Saturday, May 15, 2004 |
Pickoff Moves
Salmon, Damned
Two at bats. Two freakin' at bats. That's all it took before Salmon's knee blew out again."It felt fine during warm-ups and pregame, but when I actually got out there and played at game speed it hurt," Salmon said. "You can do all the practice you want, but you can't simulate a game situation. That's why they have these rehab games. I needed to see how it would react at being a little out of control on a swing and running the bases hard."Grand. Simply grand.. . .
"I have very mixed emotions right now. From a player's perspective its great to get back on the field, but the injury just isn't where it is supposed to be," Salmon said. "We've got a lot of good things going on with the big club. It's a long season and I don't want to force this and drag this thing out. I'm still trying to figure things out. We'll have to see how it feels tomorrow. Right now it is tender and sore."
Salmon was supposed to play this weekend with the Quakes and possibly rejoin the Angels Tuesday, but that time table is now up in the air.
Glaus At 1B?
The Angels website picked up on the possibility mentioned in yesterday's broadcast that Glaus might play first base to keep his bat in the lineup rather than have a fixed DH. The way the team's been injured this year, we'll need every break we can get.Reds 2, Dodgers 1
The ride's over.You'll have games like this in the course of a season, but the question is, was it avoidable? Is Ishii reverting to form? I don't know, but the number of walks points that way. But the bats, the bats... my first thought, after reading the box score, was Grabby batting leadoff? Another Tracy's-lost-his-mind moment, I thought, but 1-3 with a walk isn't too bad. The problem is the gaping hole that has become Shawn Green's bat -- .236? Enough, already -- to the bottom of the lineup with you. But -- unlike Eckstein, Mendozadom is highly unlikely for Green. Even if he continues at his current .192 pace (over the last week), it would still take him 138 four at bat games to get there. His descent has been imperceptable after his early good start; as of April 15th, he was hitting .333. On the other hand, the Reds' pitching staff is 13th in the league by ERA, so if there were ever a team he could recover his swing against, it should be Cincinnati. I'll hold off on advice to move him down the order, but if he doesn't start producing this weekend, it's time.
No Epic Battles For Us, Thanks -- We're Waving
Jon dutifully recorded Cora's epic at bat Thursday, with this hoping-to-counteract-the-stereotype close:To anyone who might be reading this from the outside, who has bought into the stereotype of the Dodger fan, who has mocked us, please try to understand. Just try.Of course they are, Jon, but that doesn't mean they actually give a damn about good baseball. I had completely forgotten about this, but letter writer Paul Haddad in today's Times reminds us that the crowd assembled was "busy doing the wave throughout most of Cora's 14-minute battle for the ages." Arrive in the third, and do the wave through the exciting bits. <expletive>Dodger fans are real.
In any event, is the wave really even mutually exclusive from getting into the game excitement? I mean, it's not like participating in the wave takes a lot of mental energy.
: 5/16/2004 01:54:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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