Penn update
Happy Anniversary to me.
It's been exactly one week since MASNsports.com launched School of Roch. This is entry No. 53 - a pace that could drive me to an early grave.
(Speaking of which, pretty sad news today that comedian Bernie Mac died. Go out and rent "The Original Kings of Comedy." Just be prepared to cough up your spleen laughing.)
Each days seems to bring another reader to me with the accompanying tagline of "I'm glad that I found you." And often followed by, "But it's hard to find you."
Just click on the cheesy photo with the School of Roch logo, and you'll get my archives. I'm going to suggest that it be enlarged, perhaps to the actual size of my head.
I'll be heading to Camden Yards in a few hours. I'm still recovering from last night's post-game excursion to Sliders. Thanks, as always, to Ox and Rachel for taking such good care of me and my crew.
But enough about me...
David Stockstill, the Orioles' director of player development, said he expects Hayden Penn to miss only one start at Triple-A Norfolk. That's the early optimism.
Penn threw five scoreless innings in his last start - right after having his left leg pierced by a piece of wood - but complained the next day of some tightness in his right shoulder. He's been diagnosed with mild tendinitis, which beats the raging variety.
"This is just a precaution, to get it calmed down," Stockstill said. "Day by day, we'll find out more."
One of these days, Penn will hit the lottery or be adopted by Angelina Jolie. His luck has to change.
He was supposed to make the start that went to Chris Waters. He was supposed to start next week in Cleveland.
"It's unbelievable," Stockstill said. "He seems to be snake bit every time he's considered for the major leagues."
Careful what you say. He might actually get bit by a snake tomorrow.
This guy can't catch a break, I was at the first game he pitched in Oriole Park many moons ago. In looking at the schedule it appears he could pitch against the White Sox the last week of the month. Moving Waters up has several benefits, it seperates the lefties and shifts Sarfate into a position where he could be skipped on an off day the 21st. So that means two more starts, Monday and next Saturday. It gives Penn a chance to get ready to be called up barring another problem.
You know if Penn was any good i could see you wasting all this time and effort keeping the fans updated. He gets more ink then most regulars on this team get.I always knew it wasn't how good you really are it's how much of a reputation that precides you that really counts. They made him the next coming of Jim Palmer and he will be lucky if he makes 10 more starts in the major leagues. Tell me about players that can play and that aren't injury prone all the time.It's like In Football when people keep talking about how great Todd Heap is , when in reality he is hurt more then he plays.Don't know if he is just injury prone,soft, or just has bad luck, but you bet that somewhere in that equation you can only contribute when you can make it to the field.
Congrats on your one week anniversary! I'm curious how much MASN is lovin' the hits the website is getting now. I think I've visited masnsports.com more over the past week than I had for the last two or three years since MASN was created.
Here's an idea for some blog fun... guess the next Hayden Penn headline. Here's mine: "Minor League Pitcher Penn Abducted By Aliens".
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Thanks Heathir. And thanks to all for the kind wishes that you've sent my way in the last week. Love the headline idea! - Roch
No kidding, the first time I ever visited MASN's website was to track you down after the Sun blog ended. Now I have it bookmarked and hit the site daily, usually multiple times per day. Keep up the good work.
BTW I still visit the Sun site but not as much as before, and I can't bring myself to read the Schmuck blog--his picture repels me.
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He has that same effect on me. (kidding Schmucker!). Glad you found the site, Andy. Keep coming back! - Roch
Roch - I'm sorry, it's a pet peeve from my writing days, I've seen many of your commenters do it, and even saw you do it once this past week .....
"THEN" = A moment in time.
"THAN" = Compares one thing to another ("He gets more ink THAN most regulars").
My apologies. Couldn't hold it in any longer.
Roch,
Use some of your MASN pull to get more minor league games on TV. I'd rather wathch those games (even on tape delay) than any of the national syndicated stuff they run.
"The Penn is not mighter than the S-word" (partial credit to Darrel Hammond playing Sean Connery on SNL)
"September call-up Penn-ding"
*&%t Hap-penn-s!
sorry for the vulgarity... good ideas heathir. i also did not realize masn even had a website until roch came aboard. i love the video feed and roberts' updates. not bad at all.
Remember last year when Penn was supposed to start versus the Mariners and he had to have an appendectomy instead? I don't see the sense in rushing Penn at this point. Give him the month of September off and have him try to pull things together with a winterball assignment. Then have him start fresh in spring training. The vibes just aren't right at this point. And unless he's out of options, it's too early to give up on him and cut him loose. Maybe all this adversity will make him a stronger person and a more fierce competitor.
Maybe instead of correcting posters use of the ENGLISH language you should contribute something to the topic instead of sending comments that are bulls--t in nature
Okay...here's a stab at Heathir's challenge (not with a broken bat, mind you)...
"Injury Keeps Hayden from Being Penned into Rotation"
"From Bull-Penn to Outfield - Another O's Pitching Prospect Tries Converting"
So is Mr. Mac now a natural for the next "Weekend at Bernie's" sequel?
Well bob, you set the bar pretty high with your astute commentary, but I will try.