What a terrible time to be a relief pitcher. We're only a month and a half into the season and already people are being pulled out of position for poor performance, scolded for showing emotion, and blamed for managerial jobs being put on the line. The worst examples of this have been St. Louis's Jason Isringhausen and Milwaukee's Eric Gagné.
In today's Dugout, we discuss the many reasons how and why St. Louis's Jason Isringhausen and Milwaukee's Eric Gagné are the worst examples. Oh boy, are they a couple of bad examples.
(Oh yeah, and if you don't get Izzy's screen name, say his last name out loud slowly.)
We're a little late on the Spring Dugz tonight (consider it "Autumn Dugz") and the topic isn't technically the St. Louis Cardinals, but we can never resist these baseball noir, or any chance to give a guest appearance to our most successful and longest-running NPC the Lady Cop. Not since the woman ran out a grits have we needed her so badly.
Scott Spiezio. What else can be said? The guy is a grade-A douchebag and deserves every bad thing that comes to him. I hope he gets the help he needs in real life as much as anybody else, but moreso I hope he gets all the kicks to the ass he needs in real life. I wish there was some sort of futuristic cyborg LadyCop who could choke back.
After the jump: not a heck of a lot about training during Spring. But hey.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Pittsburgh Pirates (4-2) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (2-4)-1:35PM Est.
It's only a week into the season, but seriously, how many of you thought the Pirates would be in first place and the Cardinals would be in last place at this point? Raise your hands. If you raised your hand, you are a liar and should be ashamed of yourself. What would your mother say? Anyway, it's a matchup of Ian Snell and Braden Looper. Snell was fantastic in his first start of the season against Houston, and Looper was decent against the Mets. Now whether or not Snell will experience the same success against the Cardinals now that Albert's got his groove back, that's a whole different story.
Chicago Cubs (3-3) vs. Houston Astros (1-5)-2:20PM Est.
It's the Cubs home opener, and Wrigley Field is sure to be packed. Unfortunately, I'm guessing the majority of that bleacher talent won't be there seeing how it's going to be 38 degrees with possible flurries at game time. The only thing colder than the Chicago weather is the Houston offense. The Astros have managed to score a whole 16 runs in their first six games. Will they be able to get their 2.7 runs a game against Ted Lilly? It won't be easy if Lilly pitches like he did in Cincinnati last week.
Minnesota Twins (4-1) vs. New York Yankees (2-3)-ESPN 7:05PM Est.
This game has an interesting pitching matchup, but not in any way that involves actual pitching. No. It's the pitchers themselves. There's the heartbroken Carl Pavano who struggled on opening day, and then there's the possibly drunk, judge-punching Knight of the Aruban Round Table himself, Sidney Ponson, making his debut as a Twin. I'm guessing both will throw no-hitters because that's just the way things work in baseball.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
San Francisco Giants (1-2) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2)-10:15PM Est.
You know how when two rivals meet, announcers tell you to "throw out the record books!" That's one of the dumbest things announcers say. First of all, if you throw out the record books then how in the hell is anyone supposed to know who's in first place? Second of all, who the hell keeps records in a book? Ever heard of the internet? Anyway, throw out the record books when the Giants and Dodgers meet, because all either of these teams care about is beating each other!
Chicago White Sox (1-2) vs. Minnesota Twins (3-0)-8:11PM Est.
Here's another series starting tonight between two division rivals. The White Sox and Twins have been fighting each other for the AL Central for years now, all the way back to when the Tigers were losing 100 games a season. It seems like every time these teams meet, something exciting happens. With Carlos Silva and Javier Vazquez on the mound, that excitement will probably come in the form of 600-foot home runs.
Houston Astros (0-3) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (0-3)-8:10PM Est.
Remember a few seasons ago when these two teams were fighting for a National League pennant against each other? Well tonight's game won't be anything like that. Nope, instead we're gonna get two teams that are yet to win a game this season. How exciting. If for nothing else, I suggest you watch just in case Brad Lidge has to face Albert Pujols in the 9th inning again. Have you ever seen a pitcher wet himself on the mound?
the Dodgers decided to have their entire team wear uniform No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in tribute to the late Hall of Famer who broke baseball's color barrier while wearing Dodger Blue.
Check out Sons of Steve Garvey who obtained a sneak peak at the Dodgers scoreboard for that night. Additionally, Juan Pierre and Marlon Anderson will conduct a youth clinic at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in South Central Los Angeles the previous day. While there's no possible way for baseball to thank and honor Jackie Robinson enough for what he went through and endured in paving the way for many future black players, the Dodgers are certainly making their attempts.
Furthermore, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. will also wear jersey No. 42 in honor of Robinson on April 15th. Griffey Jr. petitioned the league to wear the number, since it was retired throughout baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary. Padres OF Mike Cameron will also wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson when they play the Dodgers on the 15th, and he will even go completely old school.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
San Francisco Giants (0-0) vs. San Diego Padres (0-0)-4:05PM Est.
There are always those two teams that the schedule makers wait the extra day to start the season, and this year that "honor" belongs to the Giants and Padres. Whether or not it's Bud's way of keeping Barry from catching Aaron for at least one more day, we'll never know. All we do know is that he needs 22 more injections home runs to break the record. It's also the debut of Barry Zito as a Giant as he faces Jake "F#*% the Police!" Peavy and the Padres. When you think about it, Zito and Peavy both share the same disdain for The Man, they just have different ways of showing it. They're kinda like MLK and Malcolm X that way.
Houston Astros (0-1) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (1-0)-8:05PM Est.
It's Jason Jennings' turn to see a masterful performance wasted by the Jell-O brained closer that is Brad Lidge right now. I don't know who to feel worse for, Lidge or Astros fans? You would think that it has to be killing Astros fans to know that Phil Garner is going to stick with Lidge until he finally just blows his own head off on the mound. As for the Pirates, they look to maintain their stranglehold on first place in the NL Central.
St. Louis Cardinals (0-1) vs. New York Mets (1-0)-8:10PM Est.
The Cardinals look to rebound from losing the first game of their quest to defend the World Series crown. Cardinals fans have to be a little nervous though. If the Mets could rough up Chris Carpenter like that, just what are they capable of doing to Kip Wells? You can question the Mets starting rotation all you want, but sometimes the best rotation is an offense that scores 8 runs a game.
The Fanhouse's daily look at the day's most important games
St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) vs. New York Mets (0-0)
Finally, a game that counts. The last time we saw these two teams play, Yadier Molina was hitting the biggest home run of his career, and Carlos Beltran was watching as strike three ended the Mets dreams of a National League pennant. The Cardinals will be receiving their World Series rings tonight before Chris Carpenter takes the mound, and they begin the long quest for another World Series title. Tom Glavine goes to the mound for the Mets, and he's only 10 wins shy of 300 in his career. Oh, and as if the fact it's Opening Night isn't enough to get you to watch, REO Speedwagon will be singing the National Anthem, so now you just have to watch.
Undercover officers spotted a dark-blue Ford sport utility vehicle stopped at Frederick Small Boulevard and Military Trail at about midnight. The transmission was in drive and the engine was running, officers said. LaRussa had his foot on the brake but did not initially respond to repeated knocking on the window, police said. After repeated knocks, LaRussa woke up. An officer administered a roadside sobriety test after noticing the smell of alcohol, police said.
The police report said he had been given a field sobriety test that showed La Russa's blood alcohol level was 0.093. Florida law considers 0.080 driving under the influence. He gave two breath samples at Palm Beach County Jail before being booked. The charge is a misdemeanor, and La Russa posted a $500 bond.
Imagine what it must have been like for the players to show up at the spring training facility and not see LaRussa in his office, only to find out he was busted for a DUI -- crazy.
LaRussa now joins Nationals GM Jim Bowden in the exclusive club of baseball management cited for DUIs.
The Dodgers in a split squad got their cleats handed to them Wednesday by the Cardinals in Vero Beach, 11-1. Starter Brad Penny had a less-than-desirable outing, getting crushed for six runs on seven hits in just two innings. You might think the outing was a negative sign, until you find out that Penny was using the spring training start for exactly what it was intended -- practice. According to the LA Times, Penny threw 14 curveballs and nine changeups in the two innings as he worked on his off-speed stuff.
"If it happened in April ... I'd probably want to shoot myself," Penny said. "But you've just got to go out there and work on stuff. It was positive because I threw a lot of changeups and I felt good."
Since it's only the Grapefruit League we'll let you off the hook for now. Just don't let it happen again, and don't think that our eyes aren't on you like a hawk following that crappy second half last year, Mr. All-Star Game starter.
What a terrible time to be a relief pitcher. We're only a month and a half into the season and already people are being pulled out of position for poor performance, scolded for showing emotion, and blamed for managerial jobs being put on the line. The worst examples of this have been St. Louis's Jason Isringhausen and Milwaukee's Eric Gagné.
We're a little late on the Spring Dugz tonight (consider it "Autumn Dugz") and the topic isn't 
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We already told you that 
The Dodgers in a split squad got their cleats handed to them Wednesday by the 
