Just like that…
April 29, 2010
I think you can figure out the theme of today’s Short Hops. I am also going to go with a bulleting format for Short Hops from here on out, which I tried once before, because it’s easier to follow.
Short hops:
- Just like that, the Red Sox are back in their rightful-ish place in the AL East. To be more specific, they’re ahead of the Blue Jays in the standings after sweeping a three-game set in Toronto. Jon Lester dominated with eleven strikeouts over seven scoreless, and Darnell McDonald doubled and scored in the sixth on a Dustin Pedroia sac fly before singling in the final run with two outs in the seventh. The Sox used a lineup that may, and probably should, become prevalent this season, with Jason Varitek behind the plate and Victor Martinez starting at DH. Varitek’s production in limited action this year has been far better than expected and his .323 average with 4 homers and 8 RBI are far more impressive than the .217/3/14 that Ortiz, Martinez and Lowell have combined to produce so far this year.
- Just like that, the Pirates are back on even ground with the team that just two days ago reinforced that the Bucs are an embarrassment. Ryan Doumit, who hit a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning on Tuesday off Brewers potential ex-closer Trevor Hoffman, homered off Hoffman again in the ninth on Wednesday. This time, Doumit’s liner over the right field wall tied the game, eventually leading to a Pirates victory in 14 innings. Hoffman, who gave up only two taters in 54 innings last year (an average of 0.33 HR/9), has given up six home runs so far this year in only nine innings, or 1800% of last year’s average. The Bucs are now tied with the Brewers for fourth in the division at 9-12, 0.5 ahead of 8-12 Houston and 0.5 behind 10-12 Chicago. Cincinnati is barely holding water with its 10-11 second-place standing, but the Cardinals have pulled it together to stand in first at 14-7, the best record in the NL.
- Just like that, the Rays are the best team in baseball and the A’s are only 0.5 ahead of the Angels for first place in the AL West after Oakland got swept in a two-game series in Tampa Bay. James Shields tied a career high with twelve strikeouts en route to an easy 10-3 Rays victory. The Rays are now a Major League-best 16-5, the best start in team history, and sit comfortably atop the AL East thanks largely in part to a 12-4 intradivisional record.
- Small ball is making a comeback, and Oakland’s division-rival Angels used just that to walk off with a win over the Indians on Wednesday. With the game tied at 3, Torii Hunter led off the bottom of the ninth with a line drive to right off of Indians reliever Joe Smith. As Hunter tried to stretch a single into a double, Cleveland right fielder Shin Soo Choo made a strong throw into second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who applied a sweep tag on Hunter before he finished sliding into the bag. So, logically, umpire Paul Schrieber called Hunter safe. A walk and a should-have-been-game-ending double play pushed Hunter to third with two outs, and after a walk to Juan Rivera, Howie Kendrick landed a bunt in between the pitcher and the second baseman and just like that, the game was over.
- Just like that, the Orioles are now on a worse pace than the 1962 Mets. CC Sabathia and the Yankees cruised to am 8-3 victory over Baltimore, sending the O’s to a 4-17 record, one game worse than the 5-16 record the Mets had through their inaugural 21 games.
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
Four little words
April 28, 2010
A short Short Hops only today. Today’s theme is “four little words” that you wouldn’t expect to hear.
Short hops: First up on the unexpected “four little words” list is Mets in first place. Not that it really matters since it’s still only April, but with a doubleheader sweep of the dwindling Dodgers, the Mets moved to 12-9 and sit alone in first place, 0.5 games ahead of the Phillies, who lost again to the Giants Tuesday night. The Mets have now won six in a row and are playing like the team fans hoped they would be, and Jason Bay is finally hitting like he oughta. If Jeff Francouer can get going again, the lineup would pretty much be complete. The Phils have now lost three in a row, but they’re still better off than the Braves, who dropped their seventh straight yesterday with a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals. … Bucs beat the Brewers: The Pirates got some good defense from Lastings Milledge et al. as well as a homer in the ninth from Ronny Cedeno off of Trevor Hoffman to tie the game at 3-3 last night in Milwaukee. Hoffman then loaded ’em with one out for Ryan Doumit, who unloaded ’em with the finishing blow in a 7-3 Pirates victory. It was the first time the Pirates had scored seven runs in a game since their 11-5 victory over the Dodgers on Opening Day, which coincidentally was the last time Doumit had hit a homer. The Bucs are now 8-12 and still in last, but it’s a pretty shallow climb out of the basement right now in the NL Central. … Orioles win at home (also Yanks lose by one): The Orioles beat the Yankees 5-4 yesterday to win their second in a row for the first time this year. It was also their first home win in seven tries. The Yankee’s second straight loss, coupled with the Rays’ third straight win, has the Yanks 2.5 games behind Tampa for first place. Interestingly enough, this was the first one-run game the Yankees were involved in all season, giving them an 0-1 record in such games. For the Orioles, it was only their fourth win in twenty games this year, giving them the same 4-16 record the 1962 Mets had through their first twenty games. … Padres keep on winning: The Padres beat the Marlins yesterday in a game that ended with a great catch by Pads right fielder Will Venable. The win kept the Padres on pace with the Giants, who they are currently tied with.
Expect a more detailed Short Hops tomorrow – sorry for today’s lateness and brevity!
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
You get what you play for
April 27, 2010
Looks like I spoke too soon in yesterday’s edition of The Cutoff Man. April’s rainout total doubled yesterday, canceling the Citi Field showdown between the Mets and the Dodgers, and rain delays have become more prevalent over the past weekend and into this week.
For the Pirates, to quote F. Mercury and D. Bowie, “these are the days it never rains, but it pours.” After an embarrassing showing against the Brewers last week, the Pirates went into Milwaukee with a few measly goals in mind: end their six-game slide, score more than one run in a game, and maybe, just maybe, not give up 20 runs.
Well, they scored more than one, and they didn’t give up 20. The final was Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 17. Pitcher Yovani Gallardo and catcher Gregg Zaun combined for eight RBI.
That runs the total score so far in the season series to 53-4, Milwaukee. The Brewers have now captured 22 straight at home against the Pirates over the past few seasons, and you can see why: the Pirates look defeated before they even hit the field. It’s as if the Pirates are children who know they’ve misbehaved, and the Brewers are their old-school, stern fathers. It shows.
The Brewers’ first baseman, Prince Fielder, just got a little help in the potential money-making department when the Phillies signed their own big bopper first baseman, Ryan Howard, to a five-year extension worth $125M. Since I’m a math minor, I’ll do the division for you: that’s $25M per year. A decent amount.
This is the extension Howard has been waiting for and the one that Fielder deserves. Fielder is in the final season of a two-year deal that bought out his first two years of arbitration. This came after a few frustrating offseasons of just having his contract renewed while making around $500,000. The Brewers, who have already locked up Ryan Braun through 2015 and have been feeling the pressure on this issue for years now, had the heat turned up on them once already this year when the Twins sealed the deal with Joe Mauer for the next eight years. One wonders what they’re waiting for; maybe GM Doug Melvin has something up his sleeve, but he’s been mum on the topic essentially every single time he’s been asked about it.
What this means for Howard is that he’s not going to be entering the free agent market for the foreseeable future. Had Howard not signed the extension, he would have no doubt caused a bidding war once his current deal was up and – who knows – maybe ended up somewhere like Boston or St. Louis, if Pujols walks. He probably could have ended up with an even bigger contract than his current monster extension, but it’s good to see that he wants to stay with the organization he started with and that the Phillies share that sentiment.
Though as a Mets fan, it would be great to get that guy out of the NL East.
Jayson Werth, the Phillies’ somewhat-five-tool right fielder, is looking for a deal of his own now that Howard has his. The Phils have a dilemma here, as top prospect Dominic Brown looks like he’ll be knocking on that outfield door next season. Brown is a left handed hitter though, and Werth is a right handed hitter who last year knocked 36 out of the park to go along with 20 stolen bases. To be honest, he’s a hot commodity and if he ends this year as a free agent, there’s sure to be a heck of a lot of competition for his services. My guesses for his destination next year are the Phillies, the Yankees, the Red Sox or, depending on how this season goes, the Giants. Call it a hunch. The Mets would benefit greatly from his services, but they have no room for him right now.
As for prospects knocking on doors, the Marlins’ Mike Stanton – not to be confused with the old lefty reliever who wouldn’t go away – followed Sunday’s two-homer performance with a hat trick on Monday for Double-A Jacksonville, giving him a two-day total of five homers and eleven RBI. To put that in perspective, Dan Uggla currently leads the big league club with five homers so far this season. Stanton’s nine homers and 20 RBI so far this year would easily lead the Marlins in production, as Jorge Cantu currently leads the team with an equal RBI total.
The problem is that with Chris Coghlan, Cameron Maybin and Cody Ross, the Marlins don’t have a spot for Stanton in their outfield. The only one of those three likely to go anywhere is Cody Ross, who could likely bring in a decent prospect in a trade with a team looking for a third or fourth outfielder. That would free up right field for Stanton, but the Marlins look committed to keeping the kid in the Minors for now. A move to Triple-A doesn’t seem out of line, though. Also, if a Marlins outfielder does get injured or otherwise take himself out of the lineup, you can bet on who’s getting the call. Just look at Ike Davis and the Mets.
Short hops: Roy Halladay got beat for the first time this year by Jonathan Sanchez and the Giants. Halladay gave up five runs on ten hits in seven innings, while Sanchez danced around trouble in his five innings, giving up just one earned despite allowing six hits and five walks. … The Mets will be playing an old school doubleheader today against the Dodgers beginning at 4:10 p.m. ET. The doubleheader will be single admission, meaning only one ticket for both games. Hopefully it will indeed be a good day for baseball. … Florida’s Josh Johnson, who locked down a decent extension himself earlier this year, struck out a career-high 12 batters against the Padres en route to a three-hit complete game. Coupled with the Phils’ loss, the Marlins now sit 0.5 games out of first. … The Yankees will have a chance to catch up on the Rays the next three days. New York will take on 3-16 Baltimore, while Tampa Bay will challenge 12-8 Oakland. The Rays currently sit at 14-5, 1.5 ahead of the Yankees. The Rays also recently signed Ben Zobrist to an extension, something well-deserved and well-earned on “Zorrilla’s” part. … All-Star voting is now a week old. Check out my Modest Proposal on the All-Star Game if you haven’t yet.
Unless a miracle occurs, expect only Short Hops tomorrow. Enjoy!
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
UPDATE: For a fun read, check out Peter Gammons’ article on some what-ifs from the past ten years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t answer the question of “What if the Mets hadn’t traded Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano?”
Sorry there was no update yesterday; it was a hectic day for me. Here is this week’s Cutoff Man (no Short Hops in the article) + Monday Short Hops!
Published in the Tartan, 4/26/2010: http://thetartan.org/2010/4/26/sports/baseball
Original text restored at points.
Baseball has managed to make it through three weeks of the season with only one rainout, and it came on Friday. That’s a pretty impressive feat — not that anyone but Mother Nature really had a say in the matter — when you consider that April weather tends to wreak havoc on baseball. In 2007, Cleveland’s entire opening series with the Seattle Mariners was snowed out, and the Indians ended up having to host their “home opener” in Milwaukee.
So April has been relatively cooperative, at least weather-wise. But baseball is baseball, and nothing ever works out quite the way it’s supposed to; for every team that makes a remarkable comeback to win a game in the bottom of the ninth with clutch hitting, there’s its opponent losing a game on bad pitching. Only rarely does a team blow a game only to say, “They beat us despite our best efforts. We made our pitches and they hit them; we made our plays and they just beat us.”
The Pirates played their first two weeks like they were a real team, giving us that small glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, they’d finally put the right group of guys out on the field to mix the winning formula. After they swept the Reds on April 15-17, the Pirates sat in second place with a 7-5 record.
Then all hell broke loose — turns out it wasn’t freezing over after all. The Pirates played a gracious host to the Brewers last Tuesday through Thursday, throwing meatballs across the plate and not scoring any runs, as they fell rather disgracefully 8-1, 8-0 and 20-0. They then butchered any chance of climbing back over .500 for a third week in a row by dropping their first two games against Houston, 4-3 and 5-2.
On the bright side, those losses were the first time this season that the Pirates had lost by less than six runs.
There’s still hope, though — there’s always hope. Yogi Berra and the 1973 Mets were in last place as late as mid-August before rallying back to make it all the way to the World Series. “Ya Gotta Believe” was the slogan Tug McGraw coined that year, and ya gotta if you’re a real fan.
But believe it or not, there’s been more baseball this month outside of Pittsburgh. The Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees are battling it out for first place in their division and quickly leaving the other teams behind, most notably the Boston Red Sox, who need to make a decision quickly on their former star of all stars, David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Now I’m not a Spanish major, nor do I play one on TV, but after watching the sadness and frustration in Ortiz’s eyes after he struck out for the umpteenth time and was eventually pinch-hit for, I’m certain that “Big Papi” is Spanish for “Bruce Banner.”
There’s also been a lot of outrage among fans and, more inappropriately, commenters on MLB.com about some controversial baseball over the past week. On Saturday, a 12-inning affair between the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals ended when Twins shortstop J.J. Hardy bobbled a grounder but recovered in time to throw to second base. Royals speedster Scott Podsednik was called out to end the game, which would have been fine — if he had actually been out. The naked eye, replays, radio and television announcers from both teams, and pretty much everyone but umpire Greg Gibson saw Podsednik slide in safely. Alas, Royals manager Trey Hillman’s argument was to no avail, and the game was over.
Earlier this week I wrote in my blog, “Jonas On Baseball,” about how it’s better when an umpire admits he’s wrong. It shows professionalism and it shows dedication to the game and its values. No game is ever considered a good one, no matter how close, if it hinges on a blown call. Anyone who watched A.J. Pierzynski run down to first base after he struck out in the 2005 ALCS knows that; anyone who watched Gibson call Podsednik out on Saturday knows it.
However, contrary to the belief of some “fans,” Gibson’s bad call was not because he is biased against the Royals. No umpire could ever do that and get away with it. No matter how unprofessional an umpire is or how bad of a call he makes, it will never have to do with bias or other such preference. He just made a bad call, or at the very most, he’s just a bad ump.
Let it be known, though, that with the exception of some I cannot name (one rhymes with “Bad Bairchild”), most umps are good, professional umps. Everyone makes mistakes.
The other controversy is over the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira, who barreled hard into Angels catcher Bobby Wilson on a play at the plate on Friday night. Wilson, who was in position to tag Teixeira out before the ball got away from him, suffered a concussion and a possible ankle injury when Teixeira slammed into him full-force, Teixiera’s shoulder appearing to make contact with Wilson’s face mask. While Wilson had to be helped off the field and taken to the hospital, Teixeira didn’t look back after touching home plate and getting into the Yankee’s dugout.
Was it unprofessional of him not to check on Wilson? No. It would have been very professional of him to go out there, but not doing so was probably a better choice given everyone’s sensitivity to intentional collisions nowadays. Teixeira’s best option to try to score was to barrel over Wilson, and he did it well. Nationwide, Teixiera is being ripped apart for knocking over Wilson, but people need to realize that although baseball is a gentleman’s game, hard-nosed baseball is good baseball. It’s not about courtesy and sunshine and flowers. It’s about winning and playing the game right.
Tune in next week and check out dailyjakjob.mlblogs.com for daily updates on the happenings in Major League Baseball.
MONDAY SHORT HOPS:
- The Mets are back on track, the Braves are not…: The Mets completed a sweep of the Braves with a rain-shortened 1-0 win on Sunday. The game is listed as F/6 on MLB.com, but really only lasted one pitch into the sixth before it was delayed and eventually called. This must have frustrated any fantasy players who started Mike Pelfrey, who could’ve had credit for a complete game shutout if Raul Valdes hadn’t thrown that one pitch. Big Pelf now has a 24-inning scoreless streak going and is 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA, which leads the Majors. The Nationals’ Livan Hernandez is second at 0.75, followed by the guy people expected to be up there after April, Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay. The Mets have won four in a row and are back above .500; their 10-9 record is tied with the Marlins and the Nats for second place. The Braves have now lost five in a row and are all alone in the basement at 8-10.
- …and neither are the Pirates: The
Pirates rebounded from their embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Brewers with a less embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Astros. They were only outscored 19-8 in the series in Houston, far better than 36-1 against the Brewers. The Pirates’ winless week dropped them from second to sixth, but the NL Central is certainly weak enough that any form of a winning-ish streak would catapult them right back into it. The Pirates now will look for revenge as they travel to Milwaukee for a three game set. The Astros, on the other hand, are now 8-10 after starting the year 0-8. - The lamest puns around: Okay, we get it. David Price pitching a good game provides the cheesy opportunity for a Bob Barker/Drew Carey joke. But I’ve found at least fourteen different articles about his complete game shutout on Sunday with the words “Price is Right” in the headlines. That doesn’t even take into account every other time that joke’s been used (I found at least four other examples from earlier articles). It’s even worse than the constant “Bend It Like Beckham” fecal matter that the monkeys were slinging around while, before and after No. 1 pick Tim Beckham was selected by the Rays in 2008.
- Why Jose Molina is better than Victor Martinez: Toronto’s Jose Molina, not known for his offense, threw out four would-be base stealers on Sunday against Tampa Bay. That awesome feat set a Blue Jays record as Molina became the first guy since Charles Johnson did it for the Marlins against Montreal in 2002. Victor Martinez is known for his offense, and if you recall, allowed nine stolen bases last week against the Rangers.
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
Maybe it’s not them, it’s me
April 24, 2010
Maybe my memory is failing me, but the strangest play I’ve ever seen was during last year’s ALCS between the Yankees and the Angels when Tim McClelland forgot that little technicality where if a guy is not on a base and is tagged out, he’s, well, out. I didn’t get it, I still don’t get it, he never really gave a clear explanation of why he called one guy safe and one guy out, but whatever. It is what it is. Sometimes it’s okay for an umpire’s call to be influenced by an arguing manager. It’s better for the game and for the ump when he reverses his call if he’s wrong.
Every strange play you’ve ever seen, perhaps with the exception of the viral “Fordham Flip,” is borne from error, whether it be mental or physical. When Paul Lo Duca tagged out Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew in succession, it wasn’t because he made a spectacular move, it was because of, to put it lightly, a mental error. Likewise with when Chipper Jones and Brian McCann managed to botch an infield fly last night against the Mets.
With Angel Pagan on second and Luis Castillo on first, Jose Reyes lofted a popup that originally looked like it was headed towards shortstop Omar Infante. Infante then realized he had to run in to catch it, and Chipper took over, only to drop the ball and have it roll across the infield. Pagan and Castillo advanced, as they are allowed to do if an infield fly is dropped. The only person automatically out on an infield fly is the batter; no one else. No runners have to tag up to advance if the ball is dropped, and even if they did have to, Pagan and Castillo still waited for Chipper to touch the ball with his glove before they took off.
So why catcher Brian McCann ran out to retrieve the ball and toss it nonchalantly to first is beyond me. While said play was happening, Pagan dashed from third towards home and scored on the open net. Strange and boneheaded as McCann’s move was, stranger and more boneheaded was every other person on the infield, especially first baseman Eric Hinske, who had nothing to say to McCann the entire time he was busy running away from home plate, pointing to first base as if to say, “You, sir! I am going to throw to you now because it is my belief that the infield fly rule dictates I will benefit from such a move,” and then throwing to first base. But maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s just me.
I commend MLB.com’s Doug Miller for starting off his kitschy “Freaky Friday” article, summing up the wackity-shmackity-doo happenings on Friday, with Andruw Jones’ walkoff home run. Jones, who I forgot played for the White Sox nowadays, even had two home runs in the game including his go-home dinger. Jones, who faded into fat nothingness after his dismal contract year with the Braves, now has six homers on the year. That, folks, is quite strange. But good for him; I always liked Andruw. Far more than Larry.
Jayson Werth got to circle the bases last night on a four-base error, and rightfully he should have. At Chase Field in Arizona, Werth lifted a deep fly ball to center. D-Backs centerfielder Chris Young settled under the ball and appeared to catch it, but the ball fell out of his glove as he went to transfer it. Young, thinking he’d caught the ball and that it was ruled as such, didn’t even bother making a move as Werth circled the bases for a four-base error.
I don’t care, nor do umpires, what a player thinks the ruling should be. You play it out and argue your case afterwards. Far too often have I seen an outfielder wave his arms at the ump when the ball gets stuck under the fence, not bothering to retrieve it as the batter motors around the bases. If the ump doesn’t rule it, then it’s not the call. That’s how baseball works.
Just look at David DeJesus of the Royals last night, who hit an inside-the-park homer on what ended up actually being out of the park. Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer, similar to Young, didn’t do anything on the play, despite the umpires clearly signaling that the ball was in play. Yes, replays did show the ball barely went out and hit off a fan, but until the ump says it’s a homer, it ain’t a homer. This play was especially disgusting because no matter how honest you are, if you as an outfielder have a chance to play a homer off as a ball in play, you do exactly that until the ump rules otherwise. It’s called helping your team and playing smart.
This last one isn’t strange, but it’s important. I‘ve mentioned before that I love hard-nosed baseball. While I do feel bad for Angels’ catcher Bobby Wilson and hope that he is okay, I harbor no ill will toward Mark Teixeira. This was good, hard-nosed baseball in an absolutely necessary, appropriate manner. Teixeira was doing what he could to knock the ball loose if Wilson had actually caught the ball to tag him out; it’s not like he could’ve stopped his slide once he saw the ball carom off of Wilson. Okay. I’m done.
Short hops: Strange enough as the Mets game turned out to be, it was a bitter win for the Mets, who saw a probably-already-injured John Maine leave the game with an injury. They may have already found his replacement in the rotation, though, as Hisanori Takahashi threw three innings of one-run ball in relief and struck out seven batters. … Also in Mets news, Jerry Manuel finally backed up his words and batted Jose Reyes third. Congrats, big guy. Now call me crazy, but seeing how well the move worked, I think once Beltran gets back, sticking Castillo first, Beltran second and Jose third may work. Your thoughts? … I have to commend former Major League manager and current Tampa Bay Rays broadcaster Kevin Kennedy for helping to subdue a potential hijacker on a redeye flight from L.A. early Friday morning. Apparently, said hijacker was talking Satan and said he’d blow up the plane, but was taken out by Kennedy and seven others while making his way to the cockpit. Satanists fail again! … The Giants’ Tim Lincecum won again on Friday, beating the Cardinals to improve to 4-0. However, his ERA blew up all the way to 1.00. … Bruce Banner Ortiz hit his first home run of the season last night after sitting out the previous two games against lefty pitchers. Are things turning around? Perhaps. If Carlos Delgado could do it in 2008, I have no doubt in my mind that the Hulk can do it in 2010. But he’d better start proving himself now.
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The reality is…
April 23, 2010
First and foremost, I apologize for the lack of an update yesterday. I have come to the realization that sometimes, when I have too much schoolwork, I simply don’t have time to write.
The reality is, weekday at least through the beginning of May are probably going to just be Short Hops. I’ll do my best to write full columns when I can, but the next couple of weeks are going to be rough and I think for the best of my grades and the best of my writing, Short Hops are the way to go. So, without further adieu…
Short hops: The reality is, the Pirates might still be the Pirates. After coming into this week at 7-5 and in second place, they lost their first two games to the Brewers, 8-1 and 8-0. As if two losses weren’t enough to diminish a potential Earth Day matinee crowd, PNC couldn’t have been housing more than about 100 Milwaukee fans by the end of the Brewers’ 20-0 victory on Thursday. The Pirates couldn’t have gone back under .500 in grander fashion, being outscored 36-1 and now have a -57 run differential, including being outscored 85-13 in losses. The fewest runs the Pirates have lost by is 6 (they lost 9-3 and 6-0 to the Giants). … The reality is, you have to win series if you want to want to get anywhere. The Mets finally won their first series of the year yesterday when they beat the Cubbies 5-2 to take three out of four. The win finally got Francisco Rodriguez his first save in only his second opportunity (on April 22nd) and tied with Mike Pelfrey for the team lead (Big Pelf saved the 20-inning game after K-Rod blew it in the 19th). The Mets also scored a run for Johan Santana for the first time since the sixth inning of Opening Day. … Also in Mets news, a headline on mets.com reads “Reyes may be headed to third in lineup.” I don’t care anymore – Reyes had been “heading to third in lineup” since Spring Training 2009, and then “especially” in Spring Training 2010 before his thyroid issue, and then Jerry Manuel was “planning on it” for the Cubs series to try to get his lineup going. But it didn’t happen then, and it hasn’t happened since. The reality is, every time Jerry is blowing smoke every time he says Reyes will bat third, and it’s counterintuitive to keep writing about the possibility until the headline of the article can read, “Reyes bats third in Mets’ lineup.” … Also in Cubs news, I love Lou Piniella. I think he’s one of the best managers in baseball because his entire managing style revolves around brutal reality (he is quite the subpar TV commentator, though). Piniella announced Wednesday that Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano got beaten by the Mets, lowering his record to 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA, Big Z would be moving to the bullpen. The Cubs, in need of any bullpen help they can get, now have a $91M setup man. The reality is, if you don’t produce for Sweet Lou, you’re going to lose your job. Ted Lilly will take Zambrano’s rotation spot once he is activated off the DL. The only question mark about the move is the timing: despite losing on Tuesday, Zambrano had a “quality start” and struck out 9, and if you factor out his Opening Day start, his record is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA. Still, the move is a bold one, and perhaps it will send the Mets a message about how to treat Oliver Perez. … Unsurprisingly, the Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez did not pull a Johnny Vander Meer all over the Nationals yesterday, but he did follow up his no-hitter with 7.1 scoreless innings to earn the win. Apparently, when asked about Vander Meer’s feat of throwing back-to-back no-hitters, Jimenez had never heard of him. Luckily, Jimenez is a level-headed, respectable guy, as my response would’ve been more along the lines of “calm the !@#$ down, guys. I’m just trying to win. Obviously. The reality is, no one ever tried to throw a no-hitter; I wasn’t even planning on throwing one last time either.” … The Yankees turned the most embarrassing triple play to hit into – the 5-4-3 – yesterday against the Oakland A’s. The reality is, triple play or no triple play, the Yankees couldn’t recover from a first-inning three-run homer by Kurt Suzuki, the guy who hit into the triple play as the A’s won 4-2. … The Rays shellacked the White Sox 10-2 at U.S. Cellular Field yesterday to cap off a 9-1 road trip. The 12-4 Rays stayed in first place, .5 ahead of the Yankees. However, as the 2008 Rays know, the reality is that you also have to win at home if you want to win a divison title. … Red Sox left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has been on the DL since Tuesday after a collision with Adrian Beltre last week and has been curiously slow to recover. The reality is, as Ellsbury discovered Thursday, he has a hairline fracture on four of his left ribs. … Also in Red Sox news, Tim Wakefield will be relegated to the bullpen after his Saturday start with the expected return of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Wakefield hasn’t pitched out of the ‘pen since the 2004 postseason, but the reality is Dice-K brings more to the table and the Rangers did steal nine bases in under five innings against him earlier this week.
See you tomorrow with what should be a full update!
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
Regular programming to resume Thursday
April 21, 2010
Hey folks,
Due to many exams in a short period of time as the semester winds down, I’m unfortunately going to have to just do Short Hops today (I’ll try to make them worthwhile). Full columns resume tomorrow. For now, if you haven’t yet, check out my Modest Proposal from yesterday.
Short hops: I mentioned in an earlier post that I am a fan of puns. Sometimes, writers try too hard, or in many cases come up with something that almost works but takes a little too long. “‘Pen of Philly can’t get o’er homers of the Braves” is one of those puns. … Said headline is referring to when the Braves’ Jason Heyward, the prince of baseball, added a page to his future best-selling autobiography with a two-out game-tying homer on the tail end of a back-to-back job against the Phillies bullpen. Nate McLouth then led off the tenth with a solo walkoff shot. … Rockies president and former football star Keli McGregor unforunately was found dead in his hotel room Tuesday morning. The 48-year old was well-liked and respected by all who knew him and had close interpersonal relationships with many on his team and across baseball. On such a dark occasion, the Rockies put together an eight-run third inning over the Nationals to put one up for McGregor, 10-4. … With Boston’s Tim Wakefield on the mound and Victor Martinez “catching,” the Rangers stole nine bases in the first 4.1 innings of yesterday’s game. I was planning on linking Wakefield and Martinez’s names to funny images or videos to ridicule this idea, but really the only thing that will do this clownshow justice is to just show it. The Red Sox came back to tie the game in the eighth on a homer from Darnell McDonald, who was pretty much called up from Pawtucket during the national anthem. McDonald then won the game with a walkoff single in the ninth. … Also in Red Sox news, starting left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was placed on the 15-day DL Tuesday morning before centerfielder Mike Cameron was placed on the 15-day DL later that day. … Also in Red Sox news, the inevitable started to become true last night as Mike Lowell pinch-hit for David Ortiz in the seventh inning last night. Ortiz broke his bat over his knee and changed his name to Bruce Banner. … The Mets won 4-0 yesterday over the Cubs as Mike Pelfrey improved to 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA. It was the first time this season that the Mets actually followed a win with another win. … Beleaguered, besmirched and beaten Yankees starter Javier Vazquez managed to eke out a win last night, his first of the season. Vazquez moved to 1-2 on the season with 5.1 innings of three-run ball and dropped his ERA from 9.82 to 8.27. … The Reds’ Edinson Volquez, a standout in 2008, was suspended 50 games for use of a performance-enhancing drug that he was allegedly prescribed in the hopes of “starting a family” with his wife. I would believe it more if he flat out went and sacrificed all pride to say he was firing blanks. Volquez, who will miss no actually games because he is on the 60-day DL recovering from Tommy John surgery, will only lose about $100,000 of his already sub-$500,000 salary.
Looking forward to a full entry tomorrow!
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On Ike Davis
April 19, 2010
The Mets announced that they have called up first baseman Ike Davis from Triple-A Buffalo and Mr. Davis will probably start tonight at Citi Field. This seemed inevitable after the Mets designated Mike Jacobs for assignment following the 20-inning game on Sunday.
The last Mets infield prospects to be this hyped up were Jose Reyes (2003) and David Wright (2004). Wright and Reyes turned out fine, and if the Mets decide to stick with Davis through thick and thin and let him get acclimated his first few weeks instead of giving up on him if he doesn’t produce immediately, a la Fernando Martinez and Lastings Milledge, he can really give the Mets a jolt that they desperately need, or at least give them steady enough production to help the Mets score runs and win games.
Keep in mind, however, that when Reyes and Wright came up, it was midseason and the Mets were already far out of contention. Right now, it is two weeks into the season and I don’t expect the Mets to be nearly as patient if Davis doesn’t produce, as they are trying to “win now.” Personally, I’d take a few 0-fers from Davis if it means he’s maturing. Both Reyes and Wright were hitting under .200 at some point during the first few weeks of their respective careers before they found their niche.
Once Daniel Murphy gets back, the Mets will have a tough decision to make, as Murph went into this season looking for his own period of growth and maturity before his injury and the Mets had originally planned for Mike Jacobs to be the temporary, or in a best-best-best-case scenario the powerfully productive permanent, fix. Now that Davis is here, if the Mets play him everyday like they should, he needs to stay there, and hopefully will produce enough to keep the job. If Davis’ production slips ever so slightly when Murph returns, there is a chance Murphy will pull a Xavier Nady and Davis will be Victor Diazed out of a starting job. If that is the case, he needs to be sent down immediately to get everyday playing time with Buffalo. No ifs, ands or buts.
The main reason I am concerned about the Murphy situation is this: when Reyes wasn’t producing after he first came up, someone – I don’t remember who, but I think it was Cliff Floyd – put his hand on Reyes’ shoulder and said, “get comfortable, you’re gonna be here for a while.” That sense of security is essential for a rookie to succeed, and I don’t think Davis will be any exception. Only time will tell whether the Mets are ready to do that.
I am personally excited that what could end up being the Davis era is dawning. If he doesn’t start tonight, I think it’d be a little ridiculous on the Mets’ part. As for Murphy, if Davis does indeed stick at first, I hope the Mets trade him somewhere where he can develop and be a starter on his own. A decent target may be Toronto, where first base incumbent Lyle Overbay is currently batting .080 with no homers and three RBI. If they don’t, I hope he at least can learn second base adequately enough to fill in for Castillo and Davis to get playing time Dave Magadan-style; after all, Magadan is who comes to mind when I think of the type of player Murphy is and can be.
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The Cutoff Man: Pitching dominates + Monday Short Hops
April 19, 2010
Published in The Tartan, 4/19/2010: http://www.thetartan.org/2010/4/19/sports/cutoffman
Original Short hops restored below
“Half this game is 90 percent mental.” –Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark.
Were I ever to have met the late Mr. Ozark, I’d have argued that 90 percent of the game is half luck. The strategy is what makes baseball such an intricate sport, but the true excitement and frustration stem from the skill and luck involved.
All factors were especially apparent in two games on Saturday. The Colorado Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history, shutting down the Braves in Atlanta as the Rockies rolled to a 4-0 win. The Mets and Cardinals, on the other hand, went head to head for 18 scoreless innings before each team scored a run in the 19th. The Mets came out on top, 2-1, after 20 very, very long innings.
The Braves have now been the victims of no-hitters in Atlanta twice in the last six years. Randy Johnson, as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, became the oldest pitcher to pitch a perfect game when he shut down all 27 Braves he faced at Turner Field on May 18, 2004. Having no hits doesn’t necessarily mean a team has poor hitting; it means the guy on the mound is nasty. It also means he’s got a whole lot of luck.
When Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game last July 23 against Tampa Bay, his outfielder DeWayne Wise made a leaping, falling catch to rob the Rays’ Gabe Kapler of a home run and preserve the perfect game. That was pure skill on the part of Wise; it was pure luck on the part of Buehrle.
So it was that Ubaldo Jimenez took the mound on Saturday with Dexter Fowler in center field. The 6’5″ Fowler is known for his speed, and he certainly put it on display to help the cause in Atlanta. With two incredible catches, one of them a completely sprawling, breakneck diving catch, Fowler saved the day for Jimenez and gave him the confidence that he could do something special on that mound.
To me, there is nothing more awe-inspiring than a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, especially a perfect game. My brother Linus was lucky enough to be at Yankee Stadium on May 17, 1998 — Beanie Baby Day — when New York’s David Wells threw a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins. My dad was almost as lucky — he got to see the Mets’ Tom Seaver take a perfect game into the ninth inning before it was broken up.
Pitching a no-hitter is the ultimate accomplishment. It shows how dominant a pitcher can be. Every team has great players, and even the lesser players are still good enough to make the major leagues. Everyone is capable of getting a hit. When Wells pitched his perfect game, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and then-superstar Marty Cordova were in the lineup for the Twins, and both were silenced.
When Jimenez pitched on Saturday, he faced a potent lineup that included future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and the prince of baseball, Jason Heyward. That lineup was silenced as well.
In St. Louis on Saturday, a game that was broadcast on FOX beginning at 4 p.m. ended a little after 11. While no pitcher was perfect, the Cardinals’ Jaime Garcia did have a no-hitter through the first five innings. The Mets’ Johan Santana was equally dominant, and after each starter exited after seven innings — Santana with nine strikeouts, Garcia with only one hit allowed — one could not help but think, “What an excellent pitchers’ duel. This is going to be a great finish.”
And it was. Eventually.
Terrific defense helped save the day in this one as well.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with two out in the 10th inning before Matt Holliday lofted a foul pop-up towards the first-base stands. The Mets’ Alex Cora, hardly a first baseman by trade, jumped to catch the ball and landed in the seats, holding onto the ball to end the inning and lengthen highlight reels for years to come.
After the Mets scored in the 19th off the Cardinals’ second position player to pitch in the game, and the Cardinals tied it off the Mets’ closer, one could only sit in awe, agony, disbelief and, for true fans, excitement that a modern-day game was hitting the 20th inning.
Even truer baseball fans appreciated that it was only 1-1. Once the Mets finally put the game away in the 20th, sighs of relief were all the rage. Pitching and defense have been making a comeback, and never was it more present than on Saturday. The Mets are now one of three teams, along with the Padres and the Rays, that have never had a no-hitter thrown in team history. I’m still waiting — eventually some team has to come out of a game hitless at the hands of the Mets.
After all, as Danny Ozark once said, “Even Napoleon had his Watergate.”
Short hops: With two wins to open their weekend series against the Reds, the Pirates clinched a .500 record for the second straight week. After a sweep Sunday,
their 7-5 record was good enough to stand alone in second place. … The Toronto Blue Jays finally fell off from their torrid start and are starting to play more like they were expected to. … The only thing longer than a 20-inning game is an extra inning game that gets suspended due to rain and resumed the next day. The Rays won in extra innings on Saturday to finish their previous game against Boston before beating them again in Saturday’s scheduled game as well. … Tim Lincecum of the Giants is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA so far this season.
Tune in next week and check out
dailyjakjob.mlblogs.com for daily updates on the happenings in Major League Baseball.MONDAY SHORT HOPS:
- Other strange sweeps: The Pirates were not the only ones playing unexpectedly good baseball this past weekend; the Padres and the Indians also swept their respective three-game sets. San Diego managed to do it by scoring five runs in the seventh inning, beginning with three runs off of losing loser Aaron Heilman. Mets fans to this day wonder why we kept giving Heilman a chance but never really let Heath Bell do his thing. … The Indians’ sweep was a little less legitimate, as it came against the Toronto Blue Jays, who continue to fall into the trap of playing like we expected them to.
- Bleeding Sox: After losing the first three of a four game set to Tampa Bay, the Red Sox are now 4-8 and in fourth place. If they don’t turn it around soon, it’ll severely impede Toronto’s ability to fall lower in the standings. Matt Garza is perhaps the only pitcher in baseball more impressive than Tim Lincecum, as after throwing eight shutout innings he is 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA.
- Livan large: This isn’t so legitimate yet, but until he actually unravels, it’s crazy enough to note that the Major League ERA leader right now is Livan Hernandez of the Nationals, who has yet to allow an earned run so far in his two starts (16 innings), including a complete game shutout in his last outing. Washington’s fifth starter is scheduled to pitch again on Thursday against Colorado. … In other unlikely news, Scott Podsednik of the Royals leads the Majors in batting average at .457, followed by the Nats’ Pudge Rodriguez at .444 and Martin Prado of the Braves at .426.
As always, if you like what you read, please keep coming back and follow the blog daily (there’s a link in the sidebar), and please pass the JOB on to friends to help me get one!
Jonas On Baseball 
