Indie rock and baseball
Had hoped to post more this month -- I've had a post on what the Dodgers' deadline moves mean for the pitching staff for the rest of the season floating around my head for the past week -- but you know how it goes in the world of blogging. Personal life always gets in the way. Rough week. Anyway, this is what folks in the "industry" like to call "filler" -- a little stop-gap post to keep the juices flowing until I can sit down and get, like, thoughtful and shit.
Since I've spent the past week doing nothing but listening to CDs (it's a job and a lifestyle, I guess), I've been thinking a lot about a 7" record I picked up in college by Barbara Manning called The Baseball Trilogy. I think it's out of print at the moment, which is a pity. Manning is a huge baseball fan: the cover of her record One Perfect Green Blanket depicts and refers to a baseball diamond and Manning named her longtime band SF Seals in honor of Joltin' Joe DiMaggios very first pro team. The Baseball Trilogy, in particular, is a real treat: I have a soft spot for it because she devotes one of the songs to my favorite ball player of all time.
Just got word from my "sources" that noted crank Steve Albini (the guy that produced, er, recorded Nirvana and the Pixies and...everything) TiVos "Baseball Tonight" while he's in the studio and watches it obsessively. That didn't surprise me too much, when I recalled the Albini's band Shellac did a baseball-themed tour in support of their 1994 record At Action Park. This one got me, though: Gerard Cosloy, proprietor of Matador Records, has been working incognito on a sports blog with a heavy baseball emphasis. Interesting in hearing what the guy who signed Liz Phair and Pavement and Cat Power has to say about Steve Kline or the latest foibles of the Mets? You betcha.
Friday, August 27, 2004
Friday, August 20, 2004
More fun with the OBR
Nothing more to add to the topic of OBR 9.01(c), but no discussion of the Official Baseball Rulebook would be complete without digging into OBR 8.02( b) -- especially after Julian Tavarez got booted from a game for his very dirty hat. Hey, what's on that hat anyway? Could it be pine tar...? Tavarez denies it, of course, and says that it's simply dirt from him touching the cap after each pitch. But the article I linked to has umpire crew chief Joe West saying that Tavarez and Tony LaRussa "admitting" that it was pine tar. Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon is no bad guy for calling him out on it -- Bobby Cox and Larry Bowa have made the same complaints this season -- and it ain't like he's the first guy to fuck with his pitches.
OBR 8.02 (b) doesn't get employed that much either, but it sure breeds controversy when it does. Here's the full 8.02 rule for context:
The pitcher shall not…(a) (6) deliver what is called the "shine" ball, "spit" ball, "mud" ball or "emery" ball. The pitcher, of course, is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands. PENALTY: For violation of any part of this rule 8.02 (a) (2 to 6) the umpire shall: (a) Call the pitch a ball, warn the pitcher and have announced on the public address system the reason for the action. (b) In the case of a second offense by the same pitcher in the same game, the pitcher shall be disqualified from the game…(e) The umpire shall be sole judge on whether any portion of this rule has been violated.
And the billowy structure of the rule extends to anything a pitcher might have on his person or in his possession -- basically, any foreign substance is cause for immediate ejection. Consider Expos starter Zach Day, who got booted from a game last year after it was discovered that he had used krazy glue to cover a blister on his pitching hand. The bone of contention with the Day example last year was whether he was actually trying to put anything on his pitches with a substance that's sold on the basis of his quick-drying properties. Probably not; pitchers putting glue on their fingers/hands to cover sores/cuts is a common enough practice. But someone on the field complained, prompting a decision from the umpire crew, forcing the invocation of OBR 8.02(b). And if you don't agree with that decision, our old phantom friend OBR 9.01(c), justifies the ruling just as well.
In Julian Tavarez's case, the fact that he's such a sensitive guy probably doesn't help.
Nothing more to add to the topic of OBR 9.01(c), but no discussion of the Official Baseball Rulebook would be complete without digging into OBR 8.02( b) -- especially after Julian Tavarez got booted from a game for his very dirty hat. Hey, what's on that hat anyway? Could it be pine tar...? Tavarez denies it, of course, and says that it's simply dirt from him touching the cap after each pitch. But the article I linked to has umpire crew chief Joe West saying that Tavarez and Tony LaRussa "admitting" that it was pine tar. Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon is no bad guy for calling him out on it -- Bobby Cox and Larry Bowa have made the same complaints this season -- and it ain't like he's the first guy to fuck with his pitches.
OBR 8.02 (b) doesn't get employed that much either, but it sure breeds controversy when it does. Here's the full 8.02 rule for context:
The pitcher shall not…(a) (6) deliver what is called the "shine" ball, "spit" ball, "mud" ball or "emery" ball. The pitcher, of course, is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands. PENALTY: For violation of any part of this rule 8.02 (a) (2 to 6) the umpire shall: (a) Call the pitch a ball, warn the pitcher and have announced on the public address system the reason for the action. (b) In the case of a second offense by the same pitcher in the same game, the pitcher shall be disqualified from the game…(e) The umpire shall be sole judge on whether any portion of this rule has been violated.
And the billowy structure of the rule extends to anything a pitcher might have on his person or in his possession -- basically, any foreign substance is cause for immediate ejection. Consider Expos starter Zach Day, who got booted from a game last year after it was discovered that he had used krazy glue to cover a blister on his pitching hand. The bone of contention with the Day example last year was whether he was actually trying to put anything on his pitches with a substance that's sold on the basis of his quick-drying properties. Probably not; pitchers putting glue on their fingers/hands to cover sores/cuts is a common enough practice. But someone on the field complained, prompting a decision from the umpire crew, forcing the invocation of OBR 8.02(b). And if you don't agree with that decision, our old phantom friend OBR 9.01(c), justifies the ruling just as well.
In Julian Tavarez's case, the fact that he's such a sensitive guy probably doesn't help.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Five-finger discount, man
I missed it the first time around on the ESPN homepage, but just discovered that Tim Kurkijan wrote a fine overview on the art of stealing signs, including interviews with Jimmy Leyland and Paul Molitor and yet another hilarious Rickey Henderson anecdote. Tom Candiotti wrote a companion piece from the pitcher's perspective, but I haven't had a chance to compare and contrast; if anyone has ESPN Insider access, lemme know.
This article from the August 2002 issue of Baseball Digest delves more deeply into the ethics of stealing signs. And Paul Dickson wrote a whole book on the subject called The Hidden Language of Baseball, which looks like a must-read. So: legal or no? Hadn't considered it much before, though I know there's nothing specific in the Official Baseball Rulebook that covers this area. The only red flag the rulebook raises is OBR 9.01(c): Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules. I'm guessing that this rule hasn't been enforced in regards to stealing signs, but I think it's so strange in principle: it offers umpires an opportunity to be the moral arbiters on anything that isn't explicitly covered within the rulebook AND a perfect escape clause should they run into any trouble.
I missed it the first time around on the ESPN homepage, but just discovered that Tim Kurkijan wrote a fine overview on the art of stealing signs, including interviews with Jimmy Leyland and Paul Molitor and yet another hilarious Rickey Henderson anecdote. Tom Candiotti wrote a companion piece from the pitcher's perspective, but I haven't had a chance to compare and contrast; if anyone has ESPN Insider access, lemme know.
This article from the August 2002 issue of Baseball Digest delves more deeply into the ethics of stealing signs. And Paul Dickson wrote a whole book on the subject called The Hidden Language of Baseball, which looks like a must-read. So: legal or no? Hadn't considered it much before, though I know there's nothing specific in the Official Baseball Rulebook that covers this area. The only red flag the rulebook raises is OBR 9.01(c): Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules. I'm guessing that this rule hasn't been enforced in regards to stealing signs, but I think it's so strange in principle: it offers umpires an opportunity to be the moral arbiters on anything that isn't explicitly covered within the rulebook AND a perfect escape clause should they run into any trouble.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
All Greek to me
Haven't watched a lick of the Olympics yet, though I was already aware that the American team got downed by Mexico in a qualifying tournament in November and won't be participating in Athens -- the reason Roger Clemens is in an Astros uniform right now. You can't count Cuba out, but Japan ought to be the favorite for the gold medal after narrowly failing to capture a Bronze in 2000: Japanese professional baseball is on virtual hiatus this month and the Olympic team's now stocked with the best of the best with an all-pro line-up. Remember, the Japanese national team destroyed the Americans during the last MLB goodwill tour of Japan. Canada has a fair shot at something shiny, too.
Former Mets manager Davy Johnson (who's helping coach the Dutch team this year) was pretty upset about the exclusion of the U.S. team during this CNN/SI interview: "We're the leaders in pro baseball and you'd love have the U.S. players in it...It's kind of sad."
Fair enough, but them's the breaks. And the Greek team (who gained an automatic berth as the Olympic host) might as well be the American team. Organized baseball in Greece is a reasonably new development, and the country's still toying with an amateur league; in a funky twist, U.S. players claiming Greek ancestry were invited to join the team as ringers and only two members of the final squad are Greeks actually living in Greece. Of course, invite the Americans to join your squad and you've got to be prepared for a doping scandal: two members of the team have already tested positive for banned substances. And there was some danger that the Greek team wouldn't be able to make it back to Greece from a shortage of funds. And don't forget that the team's original manager died and had to be replaced.
And baseball doesn't exactly breed the fanatical devotion of, say, soccer: you're not going to see people waking up early or staying out late to go to the local sports bar and go to work all bleary-eyed and mealy-mouthed just to catch a match. You might tune in to the final medal match on August 25th and the respectable time of 1:00pm eastern, but after a series of tournament games at 3:30am and 4:30am, why bother?
Looks like our swim teams are pretty decent, though.
Haven't watched a lick of the Olympics yet, though I was already aware that the American team got downed by Mexico in a qualifying tournament in November and won't be participating in Athens -- the reason Roger Clemens is in an Astros uniform right now. You can't count Cuba out, but Japan ought to be the favorite for the gold medal after narrowly failing to capture a Bronze in 2000: Japanese professional baseball is on virtual hiatus this month and the Olympic team's now stocked with the best of the best with an all-pro line-up. Remember, the Japanese national team destroyed the Americans during the last MLB goodwill tour of Japan. Canada has a fair shot at something shiny, too.
Former Mets manager Davy Johnson (who's helping coach the Dutch team this year) was pretty upset about the exclusion of the U.S. team during this CNN/SI interview: "We're the leaders in pro baseball and you'd love have the U.S. players in it...It's kind of sad."
Fair enough, but them's the breaks. And the Greek team (who gained an automatic berth as the Olympic host) might as well be the American team. Organized baseball in Greece is a reasonably new development, and the country's still toying with an amateur league; in a funky twist, U.S. players claiming Greek ancestry were invited to join the team as ringers and only two members of the final squad are Greeks actually living in Greece. Of course, invite the Americans to join your squad and you've got to be prepared for a doping scandal: two members of the team have already tested positive for banned substances. And there was some danger that the Greek team wouldn't be able to make it back to Greece from a shortage of funds. And don't forget that the team's original manager died and had to be replaced.
And baseball doesn't exactly breed the fanatical devotion of, say, soccer: you're not going to see people waking up early or staying out late to go to the local sports bar and go to work all bleary-eyed and mealy-mouthed just to catch a match. You might tune in to the final medal match on August 25th and the respectable time of 1:00pm eastern, but after a series of tournament games at 3:30am and 4:30am, why bother?
Looks like our swim teams are pretty decent, though.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
The Ken Griffey, Jr. Timeline
2/6/05: Kicked in groin by enraged fantasy baseball team owner who fell out of the money during the 2004 season resulting in minor bruising and loss of dignity.
3/1/05: Strains right hamstring in charity kickball event, misses all of spring training.
3/6/05: Allergic reaction to cortisone shot.
6/1/05: Chafes skin from overly starched uniform in first game back.
7/15/05: Tears right hamstring once again after All-Star break, out for season.
9/27/05: Hamstring replaced in world's first human hamstring transplant.
12/24/05: Gets food poisoning from fruitcake that Davy Concepcion gave to father on Christmas Day, 1975.
6/1/06: Long-rumored trade for Phil Nevin is completed during Cincinnati-San Diego match. Both players lost for season after game after simultaneously tearing rotator cuffs by giving each other a hi-five on the walk to the other dugout.
9/7/06: Accidentally sits on piping hot churro while watching NLCS from stands, sears left thigh
1/15/07: Takes son to offseason vacation at Disneyland. Enters Hall of Presidents and is actually shot with animatronic bullet by Alexander Hamilton statue.
6/1/07: Leads all players in home runs during months of April + May. Excessive praise from the press requires Joe Morgan's lips to be surgically removed from his butthole.
7/8/07: Late-night meal at Jack-in-the-Box requires quarantine for smallpox, ends season.
10/1/07: Begins to feel violent, irrepressible impulses. Sealed records reveal hamstring donor to have been serial murderer convicted to death in 2005.
11/1/07: Team physicians concoct plan to "rebuild him and make him stronger," replace evil hamstring with bionic hamstring.
2/06/08: Gets fitted for orthotics to compensate for limp from bionic hamstring.
4/9/08: Imbalance from orthotics and bionic hamstring aggravate vertigo.
7/1/08: Spirits from Native American burial ground under house angered by poor fantasy league baseball team position, curse him with insomnia.
8/30/08: Finishes season leading league in HBP after getting beaned approximately 117 times after falling asleep at plate.
10/22/08: Officially retires from MLB
7/23/13: Hoists Cooperstown plaque high in the air while exclaiming "Holy shit, I can't believe I held on this long!" during first-ballot Hall of Fame induction, placed on disabled list for entire body sprain.
....welcome back, kid.
2/6/05: Kicked in groin by enraged fantasy baseball team owner who fell out of the money during the 2004 season resulting in minor bruising and loss of dignity.
3/1/05: Strains right hamstring in charity kickball event, misses all of spring training.
3/6/05: Allergic reaction to cortisone shot.
6/1/05: Chafes skin from overly starched uniform in first game back.
7/15/05: Tears right hamstring once again after All-Star break, out for season.
9/27/05: Hamstring replaced in world's first human hamstring transplant.
12/24/05: Gets food poisoning from fruitcake that Davy Concepcion gave to father on Christmas Day, 1975.
6/1/06: Long-rumored trade for Phil Nevin is completed during Cincinnati-San Diego match. Both players lost for season after game after simultaneously tearing rotator cuffs by giving each other a hi-five on the walk to the other dugout.
9/7/06: Accidentally sits on piping hot churro while watching NLCS from stands, sears left thigh
1/15/07: Takes son to offseason vacation at Disneyland. Enters Hall of Presidents and is actually shot with animatronic bullet by Alexander Hamilton statue.
6/1/07: Leads all players in home runs during months of April + May. Excessive praise from the press requires Joe Morgan's lips to be surgically removed from his butthole.
7/8/07: Late-night meal at Jack-in-the-Box requires quarantine for smallpox, ends season.
10/1/07: Begins to feel violent, irrepressible impulses. Sealed records reveal hamstring donor to have been serial murderer convicted to death in 2005.
11/1/07: Team physicians concoct plan to "rebuild him and make him stronger," replace evil hamstring with bionic hamstring.
2/06/08: Gets fitted for orthotics to compensate for limp from bionic hamstring.
4/9/08: Imbalance from orthotics and bionic hamstring aggravate vertigo.
7/1/08: Spirits from Native American burial ground under house angered by poor fantasy league baseball team position, curse him with insomnia.
8/30/08: Finishes season leading league in HBP after getting beaned approximately 117 times after falling asleep at plate.
10/22/08: Officially retires from MLB
7/23/13: Hoists Cooperstown plaque high in the air while exclaiming "Holy shit, I can't believe I held on this long!" during first-ballot Hall of Fame induction, placed on disabled list for entire body sprain.
....welcome back, kid.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
J'accuse!
I want to recant something I wrote way back in May when I was lightly sparring with a non-plussed post my homey Gobo wrote on the proposed MLB/ Spider-Man tie-in that got squashed after much public outcry. Gobo's point was that stuff like this might make economic sense as a way of keeping ticket prices down -- and that it's already happening in other professional leagues throughout the world anyway. Here's what I wrote then:
But there's a huge, huge disconnect between what happens off and on the field within the microcosm of the professional sports area -- you could (with some effort) tune out the advertising that's all around you and simply concentrate on what's happening on the field, though that's an impossibility if your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has left his sticky fingers all over 1st, 2nd and 3rd base...I don't like the idea of paying 20 bucks to see a game and having to be subjected to MLB teams padding their coffers in such an overt and repellent way.
Here I was two months ago, accusing Gobo of making a reductive argument -- and then something happened at the White Sox game last night that totally blew my argument out of the water. See, I'm totally inured to stuff like the "Cingular Wireless Call to the Pen" -- before US Cellular grabbed the naming rights to the stadium, Cingular actually paid money to have an annoying cell phone ring pipe through the speakers whenever a pitcher got the hook. Fine. And the Connie's Pizza race (which, I should point out, is always more popular than the game on the field)? Yeah, ok.
But they actually projected a fucking advertisement for Frosted Flakes on the jumbotron last night, in which Tony the Tiger led a group of young children on a training regimen, set to a jingle with a throbbing, hypnotic pulse. Nevermind the fact that the phrase "You can be a Tiger!" should never be uttered outside of Commerica Park -- Tony the Tiger is assembling his own Hitler Youth Brigade! An advertisement on the jumbotron? Not even tangentially related to baseball? Boo. Forget what I said -- bring on the advertising on the bases.
On the other hand, my companions Mark A. and Shawn (well, mostly Mark) were surprised to find out that US Cellular leads all parks in home runs this season. Yep, US Cellular even has a slight edge on Coors Field: teams have combined for 178 home runs on Chicago's South Side, as opposed to 176 in the oxygen-deprived Colorado air. Dunno what's doing it -- though air seems to circulate strangely in US Cellular -- but balls are leaping off bats at an amazing rate. Joe Crede, Carlos Lee and Paul Konerko all hit commanding blasts into the outfield stands last night; Da Sox now have six regulars (not including monsters Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, mind you) with 14+ home runs on the season, a line-up that compares very favorably to the Yanks' $200 million albatross.
I want to recant something I wrote way back in May when I was lightly sparring with a non-plussed post my homey Gobo wrote on the proposed MLB/ Spider-Man tie-in that got squashed after much public outcry. Gobo's point was that stuff like this might make economic sense as a way of keeping ticket prices down -- and that it's already happening in other professional leagues throughout the world anyway. Here's what I wrote then:
But there's a huge, huge disconnect between what happens off and on the field within the microcosm of the professional sports area -- you could (with some effort) tune out the advertising that's all around you and simply concentrate on what's happening on the field, though that's an impossibility if your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has left his sticky fingers all over 1st, 2nd and 3rd base...I don't like the idea of paying 20 bucks to see a game and having to be subjected to MLB teams padding their coffers in such an overt and repellent way.
Here I was two months ago, accusing Gobo of making a reductive argument -- and then something happened at the White Sox game last night that totally blew my argument out of the water. See, I'm totally inured to stuff like the "Cingular Wireless Call to the Pen" -- before US Cellular grabbed the naming rights to the stadium, Cingular actually paid money to have an annoying cell phone ring pipe through the speakers whenever a pitcher got the hook. Fine. And the Connie's Pizza race (which, I should point out, is always more popular than the game on the field)? Yeah, ok.
But they actually projected a fucking advertisement for Frosted Flakes on the jumbotron last night, in which Tony the Tiger led a group of young children on a training regimen, set to a jingle with a throbbing, hypnotic pulse. Nevermind the fact that the phrase "You can be a Tiger!" should never be uttered outside of Commerica Park -- Tony the Tiger is assembling his own Hitler Youth Brigade! An advertisement on the jumbotron? Not even tangentially related to baseball? Boo. Forget what I said -- bring on the advertising on the bases.
On the other hand, my companions Mark A. and Shawn (well, mostly Mark) were surprised to find out that US Cellular leads all parks in home runs this season. Yep, US Cellular even has a slight edge on Coors Field: teams have combined for 178 home runs on Chicago's South Side, as opposed to 176 in the oxygen-deprived Colorado air. Dunno what's doing it -- though air seems to circulate strangely in US Cellular -- but balls are leaping off bats at an amazing rate. Joe Crede, Carlos Lee and Paul Konerko all hit commanding blasts into the outfield stands last night; Da Sox now have six regulars (not including monsters Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, mind you) with 14+ home runs on the season, a line-up that compares very favorably to the Yanks' $200 million albatross.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Ham 'n' eggs
Celebrated Greg Maddux's 300th career victory with a late lunch of ham and eggs at the local diner, or maybe it was the other way around and Mr. Maddux just wanted to make my lunch special. Either way, the win and the lunch were one and the same: a workmanlike creation that sits ok and gets the job done. Nothing special. No frills. 83 pitches and a couple of close calls -- Maddux had a little too much grease on pitches thrown to Edgardo Alfonzo and A.J. Pierzynski in the 3rd inning.
But Maddux gets the notch in his belt; he's now the first National League pitcher to reach the milestone since Steve Carlton did in 1983. Did it almost as fast as Roger Clemens, too -- in his 594th career start -- and it'll be a long time before we see another 300 game winner in the bigs. The next-closest pitcher, Tom Glavine, has 259 career victories -- but he's 38 and has only won a combined 17 games in his last two seasons. Glavine has won 20 or more games in a season 5 times in his career; he'd have to do it twice in a row to go the distance. Randy Johnson's 40 and still has 241 career victories -- and is also coming off a career-low 2003 win total.
Sure, plenty of 300-gamer Hall of Famers -- Sutton, Seaver, Niekro, Perry -- have pitched reasonably effectively beyond 40, but Maddux's career is pretty special. Of course, no one's preparing a ticker-tape parade through the city or anything like that because everyone expected him to get there and the Cooperstone plaque was etched years ago. But I'd be awed to see anyone reach 300 again in my lifetime, not that more careers in the vein of Jim Palmer are anything to sneeze at. S'ok, too.
Celebrated Greg Maddux's 300th career victory with a late lunch of ham and eggs at the local diner, or maybe it was the other way around and Mr. Maddux just wanted to make my lunch special. Either way, the win and the lunch were one and the same: a workmanlike creation that sits ok and gets the job done. Nothing special. No frills. 83 pitches and a couple of close calls -- Maddux had a little too much grease on pitches thrown to Edgardo Alfonzo and A.J. Pierzynski in the 3rd inning.
But Maddux gets the notch in his belt; he's now the first National League pitcher to reach the milestone since Steve Carlton did in 1983. Did it almost as fast as Roger Clemens, too -- in his 594th career start -- and it'll be a long time before we see another 300 game winner in the bigs. The next-closest pitcher, Tom Glavine, has 259 career victories -- but he's 38 and has only won a combined 17 games in his last two seasons. Glavine has won 20 or more games in a season 5 times in his career; he'd have to do it twice in a row to go the distance. Randy Johnson's 40 and still has 241 career victories -- and is also coming off a career-low 2003 win total.
Sure, plenty of 300-gamer Hall of Famers -- Sutton, Seaver, Niekro, Perry -- have pitched reasonably effectively beyond 40, but Maddux's career is pretty special. Of course, no one's preparing a ticker-tape parade through the city or anything like that because everyone expected him to get there and the Cooperstone plaque was etched years ago. But I'd be awed to see anyone reach 300 again in my lifetime, not that more careers in the vein of Jim Palmer are anything to sneeze at. S'ok, too.
Friday, August 06, 2004
No scrubs
Generally speaking, it's just like Left Eye, Chili and T-Boz said: I don't want no Cubs, a Cub is a guy that can't get no love from me. Don't like 'em, never will -- and the longer I stay in Chi-town, the more tired I get of constantly looking at their dead-beat pinstriped asses. But I'm genuinely feeling sorry for Todd Wellemeyer this week, because he got demoted to AAA Iowa to open a roster spot for rehabbing n'er-do-well Ryan Dempster. Wellemeyer hurt his chances this year by going on the DL with a right groin strain, but did everything right since his return. In limited work this season, he has shown flashes of brilliance:
12 g/ 16ip/ 11h/ 4r/ 14bb/ 18k/ 10.13 k/9 /1-0 W-L/ .196 BAA/ 1.56 WHIP/ 2.25 ERA
I've highighted the trouble spots -- walks and ratio -- but everything else is solid for the small sample size. And I'd like to add the caveat that he pitched a lot of junk innings, because sparing work didn't let him get into a groove and he just wasn't Dusty Baker's go-to guy. Tough call, but the guy Baker kept in his place, Jon Leicester endeared himself as the Cubs best middle reliever in July with 2 wins and 2 holds. His seasonal stats in limited work are pretty good, too:
14 g/ 19.2ip/ 14h/ 4r/ 3bb/ 16k/ 7.32 k/9 / 3-0 W-L/ .194 BAA/ 0.86 WHIP/ 1.83 ERA
And besides the obvious edge in walks and ratio and wins, what the stats (at least the ones I've picked out to showcase) don't tell you is that Leicester has been a much more economical pitcher so far. Wellemeyer tossed 338 pitches in 16 innings for an average of 21.1 pitches per inning. Leicester threw 299 pitches over 19 2/3 innings for an average of 15.2 pitches per inning. It's a substantial enough difference that I don't doubt Baker's move. Wellemeyer does all his shopping at K-Mart, but Leicester comes correct with the pitch location.
There are, however, two-million reasons Ryan Dempster's back up in the majors. No idea how he'll work out -- he served up a hit and a walk in 2/3 of an inning in his first appearance since coming off the DL -- but the Cubs brass seems to think he'll be able to sub for LaTroy Hawkins to close out games. Well, actually: Dempster has a 5.00+ ERA in 964 career innings -- enough of a sample size to determine, unequivocally, that he absolutely blows. And Dempster fancies himself to be a lot better than he has proven to be so far, mouthing off in the press about how he's not interested in pitching in that role. So yes, I'd much rather see Wellemeyer pitching in middle relief until he falls flat -- even if the rookie doesn't have the intangible of veteran hoo-doo mystique in his favor.
Generally speaking, it's just like Left Eye, Chili and T-Boz said: I don't want no Cubs, a Cub is a guy that can't get no love from me. Don't like 'em, never will -- and the longer I stay in Chi-town, the more tired I get of constantly looking at their dead-beat pinstriped asses. But I'm genuinely feeling sorry for Todd Wellemeyer this week, because he got demoted to AAA Iowa to open a roster spot for rehabbing n'er-do-well Ryan Dempster. Wellemeyer hurt his chances this year by going on the DL with a right groin strain, but did everything right since his return. In limited work this season, he has shown flashes of brilliance:
12 g/ 16ip/ 11h/ 4r/ 14bb/ 18k/ 10.13 k/9 /1-0 W-L/ .196 BAA/ 1.56 WHIP/ 2.25 ERA
I've highighted the trouble spots -- walks and ratio -- but everything else is solid for the small sample size. And I'd like to add the caveat that he pitched a lot of junk innings, because sparing work didn't let him get into a groove and he just wasn't Dusty Baker's go-to guy. Tough call, but the guy Baker kept in his place, Jon Leicester endeared himself as the Cubs best middle reliever in July with 2 wins and 2 holds. His seasonal stats in limited work are pretty good, too:
14 g/ 19.2ip/ 14h/ 4r/ 3bb/ 16k/ 7.32 k/9 / 3-0 W-L/ .194 BAA/ 0.86 WHIP/ 1.83 ERA
And besides the obvious edge in walks and ratio and wins, what the stats (at least the ones I've picked out to showcase) don't tell you is that Leicester has been a much more economical pitcher so far. Wellemeyer tossed 338 pitches in 16 innings for an average of 21.1 pitches per inning. Leicester threw 299 pitches over 19 2/3 innings for an average of 15.2 pitches per inning. It's a substantial enough difference that I don't doubt Baker's move. Wellemeyer does all his shopping at K-Mart, but Leicester comes correct with the pitch location.
There are, however, two-million reasons Ryan Dempster's back up in the majors. No idea how he'll work out -- he served up a hit and a walk in 2/3 of an inning in his first appearance since coming off the DL -- but the Cubs brass seems to think he'll be able to sub for LaTroy Hawkins to close out games. Well, actually: Dempster has a 5.00+ ERA in 964 career innings -- enough of a sample size to determine, unequivocally, that he absolutely blows. And Dempster fancies himself to be a lot better than he has proven to be so far, mouthing off in the press about how he's not interested in pitching in that role. So yes, I'd much rather see Wellemeyer pitching in middle relief until he falls flat -- even if the rookie doesn't have the intangible of veteran hoo-doo mystique in his favor.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Fuzzy Math
I was planning on withholding comment on the flurry of late-July deadline deals entirely, since I played with matches and got burned by pronouncing Richard Hidalgo a turd. All the guy did in July was hit at a .294 clip (with an excellent 1.017 OPS!) with a home run every 10 at-bats. Of course, Hidalgo decided to turn it on and impress his suitors at a time where nearly everyone else on the team switched off the lights to take a long nap. It's not Hidalgo's fault that the team has gone 18-20 since his acquisition and hasn't moved an inch in the standings.
I wasn't off the mark, I think, with questioning the direction of the Mets in making this move -- especially when a significant payroll boost is concerned with a guy who isn't exactly Carlos Beltran. But I already said my piece on that, which is why I'll refrain from commenting on the Benson and Zambrano deals, except to say that a) the Mets didn't improve their team a lick, and b) gosh, I hope they loose money hand over fist this season.
The thing I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is all of the Dodgers moves at the deadline. There's no doubt that the Marlins improved themselves with their moves. Jayson Stark anoints The Fish as the biggest winners in his latest column, and I'm in complete agreement with his sentiment. They addressed their two biggest needs with catcher Paul LoDuca (replacing fast-starter Mike Redmond) and top-notch reliever Guillermo Mota, a guy who has the tools to fill in for Benitez while he's on the disabled list. Ismael Valdez doesn't offset the lost of Brad Penny, but Heep Sop Choi for Juan Encarnacion (who might turn it around in the familiar confines of Pro Player) is mostly a wash, and the Marlins can go far enough with the front four in their rotation. Plus, the Dodgers gave them money to take LoDuca off their hands. Wha....?
I'm going to side with Stark's view -- that GM Paul DePodesta tried to fit too many puzzle pieces into place at the deadline -- of the Dodgers as the deadline's biggest belly-floppers, as well. No Randy Johnson, no Charles Johnson, Howard Johnson isn't coming out of retirement...DePodesta got his johnson caught in his own zipper. The Beane school of three-way trades really only works when you get all parties together with a conditional agreement, and there was no way L.A. would give up what it needed to get to maybe kinda sorta get The Big Unit in Dodger Blue. Steve Finley's an upgrade over Encarnacion, no doubt, and Penny's playoff experience will be great if the Dodgers hold on until October.
But any team that's trotting out Hideo Nomo (3-10, 8.06 era, 14 starts) and/or Kazuhisa Ishii (1.50 whip, 21 starts) on a regular basis needs someone to pitch the 8th. And if Peter Gammons could stop for a second to wipe that brown spot off his nose, he'd realize how scary it is that the Dodgers just sent situational lefty Tom Martin and unhittable flamethrower Guillermo Mota (who led all Dodgers relievers in innings pitched) packing.
So Darren Dreifort stepped into the role on Saturday...and blew the save. He acquitted himself yesterday by picking up the save after Eric Gagne tossed three scoreless innings, but damn, it's a leap of faith to put so much trust in a guy with a bionic elbow. I like Duaner Sanchez a lot, but it's not like the Dodgers have a deep well of live arms like, say, the Cubs (more on them later this week) to throw out there. Gagne hasn't pitched 3 innings since 2002; if he's Superman, the Dodgers rotation is green kryptonite.
I was planning on withholding comment on the flurry of late-July deadline deals entirely, since I played with matches and got burned by pronouncing Richard Hidalgo a turd. All the guy did in July was hit at a .294 clip (with an excellent 1.017 OPS!) with a home run every 10 at-bats. Of course, Hidalgo decided to turn it on and impress his suitors at a time where nearly everyone else on the team switched off the lights to take a long nap. It's not Hidalgo's fault that the team has gone 18-20 since his acquisition and hasn't moved an inch in the standings.
I wasn't off the mark, I think, with questioning the direction of the Mets in making this move -- especially when a significant payroll boost is concerned with a guy who isn't exactly Carlos Beltran. But I already said my piece on that, which is why I'll refrain from commenting on the Benson and Zambrano deals, except to say that a) the Mets didn't improve their team a lick, and b) gosh, I hope they loose money hand over fist this season.
The thing I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is all of the Dodgers moves at the deadline. There's no doubt that the Marlins improved themselves with their moves. Jayson Stark anoints The Fish as the biggest winners in his latest column, and I'm in complete agreement with his sentiment. They addressed their two biggest needs with catcher Paul LoDuca (replacing fast-starter Mike Redmond) and top-notch reliever Guillermo Mota, a guy who has the tools to fill in for Benitez while he's on the disabled list. Ismael Valdez doesn't offset the lost of Brad Penny, but Heep Sop Choi for Juan Encarnacion (who might turn it around in the familiar confines of Pro Player) is mostly a wash, and the Marlins can go far enough with the front four in their rotation. Plus, the Dodgers gave them money to take LoDuca off their hands. Wha....?
I'm going to side with Stark's view -- that GM Paul DePodesta tried to fit too many puzzle pieces into place at the deadline -- of the Dodgers as the deadline's biggest belly-floppers, as well. No Randy Johnson, no Charles Johnson, Howard Johnson isn't coming out of retirement...DePodesta got his johnson caught in his own zipper. The Beane school of three-way trades really only works when you get all parties together with a conditional agreement, and there was no way L.A. would give up what it needed to get to maybe kinda sorta get The Big Unit in Dodger Blue. Steve Finley's an upgrade over Encarnacion, no doubt, and Penny's playoff experience will be great if the Dodgers hold on until October.
But any team that's trotting out Hideo Nomo (3-10, 8.06 era, 14 starts) and/or Kazuhisa Ishii (1.50 whip, 21 starts) on a regular basis needs someone to pitch the 8th. And if Peter Gammons could stop for a second to wipe that brown spot off his nose, he'd realize how scary it is that the Dodgers just sent situational lefty Tom Martin and unhittable flamethrower Guillermo Mota (who led all Dodgers relievers in innings pitched) packing.
So Darren Dreifort stepped into the role on Saturday...and blew the save. He acquitted himself yesterday by picking up the save after Eric Gagne tossed three scoreless innings, but damn, it's a leap of faith to put so much trust in a guy with a bionic elbow. I like Duaner Sanchez a lot, but it's not like the Dodgers have a deep well of live arms like, say, the Cubs (more on them later this week) to throw out there. Gagne hasn't pitched 3 innings since 2002; if he's Superman, the Dodgers rotation is green kryptonite.
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