Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Tough Schmidt
One of my favorite pastimes is roaming through the local discount video store to check out which hidden treasures can be dug up amongst the crappy $3 VHS movies. I've been searching for the 1990 Captain America movie for a few weeks now, a film that I loved when I was 11 but I'm sure will find unwatchable now. The sight of a manic Red Skull chopping off his own hand to free himself from the grasp of Captain America, whom he'd just tied to a nuclear missile, seemed so hardcore back then, but now it will probably just seem cheesy. So far in my search I have come up with nothing. In the meantime, I've come across such timeless gems as Nukie, a heartwarming story about an alien stranded on Earth who befriends a couple of precocious youngsters. Any resemblance to E.T. is, I'm sure, purely coincidental. Then there's Dudes, featuring the incomparable Jon Cryer, and Daniel Roebuck, of Matlock fame. You can't find stuff like this at your local Blockbuster, folks.
As for my other favorite pastime (how's that for a half-assed segueway?), the Giants have won two in a row after dropping four straight to the Diamondbacks and Ex..er, Nationals. Despite the stellar performance from Brett Tomko last night, the pitching staff has continued to perform at the levels of the aforementioned basement level VHS movies. Noah Lowry has been a Nukie-esque disaster in his last three starts, and the bullpen was horrendous in the first two games against Washington before salvaging Game 3 with a rare inspired effort.
To make matters worse, Jason Schmidt was put on the DL today with a shoulder strain. Hopefully the two-week rest will help Schmidt return to form. His lack of command and velocity has been well-chronicled, and the concern reached its nadir when Schmidt coughed up a 4-0 lead in Saturday's game. Alou expressed concern about Schmidt's workload, apparently forgetting that he had left Schmidt in to slog through a 131-pitch start against San Diego and then a 120-pitch start against Arizona.
Jeff Fassero gets the emergency start tonight. I know what you're thinking, but calm down for a moment. The Pirate offense is pathetic enough and SBC is enough of a pitcher's park that this might not turn into too much of a disaster. And after all, it is only one start. I think...
As for my other favorite pastime (how's that for a half-assed segueway?), the Giants have won two in a row after dropping four straight to the Diamondbacks and Ex..er, Nationals. Despite the stellar performance from Brett Tomko last night, the pitching staff has continued to perform at the levels of the aforementioned basement level VHS movies. Noah Lowry has been a Nukie-esque disaster in his last three starts, and the bullpen was horrendous in the first two games against Washington before salvaging Game 3 with a rare inspired effort.
To make matters worse, Jason Schmidt was put on the DL today with a shoulder strain. Hopefully the two-week rest will help Schmidt return to form. His lack of command and velocity has been well-chronicled, and the concern reached its nadir when Schmidt coughed up a 4-0 lead in Saturday's game. Alou expressed concern about Schmidt's workload, apparently forgetting that he had left Schmidt in to slog through a 131-pitch start against San Diego and then a 120-pitch start against Arizona.
Jeff Fassero gets the emergency start tonight. I know what you're thinking, but calm down for a moment. The Pirate offense is pathetic enough and SBC is enough of a pitcher's park that this might not turn into too much of a disaster. And after all, it is only one start. I think...
