Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Al Mamaux BRO b. 1894, played 1918-1923, d. 1963-01-02. There's nothing like a phenom who doesn't phenominate; just ask Mariners fans puzzled by the newly enigmatic Felix Hernandez. Al Mamaux was called "the new Christy Mathewson" but after two straight years as a 21-game winner, he didn't live up to it. Maybe the fact that he pitched 251.2 innings as a 21-year-old and three hundred and ten as a 22-year-old had something to do with his sudden decline into relative mediocrity. It's a scene we still see these days; Dusty Baker abused Mark Prior's 22-year-old arm by making him go 211.1 IP, and he hasn't been the same since. (Prior, by the way, recently had a rehab start at low-A Peoria, and his velocity was off... way off.) Mamaux was a 12-8, 2.69 ERA reliever on the pennant-winning 1920 Robins; he retired after playing a season for the Yankees in 1924.
Mel Nelson LAA b. 1936, played 1963
Ed Rakow LAN b. 1935, played 1960, d. 2000-08-26
Jesse Whiting BRO b. 1879, played 1906-1907, d. 1937-10-28
All Better Now: Angels 4, Twins 3
For one inning, the Angels looked like a team that could get things done, Figgins getting to third on a botched pickoff by Twins reliever Jesse Crain, and the "pissed" Orlando Cabrera singling him home. ("Pissed", of course, was his word from the postgame interview, and I'm amazed they let that one get on the airwaves; is saying a naughty word less objectionable if a player does so with a Spanish accent? Howard Stern could have stayed on CBS if he had only known that secret!) But before that, Dallas McPherson and Kendry Morales were both completely ineffective, as if to remind us that we have a long, long ways to go in the player development part. K-Rod pitched two scoreless innings and looked more like Ben Weber doing it, getting groundballs and flyballs but nary a strikeout.But, the master of the evening was John Lackey. There was no question but that he threw one of his better efforts this year, and this time without any flailing defense behind him (he had three unearned runs in his last outing).
Roster Notes
- Garret Anderson isn't pleased with his own production, but what are you gonna do when he's as banged up as he is? The team's options of Dallas McPherson, Tim Salmon, Juan Rivera, and Kendry Morales all have their respective flaws as possible replacements for Vlad-protection.
- Bartolo Colón will start a minor league rehab assignment for 60 pitches at Rancho Cucamonga; he'll go to Salt Lake on June 6, barring any kind of trouble in his high-A effort.
- Finally! The Angels signed third-round pick, pitcher Sean O'Sullivan near the last day of eligibility, for a $500,000 bonus. "It is what it is," O'Sullivan said later. “I never planned on living off my signing bonus for the rest of my life. I'll make my money when I get to the big leagues.”
- Uh-oh: You know, I was just thinking about the kind of hitter Dallas McPherson was when he was going through the minors, when I got this Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story about Brandon Wood's less-than-total success with the Travs. Quote:
“The ball jumps off his bat,” Angels scout Larry “Moose” Stubing said. “He takes batting practice ; it sounds different. Him and [former Trav Dallas] McPherson, you don’t have to look. I can show up and tell who’s hitting. And his mental makeup is outstanding.”
...eyes roll... Not again....
“He’s an aggressive swinger,” Boykin said. “He puts a lot of balls in play and he can hit all pitches, so it’s not like he’s going to take a lot of pitches.”
- I missed this on Saturday, but Darin Erstad's rehab has been "stalled indefinitely".
- Factoid: Orlando Cabrera has safely reached base in the last 30 straight games, the longest active such streak in the majors.
- Of course, for the Dodgers, the big news is the return of Eric Gagné to the 25-man, and on this occaision, Bill Plaschke has penned a hopeful piece, but given the circumstances, Gagné's circumspection is pretty well-founded.
Update: Jon stays on the Dodgers case for hiding injuries. "Just because it's sometimes productive and occasionally heroic doesn't make it right."
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