Friday, July 09, 2004 |
El Ladrón Steals One From The Jays: Angels 5, Blue Jays 4
Victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan.Begging to differ with that dead Italian Fascist, the truth is that defeat also has a hundred fathers. In this case, we can safely say that Colon's lack of movement and velocity has had as much to do with that adipose pitcher's problems as his weight -- which might well be causative. Colon knows the gun's to his head; he couldn't have survived much longer without a win, and the ignominy of the bullpen -- or worse, the DL, with an unspecified injury -- awaited him if he didn't start producing. That Stoneman made the mistake of picking out this particular side of beef for four years on the Angels' mound is not Colon's fault; but his representation that he could pitch to earn the tall dollars he's been given, is. Update: During the game, one of the radio broadcasters mentioned that Colon's velocity was down around 92-93, but Richard said he heard Steve Physioc say the opposite, that his fastball was 95-96, which if true would be a huge improvement. Judging by his success today, I would have to believe the latter is the case.-- Galeazzo Ciano (1903–1944)
But today's story isn't just about Barfolo. No, it's also about more execrable baserunning from Kennedy, Figgins, and Eckstein, guys who should know better, AK and Eck especially. Figgins out at the plate running from second after Kennedy runs himself out in the same inning? Well, duh. When you outhit your opposition 16-5, you expect to see a wider spread in the "R" column than 5-4. And then putting Francisco Rodriguez again on the mound immediately after a horrible outing? I'm all in favor of getting back on that horse, but let the guy rest a bit. Okay, so he did pretty well. And, ditto for Percy, who scared me by giving up a walk and a hard-hit flyball to center, but is now three away from 300 saves. Whew. Percy really makes you appreciate everything Gagné's done.
The horror of this game is that it means Bartolo gets yet another chance; according to the Register, if he lost his start today, he'd likely be put in the bullpen or on the DL. It was a test he had to pass, but in passing it, he gets a longer leash to add more to the team's "L" column. On the other hand, it might also stay Bill Stoneman's exceptionally cautious hand from doing something exceptionally stupid -- like trading for Randy Johnson, a move our competitors are already applauding.
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