In less than 24 hours, the Baseball Gods giveth...and then taketh away. Wednesday night I had Miguel Cabrera in my Beat The Streak game. He starts the game 0 for 3 against the Royals. The Royals! Where did they find pitching all of a sudden? Anyway...bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, and up comes Cabrera. By the way, I'm following all this on my Blackberry. Did I mention I really believe I will win the $3 million this year. So now Cabrera goes down 0-2 in the count. Then fouls off about 8 pitches. Then suddenly....WHAMMY....HOME RUN!!! The streak is alive in exciting fashion. Then the other voice in my head....SHIT!!! I like the Royals, and they just pissed away another one. Luckily KC came back to get their 1st win. Everything is right with the world. I look to see who I have tomorrow in the streak. Just a decent hitter named Albert Pujols. That's a lock. I'll be at 5 in the streak, and mentally I start spending some of the $3 million. I wonder how much you get after taxes? Could I just take out $50,000 and invest the rest and retire....and really not spend the savings? Yes....yes, I could.Flash forward to the next day. Pujols playing against the Reds, and some chick is pitching (Bronson Arroyo). Money in the bank baby! Needless to say, Pujols goes 0-3 and gets walked in the 8th of a close game. Obviously the best game that chick will pitch all year. Suddenly she's Dotty from a League Of Their Own. Son of a bitch!!! $3 Million down the tubes. Time to put some serious thought into this. I need spreadsheets, split screens, and a staff of people researching who will get a hit. I think I also have a theory that you shouldn't take the best hitters (Pujols, Mauer, etc..) in the Beat The Streak game. I believe they actually get less at bats. There has to be a middle ground of quality hitters, but not so good that pitchers pitch around them....It's just a theory.
After starting the season with a 4 game hit streak, I suddenly can't get a 2 game hitting streak! How can this possibly be difficult? With all the info out there about hitters and pitchers and matchups and day games vs night games and hitting ballparks vs pitching ball parks, it seemed stupid they would just give away 3 million. Well the reason it is so difficlult is exactly what makes baseball great. I have had Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer 3 times and they have gone 0-11 when I have them. Yet the are 2 of the best hitters in the league. In the end, the numbers mean everything...and yet they don't mean shit. How can something so frustrating to figure out be so much fun??? Sounds like women just a bit.
ReplyDeleteI told myself I would start taking the Beat The Streak a little more serious if I ever hit 10 games. Well I'm now at a 12 game streak! I've stayed away from Pujols but have used Joe Mauer a couple times. The question becomes what do you look at it. Who's on a hot streak? Pitcher vs hitter match ups? A pitcher who is just struggling? So far I have avoided any pitchers who I wouldn't be shocked if they suddenly threw a no hitter or even a 2 hit shut out.
ReplyDeleteThe leader has a 23 game hit streak. Actually 7 people have a 23 hit streak. But yeaterday 10 people had a 22 game hit streak. They start dropping like flies from here. So I'm not worried about anyone elses streak...yet.