Monday, July 31, 2006 |
Them's The Breaks: A's 3, Angels 1
| Vs. Lefties | Vs. Righties |
CF Figgins SS Cabrera 2B Kendrick RF Guerrero LF Rivera DH Salmon 3B Izturis C Napoli/Molina 1B Quinlan |
CF Figgins SS Cabrera 1B Kendrick RF Guerrero LF Rivera DH Anderson 3B Izturis/McPherson* C Napoli/Molina 2B Kennedy |
Speaking of Napoli, he got his first real hit in tonight's game in what seemed like forever, and a long flyball out that came within a few feet of being a home run. At some point, he's got to start worrying that Jeff Mathis might get a callup to fight for playing time, if not this year then next.
OT: Whatever Happened To Plastic.com?
Dodgers Collecting Whole Set Of Devil Rays, Trade For Lugo
I refer you to this. It's not like the Dodgers didn't have enough shortstops, or enough well-below-average ones. At least Cesar Izturis could claim to be a league-average glove at short (BPro subscription required for both those DT cards).
Update: more on this at dodgers.com and Jon's. Also, Josh Rawitch promises conference calls from Ned Colletti and Greg Maddux will be posted soon explaining the trade.
Dodgers Have Tentative Deal For Maddux
Padres, Cubs Near Deal For Todd Walker
Duaner Sanchez Involved In Season-Ending Accident
If You Can't Say Anything Nice About Ned Colletti's Evaluation Of Prospects...
The point isn't that this move destroys the franchise, the point is that Colletti has now firmly established his modus operandi as making a series of moves that marginally hurt the team while accruing no tangible advantage, solely on the basis of a poorly-defined concept of a certain time period being more crucial. Part of the process has involved consistently evaluating talent in a way that, from my sabermetric viewpoint, looks chronically inaccurate. Of course none of these moves in a series of marginal downgrades is the one that destroys the franchise, but the cumulative value will be to hurt the team. And the consistency with which these moves have continued is enough to make me close to deciding that I can't follow the Dodgers like a fan anymore.
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Mike Bielecki CAL b. 1959, played 1995
Vic Davalillo LAN,CAL b. 1936, played 1968-1969, 1977-1980, All-Star: 1965. A terrible base stealer and an impatient hitter, he had a shockingly long career anyway, retiring at age 43 after sixteen seasons in the bigs. The Angels had him for parts of two seasons after Cleveland decided they'd had enough of his impatience at the plate; his career took him through Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Oakland and the Mexican Leagues before landing in Los Angeles as a pinch-hitter.
Davalillo had a moment of glory in the 1977 NLCS Game 3, a game the Dodgers had done their best to lose, including two runs driven in by consecutive bases-loaded walks by Burt Hooten in the bottom of the second, and an unearned run in the eighth thanks to Ron Cey hurling a ball into the opposition dugout. The Phillies, who had been all but unbeatable at home that year (60-21), had the Dodgers down 5-3 in the top of the ninth, and following two consecutive groundouts by Dusty Baker and Rick Monday, it looked like another win for the Phils.
Davalillo then supplied a miracle: he turned a two-strike pitch into a drag bunt single.
"God had had it with the Phillies," Times columnist Jim Murray wrote, because then Manny Mota followed up with a double that the lumbering Greg Luzinski couldn't field cleanly, allowing Mota to get to third on the error — and Davalillo to score. Davey Lopes then drove Mota home on what was adjudged an infield single to third. Or at least, it started out that way: an Astroturf seam caused the ball to take a wild hop into Mike Schmidt's knee, and then caromed to Larry Bowa, who managed to get the ball to first. The resulting call was controversial: umpire Bruce Froemming said, "Either the runner got there first or the ball did. Lopes beat the throw."
The God of Murray's universe wasn't done with the Phils yet: Gene Garber, one of the game's most dominating relievers, threw the ball away on a pickoff toss, and Lopes easily got to second, scoring on a Bill Russell single. After Reggie Smith's groundout ended the Phillies' catastrophe, the Phils at least had to look forward to their 2-3-4 batters coming up in the persons of Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, and Greg Luzinski. Outside of a hit-by-pitch on Luzinski, the Phils went quietly. The Dodgers went on to take the best-of-five series in front of a stunned 64,924 fans at Veteran's Stadium, with a 4-1 complete game by Tommy John.
Pembroke Finlayson BRO b. 1888, played 1908-1909, d. 1912-03-06
Billy Wynne CAL b. 1943, played 1971
Trade Rumormongering And Other Roster Notes
- Bill Stoneman's still working on a Tejada-for-Santana-and-Wood or Aybar deal? I thought that got shot down, and hallelujah?!
- The mumbling about Alfonso Soriano for somebody or other persists.
- Ned Colletti has one or two deals going, maybe, possibly.
- Trot Nixon's injury yesterday was a biceps strain. The injury was originally incurred during an earlier series against Minnesota in mid-June, and yesterday's at-bat aggravated it.
Fans Interfering With Balls In Play
... will not be hauled off by security if their last names happen to be Affleck and Garner:Die-hard Red Sox fan Ben Affleck did his best to keep Alex Gonzalez in the batter’s box last night when he stepped up to Angels’ first baseman Howie Kendrick as he leaned into the stands to catch Gonzalez’s foul ball, but it was “Gone, Baby, Gone.”Affleck, with wife and “Alias” star Jennifer Garner at his side, had a grab at the foul ball during the second inning when the couple shared a field box on the first base line and the Sox were trailing 3-1. Both Affleck and Kendrick were looking up. Affleck was angling for the ball as Kendrick ran toward him as it came down. When Kendrick reached the stands, Affleck refused to budge. Kendrick’s left arm pushed Affleck’s outstretched hands out of the way, making the catch to end the inning.
Some words flew between the Cambridge homie and at least one Angel following the play, and fans apparently slammed Affleck for not catching the ball. The Angels went on to win the game, 10-4.
Sunday, July 30, 2006 |
Minor League Scorebook
Aybar: 2-5, 1 K
Morales: 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 K
Eylward: 2-4
Myers: 2-4, 1 K
Budde: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 K
Bland: (W, 4-3), 6.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 4.65 ERA
Okay, that's more like it! Morales walloped a couple homers and practically single-handedly won the game. Perennial LOOGY hanger-on Mike Meyers gave up Morales' second dinger. Not to be forgotten: Nate Bland's solid outing, a better-than-quality start.
Rodriguez, S: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Collins: 1-3, 2 BB
Fuller: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
Toussaint: 2-4, 1 BB, 2 K
Reilly: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Leahy: 2-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Posey: (L, 3-10), 3.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 5.52 ERA
Torres: 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 7.13 ERA
Micah Posey, you know. Cody Fuller's homer couldn't rescue the Quakes. Injury or no injury, Joe Torres is starting to look like a reclamation project; he's only had two games this month in which he didn't allow an earned run. That's terrible for a reliever.
Statia: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Morris: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Hawkins: 3.2 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 K, 3 BB, 5.48 ERA
Didjurgis: (L, 0-7) (in relief), 3.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 5.29 ERA
As good as Tim Didjurgis looked early in the season, so he looks bad now, posting a 12.08 ERA in July. How they must miss Nick Adenhart. Great night for Hainley Statia, though.
Moore: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Schoeninger: (W, 3-1), 5.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 7 K, 0 BB, 2.29 ERA
Miller: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Dustin Miller suddenly appeared on the AZL Angels roster today, and I have to believe he entered the organization as a nondrafted free agent, since all the other teams took a 'bye on him. His first outing looks like an unqualified success, too, picking up four strikeouts in two innings. So, too, was 23rd-rounder Tim Schoeninger, a former U. Nevada pitcher who picked up his third five-inning-or-greater shutout of the year, along with a very shiny 2.29 ERA.
Valdez: 2-6, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Kemp: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Young, D: 2-6, 1 K
LaRoche: 2-6, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Robles: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Riggs: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Hanrahan: 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 K
Hanrahan: 5.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 K, 5 BB, 1 HR, 5.47 ERA
Miller: 0.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 3 BB, 4.50 ERA
Carter: (BS, 5)(L, 1-3) (in relief), 1.2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 4.72 ERA
Joel Hanrahan and Greg Miller both stumbled in a loss for which Lance Carter ultimately took the fall. Jeff Duncan and Andy LaRoche both homered in a losing cause; Las Vegas outhit Iowa 81-14, but weren't able to outscore them. Michael Restovich homered and drove in five for the Iowa Cubs.
Abreu: 0-4
Brazell: 2-4, 2 K
Raglani: 0-3, 1 K
Ojeda: (L, 6-3), 4.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 2.99 ERA
Pickoff Moves, Bedtime Edition
Revitalized: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3
When this weekend started I had an inkling that the Nats might be the team to pull off a series win against, and sure enough, here we are, following up Ramon Ortiz's pratfall off the mound and into another loss. He gave up solo homers to J.D. Drew, Andre Ethier, and Jose Cruz, Jr., in a rare show of power.W Lackey (10-6), L Affleck (0-1): Angels 10, Red Sox 4
I hate jackasses who interfere with balls in play, and congratulations to Howie Kendrick for getting in Ben Affleck's face and making a reverse Steve Bartman play. (Despite the AP wire recap, Affleck did not "pull back", as the replays pretty clearly showed.) For a game that turned into a blowout, it sure had its share of surprises:- John Lackey (0-4, 6.04 ERA versus the Sox lifetime) versus Curt Schilling (4-0, 2.17 ERA)? This was supposed to be a contest? Yet Lackey put up a heckuva good fight against the league's third-best offense, giving up only four runs, and of those, three earned. Lackey's recently earned comparisons to a young Curt Schilling, and we might be seeing why.
- Curt Schilling gave up homers to Vlad Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, and Juan Rivera all in the third inning, something he hadn't done since 1997.
- Trot Nixon left the game after a wild swing that left him unable to continue in the third with two out and a 2-2 count on. Wily Mo Peña came in to complete the at-bat with a strikeout.
- Orlando Cabrera lost a pop fly that looked eminently catchable, but managed to get the out at second anyway.
- Kevin Gregg ended the game on a strikeout — of David Ortiz.
Overdue Roster Notes
- Nomar Garciaparra hit the 15-day DL with a sprained right knee ligament; for now, Wilson Betemit replaces him on the 25-man roster.
- James Loney got a callup today and got a hit in today's game.
- Bartolo Colón was placed on the 15-day DL with triceps tendinitis, retroactive to July 27; the Angels called up Greg Jones from Salt Lake, but Joe Saunders is expected to make Col´n's next start, Tuesday against the A's. SportsTicker wryly notes that Colón now has more DL stints than wins. (Also via AP.)
- The Rangers traded former Dodger reliever Bryan Corey to the Red Sox for AA reliever Luis Mendoza. To make room, the Red Sox moved Matt Clement to the 60-day DL. In a related move, the Rangers activated Adam Eaton.
- As expected, the Yankees traded for Bobby Abreu, also receiving Cory Lidle from the Phillies.
The Phillies get left-hander Matt Smith and Class A shortstop C.J. Henry -- a first-round draft pick in 2005 out of Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City. They also landed rookie league catcher Jesus Sanchez and right-hander Carlos Monasterios.
Birthdays, Yesterday And Today
Yesterday's
Luis Alicea ANA b. 1965, played 1997
George Cutshaw BRO b. 1887, played 1912-1917, d. 1973-08-22
Steve Frey CAL b. 1963, played 1992-1993
Roy Henshaw BRO b. 1911, played 1937, d. 1993-06-08
Chief Meyers BRO b. 1880, played 1916-1917, d. 1971-07-25
Greg Minton CAL b. 1951, played 1987-1990, All-Star: 1982. A Top 100 Angel, "Moon Man" Minton was almost washed up by the time the Angels got him, but some of that was psychological; he had come off a divorce and elbow surgery (for bone chips), and the fans at Candlestick had started to boo the Giants reliever who had once been a bullpen ace. He briefly provided a shot in the arm for a mediocre Angels bullpen following the 1986 debacle that saw Donnie Moore spiral into irrelevance, and the young Chuck Finley struggle.
Luther Roy BRO b. 1902, played 1929, d. 1963-07-24
Harvey Shank CAL b. 1946, played 1970
Dutch Stryker BRO b. 1895, played 1926, d. 1964-11-05
Gary Thomasson LAN b. 1951, played 1979-1980
Today
Carl Doyle BRO b. 1912, played 1939-1940, d. 1951-09-04
Ricky Horton LAN b. 1959, played 1988-1989
Mickey Mahler CAL b. 1952, played 1981-1982. "Minor league batting statistics", Bill James wrote, "will predict major league batting performance with essentially the same reliability as previous major league statistics." This doesn't apply to pitchers, though, and Mahler is something of a poster boy for why. You see, he led the Dominican Winter League in wins by an American, with 41; in the majors, he had a career mark of 9-32 and a 5.45 ERA, but as a reliever, he was 5-0 with a 2.73 ERA. Some guys just can't hack it as a starter.
Paul Minner BRO b. 1923, played 1946, 1948-1949
Joe Nuxhall LAA b. 1928, played 1962, All-Star: 1955-1956. The youngest player of the 20th century to reach the majors — he signed with permission from his principal as a 15-year-old — Nuxhall got shelled his first time out in 1944 but came back from the minors in 1952 to have a long and productive career with the Reds, including two All-Star appearances. He only appeared in five games with the Angels, after spending a year with Kansas City; he returned to the Reds to finish his career, retiring at 37, and working for a time as a broadcaster.
Johnny Rizzo BRO b. 1912, played 1942, d. 1977-12-04
Jim Spencer CAL b. 1947, played 1968-1973, All-Star: 1973, d. 2002-02-10. Maybe if I'd have been born earlier, I might be writing, "J.T. Snow, an all-glove, no-hit first baseman in the Jim Spencer mold...". He won the Gold Glove twice, but he certainly provided an archetype for Snow. Unlike Snow, though, he actually had first baseman's numbers once in his career, in 1979 with the Yankees; even then, he was only Chris Chambliss's understudy.
Casey Stengel BRO b. 1890, played 1912-1917, Hall of Fame: 1966 (Veterans), d. 1975-09-29. Born Charles Dillon Spengel, "Casey" was a nickname from his hometown of Kansas City. Stengel spent his first six years in the majors in a Brooklyn, where his daily interaction with fans on and off the field created the Robins' persona as a neighborhood team. It was also where he developed a reputation as a clown, a trait that got him in trouble in his later career. The Robins won the 1916 pennant in an incredible season that saw Stengel hit an improbable homer in a May 2 game against the Giants. Robins catcher Chief Meyers said of Stengel, "It was Casey who kept us on our toes."
After his tour with the Dodgers, he spent time with Pittsburgh, Philadephia — and then the Giants, where he learned the craft of a manager at the knee of John McGraw. From McGraw, one of the greatest managers of all time, Stengel drew his philosophy of platooning players, something he would take to great lengths with the late 40's and early 50's Yankees. Stengel first managed the Dodgers for three years, unsuccessfully, starting in 1934; three losing seasons later, he was back in the minors plying his trade. In 1938, the Boston Braves (then Bees) hired him as their manager, and he stuck longer there, but ultimately lost his job; once again, he managed in the minors for the American Association Kansas City franchise, and the Pacific Coast League's Oakland team.
1949 marked the beginning of an unparalleled run with the Yankees: he managed New York to seven World Series titles, five of them consecutive, and ten pennants. He rebuilt the team from a star-at-every-position to one built around Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford. He ran his starters in no particular order, and in fact, Stengel was accused of never having an actual rotation. There was something to it: staff ace Whitey Ford only got the maximum number of starts (39) after Stengel left the Yankees. Stengel relentlessly promoted DiMaggio, and made playing time for his role players, many of whom could have started elsewhere, contingent on a brutal competition. That led to bitter feelings among some players in the dugout; other players worshiped him, perhaps leading to Stengel's saying that, "The secret of managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five who are undecided."
Following a 1960 World Series loss to the Pirates, the Yankees announced his retirement; Stengel said he was fired. He returned to his home in Glendale to run the Valley National Bank, but the very next year, the expansion Mets tabbed him to run their new franchise. His comic demeanor took the edge off a horrible team that lost constantly, 170-414 over the three and change years he was at the helm. The endless failure prompted Stengel to ask, "Can't anybody here play this game?", later used as the title of a Jimmy Breslin book about the 40-120 season of the 1962 Mets. Stengel fractured his hip in a fall a week before his birthday in 1965, forcing his retirement from baseball.
Ellis Valentine CAL b. 1954, played 1983, All-Star: 1977. Valentine came up with the Expos as a 20-year-old in 1975, a year before Andre Dawson; along with Warren Cromartie, all three were expected to be stars, but only Dawson really stuck. Valentine got hit in the face with a fastball in what could have been his best season, 1980, ending his season, and seemingly changing him as a player. By the time the Angels got him, he couldn't hit righties anymore (.294 against lefties vs. .193 against righties). On top of that, his power had vanished. Two years later, he was out of baseball at 30.
Chuck Ward BRO b. 1894, played 1918-1922, d. 1969-04-04
Minor League Scorebook
Smith, C: 2-5, 1 2B
Aybar: 3-5
Morales: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Eylward: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Mathis, J: 0-4
Pavkovich: 2-4
Blakely: 2-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Rouwenhorst: 4.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 4.85 ERA
Wilhite, M: (W, 6-2) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 3.50 ERA
Evans: 1-3, 1 K
Porter: 2-3, 1 K
Wilson: 0-2, 1 BB
Green: (L, 6-2), 4.2 IP, 8 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 2 HR, 5.12 ERA
Wood: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
Evans: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Wilson: 1-1
Bacon: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Davidson: 4.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 5.73 ERA
Zimmermann: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 5.61 ERA
Thompson: (L, 2-4) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 2 HR, 5.43 ERA
Rodriguez, S: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
Collins: 0-3
Reilly: 3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Fuller: 2-3
Gelinas: 6.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 5.17 ERA
Pullin: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 5.68 ERA
Jepsen: (W, 3-2) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 4 BB, 3.35 ERA
Statia: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Trumbo: 0-4
Davies: 2-3, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Pete: (L, 0-1) (in relief), 0.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 14.40 ERA
Phillips: 1-4, 1 RBI, 3 K
Nieves: 3-4, 1 RBI
Haynes: 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 3 BB, 3.30 ERA
Connelly: (W, 3-0) (in relief), 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 3.07 ERA
Valdez: 2-4
Kemp: 1-2, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Young, D: 1-4, 2 RBI
LaRoche: 0-4, 1 K
Guzman, J: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Robles: 1-4
Stults: (W, 7-8), 7.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 4.54 ERA
Osoria: 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 4.50 ERA
Hu, C: 1-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Abreu: 2-2, 2 RBI
Meadows: 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Raglani: 1-4
Ellis: 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Nall: 5.0 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 3.05 ERA
Kozlowski: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 2.09 ERA
Justis: 1-2, 3 BB
Dunlap: 0-2, 3 BB
Paul, X: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Nicholson: 2-3, 1 BB
Dewitt: 0-1
Thomas: 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 9 K, 0 BB, 2.53 ERA
Ketchner: (BS, 1)(L, 0-1) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 2 HR, 9.00 ERA
Denker, T: 1-3, 1 BB
Mitchell: 2-2, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Hunt: 2-3
McDonald: (W, 3-9), 7.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 4 BB, 4.28 ERA
Dasni: 6.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 5.89 ERA
White: (L, 1-2) (in relief), 1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 3.60 ERA
Ramirez: 1.2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 3.44 ERA
Mattingly: 0-3, 2 K
Kershaw: 5.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 10 K, 3 BB, 1.29 ERA
Gardner: (W, 1-0) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 5.19 ERA
Mattingly: 0-3, 2 K
Haldis: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 2.83 ERA
Diaz: (W, 2-1) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 1.65 ERA
Saturday, July 29, 2006 |
Minor League Scorebook
News
- The Dodgers are considering converting Sergio Pedroza to catcher, since he's blocked at high class A. Pedroza, hitting a Sally League-leading 21 homers as the Columbus Catfish starting right fielder, hasn't caught games since high school. Russell Martin followed a similar path to Dodger Stadium.
- The Dodgers acquired
Wilson Betemit from the Atlanta Braves for Danys Baez and
Willy Aybar. This kills the Braves for third base depth: last
offseason, they unloaded 3B prospect Andy Marte for Edgar Rentaria, who
struggled with the Red Sox, and in Friday's game, the Braves lost Chipper Jones to an oblique strain that will take him out for the series and possibly longer — meaning Willy Aybar is their first resort at third, at least for a while.
How much you like this trade really depends on how much you like the prospects involved, because unloading Baez and getting something back for him without demanding a disposal fee amounts to an act of superhuman kindness on the part of John Schuerholz. It was becoming clear that Aybar's glove wasn't going to play at third especially well, or really, at any position; as his most recent Baseball America profile said, "[t]he problem is that while he has attractive tools, he doesn't profile well at any position", lacking the power needed for a corner infielder and minus the range and agility of a second baseman. Ultimately, he sounds a lot like Antonio Perez v2.0. That is, he's a player who needs to be on an AL team, but minus the kind of pop you expect to see in a DH, he may be flirting with career irrelevance, or a career as a utilityman.
Betemit, on the other hand, stalled in AAA, repeating the level three times — rarely a good sign, but in 2004 at age 24, it wasn't terrible, either. His 2005, a partial season where he played infrequently, was quite similar to his minor league career: a very solid .305 average (better than he'd posted AAA), not so much power, but a substantially below-average glove (Rate2 scores of 86, 91, and 88 in 2004 through 2006) at third base. Like Aybar, Betemit doesn't really walk all that often, striking out about two or three times more often than he walks. I'll call this trade a wash for both sides until I find a more compelling argument for or against.
Update: For the more literal-minded, this trade swaps Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany for a second-class third-baseman. I'm not sure what that says about Ned Colletti, but we'll probably have to wait a couple years to find out.
- I also wanted to make a note about Andy Marte, the castoff prospect who's been making the rounds through three different teams. Marte was originally considered the Braves' long-term answer at third after Chipper Jones either moved to the outfield or out of the organization. But then the Braves made an unaccountable trade with the Red Sox, getting Edgar Rentaria for Marte. The Sox, in turn, subsequently shipped off Marte to the Indians for Coco Crisp along with junk going in both directions. Marte, who had been a highly-thought-of prospect, had been unable to dislodge 36-year-old Aaron Boone from third at the big club, despite Boone's protracted slump (hitting .250 with five homers in 316 at bats). But the Indians finally had enough, and Marte will finally get his chance, getting the callup Friday. Boone, in turn, is being thought of as a utility guy, though there's talk he will be chased from Cleveland as early as Monday.
Scores
They'll be short, and yes, I know I'm missing commentary on the Dodger system games. I'll get to that in the morning.Update: Okay, in the afternoon.
Aybar: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Morales: 1-4
Eylward: 1-4, 1 RBI
Mathis, J: 0-3
Moseley: (L, 8-6), 7.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.46 ERA
Saunders: 1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 2.67 ERA
Moseley recovered nicely from his shelling earlier in the week. Joe Saunders pitched in relief, and to answer the question everyone wanted to know, no, he wasn't effective. Neither was the Bees' offense against Redbirds pitching.
Wood: 0-5, 2 K
Brown: 0-2, 3 BB, 1 K
Evans: 2-5, 2 K
Wilson: 1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
Rodland: 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Smith, J: 2.1 IP, 8 R, 8 ER, 8 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 2 HR, 4.81 ERA
Edwards: (L, 7-5) (in relief), 2.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 5.89 ERA
Zimmermann: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 5.79 ERA
Gad. Travs pitching gave up six home runs, and no pitcher lasted more than two and a third innings. Bobby Wilson homered in the loss.
Rodriguez, S: 1-4, 1 2B
Collins: 0-3, 1 RBI
Toussaint: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Adenhart: (W, 4-1), 7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 4.15 ERA
Nick Adenhart collected his minor-league leading 14th win — and then signed autographs after the game. I'm telling you, I was at the wrong game.
Renz: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 K
Trumbo: 0-4, 2 K
Wipke: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Rosario: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
Mosebach: (W, 8-5), 7.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 7 K, 0 BB, 2.96 ERA
Didjurgis: 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 4.72 ERA
Bobby Mosebach had another fine outing; Anderson Rosario, Flint Wipke, and Jordan Renz all homered, Renz's being a three-run shot in the sixth. Wipke and Rosario both had solo shots, with Wipke's the game-winner.
Pettit: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Rivera: 3-5
Phillips: 0-4, 1 BB
Mount: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K
Nieves: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
O'Sullivan: 7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 1.85 ERA
Arredondo: (W, 4-0) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 8 K, 0 BB, 2.25 ERA
The Owlz clinched another postseason berth with this win, thanks to a walkoff double in the bottom of the tenth from Abel Nieves.
Update: By the way, take a look at Felipe Arredondo's line here: the Owlz' reliever struck out the side twice and has more strikeouts in his three innings than Sean O'Sullivan did in seven! Amazing.
Sweeney: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Castillo: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Ortiz, N: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Jimenez: 4.2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 3.72 ERA
Fish: (BS, 1)(W, 1-0) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 4.26 ERA
Madrigal: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 3.00 ERA
Warner Madrigal has a solid outing as a ninth-inning stopper and collected his first save.
Valdez: 2-4, 1 BB
Kemp: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Loney: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Guzman, J: 0-1, 1 K
Young, D: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K
LaRoche: 3-4, 1 RBI
Robles: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Houlton: 4.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 4 BB, 6.09 ERA
Gonzalez, L: (W, 2-3) (in relief), 2.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 5.13 ERA
Another Houlton special, but the 51's won anyway thanks to strong efforts from the offense.
Hu, C: 0-5
Abreu: 2-4
Brazell: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Raglani: 1-4, 1 K
Muegge: (W, 8-7), 6.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 4.07 ERA
Craig Brazell's two-run homer won the game in the sixth despite having Danny Muegge on the mound. He actually put up a quality start, his eighth of the year, and his first since June 20.
Dewitt: 1-5, 1 K
Dunlap: 1-2, 2 BB
Pedroza: 2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Paul, X: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Figueroa: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 7.86 ERA
Castillo, A: (W, 3-3) (in relief), 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 6.08 ERA
Vero rallied from a four-run deficit with a three run seventh and a two-run ninth that included a walkoff RBI single from Drew Locke. Sergio Pedroza had a pair of solo homers that snapped a six-game hitless streak.
Mooneyham: 1-3, 2 BB
Denker, T: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K
Mitchell: 1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Norrito: (BS, 1)(L, 1-1) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 5.91 ERA
Gomez de Segura: 1.2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 5.88 ERA
Not enough pitching here; Russell Mitchell homered in the loss.
Berezay: 0-2, 2 BB
Santana: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI
Bell: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Jackson: 2-3, 1 RBI
Johnson: (W, 2-3), 6.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 3.07 ERA
White: 3.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 3.71 ERA
Friday, July 28, 2006 |
Angelsmobile
Somebody's Angelsmobile, caught by my friend Bruce's cameraphone. His choice of favorite players seems a bit dated.
Brewers Ship Carlos Lee To Rangers
My initial impression is that this isn't a bad trade for the Rangers; one of the consistent and underreported problems that team has had has been its vacancies in the outfield, despite a very good mashing infield. The Rangers not only give up two of the players who got them into those straits, but they pick up an outfield prospect, a position in which the Texas system is thin.
The initial reaction at Lone Star Ball is positive. While this is a positive in the near term for the Rangers, it does nothing to shore up their mediocre-at-best pitching, currently the 10th by staff ERA in the league (4.60). It's also unlikely that the Rangers would have had time to hold extension talks with Lee prior to the deal, so the trade has that going against it. I don't see this changing the race in the AL West; the Angels have a good shot as anybody at this point, I suppose, but they're going to have to do something about third base first.
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Freddie Fitzsimmons BRO b. 1901, played 1937-1943, d. 1979-11-18
Dick Simpson CAL,LAA b. 1943, played 1962, 1964-1965. Everything's connected. Dick Simpson was the youngest player in the league at 18 when he came up in 1962, and according to some reports, the fastest; he sure couldn't hit. The Angels shipped him off to the Orioles on December 2, 1965, and seven days later, they flipped him to the Reds along with Jack Baldshun and Milt Pappas to the Orioles — for Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. (The player the Angels got back was Norm Siebern, who himself was about to fill a gaping hole where once had stood a future Hall of Famer traded far too early.) He never really hit wherever he played, and finally ended up as a first-and-only-year Seattle Pilot, in whose uniform he retired.
Bullety Stuff
- Mark Whicker reluctantly makes the case for Bill Stoneman's trade deadline inactivity.
- Doug Padilla forecasts a 100% chance of extreme curiosity as Jered Weaver goes up against Josh Beckett.
- Bartolo Colon appears doubtful for his next start. Joe Saunders has been scratched from his next AAA start and will likely get a callup.
- Ned Colletti's a buyer, not a seller at the deadline.
- Two Negro League executives, one a woman, were named special inductees to the Hall of Fame:
Alejandro Pompez, owner of the Cuban Stars (later the Cuban Giants) of the Negro National League, and Effa Manley, a barrier-breaking female executive with the Newark Eagles, were connected to lucrative "numbers" operations that peaked during the 1920s and '30s and were fixtures in black communities across the nation.
Pompez ran one based in Harlem in New York City; Manley was married to a "numbers man" from Jersey City, N.J.
- Tony Jackson wonders if east coast bias will shut out Andre Ethier from Rookie of the Year consideration
- Mike Waldner thinks the Dodgers could use a snake charmer.
- Am I the only one who thinks that the DHL Hometown Heroes idea looks awfully familiar?
Thursday, July 27, 2006 |
Royals Sign Esteban Yan
Minor League Scorebook
News
- Stephen Marek's reported leg injury in Tuesday's game was actually a pulled groin.
- The still-not-retired Stephen Smith informs us that Jeff Mathis has appeared in every game since June 28 save one, since Ryan Budde went on the DL (though this doesn't show up on the team transaction list). He has caught all but three games during that time, twice DH'ing on July 3 and 8, and getting a day off last Sunday.
- Kevin Goldstein runs a column on top shortstops in the minors, and unsurprisingly, the Angels have a mess of 'em, with Brandon Wood leading the list; Erick Aybar and Sean Rodriguez also figure, and the Dodgers' Chin-Lung Hu also makes an appearance.
- Dodgers farmhand Christopher Hobdy was charged with burglary, accused of breaking into Dodgertown suites and stealing credit cards and cash from his teammates. He was caught when the police set up a hidden camera in one of the rooms. Hobdy was a seventh-round pick from the 2005 draft.
- Heath Totten was hit by a line drive in Tuesday's game and will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot. He tried to shrug it off at first, but his foot gave way after he attempted another pitch.
Scores
Aybar: 2-4
Morales: 0-4
Gorneault: 1-3, 1 K
Mathis, J: 0-4, 2 K
Pavkovich: 4-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Shell: (L, 3-6), 1.1 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 6.20 ERA
Hensley: 2.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 5.40 ERA
Adam Pavkovich homered on a perfect day at the plate, his first of the year, in an otherwise drab loss to the Redbirds. Steven got Shelled, a double steal of home adding to his misery. He was yanked after only an inning and a third.
Redbird John Webb was one out away from a complete game; Matt Perisho got the game's last out, and are you as surprised as I am to see him drawing a paycheck at any level?
Wood: 0-4, 2 K
Evans: 1-4, 3 K
Del Chiaro: 2-3
Rodland: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Hunter: (L, 2-10), 4.1 IP, 7 R, 4 ER, 10 H, 3 K, 3 BB, 6.85 ERA
Edens: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 K, 3 BB, 5.74 ERA
Gonzalez: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 5.52 ERA
Nathan Haynes went 2-4, Brent Del Chiaro had an unusual 2-3 game, and Eric Rodland homered, while Chris Hunter got knocked around pretty solidly; Kyle Edens hardly did better, allowing a run on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.
Cards starter Blake Hawksworth, considered the best pitching prospect in the St. Louis system, allowed only one run on six hits through seven; he struck out eight Travs.
Rodriguez, S: 1-2, 1 BB
Collins: 0-2
Fuller: 3-4, 1 3B
Toussaint: 0-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Leahy: 2-4, 1 RBI
Rodriguez, F: (L, 7-6), 3.1 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 2 HR, 4.85 ERA
Fernando Rodriguez had another awful game. In addition to his 1-2 with a walk line, Sean Rodriguez also got aboard on a hit-by-pitch.
Trumbo: 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 K
Martinez: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 K
Butcher: (W, 2-0), 7.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 3.65 ERA
Brok Butcher collected his second Midwest League win (he's also appeared with Orem and in the AZL) in his longest and strongest outing of the season.
Bourjos: 2-5, 1 K
Johnson: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Phillips: 1-5, 2 K
Rivera: 3-5, 2 RBI
Brewer: 4-5, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Cassevah: 0.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 4 BB, 6.75 ERA
Browning: (W, 2-1) (in relief), 4.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 2.42 ERA
Bobby Cassevah got blasted for five runs in the first inning and was only able to retire one before getting yanked. Barrett Browning relieved him and got the win, striking out four over 4.2 IP. Normally slap-hitting Tadd Brewer exploded for four hits and seven RBI, missing the cycle by a double.
Castillo: 1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
Ortiz: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Ryan: 2-4, 1 K
Veras: (L, 4-2), 4.0 IP, 4 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 2.18 ERA
Armstrong: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Break up Wilberto Ortiz!
Valdez: 3-4, 1 RBI
Kemp: 2-5, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Guzman, J: 0-4, 1 K
Young, D: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K
LaRoche: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Riggs: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Robles: 0-4, 1 K
Loney: 0-1, 1 K
Eckert: (L, 5-8), 3.1 IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 8 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 7.49 ERA
Osoria: 2.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 4.36 ERA
Miller: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 3.04 ERA
Scott Eckert pretty much let this one get away all by himself. Franquelis Osoria and Greg Miller both put up zero frames.
Raglani: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Garcia: 0-1, 3 BB
Elbert: (W, 3-1), 7.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 13 K, 3 BB, 2.35 ERA
What an outing for Scott Elbert! Striking out nearly twice as many as innings pitched, he's making a case for a callup to Las Vegas.
Dewitt: 0-2, 2 BB
Dunlap: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Bruce: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Paul, X: 0-3, 1 K
Meloan: 5.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 12 K, 0 BB, 2 HR, 3.46 ERA
Leach: (W, 3-2) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 3.78 ERA
Cory Dunlap hit a walkoff two-run dinger with Drew Locke on base in the bottom of the ninth. Dodger pitching six-hit the Miracle.
Denker, T: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K
May: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Godwin: 2-4, 1 3B
Arias, M: (L, 7-5), 4.0 IP, 8 R, 8 ER, 9 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 3 HR, 5.05 ERA
Berezay: 2-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB
Taloa: 4-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI
Bell: 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 K
Jackson: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K
Wall: (W, 2-2), 5.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.29 ERA
A slugfest that Ogden led the whole way. All but two Raptors got a hit, and even D.J. Jackson walked twice; only second baseman Parker Brooks failed to get on base. Matt Berezay homered and went 2-2 with three walks for a perfect game at the plate. Used exclusively as a DH this year, Berezay has an 11-game on-base streak going.
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Jon Weisman Makes The Case For The Dodgers As Sellers
At Sports Illustrated.UTK On Bart
Will Carroll says thatThis could be something of a cascade injury, but the problem is that Colon has so many separate problems, there's no way to tell what injury led to this. The best-case scenario is that the altered mechanics led to the elbow irritation; the worst case is that something tore. We'll know more soon.
How Do You Feel About Your Ballpark?
Sports Illustrated wants to know.Trade Deadline Heavy Breathing
- Nate Silver thinks about who means what to each of the contending teams, and figures that Bobby Abreu, Carlos Lee, and Alfonso Soriano are the top three guys to be had this trade deadline; he likes Lee in particular for the Angels, but from Abreu (+1.48 wins) to Lee (+1.31 wins) to Soriano (+0.99 wins), none of these players will make a significant difference in the outcome of the season.
- For those interested, I did a trade rumor roundup over at LAist yesterday, but didn't manage to work it in here. Until now.
- Jim Bowden is asking for top prospects and lots of them in the latest news from the Soriano trade; the most recent asking price is one from column A of John Lackey, Ervin Santana, or Jered Weaver, and one from column B of Howie Kendrick or Brandon Wood.
"We know the price that we need to have from clubs," Bowden said. "The price doesn't change. The price today is the same price it's going to be at the deadline. We don't have to trade anybody."
He must like draft picks, then.
Doubled Down: Padres 10, Dodgers 3
Not only is this the worst 13-game stretch in Los Angeles history, it also marks the Dodgers descent with a thunk solidly into last place, seven and a half games out and eight games under .500. But what sort of surprised me was how many double plays the Dodgers got and still managed to lose: they collected five, one, improbably, on a lineout to Olmedo Saenz. The last time the Dodgers had five double plays, they won a 4-3 decision against the Reds on May 28, 1998, at home. Brad Penny, the only remaining Dodger starter with even a ghost of a chance at respectability, got tagged with the loss, further demoralizing everyone within earshot.The frustration got to Penny, who laid into Kenny Lofton over his fielding adventures that eventually cost the Dodgers the lead, and delighting the Padres in the opposing dugout.
The loss made for a bad timing if you happened to be Frank McCourt, because he had scheduled a conference call yesterday. While I didn't tune in, the Dodger Thoughts reaction (starting around post 400-450) seemed to be generally negative, post 520 in particular, in response to Frank McCourt's waffling over the Vlad non-signing:
I will merely say that McCourt's answer was probably as cowardly as any ever given to any question in the history of mankind. Frank appears to talk a good game when he's getting profiled in the glossy magazine, but it's a different story when he's actually asked to do it.ESPN Box • RecapI tried to be patient with him, but my patience with him, just from a personal standpoint, and without regard to his baseball philosophy (which remains in question), is up.
If you can't even summon the courage to defend not signing the [2004] American League [MVP] two years later, you have a problem.
Today's Birthdays
Jack Doscher BRO b. 1880, played 1903-1906, d. 1971-05-27
Leo Durocher BRO b. 1905, played 1938-1941, 1943, 1945, All-Star: 1936, 1938, 1940, Hall of Fame: 1994 (Veterans), d. 1991-10-07.
Leo Durocher, Leo Durocher
Starts to wiggle and to twitch.
A signal? No, an itch!— Danny Kaye, "The Dodgers Song"
Slick-fielding, feisty holler guys like Durocher often become big league managers, for they leave the impression that guile, desire, and baseball acumen compensate for their lack of skill, a combination of qualities they are presumed capable of instilling in others; Billy Martin is perhaps the most pronounced example of the type. While few such managers have actually been able to endow their players with these qualities, Durocher could.A light-hitting shortstop who played and managed the game as if it were "a sports relative of guerilla warfare", he was an acrobatic and brilliant glove man; he set a record for double plays in Cincinnati (86, in 1931) that he subsequently broke with the Dodgers (90, in 1938). He loved taunting umpires as both a player, and later, in his long and distinguished managerial career. He won World Series rings with the 1927 and 1928 Yankees and again with the 1934 Cardinals as a player. As a manager, he won pennants with the 1941 Dodgers and 1951 Giants (thank you, Bobby Thompson), and a fourth career World Series ring with the 1954 Giants.— Glenn Stout, The Dodgers
Durocher's first major league charge as a manager was the Dodgers, at first as a player-manager in 1939-41, 1943, and 1945, and as a manager only in 1943, 1944, and 1946 and 1948. He spent 1947 suspended from baseball thanks to a scuffle with baseball commissioner Happy Chandler and team owner Larry MacPhail. Durocher had a high-stakes poker game going that was enough to draw Chandler's ire; when Durocher's ghostwritten column in the Brooklyn Eagle mentioned gamblers in MacPhail's company while the team barnstormed Cuba as part of spring training (there were no fixed spring training facilities or leagues in those days), that was it. MacPhail filed a formal charge with Chandler, and simultaneously, his wife filed for divorce, in those days a huge scandal by itself. By April 9, Chandler suspended him for the year.
Durocher seems, from Stout's telling of it, to have had mixed feelings about Jackie Robinson's entry into baseball but enforced it anyway, though some accounts say his words were more emphatic than, "if the old man [Rickey] wants him to play, he's going to play." And that was that, for the most part; the player's petition group either acceded to his place on the team grudgingly, or found themselves traded.
After Durocher's reinstatement in 1948, the Dodgers collapsed; by July 7, they were in last place, and this time, MacPhail fired Durocher, bringing back the man who had managed the Dodgers to a pennant the year before, Burt Shotton. On July 15, Durocher replaced Mel Ott at the helm of the floundering Giants. After guiding the Giants to a 1951 pennant and their 1954 World Series title, he retired in 1955, becoming a television commentator for a while. In 1966, he left retirement when the Cubs called upon him to manage again. He did, through 1972, and had a prominent role in the team's stupendous collapse of 1969, failing to rest any of his regulars throughout the season. Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger refused to blame him for that, but Bill James did, writing
Kessinger was going through his first pennant race; he couldn't be expected to see where they were headed. Durocher was going through maybe his 25th pennant race. Durocher should have had the foresight to see where this was headed.He spent a couple more years, 1972 and 1973, in the dugout with the Astros, though by that time he was senile; weeks into the season he still didn't know the names of some of his players.
Jim Faulkner BRO b. 1899, played 1930, d. 1962-06-01
Tom Goodwin LAN b. 1968, played 1991-1993, 2000-2001
Jack Hiatt CAL,LAA b. 1942, played 1964, 1972
Bill Sayles BRO b. 1917, played 1943, d. 1996-11-20
Zack Taylor BRO b. 1898, played 1920-1925, 1935, d. 1974-09-19
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