Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Familiarality Breeds Writers Block

You've seen it in the side bar, in the "Doug Mientkiewicz Quotebook" box, but it bears repeating for this half baked preview of the Phillies series:

"You play somebody that many times, you're bound to have something happen. I think you've seen more guys getting hit, more guys having trouble because of the fact you see somebody so many times. There's a reason probably why marriages fail so much, because you see each other so much."

It's also a reason this blog will ultimately fail.

It will fail because nineteen games against the Phillies, including seven in a week and a half, isn't exactly condusive to coming up with new and exciting things to write about and keep you, my loyal readers (all three of you) mentally stimulated. But here's the appetizer to what will surely be tonight's main course of ranting and raving about why David Wright is batting tenth or why Aaron Heilman is being brought in to pitch while losing by 142, or why Jose Offerman hasn't retired yet...

Tuesday: Robinson Tejeda (1-0, 2.03 ERA) vs. Victor Zambrano (3-6, 3.97 ERA)
Wednesday: Cory Lidle (6-6, 4.12 ERA) vs. Kaz Ishii (2.6, 5.25 ERA)
Thursday: Jon Lieber (8-7, 4.93 ERA) vs. Pedro Martinez (8-2, 2.72 ERA)

Pat Burrell has three HR's and 8 RBI's against the Mets in 2005, but he's only hitting at a .171 clip.

Pedro Martinez in day games over the last three seasons? 16-4, 2.46 ERA, OBA: .206, with 209 K's in 183 innings with two complete games. Let's go ahead and jinx that no-hitter a couple of days in advance, whaddaya say?

As for Pedro's Thursday afternoon opponent...Jon Lieber in 2005 day games: 6-1, 3.42 ERA. In his career he's 55-32 with a 3.39 ERA during the day. Lieber is 2-6 at night with a 6.28 ERA this season, and 53-66 with a 4.93 ERA at night in his career.

Cory Lidle at home in 2005: 5.95 ERA, .320 OBA. Cory Lidle on the road in 2005: 2.80 ERA, .230 OBA. Oddly enough, he's 3-3 at home, and 3-3 on the road.

Jose Offerman has a career .204 batting average at Shea Stadium. (Hey, I told you this was half baked!)

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