Who the hell is Vance Worley?

One of the fun things about the Phillies this season is checking the box score to see which ace was throwing today.You have an 80% chance of seeing a kick ass potential Cy Young contender. You have two former NLCS MVPs... and neither one of them is named Halladay or Lee.So I saw the Mets were clobbered by the Phillies, who held New York scoreless until the 9th, I checked to see which ace was on

Who picked Dan Haren to win the Cy Young?

In my official picks for 2011, I had Dan Haren taking home the Cy Young.My predictions are so often so terrible that one starts to look good, I need to gloat.4 games in, a 3-0 record with a 0.73 ERA.Tonight he threw a 1 hitter tonight. No doubt some number cruncher will tell me why he actually sucked in this game, but I'll give him credit.And while he got a tough no decision in his first start of

Cliff Lee can't lose? Neither could THESE 5 guys!

It seems like a foregone conclusion by anyone NOT named Lisa Swan that Cliff Lee will win tonight in Yankee Stadium and put the Yankees in a 2-1 hole.He's awesome! He's unbeaten in the post season!He can NOT lose!Where have I heard THAT before?Oh yeah... many times and believe it or not with people with more impressive post season credentials than Cliff Lee.I am going to pull out five examples of

Lincecum picks up the gauntlet

My dad and I were talking about the Giants game this afternoon. My dad said "people are going to be expecting Lincecum to throw a no hitter on the heels of Halladay."Well, he took care of THAT thought with the first batter.I knew my dad was AT the game and when I saw he let up a lead off double, I thought "Oh man... please don't get rocked."He didn't throw a no hitter... but DAMN he did the next

The Giants have their ace back

It was only a few weeks ago that I was lamenting the Bengie Molina trade and wondering if Tim Lincecum was ever going to pitch like an ace again.The Giants needed him to come up big as an ace and all throughout his gruesome August, he came up small.But his last game was solid... and tonight he was terrific. Oh he's had better games over all, but he started perfectly, pitched into the 7th, struck

Giants... let Lincecum do what he needs to do

Tim Lincecum is about to make arguably the biggest start of his career. After a month or so when the Giants couldn't get any decent starting pitching, suddenly things have turned around.And a lost season is looking more and more found as the Giants remain 2 back in the loss column for the NL West lead and 1 game in the loss column for the NL Wild Card with 24 to play. (And a possible season

Did the Giants trade their ace away?

When the Giants dealt Bengie Molina to the Rangers, it looked like a straight forward deal that helped both teams, both directly and indirectly.The Rangers got a steady defensive catcher in Molina and the least likely cycle in baseball history.Texas had a 3 1/2 game lead when he arrived. They have an 8 game lead now.The Giants landed Chris Ray who gives San Francisco much needed bullpen depth.