200

Fun game to watch last night: a celebration of Tim Hudson. Nice that so many family and friends were present to witness his 200th win, and fun that he had such a great night at the plate. Mark Bowman reports that Hudson has six hits in his last 11 at-bats. Six NL teams have received less than six hits from their entire pitching staff so far this season. Nice that on the night ESPN aired the special entitled "Bryce" that they had to show Hudson's opposite field fly ball deflect off Harper's glove over the fence. I didn't see my Indian friend Robert on the right field front row; perhaps he was working at Kroger last night.

In the announcer's booth, Tom Glavine said he had told Huddy his old line that if he pitched a shutout and hit a home run that he'd be guaranteed a win. Turned out that Hudson almost did just that. Belaboring another point, I am still amazed that Glavine has more sacrifice bunts than any other baseball player in the last 50 years (probably longer).

Nice postgame interview with Gattis after the game. Soft-spoken and humble, giving credit to Hudson as a pitcher and hitter. "Hudson's a better hitter than me" he chuckled. Funny how Gattis used the word "awesome" several times. The White Bear looks comfortable behind the plate, with a strong throwing arm. Joe Simpson said Hudson didn't shake him off all night. In the interview Gattis detailed what pitches were working, that after fastballs they'd mix in a slider to change things up. Interesting tidbits from the USA Today article about all the major leaguers Evan had played with in the past, including Justin Upton and Clayton Kershaw. Gattis is a Sid Finch who hits.

Amazing slow-motion highlight of Simmons flipping the ball out of his glove BEHIND HIS BACK to his throwing hand. Like the announcers, I had missed that over the weekend.