Opening Day!

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 4:08 AM EDT in News

Some may have considered yesterday to be Opening Day, but the season doesn't really start for me until I see the hometown nine in action. Having to wait through everyone else's season openers was sort of like getting picked last on the playground. Well, now we get our fun. And the Blue Jays play in a domed stadium so it seems unlikely that the game will be delayed. So without any further ado, let's get on with today's game, featuring:

Your Minnesota Twins vs. The Dreaded Toronto Blue Jays

April 4, 2006
6:15 PM CDT

Today's key matchup:

Tony Batista vs. Roy Halladay

In their careers, the Batsita v. Halladay matchup looks like this:

AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Batista 24 4 1 0 1 1 0 1 .167 .167 .333

I mean, clearly, if a man with so many RBI and so many 30-HR seasons has struggled this much against Halladay, the whole offense is doomed to struggle, right?

Anyway, unless I'm unexpectedly surprised again, I'll be watching the game on mlb.tv, so if you're watching along at home, feel free to make your presence known in the comments.

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Comments

Hasn't...

...the vast majority of hitters in major league baseball struggled against Halladay?

by roger @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:30 AM EDT reply actions

Good point

What are, say, Vlad Guerrero's numbers against Halladay?

by Jlubby on Apr 4, 2006 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Vlad...

...has indeed struggled against Halladay, hitting .267/.267/.267 -- all singles, no walks. Halladay's career batting average against is .256, so Vlad's doing a little better than average by that measure.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Twins BA

The Twins have hit .204 against Halladay in his career.

by TheMattWilke on Apr 4, 2006 1:12 PM EDT reply actions

Underappreciated

I think Roy Halladay is one of, if not the most under-appreciated baseball players out there. He plays in a somewhat obscure market, he's not in the headlines for any scandals (that I recall), and he's not particularly flashy or flamboyant. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard him interviewed.

But many people expect him to be the main competition with Johan for the Cy this year. Before he got hurt last year, his numbers were REALLY good. The Twins will have to get lucky to score more than a couple runs tonight off him.

by SDfan on Apr 4, 2006 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

Halladay...

...was ranked as the top starter in the AL when I did my analysis last fall. I know several on this site commented that I didn't have enough of an emphasis on innings. After making several adjustments to innings and how to value era, Halladay was still #1, although by only 2 points. The two were substantially ahead of all other pitchers.

by roger @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice pregame montage...

I didn't catch quite the whole thing, but that was pretty classy for the Jays to have a pregame video tribute to Kirby.

It's a little weird, but I don't think I mind these Blue Man Group renditions of the national anthems. And every time I hear Oh Canada, I feel like a hockey game should follow immediately.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:11 PM EDT reply actions

Whats wrong with that?

Eh?

by roger @ Twinkie Town on Apr 5, 2006 8:26 AM EDT up reply actions

There's nothing wrong with that...

...in my book, where baseball is #1 and hockey is somewhere close behind.

by ubelmann on Apr 5, 2006 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Leadoff Single!

What does this mean for the rest of the season? Superstition experts please weigh in on this.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:20 PM EDT reply actions

Attaboy Rondell...

That's exactly the sort of thing this lineup needs. Even though Wells made an excellent play on that ball, just White's ability to hit a long fly ball with a runner on third base and less than two outs is valuable. So far, so good:

Twins 1 Jays 0
Middle of the 1st

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:26 PM EDT reply actions

So far so good

I missed the Stewart and Castillo at-bats. Good to see the Twins capitalize on a mistake.

I believe that goes down as an unearned run, right? Halladay was lucky, cuz even without the error, most CFs wouldn't have prevented a double by white like that. It ought to have been White on second with 2 out and 1 run in with Hunter at the plate.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

...the Jays' should've made the play on Mauer, but that's one of the things you're going to get with Mauer. He puts the ball in play a lot, and like Ted Williams said, there are three things that can happen when the ball goes in play, and two of them are good. Just a spectacular play by Wells, though.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Santana!

The first K of many!!!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:36 PM EDT reply actions

Santana...

...looks pretty jacked up out there. That throw to first was made a lot more quickly, and probably stronger than it would've been under normal circumstances. Hopefully his control settles down a bit, I don't like to see those 3-ball counts. (You've gotta set the bar high for someone as good as Santana.)

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:37 PM EDT reply actions

Blue Jays announcers...

...are going with MORE-no, which seems to be Justin's preferred pronunciation. And then Morneau grounds out.

Man, that Batista stance is hilarious.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:39 PM EDT reply actions

ground out

didn't see that right away

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Dang

I stepped away. What did Morneau do? And why can't I see the outs and the count and such on mlb.tv??

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:41 PM EDT reply actions

Hmmm....

I thought I could see that, but I don't think I looked, as I was following pretty closely. mlb.tv is basically just broadcasting the Blue Jays' home broadcast of the game.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:43 PM EDT reply actions

Outs/count

Looks okay to me, they're on the bar at the top of the screen.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Weird

Perhaps cuz I'm on OS X?

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe...

I'm on Windows XP with no problems. Of course, Windows Media Player seems to be mlb's player of choice, so I could see where that wouldn't work the greatest with OS X.

I think I saw something about mlb coming out with their own technology later in the season for mlb.tv so that we can watch more than one game at a time. Not sure when the ETA on that is, though.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Welcome to the American League...

...Mr. Lyle Overbay! KK-Santana

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:45 PM EDT reply actions

Castro...

...isn't helping our case to get Bartlett back here.

Meantime, I just heard them say Kielty was sent down to AAA by the A's. Wow.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:53 PM EDT reply actions

I heard...

...about Kielty a couple of days ago. It sounds like they were so worried that the rotation was going to get juggled because of potential rain on opening day that they wanted to carry an extra pitcher on the roster for the beginning of the season, and Kielty had an option year left.

The most surprising thing about that, to me, was that Kielty still had an option year left. He won't stay down there too long, the A's are too fragile to keep everyone healthy and they're also not that likely to carry that many pitchers for the whole season.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Bad Stewart, Bad!

Castro manages to overcome his inadequacies and get on base, and then Stewart goes and erases him.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:53 PM EDT reply actions

Was it just me....

...or was Kubel playing pretty shallow in RF there? I suppose there's not much reason to expect a lot of opposite field power against Santana.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 7:58 PM EDT reply actions

yeah

it did seem shallow to me

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 7:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes, Torii

We needed that.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:01 PM EDT reply actions

Pssh...

The announcers acted like Torii wasn't going to get there. He had that locked in all the way, easy. Not an easy task now with Wells up to bat.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:01 PM EDT reply actions

Okay...

...maybe not that difficult for Santana. He made that look easy. 3K's for Santana.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Huge...

...K from Johan.

I trusted Torii, but that drive did make me nervous...

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:04 PM EDT reply actions

Aparently...

...Joe has the voodoo magic going this game.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:07 PM EDT reply actions

Hehehe...

...if Mauer adds voodoo magic to his game this year, he'll easily be an MVP candidate.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions

There we go again...

...Joe puts it in play and good things happen. And then Rondell fails to advance Mauer.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:07 PM EDT reply actions

White

Rondell seems to like to swing the bat.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:08 PM EDT reply actions

Yup..

...not many walks on his resume.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions

OK

2 out, runner on 2nd, what can Justin do?

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:10 PM EDT reply actions

Well...

...apparently he can do just as much as Rondell and Torii did. Halladay does seem to be going pretty well here, I don't think it's just a case of the ass-bats. Well, I hope it's not a case of the ass-bats anyway.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions

nice...

...take on oh and two

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:11 PM EDT reply actions

but...

...not on 1 and 2

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:11 PM EDT reply actions

real nice...

...stroke by Glaus.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:15 PM EDT reply actions

That...

...looked like a pretty good pitch to me. A nice job of hitting by Glaus.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:16 PM EDT reply actions

What...

...is that black band on Glaus' leg?

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:16 PM EDT reply actions

Uh oh

I don't like the looks of this. Come on Johan. Show us your stuff to get out of the jam!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:16 PM EDT reply actions

Ack!

Not the throw from Kubel I was hoping for.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:18 PM EDT reply actions

Crap

My player froze up when it was runners at the corners. When I got it back up, Molina was rounding the bases.

Now we get to see our new offense make the come-back.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:21 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting

What, precisely is the rule about making a move to run to 2nd?

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:23 PM EDT reply actions

I'm not positive...

...but I think it's the umpire's discretion whether or not the batter-runner makes an attempt to move towards 2nd base. I think he should've been rung up there, but more than that, I think Castillo should've made that play.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions

You know....

...if I'd have been seriously looking for a matchup of the day, I should've made it Santana vs. Molina. Check out Molina's numbers against Santana going into this game:

AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA/OBP/SLG Molina 20 9 2 0 1 4 1 5 .450/.476/.700

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:24 PM EDT reply actions

Very weird...

...grab by Stewart. A sigh of relief, though.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:26 PM EDT reply actions

Stewart...

...always seems to make those catches, but he winds up twisting himself all around in weird angles. It's that above average range that keeps him from being a total drag on the defense.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:27 PM EDT reply actions

That...

...came off Kubel's bat real nice. I was getting excited until it went right to the 2nd baseman.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:29 PM EDT reply actions

Hitting

We definitely need to take some pitches next inning. Can't let Halladay off so easy like that. Thankfully we got top of the order next time.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:31 PM EDT reply actions

I've got a bad feeling about this game now...

...Halladay's locked in, and it being the first game of the season, the Jays are going to have their best guys available out of the 'pen. Another case of Santana not having any sort of margin for error. I hope I'm wrong.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:32 PM EDT reply actions

mlb.tv...

...stopped all of the sudden on me, and I had to restart the feed. Now, I can't see the bar at the top of the screen. It looks like they've given me a zoomed-in version of the wide-screen feed or something. So it was likely a problem with the feed, not the OS.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:34 PM EDT reply actions

Strange

...and when they went to the update with the studio, all I saw was the camera on some of the players on the field with no sound other than crowd noise.

After a moment, the announcers were thanking the studio folks for that update which I was not privy to...

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah...

...in some ways that's my favorite part of mlb.tv -- listening in on stuff between innings that doesn't seem like it was intended for us to hear. But yeah, my feed definitely changed from the regular TV feed with commercials and everything to the ghetto no-commercials feed that mlb.tv has sometimes.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Ubelmann

Do you live out of market? How are you getting this game on mlb.tv?

by kristocks1 on Apr 4, 2006 8:35 PM EDT reply actions

Yup...

...I grew up in Minnesota, but my career has forced me to reside in Seattle for the last couple of years.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Big ups...

...to the Jays announcers for supporting Blyleven for the HOF. Bert's so obviously a HOFer it makes my head hurt.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:37 PM EDT reply actions

Stew...

Stewart is now 3 for 7 in his career against Halladay.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:42 PM EDT reply actions

digital cable

those of you with digital cable the extra innings package is on a free preview.

by MUTT on Apr 4, 2006 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

Are you kidding me?

That looked up and away to me. OK, here comes Mauer's first HR of the year.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:44 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

...it was at least either up or away. If Halladay's getting that pitch, Castillo has an awfully rough job up there.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Mauer strikes again...

...they just can't cleanly field the balls he's putting in play.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:46 PM EDT reply actions

Voodoo

Aparently it doesn't quite do the trick on a come-backer to the mound. Just too much time for Halladay to recover to get the out.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:46 PM EDT reply actions

But...

...it did prevent the double play.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions

An excellent point

Mauer for MVP!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions

boo

wish johan had that big strike zone

by MUTT on Apr 4, 2006 8:48 PM EDT reply actions

A couple...

of very marginal strike 3 calls that inning. At least we made Halladay work to get those outs.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:49 PM EDT reply actions

That...

...was another tough pitch. It looked like it might have just barely crossed the plate at White's knees, and then the bottom dropped out. Halladay's pretty freakin' nasty.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:49 PM EDT reply actions

Definitely.

He sure is! A rather nice at-bat by Rondell, though. Too bad it only goes down as a strike out in the stats.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions

G/F

12 ground outs to 2 fly outs so far for Halladay. That's probably the best sign that he's on his game.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:51 PM EDT reply actions

Where's...

...that golden glove of Castillo's??

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:52 PM EDT reply actions

There we go

Big DP. But now that replay shows we got a big break on the call at 1st!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:56 PM EDT reply actions

The good Batista...

...giveth and then taketh away. So, the ump at first made the wrong call, but that's just because he was so dazzled with Batista's quick release and accurate throw to start that double play.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:56 PM EDT reply actions

no

hes got to locate better with 2 strikes. 3 or 4 big 2 strike hits

by MUTT on Apr 4, 2006 8:56 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

...not the Cy-tana we're used to seeing around mid-season.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course...

...his infield defense hasn't been giving him a whole lot of help today.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions

And then Batista...

...giveth right back again.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 8:56 PM EDT reply actions

I'm starting...

...to get that sinking feeling. Let's drop the ass-bats and pull out the boom boom sticks to make me happy again!!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 8:59 PM EDT reply actions

Slightly poor...

...decision making by Gardy here, I'd say. Santana's been laboring a bit lately, his pitch count is pretty high given the number of innings pitched, and it's early in the season. If Gardy was a Reed Johnson single away from pulling Santana, he should've done it before the Johnson at-bat, considering Johnson already had a hit on Santana for the day, and going into the game, Johnson was hitting .583/.615/.667 in 12 ABs against Santana.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 9:02 PM EDT reply actions

Heads up...

...by Morneau there. Too bad Castillo couldn't quite make that.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

Exciting

There's some good defense. Wasn't he out at third? Well, we didn't get an out, but certainly saved a run.

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

Rincon

A nice lookin pair of sliders, there by Juan. Nice job by wells to stay alive.

But there's the K from Juan!!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 9:06 PM EDT reply actions

Good stuff...

...by Rincon there.

Alright, I've got to go now, but hopefully the Twins find some way to come back here. It does seem pretty unlikely, though.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks

It was fun watching this game with you. Good online company.

We'll have to do it again sometime this season as I'm in the Kansas City area and will also be watching the games on mlb.tv.

I won't always be so excited as on opening day to want to be watching and commenting simultaneously. But perhaps a few times this year.

HR Batista!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 9:11 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah....

Unfortunately, life keeps me a little too busy to do this all of the time, but it is fun to do when I get the chance.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Too bad...

... that we couldn't drive in Mauer in the 4th when he was on 2nd with no outs.

by kristocks1 on Apr 4, 2006 9:14 PM EDT reply actions

ouch

brings back painful memories from '05

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Apr 4, 2006 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Stewart Homers

Now it's really too bad that they couldn't drive in Mauer

by kristocks1 on Apr 4, 2006 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions

No one has commented...

How badly Batista rubbed this thread's very existence in ubelmann's face. :)

Just thought I'd add that and the fact that 50% of the hits tonight have come from the out machines.

by TheMattWilke on Apr 4, 2006 9:25 PM EDT reply actions

You know it...

Actually, for all I've supported Batista this offseason, I'd love to see him actually come through and be okay. There were a couple plays to his left that he couldn't make that seemed makeable. We'll have to see if that becomes a theme or if it was an unlucky night. If he keeps the HRs coming, though, it'll help compensate some for the out-making.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions