Mr. Met vs. the Internet

Advocates trying to warn kids about the threat of online sexual predators trolling the Internet have a new ally - Mr. Met.

Really, do I need to put anything else up?

Raissman: Yankees missing playoffs would be no help to YES

Yankeeography 2009: Eli Grba - Elmer Valo...The Really, Really ######-Up Yankee Names Era.

YES’ sales pitch to advertisers is all about associating their products with a championship-caliber team - the most successful franchise in professional sports. There’s something magical about that. Sponsors want to be around a winner, not a third- or fourth-place club. The Yankees’ mantra is always the same. This is not the Mets, who operate on a slogan-to-slogan basis.

How can YES sell that championship experience if the Yankees finish a ho-hum third? How can it sell the fact that the 2008 season was some kind of aberration if the Yankees don’t harvest their share of cream-of-the-crop free agents in the offseason?

...Can YES continue selling the past, that championship feeling, for a team that hasn’t brought home the bacon since 2000 and may not even get a sniff of the frying pan in 2008? And what exactly will be the “Yankees Classic” fans will be clamoring to watch from this season?

All, however, is not lost. There’s still that new Yankee Stadium to sell. If only it could talk. Or pitch shutout baseball.

Only on YES.

Mellinger: What does sweeping the A’s mean?

Not much...but if Frank Thomas ends up tied with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey at 521 HR it will screw up my 45-year old notebook of leaders list!

But here is today’s question: if we lived in a world where impossible hypotheticals were not only realistic but encouraged, would you trade organizations with the A’s?

OK, that would make you the proud rooter of the only American League offense worse than the Royals, and of a big league team that is now oh-for-the-last-six against the Royals.

But you’d also get an organization with a leadership group that’s had enough time to build a firm identity.

The A’s know what they are. They are pitching, they are defense, and they are OBP. Their offense is a traveshamockery this year, on pace to complete the triple crown of last in average, slugging, AND on-base percentage.

But consider that their pitchers are third in the AL in ERA, and as the best blogger on The Star’s payroll points out, third in all of baseball in defensive efficiency.

The Royals, meanwhile, are a team that doesn’t hit for much average ... or power ... or take many walks ... or steal many bases.

DraftInfo Chats with ESPN’s Keith Law!

Beta Gammo Sigma’s got nothing on Law!

4) How do you think the MLB could improve the draft?

Depends on the goal. Let’s not mince words: The draft is an anticompetitive, anti-player mechanism designed to screw 18- and 21-year-old kids out of millions of dollars on behalf of the billionaires who own MLB teams. It is simply disgusting, and I am nauseated whenever I read an article that states or implies that these kids should be willing to play for peanuts.

The draft isn’t going away, of course, so fixing the existing system would include allowing the trading of picks, eliminating the free agent compensation system, cutting the draft to 20 rounds, and allowing players to come out after any year of college (as opposed to requiring them to complete three years or turn 21). The three-year rule is supposed to protect college baseball, but when Tim Murphy throws 144 pitches in late May for UCLA, does college baseball really deserve MLB’s protection?

Ricciardi unconcerned about Steinbrenner’s ‘tampering’

Good thing he doesn’t know about Travis Snider...yet.

On his post-game radio show Thursday night, a caller asked the Jays’ GM whether he might file tampering charges against Steinbrenner.

“We got bigger fish to fry than worry about that,” Ricciardi said.

...But Ricciardi said tampering, in various guises, is commonplace.

He elaborated:

“What’s the difference between [Steinbrenner] saying that and someone pulling A.J. Burnett aside under the stadium at Yankee Stadium and saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you do this?’ Listen, the one thing people are missing: All the players know each other. They have the same agent, they might be switching agents and that guy knows someone, they played with guys on other teams. There’s always ways to get messages over to other players. I remember when Gary Sheffield was looking for a job, he was sending notes over to me. Tampering happens every day in this business. It’s just how much you want to shed a lot of light on what you think is real and what isn’t.”

SNY: Berg: There’s something happening here…Why Mets have improved ain’t exactly clear

There’s a man with a Juggs gun over there on Petey
Telling me I got to beware

But could it be as simple as a managerial change? Color me dubious. There’s no question that Manuel has changed the attitude and dialogue around the Mets, and it’s impossible to place a value on that. But to even suggest that Delgado was purposefully tanking it under Willie Randolph is as offensive to Delgado as it is patently absurd. No Major League Baseball player tanks it, ever. It just doesn’t happen. You don’t get to the Major Leagues with that attitude, or anywhere close. Players get paid in part for the statistics they produce, and no player anywhere doesn’t want to be the best they can possibly be. So stop that talk. Maybe the change in atmosphere under Manuel aided Delgado, but more likely, it’s a simple case of the logical fallacy known as “post hoc ergo propter hoc,” meaning “after this, therefore because of this.”

...I’m not here to say the Mets would have won like they have since June 17 if Willie Randolph were still managing and Rick Peterson were still preaching Zen tactics to impatient young pitchers. But I think chalking the entire turnaround to the coming of the Manuel administration does little service to the Mets team that most picked to win the division coming into the season. It’s a good club in a weak division, and it’s simply playing the way it should be playing.

But it ain’t over yet.

Ex-Orioles infielder Todd Cruz dead at 52

Todd Cruz, RIP.

Cruz, 52, died Tuesday while swimming in the pool at his apartment complex in Bullhead City, Ariz. The coroner’s office is conducting tests to determine the cause of death.

“Todd was in the ‘character’ field, but he played good and he played hard,” said Joe Altobelli, who managed the 1983 Orioles.

..."Todd really enjoyed that year,” said Gary Roenicke, an outfielder on the 1983 team. “Even though he’d played for many other teams, he always thought of himself as an Oriole. He had an outgoing personality, he talked real fast and he kept everybody loose, on and off the field. And he sure filled a gap on our team that needed to be filled.”

Henning: Kenny Rogers nearing the end of career

Kenny Rogers and the last edition...hopefully.

Even if there were no farewell speeches Thursday, it was apparent during a 20-minute conversation afterward Rogers is preparing for the end. He spoke peacefully, at times humorously, but with a kind of pained resignation as he contemplated what is likely to be his final few weeks in the majors.

“I’m not one to hang on, I’m surely not going to hang on for the sake of wearing a uniform,” said Rogers, who turns 44 in November and who, privately, has been leaning toward 2008 being his last big-league season.

“I’m disappointed in myself,” he said. “I’m frustrated, and I don’t want frustration to be part of the equation.

“After a game like today, it’s not the best way to decide something. But coming off that mound (after being pulled in the third), it’s hard not to think about it (retirement). “The frustrating part is, I feel fine. And yet, realistically, I know where I’m at in my career.

“I think these guys here (Tigers front office), they’ll have an idea, too,” Rogers said, hinting at what, in any event, will likely be a decision by the Tigers to move ahead, minus Rogers.

“It’ll all mesh together.”

Denver Post: O’Dowd: “Our execution has been abysmal”

Hey, you don’t like the system, leave Colorado and go to Florida...Ted Bundy did.

The idea is to create a brand of baseball that goes beyond individual players. It’s perhaps convenient because the Rockies are almost sure to trade Matt Holliday or Garrett Atkins this offseason. But it is also consistent with their business plan, following a model created by the Minnesota Twins. The Twins traded Johan Santana, arguably the game’s top pitcher, and lost center fielder Torii Hunter, their heartbeat, to free agency over the winter, yet they begin play today 1 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central, a division they’ve won four of the past six years.

“They have created a culture,” O’Dowd said. “It’s something we need to do because we are always going to have personnel decisions here depending on where players are in service time that are never going away.”

...Their problems are magnified with runners in scoring position. Colorado ranked fifth in the NL last season with a .276 average. They’re currently batting .254 in those situations.

Their internal charts show hitters who have become more pull-conscious and have not used the gaps as frequently as a year ago. The shift became noticeable early. In April, the Rockies had one sacrifice fly through their first 25 games.

“We are going to stress the extreme basics. How to lead off an inning, how to beat a certain pitcher any given night. Having a plan and sticking to it,” O’Dowd said.

Hoffman: “Vladimir Putin is Chase Utley.”

The guy who said it was James Carville, the Democratic political operative/commentator. He was speaking on XM Radio on some show or other, talking about Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president. He was suggesting she wasn’t ready for the big time.

“It’s like they’re bringing somebody up from Single-A to face the Phillies,” Carville said.

Then he said, “Vladimir Putin is Chase Utley.”

A little later he said, “China is like Ryan Howard.”

It apparently was a compliment—to the Phillies.

and Clifford Husbands is Brett Myers.

Seattle Times: Baker: M’s unlikely to sign stars for ‘09

Baker of The Eudaemonic Pie?

Armstrong said Thursday that the team’s major goal is to rebuild through “a comprehensive plan” and that any general-manager candidate will have to present one to him in applying for the job.

“If I have my way, the plan will be that we’re not going to make a splash in 2009,” Armstrong said of new financial commitments. “We want the ability to contend on a continuing, year-by-year-by-year basis.”

..."I’m not ready to concede anything,” he said of next year’s chances for contention. “But my main thing is, we’re not going to put all of our chips on ‘Red 79.’ We’re not going to put all our chips on 2009, because we put all of our chips on 2008 and it didn’t work out.”

...Armstrong is leaving open the possibility that a GM candidate will come in and blow him away with a plan to contend immediately. But Armstrong said he doubts it will happen, largely because the folks he’s already talked to around the game don’t feel it can be done.

“The people I talk to, all of them are surprised our record is as poor as it is this year,” he said. “But they tell me, ‘Part of your reputation the last few years is that you put all your eggs in one basket, thinking that you’re closer than you are. Is that still the case?’ ”

Biz of Baseball: The Empire Strikes (Again). Star Wars Ads Invade MLB.com

This is weirder than Michael Kay trying to explain Coolstandings.com to Al Leiter tonight!

A few short months ago, the baseball community was abuzz regarding the integrated advertisement for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull within MLB.com’s schedule of games.

Now, get ready for Darth Vader.

MLBAM has rolled out the next integrated advertisement campaign on MLB.com for LucasArts Entertainment’s new video game “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.”

Like the Indiana Jones ad campaign, Darth Vader will be featured on all 30 clubs’ schedule on MLB.com.

But, unlike the Indiana Jones campaign, the LucasArts Entertainment deal will see a special landing page showing current stats leaders around the league under the tagline, “Who’s Unleashing the Force?” as well as banner ads linking to the Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed” home page.

Overworking a Workhorse: Is It Risk or Reward? (RR)

With every pitch Mike Pelfrey throws Friday night against the Phillies at Shea Stadium, the pitching coach Dan Warthen will be one of the more fidgety people in the Mets’ dugout. Even if the 24-year-old Pelfrey pitches effectively, with little stress, Warthen will still be quite aware that every additional inning he compiles the rest of this season comes with a certain risk.

The more Pelfrey pitches, the greater the chances for an injury next year, or a decrease in effectiveness. That is not a notion based on paranoia or fatalistic thinking. Instead, it is based on a theory researched by the Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci and now widely accepted in baseball that says that any pitcher younger than 25 whose total number of innings jumps by more than 30 from the previous season leaves himself susceptible to injury the next year, or at least to a much higher earned run average.

I think too much is being made about this issue. I am all for pitch counts and giving young guys extra days but I don’t buy this innings cap. Guys like Hughes and Buchholz have struggled this year for reasons other than the amount of innings they pitched last season.

That being said, I am curious how strong the research behind these innings caps is. Are the Mets overworking Pelfrey?

NL Central race: September 4, 2008

MLB.com: Brewers suffer fourth straight loss

After an awesome August, the Brewers are sputtering in September. They have dropped four in a row to start the final month, including Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the last-place Padres at Miller Park that cost the Brewers an opportunity to gain a half-game on the National League Central-leading Cubs, who were idle.

CHC 85-55 [lost 5 straight]
MIL 80-60 (5 GB; lead wildcard by 4) [lost 4 straight]

N.Y. Times: Bissinger: Sympathy for the Slugger (RR)

I shouted out,
Who killed the newspapers?

It is also ridiculous to assume that Bonds would have done anything else but lie, even under oath. He is a professional athlete, not a role model, despite the fact that we continually insist on confusing the two, with our need to put on those rose-colored glasses. If he had taken steroids and told the truth, he would have been ruined. By not telling the truth, he would have been ruined. He was in a no-win situation. And when it comes to manning up, or more precisely not manning up, he is once again in very plentiful company. Of the 86 players named in the Mitchell report, how many actually cooperated with the investigation? Precisely one: Jason Giambi.

Obviously, the government’s case against Bonds is weak, or it wouldn’t be embarking on the witch hunt of doing everything possible to squeeze Anderson to testify.

But enough is enough. Leave Anderson alone. Leave Bonds alone. Let them deal privately with what they did or did not do. If the Feds want to earn our taxpayer dollars, they can send a SWAT team to my hometown of Philadelphia to reduce the homicide rate that is turning swaths of the inner city into another Baghdad. In the hierarchy of issues that are important in this country, steroid use in baseball has become a bottom feeder. And prosecuting someone because you don’t like him isn’t justice but the complete miscarriage of it.

AL East race: September 4, 2008

MLB.com: Kazmir protects Rays’ turf vs. Yanks

The 24-year-old Kazmir stifled the Yankees—holding them to one-hit over six innings—to buoy Tampa Bay to a 7-5 victory over New York at Tropicana Field.

The win extends Tampa Bay’s margin atop the American League East to 3 1/2 games over second-place Boston, which was idle on Thursday.

TBR 85-53
BOS 82-57 (3.5 GB)

AL Central race: September 4, 2008

MLB.com: Twins can’t generate offense in loss

The Twins couldn’t muster any offense against Blue Jays pitching as they were blanked, 9-0, at Rogers Centre. With the loss, Minnesota (77-63) was swept by Toronto during the three-game series and fell 1 1/2 games behind the first place White Sox, who were idle on Thursday, in the American League Central.

CHW 78-61
MIN 77-63 (1.5 GB)

MLB.com: Rodriguez Strikes Out on 4-2 Pitch

He may have struck out, but he sure did work the count!

With the Angels leading, 6-0, on their way to a 7-1 victory, home-plate umpire Tim Welke reset the count at 1-2 when the scoreboard showed 2-2 after consulting with Rodriguez and Tigers catcher Brandon Inge.

Rodriguez took two balls to take it to a 3-2 count officially—when he should have walked. He remained in the batter’s box, and on the next pitch, Tigers right-handed reliever Aquilino Lopez struck him out for the second out in the inning.

Seriously, this is happening an awful lot, isn’t it?

SPTimes: Shoulder issue pains Rays’ Upton

Upton has a torn labrum in his left shoulder. It prevents him from swinging the bat with authority. It caused the shoulder to pop out of its socket in May, and it will require him to have surgery in the offseason.

And, yet, he returns to centerfield day after day.

“At this point there’s nothing I can do about it, especially with Carl (Crawford) and Evan (Longoria) already out,” Upton said. “It’s a little too late in the year, especially with the position we’re in, for me to pull up lame. I just have to suck it up and keep grinding, and do what I can do to get on base and get in scoring position for these guys.”

City Pages: Spicer: Comparing the Twins and White Sox

Ekstranded in the stat jungle
That’s when; I found out they was a cookin me!

But given the ceaseless duel in the Central, and feeling no need nor desire to add further lament to the plight of our bullpen, now seems like a good time to compare the Twins and White Sox employing what I’ll call the “Ekstrand Index,” an homage to that truly engaging and amusing math teacher that really had no other option than to “D” me, Mr. David Ekstrand.

In short, this index aims to work as a tool comparing the overall value of non-pitchers. Perhaps during ensuing weeks or months, I’ll have a go at one charting pitchers as a means of fully mapping games for degenerate gambling purposes, but for now I’ve got this tool.

The Ekstrand Index plugs in numbers that I feel most crucial to a player’s overall contribution, both with the bat and glove. As you’ll note below, numbers slightly differ for DH’s, and are further separated for catchers. I’ve also slightly tweaked established indexes to compensate for the stats I’ve chosen.

Newsday: Sheppard hopes to return for Yankee Stadium finale

Also expected back is Adolf Ehinger and his swell EBA Maschinenfabrik shredder (first used by Steinbrenner in 1974 for destroying Yankee documents)!

Everyone knows the only fitting way to close Yankee Stadium is with Bob Sheppard returning to be the public-address announcer for the final game. His health has kept him from doing a single Yankees game this season - which would have been his 58th - but rest assured he has visions of returning for the finale.

“If I can be there, I shall be there.”

..."The doctor is questioning my stamina,” Sheppard said. Then he repeated the word stamina while slowly and carefully annunciating all three syllables. “Sta-min-a.”

“In other words, can I leave my home in Baldwin at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and get home at midnight and not suffer any relapse?”

NY Sun: The Future of the Sun

I clicked online to find
No Marchman/Goldman there
To ease the pressure of
My ever worried mind.

This morning I write to you about the future of The New York Sun, which is in circumstances that may require us to cease publication at the end of September unless we succeed in our efforts to find additional financial backing. The managing editor, Ira Stoll, who is one of the founding partners in the paper, and I have shared this news with our colleagues, and we would like our readers as well to be aware of the situation.

Hope the funding is found.

S.I.: Deford: Maybe A-Rod’s problem is this: He simply chose the wrong sport

Cream rises and all that faux jazz.

Listen, I can’t feel sorry for A-Rod. He makes gazillions of dollars, and all too often he just doesn’t get it. It obviously drives him crazy that his teammate of lesser ability, Derek Jeter, gets the love that his Cupid tells him should be his. But when, soon enough now, the Yankees will almost surely fail to make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, A-Rod will endure the most blame.

Ah yes, the chorus: A-Rod hits in games when it doesn’t matter and then fails in the clutch, so he’s one of those selfish losers who just cares about his own statistics; he’s not a good team player. But I think that, very possibly, the fact that he fails when it counts the most, may well be for the directly opposite reason which is usually attributed to him and other athletes of this ilk. What defeats him is not mano a mano, the external pressure from the opposing pitcher. Rather, it is internal—his own insecurity about coming through for his team.

I’ll be curious. A few years from now when some other Yankee is the superstar and Rodriguez is the second banana, I’ll bet he becomes a much better clutch hitter, and the fans will cheer for dependable old reliable, A-Rod. Or, in the best of all worlds, maybe all these years Alex Rodriguez would’ve spared himself a lot of angst if he’d been playing singles by himself a few miles away, over in Queens, at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, instead of being in the Bronx, at bat, with his Yankees teammates on base.

SNY: Belth: For some, Giants not forgotten

Skeeter Scalzi lives! Alex Belth checks in on the New York Giants Nostalgia Society.

“By the middle 50s,” says Roger Kahn, “there was a sense that it wasn’t safe around the Polo Grounds. You had to drive through Harlem and racial tensions were building. The perception was that it was dangerous to go up there. It’s hard to think they couldn’t even draw 700,000 in ‘57 with Willie Mays in center field, but it happened.”

“It was tough to get there with a car and the neighborhood was changing,” says Alan Schmidt, a retired fireman who has been attending meetings with Kent since the group’s inception. “I can’t blame them for not staying in the Polo Grounds, as much as I miss it all. I probably spent more time there than Willie Mays. It was my second home.”

N.Y. Observer: Megdal: Finding Meaning in a Pointless Yankees September

Almost as pointless as a N.Y. Sun-less September.

New York also has numerous questions to answer in their lineup. Jason Giambi had a monster first half. But Giambi seemed to wear down in the second half, and while New York is highly unlikely to pick up his option, the Yankees need to decide if it is worth bringing back this popular player as he turns 38. Of course, if New York doesn’t, the free agent market offers the allure of Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn.

But an even more interesting question seems to be Robinson Cano, who the team was counting on to continue his seeming march toward stardom. Instead, Cano’s average has now dropped from .342 in 2006 to .306 in 2007 and .269 in 2008. His slugging percentages over that time also dropped from .525 to .488 to .411. If the Yankees are convinced that the 25-year-old Cano is unlikely to return to superstar form, the team could deal him. But a hot September would go a long way toward returning Cano to the team’s good graces, and putting his 2008 more in line with his 2007 stats. Considering that Cano is a career .365/.385/.596 hitter in September/October regular season games, this is not an unlikely event.

So as the Yankees slide closer to playoff elimination, there are still plenty of reasons to enjoy September baseball in The Bronx, even though it appears that the final game at Yankee Stadium will not be a World Series classic, but a standard September 21 game against the Orioles, just prior to the first day of Fall.

Zambrano’s season is in jeopardy

Delightful.  Jason Marquis may end up making the postseason roster after all.

Old Game for the Old Continent

Wait, MLB.com has a BOOK COLUMN?

Chetwynd, an American born in London who returned to the land of his birth to play for the Great Britain national baseball team, is an analyst for Five, a U.K. station that broadcasts MLB games.

He’s also an author, and his new book, “Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History” (McFarland, 334 pages) is a comprehensive, handy reference guide to everything you need to know about America’s Pastime in the Old Continent, which, believe it or not, is played at improving levels in the 40 countries mentioned in the book.

“The number of baseball players here is miniscule compared to in the States, but the enthusiasm from the people who do play here is very high, and they want to expand the sport here,” Chetwynd says.

“They want to bring more attention to it and realize people love it here. You really want to see them all succeed.”

The book should help in that regard. In addition to detailing the surprising history of baseball in 40 European countries, Chetwynd also included appendices that include everything from a list of Major Leaguers who have played in European domestic leagues to a glossary of baseball terms in seven European languages.

I guess if the IBF ever wants to “Throw the Book” at Jacque Rogge, they’d throw this one.

After 19 Seasons in Minors, Rookie Hits His First Home Run

There’s hope for us all yet.  (Well, maybe not Harveys or Andy).

It took Scott McClain 19 seasons to hit a major league home run. When he got his first one Wednesday, he soaked it in.

“As it was leaving it was a moment of relief,” the 36-year-old rookie said. “I’m glad I hit one that was a no-doubter.”

**********

McClain, who has hit 287 homers in 1,664 minor league games, hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.

N.Y. Sun: Goldman: Cashman or Not, Yankees Must Embrace Rebuilding

The Yankees will say that they don’t need to rebuild, that they are only a few pieces away — Mark Teixeira, perhaps, or C.C. Sabathia — from being back in championship form. Cashman will say this, and when you hear those words, you should know to a cold certainty that things are going to get worse before they get better. Consider the near-term outlook: Four key members of the team are potential free agents. Arguably none of them should be re-signed based on their age and other limitations; Bobby Abreu (35 next season), Andy Pettitte (37), Jason Giambi (38), and Mike Mussina (39) are year-to-year players at best. Of the regulars under contract, just one, the supremely disappointing Robinson Cano, will be younger than 30 next year. Alex Rodriguez will be 33. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui will be 35. Mariano Rivera will be 39, and as great as he has been this season, all things must pass. The day of these players is passing and there are few replacements in the system for the position players, while the Yankees have shown little intuition when it comes to turning their prospective pitchers into major leaguers.

Thanks to Son of Mikkelsen.

Dugout Central: Paciorek: Could Ichiro Be a Home Run Hitter and the Home Run Principle

Reaching his full Lienard-Wiechert potential...Professor Paciorek explains.

Theoretically, it is possible to hit a home run every time a batter swings at a baseball. However, as Einstein and others have found, through Quantum Mechanics, when trying to establish the essence of matter, that “at the fundamental levels, causation is a matter of statistical probabilities, not certainties.” Therefore, with all the elements and combinations of variables with which a batter has to deal, from within and from without himself, the uncertainty principle gives compelling testimony that mastering the Rubik’s cube of hitting a home run every time is highly improbable. However, the knowledge itself, of such feasibility, enhances the statistical probability of success.

The missing link in applying the hitting principle has always been the inconsistent visual acuity of the batter in accurately detecting the speed of the fastball, as well as the direction and varying speeds of breaking and other off-speed pitches. All this, of course, was due to excessive movement of the head, with the primary culprits being the high stance and batter’s stride. Although the pitcher’s arsenal of distracting and illusory forces will always wreak their havoc on unsuspecting “head-gliders,” the Einsteins of a new era of batting prominence will set the standard for home run-hitting elegance.