TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Thursday, June 02, 2005

May Round-Up

Once again we put a Magic Nine-Ball (we do things in threes and nines in baseball) into action to determine the answers to questions hanging after two months of baseball.

Question: Can the Padres be beaten at Petco?

Well, they have been beaten at Petco, but only four times through the end of May, for the best home record in baseball. The pitching is ultrafine, taking advantage of the spacious unconfines, but the real trick for the Padres is the home hitters seem to have finally found their groove. Last year they spent a lot of time bellyaching about the new park, perhaps not fully cognizant that they'd get a home field advantage over other teams only after they'd made some adaptations to the dimensions. Most notable among last year's whiners was Ryan Klesko, who hit nine homers all year but who already has ten, including four at home.

Answer: Don't count on it.

Question: Are Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson the best 40+-year-old pitchers playing?

You'll have to take that up with Kenny Rogers. The Gambler won Pitcher of the Month honors for May, and has 7 wins and a 1.65 ERA. Clemens has a zippy 1.30 ERA but has managed only 3 wins for the hard-luck (or no-talent, depending on how you want to look at it) Houston Astros. Clemens has clearly been dominant in a way virtually no other pitcher in the NL has been thus far with the possible exceptions of Dontrelle Willis and maybe Pedro Martinez. Johnson, on the other hand, isn't even out-pitching the two guys he was traded for. The Unit is 5-4 with a 3.42 ERA for the Yankees, and while he hasn't stunk, his performances have been erratic, and his strikeout rate is down to 7 per 9 innings from his career rate of 11. (Javier Vazquez and Brad Halsey, those two gents the Yanks sent to Arizona to get Johnson, are 5-3 with a 3.65 ERA and 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA, respectively.) There are other candidates for best 40-something pitcher: John Franco and Jeff Fassero are still hanging on with the Astros and Giants. Franco's been not very good as a lefty spot pitcher, and Fassero has been nyeah as an emergency starter and bullpen filler.

Answer: Better not tell you now.

Question: OK, so now will you start taking the Orioles seriously?

The O's are still leading the league in hitting, and surprisingly their pitching is still in the top five in the league. But the Orioles are .500 since May 7th, and their pitching numbers are a bit deceptive: rookie phenom Erik Bedard and relievers Jorge Julio and BJ Ryan account for a good chunk of the team's low ERA. Still, the pitching staff is holding together better than I expected, despite their "ace", Sidney Ponson, clocking in with a 5.00+ ERA and only two quality starts in the first two months. But I'm a little skeptical about the continued strength of the hitting as the schedule gets tougher. Still, with Boston and New York both having their woes and Toronto playing quite well, Baltimore may yet find the magical combination to be competitive -- I just don't expect they'll be the undisputed leaders of the division for long.

Answer: Ask again later.

Question: Will the Red Sox ever play an extra-innings game?

The Red Sox, leaving May, had played 52 games without going to extra innings once. The Twins, at the other end of the spectrum, have already played ten games with extra frames. I don't know what the record is for fewest extra-innings game in a season, but I'm pretty sure the record is not zero in the modern era.

Answer: It is certain.


Question: Are you watching the Women's College World Series?

The WCWS has started up, and there's one promising improvement to the game this year: the leading teams seem to all be wearing long pants. Still no baseball hats, though. Softball continues to build its following, but with Title IX under assault and participation in girls' sports apparently stalled, and with softball under intense competition from soccer and basketball for top athletes, the forward impetus of women's softball is unclear. Somethin, in my humble ansd probably ill-informed opinion, needs to be done to tip the game away from the pitcher to make the game more generally accessible to new fans.

Answer: Very doubtful.


Question: Will Justin Upton go # 1 in the amateur draft?

BJ Upton's younger brother has skills that appear to be off the usual scouting charts' scales: he's the fastest high school player in a generation, he's got a great arm (although seems to have problems throwing from short for some reason), and a batting eye advanced well beyond his years. His final stats for the high school regular season were an eye-popping 11 HR, 32 RBI, and a .519 batting average at Great Bridge High in Chesapeake, Virginia. That's batting average, not OBP. Oh, and his various coaches describe him as the "most coachable" kid they've ever had.

Answer: You may rely on it.


Question: Will Cal State Fullerton repeat as national champs?

The tournament bracket was issued this weekend (no "College World Series Bracket Show" for baseball as yet), and Cal State Fullerton got one of the eight national No. 1 seeds, to nobody's surprise. They slipped in the final Baseball America poll out of the No. 1 rankings, and only pitcher Ricky Romero made BA's final all-college team, but the college mavens seem to think it's Fullerton's tournament to win.

Answer: Reply hazy, try again.

posted by The Crank 4:01 PM

Monday, May 30, 2005

MLB Forgetful on Memorial Day

The Great American Summer is marked by three national holidays: Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, marking the beginning and halfway and end points of summer, more or less. Once upon a time, these were great baseball holidays. A fan could count on working a ballgame into his picnic, patriotic celebrations, family get together, swim down at the lake, and so forth. In my family, tickets to the day game on Memorial day were a great celebration, a sign school was soon to be out and the freedoms of the season were upon us.

Somewhere along the line, the schedulers for our great National Pastime's highest level seem to have lost track of the national holidays when scheduling games. Today you'll see that fully a third of the teams have the day off. Had the Nationals not moved to Wahington in mid-off-season, the schedule would have again had a home team being played indoors in Canada at night on Memorial Day.

At least there's a nearly full slate of games on the Fourth of July this year (Oakland and Toronto have the day off -- at least it's the Canadian team off this year, unlike in previous years), which falls on a Monday. But all but four of those games are scheduled at night.

On Labor Day, again, ten teams have the day off and half the games are at night.

I'm not a baseball traditionalist to the point of being inflexible. I lament the passing of the scheduled single-admission double-header, but understand why it's an artifact of the past. I didn't scream when they put up lights at Wrigley Field. I understand why the "Game of the Week" is now on Sunday nights.

But why can't we just have day baseball on all our summer holidays, and put baseball back in the minds of the general public to be synonymous with summer celebrations? Or for pity's sake, at least don't blow the opportunity of a holiday from work and school to at least put on a full schedule for all three days.

I, for one, will be heading out to a Pony league tournament this afternoon and catching a couple of games with a gathering of families, a barbecue pit, and some group singing of the national anthem.

posted by The Crank 9:19 AM

Sunday, May 29, 2005

So, How 'Bout Those Cards?

There have been a number of great story lines so far this season. The Orioles have thrown the AL East into some turmoil, and strong starts by the White Sox and Twins in the AL Central and LA/Anaheim and Texas have even called into question whether the AL Wild Card will come from the East this season. The NL East has looked as competitive as it's been in years, and the issue of a certain left fielder's knee looms large in the NL West, sharing center stage with the strong play of San Diego and Arizona. And through it all the Cardinals have quietly put together a 32-17 record heading into Memorial Day, a pace that would result in a duplication of last year's 105-57 record were they to maintain it for the whole season.

Why haven't we (or at least I) heard all that much about St. Louis this season? Part of it is probably attributable to the fact that they're the only team above .500 in the NL Central, and thus involved in the least interesting divisional race. All other divisions have at least two solid teams. The Cubs have been getting a lot of press with injuries, while St. Louis's semi-injured stars (Scott Rolen and Larry Walker) have played enough not to be missed, but have been somewhat below standards because they're dinged up, particularly Rolen.

The other part is that while they've been effective as a whole, no one has really stood out individually. Albert Pujols is performing perhaps a notch below his usual standard, and has been overshadowed by Derrek Lee's blazing start. Jim Edmonds has had a recent power surge to get him more or less to the level we expect him at, which also means he's been a little quiet for him until recently. Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder have been effective, but not quite as dominant as Dontrelle, Pedro, or The Rocket. Matt Morris is 5-0 in 8 starts, but didn't make his first start until April 19th, so he might be a bit under the radar even now. The pen has been solid, but not spectacular. David Eckstein and Mark Grudzielanek have both chipped in with .370 or so OBP's so far, which is very good, but they just aren't as high-profile as the players they replaced.

In spite of all this, it's hard to muster too much sympathy for St. Louis. With Morris seemingly back to full health, the top three of the Cards' rotation are a match for anyone in the league. They have a lineup full of guys who have proven in the past that they can put up gaudy numbers, and the fact that none have really done so and yet St. Louis is still playing .650 ball can only be good news. I'm sure that a runaway division crown that allows them to focus on likely playoff opponents during the season would suit the Cardinals just fine for 2005.

posted by Tom Renbarger 11:01 PM