Detroit 11, Kansas City 2
Royal Record: 0-1

well, that was certainly ugly on monday, huh? while lima is not really our best pitcher, considering it was in Detroit and he was basically brought in because he had some name recognition among casual fans and a fiery attitude, I don't see much wrong with throwing him out there. except the pitching thing. I like sisco hitting dmitri young, I like pickering hitting a home run, and that's about all there is about that.

Kansas City 7, Detroit 2
Royal Record: 1-1

today, on the other hand, was much better. a good pitching performance by Hernandez, an excellent start with timely hitting by Dejesus, graffanino and Sweeney, berroa smacking a home run early in the season – pretty damn good. while i'm sure someone could dig up some type of complicated formula that would show hernandez was, in fact, the absolute worst pitcher to throw a game yet this season, that's not really my area of expertise, and i'm content to say he did (as stated above) pretty damn good. the only real trouble today was affeldt giving up a run in his one inning of work, which could have easily been two with a little less luck. for some reason, no matter how spectacular his stuff is, I'm afraid affeldt (no matter how much I would like him to) just, apparently, never seems to get it. I can't see him remaining in the "closer" role for very long – in fact, I have a hard time picturing him ever really being effective. he's been around for a few years now, and it's consistently the same story. not a happy one, either.

* * * * *

part of the (very long) entry I alluded to monday had to do with a bit of explanation regarding my previous stumbling little entry about my buddy mr. neyer – mainly, the idea I wanted to get across was that I don't, in fact, hate sabermetrics in general (wouldn't want to drive any of you off, you know). in an effort to implement my new-found fondness for brevity (I'm trying to keep these things shorter), here's a simple explanation: basically, I agree wholeheartedly with most of the ideas saber guys put forth and buy into (note I said "most"). I just can't stand most of the guys that "practice" it.

currently, most of the new ideas I see being created are WAY too complicated and ridiculously overreaching to actually mean anything, and most people I come across that have caught on to the saber-ish style of analysis are just as bad as "traditional" baseball guys –they'll accept anything thrown at them by certain glorified people, and will openly defy questioning any conventional wisdom brought forth from the saber crowd (while still complaining loudly when traditional guys can't see past "old baseball" ideas). I have nothing against saber-types in general. I'm for *all types* of analysis, as long as it's good.

I might have an entry about the fiasco joining the local adult baseball league has become if I have time, though I'll be in Detroit from thursday – monday. of course it's one day too late to catch the royals. dammit..

anyway, that's basically it.

carry on,
joe blow