Wednesday’s Quick Hits

It is just past 6:30pm on the east coast, the Nationals are up on the San Francisco Giants, and I may actually be awake to see the end.  I guess G.K. Chesterton was right when he said that the most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.  Anyhoo, enough about my old-man struggles at the tender age of 33.  Let’s roll out a Wednesday edition of quick hits:

  • Sure, Madison Bumgarner throttled the Nats lineup last night, and Brandon Belt did most of the damage at the plate.  But like Harry Reid, facts be damned. I knew given how well Washington has been playing, the Giants must have been cheating.  And well, what do we have here: Giants OF Cabrera suspended for positive drug test.  Amateur hour at the comedy club aside, this news shouldn’t really come as a complete shock to any baseball fan.  The fact that Melky Cabrera, Melky Cabrera was being talked about as a possible National League MVP candidate, on the heels of last year’s breakout season that also came out of the blue, should have been so brazen a sign that even a Kardashian would have blushed using it.  I guess it is just as true today as it has always been.  If it is too good to be true, it probably is.
  • I know.  Just what you want to read more about.  Stephen Strasburg and the great innings watch.  Please God let me read more about what Kate Middleton (erm, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) wore to the closing ceremonies of the Olympics!  Anything but Strasburg and pitch counts!  But I must.  From Will Carroll of SI.com, a writer I respect a lot for his coverage of medical issues, comes this great little blurb: Strasburg plan little better than educated guess. And again, the money quote:

All in all, lowered innings totals don’t automatically equal health, and similar pitchers have gone more innings without apparent issue. Without the benefit of data, the Nats (and the rest of these teams) are guessing. That’s not good enough.

Okay.  I’m done with beating the supposed dying arm of Strasburg.  Well, at least for tonight.

  • Oh, and I just finished watching Felix Hernandez pitch a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Don’t worry, I’ve got the Nats on my computer.  Back to King Felix.  On days like today, he sure does wear that nickname well.  However, is it just me, or do the Rays seem to get a no-hit every two months?

Okay Sean Burnett.  Back-to-back hits allowed to the Giants in the bottom of the eighth.  Interesting strategy to hold on to the Nats four-run lead.  Like the Pence ground out.  More conventional.  I guess this is my sign to wrap this column up.

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