SRB

Bobble-head weekend for Hollywood Carlos Gomez!

I disagree. Keeping Wang only becomes an issue if they have multiple extra-inning games in a row (and even then it's not like putting him in late is an automatic loss). To me the value of obtaining an interesting young pitching prospect far outweighs that strategic risk, even if we look competitive this season.

Hollywood Carlos Gomez

Can only speak for myself, but this is absolutely not true. I have 100% never been annoyed by an opposing player "showing up the pitcher," not in the least. In fact the only times I ever even consciously notice it is when it's a player/team being blatantly hypocritical. The Cardinals are the worst because they act like they are baseball's morality police, not because they show some exuberance. I think McCutchen doing the pistols thing is entertaining, and I absolutely hate the Pirates right now.

[sarcasm]"Al Qaeda is going to parachute into Miller Park to collect Ryan Braun's unpaid steroid tab" - Buster Olney[/sarcasm]

Actually I would say it's Travis Snider who started the fight. You can fault Gomez for reacting to Cole but at that point all he was doing was shouting back (and backing away, as I recall), until Snider came out and said something else.

Love him very much, loved him even after the Hardy trade when he was still a fairly mediocre hitter. I watch baseball to be entertained. Yeah, as a diehard fan you get into it a bit where you suspend reason and become emotionally invested in what is in the end just a game involving grown men playing on a field according to arbitrary rules, but despite the seriousness that can attach to winning/losing it's still just entertainment. I don't believe in a counterfactual vision of "old school" baseball, I don't believe in "unwritten rules" (which, far from being unwritten, are very much written on ESPN teleprompters and in disgruntled newspaper columns), and I don't watch baseball to hear somebody lecture or scold players they dislike. Gomez is entertaining, Nyjer Morgan was entertaining, and to me even somebody reviled like Manny Ramirez was entertaining. I think Gomez understands that entertainment is part of the game, and I honestly believe that to him not giving 110% enthusiasm is somehow not taking advantage of the opportunity he has to play baseball here in the U.S. People need to seriously lighten up about whether a grown man tossed his wooden stick after hitting a ball. I understand that there are professional sports columnists who have to make themselves angry in order to write full columns on these type of non-events (and those columnists are the real source of the bizarre fantasy of "old school" baseball and "unwritten rules" and "showing up the pitcher"), but as a fan I could honestly care less. Gomez flipping his bat and running around the bases like a puppy is entertaining.

Ok, thanks for clarifying that my personally finding something hilarious is a fallacy. Lucroy has a >.400 OBP this season, but IBB'ing somebody there to get to Lucroy was a smart move. Got it.

You're not making that decision based on 18 games worth of plate appearances. Why wouldn't you? Especially considering their AVG's going back to 2012 are not dissimilar and all you want there is to avoid a base hit. Go Khris & K-Rod!!!!

Hilarious decision given the comparative OBP's of Braun and Lucroy this season.

Then you have to use Maldonado for the pitcher's spot and we would have nobody left on the bench. So what? Go for the W. Either ARam puts us ahead and we let a pitcher hit or Maldonado gets a crack at it and we have to use Gallardo as a pinch hitter later. May never get that chance again. They could have just pitched around A-Ram in that spot too, and then all the pressure is on Maldonado instead of Gennett (an offensive downgrade). Doesn't change much.

Then you have to use Maldonado for the pitcher's spot and we would have nobody left on the bench.

You need to be more specific! Not quite what I was looking for, but I'll take the pop-up over the double play!

Please just hit it into the air.

Idiot Pirates announcers still going on about Gomez "showing up the pitcher" Sometimes it's really hard to be a baseball fan given all these self-righteous meatheads.

Wooten? Oh no...

Dingers! Dingers!

So it's basically going to be a Braun HR or nothing, it seems. I hate to be pessimistic but this team honestly hasn't looked that good (except for the pitching) since Boston/Philadelphia.

Reynolds missed a golden opportunity there to do the Happy Gilmore and ride his bat around the bases.

Yes that Braun guy sucks. And Lucroy? More like Suckroy, am I right? Braun had a sub-.300 OBP as of yesterday or the day before. Not the hottest hitter to start the season.

Great bunt, buddy!

The only two competent hitters (Gomez and A-Ram) aren't in the lineup, guess this is the result...

By the way, Pittsburgh, your pierogi race is a dumb imitation of the sausage race and Milwaukee has a larger Polish population than Pittsburgh anyways.

That's the second time in however many days that Segura has gotten thrown out with Braun at the plate...

Throw a pitch at Dave Kerwin!