By Jonesy:
In this edition of “At Bat with Jonesy” I wanted to write about a few topics Mashiro Tanaka , OSU’s dominance of Oregon this past weekend, my thoughts on the use of pine tar for pitchers, two unbelievable college plays by George Fox and an update on my son’s baseball team.
First off let me say that I am really impressed with one Mashiro Tanaka and his unbelievable start. Yes, I know it is April but I personally saw something great from the first time I saw him pitch and his numbers have backed that up.
As of his last start he has struck out 46 batters, walked 6 and has a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 innings. His strikeout number is the third highest since 1900 behind Herb Score, 50, and Stepehen Strasburg, 48. He has a devastating splitter and makes great adjustments after the first time through the lineup.
My thoughts on the use of pine tar for pitchers are as follows.
I know that since the inception of baseball players have found a way to cheat and have cheated. This case is no different. Pineda was just too blatant with his use of pine tar.
Tim Kurkijan brought up something last week that I thought was interesting. He said that one catcher told him that all catchers lather their shin guards with pine tar and in between pitches wipe their shin guards and then throw the ball back to the pitcher. So should they be thrown out or suspended? My opinion is no. Every player tries to get a competitive advantage and aside from taking PED’s or steroids I don’t see why baseball should make a big deal out of the pine tar incident.
My next baseball thought to share is something my brother, who is a pitching coach at George Fox University, shared with me. Two unbelievable plays that sounded worthy of attention in the 9 Inning Know It All blog.
The first play was when Taylor Dunn a reliever for George Fox took over in the 9th inning vs Corban University this past weekend. He recorded the first two outs which included a bare handed snag of a foul pop up, near the third base bullpen, by Clay Mott of George Fox. The play resembled Kevin Mitchel’s spectacular bare handed grab off of a foul ball hit by Ozzie Smith in a Giants -Cardinals game in 1989.
The second play, also vs. Corban University, Clay Gartner, George Fox’s ace, threw a pitch to Corban’s batter Marc Gallegos that sailed behind him and hit his bat on accident. The ball rolled up the first base line in fair territory. Catcher Josh Rapacz was able to scoop the ball up and tag Gallegos out. Two plays that make you love the game of baseball because on any given day something may happen that you have never seen before.
Oregon State has dominated the Ducks the past two seasons winning five straight. This weekend’s performance was just sheer dominance and I will recap why here now.
Game one Friday: OSU 3 – Oregon 1
Ben Wetzler, the Clackamas native, recorded seven strikeouts and allowed five hits in 8 1/3 scoreless innings. It was Wetzler’s 31st career win, breaking a tie he held with Ken Noble (1977-78) for OSU’s all-time wins record.
Offensively, centerfielder Jeff Hendrix singled three times and scored twice. Hendrix bumped his average up to .389 while left fielder Michael Conforto doubled twice with an RBI. Conforto’s batting average is .420 leading the team. Third baseman hit his 1st career homer.
Game Two Saturday: OSU 4 – Oregon 2
OSU rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth for the win over the ducks.
Game Three Sunday: OSU 7 – Oregon 1
Jace Fry was dominant over 8 innings allowed only 1 hit and struk out 11 duck batters. Michael Conforto homered in the 1st inning and had two more RBI’s to get to 44 on the season. DH Michael Howard had 2 singles, scored twice and had an RBI. Trevor Morrison OSU’s Shortstop had two singles and an RBI. Finally, catcher Logan Ice had 2 RBI’s.
OSU has now won 5 games in a row vs. the Ducks over the past two seasons.
Finally, I want to tell you about what a thrill it has been to teach the game to eager little minds that play on my Cal Ripken rookie ball team. I have enjoyed teaching kids how to throw, catch, hit and begin to understand how much fun the game of baseball can be. Baseball truly is great and I am so glad that it has now come full circle from when my Dad taught me to me now teaching my son.