THIS WEEK’S MOST-SUBMITTED SET OF QUOTES
“Whack it. Hack it. Stay aggressive.”
–Bruce Kimm, Cubs manager, on his hitting philosophy
“I want my big boys swinging. If they feel comfortable swinging at first pitches, I want ’em hacking, because they’re the guys who can do the damage.”
–Kimm
The San Diego Padres were the consensus sleeper pick of 2002, considered by many to be a team on the fast track, maybe even on pace to pattern the recent success of the Oakland A’s. General Manager Kevin Towers and manager Bruce Bochy talked about the importance of plate discipline, of finding pitchers who throw…
It’s not much of a secret that we’re strongly pro-player in baseball’s labor disputes–a quick look at the contents of the Baseball Prospectus Baseball Labor and Economics page will tell you that. Some of us are more interested in the business side of things than others, but we’ve discussed these issues amongst ourselves and we’re pretty much all on the same side of the fence.
Unlike some of my partners in crime here at BP, I won’t froth about labor issues without some serious provocation. While I believe the owners lie about their financial situation with reckless abandon and wield the relocation/contraction stick with all the subtlety of “The West Wing,” I can’t get too righteously indignant about it.
Regarding saving $160 million (or more) through prudent contract management, MS (and many others) writes:
How on earth is Jeff Bagwell at $6.5 million a waste of a roster spot, time, money, etc.? Sure, his power numbers are way off, but he’s got an 872 OPS, and baseball can’t work that with the first signs of your best player ever showing a little decline, you release or trade him…. He’s still an above-average offensive player, and bound to turn it around in the next couple of months.
ANAHEIM ANGELS
Placed RHP Al Levine on the 15-day DL (shoulder tendinitis), retroactive to 6/27; recalled RHP John Lackey from Salt Lake. [6/28]
I don’t disagree with the idea of bringing up John Lackey to move into the rotation. Lackey is the organization’s best upper-level prospect, and he’s obviously ready to go.
This week’s question comes from Chuck Valenches, who writes:
I am the broadcaster for the Pirates’ Triple-A club, the Nashville Sounds. We do a promotion where fans are encouraged to write in and “Ask the Sounds”…. One question we received we cannot find an answer for.
Q. Has there ever been a game in which both teams scored at least one run in every inning, and when was the last time it happened?
A month later, despite Bud Selig and Bob DuPuy’s continued Thelma and Louise-style drive towards a cliff–which probably includes hand-holding–I’m still thinking of something I saw during the World Cup. Baseball doesn’t need to borrow much from other sports (oh, the good announcer/bad announcer from wrestling, sure), but it should steal the "cheer clubs" from…
Lost in the chaos that surrounded the All-Star Game–and the spate of anti-marketing that followed it–was that the players did not set a strike date. They met, they authorized team votes on whether to walk, but no date was set, and none has yet been set.
Last year, I started messing around with something I call the Walk Gap, which is just the difference between a team’s walks drawn and walks allowed. Because we’ve spent so much time hammering home the importance of plate discipline and throwing strikes, I thought this might be a good indicator of team success.
Continuing our discussion from last week on how to build a team at Coors Field, this time, from the run-prevention side.