Tuesday, September 05, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Wayne Belardi BRO b. 1930, played 1950-1951, 1953-1954, d. 1993-10-21. One of his comps is Hee-Seop Choi, a guy who flashed a lot of power in the minors and a little in the majors; he once hit 11 homers in only 163 at bats with the Dodgers. He was involved in one of those Bonus Baby transactions when Detroit shipped him to the Yankees in February, 1957, along with Clete Boyer, the baby being Boyer. The Yankees had stuffed Boyer onto the A's roster, with a gentleman's agreement that Boyer would get shipped back to the Yankees when his two years on the roster were up. The trade was the end of Belardi's career, though, at the ripe old age of 25.
Buddy Hassett BRO b. 1911, played 1936-1938, d. 1997-08-23
Jul Kustus BRO b. 1882, played 1909, d. 1916-04-27
Candy Maldonado LAN b. 1960, played 1981-1985. A mostly weak-hitting outfielder, he found his best years in the service of the Giants. A free-swinger, he bounced around five other clubs after his stint in San Francisco.
Merv Shea BRO b. 1900, played 1938, d. 1953-01-27
Ed Stein BRO b. 1869, played 1892-1896, 1898, d. 1928-05-10
Weaver Returns: Angels 1, Orioles 0
There was a moment in the top of the fourth when Jered Weaver threw away a swinging bunt by Melvin Mora; it really didn't matter as Mora already had the base won regardless of what Weaver could have done with the ball*. The thing was, Weaver took that moment and smiled as he knew he had the thing botched completely and utterly, sitting on the infield grass like, well, a rookie who tried to do too much. What would brother Jeff have done? I don't know, but a yelling fit into his glove seems likely. Jered, on the other hand, proceeded to make his next two outs, and got out of the inning.All of which is to say that maybe I'm getting a little more comfortable with Weaver on the mound. We'll see him next year, too, a circumstance that will provide lots of opportunities for him to show fragility, but with each performance like this one, well off the maps of his previous workloads, it's easier to feel like he's not a fluke.
*Seitz in the comments says it was a pickoff attempt, but the ESPN game log doesn't recall it. Whatever, at some point Weaver failed to field a ball hit in the infield and ended up on his ass with a big dumb smile on his face.
Roster Notes
- The Angels may revive trade talks with the Orioles for Miguel Tejada.
- The Angels will not be juggling the rotation for any postseason bid, says Mike Scioscia.
- Joseph A. Reaves in the Arizona Republic thinks baseball will benefit once the Cuban blockade is lifted, citing Kendry Morales as the sort of player the Cubans can produce.
- Andy LaRoche probably won't get a callup, thanks to a partially torn labrum. Oscar Robles and Delwyn Young probably will get the callup, though.
- Update: Eric Stults's callup was huge news in South Bend, Indiana.
1) He didn't throw it away. It landed 10 feet in front of Kendrick, who easily gloved it. He later threw one away on a pickoff attempt, but it wasn't on that play.
2) It wasn't a swinging bunt. It was a bunt. Millar later reached on a swinging bunt, but again, not the same play.
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