60 posts tagged “baseball”

For all the promise he showed after his call-up in May of last season, could Dustin McGowan be any more ordinary this year? Sure, the Jays' pitching as a whole this season has at least allowed the team to tread water, but after his efforts towards the end of last season, McGowan left me wanting more in '08. Am I the only one that's underwhelmed?

McGowan and Shaun Marcum both turned heads last season, and of the pair, McGowan was considered a sure thing to repeat his performance. And why not? Players around the league marveled about his overpowering stuff last year, the best of which was on display when he carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Colorado in late-June. Marcum, on the other hand, relied on breaking pitches and command, both of which seemed to fail him as the season wore on. So you'd expect McGowan to come back stronger in '08, no? Think again. After last night's loss to Seattle, McGowan sits at 6-7 with a 4.36 earned run average. Marcum? 5-4 and 2.65, the latter number amongst league leaders. Marcum, however, is beginning to show signs of wear and tear -- he was placed on the disabled list two weeks ago with a right elbow strain.

Back to our subject, though: McGowan has been strong as ever at home in '08, but a different pitcher altogether on the road. In seven home starts, he's 4-2 with a 2.20 ERA; on the road, he's 2-5 with a 6.17 ERA. Is it a mental thing, then?  That's the way it would seem.

At 26, McGowan is still young, but he's starting to show an early onset of A.J. Burnett syndrome. Like Burnett, he has electric stuff, but doesn't seem to be able to harness it. Still, with nowhere to go but up in this suddenly-hopeless season, it's worth waiting to see whether or not McGowan is all he's hyped up to be. Let's just hope he doesn't turn into another guy who gets by solely on potential. Even if he does, though, he can rest assured someone will be waiting to give him a $55 million contract.

By now, you’re likely familiar with the J.P. Ricciardi and Adam Dunn saga. Last week, Ricciardi told a caller on The Fan 590 the Jays weren’t interested in the Will Ferrell look-a-like, insisting Dunn “doesn’t really like baseball that much” and “doesn’t have a passion to play the game”.

 
Dunn’s response: “I know nothing about this clown. I have no idea who he is. This guy doesn’t know anything about me other than what he sees on whatever SportsCenter they have up there.”

Fair enough. Ricciardi claims Dunn doesn’t like baseball, Dunn calls him a clown. Dunn shows ignorance for Canadian sports television. What goes around comes around.

Ricciardi called Reds general manager Walt Jocketty to apologize, and eventually got a call back from Dunn on Saturday night. Or so, that was what he thought.

“If he said he talked to me, it’s a lie,” Dunn said after last night’s game at Rogers Centre.

Turns out J.P. fielded a call from a Dunn imposter. He claims it was a 519 number – the area code for a large portion of Southern Ontario. Cincinnati’s area code, on the other hand, is 513. Close. Close enough to fool the mastermind Ricciardi.

After the game, Dunn reiterated his lack on concern for the esteemed Jays’ GM.

"I'm just so sick and tired of this," he told reporters. “Again, I'm not going to go out of my way to apologize or get an apology from a guy I don't even know.”

Okay, Dunn doesn’t care about Ricciardi. The important thing, however, is that we find out who the genius prank caller was. If you’re out there, be assured that there is absolutely no shame in coming forward.

Mets closer Billy Wager did pitchers league-wide a service yesterday, ripping his teammates for dodging reporters after a 1-0 loss to the highly-competitive Washington Nationals. Though it doesn't really represent locker room chemistry, I'm sure Wagner's outburst had pitchers across the world nodding their heads in approval. Which starting pitcher isn't frustrated when he holds the opposition to one run and still gets saddled with a loss? Sure, Wagner wasn't the starter yesterday -- he didn't even pitch -- yet he's the one reporters are forced to go to for answers.

I wonder what would happen if all players spoke their minds. What if, instead of insisting, "I have confidence in the guys, they'll turn things around next time," a starting pitcher said something along the lines of "These guys suck. I pitched eight innings of one-hit ball and I still took the loss" after, well, pitching eight innings of one-hit ball and taking the loss.

Did anyone else see some of the Mets' baserunning gaffes yesterday? If I were Carlos Beltran or Luis Castillo, I may have also booked it out of Shea right after the game. Nice game, pretty boys...(insert second spitter).

Yikes -- lately I've been so engulfed in the Blue Jays' great battle to score runs that I've failed to notice what else is going on around baseball. I knew the Tigers had turned it around briefly after their 2-10 start, but noticed just now they've been swept by Kansas City for the second time this season and sit at 16-25, again losers of 10 of their last 12. Luckily for them, as is the case with the Jays thus far, nobody in the American League has really set themselves too far ahead of the pack. Though they're last in the Central, the Tigers are just six games back of first place Cleveland with 121 games to play. Time to count them out? Not by a long shot...

Once again, right after John Gibbons was written off as fired by just about anybody with a pen in arm's reach, the Jays have caught fire, winners of four in a row. The great Joe Inglett was the hero this afternoon, singling home the winning run in the top of the 11th in a 3-2 win over the Twins. Again, the Jays have crept to within a game of the hallowed .500 mark (21-22) and sit three-and-a-half games back from that team from Tampa Bay that refuses to lose. Should the Rays hold off the Yankees this evening (they're up 5-2 in the seventh), New York will drop into sole possession of last place in the East. How great does that sound?

Think J.P. Ricciardi regrets pulling the plug on Frank Thomas a few weeks ago? My bet is he'd stand by his decision, and that he'd be lying in doing so. The Jays split a doubleheader with Cleveland yesterday, losing 3-0 in the opener and winning by the same score in the nightcap, scoring all three runs in the tenth inning. They leave Cleveland having scored four times in the four-game series, three more runs than they would've managed had Shaun Marcum not given them a chance to play extras last night with his eight-inning, two-hit shutout. Toronto has scored the second-fewest runs in the American League (only Kansas City has fewer) and fourth least in all of baseball (San Diego, San Francisco).

The funny thing about Thomas' release is that Ricciardi did it to save money for next season. The way things are going now, neither him nor manager John Gibbons is going to last till next week. Meanwhile, Thomas and the A's sit atop the AL West at 23-16.

While playing baseball at the park last week, I mentioned that my buddy Jerry was "the Rob Deer" of our circle of friends because of his remarkable tendency to either strikeout or hit a home run. Unfortunately, my remark went over the heads of most of my friends, who apparently weren't devoted followers of the Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers in the late-eighties and early-nineties. Nevertheless, I got to thinking of other modern day Rob Deers. Here's a look at some of today's all-or-nothing players:

Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies: Howard has been especially Deer-esque this season, hitting just.171 with 7 home runs and 54 strikeouts in just 39 games. He's on pace to strikeout 224 times this season, which would shatter his own record of 199, set last year (Howard avoided the 200 mark by fanning just once in the last two games of the season). His strikeout average (hits/at-bats) of .386 is tops in the majors this season, ahead of last year's mark of .376 and well over his career mark of .342 (Deer's highest season average was .392 in 1987, and his career mark was  .363). To his credit, Howard does have an MVP Award on Deer, and his career batting average is 60 points higher. Oh yeah, he was also the fastest player in league history to hit 100 home runs.

Jack Cust, Oakland Athletics: Cust came out of nowhere last season, slugging 26 home runs in just 395 at-bats for Oakland, also striking out an incredible 164 times in the process (an average of .415). This season, he's struck out 35 times in 99 at-bats (.354). Though his batting average has yet to be in the Deer range in his young career, Cust's strikeout rates make him about as close a player to Deer as you'll find these days.

Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks: Reynolds tied a dubious major league record last season, his first in the bigs, by striking out in nine consecutive plate appearances (the streak only ended when he was hit by a pitch). The third baseman ended up striking out 129 times in 111 games last year (a .352 average) and has already fanned 52 times in 135 at-bats in 2008 (.385, second to Howard). He has, however, exhibited good power thus far in his career, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 89 runs in his first 147 career games. Since he doesn't quite have Howard's power or average, Reynolds has a terrific chance of turning into this generations most distinctive Deer clone.

Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays: Watching Pena strikeout seven times in eight at-bats in Toronto last week was what got me thinking of Deer in the first place. Though he saved his career with a 46-homer, 121-RBI season in Tampa Bay last year, Pena has reverted to his old ways in 2008 -- he's struck out 45 times in 129 at-bats (.349) and hit just .209, down from last season's mark of .282.

Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds: Dunn wins the Lifetime Achievement Award for acting like Deer for years. His 195 strikouts in 2004 stood as the major league record before Howard topped it last season. In his career, Dunn has  struck out 1,124 times in 3,466 at-bats (.324). He does, however, have incredible power -- he's hit at least 40 home runs in each of the last four seasons and has 244 in his career, which began in 2001.

Andruw Jones, Los Angeles Dodgers: Okay, Jones has always struck out a lot, but never quite in the Deer (or Howard, Cust, Reynolds or Pena) range. However, he's completely fallen apart in 2008. Jones has struck out 38 times in 112 at-bats this season (.339), the first of the two-year, $36 million contract he signed with the Dodgers this past off-season. Even worse, Jones is hitting just .170 with one home run. I'm no Dodgers fan, but I imagine they must be wondering where this guy gets off.

Don't get me wrong -- Vernon Wells' broken wrist is by no means a death sentence for the Jays' season. They did, however, respond to losing their leader in batting average, runs, home runs and RBIs in the worst possible fashion last night, falling 12-0 to the Indians. Offensive saviors Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench hit second and cleanup, respectively, and went a combined 1-for-8. Can it get any worse? Well, A.J. Burnett gets the ball this afternoon...

With Wells expected to be out two months, don't be surprised to see Ricciardi reach out in desperation for another hitter long past his expiry date: Jim Edmonds was released by the Padres Friday night after hitting just .178 with a homer in 26 games.

The Blue Jays made a pair of moves in hopes of bolstering their slumping offense yesterday, signing a guy known for his remarkable strikeout-to-anything other than a strikeout ratio and trading for a guy known for having an enormous head. Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench were in Toronto's starting lineup last night, and they certainly didn't pay any immediate dividends in a 6-1 loss to Cleveland.

I realize what J.P. Ricciardi is trying to do here -- he realizes his offense is horrible, and after releasing the team's best hitter from last season after a mere 60 at-bats, is looking to throw together the best possible makeshift lineup without having to part with any of his key pieces (any of his starting pitchers, to be more specific). Let's be honest, nobody is going to give up a big bat for a package headlined by Jason Frasor and Joe Inglett. Still, when you're bringing in guys like Wilkerson and Mench, you know you're desperate.

Wilkerson had one nice season with the late Montreal Expos, hitting 32 home runs and scoring 112 runs while serving mainly as their leadoff hitter in 2004. He has, however, struck out 895 times in 888 career games, compared 467 walks and 744 career hits. He spent the last two seasons in Texas, where he hit .222 and .234, respectively. He was cut by the Mariners after hitting .232 in 19 games this April.

Mench was acquired for a bag of balls from the Rangers, where he'd been playing for Triple-A Oklahoma. That's right -- our offensive savior was in the minor leagues for the worst team in the American League. He's well known to Toronto fans for being the Texas player that broke Roy Halladay's leg with a line drive in 2005, ending his season and any dreams the Jays had of at least hanging tough for the final three months of that season. He did, however, open the door for Josh Towers to step in as the team ace and earn a two-year contract. More than anything, though, he's a legend for having the largest head in baseball, a reported size eight.

I guess this is what losing to the Blue Jays makes you do: Prior to yesterday's game in Toronto, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen went off on the following tirade when asked if he thought one of the players in Chicago's minor league system had a shot at cracking his team's anemic lineup:

"Right now everyone in Chicago is making lineups -- 'Call up this guy, call up that guy.' ... If we had 50 people allowed on the roster, we could do that. That's what ticks me off about Chicago fans and Chicago media: They forget pretty quickly. A couple of days ago we were the [bleeping] best [stuff] in town. Now we're [bleep].

"We won it a couple years ago, and we're horse[bleep]. The Cubs haven't won in [100] years, and they're the [bleeping] best. [Bleep] it, we're good. [Bleep] everybody. We're horse[bleep], and we're going to be horse[bleep] the rest of our lives, no matter how many World Series we win.

"We are the [bleep] of Chicago. We're the Chicago [bleep]. We have the worst owner [Jerry Reinsdorf]. The guy's got seven [bleeping] rings, and he's the [bleeping] horse[bleep] owner."

Interestingly, Guillen's blowup came just days after Cubs fans celebrated the 25th anniversary of former manager Lee Elia's famous tirade, in which he ripped into Chicago's esteemed fans. The Wizard of Oz made sure to touch on that, too:

"How about the Cubs celebrating that Lee Elia bull[bleep]? How many times do I curse people out? I will make a lot of money with my [stuff]. I have to keep going because in the future Ozzie will need money, and I can say, 'Here, give me money, here's the 10-year anniversary of my time I called [Jay] Mariotti stuff and the time I went on the radio and cursed out Mike North."

Alright, easy there Ozzie. I'd almost forgotten that Guillen still managed, given the White Sox recent streak of futility. If Jose Contreras hadn't done his Greg Maddux impression in the 2005 postseason, would anyone even realize Guillen existed?  

After last night's 2-1 loss to Boston, the Jays' eighth loss in nine games, it's no longer a question of "if" John Gibbons is fired. The question, instead, is which Toronto player the volatile soon-to-be-former manager decides to knock out on his way out the door. Gibbons is long overdue -- it's been almost two years since his famous run-ins with Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly. Here's a look at some of the leading candidates:

A.J. Burnett: This is a no-brainer -- is there anyone associated with the team that doesn't feel the urge to knock out Burnett? The right-hander has been nothing short of Burnett-esque in his contract year -- I'd like to call him inconsistent, but he's only really had one decent start, all-the-while looking as motivated as Troy Glaus ever did in a Toronto uniform.
Advantage: This one's a toss-up -- Gibbons has been a mediocre manager and Burnett is, after all, still nothing more than a .500 pitcher.

David Eckstein: Sure, Eckstein seems like a stand-up guy, but Gibbons has shown a tendency to pick on unimposing players, and at 5-foot-7 there isn't a better candidate than the Eck-factor. In Gibbons' defence, the new shortstop hasn't hit a lick and has already coughed up a couple games with his poor defense.
Advantage: Eckstein. Lilly caught Gibbons off guard and left him with a bloody nose, and I'm convinced the scrappy Eckstein is at least as tough as him.

Scott Rolen: Rolen didn't get along with Tony La Russa and Larry Bowa. La Russa and Bowa were Rolen's managers. Gibbons is Rolen's current manager. It just makes sense.
Advantage: None. This one never comes to blows, as Gibbons and Rolen instead choose to exchange words through the media over the next three years.

Shawn Camp: Mistaking Camp for "The Reign Man" Shawn Kemp, Gibbons picks a fight with the Jays reliever because he disagrees with his fathering children out of wedlock and his cocaine habit. There's no place for that on this team, he insists.
Advantage: Gibbons, as Camp is caught off guard by the accusations. If it were the real "Reign Man", however, Gibby would've been eaten alive.

John McDonald: Johnny Mac has been to nice of a guy for too long -- you just get the feeling something has to give. McDonald, for one, may instigate out of anger for losing playing time to the offensively and defensively-challenged Eckstein, while Gibbons may seek out Mac for the same reason he'd go after Eckstein -- he's generously listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs.
Advantage: McDonald, because according to Toronto fans, he's just so perfect (and I can't disagree).