Tuesday, April 04, 2006 |
Two Games, And An Apology
Angels 5, Mariners 4
Man, it's been a while since 1995. For Angels fans, this comes as a relief; that star-crossed year, yet another of the Angels' accidental wanderings into contention, was immediately, inevitably followed by another six years in the wilderness. But for the Mariners, it's been a long, long time since M's fans routinely cooed at the front office, back in the days that the words "World Series" and "Seattle" got mention in the same sentence. In fact, for much of the next decade, Seattle fans could reasonably expect their team to make a run at the postseason, the team collecting three division wins and one Wild Card between 1995 and 2001.The hope has faded, as U.S.S. Mariner informs us that this is the worst opening-day attendance in ten years. Bill Bavasi may have known that he faced a farm system stripped of any significant talent and a team primed for an age-driven collapse when he took the job, but that hasn't lessened the rubber-hits-the-road reality that he has yet to return the franchise to consistent winning. Plunges into big-name free agency have had questionable effects, some good (Richie Sexson), some not so good (Adrian Beltre), and some still unknown (Jarrod Washburn). It's going to be a few years, at least, before they right the ship up there.
Nonetheless, it was a game that showed off some potential for the M's, and highlighted both the Angels' strengths and weaknesses almost in caricature. Consider:
- Newcomer Kenji Jojima homered. It's questionable what he'll deliver over 140-150 games, but he'll be someone to keep an eye on nonetheless.
- Elder statesman Jamie Moyer struggled early, yet somehow survived through six and two-thirds to yield a quality start.
- Ichiro struck out twice. He's declining somewhat, though still likely to be an impressive player.
- Beltre went 0-4.
Meantime, while Colón's wheels were starting to come unglued, Moyer steadied himself, collecting a 1-2-3 fifth -- and then the floodgates opened on Colón in the M's half of the fifth. Giving up a homer, a ground-rule double, a wild pitch, and a pair of RBI singles, Seattle tied it up, 3-3.
But if you had to name a place where the game was won, clearly it was on Figgins' steal of second in the ninth. With Figgins and Izturis in scoring position, Orlando Cabrera drove both in on a single straight up the middle. It wasn't a game-winning homer, but off-the-rack Angels offense that got the job done today. I tip my hat to the 1995 Mariners and move on; with Texas losing to the Red Sox and the Yanks smacking Barry Zito around, the Angels are, for the day, in sole possession of first place in the AL West. Only 161 more to go.
Update 4/4: I should also mention the manly job J.C. Romero did after Colón loaded the bases with no outs, preventing any runners from scoring. A very pleasant start for the former Twin.
Slugfest: Braves 11, Dodgers 10
I have never liked Derek Lowe, except in spurts; most of last year he was awful, and outside of an early-season crush I had on him before I found out just how bad he could be, he just left me unimpressed. Monday's opener left me no reason to change my mind. The one thing it did remind me of, though, was something that somebody-or-other said in the comments of Matt Welch's blog before he deleted all the comments, and that is that this is a lineup that could be improved by a bus hitting the right players. One of those guys is Nomar Garciaparra, and something very like that has just happened. I would also hazard that Bill Mueller is someone in a similar circumstance, as is one or more outfielders.Were the Dodger fans a little hasty booing Lowe? Probably not; he needs to be kept on his toes, but the bus analogy apparently doesn't hold with respect to Kuo, who gave up a pair of runs over only two outs. A repeat of last year might convince people that McCourt really is a fool, but for now I observe the usual precautions when predicting the outcomes of any team in the NL West. For all I know, the Padres could turn into a lump of camoflage-colored chicken soup, the Giants into steroidally-overbuilt broken limbs, the Diamondbacks into red desert dust. It's a long way yet to irretrievably lost; let us see what prevails.
You mean you like Lowe when he pitches well and don't like him when he doesn't?
: 4/04/2006 09:01:00 AMJust because DePo liked to look at numbers doesn't mean that he was any good ... and it also doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with looking at the numbers ... it's just that DePo wasn't a good GM during the time he was with the Dodgers.
: 4/04/2006 01:52:00 PMStrawman. I never said any such thing.
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