Tuesday, July 04, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Babe Birrer LAN b. 1929, played 1958
Brendan Donnelly ANA,LAA b. 1971, played 2002-2005, All-Star: 2003. Talk about red, white, and blue, Donnelly was born on July 4, 1971 in Washington, D.C. He has a terrible postseason ERA overall thanks to his last two times out and his 2002 ALDS and ALCS jaunts, but he held down the Giants for two crucial innings in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when even K-Rod wasn't getting the job done, and again in Game 7 when he was the first of three relievers to notch scoreless innings to slam the door on San Francisco.
There's a strangely persistent myth about Donnelly that's surfaced over the last year that really needs to be put to bed now, and that is that Donnelly was never the same following the so-called pine tar incident in which an umpire found pine tar on his glove and ejected him from the game. Now, it may in fact be the case that Donnelly isn't the same since that episode, but if we avail ourselves of David Pinto's wonderful Day-by-Day database, we can inspect his numbers up to June 14 and for all 2005 games after that date:
It's clear that Donnelly was actually better in both ERA (dropping by more than a run) and strikeout rate (increasing by almost a full point) after June 14 despite losing some control over that time and doubling his walk rate. Right now, he's playing hurt, so back off, man.When ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/BB ========================================== Up to 6/14 4.34 6.8 1.55 1.55 3.14 After 6/14 3.22 7.7 3.0 0.99 2.58
Chuck Tanner LAA b. 1929, played 1961-1962. An original Angel, he was one of only three pinch-hitters ever to homer on the first major league pitch he saw when he first came up with the then-Milwaukee Braves. Probably most famous for his long managerial record that included the Pirates' only recent World Series win in 1979, he also managed the White Sox, A's, and Braves.
Plunk, Plunk, Plunk, Win: Dodgers 10, Arizona 4
After finally — mercifully — rejiggering the lineup to scootch the permaslumping Rafael Furcal out of the leadoff spot where he hasn't belonged all year, Grady Little's Dodgers broke out of their recent funklet and bashed the Diamondbacks behind Derek Lowe, who got five innings in the books before being replaced by hoss Broxton.Nomar got plunked three friggin' times, once each by Juan Cruz, Ed Gonzalez, and Randy Choate. So, for that matter, were Russ Martin of the Dodgers, and Conor Jackson by Jonathan Broxton. You'd think that, given how hard Broxton throws, that musta hurt, but Steve Hensen in the Times characterized it as a "graze". Huh.
I hadn't looked up at his numbers lately, but it does seem that Cruz's unrealized potential as a starter should be simply recognized as just that; outside of his seven-inning shutout of Atlanta on June 5, he hasn't been particularly good. On the other hand, you can forgive him some, as this was his first start after coming back from a shoulder injury.
Andre Ethier's on another hot streak, going 4-5 in yesterday's game, one of three Dodgers to have multi-hit games (the other two being J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent).
Roster Notes
- The Cardinals have interest in Jeff Weaver now that he's practically free.
- Ricky Ledee will start a rehab assignment at AA Jacksonville Wednesday.
- Jason Repko will start a rehab assignment some time after the All-Star break.
- The Giants will extend Moises Alou's DL time until after the All-Star break.
- Milton Bradley took batting practice for the first time since mid-June.
- Rehab durations are longer than they appear: Rich Harden has been shut down again following a Sunday throwing session.
On the other hand, he's a huge target on the mound at 6'3" 288lbs, so you can just whack a line drive right at him (if you can control a 98mph heater that well).
: 7/04/2006 11:34:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.