Royals Today, June 9, 2006

The Dayton Moore era begins this week, and not a moment too soon. In a sense, Moore’s hiring is ironic.  After all, his mentor, John Schuerholz, captained the Royals through their most successful years as a franchise before running the Royals ship around and lighting out for greener and more southerly pastures with the Braves.  So, now Moore comes back, declaring that he wants build the Royals to resemble the Atlanta Braves.  Talk about coming full circle.  “We’re going to build our teams around pitching, pitching, pitching,” Moore said, before adding sensibly, but “I’m not going to sit here today and say we’re going to do X, Y and Z. That would be inappropriate and irrational. “The plan is to have the very best baseball people,” Moore continued, “and for us to work hard every day to make good decisions about our players and our organization. We’re trying to do something that, 15 or 20 years from now, people are going to look at the Kansas City Royals as a model franchise.”

With Moore sitting out the draft due to contractual stipulations, the Royals took Luke Hochevar (pronounced HO-chay-vur) with the first pick of the draft.  A Scott Boras client, Hochevar…

Tigers Today, June 8, 2006

Moral victories are for losers, or so the Tigers might be thinking after consecutive close losses to the White Sox in Chicago.  In both games, the Tigers were done in by shortstop Alex Cintron’s late-game heroics—an eighth-inning, three-run homer on Tuesday and a run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh off Jamie Walker yesterday.  Walker was in the game because Manager Jim Leyland did not want to thrust rookie Justin Verlander any deeper into the game. Faced with two lefties and a switch-hitter due up, Leyland lifted Verlander in the bottom of the seventh following the 23-year old’s 103rd pitch of the evening.  “That’s a golden arm,” Leyland said. “That’s a golden future, and I’ve got to be careful with that.” “It is tough,” Verlander said. “Obviously, we would like to get a win out of those heartbreaker losses. But we’re a team that’s going to continue to battle, and I think the fact that they were one-run games—even though at the moment it hurt a little more—that just shows how tough we’re playing.”

Detroit’s WDFN-AM Sports Radio 1130 is reporting that the DH Dmitri Young has checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic, the renowned drug and alcohol treatment facility.  WDIV-TV sources have told them the same thing.  The Tigers are neither confirming nor denying the report.  Their sole comment continues to be that Young is “away from the club for personal reasons.” Young has been on the disabled list twice this season and missed several weeks of spring training with lingering quadriceps injuries. 

Craig Monroe had to be helped from the field after spraining his right ankle while leaping into the leftfield fence during yesterday’s game against the White Sox.  Monroe caught his right foot in the fence while chasing Scott Podsednik’s third-inning triple.  “I just remember seeing the ball and thinking I have to jump, because this looks like it’s going to be a home run.  So I jumped, and as I was coming down, my only thought was to maybe try to catch the wall [and hang there].” After the ankle “started burning a bit,” Monroe thought that he had broken it, but x-rays after the game suggest that there is no fracture.  He was lucky, according to ESPN’s Harold Reynolds, who said that the mishap was of the kind that could cause a femur to just snap.  The injury makes Detroit dangerously thin in the outfield.  For the time being, they have purchased the contract of Alexis Gomez from AAA Detroit, but when Marcus Thames is DHing their only outfield reserve is infielder Omar Infante.  Look for the Tigers to trade for a left-handed hitting outfielder.

Leyland held catcher Ivan Rodriguez out of Wednesday’s game after back spasms forced Rodriguez to leave the previous day’s contest. “He’s probably mad,” Leyland said of Rodriguez, “but I’m not going to play him. I’m not going to take a chance. That’s one thing I love about him. He wants to be in there.” Rodriguez has started 50 of Detroit’s 59 games this season. 

With the sixth pick in the amateur draft, the Tigers took 6’6”, 21-year old lefty Adam Miller out of the University of North Carolina.  Aside from a disturbing penchant for wearing his hat in a stupid fashion, Miller has everything that might make a scout drool.  Widely regarded as the best player available in the draft, Miller features a consistent mid-90s fastball and a quality slider.  His UNC coach expects that he will be able to develop a change up without too much difficulty.  After Kansas City decided that they couldn’t match Miller’s contract demands and the next four teams had already sewn up their picks, the pitcher fell all he way to the Tigers slot.  “It was shocking when we found out there was a chance he was going to get to our pick,” Tigers’ Scouting Director David Chadd said.  “I don’t know how the hell that happened,” Leyland said. “Last I read, he was going to be the No. 1 guy taken. Next thing I know, we got him at six. I thought it was a slam dunk he was going No. 1.”

Early Tuesday morning, Chicagoan Curtis Granderson was barraged by calls from family and friends looking for tickets to the Tigers series in Comiskey Park.  “I tried to tell people to contact me the day of, and they do, but they don’t realize that when they go to work, I go to sleep a lot later,” Granderson said. “People were giving me phone calls at 8:30 a.m.” And with the IRS now enforcing the laws that require a player to pay…

White Sox Today, June 8, 2006

Jose Contreras won his 14th consecutive regular-season game on Wednesday when the Sox beat the first place Detroit Tigers, 4-3.  Contreras’ last loss came on August 15, 2005 to the Twins.  Manager Ozzie Guillen believes that Contreras can be better. “He needs to pick one or two angles, not three or four,” said Guillen of Contreras. “He’s not going to throw a strike that way. Jose was struggling, but he has good enough stuff to get through the problems.”

Sean Tracey was called up from AAA Charlotte yesterday to replace Cliff Politte, who went on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.  “It’s my first time in Chicago. It’s been four years almost to the day since I signed. In a nutshell, it was just overwhelming.” Politte has been complaining of shoulder soreness for the last three or four weeks, but he believed that could pitch through it.  ”It was my fault for not saying something earlier,” said Politte, “but the way things were going you don’t feel like you have room to say anything.”

Veteran reliever Jeff Nelson’s career is likely over now that he will undergo surgery next week to re-attach a nerve in his throwing elbow.  The…

Indians Today, June 5, 2006

The Indians are partly through a schizophrenic home stand against the White Sox and Angels in which they have gone 4-3.  In their victories they pitched well, winning by scores of 4-3, 5-0, 14-2 and 12-8.  Their losses were just horribly ugly as they were trounced 0-11, 3-10 and 2-14.  The see-saw season and the fact that the Tribe is already 8 ½ games out of first place has been enough to make several fans to throw in the towel on 2006 (which, admittedly, does not take a lot for Cleveland fans).  “I can’t even watch this drivel anymore,” says a typical fan.  “Loyal I am, but come on, how much heartbreak must one city have to take?” Gee, I don’t know, maybe more than 56 games?  The Indians have three more games left Oakland before they leave for a nine-day road trip to Chicago, New York and Milwaukee. 

For Wednesday’s game against Oakland, the mezzanine section of Jacobs Field will be renamed Pronkville, unofficially, as all patrons who purchase tickets to the seats in that section will get “Pronkville 48” T-shirts.  Travis “Pronk” Hafner signed off on both the promotion and the area’s Pronk candy bar.  “When I’m presented with…

White Sox Today, May 29, 2006

Having just come off series against Oakland and Toronto, the White Sox visit Cleveland this week before they start a stretch of 22 games in which 19 of their opponents are .500 or better.  The other three games are against the Indians, who are 25-26.  Through 49 games, the White Sox have had the easiest schedule in the major leagues (.162). 

Talk about your high standards . . .  after winning six of seven games, the Sox dropped two at Toronto over the weekend, sparking a string of expletives from Manager Ozzie Guillen.  “’I think it was a horse-#### game,’’ Guillen said. ‘’I think when a team can get 14 hits and score two runs, that means we’re not executing. To win a pennant race and to be where we’re supposed to be, you have to do everything you can possible to help this team. And if they’re not willing to do it, there’s going to be a lot of ######’ changes in the ######’ lineup pretty soon. Everyone thinks it’s a good game. Bull-####.  ‘They know who they are.  I don’t want to name my players. They know who they are and know the way I am. Look in the…

Twins Today, May 24, 2006

On Friday, the Twins will hold an on-field celebration to mark the passage of new legislation that will bring an outdoor stadium to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the first time since 1981.  “In a word, it’ll be historic,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said Tuesday. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the Twins organization to thank the men and women who made this happen.” Ah, yes.  You’ve really got to hand it to the good people of the Twin Cities for approving a tax hike to build a new stadium.  It’s quite a triumph of democracy!  Oh, wait, that’s right, the Twins and the powers-that-be fought and won the battle to make sure that the people who would be paying the bill for the new park didn’t get a chance to vote on the measure. It’s quite a triumph of plutocracy!

It’s been an unsteady week on the field for the Twins. They dropped the last two games to the White Sox last week and then were swept (again!) by the Tigers.  They took two out of three from the Brewers, as their bats spurted to life, briefly, and then rallied to beat the Indians yesterday in 10 innings for their weekly highlights.…

Royals Today, May 24, 2006

“The Royals are so bad . . .”
“How bad are they?!?”
“The Royals are so bad that they were on a pace to lose 111 games before their current eleven-game losing streak.”
“ . . .  [crickets] . . . “
“Hello?  . . . Is thing on?”

Of the Royals wins, and you can still count them on two hands (or two feet if you are Mordecai Brown), five have come against the Indians, three against the White Sox and two from the Twins.  Mike Wood has earned three of those wins.  Not exactly Steve Carlton territory, but still it’s impressive.  Wood isn’t in the starting rotation, though.  No, the Royals think that it’s a better idea if they limit their best pitcher to just three innings a week. 

And that’s just the start of the foolish decisions that Buddy Bell has made.  Last time out, I argued that, on the whole, the Royals made mostly sensible player moves last winter.  For example, I see and buy into the arguments for giving regular playing time to Grudzienalek and Mientkiewicz.  But . . .
• Does this team really need to give regular at bats to Matt Stairs and Tony…

Tigers Today, May 22, 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the best team in baseball . . . the Detroit Tigers.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

What does this mean? Well, since 1987, only two teams (2002 Red Sox and 1995 Phillies) that had the best record in baseball failed to make the playoffs.  So, that looks good for the Tigers chances, but it doesn’t really mean anything, especially when you consider that the Tigers’ .674 league-leading mark is relatively low.  Also, through Saturday the composite record of Tigers’ opponents was just .462 while the play nothing but teams that are .500 or better from now through June 28.  And, of course, the Tigers are just one big injury away from sinking, as mlive.com’s Danny Knobler points out.  Still, here they are. 

General Managers around baseball have nothing but praise for what the Tigers have done thus far.  For example, “We knew they would have a good team if they were healthy.” Cleveland G.M. Mark Shapiro said. “They’ve always been one of the most dangerous offensive teams. But the impact of both the pitching staff and Jim Leyland has been dramatic.  They’ve been fun to watch,” Shapiro said, adding, “but not to…

Indians Today, May 19, 2006

May has not been kind to the Indians.  They are 7-9 on the month, but were sinking fast before their recent three-game sweep of the lowly Royals.  As the Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes pointed out, calling the months travails “cataclysmic” might to overstate things a bit.  However, Hoynes believed that “several minutes of muted silence with groaning in the background” would be appropriate.  Longtime local scribe Sheldon Ocker was more direct, as usual, saying flatly “the Indians are a mess.” As the Indians’ losing streak stretched to six games after being swept by the Royals and Tigers, General Manager Mark Shapiro said that they team wasn’t in a must-win situation, but that “there is as much pressure with 124 games left in the season as you can feel.” The team’s problems were “endangering my health” Shapiro admitted.  ”We’re in a funk right now,” Manager Eric Wedge said just before the Indians started their series against the Royals this week, “but we are ready to pop out of this.” And pop they did, rallying from a deficit to beat the Royals on Wednesday, thanks to a game-winning homer by Travis Hafner.  Pronk denies that he asserted “I’m going to end this right here” immediately before that at bat. (“I mumble in many languages in the on-deck circle.”

White Sox Today, May 16, 2006

April showers bring May breakouts, especially from Scott Podsednik who is hitting .450/.551/.725 after getting his first regular season homer in two seasons on Monday.  Role players Pablo Ozuna and Chris Widger have also been excellent this month.  Joe Crede and Jim Thome continue their strong seasons.  Thome actually saw his OPS drop during May, all the way down to 1.059.  This week, A.J. Pierzynski hit his first homer in 55 games to boost his monthly totals to .310/.341/.476.  Paul Konerko has struggled through the last couple weeks, hitting only .224/.310/.388.  Juan Uribe finally had a good week with the bat. He hit .316/.350/.421 over the last seven days. 

Here’s the problem with the way that modern bullpens are used.  Which White Sox reliever has been on the mound in the team’s most crucial situations this season? “Jumbo” Jenks?  Nope.  Neal Cotts, Belleville’s Rose?  No.  Give up?  It’s Matt Thornton.  Yes, Matt Thornton and his 6.48 ERA.  Cotts and Jenks, baseball’s 24th and 27th best relievers this season, and Cliff Politte have been used in similar situations, but Thornton has been on the mound during the season’s most important instances. 

Youngster Brandon McCarthy is looking forward to “hold down the fort”…

Len Barker’s Perfect Game, 25 Years After: Pt. 1, “All I Have To Do Is Stay Strong.”

Len Barker could throw hard back then, very hard. 

Drafted out of a Philadelphia-area high school by the Texas Rangers with the 49th overall pick of the 1973 June amateur draft, Leonard Harold Barker III relied mostly on a fastball that reached 96 m.p.h..  He used it to dominate his competition in the Gulf Coast League and then strike out 140 batters in 124 innings as a 19-year old in the A-ball Western Carolina’s League.  As a 20-year old at AA Pittsfield of the Eastern League, Barker posted a 2.89 ERA and struck out 133 in 159 innings while allowing only 117 hits.  However, Barker was just starting to learn the hard lesson that hitters at the upper levels of baseball were much more selective than those at its lower levels.  For example, after averaging less than four walks per nine inning in his first two years as a pro, Barker averaged more than six walks per game from 1976-1978 in the Eastern League and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  This would be a continual problem for Barker, who walked at least one batter in every one of his professional starts until July 1980.  Even with his bouts of wildness, Barker…

Twins Today, May 15, 2006

Statistical Snapshots of a Hot Team:  After posting a .208/.274/.416 line in April, 1B Justin Morneau has gotten hot this month.  He has nine homers in just 14 May games and is hitting .311/.360/.622 thus far this month.  He is on a pace to hit 44 homers on the year.  RF Michael Cuddyer has also been swinging a mean bat this month, hitting .372/.438/.3605.  He has eight doubles in the 11 May games but no homers.  After hitting only .189/.240/.378 in April, CF Torii Hunter has lashed the ball to the tune of .373/.439/.569 in May.  Additionally, 2B Luis Castillo and C Joe Mauer have posted OPS of .866 and .827, respectively, this month while LF Shannon Stewart is hitting .295 with a .373 OBP during May.  Heck, even DH Rondell White has begun to do something a bit of late, hitting .318 with two doubles in five games this week. 

The Twins pitching still sits near the bottom of the AL for the season (ahead of only Baltimore and Kansas City), however, as a group they have been strong during May.  They are third in the league with a 4.03 ERA this month, miles behind the Tigers, but wedged in…

A.L. Central Roundup, May 14, 2006

MLB
Chicago 9, Minnesota 7
Cleveland 2, Detroit 3
Kansas City 7, Baltimore 8

AAA
Charlotte 7, Louisville 3
Buffalo 9, Ottawa 2
Toledo 2, Richmond 4
Omaha 2, Colorado Springs 8

AA
Akron 6, Harriburg 0 in 7
Akron 2, Harrisburg 5 in 8
New Britain and Connecticut were rained out
Birmingham 5, Mississippi 2
Wichita 5, Springfield 1

Hi-A
Winston-Salem and Lynchburg were rained out
Kinston 8, Frederick 7 in 10
Fort Myers is off
Lakeland is off
High Desert 4, Rancho Cucamonga 8

Lo-A
Kannapolis is off
Lake County 1, Delmarva 3
Beloit 0, Kane County 4 in 7
Burlington and Quad Cities were rained out

A.L. Central Roundup, May 10, 2006

MLB
Chicago 5, Los Angeles 6 thru 7 1/2
Cleveland 8, Kansas City 10
Detroit 6, Baltimore 3
Minnesota 4, Texas 3

AAA
Charlotte 2, Indianapolis 3
Buffalo 3, Rochester 6
Toledo and Norfolk were rained out
Omaha 5, Salt Lake 3 thru 7 1/2

AA
Akron 4, Erie 3
New Britain 3, Bowie 0
Birmingham 5, Tennessee 3
Wichita 9, Frisco 4

Hi-A
Winston-Salem 3, Salem 2
Kinston 2, Potomac 3
Fort Myers 2, Daytona 1
Lakeland 2, Vero Beach 2 thru 12
High Desert 2, Bakersfield 0 in top of 1

Lo-A
Kannapolis 7, Lexington 3
Lake County 0, Hagerstown 3
Beloit 0, West Michigan 0 thru 13
Burlington 5, South Bend 9

Royals Today, May 10, 2006

The KC Star’s Joe Posnanski has given up on the Royals.  Apparently, the team’s decision to call up prospect Justin Huber but relegate him to the bench was the final straw for Posnanski.  I hate to say this too loudly for fear of having my SABR card revoked, but the Royals did things right during this past off-season.  What exactly were the Royals assets going into 2006?  They had two solid hitting prospects at AA and about four or five more good hitting prospects that had yet to get more than a handful at bats at even that level.  In essence, they had zero prospects ready to contribute at the major league level.  Further, they had a poor pitching staff, populated, by and large, with inexperienced young pitchers.  Oh, and they were a horrible defensive team at the major league level.  In a remarkable flash of good sense, the Royals signed several major league veterans to short, cheap contracts.  None of the players that they signed will block the progress of a single prospect.  Granted, the players that they signed only have marginal offensive skills, but they all contribute solid defense.  Consequently, their team defense has risen from the worst in…

A.L. Central Roundup, May 9, 2006

MLB
Chicago 9, Los Angeles 1
Cleveland 7, Kansas City 10
Detroit 6, Baltimore 7
Minnesota 15, Texas 5

AAA
Charlotte 2, Indianapolis 5 in 11
Buffalo 0, Rochester 3
Toledo 4, Norfolk 2
Omaha 2, Salt Lake 5

AA
Akron 5, Erie 1
New Britain 2, Bowie 4
Birmingham 3, Tennessee 6
Wichita 5, Frisco 3

Hi-A
Winston-Salem 3, Salem 0
Kinston 5, Potomac 1 in 7
Kinston 11, Potomac 6 in 7
Fort Myers 7, St. Lucie 13
Lakeland 7. Daytona 6
High Desert 3, Bakersfield 2

Lo-A
Kannapolis 3, Columbus 2
Lake County 3, Hagerstown 4
Beloit 5, West Michigan 8
Burlington 2, South Bend 0

A.L. Central Roundup, May 8, 2006

MLB
Chicago is off
Cleveland 3, Kansas City 4
Detroit is off
Minnesota 4, Texas 6

AAA
Charlotte 3, Indianapolis 2 in 11
Buffalo 3, Ottawa 1
Toledo 4, Norfolk 6
Rochester 9, Pawtucket 4
Omaha 3, Round Rock 13

AA
Akron 5, Erie 4
New Britain 7, Bowie 5 thru 14 1/2
Birmingham 2, Tennessee 0
Wichita 5, Frisco 1

Hi-A
Winston-Salem 1, Salem 3
Kinston and Potomac were rained out
Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 1
Lakeland 7. Daytona 17
High Desert 3, Bakersfield 1 thru 5

Lo-A
Kannapolis 1, Columbus 10
Lake County 6, Delmarva 7
Beloit 1, West Michigan 2
Burlington 3, South Bend 5

Tigers Today, May 8, 2006

After a week that saw the Tigers obliterate the Twins, sweep the Royals and split with the Angels, FoxSports Dayn Perry pegs the Tigers as the second best team in baseball, up four slots from his last rankings.  Unfortunately for the Motor City, Perry lists division rival White Sox as the best team in the sport.  Many Tigers fans must be feeling the same way as our own Buddha, who asked in frustration last week “Would the White Sox PLEASE LOSE A ####### GAME?!?!”

The Tigers open a three-game series under the lights at Baltimore’s Camden Yards on Tuesday.  Nate Robertson (3-0, 3.25), Justin Verlander (3-3, 3.68) and Kenny Rogers (5-2, 3.28) will face Daniel Cabrera (2-2, 4.73), Bruce Chen (0-4, 8.40) and Rodrigo Lopez (1-4, 6.75), respectively.  The Tigers and Orioles are the two top home run hitting teams in the American League.  Starting Friday, the Tigers will visit Cleveland for three important games.  [Note: thanks to Matt in Toledo for pointing out that Lopez will pitch on Wednesday and that the Orioles will start Erik Bedard (4-2, 4.54) on Thursday]

DH-1B-OF Dmitri Young returned from the disabled list on Friday. Young had been out of action due to his…

Indians Today, May 7, 2006

After staggering through serieses against Baltimore and Kansas City, Cleveland has righted the ship during the last week, going 7-5 against mostly good teams.  The Indians outscored Boston, Texas, Chicago and Seattle by the score of 83-57 over that stretch. 

Left-handed starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia pitched a fine game on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, picking up the win after allowing one run over five innings.  It was Sabathia’s first start since suffering a strained obligue injury on Opening Day.  “It’s hard when you’re on the DL and the team is struggling,” Sabathia said. “You know you should be out there to help.” “That helps everybody,” 1B Ben Broussard said of Sabathia’s return. “That helps the pitching staff because he’s the No. 1 guy and the matchups are better. He takes the pressure off them. Let’s face it, when a guy gets hurt it makes you weaker.” Brian Slocum was sent out to make room for Sabathia on the 25-man roster. 

After a terribly slow first month, shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s bat if finally coming around.  Peralta credits his offensive surge to watching a DVD of his swing that helped him improve his stance.  ``I saw that my leg was different…