Nice front-line talent on today's Birthday Team.

C/Manager: A.J. Hinch
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Steve Yerkes
3B: George Brett
SS: Jimmy Smith
LF: Jimmy Wasdell
CF: Bill North
RF: Joe Evans

SP: John Smoltz
SP: Josh Beckett
SP: Fred Goldsmith
SP: Rick Waits
SP: Steve Woodard
RP: Al McBean

R.I.P.: Hideki Irabu
Fourth Outfielder: Michael Brantley
Quad-A TTO Guy: Graham Koonce

Woodard was in the latter stages of his career when DIPS theory was first becoming popular. I remember being told repeatedly that if teams would just keep giving him the ball, eventually his low walk rate and league average-ish HR and SO rates would lead to a cromulent starting pitcher. Never did work out that way, and I'm still not sure why. His career BABIP was .320, and it was high everywhere he went. (He wasn't a groundballer, so that's not why the BABIP was high.) Woodard also gave up a crazy amount of extra base hits - his career XBH% was nearly 25% above league average.

It's just really weird. His GB% was close to average, his LD% was close to average, his HR% was a bit high but not terrible. He struck people out. (6.3 career K/9.) He didn't walk anybody (2.0 BB/9.) But when opponents hit the ball, it consistently did a ton of damage.

Steve Woodard: Man of Mystery.

Today is also the birthday of the pitcher regarded by many as the best left-handed pitcher in the history of Japanese baseball, Yukata Enatsu. Think Dennis Eckersley, squared. As a starter, he won 20 games four times. In 1968, won 25 games with a 2.13 ERA, and struck out 401 batters. As a reliever, he won two MVP awards, and led the league in saves six times. As the BR Bullpen article says:

A 16-time All-Star, Enatsu won MVP awards in 1979 and 1981, led the league in ERA in 1969, won a Sawamura Award in 1968, led the league in wins in 1968 and 1973, led in saves 6 times, strikeouts 6 times and shutouts 5 times.

Because of the split between starting and relieving, his career totals don't jump out at you, but it's hard to envision anyone being more dominant in both roles.

The Bullpen article says he was convicted of heroin possesion, and spent three years in jail, but I've read elsewhere it was speed.

Stats

On this night in 1984, Roger Clemens made his big league debut. He faced Julio Franco in that game and -- 23 years later -- they squared off in a Yankees/Mets interleague game. That timespan has to be an MLB record.

I can pretty much guarantee that nobody’s going to be talking about the Highlanders after today’s game, though the word “disgrace” is likely to be used.

Yup, because today is the 100th anniversary of Ty Cobb beating up a cripple.

Recently we had a thread that aired different views on how widely celebrities are likely to be known. So I'm at the Ballpark last night, in a pretty good seat: lower level, home plate, twenty rows back. A fellow sits next to me and is evidently a Rangers fan; he's like, "Yay Josh, Go Adrian," that sort of thing. In the top of the second, Nolan Ryan comes in and sits in his usual seat a few sections away. I nudge the guy next to me and the conversation goes like this:

BDC: "Mr Ryan just got here."

GUY: "Who?"

BDC: "Nolan Ryan."

GUY: "Who's that?"

BDC: "Nolan Ryan, he's wearing that blue shirt over there.' [points]

GUY: "Who's he, is he, like, the owner or something?"

To paraphrase HL Mencken, you cannot go broke overestimating the obliviousness of the American people :)

"Oh, the guy in the Advil commercials! What was he a country star or something?"

Wait.. Ryan doesn't get there until the 2nd inning?

Yup, because today is the 100th anniversary of Ty Cobb beating up a cripple.

Every now and then it is fun to think about the way modern society and media would handle past events. This would be wonderful, there would be a level of outrage and indignation that would be truly spectacular while at the same time you know someone would chime in with something like "well, to Cobb's credit he treated the physically challenged individual as he would treat anyone else. He didn't see a handicapped person, he just saw a person. Isn't that the goal for these people?"

I mean really, the bar is almost impossibly high on this one.

At the Braves game last night they had on the jumbotron two people competing for fastest pitch and my girlfriend told us a great story. She was at a game a few years ago with a friend who got to compete in it. The first contestant goes and hits 50-something. My gf's friend gets up there and well, he neglected to mention to the game ops crew that he had just been drafted. As a pitcher. He threw 93.

Steve Woodard: Man of Mystery.

Mitchell Report guy, no?

GUY: "Who's he, is he, like, the owner or something?"

At the Twins game last night we're fairly certain we sat across the aisle from Garrison Keillor. Game time temp of 80 degrees and he had his tweed sport jacket and perpetual bemused frown on. No one bothered him, apparently because Minnesotans are some combination of polite, indifferent and oblivious.

Wait.. Ryan doesn't get there until the 2nd inning?

He didn't last night. Must have been on the phone trying to trade for Matt Garza or something :)

At the Braves game last night they had on the jumbotron two people competing for fastest pitch and my girlfriend told us a great story. She was at a game a few years ago with a friend who got to compete in it. The first contestant goes and hits 50-something. My gf's friend gets up there and well, he neglected to mention to the game ops crew that he had just been drafted. As a pitcher. He threw 93.

Just wanted to add that this is a terrific story.

apparently because Minnesotans are some combination of polite, indifferent and oblivious.

Minnesotans (I live here but am not a native by their reckoning) pride themselves on being friendly but leaving people alone (bothering celebrities would be rude). This is slowly moving towards a more "normal" attitude as time passes, but it is one of the places I would like to live if I were a celebrity.

Game of the day (yesterday): Cubs 6, Cardinals 4. The scoring didn't open early, but the action did - the teams loaded the bases with two outs in three consecutive half innings, starting with the top of the second, and both teams added one-out doubles in the fourth. Finally, in the top of the fifth, Chicago broke through with four runs, highlighted by a 2-run homer from Brian LaHair. St. Louis answered with four runs itself in the bottom of the sixth. Three singles and a walk scored a run and loaded the bases, and Yadier Molina doubled, driving in two runners and getting a third thrown out at home (and taking third himself on said throw). Skip Schumaker singled Molina home to tie the game. The Cubs loaded the bases with two outs yet again in the seventh, and again didn't score, but then recaptured the lead in the eighth on a two-out RBI single from Alfonso Soriano (despite a bunt DP earlier in the frame). The Cards picked up a leadoff double in the eighth but couldn't advance the runner, and the Cubs extended their lead on a highly weird play in the ninth (first and second, nobody out; Joe Mather bunts, the lead runner is forced at third but the third baseman picks up a throwing error trying for a double play, allowing the trail runner to score and the hitter to move to third). St. Louis went 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game, which grades out at a solid 4.23 (90th percentile).

Game of the day (last year): Blue Jays 9, Twins 3 (11). You don't see the 6-run extra-inning game all that often... the Jays scored in the top of the first on an infield single, sac bunt, wild pitch, and ROE. Minnesota answered in the bottom of the inning, tallying two runs on a walk, bunt single, strikeout, infield single+error, and sac fly. That's a good deal of run manufacturing. Toronto tied the game in the second on a slightly more American League-style effort, a solo homer by JP Arencibia. The Twins put two on with two outs in the second, two on with no outs in the fourth, and put the leadoff man on second in the fifth, but waited until the sixth to break the tie on a leadoff homer by Michael Cuddyer. They loaded the bases with two away in the seventh before Toronto escaped again, and the Jays evened the score once more in the eighth on a Corey Patterson RBI triple. Justin Morneau doubled in the Minnesota ninth but was stranded, and very little else happened until the Toronto eleventh: Patterson singled, Jose Bautista homered, the next two hitters walked and Arencibia doubled them both in; single/walk/walk forced in the fifth run and left the bases loaded with no outs before a force at home, a sac fly, and a flyout ended the inning. The Twins went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, ending the game and finalizing its grade at 4.36 (also 90th percentile). Not bad for 9-3.