6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Mid-Day Bullets

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Mid-Day Bullets

Dan Fox calculates (RR) the Angels' running game got them about a win last year. Perversely, while they're good at advancing on grounders, they're terrible at advancing on flyballs. I wonder how much of that was Vlad...
Kevin Goldstein likes a couple Dodgers lefty starters (RR) in the minors, Scott Elbert and Clayton Kershaw.
Joe Sheehan muses on the A's second-best division lead in the majors (RR) at six and a half over the Angels and what got them there.
Jon Weisman considers Andre Ethier and his improbable run with the Dodgers. I haven't given it too much thought, but I do wonder just how long this stretch of supercompetence will last; the possibility that he turns into Todd Hollandsworth is nonzero and perhaps large.
Damn, I missed Jose Canseco's debut as a pitcher: he walked five and plunked four over four and a third (longbeacharmada.com game recap). Hang 'em up, Jose.
Buster Olney thinks Vicente Padilla needs to grow up. ("You're mad because you're giving up runs? Well then, make better pitches. Don't take it out on the next hitter.") They're asking what Padilla was thinking in Dallas, and Buck Showalter had some words with his pitcher after the game as well. It's been three straight years that anger management in Texas has hurt their team, two years ago with Frankie Francisco, last year with Kenny Rogers, and now this.
Barry Bonds is burying the Giants thanks to his slow baserunning, .250 hitting, and the fact that he's no longer the dominant player he used to be. 42 happens.
The A's have tied a major league record by beating Seattle 15 straight times.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Dodgers are looking for a left-handed bench bat to replace Ricky Ledee.