Hooray!

that's what happens when the brewers play counsell and not braun.

I thought I was going to jinx him, but I did not! This is awesome.

That must have been painful for you to post, NTNgod

Okay, I know the gun is probably BS - but 102MPH in the 9th inning? Seriously?

oh and Verlander's female friend was very hot.

That must have been painful for you to post, NTNgod

Well, news is news.

Okay, I know the gun is probably BS - but 102MPH in the 9th inning? Seriously?

The fastball was nothing. Did you see the location on those sliders in the 9th?

Okay, I know the gun is probably BS - but 102MPH in the 9th inning? Seriously?

The Detroit Free Press ran something on Opening Day about that. IIRC, Zumaya had like 200 pitches over 100, Verlander about 50, and a couple other relief pitchers had a combined total of about 30.

I havent seen a pitcher make batters look so foolish since Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros. Graffanino could have predicted the no hitter after his 1st ab.

oh and Verlander's female friend was very hot.

Pics?

Congrats to Verlander, he's a treat to watch. I heard he was hitting 100 on the gun in the 9th.

I will reiterate my congratulations from the Chatter. Outstanding effort.

Justin Verlander: special.

He pitched great tonight. He was the guy I was hoping would fall to the Brewers at #5 in 2004, but the Tigers were smart to snap him up.


Why was Braun sitting tonight? He has a 7 game hitting streak and there was a day off yesterday. I'm glad the decision came back to bite Yost in the ass. Graffanino with the golden sombrero and he looked terrible on all of them.

the first pitch to jj hardy as the last batter of the game was at 102 on the gun ... even if the reading was 3-4 mph fast, which it probably was, that's still 98ish at the end of the game ... and, not only that, it had fantastic movement, starting outside and running back over the outside corner ... obscene, no matter what your definition of pornography

Tomorrow, the Brewers have to face the threshing machine that is Mike Maroth.

Joe:

Braun was just getting a night off.

As any Brewer fan knows, the danger of having a veteran player on the roster is that Yost will find any and all means to wedge said veteran (or veterans) into the lineup. Mench had to collapse into dust before Hart was finally given an extended look in right. Before that it was.....oh scr#w it. Y'all know the list as well as I do.

But Braun not playing was irrelevant this evening. So Verlander throws 10 more pitches or walks an additional batter.

I keep waiting for the moment when Yost wakes up out of his permanent haze that has since fallen over the entire club. Since my incantations for a lightening strike have failed perhaps Mr. Verlander's sizzling performance will do the trick.

Take notes, Schilling.

Yeah, I saw the 8th and 9th on the ESPN cutaway, and Verlander's stuff was just flat-out ridiculous. His three pitches to Graffanino in the ninth were the best three consecutive pitches I've seen in quite a while.

His three pitches to Graffanino in the ninth were the best three consecutive pitches I've seen in quite a while.

Yeah. I didn't see any of Graffanino's other at bats*, but if they looked like that one, it's hard to blame Tony for taking the hood.

*God damn it. I *almost* went to Joe Senser's to get a burger tonight and ask them to put the Tigers on one of the TVs. I decided to just go home and eat dinner there.

I meant to say the other day that, barring an elimination game, I would always root for the no-hitter or perfect game. It is a feat of great achievement and that is always cool. That a fellow human can have a night like that inspires me, even if it comes at the expense of my team.

No-hitters are cool. I love the look of surprise mixed with triumph at the end.

Best game pitch in terms of game score since John Lackey last year in July. 95 GS is pretty special.

Here is Lackeys game:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200607070.shtml

I believe this is the first interleague no-hitter to be pitched outside of Yankee Stadium (Larsen's WS perfect game, Cone's perfecto vs. Montreal, which I attended, and the combined Astros' no-no in 2003).

That was awesome. And great play by Neifi on the DP. Verlander comes off as a nice guy. He said he was lonely when nobody would sit next to him in the dugout during the game -- Omar Infante was there then got up and walked away.

He said he was lonely when nobody would sit next to him in the dugout during the game

He sounds like Homer Simpson.

Friday, I decided to give up on Mo Rivera in my fantasy league, and posted a note asking for trade offers. Sunday night I pulled the trigger and picked up Verlander.

Peptech E. Coyote, Super Genius.

Friday, I decided to give up on Mo Rivera in my fantasy league, and posted a note asking for trade offers. Sunday night I pulled the trigger and picked up Verlander.

I almost traded him for Matsuzaka on Saturday. That might still be a good trade, come to think of it.

Probably a better trade now, since you could probably get some idiot to throw in someone else of value too.

Wow. This was, I think, the first no-hitter I ever saw (I may have saw Stieb vs Cle, but I don't think so).
I honestly started thinking no-hitter after the second. Justin just had ridiculously good stuff. Ususally too much gets read into no-hitters, but this could be a harbinger of Verlander stepping to the level of dominance, getting the Ks (12 tonight) his stuff and command have always suggested. Or it could be an overexcited Tigers fan talking.

And I hate Neifi, but that double play he and Polanco turned was definitely a thing.

[Virtually high-fives Walewander]

Did you watch it or have it on the radio? I heard Dickerson was VG.
Thoughts on the team? Not many Tigers threads so far, and Chatter is pretty quiet when I stop by.

I thought this quote was interesting:

Asked what single thing in his game was at a higher level than usual, Verlander said: "All of it. Everything. If I knew why, it's something I'd like to figure out."

Thoughts on the team?

I think that they're going to be fine. The offense isn't this good, but it doesn't have to be this good. Ane we're going to start getting some pitchers back off of the DL soon. Miller has looked pretty good so far; I'd rather he spent more time in Erie, but if he has to learn on the job like Bonderman did, I think we'll still be all right.

Radio. He did a good job. He almost came unhinged at the end of the seventh, so I was afraid he was going to ham it up at the end, but he stayed stable, just very excited. Verlander's postgame interview was great, too. He yelled "I love Detroit!" That was the best thing I've heard a player say in a long time.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the team. . . I don't expect them to make the playoffs this year, but that's no surprise. My compulsive pessimism, partly tongue-in-cheek and partly superstition, makes that a certainty.

But getting past that, I'm surprised that the offense is doing so well. Sheffield was a great acquisition, and Ordonez obviously is far exceeding expectations. The offense as a whole is still too batting average dependent, though, so it will have fallow periods.

And this year, Verlander and Bonderman notwithstanding, the pitching just isn't as good. Robertson must have been hiding an injury for at least a couple of weeks, so maybe he'll be okay again when he comes back. I hope that Rogers can be decent in the second half, but I'm not counting on it. I also hope that Miller is up to stay, but that would mean he pitches well enough to make that happen; we'll see. Still, the Tigers have a better chance at this point to have a solid rotation in place come August than most teams, if they can hang in that long.

The bullpen has, of course, been abysmal, but since bullpens are so variable, I'm not overly worried by it, just annoyed. Getting rid of Mesa certainly helps. Todd Jones upsets me on many levels. But bullpens usually just aren't that important in the end, and they can probably add a decent arm or two before the deadline. Actually, Chad Durbin has been good enough in the rotation so far that if Rogers and Miller both stay in it, Durbin might be able to help in the 'pen. I know he used to throw hard, but I haven't seen him pitch this year, nor seen any radar gun readings.

I still think that the Padres did the right thing by drafting Matt Bush and snubbing Verlander and Weaver. Who needs young starters when you can potentially have a middle reliever?

Nolan Ryan didn't throw his first no-no until he was 26. Verlander is only 24.

I hope that he doesn't have a serious injury or get burned out quickly by his managers, because this kid really is special.

Only way to No Hit a team with Bill Hall on it is to walk Bill Hall (b/c he can even walk on water).

Brings up a good question, who had a more impressive no hitter this year? Verlander with his 12Ks or Buehrle facing the minimum? (I know that Game Score has it 95 to 94.)

oh and Verlander's female friend was very hot.

Pics?

http://futonreport.net/stuff/2007/06/verlandergirlfriend.jpg

Full article: http://futonreport.net/index.php/2007/1918592

Miss Yuen can also be seen here.

Nolan Ryan didn't throw his first no-no until he was 26. Verlander is only 24.

Bud Smith was 21 when he threw his no-no. He's still only 27.

Verlander's on my fantasy team, which is terrific. This morning, though, a trade offer I made went through: Barry Bonds, Adrian Gonzalez, Bill Hall and Verlander for Manny Ramirez, Curtis Granderson and Roy Halladay. I feel like it was giving up too much when I made the offer, and I'm sad to lose Verlander now. He looked absolutely filthy last night.

Edit: It's amazing how reliant I am on the Red Sox offense once this trade goes through. Tek, Ortiz, Pedroia, Youks and Ramirez all in that lineup.

Brings up a good question, who had a more impressive no hitter this year? Verlander with his 12Ks or Buehrle facing the minimum?

The Brewers' offense is quite a bit better than the Rangers', isn't it?

I just checked but I think that was the first No Hitter where a pitcher was unable to get one of the opposing team's starters out (Bill Hall 0-0, 3 bb).*

*A starter that played the entire game.

Also, while JV had 2 excellent plays behind him Buehrle had a weeks worth of web gems behind him. His could've easily been a 6-hitter.

Boots:

Right NOW the answer is "Definitely not". The Milwaukee offense, such as it is, has only produced 3 or more runs in 12 of the last 30(!) games. This despite Prince Fielder hitting 17 homers since May 1st. After good early starts from Hardy, Jenkins, and Estrada the offense has gone into a collective stupor. And this despite Yost installing Hart into the leadoff spot (until recently) and Braun being called up with Ryan hitting as expected.

I am working mightily to restrain my commentary as this is Justin Verlander's moment, and I don't want to derail the conversation with an angry tirade about the current state of the Milawukee Brewers. If and when NTN gets the gumption to post a Brewer related post I will likely explode via the electronic medium.

I am astonished how accepting my fellow Brewer fans are with the current tailspin. This alleged divisional lead hangs by the slimmest of threads and yet all anyone does is verbally shrug about how the rest of the division "s*cks worse" so why worry.

Whatever happened to having absolute expectations versus this relativism? This team is GIVING AWAY THE CHANCE to BURY THE OPPOSITION. The Brewers could easily have a 10(!) game right now if they just played with a TINKER'S D*MN!

D*mmit. Sorry.

(Exits with hands trembling and head throbbing)