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

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Sunday, May 14, 2006

Pickoff Moves

Today's Birthdays

Johnny Babich BRO b. 1913, played 1934-1935, d. 2001-01-19

Pat Borders CAL b. 1963, played 1996. A member of the 1992 and 1993 Toronto squads that went all the way, he's had a diverse career spanning 17 seasons in the majors and nine franchises, appearing in five different postseasons. An unremarkable offensive player in the regular season, there was nothing in this converted third baseman's resume to presage his winning the 1992 World Series MVP, an award he got for a well-timed hot streak that saw him hit for a .450/.500/.750 line that included a homer off Tom Glavine in a taut 2-1 Game 3. The advent of Randy Knorr ate into his playing time, a situation compounded no doubt by an inability to throw out baserunners; the Blue Jays let him go to free agency in 1994. But after that, his career turned into a series of transactions that reads like the "begat" sections of Genesis. The Royals picked him up almost as an afterthought only a couple weeks before the strike-postponed 1995 season, and traded him to the Astros. The Cards signed him in the offseason, and then in another Biblical begat-like sequence, sent him to the Angels, who traded him a month and a half later to the White Sox. By that time, the Angels only needed a third catcher, and his tenure ended when GM Bill Bavasi figured the team needed unremarkable (I use that word a lot here) reliever Robert Ellis, who only pitched five innings for the Halos.

Borders had something of a career resurrection when he shuffled to Cleveland in 1997, where he was Sandy Alomar, Jr.'s backup on the strong Indians teams that won the AL pennant that year and the AL Central in 1998. Incomprehensibly, he now plays for the 51's, awaiting a call that will almost certainly never come.

Mark Dalesandro CAL b. 1968, played 1994-1995

Dave LaRoche CAL b. 1948, played 1970-1971, 1977-1980, All-Star: 1976,1977. One of the Top 100 Angels of All Time, he had one really good year in 1977, when he made the All Star team. His sons, Adam and Andy, are considered top-drawer prospects in the Braves and Dodgers systems, respectively.

Tony Smith BRO b. 1884, played 1910-1911, d. 1964-02-27

Quote, Unquote

One start every five days and a sub-Mendoza average isn't enough to have them figure out that Howie Kendrick's rusting on the bench?

"If it gets to a point where his role is diminished and he's not helping us move forward, we will consider sending him down," Manager Mike Scioscia said of Kendrick, who is working out at second, third and first.

Mike Scioscia, meet John Maynard Keynes:

Scioscia said he remains confident in today's starter, Jeff Weaver, who has lost his past three outings. "I like his approach," Scioscia said. "In the long run, he's going to be effective."

Bill Plaschke leaves the press box to discover that Aramark employees have the high-speed performance of a pair of drag racing snails:

The slowest person at Dodger Stadium is not Olmedo Saenz going to first or Grady Little going to the mound.
It is the concession lady going for the nachos.
She. Sighs. She. Shrugs. She. Walks. To. The. Other. End. Of. The. Counter.
It is the top of the third inning, I'm standing in a field-level line, there are 11 people ahead of me and the painfully loud rumors of a baseball game somewhere behind me.
She. Chats. With. Another. Concession. Lady. She. Walks. Back.

Yoda, you seek:

"This job is not easy, everybody knows that," he said. "You have bad days, and you have easy days where you throw three pitches."
A distant memory, those days are. Gagne's recovery from surgery to remove a nerve from his elbow is gaining urgency. He's supposed to return as soon as June 1.

And that's because they've had plenty of practice:

"This was nothing that hasn't been seen several times this season," Little said. "It's not a good feeling.
"At least by now we've learned to get over it and move on to the next day as quickly as possible."

The difference between Jered and Jeff?

[Mets pitching prospect Mike Pelfrey] has pastel blue eyes and sets off cash registers when he smiles. An easy confidence exudes from his 210-pound frame, but he wants more. Sitting in the visiting clubhouse of the Altoona Curve last week - the Pirates' Double-A affiliate - he goes back to a moment when he was in Long Beach, Calif., in March of 2004. Pelfrey, then a sophomore at Wichita State, saw what he wanted to be. Jered Weaver, the brother of former Yankee Jeff Weaver and a first-round pick of the Angels, was on the mound for Long Beach State and he was "dealin'," says Pelfrey. Weaver recorded his first 11 outs on Ks, but in the fifth he gave up a base hit, his first of the game. Weaver didn't walk back to he mound rattled; his eyes burning, he glared at the form now standing on the first-base bag.
"He kind of stared at him as if you say 'Hey, do you know who I am? I'm Jered Weaver, don't you ever do that again'," says Pelfrey.

Hey, Jon, Want Yer Old Job Back?

Sort of? The Daily News is having a contest that will end in the winner(s) writing on an assigned Dodger topic through August. "So keep it clean, be accurate with the facts," they warn, leaving me out of the running.

Roster Notes

Bartolo Colón had a successful bullpen session yesterday and feels good enough to have another today.
Kevin Gregg will miss his next turn in the rotation.
Bill Mueller will have his third surgery in three years on his knee, knocking him out for five weeks.
A precautionary MRI on Brad Penny's back revealed no damage.
Justin Duchscherer has been placed on the 15-day DL.
The Padres placed Woody Williams on the 15-day DL with a partial tear of his left calf muscle sustained while running the bases in Chicago yesterday.
Update: Thanks to Bob Timmermann for pointing out that the Yanks have disabled former Dodger minor leaguer Tanyon Sturtze (twice in the Dodgers system, once as an NRI to spring training and once under a minor league contract at Las Vegas). In his place, the Yanks have brought up ... Scott Erickson. Hilarity ensues, especially in Red Sox Nation, where they're already seeking out Hideki Matsui voodoo dolls.