Dave Righetti Is Always Right

The first few years of the Dusty Baker era in San Francisco the Giants were all offense and some pitching. Then in 2000 when the new ballpark opened the Giants had a new pitching coach, Dave Righetti. Rags has he is also known is probably most famous for throwing the first Yankees no-hitter/perfect game since Don Larsen. Rags no-hit the Red Sox on the Fourth of July.

When Rags showed in San Francisco the pitching staff immediately improved. And not just the starting pitchers, but also the bullpen. Take Santiago Casilla as an example for a moment. In Oakland, Casilla only threw a straight fastball while being known as Jairo instead of Santiago. Casilla joins the Giants and Rags teaches him a slider and changeup to offset the hard fastball. Casilla has turned into one of the more reliable relievers for the Giants these past three years. He still has him moments of suckiness, but still an alright reliever.

So what does this have to do with Madison Bumgarner? Well before game 2 last night, Bochy said Rags was fine with the "mechanical adjustment" made to Bumgarner and that Madison can pitch in game 2. Before last night's start Bumgarner sucked in both the NLDS and NLCS. Bumgarner after some work with Rags in the World Series game 2? 7 Innings, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks, and no runs. When Dave Righetti says a pitcher looks good, then a pitcher looks good. That's because Dave Righetti is always right.

Hacking Away To History

Before the start of game 1 of the World Series I had a gut feeling Pablo Sandoval could hit Verlander. Sandoval is a hacker who loves swinging at fast balls above his shoulders. Well my gut feeling proved correct. Sandoval smashed a first inning Verlander fastball above his shoulders to dead center for a home run. What I didn't have a gut feeling about was that Sandoval would hit two more home runs on the night and join Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, and Albert Pujols in the record book.



You know Sandoval did something special when even Joe Buck got excited for the third home run. Seriously. Joe Buck actually showed some passion in a call on that Sandoval home run. I have no idea how the rest of this series will play out but I'll always remember October 24, 2012.

The Links

Kate Beckinsale is hot..... Conspiracy theories in NASCAR..... The never ending Eli Manning vs. Phillip Rivers debate..... Is Kyle Orton a good quarterback or a product of the system?..... Adding insult to injury, Mets fans making fun of Phillies fans..... The Bengals-Ravens game could be blacked out in Cincinnati.... There will be a ton of Kayne jokes when Taylor Swift hosts SNL this weekend..... Has anyone seen Ryan Howard?

Congratulations to the New York Yankees (Fire Andy Reid Now!)

Phillies didn't play like champions (Philly.com)

Those wacky Penn State students (No Guts, No Glory)

LeBron to LA? (Reds Army)

Celebs then and now (Banned in Hollywood)

Al Davis definitely will not put up with these latest allegations against Tom Cable (PFT)

Will Michael Jordan swoop in and held UCF after Adidas dropped their contract with the school (Orlando Sentinel)

Could this the be the end for Jeff Fisher in Tennessee (The Tennessean)

Ideas left on the "30 for 30" cutting room floor (Joe Sports Fan)

Inappropiate Fatheads (Ladies...)

The hardest hits in the NFL, featuring Cal grad Zach Follett (Unathletic)

Foul Ball: Cliff Lee Makes It Look So Easy

Whatever, Dude

6 Philadelphia 1 New York: Chase Utley had two home runs in this game, but all what people can talk about is Cliff Lee's performance. Lee pitched a complete game, striking out 10, giving up 10 hits, one unearned run, and six hits. Lee was so locked in on the mound that he could have been hit by a bus and not even noticed. Twice when the ball was hit at him, he made the plays look too easy. It just incredible to watch to Lee last night.

Here's his highlights.



Tonight Pedro takes the mound for the Phillies against A.J. Burnett. The Phillies have success against Burnett, while the Yankees can always look back to the 03 ALCS and see that they roughed up Pedro in game seven. It will be interesting to see how both Burnett and Pedro handle tonight's start.

Here's a Cliff Lee tribute video.