Postponed

The Dartmouth games have been postponed until Monday. The games scheduled to happen at O'Donnell tomorrow still will.

Given the real chance that something like this was going to happen, starting Castellanos in Game One instead of potentially wasting a Herrmann start now makes all the sense in the world.

Dartmouth Gamecast is working, that's just a rain delay.

The tarp is down in Hanover, with the Crimson up 4-2 but with Castellanos in trouble. The Big Green has runners on first and third with nobody out. We'll see who comes in after the rain lets up.

Yale/Brown Update

Yale and Brown played the first two yesterday and split them. With Yale's 8 losses, they'd need Harvard to get swept to even have a shot from here on in. Which means we can, for once, root unabashedly for Yale. We'll get that rare opportunity tomorrow, Sunday, as the second doubleheader has been postponed from today because of the rain.

Dartmouth radio apparently has two related stations. The one that's available isn't the one with the game, it seems, although we will keep checking.

4-0 Harvard in the 5th. Javy Castellanos has not allowed... well, he's been pitching well, anyway.

Dartmouth Gametracker

For those of you sitting around a computer this afternoon, Dartmouth is providing a live gametrack of the doubleheader. Click here. The web site says that the game is being carried on radio as well. If anyone finds a functioning web link to listen online, please post it here.

Castellanos got the start in Game 1 -- perhaps Coach Walsh is inverting the rotation this weekend.

Should be quite the weekend.

Here, for the benefit of our small but loyal readership, are links to Brian Fallon's excellent scouting reports from the Dartmouth/Princeton matchup in Hanover earlier in the season:

Game One

Game Two

Meanwhile, Cornell is one game away from the Gehrig Division title after splitting with Princeton today in Jersey. After the Big Red took game one, Will Venable put the Tigers on his back (4-for-4, two homers, five RBI and a steal, for those of you in Ivy fantasy leagues) and extended their season. Games Three and Four will be played on Sunday. Yes, it takes that long to get to Ithaca. From anywhere.

As for the Crimson, questions abound. Will the rotation be the safe bet (Herrmann and Morgalis tomorrow, Haviland and Castellanos Sunday at home), or will Coach Walsh throw us yet another curve? Will Byrne DH, or will Farkes? Or could Morgan Brown get squeezed out somehow? Will Matt Vance lead off (please yes), or find himself in the sixth spot again for some reason? Wouldn't this be a great time to at least consider batting Ian Wallace second? What will Matt Brunnig do? Is the Big Green anywhere near this bad? (I can answer this one already: No, they are not). Will Dartmouth's Safety and Security Patrols lighten up on the infamous Loudmouth Brigade for Senior Day? Will they even get the chance, with rain forecast for Saturday? Will the fans show up at O'Donnell on Sunday, as they have managed to in what I'd call unusually high numbers all season long? Can Yale keep this a three-horse race going into Sunday? How many moonshots does Schuyler Mann have left in his collegiate career? If Brown and Cornell wind up playing for the Ivy League championship, should we all just start stocking up on canned goods and bottled water now?

Same Bat time, same Bat channel, friends.

Wes Cosgriff's Return

Coach Joe Walsh ordinarily eschews all ceremony. His pulling the plug on the walk-up music at O'Donnell halfway through the season has become an annual event, and he's not very big into Senior Day festivities. (The last home games of the season come during the pivotal Dartmouth series every year, and I'm told Walsh once answered the question "What are you doing for Senior Day?" with "Senior Day? We'll come here and win two games. Happy Senior Day!")

Despite all this, we're set for a very nice moment at the start of Sunday's games:

Right after Thanksgiving, sophomore Wes Cosgriff was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which proceeded to spread throughout his body.

On April 6, he underwent an operation and has since been declared cancer-free.

Cosgriff will be visiting Harvard this weekend for the first time since the operation, and the Crimson, Walsh says, will be playing for him.

Harvard plans to have Cosgriff throw out the first pitch to honor him and his successful recovery.

“Wes doesn’t know it, but he’s been with us every day,” Walsh said. “We’ve had his shirt with us at every game.”

“This is a bigger story than just the Ivy League Championship. When he steps on the field to throw out the first pitch, we’ll feel like we couldn’t have had a better season, regardless of how the games go.”

More adventures in Rhode Island, and Joe Walsh unplugged

Oh snap, a tune-up. URI leads Harvard 9-1 in the 4th, Warren and Bruton have pitched. Farkes started at shortstop.

Also, I'm not sure how old this is, but here's a very colorful article with Joe Walsh. Some interesting stuff here, particularly concerning recruiting and dealing with the Admissions Department and what he looks for in a pitcher. Some of the details are a little iffy at points, but you know. And it's something of a throwback in its own right, since so much about the way this team goes about winning has changed since the late 90s.

Of course, some of it's very much the same:

Specifically, and with the ball player who’s a pitcher, I love the kid who throws the breaking ball. I am a guy that believes that a lot of college coaches are converting kids to the slider because its a quick fix pitch. The curve ball takes longer to develop. And the umpires are not calling curve balls for strikes, you have to get guys to swing at it.

I still think that it’s the pitch that separates the men from the boys. If I can get a kid here who throws two pitches for strikes and one of those is a breaking ball, he is going to win for me and I don’t care how hard he throws it if he can locate. I feel that if a kid works hard enough he can develop a change-up. The pitch that’s missing is whether or not a kid can throw a breaking ball or whether his mechanics and motion look like he can. I’m a breaking ball guy, I love the guys who can throw the breaking ball. We had a kid last year throwing 81-82 and he beat UCLA and Miami with a breaking ball. We have a kid who was a sophomore last year who was not recruited by any of the top schools around here and he has been all-New England 1st team for the past few seasons. The kid’s out pitch is a breaking ball.

I guess all coaches learn from each other and I read an article a few years back by Skip Bertman (LSU) , and he basically said if you get a kid who’s hitting on the HS level he is gonna probably hit on the college level. Then if you get a kid who’s not hitting on the HS level; is he gonna hit on the college level? I don’t know. Number one you look for the kid who has the ball jump off his bat when he swings. Statistics and averages do not mean much to me because the style of baseball we play is moving runners up, we hit and run a lot we play a lot of that type baseball.

I'd be interested in whether this is the same now, since Harvard's become more in love with the big inning.

Character guys:

I had a kid that I went to see this year, he’s a catcher, the ball got by him and he’s chasing the ball back to the back stop swearing his head off. He walks out and gives the pitcher a hard time and I was in my car before he got back behind the plate. I wasn’t gonna stick around. There are just certain things that you see. I have people telling me "Your not recruiting so and so" and I say "No, let somebody else deal with him for four years."

Revisionist History?

The Brown Daily Herald and the Harvard Crimson seem to have two different accounts of what happened during a major turning point in yesterday's Game 2:

From Lande’s column in The Crimson today:

Sophomore Jason Brown relieved Castellanos, and the first batter he faced, Chris Contrino, lifted a fly ball that fell a few feet foul in front of right fielder Lance Salsgiver—one that the umpire called a fair ball. “I knew it was going to be close, but when I saw it bounce I almost stopped running.” Salsgiver said. “The guys in the bullpen were jogging to get the ball. We all saw the umpire point, and it was a definite moment of, ‘What the heck’s going on?’ It was definitely the wrong call.”

From Charlie Vallely’s column in the Brown Daily Herald:

With runners now on second and third, Harvard brought in side-armer Jason Brown to face co-captain Chris Contrino '05, who entered the game in the fourth when Bobby Wigington '05 was ejected for arguing a strike three call. Contrino delivered, hitting a flair to right that drew chalk from the third-base line. Lowe and Nichols scored to cut the deficit to 7-6.

First of all Charlie, that would be the first base line. Second, Lande doesn’t lie.

Back where we started...

Harvard lost the second game, 10-8, after leading 7-4 in the 6th behind Javy Castellanos. Apparently, a whole lot of Kutler, and a nightmarish conspiracy of errors, bad calls and just plain coughing up what should've been a safe lead. The Crimson remains a game ahead of the Bears heading into Dartmouth weekend. Brown plays Yale. As good as Yale's pitching can be, and as much as Yale is still in it mathematically, Harvard sure didn't want to give a frustrated, underachieving Dartmouth team a chance to ruin its season. But that's exactly what we're looking at this weekend.

If Harvard doesn't win the division, they'll have this game and the first one yesterday hanging over their heads for quite a while.

Harvard wins Game Three, 10-3...

...according to our Ivy League source.

How Big Is Tomorrow?

Let’s set up the various scenarios for you so everyone knows what’s at stake in the extremely huge matchups tomorrow (as a side note, one now realizes how extremely important it is to have 4 good starters in the Ivy League b/c both Brown and Harvard’s seasons may come down to their 4^th starter):

Yale ended up taking 3 of 4 from Dartmouth and is sitting on the bubble with a 9-7 record. Dartmouth is out of it, with its 7-9 record, and would surely love nothing more than to take a title away from the Crimson next weekend.

If Harvard takes both tomorrow against Brown, it basically clinches the division. In order for them not to win the title, they’d have to lose every game to Dartmouth next weekend, and Brown would have to sweep Yale. So you see how big a sweep would be.

What if Brown takes both games tomorrow? They’ll go one-game up on Harvard in the loss column with four to play. This is where things get interesting. If Brown then takes 3 of 4 from Yale next weekend (or better), it’s safe. Harvard would have to sweep and pray for one Brown loss to get the tie-breaking game. If Brown split with Yale next weekend, then Harvard would have to take 3 of 4 just to force a tie-breaking game, or sweep to win it all. If all Brown did was win one game against Yale next weekend, we’d at least have to split with Dartmouth to force a tie-breaker. You can see how difficult a position it is to be a game back heading into the final weekend; it puts you at the mercy of others. [There’s also the wild scenario here that Yale could sweep Brown and put itself in a position to win the title if Harvard were to lose at least two games.]

What if Harvard and Brown split their games tomorrow? Harvard goes into Dartmouth with a game lead over Brown. So basically we get the inverse of the paragraph above – Harvard would need 3 of 4 to be absolutely safe (meaning, the worst-case scenario is a tie-breaking game). If Harvard split next weekend, Brown would have to take 3 of 4 to force the tie-breaker or sweep to win it all. This is a decent position to be in – at least we’d still control our fate.

It’s little things like losing an extra-inning game (like today) that can be a real dagger. One game is huge.

Harvard splits with Brown

Harvard lost the first game, 6-5 in 8 innings (this was the seven-inning game) before blowing out the Bears in the second game, 16-4. Our Ivy League source tells us that there had been some talk of shortening the second game due to the first game's length and darkness concerns. That apparently didn't come to pass, but didn't make much of a difference.

Brown got to Frank Herrmann better than any other team this year, including a two-run homer by Devin Thomas that tied it in the extra frame. Matt Brunnig hit the only batter he faced, and the inning only got messier:

Wilson to
p. Vance to ss. Mackey to cf for Meehan. / for Brunnig. Nichols reached on a
fielder's choice; Lowe advanced to second. Nyadjroh grounded out to 1b unassisted,
SAC, bunt; Nichols advanced to second; Lowe advanced to third. Tews intentionally
walked. Christian reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Tews out at second ss to 2b;
Nichols advanced to third; Lowe scored. 3 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

I sense that onlookers would probably describe whatever happened there more colorfully than a "fielder's choice." A tough go for Steffan Wilson, who hadn't given up a hit. Josh Klimkiewicz homered twice in this game and, peculiarly, Zak Farkes' unpredictable season continued as Joe Walsh started him at second and batted him leadoff (he did get on base four times and score twice, and Vance went 1-for-5 in the 6-spot, but weird). Also of note: Brendan Byrne got squeezed out in all of this. He'd been hitting the ball very well for the Crimson this season. Would've perhaps been a strong DH candidate (and indeed, was put there in Game Two). He wound up coming in for Brown at short later on...

Byrne batted second in Game Two and went 3-for-5 with a 3-run homer in the 5th.

Game Three is tomorrow at noon. I assume we're looking at Castellanos there and Haviland in Game Four, but who really knows anymore?

Red Playing Big

Over in the Lesser Division of the Ivy League, Cornell swept UPenn and has snuck its way into 1st place, a game ahead of Princeton, who lost 3 of 4 to Columbia this past weekend. Cornell will play Princeton next weekend with the division title on the line.

The World According to Tarp

We're about a half an hour away from finally getting in some Brown-Harvard baseball.

Partway through yesterday, I looked out the window and thought, "You know, they really could've played today. I wonder why they were so quick to pull the trigger." This helps explain:

Although Sunday's weather was more cooperative, the storm on Saturday night blew off the tarp covering the field, rendering it unplayable.

"There's no way we could have played today," said relief pitcher Ethan Silverstein '07. "We spent an hour and a half just rolling the tarp back up. Basically, we desperately need a new one."

There is also this key injury note regarding Matt Kutler's protection:

The postponements also gave cleanup hitter Eric Larson '06.5 a chance to rest a groin injury. Larson has been out of the lineup since the second game of a doubleheader at Dartmouth on April 16. Despite a doctor's opinion to rest for 4-6 weeks, Larson will attempt to play today.

The Crimson today said that the games have been rescheduled for today and tomorrow. The Brown Daily Herald hedged a bit, saying this was the most likely scenario. Neither athletic department has officially said as much, and Brown's schedule still lists a game against Vermont tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Monday-Tuesday

The start of the Brown series has been pushed back another day due to inclement weather. So much for catching Brown short-staffed. Both teams should have everyone available tomorrow rest-wise--hopefully there aren't any class commitments that will complicate matters for Harvard.

Those looking for a way to pass the time on this rainy afternoon should check out the NY Times Sunday magazine. The author of Moneyball has another must-read piece on two products of the Oakland farm system and the modern game's warped obsession with power stats. Somewhere there's a joke to be made about whizzinators, but it hasn't come to me just yet.

Sunday-Monday

As expected, today's doubleheader has been postponed. Sunday-Monday now, Monday time TBA. Brown catches a break.

Oh boy...

This amidst this morning's Beanpot coverage in The Crimson:

Anticipating a rainy weekend at division rival Brown (17-15, 9-3 Ivy)—before The Crimson went to press, the Weather Channel predicted an 80 percent chance of showers the entire weekend—Walsh said he pitched Haviland and ace Frank Herrmann against Northeastern to get them regular work.

“We’re counting on that [rain] a little bit,” Walsh said.

If the weather cooperates, Herrmann and senior Mike Morgalis will start games one and two against the Bears, who lost last night at Cornell, falling a game back of the Crimson.

Walsh said he had not decided who to pitch in Sunday’s crucial doubleheader, though he hinted that hard-throwing junior Javier Castellanos would be an option in Game 3.

“I think he’d be a guy that may be used the first day if we need to win,” Walsh said, “which is why I don’t want to say if he’s going to go the second day.”

As for the Sunday finale, Walsh remained tight-lipped.

“We may have a surprise for you for the fourth starter,” he said.

"Surprise" would mean "Haviland doesn't start any of them. Hmmmm. We'll take your bets for the full weekend rotation in the comments section, dear readers. Both of you.

The Harvard Crimson: 2005 Beanpot Champions

Schuyler Mann holds the Beanpot trophy, representing Harvard's first outright Beanpot win since 1991 and the first outright win of the Walsh era.

Frank Herrmann's teammates watch him close things out at Fenway.

The Rest

Blogger is maintaining its server now. Perfect. Well, you will get this late.

Top 5th

Klimkiewicz lines right to the left fielder. Mann 4-pitch walk. Casey singles up the middle just past a diving shortstop. Wallace strokes another double down the left field line. I can't believe he didn't make the first trip. Mann scores, 2nd and 3rd. 5-2, Harvard. Byrne swings and misses at a 3-2 pitch. Brown flies out to shallow left. And because they're there, a shout-out to Harvard Crimson reporters Rebecca, Alex and Pablo.

Bottom 5th. Coke bottle guy strikes out looking. This is the best I've seen this particular Jason Brown, whose submarine-style arm action isn't a thing of beauty, but has been effective. Nutting takes Brown to a full count and walks. There's action in the bullpen, and a brief meeting on the mound. Haviland appears to be warming. Maher lines out to Salsgiver, who had a shot at another out at first but didn't get much velocity on his throw. Emanuele flyball should've ended the inning but between Salsgiver, Vance and Byrne, no one took command and it fell for a hit, 2nd and 3rd. They'll mark it down as a hit, but just a ghastly play, and Brown has to bear down for at least one more batter. Sidhu thought he walked and throws the bat away, but has to retrieve it. Now he walks for real, and the bases are loaded. Brown gets a HUGE strikeout with what appeared from here to be a high fastball.



Top 6th.

Vance walks. He's gotten on four times now: 2-for-2, walk, HBP. Salsgiver doubled to center. 2nd and 3rd. Pitching change, Devin Monds in. And, in perhaps a gesture of contempt, they've started just running the Sox game on the Jumbotron during the pitching change. Wilson up. Monds gets Wilson swinging wildly at a couple, but ultimately walks him. Klimkiewicz up with the bases loaded and nobody out. Klimkiewicz skies one to shallow center, out, Vance scores, no other runners advance (nice throw). Mann up. Salsgiver out by three steps at third on a double steal attempt. Wilson to second. Mann strikes out looking.

Bottom 6th

Haviland in to pitch, which I guess makes sense. He wouldn't start an Ivy game until Sunday which, given the weather forecast, will likely be Monday, earliest. Bush walks. Paquette (with no shift this time) strikes out. Coke Boy GIDP.

Top 7th.

Casey 5-3.Wallace hit in the head. Byrne strikes out swinging. Brown grounds out. The Fenway organist plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I wonder if they're charging the schools for it.

Bottom 7th.

Morizio flies out to right. Nutting walks. Maher dribbler up the third base line gets by Wilson, second and third with one out. Emanuele flies out to deep right, run scores, other guy to third. Sidhu strikes out swinging.

Top 8th:

Vance grounds to short. Salsgiver legs out a grounder. Salsgiver to second, Wilson makes no contact on hit and run, but ball pops out of 2B's glove. Wilson grounds to short, 6-3, Salsgiver to third. Double-barrelled action in the Harvard bullpen. Klimkiewicz (whose name has been pronounced correctly the last few at-bats) singles to left, Salsgiver scores, 7-3. Mann grounds out.

Bottom 8th: Brunnig in to pitch (lefty), as two relievers throw lightly in the pen. Sweet Caroline plays. Five people assembled go "Oh oh oh." Heriot out, Bush flies out to right. Paquette strikes out.

Top 9th:
Casey grounds to short.Wallace grounds out. Farkes pinch hits for Byrne, flies out.

Bottom 9th:
This would be Joe Walsh's first true Beanpot victory, having been a co-champion once when a final with UMass was rained out. He must really want it, as here comes Frank Herrmann. The PA guy pronounces it, "Her-MAHN." Anyway, Herrmann gets the job done, and a borderline unceremonious awards ceremony lands Harvard the coveted Beanpot trophy. Celebration pictures to come.

Shifty business

Bottom 4th:

Heriot takes to on his liner to right, Salsgiver looked like he had a chance at second but the throw was off a shade. Bush 4-3, Heriot takes third. Paquette (Miguel Paquette is an awesome name, by the way). Shift's on against him, with only Wilson occupying the left side of the infield. It almost hurts the Crimson royally, but Wilson makes it out to shallow left and makes a terrific catch to get the out and hold the runner Heriot at 3rd. Milano (Coke bottle) grounds to short, 6-3, and Jay Brown's out of another one. Still no action in the Crimson bullpen. Top 5th, still 4-2, good guys.