Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Thanks, Rupert!


So a month or so ago I was asked by the New York Post to review Marty Appel's new Thurman Munson biography. They sent me the book. I read it. Liked it. I wrote a review. Then I traded the book to Jason at IIATMS for a Chipper Jones jersey he didn't want anymore (query: what the hell is a Yankees fan doing with a Chipper Jones jersey anyway?). Pretty sweet deal all around (I think I got the better end of the trade, though).

Sadly, the review never ran, which happens sometimes. At least I think it never ran, because it never showed up on the Post's website and I can't find it online anywhere. Despite this, I just received a check in the mail for the full review fee (not a spike fee), which is strange even if the thing did run, because I am a procrastinator and I had neglected to send in the little invoice the Post requires before a check can be cut. Very strange.

Anyway, if anyone did happen to read my Thurman Munson book review someplace, please tell me how it turned out because I'm genuinely curious.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:28pm (2) Comments

Joe Posnanski to SI (well, more so)


As you probably saw today, Joe Posnanski has been offered a Senior Writer gig at SI, and will be leaving permanent employment at the Kansas City Star. Great news for a great writer.

One issue, though. Posnanski says he'll keep the blog. I assume it will stay independent, but one can't help but think that either (a) that will change soon; or (b) even if it doesn't, he will be given much more latitude to write more free-form stuff at SI now that he's permanent.

Now, if you read SI stories (like this one), you quickly notice the little "story highlights" capsule to the right of the headline that kind of gives you the first-week-1L-case-brief version of the story. Assuming Joe does get more bloggy/informal at SI, this could present a problem. Specifically, I can't help but think that the people who write the "story highlights" are going to commit mass suicide after the first time they have to distill a 7,500-word, 17-subject, 4-Posterisk post into three bullet points, one of which probably has to reference Skyline Chili per Posnanski's contract.

But good luck all the same, Joe. The staffers' lives are in your hands.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 4:09pm (8) Comments

Did J.P. really “botch” the Halladay business?


I'm prepared to admit that there are many reasons to fire J.P. Ricciardi but, contrary to what Heyman says, not trading Roy Halladay is not one of them.

As far as I know, there was never a truly great offer on the table for him. The Indians kind of killed the market anyway by taking as little as they did for Cliff Lee. Contrary to what seems to be increasingly popular belief, Roy Halladay is not now plummeting in value for the Jays. He's extremely valuable and will remain so for a long time, partially because he's a fabulous pitcher and teams need those, but also because losing him would have been a really tough pill to swallow for Jays fans, whose devotion to the team tends to wane as Leafs camp approaches anyway. Simply put: you don't want to give those guys an excuse to bail on you, because in Toronto, they probably will.

Ricciardi should have probably not talked as much about dealing Halladay as much as he did -- I would have said nothing publicly aside from the "we always listen to offers" line -- but by this point you can set your watch by J.P. putting his foot in his mouth. What no one has adequately explained to me yet is why it was so, so, so important to trade Roy Halladay. At least so important that not doing so justifies canning the GM.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:45pm (31) Comments

NBC Comment of the Day


I'm not really making this a daily feature, but today was a red-letter commenting day, so I have to offer the best:

There's no sense arguing with Craig. He is the "know all, "be all" and "end all" of everything related to "the list" or in existence for that matter and we should bow to his greatness! His moral superiority is breathtaking and his wit is unmatched even by God himself. I am going to name every male child and even pets I ever have "Craig" and the females "C.C." in his honor. I only hope one day I have to ultimate pleasure of meeting Craig or at least knowing of a place he has walked so I may bow down and kiss the ground he walks on.

He had a couple of paragraphs after that, but I didn't read them. I can only assume that they were filled with similar, genuine praise, devoid of sarcasm or ulterior motive . . .
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:55pm (16) Comments

Bob Watson is on the case


Bob Watson is investigating the whole Mota-Fielder incident. Ken Macha: "[Fielder's] been hit a lot. . . . He doesn't like when somebody does it on purpose. I don't blame him. . . . This type of mentality puts everybody in jeopardy. Giving a guy a $500 fine and two-game suspension isn't enough."

Well, yeah, but the article also says that Watson is looking at stadium surveilance tapes to see just how crazy ole Prince was when he tried to get Mota in the Dodger clubhouse. I have this feeling that Fielder's deportment on that tape (i.e. Was he running? Was he raging? Was he strolling casually and not really making a fuss? Did he have to be restrained? How close did he get to the clubhouse?) will dictate whether he's fined or suspended more or less than is Mota.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:40pm (5) Comments

More on Rob’s Vacation


Ahhhh, Wilker goodness. This is more like it. Feel free to take a couple of extra days now, Rob.

BTW I, and I assume many other bloggers, got another baseball card in the mail recently. I don't have it in front of me, but it's a 1975 common whose name I'm forgetting. Lovely card though. Even lovelier was the note from Josh' publisher, the excerpt from his upcoming book, and the picture of the book's cover which is made to look like the a 1970s Topps wax pack. Very, very cool. I can't tell you how excited I am to read the Cardboard Gods book.

Until then, all we have is this bit of wonderfulness. Which will certainly do.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:19pm (1) Comments

My Morning in Exile


Gray day, everything is gray. I watch but nothing moves today:

  • Hank Aaron is wrong. Alternative title: the post which has caused all kinds of people to come out of the woodwork and call me an idiot.


  • Mother of mercy! Is this the end of Rico? Er, Prior?


  • ESPN brings the hammer down on sports people tweeting about sports things. Presumably "need coffee -- Mondays suk" tweets are still OK.


  • Hideki Irabu threw 93 MPH once?


  • Prince Fielder goes pro-wrestling on the Dodgers


  • Manny: "Everything is gravy." If he thinks Prince Fielder was excited last night . . .


    • But it all turns out all right, you see. And I go back to being me.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 12:05pm (39) Comments

    And That Happened


    Dodgers 17, Brewers 4: In a scene out of late-80s WCW, after the game, Prince Fielder ran through the underground tunnels to go put a hurt on Guillermo Mota in retaliation for a ninth-inning plunking. Fortunately for Mota's health and Fielder's wallet, he was stopped at the Dodgers' clubhouse door (though I'm guessing he's gonna get a fine anyway). No word on whether he had a folding chair with him. Kind of a bush league move on Fielder's part, though, wasn't it? I mean, everyone knows that if you're going to go after a guy, you don't do it in the clubhouse. You ambush him while he's doing a standup interview with Tony Schiavone.

    Cardinals 12, Mets 7: Albert's little slump appears to be over. Big shot in the 8th to bring the Cards closer, much bigger shot in the 10th -- grand slam -- to put the game out of reach. “I’m human. I’m not a machine,” said Pujols after the game. Sorry dude, I ain't buyin' it. Great moments in Mets history: Luis Castillo sprained his ankle after slipping on the dugout steps in the seventh inning. Apparently he was trying to avoid stepping on someone's glove or something. I'm guessing it was Francoeur's, mostly because I don't like him and I want to believe it was his. Also because I don't like Francoeur, I'll note that he went 0-5, seeing a grand total of 12 pitches in those at bats.

    Braves 9, Padres 2: Martin Prado homered and drove in three runs and Matt Diaz hit a two-run homer as the Braves broke out the whuppin' sticks in support of Javier Vazquez. Neither of these guys were the starters at their respective positions for most of the season. Prado certainly has been a marked improvement over Kelly Johnson and Diaz too, over Francoeur. Diaz did, however, perform a tribute to the departed Jeffy last night as, in addition to the homer, he hit into three double plays and struck out. Adam LaRoche was 4 for 4 and Garret Anderson was 3-5, adding to the hit parade. Adrian Gonzalez's consecutive games streak was ended at 314.

    Athletics 6, Rangers 0: Someone should detain the guy who started for the A's last night and ask him what he has done with the real Gio Gonzalez. Whoever this impostor was, he lowered Gonzalez's ERA a full run with this 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER performance. The pod people apparently got to Mark Ellis too, as he drove in three.

    Orioles 8, Tigers 2: Welcome to the majors, Brian Matusz! The 2008 draftee gave up a run and six hits in five innings, walking three and striking out five. He had some nifty defensive help from Cesar Izturis too, as he dove to pluck a bases loaded grounder in the second to bail the kid out of a jam. Hit a homer too. Jarrod Washburn's debut -- for the Tigers, not in the majors, because he's been there for a while -- was not as nice (5.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER).

    Giants 8, Astros 1: Jonathan Sanchez struck out eight in seven shutout innings, winning his first road game of the season. Freddy Sanchez and Pablo Sandoval hit back-to-back homers in the sixth and Aaron Rowand drove in three runs in an unusually potent Giants offensive attack.

    Cubs 6, Reds 3: Pirates' import Tom Gorzellany shuts down a Reds team that is on the fast track to oblivion. No one -- and I mean no one -- is playing as pathetically as this Reds team is right now.

    Diamondbacks 6, Pirates 0: Yusmeiro Petit threw eight shutout innings and took a no-hitter into the eighth, when it was broken up by Ronny "Buzzkill" Cedeno.

    White Sox 5, Angels 4: Scott Podsednik hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as the Sox -- fresh off of takin' it to the Yankees over the weekend, beat the red-hot Angels. Not that killing giants like that bodes well or anything. Oh, and Bobby Jenks was unavailable for the game because he had to be treated for a kidney stone, which is the kind of thing I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

    Mariners 7, Royals 6: Ichiro started the game with a homer and ended it with a pretty spiffy sliding catch in right. In between he walked and got another hit, scoring each time. He's pretty good, ya know?

    Rays 4, Red Sox 2: Walkoff bomb from Evan Longoria. An all or nothing kind of night for him, as he hit another homer earlier, and struck out in his four other times at the plate. Game story: "It was the Rays' longest game of the season and tied for the Red Sox's longest game in innings." Which means that the Red Sox played a game longer than 4:57 in less than 13 innings at some point this season. AL East baseball: it's fantastic!

    Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3: The Sox loss and the Yankees' win gives the bombers some breathing room. A day after I say that you don't see many complete game losses anymore, Roy Halladay pitched a complete game, but lost, giving up five runs on ten hits.

    Rockies 8, Phillies 3: Thirty-two of the Rockies' 59 wins have come on the road this season. They didn't used to do that sort of thing. Game story: "Moyer extended his 10-start pattern of alternating good starts and bad ones, with a subpar effort." Maybe Manuel should skip every other Moyer start. Or does it not work that way?

    Nationals 6, Marlins 4: The Nats rallied for six in the eighth inning, capped off with an Adam Dunn homer, to beat the fish. Dunn pulled a Longoria in this one, striking out three times before connecting. Wait, Dunn's been doing that for years, so I guess Longoria pulled a Dunn.

    Twins 10, Indians 1: "Doubles are nice," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said after the game. The Twins hit seven on them -- three from Joe Mauer -- as the pound the Tribe. Scott Baker was on (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER). David Huff was not (4.2 IP, 11 H, 7 ER). Makes me wish that I hadn't already burned my "minute and a Huff" joke a couple of weeks ago.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:53am (12) Comments