We are sitting mere mins away from the first pitch of the inaugural Vedder Cup. The Mariners have landed, the Padres have Orlando Hudson back. The only thing left to do is play ball!
As this is the first game of the first Vedder Cup battle, it seemed appropriate to attempt the first ever (nearly) live running diary on Left Coast Bias. I've had the idea to do this in the past but it never quite seemed to work.
If ever there was a reason to attempt it again, the Vedder Cup is that reason.
(Yes, I know this is a Bill Simmons "Sports Guy" concept. I have 50 readers, he has over a million. He'll get over it.)
(Also, I have to imagine that beer will be drunk during this game, so apologies ahead of time if the conversation goes off the rails.)
7:05 pm: Team Latos time...first pitch a strike. We are underway.
7:06 pm: And Ichiro down on strikes. No easy feat and a great start for Latos. Also, our first Mudcat-ism. Ichiro = "The Sultan of Slap"
7:07 pm: DEFENSE! The errors by the Padres defense continues to be the most confusing aspect of 2011. That's all on Bartlett.
7:09 pm: Bartlett off the hook. Smoak hits into DP to end the inning. No damage done. Who wants to play 21 more?
7:14 pm: It can't be a good sign that my wife, when the Padres get a hit, says "HEY" like she just saw a shooting star.
7:18 pm: This Ludwick at-bat has been going on for about a year and a half. Unofficial count.
7:20 pm: Bedard doing his best Gaylord Perry impression with his not doctoring (but doctoring) of the ball.
7:23 pm: Padres stole a base. Padres didn't score. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
7:30 pm: Mariners release the first salvo in the Vedder Cup with a triple on a hit and run followed by an opposite field single. This is always where I worry about Latos. He seems to get rattled easily when he gives up a few runs. Other than the triple though, these balls are just missing gloves. Rather be lucky than good sometimes.
7:38 pm: Maybin SMOKES a ball right up the middle. A reminder of why I never wanted to pitch in Coed, Slow-Pitch softball. Basically a firing squad standing out there.
7:43 pm: Nice barehanded grab by a fan for a foul ball. Great form too.
7:46 pm: Padres threat snuffed out by DP. In other news, it was decided that Arnold's transgressions were worst than Tigers by Mrs. Left Coast Bias. So there's that.
7:57 pm: Padres game on via MLB.tv on PS3. Mrs. Left Coast Bias reading "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen and our cat has a small bald spot. Every time I've ever been asked "what would you do if you have 1 day left to live", this has never been the answer.
7:58 pm: Dick Enberg "NL Manager of the Year...Buddy Bell." I guess that beats calling Trevor Hoffman Dustin Hoffman?
8:02 pm: AFLAC trivia question "Who is the Mariners all time Wins leader?" No idea, but my guess is Randy Johnson though I don't feel like he played there long enough to be the all time Wins leader. Meanwhile, Olivo with a ground rule double to lead off 4th.
8:04 pm: Dick Enberg "It's a hitters park just not a homerun hitters park" In principle I agree with this statement.
8:09 pm: Mariners score on sac fly, though I was told that sac flys are boring. I think the run counts anyway though.
8:10 pm: Inexplicably, the Jackie Q song "Ring Round My Rosie" from Get Him to the Greek just popped into my head.
8:12 pm: AFLAC trivia question answer: Jamie Moyer.
8:13 pm: Direct quote from Mrs. Left Coast Bias, out of nowhere. "I'm getting the feeling...that a Jack in the Box shake is in my future. My immediate future."
8:16 pm: Cam Maybin is hitting the ball hard. Unfortunately this time he gets nothing to show for it. Still pretty sure a Maybin jersey purchase is in my future. Not sure if it's in my "immediate" future though.
8:22 pm: Latos threw a fastball that read 89 MPH. Keep in mind that this Petco gun read Aroldis Chapman's 105 MPH fastball last year. Not sure if Latos velocity is down or if he is saving bullets, but seemed noteworthy.
8:27 pm: Aki Otsuka and Trevor Hoffman held an autograph session for Japanese Tsunami relief before the game. Raised nearly $10,000. Great work all around.
8:32 pm: Padres keep taking bats up to the plate but I'm assuming it's for looks only. 2 hits through 5 innings. Bedard with 6 strikeouts. About 100 of those are called thirds.
8:35 pm: Miguel Olivo just missed a HR last time he was up. He didn't miss this time. Hit that into the Andruw Jones section in LF, underneath the scoreboard.
8:40 pm: The low throw thing needs to stop. It just...it needs to stop.
8:42 pm: Craft beer time. Pale Ale from Hangar 24 in Redlands, CA. Freshly filled growler that is soon to be freshly emptied.
8:48 pm: Padres grounded into a double play. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
8:52pm: The Pearl Jam song puns have begun on Twitter and I'm loving it. Most common and most appropo. "The Padres bats need to come 'Alive' in this game."
8:53 pm: Cory Luebke is in the game which sets everyone up for my favorite Padres player name joke "Girls love Lueb"
9:00 pm; Ryan Ludwick extends hitting streak to 9 games. Yes, that Ryan Ludwick. Really starting to come around, which is encouraging. Meanwhile, Pearl Jam song puns are multiplying on Twitter. Been a fun night.
9:02 pm: In the Padres defense, that was a much more unique double play than usual. Cantu crushes a ball to left only to be robbed of a HR. Ludwick doubled off first as he had taken off, assuming, at worst that that ball was a double. Brutal. Game literally went from 4-2 potentially to 2 outs, 0 runs, 0 on for the Padres in span of 10 seconds.
9:10 pm: Cory Luebke looking good as usual. I know it's only a matter of time before he is in the starting rotation, but I have to wonder, what is taking so long?
9:13 pm: If this was 2007, I wouldn't feel so bad about being shutout by Bedard.
9:21 pm: It has just dawned on me that if tomorrow is the end of the world, then my last meal was a turkey burger. That was a mistake.
9:25 pm: "Sounds like you have a lot to say over there about 0 runs." - Mrs. Left Coast Bias. You'd be surprised.
9:29 pm: 9th inning. Padres about to be shutout for the 9th time. Against Seattle. Who I was told had very little offense yet scored 4 runs off the "ace". Overall, barring a great comeback here, a less than great beginning for the Vedder Cup.
9:34 pm: Padres get caught in a bizarre force out after a fly ball to left is dropped. Bartlett forced at second. Should be bases loaded. Now Bartlett is on second and Ludwick is out. I don't know, this is making my head hurt.
9:40 pm: And it's all academic because Cantu grounds out to the pitcher. Game over. Round 1 of The Vedder Cup goes to those stinkin' Mariners.
Vedder Cup Round 1 Tale of the Tape
1st Hit: Ryan Ludwick, 1st inning, fly ball to center
1st Strikeout: Mat Latos, striking out Jack Cust, 1st inning.
1st Run: Peguero triples in Kennedy, 2nd inning.
1st HR: Miguel Olivo, 6th inning.
Mariners 4, Padres 1.
Until tomorrow...
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