After our tough win last night my friend Grantland Rice called, as he often does late at night after a Vandy win during which he's obviously been drinking too much.
Me: "Hi, Grantland, wassup?" (Though very posh himself with words, Grantland prefers laid back banter with his friends.)
Grantland Rice: "Greetings, faithful fellow fanatic. Might you have witnessed our mighty warriors on the field of battle tonight as they courageously took on the men of Auburn?"
Me: "Yes, I did, it got rather iffy there at the end but we pulled it out. What did you think about it?"
GR: "Give me but room to fight my way, I ask no other gift from Fate; though it should crowd on me at bay, where only ghosts and shadows wait."
Me: "Perhaps it was Fate. But for a moment I had visions of the Arkansas game 3."
GR: " Shadows of old defeats blown by, ghosts of old dreams drawn from life's pit; yet all I ask is room to try and prove Fate cannot make me quit."
Me: "I admire your perseverance. How do you think game 3 is going to go?"
GR: "No glint of glory from the height, no flare of fame to call me far; merely the ground to make my fight against whatever odds there are."
Me: "The odds are certainly against us winning but I'm forever hopeful."
GR: "Good gracious, I think I've just written another poem to publish!"
For the 5th time this year in just 7 chances the Dores get the opportunity to sweep an SEC series. Twice they've been successful (Florida, Alabama) and twice they've not (Tennessee, Arkansas.) That's a 50% success rate. In terms of talent I'd put Auburn between those two extreme groups and say this is a 50/50 tossup to go our way as well.
Patrick Raby goes for Vandy and he's fresh off a combined shut-out of Alabama, righting himself after two consecutive poor starts. Auburn counters with left-handed Brooks Fuller. Brooks was previously a reliever until he won the UT game, after which he became a starter: game 2 vs. South Carolina, game 2 vs. Arkansas, and game 3 vs. Ole MIss, and now game 3 vs. Vandy. He lost to South Carolina in a decent outing of 5 innings, yielding 2 runs. He hasn't fared too well since. He lasted but 3.1 against Arkansas, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits but it was a No Decision for him. Same last week, another ND with OM going 4.2 innings and surrendering 3 runs on 5 hits. His SEC ERA is 4.32 and OBA is .220. Those are not terrible numbers, but also not scary.
Vandy's been pummeling the ball this weekend. Overall team batting is .388 and OBP is .480. They're hitting .300 with RISP while also drawing 7 walks for an OBP RISP of .628. Again last night everybody contributed to the offense in some way. Only JJ Bleday is struggling this weekend and the fact that we can still score 19 runs and bat .388 without him tells you all you need to know about the rest of the team.
If the Good Patrick shows up, Vandy wins. If not, who knows what happens. It'd be nice to have Tyler Brown to count on but that doesn't appear to be the case. Our bullpen is pretty fresh but is there anyone there that you 100% can count on? Not really. So we'll see.
Me: "Hi, Grantland, wassup?" (Though very posh himself with words, Grantland prefers laid back banter with his friends.)
Grantland Rice: "Greetings, faithful fellow fanatic. Might you have witnessed our mighty warriors on the field of battle tonight as they courageously took on the men of Auburn?"
Me: "Yes, I did, it got rather iffy there at the end but we pulled it out. What did you think about it?"
GR: "Give me but room to fight my way, I ask no other gift from Fate; though it should crowd on me at bay, where only ghosts and shadows wait."
Me: "Perhaps it was Fate. But for a moment I had visions of the Arkansas game 3."
GR: " Shadows of old defeats blown by, ghosts of old dreams drawn from life's pit; yet all I ask is room to try and prove Fate cannot make me quit."
Me: "I admire your perseverance. How do you think game 3 is going to go?"
GR: "No glint of glory from the height, no flare of fame to call me far; merely the ground to make my fight against whatever odds there are."
Me: "The odds are certainly against us winning but I'm forever hopeful."
GR: "Good gracious, I think I've just written another poem to publish!"
For the 5th time this year in just 7 chances the Dores get the opportunity to sweep an SEC series. Twice they've been successful (Florida, Alabama) and twice they've not (Tennessee, Arkansas.) That's a 50% success rate. In terms of talent I'd put Auburn between those two extreme groups and say this is a 50/50 tossup to go our way as well.
Patrick Raby goes for Vandy and he's fresh off a combined shut-out of Alabama, righting himself after two consecutive poor starts. Auburn counters with left-handed Brooks Fuller. Brooks was previously a reliever until he won the UT game, after which he became a starter: game 2 vs. South Carolina, game 2 vs. Arkansas, and game 3 vs. Ole MIss, and now game 3 vs. Vandy. He lost to South Carolina in a decent outing of 5 innings, yielding 2 runs. He hasn't fared too well since. He lasted but 3.1 against Arkansas, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits but it was a No Decision for him. Same last week, another ND with OM going 4.2 innings and surrendering 3 runs on 5 hits. His SEC ERA is 4.32 and OBA is .220. Those are not terrible numbers, but also not scary.
Vandy's been pummeling the ball this weekend. Overall team batting is .388 and OBP is .480. They're hitting .300 with RISP while also drawing 7 walks for an OBP RISP of .628. Again last night everybody contributed to the offense in some way. Only JJ Bleday is struggling this weekend and the fact that we can still score 19 runs and bat .388 without him tells you all you need to know about the rest of the team.
If the Good Patrick shows up, Vandy wins. If not, who knows what happens. It'd be nice to have Tyler Brown to count on but that doesn't appear to be the case. Our bullpen is pretty fresh but is there anyone there that you 100% can count on? Not really. So we'll see.
