The Defensive Specialist had it all planned out this
past week:
Step 1: make a series of awesome predictions that
would allow numerous people to bet their life savings and retire early.
Step 2: bypass Friday night’s Blue Sox / Aces contest
because Chris Oxspring was going for the Sydneysiders and you can almost guess
what his line is going to look like.
Step 3: head to Blacktown Olympic Park on Saturday and
catch 2 games of solid baseball.
Step 4: bypass game 4 of the Blue Sox / Aces contests
in order to take baby daughter to her first Christmas party and secure gorgeous
photos of her with Santa.
Lets just say that the plan did not run as smoothly as
the Defensive Specialist had hoped. To start with the series predictions were
just an embarrassment:
Heat
Vs Bandits: The Defensive Specialist called a series sweep to the Heat on their
home soil. The Bandits had other ideas, splitting the series 2-2 and keeping
the third game tighter than bark on a tree, only to lose on a walk off jack.
We’ve talked up Brisbane’s pitching of late but manager Dave Nilsson will be
pleased as punch with the offensive output of his boys who thoroughly out-hit
the Heat across the series. The Heat would have to be disappointed continually
splitting series at home because it makes life tougher having to head out on
the road needing to win 3 out of 4 to stay competitive.
Bite
Vs Multiculturalists: Ok so this one was a total Defensive Specialist
abortion. Your old pal suggested that Adelaide would take 3 games. Well they
definitely took it – directly in the rear passage for 3 games! Have we finally
seen the awakening of the Multiculturalists who took it directly to the league
leaders and left them battered and bruised in the nations capital? Donald Lutz
and the lads put on their hitting shoes this weekend outscoring the Bite 20-8
while the pitching staff put the clamps on what has been the most prolific
hitting line-up this season. Manager Tony Harris will be staring at himself in
the mirror, searching for answers after a sickening weekend in Canberra.
Aces
Vs Blue Sox: Ok, this one kind of redeemed things - well not really. The Defensive Specialist called a
2-2 result and we ended up with a 2-0-1, which will have American readers
scratching their heads and wondering how the hell a baseball game ended up a
drawn contest. With weather playing a factor and drawing out the game time, the
Melbourne boys needed to hit the airport in order to get out of town so they
game was called in the 9th all tied up. Both managers have to be
wondering where all the offense has gone as the squads combined to plate 9 runs
over 3 games.
The Defensive Specialist did manage to execute Step 2
in the plan, successfully not attending game 1 of the series as Oxspring went
head to head against Adam Blackley. The Aces actually out-hit the Blue Sox, but
in the end this was a pitching dual.
Step 3 went pair shaped fairly significantly. The
Defensive Specialist took his seat in the members section as the Aces took
infield outfield. Coach Damien Shanahan stole a glance into the stands, noticed
the Defensive Specialist and abruptly walked off the field without attempting a
catcher’s pop up. Perhaps this angered the Baseball Gods because before the
Blue Sox could even take the field, the skies opened and delivered an absolute
deluge on the yard that had the infield cut-out looking like a swamp. The first
game was called off almost immediately with the second game postponed to 8pm.
As the rain kept coming and the field remained soggy, the second game was
cancelled and a double header was scheduled for Sunday.
This presented a quandary for the Defensive Specialist
who had parenting responsibilities lined up for Sunday. You don’t become
Superdad without doing the hard yards so the Defensive Specialist made the
tough call to skip seeing any baseball over the weekend and introduced his
daughter to Santa for the first time. Seeing her little smile more than made up
for missing a 9-inning ball game that ended up in a tie!
Enough of the Defensive Specialist lowering his guard
and appearing anything less than hard-ass. So what do we make out of all this?
Well firstly the Defensive Specialist may have to stop trying to predict
winners because it’s disheartening to screw up so badly every week. The upside
however is that perhaps there is greater parity in this league than we first
thought. The Multiculturalists and Bandits were written off by most experts
before the season commenced as being also rans with Perth, Sydney, Melbourne
and Adelaide expected to battle it out in the top 4. What we’re seeing is all 6
teams flashing the ability to mix it up across a 4 game series, which is great
for the league and its fans.
So that’s how the Defensive Specialist will defend his
picks – parity across the teams!
Anyway, the Defensive Specialist expects the Aces to
improve and is worried for the league if the top of the table Blue Sox ever
decide that they’re going to start hitting as their 43 runs scored is the
lowest in the league despite a 10-4 record which speaks wonders for the strength
of their pitching staff.
Unless some sugar daddy decides they want to pony up
the cash to fly the Defensive Specialist around the country, the next live
action of 2010 will be on December 30th as the Blue Sox take on the
Heat in Perth. Do not fret however, the Defensive Specialist will continue to
fill the internet with baseball knowledge, as only he can..
2-0-1 i think u meant
ReplyDeletePompous ass
ReplyDeleteLast week we were all wondering where the dominance of the Blue Sox Ptching had gone, even the DS had his doubts.
ReplyDelete"For the second week in a row, the Blue Sox have demonstrated that their once feted pitching staff has a couple of holes in it. The arms that the Sydney squad has on its roster are impressive but have not consistently delivered across a full series in back to back weeks. Wayne Lundgren has been roughed up in his last 2 outings, surrendering almost a run per inning while staff ace Chris Oxspring showed a slight speed wobble in his last start (which will fill many hitters hearts with hope). David Welch regained form with an outstanding appearance but was questionable in the 2 previous and Vaughn Harris was excellent in his first start of the year. Matt Williams got the prison shower treatment in relief on the weekend although the defense behind him did not help his cause. If the Blue Sox can put it all together they have the best staff in the league – the question is consistency."
I guess now that the Blue Sox are firmly on top of the heap while while the pitchers are getting little to no run support shows just how good they are, and the fact they KEEP winning without any offense proves that they are consistent. If a hitter goes 3 for 4 five games in a row then has an 0 for before turning in two 3 for 5 games people would laugh if you said they were inconsistent yet when the Blue sox staff throws out gem after gem and then stumbles in one or two games consistency is an issue? I think not.
I think that the biggest head ache Blue Sox manager Glenn Williams has is trying to spark the offence. He is obviously trying to mix things up a little to try to find the right balance moving Denning down the line up and inserting the boss man on Saturday while dropping Schmutter into the three hole. It seems whatever Williams tries is not working and I for one can't figure out why the Sox offense is struggling to score runs, or how Williams has any hair left. Every one of the positional players on the roster can swing it and they have a great balance of power, contact and speed so to me its only a matter of time until the Sox start winning games 8 - 2 instead of 1- 0
I think Williams needs to pick one line up to go against righties and one to go against lefties and stick with it as much as possible so guys can get comfortable and make changes as the game goes on.
It may sound simplistic, but while sometimes you get results by keeping the pressure on and making guys play for their spots, other times you get results by letting them feel relaxed so they can go about their business. May just be time for a change of tact.
I certainly don't profess to know more than Williams about his ball club or the great game of baseball but something needs to happen so the Sox can start scoring 6 - 7 runs a game and take some pressure off the arms.