I went to the Akron Aeros-New Britain Rock Cats game Saturday night. I always enjoy getting to games up there.

Apart from my dad grabbing a ball that got flipped into the stands at the end of an inning, by far the highlight of the night was getting to see Adam Miller pitch. I don't know how much his story's known outside Ohio, but he's gone from being a first-rounder and Top 20 BA prospect to being a 26-year-old Double-A pitcher with a surgically rebuilt finger and an injury record that makes Kerry Wood look like Lou Gehrig.

Anyway, Miller looked really good. Threw two scoreless innings and looked (to my eye, anyway) like he had his fastball up in the low-to-mid 90s. He's got an ugly ERA (6.59 in Akron) but solid peripherals (28.2 IP, 0 HR, 12 BB, 23 K). Not sure he'll get up to Cleveland this year, especially not being on the 40-man, but I'll say this: If he's not on the 40-man by December, I'd absolutely take a Rule 5 flyer on him if I'm looking for cheap bullpen help with upside. He could stand to lower that walk rate, but a guy with first-round talent, a fastball that hits 95-96 MPH, a wicked slider, who strikes out a batter an inning...you'd have to think that's worth gambling $50K on.

I'd love to see him make it to the show. Kid's worked really hard...a lot of people would walk away after missing almost three consecutive seasons.

an injury record that makes Kerry Wood look like Lou Gehrig.

Kerry Wood's Disease would explain a lot, actually.

Fielder's home run Saturday hit the top of the foul pole down the right-field line, yet measured in at just 390 feet according to the Astros. It's 326 feet to the wall in the right-field corner, so by that estimate, Fielder's homer hit 64 feet up the pole.

Somebody failed geometry.

I like that the unpleasantness started out with women losing choice seats to other women. Also, that page features a dog bites man bit, Episcopals calling out John Jacob Astor, an Indian kidnapping (in 1911! in Minnesota!), and the awesome word "uxorcide". Ah, 1911.

Brewer notes of possible interest:

Greinke is striking out 11.3 per nine innings. And over the last six weeks the lad seems to have righted the ship.

Prince Fielder has 75 walks and 72 strikeouts.

Betancourt since the ASB: .388/.405/.575

Lucroy has surrendered 57 stolen bases but also nabbed 20. That percentage ain't great but ain't awful.

(How did thole of the Mets get tagged with 14 passed balls?)

And Prince, Rickie and Casey all lead their NL counterparts in errors. How Betancourt avoided the superfecta I have no idea.

At the beginning of the interminable Yanks/Sox game, they had highlights of Strasburg. Unsaid (and likely uninteresting to most fans) is that the guy who took him out of the game - likely his manager at A ball - was Brian Daubach.

Jered Weaver, with nine shutout innings in a no-decision Friday against Seattle, now has the dubious distinction of pitching two nine-inning, no-run starts this year in which he hasn't gotten a win. This is the first time a pitcher has recorded two "cryptic shutouts" in a season since Tom Browning did it in 1990. Nobody's ever had three in a season.

The career record for cryptic shutouts is seven, by Don Sutton. Tom Seaver had six, and the rest of the leaderboard is comprised of the great shutout pitchers of the 1960s and 70s for the most part, with few surprises. (Note that this includes only the "Retrosheet Era" back through 1919; there were probably lots of such games in the deadball days, but B-Ref PI doesn't pick them up.)

Two pitchers who had three career cryptic shutouts are of special interest, I think: Carl Morton and Clay Kirby. As ace pitchers on the two 1969-era NL expansion clubs, they were frequently shut out while shutting someone else out. Kirby is the guy who got pulled while pitching a no-hitter (which of course doesn't factor into his cryptic-shutout log; Kirby gave up a run and didn't go nine).

The feat is rare enough that you'd think it almost never happens to both pitchers in the same game, but it happened earlier this year (Jason Vargas and Zach Britton) and it happened last year too (Travis Wood and Roy Halladay). Double cryptic shutouts are about as common as no-hitters, and they can be very common under the right circumstances; in 1968 the double-cryptic happened nine times.

I should note that PI, though a miracle for making such observations possible, doesn't pick up one rare kind of cryptic shutout where a visiting pitcher goes nine or more, his team goes ahead in the top of the next inning, and someone else comes in to save the game. In this situation the pitcher gets a W, and I can't figure out how to get the PI to search for CG=0 to find those games. John Lackey had such a game a couple of years ago, but I don't feel like searching for all of them "manually."

Finally, you were wondering what this had to do with Frank Tanana. The answer is that Tanana is alone (post-1919) in pitching two thirteen-inning cryptic shutouts, against the White Sox in 1975 and the Yankees in 1976. The Angels eventually won the Sox game with three runs in the 16th inning. They lost the Yankee game by giving up five runs in the 15th. The 1976 Yankee game was a double 13-inning cryptic shutout, by Tanana and Jim Hunter.

If he's not on the 40-man by December, I'd absolutely take a Rule 5 flyer on him if I'm looking for cheap bullpen help with upside.
I say this without having given thought to Cleveland protection situation this offseason, but I'm relatively sure he'll make the 40, barring more serious issues with the finger.

(How did thole of the Mets get tagged with 14 passed balls?)
R.A. Dickey's (knuckleballer) catcher?

How Betancourt avoided the superfecta I have no idea.

Betancourt doesn't have nearly enough range to catch Starlin Castro in errors.

there were probably lots of such games in the deadball days, but B-Ref PI doesn't pick them up.

I wouldn't expect there to be an inordinate number in the DBE, actually, because it would have been unusual to relieve a pitcher who hadn't given up a run, no matter how far into the game it was.

New bit at THT Live: Carlos Zambrano and the all-time homer list for pitchers. He entered the top 10 on Saturday.

My favorite part is a brief bit where I compare Z's career isolated power (SLG minus AVG) to some prominent players. I missed Pete Rose, though. Z tops Rose easily.

Chris

I noticed in the comments you were unaware of Gallardo's batting prowess. Some hitting notes on Yovani:

--clearly enjoys Miller Park as his OPS difference is .162

--interesting in that while Gallardo typically fades in the second half pitching-wise his hitting improves

--has a slugging percentage over .500 in three separate months (April, July, August)

--beats the snot out of the Reds and Pirates

I wouldn't expect there to be an inordinate number in the DBE, actually, because it would have been unusual to relieve a pitcher who hadn't given up a run, no matter how far into the game it was

Good point, indeed. The Vaughn-Toney double no-hitter in 1917 is a case in point, but Vaughn lost the no-hitter, shutout, and game in the 10th.

The Rockies have now lost 16 straight games on Sunday. They haven't won on a Sunday since April.

In non-Sabbath games, the Rockies are 51-46.

Tom

I noticed Troy is absolutely killing the ball since the break. Too bad the rest of the team isn't joining the party.

Do the Rockies use Sunday for doing penance or fasting or something? I know they do a lot of outreach to the evangelical Christians in the area.

I noticed Troy is absolutely killing the ball since the break.

He's always been a second-half player, every season of his career. He looks headed for .300/30/100, which would put him in the MVP discussion if the Rockies weren't so feeble.

Good point, indeed. The Vaughn-Toney double no-hitter in 1917 is a case in point, but Vaughn lost the no-hitter, shutout, and game in the 10th.

Or the 26-inning tie, in which both starters pitched the entire game (although it wasn't a shutout).

Arthur Rhodes to be released by the Rangers.

Arthur Rhodes was teammates with Dwight Evans who was teammates with Luis Aparicio who was teammates with Dave Philley who was teammates with Ted Lyons who was teammates with Eddie Collins who was teammates with Monty Cross who made his debut in 1892.

Rhodes was also teammates with 22 year old Elvis Andrus.