Category: Baseball

Excellent analysis

My post-season baseball predictions have been shockingly good. Each of the 3 game in the ALCS (AKA “Real World Series”) were won by the team I said had the pitching advantage. We’ll see if this holds up in game four, but I’m feeling pretty good about it on account of Wakefield coming off an injury and being a knuckler and all. Cleveland still has several key hitters MIA, such as Sizemore and Hafner, so those boys do need to step up.

The NLCS was a total snooze-fest, the only excitement coming in Game 4 when the Snakes had to leave their pitcher in to give up 6 runs in one inning because he was their best hitter. Dumping that poser Byrnes was the best thing Billy Beane ever did.

Rabid right-wing “Christian” fundamentalist Jeff Goldstein is pretty excited about the snake-handling Rockies playing the Champion, and I have to admit there’s something cute about a Cleveland-Rox series; as long as Ted Haggard doesn’t throw out the first pitch.

Post-Season Baseball Predictions

My pre-season picks weren’t too bad, as I got 3 of the 6 division winners: Indians, Phillies, and Red Sox. Considering none of them had won a division in ages, they were actually pretty good. Both my wildcards (Mets and Tigers) were wrong, and they were safe picks at the time. Sometimes you got to go out on a limb.

The momentum factor favors the Rox in the playoffs since they’re on a 14-1 tear and recorded a victory in the tie-breaker, but it was tainted by the fact that Holliday didn’t actually touch the actual, you know, plate, owing to Barrett’s foot being on it and all. But it was the 13th inning and the ump was getting hungry so that was that.

The most exciting series will be Rox/Phils, with lots of long balls and some furious base-running. I expect Jamie Moyer will continue to throw lots of change-ups and Cole Hamels will prevail over the worn-out Rox. If the Rox somehow squeak by the Phils, they will have to be the favorite to take the World Series, otherwise the Phils will lose to the AL champ.

The over-coached Yangels will go up in flames in Fenway, and the Indians will clobber the Yankees because they have better pitching. The Indians will then go on to the WS as the Sox peaked in July and have been winding down ever since. Plus, Schilling is a gasbag and Jesus doesn’t like him.

But you never know, these things are a crap shoot and anything can happen.

See Matt Welch for more of this kinda thing.

Blogger manages Mariners’ pitching staff

This is quite an interesting example of how blogs, the Internet, and new technology are improving our world, our culture, and our American way of life. Major League Baseball has installed cameras in 20 ballparks or so that allow MLB’s Gameday to chart the speed and trajectory of every pitch thrown in a ballgame, and the results are archived (click on the Gameday link). USS Mariner blogging dude Dave Cameron studied the data for the Mariners’ ace pitcher, young Felix Hernandez, and found he’s been throwing too many fastballs in the first inning. So he sends the pitching coach an e-mail, which he passes on to Felix, and things change:

This team needs Felix to be better in 2007 than he has been. Since it’s unlikely that you can fix his command before his next start, there has to be another way you can help Felix get over his first inning struggles. Thankfully, I believe there is. It’s pitch selection.

Last night (6/26), Felix threw 10 straight fastballs to start the game. Coco Crisp singled on an 0-2 fastball. Dustin Pedroia singled on the first pitch he saw, a pitch he knew was going to be a fastball. David Ortiz drew a four pitch walk, all on fastballs. The bases were loaded with nobody out after 8 pitches, all fastballs.

In his previous start against the Pirates (6/21), Felix threw 13 consecutive fastballs to start the game. Those 13 pitches turned into 5 outs, as the Pirates hitters aren’t very good.

Of course, this could go too far, as we certainly don’t want Mike Lascioscia taking Matt Welch’s lineup and batting order suggestions.

Anyhow, computers are cool, and so is baseball. Link via Slate.

Bud Selig’s Travels

Isn’t this ironic as all get-out?

While Barry Bonds was breaking the home run record in San Francisco, baseball commissioner Bud Selig was in New York, preparing to meet with his chief steroids investigator.

Selig watched Bonds’ 756th homer on television Tuesday night, then met with George Mitchell on Wednesday before returning to Milwaukee, a person with knowledge of Selig’s whereabouts said.

Commissioner Selig is responsible for the Steroids Era in baseball (by refusing to do any testing until last year) and he couldn’t be bothered to see the fruits of his labor. Hypocrite.

Sanjaya Rips America Apart

Here’s an example of the damage Sanjaya Malakar is doing to America:

Way out West, the bizarre Sanjaya Malakar/”American Idol” drama is tearing at the fabric of a once-strong bond between friends and former teammates.

After Dan Haren was traded to the A’s in December 2004, he found a mentor and soulmate of sorts in then-Oakland ace Barry Zito. Now Zito is with the Giants, and the two aren’t just on opposite sides of San Francisco Bay. They’re on opposite sides of the Howard Stern-led movement to “vote for the worst” — i.e., the musical car wreck that is Sanjaya.

“I voted for him 50 times,” Haren said during the final week of Spring Training.

Told of his buddy’s vow to help make a mockery of the “Idol” process, Zito fired off a classic, indignant text message that read, “Unreal. These people want to prove that it is a joke, but it only is when people like them are dishonest in voting. So they’re proving that dishonesty skews it. Congratulations.”

Responded Haren: “I just want to see [Sanjaya] get a record contract.”

The once-great Zito is in the twilight of his career over there on the wrong side of the bay, and it’s sad to see his mind going soft like this. Get that boy some fish oil.

Meanwhile, back in golden Oakland, rookie Travis Buck has just hit a triple to lead off the fifth inning in a game where the A’s trail the White Sox 1-0. A’s fans are excited, knowing that a man on third with nobody out has a 93% chance of scoring. But Mark Ellis and Jason Kendall ground out weakly to the pitcher and Shannon Stewart files out to right and the A’s come away with nothing. Buck is probably thinking: “send me back to Triple A ball, these m!@#er f$%&ing geezers stink so bad I don’t want to get any on me.”

Game-ending Domer
But it’s a big, fat, setup. Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth, with the score tied thanks to a three clutch singles by the A’s and Buck coming to the plate. This guy is a rookie and the league leader in strikeouts, but Crazy Ozzie don’t care ’bout the numbers, he gives him an intentional walk, loading the bases. And up comes Mark “weakly hit ground ball to the pitcher” Ellis, who proceeds to bounce one off the left field fence, then off Scott Podsednik’s head, and then onto the outfield grass. The A’s win.

That’s good for baseball.

The Chicago papers show the White Sox GM to be a bit of a prophet:

“…if we play well, we’re in the ballgames, and if we give ourselves a chance to come out of these first few weeks .500 … we get some guys starting off well and their confidence grows, we’re going to be really special.

And I’m seeing some of that, especially with the bullpen. I mean, we can still go out there and blow up against Oakland because you’re not going to have success every day.”

Indeed.

Home Opener

The A’s have their home opener tonight against some team from Chicago, so our long dark night of the soul is over. America’s team has played two valiant series on the road already, against a much improved Seattle Mariners team and the Anaheim chapter of the Axis of Steinbrenner. The Team split with the Halos and went 1-2 against the sailors. So we’re learned a lot already:

* The core pitching staff of Harden, Haren, and Blanton is outstanding, as good as any Big Three in baseball right now.

* The loss of Zito isn’t going to hurt the As. His ERA is now above 8 for the Giants, and he’s 0-2 after getting banged around in both of his starts on the wrong side of the Bay.

* The loss of Frank Thomas isn’t going to hurt the As. Piazza leads the league in hits, and he can hit anybody, anytime. And he runs like a turbo-charged beer truck, not a regular beer truck.

* Shannon Stewart, most likely, is an upgrade from Jay Payton.

* Chad Gaudin has the stuff to be a big-league starter, and pitching on a regular basis improves his control, the only weakness in his game in the past. When he’s got a full four-pitch repertoire, watch out AL.

* Alan Embree is more than a LOOGY, he’s a great 1-2 inning setup man.

* Base running is hard. Your coaches and your runners and your hitters all need to be on the same page, and when it goes wrong you look like a bunch of morons.

* Infield defense has taken a dive post-Wash and won’t fully recover.

* Bobby Crosby isn’t 100% and Geren needs to treat him accordingly. If you got runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and Crosby coming up, pinch hit Mr. Clutch Scutaro for him, at least during April. Re-evaluate in May.

* Nick Swisher can hit with RISP.

* Jason Kendall can throw out stealing Angels and then rub their face in it by stealing bases himself. That’s because he’s the ultimate gamer.

* Travis Buck is going to be in the Big Leagues for many years, but probably not for all of this one.

* Lackey and K-Fraud are the King and Queen of Bush League behavior.

* The Angels in general are not all they’re cracked-up to be. They have one good hitter and only one, their defense is ragged, their running game is chaos, and their bullpen is weak.

* Felix Hernandez of the Sailors is the real deal, a dominating pitcher with Cy Young in his future.

Frankie Rodriguez’ Cheating Ways

For those defending Angel closer Francisco Rodriguez in the case against him for doctoring the baseball, here’s the relevant baseball rule:

Rule 8.02(a) Comment: If at any time the ball hits the rosin bag it is in play. In the case of rain or wet field, the umpire may instruct the pitcher to carry the rosin bag in his hip pocket. A pitcher may use the rosin bag for the purpose of applying rosin to his bare hand or hands. Neither the pitcher nor any other player shall dust the ball with the rosin bag; neither shall the pitcher nor any other player be permitted to apply rosin from the bag to his glove or dust any part of his uniform with the rosin bag.

Rodriguez admits to loading his cap with rosin, so the case is closed. He should get a ten-day suspension and close scrutiny when he returns, if for no other reason than for his ignorance of the rules:

I talked to Francisco Rodriguez about this white substance on the underside of his bill and he grabbed the hat from his locker, flipped it over and said “This?” On the black underside of his cap was a sizable white smudge. “It’s rosin,” Rodriguez said.

It’s interesting to note that since Rosingate became public, Rodriguez has been tagged pretty good: Piazza homered off him Thursday to win the game, and he’s given up a total of four hits in two innings of work, two of them for extra bases. Against the A’s, his ERA now stands at 4.50, and his BAA at .400 and his SAA at .800.

K-Rod with a doctored ball: dominating closer; K-Rod without a doctored ball: mediocre. Not to take anything away from the A’s, mind you, who are still the greatest team in baseball (when healthy.)

UPDATE: Major League Baseball joins the conspiracy, “clearing” the pitcher now known as K-Fraud of ball doctoring:

Major League Baseball informed the Angels on Friday that closer Francisco Rodriguez will not face disciplinary action for supposedly doctoring baseballs, an allegation that was first made on an Internet blog written by the author of the book, “The Cheaters Guide to Baseball.”

Uh huh, right. So the big-market teams such as the overpaid Angels continue to get preferential treatment from MLB, extending to an extra-special strike zone.

Our democracy is in danger.