Thursday, August 17, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Joe Bradshaw BRO b. 1897, played 1929, d. 1985-01-30
Jeff Fischer LAN b. 1963, played 1989
George Harper BRO b. 1866, played 1896, d. 1931-12-11
Butch Hobson CAL b. 1951, played 1981. One of two busts that the Angels got in exchange for Top 100 Angels Carney Lansford and Mark Clear, the other being the soon-to-be-injury-plagued Rick Burleson, it's hard to remember that Jim Fregosi was one of the culprits behind this utterly catastrophic trade, despite calling Lansford an untouchable; he claimed the resulting trade was one of "one untouchable for another. It comes down to a choice between an outstanding shortstop and an outstanding third baseman. I'd rather have the shortstop." Jackie Autry said, "We've had a void at shortstop since Jim Fregosi was traded" in 1971; "now we've filled it with one of the best shortstops in all of baseball. I would expect that an infield of Carew, Grich, Burleson, and Hobson is one of the best in baseball."
Despite all this public preening, the reality was that they traded a young third baseman and a solid young reliever (and throw-in fourth outfielder Rick Miller) for a pair of guys about to enter their thirties. Jim Fregosi, one of the trade's architects, would get fired on May 28, 1981. The Angels signed Burleson to a six-year, $4.65M deal; he promptly blew out his shoulder in 1982 during a spring training game. Gene Mauch, Fregosi's replacement at the helm of the Angels, had Burleson throwing too hard, too early in spring, and he blew out his shoulder; Burleson never played as a regular for California again. Meanwhile, Lansford would go on to a long and productive career with Boston and Oakland; similarly, Clear worked for the Red Sox and Brewers for another nine years before the Angels re-acquired him in 1989, a ghost of his former self. A lesson in the value of youth.
Dave Lemanczyk CAL b. 1950, played 1980, All-Star: 1979. An ace starter for the Blue Jays in his All-Star year, he reverted back to form the next year, and got traded to the Halos for a PTBNL. For many years, he led the Blue Jays' franchise recordbook in wild pitches and runs allowed.
Skip Lockwood CAL b. 1946, played 1974
Doug McWeeny BRO b. 1896, played 1926-1929, d. 1953-01-01
Boog Powell LAN b. 1941, played 1977, All-Star: 1968-1971. What a great name. With the Orioles, his job was providing protection to Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, and that he did; he was a member of the 1966 Orioles that swept the Dodgers in the World Series. He also homered in each of the first two games of the 1970 World Series; the O's went on to win both the games and the series. A simply immense man at 6'4" and 230 lbs, he provided an enormous target for infielders to throw to, and an intimidating presence in the box. Powell's skills collapsed in 1976, and the Dodgers signed him for part of a season for the next year, releasing him in August after it was obvious he had nothing left to offer the team.
Ken Turner CAL b. 1943, played 1967
Brad Wellman LAN b. 1959, played 1987
Roster Notes
- Joe Saunders is fatigued. Yes, I could tell.
- The visitors' clubhouse in Arlington was filled with trash, likely from Mike Scioscia upending a trash can over the game. The Angels are now six and a half games out of first following yesterday's loss.
- John Lackey says Scioscia had nothing to do with yesterday's melee and the preceding hit batters.
- The Dodgers gave up as many runs in yesterday's game as they had surrendered in the previous week.
- Mark Hendrickson may be on his way out of the rotation following yesterday's 15-4 debacle, as Grady Little takes advantage of the coming off days to rejigger the rotation. Jon noted last night that Hendrickson finally came a-cropper, not a surprise since he's basically a sixth starter at best. Hendrickson is 1-5 with a 5.19 ERA, and represents the kind of idiotic trade that Ned Colletti is liable to pull with Frank McCourt's hot and panicky breath down his collar; meantime, Jae Seo is 1-5 with a 4.26 ERA, and Dioner Navarro is hitting .245 and throwing out 37% of base-stealers while only allowing one passed ball over 246.1 innings. Navarro's numbers may not sound like much, but they're better than what reserve catcher Toby Hall is putting up, at least defensively; and Hall is gone after this year anyway.
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