At least Wayne Franklin looked good. Takes a little sting out of the fact that Scott Linebrink got the win. Damn you, winds of fate!
Trevor Hoffman hasn't impressed me. The umpires seem to like him, though, as evidenced by the NBA-like strike he got on what should have been Neifi Perez's second walk of the game. Yes, you read that right. But it was Michael Tucker who felt generous later in the inning, making two feeble third-swings to strike out and end the game.
After seeing parts of two games at the new stadium (which Kuiper started calling the Animal House), I have drawn the hasty conclusion that it is going to drive the pitchers and the hitters nuts. Klesko is already talking to himself after crushing some balls that didn't even reach the warning track. And the outfield is huge, like Coors, so unless you've got three gazelle in the outfield (Klesko, Payton, and Giles ain't) there are going to be a lot of balls dropping in. Already there's talk of bringing in the fences. OK, so that was from Bip Roberts, so caveat emptor.
Speaking of Bip, I'm really hoping that his performance will finally kill off the dumb idea of the baseball "sideline reporter." The problem with having guys near the field is that the TV directors feel obligated to put them on the air even when they have nothing worthwhile to say. When Rueter got nailed in the arm by that Nevin comebacker in the second, Krukow and Kuiper watched the replays, deduced what happened, and discussed how it would effect him, physically and mentally. It was typically good Kruk & Kuip kind of stuff. After Woody checked out OK and the game started up again, they sent it down to Bip on the field, who reported -- I'm not making this up --
Hey guys, uh, in that situation right there Rueter caught a line drive right in the wrist, right under the glove. So he took a line shot right off that wrist. But he's a tough guy, and he's going to hang in there. Back to you guys.Wow. Thanks, Bip.
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