Friday, August 11, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Bubba Crosby LAN b. 1976, played 2003. Can you believe he was a first-round draft pick? It's been a long way between those 25 homers for Rice and real success in the majors. Well, thanks for the memories, Bubba.
Rex Hudson LAN b. 1953, played 1974
Mike Huff LAN b. 1963, played 1989. One of five Dodgers to call Hawaii their natal state; the others are RHP Carlos Diaz, two-time All-Star (with the Mets) RHP Sid Fernandez, the homophonically named knuckleballer Charlie Hough, and righty reliever Onan Masaoka.
Dennis Lewallyn LAN b. 1953, played 1975-1979. The Dodgers have been fooled plenty of times by the affects of the thin air parks of the PCL (see Sid Bream and Billy Grabarkewitz), but here's one that happened in reverse: Lewallyn was a PCL star in the mid/late 70's, winning the 1980 PCL MVP award following a season in which he posted a 2.13 ERA as a 27-year-old; the Dodgers had no room for him in their rotation, and so traded him to Texas at the end of that year, for Pepe Frias, an aging utilityman with one career home run. He pitched two more mediocre seasons, shuttling back and forth between the majors and minors, before retiring after 1982.
Andrew Lorraine CAL b. 1972, played 1994
Carlos Martinez CAL b. 1964, played 1995
Bobo Newsom BRO b. 1907, played 1929-1930, 1942-1943, All-Star: 1938-1940, 1944, d. 1962-12-07. Enormous, jinx-plagued, and well-traveled, he spent time in a PCL Angels uniform where he was the team's 1933 MVP. Called Bobo because that was what he called everyone else — he rarely stuck around on a team long enough to learn everyone's name — he played with Brooklyn for parts of four seasons, and also for the Cubs, Senators, Browns, Red Sox, A's, Tigers, Yankees, and Giants. Like I said, he was jinx-plagued: his father saw him pitch the opener of the 1940 World Series — and died shortly thereafter. He dedicated his next start to his father and won it. He lost his next start, though, and the Tigers went on to lose the series. He was on the 1947 Yankee squad that beat Brooklyn in that year's World Series, despite losing his only start.
Luis Olmo BRO b. 1919, played 1943-1945, 1949
Vada Pinson CAL b. 1938, played 1972-1973, All-Star: 1959-1960, d. 1995-10-21. Came up with the Reds as a 19-year-old, and what a phenom he was, too: he hit for power and average in the minors, and belted a grand slam in his second major league game. His comps include Steve Garvey, Steve Finley, and Hall of Famer Zach Wheat; he manned center for the Reds over an 11-year span, at the end of which he was traded to the Cards. He broke his leg while in St. Louis' employ, and bounced through the Indians, Angels, and Royals, a shadow of his former self, age and injury having taken their toll. At the time he died, he was one of only six players to have more than 250 home runs and 300 stolen bases, but that group has expanded to 11; the others are (in descending order of home runs hit) Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds, Steve Finley, Ricky Henderson, Eric Davis, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, and Craig Biggio. Three of those eleven (Mays, Sandberg, and Morgan) are in the Hall of Fame, Henderson is a lock to get in once eligibility kicks in, Barry Bonds is a near-certainty to get in (steroids allegations notwithstanding), and there are a couple borderline cases (Finley and Biggio) playing out the end of their careers who might squeak in with some luck. It's quite a cohort, especially considering the era in which Pinson played. He died of a stroke at the far-too-young age of 57.
The Come-From-Behind Save: Dodgers 4, Rockies 3
Did it seem to anyone else that Kenny Lofton's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth was all about the outfield picking up Takashi Saito, who got tagged with a hard-luck blown save thanks to a hard-hit ball over Jason Repko's head that his misplay turned into a triple, and Jeff Kent's bad throw turned into a inside-the-parker that tied the game? A little grace from a well-worn outfielder whose best days are clearly behind him, and the Dodgers go into first place all on their ownsomes. Hurrah, and a tiger for them.Update: Drew Bienhoff explains how Clint Hurdle lost the game, inserting lefty Ray King despite Manuel Corpas's better record against either lefties or righties, and employing Jose Mesa in a tie game.
Ouch: Indians 14, Angels 2
In case you were wondering, the Angels' bullpen is awful. The only good news is that nothing's broken on Santana, but who knows whether he'll make his next start. What scares me is seeing the bullpen depleted like this in the middle of a long road trip; didn't we see that last year just before a long losing streak?Roster Notes
- The Angels called up Chris Bootcheck from Salt Lake, and optioned Tommy Murphy back down; if Santana can't make his next start, Dustin Moseley or Kevin Gregg will will get it.
- Joe Saunders, on his Yankee Stadium appearance tonight:
It's just another team — I'll have to make my pitches and hope they hit it at some people. Just the fact that it's Yankee Stadium, it's going to be a big moment.
Let's hope those people aren't in the right-field bleachers. - The Angels will have to leave their Diet Cokes and toothpaste in the trash or their checked luggage like everyone else thanks to the new and idiotic restrictions on things (rather than focusing on people). Here's one analyst, with the most detailed examination I have yet read of the mechanism of the alleged plot from the details released so far; according to him, the plot may not have even been feasible. These restrictions will make flying even more painful, and the idiots in Washington will happily bring about the destruction of the airlines if it transmits a bogus sense of safety; lost in all this is that actual infiltration caught these guys, not silly, after-the-fact restrictions on some article or other. (Update: others disagree on the plot's implausibility.)
- Aaron Sele is just trying to help as a reliever, which amounts to a marked improvement from his snarky attitude in 2004.
- J.D. Drew hitting second? Or seventh? Why not?
Tiny round bandages on Drew's thigh covered the pinprick scars of acupuncture, of another recovery from another irksome ailment. He concedes he's not quite right from off-season shoulder and wrist surgeries, but has never mentioned it because pitchers read the papers, too.
He starts a lot of sentences, "When I'm healthy …" and tips his head to the left, acknowledgment that, yeah, it's getting repetitive.
I think that this carry on restriction is probably largely temporary (and temporary measures to curb immediate threats are obviously fine). As far as the security measures go, I can't help but think that it would be way better to let each airline perform their own security protocols. Then people will be able to decide how much security they want (vs. time and cost). Obviously, that means that planes from a low security airline could be run into buildings if terrorists get control, but then you can just give pilots and flight attendants the means to take care of those guys.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=250731110
: 8/11/2006 12:19:00 PM : 8/12/2006 06:07:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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