The Man

Well, you knew this post was coming. Halladay was brilliant on Tuesday vs. the Yankees, throwing yet another complete game. His final line against the Bronx Bombers: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 103 pitches. At one point during the game, he had retired 17 Yankee batters in a row. His record now stands at a MLB-leading 7-1 with a 2.95 ERA.

In his 8 starts in 2009, Halladay has yet to last less than 7 innings in any of them. His IP totals for his 8 starts: 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8, 9. He has seven walks over 61 innings pitched this year.

He has now received a decision in his last 25 starts (19-6 over that stretch). A true credit to his consistency in pitching late into every game he starts.

Since 2003, Halladay has 36 complete games to his credit. That is more than 20 major league teams over that same time period. Ridiculous.

Doc, I bow down to your greatness. You provide me three hours of joy every five days for which I am truly appreciative. He's the best thing to come from Canada since...um...Elisha Cuthbert? (Halladay is actually from Denver, but we don't dwell on details here at SLAE.)

Now THAT"s the way to start a roadtrip

Get 2 damn runs against Chan Ho -freaking -Park and lose to the Phillies. I am telling you, we will be lucky to go 20-30 without Manny.

Prediction Time

Some people see sports as a beacon of opportunity. Win or leose, there is almost always a next game, a next season, a next chance to prove you are good enough. I am not one of those people (at least, not this week). I see tonight as another chance for the Lakers to break my heart, kick me in the stomach, and stomp on the remnants of my Fandom. But that's just me.

Prediction:

Rockets 98

Lakers 104

Worlds Colliding

Ripping off other blogs is not a good way for SLAE to make a name for itself, but when the world of Longhorns and the world of Dodger blue collide, a blog post must be created. It is mandatory. See the following:

Kyle Russell is now just toying with the Midwest League. Over the past week he's moved to the top of the leaderboard in slug(.679), OPS(1.087), and wOBA (.451). Six home runs so far in May suggest he's ready for the next step up. He was already old for this league so let us see what he can do at the next level.

Light the Tower Orange

Something that should never go unacknowledged on SLAE! Way to fight back, Horns! Let's carry the momentum to Omaha!

Did I Actually Say Something About Ships Righting?

Happy Mothers Day! A sports day only a mother could love...at least for my teams (though nice sweep from the 'Stros, who again appear determined to embark on their annual "give hope to Houston fans without really any chance at winning the division" campaign).

What a shocking, embarrassing performance from the Lakers. My old rec league team Hebrew National could have beaten the Lakers yesterday. I am even more disturbed by the quotes I read in the L.A. Times this morning. The Lakers didn't seem embarrassed, distraught, shocked. I am astonished. Its like "we got beat by the Rockets JV team. Ho hum. Bring on the Cavs." What in the name of Pat Reilly is going on over there Phil?

And then...AND THEN!!...the Dodgers blow a 2 run lead in the 8th, and lose in extra innings to the Hated Ones. They fall to 1-3 post-Manny and embark on a road trip to the Phillies and Marlins. Ugh. At least Juan Pierre is producing for David in the Georgetown league.

On second thought, is there room on that Astros bandwagon?

Back on the bandwagon!

No McGrady? No Yao? No problem!

I'm not quite sure how the Rockets blew out L.A. in Game 4. I'm sure there was some emotional letdown for the Lakers after taking back homecourt advantage in Game 3 and finding out that Yao was out for the rest of the series. But geez, I sure didn't see that total beatdown coming. This Rockets team just continues to give you reasons to love and respect them. Makes me kinda wish I was really emotionally invested in these playoffs.

Game 5 should be interesting. You'd think the Lakers would have the clear, clear advantage. But if that game is close in the 4th quarter, the pressure is ALL on Phil's boys. There's just no way the Lakers lose to the pesky Houston Rockets without their two all-stars. Right?