FanHouse JohnnyVanderMeer

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

St. Louis Cardinals (30-21) at Los Angeles Dodgers (25-23) - 4:10 PM ET

Yeah, so I gave this matchup top billing for the second day in a row, which exposes a severe lack of imagination on my part. For that, I apologize. But really, you should watch this game if you want to check out Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw making his major league debut. Kershaw is such a prized prospect for the Dodgers, that they put out a decree to keep him under 25 innings a month at AA Jacksonville to prepare him for a pennant run in L.A. And he's been great down on the farm so far, putting up a 2.34 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP while averaging over a strikeout an inning. And in his 42 and 1/3 innings of work in AA, he has given up a grand total of zero home runs. For a Dodger rotation which has been slogging along lately (Derek Lowe has one quality start since April 12th, and Brad Penny's last quality start was April 26th), this team could use Kershaw to become the next big thing.

I already mentioned the fact that Justin Verlander is going for his second straight no-hitter this afternoon in the On Deck, but that was before I came across this story. If he does somehow do it, he'll only be the second person in the history of the game to throw consecutive no-hitters.

Who was the first? It was Johnny Vander Meer who did it pitching for the Reds in 1938. If you didn't know, don't worry about it too much. Verlander had no idea either.

"Don't know anything about the guy," he said about Vander Meer. "Never heard of him."

So if Verlander throws another one today, and you hear him in the postgame talking about what an honor it is to follow up Vander Meer, don't buy it. He'll be full of crap.

It's hard to blame Verlander, or anyone, for being unaware of who Vander Meer was. If he hadn't thrown those consecutive no-hitters, I'm guessing none of us would know who he was. In his thirteen seasons, Vander Meer finished with a record of 119-121 with a 3.44 ERA, nothing spectacular.

There are some coincedences between Verlander and Vander Meer. First will start with their names, as they both feature the JV initials, and their last names end in -er. Whoa, eerie.

There's also the fact that both debuted in the Majors at the age of 22. Also, just like Vander Meer, Verlander's first no-hitter came in June of his second season. Finally, Verlander's wife's mom's friend's cousin has the last name Vander Meer, while Vander Meer's wife's mother's hairdresser's dog was named Verlander.

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of scared now.

Previously at The Fanhouse:
On Deck: Verlander!
Fan's Eye View of Justin Verlander's No-No
Justin Verlander: 000 000 000 0 0 0

The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups


Kansas City Royals (6-12) vs. Chicago White Sox (9-8)-8:05PM Est.

The last time we saw Mark Buehrle was Wednesday night when he no-hit the Texas Rangers, and was one walk shy of a perfect game. Tonight Buehrle could become the first pitcher since Johnny Vander Meer in 1938 to throw consecutive no-hitters. He's totally going to do it too. It won't be easy though, because the Royals just took 2 of 3 from the Twins, and send $55 million man Gil Meche to the mound.


Florida Marlins (8-10) vs. Atlanta Braves (12-6)-7:05PM Est.

Right now Dontrelle Willis is at the hospital with his wife as she gives birth to the D-Train's first child. Unless something goes wrong there, he'll be celebrating his newfound status as a father on the mound against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves just took 2 of 3 at Shea Stadium, but have lost 10 of their last 14 games in Miami. Which probably means they're hoping the Marlins get that new stadium.


Los Angeles Angels(9-9) vs. Detroit Tigers (10-8)-10:05PM Est.

Jered Weaver makes his second start of the season for the Angels, and he's hoping it goes better than his first. The Halos are playing a lot better than they were in that game though, as they just swept the Mariners at home, and scored 21 runs in the three games. A lot better than they performed last weekend. It also proves that the Angels are a lot better team at home(8-2, 1-7 on road), which could prove problematic for Mike Maroth and the Tigers.