good ballplayer.
Good game tonight. Really good start from F7. Marmol set up the game tying home run for LaHair and the eventual game winner by Soriano. I wish every game was like the last two. (dying laughing)
@ mb21:
Watching the replay on Castro’s sac fly. It was funny, because it looked like DeJesus missed the plate and Molina missed the tag. DeJesus then calmly walks around Molina and steps on the plate, while Yadi argued.
Samardzija’s FIP is microscopic.
(dying laughing)
When do playoff tickets go on sale
Well that never gets old.
Saw DeJesus’s pickoff. He’d have been better off to just break for 3rd.
@ Cubcaddy:
2025
@ mb21:
Oh, indeed.
@ Berselius:
After the Orchid Wars AND the second Chinese War? When the Earth is but a barren ball of chalk and the only human is Wiqui, the monkey that remembers being a man?
Sounds about right.
@ ACT:
I thought Campana was supposed to be faster than that. Molina is pretty awesome though.
dj’s minor league thread is up: http://www.obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/the-children-are-the-future-cubs-minor-league-update-sponsored-by-advil.html
Then he traveled down to the wires climbing out from his hospital gown. “What do these do?”"They keep track of Longchamp taschenmy heart beat.”"Make sure it stumm works?”"Yes.”Little fingers traced the IV. “And this?”"It gives me medicine, right into my blood.”"So it doesn’t taste bad?”"Right.”Cameron frowned a Longchamp taschenmoment. Longchamp taschen outlet http://www.longchampslongchamptaschen.com%2