6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Quote, Unquote

Did Lackey's new contract have anything to do with last night's craptitude?

"No excuses, I just threw a couple of bad pitches," Lackey said. "The contract has nothing to do with anything anymore. It's time to pitch. The stuff is fine, and it's going to get better. I just made some bad pitches."

Adam Kennedy: weren't you a Gold Glove caliber defender once upon a time?

"It was not a very well-played game by us, and it's tough to expect to win when you don't play very well," Kennedy said. "You try not to have many nights like these, but they happen."

Keep that up, and the decision to bring in that Kendrick guy will get easier and easier to make. Speaking of decisionmaking, walking Ibañez to get to Sexson?

"That was 180 degrees from the way Yan has been pitching," Scioscia said. "He just didn't make good pitches to Richie, and it cost him. We were confident when we gave him the ball that he would hold the game where it was. Unfortunately, it went the other way."

Somebody wasn't watching last year, it seems. Now we know what Joe Maddon was used for...

I see James Loney was vaccinated with a phonograph needle:

"Thanks to Ned and Grady, to scouting director Logan White and Chris Smith — he's the area scout who signed me," Loney gushed. "Oh, and the owner. Thanks to the owner. Make sure you mention him."

First time I've heard that from a player, but okay. So, how long is Nomar gonna be out?

"I feel better, but the trainers and people who have been around this kind of injury before don't want me to take a swing and take 1,000 steps backward," Garciaparra said. "I'll take two weeks and count on being healthy."

We'll take that as meaning Will Carroll's estimate of a month is on target.

Average Player Salary Nears $3M

The average baseball player salary is $2.87 million, and the three-highest players are Yankees: A-Rod, Derek Jeter, and Jason Giambi.

Minor League Umpires Go On Strike

Baseball America says that the Association of Minor League Umpires has gone on strike following a negotiation impasse over salaries and benefits.

Now that they are on strike, the umpires could be permanently replaced. In the past, Yund has also said that the strike could lead to the elimination of the system where all major league umpire hirings come from the minor leagues.

"Strikers can be permanently replaced. We're not saying that definitely will happen, but we aren't saying that it won't," [Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation attorney George] Yund said. "The system where minor league umpires are the only ones hired as major league umpires may not survive a strike."

Well, good luck with that.

Roster Notes

• The Times reported on yesterday's stuff from Ron Fineman regarding Derek Lowe's pharmacopacetic adventures.
• The Dodgers have asked Cesar Izturis to work on playing the outfield, a request that has not been answered by the former starting shortstop.

  Update: The Dodgers are asking him to do a Chone Figgins imitation with this request, only not so much with the speed. It's a good deal for the Dodgers, and might help Izturis' career at this point.

• Eric Gagné decided to serve a suspension leftover from last year; Rotoworld smells a rat, claiming the timing is suspicious thanks to a lack of velocity, among other telltale signs of decline and/or injury.
• The Padres released Tagg Bozied, a second-tier prospect who fizzled after injuring himself jumping on home plate following a grand slam at AAA Portland.
• Rangers starter Adam Eaton had surgery on his finger and could be out up to four months.

UTK Quick Hits

From today's UTK:

• Quick anatomy lesson: the external obliques are the muscle just below the rib cage, but above the hip. Lean to the right side and put your hand about belly button level on the left side of your body. Straighten up. The muscle you felt tightening up was your external oblique. The intercostals muscles are the muscles above the obliques, covering and going in between the ribs. They perform similar functions and are close, making them sometimes interchangeable terms for those not interested in the precision a medhead normally demands. With that all clear, the injury to Nomar Garciaparra is not to the oblique, as I was told and reported yesterday, but to his intercostals, which the Dodgers announced when putting him on the DL. The end result (his time missed) is about the same for both and both have recurrent tendencies. Still, it’s better to be precise and correct myself when necessary. Thanks to all that pointed out the situation.
• Bobby Crosby wants to make it through a season healthy, pulling the "injury prone" label off with a flourish and replacing it with the "elite player" tag that many seem to think is coming. I won’t argue with those who think he could be great if healthy; I’m just not ready to say he can stay healthy. Crosby got off to an unlucky start, leaving his glove down on a tag just a bit too long and getting spiked through the leather. He’s got a nice cut on his glove hand that should keep him out for the rest of the week, though it is not a major or long-term concern. Interestingly, there’s no “blood rule” in baseball as there is in basketball; having watched the A’s game after the NCAAs, I noticed that Crosby had some blood on his hand while in the field.
• Eric Gagne is going to take his suspension left over from last year while recovering from a virus and ear problem. This convenient suspension crap is something I think needs to be addressed in the next CBA. Here’s a tip: conference calls …

Draft Day Cometh

The June draft is a-comin', and Kevin Goldstein doesn't like it one bit, quoting one anonymous team executive who calls it "appalling", and another scouting director who said, "You spend a lot of time wondering if you want to give first-round money to these guys." The one guy he did like is Cal State Long Beach's Evan Longoria, but that's because everyone else is so weak ("it's more because he's treading water as the rest of the hitters are seemingly drowning").

An Apology In Advance: Delayed Minor League Scorebook Posts

I started working with my crawler software for MILB.com, and to my horror discovered that it no longer works with the site; I may have to play catch-up as I retrofit it. Bottom line is I may be late getting the first few game summaries out the door. Stay tuned.