Friday, August 04, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Luke Allen LAN b. 1978, played 2002
Jim Coates CAL b. 1932, played 1965-1967, All-Star: 1960. The problem with Ball Four in the end wasn't its shock value, but its banality. Talented young men suddenly famous and celebrated drink, chase women, and carouse? Say it ain't so! But that was the least of it. Bouton immortalized, for good or bad, a number of players who probably weren't happy about the treatment. Coates, nicknamed "The Mummy" for his funereal visage on the mound, got the treatment in Bouton's book, the former Pilot writing that he "could pose as the illustration for an undertaker's sign. He has a personality to match...." It recalls the adage about newspapermen, "Never get in a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel." Coates pitched three largely ineffective years out of the Angels' bullpen before retiring.
John Farrell CAL b. 1962, played 1993-1994
Terry Humphrey CAL b. 1949, played 1976-1979
Frank Kostro LAA b. 1937, played 1963
Dolf Luque BRO b. 1890, played 1930-1931, d. 1957-07-03
Bob Meyer LAA b. 1939, played 1964
Ray Oyler CAL b. 1938, played 1970, d. 1981-01-26. Everybody remembers the great hitters, but why shouldn't we also recognize those men whose presence in the lineup actively prevented wins? The Angels have had some terrible hitters over the years, and for batters with 20 or more at bats, Ramon Ortiz presently holds the record, hitless in 22 interleague at bats, though George Brunet's .080 average in 314 pre-DH American League at bats pretty clearly marks him as the worst-hitting pitcher in franchise history. But subtracting pitchers from that list, we find the following, an Angels hall of more-or-less shame, depending on whether you believe that 20 at bats were 20 too many:
Oyler couldn't hit with the Tigers, the Pilots, and finally really couldn't hit with the Angels. His 1970 season with the Angels was his last year in the majors.+------------------+------+-------+ | Name | AB | Avg | +------------------+------+-------+ | Jose Fernandez | 25 | 0.080 | | Ray Oyler | 24 | 0.083 | | Jim Hicks | 52 | 0.096 | | Billy Consolo | 20 | 0.100 | | Larry Barnes | 40 | 0.100 | | Tom Silverio | 30 | 0.100 | | Jackie Hernandez | 29 | 0.103 | | Charlie O'Brien | 73 | 0.110 | | Raul Mondesi | 34 | 0.118 | | Bill Sudakis | 58 | 0.121 | +------------------+------+-------+
Joe Pignatano LAN,BRO b. 1929, played 1957-1960
Tuck Stainback BRO b. 1911, played 1938-1939, d. 1992-11-29
Eric Weaver LAN,ANA b. 1973, played 1998, 2000
830 AM Goes English
Arte Moreno's 830 AM will start airing English-language programming, starting with a radio program by Glenn Beck, starting 7 AM Monday. The station will continue to air Spanish-language programming.What Is Wrong With These People?
Well, now we know for sure the Angels will take the AL West, now that SFist says the A's will win it.Bengie Unhappy With His Toronto Playing Time
Imagine that:"I've wanted to say this for the long time," Molina said in a wide-ranging interview. "I always have been the No. 1 guy. I thought I was going to come in here and be the No. 1 guy, but I also had it in the back of my mind that [catcher Gregg Zaun] had a good year last year and we were probably going to split time.And he was wondering why the Angels didn't give him an offer."There's nothing wrong with splitting time," he added. "But five days without catching? That's almost like an insult and disrespectful towards me. I don't think they see it that way."
Joe Sheehan Comes Out Against Stadium-Enhancing Humidors
Joe Sheehan launched a fusillade against Colorado's humidor (and this time, it's a free article). His major point is that the Rockies have kept balls in the humidor for longer and longer times, thus creating an ever-deader ball and giving their pitchers an unfair advantage.Of course, we’re edging close to some of the biases I’ve written about in the past. Lower run environments are seen as “better” than higher ones, and winning with “pitching and defense” is held in highest regard. It’s acceptable for a team to attempt to lower its run environment; it would be considered insane for a team to try and raise the same. If the Mariners or Padres petitioned to keep their baseballs extra dry to make up for the difficulty in hitting balls out of their yards, they would almost certainly be rejected, but they’d also be vilified.But would they? I doubt it, especially now that Colorado has set a precedent. Why shouldn't teams edge their parks toward pitcher-friendliness? It's the hardest part of the game to get, and as Bill James noted years ago, there is a trend for teams with pitchers' parks to win titles, in part because it's easier to keep a pitching staff functional (i.e., they have to throw less) in such environments. If that's what it takes to win titles, how would the league not be handicapping the Rockies by forcing them to accept the atmospheric constraints of their home park were they to ban the humidor?
Cool Tech: Live Baseball Browser
Ivan Drucker wrote me to let me know about his Live Baseball Browser software for Windows CE phones that lets you watch live MLB.TV video. Too bad I have a Motorola RAZR phone. Anybody with one of these phones out there want to give this a try and pass on a review?Labels: tech
Speaking of overwrought responses, Sheehan's column also qualified as one -- especially the part where we're considered moralizing Carry Nations for prefering 2:30-long games to 4:15 ones.
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