Thursday, June 30, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
Tracy Gets The Message
How many days ago was Fire Jim Tracy's mast replaced by "Stop F-cking Bunting" or something similar? Looks like somebody sent Tracy the memo:If only coaches could always get results this quickly.However, their ability to read, process, and relay information continues to be incomplete, as Tracy still had Cesar Izturis at leadoff; Izturis, now arguable the worst of the two Izturis brothers in the metroplex, did not hit the ball out of the infield in his 1-4 effort yesterday.A message was relayed from Manager Jim Tracy to third base coach Jim Lett to batter Antonio Perez, who had squared to bunt on the previous pitch.
"Swing the bat," Lett yelled.
Perez promptly hit a three-run home run, propelling the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory Wednesday over the San Diego Padres in front of an announced 43,569 at Dodger Stadium.
Jim Lett for manager? It's getting to the point where you hope for a Darth Vader-style command transition. Unfortunately, it appears Tracy made the call:
"I yelled at Lett, 'What's he doing?' " Tracy said.The coach made Tracy's intentions clear to Perez, who moments later was pumping his fist in the air as the ball cleared the center-field fence.
"I thought I'd move the runners," Perez said. "They want me to swing, so that's fine. I love to swing."
Houlton, The Stopper
The Times reminds us that rookie D.J. Houlton will get Sunday's start. The Rule 5 draftee has suddenly morphed into the Dodgers' winningest pitcher in June, with a 4-1 record -- which can only assure that he's about to get dismantled by the Diamondbacks.And I Thought It Was His Middle Name
Nope, "Ervin" Santana is strictly a creation of Johan's imagination:Two years ago, the Angels' right-hander was named Johan. He was toiling at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, and Minnesota Twins left-hander Johan Santana was on the cusp of major-league stardom. That's when the Angels' Santana decided the American League wasn't big enough for two Johan Santanas.Update: I am reminded by a source who wishes to remain anonymous that this story is incorrect. An earlier foxsports.com story gets it right:He changed his name.
"I just came up with Ervin," Santana said. "Ervin Santana, that sounds good."
The Angels signed the 6-foot-3, 170-pound righthander in September of 2000. At that time he was going by the name of Johan Santana — now a very well-known name, but not his — and he was supposed to be just 16 years old. After the crackdown [on fraudulent birth dates and visas] his birthdate was corrected to show he was actually 10 months older and that his first name was really Ervin.
Yankees To Release Quantrill, Stanton
The AP reports the Yankees are about to release former Dodger Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton. The pair is expected to be replaced by former Dodger prospect Scott Proctor, and reserve outfielder Felix Escalonia. Quantrill has a 6.25 ERA in 32 IP with the Yanks; Stanton had a 7.07 ERA in 14 IP. Stanton was on the mound for the Yankees in Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS when he blew the save, giving up three earned runs and ultimately the win to the Angels.The Futures Of The Game
Rich writes up our little excursion last Saturday:I had witnessed Weaver's professional debut the Monday before and was anxious to see if he could improve upon his three-inning, three-hit, one-run effort against the Lake Elsinore Storm. It turned out that there were 5,797 curious fans in attendance--or nearly triple the number that braved the Southern California freeways five days earlier--who found out that Weaver (2.1-5-4-4-0-5, L) may not be as "major-league ready" as his agent Scott Boras once thought. (I may be guilty of being overly optimistic as well, although I think it remains a distinct possibility that Weaver could make the jump to the Angels as early as next summer.)
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