Much to my relief, amazement and joy, Roger Clemens finally won his 300th game (along with obtaining his 4000th strikeout) in grand style by striking out ten hitters against a great hitting team and holding the Cardinals to two runs. The relief pitchers did their job as did the Yankee hitters and it's finally over. Congratulations Roger. I know it was your personal victory and was an accomplishment performed from your hard work over the years. But it was my victory too as I have watched at least two hundred of those victories. You are one of the best ever and I am honored that I was able to watch you.
My prediction is that now that this milestone is finally met, the Yankees will go on a tear and today brought that out as they mauled the Cardinals' best pitcher and exploded for thirteen runs. Giambi is officially hot and is up to 17 homers and 46 RBI. Matsui is hot as well and is up to 44 RBI. Sierra has produced in his few games and Andy Petitte threw well today. Look out American League, the Yanks are past walking the tightrope and will be stridently walking your way soon.
In two of the best matchups in this interleague weekend, the Braves and Mariners have split two games in what is the battle of this year's two best teams. And the Cubs and Blue Jays have split two games as two of the better teams in the majors squared off. Mark Prior won again today and has looked really sharp his last two games.
Carlos Delgado and Adam Dunn both hit their MLB leading 22nd homers tonight. Dunn was involved in a major brawl last night against the Phillies after getting brushed back twice. It seems that the Phillies weren't too happy that Dunn crashed into Philly catcher, Mike Lieberthal with the Reds winning the game at the time 10-0. I understand that to degree, but as Tim McGarver aptly pointed out recently, these days, a 10-0 lead isn't safe and you have to score all the runs you can. Dunn is a football mentality anyway and a big man. I'm sure he was just playing hard. To his credit, Lieberthal didn't think it was a bad play on Dunn's part. I'm sure you will see lots of suspensions from that game.
It was quite ironic last night. I wanted to record my feelings for the Clemens milestone and was looking forward to writing my post. But I changed the hub on my network yesterday and couldn't get the network to recognize the cable from Road Runner. Finally, I went to bed giving up on it for the night. My wife got it working while I was sleeping. How is that for a good woman huh?
The Red Sox just came back to tie the Astros 2-2 in another great interleague matchup. The Red Sox are amazing in that they never give up and their hitters just expect to pull the games out at the end. You don't beat the Red Sox, they just run out of outs. Ramirez and Garciaparra are both up to .325
The Dodgers have won five straight and are now just two and a half games behind the Giants in the NL West. Ashby even won a game for them. They have great pitching and the league's best closer. I had thought for a while that the Giants were going to run away with it, but I no longer believe that.
It's a real shame that the Cubs have lost Sammy Sosa for seven games right after his coming back from injury. June has always been Sosa's get hot month and the season is getting to be a wash for him. His Pepsi commercial buddy, Junior Griffey, continues to pound the ball since his return which makes this fan a very happy guy.
I just filled out my AllStar ballot. I'll fill you in tomorrow!
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Joe Torre must have given a good speech last night because the Yankees came from behind and won tonight for the first time all year. In a spectacularly poor statistic, they were 0-20 in games where they were behind after the sixth inning. That doesn't show a lot of fire and vinegar. But tonight was different and the same pitchers who made them look terrible last night in that six pitcher no hitter were spanked for the loss and blown save tonight.
Across town, the Mets fired General Manager Steve Phillips a half a year after they fired Bobby Valentine. It's hard to know how much blame to assign to a GM when a team fails. He just couldn't seem to catch these older players correctly. Robbie Alomar seemed like the best second baseman that ever lived until he became a Met. Now he doesn't seem any better than Horace Clarke. Jeremy Burnitz hit dozens of homers for the lowly Brewers and was one of the league's premier power hitters until he became a Met. Last year, he looked like Rich Gedman after he got all fouled up by the Charlie Lau swing.
It's hard to know which side of the career Tom Glavine was on. Was there a reason why Atlanta let him walk? Did they know something Phillips didn't? The statistics don't show any slippage in Glavine's performance from 2001 to 2002. He was typically great. Who would figure that this year he would be injured so often and so ineffective because of it.
It was easy to see that Piazza was slipping year to year. Every year his stats came down bit by bit. He will rank, if he moves to first or elsewhere, as the best hitting catcher ever. But his best years are gone. That wasn't Phillips fault. Mo Vaughan was his fault. Mo had slowed down by the time he hit Anaheim and then lost a year to injury. It is much easier for pitchers to miss that much time than it is for hitters. Mo was short for Molasses and that's how slow his swing was with the Mets.
The Mets just seemed off the last couple of years and every thing they tried just seemed to fall apart on them. I guess you can blame the GM or the manager before him. But I guess my blame would fall with the players. But I guess you can't fire a whole team.
Across town, the Mets fired General Manager Steve Phillips a half a year after they fired Bobby Valentine. It's hard to know how much blame to assign to a GM when a team fails. He just couldn't seem to catch these older players correctly. Robbie Alomar seemed like the best second baseman that ever lived until he became a Met. Now he doesn't seem any better than Horace Clarke. Jeremy Burnitz hit dozens of homers for the lowly Brewers and was one of the league's premier power hitters until he became a Met. Last year, he looked like Rich Gedman after he got all fouled up by the Charlie Lau swing.
It's hard to know which side of the career Tom Glavine was on. Was there a reason why Atlanta let him walk? Did they know something Phillips didn't? The statistics don't show any slippage in Glavine's performance from 2001 to 2002. He was typically great. Who would figure that this year he would be injured so often and so ineffective because of it.
It was easy to see that Piazza was slipping year to year. Every year his stats came down bit by bit. He will rank, if he moves to first or elsewhere, as the best hitting catcher ever. But his best years are gone. That wasn't Phillips fault. Mo Vaughan was his fault. Mo had slowed down by the time he hit Anaheim and then lost a year to injury. It is much easier for pitchers to miss that much time than it is for hitters. Mo was short for Molasses and that's how slow his swing was with the Mets.
The Mets just seemed off the last couple of years and every thing they tried just seemed to fall apart on them. I guess you can blame the GM or the manager before him. But I guess my blame would fall with the players. But I guess you can't fire a whole team.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Two no-hitters are underway tonight. The Yankees have been no-hit through six by four different Astros pitchers. Oswalt started, but had to leave early with a leg injury. A few years ago, the major leagues reconsidered what was a no-hitter and combined and short inning no hitters no longer count. I don't agree with that at all. Whether it's a team that does it or just one pitcher, a no hitter is a no hitter.
In the San Francisco/Chicago White Sox game, terrific rookie pitcher, Jesse Foppert, has no hit the White Sox through four innings while striking out six. Whether the no hitter stands or not, the White Sox are moribund and I believe that the Sox need to make a change at manager. He's had a long tenure there and things are getting worse instead of better. The players don't seem to have any fire and that is the manager's responsibility.
Coco Crisp has had a tough start for the Indians as he's gone 1 for 9 in his first two games. Mets rookie, Jose Reyas, went 2 for 4 in his first MLB game. He's 0 for 1 so far tonight.
Oops. The White Sox got a hit on Foppert, but only one and the Giants are up 8-0. Bonds hit another homer and is starting to catch fire. His is up to 17 homers and 39 RBI. Don't count out another 50 homer season.
Pedro Martinez pitched three innings of shutout ball in his first outing back from his injury. John Burkett has pitched very well in relief and that is a good sign for the Red Sox as they are up big over the Cardinals.
In the San Francisco/Chicago White Sox game, terrific rookie pitcher, Jesse Foppert, has no hit the White Sox through four innings while striking out six. Whether the no hitter stands or not, the White Sox are moribund and I believe that the Sox need to make a change at manager. He's had a long tenure there and things are getting worse instead of better. The players don't seem to have any fire and that is the manager's responsibility.
Coco Crisp has had a tough start for the Indians as he's gone 1 for 9 in his first two games. Mets rookie, Jose Reyas, went 2 for 4 in his first MLB game. He's 0 for 1 so far tonight.
Oops. The White Sox got a hit on Foppert, but only one and the Giants are up 8-0. Bonds hit another homer and is starting to catch fire. His is up to 17 homers and 39 RBI. Don't count out another 50 homer season.
Pedro Martinez pitched three innings of shutout ball in his first outing back from his injury. John Burkett has pitched very well in relief and that is a good sign for the Red Sox as they are up big over the Cardinals.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
One of my favorite players in all of baseball went on the disabled list today. I've watched Ellis Burks since he broke in with the Red Sox as a hard swinging centerfielder. He could hit, throw, run and has been a solid player for a long time. I always thought his knees would end his career, but his career threatening injury is to his elbow as a pinched nerve is causing the muscles in his hand to atrophy.
Burks has 351 career homers and over 1200 runs scored and RBI during stints in Boston, Colorado, San Francisco and now Cleveland. He always seemed like a class act and his "act" was real as he has been credited with great leadership skills everywhere he has gone. The Fan knows he's been around a long time when players reach the end of their career and the Fan remembers the beginning. Age isn't any fun.
Burks was replaced on the Indian's roster with one of the great names in baseball history: Coco Crisp. Coco is currently 0 for 4 in his first game up. It looks like I have a new player to keep track of in the box scores!
Well...part of me feels vindicated and part of me feels badly tonight. Juan Acevado was released by the Yankees just three days after blowing Clemens bid for 300. The very next day, his throwing error gave the Cubs some extra runs that decided the game in the end. I feel bad because I hoped he would be released and now he is. It's not as bad as wishing someone dead, but it's close. I'm sure he'll end up somewhere and resume his career.
The Mets brought up their next great player (supposedly) tonight in the person of Jose Reyas. He'll play shortstop for two weeks while Ray Sanchez heals. He batted last in the Mets/Rangers game tonight and singled in his first major league at bat. How cool is that! Way to go, Jose, and welcome to MLB!
Burks has 351 career homers and over 1200 runs scored and RBI during stints in Boston, Colorado, San Francisco and now Cleveland. He always seemed like a class act and his "act" was real as he has been credited with great leadership skills everywhere he has gone. The Fan knows he's been around a long time when players reach the end of their career and the Fan remembers the beginning. Age isn't any fun.
Burks was replaced on the Indian's roster with one of the great names in baseball history: Coco Crisp. Coco is currently 0 for 4 in his first game up. It looks like I have a new player to keep track of in the box scores!
Well...part of me feels vindicated and part of me feels badly tonight. Juan Acevado was released by the Yankees just three days after blowing Clemens bid for 300. The very next day, his throwing error gave the Cubs some extra runs that decided the game in the end. I feel bad because I hoped he would be released and now he is. It's not as bad as wishing someone dead, but it's close. I'm sure he'll end up somewhere and resume his career.
The Mets brought up their next great player (supposedly) tonight in the person of Jose Reyas. He'll play shortstop for two weeks while Ray Sanchez heals. He batted last in the Mets/Rangers game tonight and singled in his first major league at bat. How cool is that! Way to go, Jose, and welcome to MLB!
Monday, June 09, 2003
It's another one of those blah Monday's when virtually all of MLB has the night off. The only game scheduled is a late game between the Phillies and the Angels. The Phillies beat Oakland in two games of their double-header yesterday while the Seattle Mariners won both games of their double-header against the Mets. That's a four game swing in the standings and seems to state rather convincingly that Seattle is going wire to wire in the AL West.
Interleague play is where the Athletics have started their runs in recent years. Their great pitching led them to the best interleague record in the majors. But they are only 5-5 in their last ten interleague games while Seattle has had a 9-1 run. In fact, Seattle is one of only two teams in the entire American League that has a winning record in the last ten games of interleague play. The Angels are the other at 7-3. Oakland is now a half a game behind the Yankees for the wildcard as well.
I don't know if it is a sign of parity or just plain mediocrity, but nobody in the American League East or Central had a better than .500 record. It's like all the teams are just spinning around in some kind of crazy orbit waiting for something to break out.
The top division during interleague play has been the National League Central. Four teams (including Milwaukee!) are above .500 in the last ten games and the Astros are as hot as the Mariners with a 9-1 run. It's funny how the Astros look great and then terrible...then great...then terrible. I guess it's the old cliche' where they will be as good as their pitching takes them. Since they have a potentially great starting staff and arguably the best bullpen, pitching could take them a long way. The NL Central race is going to be a good one to watch all year, especially if Sammy Sosa ever gets going.
Speaking of the NL Central, I don't know if the Yankees are just that bad now, but the Cubs look really tough. Their pitchers aren't afraid of anything and they can bring it game after game after game.
Okay, I've been avoiding this topic, but a true fan has to admit that the Atlanta Braves are one amazing franchise. How in the world do you dismantle the best bullpen in the league from last year, ignore signing Glavine and Millwood and still end up tied for the best record in MLB? Every year us Braves haters wait like buzzards for them to fall as all empires must but they don't and won't. They even won the battle of the cable teams. In the early days of cable, you could watch every Braves game on TBS, every Cubs game on WGN and every Mets game on WOR. The Braves are the only one left. They are an amazing organization and as a fan, you have to give it to them.
It's time for me to look at my favorite players to check on a daily basis:
- Sean Burroughs of the Padres is hitting .409 in his last seven days and is now up to .293 for the season. Not much for power, but that will come in time.
- (sigh) Pat Burrell is still stuck in a terrible slump and only hit .176 for the week which leaves his season average below the Mendoza line at .199. Ugh!
- (more sighs) Shane Spencer has wore out his attempt to start in Cleveland and only played in two games the last seven days and went 1 for 8. His season average is down to .226.
- Ken Griffey hit .308 the last week and has his average up to .277. His Slugging percentage is up over .600 and his OPS is over 1.000! Yeah!
- Adam Dunn is beginning to look a lot like Dave Kingman with 20 homers for the season and a .211 batting average.
- Rocco Baldelli only hit .263 for the week which brought him down to .329 for the year. But he still has 80 hits already!
- The Devil Rays' other phenem, Jason Tyner, hit .500 for the week and is hitting .394 in limited action.
- My man, Hank Blalock chugs along, hitting .360 for the week with 7 more RBI (40 total) and is hitting .353 for the year.
- His young teammate, Mark Teixeira, hit .294 for the week and is up to .244.
Don't ask me why I am so interested in those players above. I don't know other than that some were old favorites and some just captured my imagination along the way.
Interleague play is where the Athletics have started their runs in recent years. Their great pitching led them to the best interleague record in the majors. But they are only 5-5 in their last ten interleague games while Seattle has had a 9-1 run. In fact, Seattle is one of only two teams in the entire American League that has a winning record in the last ten games of interleague play. The Angels are the other at 7-3. Oakland is now a half a game behind the Yankees for the wildcard as well.
I don't know if it is a sign of parity or just plain mediocrity, but nobody in the American League East or Central had a better than .500 record. It's like all the teams are just spinning around in some kind of crazy orbit waiting for something to break out.
The top division during interleague play has been the National League Central. Four teams (including Milwaukee!) are above .500 in the last ten games and the Astros are as hot as the Mariners with a 9-1 run. It's funny how the Astros look great and then terrible...then great...then terrible. I guess it's the old cliche' where they will be as good as their pitching takes them. Since they have a potentially great starting staff and arguably the best bullpen, pitching could take them a long way. The NL Central race is going to be a good one to watch all year, especially if Sammy Sosa ever gets going.
Speaking of the NL Central, I don't know if the Yankees are just that bad now, but the Cubs look really tough. Their pitchers aren't afraid of anything and they can bring it game after game after game.
Okay, I've been avoiding this topic, but a true fan has to admit that the Atlanta Braves are one amazing franchise. How in the world do you dismantle the best bullpen in the league from last year, ignore signing Glavine and Millwood and still end up tied for the best record in MLB? Every year us Braves haters wait like buzzards for them to fall as all empires must but they don't and won't. They even won the battle of the cable teams. In the early days of cable, you could watch every Braves game on TBS, every Cubs game on WGN and every Mets game on WOR. The Braves are the only one left. They are an amazing organization and as a fan, you have to give it to them.
It's time for me to look at my favorite players to check on a daily basis:
- Sean Burroughs of the Padres is hitting .409 in his last seven days and is now up to .293 for the season. Not much for power, but that will come in time.
- (sigh) Pat Burrell is still stuck in a terrible slump and only hit .176 for the week which leaves his season average below the Mendoza line at .199. Ugh!
- (more sighs) Shane Spencer has wore out his attempt to start in Cleveland and only played in two games the last seven days and went 1 for 8. His season average is down to .226.
- Ken Griffey hit .308 the last week and has his average up to .277. His Slugging percentage is up over .600 and his OPS is over 1.000! Yeah!
- Adam Dunn is beginning to look a lot like Dave Kingman with 20 homers for the season and a .211 batting average.
- Rocco Baldelli only hit .263 for the week which brought him down to .329 for the year. But he still has 80 hits already!
- The Devil Rays' other phenem, Jason Tyner, hit .500 for the week and is hitting .394 in limited action.
- My man, Hank Blalock chugs along, hitting .360 for the week with 7 more RBI (40 total) and is hitting .353 for the year.
- His young teammate, Mark Teixeira, hit .294 for the week and is up to .244.
Don't ask me why I am so interested in those players above. I don't know other than that some were old favorites and some just captured my imagination along the way.
Saturday, June 07, 2003
The Flagrant Fan is as flagrantly angry with a manager as he was with John McNamara back in 1986 when he single-handedly lost the Red Sox the World Series. As soon as I saw Joe Torre walking toward the mound in today's seventh inning game, I started screaming at my TV: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!" Talk about the dumbest move in the history of managing.
First of all, if Clemens cannot lose with the baserunners on base, that's fine, take him out IF he is gassed. But when the winning run is on base, at least give the guy a chance to win or lose his own damn game. Clemens had only thrown 84 pitches and had at least 30 more in him. Secondly, there is nobody in the Yankee bullpen who has as good or better stuff than Clemens. So who has the best chance of getting out of the inning other than Clemens? Next, Klesko looked stupid striking out against Clemens a few innings earlier. And the kicker was to bring in Juan ("Gasoline") Acevado.
I said to my wife as I was screaming at the TV: "You watch, the first pitch from this lousy pitcher and the game will be over." Sure enough, BOOM! Game over. Clemens gets the loss. Torre looks sad and glum. My fury is working up again as I write this. You over-managed Joe. You should have sat on your ass and let Clemens lose or win his own game. Stupid. Really, really stupid.
This Acevado guy has to go. He has an ERA of 7.99. The Yankees are struggling along at reliever and they finally made a move...they picked up a hitter with a long swing, Ruben Sierra. Well, he has a good arm. Maybe he can pitch.
What makes me so sick about this lost chance at a milestone is turning the computer on and having Explorer start on Yahoo (I'm old-fashioned) and the headline there reads, "Clemens Loses Bid for 300. I got news for you copywriters, that should read, "Torre and Acevado lose Clemens 300 bid."
Stupid.
First of all, if Clemens cannot lose with the baserunners on base, that's fine, take him out IF he is gassed. But when the winning run is on base, at least give the guy a chance to win or lose his own damn game. Clemens had only thrown 84 pitches and had at least 30 more in him. Secondly, there is nobody in the Yankee bullpen who has as good or better stuff than Clemens. So who has the best chance of getting out of the inning other than Clemens? Next, Klesko looked stupid striking out against Clemens a few innings earlier. And the kicker was to bring in Juan ("Gasoline") Acevado.
I said to my wife as I was screaming at the TV: "You watch, the first pitch from this lousy pitcher and the game will be over." Sure enough, BOOM! Game over. Clemens gets the loss. Torre looks sad and glum. My fury is working up again as I write this. You over-managed Joe. You should have sat on your ass and let Clemens lose or win his own game. Stupid. Really, really stupid.
This Acevado guy has to go. He has an ERA of 7.99. The Yankees are struggling along at reliever and they finally made a move...they picked up a hitter with a long swing, Ruben Sierra. Well, he has a good arm. Maybe he can pitch.
What makes me so sick about this lost chance at a milestone is turning the computer on and having Explorer start on Yahoo (I'm old-fashioned) and the headline there reads, "Clemens Loses Bid for 300. I got news for you copywriters, that should read, "Torre and Acevado lose Clemens 300 bid."
Stupid.
Friday, June 06, 2003
The hammer came down on Sammy Sosa today as he was given an eight game suspension for his corked bat. All of his other bats were scanned and no cork was found which tends to lead credence to his statements that he grabbed the wrong bat. One of my colleagues at work mentioned that his bats in the Hall of Fame were also checked. I haven't seen confirmation of that but I would agree with my colleague who had a great thought: Why don't they check all of the bats in the Hall of Fame. Wouldn't that be an uproar if they found a tampered bat in the Hall of Fame! That almost seems as much fun as raising Jesse James' grave to see if it's really him.
I was looking at box scores tonight and saw that Toronto was pouncing on the Reds and the box score brought a couple of thoughts to mind. One was looking at Delgado with 64 RBI (in June!!) and Vernon Wells with 58. Those are amazing numbers. Delgado just didn't seem himself the last couple of years, but he's back in a mighty way and is a legit Triple Crown candidate. Wells came out of no where last year with a hundred RBI and it looks like it was not a fluke.
The boxscore also showed Adam Dunn for the Reds having a 2-2 night with a walk and a homerun. I checked below the boxes and saw that he now has 18 homers and 44 RBI and my first thought was: "Why would a guy with 18 homers and 44 RBI be leading off?" And then I remembered that those were the same numbers as Soriano. It's a weird time in baseball as shortstops are the best hitters on many teams and sluggers lead off.
Some MLB team should sign me up, don't you think? I told you that Matsui needed to get his hands back to start hitting. According to the broadcast last night, Jorge Posada told him just that and he got four hits last night.
Well...It's attempt number three for Roger Clemens on Saturday. I really hope he gets it. I really really really hope he gets it.
Seattle finally lost today to the Mets (of all people). I never thought they were going to lose again. They are going to run away with that division I think. The Braves are running away with theirs. The Red Sox are tied with Oakland for the wildcard race. Believe it or not, the Expos would be the wildcard if the year ended tonight.
The Mets, as stated earlier, beat Seattle 3-2. Jae Weong Seo started and won for the Mets. That gives him eleven quality starts out of eleven. Eleven quality starts and his record is only 3-2. He could easily be 11-0 and a candidate for the All-Star team. Cliff Floyd hit his 11th homer for the Mets and is finally having a good year again.
On the other side of that fence is Pat Burrell of the Phillies. Wow! What is going on there!? He mashed the ball last year but he's still hitting only .194 two months into the season. The Phillies and their fans gotta hope that Burrell snaps out of that soon. Giambi finally has as Jason is all the way up to the .230's now.
The Rangers Teixeira hit another homer today and has his average up to .247. I'm cheering! Hank Blalock is still above .350 and Tampa's Baldelli is still up to .336. This is fun isn't it? Oh! And another player I've been tracking is San Diego's Sean Burroughs who is now up to .291 with an OBP of .347. Burroughs, you might remember, was the number one draft pick a couple of years ago and got hurt last year after starting off the year batting .271. He had 52 hits when he got hurt. Yesterday, he was hit on the wrist with a pitch and is sitting out some games. Guess how many hits he has so far this year? That's right...52.
I was looking at box scores tonight and saw that Toronto was pouncing on the Reds and the box score brought a couple of thoughts to mind. One was looking at Delgado with 64 RBI (in June!!) and Vernon Wells with 58. Those are amazing numbers. Delgado just didn't seem himself the last couple of years, but he's back in a mighty way and is a legit Triple Crown candidate. Wells came out of no where last year with a hundred RBI and it looks like it was not a fluke.
The boxscore also showed Adam Dunn for the Reds having a 2-2 night with a walk and a homerun. I checked below the boxes and saw that he now has 18 homers and 44 RBI and my first thought was: "Why would a guy with 18 homers and 44 RBI be leading off?" And then I remembered that those were the same numbers as Soriano. It's a weird time in baseball as shortstops are the best hitters on many teams and sluggers lead off.
Some MLB team should sign me up, don't you think? I told you that Matsui needed to get his hands back to start hitting. According to the broadcast last night, Jorge Posada told him just that and he got four hits last night.
Well...It's attempt number three for Roger Clemens on Saturday. I really hope he gets it. I really really really hope he gets it.
Seattle finally lost today to the Mets (of all people). I never thought they were going to lose again. They are going to run away with that division I think. The Braves are running away with theirs
The Mets, as stated earlier, beat Seattle 3-2. Jae Weong Seo started and won for the Mets. That gives him eleven quality starts out of eleven. Eleven quality starts and his record is only 3-2. He could easily be 11-0 and a candidate for the All-Star team. Cliff Floyd hit his 11th homer for the Mets and is finally having a good year again.
On the other side of that fence is Pat Burrell of the Phillies. Wow! What is going on there!? He mashed the ball last year but he's still hitting only .194 two months into the season. The Phillies and their fans gotta hope that Burrell snaps out of that soon. Giambi finally has as Jason is all the way up to the .230's now.
The Rangers Teixeira hit another homer today and has his average up to .247. I'm cheering! Hank Blalock is still above .350 and Tampa's Baldelli is still up to .336. This is fun isn't it? Oh! And another player I've been tracking is San Diego's Sean Burroughs who is now up to .291 with an OBP of .347. Burroughs, you might remember, was the number one draft pick a couple of years ago and got hurt last year after starting off the year batting .271. He had 52 hits when he got hurt. Yesterday, he was hit on the wrist with a pitch and is sitting out some games. Guess how many hits he has so far this year? That's right...52.
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
The ESPN Wednesday Night Game was the Yankees and Reds and of course I watched and I again jinxed the Yankees. When I turned the television on, the Yanks were ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning. From that point on, of course, the Reds started pounding Mussina and the Yankees couldn't get another hit.
Anyway, on Wednesday nights, ESPN has begun a "legends" series where they bring back famous broadcasters to work the games. Curt Gowdy did the game last time (which I unfortunately missed) and tonight it was longtime Reds broadcaster, Marty Brennaman. First, it is odd and heartbreaking to a degree that he started 37 yearas ago and I was eight at the time so his career spans my life. I didn't express that well. What I mean is that these famous, longtime people started within my lifetime. Famous, longtime people used to start before my life started. I also note that I wasn't real impressed with Brennaman. But I did not grow up listening to him and I know the entire midwest lives and dies by the guy. It's probably a matter of style.
I will enjoy when they bring in Bob Uecker. I am not looking forward to Keith Jackson (I always considered him emotionless and therefore, non-entertaining). It's probably too bad that my favorite, Phil Rizzuto, is probably too old to do the broadcast. He was so much fun to listen to. I cherish those memories of him on Channel 11 in New York or on ABC radio on our transisters.
It looked like Griffey hurt himself again swinging the bat. I sure hope it's not serious. Man! He just got going again too.
I thought that Joe Morgan had a great observation about the Yankees Matsui not being able to hit a MLB fastball and the inside pitch. I have observed the same thing. What I wasn't aware of was Morgan's point that in Japan, they receive mostly breaking balls so he's never really dealt with live 90+ MPH fastballs. Ichiro adjusted easier because he can just slap at the pitch. Ichiro's stance also allows his swing to get through the hitting zone faster. Masui's hands are right in front of his chest and his bat is straight up and down. He needs to make a major league adjustment and bring his hands back and the bat more level to the ground. I am surprised that his hitting coach hasn't talked to him about that.
I am not going to comment further on the Sammy Sosa controversy. For one thing, it's all over the place now and what could I add to what's been written? To me, he said what he needed to say, he was contrite and apologetic. It's time to move on. It will be talked about until the next big story. But the talk about this tainting his career is rediculous. You still have to hit the ball to hit all those homers. Sheesh. I still said more than I intended.
Just one more strange note. Shea Hillenbrand had only seven walks with the Red Sox in 35 games. He as already walked twice in his first three games with his new team. Kim won for the Red Sox tonight so it looks like both teams are getting what they wanted.
Anyway, on Wednesday nights, ESPN has begun a "legends" series where they bring back famous broadcasters to work the games. Curt Gowdy did the game last time (which I unfortunately missed) and tonight it was longtime Reds broadcaster, Marty Brennaman. First, it is odd and heartbreaking to a degree that he started 37 yearas ago and I was eight at the time so his career spans my life. I didn't express that well. What I mean is that these famous, longtime people started within my lifetime. Famous, longtime people used to start before my life started. I also note that I wasn't real impressed with Brennaman. But I did not grow up listening to him and I know the entire midwest lives and dies by the guy. It's probably a matter of style.
I will enjoy when they bring in Bob Uecker. I am not looking forward to Keith Jackson (I always considered him emotionless and therefore, non-entertaining). It's probably too bad that my favorite, Phil Rizzuto, is probably too old to do the broadcast. He was so much fun to listen to. I cherish those memories of him on Channel 11 in New York or on ABC radio on our transisters.
It looked like Griffey hurt himself again swinging the bat. I sure hope it's not serious. Man! He just got going again too.
I thought that Joe Morgan had a great observation about the Yankees Matsui not being able to hit a MLB fastball and the inside pitch. I have observed the same thing. What I wasn't aware of was Morgan's point that in Japan, they receive mostly breaking balls so he's never really dealt with live 90+ MPH fastballs. Ichiro adjusted easier because he can just slap at the pitch. Ichiro's stance also allows his swing to get through the hitting zone faster. Masui's hands are right in front of his chest and his bat is straight up and down. He needs to make a major league adjustment and bring his hands back and the bat more level to the ground. I am surprised that his hitting coach hasn't talked to him about that.
I am not going to comment further on the Sammy Sosa controversy. For one thing, it's all over the place now and what could I add to what's been written? To me, he said what he needed to say, he was contrite and apologetic. It's time to move on. It will be talked about until the next big story. But the talk about this tainting his career is rediculous. You still have to hit the ball to hit all those homers. Sheesh. I still said more than I intended.
Just one more strange note. Shea Hillenbrand had only seven walks with the Red Sox in 35 games. He as already walked twice in his first three games with his new team. Kim won for the Red Sox tonight so it looks like both teams are getting what they wanted.
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
The Yankees are playing like the Bad News Bears again as all of the Reds runs in the game are unearned. So far there have been two Soriano muffs that led to a run. There has been an overun of a base by Raul Mondesi that cost the Yankees a big inning. And just now, the Reds scored two runs and tied the game on two wild pitches and an error. Sheesh.
It is fun to watch the Reds though. The whole Cincinnati team seem like descendents of Goliath. Adam Dunn was on first next to Jason Giambi and Giambi isn't a small guy but he looked like a child next to Dunn. There is Dunn and Kearns and LaRue and Wily Mo Pena and on and on they come to the plate. It looks like an NFL softball team.
It is still easy to see how good Ken Griffey is. Remember when we played ball as kids and there was always one kid who stood out as being the best athlete. He walked different. He wasn't afraid of anything. He always seemed to be faster, hit the ball harder, throw the ball faster and do just about everything smoother and better than anyone else. It's clear that Griffey is the best player on the field. And right now, there seems to be no way to pitch to him. He hits the ball with authority wherever it's pitched.
Paul O'Neal, the former Yankee outfielder now lives in Cincinnati and was in the broadcast booth with the Yankee announcers. I was very surprised to hear how good he is at commentary and he seems to be a natural. As a player he always seemed to be so taciturn but in commentary he is loose and funny. The Yankees should sign him up!
I always check the Texas Rangers' boxscore now as they are such a fun team to follow. Juan Gonzalez hit his 18th homer and now has 40 RBI. Blalock is 1-3 and is still hitting in the .350's. Mark Teixeira is now up to .246 and tonight is 1-1 with two walks which means that he is very comfortable and knows what he is doing. He has 26 RBI. So much credit for how those two young players are doing has to go to their manager who has let them play despite the critics.
The big news of the night is that Sammy Sosa was thrown out of his game tonight for having a corked bat. This situation will get a lot of play and I'm sure Sosa will be suspended. Since Sosa is such an icon, his image will get tarnished a bit. But he is just another in a long line of players who have tried to get a little edge. There have been spit pitches and sandpaper on the pitching side and cork and other things on the hitting side. It wasn't long ago when Albert Belle (one of the best hitters of his time) was caught doing the same thing as Sammy. The difference is that Belle was already a hated player and considered a bad apple so this was one more nod of the head to his badness. But Sammy has been a symbol for what is right with the game and this will hurt him for sure.
I hope he learns from history and just admits what he's done and takes responsibility. How many times in our recent history have we been disappointed in the character of those we admired because they just couldn't admit they did something wrong. If Sosa does so and says that he just started doing so, perhaps most will just wink and give Sosa the pass. But if he's been doing this for a long time and if he gets defensive about what has happened, his good image is going to be tarnished for a long time and his records will be looked at with a blemished eye. Sad.
It is fun to watch the Reds though. The whole Cincinnati team seem like descendents of Goliath. Adam Dunn was on first next to Jason Giambi and Giambi isn't a small guy but he looked like a child next to Dunn. There is Dunn and Kearns and LaRue and Wily Mo Pena and on and on they come to the plate. It looks like an NFL softball team.
It is still easy to see how good Ken Griffey is. Remember when we played ball as kids and there was always one kid who stood out as being the best athlete. He walked different. He wasn't afraid of anything. He always seemed to be faster, hit the ball harder, throw the ball faster and do just about everything smoother and better than anyone else. It's clear that Griffey is the best player on the field. And right now, there seems to be no way to pitch to him. He hits the ball with authority wherever it's pitched.
Paul O'Neal, the former Yankee outfielder now lives in Cincinnati and was in the broadcast booth with the Yankee announcers. I was very surprised to hear how good he is at commentary and he seems to be a natural. As a player he always seemed to be so taciturn but in commentary he is loose and funny. The Yankees should sign him up!
I always check the Texas Rangers' boxscore now as they are such a fun team to follow. Juan Gonzalez hit his 18th homer and now has 40 RBI. Blalock is 1-3 and is still hitting in the .350's. Mark Teixeira is now up to .246 and tonight is 1-1 with two walks which means that he is very comfortable and knows what he is doing. He has 26 RBI. So much credit for how those two young players are doing has to go to their manager who has let them play despite the critics.
The big news of the night is that Sammy Sosa was thrown out of his game tonight for having a corked bat. This situation will get a lot of play and I'm sure Sosa will be suspended. Since Sosa is such an icon, his image will get tarnished a bit. But he is just another in a long line of players who have tried to get a little edge. There have been spit pitches and sandpaper on the pitching side and cork and other things on the hitting side. It wasn't long ago when Albert Belle (one of the best hitters of his time) was caught doing the same thing as Sammy. The difference is that Belle was already a hated player and considered a bad apple so this was one more nod of the head to his badness. But Sammy has been a symbol for what is right with the game and this will hurt him for sure.
I hope he learns from history and just admits what he's done and takes responsibility. How many times in our recent history have we been disappointed in the character of those we admired because they just couldn't admit they did something wrong. If Sosa does so and says that he just started doing so, perhaps most will just wink and give Sosa the pass. But if he's been doing this for a long time and if he gets defensive about what has happened, his good image is going to be tarnished for a long time and his records will be looked at with a blemished eye. Sad.
Monday, June 02, 2003
Does blogging take over your life or does the hope that you are writing for a semi-loyal following convince you to slog on (or is that blog on?) day after day writing post after post. Well, I'll tell you how important my few loyal readers are to me: I bought a laptop today to take with me on vacation so that I could continue to post while I was gone. It's all your fault!
Tonight is one of those nights that baseball fans hate. There are only three games on the schedule and even Baseball Tonight wouldn't be worth watching. I don't like the schedules as they are currently and prefer what was available a few years ago. While I agree that division rivals should play each other often, nineteen times or whatever it is, gets a bit daft. And I don't like interleague games at all (I'm beginning to sound like Grouchy Smurf).
The argument can be made that rivals in a division should not only play each other often, but they should play the same schedule. What I mean by that is that it's not really fair for one team to get to play Milwaukee in the interleague games while another team gets the Braves. What if those same teams are division rivals and one of those rivals loses the division by two games because their interleague schedule was harder.
But then again, schedules have never been equal and this debate is much older than I am. My reasons for disliking interleague play have to do with the two leagues playing a different game. Pitchers in the National League, who look bad enough, are now looking great in comparison to pitchers in the American League whom are now asked to swing the bat in a pansy-fashion and make fools of themselves. Plus, interleague play gives the feeling or impression of Spring Training games instead of MLB games.
And then how balanced is a balanced schedule when American League West teams only have to play division rivals 57 times instead of 76 because there are only four teams in that division and National League Central teams have to play 95 division rival games because that division has six teams instead of five. That hardly seems balanced to me.
All I know is that I'm glad I don't have to make the schedules because with all those teams and all those games and with all those days off mandated by contract and flight times and pack up and tear down and all that goes with MLB, I would be a crazy mess.
Tonight is one of those nights that baseball fans hate. There are only three games on the schedule and even Baseball Tonight wouldn't be worth watching. I don't like the schedules as they are currently and prefer what was available a few years ago. While I agree that division rivals should play each other often, nineteen times or whatever it is, gets a bit daft. And I don't like interleague games at all (I'm beginning to sound like Grouchy Smurf).
The argument can be made that rivals in a division should not only play each other often, but they should play the same schedule. What I mean by that is that it's not really fair for one team to get to play Milwaukee in the interleague games while another team gets the Braves. What if those same teams are division rivals and one of those rivals loses the division by two games because their interleague schedule was harder.
But then again, schedules have never been equal and this debate is much older than I am. My reasons for disliking interleague play have to do with the two leagues playing a different game. Pitchers in the National League, who look bad enough, are now looking great in comparison to pitchers in the American League whom are now asked to swing the bat in a pansy-fashion and make fools of themselves. Plus, interleague play gives the feeling or impression of Spring Training games instead of MLB games.
And then how balanced is a balanced schedule when American League West teams only have to play division rivals 57 times instead of 76 because there are only four teams in that division and National League Central teams have to play 95 division rival games because that division has six teams instead of five. That hardly seems balanced to me.
All I know is that I'm glad I don't have to make the schedules because with all those teams and all those games and with all those days off mandated by contract and flight times and pack up and tear down and all that goes with MLB, I would be a crazy mess.
Sunday, June 01, 2003
I must be a jinx. The Yankees were flying high at the top of the division with a record of 20-5 when I purchased the right from MLB.com to watch the Yankees every day (a great deal by the way). Ever since, they have played like the Tigers. So I'm watching the Red Sox today on NESN and they are winning big against hated Toronto (If the Yankees don't win this thing--and it doesn't look like they will--the last team I want in there is the Blue Jays!). Somehow, the Red Sox blow up and the Blue Jays get a million dinks and it's 8-6!
I hear that the Yankees have gone up 7-1 on the Tigers and I figure I'll go to the computer to watch history and it's the bottom of the fifth. The first batter gets a hit and some guy from Aruba hits his first homerun of the year. No big deal. Now it's only 7-3. Then another single. No problem. Suddenly the Bad News Bears show up and take over for the Yankee infield and Jeter throws one away and then Soriano throws one away and before I can get a clear picture, it's 7-6. Okay, that was bad, but they can still win. I can still watch history.
Ziele then hits an opposite field homerun and Clemens is again up by two. He pitches a perfect sixth inning and waves his hat to the fans. Oh boy, it's time for the Yankee bullpen. I can't bear to watch after all and go downstairs and practice my karaoke (Yes, I can sing, "New York, New York"). I sing for a couple of hours and figure it should be safe to go upstairs and finish watching history.
Somehow it's the bottom of the tenth inning and it's a tie game 8-8! Oh man! What happened. I switch over to Yahoo to look at the box score and sure enough, Sterling Hitchcock, who has pitched well backing Clemens up in other wins this season blew the lead. Crap. It's over. Another chance wasted and still we go on waiting for history. I cannot believe that a bunch of pros can't raise the level of their game and get this done. Errors in the field and relief pitchers blowing the game...sheesh...if the team can't take the pressure of this type of situation, what are they going to do if they make the playoffs. This isn't the same team without O'Neal and Tino and those guys. This is a team that has no real backbone. The Flagrant Fan is steaming!
Taking a deep breath...at least I'm not a Diamondback fan. They get Hildenbrand to bolster their hitting attack and instead of sticking him at first, they release Matt Williams? What? Williams is the kind of hitter that can get hot and put ten over the fence in a hurry. He was fourth on the team in RBI and now they lose that production. You get a player like Hildenbrand to bolster your offense and then you release a guy with 378 career homeruns and end up losing more ground. I don't get it.
The Red Sox moving Johnny Damon to ninth in the order is a good move. Mueller is hot and his batting average is higher than Damon's OBP! But I don't agree with the Sox demoting Bruce Chen and keeping Rudy Seanez. For one thing, it would have been great for Kim to have Chen around for companionship and second, you can never have too many left arms on your team.
The Red Sox post game show is on in the background and it's sad when a pretty good player struggles. Again it's the no mercy thing. The fans are calling in and blasting Grady Little (who was a genius last week) for using Jeremy Giambi when he is struggling at .178. But I watched the game and Giambi looks great but has been unlucky. His first time up, he put the Blue Jays centerfielder on the warning track with a drive. He just didn't pull it enough. In the Red Sox big inning when they hit five doubles, it should have been six doubles. Giambi smoked one down the line but hit the bad and went right to Delgado for the out. That's bad luck.
I hear that the Yankees have gone up 7-1 on the Tigers and I figure I'll go to the computer to watch history and it's the bottom of the fifth. The first batter gets a hit and some guy from Aruba hits his first homerun of the year. No big deal. Now it's only 7-3. Then another single. No problem. Suddenly the Bad News Bears show up and take over for the Yankee infield and Jeter throws one away and then Soriano throws one away and before I can get a clear picture, it's 7-6. Okay, that was bad, but they can still win. I can still watch history.
Ziele then hits an opposite field homerun and Clemens is again up by two. He pitches a perfect sixth inning and waves his hat to the fans. Oh boy, it's time for the Yankee bullpen. I can't bear to watch after all and go downstairs and practice my karaoke (Yes, I can sing, "New York, New York"). I sing for a couple of hours and figure it should be safe to go upstairs and finish watching history.
Somehow it's the bottom of the tenth inning and it's a tie game 8-8! Oh man! What happened. I switch over to Yahoo to look at the box score and sure enough, Sterling Hitchcock, who has pitched well backing Clemens up in other wins this season blew the lead. Crap. It's over. Another chance wasted and still we go on waiting for history. I cannot believe that a bunch of pros can't raise the level of their game and get this done. Errors in the field and relief pitchers blowing the game...sheesh...if the team can't take the pressure of this type of situation, what are they going to do if they make the playoffs. This isn't the same team without O'Neal and Tino and those guys. This is a team that has no real backbone. The Flagrant Fan is steaming!
Taking a deep breath...at least I'm not a Diamondback fan. They get Hildenbrand to bolster their hitting attack and instead of sticking him at first, they release Matt Williams? What? Williams is the kind of hitter that can get hot and put ten over the fence in a hurry. He was fourth on the team in RBI and now they lose that production. You get a player like Hildenbrand to bolster your offense and then you release a guy with 378 career homeruns and end up losing more ground. I don't get it.
The Red Sox moving Johnny Damon to ninth in the order is a good move. Mueller is hot and his batting average is higher than Damon's OBP! But I don't agree with the Sox demoting Bruce Chen and keeping Rudy Seanez. For one thing, it would have been great for Kim to have Chen around for companionship and second, you can never have too many left arms on your team.
The Red Sox post game show is on in the background and it's sad when a pretty good player struggles. Again it's the no mercy thing. The fans are calling in and blasting Grady Little (who was a genius last week) for using Jeremy Giambi when he is struggling at .178. But I watched the game and Giambi looks great but has been unlucky. His first time up, he put the Blue Jays centerfielder on the warning track with a drive. He just didn't pull it enough. In the Red Sox big inning when they hit five doubles, it should have been six doubles. Giambi smoked one down the line but hit the bad and went right to Delgado for the out. That's bad luck.
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Today was a game you don't see very often: The Chicago Cubs defeated the Houston Astros 1-0 after 16 innings! Not only is that great pitching on both sides but it also shows a steely determination to win. Most people think games are exciting when both teams score a bunch of runs. Those kinds of games can get boring with all the pitching changes, high counts, throws to first and so on. A 1-0 game is a thriller, especially when at the ballpark. To have a 16 inning 1-0 game had to be very, very exciting especially when the box score says that they played those 16 innings in two hours and twenty-two minutes!
The game was Sammy Sosa's second game back from his toe problem that kept him out of so many games this year. Last night against Wade Miller, he struck out the first three at bats and then popped out to the catcher on the fourth. Tonight, he struck out five of his first six at bats. And so I would have been pessimistic if I had been a Cubs fan when Sosa came up in the 16th as the Cubs had mounted a rally. After all, he had struck out eight times in ten at bats. To make matters worse, Sosa's entire team had struck out twenty-three times already in the game, which is a franchise record.
So Sosa comes up with a man on first and third. Jimy (why does he only have one "m" in his name?) Williams brings Craig Biggio in from the outfied to give Sosa five infielders to look at. Sosa did hit the ball at an infielder, but it bounced out of Jeff Kent's glove and the Cubbies got the win. Moises Alou had saved the game in the ninth inning when he threw out Lance Berkman at home with a perfect throw.
The most exciting 1-0 game that I witnessed live was at Yankee Stadium on Bat Day with 55,000+ fans in attendance. I can't remember now who pitched for the Yankees or who pitched for the other team or even who the other team was (I think it was Oakland). Craig Nettles won the game in the eigth inning with a homerun. That was the best game I ever saw live.
Speaking of Craig Nettles, it is remarkable how similar his lifetime stats are to Brooks Robinson. They both played 22 seasons. They both had over 1300 RBI. Robinson hit for a higher average but Nettles hit a hundred and twenty more homers. Robinson had 70 more total extra base hits. Robinson's lifetime fielding percentage was .971 and Nettles .961. I watched them both as a kid as the Orioles played the Yankees a lot and those were the Orioles glory years. Robinson's fielding in the World Series against the Reds was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen...until I saw Craig Nettles' amazing performance in his World Series against the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. If Robinson is a Hall of Famer, which he is, Nettles just misses.
I'm still unhappy about the Kim/Hildenbrand trade between the Red Sox and the Diamondbacks. I think it was a bad trade for the Sox. I'm not surprised that they have lost four in a row after playing so well. Whenever you mess up what you are doing successfully, you aren't doing a smart thing.
But it does give us one more chance to talk about how international this game has gotten (and no, I'm not against that). Today, Korean pitcher Seo stifled the Braves as the Mets won 4-2. Shinjo, from Japan, had a key RBI in that game. Ichiro hit a homerun today and his teammate Suzuki got the save. Choi didn't do much for the Cubs today in that long game against the Astros. Matsui, of the Yankees, took the collar today against the Tigers. Ichiro is still the only superstar.
I read Peter Gammons column today at ESPN.com. The man is an amazing writer and my half hour reading his column is still one of the most entertaining times of my week. I miss him on Baseball Tonight though...
Roger Clemens goes for 300 again tomorrow. Let's hope tomorrow does it! Come on, Yankees! Score him a bunch of runs and get this milestone out of the way!
The game was Sammy Sosa's second game back from his toe problem that kept him out of so many games this year. Last night against Wade Miller, he struck out the first three at bats and then popped out to the catcher on the fourth. Tonight, he struck out five of his first six at bats. And so I would have been pessimistic if I had been a Cubs fan when Sosa came up in the 16th as the Cubs had mounted a rally. After all, he had struck out eight times in ten at bats. To make matters worse, Sosa's entire team had struck out twenty-three times already in the game, which is a franchise record.
So Sosa comes up with a man on first and third. Jimy (why does he only have one "m" in his name?) Williams brings Craig Biggio in from the outfied to give Sosa five infielders to look at. Sosa did hit the ball at an infielder, but it bounced out of Jeff Kent's glove and the Cubbies got the win. Moises Alou had saved the game in the ninth inning when he threw out Lance Berkman at home with a perfect throw.
The most exciting 1-0 game that I witnessed live was at Yankee Stadium on Bat Day with 55,000+ fans in attendance. I can't remember now who pitched for the Yankees or who pitched for the other team or even who the other team was (I think it was Oakland). Craig Nettles won the game in the eigth inning with a homerun. That was the best game I ever saw live.
Speaking of Craig Nettles, it is remarkable how similar his lifetime stats are to Brooks Robinson. They both played 22 seasons. They both had over 1300 RBI. Robinson hit for a higher average but Nettles hit a hundred and twenty more homers. Robinson had 70 more total extra base hits. Robinson's lifetime fielding percentage was .971 and Nettles .961. I watched them both as a kid as the Orioles played the Yankees a lot and those were the Orioles glory years. Robinson's fielding in the World Series against the Reds was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen...until I saw Craig Nettles' amazing performance in his World Series against the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. If Robinson is a Hall of Famer, which he is, Nettles just misses.
I'm still unhappy about the Kim/Hildenbrand trade between the Red Sox and the Diamondbacks. I think it was a bad trade for the Sox. I'm not surprised that they have lost four in a row after playing so well. Whenever you mess up what you are doing successfully, you aren't doing a smart thing.
But it does give us one more chance to talk about how international this game has gotten (and no, I'm not against that). Today, Korean pitcher Seo stifled the Braves as the Mets won 4-2. Shinjo, from Japan, had a key RBI in that game. Ichiro hit a homerun today and his teammate Suzuki got the save. Choi didn't do much for the Cubs today in that long game against the Astros. Matsui, of the Yankees, took the collar today against the Tigers. Ichiro is still the only superstar.
I read Peter Gammons column today at ESPN.com. The man is an amazing writer and my half hour reading his column is still one of the most entertaining times of my week. I miss him on Baseball Tonight though...
Roger Clemens goes for 300 again tomorrow. Let's hope tomorrow does it! Come on, Yankees! Score him a bunch of runs and get this milestone out of the way!
Friday, May 30, 2003
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Yahoo Sports announced tonight that a deal is almost done where the Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, Byung-Hyung Kim would go to the Red Sox for Shea Hillenbrand. This trade doesn't make any sense to me. I have watched the Red Sox the last three nights and their lineup is probably the best Red Sox lineup ever. There are no easy outs and Hillenbrand, Mueller, Millar and Giambi make for a very effective and versatile combination. Hillenbrand is also a great clutch hitter who seems fearless in all that he does.
So why would you want to give up a guy like that especially when he only makes $400,000 and change? The officially stated answer is because of his on-base percentage. Excuse me, Hillenbrand's OBP is currently at .335 which is higher than 70% of MLB lead off hitters these days. He doesn't walk much. Okay. But he keeps the ball in play and he fouls off what he can't handle until he gets what he can handle. And he kills the Yankees.
Again...why would you want to get rid of that kind of guy. Kim has some value as a closer. But he doesn't want to close anymore. I am not convinced that he has what it takes to be a starter. He is currently 1-5 which isn't a fair method to rate him as the Diamondbacks can't hit and haven't scored for him.
Also consider that Kim has a history with the Yankees that isn't very positive and doesn't bode well for a team that wants to use him against their archrivals. This trade doesn't make sense for anyone but Hillenbrand since he comes from Arizona and would be able to go home. What is Arizona going to do, sit Matt Williams (granted that he hasn't had a good year since 1999)?
I would have never guessed who was on top of the American League for batting average. Would you have guessed Melvin Mora of the Baltimore Orioles? I wouldn't have. He is currently batting above .350. He batted in the .230's last year. I've always pictured Mora as a spectacular fielder and a good prospect. But Mora is 31 years old! It just took him a long time to get a chance. He is consistently on Baseball Tonight's highlights for fielding but now he is hitting too. You just never know in this game.
So why would you want to give up a guy like that especially when he only makes $400,000 and change? The officially stated answer is because of his on-base percentage. Excuse me, Hillenbrand's OBP is currently at .335 which is higher than 70% of MLB lead off hitters these days. He doesn't walk much. Okay. But he keeps the ball in play and he fouls off what he can't handle until he gets what he can handle. And he kills the Yankees.
Again...why would you want to get rid of that kind of guy. Kim has some value as a closer. But he doesn't want to close anymore. I am not convinced that he has what it takes to be a starter. He is currently 1-5 which isn't a fair method to rate him as the Diamondbacks can't hit and haven't scored for him.
Also consider that Kim has a history with the Yankees that isn't very positive and doesn't bode well for a team that wants to use him against their archrivals. This trade doesn't make sense for anyone but Hillenbrand since he comes from Arizona and would be able to go home. What is Arizona going to do, sit Matt Williams (granted that he hasn't had a good year since 1999)?
I would have never guessed who was on top of the American League for batting average. Would you have guessed Melvin Mora of the Baltimore Orioles? I wouldn't have. He is currently batting above .350. He batted in the .230's last year. I've always pictured Mora as a spectacular fielder and a good prospect. But Mora is 31 years old! It just took him a long time to get a chance. He is consistently on Baseball Tonight's highlights for fielding but now he is hitting too. You just never know in this game.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Sometimes managers out think themselves. Both managers in the Yankees/Red Sox game did so tonight in a game the Yankees were fortunate to win and the Red Sox were unfortunate to lose. Let's break down the two decisions.
First you have the top half of the ninth inning. Mike Mussina has pitched a heck of a game and is up 5-1. He's only thrown 102 pitches at this point. Okay. If you want to use your closer, Mariano Rivera, the time to bring him in is at the start of the inning. Who cares if it's a save situation! You want to win the game. These closers are a rare breed and I've watched hundreds of games pitched by closers. These guys are much more effective if they start the inning and nobody is on base. When you bring them in with base runners, you're asking for trouble.
Mussina, to his detriment, starts off the inning with a walk. Mussina never walks anyone. It was just one of those fluky things that should have had nothing to do with him being tired. The next batter gets a single and you now have first and second. The unspoken rule in baseball is that you only leave your starter in the game late until there is no way for him to lose. Mussina had two more base runners before he was in that situation. If you were going to start Mussina in the inning, you could have gone two more batters before you yanked him and then go with matchups (lefty-lefty).
Instead, Mussina gets yanked and Rivera comes into a situation that is uncomfortable for him and the inning blows up. The Yankees are very fortunate for the athletic ability of both Jeter (to snag a line drive and get an out) and Soriano who had the presence of mind to stop a ricochet with his bare hand and then throw the runner out at home to keep it a tie game. Now a 5-1 win is a 5-5 tie all because Torre out-thought himself.
Now it's Grady Little's turn. The Red Sox closer, Lyon, is still in the game and easily gets Jeter to start the inning on a ground out. The next batter is Matsui who lines one over Manny Ramirez' head. Manny, who is usually a good fielder, must have gotten turned around picking up the ball because he threw the ball in where nobody could catch it and Matsui ended up on third. The Yankees now have the winning run on third with one out and Soriano up next.
This is where Little out-thought himself. First, he walks Soriano. Good call. The man has been the Yankees best hitter and is very dangerous. Giambi has called himself the "designated out" most of this season and he's pretty much correct. He is slow and has pounded an awful lot of balls to second base. The play here is to keep the corners in and keep the middle going for the double play.
But Little walks Giambi too to load the bases! Gosh! That's asking an awful lot of your young closer. Why do that? I can see it on the one hand because Soriano can steal second and there goes your double play. But you can at least try it. What have you got to lose? Even if Soriano steals second, face Giambi, who hasn't hit anything, and see if you can get a popup or something. Then you have two outs and can play it straight for the third out.
Instead, you have bases loaded with a very patient batter at the plate who has been in pressure situations his whole career. The count goes 2-2 with a couple of fouls. There is a close fastball inside that is called ball three. The Red Sox thought that pitch cost them the game and the post game NESN announcers were outright indignant that the ump robbed the Sox. The pitch looked inside to me. But none of it matters. Grady Little should never have loaded the bases to force this issue and it never would have happened. In a comeback, exciting game, you should never put yourself in the position to lose the game with a walk.
Of course, the Red Sox Nation will curse their bad luck and bad umpiring and bad karma and the special treatment that the Yankees receive by the umpires but the truth here is that the Yankees almost blundered into a loss because of Torre's decisions and then lost because of Grady Little's decisions. The game sure is easy from the comfort of a rocking chair isn't it?
First you have the top half of the ninth inning. Mike Mussina has pitched a heck of a game and is up 5-1. He's only thrown 102 pitches at this point. Okay. If you want to use your closer, Mariano Rivera, the time to bring him in is at the start of the inning. Who cares if it's a save situation! You want to win the game. These closers are a rare breed and I've watched hundreds of games pitched by closers. These guys are much more effective if they start the inning and nobody is on base. When you bring them in with base runners, you're asking for trouble.
Mussina, to his detriment, starts off the inning with a walk. Mussina never walks anyone. It was just one of those fluky things that should have had nothing to do with him being tired. The next batter gets a single and you now have first and second. The unspoken rule in baseball is that you only leave your starter in the game late until there is no way for him to lose. Mussina had two more base runners before he was in that situation. If you were going to start Mussina in the inning, you could have gone two more batters before you yanked him and then go with matchups (lefty-lefty).
Instead, Mussina gets yanked and Rivera comes into a situation that is uncomfortable for him and the inning blows up. The Yankees are very fortunate for the athletic ability of both Jeter (to snag a line drive and get an out) and Soriano who had the presence of mind to stop a ricochet with his bare hand and then throw the runner out at home to keep it a tie game. Now a 5-1 win is a 5-5 tie all because Torre out-thought himself.
Now it's Grady Little's turn. The Red Sox closer, Lyon, is still in the game and easily gets Jeter to start the inning on a ground out. The next batter is Matsui who lines one over Manny Ramirez' head. Manny, who is usually a good fielder, must have gotten turned around picking up the ball because he threw the ball in where nobody could catch it and Matsui ended up on third. The Yankees now have the winning run on third with one out and Soriano up next.
This is where Little out-thought himself. First, he walks Soriano. Good call. The man has been the Yankees best hitter and is very dangerous. Giambi has called himself the "designated out" most of this season and he's pretty much correct. He is slow and has pounded an awful lot of balls to second base. The play here is to keep the corners in and keep the middle going for the double play.
But Little walks Giambi too to load the bases! Gosh! That's asking an awful lot of your young closer. Why do that? I can see it on the one hand because Soriano can steal second and there goes your double play. But you can at least try it. What have you got to lose? Even if Soriano steals second, face Giambi, who hasn't hit anything, and see if you can get a popup or something. Then you have two outs and can play it straight for the third out.
Instead, you have bases loaded with a very patient batter at the plate who has been in pressure situations his whole career. The count goes 2-2 with a couple of fouls. There is a close fastball inside that is called ball three. The Red Sox thought that pitch cost them the game and the post game NESN announcers were outright indignant that the ump robbed the Sox. The pitch looked inside to me. But none of it matters. Grady Little should never have loaded the bases to force this issue and it never would have happened. In a comeback, exciting game, you should never put yourself in the position to lose the game with a walk.
Of course, the Red Sox Nation will curse their bad luck and bad umpiring and bad karma and the special treatment that the Yankees receive by the umpires but the truth here is that the Yankees almost blundered into a loss because of Torre's decisions and then lost because of Grady Little's decisions. The game sure is easy from the comfort of a rocking chair isn't it?
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
No mercy. That's what has struck me about the last couple of nights watching the Red Sox/Yankee series. Last night, there was no mercy for Roger Clemens going for his 300th win. Tonight, a pitcher named Matt White was making his major league debut for the Red Sox and the Yankees banged him around for six runs. No mercy. And I guess that's the way it should be.
I remember a long time ago when Denny McLain supposedly gave Mickey Mantle a grooved pitch to hit at the end of Mantle's career because McLain had always been a fan. Now this shows my weakness, but I thought it was a nice thing to do. But McLain got tarred and feathered by baseball writers and his peers at the time as there is no place for mercy in baseball.
The only way I have experienced that in my life was when I was bowling competitively. Oh man, I'm going to tarnish my image forever telling you that! Anyway, I was very good back in the 80's and had a 198 average and won most of the tournaments for a period of time in New Hampshire. Usually, whatever I'm playing, I'm happier to lose because that makes the other person happier and I like making people happy. But not in bowling. In bowling, it was about winning because winning meant money and I wanted it. I played mind games, I pyched my enemies out. I did all I could to stomp on the other person. So a part of me understands this no mercy concept.
But think of this poor Matt White's family. Their son/brother/wife/whatever is finally going to fulfil a lifelong dream and pitch in the major leagues. The time finally comes and he is from Massachusetts and NESN is carrying the game. They most certainly were all watching. The kid comes in the game and the whole family is whooping and hollering and as each hit gets pushed past the infield, their hearts are sinking a little more and a little more until by the end of the inning, they are all wondering to themselves just what they are going to say to the poor kid the next time they talk to him. No mercy in baseball. None at all.
Wow...Denny McLain. I haven't thought about him in a long time. Denny McLain, for those of you who were born in the post baby boomer era, is the major leagues last 30 game winner. You never hear about that do you? You heard about Roger Maris until McGwire came about. You heard about Ted Williams as the last .400 hitter. But you never heard about the last 30 game winner did you? You may wonder why you never heard about that. The answer is that McLain was the Darryl Strawberry of his time. He was the great talent that squandered it away and ended up in jail and broke...disgraced and dropped by baseball like hamburger from a mad cow.
Consider that for a five year period, McLain was one of the best pitchers of the last fifty years. From 1965 to 1969, McLain won 108 games and lost 51. In 1968, he was a big reason that the Tigers had one of their best years in franchise history as he won 31 games while only losing six. He pitched 336 innings and gave up just over 300 baserunners (walks plus hits). His ERA that season was 1.96. McLain won the Cy Young award and the MVP award that year. To me, the most amazing stat from those two years is that he started 82 games in those two years (wow!) and 51 of them were complete games!
The season following 1968, he won 24 games while only losing 9. Yes, that's a record of 55-15 in two years! He was that good. McLain was a good-ole boy who liked to have a good time. Those good times ended up catching up with him after the 1969 season. He was found to be associating with the wrong people and was suspended for a good chunk of time. It was a very big scandal at the time. Today it would have been a blip on the radar screen. But back then, it was big news.
He was never the same after that and became a parody of himself by losing 22 games for the Washington Senators in 1971 (that club that year is another great story that maybe I'll tell tomorrow). A year later he was out of baseball and it wasn't long after that and McLain was in jail. For a great history lesson (and life lesson), I recommend the following Web page: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/20030228armour.shtml
Denny McLain...no mercy. None needed.
Hold your head up, Matt White. There will be another chance. And if not, you still beat the odds.
I remember a long time ago when Denny McLain supposedly gave Mickey Mantle a grooved pitch to hit at the end of Mantle's career because McLain had always been a fan. Now this shows my weakness, but I thought it was a nice thing to do. But McLain got tarred and feathered by baseball writers and his peers at the time as there is no place for mercy in baseball.
The only way I have experienced that in my life was when I was bowling competitively. Oh man, I'm going to tarnish my image forever telling you that! Anyway, I was very good back in the 80's and had a 198 average and won most of the tournaments for a period of time in New Hampshire. Usually, whatever I'm playing, I'm happier to lose because that makes the other person happier and I like making people happy. But not in bowling. In bowling, it was about winning because winning meant money and I wanted it. I played mind games, I pyched my enemies out. I did all I could to stomp on the other person. So a part of me understands this no mercy concept.
But think of this poor Matt White's family. Their son/brother/wife/whatever is finally going to fulfil a lifelong dream and pitch in the major leagues. The time finally comes and he is from Massachusetts and NESN is carrying the game. They most certainly were all watching. The kid comes in the game and the whole family is whooping and hollering and as each hit gets pushed past the infield, their hearts are sinking a little more and a little more until by the end of the inning, they are all wondering to themselves just what they are going to say to the poor kid the next time they talk to him. No mercy in baseball. None at all.
Wow...Denny McLain. I haven't thought about him in a long time. Denny McLain, for those of you who were born in the post baby boomer era, is the major leagues last 30 game winner. You never hear about that do you? You heard about Roger Maris until McGwire came about. You heard about Ted Williams as the last .400 hitter. But you never heard about the last 30 game winner did you? You may wonder why you never heard about that. The answer is that McLain was the Darryl Strawberry of his time. He was the great talent that squandered it away and ended up in jail and broke...disgraced and dropped by baseball like hamburger from a mad cow.
Consider that for a five year period, McLain was one of the best pitchers of the last fifty years. From 1965 to 1969, McLain won 108 games and lost 51. In 1968, he was a big reason that the Tigers had one of their best years in franchise history as he won 31 games while only losing six. He pitched 336 innings and gave up just over 300 baserunners (walks plus hits). His ERA that season was 1.96. McLain won the Cy Young award and the MVP award that year. To me, the most amazing stat from those two years is that he started 82 games in those two years (wow!) and 51 of them were complete games!
The season following 1968, he won 24 games while only losing 9. Yes, that's a record of 55-15 in two years! He was that good. McLain was a good-ole boy who liked to have a good time. Those good times ended up catching up with him after the 1969 season. He was found to be associating with the wrong people and was suspended for a good chunk of time. It was a very big scandal at the time. Today it would have been a blip on the radar screen. But back then, it was big news.
He was never the same after that and became a parody of himself by losing 22 games for the Washington Senators in 1971 (that club that year is another great story that maybe I'll tell tomorrow). A year later he was out of baseball and it wasn't long after that and McLain was in jail. For a great history lesson (and life lesson), I recommend the following Web page: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/20030228armour.shtml
Denny McLain...no mercy. None needed.
Hold your head up, Matt White. There will be another chance. And if not, you still beat the odds.
Monday, May 26, 2003
Oh man. What a crappy day to be a Yankee fan. And I am, after all, a fan. Today I wanted Clemens to get his 300th probably as much as he wanted it. And little things happened to add to a big loss. Mondesi hitting the ball on the ground with the bases loaded and one out with the Yankees only down by two. Rivera not making a good throw to third when Marabelli ran to third on the hit and run. A good throw makes the third out and no runs for Clemens that inning. It all just sucked.
The worst part was having to watch the game on NESN. ESPN was carrying the game nationally, but since NESN reaches up to this area, and since NESN was carrying the game, ESPN was blacked out up here in Maine. Jerry Remy is one of NESN's announcers and a former Red Sox second baseman. Normally, I like his work and his acerbic wit. But he must have some sort of grudge towards Clemens because he took absolute glee in watching Clemens labor and lose. That made it doubly bad. Sure, you are a home announcer and want your home town team to win, but he should also have had more respect and acknowledged what Clemens had done for the Red Sox and what his career has accomplished. It was a very low-ball, uncouth and unprofessional broadcast.
Remember that I am also a Red Sox fan and have no problem with this being the Red Sox year. Hell, they deserve it to be their year. But I sure wanted Roger to get that 300th in style and against the team that he did so much for. Remy has no legs to stand on. Clemens didn't give up on the Red Sox. The Red Sox gave up on him.
NESN was promoting a contest where you could win a trip to the "Grand Old Parks of Baseball." If you won, you would be able to go to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and...umm...Camden Yards. Huh? Since when is Camden Yards a great old park? But that does point out that there are no more grand old parks besides those three. I hope adding the extra seats to Fenway saves it for a few more years. Fenway Park is baseball at its best.
Oh well, Roger. I was living and dying for you there. Maybe next time...
The worst part was having to watch the game on NESN. ESPN was carrying the game nationally, but since NESN reaches up to this area, and since NESN was carrying the game, ESPN was blacked out up here in Maine. Jerry Remy is one of NESN's announcers and a former Red Sox second baseman. Normally, I like his work and his acerbic wit. But he must have some sort of grudge towards Clemens because he took absolute glee in watching Clemens labor and lose. That made it doubly bad. Sure, you are a home announcer and want your home town team to win, but he should also have had more respect and acknowledged what Clemens had done for the Red Sox and what his career has accomplished. It was a very low-ball, uncouth and unprofessional broadcast.
Remember that I am also a Red Sox fan and have no problem with this being the Red Sox year. Hell, they deserve it to be their year. But I sure wanted Roger to get that 300th in style and against the team that he did so much for. Remy has no legs to stand on. Clemens didn't give up on the Red Sox. The Red Sox gave up on him.
NESN was promoting a contest where you could win a trip to the "Grand Old Parks of Baseball." If you won, you would be able to go to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and...umm...Camden Yards. Huh? Since when is Camden Yards a great old park? But that does point out that there are no more grand old parks besides those three. I hope adding the extra seats to Fenway saves it for a few more years. Fenway Park is baseball at its best.
Oh well, Roger. I was living and dying for you there. Maybe next time...
Sunday, May 25, 2003
I wasn't a fan of Bobby Valentine as a manager and I certainly wasn't in favor of him becoming part of Baseball Tonight (on ESPN) once he was fired as the Mets manager, but I have become a fan of his honesty and by what he says on the shows.
Maybe it's because I agree with him so often that I like him in an egotistical way which is ironic since part of the reason I never liked him was because of what I perceived was his big ego. But no matter, if you have the courage to tell it like it is, then I'm right there with you.
Tonight's honest tirade from Bobby Vee was his answer to the clips showing Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling upset about not getting strike calls. Valentine's answer was to say to both pitchers: "If you want strike calls, throw strikes just like rookie pitchers have to throw." I almost stood and cheered the man.
The strike zone in MLB has been a joke for a long time now and every fan who watches the games with today's centerfield cameras know it. For those who say there isn't a problem, just the fact that the powers that be in baseball are calling for a better strike zone standard speaks volumes that there is a problem. Those of you who know the Flagrant Fan knows that I am not a fan of the Atlanta Braves. In fact, you know that I am an anti-Braves fan. Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux have been great pitchers (the Fan says through his teeth) but part of their greatness has been to exploit the bizarre state of the major league strike zone.
Fans watched for years and years as pitches thrown five to ten inches outside were called strike routinely, especially for pitchers of high stature. No pitch above the belt was considered a strike. The inside strike did not exist. A couple of years ago, MLB acknowledged the problem and asked the umpires to call the strike zone as the rules state it to be. An effort has been made to call more high strikes and to stop giving the outside pitch such a wide zone.
Has it worked? Let us say that it's a start. The great curve ball pitchers of the last couple of years have been a benefit of the effort to get back to the rules. Pitchers like Glavine and Maddux that don't have the great fastballs and lived by guile and the generous outside strike zone have struggled as they should. Power pitchers have the high strikeout pitch back.
But it has to go further. The high and outside strike is now there, but the high and inside strike is still not called. Umpires are still too inconsistent and still revert back to calling pitchers outside the strike zone a strike late in the game. Far too many umpires give up on the curveball and are almost as fooled by them as the batters are. I still watch way too many games and shake my head at the strike zones of the umps behind the plate.
Valentine wasn't done tonight and strengthened his argument by stating that umpires in Japan practice during batting practice. What a simple and great idea. The umps not behind the plate that day could do that so that the one crouching all game doesn't have extra duty. Why not have baseball officials working with the umpires during the practice to work with them on their strike zones.
In my mind, NBA basketball has been ruined by a softening of the rules. Watching players take three and four steps--traveling at will while there is no such thing as a pivot foot or up and down just ruined the game so that it's not a sport anymore. It's a dunking circus. MLB of all games promotes tradition and history. Fine then. Don't go down the NBA route and call the game the way it is written to be called.
And I'll use harsher words than Bobby Valentine. Those pitchers who have lived by a bad strike zone for years should take it like men when the game reverts back to the way it should be called. Just shut up and pitch.
Maybe it's because I agree with him so often that I like him in an egotistical way which is ironic since part of the reason I never liked him was because of what I perceived was his big ego. But no matter, if you have the courage to tell it like it is, then I'm right there with you.
Tonight's honest tirade from Bobby Vee was his answer to the clips showing Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling upset about not getting strike calls. Valentine's answer was to say to both pitchers: "If you want strike calls, throw strikes just like rookie pitchers have to throw." I almost stood and cheered the man.
The strike zone in MLB has been a joke for a long time now and every fan who watches the games with today's centerfield cameras know it. For those who say there isn't a problem, just the fact that the powers that be in baseball are calling for a better strike zone standard speaks volumes that there is a problem. Those of you who know the Flagrant Fan knows that I am not a fan of the Atlanta Braves. In fact, you know that I am an anti-Braves fan. Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux have been great pitchers (the Fan says through his teeth) but part of their greatness has been to exploit the bizarre state of the major league strike zone.
Fans watched for years and years as pitches thrown five to ten inches outside were called strike routinely, especially for pitchers of high stature. No pitch above the belt was considered a strike. The inside strike did not exist. A couple of years ago, MLB acknowledged the problem and asked the umpires to call the strike zone as the rules state it to be. An effort has been made to call more high strikes and to stop giving the outside pitch such a wide zone.
Has it worked? Let us say that it's a start. The great curve ball pitchers of the last couple of years have been a benefit of the effort to get back to the rules. Pitchers like Glavine and Maddux that don't have the great fastballs and lived by guile and the generous outside strike zone have struggled as they should. Power pitchers have the high strikeout pitch back.
But it has to go further. The high and outside strike is now there, but the high and inside strike is still not called. Umpires are still too inconsistent and still revert back to calling pitchers outside the strike zone a strike late in the game. Far too many umpires give up on the curveball and are almost as fooled by them as the batters are. I still watch way too many games and shake my head at the strike zones of the umps behind the plate.
Valentine wasn't done tonight and strengthened his argument by stating that umpires in Japan practice during batting practice. What a simple and great idea. The umps not behind the plate that day could do that so that the one crouching all game doesn't have extra duty. Why not have baseball officials working with the umpires during the practice to work with them on their strike zones.
In my mind, NBA basketball has been ruined by a softening of the rules. Watching players take three and four steps--traveling at will while there is no such thing as a pivot foot or up and down just ruined the game so that it's not a sport anymore. It's a dunking circus. MLB of all games promotes tradition and history. Fine then. Don't go down the NBA route and call the game the way it is written to be called.
And I'll use harsher words than Bobby Valentine. Those pitchers who have lived by a bad strike zone for years should take it like men when the game reverts back to the way it should be called. Just shut up and pitch.
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