Fresh off his stint as a Questec operator, BP Intern Jason Karegeannes takes you behind the scenes to see how the system works, and what changes can be made to improve it and help umpires do their jobs.
Bazooka Joe, McGyver, Easy-Bake Ovens and “The Perils of Pauline” all make appearances in Chris Kahrl’s latest. There’s some baseball, too.
There’s bad news in Philadelphia, as Pat Burrell and Kevin Millwood deal with the possibility that their seasons are over. Also inside: updates on Brad Penny, Kazuo Matsui and Mike Mussina.
The Cardinals already had a fearsome lineup core. With the addition of Larry Walker, it’s now one of the best the game has ever seen. Eat your heart out, Miller Huggins.
The Mariners today announced the retirement of Edgar Martinez, one of the best hitters of his generation and arguably one of the best right-handed hitters of all-time. To celebrate Martinez’s career, we’re re-running this special edition of Derek Zumsteg’s Breaking Balls from last October, when it first looked like Edgar would hang ’em up.
David Newhan is ready for his close-up, the Rockies are ready to make some choices, and the Mets are ready for 2005. Are you ready for today’s Prospectus Triple Play?
Greg Maddux reaches a great milestone, while everyone else is still talking about last weekend’s trade deadline. Except Bob Melvin. Find out why inside The Week in Quotes.
Brad Penny left yesterday’s game with an apparent injury to his right bicep. Will Carroll has an update on the Dodgers’ starter, as well as a bunch of news on New York City catchers, in today’s UTK.
Larry Walker finally accepted a trade, in another Walt Jocketty Summertime Special. The Blue Jays also made a deal, giving up on The Last BP Cover Boy. It was a player who’s never been traded, though, who owned the weekend.
ATLANTA BRAVES
Romping and stomping in the patented Bobby Cox second-half manner. This is no last ride of the Magnificent Seven, because there is no seven. Even the Magic Three (which, I will come right out and tell you, is an entirely relevant reference to Chinese castrati) have been scattered, with Greg Maddux hunting #300 and Tom Glavine burning in the circle of Hell reserved for fools and suicides. What there is, again, is a very successful pitching staff, now tied for the league lead in ERA. Last week the team ERA was 2.18. In seven games, they issued eight free passes and gave up just five home runs. The batters hit all of four home runs. J.D. Drew contributed almost nothing–it didn’t matter. Where do they find these people? How do they “adjust” them? It’s the Stepford Ballplayers, coming to a post-season near you. GRADE: A
Jonah Keri launches a new column today with a look at the collapse of the Diamondbacks. Hint: “launching” played a role in their season.
Dayn Perry takes a look at the rest of the prospects traded at last weekend’s deadline. Young guns under the microscope include Jose Bautista, Justin Huber and Scott Kazmir.
The insider set ranted and raved over the weekend about how Hee Seop Choi was a guy who couldn’t handle good pitching. How much truth is in that statement? Joe Sheehan and Keith Woolner present some information.
Sometimes, a minor injury can be an opportunity to get a player some rest. Will Carroll finds the silver lining in Steve Finley’s pants, and updates the conditions of Joe Mauer, Andy Pettitte and Pat Burrell.
Since the advent of three-division play, the average distance between first and second has risen from 6.4 to 8.2 compared to the two-division era. Percentage-wise, about a quarter of the races come within 2.5 games when the season is done, which is also about what it was during the two-division era. Grudgingly then, I must concede that the raw number of close finishes has gone up because–obviously–25% of four division races is less than 25% of six. However, it is undeniable that the number of blow-out finishes has gone up as well, and not just because there are more divisions. Fully a third of the divisional races since 1995 have gotten way out of hand, up from about 25% in the 1969-1993 era. If teams like the Phillies, White Sox, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres and Giants don’t watch out, that trend will be maintained this year.
When teams rush to pull off a big trade at the deadline, does it really end up helping their chances? Steven Goldman takes a look back at previous trades to sort out what the results really were. This time, the Minnesota Twins.