Friday, October 25, 2002

Going back to Anaheim, 3-2

The Giants pounded the Angels into submission, winning game 5 16-4.
Which means they take a 3-2 series lead back to Anaheim for game 6 on Saturday.

San Francisco hitters combined for 16 hits and 6 walks, including 3 doubles and 3 homers.
And 6 Giants had 2 or more hits, including 3 guys with 3 hits.

Jeff Kent finally decided to show up, hitting 2 homers and a double and driving in 4 runs.

Barry Bonds continued to be superhuman, going 3-4 with 2 doubles and a walk, putting his post-season hitting line at .350/.576/.975(!).

Giants' starter Jason Schmidt looked pretty good early, but started struggling in the 5th inning and fell apart so quickly that he wasn't even able to finish the 5th and become eligibile for the win.
San Francisco relievers stepped in and finished the job, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing only 1 run off of 3 hits.

Felix "Iron Man" Rodriguez pitched 1/3 of an inning, continuing his streak of playing in every World Series games so far.

3 different Anaheim pitchers, starter Jarrod Washburn and relievers Ben Weber and Scot Shields, gave up at least 5 runs.
Shields had not pitched in almost a month and needed 49 pitches to get 5 outs.

Definitely a real butt kicking by the Giants, who showed why the have the best offense in baseball (according to me at least).

The series now shifts to Anaheim and the Angels need to win 2 in a row.
Certainly doable.

Russ Ortiz goes for the Giants in game 6 and he did anything but inspire confidence in Giants fans with his horrible performance in game 2.
If the Angels can win game 6, they would be looking at either Livan Hernandez (who didn't look good in his first start either) or Kirk Rueter (who looked good, but who I still think is a bad bet to succeed against the Angels).

For the Angels, Kevin Appier will be on the mound for game 6 and will have to improve upon his performance from game 2 if they have any shot at winning.
If the series gets to game 7, Mike Scioscia might have a decision to make.
I read a report that scheduled game 7 starter Ramon Ortiz is having some problems with his right wrist and may not be able to make the start.
In which case I guess John Lackey would get the call on 3 days rest?
I am not really sure what the Angels would do in that situation.

If I were Scioscia and I was feeling especially daring, I might think about calling on Francisco Rodriguez to start the deciding game.
But the chances of that happening are probably just slightly better than me getting the start (I have a decent knuckleball and pinpoint control with all my pitches).

Did anyone see Dusty Baker's kid (I think his name is Darren) almost get killed at home plate?
He was picking up a bat while a couple of Giants were coming around to score runs and if it weren't for J.T. Snow scooping him up, he would have been a pancake.
I saw Dusty's reaction, which was basically him putting his head in his hands and probably thinking "oh boy, my wife is gonna be pissed at that."
Good thing he is going to Anaheim, maybe she will forget by the time he comes home.

In non-World Series news...

It looks like the Mets and Devil Rays have found new managers in Art Howe and Lou Piniella.

I really do not think either hiring is very good for the teams involved or the managers.

Art Howe is a decent manager, but that Mets team needs a lot of help and I don't think he is the guy to give it to them.
He is stepping into a pretty big mess; big contracts, old players, lots of declines and a pretty bad team in 2001.
I would be surprised if he lasts more than a couple of (non-playoff) seasons.

I haven't heard whether or not the Mets will have to give the A's some sort of compensation for Howe, but if they do, that's just a bonus for Billy Beane who is probably just as happy to have Howe gone and Ken Macha as the new skipper.

In Tampa, the lowly Devil Rays have decided to spend about $4 million a season on Lou Piniella.
This from a team that has always had one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.
It just seems strange that a team won't spend money on players, but will make their manager one of the highest paid in baseball.
Lou is stepping into an even bigger mess than Art Howe, as the D-Rays are probably the worst organization in baseball and have never been even remotely successful.

Sweet Lou doesn't strike me as a very patient man, which is exactly what he is going to have to be to not lose his mind watching the losses pile up in Tampa.
They have some very good, young prospects in the organization, but most of them are a minimum of 2-3 years from doing anything significant in the big leagues.

I read a report that Seattle is going to receive outfielder Randy Winn as compensation for Piniella, which would be a pretty good pickup for the Mariners.
Winn hit .298/.360/.461 in 607 ABs with Tampa Bay this, including 14 homers, 9 triples, 39 doubles and 27 steals.
He is also a good defensive player, capable of playing center field (as he did this year) or left field, which is his likely spot in Seattle.

Lou in Tampa might not be the greatest idea in the world, but it sure will be interesting.
I put the OVER/UNDER on "total bases pulled out of the ground and thrown by Piniella in 2003" at 5.5.

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Okay, so I was wrong

I made some predictions in this space yesterday, after game 3 of the Angels/Giants series, that didn't quite go as I planned.

But, I am not one to shy away from criticism (well, I am, but I said it yesterday, so it is tough to hide it), so here is exactly what I said:

"I think this series is over and the Anaheim Angels are the going to be the World Champions.
They face Kirk Rueter tomorrow and I don't think he will make it out of the 3rd inning.
So, that'll make it 3-1 and I just don't see the Giants winning 3 in a row."

All right, so I'm not all knowing and omnipotent.
Rueter pitched pretty damn well, although he did give up quite a few hits (as he usually does).

His final line?

6 IP
9 Hits
3 Runs
2 Strike Outs
0 Walks

The 9 hits were about what I had in mind, but I was thinking more along the lines of 3 IP and 6 or 7 runs.
But, as always, what the hell do I know?!

Game 4 was an excellent game.

The Angels are now completely afraid of pitching to Barry Bonds in any kind of dangerous situation.
They once again intentionally walked him IN THE FIRST INNING!
On the night, he went 0-1 with 3 walks.

Francisco Rodriguez took the first loss of his Major League career, dropping him to 5-1 in the post-season.
He gave up 1 run, although it was unearned as a result of a Bengie Molina passed ball.
Francisco (I refuse to call him K-Rod or F-Rod or whatever) did manage to get Barry Bonds out, which is pretty special at this point.

So, now this series is really a best of 3 and the Angels have homefield advantage.

Game 5: Jason Schmidt (13-8, 3.45 ERA, .524 SNPct) vs. Jarrod Washburn (18-6, 3.15 ERA, .658 SNPct)
Game 6: Russ Ortiz (14-10, 3.61 ERA, .550 SNPct) vs. Kevin Appier (14-12, 3.92 ERA, .558 SNPct)
Game 7: Hernandez/Rueter vs. Ramon Ortiz (15-9, 3.77 ERA, .584 SNPct)

I say Hernandez/Rueter because I heard Dusty Baker's post game interview and he didn't sound real sure about Livan starting game 7, and I can't say that I blame him.

I would make a new prediction, but, well, you know how my last one went.

I guess I will just stick to the original prediction that I made in my World Series Preview and Prediction article, which is Giants in 7 games.

A few notes unrelated to baseball...

A lot of people sent me emails regarding yesterday's entry and two topics in particular.

1) Jennifer Aniston's butt and the picture link that I provided.
Apparently a lot of people clicked on the link I provided, hoping to see the picture I was talking about and they ended up somewhere other than the picture.
I am not sure what happened, I guess something went wrong with the link.

I think I have fixed the problem.
So, here is a new link to the picture that I was talking about in yesterday's entry (don't worry, it is not pornographic!): Click here for the picture.

2) The bulletin that my "Community Advisor" posted in the dorm bathroom.
A lot of people were wondering whether or not I took some comedic license and changed some things around to make the bulletin sound funnier.
I assure you I did not, it is 100% word-by-word, letter-by-letter, what he wrote on the actual bulletin.

And to answer a question that at least one loyal reader had, I am not included in the group of people leaving their feces in unflushed toilets and leaving trash and food in various non-trash and non-food places!

Other than that, not much else to report.

Oh, one final thing.
Gambling is bad kids, particularly gambling against Kirk Rueter.
And particularly gambling against Kirk Rueter and losing!

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

The Fat Lady is warming up...

As much as I hate to say it (I am a Giants fan and I picked them to win the series), I think this series is over and the Anaheim Angels are the going to be the World Champions.

They took a 2-1 lead tonight, after once again scoring in double digits, beating the Giants 10-4.
They face Kirk Rueter tomorrow and I don't think he will make it out of the 3rd inning.

So, that'll make it 3-1 and I just don't see the Giants winning 3 in a row.

Tonight's game was such a non-competitive game that it ruined a planned Baseball Primer article!

I was in an online chat with about 10-12 other guys and the transcript of the chat was supposed to be posted as an article on BaseballPrimer.com (similar to this one from the NLCS).

But, by about the 4th inning, the baseball conversation in regard to the actual game we were all watching had been completely ruined.

We started talking about the relative value of a great defensive first baseman (not that great).

After that, we moved on to discussing the all-time great seasons by relief pitchers (there are tons).

Then we started discussing Kirby Puckett's current troubles (still baseball related chat, but just barely).

After Kirby, the conversation moved to college football and specifically the biggest stadiums (now we are officially done discussing baseball alltogether).

Then we started discussing various things in relation to my major here at the U of Minnesota (now we are completely done with anything sports related; it is journalism by the way)

At some point we started discussing Jennifer Aniston's butt (extremely great, although some people in the room were not all that impressed by the picture I supplied).

And finally, with the game most likely not even on the television sets of most of the room members, the subject of Atheism was brought up and discussed in some depth.

I guess even the most hardcore baseball geeks lose interest in a blowout game at some point.

So, to all the women that say they always wonder what guys think about...that's basically it: baseball, football, college majors, Jennifer Aniston's butt and religion (and in that order, apparently).

Finally...

This has absolutely nothing to do with baseball, but it is just too good not to post for you all to see.

I live in a dorm at the University of Minnesota.
My floor has a student "Community Advisor" that lives on the floor and sort of runs things.

Here is the exact, word-for-word bulletin/note that he posted inside of the men's bathroom yesterday (I stole one of the many copies of this bulletin, so as to accurately reproduce it for my audience):

********************************************************************************************

REQUESTS FROM YOUR COMMUNITY ADVISOR


Please respect this floor as I respect you and your room

1) Flush the toilet when you are done using it! The floor would appreciate not looking at others feces before they use the toilet.

2) Do not leave trash in the hallway or bathroom. There are multiple disposal areas on the floor designated for garbage and the hallway and drinking fountain are not on the list.

3) Do not dispose of food in the sinks or drinking fountain Dump unfinished food in the garbage or flush it down the toilet.

If you gentlemen do not abide by these three requests I will begin documenting and directing attention toward things that I am sure you would like to keep to yourselves.
One person can ruin it for the entire floor.

Thank you to everyone that has respected these already, please continue to make this is a pleasant environment to live in.
If there are questions please come talk to me.

Andy

********************************************************************************************

Yep, that's dorm life for ya.
Feces in unflushed toilets.
Trash in the hallways.
Old food in the drinking fountains.
Threats of revealing things that "you would like to keep to yourselves." (read: sex, drugs and rock & roll)

And a Community Advisor that suggests flushing unfinished food "down the toilet."

Monday, October 21, 2002

Two down, five to go?

First of all, I want to let everyone know that part 2 of my article, "Minnesota Twins: A Plan for the Future" is now up and available for you to read over at BaseballPrimer.com.

And if you haven't read part 1 yet, well, what the #%&! are you waiting for?!

Also, if you haven't checked out my World Series Preview and Prediction article yet, you can do so by clicking here.

Wow, that some game last night, huh?

Before I talk about anything else, I have to discuss what Mr. Bonds did in the 9th inning.
That home run was quite possibly the most titanic blast I have ever seen.
I saw the replay like 20 times and I still don't think I saw where it landed.

Tim Salmon pretty much had the same thoughts as I did when he saw what Bonds did.
Right after the homer, the camera flashed to Salmon on the top step of the dugout (he had been replaced in RF by Alex Ochoa) and Salmon (very clearly) said, "My god! That is the furthest ball I have even seen hit..."

I was going to do a "Top 10 ways you know the homer is an absolute BOMB!" list, but I could only think of like 2 or 3 ways.
So, here is the list anyway:

3) The camera tries to focus on the flight of the ball and you can see the moon in the middle of your TV screen.
2) The umpire throws the pitcher a new ball before the homer gets to the outfield.

And the #1 way you know the homer in an absolute BOMB! is...

1) It actually silences McCarver and Buck for more than 2 seconds.

David Letterman I'm not.

For those of you who haven't been checking the "Bonds Playoff Tracker" on the left side of this page...
First of all, shame on you.
Secondly, Superman is currently sporting a .909 slugging % and a .528 on-base %.
And I am loving every minute of it.

A few other thoughts on the game...

Francisco Rodriguez continues to be magnificent, throwing 3 no-hit innings last night, with 4 strike outs and 0 walks.
His numbers for the post-season:

13 IP
4 Hits
19 K
4 BB
1.38 ERA
.095 Opponent Avg
5-0 Record

Un-freaking-believable.

Both starting pitchers were completely horrible last night, lasting a combined total of 3 2/3 innings and allowing 12 runs off of 14 hits, including 4 homers.
John Lackey came on in the 3rd inning to relieve Kevin Appier and ended up pitching 2 1/3 innings.
I am not sure exactly what this does to the Anaheim rotation the rest of the way.
Lackey was scheduled to start game 4, but I am not sure now.
I would think that he could still make the start because he only threw 32 pitches last night, which is probably sort of like throwing on the side between starts.

Chad Zerbe came on in relief of Russ Ortiz and did a very nice job, going 4 innings to save a complete bullpen drainage.

6 different San Francisco pitchers got into last night's game and not a single one of them was able to strike out an Anaheim hitter.
I have been talking in my previews of each Anaheim series about how Anaheim "doesn't strike out," but I didn't mean it 100% literally!
When you total 37 at bats as a team without striking out even a single time, you are going to get some hits and that is exactly what Anaheim did.

Speaking of Anaheim getting hits...

Kenny Lofton's defense in center field has gone from great to good to decent to laughable in about 3 seasons.
He never had much of a throwing arm to begin with and the great speed and range that he once had is now dimished quite a bit.
Plus, he seems to have a bit of a problem getting the ball from his glove to his hand with having it fly 3 feet away from him.
Kenny, if Dusty asks you if you want to DH in games 6 and/or 7, say yes this time and save yourself and your team some trouble.

How bad must a team's bench be when the designated hitter is hitting in the 9th spot in the lineup AND it is Shawon Dunston!?!
Paging Damon Minor...
I am not sure what Dusty was thinking leaving Minor off of the playoff roster for any of the rounds and especially in the World Series, when the AL team has homefield and you might need to use a DH 4 times.

Troy Glaus has been awesome this post-season (.349/.404/.837 in 43 ABs) and last night I was taking a look at his career stats and I found them pretty interesting.

Glaus' first full-season in the Majors was 1999.
He hit .240/.331/.450 with 29 homers in 551 at bats.

Okay, pretty good full-season debut for a 22-year old.

He has been a full-time 3B ever since and here are his numbers:

Year ABs .AVG .OBP .SLG HR BB
2000 563 .284 .404 .604 47 112
2001 588 .250 .367 .531 41 107
2002 569 .250 .352 .453 30 88

That is one weird career progression.
He had his best season in his 2nd year and has declined in both seasons since then.

Actually, if you start with 1999 as his first year (which it was) and just reverse everything after that, it looks like what I would consider a normal career progression.
Let's try it...

Year ABs .AVG .OBP .SLG HR BB
1999 551 .240 .331 .450 29 71
2002 569 .250 .352 .453 30 88
2001 588 .250 .367 .531 41 107
2000 563 .284 .404 .604 47 112

If Glaus had done that, instead of his actual downward progression, I think we would be talking about a future (or current) superstar.
In the "revised" version of his career, his batting average, on-base % and slugging % are on the rise throughout.
He ups his home run total every year and his plate discipline gets better and better.

My point? Nothing, as usual.
Although I guess my point could be that "timing is everything"?

That's all for now.
Next game is Tuesday night, in San Francisco.
Livan Hernandez vs. Ramon Ortiz.

The Giants need a win pretty badly in this game, otherwise they are looking at being down 3-1 after Kirk Rueter takes his beating in game 4 (and yes, that is an official Aaron's Baseball Blog Prediction).