Thursday, September 28, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Jack Fournier BRO b. 1889, played 1923-1926, d. 1973-09-05. A natural DH before there was such a thing, abusive heckling from the Ebbets Field stands made him stage a holdout when he discovered St. Louis had traded him to Brooklyn; he eventually consented to the trade, and put up some of the best numbers of his career there. With the Robins, he launched a successful campaign to curb foul language at the ballpark. He remains in the franchise top five (82, 5th) for career home runs at first base.
Todd Frohwirth CAL b. 1962, played 1996
Mario Guerrero CAL b. 1949, played 1976-1977
Glen Moulder BRO b. 1917, played 1946, d. 1994-11-27
Whitey Witt BRO b. 1895, played 1926, d. 1988-07-14
Todd Worrell LAN b. 1959, played 1993-1997, All-Star: 1988, 1995-1996. Brother of former Giant Tim, the hard-throwing righty fizzled in the minors as a starter but dominated in relief, including a World Series-tying record six consecutive strikeouts in 1985's Game 5. Had two brilliant years with the Dodgers in five overall, including two of his three All Star appearances, and retired after 1997.
The Game With Everything In It: Angels 6, Rangers 5
Of course we cheer for Tim Salmon hitting his 299th career homer, but what about Jered Weaver's sudden attack of clay feet? Is it his youth? His inexperience throwing this many innings? Are they figuring him out? Whatever, I didn't like the slumped shoulders on the mound I saw yesterday. Sure, he was laughing about it in the dugout, but I'm concerned he's turning into Jeff. Something to keep an eye on.Advance: Dodgers 6, Rockies 4
Dodgers win. The Cardinals beat the Padres 4-2 and Houston beat Pittsburgh 7-6, both games in extra innings, meaning that the Dodgers are a game back of the division, and a one-game lead over the Phillies in the Wild Card.Whew.
Roster Notes
- Kelvim Escobar may skip his last start of the year.
- Casey Kotchman is back with the team and has pronounced himself "100%", but may not make a spot in winter ball because of the late hour. Alfredo Griffin and Orlando Mercado are working on getting him an assignment.
- Update: The Angels might be a destination for Gary Matthews, Jr.:
Matthews, who can be a free agent at the end of the season, is a California native and his son, mother, grandparents and girlfriend all live within 30 miles of Angel Stadium. The Los Angeles Angels will be in the market for a center fielder. It could be a match made in heaven. Well, for everyone except the Rangers.
"I haven't really allowed myself to think about (playing in Anaheim)," Matthews said. "But I think when you get to a point where you are comfortable with who you are as a player, it's a comfortable feeling playing in front of family. I've been around. It makes me comfortable seeing them."
- Nomar Garciaparra is playing with two muscle strains, an oblique and a quadriceps.
- The Dodgers will return to the Cal League this season; available franchises include Inland Empire (San Bernardino), High Desert (Adelanto), Lancaster or Visalia. The Devil Rays will take over their low-A Vero Beach team.
And I'm pretty positive Justin Verlander is turning into [insert mediocrity here], given that he gave up six runs to Texas in 4 innings two weeks ago.
Hey, newsflash! Texas has a powerful offense that managed to unload on Lackey, Santana and Escobar (and Zito, twice) in the past month. And guess what, we won last night, and Weaver, possessing the best ERA of any active starter in baseball, has only lost *twice*.
That said, getting our Low A team closer to home does make sense I guess. *Sigh*
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