Posts Tagged ‘Colorado Rockies’
 |
Crash Davis Returns!?July 9th, 2008
|
Last year the Oakland A’s picked up a minor leaguer from the San Diego Padres for virtually nothing. When the trade was made, it wasn’t a big deal and was only found in the other notes section. A’s general manager Billy Beane has once again plucked a gem and given up nothing in return.
With all the injuries the A’s players had last season, that minor leaguer got a chance to show what he could do. Who was that minor leaguer and what did he do with the opportunity?
Does he really invoke memories of baseball movie (Bull Durham) legend Crash Davis (the minor league career homerun champion)? When I look at A’s outfielder/DH Jack Cust play today, I think of Crash Davis
Cust has had a few cups of coffee in the majors with a four different teams (Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and the Padres). In fact, Cust even played in AAA for the A’s back in 2005, yet never got a call to the show.
While some player get called up and just can’t perform, others go on to show they can. They make people think about why they had to wait so long.
While some players do great things in the minors, it doesn’t always translate to success in the major. The A’s once had a player, Adam Piatt, win the Triple Crown while playing in AA. That achievement had not been accomplished in over 70 years.
 |
Just when I think I’m out…June 19th, 2008
|
The Cleveland Indians pull me back in.
Of course, then I head screaming for the hills after witnessing this game.
And then: somehow, some way, they pluck me from the mountain top and I’m right back where I started.
I’m not trying to be cliche, but where do I begin? Is it with the Tribe winning 5 of their last 7 (by an average of 2.5 runs per game, which is pretty amazing because that’s about the average offensive output per week of this team over the first few months of the season)? Or, is it with the losses of Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, and Josh Barfield (i.e. a combined 30% of the team’s payroll) to injury? Read more
 |
The Team with No NameJune 7th, 2008
|
I’d like to share a story with you.
When I was eight or nine, my younger brother decided to ride his bike down the hill near the front of our house. It was a small hill, and even though he had been riding his bike without his training wheels for only a year or so, he could have handled it easily.
If the front wheel of his bike hadn’t broken off halfway down the hill.
Man, my brother was messed up after that. He went flying head-first off his handle bars and landed face-first on the street. His face was all bruised, he had bad cuts on his arms, even a couple of his teeth were gone. He looked terrible for a long, long time after that (in fact, it’s probably a blessing that — almost twenty years later — when he first met the woman who eventually became his wife, she didn’t have the best eyesight in the world), and it took him a while to feel comfortable on a bike again. Read more
 |
Message for the Nats’ Three Young BirdsMay 22nd, 2008
|
Singin’ don’t worry
‘bout a thing
‘cause every little thing
gonna’ be all right …
- Three Little Birds by Bob Marley
As more than 28,000 hardball enthusiasts filed out of Nationals Park on Tuesday night, the late Jamaican Rastafarian’s catchy tune permeated the ears of witnesses to the Philadelphia Phillies’ 1-0 victory, a grinder of a game that went scoreless for eight full innings before the Phils broke the seal in the top of the ninth then blunted a threat in the inning’s bottom.
But the question that begs an answer: Should the implicit message of that uplifting song be taken seriously?
One: The Nats lost.
Two: They were shutout.
Three: They stranded a man on second with one out then third with two outs in the fourth inning. They stranded a man on second with two outs in the seventh inning. And, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the potential tying run walked, then stole second, then stole third before being stranded on a game-ending groundout.
Four: Their outfielders went 1-10 Tuesday night with a seventh inning double being this notable trio’s sole hit.
Five: Their make-shift closer, equipped with six saves under his belt, pitched the whole ninth inning and gave up one run to get the loss Tuesday night.
Six: They occupy the NL East cellar, looking immediately up at the New York Mets. In other words, while the Mets have sunk and the Atlanta Braves have scaled, the Nats have occupied the bottom for no one other than themselves.
Seven: Only three NL teams have a lower winning percentage than the Nats, all coming out of the NL West (Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres).
Eight: Two AL teams have a lower winning percentage than the Nats, the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners.
Wednesday night marks the Nats’ 16th–straight game in 16 straight days, their second-longest consecutive streak of this season. They head into the series finale against the Phillies at 6-9. Four of those nine losses were one-run games, for two of the nine they were shutout. In late July through mid-August, the Nats have 20-straight games scheduled, representing their longest streak this season.
Jon Rauch, who was converted from set-up man to closer when Chad Cordero went down with a tear in his muscle earlier this season, started the ninth by giving up a double to third baseman Pedro Feliz, who was sacrificed to third then scored on pinch hitter Greg Dobbs’ single. Rauch, who gave up three hits and the decisive run, was tagged with the loss and falls to 2-1 on the season,
Wily Mo Peña doubled to left in the seventh, going 1-4 on the night. The leftfielder is yet to homer this season, one of the primary reasons the Nats brought him in when the Boston Red Sox released him last season. He was not improving while platooning in the Fenway outfield and was supposed to benefit from daily action and at-bats so that he would surmount his strike-out proclivity. One of those four at-bats was a swinging strike-out, which came in the ninth inning. He lunged and missed at first pitches in at least three of his at-bats, perhaps a sign of anxiousness. His batting average presently is .216.
Lastings Milledge went 0-4 with one strike out. The centerfielder’s positive contribution at the plate was a no-out sacrifice fly to right field, which moved Ryan Zimmerman to third. Milledge, who helped gun down what would have been a second Phils run in the ninth, left four on base and presently is hitting .235.
Elijah Dukes went 0-2 with two walks and two strikeouts. One of those walks came in the bottom of the ninth, when he was 90 feet from tying the game after stealing second and third bases. He presently is hitting .038 in 11 games thus far this season.
This trio that patrols the Nats outfield is expected to grow into those positions and sustain them for the Nats for years to come. Peña is 26, Milledge is 23 and Dukes turns 24 late next month, and all have plenty of room to improve their game.
‘Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin this is my message to you.’
 |
Julio Lugo: Another Sunk Cost At Short?May 14th, 2008
|
Ever since the eleventh-hour deadline deal that shipped Nomar Garciaparra off to the Cubbies as part of a three-way trade machination and, along with it, sent a Red Sox fandom into knee-jerk hysteria—then eventual baseball ecstasy three months later—general manager Theo Epstein has aggressively engaged in a seasonal pursuit for Boston’s next long-term shortstop.
But for the past four winters—each filled and followed by one fruitless search after another—Epstein’s hunt has seemingly mirrored the life and times of Elmer Fudd. Far too elusive to nab, that wascawly shortstop has evaded the grasp of the Sox GM at every turn—only self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the form of failed signings left in all the aftermath.
So, to say the shortstop position under the Epstein-era has seen more ups, downs and (public relations) spin than a merry-go-round wouldn’t be much of an understatement. In fact, by now, some Red Sox supporters might prefer a daintily handcrafted carousel horse to the club’s incumbent shortstop, one Julio Lugo.
|
Streaking player probably won’t play; winner of none, loser of three will!May 12th, 2008
|
Raise your hand and speak up if you have no clue in the world what is happening with DC’s baseball team.
But, please: not everyone at once.
The Washington Nationals is the same team that earlier this season owned MLB’s worst record and had lost 15 of 17 games then turned it around to play .750 ball by winning nine of 12 games to climb to within striking distance of the team ahead of them in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves.
That surge also prompted the Nats to rise above five other MLB teams, pull into a tie with a sixth and – more importantly – demonstrate the team can play ball, win games and continue soaring upward.
Or so we thought.
Through Monday morning, as they approach this season’s quarter mark, the Nats are tied with the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies for third-worst in MLB, ahead of the penultimate Seattle Mariners and the last-place San Diego Padres.
What more to expect from a team that markets itself on its own Web site with the following sub-headline to its top story: ‘Aaron Boone has been on a tear for the Nationals, but will likely not start as Odalis Perez throws against the Mets at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight.’
The Nationals are reduced to pitching the exploits of a back-up third baseman.
One who might not even find his way into the game.
Naming him alongside the name of the pitcher whose record is 0-3.
Is the message from the Nats: Viewers should watch the game not to watch the streaking infielder but to watch the pitcher who has won no games but lost three in the eight he has started?
|
Keys to the Nats’ RisingMay 5th, 2008
|
Will this team break out? We know they can and it just might be on the brink of doing so.
In less than two weeks, the Washington Nationals have climbed out of MLB’s basement by playing .727 ball. Their record through Saturday afternoon has them looking down on five teams and tied with a sixth. They are only five games below .500.
The Nats are 8-3 in their past 11 games, during which they captured series against three solid teams, and they’ll try to clinch another series Sunday afternoon.
Through Saturday afternoon, they have won two of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right handed pitcher Tim Redding leads the charge Sunday in game four at Nationals Park against Ian Snell, also a righthander. Should the Nats lose, they’ll at least emerge with a series tie.
|
Nats to begin May with three-game win streakMay 1st, 2008
|
The Washington Nationals stylishly finished April by taking a two-game set against the Atlanta Braves, their division rival whom they now trail by only 1.5 games.
The team that endured a nine-game losing streak through April 13 now has won six of its last eight games and is riding a three-game winning streak as the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town for both teams’ first four-game set this season.
Several obvious positives have emerged and they are impossible to ignore.
They have solid starting pitchers, one of whom is working on a scoreless inning streak. They have stumbled upon a solid closer who notched his fifth save Tuesday night when the Nats beat the Braves 6-3. Their lineup has some potent bats that can turn on the ball with ease. And the whole team how shown it can excel when playing late- and extra-inning ball.
 |
Dodgers get lucky number 13April 30th, 2008
|
13 wins feel good. There is hope for the season.
Jeff Kent came through for the Dodgers, on Tuesday. He helped the team to its fourth straight win, putting them at .500 for the first time in quite some time. The future Hall of Famer drove in Andre Ethier in the ninth to give the Dodgers the lead sending the team to a 13-13 record.
Things have really started to come together for the Dodgers as the young players have really started to step it up over the modest winning streak. Andre Ethier scored three runs in the Dodgers’ most recent victory. What has been most impressive is that the Dodgers have been piling on runs.
|
The Homestand: Everything Old is New AgainApril 25th, 2008
|
Okay, for a few days there, I was officially in Joker-land.
When the Phillies and the Cubbies both came to Coors Field, I was sure the Rocks would take at least three of four (a sweep of the Phillies and a split with the Cubs). The offense was clicking, the starting pitching was holding up, and the bullpen was — as usual — awesome. Sure, there was that minor, little “hiccup” in Houston on Sunday when the bullpen gave up a lead late, but that was just a fluke, right? That couldn’t be the start of a trend, right?
“BZZZZZZ. Thanks for playing. Let’s see what your lovely parting gifts are . . .”
I was so, so wrong. At first, though, I was right. In the two home games against the Phillies, the Rockies were playing great. On Monday, the offense was putting runs up on the board (including hitting a couple of home runs into god-awful wind), and Mark Redman, if not exactly pitching like Cy Young, was still giving his club a chance to win the game and was eating up innings. With a guy like Redman — the 5th starter — you really can’t ask for too much more.
That’s not a knock, by the way. It’s just that a 5th starter in baseball is kind of like a blind date. You don’t expect too much, and you may suffer through a few really bad ones, but every once in a while you find yourself sitting across from a person you really, really like. You’re pleasantly surprised. You’re even glad you’re on the date. You even start thinking that maybe this will lead to something later on that night . . .
Dirty old man.
Next »