The Florida Marlins came back strong tonight after last nights drubbing at the hand of wildcard rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. There was a log of commentary after last night's game on how that was such a devastating loss for the Marlins. The truth seems much different.
A come from behind win in the bottom of the ninth is a much harder pill to swallow than a blowout drubbing. After all, blowouts are common and it was one of those nights. Any player can forget those kinds of games. The bigger struggle was not the loss, but the wildcard lead shrinking from a game and a half to a game.
The Marlins answered that concern in a big way and in a way that they have answered every challenge so far this season. The team that turned around as soon as Jack McKean became the manager, came back and beat the Phillies 11-4. The game wasn't as much of a blowout as it seemed.
Early in the game, both starting pitchers were shaky and the game was close. The difference was the relief pitching. Mike Redman gave up four runs in five innings but was good enough to keep the Marlins in the game. Chad Fox, who was run out of Boston, pitched two critical scoreless innings. Urbina, another Red Sox castoff, pitched a scoreless inning and then the Marlins scored four in the top of the ninth to break the game open. Neal Bump finished up, giving the Marlins four scoreless innings of relief.
Fox was the focal point of the Red Sox experiment with a bullpen by committee. After several bad blown saves and cascades of boos, the Red Sox reworked their entire bullpen. Fox landed in South Florida and has pitched in fourteen games for the Marlins and has a 2-0 record with 21 strikeouts in 17 plus innings. His ERA with Florida is 2.55 and his base runners per inning is a very good 1.17. With the Red Sox, that figure was 2.00.
Urbina has been spectacular with two wins against no losses. He also has two saves and his ERA with Florida is 1.15! Put Urbina together with Fox and you have two pitchers who are performing better than any Boston reliever.
The Marlins are a wonderful story. But so are the Cubs. The Cubs lost 95 games last year. After a big performance by Mark Prior last night, Kerry Wood had his own dominating performance. If the Rockies hold on to their 5-3 lead against the Astros, the Cubs could be only down a half a game.
On the other end is the Kansas City Royals. The Royals lost to the Indians, 9-1. With that loss, it's time to count the Royals out. If the two teams ahead of the Royals finish the last twelve games at 6-6, the Royals would have to win 10 of their last 12 just to tie. The Royals were a great story all year. But they ran out of steam and the fat lady is getting ready to sing.
What a great season!
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Twelve games left. Twelve games to decide two division champions and two wildcard teams. As the most exciting season in recent baseball history winds down, we are no closer to knowing what is going to happen than we were a month ago.
The Cubs are starting to come on and have a great schedule down the stretch. Prior was amazing tonight. The only trouble is that the Astros are playing just as well and won big against the Rockies. Down a game and a half, the Cubs finish with the Mets, Pirates and Reds--all teams they should beat.
The Astros have one more series at St. Louis, a series with the Giants and finish the series with Milwaukee. That schedule seems to favor the Cubs. But if things stay as they are, the best team in the division (the Cubs) might not win the division.
Meanwhile, the Phillies and Marlins have a big series with the wildcard on the line. The Marlins had a game and a half lead but were blown up by the Phillies today, 14-4. The Marlins and Phillies play each other six times between now and the end and each team has to play a series against Atlanta.
That kind of schedule for the two teams means that the Dodgers still have a chance though they play the Diamondbacks and Giants in the stretch. They are losing so far tonight to those Diamondbacks and may not gain any ground.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox beat off a scrappy Devil Rays team as they barely held on to win, 3-2. Pedro went all the way for the win. The question remains if Pedro has to work this hard down the stretch, will he have anything left for the playoffs?
The Mariners are fading at a bad time and it's hard to believe that Ichiro is only batting .309. His average has gone down for the third straight year and his OBP is thirty-eight points behind last year. A telling statistic is that he has batted over six hundred times and only has 33 walks. There is much speculation as to whether he wears down over a MLB season that is much longer than the Japanese leagues.
The Twins have the best record in baseball since the AllStar break and the White Sox are right behind them. The Twins won their head to head battle tonight and leaped frogged to the top of the division. The Royals started winning again to stay three and a half back but it is unrealistic for them to catch not just one top team, but two.
And finally, you know the Fan has to finish this post by giving it up to Roger Clemens as he won his fifteenth game tonight. The win was the 308th of his career. The Yankees are peaking at the right time which seems to coincide with the re-emergence of Soriano at the top of the lineup.
The Cubs are starting to come on and have a great schedule down the stretch. Prior was amazing tonight. The only trouble is that the Astros are playing just as well and won big against the Rockies. Down a game and a half, the Cubs finish with the Mets, Pirates and Reds--all teams they should beat.
The Astros have one more series at St. Louis, a series with the Giants and finish the series with Milwaukee. That schedule seems to favor the Cubs. But if things stay as they are, the best team in the division (the Cubs) might not win the division.
Meanwhile, the Phillies and Marlins have a big series with the wildcard on the line. The Marlins had a game and a half lead but were blown up by the Phillies today, 14-4. The Marlins and Phillies play each other six times between now and the end and each team has to play a series against Atlanta.
That kind of schedule for the two teams means that the Dodgers still have a chance though they play the Diamondbacks and Giants in the stretch. They are losing so far tonight to those Diamondbacks and may not gain any ground.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox beat off a scrappy Devil Rays team as they barely held on to win, 3-2. Pedro went all the way for the win. The question remains if Pedro has to work this hard down the stretch, will he have anything left for the playoffs?
The Mariners are fading at a bad time and it's hard to believe that Ichiro is only batting .309. His average has gone down for the third straight year and his OBP is thirty-eight points behind last year. A telling statistic is that he has batted over six hundred times and only has 33 walks. There is much speculation as to whether he wears down over a MLB season that is much longer than the Japanese leagues.
The Twins have the best record in baseball since the AllStar break and the White Sox are right behind them. The Twins won their head to head battle tonight and leaped frogged to the top of the division. The Royals started winning again to stay three and a half back but it is unrealistic for them to catch not just one top team, but two.
And finally, you know the Fan has to finish this post by giving it up to Roger Clemens as he won his fifteenth game tonight. The win was the 308th of his career. The Yankees are peaking at the right time which seems to coincide with the re-emergence of Soriano at the top of the lineup.
Monday, September 15, 2003
For the first time in quite a while, most of the contenders are not playing in series against other contenders. And with that the case, all of them have won tonight or are winning...except one.
The Red Sox had a big game offensively (no surprise there) and a terrific pitching performance by Derek Lowe to go two and a half games up on the Seattle Mariners for the wildcard as the Mariners lost to the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox now have four players over ninety RBI and are closing in on the all time extra base hit record.
The Rangers featured a homer by Rafael Palmeiro (his 35th to go with 105 RBI) and a homer, double and four RBI from rookie, Mark Teixera. Francisco Cordero came in for the Rangers in the ninth and struck out the side (now THAT'S impressive) for his fourteen save.
Despite the good performance by Texas, these are games the Mariners have to win. Two and a half games out with only thirteen to play is a tough way to go.
The Cubs and Cardinals both won tonight to pick up a half a game each on the idle Astros. Of course, at five games out, with thirteen to play, the Cardinals have to face the fact that they are out of it.
Kansas City and Minnesota both picked up a half game on the White Sox, who were idle tonight. The Twins put up an eight spot in their game tonight to come from behind to win that game. Good relief pitching then took over as (the Ancient), Orosco, Rincon and Pulido kept the Twins in the game so that they could come back.
The Yankees clobbered the falling Orioles 13-1 as the Yankees got a four for five performance from Soriano including two homers. If this is a sign that Soriano is going to break out of his funk, then the sign is loud and clear.
The Yankees also had some milestones as Hideki Matsui reached 100 RBI tonight as did Jason Giambi. Posada had several RBI tonight to bring his RBI total to 95.
Thirteen games left...
The Red Sox had a big game offensively (no surprise there) and a terrific pitching performance by Derek Lowe to go two and a half games up on the Seattle Mariners for the wildcard as the Mariners lost to the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox now have four players over ninety RBI and are closing in on the all time extra base hit record.
The Rangers featured a homer by Rafael Palmeiro (his 35th to go with 105 RBI) and a homer, double and four RBI from rookie, Mark Teixera. Francisco Cordero came in for the Rangers in the ninth and struck out the side (now THAT'S impressive) for his fourteen save.
Despite the good performance by Texas, these are games the Mariners have to win. Two and a half games out with only thirteen to play is a tough way to go.
The Cubs and Cardinals both won tonight to pick up a half a game each on the idle Astros. Of course, at five games out, with thirteen to play, the Cardinals have to face the fact that they are out of it.
Kansas City and Minnesota both picked up a half game on the White Sox, who were idle tonight. The Twins put up an eight spot in their game tonight to come from behind to win that game. Good relief pitching then took over as (the Ancient), Orosco, Rincon and Pulido kept the Twins in the game so that they could come back.
The Yankees clobbered the falling Orioles 13-1 as the Yankees got a four for five performance from Soriano including two homers. If this is a sign that Soriano is going to break out of his funk, then the sign is loud and clear.
The Yankees also had some milestones as Hideki Matsui reached 100 RBI tonight as did Jason Giambi. Posada had several RBI tonight to bring his RBI total to 95.
Thirteen games left...
Sunday, September 14, 2003
On a day where the Cubs lost to fall two behind the Astros (Ugh!) and the Red Sox lost to the White Sox (Ugh!). And also on the same day, the Marlins lose a game of their National League wildcard lead (Ugh!), the Fan needs a night off.
Before I go, I have to take one more opportunity to stress how badly the MLB umpires are acting in this baseball season. As far as I can see, they are out of control. Today was just one more example as Barry Bonds, the World's best baseball player, and the reason forty-thousand fans turned out and paid thirty dollars a ticket, got thrown out of the game in the first inning without uttering one swear word.
If the man who just tied Babe Ruth in career walks doesn't know the strike zone, who does? If the same man questions the umpire about that same strike zone without swearing or showing the umpire up, then there is no reason to ever get thrown out of the game.
The umpires are out of control and I've seen at least five games in the last two weeks where contending teams lost one of their best players to an over-zealous, out of control umpire. The situation is ridiculous and baseball is suffering the consequences.
Before I go, I have to take one more opportunity to stress how badly the MLB umpires are acting in this baseball season. As far as I can see, they are out of control. Today was just one more example as Barry Bonds, the World's best baseball player, and the reason forty-thousand fans turned out and paid thirty dollars a ticket, got thrown out of the game in the first inning without uttering one swear word.
If the man who just tied Babe Ruth in career walks doesn't know the strike zone, who does? If the same man questions the umpire about that same strike zone without swearing or showing the umpire up, then there is no reason to ever get thrown out of the game.
The umpires are out of control and I've seen at least five games in the last two weeks where contending teams lost one of their best players to an over-zealous, out of control umpire. The situation is ridiculous and baseball is suffering the consequences.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
After today's games, two things are very clear. First, the Yankees are going to sweep Tampa Bay in a double header and will win the AL East. Secondly, the Cardinals are not going to make the playoffs in what is a huge upset in the NL Central.
The combination of the Yankees' two wins today along with the Red Sox loss to the White Sox puts the Yankees up by five and a half and seven games in the loss column with only fourteen games to play. Unlike many of the playoff contenders this week, the Yankees beat the poor teams and are finishing the season with what is now an eight game winning streak.
The Yankees starters have pitched well as David ("Big Mouth") Wells and Mussina have looked good recently. The Yankee bullpen is also starting to click. Gabe White has been terrific and Heredia has been a big lift from the left side. The bullpen only needs Nelson to get straightened out and they will be a tough unit again.
The Fan is still hoping the Red Sox can edge into the wildcard and even with tonight's loss, they should remain a game and a half up.
The Cardinals never could overcome pitching injuries and depth problems. It's hard to comprehend a LaRussa team that contains players like Renteria, Pujols, Edmonds and Drew could be out scored and outplayed so often. Woody Williams pitched his heart out all year but ran out of gas at the end. Matt Morris pitched well early and then late but had a bad stretch and then injury in the middle. The relief pitching never gelled and it looks like either the Cubs or Astros will end up the division winner.
And it's hard to tell which of the Astros and Cubs will end up on top. Both are playing well now when it counts. Dusty Baker knows how to win and has the managerial nod. But the Astros have the better bullpen which offsets the Cubs starters. The Cubs have the easier schedule. It will be interesting. The Fan can't help but to root for the Cubbies.
All three teams in the AL Central race won tonight. So that one is too close to call. And three and a half games out is not enough to count the Royals out. The Royals do have to win every game the rest of the season.
And in the most wondrous story of all, the Florida Marlins had their biggest crowd of the year on hand tonight as Dontrelle Willis won his thirteenth game (against six losses) against the Braves. Combine their second straight win over the Braves with a Phillies loss to the Pirates, and the Marlins now have a two and a half advantage in the wildcard race with two games to play.
Miguel Cabrera went three for four with four RBI in the game. Willis pitched six strong innings and the Marlins...Inexplicably...have won twelve of their last fourteen games and are pushing the envelope on this race.
This has been the most exciting season the Fan has witnessed in forty plus years of my love affair with the game.
The combination of the Yankees' two wins today along with the Red Sox loss to the White Sox puts the Yankees up by five and a half and seven games in the loss column with only fourteen games to play. Unlike many of the playoff contenders this week, the Yankees beat the poor teams and are finishing the season with what is now an eight game winning streak.
The Yankees starters have pitched well as David ("Big Mouth") Wells and Mussina have looked good recently. The Yankee bullpen is also starting to click. Gabe White has been terrific and Heredia has been a big lift from the left side. The bullpen only needs Nelson to get straightened out and they will be a tough unit again.
The Fan is still hoping the Red Sox can edge into the wildcard and even with tonight's loss, they should remain a game and a half up.
The Cardinals never could overcome pitching injuries and depth problems. It's hard to comprehend a LaRussa team that contains players like Renteria, Pujols, Edmonds and Drew could be out scored and outplayed so often. Woody Williams pitched his heart out all year but ran out of gas at the end. Matt Morris pitched well early and then late but had a bad stretch and then injury in the middle. The relief pitching never gelled and it looks like either the Cubs or Astros will end up the division winner.
And it's hard to tell which of the Astros and Cubs will end up on top. Both are playing well now when it counts. Dusty Baker knows how to win and has the managerial nod. But the Astros have the better bullpen which offsets the Cubs starters. The Cubs have the easier schedule. It will be interesting. The Fan can't help but to root for the Cubbies.
All three teams in the AL Central race won tonight. So that one is too close to call. And three and a half games out is not enough to count the Royals out. The Royals do have to win every game the rest of the season.
And in the most wondrous story of all, the Florida Marlins had their biggest crowd of the year on hand tonight as Dontrelle Willis won his thirteenth game (against six losses) against the Braves. Combine their second straight win over the Braves with a Phillies loss to the Pirates, and the Marlins now have a two and a half advantage in the wildcard race with two games to play.
Miguel Cabrera went three for four with four RBI in the game. Willis pitched six strong innings and the Marlins...Inexplicably...have won twelve of their last fourteen games and are pushing the envelope on this race.
This has been the most exciting season the Fan has witnessed in forty plus years of my love affair with the game.
Friday, September 12, 2003
The Fan was going to sound the gong on the Kansas City Royals for the 2003 season after their shutout loss to the Tigers tonight. But then the Twins and White Sox lost too. The Royals remain three and a half back in the division with sixteen games to play. Not impossible odds, but the odds are lengthening. It sure was fun while it lasted.
Speaking of fun, how about the two runs scored by the Marlins in the eighth to tie the Braves and then the game winning double in the ninth to take the win. That's the kind of win that will fire up the team and propel them from here. With the Phillies' loss, the Marlins are now a game up in the wildcard race and two games up in the loss column.
The Marlins are an amazing story. Here is a team that lost Mike Lowell and kept on scrapping and winning. Tonight, the Marlins lost Brad Penny in the first inning to an elbow injury. Penny is a big part of their rotation and success. Losing him had to be a blow. But the team still rallied from behind and won the game. Rick Helling, Chad Fox, Urbina and Looper pitched the last eight and a third innings and only gave up a run.
If the Marlins hold on to win the wildcard, Jack McKean will look like the biggest genius who ever managed the game. They were a .500 team when he took over and they are sixteen over .500 since. Amazing.
In other playoff hopeful games: The Cubs almost blew a big lead, but came back to win. The Red Sox beat Chicago's AL edition. Seattle and Oakland are both winning. And Houston is blowing out the sinking Cardinals.
And now for the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they fared their last seven games:
-- Nick Johnson. Johnson batted .292 for the last week to keep his average just above .300, but that isn't the real story. Johnson also walked seven times and saw his season OBP rise to .443. His ability to get on base is critical to the Yankees' success and his eight runs scored last week indicate his importance.
-- Melvin Mora. Mora has struggled since his return from a hand injury. His season average is now down to .318.
-- Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a tough week as he went three for eighteen (.167) to bring his season average down to .295. He did have three RBI and walked five times (the most in his short career). With the walks, Baldelli's season OBP is .331.
-- Coco Crisp. Crisp sure seems to be streaky! Last week he was great. This week he only had four hits in 23 at bats.
-- Hank Blalock. Blalock had a tough week also and only batted .192 for the week with a triple a homer, no RBI and three runs scored.
-- Mark Teixeira. Many of my favorite boxscore players had a tough week after a great week. Teixeira went 3 for 25 (.120) for the week with no extra base hits.
-- Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins young rookie continues to hold his own. Cabrera had six hits last week and five of them were doubles. He had five RBI and now has 49 RBI in just 71 games.
-- Pat Burrell. Burrell had a good week and is all the way up to .214 for the year.
-- Scott Podsednik. The Brewers leadoff hitter had an outstanding week as he went 10 for 29 (.345) and scored seven runs. His leadoff statistics (.317 BA, .383 OBP, 89 runs scored) rival anyone in either league.
-- Sean Burroughs. Jeff's son continues his steady season. He batted .292 for the week with an OBP of .393 and scored four runs. He's doing well in his new leadoff role.
Speaking of fun, how about the two runs scored by the Marlins in the eighth to tie the Braves and then the game winning double in the ninth to take the win. That's the kind of win that will fire up the team and propel them from here. With the Phillies' loss, the Marlins are now a game up in the wildcard race and two games up in the loss column.
The Marlins are an amazing story. Here is a team that lost Mike Lowell and kept on scrapping and winning. Tonight, the Marlins lost Brad Penny in the first inning to an elbow injury. Penny is a big part of their rotation and success. Losing him had to be a blow. But the team still rallied from behind and won the game. Rick Helling, Chad Fox, Urbina and Looper pitched the last eight and a third innings and only gave up a run.
If the Marlins hold on to win the wildcard, Jack McKean will look like the biggest genius who ever managed the game. They were a .500 team when he took over and they are sixteen over .500 since. Amazing.
In other playoff hopeful games: The Cubs almost blew a big lead, but came back to win. The Red Sox beat Chicago's AL edition. Seattle and Oakland are both winning. And Houston is blowing out the sinking Cardinals.
And now for the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they fared their last seven games:
-- Nick Johnson. Johnson batted .292 for the last week to keep his average just above .300, but that isn't the real story. Johnson also walked seven times and saw his season OBP rise to .443. His ability to get on base is critical to the Yankees' success and his eight runs scored last week indicate his importance.
-- Melvin Mora. Mora has struggled since his return from a hand injury. His season average is now down to .318.
-- Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a tough week as he went three for eighteen (.167) to bring his season average down to .295. He did have three RBI and walked five times (the most in his short career). With the walks, Baldelli's season OBP is .331.
-- Coco Crisp. Crisp sure seems to be streaky! Last week he was great. This week he only had four hits in 23 at bats.
-- Hank Blalock. Blalock had a tough week also and only batted .192 for the week with a triple a homer, no RBI and three runs scored.
-- Mark Teixeira. Many of my favorite boxscore players had a tough week after a great week. Teixeira went 3 for 25 (.120) for the week with no extra base hits.
-- Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins young rookie continues to hold his own. Cabrera had six hits last week and five of them were doubles. He had five RBI and now has 49 RBI in just 71 games.
-- Pat Burrell. Burrell had a good week and is all the way up to .214 for the year.
-- Scott Podsednik. The Brewers leadoff hitter had an outstanding week as he went 10 for 29 (.345) and scored seven runs. His leadoff statistics (.317 BA, .383 OBP, 89 runs scored) rival anyone in either league.
-- Sean Burroughs. Jeff's son continues his steady season. He batted .292 for the week with an OBP of .393 and scored four runs. He's doing well in his new leadoff role.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Nothing changed today in the NL Central as the Cubs, Cardinals and Astros all lost. The Cubs' Mark Prior had a rare poor outing (for him) and fell to 15-6 for the year. The Cubs loss keeps them one game back of the Astros with the Cardinals a game and a half further back. Sixteen days to go and the race is still on!
The Marlins had the night off but the Phillies are trudging on playing the Braves. Pitching tonight for the Braves was Greg Maddux who, after a dreadful start to his season, had improved his record to 14-10 and his ERA to under four.
But the Phillies pounced all over him for seven earned runs on twelve hits in just three plus innings. The Phillies remain on top 8-2 in the eighth inning.
Both Roy Halliday and Esteban Loaiza went for their twentieth wins tonight. Halliday was successful as he and the Blue Jays beat the Devil Rays, 3-1. Esteban pitched well but was out-pitched by Brad Radke as the Twins not only denied Loaiza his twentieth win but knocked the White Sox back to a tie in the AL Central.
Halliday is still my pick for the AL Cy Young. While Loiaza is 19-7 with a lower ERA than Halliday, keep in mind that Halliday pitches all his home games on fake turf. That fact alone wins the Cy Young award to Halliday.
Radke pitched his one brilliant game of the year. He always has one brilliant game to remind you of the false impression that he is one of the best talents in baseball. The truth is that like Kerry Wood, he's a lifetime .500 pitcher. The Fan always hears about Radke and Wood's tools, but talent alone doesn't win the game.
And finally, my man, Roger Clemens won his fourteenth game tonight against the Tigers. At 14-9, Clemens won his 307th game and guaranteed himself his eighteenth winning season with only two losing seasons. We have less than a month to watch a legend.
The Marlins had the night off but the Phillies are trudging on playing the Braves. Pitching tonight for the Braves was Greg Maddux who, after a dreadful start to his season, had improved his record to 14-10 and his ERA to under four.
But the Phillies pounced all over him for seven earned runs on twelve hits in just three plus innings. The Phillies remain on top 8-2 in the eighth inning.
Both Roy Halliday and Esteban Loaiza went for their twentieth wins tonight. Halliday was successful as he and the Blue Jays beat the Devil Rays, 3-1. Esteban pitched well but was out-pitched by Brad Radke as the Twins not only denied Loaiza his twentieth win but knocked the White Sox back to a tie in the AL Central.
Halliday is still my pick for the AL Cy Young. While Loiaza is 19-7 with a lower ERA than Halliday, keep in mind that Halliday pitches all his home games on fake turf. That fact alone wins the Cy Young award to Halliday.
Radke pitched his one brilliant game of the year. He always has one brilliant game to remind you of the false impression that he is one of the best talents in baseball. The truth is that like Kerry Wood, he's a lifetime .500 pitcher. The Fan always hears about Radke and Wood's tools, but talent alone doesn't win the game.
And finally, my man, Roger Clemens won his fourteenth game tonight against the Tigers. At 14-9, Clemens won his 307th game and guaranteed himself his eighteenth winning season with only two losing seasons. We have less than a month to watch a legend.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
In the midst of one of the best playoff races in the history of baseball, a small story caught the Fan's eye. According to the story, a pitcher with a six year career, but who had fallen on hard times in recent years, fought his way back to the major leagues after not pitching since last year. That's a nice story so far.
What happened next is an unfortunate turn to this human interest story. Jose Paniagua, once a big part of the Mariner's playoff bullpen in the late 90's, came in to his first (new) playoff hopeful team game for the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox were leading 8-2 at the time. It would have been a sad end to the story if this was about the one third of an inning Paniagua pitched.
In that third of an inning, Paniagua walked one and gave up three hits to account for four runs. If that would have been the end of the story, Paniagua would have been a footnote under the heading of "Congratulations for Trying - Now Go Home With Your 108.00 ERA." But that wasn't the end of the story.
After all Paniagua's work to get back and all the repetitions and the bus rides in the minor leagues to get back to this point, all was lost as Paniagua inexplicably lost his composure and blamed the home plate umpire's pitch calling for his troubles. A diatribe and a body language that involves one digit on one hand followed and most likely, Paniagua may never be heard from in the major leagues again.
The White Sox released him today after rightly condemning his actions as not indicative of the White Sox organization and "inexcusable," according to White Sox GM, Ken Williams.
On the surface, and in a knee jerk reaction, most of us fans would applaud such swift action and our comments would be something like: "It's about time someone in baseball had the balls to put these prima donnas in their place." And again, that sentiment would not be wrong. There is an awful lot of disgraceful behavior in baseball and it's time to clean some of it up.
But there is a secondary reaction that wonders how much this smacks of double standards. The Chicago White Sox also have another player named Carl Everett who has made that same gesture to fans on at least two occasions in his career. Despite that history, the White Sox specifically traded for Everett to help them in the pennant race.
Would Paniagua's unraveling be punished the same way if he had been pitching all year in relief and had a 2.70 ERA? It's hard to know because it hasn't happened. But the double standard already found by trading for, and relying heavily on Carl Everett. That indicates that the punishment and its results would be different if Paniagua's history had been different.
And the more dangerous question would be whether or not the same punishment would be meted out if Paniagua was not Hispanic. If you think of the strongest moral condemnations in recent MLB history, at least after the John Rocker extravaganza, all involve Hispanic players. Juan Gonzales, Manny Ramirez and Jose Paniagua. Is that a coincidence?
Think about the controversy caused by Alex Rodriguez when he questioned his future as a Texas Ranger. You would have thought that someone had been caught with a voodoo doll of the pope. The man was just concerned and as a sensitive man, wondered out loud what was going to happen in his future. Don't we all do that?
I would be very surprised if Jose Paniagua ever pitches in the major leagues again. That's a shame and that's a double standard. The Fan does not condone what Paniagua did. But come on folks, ballplayers have done worse in a major league uniform and continue to play to this day.
And you know what? With the state of umpiring in Major League Baseball, as observed on numerous posts here this summer, Paniagua probably had a good beef.
What happened next is an unfortunate turn to this human interest story. Jose Paniagua, once a big part of the Mariner's playoff bullpen in the late 90's, came in to his first (new) playoff hopeful team game for the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox were leading 8-2 at the time. It would have been a sad end to the story if this was about the one third of an inning Paniagua pitched.
In that third of an inning, Paniagua walked one and gave up three hits to account for four runs. If that would have been the end of the story, Paniagua would have been a footnote under the heading of "Congratulations for Trying - Now Go Home With Your 108.00 ERA." But that wasn't the end of the story.
After all Paniagua's work to get back and all the repetitions and the bus rides in the minor leagues to get back to this point, all was lost as Paniagua inexplicably lost his composure and blamed the home plate umpire's pitch calling for his troubles. A diatribe and a body language that involves one digit on one hand followed and most likely, Paniagua may never be heard from in the major leagues again.
The White Sox released him today after rightly condemning his actions as not indicative of the White Sox organization and "inexcusable," according to White Sox GM, Ken Williams.
On the surface, and in a knee jerk reaction, most of us fans would applaud such swift action and our comments would be something like: "It's about time someone in baseball had the balls to put these prima donnas in their place." And again, that sentiment would not be wrong. There is an awful lot of disgraceful behavior in baseball and it's time to clean some of it up.
But there is a secondary reaction that wonders how much this smacks of double standards. The Chicago White Sox also have another player named Carl Everett who has made that same gesture to fans on at least two occasions in his career. Despite that history, the White Sox specifically traded for Everett to help them in the pennant race.
Would Paniagua's unraveling be punished the same way if he had been pitching all year in relief and had a 2.70 ERA? It's hard to know because it hasn't happened. But the double standard already found by trading for, and relying heavily on Carl Everett. That indicates that the punishment and its results would be different if Paniagua's history had been different.
And the more dangerous question would be whether or not the same punishment would be meted out if Paniagua was not Hispanic. If you think of the strongest moral condemnations in recent MLB history, at least after the John Rocker extravaganza, all involve Hispanic players. Juan Gonzales, Manny Ramirez and Jose Paniagua. Is that a coincidence?
Think about the controversy caused by Alex Rodriguez when he questioned his future as a Texas Ranger. You would have thought that someone had been caught with a voodoo doll of the pope. The man was just concerned and as a sensitive man, wondered out loud what was going to happen in his future. Don't we all do that?
I would be very surprised if Jose Paniagua ever pitches in the major leagues again. That's a shame and that's a double standard. The Fan does not condone what Paniagua did. But come on folks, ballplayers have done worse in a major league uniform and continue to play to this day.
And you know what? With the state of umpiring in Major League Baseball, as observed on numerous posts here this summer, Paniagua probably had a good beef.
The recent trend in the major league pennant and wildcard races continued tonight. The Diamondbacks, Royals, Cardinals, Expos and Twins continue to fade while the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, Marlins and White Sox surge. Ten days ago, there were seven teams within a game and a half of the NL wildcard leaders. Today there are two tied for the lead and only three more within two and a half games.
It's a shame that only one team in the NL will get the wildcard nod. The Phillies and Marlins, especially, have fought hard all season and have been right there. The Dodgers could sneak in there at the end and that would be a hard swallow for both of these two hard fighting teams.
If the Dodgers get to the playoffs, it will be their pitching, of course, that gets them there. The Fan is just astounded at the season Eric Gagne is having. Look at these ridiculous stats:
72 innings pitched, 33 hits!!, 12 runs (11 earned), 2 homers, 17 walks, 125 strikeouts (that's fifteen point six strikeouts per nine innings). 1.36 ERA, 0.69 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) and National League batters are batting .134 against him. As Stewart Scott would say: "That's sick."
It's a shame that only one team in the NL will get the wildcard nod. The Phillies and Marlins, especially, have fought hard all season and have been right there. The Dodgers could sneak in there at the end and that would be a hard swallow for both of these two hard fighting teams.
If the Dodgers get to the playoffs, it will be their pitching, of course, that gets them there. The Fan is just astounded at the season Eric Gagne is having. Look at these ridiculous stats:
72 innings pitched, 33 hits!!, 12 runs (11 earned), 2 homers, 17 walks, 125 strikeouts (that's fifteen point six strikeouts per nine innings). 1.36 ERA, 0.69 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) and National League batters are batting .134 against him. As Stewart Scott would say: "That's sick."
Monday, September 08, 2003
The Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins started a pivotal series tonight in Chicago. Both teams started the night with identical records of 76 wins and 66 losses. The Twins had won eight of ten to climb back up to the top after struggling in third place most of the season. The White Sox had won six of ten and have played very well since the AllStar break.
Besides having the home field, the White Sox also had Bartolo Colon on the mound. Granted, Colon hasn't been dominant this year and came into the game with an ERA over 4.00 and a .500 record (12-12). Looking at Colon's career, he really hasn't been as consistently dominant as his reputation. Consider that in Colon's career, opposition hitters have batted .253 off of him. That sounds fairly good until you consider Tim Wakefield has the same lifetime batting average against.
Compare that Colon stat to Pedro Martinez who has a lifetime batting average against of .206. Now THAT'S consistently dominating. Derek Lowe has a lower lifetime batting average against. Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina both have better lifetime batting average against stats. And yet, Colon is considered the horse...one of the best pitchers in baseball.
The statistics don't lie. He hasn't been consistently dominating and only seems to be dominating when he turns it on for a night. Fortunately for the White Sox, tonight was one of those nights. He did give up ten hits in his nine inning complete game performance and four of those hits were for extra bases. Anyway, the bottom line is that the White Sox go up a game on the Twins and three and a half over the Royals.
The hot Phillies faced a big test as they started a big series against division leading Atlanta. The Phillies started former Brave, Kevin Millwood (who has a better lifetime batting average against than Colon). Millwood had already lost twice to his former team this year and tonight added loss number three.
The loss combined with a Marlins' win over the Mets, knots the wildcard again between the two teams. Josh Beckett threw six shutout innings to gain the wind. Beckett looked like a bust by this spring training but the high draft pick has gone his second consecutive game without giving up an earned run.
And finally tonight, the Red Sox needed to keep pace with the Yankees who won a make up game today against the Blue Jays. The Red Sox were leading 8-5 against the pesky Orioles who put up two four-spots in the seventh and eight to take the game. The last four runs given up were all unearned as the Red Sox got loosy goosy and threw the ball all over the diamond.
The final score of the Red Sox/Orioles game was 13-10. The Yankees lead is back up to three and a half games as the Red Sox have undone a lot they accomplished last weekend.
Besides having the home field, the White Sox also had Bartolo Colon on the mound. Granted, Colon hasn't been dominant this year and came into the game with an ERA over 4.00 and a .500 record (12-12). Looking at Colon's career, he really hasn't been as consistently dominant as his reputation. Consider that in Colon's career, opposition hitters have batted .253 off of him. That sounds fairly good until you consider Tim Wakefield has the same lifetime batting average against.
Compare that Colon stat to Pedro Martinez who has a lifetime batting average against of .206. Now THAT'S consistently dominating. Derek Lowe has a lower lifetime batting average against. Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina both have better lifetime batting average against stats. And yet, Colon is considered the horse...one of the best pitchers in baseball.
The statistics don't lie. He hasn't been consistently dominating and only seems to be dominating when he turns it on for a night. Fortunately for the White Sox, tonight was one of those nights. He did give up ten hits in his nine inning complete game performance and four of those hits were for extra bases. Anyway, the bottom line is that the White Sox go up a game on the Twins and three and a half over the Royals.
The hot Phillies faced a big test as they started a big series against division leading Atlanta. The Phillies started former Brave, Kevin Millwood (who has a better lifetime batting average against than Colon). Millwood had already lost twice to his former team this year and tonight added loss number three.
The loss combined with a Marlins' win over the Mets, knots the wildcard again between the two teams. Josh Beckett threw six shutout innings to gain the wind. Beckett looked like a bust by this spring training but the high draft pick has gone his second consecutive game without giving up an earned run.
And finally tonight, the Red Sox needed to keep pace with the Yankees who won a make up game today against the Blue Jays. The Red Sox were leading 8-5 against the pesky Orioles who put up two four-spots in the seventh and eight to take the game. The last four runs given up were all unearned as the Red Sox got loosy goosy and threw the ball all over the diamond.
The final score of the Red Sox/Orioles game was 13-10. The Yankees lead is back up to three and a half games as the Red Sox have undone a lot they accomplished last weekend.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
The Chicago Cubs are back in first place in the NL Central. Their fifth straight win and seventh of their last eight games, combined with an Astros loss leap frogs the Cubs back up on top. Sammy Sosa hit another homer and had two RBI. Aramis Ramirez now has 90 RBI and the "Sausage Man" (courtesy of Baseball Tonight ), Randall Simon had two homers and five RBI.
The Cubs made some great acquisitions to help on this stretch run and they are really paying off. Dusty Baker knows how to keep them in the game and big arms like Prior, Wood (who won today) and Zambrano keep them in most games. Borowski has been great as a closer. There are a couple of dozen games to go, but the Cubs are in excellent position to win the division.
This has been one of the hardest seasons to predict as teams alternate between swoon and swagger. The Marlins and Phillies both had stretches where they lost nine of ten to let the pack catch up to them in the wildcard race. The Marlins and Phillies both then reel off eight wins out of ten. The Marlins are getting great pitching and have great spirit and refuse to concede to the hot Phillies who now seem to all be on the same page.
What was great for the Marlins today was to see Dontrelle Willis pitch a great game to get his 12th win. The critics were quick to point out how he faded a bit after the AllStar Break, but the man is 12-6 as a rookie and that translates to a great season. The jury is still out though as to whether the Marlins can stay in there without Mike Lowell. Conine was a big boost though despite a slow start.
David Wells proved he wasn't done today with a saving performance for the staggering Yankees. The Red Sox had totally blown the Yankees away for two games and one more win would be a statement and bring the Sox to within a half game of the lead. A two game swing occurred as the Yankees pulled out today's game to finish the series two and a half games up.
The Yankees are trying to hold on despite a series of injuries to key players. Giambi hasn't been the same since getting hit by a pitch on his hand. Soriano is banged up the same way from the Pedro Martinez hit by pitch. Jeter has been banged up all year and Bernie Williams has a bad knee.
Mariano Rivera seems to be back on track and his last two saves against Boston have featured retiring Nomar Garciaparra in men-on-base situations. Rivera's 33 saves despite missing the first third of the season is a testament to his ability and the amount of close games the Yankees play.
Boston is still a very, very scary team!
The Cubs made some great acquisitions to help on this stretch run and they are really paying off. Dusty Baker knows how to keep them in the game and big arms like Prior, Wood (who won today) and Zambrano keep them in most games. Borowski has been great as a closer. There are a couple of dozen games to go, but the Cubs are in excellent position to win the division.
This has been one of the hardest seasons to predict as teams alternate between swoon and swagger. The Marlins and Phillies both had stretches where they lost nine of ten to let the pack catch up to them in the wildcard race. The Marlins and Phillies both then reel off eight wins out of ten. The Marlins are getting great pitching and have great spirit and refuse to concede to the hot Phillies who now seem to all be on the same page.
What was great for the Marlins today was to see Dontrelle Willis pitch a great game to get his 12th win. The critics were quick to point out how he faded a bit after the AllStar Break, but the man is 12-6 as a rookie and that translates to a great season. The jury is still out though as to whether the Marlins can stay in there without Mike Lowell. Conine was a big boost though despite a slow start.
David Wells proved he wasn't done today with a saving performance for the staggering Yankees. The Red Sox had totally blown the Yankees away for two games and one more win would be a statement and bring the Sox to within a half game of the lead. A two game swing occurred as the Yankees pulled out today's game to finish the series two and a half games up.
The Yankees are trying to hold on despite a series of injuries to key players. Giambi hasn't been the same since getting hit by a pitch on his hand. Soriano is banged up the same way from the Pedro Martinez hit by pitch. Jeter has been banged up all year and Bernie Williams has a bad knee.
Mariano Rivera seems to be back on track and his last two saves against Boston have featured retiring Nomar Garciaparra in men-on-base situations. Rivera's 33 saves despite missing the first third of the season is a testament to his ability and the amount of close games the Yankees play.
Boston is still a very, very scary team!
Saturday, September 06, 2003
The Boston Red Sox have turned things up a notch and pummeled the Yankees for the second straight day. Their fifth win in a row brought the Red Sox to just a game and a half behind the stumbling Yankees. The win combined with another loss for the Mariners pushes the Red Sox a game and a half ahead in the wildcard race.
Clearly, the Red Sox are on a mission. And you have to wonder how much that close door meeting with all the players and staff had to do with the current streak. The Red Sox were stumbling. Manny Ramirez wasn't playing and that led to the meeting where reportedly, the players all got to voice their feelings. Ever since that meeting, the Red Sox haven't lost and their potent offense seemed rekindled. The Yankees, especially with Jeter out, are going to have a tough time to keep the Red Sox behind them.
The Cubs also seem on a mission as Sammy Sosa and his team have won six of their last seven including four in a row. Prior won his fifteenth today despite not having his best stuff and still won. That's the sign of an ace. And Sosa now has 34 homers and 92 RBI. Not bad for a guy who missed a third of the season.
The Phillies also look rejuvenate and have won five in a row. Pat Burrell is starting to hit. Lieberthal is batting for a high average. Thome is hot. The pitching is coming around (word has it the pitchers are finally on the same page as their pitching coach) and bench players like former Yankee, Rickey Ledee, contribute every time they play. The Phillies are now a game up on the Marlins (who won big today) in the wildcard race.
The Dodgers have won seven of their last ten and are only 2.5 back from the Phillies. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have fallen on hard times and have lost seven of ten to fall to within two games of a .500 record. The Diamondbacks, Astros and Cardinals are all in danger of falling out of the race.
The Twins and White Sox are both hot and will go head to head down the stretch. Unfortunately for baseball, the Royals are sinking finally after fighting on top or near to it most of the year. Sad...
And finally tonight, my Cy Young Aware nominee, Roy Halliday, matched his career high with nineteen wins with a stunning ten inning 1-0 shutout. His extra inning shutout was the first of its kind since Jack Morris had his career moment in the 1991 World Series. Halliday didn't give up a hit until the eighth inning and only gave up three hits in ten. Loiza has been great, but Halliday is my Cy Young.
Clearly, the Red Sox are on a mission. And you have to wonder how much that close door meeting with all the players and staff had to do with the current streak. The Red Sox were stumbling. Manny Ramirez wasn't playing and that led to the meeting where reportedly, the players all got to voice their feelings. Ever since that meeting, the Red Sox haven't lost and their potent offense seemed rekindled. The Yankees, especially with Jeter out, are going to have a tough time to keep the Red Sox behind them.
The Cubs also seem on a mission as Sammy Sosa and his team have won six of their last seven including four in a row. Prior won his fifteenth today despite not having his best stuff and still won. That's the sign of an ace. And Sosa now has 34 homers and 92 RBI. Not bad for a guy who missed a third of the season.
The Phillies also look rejuvenate and have won five in a row. Pat Burrell is starting to hit. Lieberthal is batting for a high average. Thome is hot. The pitching is coming around (word has it the pitchers are finally on the same page as their pitching coach) and bench players like former Yankee, Rickey Ledee, contribute every time they play. The Phillies are now a game up on the Marlins (who won big today) in the wildcard race.
The Dodgers have won seven of their last ten and are only 2.5 back from the Phillies. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have fallen on hard times and have lost seven of ten to fall to within two games of a .500 record. The Diamondbacks, Astros and Cardinals are all in danger of falling out of the race.
The Twins and White Sox are both hot and will go head to head down the stretch. Unfortunately for baseball, the Royals are sinking finally after fighting on top or near to it most of the year. Sad...
And finally tonight, my Cy Young Aware nominee, Roy Halliday, matched his career high with nineteen wins with a stunning ten inning 1-0 shutout. His extra inning shutout was the first of its kind since Jack Morris had his career moment in the 1991 World Series. Halliday didn't give up a hit until the eighth inning and only gave up three hits in ten. Loiza has been great, but Halliday is my Cy Young.
Friday, September 05, 2003
Every day is a battle now and every day features nail-biting action. The Mariners led Baltimore the entire game until the fighting young Orioles tied the game with two outs in the ninth off a closer who hadn't blown a save in the last fourteen attempts. The Orioles then loaded the bases in the tenth but didn't score. The battle continues.
The Cardinals, now fighting for their life led their game 2-1 for most of the game until Isringhausen blew the save in the ninth. The two teams are now battling into the eleventh inning.
The Red Sox combined good pitching by Pedro Martinez and timely hitting from seventeen game winner, Andy Pettitte, to beat the Yankees convincingly in New York. The Red Sox maintain their small lead in the wildcard and pull within two games of the Yankees.
The Phillies won a squeaker from the Mets, 1-0 as Vincente Padilla won his 12th game. New closer and world traveler, Rheal Cormier, recorded his first save in his first chance. The win, combined with a Marlins loss to the Expos, puts the Phillies back on top in the wildcard standings.
The White Sox and the Twins both won to stay tied at the top of the AL Central. The Royals are trying to stay only a game back and are beating the Angels 2-0 in the fifth. The Padres are leading Houston. The Rockies are leading the Dodgers. The Cubbies beat the Brewers with Sammy Sosa's homerun and his 89th and 90th RBI.
While I'm waiting for the finals scores to come down, let's look at the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they performed for the last seven days:
The Struggling Mariners Core:
Ichiro - 2 for his last 27 (.074)!
Edgar Martinez - 3 for his last 19
Mike Cameron - 2 for his last 19
The Reds just scored two runs in the top of the 12th to take a 4-2 lead over the Cardinals. Instrumental in the rally was Wily Mo Pena, of all people.
The future great Rangers:
Hank Blalock. 10 for 21 (.476!) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 runs scored
Mark Teixeira. 14 for 25 (.560!!) with 4 doubles, a triple and 3 homers to account for 9 RBI!
Michael Young. 5 for 25 (.200) with 3 doubles, a homer and 3 runs scored.
Laynce Nix. 4 for 13 (.308) with 2 homers and 7 RBI.
Others:
Karim Garcia. 6 for 14 (.429) with 3 RBI.
Nick Johnson. 9 for 22 (.406) with a .511 OBP and 6 RBI.
Melvin Mora. 4 for 11 (.364) with 2 runs scored. He can still win the batting race with enough AB's
Rocco Baldelli. (steady each week) 7 for 24 (.292) 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. BUT also, 8 K's
Coco Crisp. A crisp 13 for 30 (.433) with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI and 4 stolen bases.
Pat Burrell. A good week! 7 for 24 (.292) with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 RBI
Miguel Cabrera. 2 for 24 Ugh! (.083) with 10 strikeouts!
Bo Hart. 3 for 11 (.273) with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.
Scott Podsednik. 8 for 24 (.333) with a double and 6 runs scored.
Sean Burroughs (now batting leadoff). 7 for 24 (.304) with a double and 4 runs scored.
Well, good new for Mariners' fans as they pulled out the win in 13 innings. Bad news for Cardinal fans as the Reds came on to win that game 4-2 in 12 innings. The Dodgers have come from behind to go ahead of the Rockies. The Royals are up 5-0 in the 8th and the Astros have come back to lead the Padres, 5-4.
The Cardinals, now fighting for their life led their game 2-1 for most of the game until Isringhausen blew the save in the ninth. The two teams are now battling into the eleventh inning.
The Red Sox combined good pitching by Pedro Martinez and timely hitting from seventeen game winner, Andy Pettitte, to beat the Yankees convincingly in New York. The Red Sox maintain their small lead in the wildcard and pull within two games of the Yankees.
The Phillies won a squeaker from the Mets, 1-0 as Vincente Padilla won his 12th game. New closer and world traveler, Rheal Cormier, recorded his first save in his first chance. The win, combined with a Marlins loss to the Expos, puts the Phillies back on top in the wildcard standings.
The White Sox and the Twins both won to stay tied at the top of the AL Central. The Royals are trying to stay only a game back and are beating the Angels 2-0 in the fifth. The Padres are leading Houston. The Rockies are leading the Dodgers. The Cubbies beat the Brewers with Sammy Sosa's homerun and his 89th and 90th RBI.
While I'm waiting for the finals scores to come down, let's look at the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they performed for the last seven days:
The Struggling Mariners Core:
Ichiro - 2 for his last 27 (.074)!
Edgar Martinez - 3 for his last 19
Mike Cameron - 2 for his last 19
The Reds just scored two runs in the top of the 12th to take a 4-2 lead over the Cardinals. Instrumental in the rally was Wily Mo Pena, of all people.
The future great Rangers:
Hank Blalock. 10 for 21 (.476!) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 runs scored
Mark Teixeira. 14 for 25 (.560!!) with 4 doubles, a triple and 3 homers to account for 9 RBI!
Michael Young. 5 for 25 (.200) with 3 doubles, a homer and 3 runs scored.
Laynce Nix. 4 for 13 (.308) with 2 homers and 7 RBI.
Others:
Karim Garcia. 6 for 14 (.429) with 3 RBI.
Nick Johnson. 9 for 22 (.406) with a .511 OBP and 6 RBI.
Melvin Mora. 4 for 11 (.364) with 2 runs scored. He can still win the batting race with enough AB's
Rocco Baldelli. (steady each week) 7 for 24 (.292) 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. BUT also, 8 K's
Coco Crisp. A crisp 13 for 30 (.433) with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI and 4 stolen bases.
Pat Burrell. A good week! 7 for 24 (.292) with 2 doubles, a homer and 5 RBI
Miguel Cabrera. 2 for 24 Ugh! (.083) with 10 strikeouts!
Bo Hart. 3 for 11 (.273) with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.
Scott Podsednik. 8 for 24 (.333) with a double and 6 runs scored.
Sean Burroughs (now batting leadoff). 7 for 24 (.304) with a double and 4 runs scored.
Well, good new for Mariners' fans as they pulled out the win in 13 innings. Bad news for Cardinal fans as the Reds came on to win that game 4-2 in 12 innings. The Dodgers have come from behind to go ahead of the Rockies. The Royals are up 5-0 in the 8th and the Astros have come back to lead the Padres, 5-4.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Driving home from work today, the Fan saw a few maple trees have already started turning their colors. The Jets and Redskins started the NFL season tonight on ABC and I didn't wear shorts for the first time since early July. These sure signs that summer has waned and Fall is knocking on the door means the climax of the Major League Baseball season is building. And the signs there are strong for an amazing climax.
In the American League, the climax will settle which of the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, Mariners, White Sox, Royals or Twins will be among the final four teams standing.
The National League climax will discern which of the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Giants, Diamondbacks, Marlins or Phillies will make the final four. Two will be the Braves and Giants which leaves seven teams fighting for the other two spots.
But it doesn't end there. The Cy Young races are wide open as are the Rookie of the Year races. The AL batting race has no clear cut favorite. Thome and Bonds will go down to the wire for the homerun race.
And the National League batting race has gotten interesting. Pujols and Helton are only .009 points separated with Pujols still maintaining the lead. Surprisingly, the top AL hitter is batting .322. That is low and seems to be part of a trend. In the 2000 season, both Todd Helton and Nomar Garciaparra batted .372 to lead their respective leagues. That year there were five players who batted over .350.
A year later, in the 2001 season, there were only two batters at .350: Larry Walker and Ichiro Suzuki. Last year, only Barry Bonds batted over .350 for the season. Manny Ramirez won the AL batting title at .349.
In the middle of a pennant race, a star player should never get thrown out of the game except for totally unacceptable behavior. The umpiring in the Cubs/Cardinals series has been abominable and neither Moises Alou nor Sammy Sosa argued strenuously to deserve getting thrown out of the game. The umpires are out of control and have become the story in these tight series. Umpiring should NEVER be the story. They are far too combative and provoke as many arguments as they avoid.
In the American League, the climax will settle which of the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, Mariners, White Sox, Royals or Twins will be among the final four teams standing.
The National League climax will discern which of the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Giants, Diamondbacks, Marlins or Phillies will make the final four. Two will be the Braves and Giants which leaves seven teams fighting for the other two spots.
But it doesn't end there. The Cy Young races are wide open as are the Rookie of the Year races. The AL batting race has no clear cut favorite. Thome and Bonds will go down to the wire for the homerun race.
And the National League batting race has gotten interesting. Pujols and Helton are only .009 points separated with Pujols still maintaining the lead. Surprisingly, the top AL hitter is batting .322. That is low and seems to be part of a trend. In the 2000 season, both Todd Helton and Nomar Garciaparra batted .372 to lead their respective leagues. That year there were five players who batted over .350.
A year later, in the 2001 season, there were only two batters at .350: Larry Walker and Ichiro Suzuki. Last year, only Barry Bonds batted over .350 for the season. Manny Ramirez won the AL batting title at .349.
In the middle of a pennant race, a star player should never get thrown out of the game except for totally unacceptable behavior. The umpiring in the Cubs/Cardinals series has been abominable and neither Moises Alou nor Sammy Sosa argued strenuously to deserve getting thrown out of the game. The umpires are out of control and have become the story in these tight series. Umpiring should NEVER be the story. They are far too combative and provoke as many arguments as they avoid.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
The old Yankee Stadium had one unfortunate feature that was rectified by the renovation of the 70's. If you did not carefully look at your tickets and at the map of the stadium found on their yearbook, you could have found yourself behind this huge girder holding up the upper decks. If that was your fate, all you saw was a third of the field. And there was no scoreboard replays in those days.
Last night was a girder night with the Fan's blog site. I tried for hours to get here and could not. I apologize for not making it here if you happened to stop by. And it's been a couple of exciting nights in baseball.
Now that MLB has hit September, the games get more important and more contentious. The Cubs and Cardinals featured beanballs and two managers shouting at each other. In between was a terrific game which Moises Alou used as his catharsis from last night's latest umpire debacle. Last night, Alou and others got thrown out of an important game because another umpire missed an obvious call as replays clearly showed chalk flying on an extra base attempt by Alou called foul by the third base umpire.
Tonight, Alou blasted the umpiring in general (for which I add my vote) before the game and took out his frustration on the Cardinals with five hits, including the game winner. The performance and the game kept the Cubs in the race after almost being counted out.
One area of concern for the Cubs is the persistent .500 record for Kerry Wood. The man has lights out stuff and is nearly impossible to hit. Major League batters are only batting .207 for the season and he has struck out 228 batters in 182 innings. His problem, and the reason for his 3.56 ERA is the base on balls. Wood has walked three batters per start this year and if you follow the statistic I heard recently where 50% of all bases on balls score, that would account for half of Wood's ERA. If he could cut his walks from 4.4 walks per nine innings to 2.4, he would be unstoppable. Mark Prior has walked half as many batters as Wood in nearly as many innings.
The Red Sox also had an exciting game as they blew a one run lead in the eighth as Mike Timlin gave up another homer. But the Sox hung tough and threw another runner out at the plate to extend the game. In the tenth inning, David Ortiz, who is rapidly approaching MVP type credentials, hit his second homerun of the game to win it for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox victory over the White Sox allowed the Twins to tie them for the division lead as the Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a terrible play at the plate that cost the Angels the game and Benji Molina a season as he broke his wrist on the play.
The Royals also won to climb to within a game of the two leaders. All three teams have 66 losses in that all important column. The Royals looked like they were going to fold but manager, Tony Pena, is not going to let them quit and they are going to hang around at least a while longer.
The Mets swept the Braves as they are another young team playing good baseball. The Mets, Rangers, Devil Rays, Pirates, Padres and Brewers are all playing good baseball and will not be easy wins down the stretch for the contenders.
And on a final note, the Orioles have been one of the best offensive teams in the game and though they traded Conine away, still should have had enough fire power to win their share of games. But their offense went silent for two weeks and they lost a ton of games along the way.
Tonight the Orioles broke out of it with a 9-0 win tonight over the high flying A's. Is it a coincidence that the O's found their offense as Melvin Mora got back in the lineup after a long injury? The Fan does not believe in coincidences and Mora was a big cog in that offense as he is having a breakout year.
Watch out for this team next year if they get a couple of pitchers and one more good bat. Jay Gibbons is blossoming into a star and already has 91 RBI this season. After a long darkness, the Orioles are another team on the rise.
Last night was a girder night with the Fan's blog site. I tried for hours to get here and could not. I apologize for not making it here if you happened to stop by. And it's been a couple of exciting nights in baseball.
Now that MLB has hit September, the games get more important and more contentious. The Cubs and Cardinals featured beanballs and two managers shouting at each other. In between was a terrific game which Moises Alou used as his catharsis from last night's latest umpire debacle. Last night, Alou and others got thrown out of an important game because another umpire missed an obvious call as replays clearly showed chalk flying on an extra base attempt by Alou called foul by the third base umpire.
Tonight, Alou blasted the umpiring in general (for which I add my vote) before the game and took out his frustration on the Cardinals with five hits, including the game winner. The performance and the game kept the Cubs in the race after almost being counted out.
One area of concern for the Cubs is the persistent .500 record for Kerry Wood. The man has lights out stuff and is nearly impossible to hit. Major League batters are only batting .207 for the season and he has struck out 228 batters in 182 innings. His problem, and the reason for his 3.56 ERA is the base on balls. Wood has walked three batters per start this year and if you follow the statistic I heard recently where 50% of all bases on balls score, that would account for half of Wood's ERA. If he could cut his walks from 4.4 walks per nine innings to 2.4, he would be unstoppable. Mark Prior has walked half as many batters as Wood in nearly as many innings.
The Red Sox also had an exciting game as they blew a one run lead in the eighth as Mike Timlin gave up another homer. But the Sox hung tough and threw another runner out at the plate to extend the game. In the tenth inning, David Ortiz, who is rapidly approaching MVP type credentials, hit his second homerun of the game to win it for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox victory over the White Sox allowed the Twins to tie them for the division lead as the Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a terrible play at the plate that cost the Angels the game and Benji Molina a season as he broke his wrist on the play.
The Royals also won to climb to within a game of the two leaders. All three teams have 66 losses in that all important column. The Royals looked like they were going to fold but manager, Tony Pena, is not going to let them quit and they are going to hang around at least a while longer.
The Mets swept the Braves as they are another young team playing good baseball. The Mets, Rangers, Devil Rays, Pirates, Padres and Brewers are all playing good baseball and will not be easy wins down the stretch for the contenders.
And on a final note, the Orioles have been one of the best offensive teams in the game and though they traded Conine away, still should have had enough fire power to win their share of games. But their offense went silent for two weeks and they lost a ton of games along the way.
Tonight the Orioles broke out of it with a 9-0 win tonight over the high flying A's. Is it a coincidence that the O's found their offense as Melvin Mora got back in the lineup after a long injury? The Fan does not believe in coincidences and Mora was a big cog in that offense as he is having a breakout year.
Watch out for this team next year if they get a couple of pitchers and one more good bat. Jay Gibbons is blossoming into a star and already has 91 RBI this season. After a long darkness, the Orioles are another team on the rise.
Monday, September 01, 2003
There were four major MLB stories today...well...three and one is still going: The Red Sox scored six runs in the ninth to beat the Phillies. The Marlins took over first place in the wildcard race as newcomer/old friend, Jeff Conine, drove in a run. Barry Bonds came out of the hospital to beat the Diamondbacks. And still in progress: The struggling Cubs and ace, Mark Prior, are dominating the division leading Cardinals.
The Red Sox looked down and out after the Yankee series, an emotional series that featured the Yankees dashing the hopes of the Sox gaining ground on the AL East. And the Yankees did so with Roger Clemens stuck firmly in the franchise craw. New acquisition, Jeff Suppon, was on the mound and he had not helped the Red Sox very much since his arrival.
Suppon gave up six quick runs but stayed in the game and gave the Sox a chance to climb back to a one run deficit, 6-5. The Sox then score twice in the eighth to go up by a run but Mike Timlin gave that back in the bottom of the eight plus two more runs and the Sox were down to their last three outs trailing 9-7.
The Red Sox exploded off of the woeful Jose Mesa which started when Lou Merloni, the Mayor of Boston, beat out an infield single with the bases loaded to get the Sox within one. Trot Nixon finished the inning off with a grand slam off Turk Wendell (who has, despite a good year, given up an astounding number of game winning homers). Final score: 13-9.
The game meant two things. First, it meant that the Red Sox are not finished and have a lot of character and secondly, the game showed that the Phillies are not armed to win a playoff spot. Larry Bowa cannot find the combination in the bullpen to win games and that fact will sink this team.
The Cubs have been in the same danger as the Phillies of falling out of the race. The day started with the Cubs having fallen to two games behind the Cardinals and four games behind in the wildcard race. Their season record sunk in the process to only three games above .500. The game today against the Cardinals, and this series, really is pivotal for the team.
The Cubs sent Mark Prior to the mound (yes, this story is now finished too) and not only did Prior have his fifth straight amazing outing to up his record to 13-5 and have eight shutout innings lowered his ERA to 2.47, he also went two for three at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. It is clear that without Prior, the Cubs would be under .500 for the season.
As mentioned, Prior has had five terrific outings since he came back from the fluke accident suffered when running the bases. Since returning from that outing, Prior has pitched 39 innings while giving up only three runs (a 1.44 ERA). During that streak he has had two complete game victories with a phenomenal 35 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio.
Prior is now 19-11 in his young MLB career with 332 strikeouts in only 284 innings. He is clearly the best young pitcher in baseball.
Between Barry Bonds emotional roller coaster with his father's illness and death and the aftermath of that, Bonds has played four games in the last two weeks. He has hit the game winning hit in each of those games with three of them coming via the homerun. Today, his RBI single in the ninth inning off of Curt Schilling to win the game 2-0 added another page to the glorious story that is Barry Bonds. Much like the Red Sox fans yesterday with Clemens, the world has to give Bonds his due as the best there is and of his time.
And the last big story of the day has to be the Florida Marlins re-taking the wildcard lead in the National League. Remember that this is the team that lost nine of ten to allow the rest of the wildcard contenders to catch up. They broke the losing streak with two wins against a very hot Expos team but lost star third baseman, Mike Lowell to a broken hand.
In contrast to the Marlins story of the last few years, the front office responded and in a perfect and brilliant move, brought Florida's favorite son, Jeff Conine, back home. Conine was this franchise for a long time before he was traded off to Baltimore in a cost cutting move. Conine has long been a real pro and one of the best clutch batters. Only someone of Conine's stature and leadership could have replaced someone like Mike Lowell. It was the perfect move.
And that perfect move paid its first dividends today as Conine went one for three and drove in the first of the Marlins five runs as the Marlins finished a sweep of the Expos. The sweep at home, like the Red Sox, announced that the Marlins were not going down with a whimper and that you better play well because the Marlins are in this thing to win.
The Red Sox looked down and out after the Yankee series, an emotional series that featured the Yankees dashing the hopes of the Sox gaining ground on the AL East. And the Yankees did so with Roger Clemens stuck firmly in the franchise craw. New acquisition, Jeff Suppon, was on the mound and he had not helped the Red Sox very much since his arrival.
Suppon gave up six quick runs but stayed in the game and gave the Sox a chance to climb back to a one run deficit, 6-5. The Sox then score twice in the eighth to go up by a run but Mike Timlin gave that back in the bottom of the eight plus two more runs and the Sox were down to their last three outs trailing 9-7.
The Red Sox exploded off of the woeful Jose Mesa which started when Lou Merloni, the Mayor of Boston, beat out an infield single with the bases loaded to get the Sox within one. Trot Nixon finished the inning off with a grand slam off Turk Wendell (who has, despite a good year, given up an astounding number of game winning homers). Final score: 13-9.
The game meant two things. First, it meant that the Red Sox are not finished and have a lot of character and secondly, the game showed that the Phillies are not armed to win a playoff spot. Larry Bowa cannot find the combination in the bullpen to win games and that fact will sink this team.
The Cubs have been in the same danger as the Phillies of falling out of the race. The day started with the Cubs having fallen to two games behind the Cardinals and four games behind in the wildcard race. Their season record sunk in the process to only three games above .500. The game today against the Cardinals, and this series, really is pivotal for the team.
The Cubs sent Mark Prior to the mound (yes, this story is now finished too) and not only did Prior have his fifth straight amazing outing to up his record to 13-5 and have eight shutout innings lowered his ERA to 2.47, he also went two for three at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. It is clear that without Prior, the Cubs would be under .500 for the season.
As mentioned, Prior has had five terrific outings since he came back from the fluke accident suffered when running the bases. Since returning from that outing, Prior has pitched 39 innings while giving up only three runs (a 1.44 ERA). During that streak he has had two complete game victories with a phenomenal 35 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio.
Prior is now 19-11 in his young MLB career with 332 strikeouts in only 284 innings. He is clearly the best young pitcher in baseball.
Between Barry Bonds emotional roller coaster with his father's illness and death and the aftermath of that, Bonds has played four games in the last two weeks. He has hit the game winning hit in each of those games with three of them coming via the homerun. Today, his RBI single in the ninth inning off of Curt Schilling to win the game 2-0 added another page to the glorious story that is Barry Bonds. Much like the Red Sox fans yesterday with Clemens, the world has to give Bonds his due as the best there is and of his time.
And the last big story of the day has to be the Florida Marlins re-taking the wildcard lead in the National League. Remember that this is the team that lost nine of ten to allow the rest of the wildcard contenders to catch up. They broke the losing streak with two wins against a very hot Expos team but lost star third baseman, Mike Lowell to a broken hand.
In contrast to the Marlins story of the last few years, the front office responded and in a perfect and brilliant move, brought Florida's favorite son, Jeff Conine, back home. Conine was this franchise for a long time before he was traded off to Baltimore in a cost cutting move. Conine has long been a real pro and one of the best clutch batters. Only someone of Conine's stature and leadership could have replaced someone like Mike Lowell. It was the perfect move.
And that perfect move paid its first dividends today as Conine went one for three and drove in the first of the Marlins five runs as the Marlins finished a sweep of the Expos. The sweep at home, like the Red Sox, announced that the Marlins were not going down with a whimper and that you better play well because the Marlins are in this thing to win.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
It was a bittersweet day for Red Sox fans as the arch rival, New York Yankees, defeated their team for the second straight day to take back a commanding five and a half game lead in the AL East division. Even worse, the A's and Mariners both won, thus hurting the wildcard race as well.
But they were defeated by Roger Clemens, making possibly his last appearance as a player in Fenway Park. It was one more chance to see the hero of the '86 Red Sox and the man who holds the Red Sox record for wins in their long franchise history. The game was the last opportunity to see this Hall of Famer who can still pitch as he gets ready to ride out into the sunset. And, as if something in the planets aligned, the win was Roger Clemens' 100th win at Fenway Park.
And so the Red Sox fans did what makes them great fans: When Clemens was pulled from the game in the seventh inning with an 8-2 lead (but with the bases loaded), the Red Sox crowd at Fenway and thousands more who were watching the game like I did, cheered too. Like him or hate him, Clemens has earned his spot in history with hard work and determination. And we were there to see it pay off.
But they were defeated by Roger Clemens, making possibly his last appearance as a player in Fenway Park. It was one more chance to see the hero of the '86 Red Sox and the man who holds the Red Sox record for wins in their long franchise history. The game was the last opportunity to see this Hall of Famer who can still pitch as he gets ready to ride out into the sunset. And, as if something in the planets aligned, the win was Roger Clemens' 100th win at Fenway Park.
And so the Red Sox fans did what makes them great fans: When Clemens was pulled from the game in the seventh inning with an 8-2 lead (but with the bases loaded), the Red Sox crowd at Fenway and thousands more who were watching the game like I did, cheered too. Like him or hate him, Clemens has earned his spot in history with hard work and determination. And we were there to see it pay off.
Saturday, August 30, 2003
It's time to give it up to the Milwaukee Brewers! Winners of twelve of their last fourteen games, the Brewers are an unwelcome sight right now for any contender...just ask the Cubs and the Phillies. And even though the Brewers have lost seventeen more games than they have lost for the season, Milwaukee's Brew Crew is a fun team to follow.
Today saw these Brewers beat up on the Cubs who desperately need to put together a winning streak. Team offensive giant, Richie Sexson went three for four with four RBI to lift his season total to one hundred. Sexson is perceived as this big guy who strikes out a lot and hits a homer once in a while. Let's take a closer look:
Last five year homer totals: 31, 30, 45, 29 and so far 36 this year.
Last five year RBI totals: 116, 91, 125, 102 and 100 so far this year.
Sexson also has a lifetime .271 batting average (and hits there consistently year after year) while increasing his total bases on balls every year for the last five years. This is a good player!
Geoff Jenkins is another great player who just can't seem to shake the injury bug. Jenkins had 28 homers and 95 RBI when he went down again this year with a fractured left thumb.
Another find is rookie leadoff hitter, Scott Podsednik. Podsednik is batting .313 with a fairly good OBP (for a leadoff hitter) of .379. He has stolen 31 bases and has 76 runs scored.
The Brewers have a few good arms in Ben Sheets, Wayne Franklin, Matt Kinney and new closer, Matt Kolb (13 saves with a 2.01 ERA). But my favorite pitcher and story has to be Brooks Kieschnick who had cups of coffee with the Cubs, Reds and Colorado. This year he is a pitcher...a pitcher who regularly pinch hits.
Kieschnick hasn't played the field at all this year but as a batter--mostly as a pinch hitter--has five homers and nine RBI in only 55 at bats. His batting average is .327, his OBP is .383 and has a slugging percentage over .600! What's more, in his first year as a pitcher, he hasn't performed too badly. He's won a game and lost a game and has a 4.76 ERA. Hey, that's lower than Jose Mesa! What a great story.
Speaking of great stories, I almost hesitate to write about Barry Bonds as so much has been written already. But the man has game-winning homers in the last three games he's played and has homered in 24 of the last 27 games he's played. His homer today was off an inside pitch from Randy Johnson that he turned on lightning quick. The man is simply amazing.
After mentioning Randy Johnson, makes me compare him to Pedro Martinez who just don't seem to be themselves. Johnson has a bad knee and is 4-7 on the year. Martinez, after being sick last week, got hammered by the Yankees today. I have a feeling that this series is going to go fifty/fifty for both teams the rest of the way.
Today saw these Brewers beat up on the Cubs who desperately need to put together a winning streak. Team offensive giant, Richie Sexson went three for four with four RBI to lift his season total to one hundred. Sexson is perceived as this big guy who strikes out a lot and hits a homer once in a while. Let's take a closer look:
Last five year homer totals: 31, 30, 45, 29 and so far 36 this year.
Last five year RBI totals: 116, 91, 125, 102 and 100 so far this year.
Sexson also has a lifetime .271 batting average (and hits there consistently year after year) while increasing his total bases on balls every year for the last five years. This is a good player!
Geoff Jenkins is another great player who just can't seem to shake the injury bug. Jenkins had 28 homers and 95 RBI when he went down again this year with a fractured left thumb.
Another find is rookie leadoff hitter, Scott Podsednik. Podsednik is batting .313 with a fairly good OBP (for a leadoff hitter) of .379. He has stolen 31 bases and has 76 runs scored.
The Brewers have a few good arms in Ben Sheets, Wayne Franklin, Matt Kinney and new closer, Matt Kolb (13 saves with a 2.01 ERA). But my favorite pitcher and story has to be Brooks Kieschnick who had cups of coffee with the Cubs, Reds and Colorado. This year he is a pitcher...a pitcher who regularly pinch hits.
Kieschnick hasn't played the field at all this year but as a batter--mostly as a pinch hitter--has five homers and nine RBI in only 55 at bats. His batting average is .327, his OBP is .383 and has a slugging percentage over .600! What's more, in his first year as a pitcher, he hasn't performed too badly. He's won a game and lost a game and has a 4.76 ERA. Hey, that's lower than Jose Mesa! What a great story.
Speaking of great stories, I almost hesitate to write about Barry Bonds as so much has been written already. But the man has game-winning homers in the last three games he's played and has homered in 24 of the last 27 games he's played. His homer today was off an inside pitch from Randy Johnson that he turned on lightning quick. The man is simply amazing.
After mentioning Randy Johnson, makes me compare him to Pedro Martinez who just don't seem to be themselves. Johnson has a bad knee and is 4-7 on the year. Martinez, after being sick last week, got hammered by the Yankees today. I have a feeling that this series is going to go fifty/fifty for both teams the rest of the way.
Friday, August 29, 2003
The Fan has never seen a baseball race like this. Oh yes, there have been two teams that went down to the wire. That is exciting in and of itself. But five teams tied for the wildcard in the National League? Three other teams within a game and a half behind those five? The race is stupifying. And the best part is that we aren't all tied up in June. This is the end of August--heading into September.
The Cubs, now a game and a half out, have lost two heartbreaking games to the Cardinals as their starters pitched with purpose and passion only to have the bullpen throw the games away. Last night's Cubs needed five pitchers to get three outs. That's when you know you're in trouble. The sad thing about the two games is that Sammy Sosa drove in nearly all of the Cubs' runs.
On the other side of that series, the two wins for the Cardinals has to drive them to an emotional push. Those kinds of wins bring a team together and make the fight much more cohesive...not to mention exciting.
The poor Phillies and Marlins can't win a game. To know how far they were ahead in this wildcard race, consider that the Phillies have lost nine of ten while the Marlins have lost eight of ten and it wasn't until tonight that the pack caught them to logjam the race.
The Expos have to be the scariest team right now as they are hitting and pitching very well while making great plays on defense. I wouldn't want to play them right now. All of the other contenders have played near .500 baseball. The wildcard race is like a great big ferris wheel spinning slowly into the night.
Nearly as interesting is the see-saw between the A's, the Red Sox and the Mariners. It's very weird looking at the wildcard standings and seeing the the Red Sox a half a game up on the Mariners. The Mariners? The Mariners haven't been the wildcard standings all year as they started on top in the AL West and stayed there until this week. Now they are two games back of the high flying A's.
You have to shake your head at the way a team suddenly loses their way. The Phillies and Marlins are now joined by the Mariners who have also lost eight of ten. Joel Pineiro was the ace of the Mariners early in the year. In his last two starts, he's only pitched eleven and two-thirds innings and has given up nine runs on fourteen hits. Meanwhile, Ichiro Suzuki has only six hits in his last forty-two at bats.
The race in the AL Central gets overlooked lately but the three teams at the top are all bunched up and any team can take it at this point.
The Fan will repeat himself one more time: Nick Johnson is the key to the Yankees lineup. Johnson's On Base Percentage for the year stands at .438 and he has scored 43 runs in 65 games.
And now it's time for the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they fared the last seven days:
- Jose Reyes. I had to start with Reyes as the twenty year old has been flat out electrifying so far. In his last seven games, Reyes has batted .333 with three homers, six RBI and six runs scored. The youngster is now batting .312 for the season.
- Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a quiet week as he batted .268 with three RBI. Baldelli is now batting .298 for the season.
- Coco Crisp. The speedy Crisp had a great week with a guady .429 average with seven runs scored and two RBI. Crisp has now scored 46 runs in just 71 games.
- Mark Teixeira. Teixeira had a miserable week with just three hits in twenty-two at bats. His season average sank to .245.
- Hank Blalock. Teixeira's teammate didn't do much better, batting .167 for the week. He did hit two homers though, good for three RBI. Blalock is still batting a solid .310 for the season.
- Pat Burrell. Burrell actually batted .267 for the week with two doubles, a triple and two homers to go along with five RBI. Burrell has crept over the Mendoza Line and is hitting .202 for the season.
- Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera's tough week matched the Marlins this week as the rookie only batted .217 for the week though he did have a homer and three RBI.
- Sean Burroughs. Jeff's son went crazy this week as he had fifteen hits in twenty-nine at bats! Six of those hits were for extra bases as he scored five runs and drove in four. Burroughs is now up to .299 for the year.
The Cubs, now a game and a half out, have lost two heartbreaking games to the Cardinals as their starters pitched with purpose and passion only to have the bullpen throw the games away. Last night's Cubs needed five pitchers to get three outs. That's when you know you're in trouble. The sad thing about the two games is that Sammy Sosa drove in nearly all of the Cubs' runs.
On the other side of that series, the two wins for the Cardinals has to drive them to an emotional push. Those kinds of wins bring a team together and make the fight much more cohesive...not to mention exciting.
The poor Phillies and Marlins can't win a game. To know how far they were ahead in this wildcard race, consider that the Phillies have lost nine of ten while the Marlins have lost eight of ten and it wasn't until tonight that the pack caught them to logjam the race.
The Expos have to be the scariest team right now as they are hitting and pitching very well while making great plays on defense. I wouldn't want to play them right now. All of the other contenders have played near .500 baseball. The wildcard race is like a great big ferris wheel spinning slowly into the night.
Nearly as interesting is the see-saw between the A's, the Red Sox and the Mariners. It's very weird looking at the wildcard standings and seeing the the Red Sox a half a game up on the Mariners. The Mariners? The Mariners haven't been the wildcard standings all year as they started on top in the AL West and stayed there until this week. Now they are two games back of the high flying A's.
You have to shake your head at the way a team suddenly loses their way. The Phillies and Marlins are now joined by the Mariners who have also lost eight of ten. Joel Pineiro was the ace of the Mariners early in the year. In his last two starts, he's only pitched eleven and two-thirds innings and has given up nine runs on fourteen hits. Meanwhile, Ichiro Suzuki has only six hits in his last forty-two at bats.
The race in the AL Central gets overlooked lately but the three teams at the top are all bunched up and any team can take it at this point.
The Fan will repeat himself one more time: Nick Johnson is the key to the Yankees lineup. Johnson's On Base Percentage for the year stands at .438 and he has scored 43 runs in 65 games.
And now it's time for the Fan's favorite boxscore players and how they fared the last seven days:
- Jose Reyes. I had to start with Reyes as the twenty year old has been flat out electrifying so far. In his last seven games, Reyes has batted .333 with three homers, six RBI and six runs scored. The youngster is now batting .312 for the season.
- Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a quiet week as he batted .268 with three RBI. Baldelli is now batting .298 for the season.
- Coco Crisp. The speedy Crisp had a great week with a guady .429 average with seven runs scored and two RBI. Crisp has now scored 46 runs in just 71 games.
- Mark Teixeira. Teixeira had a miserable week with just three hits in twenty-two at bats. His season average sank to .245.
- Hank Blalock. Teixeira's teammate didn't do much better, batting .167 for the week. He did hit two homers though, good for three RBI. Blalock is still batting a solid .310 for the season.
- Pat Burrell. Burrell actually batted .267 for the week with two doubles, a triple and two homers to go along with five RBI. Burrell has crept over the Mendoza Line and is hitting .202 for the season.
- Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera's tough week matched the Marlins this week as the rookie only batted .217 for the week though he did have a homer and three RBI.
- Sean Burroughs. Jeff's son went crazy this week as he had fifteen hits in twenty-nine at bats! Six of those hits were for extra bases as he scored five runs and drove in four. Burroughs is now up to .299 for the year.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
The Fan understand about being a fan. Right now the Pittsburgh Pirate fans have lost their hero and the San Diego Padre fans have found a new one. Brian Giles is one of the best players in the game. The fact that he played for the Pirates hid that fact quite well for a long time. Try to remember the last time you saw a Pirate game on national television?
But Brian Giles also was paid over $8 million a year by the Pirates and when you are losing, that's a lot of money to spend on one guy. That is the strategy that has worked for the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners. The Pirates are hoping they can duplicate that philosophy. But the thing is, how much of Giles play for the Pirates is responsible for ticket sales in Pittsburgh? How do you measure that? How do you measure the amount of tickets are lost when the team's message to its fans is that superstars are too expensive? That's a bitter pill and almost as damaging to fans morale as a baseball strike.
On the other side of the country, the message that San Diego is telling its fans is that they are serious about building a great team. The core is shaping up nicely and with Giles being only thirty-two years old with at least six good years left, he will be the cog in that core. Giles is from San Diego and going home is only going to help him even more to continue to put up the kind of world class numbers the world shouldn't be ignoring.
Elsewhere, Portland Oregon has passed a stadium bill in an election and become the front runners for the Expos. Portland is a beautiful city and all, but you better build a dome as it rains a lot there. The only other Expos option seems to be Washington. I can't imagine baseball agreeing to a team in Puerto Rico as the travel costs that would be added to the teams would be enormous.
The only problem with an Oregon Expos result would be that the National League West already has five teams. The NL Central has six. What seems to make sense to me is to move Milwaukee from the NL Central to the NL West (but make sure plenty of Cubs/Brewer games are scheduled) and move the new Oregon Expos into the American League West as that division only has four teams. Texas would love that...one more good team to have to contend with!
Oh those Phillies! They were beating the (for now) Montreal Expos 8-0 in the fifth inning and 10-4 in the sixth. They lost the game 14-10 as the Expos scored ten runs in the final two innings. "Ouch!" says those Phillies fans hoping for the wildcard. Yes, I know what it's like to be a fan.
In that Phillies game, the combined line of the Phillies' relievers is:
2 10 10 10 3 1
(Innings, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, strikeouts)
Quickly around the majors tonight: Toronto outlasted the Red Sox despite a late charge by the Sox. The game featured 31 hits and four errors.
The Cubs got another win from Mark Prior, who is really the front runner for the NL Cy Young award. Randall Simon has made a big impact in the first week playing for the Cubs. The man swings at everything but he rarely misses. He struck out only 32 times last year in 480+ at bats. The highlights showed him hitting a ball a ton that was pitched over his head! Oh! By the way, the Cubs beat division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Marlins lost again, this time to Pittsburgh as Jason Kendall took out his non-trade (he was hoping to go with Giles) frustration out on the fish including a two run homer. The Marlins are staying neck and neck with the Phillies as they shrink back to the wildcard pack that both teams could have owned.
The White Sox pounded Roger Clemens (sigh) as they won their sixth straight. Frank Thomas hit a grand slam. I hope Clemens doesn't finish the year poorly.
The Royals kept pace by beating Texas 9-2. Mike Sweeney broke out of his slump by going three for five with four RBI. Rafael Palmeiro hit his thirty-first homer of the season (521 for his career) and now has 93 RBI. Why would you want to dump a guy like that to go along with all your kids?
The Devil Rays are leading the suddenly anemic Seattle Mariners 3-0 in the fifth. The A's and Orioles are scoreless after four innings. The Orioles have really missed Melvin Mora and haven't shown the same potent offense since he had to shut it down. They will be a tough team next year.
But Brian Giles also was paid over $8 million a year by the Pirates and when you are losing, that's a lot of money to spend on one guy. That is the strategy that has worked for the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners. The Pirates are hoping they can duplicate that philosophy. But the thing is, how much of Giles play for the Pirates is responsible for ticket sales in Pittsburgh? How do you measure that? How do you measure the amount of tickets are lost when the team's message to its fans is that superstars are too expensive? That's a bitter pill and almost as damaging to fans morale as a baseball strike.
On the other side of the country, the message that San Diego is telling its fans is that they are serious about building a great team. The core is shaping up nicely and with Giles being only thirty-two years old with at least six good years left, he will be the cog in that core. Giles is from San Diego and going home is only going to help him even more to continue to put up the kind of world class numbers the world shouldn't be ignoring.
Elsewhere, Portland Oregon has passed a stadium bill in an election and become the front runners for the Expos. Portland is a beautiful city and all, but you better build a dome as it rains a lot there. The only other Expos option seems to be Washington. I can't imagine baseball agreeing to a team in Puerto Rico as the travel costs that would be added to the teams would be enormous.
The only problem with an Oregon Expos result would be that the National League West already has five teams. The NL Central has six. What seems to make sense to me is to move Milwaukee from the NL Central to the NL West (but make sure plenty of Cubs/Brewer games are scheduled) and move the new Oregon Expos into the American League West as that division only has four teams. Texas would love that...one more good team to have to contend with!
Oh those Phillies! They were beating the (for now) Montreal Expos 8-0 in the fifth inning and 10-4 in the sixth. They lost the game 14-10 as the Expos scored ten runs in the final two innings. "Ouch!" says those Phillies fans hoping for the wildcard. Yes, I know what it's like to be a fan.
In that Phillies game, the combined line of the Phillies' relievers is:
2 10 10 10 3 1
(Innings, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, strikeouts)
Quickly around the majors tonight: Toronto outlasted the Red Sox despite a late charge by the Sox. The game featured 31 hits and four errors.
The Cubs got another win from Mark Prior, who is really the front runner for the NL Cy Young award. Randall Simon has made a big impact in the first week playing for the Cubs. The man swings at everything but he rarely misses. He struck out only 32 times last year in 480+ at bats. The highlights showed him hitting a ball a ton that was pitched over his head! Oh! By the way, the Cubs beat division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Marlins lost again, this time to Pittsburgh as Jason Kendall took out his non-trade (he was hoping to go with Giles) frustration out on the fish including a two run homer. The Marlins are staying neck and neck with the Phillies as they shrink back to the wildcard pack that both teams could have owned.
The White Sox pounded Roger Clemens (sigh) as they won their sixth straight. Frank Thomas hit a grand slam. I hope Clemens doesn't finish the year poorly.
The Royals kept pace by beating Texas 9-2. Mike Sweeney broke out of his slump by going three for five with four RBI. Rafael Palmeiro hit his thirty-first homer of the season (521 for his career) and now has 93 RBI. Why would you want to dump a guy like that to go along with all your kids?
The Devil Rays are leading the suddenly anemic Seattle Mariners 3-0 in the fifth. The A's and Orioles are scoreless after four innings. The Orioles have really missed Melvin Mora and haven't shown the same potent offense since he had to shut it down. They will be a tough team next year.
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