Friday, February 16, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Bobby Darwin LAA,LAN b. 1943, played 1962, 1969, 1971. Signed as a pitcher but arm injuries wrecked his career, and so between a brief 1962 callup with the Angels and his 1969 season with a decimated Dodger squad, there was a seven year gap; in that space, he became an outfielder. With the Twins he got the opportunity to be an everyday player, and he responded by hitting for a fair amount of power, but strikeouts and declining average got him shipped to the Brewers in 1975. He spent partial seasons with the Cubs and Red Sox in 1976 and 1977 before retiring.
Frank Dimichele CAL b. 1965, played 1988
Alex Ferguson BRO b. 1897, played 1929, d. 1976-04-26
Herbie Moran BRO b. 1884, played 1912-1913, d. 1954-09-21
Angel Pena LAN b. 1975, played 1998-1999, 2001
God Is A Bullet
- A couple days late: the Dodgers picked up former Rockies top prospect Choo Freeman. Freeman, an outfielder, has had a number of injury problems and has had difficulty with the bat, hitting .237/.298/.341 with the Rockies last year.
- One of many stories of this kind we've heard since last year's postseason: Joe Beimel's ready to move on.
- James Loney needs to learn the outfield.
- The Dodgers hope to continue their recent success.
- Preview time: The Dodgers are once again relying on their pitching to win games.
- The Dodgers are expected to open talks with Grady Little for a contract extension.
- Paul Quantrill will throw out the first pitch for the Dodgers — the Oshawa Dodgers in the Intercounty League of southwestern Ontario.
- Chris Bootcheck will try to prove he belongs on the major league roster, but can he really? I keep hearkening back to his pitching coach at Auburn who thought he could outdo another Auburn pitcher, Tim Hudson...
- Players to watch from Johnathan Mayo: for the Angels, Brandon Wood, and for the Dodgers, Andy LaRoche, and further away, Scott Elbert and Clayton Kershaw. And how about former Dirtbags Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria?
- Tim Kirkjian mentions the Angels' first base battle ($) as one of the big stories in baseball this spring training.
One GM said Kotchman reminded him of Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who, after a slow start to his big league career, blossomed in 2006. The Angels need either Morales or Kotchman to play every day because the DH spot likely will be taken by Shea Hillenbrand, and the other can be used to rest corner outfielders Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson.
- The Angels don't have a timetable for Juan Rivera's recovery, but team doctors will look at him in about two weeks.
- Mike Scioscia foresees no late arrivals to spring training, as Kendry Morales' sore knee has been cleared and Frankie Rodriguez's visa problem miraculously do not look like they will recur.
- In NL West news, Barry Zito has unveiled new mechanics, which have made pitching coach Dave Righetti of the Giants nervous that he might lose his big breaking curve and wear down his body.
As for 1B, one of my inital thoughts is i predict it will turn out exactly opposite of what the feeling was all winter, that 1B was to be a question mark for us. After Kendry's winter and what i see of Casey so far, it will turn out to be a very solid position for us this year - other teams will be envious come May and June with what we have there.
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