4.26.2006

D-Train

As long as Florida is looking to complete the firesale by unloading Dontrelle Willis, perhaps the Dodgers could offer Rafael Furcal and even one of our prospects. Despite his WBC performance, I think Willis would be a great fit for L.A., and more importantly, it would get this Furcal character out of the way so that the best defensive shortstop in baseball, when he completes his recovery, can get back to making art on a nightly basis.

Two Things That Rock


First...my boy and fellow Spartan Charles "C-Rob" Robinson ran rampant through The Jungle today after breaking the Reggie Bush/agent's house story from his perch atop Yahoo! Sports. He was on Dan Patrick a few weeks ago for something else and now this? Best.

Second...buy a GM if you can, because they just sent me a really pricey ticket to a luxury suite for the Angels/Sox series starting Friday. Last week, they treated me to a Dodger/Diamondback game. So yes, I'm a complete sellout. But who cares?

4.25.2006

California Baseball Is In A Class By Itself

Walter O'Malley had an idea. In the late 1950's he thought he'd move his Dodgers from Brooklyn to the West Coast, and commence the advent of California Baseball. Mr. O'Malley's decision has proven to be monumental as there is a total of 5 Major League teams hailing in The Golden State.

After being in San Diego just under 10 years, the Padres appeared to be headed for Washington D.C.. In the early 1970's, Ray Kroc bought the team and got the attendance over a million annually. Citizens of San Diego give thanks to the late Fast Food Man !

More current times show Arte Moreno in Anaheim wanting to enhance the fan experience. Angel Stadium has several lit up score and promotional boards for fans to get in the game. Angel fans continue to be pleased as the team's popularity just keeps going up like the Rally Monkey's vertical leap.

In the dictionary next to the entry 'economy' should be a mug shot of Billy Beane. What this guy has done for the A's has been nothing short of remarkable. Oakland doesn't have the luxury of making up for their mishaps by spending so there is no room for mistakes and gambles. Every season they are in contention to win the AL West crown and 2006 is no exception.

The Dodgers have always seemed to have strong leadership and values and that formula has led to 5 World Championships in Los Angeles. San Francisco is the other team that came over from New York and they've given their fans loads of individually talented players that have landed in the Hall of Fame. SBC Park is also considered one of the more scenic of the other 29.

So as baseball purists we should all reflect on how our game has prospered from the move out West, and begin construction on a new Walter O'Malley statue at Dodger Stadium. What a genius.

I Coulda "Ben" Somebody!


Ben (your boy, Deuce) once famously trashed my inner-most, private dream by telling me that it didn't matter I quit baseball in seventh grade after getting pasted in the face by a heater because I was "too shrimpy".

Aha.

But check these out:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/charts/heights/heights.shtml
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/charts/weights/weights.shtml

(Hud is 5' 10.5" and 170 lbs at the moment.)

I also thought this quote was fun:

"Look at Gossage. He's six feet four and most of it is fat. He pitches maybe an inning a week. And for that, they pay him a million dollars a year. And you know what? He's worth it." - Teammate Rudy May in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (1997, Jonathan Fraser Light)

Stop Walking El Diablo

The Giants got a nice win against the Mets last night behind a strong outing from future star Matt Cain. But early in the game, while it still a scoreless tie, Tom Glavine faced Barry Bonds with a man on first . . . and walked him on four pitches. (He tried a 2-0 breaking ball and when that missed, they intentionally walked him.) Moises Alou proceeded to hit a three-run homer deep to left-center, making it 3-0 Giants and, as it turned out, salting away the game.

Are managers high right now? It’s like Bonds has been terrifying them for so long, they can’t get their heads around the fact that walking him is a big mistake. Here's an interesting little comparison: Albert Pujols is hitting .344 with 12 of his teams 23 home runs and he’s been walked 18 times. Bonds is hitting .222 with 1 home run and he’s been walked 23 times. Madness.

I've watched Bonds hit quite a bit this year and that front leg, the one with the bad knee, just looks like jelly. He doesn't have his usual power base, so he's not getting around on fastballs and when he does, he has warning track power. I'm not saying the beast has been defanged. As soon as he proves he’ll hit any fastball in the zone over the fence again, I have no problem with walking him. But to walk him without a base open and Alou on deck in a tight game is just foolish. (Especially, by the way, when Alou is 21/67 lifetime against Glavine.)

4.24.2006

Stuff To Think About: Week Four Edition


Consider these points:


1. The TIGERS are 12 - 7.

2. The YANKEES are 9 -8.

3. Revisit one and two in order.

4. Is the Raf Furcal experiment working in your minds?

5. Barry Bonds is a complete, utter and upsettingly obvious fraud.

4.16.2006

Sal Fasano Does Not Look Like This Anymore!


Among the many pleasures of watching the Dodgers split a fantastic double header in Philadelphia last weekend (a Bobby Abreau walk-off homer to win the first game, a pitching gem by Brad Penny--featuring his all-new splitter!--in the second, beautiful weather, dollar dogs, and that general state of bliss that accompanies a new season) was seeing new backup Phillie catcher Sal Fasano. Fasano came in as a late-inning replacement in the first game and played all of the second. The crowd for game 2 was sparser, by the way, more die-hard and definitely more liquored-up. And they love Sal Fasano. Heck, I was cheering for him and I was there to root for the Dodgers! This guy is going to be a cult hero in Philadelphia; it's the right time and place for the right guy. A big part of it is his look which is best described as diametrically opposed to the picture above. He's now got a mane of shaggy hair and a thick Fu Manchu moustache which makes him look like a muscled-up Rollie Fingers. They really love him in Phili and it's just going to go deeper as the season continues. He looks like he should be making cheesesteaks at Pat's, really. Mike Hudson has offered free shwag to whomever comes up with the first great picture of the NEW Sal Fasano.

4.12.2006

Dodgers Game 9: Let the Fretting Begin

Oh my aching head.

After watching the Dodgies blow yet another lead against a sub-par team, it's officially time to start asking ourselves: "Yes, but what about next year?"

No, but it is time to question where the Dodgers (or your team) will end up at the end of the year. Traditionally, I've fielded predictions at Game 10. Send along your predictions for any teams you like to mhudson@edmunds.com. If you're really ambitious, send along the playoffs and who wins.

We've got a series of issues with the Dodgers that seem to be turning into major problems:
  • 12th Worst ERA in the Majors
  • 5th Most HRs given up
  • 8th Most Rs given up

This is cancelling out the huge, huge positives for this team:

  • 5th in AVG
  • 8th in OBP
  • 4th in Rs scored

My instincts told me the Dodgers were getting bit by the BB bug, but it turns out they rank fairly low in the number of walks allowed...but those walks are almost always turning into runs -- hence the discrepancy in the pitching stats? Grrrr.

Anyway you look at it, there's trouble in River City. Your predictions to come...

4.11.2006

Week 2 Update: "Don't Worry About Dutchie"


Here's how it's looking so far:

AL:
Boston
Cleveland
Oakland

NL:
New York Bens
ChiCubs
Colorado/San Fran

-----------------------------------

Notes:


  • Dodgers off to a very decent start after dropping 2 of 3 to ATL.
  • Tigers in a mini-slump after firing out of the gate so fast. CLE right on their tails. (Get it?)
  • Ben returns from his East Coast tour tomorrow. His Mets are in first place.
  • NYY seems to have misspent about $200 million. But investments take time.
  • The "Kruker" has trimmed down a bit? Or is that just his mustache.
  • SD has really stunk up the joint so far.

-----------------------------------

Things to look for this week:

  1. Is CWS for real? The next two games against DET and weekend against TOR will show us.
  2. SF v. LAD this weekend. Rivalry, Barry and the fact the winner will likely be atop the NL West, as COL hosts PHI for three.
  3. The TEX Rangers could very well be out of it by this weekend. Two more with LAA, then three w/OAK.
  4. NYY might be in deep trouble (ala 2005's start) if they can't pull out of their spiral this week, with KC and MIN on the sched. They won't be home to regroup until a week from this Friday.
  5. Did the WBC hurt or help the people who participated? Ask yourselves...

4.07.2006

Dodgers/Tigers: Lessons Learned from Week One

Once again, the Detroit Tigers have sprinted out of the cage (remember last year's three home run opening day for Dmitri Young?) and captured a modest amount of buzz after drilling the Royals for a few games. But don't forget --- the Royals are horrible. But the pitching for Detroit combined with the rising star of Chris "Beltin" Shelton have reason to give fans Paws. Get it? He's the mascot.

The Dodgers are a bit less firm at this point, with an outrageous amount of hitting and run production and an even more outrageous lack of pitching. And Gagne will likely never play again. Something about all that rain screwed up both teams, though. So I'm going to avoid reading anything into the Braves series.

4.04.2006

Frank Thomas Watch -- Vol. I


The Big Hurt must have heard the chatter coming from Commonwealth Avenue given his monster blast off Randy Johnson into the left field bleachers of NetworkCommTechNet Park in Oakland.

Frankie was 1 for 3, including one hot shot to third that forced A. Rod into a Hall of Fame calibre diving grab and toss to first that would have been a double against, say, Chris Truby at the corner.

4.03.2006

Opening Day -- Mid-Day Wrrrrap!



I'm not sure what to make of the Dodgers (or the Braves for that matter.) Nice mess of a game there. Jeffy Kent rips 4 RBIs. Repko and Kent got RBIs with two outs. Some good stuff. Real, real bad day for Derek "Feelin" Lowe. The injury train is already steaming toward the bottom of the NL West, with Mia Hamm's hubby coming up lame, Gagne still not looking great and on and on. Kenny Lofton's injury led to Repko playing the center today, where he miffed a fly ball that allowed two runs to score. And your boy JK gave back all those RBIs with a botched double-play ball that got Lowe into all that trouble in the first inning.



Meanwhile, the Tigs get off to a great start against an opposite-of-great team in the Royals. Kenny Rogers gives up three hits in six. Great relief from Zumaya and Rodney. Chris "Give Me" Shelton rips two onto I-70 as Priest Holmes looked on from the comfort of the off-season, still months away from even hazzarding a guess as to which game he would come up injured this year.

OPENING DAY!


I'm watching the Mets play the Nationals. I love my Mets. Livan Hernandez is pitching for the Nats. His weight gain is shocking! He's in the Bartolo-CC Sabathia category! I think he might be on HGH, "Hot Greasy Ham!!!"

4.02.2006

*1985-2005

The period between the ball landing in Larry Herndon's glove on October 14, 1984 to clinch the Detroit Tigers fourth World Championship to the first pitch sailing out of Mark Buehrle's hand to open the 2006 season shouldn't count. What a sham. We were ripped off big time.

Thanks to some very responsible and investigative reporting, I am led to believe what I refused to believe before. When Jose Canseco strolled into Spring Training in 1985, the game became artificial. When Major League Baseball is finished investigating whatever it is they'll investigate, what is done at that point cannot erase what already has been done. It's now history. We will never know what was authentic and what wasn't during this period.

Hopefully from this season forward I'll be able to have a different view of what I see. Until then, I become a historian of the game. My history will run from 1876-1984, before The Steroid Era.

"The game's still catch it, throw it, hit it, pitch it...I'm old, but I'm not old school. I play the game."

This is Jim Leyland's take on our game. I couldn't agree with him more. Let's throw out all the rhetoric about Pete Rose's betting slips, the theory behind appointing George Mitchell, or Anna Benson (well, on second thought, let's keep her around.)

Yes friends and good lookers, as only Ernie Harwell can put it, "For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." What Ernie's getting at is that baseball's back.

I said 78-84 for the Tigers this season, mainly because of the starting pitching. Now they could easily flip that record around, or perform better. "The players have to decide if they're tired of being known as a bunch of nice guys who get beat," Leyland. The thing is, they have 3 pitchers in their rotation that could break out at anytime. If those guys can win games into the teens, then our eyebrows can raise a little. Those guys have to last into the 6 and 7th inning to save some health for Todd Jones, who will begin the year on the DL.

I won't go as far as ESPN's Skip Bayless and predict the Tigers will take the AL Wild Card, although I wouldn't mind if he passed that splif over to me. I guess a little wishful thinking can help us get through the regular season.

Enjoy our National Pastime all !