Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Links on a lost day


Though I often think I'm better than that, the truth of the matter is that I mostly traffic in snark. Hey, it's what works for me, so I'm not going to hide from it. The problem with snark, however, is that it rarely plays when things get serious, and the death of Nick Adenhart made today a serious day. Certainly one on which I didn't feel like snarking about anything. Mostly I've been doing what most people do at times like these: reflecting on how damn fleeting life is and planning on trying to remember that more often from now on, even if I'll probably forget it by next week and return to the same old baloney with which I've always filled my own life.

Put differently, I lost the will to blog late this morning and decided to punt the day. Before the Adenhart news, however, I had written a few posts over at NBC that those of you who actually enjoy a little snark when things get bleak might enjoy:

  • The Nats' curious Philadelphia outreach program


  • Some more Marlins' ballpark ranting. Cut me some slack; you guys may be tired of it, but the NBC readership doesn't yet know how obsessive I am about that kind of thing.


  • The case against retiring Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry's numbers


  • And finally, my attempt at stealing Yahoo!'s idea of building the perfect ballclub.


    • Hope you like it. I promise I'll be back together tomorrow. In the meantime, be careful out there and make sure you tell the people you love that you love them as often as possible.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 4:09pm (0) Comments

    BREAKING: Nick Adenhart killed in car crash


    According to TMZ, Angels' starter Nick Adenhart was killed in an automobile accident this morning:

    TMZ has learned Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a felony hit-and-run car accident in Fullerton, California early this morning -- hours after he pitched in a game last night. Cops say someone driving a minivan blew through a red light, causing the Mitsubishi that Adenhart was riding in to hit a light pole. Three people were killed in the crash, including Nick.

    It's reportedly a hit and run, and the other driver is still at large.

    Note: this is the only source that I've seen on this yet. Let's hope and pray that it's wrong. I'll pass along any updates I can find as the story develops.

    UPDATE: Other news sources are starting to pick this up, so it appears to be legitimate. Also, it's now being reported that the driver of the other vehicle has been arrested. This is absolutely terrible news.

    UPDATE: Another source confirms.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 11:21am (10) Comments

    Hondo in bronze


    Of all of the ways baseball in Washington has gone off the rails since its return, perhaps none sadder has been the manner in which Nationals' management has failed to embrace the history of both their franchise, and that of baseball in the city at large. That there is scant if any evidence that this team was once the Montreal Expos is an utter atrocity, but ownership's failure to showcase Washington Senators' history, such as it is, is pretty bad too. Thankfully, at least the latter is starting to be adressed:

    Big Frank Howard gazed at the even bigger sculpture of himself in the center field plaza at Nationals Park and whistled softly.

    "Beautiful, just great," the former Capital Clouter said softly. "I feel like I just got my college degree today."

    Howard, who stood 6-foot-7 and weighed nearly 300 pounds when he was bashing home runs for the Senators in the late 1960s and early 1970s, hasn't had to look up at many things during a 50-year career in baseball. In this case, however, he had no choice. Omri Amrany, who operates a fine arts studio outside Chicago with his wife, Julie Rotblatt-Amrany, has sculpted dozens of sports figures over several decades. His white bronze statue of Howard looms 10 feet 8 inches high and weighs 1,200 pounds, which is enough to make even Hondo feel insignificant by comparison.

    Walter Johnson and Josh Gibson are getting statues as well.

    Now, how about honoring Rusty Staub, Gary Carter, Tim Raines Andre Dawson? Sure, maybe they never played in Washington, but unlike Johnson and Gibson, at least there are some people alive who remember seeing them play.

    UPDATE: Apparently these statues are hideous, so maybe we should just retire the old Expos' numbers rather than cast them in bronze, umm-kay?
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 10:15am (8) Comments

    Sam Zell’s crazy gambit


    Given how the John Moores was able to sell a huge stake in the Padres to Jeff Moorad almost overnight, one wonders why it has taken Sam Zell so long to sell the Cubs. Well, besides the fact that unlike the Padres' deal, the Cubs sale wasn't an exercise in Kabuki theater designed to help Moores fianance his divorce and avoid unloading the team in a fire sale. A partial answer to that question was released yesterday, and it involves a totally farkakte plan to spin off Wrigley Field:

    But papers released by the Illinois Finance Authority shows how complicated any deal involving the Cubs and Wrigley Field could have been. Indeed, Zell proposed a sale of Wrigley Field to the state of Illinois that's fairly breathtaking in its audacity.

    Zell had proposed selling Wrigley Field to the state for $45 million, while retaining a 5 percent stake. (Zell always tries to retain a stake for tax purposes; it lowers the tax liability on any transaction.) The state would then spend $300 million on a renovation of Wrigley Field.

    The Cubs would then sign a 30-year lease for Wrigley Field, paying $25 million annually in rent -- a total of $750 million.

    The deal doesn't pass the smell test. It pushes the costs of Wrigley Field renovations onto new owners, but when this was proposed the Tribune Co. was still in negotiations with several suitors, all of whom we're told were heavily against this deal.

    More details here, including an appearance by a guy -- William Brandt -- whom I once had the displeasure of dealing with in the course of a complicated criminal representation. I have to say, the fact that he's caught up in all of this mess almost makes the unreasonably protracted drama of the Cubs' sale worth it.

    (thanks to Pete Toms -- the person you can usually blame for me going off on business tangents -- for the link)
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 9:40am (2) Comments

    And That Happened


    Phillies 12, Braves 11: And here I thought we'd get at least a week into the season before I wanted to shoot myself in the face, but then the Braves' pen walks six (6!) guys in the seventh inning -- four with the bases loaded -- and goes and moves up the schedule. Bobby Cox: "I've never seen anything like it. I've seen a couple walk-ins, but never like that." Bobby Cox has been in professional baseball for over 50 years, and dadgummit, I believe him.

    Rockies 9, Diamondbacks 2: Rockies' starter Franklin Morales: one run over six innings and the win. His reward: a flight to Colorado Springs and the minors. I sort of know how he feels. True story: yesterday I found out I won an appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court that I briefed and argued -- and that I had no business winning -- a month before I got laid off from my law firm. Nobody appreciates good work anymore.

    Tigers 5, Blue Jays 1: After the way they started last year, I can only assume that the Tigers feel like a giant weight was taken off their chests with a win here. Miguel Cabrera was a one-man wrecking crew, with two homers and 4 RBI. And what's with Brandon Inge? Three games, three homers. Rick Porcello goes later today, in what will be the most closely watched Tigers' start in recent memory.

    Orioles 7, Yankees 5: I actually wish that the Yanks would start out 12-2 or something, because there's nothing worse than the sturm und drang of New York fans and New York media trying to figure out What All of This Means with these slow starts to which we've become accustomed. Nick Markakis went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBI, but if I'm guessing right, the tabloids will feature this game as an act in some larger morality play in which the Yankees are found lacking. It would be pathetic if it wasn't so boring.

    Marlins 6, Nationals 4: Can't wait to read Manny Acta ripping Daniel Cabrera on his blog later today.

    Rays 7, Red Sox 2: Yesterday, in response to the Red Sox' Opening Day win over the Rays, the New York Times referred to it as the Red Sox "restoring order" in the wake of the Rays' "surreal" ascent last year. Query: does this game throw everything back out of whack, or are we all going to be adults about this and admit that Tampa Bay ain't goin' anywhere for the better part of the next decade? By the way, I'm going to predict that Evan Longoria has the greatest anti-sophomore slump since "Paul's Boutique" came out.

    Royals 2, White Sox 0: It's amazing what happens when you actually send the good pitchers (Greinke, Cruz, Soria) out to take care of things, isn't it Trey?

    Twins 6, Mariners 5: Apart from the front office and managerial moves this offseason, I had pretty much missed everything that happened with Seattle. Imagine my surprise and, I must say, joy at realizing that Russell Branyan is starting at first base for the Mariners. Or platooning. Or whatever it is he's doing. If my count is correct, this is his ninth team. Have Three True Outcomes, will travel.

    Mets 9, Reds 7: A shaky ninth inning for K-Rod -- the bases load up on two walks and an error -- but Alex Gonzalez swung at ball four and Lance Nix flied out to end the threat and the game. When you save as many as Rodriguez does, a lot of them aren't gonna be pretty.

    Pirates 7, Cardinals 4: Matt Capps should be buying Tyler Yates a beer for being ineffective, thereby transforming a non-save situation into a save situation for him. The Pirates rapped 17 hits off Cardinal pitchers, four apiece from Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez. Kind of surprising that they only got seven runs out of it all.

    Cubs 11, Astros 6: Fukudome was 4-5 and scored four times, so maybe the reports of his death are greatly exaggerated. Aramis Ramirez and Mike Fontenot each drove in four. That's all well and good, but Cubs' fans can't be pleased to hear about Geovany Soto's shoulder.

    Rangers 8, Indians 5: So much of the preseason optimism for the Indians was based on the anticipation of the successful return of Fausto Carmona. The anticipation still builds, because no such successful return has been seen yet (5 IP, 7 H, 6 ER). And hey, Elvis left the building too with a homer in the sixth to cap a nice night (2-4, HR 2 RBI). Wait. Don't tell me. I'm the first one to make that joke, right? Right?! Oh please tell me I was first.

    A's 6, Angels 4: Yesterday I worried about the Angels' rotation. Today I'm wondering about that pen, given that all of Oakland's runs came in the last two frames.

    Dodgers 5, Padres 2: Psst! Padres! I watched Edward Mujica pitch for the Indians an awful lot last year and, I gotta tell ya, he's not the droids you're looking for.

    Brewers 4, Giants 2: Remember last year how Greg Maddux took absolutely forever to reach 350 wins? I think that's what we're up against with Randy Johnson and 300. He struck out seven guys in five innings but he also gave up two dingers and four runs. Yovani Gallardo took responsibility for everything last night, pitching nearly seven solid innings and hitting a three run home run in the fifth that all but knocked Johnson out of the game. Factoid that surprised me: "Johnson is the oldest pitcher to start a game for the Giants, surpassing Warren Spahn, who was 44 in 1965." I think intellectually I knew that Johnson was older than Spahn was when he quit pitching, but some part of my gut wants me to think he as about 77 years-old when he retired. Also, I remember he started for the Mets in 1965 because I have a 1965 Spahn card with the Mets on it, but it had always escaped my notice that he signed on with the Giants in the middle of the season.

    I guess that's just another reason to hang around B-R.com. Well, that and it's pretty awesome redesign which came on line the other day.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:43am (10) Comments