Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

My Morning in Exile


Two blogs? Why not? If you can't ride two horses at once, you shouldn't be in the circus . . .

  • An old player's career comes to an end. I suppose it has to be messy. It's not like we do viking funerals anymore.


  • I want to see Randy Johnson win his 300th game. I'd also like to see him do it in Arizona. Ergo, I kind of want to see him lose today.


  • Why does the NFL get a free pass when it comes to steroids?


  • I link Dan Turkenkopf's analysis of Eck and Smoltz, so let's just eliminate the middle man.


  • Uber-prospect Bryce Harper's parents want to get him into the draft when he's 17 and he's being advised by Scott Boras. I can't possibly see anything crazy happening as a result of this.


  • And you thought Todd Jones made the last appearance in Tiger Stadium.
    • Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 11:31am

    Quote of the Day


    BTF poster and Braves fan, Sam Hutcheson, responding to John Smoltz's critical comments about the Braves' release of Tom Glavine:

    John Smoltz is a sanctimonious prick. I hope his shoulder falls off.

    Frank Wren's job is not to assemble an old-timers squad from the Braves' HOF. Tom Glavine is 43, throws 80 on a good day and had to use guile and craft to get out A-ball hitters. Tommy Hanson is 22 and throws 6000 miles per hour.

    F**K John Smoltz.

    The fact that I can (a) see Smoltz's side of things; (b) see Sam's side of things; and (c) still laugh my butt off at this comment means that I'll probably get past this Glavine business sometime after lunch today.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 11:45am

    Jayson Stark’s hypothetical outrage


    Reader Jason D. has a request:

    Please write about how damn stupid Stark's ESPN.com piece on draft bonuses is. I'm bored at work.


    Gladly!

    Stark's piece is about Stephen Strasburg and draft bonuses. Take it away Jayson:

    Fifty million bucks.

    Roll that around your tongue.

    Fifty million bucks.

    That's not this week's Powerball jackpot. That's the unofficial, early-line, insane price tag Scott Boras has theoretically slapped on the forehead of the surefire No. 1 pick in next week's baseball draft, Stephen Strasburg.

    Fifty million bucks.

    What a farce.

    What kills me about this article are not the prescriptions it offers -- trading draft pics, hard bonus caps, etc. are all worth discussing -- it's that it launches into all of this based on a demand made by an agent that everyone already understands to have a somewhat delusional view of the world. I would not at all be surprised to see Scott Boras demand that his next client be given access to "three score and nine comely lasses" and "fiddlers three" as a condition of signing. Does that mean we need to ban chattels from being given as bonuses? There probably do need to be made some changes to the draft, but let's not let Scott Boras dictate what they are. Hell, let Boras ask for the moon. If someone gives it to him they've got more problems than he does.

    Not that Stark is the only one off point here:

    "You should get paid for what you do, for what you've done," said Howard's teammate Jayson Werth, a onetime No. 1 pick himself, by the Orioles in 1997. "That's what free agency's for -- to get paid for what you could do, for what you might possibly do. It's not what the draft is for."

    That sound you hear is Werth being dragged to a union-run reeducation camp somewhere.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:03pm

    Holy Moly!


    Serious drama for Yorvit Torrealba and his family:

    The 11-year-old son of Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba was rescued by police after he was kidnapped according to a newspaper in his home country of Venezuela.

    Yorvit Eduardo and two of his uncles were reportedly kidnapped Tuesday morning in Guarenas, Venezuela while the boy was on his way to school. The three were rescued Wednesday night in Araira, Venezuela, according to the newspaper De todo en diversiones in the capital city of Caracas.

    Police identified the boy's uncles as Daniel Antonio Alvarez, 31, and Agrey Alexander Marquez, 27. They said the kidnappers, who were positively identified in a police lineup, asked for a $1 million ransom which was not paid.

    It's gotta be hard enough to be working in one country while your family lives in another in normal circumstances, but I can't imagine how Venezuelan players can even function given what has been happening there.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:36pm

    Friday, June 05, 2009

    And That Happened


    Giants 5, Nationals 1: 300. My first memory of The Big Unit was watching him on TV as he pitched against the Braves on May 7, 1989. He was gangley and ineffective that afternoon, going four innings and giving up six runs and walking six guys on the second worst offense in the National League. There was nothing about him that made me think the guy would be in baseball in a year, let alone winning his 300th 20 years later. When he was traded to the Mariners the following month I thought "they gave up Mark Langston for THAT guy?" Mark Langston was an All-Star who could strike guys out. Why on Earth would Seattle give that up for this tall drink of water? Shows you what I know. Congratulations to Randy Johnson, one of the most unique and impressive talents to ever play the game.

    Yankees 8, Rangers 6: Is everyone cool with Hughes to the pen and Wang to the rotation? Because I'm not sure I am, and I don't even much care about the Yankees. Wang gave up five runs on seven hits in four and two-thirds. On the bright side he only gave up one home run and struck out five, so this could just be rust which, according to conventional wisdom, is particularly hard on sinkerballers. I don't know if the CW is true in this regard, but at least Hughes is around in case Wang simply can't find it again. Compensating for Wang was Melky Cabrera, who provided late-game heroics once again, this time in the form of a two-run homer in the eighth that proved to be the game winner.

    Red Sox 6, Tigers 3: Reports of Dontrelle Willis' return to form were slightly exaggerated. D-Train was cruising along fine until he was derailed in the third, when he went HBP-walk-K-walk-walk-walk. Leyland pulled him at that point -- getting himself ejected during the pitching change, which is a nice trick -- and then Zach Miner let eveyone Willis put on score and then some. To top off this craptacular series for Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hurt his hamstring running the bases and had to leave the game.

    Marlins 4, Brewers 3: Josh Johnson does it all. He hits! (three-run homer!) He pitches! (7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8K). He'll slice your onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and make mounds of Julienne fries!

    Twins 11, Indians 3: After watching Fausto Carmona performance yesterday, Rob Neyer said "every time Carmona pitches he just embarrasses himself and the rest of the organization." Ouch. True, but ouch. Jason Kubel played a big hand in the embarrassment, smacking two three-run homers off of Carmona.

    Angels 6, Blue Jays 5: Not that every recent Neyer subject plays to form. As Rob notes, Howie Kendrick has been terrible, but after the Angels' bullpen blew the lead in the eighth, Kendrick dropped a bunt single when he noticed Jose Bautista playing behind the bag a third, advanced to third on a Chone Figgins single, and then scored on a grounder to second that may have frozen a lot of guys at third base. He's still playing terrible baseball overall, but at least for one inning he did something right.

    Pirates 11, Mets 6: Welcome Andrew McCutchen! The Pirates' new centerfielder went 2-4 with a walk, a stolen base, scored three runs and drove in another. But really everyone hit for Pittsburgh. Ramon Vazquez went 4 for 4 and Andy LaRoche had a couple of RBIs as well. The Mets hit too, but Mike Pelfrey had the worst day of his life, and there really wasn't any recovering from the nine runs he had given up by the time he left in the fourth.

    Athletics 7, White Sox 0: Young Brett Anderson pitched a gem (7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER) and for once the A's bats responded. Everyone had a hit except Orlando Cabrera and Adam Kennedy. Even Aaron ".158/.200/.158" Cunningham, who hit a homer. The other day Ozzie Guilled said "if we have Beckham here, we're in trouble." Well, he's here, and he debuted with an 0-3.

    Cardinals 3, Reds 1: Overheard during Chris Carpenter's 2007-2008 surgery and rehab: "Chris Carpenter: pitcher. A man whose arm is barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic starting pitcher. Chris Carpenter will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster." If you have a better explanation for 4-0 with a 0.71 ERA, I'd really like to hear it.

    Rays 3, Royals 2: The Royals have dropped seven games in a row. The Rays are back to .500.

    Rockies 10, Astros 3: It was going to happen eventually, so why not last night: Wandy Rodriguez was shelled (5 IP, 10 H, 7 ER). Garrett Atkins had a couple of homers for the Rockies, but really everyone got in on the hit parade.

    Giants 4, Nationals 1: Matt Cain gets a rain-shortened win in the second, afterthoughty and rainy half of the doubleheader. I can only assume that there were about six people there by the time the rain started coming down in earnest.

    Phillies 3, Dodgers 0: Cole Hamels spins the pitching performance of the night (CG, SHO, 5 H, 5K). The Phillies have won seven straight.

    Cubs-Braves: Postponed. They'll have to schedule a doubleheader to make this one up, most likely. Doubleheaders can be hard on a pitching staff. Helps to have an extra starter hanging around for those things you know. Some guy -- maybe a wily vet -- who can just bear down and give you some innings to save the rest of your staff. Too bad the Braves don't have anyone like that. AAAAARRRGGH!
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:36am

    Book Review: “Miracle Ball”


    I'm not going to say that I've stretched myself a bit thin recently, but I had forgotten that I wrote a book review for the New York Post a week or two ago. In fact, I hadn't even realized that it had been published this past Sunday until I happened to run into it while randomly clicking around.

    Huh. I wonder if I've written anything else recently.

    Anyway, it's about a book called "Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot Heard 'Round the World," by Brian Biegel. As the title suggests, it's about the author's quest to figure out whatever happened to the ball Bobby Thomson hit over the left field wall of the Polo Grounds back on October 3, 1951.

    Verdict: good book! Liked it a lot. Read the review to find out why.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 9:01am

    Right down the middle


    Stories like these are one of the best things about baseball.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 9:35am

    It’s not over until the fat reliever pitches


    I'm not a fan of opera, but if you put a gun to my head and make me watch "Tosca," I'd prefer to do it this way:

    While all the Opera House performances require tickets ranging from $15 to $290, the performance scheduled for simulcast at 8 tonight from the Opera House to the AT&T Ballpark is free . . . a free, live, high-definition video simulcast transmitted straight from the War Memorial Opera House to the AT&T Ballpark scoreboard. Folks can enjoy all the traditional ballpark fare of hot dogs, garlic fries and cold beer while watching the unforgettable opera outdoors.

    If it rains, they'll make it up as a doubleheader with "La bohème" next week. Either way, I'm bringing my radio and listening to the Giants-Marlins game.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 10:01am

    Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender


    The Ballpark at Arlington is not among the top-10 vegetarian ballparks.

    This is likely not an accident:

    After years of trying to find a consistent, high quality steak, [Nolan] Ryan finally decided that the only way he could guarantee beef that was tender and good every time was to start his own brand. He gathered up several of his ranching friends and enlisted some of the top meat scientists and beef marketing people in the world. Together, they developed a program to provide guaranteed tender, all natural beef that would always be tender and tasty and a great value for families.

    Ten gallon hats-off to Nolan Ryan, the king of multitasking. That he can simultaneously ensure that his beef stays tender while his pitchers' arms get all tough and stringy is a testament to his Texas can-do attitude!

    And no, I'm not sure why I was reading a website called "cattlenetwork.com." Things just kind of happen like that when you blog.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 10:40am

    My Morning in Exile


    I just sent a brief down to court that may or may not get me held in contempt. I don't plan on going to jail today, but in the off chance I do, you can enjoy these posts until my bosses come up with my bail money:

  • If want Vicente Padilla, you can have Vicente Padilla.


  • Jose Reyes is going to be out a while. I've got "trade for Carlos Lee" in the "How will Omar overreact" pool.


  • Adam LaRoche fails at being a team leader.


  • Dick Jacobs has passed away. Progressive Insurance would be possessed of massive quantities of win if they allowed the ballpark's name to revert back to Jacobs Field.


  • Jim Bowden was even more incompetent than many of us realized.


  • Finally, should we care about all of the homers in Yankee Stadium if the fans don't?
    • Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 12:12pm

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