9. I’m a movie addict and tonight was the release of 9, which I’d personally been anticipating for a while. The movie was very solid with particularly compelling characters. The animation was fantastic and a nice visit to the pre-Pixar type animation. I love Pixar but, at times, I miss the animation of my youth that was populated by simpler movies less engrossed with acheiving a realism.
The movie falters a little with it’s storyline. The plot isn’t terribly strong and if you think about it too much afterwards, you can poke some holes in the dike. It’s not a movie for young children as the post-apocalyptic world is both violent and dark. Flawed story attempt included, the movie is visually compelling with characters that feel fleshed out and multi-faceted. It’s one that I’m glad I saw in theaters but is a borderline “see in theaters”/”rent it” reccomendation.
Now, PLAYOFF BASEBALL!
- The offense never got going in this game. They mustered a dismal 2 hits and 0 walks as opposing starter Anthony Lerew went the distance striking out 4 S-Cardinals.
- To make matters worse, Trey Hearne blew a gasket on the mound allowing 6 runs (2 earned) while recording just 5 outs. Along with Colt Sedbrook’s error, they dug a hole early that has to be daunting for any young team to try and overcome.
- The relievers did their part as Ryan Kulik, Gary Daley, Marco Gonzalez and Chuckie Fick shut down the Naturals for the last 7 innings.
- Jaime Garcia has brought his A-game tonight as he’s thrown 5.1 innings so far in this game (currently delayed at 10pm CST) allowing just 1 hit. 6 strikeouts and 7 of 10 outs on the ground . . . Garcia has been nothing short of phenomenal in his rehab thus far. He should be a serious contender for a rotation spot next spring. I’d advocate just pencilling his name in — the Cardinals need him to develop into a capable starter for the long term.
- Fernando Salas scuffled after the delay allowing 2 hits and 2 runs (1 inherited runner) to cross the plate before getting out of the 6th.
- Royce Ring, Josh Kinney and Pete Parise pitches scoreless frames to close out the game.
- Tyler Greene was 3-for-4 with a triple.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir was 3-for-4 with a HR.
- Shane Robinson was 2-for-4.
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It appears our Third Catcher has ground into a triple play. Oy.
Memphis wins 6-2. Impressive showings from Garcia, Greene, and Hoffpauir.
Garcia’s line was incredible. 5.1 innings, 1hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 6 K’s before the delay. 55 strikes, 16 balls. GO:FO ratio of 7:3. The only hit he gave up was a ball that he fielded but couldn’t throw out the runner. I’m really excited about the possibility of him being the #5 guy in the majors next year.
Exciting news about Garcia’s performance! please, please let his arm hold up long term after TJ surgery.
Sorry I’m a bit of novice in terms of minor leagues, but how does the playoff format work?
Also, I too saw 9 today and came away about the same as you. Enjoyable movie, great animation, but not so strong plot, and was a bit disappointed with the ending. Good overall though.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_09_09_mrbaaa_albaaa_1
That is the correct Memphis link. Nice to see Hoff with a HR. It alos looks like Greene will be getting a call up but I doubt any other non catcher will.
Thanks Hugo — sometimes I think I’ve captured a URL but the CTRL+C command didn’t take and those boxscore links are all so similar. . .it’s corrected now.
Why didn’t Craig play for Memphis?
Lou-
Craig has a groin strain, I believe.
Garcia will have to earn it next spring, Tony La Russa doesn’t just hand out opening lineup rotation spots.
And a good thing too.
Nice job Hoffpauir, glad he started over Double D’s.
If memory serves, Double D isn’t on the roster for this, right? Didn’t he get pulled off to be on Team USA instead?
Incidentally, if you’ve gotta have a rain delay in a game, the Albuquerque park is about as good a place to have one as any. I was there for a rain-delayed (and then -canceled) game the night Bonds hit number 755. Leading into the thunderstorm, there was the most awesome pre-storm sky I’ve ever seen, and it was a very comfortable evening despite the lightning crashing all around. The fans (all 13,000 of them, it was a sellout) also had the right attitude: when Bond’s HR #755 was announced, I’d say that 90% of them were booing…
I beleive you are right Grunt Double D is on Team USA
Garcia – Lynn – Miller present a nice road map regarding a prospect’s development path (TJ surgery aside)…with Garcia MLB ready…Lynn at the middle point…and Miller’s value currently based on projectability. I’ll be very curious to see how the contributors to this site…as well as the community ranking…place these three in our top prospect list.
az (or others who saw 9) – would you take an 8 year old to see it? My son is fairly geeked out on the trailers. I’ve gotten mixed messages from website reviews though, regarding suitability. Is it “darker” then the recent Harry Potter movies (which we let him see)?
There’s some startling moments and the movie is a series of confrontations between the small rag doll characters and larger machines. There isn’t any cussing (that I can recall) or any blood/gore so you’re clear there. The Harry Potter movies are geared toward a more mature audience so if he’s seen that (especially HP #4) then he probably would be fine with ’9′.
I live in Albuquerque and desperately wanted to go to the game last night. My wife had to work and my daughter had too much homework to be able to go, so we had to take a pass.
I don’t question my priorities, but damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!! I missed that performance by Garcia and a triple play to boot. Curse you, responsibility!
[...] 10 Affiliates Minor League Affiliates | stlcardinals.com: Minors Future Redbirds Recap Daily Farm Report 09/09/2009 | Future Redbirds Memphis Redbirds are at Albuquerque Isotopes @ 8PM. Recap – Garcia Pacific Coast League: News: [...]
PJ pitches tonight – let’s hope he’s on. As Double A said, I am also interested to see how Garcia, Lynn, and Miller will be ranked. As a general question, how important should being close to the majors be? Miller may have ace potential, but it is just potential, whereas Garcia has already shown he can get major league batters out (at least before TJ surgery) and Lynn has had a fine year in the high majors. My question arises from the fact that so many people ranked Niko high last year, and he is obviously still far away (though we all hope he develops).
My own view is that while a prospect in high minors/close to majors should get a much stronger ranking than a prospect in, say, Quad Cities, the projectable talent of a prospect (which should include performance compared to his current age) has a relative affect on ranking him. For instance, no pitcher in the Cards system has the level of potential that Miller has, and because he won’t have a professional season to review, he’ll be at the top of most people’s lists.
Undoubtedly that will be in play here (in ref. to Forsch31′s response above). You then reach across the aisle to the batters and wonder how high M. Wagner’s slot will go. I’ve got to say…now that there is no crystal clear front runner (although some cite Miller)…it should make for some entertaining debates during the ranking process.
az – thanks for the feedback. I’ll probably take the boy…I’m sure I’ve made worse questionable parenting decisions along the way…why stop now.
outstanding start by garcia..watched the game on milb.tv..he was dominant..the one hit he gave up was a weak infield hit to his right..he got to the ball and couldn’t field it cleanly to get the runner at first base…coming into spring training he should be the leading contender for the 5th spot in the rotation for the cardinals..boggs i don’t think will start as a major league starter
Just to add to the Garcia – Lynn – Miller lines. Lets not forget Mike Parisi coming back from TJ surgery. They guy looked great last year at Memphis and was as good if not better than Boggs last year in the Memphis’s rotation. Has an exceleent curve and struggled getting a lot of his CB’s called for strikes at the Majors last year. The other area that he had issues with at the ML level last year was location. Wonder if he can get his 95 mph FB back as well. He’s playing in the AZ fall league this year.