Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Eddie Harris is on a roll

Matt Morris reminds me of Eddie Harris from Major League. Older veteran. Big-time competitor. Crafty. I'm not sure if Morris is using the assortment of "tools" that Harris was famous for, but whatever he's doing, it's best if he keeps it up.

Morris and his collection of curveballs (seriously, does he throw anything else?) befuddled the Dodgers last night through seven innings. He ran out of gas in the eighth after about 90 pitches, but that was a pretty impressive performance by a guy who used to be a much, much different pitcher. Kevin Kennedy and Steve Lyons commented after the game (Dodgers broadcast) that Morris is "re-inventing" himself this year. He is nothing like the pitcher he was two/three years ago, and nothing like the pitcher from last year either (and that's a damned good thing). He's pretty much a softballer now, throwing only 10 or so pitches that eclipsed 85mph the entire game.

By the way, I was forces to listen to Vin Scully last night. I know it's sacrilege to say this in some baseball circles, but I would rather pop my eardrums with dull screwdrivers than listen to Vin Scully for 9 innings. He... drives... me... nuts...

To paraphrase, this is all I heard last night: "Matt Morris's dad was a steel worker in New York and actually helped build the twin towers, as the right-hander throws a curveball that glides across the plate beautifully for strike two to the diminutive Rafael Furcal who, incidentally, has a steel worker in the family as well. You gotta love those steel worker kids. Furcal's cousin Guantalupe Espondido of Caracas, Venezuela, that hot-bed of baseball talent, is a steel worker on a large ranch that is home to chickens, cows, goats and a couple of well-minded dogs, I'm sure.

"You know fans, there was a lot of steel used to construct Dodger Stadium, and you can check out some of that steel tomorrow night as great seats are still available. And remember, it's Matt Kemp key-chain night. If you're one of the first - as Furcal grounds softly to the amazing Omar Vizquel - one of the fist 40,000 fans, you receive a Matt Kemp key-chain..."

On to some interesting stats:
The Giants' starters lead the National League in ERA at: 2.81 (NY is second at 3.01)
The Giants' pitching staff as a whole is third in the NL at: 3.17 (NY is first at 2.48, LA is 2 at 3.03)
Matt Morris: 3-0, 2.49 ERA, 25.1 innings, 24 hits, 12 walks, 12 K's.

Noah Lowry will try to keep up with the rest of the starters tonight. Randy Wolf goes for L.A.