Pitchability

Is it possible that TigerBlog has finally seen enough of "The Sopranos?"

TB saw each episode multiple times when the show had its first run on HBO. Then he watched the edited reruns on A&E for years.

Now, as the show is repeated every night on one of the HBO channels, TB has been DVRing them and watching them again.

In this iteration, he has now seen each season two or three times through. And maybe, finally, he's had enough.

The show is currently in Season 3, and Tony's mother just died. TB started out watching it and then deleted it instead, opting for "Two And A Half Men," another show he's seen over and over. For some reason, seeing "2.5 Men" over and over is better than "Big Bang Theory" over and over, even if "BBT" is probably a better show. TB can't figure that out.

He's never seen an episode of "Modern Family," though he may be giving that one a chance now that it's coming to syndication. He tried to get into "How I Met Your Mother" but it didn't take. He's heard "Modern Family" is hilarious.

As for "The Sopranos," TB couldn't help but wonder if the reason the show is different now is because 1) he's seen each episode so many times or 2) because of the death of James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano.

He doubts it's the first, at least based on his history of watching the same show or movie a million times. Maybe it's tied to the second.

Either way, he doesn't really have a go-to show right now. He's getting ready for Season 3 of "Homeland," obviously.

He tried to get into "Walking Dead" and "Breaking Bad" with little success, and he will never be into a reality show. 

He's actually taken to watching, of all things, some Major League Baseball games of late. Oh, not a complete game or anything. But he's paying closer attention these days than he has in years, possibly because of how little else there is to watch.

He can't stand the Yankees, of course. And yet here they come, after a year of showing little in the way of promise for any kind of run.

He can't stand Alfonso Soriano, but the Yankees desperately needed a presence like his in the lineup. And A-Rod? He's played well enough to give them way more production than they'd been getting at third base, even if he's an unrepentant cheater who can't possibly have a friend on his team or any other.

Seriously, how can he in good conscience pretend he's being honest about anything? Right now, he's fifth all-time in Major League history in home runs, seven away from Willie Mays, and sixth all-time in RBIs, 29 away from Lou Gehrig. He has 2,936 career hits.

And yet he has absolutely zero chance of ever being in the Hall of Fame.

He was supposed to challenge Barry Bonds for the all-time home run record (if one acknowledges that Bonds is the legitimate home run champ). Instead, he's challenge Bonds for the all-time revulsion record.

And yet there are the Yankees, just a game behind the Rays for the final A.L. wild card spot, which is going to be the wildest part of September baseball, as the Yankees, Orioles, Indians and Royals are all within two games of the Rays, who are 2.5 games behind the Rangers.

In the National League, the playoff teams are set with the Braves, Dodgers and three Central teams - the Cards, Pirates and Reds, who are fighting it out for first place, which avoids the wild card game.

The Pirates are this year's feel-good story, after not having a winning season since well before Bonds decided to start his long career of cheating.

TB's fear is that the Yankees will come all the way back, get into the playoffs and win it all. Oh well.

TB has been following Will Venable's season pretty closely.

The Princeton alum had a great August, and he now has 21 home runs and 51 RBIs and a .271 batting average. He also earned a two-year contract extension, worth $8.4 million.

Venable figures to be in the lineup tomorrow night in Atlanta, where the Padres will take on the Braves. San Diego definitely won't be in the postseason and would need to finish 15-3 to get to .500, but the team has at least been competitive for most of the season.

On the mound in Atlanta tomorrow night will be David Hale, who will become the latest Princetonian in the majors when he makes his debut for the Braves.

Here's what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said about him:
Hale, a Marietta native and Princeton University graduate, was 6-9 with a 3.22 ERA in 22 games (20 starts) for Gwinnett, and seven of his last eight games were quality starts of six innings or more with three earned runs or fewer.
“He’s got some good stuff,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said after that outing. “Getting out of that jam… He’s got pitchability. He’s got some quality pitches. He elevated the fastball, he can sink it. He’s been impressive.”Hale had 77 strikeouts with 36 walks in 114-2/3 innings at Gwinnett this season, after posting 124 strikeouts with 67 walks in 145-2/3 innings at Double-A Mississippi in 2012. He had one or no walks in five of his last seven starts for Gwinnett.
A third-round draft pick of the Braves in 2009 out of Princeton, Hale returned to school for consecutive fall semesters after minor league seasons ended in order to complete work on his degree in economics. He said his dream was to pitch in the major leagues, but he wanted to make sure he had a solid fallback option if it didn’t work out.

While at Princeton, Hale was a .291 hitter with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in addition to his pitching success.

And now he's making his Major League debut. Against Will Venable, who sometimes leads off, which would mean the first batter Hale ever faced would be a fellow Princeton alum.

TB would root for Venable to hit a home run and then Hale to settle down for six strong innings in a win.

And for a Yankee loss.

His sense, though, is that this will be a bad fall for the anti-Yankee crowd.