Wednesday, August 16, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Roger Cedeno LAN b. 1974, played 1995-1998. A terrible leadoff man for the Dodgers, the switch-hitting centerfielder struck out about twice as often as he walked; the Dodgers started hitting him second on the 1996 squad that won the Wild Card, and he responded with a respectable .263/.298/.374 line, though you can maybe understand the Dodgers' desire to try him out at leadoff some after a 5-5 performance against the Mets in a May 31 game. He appears to be out of baseball.
Al Holland CAL b. 1952, played 1985, All-Star: 1984. He probably deserved the All-Star nod more for his mindblowing 1983 performance, but his 1984 leading into the break wasn't too shabby, either, with a 2.83 ERA despite a weirdly low 5.80 K/9; he gave up about a baserunner an inning in his years with Philadelphia. The Angels got 24.1 innings out of him, and it's not a bad life that way.
Hub Northen BRO b. 1885, played 1911-1912, d. 1947-10-01
Billy Rhiel BRO b. 1900, played 1929, d. 1946-08-16
Buck Rodgers LAA,CAL b. 1938, played 1961-1969. Top 100 Angel Rodgers spent four years at the helm of the Angels, and had the misfortune of entering a team with a divided front office and a farm system bereft of talent in the wake of the 1986 team that didn't quite make it to the World Series. He ultimately left under a cloud after publicly calling team president Rich Brown a "cancer" and GM Bill Bavasi "a paper man" who didn't understand the game, a move that likely got him blackballed from baseball for life.
The Unexpected Win: Angels 9, Rangers 7
With the gametime mercury reading 101, an away game by Ervin Santana following a vicious line drive to his shin almost guaranteed some opposition fireworks, and sure enough, Matt Stairs blasted a three run jack out of the park in only the second inning; Santana surrendered three more before his night was over, and the way the Angels have been hitting, you could be forgiven for thinking they were done, too.Well, not so fast. The Angels put a pair on the board after Vlad got plunked (and thus setting up a warning to both benches), and GA drove him home following an actual successful steal. (Padilla later hit Juan Rivera in the fourth, a move that later precipitated the ejection of both Padilla and Buck Showalter.) Howie Kendrick then doubled, driving in Vlad; Vlad later homered in the fourth inning with a pair on, part of a four-run inning that should have been enough, but the Angels' shaky bullpen hasn't been able to hold leads late in games, and so Hector Carrasco gave up a run on a Rod Barajas solo shot.
The game's biggest clutch producer, though, had to be Chone Figgins (something the WPA agrees with). He provided a bases-clearing triple in the eighth with two on, while Maicer Izturis collected his second RBI of the day on a groundout, giving K-Rod some insurance he fortunately didn't need.
Roster Notes
- Mike Scioscia on last night's plunkfest by the Rangers:
"I'm sure the league is going to take action," Scioscia said. "When you're throwing inside on the counts that they threw, there's no point for any of that in our game."
From the "if you can't throw strikes, throw at the batter" department.Asked if Padilla deserves a suspension, Scioscia said: "It's warranted."
- Dallas McPherson has sore obliques and will miss a couple games. I tell you, Lucy, it's always somethin'...
- Orlando Cabrera has a swollen thumb that he's been nursing for the last six weeks. No wonder he can't hit.
- Michael Becker has a piece about rookie catcher Russ Martin.
- Update: James Loney may be sent back down to Las Vegas until rosters expand.
- The A's are talking about re-upping Frank Thomas after this season.
- Jim Edmonds, linked by some as a possibility for the Angels' outfield next year, left a game with dizziness.
- Update: Bryan Smith names Takashi Saito, Andre Ethier, and Russ Martin in his top ten NL Rookie of the Year candidates.
Bill Plaschke, Up To His Old Lies Again
This is a joke:Around the hotel table they were talking about dumping Milton Bradley and wondering whom they should demand from the Oakland A's in return.I know, I know, posting articles by Simers or Plaschke is like spreading herpes, but I just felt compelled to point out that Ethier was hardly unknown; he was the Texas League Player of the Year. Of course, a goodly percentage of Plaschke's audience won't know that...In the corner sat the old scout who has never worked with radar gun, computer or even stopwatch.
Around the hotel room table, someone mentioned an unknown double-A outfielder named Andre Ethier.
In the corner, the old scout jumped.
"Wait a minute!" shouted Al LaMacchia. "I know Andre Ethier!"
: 8/16/2006 08:14:00 AM : 8/16/2006 08:19:00 AM : 8/16/2006 09:11:00 AMThey play Texas again in September, after rosters have expanded, when they can more easily absorb an ejection and possible suspension...if that's even deemed necessary.
Let's see what MLB does about it first. If they decide to suspend Showalter, that would really be enough, IMHO.
: 8/16/2006 10:27:00 AM
My personal favorite part of that subplot against the Bax, is that after 4 Dodgers batters got hit on the 3rd, and another got hit on the 4th, in the 9th inning with 2 outs Baez smacked Shawn Green and Luis Gonzales went crazy in a post-game interview. Next game? HBP: Gonzales (Baez). :-)
: 8/16/2006 04:14:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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