OUCH "We got our brains kicked in for two games but we avoided the sweep and that’s what counts. I don’t put any credence on this series. It’s another game. If we’re talking in the month of September obviously it’s more important." —Larry Bowa, Phillies manager, on going 1-2 in a series against the Marlins…
Not surprisingly, after I did the ESPN chat last week, I received about 400 e-mails from people who participated or read the transcript afterwards. About 25% of those were from Derek Jeter fans/apologists, and his defense, along with that of Omar Vizquel, appears to be one of the hottest buttons in baseball. I’ll be discussing…
Successful sports franchises tend to fall in one of two ways. Injuries and age may take their toll. Far more dramatic and frustrating to fans, though, is the team that begins to smoke its own dope: after years of having transactions work out in its favor, the team starts to interpret luck as skill and…
How many of you saw last night’s Red Sox/Devil Rays game? I hope you all did, because it was the most egregious example of a full managerial pout I have ever seen in my life. Setting it up…the D-Rays had just blown the last of a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning. Leading 6-3, Paul…
Yesterday’s Daily Prospectus was about two-thirds written when I realized I was going to have to throw it out. It was a rant about the Blue Jays and their handling of Tony Batista, and included a comparison to their 1999 decision to demote Jose Cruz Jr. in the middle of a pennant race. Unfortunately, that…
RICKEY ON RICKEY "Let’s see, for breakfast Rickey will have bacon and eggs, and grits if I can get ’em." —Rickey Henderson, Padres outfielder, on the Rickey Henderson Diet "Then I’ll have a good meal after the game, either the clubhouse buffet or at a restaurant someplace. I’ll eat a steak sometimes, sure. But not…
About the time Jimmy Carter left office and Brett Myers was born, the Philadelphia Phillies were a proud organization. They had the sharpest scouts, a huge staff of men trained in Branch Rickey’s maxims. Even their executives had a scouting mindset. The Phillies wrote the book on scouting: the Philadelphia Scouting Manual. Philadelphia’s scouts were…
Ryan Ludwick is an outfielder in the Oakland Athletics system. The A’s selected him in the second round in 1999 out of UNLV, and he’s been working his way up the system by hitting for power and playing notable defense since then. Ludwick is currently in the Texas League at Midland, where he’s hitting .269…