Thursday, January 18, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Brian Falkenborg LAN b. 1978, played 2004. Has pitched terribly for the Orioles, Dodgers, and Padres, all in short stints; he had a good, very brief six and a third innings with the Cards last year. It's possible he learned something in AAA Memphis, because his strikeouts went way up while his walks plummeted.
Billy Grabarkewitz LAN,CAL b. 1946, played 1969-1973, All-Star: 1970. He had one brilliant year, earning an All-Star appearance in 1970, leading an admittedly anemic Dodger offense with 17 homers (and 149 strikeouts, still a franchise record). He promptly collapsed, in part due to injuries, joking at one point that he'd been x-rayed so many times that he glowed in the dark. The Dodgers waited for four years to see if that level of play would show up again, but armed with the results of the stupefying 1968 draft, a haul that included Bill Buckner, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, and Davey Lopes, Grabarkewitz quickly became superfluous.
The Dodgers then slipped him to the Angels in one of the most disastrous trades the latter franchise has ever made, sending in addition aging Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, starter Bill Singer, reliever Mike Strahler, and the promising Bobby Valentine for perhaps the best starting pitcher the Angels system has ever developed, hard-throwing Andy Messersmith, and veteran third baseman Ken McMullen. (Matt Welch wrote more about that trade — a lot more — from the Dodgers' perspective back in in November.) Grabarkewitz became a lightning-in-a-bottle player for the Phillies, Cubs, and A's before he took the hint in 1975 and ended his career.
A moment of microfame: he made the list of runners-up for Jon's Most Obscure But Memorable Dodger contest.
According to friend and former Dodger GM Fred Claire, he's now running an insurance company in Dallas.
Len Koenecke BRO b. 1904, played 1934-1935, d. 1935-09-17
Eddie Moore BRO b. 1899, played 1929-1930, d. 1976-02-10
Bill Sampen CAL b. 1963, played 1994
Zeke Wrigley BRO b. 1874, played 1899, d. 1952-09-28
More Roster Notes
- Via BTF, it looks like the Rockies have made an offer to former Padre Brian Lawrence.
- The Mariners have re-upped J.J. Putz to a 3-year/$13.1M deal.
Cleveland To Return To The Cactus League In 2009
The Cleveland Indians have signed a deal with Goodyear, Ariz. to build a new spring training facility there, with half the cost coming from the state and the remainder from the team and local developers. The park is expected to be ready by 2009.
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