The baseball season does not get better than this. I am currently flipping through four different games that have a distinct impact on the National League playoffs. One team can completely control their own destiny, and that is the San Diego Padrs. The Pads can lock up the Wild Card with a win at Milwaukee. Two other teams, the Mets and Phillies, can extend their seasons with a win, but they need help in order to avoid a playoff. Then there is the Rockies, who need a win, plus a San Deigo loss to force a playoff game with someone undetermined thus far.
The Mets are probably the biggest story of the day and certainly the biggest disappointment-- that is if you are a Mets fan. It appeared New York had the advantage on paper going into today because they were sending future Hall Of Famer Tom Glavine to the hill. Glavine, who has a reputation as a big game pitcher, was a safe bet to get the win and hopefully lock up the East for the Mets.
Well, that wishful thknking ended almost immediately after the first pitch was thrown. Glavine yielded 7 runs without even getting out of the first inning, all but ending the Mets hope of winning their division. I have never seen such an energized atmosphere, like the one that usually accompanies ballgames at Shea Stadium, become so deflated so quickly. The youthful Marlins took it right to the uptight Mets, and they are currently trailing 8-1 in the 6th inning.
The Phillies seem like the loosest team of them all, even though they have just as much on the line today. I assume the pressure in the Mets clubhouse comes from the fact that they were the easy favorite to win the divison, especially when they were 7 games up with only 17 left to play. Their collapse, coupled with the always abundant pressure from the New York media, has created an atmosphere that is not conducive to winning.
In Philadelphia, there weren't many expectations for their ballclub when they were all but dead a month ago. As the tide started to turn, and the Phils piled up the wins, the City Of Brotherly Love showed their true passion for the city and Citizens Bank ballpark is absolutely rocking this afternoon.
The Phillies look like they are on the brink of taking home the NL East title as they take a 5-1 lead into the seventh inning stretch. Confidence breeds success in practically everything in life, but almost always in baseball. If you have confidence, you at least have a good chance of succeeding. On the flip side, if you don't have confidence, there is absolutely zero chance for success in baseball. The Phillies are letting it all hang loose and are enjoying the postseason push. They are forcing the issue and look as if they are throwing caution to the wind. What an exciting ballgame taking place up there.
As much fun as we are having in the upper-northeast, the most impotant game of the day for all teams involved is the game taking place in Milwaukee. The Brewers are playing the role of best friend right now as they can't go to the postseason, yet aren't exaclty playing spoiler for the Padres either. They are more like playing the role of prolonger for San Diego.
Milwaukee has stormed back and taken a 6-4 lead as it stands right now in the top of the 6th. San Diego, of course, wants to end it today to avoid having to play the extra playoff game. But of all the teams looking at the 1-game playoff, San Diego should have the most confidence. They will send ace Jake Peavy to the mound on full rest if they happen to lose today's game.
At this point, it is apparent the Mets are all but done in the postseason picture. We will stay tuned to the San Diego-Milwaukee game.
For the other NL West club, and the most entertaining team not named the Phillies, the Rockies are deadlocked in a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fourth. They will certainly be playing loose today, as it seems lke they have forgotten how to lose. They are a couragious bunch, and they know they have nothing to lose. There were not these type of expectations at any point for this Colorado club.
The Rockies were expected to be good, but I am not sure if anyone thought they would make a turnaround like this so quickly. They played decent ball through July to at least stay afloat, and then went on a tear to win 12 in a row at one point. What a story it would be if this team could find the backdoor into the Division Series. I am pulling for them.
Stay tuned as there is action to wrap up. The Mets and Phillies games seem to be pretty settled, and the Rockie-Padres games are going to be barnburners. What a way to finish up the regular season. Crazy game, baseball is.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Cinderella Stories, and National League Races
The National League races have come steaming down to the final weekend of the baseball season, and will most likely be pretty clear once the day is over. There are still some stories to follow, though.
The Colorado Rockies are hanging on by a thread after last night's loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at home. With the win and the Met loss, the D'Backs clinched a playoff birth. That left Colorado 3 games behind Arizona in the divison with 2 to play. The weekend looks quite bleak now for the Rockies as their fate is not entirely in their own hands. They trail San Diego by 2 games in the Wild Card race with 2 more to go. They must finish off Arizona and get help from Milwaukee in order to face a one game playoff with San Diego on Monday.
Colorado was baseball's hottest team, the Phillies being a close second, when they swept Los Angeles and were heading home for the final series. Any loss at this point is a huge opportunity missed, but the loss was magnified for Colorado as their ace, Jeff Francis, was beat at home. They will have to make up the remaining ground without their best pitcher going back to the mound.
It has been plenty of fun to watch this team, full of young players and overachievers, come together late in the second half to make a run at the playoffs. The team plays great baseball as a whole, and more importantly, they play the game the right way. Every guy on the field hustles and comes to the ballpark to win. That attitude is easily visible when this core of players puts it out on the line on a nightly basis. Much of this credit should go to manager Clint Hurdle for getting his nucleus of players to believe that they can win and motivating them to come out and play hard each night.
If this is where the road ends for Colorado, and hopefully not, it has been a pleasure watching them compete and big things are expected come April, 2008.
For every lost hope in baseball, there is hope gained somewhere else.
The Philadelphia Phillies did the improbable last night, at least for one day, when they capitalized on the Mets loss to take over sole possession of first place in the NL East.
Cole Hamels took the mound and put the Phillies on his back by turning in a masterful performance, clearly stating himself as the ace of this staff. The Phillies have been the most exciting team to watch lately, because nobody thought they could even come close to doing what they have done. It is enough of a treat to watch a team play great baseball for an extended period of time, but to watch one who grinds out everyday and does it while making a run at the divison title is the sole purpose of why I get up in the morning to watch baseball.
Baseball is a sport played in dirt for a reason. The players, and the teams consisting of these players, who bring a relentless will to the game and find a way to make the routine plays and grind out basehits are the ones often rewarded. Baseball is not a flashy game. Of course, the 500 foot homeruns are nice, but that is not what the game is built upon. It is built upon momentum and players putting consecutive streaks of good at-bats together.
The Phillies are the epitome of a grinding team, one who is not afraid to dirty up the uniform and play hard-nosed baseball. Nobody every said winning had to be pretty. Rarely does it come by sitting up there and swinging from the heals and hoping for the best. Look for the at-bats such as a 10 pitch walk, or a broken bat single followed by a stolen base. Those are the sequence of events that get the game rolling. Most importantly, that is how teams win in the postseason.
The Mets have already won today, so Philidelphia needs to win to keep pace and keep their one game advantage going into the final day of the regular season. San Diego is locked up in a good one with Milwaukee. Hopefully, the National League Wild Card won't be decided until tomorrow, with Colorado and San Diego fighting it out. Who knows what will happen in the NL East. That race has been so crazy, its not even worth speculating about what may be. Stay tuned.
The Colorado Rockies are hanging on by a thread after last night's loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at home. With the win and the Met loss, the D'Backs clinched a playoff birth. That left Colorado 3 games behind Arizona in the divison with 2 to play. The weekend looks quite bleak now for the Rockies as their fate is not entirely in their own hands. They trail San Diego by 2 games in the Wild Card race with 2 more to go. They must finish off Arizona and get help from Milwaukee in order to face a one game playoff with San Diego on Monday.
Colorado was baseball's hottest team, the Phillies being a close second, when they swept Los Angeles and were heading home for the final series. Any loss at this point is a huge opportunity missed, but the loss was magnified for Colorado as their ace, Jeff Francis, was beat at home. They will have to make up the remaining ground without their best pitcher going back to the mound.
It has been plenty of fun to watch this team, full of young players and overachievers, come together late in the second half to make a run at the playoffs. The team plays great baseball as a whole, and more importantly, they play the game the right way. Every guy on the field hustles and comes to the ballpark to win. That attitude is easily visible when this core of players puts it out on the line on a nightly basis. Much of this credit should go to manager Clint Hurdle for getting his nucleus of players to believe that they can win and motivating them to come out and play hard each night.
If this is where the road ends for Colorado, and hopefully not, it has been a pleasure watching them compete and big things are expected come April, 2008.
For every lost hope in baseball, there is hope gained somewhere else.
The Philadelphia Phillies did the improbable last night, at least for one day, when they capitalized on the Mets loss to take over sole possession of first place in the NL East.
Cole Hamels took the mound and put the Phillies on his back by turning in a masterful performance, clearly stating himself as the ace of this staff. The Phillies have been the most exciting team to watch lately, because nobody thought they could even come close to doing what they have done. It is enough of a treat to watch a team play great baseball for an extended period of time, but to watch one who grinds out everyday and does it while making a run at the divison title is the sole purpose of why I get up in the morning to watch baseball.
Baseball is a sport played in dirt for a reason. The players, and the teams consisting of these players, who bring a relentless will to the game and find a way to make the routine plays and grind out basehits are the ones often rewarded. Baseball is not a flashy game. Of course, the 500 foot homeruns are nice, but that is not what the game is built upon. It is built upon momentum and players putting consecutive streaks of good at-bats together.
The Phillies are the epitome of a grinding team, one who is not afraid to dirty up the uniform and play hard-nosed baseball. Nobody every said winning had to be pretty. Rarely does it come by sitting up there and swinging from the heals and hoping for the best. Look for the at-bats such as a 10 pitch walk, or a broken bat single followed by a stolen base. Those are the sequence of events that get the game rolling. Most importantly, that is how teams win in the postseason.
The Mets have already won today, so Philidelphia needs to win to keep pace and keep their one game advantage going into the final day of the regular season. San Diego is locked up in a good one with Milwaukee. Hopefully, the National League Wild Card won't be decided until tomorrow, with Colorado and San Diego fighting it out. Who knows what will happen in the NL East. That race has been so crazy, its not even worth speculating about what may be. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Rockies Rolling Right Along
The Colorado Rockies took the field at Dodger Stadium Tuesday night like they were a seasoned team of veterans with plenty of experience to fall back on. They took charge of the ballgame, and did not fail to respond when Los Angeles mounted a comeback. Colorado edged out the ballgame 9-7, their ninth win in a row, and stayed 1 game back of San Diego in the NL Wild Card race.
The Rockies do not have much business being this close to a playoff birth this late in the season. Yeah, right. Tell that to them.
An offense backed by a young core of players, it is refreshing to see the type of energy that is brought to the field each night with this ballclub. They play the game hard and they play it to win. This is not the Rockies of old that would crumble towards the finish line and look as if they have been waiting for the offseason to come.
Troy Tulowitzki is becoming one of the best players in the league. Not one of the best shortstops. One of the best all-around players. Period.
The rookie out of Long Beach State put the Rockies ahead 6-5 with a 2-run homerun and then doubled off the left-centerfield wall in his next at-bat to get the late inning rally started.
It is not Tulowitzki's offense that makes him jump out as a superstar player. He leads all National League shortstops in fielding percentage, and that isn't even what first stood out about him.
The confident swagger he portrays as he non-arrogantly struts out to his position in between each inning. The way the youngster trots around the bases after he crushes a baseball over 400 feet. He doesn't take his time and cadillac it, nor does he look like a rookie who has never done it before. His homerun trot spews confidence, and an attitude that screams "winner". These are the things that stand out before all of the physical tools take over.
It is apparent that the shortstop has become a leader for this Rockies ballclub. The energy and gamer-attitude he takes the field with has swallowed up every other guy on the field and has produced one unit that is absolutely on fire.
Matt Holliday is an absolute monster in the middle of the order and is only 26 years old. He is emerging as one of the games best hitters and is a serious candidate for this years NL MVP.
Brad Hawpe and Garrett Atkins are nice additions to the lineup. Not quite superstars, but above your average role player. They are role players in a certain sense, the only difference being that they are on the field everyday and they do what they do best day in and day out.
With all of that, there still is Todd Helton, who despite a drop off in his numbers, is such a pure hitter that he is capable of hitting .330 with 30 homeruns. Helton has a lot of good baseball left in him and he is finally being rewarded with a competitive team. A lot of credit should be given to Helton who signed a 10 year contract with the Rockies which he is about half-way through. Helton could of easily gotten sick of the losing and have demanded a trade. But due to his character and motivation, he said that he was the one who signed the contract and therefore had a responsibility to honor it. If only there were more men in this game like Todd Helton.
The pitching staff is young and inconsistent, but the Rockies do have a bonafide ace in Jeff Francis. Not bonafide in a Johan Santana way, but certainly bonafide in a Colorado Rockie way. The southpaw has won 17 games this year and is on the verge of breaking out and being one of the games top pitchers.
If the Rockies get any type of consistency from the rotation, and back it up with a fearless bullpen, they will get into the playoffs and make plenty of noise. This team is arguably the hottest in all of baseball and will be quite a challenge, especially considering the talent level of other National League ballclubs. The most important part of this all, is the players actually believe they are going to win when they come to the park. Just take a look at the shortstop. Do not be surprised if Colorado is representing the National League in this years World Series.
The Rockies do not have much business being this close to a playoff birth this late in the season. Yeah, right. Tell that to them.
An offense backed by a young core of players, it is refreshing to see the type of energy that is brought to the field each night with this ballclub. They play the game hard and they play it to win. This is not the Rockies of old that would crumble towards the finish line and look as if they have been waiting for the offseason to come.
Troy Tulowitzki is becoming one of the best players in the league. Not one of the best shortstops. One of the best all-around players. Period.
The rookie out of Long Beach State put the Rockies ahead 6-5 with a 2-run homerun and then doubled off the left-centerfield wall in his next at-bat to get the late inning rally started.
It is not Tulowitzki's offense that makes him jump out as a superstar player. He leads all National League shortstops in fielding percentage, and that isn't even what first stood out about him.
The confident swagger he portrays as he non-arrogantly struts out to his position in between each inning. The way the youngster trots around the bases after he crushes a baseball over 400 feet. He doesn't take his time and cadillac it, nor does he look like a rookie who has never done it before. His homerun trot spews confidence, and an attitude that screams "winner". These are the things that stand out before all of the physical tools take over.
It is apparent that the shortstop has become a leader for this Rockies ballclub. The energy and gamer-attitude he takes the field with has swallowed up every other guy on the field and has produced one unit that is absolutely on fire.
Matt Holliday is an absolute monster in the middle of the order and is only 26 years old. He is emerging as one of the games best hitters and is a serious candidate for this years NL MVP.
Brad Hawpe and Garrett Atkins are nice additions to the lineup. Not quite superstars, but above your average role player. They are role players in a certain sense, the only difference being that they are on the field everyday and they do what they do best day in and day out.
With all of that, there still is Todd Helton, who despite a drop off in his numbers, is such a pure hitter that he is capable of hitting .330 with 30 homeruns. Helton has a lot of good baseball left in him and he is finally being rewarded with a competitive team. A lot of credit should be given to Helton who signed a 10 year contract with the Rockies which he is about half-way through. Helton could of easily gotten sick of the losing and have demanded a trade. But due to his character and motivation, he said that he was the one who signed the contract and therefore had a responsibility to honor it. If only there were more men in this game like Todd Helton.
The pitching staff is young and inconsistent, but the Rockies do have a bonafide ace in Jeff Francis. Not bonafide in a Johan Santana way, but certainly bonafide in a Colorado Rockie way. The southpaw has won 17 games this year and is on the verge of breaking out and being one of the games top pitchers.
If the Rockies get any type of consistency from the rotation, and back it up with a fearless bullpen, they will get into the playoffs and make plenty of noise. This team is arguably the hottest in all of baseball and will be quite a challenge, especially considering the talent level of other National League ballclubs. The most important part of this all, is the players actually believe they are going to win when they come to the park. Just take a look at the shortstop. Do not be surprised if Colorado is representing the National League in this years World Series.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Ugliest Side During The Happiest Time
This point of the year is the best time for baseball. Best for the fans who get to see divison and wildcard races played out during the final week, and also get the October fever going as we keep soaring towards the postseason. It is the best time for the players who get to see all of their hard work come to fruition and play for a World Series title. The players that are on teams going to the playoffs, that is.
The players who are not going to the playoffs could be dragging through the final week knowing that they are going home no matter what they do on the field these next few days. With that in their minds, it becomes very difficult to get that cranky body moving for the final six days if one does not have a great amount of pride in their work.
Regardless, this is the time to celebrate our passion for baseball. It is unfortunate that there are two cases evolving out west that are showing the uglier side of sports when we should be pumped for postseason baseball to appear on our television screens and in front of our eyes for an entire month. This is what we have waited for since Spring Training.
For the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, this is exactly what they weren't waiting for since Spring Training.
The Dodgers are officially a mess. A team that showed much promise and hope of pulling through in their divison and leading a solid core of players into the postseason, has made a complete turnaround, resulting in a season down the drain and the embarrassment of veterans pointing fingers.
The Dodgers are one of the most storied franchises in baseball, and yet its players are representing it in one of the most classless ways possible. Jeff Kent has officially took of the gloves and started swinging at the young players on the team claiming, "They just don't get it", referring to the postseason and the limited time he has left in his career.
It is one thing for a veteran who has been in the postseason to make some comments and get a young group of players fired up. But it is entirely different to throw your teammates under the bus and take absolutely no responsiblity for the team's failure. This looks much worse for Kent due to the fact that Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, amound other youngsters, have been carrying this team for the better part of the year. Maybe it is time for Kent to reevaluate his contributions to the team and bring a little humilty to the ballpark.
In fact, it is probably safe to say that if this young core of players were in the everyday lineup since Opening Day, the Dodgers would have won the National League West. Winning and putting up huge numbers really show nothing about a player as a person. It is easy to love the group of guys you are with and praise everyone when you are on a divison leader and look like a World Series. But that is not what being a teammate is about.
What happens when the ship sinks and things turn for the worse? Does one start blaming others and making excuses and saying how the other players, who were the real producers, aren't getting it done? A good teammate, and more importantly, a winner, admits what went wrong and then steps up and recognizes that he did a poor job at leading. That doesn't mean others can't except some blame, but a veteran especially should have a little more class than that. I guess this is just great evidence as to what type of character certain guys have. It all comes out in the end.
As for the Padres, their playoff hopes are not dead, but they sure are slipping away. What happened in San Diego Sunday afternoon was one of the most freakish, and rather embarrasing, moments that I have ever witnessed. Milton Bradley tore his ACL because his manager was trying to restrain him from going after an umpire. Not sure I have ever seen that one before.
In all seriousness, it is simply unfortunate what happened to Bradley's knee. This was a freak accident, and one that has escalated the situation to new heights. If it wasn't for the season-ending injury, this would of been just like countless other times we have seen Bradley, or any other player, have a heated arguement with an umpire.
In reality, that is not the case. I just find it amazing that when an event occurs, like the knee injury, some will use it as fuel to prove that they have been completely abused.
Bradley is saying that he will take action because he lost his season because of the umpire. No it is not the umpire's fault that he tore his ACL. That just happened at a very inopportune time. The point being, the injury should be completely thrown out in the whatever investigation of this situation Major League Baseball embarks on.
If umpire Mike Winters did use profane and abusive language towards Bradley, then he should be reprimanded as that is unacceptable behavior in a professional environment. Umpires are suppossed to rise above situations on the field and settle them, not turn them into personal wars.
That being said, I don't buy Bradley's argument whatsoever. It is laughable how he would bring up the fact that the umpire used profanity and try to use that against him in this situation simply because he is realizing he hurt his team now that his season is over.
How many times do players go off and use profanity directed at umpires during an argument? That is never brought up and used against them when their suspensions are handed down from MLB. Granted, players are there to perform and win and are therefore emotionally attached to everything that happens in the ballgame. I just find it hard to believe that umpires should be held to more "professional" standards than players are.
The situation is being handled like a sand-throwing fight in a pre-school playground. He-said-she-said and tattle taling is taking its place between two prossionals and it is ridiculous.
Major League Baseball needs to order a swift investigation and if there is probable cause to suspend Mike Winters, then fine, punish him according to the situation. If there isn't much behind this story, then it is too bad for Bradley that his knee was injured. But make no mistake about it; his temper cost him the season, not the umpire.
It is time to enjoy the best part of the baseball season and appreciate the dramatic nights this great games provides during the postseason. This is not the time to bicker about childish happenings.
The players who are not going to the playoffs could be dragging through the final week knowing that they are going home no matter what they do on the field these next few days. With that in their minds, it becomes very difficult to get that cranky body moving for the final six days if one does not have a great amount of pride in their work.
Regardless, this is the time to celebrate our passion for baseball. It is unfortunate that there are two cases evolving out west that are showing the uglier side of sports when we should be pumped for postseason baseball to appear on our television screens and in front of our eyes for an entire month. This is what we have waited for since Spring Training.
For the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, this is exactly what they weren't waiting for since Spring Training.
The Dodgers are officially a mess. A team that showed much promise and hope of pulling through in their divison and leading a solid core of players into the postseason, has made a complete turnaround, resulting in a season down the drain and the embarrassment of veterans pointing fingers.
The Dodgers are one of the most storied franchises in baseball, and yet its players are representing it in one of the most classless ways possible. Jeff Kent has officially took of the gloves and started swinging at the young players on the team claiming, "They just don't get it", referring to the postseason and the limited time he has left in his career.
It is one thing for a veteran who has been in the postseason to make some comments and get a young group of players fired up. But it is entirely different to throw your teammates under the bus and take absolutely no responsiblity for the team's failure. This looks much worse for Kent due to the fact that Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, amound other youngsters, have been carrying this team for the better part of the year. Maybe it is time for Kent to reevaluate his contributions to the team and bring a little humilty to the ballpark.
In fact, it is probably safe to say that if this young core of players were in the everyday lineup since Opening Day, the Dodgers would have won the National League West. Winning and putting up huge numbers really show nothing about a player as a person. It is easy to love the group of guys you are with and praise everyone when you are on a divison leader and look like a World Series. But that is not what being a teammate is about.
What happens when the ship sinks and things turn for the worse? Does one start blaming others and making excuses and saying how the other players, who were the real producers, aren't getting it done? A good teammate, and more importantly, a winner, admits what went wrong and then steps up and recognizes that he did a poor job at leading. That doesn't mean others can't except some blame, but a veteran especially should have a little more class than that. I guess this is just great evidence as to what type of character certain guys have. It all comes out in the end.
As for the Padres, their playoff hopes are not dead, but they sure are slipping away. What happened in San Diego Sunday afternoon was one of the most freakish, and rather embarrasing, moments that I have ever witnessed. Milton Bradley tore his ACL because his manager was trying to restrain him from going after an umpire. Not sure I have ever seen that one before.
In all seriousness, it is simply unfortunate what happened to Bradley's knee. This was a freak accident, and one that has escalated the situation to new heights. If it wasn't for the season-ending injury, this would of been just like countless other times we have seen Bradley, or any other player, have a heated arguement with an umpire.
In reality, that is not the case. I just find it amazing that when an event occurs, like the knee injury, some will use it as fuel to prove that they have been completely abused.
Bradley is saying that he will take action because he lost his season because of the umpire. No it is not the umpire's fault that he tore his ACL. That just happened at a very inopportune time. The point being, the injury should be completely thrown out in the whatever investigation of this situation Major League Baseball embarks on.
If umpire Mike Winters did use profane and abusive language towards Bradley, then he should be reprimanded as that is unacceptable behavior in a professional environment. Umpires are suppossed to rise above situations on the field and settle them, not turn them into personal wars.
That being said, I don't buy Bradley's argument whatsoever. It is laughable how he would bring up the fact that the umpire used profanity and try to use that against him in this situation simply because he is realizing he hurt his team now that his season is over.
How many times do players go off and use profanity directed at umpires during an argument? That is never brought up and used against them when their suspensions are handed down from MLB. Granted, players are there to perform and win and are therefore emotionally attached to everything that happens in the ballgame. I just find it hard to believe that umpires should be held to more "professional" standards than players are.
The situation is being handled like a sand-throwing fight in a pre-school playground. He-said-she-said and tattle taling is taking its place between two prossionals and it is ridiculous.
Major League Baseball needs to order a swift investigation and if there is probable cause to suspend Mike Winters, then fine, punish him according to the situation. If there isn't much behind this story, then it is too bad for Bradley that his knee was injured. But make no mistake about it; his temper cost him the season, not the umpire.
It is time to enjoy the best part of the baseball season and appreciate the dramatic nights this great games provides during the postseason. This is not the time to bicker about childish happenings.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Bonds, Beanballs, and More
Barry Bonds will officially have a new home in the spring of 2008 as the Sam Francisco Giants have informed the star slugger than the organization plans to part ways after his contract expires at the end of this season. In all reality, this is probably a move the Giants needed to make a few years ago in terms of what is best for their organization and the development of their prospects. That of course wasn't going to happen because there is no way they would of allowd Barry to break the all-time homerun record in anything other than a Giant uniform. That's the way it should be, too.
That being said, the Giants really shouldn't be affected too much for waiting to make this move as they aren't losing that much. Sure, they are losing probably 25-30 homeruns next season, assuming Bonds is healthy, but this opens them up to going after a more productive player in the offseason. Maybe this is the team that takes the gamble on Andruw Jones and offers a fairly large chunk of change to get the Jones of old.
It is obvious that Jones will not get the mega-deal he was hoping for coming into his walk year, but I am hesitant to believe that the guy is really this bad. There is still quite a good centerfielder left in that body, and who knows, maybe when he forgets about trying to impress potential employers and simply plays the game like he is capable of playing, that offensive force will be back.
When we think of potential Barry Bonds suitors, we automatically assume he will be going to an American League team and one who has a substantial amount of money to spend. That is all well and good, but I don't see Bonds fitting in New York or Boston so it will have to be somewhere else.
Boston is off limits for obvious reasons, the best one being David Ortiz. New York certainly has money to spend but I am not sure the fans would accept an ego like Bonds and the media would eat him alive. When looking at the players, the obvious smacks you in the face. The Yankees already have enough DH's on that roster.
Johnny Damon really is an average DH at this point as his defense has slowed and his arm is comparable to David Eckstein's. The problem is that most teams, and even more so in the AL East, want to run production out of their designated hitter, a guy who is going to hit the longball and drive runners in. Damon can't provide that for the Yankees, so it may be tough to find him playing time.
Jason Giambi is a pure DH. He should not play first base anymore, even if it means having his bat out of the lineup for a game. His glove proves to be too costly to take that chance. When he is healthy, though, he is still one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Giambi still has 30-40 homerun potential in him, and with that short porch in right, you never know what type of breakout can occur.
For me, this leaves two teams in mind that could possibly make a good fit for Bonds. Those teams are the Angels and Tigers.
Say Alex Rodriguez stays with the Yankees and the Angels are still looking for the power bat to protect Vladimir Guerrero in their lineup. Bonds would love to come to Southern California and play for a team that has a legitimate shot at playing for a World Series title every year. The Angels have the money to spend and don't really have a guy that is going to block Bonds from taking over at DH.
This would of been more likely had it not been for Guerrero's recent arm troubles which have considerably limited his playing time in right field. If Vlad can get his arm and body healthy, or at least to a level that is manageable, and play right field, this move would look better and better for Barry.
The Tigers are an interesting choice for me and one that hasn't been talked about much. When Gary Sheffield is healthy he can still play an adequate righfield. He is not great out there, but if it meant getting Bonds' bat in the lineup, the Tigers would do it in an instant. With Bonds, Sheffield, and Ordonez in the middle of that lineup-- watch out. Detroit has money to spend, justified by their aggressive philosophy in going after free agents and draft picks. Plus, wouldn't it be great to see Bonds and Leyland reunite since their days in Pittsburgh?
The Angels-Mariners game last night set up a stage for some serious future bad blood between the two teams. Jorge Campillo threw at catch Jeff Mathis in retaliation for Jered Weave hitting Kenji Johjima. That was all fine and good-- except for the part about the pitch being at Mathis' head-- because that is purely baseball. It should of ended there.
Vladimir Guerreo was brushed back by Campillo and then took the next pitch, a hanging breaking ball, and launched it well over 400 feet for a homerun, standing at the plate to admire it. Next time Guerrero stepped to the plate, Campillo threw a fastball at his head resulting in a benches clearing scuffle.
I am not sure why this is acceptable at any level of baseball. Campillo was only suspended 4 games by the commissioner, a mere slap on the wrist for his actions. Campillo is now regarded as a head hunter and is going to get his teammates quite a few bruises in the future.
This war is certainly not over, but it is important for the Angels to wait until next year to retaliate because they are going to the playoffs and Seattle is not. It is one thing to throw at a guy because you are backing up your teammate. That is part of a pitchers' job. If that was the case, Campillo would of drilled Mathis in the back or the ribs and it would of been over with. There was obviously malicious intent in his actions, and he turned baseball into a personal thing.
Going after heads is never alright, especially after the point was already made by throwing at the head of the catcher. The Angels surely have some callup in the bullpen that they could bring in to handle the business, but that will be a definite fight and in that lies the possibility of other suspensions or injuries.
The best is to wait until next year. Baseball players do not forget. It is too bad that the Mariners had a coward on the mound last night because a couple of their hitters are going to pay for his pitches. I understand Seattle is not going to the playoffs, but since when does that mean lose all class and respect for the game of baseball and its players?
That being said, the Giants really shouldn't be affected too much for waiting to make this move as they aren't losing that much. Sure, they are losing probably 25-30 homeruns next season, assuming Bonds is healthy, but this opens them up to going after a more productive player in the offseason. Maybe this is the team that takes the gamble on Andruw Jones and offers a fairly large chunk of change to get the Jones of old.
It is obvious that Jones will not get the mega-deal he was hoping for coming into his walk year, but I am hesitant to believe that the guy is really this bad. There is still quite a good centerfielder left in that body, and who knows, maybe when he forgets about trying to impress potential employers and simply plays the game like he is capable of playing, that offensive force will be back.
When we think of potential Barry Bonds suitors, we automatically assume he will be going to an American League team and one who has a substantial amount of money to spend. That is all well and good, but I don't see Bonds fitting in New York or Boston so it will have to be somewhere else.
Boston is off limits for obvious reasons, the best one being David Ortiz. New York certainly has money to spend but I am not sure the fans would accept an ego like Bonds and the media would eat him alive. When looking at the players, the obvious smacks you in the face. The Yankees already have enough DH's on that roster.
Johnny Damon really is an average DH at this point as his defense has slowed and his arm is comparable to David Eckstein's. The problem is that most teams, and even more so in the AL East, want to run production out of their designated hitter, a guy who is going to hit the longball and drive runners in. Damon can't provide that for the Yankees, so it may be tough to find him playing time.
Jason Giambi is a pure DH. He should not play first base anymore, even if it means having his bat out of the lineup for a game. His glove proves to be too costly to take that chance. When he is healthy, though, he is still one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Giambi still has 30-40 homerun potential in him, and with that short porch in right, you never know what type of breakout can occur.
For me, this leaves two teams in mind that could possibly make a good fit for Bonds. Those teams are the Angels and Tigers.
Say Alex Rodriguez stays with the Yankees and the Angels are still looking for the power bat to protect Vladimir Guerrero in their lineup. Bonds would love to come to Southern California and play for a team that has a legitimate shot at playing for a World Series title every year. The Angels have the money to spend and don't really have a guy that is going to block Bonds from taking over at DH.
This would of been more likely had it not been for Guerrero's recent arm troubles which have considerably limited his playing time in right field. If Vlad can get his arm and body healthy, or at least to a level that is manageable, and play right field, this move would look better and better for Barry.
The Tigers are an interesting choice for me and one that hasn't been talked about much. When Gary Sheffield is healthy he can still play an adequate righfield. He is not great out there, but if it meant getting Bonds' bat in the lineup, the Tigers would do it in an instant. With Bonds, Sheffield, and Ordonez in the middle of that lineup-- watch out. Detroit has money to spend, justified by their aggressive philosophy in going after free agents and draft picks. Plus, wouldn't it be great to see Bonds and Leyland reunite since their days in Pittsburgh?
The Angels-Mariners game last night set up a stage for some serious future bad blood between the two teams. Jorge Campillo threw at catch Jeff Mathis in retaliation for Jered Weave hitting Kenji Johjima. That was all fine and good-- except for the part about the pitch being at Mathis' head-- because that is purely baseball. It should of ended there.
Vladimir Guerreo was brushed back by Campillo and then took the next pitch, a hanging breaking ball, and launched it well over 400 feet for a homerun, standing at the plate to admire it. Next time Guerrero stepped to the plate, Campillo threw a fastball at his head resulting in a benches clearing scuffle.
I am not sure why this is acceptable at any level of baseball. Campillo was only suspended 4 games by the commissioner, a mere slap on the wrist for his actions. Campillo is now regarded as a head hunter and is going to get his teammates quite a few bruises in the future.
This war is certainly not over, but it is important for the Angels to wait until next year to retaliate because they are going to the playoffs and Seattle is not. It is one thing to throw at a guy because you are backing up your teammate. That is part of a pitchers' job. If that was the case, Campillo would of drilled Mathis in the back or the ribs and it would of been over with. There was obviously malicious intent in his actions, and he turned baseball into a personal thing.
Going after heads is never alright, especially after the point was already made by throwing at the head of the catcher. The Angels surely have some callup in the bullpen that they could bring in to handle the business, but that will be a definite fight and in that lies the possibility of other suspensions or injuries.
The best is to wait until next year. Baseball players do not forget. It is too bad that the Mariners had a coward on the mound last night because a couple of their hitters are going to pay for his pitches. I understand Seattle is not going to the playoffs, but since when does that mean lose all class and respect for the game of baseball and its players?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Rays Of Hope
As I sit here on Monday evening and watch the final few innings of a ballgame between the Angels and Devil Rays, it becomes more and more evident that Tampa Bay is on its way to putting an end to its reputation as the laughing stock of the American League.
With all of the young talent the Devil Rays possess on the offensive side, one would think how it is possible to still lose so many games. The answer is very simple for this young team.
Their weakness, and it is quite glaring, is their lack of pitching. The starting rotation needs quite a bit of work, and the bullpen needs at least one or two more relievers to rely on. That being said, there are many pieces in place for Tampa Bay to compete within, say, realistically, three seasons.
On the offensive side, I am not sure that there is a more impressive collection of young talent than there is in Tampa. With Carl Crawford, Delmon Young, and B.J. Upton looking like the starting outfield of the future, there should be very few balls dropping anywhere in that outfield. Each one of those guys brings speed to the outfield, and scary offensive weapons to the plate.
Crawford is the only star of the bunch, for now. The only thing separating Upton and Young from being stars is simply experience in the major leagues. Upton is showing a bit of a breakout season, as he is hitting .306 with 84 RBIS, and somewhere over 20 homeruns (recently checked, but can't confirm). Young has just gotten his feet wet this year and will take a little more time before he emerges.
Rocco Baldelli is getting lost in the mix down in Tamp Bay and is way too good to be considered a fourth outfielder. If Upton or Young take some unexpected turn for the worse, Baldelli could emerge once his opportunity is presented. The most likely solution that roadblock is trading Baldelli for some type of pitching. The D'Rays should be able to get a couple good relievers for that young outfielder.
Throw top prospect Evan Longoria into the mix as the starting 3rd baseman in 2008 and that lineup is appearing more and more like strong dose of novacaine. Just give it time, and it always works.
On the pitching side, which is what we are most concerned with in this conversation, there is a staff ace in Scott Kazmir. Kazmir has been showing dominant stuff for a couple years now, but needs a little more polish before enters the elite group of American League Starters. Kazmir will undoubtedly win the strikeout crown in the AL this year, and that confirms his potential.
After Kazmir, the rotation will pick back up with Jamie Shields who came out of nowhere this year to make a strong case for All-Star recognition. Shields may be pitching a bit above his talent level as the number 2 starter, but it doesn't matter when you can pitch effectively and get outs.
Within the next year or two, the rotation will get a huge jolt of energy from the farm system when prospects Jeff Niemann and David Price make their way to big leagues. Both of them have number 1 starter potential and are showing the capabilites of being considered an ace-- of any rotation.
That would give the Devil Rays three legitimate number 1 starters in their rotation with a very solid number four. Throw a couple solid pieces in the bullpen and you can count on that lineup to produce plenty of runs. It seems like many things must come to fruition, and they do, but the point is that Tampa Bay is not going to the easy series-win like they have been in recent years. The American League may have a new sheriff coming to town come 2009.
With all of the young talent the Devil Rays possess on the offensive side, one would think how it is possible to still lose so many games. The answer is very simple for this young team.
Their weakness, and it is quite glaring, is their lack of pitching. The starting rotation needs quite a bit of work, and the bullpen needs at least one or two more relievers to rely on. That being said, there are many pieces in place for Tampa Bay to compete within, say, realistically, three seasons.
On the offensive side, I am not sure that there is a more impressive collection of young talent than there is in Tampa. With Carl Crawford, Delmon Young, and B.J. Upton looking like the starting outfield of the future, there should be very few balls dropping anywhere in that outfield. Each one of those guys brings speed to the outfield, and scary offensive weapons to the plate.
Crawford is the only star of the bunch, for now. The only thing separating Upton and Young from being stars is simply experience in the major leagues. Upton is showing a bit of a breakout season, as he is hitting .306 with 84 RBIS, and somewhere over 20 homeruns (recently checked, but can't confirm). Young has just gotten his feet wet this year and will take a little more time before he emerges.
Rocco Baldelli is getting lost in the mix down in Tamp Bay and is way too good to be considered a fourth outfielder. If Upton or Young take some unexpected turn for the worse, Baldelli could emerge once his opportunity is presented. The most likely solution that roadblock is trading Baldelli for some type of pitching. The D'Rays should be able to get a couple good relievers for that young outfielder.
Throw top prospect Evan Longoria into the mix as the starting 3rd baseman in 2008 and that lineup is appearing more and more like strong dose of novacaine. Just give it time, and it always works.
On the pitching side, which is what we are most concerned with in this conversation, there is a staff ace in Scott Kazmir. Kazmir has been showing dominant stuff for a couple years now, but needs a little more polish before enters the elite group of American League Starters. Kazmir will undoubtedly win the strikeout crown in the AL this year, and that confirms his potential.
After Kazmir, the rotation will pick back up with Jamie Shields who came out of nowhere this year to make a strong case for All-Star recognition. Shields may be pitching a bit above his talent level as the number 2 starter, but it doesn't matter when you can pitch effectively and get outs.
Within the next year or two, the rotation will get a huge jolt of energy from the farm system when prospects Jeff Niemann and David Price make their way to big leagues. Both of them have number 1 starter potential and are showing the capabilites of being considered an ace-- of any rotation.
That would give the Devil Rays three legitimate number 1 starters in their rotation with a very solid number four. Throw a couple solid pieces in the bullpen and you can count on that lineup to produce plenty of runs. It seems like many things must come to fruition, and they do, but the point is that Tampa Bay is not going to the easy series-win like they have been in recent years. The American League may have a new sheriff coming to town come 2009.
Instant Classic
For the final time this season, the regular season at least, the baseball world stopped to take in what has become not only the best rivalry in all of baseball, but arguably the best rivalry in sports. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox clashed on a national stage Sunday night, leaving many of us hoping for another showdown in the ALCS come October.
It is certainly a treat when you get to see one staff ace on any given night, but we had two thrown at us in the rubber game and niether failed to impress. Roger Clemens took the mound for his 200th career start at Fenway Park and pitched up to his reputation despite battling recent elbow troubles. The future Hall Of Famer gave up one unearned run in six innings of work before handing the ball off to the bullpen.
The Rocket does not flash his dominating stuff anymore, but he is a far cry from some avergae veteran who is relying soley on savvy. Clemens ran his four-seam fastball up to 94 mph and mixed in a 2-seam fastball at 91-92 mph. Using a mid-to-high 80s slider to set up lefthanded hitters, Clemens uses his split to induce groundballs and strikeouts. We do not see the high-90s fastball, but credit to Clemens' talent and durablity, his stuff is still certainly good enough to control a great lineup like the Boston Red Sox. And no, the absence of Manny Ramirez does not take away from the outing.
On the other side, (possible) future Hall Of Famer Curt Schilling took the ball for Boston and turned in another big performance like he usually does in games like these. Schilling dominated for seven innings surrendering only a solo homerun to Robinson Cano, giving the Red Sox a chance to really put a dagger in the Yankees hopes of making a run at the AL East title.
Unfortuanetly for Boston, Derek Jeter has not forgotten his way to Fenway Park. The Yankee Captain, who time and time again comes through in the clutch for the Bronx Bombers, delivered a 3-run homerun in the top of the 8th inning to put New York ahead 4-1. The belt-high splitter would be the last pitch of the night for Schilling. Looking back on the outing, that will be the one at-bat that is remebered because it decided the outcome of the game.
That is unfortuanate because Schilling's outing was really quite a good one, but all of that will be lost in the shuffle. For each big-game pitcher, there is a big-game hitter, at least in this magnificent rivalry. It just happens to be that Derek Jeter comes out on top more times than not. Why? Nobody knows for sure, but the man is simply disgusting in hostile environments, in pressure situations, and with postseason implications on the line.
Baseball is such a great game that it will not allow you to see only one side of the coin. We can't have a Jeter-Schilling matchup alone determine the entire outcome, can we? No sir.
Closer Mariano Rivera was brought into the game in the 9th inning with a 2-run lead, needing 3 outs to lock up the series for New York and pull within 4.5 games of their divison foe.
Rivera was not his usual sharp self, issuing walks and eventually leaving the bases loaded with 2 outs and who else coming to plate but David Ortiz. Even when Rivera fell behind in the count 2-1 to Ortiz, there really is no advantage in the hitters perspective. Sure, Rivera has to come with a strike, period. But it is not as if Ortiz can sit on a fastball and just feast on anything over the plate.
With Rivera, the cutter is coming on mostly every pitch. Therefore, the count does not completely dictate the at-bat simply because you know what pitch is coming in an 0-0 count as well.
Rivera gets a cutter in on the hands of Big Papi who lifts as lazy pop-up into shallow center field. As Red Sox nation held its breath, hoping, praying, begging for the bleeder to fall into the neatly-cropped grass, Derek Jeter camped under the ball and caught it in his glove; followed by a series-ending fist pump. A fitting end to the game that will always be connected to Jeter's 3-run moonshot.
The action is complete and the series is concluded. Bitter rivals, ruthless enemies, are forced to wait in the wings of what is known as the playoff race. Could October possibly send us baseball fans into winter hibernation with one last Yankees-Red Sox hoorah?
We could only hope. But consider ourselves lucky if we ever get to experience another game like this. A game where five possible future Hall Of Famer (Clemens, Schilling, Jeter, Rivera, Ortiz) had chances to leave their distinct mark on what could possibly be the best game of the season. A true playoff series? No. But, in all honestly, who watched this game with the calendar in mind? The eyes of baseball surely weren't looking at the month.
It is certainly a treat when you get to see one staff ace on any given night, but we had two thrown at us in the rubber game and niether failed to impress. Roger Clemens took the mound for his 200th career start at Fenway Park and pitched up to his reputation despite battling recent elbow troubles. The future Hall Of Famer gave up one unearned run in six innings of work before handing the ball off to the bullpen.
The Rocket does not flash his dominating stuff anymore, but he is a far cry from some avergae veteran who is relying soley on savvy. Clemens ran his four-seam fastball up to 94 mph and mixed in a 2-seam fastball at 91-92 mph. Using a mid-to-high 80s slider to set up lefthanded hitters, Clemens uses his split to induce groundballs and strikeouts. We do not see the high-90s fastball, but credit to Clemens' talent and durablity, his stuff is still certainly good enough to control a great lineup like the Boston Red Sox. And no, the absence of Manny Ramirez does not take away from the outing.
On the other side, (possible) future Hall Of Famer Curt Schilling took the ball for Boston and turned in another big performance like he usually does in games like these. Schilling dominated for seven innings surrendering only a solo homerun to Robinson Cano, giving the Red Sox a chance to really put a dagger in the Yankees hopes of making a run at the AL East title.
Unfortuanetly for Boston, Derek Jeter has not forgotten his way to Fenway Park. The Yankee Captain, who time and time again comes through in the clutch for the Bronx Bombers, delivered a 3-run homerun in the top of the 8th inning to put New York ahead 4-1. The belt-high splitter would be the last pitch of the night for Schilling. Looking back on the outing, that will be the one at-bat that is remebered because it decided the outcome of the game.
That is unfortuanate because Schilling's outing was really quite a good one, but all of that will be lost in the shuffle. For each big-game pitcher, there is a big-game hitter, at least in this magnificent rivalry. It just happens to be that Derek Jeter comes out on top more times than not. Why? Nobody knows for sure, but the man is simply disgusting in hostile environments, in pressure situations, and with postseason implications on the line.
Baseball is such a great game that it will not allow you to see only one side of the coin. We can't have a Jeter-Schilling matchup alone determine the entire outcome, can we? No sir.
Closer Mariano Rivera was brought into the game in the 9th inning with a 2-run lead, needing 3 outs to lock up the series for New York and pull within 4.5 games of their divison foe.
Rivera was not his usual sharp self, issuing walks and eventually leaving the bases loaded with 2 outs and who else coming to plate but David Ortiz. Even when Rivera fell behind in the count 2-1 to Ortiz, there really is no advantage in the hitters perspective. Sure, Rivera has to come with a strike, period. But it is not as if Ortiz can sit on a fastball and just feast on anything over the plate.
With Rivera, the cutter is coming on mostly every pitch. Therefore, the count does not completely dictate the at-bat simply because you know what pitch is coming in an 0-0 count as well.
Rivera gets a cutter in on the hands of Big Papi who lifts as lazy pop-up into shallow center field. As Red Sox nation held its breath, hoping, praying, begging for the bleeder to fall into the neatly-cropped grass, Derek Jeter camped under the ball and caught it in his glove; followed by a series-ending fist pump. A fitting end to the game that will always be connected to Jeter's 3-run moonshot.
The action is complete and the series is concluded. Bitter rivals, ruthless enemies, are forced to wait in the wings of what is known as the playoff race. Could October possibly send us baseball fans into winter hibernation with one last Yankees-Red Sox hoorah?
We could only hope. But consider ourselves lucky if we ever get to experience another game like this. A game where five possible future Hall Of Famer (Clemens, Schilling, Jeter, Rivera, Ortiz) had chances to leave their distinct mark on what could possibly be the best game of the season. A true playoff series? No. But, in all honestly, who watched this game with the calendar in mind? The eyes of baseball surely weren't looking at the month.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Inside Corner: A Close Look At San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
September 11, 2007
Dodger Stadium: Los Angeles, California
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres kick off a critical 3-game series tonight, a series that will undoubtedly have a substantial impact on the NL Wild Card race. The Dodgers, 2 games back of the Padres, send newly acquired Esteban Loaiza to the mound who is 2-0 on the year with a 3.86 ERA. The Padres will send ace righthander Jake Peavy to the hill who brings a 16-6 record and a 2.43 ERA to Dodger Stadium with a strong Cy Young case to boot.
Let's get to the ballgame:
TOP 1:
Loaiza comes out of the gates shaky walking three in the first inning, yielding 2 runs. He's lucky it is only two, although the second one did score on a broken bat flair over Jeff Kent's head at second base. If this is all Loaiza can give the Dodgers, it is going to be a long night as they will be into the bullpen early. Loaiza needs to stop wishing for strike calls and start pounding the zone.
BOT 1:
The prescence Jake Peavy brings to games is amazing. If there was ever a way to say, I'm Jake Peavy, I am going to pitch like the Cy Young tonight and there is nothing you can do about it, the right hander established that in the first inning with 2 ground balls to second base and a popup to catcher Josh Bard. Peavy came at the Dodgers will all fastballs and all around the zone.
TOP 2:
We are seeing both sides of the spectrum tonight when it comes to overall body language. Peavy exudes a feeling of dominance. Loaiza looks as if the game is already over. Josh Bard singled and Brian Giles drove him in with a 2-run homerun. After each pitch that is anywhere near the plate and not called a strike, Esteban is shaking his head as if to say, "Where was that Blue?" After two innings of work, Loaiza has four walks and 50 pitches. D.J. Houlton is warming up in the bullpen.
BOT 2:
It appears as though homeplate umpire James Hoye is going to have a tight zone tonight. He has been squeezing Jake Peavy a little bit as well, as he could of arguably punched out Luis Gonzalez twice in an at-bat in which the veteran ended up walking. The Dodgers got something cooking with a leadoff single by Jeff Kent followed by a walk. But with runners on second and third and 1 out, Peavy went upstairs with a heater to strike out Andre Ethier. After putting Garciaparra on intentionally, Peavy struck out Loaiza to escape the jam. Peavy has good stuff tonight, his command is there, but what should be the most frightening to the Dodgers is that nobody out-competes Jake Peavy and it was no more evident than in this inning. Peavy doesn't get the calls he would like, so what does he do? Grabs the ball back, rubs it up with both hands, sends a stream of tobacco juice sailing into the grass beneath his feet and gets back to work. It is really no secret as to why some pitchers are average at best, and others excel in most categories.
TOP 3:
Loaiza hangs a breaking ball to Kalil Greene who promptly drives it out to left field and then Kevin Kouzmanoff follows that up with driving a fastball deep into the right-center bleachers. This is most likely Loaiza's last inning as he gets out of it with back to back strike outs of Sledge and Bard. It is a sad scene, but Loaiza is beaten mentally and physically. The route is officially on.
BOT 3:
Peavy is simply pitching now, realizing the freedom his offense has provided him. With this approach comes its pluses and minuses. Three groundball outs limits Peavy's pitch count, but not to be unscathed. James Loney rode a 2-2 fastball into the rightfield pavilion for a solo homerun to put the Dodgers on the board.
TOP 4:
Surprisingly, Loaiza is back out to pitch the fourth inning. Loaiza gets Peavy to pop up to foul ground and then concludes his night after giving up a single to Brian Giles.
PITCHING CHANGE-- DJ HOULTON. Giles is thrown out at second and Houlton gets Cameron to ground out to end the inning. Houlton should give the Dodgers a chance to get back in the game by simply throwing strikes as the Padres are on the aggressive side tonight,
BOT 4:
Three up, three down. Peavy strikes out Ethier for the second time, this one a nasty slider down and in. It looks as if Peavy is just settling in for what could be a complete game masterpiece. Baseball isn't suppossed to be this easy, but you get the sense that there is relatively little effort involved for this kid out of Alabama. Of course, baseball is the ultimate game of ups and downs and that will hit you directly in the face if you look at Peavy's pitching lines from last start to this one. After getting pounded by the Arizona Diamonbacks last start, he cerainly is cruising tonight.
TOP 5:
Houlton makes quick work of San Diego. Exactly what the Dodgers need. Another scoreless frame and any momentum they can possibly muster at this point. It is looking a little unfortuanate that Loaiza is under contract for next season as well, because it simply goes to show you that if you throw quality strikes and work off of the fastball, you can be succesful. Houlton is every bit as good as Loaiza is but isn't getting the opportunity simply because of Loaiza's track record. I'll give Loaiza his due, because your name counts for something, but the Dodgers aren't getting back nearly what they should on this investment.
BOT 5:
Six in a row retired for Peavy as Geoff Blum makes a great sliding stop up the middle and throws Furcal out at first. Another inning wasted to make some noise and climb back into the ballgame for Los Angeles.
TOP 6:
PITCHING CHANGE-- RUDY SEANEZ. A bloop single by Kouzmanoff to lead of the inning was all the Padres could put together against Seanez who picked up right where Houlton left off. Pierra, Loney, and Kent due up in the bottom half, the Dodgers need to capitalize on their heart of the order.
BOT 6:
Pierra pokes a fastball down the left field line for a leadoff double. Loney follows up with a blisterd line drive to right to move Pierra to third base. For the first time tonight, the Dodgers are showing signs of life and Peavy isn't seeming so invincible. The Dodgers are finally getting some luck their way as Jeff Kent fights off an inside fastball and drops a basehit into shallow right field to bring the score to 6-2. Two on, nobody out. Peavy, not to be completely done in, buckles down to get Gonzalez to fly out lazily to left and Martin follows up with a 5-3 double play to end the inning. It's rare for a pitcher to be a big jam and escape it without giving up any runs. That is a bit unrealistic. The best pitchers, though, find a way to battle and make good enough pitches to minmize the damage. Simply stopping the bleeding and getting the offense back into the dugout will keep a pitcher in the game more times than trying to be perfect and ending up imploding.
TOP 7:
Might as well add insult to injury if the Dodgers aren't going to make any sort of a comeback. Geoff Blum pulls a solo shot down the right field line to make it 7-2. Seanez walks Greene signaling an early shower.
PITCHING CHANGE-- ROBERTO HERNANDEZ. Not sure where the Dodgers picked up Hernandez, but the better question is why did they think he could help the bullpen? Hernandez is already laboring and threw ball four to Kouzmanoff to the backstop alowing another run to cross the plate. For a team with so many good, young pieces, this is a sad statement. When you have the team you are trailing in the Wild Card race come to your ballpark and put a romp on you like this, it is time to rethink the makeup of the club. It is one thing to be outplayed or just simply beat, but to be this flat and lifeless is disgraceful.
BOT 7:
Dodgers come out swinging in the bottom half, trailing by seven. Ethier drives one to left-center, only for it to be run down by Mike Cameron. Back to mesmerizing hitters for Peavy as he Garciaparra and Tony Abreu go down quietly. It may be Peavy simply changing his patterns as he goes through the lineup for the third time, for most hitters, but it appears he is relying more on his slider and changeup later in the game. Early on, he was coming after hitters with his fastball and putting them away with his slider. Now, it seams as if he was switched gears and is setting up his slider with his change, and just showing his fastball. Peavy's night is done as he is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout for his great work.
TOP 8:
PITCHING CHANGE-- ERIC HULL. Chad Moeller takes over for Russell Martin behind the plate. Hull sets the Padres down in order. A little too late on the pitching side. 9-2, San Diego.
BOT 8:
PITCHING CHANGE-- KEVIN CAMERON. Young mistake made by Cameron to lead off the inning. Furcal took a big swing at an outside fastball and sent it rolling out in front of the plate about 40 feet. Instead of knowing Furcal's speed and quickly firing the ball to first, Cameron was caught off gaurd as he took a crow hop and by that time it was too late to catch the speedster. Nothing physical about that. Just a pure mental mistake when it comes to being prepared before the pitch is thrown.
Dodgers starting to put something together. Pierre followed up Furcal's infield single with a walk and James Loney collected his third hit of the night and cashed in Furcal in the process, making the score 9-3 San Diego. Kent zings a 2-2 slider into right field to load the bases with nobody out and send Cameron to the showers. For being one of the most underrated relievers in baseball, this is certainly an outing Kevin Cameron will work to forget.
PITCHING CHANGE-- JOE THATCHER. Olmedo Seanz pinch hits for Gonzalez and lines out to short. Kemp stepping up the plate to hit for catcher Chad Moeller.
PITCHING CHANGE-- HEATH BELL. Young Matt Kemp steps to the plate, taking his turn in the spotlight. Takes a breaking ball inside to make the count 2-0. He waves his bat to keep the body loose, much like a shooter controlling his breathing before the skeet is sent up. Foul ball, count 2-1. Bell challenges with 96 mph heat on the outside corner and Kent takes a hack sending it into the seats off to the right. Two balls, two strikes, crowd coming alive. Strike three! Bell comes right after Kent with 96 mph over the heart of the plate nad Kent swings through it. Ethier steps up with two outs, Dodgers need a big hit here. Ethier is barely thrown out at first with a busted 3-4-1 groundout. 9-3 San Diego going to the final inning.
TOP 9:
Hull sets them down in order, completely a nice night of work for him even though it came at a time when the game was out of hand.
BOT 9:
PITCHING CHANGE- BRETT TOMKO. In what almost seems like a fitting end to the evening, Brett Tomko, who the Dodgers released earlier in the season is summoned into the ballgame to eat up the last inning for the Padres. A little bit of self-revenge on his mind I'm sure. Chin-Lung Hu, in only his second major league at-bat, takes a Tomko breaking ball out to left-center for his first major league hit. Furcal and Pierre respond with back to back singles to make it 9-4 with runners on first and second 1 out. Tomko gets Loney to weakly pop up to the right side. Dodgers down to their final out. Jeff Kent gets under a breaking ball and flies out to center to end the game.
FINAL SCORE: San Diego 9, Los Angeles 4
Dodger Stadium: Los Angeles, California
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres kick off a critical 3-game series tonight, a series that will undoubtedly have a substantial impact on the NL Wild Card race. The Dodgers, 2 games back of the Padres, send newly acquired Esteban Loaiza to the mound who is 2-0 on the year with a 3.86 ERA. The Padres will send ace righthander Jake Peavy to the hill who brings a 16-6 record and a 2.43 ERA to Dodger Stadium with a strong Cy Young case to boot.
Let's get to the ballgame:
TOP 1:
Loaiza comes out of the gates shaky walking three in the first inning, yielding 2 runs. He's lucky it is only two, although the second one did score on a broken bat flair over Jeff Kent's head at second base. If this is all Loaiza can give the Dodgers, it is going to be a long night as they will be into the bullpen early. Loaiza needs to stop wishing for strike calls and start pounding the zone.
BOT 1:
The prescence Jake Peavy brings to games is amazing. If there was ever a way to say, I'm Jake Peavy, I am going to pitch like the Cy Young tonight and there is nothing you can do about it, the right hander established that in the first inning with 2 ground balls to second base and a popup to catcher Josh Bard. Peavy came at the Dodgers will all fastballs and all around the zone.
TOP 2:
We are seeing both sides of the spectrum tonight when it comes to overall body language. Peavy exudes a feeling of dominance. Loaiza looks as if the game is already over. Josh Bard singled and Brian Giles drove him in with a 2-run homerun. After each pitch that is anywhere near the plate and not called a strike, Esteban is shaking his head as if to say, "Where was that Blue?" After two innings of work, Loaiza has four walks and 50 pitches. D.J. Houlton is warming up in the bullpen.
BOT 2:
It appears as though homeplate umpire James Hoye is going to have a tight zone tonight. He has been squeezing Jake Peavy a little bit as well, as he could of arguably punched out Luis Gonzalez twice in an at-bat in which the veteran ended up walking. The Dodgers got something cooking with a leadoff single by Jeff Kent followed by a walk. But with runners on second and third and 1 out, Peavy went upstairs with a heater to strike out Andre Ethier. After putting Garciaparra on intentionally, Peavy struck out Loaiza to escape the jam. Peavy has good stuff tonight, his command is there, but what should be the most frightening to the Dodgers is that nobody out-competes Jake Peavy and it was no more evident than in this inning. Peavy doesn't get the calls he would like, so what does he do? Grabs the ball back, rubs it up with both hands, sends a stream of tobacco juice sailing into the grass beneath his feet and gets back to work. It is really no secret as to why some pitchers are average at best, and others excel in most categories.
TOP 3:
Loaiza hangs a breaking ball to Kalil Greene who promptly drives it out to left field and then Kevin Kouzmanoff follows that up with driving a fastball deep into the right-center bleachers. This is most likely Loaiza's last inning as he gets out of it with back to back strike outs of Sledge and Bard. It is a sad scene, but Loaiza is beaten mentally and physically. The route is officially on.
BOT 3:
Peavy is simply pitching now, realizing the freedom his offense has provided him. With this approach comes its pluses and minuses. Three groundball outs limits Peavy's pitch count, but not to be unscathed. James Loney rode a 2-2 fastball into the rightfield pavilion for a solo homerun to put the Dodgers on the board.
TOP 4:
Surprisingly, Loaiza is back out to pitch the fourth inning. Loaiza gets Peavy to pop up to foul ground and then concludes his night after giving up a single to Brian Giles.
PITCHING CHANGE-- DJ HOULTON. Giles is thrown out at second and Houlton gets Cameron to ground out to end the inning. Houlton should give the Dodgers a chance to get back in the game by simply throwing strikes as the Padres are on the aggressive side tonight,
BOT 4:
Three up, three down. Peavy strikes out Ethier for the second time, this one a nasty slider down and in. It looks as if Peavy is just settling in for what could be a complete game masterpiece. Baseball isn't suppossed to be this easy, but you get the sense that there is relatively little effort involved for this kid out of Alabama. Of course, baseball is the ultimate game of ups and downs and that will hit you directly in the face if you look at Peavy's pitching lines from last start to this one. After getting pounded by the Arizona Diamonbacks last start, he cerainly is cruising tonight.
TOP 5:
Houlton makes quick work of San Diego. Exactly what the Dodgers need. Another scoreless frame and any momentum they can possibly muster at this point. It is looking a little unfortuanate that Loaiza is under contract for next season as well, because it simply goes to show you that if you throw quality strikes and work off of the fastball, you can be succesful. Houlton is every bit as good as Loaiza is but isn't getting the opportunity simply because of Loaiza's track record. I'll give Loaiza his due, because your name counts for something, but the Dodgers aren't getting back nearly what they should on this investment.
BOT 5:
Six in a row retired for Peavy as Geoff Blum makes a great sliding stop up the middle and throws Furcal out at first. Another inning wasted to make some noise and climb back into the ballgame for Los Angeles.
TOP 6:
PITCHING CHANGE-- RUDY SEANEZ. A bloop single by Kouzmanoff to lead of the inning was all the Padres could put together against Seanez who picked up right where Houlton left off. Pierra, Loney, and Kent due up in the bottom half, the Dodgers need to capitalize on their heart of the order.
BOT 6:
Pierra pokes a fastball down the left field line for a leadoff double. Loney follows up with a blisterd line drive to right to move Pierra to third base. For the first time tonight, the Dodgers are showing signs of life and Peavy isn't seeming so invincible. The Dodgers are finally getting some luck their way as Jeff Kent fights off an inside fastball and drops a basehit into shallow right field to bring the score to 6-2. Two on, nobody out. Peavy, not to be completely done in, buckles down to get Gonzalez to fly out lazily to left and Martin follows up with a 5-3 double play to end the inning. It's rare for a pitcher to be a big jam and escape it without giving up any runs. That is a bit unrealistic. The best pitchers, though, find a way to battle and make good enough pitches to minmize the damage. Simply stopping the bleeding and getting the offense back into the dugout will keep a pitcher in the game more times than trying to be perfect and ending up imploding.
TOP 7:
Might as well add insult to injury if the Dodgers aren't going to make any sort of a comeback. Geoff Blum pulls a solo shot down the right field line to make it 7-2. Seanez walks Greene signaling an early shower.
PITCHING CHANGE-- ROBERTO HERNANDEZ. Not sure where the Dodgers picked up Hernandez, but the better question is why did they think he could help the bullpen? Hernandez is already laboring and threw ball four to Kouzmanoff to the backstop alowing another run to cross the plate. For a team with so many good, young pieces, this is a sad statement. When you have the team you are trailing in the Wild Card race come to your ballpark and put a romp on you like this, it is time to rethink the makeup of the club. It is one thing to be outplayed or just simply beat, but to be this flat and lifeless is disgraceful.
BOT 7:
Dodgers come out swinging in the bottom half, trailing by seven. Ethier drives one to left-center, only for it to be run down by Mike Cameron. Back to mesmerizing hitters for Peavy as he Garciaparra and Tony Abreu go down quietly. It may be Peavy simply changing his patterns as he goes through the lineup for the third time, for most hitters, but it appears he is relying more on his slider and changeup later in the game. Early on, he was coming after hitters with his fastball and putting them away with his slider. Now, it seams as if he was switched gears and is setting up his slider with his change, and just showing his fastball. Peavy's night is done as he is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout for his great work.
TOP 8:
PITCHING CHANGE-- ERIC HULL. Chad Moeller takes over for Russell Martin behind the plate. Hull sets the Padres down in order. A little too late on the pitching side. 9-2, San Diego.
BOT 8:
PITCHING CHANGE-- KEVIN CAMERON. Young mistake made by Cameron to lead off the inning. Furcal took a big swing at an outside fastball and sent it rolling out in front of the plate about 40 feet. Instead of knowing Furcal's speed and quickly firing the ball to first, Cameron was caught off gaurd as he took a crow hop and by that time it was too late to catch the speedster. Nothing physical about that. Just a pure mental mistake when it comes to being prepared before the pitch is thrown.
Dodgers starting to put something together. Pierre followed up Furcal's infield single with a walk and James Loney collected his third hit of the night and cashed in Furcal in the process, making the score 9-3 San Diego. Kent zings a 2-2 slider into right field to load the bases with nobody out and send Cameron to the showers. For being one of the most underrated relievers in baseball, this is certainly an outing Kevin Cameron will work to forget.
PITCHING CHANGE-- JOE THATCHER. Olmedo Seanz pinch hits for Gonzalez and lines out to short. Kemp stepping up the plate to hit for catcher Chad Moeller.
PITCHING CHANGE-- HEATH BELL. Young Matt Kemp steps to the plate, taking his turn in the spotlight. Takes a breaking ball inside to make the count 2-0. He waves his bat to keep the body loose, much like a shooter controlling his breathing before the skeet is sent up. Foul ball, count 2-1. Bell challenges with 96 mph heat on the outside corner and Kent takes a hack sending it into the seats off to the right. Two balls, two strikes, crowd coming alive. Strike three! Bell comes right after Kent with 96 mph over the heart of the plate nad Kent swings through it. Ethier steps up with two outs, Dodgers need a big hit here. Ethier is barely thrown out at first with a busted 3-4-1 groundout. 9-3 San Diego going to the final inning.
TOP 9:
Hull sets them down in order, completely a nice night of work for him even though it came at a time when the game was out of hand.
BOT 9:
PITCHING CHANGE- BRETT TOMKO. In what almost seems like a fitting end to the evening, Brett Tomko, who the Dodgers released earlier in the season is summoned into the ballgame to eat up the last inning for the Padres. A little bit of self-revenge on his mind I'm sure. Chin-Lung Hu, in only his second major league at-bat, takes a Tomko breaking ball out to left-center for his first major league hit. Furcal and Pierre respond with back to back singles to make it 9-4 with runners on first and second 1 out. Tomko gets Loney to weakly pop up to the right side. Dodgers down to their final out. Jeff Kent gets under a breaking ball and flies out to center to end the game.
FINAL SCORE: San Diego 9, Los Angeles 4
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Dodger's Youth Taking Veterans' Lead
The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the outside looking in at this point in time when it comes to postseason play. The Dodgers are 4 games back in the NL West and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card, but that doesn't seem to be affecting a whole lot in their play. After losing a close game Friday night, Los Angeles bounced back to take Saturday's afternoon affair in San Francisco.
David Wells returned from suspension in a big way for the Dodgers. The lefthander took a no-hitter into the 6th inning and gave up 2 earned runs in seven innings of work. Wells' performance was backed by Luis Gonzalez's 3-run homer in the first inning off of Barry Zito.
The story has not been about the veterans of late though, but rather the Dodgers' younger players who are starting to play like the studs they have been expected to become.
Matt Kemp is showing all-star potential on a daily basis. Kemp has taken on a large role hitting in the middle of the Dodger lineup, and has responded by hitting .342, with 10 homeruns and 37 RBI. Not only does Kemp bring a power bat to a lineup that has been begging for production, but he brings Gold Glove caliber defense to the outfield.
The breaking ball away haunted Kemp when he first broke into the big leagues. The prospect would often chase offspeed pitches in the dirt and was clearly overmatched once pitchers figured out that the only pitch he would hit hard is the fastball over the plate.
Today we get to see Matt Kemp the major leaguer, and not the distant prospect. It appears he has made the adjustment to lay off pitches in the dirt and not chase breaking balls early in the count. Pitchers have no choice but to come after him with their fastball because they will often fall behind in the count with the soft stuff. This has been the single biggest adjustment and it is starting to pay huge dividends for the Dodgers.
James Loney stepped up to the plate in the top of the 9th inning Friday night and acted like he has seen pressure for years on end. The slugger blasted a fastball deep into the right-center field seats to tie the game for the Dodgers, even though they would go on to lose the ballgame.
Loney is showing that he deserves to be the starting first baseman for years to come in Los Angeles. Loney is hitting .317 with 9 homers and 44 RBI on the year and that's not even counting the runs he saves with his glove.
Loney provides protection in the lineup not only for Matt Kemp, but for the veterans such as Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez. When it comes to the playoffs, Loney will be needed to step up and drive in the runs. Teams will not let Kent or Gonzalez beat them as they are both guys with postseason experience and who have been clutch in their careers.
There still is much work to be done before the Dodgers can celebrate a postseason birth, but the games should take care of themselves as long as Grady Little keeps turning the kids loose. We are witnessing not only a turning point for the 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers, but we also a perminent makeover for the Dodger organization. So far so good; there is a lot to be excited about in Dodger Blue.
David Wells returned from suspension in a big way for the Dodgers. The lefthander took a no-hitter into the 6th inning and gave up 2 earned runs in seven innings of work. Wells' performance was backed by Luis Gonzalez's 3-run homer in the first inning off of Barry Zito.
The story has not been about the veterans of late though, but rather the Dodgers' younger players who are starting to play like the studs they have been expected to become.
Matt Kemp is showing all-star potential on a daily basis. Kemp has taken on a large role hitting in the middle of the Dodger lineup, and has responded by hitting .342, with 10 homeruns and 37 RBI. Not only does Kemp bring a power bat to a lineup that has been begging for production, but he brings Gold Glove caliber defense to the outfield.
The breaking ball away haunted Kemp when he first broke into the big leagues. The prospect would often chase offspeed pitches in the dirt and was clearly overmatched once pitchers figured out that the only pitch he would hit hard is the fastball over the plate.
Today we get to see Matt Kemp the major leaguer, and not the distant prospect. It appears he has made the adjustment to lay off pitches in the dirt and not chase breaking balls early in the count. Pitchers have no choice but to come after him with their fastball because they will often fall behind in the count with the soft stuff. This has been the single biggest adjustment and it is starting to pay huge dividends for the Dodgers.
James Loney stepped up to the plate in the top of the 9th inning Friday night and acted like he has seen pressure for years on end. The slugger blasted a fastball deep into the right-center field seats to tie the game for the Dodgers, even though they would go on to lose the ballgame.
Loney is showing that he deserves to be the starting first baseman for years to come in Los Angeles. Loney is hitting .317 with 9 homers and 44 RBI on the year and that's not even counting the runs he saves with his glove.
Loney provides protection in the lineup not only for Matt Kemp, but for the veterans such as Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez. When it comes to the playoffs, Loney will be needed to step up and drive in the runs. Teams will not let Kent or Gonzalez beat them as they are both guys with postseason experience and who have been clutch in their careers.
There still is much work to be done before the Dodgers can celebrate a postseason birth, but the games should take care of themselves as long as Grady Little keeps turning the kids loose. We are witnessing not only a turning point for the 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers, but we also a perminent makeover for the Dodger organization. So far so good; there is a lot to be excited about in Dodger Blue.
Sabathia Must Get Tribe Back On Track
The AL Central has been in Cleveland's control for the better part of the season, and it seemed as if the Indians were all but running away from the Detroit Tigers just two weeks ago. Not quite so fast. The Indians lead has been cut to 5 games over the Detroit Tigers. That is still a susbtantial lead to make up with a little more than 3 weeks to play, but that lead is not as comfortable as you may think.
C.C. Sabathia takes the hill tonight against the Angels and he must come up big as the ace of the staff. The Indians have dropped the last 2 games in Anaheim and are looking more and more vulnerable. The Tigers are in the midst of a 3 game set with the Mariners, which is rather irrelevant since they are both chasing the Yankees.
There is still time for the Tigers to catch the Indians and the proof is in the schedules.
The two teams still have 3 games remaining against each other which can certainly be a standing-changer. The Indians must play Seattle 3 more times and they will host Oakland. That is not exactly a season-ending gauntlet, but if the Indians coast to the finish line, they may find themselves in a race coming down to the final weekend.
On the other hand, Detroit still has 6 more games remaining against Minnesota, and a series remaining with Kansas City.
The tougher road lies ahead for Detroit, figuring they will probably face Johan Santana two more times this year. The Twins have obviously dropped off from last year, but they can still have an impact on how the divison winds up.
Cleveland still has the advantage as they have the White Sox next week and have 6 more games against the Royals. They will most likely hang onto their lead and face the Red Sox in the ALDS come October.
But that must begin tonight with their ace on the mound. It is not time for the Tribe to get comfortable with their lead and forget about closing out the regular season just yet.
If they are swept in Anaheim and Detroit brings out the brooms against Seattle, it will make for quite an interesting 3 weeks to decide who goes to the postseason and who goes home. Baseball is a crazy, unpredictable game.
C.C. Sabathia takes the hill tonight against the Angels and he must come up big as the ace of the staff. The Indians have dropped the last 2 games in Anaheim and are looking more and more vulnerable. The Tigers are in the midst of a 3 game set with the Mariners, which is rather irrelevant since they are both chasing the Yankees.
There is still time for the Tigers to catch the Indians and the proof is in the schedules.
The two teams still have 3 games remaining against each other which can certainly be a standing-changer. The Indians must play Seattle 3 more times and they will host Oakland. That is not exactly a season-ending gauntlet, but if the Indians coast to the finish line, they may find themselves in a race coming down to the final weekend.
On the other hand, Detroit still has 6 more games remaining against Minnesota, and a series remaining with Kansas City.
The tougher road lies ahead for Detroit, figuring they will probably face Johan Santana two more times this year. The Twins have obviously dropped off from last year, but they can still have an impact on how the divison winds up.
Cleveland still has the advantage as they have the White Sox next week and have 6 more games against the Royals. They will most likely hang onto their lead and face the Red Sox in the ALDS come October.
But that must begin tonight with their ace on the mound. It is not time for the Tribe to get comfortable with their lead and forget about closing out the regular season just yet.
If they are swept in Anaheim and Detroit brings out the brooms against Seattle, it will make for quite an interesting 3 weeks to decide who goes to the postseason and who goes home. Baseball is a crazy, unpredictable game.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Interchangeable Standings
As the regular season winds down, the playoff races continue to shape up providing some clarity in an otherwise obsturcted view. Teams go on streaks and pick up steam, and others continue to fall into a deeper hole. The problem with all of this is that there is no one pattern that baseball can rely on. This is actually the best thing about baseball because it provides constant suspense and gives the fans just as much motivation to watch game 162 as they did for Opening Day.
There are many examples every season of teams who make some noise then fall off, and vice versa. The last two weeks of baseball has been some of the most exciting and meaningful, in my opinion, of the season and have offered what were thought to be solid indications of the postseason field. As always, we must think again, or just wait until September runs out on the calendar.
Never have I seen any one team go from so hot to so cold in two weeks as the Seattle Mariners just have. Two weeks ago they were the talk of baseball and they were being tabbed "for real" as they kept piling up the wins to get within 1 game of the AL West leading Angels. After being swept at home by the Angels earlier this week, the Mariners have officially hit the mother load of all landslides. Seattle has dropped 10 games straight, is 6.5 games behind the Angels in their divison, and are barely holding on in the Wild Card as they trail the Yankees by 2 games. This ship is capsizing and unfortuanately this team does not seem capable of finding enough energy to grind out the last 4 weeks.
The New York Yankees have been the rollercoaster of the year as they have climbed back into the AL East race and are leading the Wild Card. The Yankees pulled within 4 games of the Red Sox after they swept them in the Bronx this week, only to lose 2 out of 3 to Tampa Bay when the Red Sox were hosting the bruised Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are more of an honorable mention for this topic because they do have the leadership, talent, and experience to still catch the Red Sox and they should almost certainly win the Wild Card. With only one series left against Boston, 6 games could be quite difficult to make up. But who would of thought they would be the Wild Card leaders when they were 14.5 games out of their division?
The Philadelphia Phillies have played great baseball as of late and have taken advantage of the stumbling Mets to get back into the NL East talks. They came out of nowhere to sweep a four game series from the Mets at home and pull within 2 games of the divison leaders. Plenty of hope made that Brotherly Love much sweeter, but only for a short period of time as they lost 2 of 3 to the Florida Marlins this weekend and go into Monday 4 games back of the Mets.
On the other side of the NL East is the New York Mets. The Mets are the deepest team on paper in the National League, but we are reminded time and time again that baseball doesn't care about what is on paper. The Mets took control of this division for the most of the season only to recently slide and let Philadelphia and Atlanta back into the picture.
After being swept by the Phillies, the Mets divison lead was on the line as they went into Atlanta for a 3 game series in which they would be facing both John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. The odds were stacked against them, undoubtedly, but they promptly swept the Braves and pulled their lead back to 4 games. This looks much like an experienced team putting the house back together.
There hasn't been many other significant changes to note, as the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals are all stuck within 2 games of each other. That may be the best race down the stretch even if it isn't the best baseball being played among the most talented teams.
The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diambondbacks are tied in the NL West and will battle it during the stretch run. Arizona has been a great story about a team filled with role players and a lot ton of youth, but I have a feeling that their run is coming to an end. The Padres have more pitching, especially if Chris Young can stay healthy and pitch like he did before he was injured, and seem to find ways to pull out wins and ultimately pull out that divison each year.
The Dodgers are only 4 games back of both the divison and the Wild Card and they do have the talent and depth to make a run. With the second half emergence of Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers have a legitmate 1-2-3 punch with Billingsley, Penny, and Lowe which should be enough to win a lot of games in Septmeber. The offense needs to be at its best, even as modest as that may be, and we may find Los Angeles in the postseason some way.
Don't take your eye off of the action as the regular season finished up. These were recent swings that effected the postseason, but the standings are guaranteed to change as the hot teams fade away and the quiet teams find a way to emerge.
There are many examples every season of teams who make some noise then fall off, and vice versa. The last two weeks of baseball has been some of the most exciting and meaningful, in my opinion, of the season and have offered what were thought to be solid indications of the postseason field. As always, we must think again, or just wait until September runs out on the calendar.
Never have I seen any one team go from so hot to so cold in two weeks as the Seattle Mariners just have. Two weeks ago they were the talk of baseball and they were being tabbed "for real" as they kept piling up the wins to get within 1 game of the AL West leading Angels. After being swept at home by the Angels earlier this week, the Mariners have officially hit the mother load of all landslides. Seattle has dropped 10 games straight, is 6.5 games behind the Angels in their divison, and are barely holding on in the Wild Card as they trail the Yankees by 2 games. This ship is capsizing and unfortuanately this team does not seem capable of finding enough energy to grind out the last 4 weeks.
The New York Yankees have been the rollercoaster of the year as they have climbed back into the AL East race and are leading the Wild Card. The Yankees pulled within 4 games of the Red Sox after they swept them in the Bronx this week, only to lose 2 out of 3 to Tampa Bay when the Red Sox were hosting the bruised Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are more of an honorable mention for this topic because they do have the leadership, talent, and experience to still catch the Red Sox and they should almost certainly win the Wild Card. With only one series left against Boston, 6 games could be quite difficult to make up. But who would of thought they would be the Wild Card leaders when they were 14.5 games out of their division?
The Philadelphia Phillies have played great baseball as of late and have taken advantage of the stumbling Mets to get back into the NL East talks. They came out of nowhere to sweep a four game series from the Mets at home and pull within 2 games of the divison leaders. Plenty of hope made that Brotherly Love much sweeter, but only for a short period of time as they lost 2 of 3 to the Florida Marlins this weekend and go into Monday 4 games back of the Mets.
On the other side of the NL East is the New York Mets. The Mets are the deepest team on paper in the National League, but we are reminded time and time again that baseball doesn't care about what is on paper. The Mets took control of this division for the most of the season only to recently slide and let Philadelphia and Atlanta back into the picture.
After being swept by the Phillies, the Mets divison lead was on the line as they went into Atlanta for a 3 game series in which they would be facing both John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. The odds were stacked against them, undoubtedly, but they promptly swept the Braves and pulled their lead back to 4 games. This looks much like an experienced team putting the house back together.
There hasn't been many other significant changes to note, as the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals are all stuck within 2 games of each other. That may be the best race down the stretch even if it isn't the best baseball being played among the most talented teams.
The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diambondbacks are tied in the NL West and will battle it during the stretch run. Arizona has been a great story about a team filled with role players and a lot ton of youth, but I have a feeling that their run is coming to an end. The Padres have more pitching, especially if Chris Young can stay healthy and pitch like he did before he was injured, and seem to find ways to pull out wins and ultimately pull out that divison each year.
The Dodgers are only 4 games back of both the divison and the Wild Card and they do have the talent and depth to make a run. With the second half emergence of Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers have a legitmate 1-2-3 punch with Billingsley, Penny, and Lowe which should be enough to win a lot of games in Septmeber. The offense needs to be at its best, even as modest as that may be, and we may find Los Angeles in the postseason some way.
Don't take your eye off of the action as the regular season finished up. These were recent swings that effected the postseason, but the standings are guaranteed to change as the hot teams fade away and the quiet teams find a way to emerge.
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