When I was heading to Edison Field for last night’s Angels/Red Sox game, I fully expected to end up on my feet cheering for a great performance by a Dominican right-hander. I just didn’t expect to do it twice. Anaheim’s Ramon Ortiz outpitched Boston’s Pedro Martinez in what has to be one of the season’s…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Troy Percival on the 15-day DL (shoulder pain). [8/4] Placed RHP Seth Etherton on the 15-day DL (shoulder tendinitis); recalled LHP Juan Alvarez and RHP Lou Pote from Edmonton. [8/5] Despite Percival’s struggles, from the well-publicized nine blown saves or the control problems or the taters or the ERA creeping towards…
Hey, maybe they are America’s team, because I ended up getting a lot of thoughtful and articulate email from Braves fans defending the acquisition of B.J. Surhoff. Several of them tackled the subject of whether or not I gave the Braves a fair shake as far as what B.J. Surhoff gives them, especially in comparison…
In this era of digital cable and lightning-fast Internet connections, it’s quite easy to stay in touch no matter where you are. But a couple of times a year, I make a concerted effort to get away for a few days and pay as little attention to baseball as I can. I find that the…
ACHIEVEMENTS "I always get nervous before I pitch. It was more excitement than nervousness, though. It felt like a playoff game." — Tom Glavine, Braves pitcher, on becoming the third active pitcher with 200 wins "Not many players have done that. I saw Niekro win his 200th. I saw Maddux and now Tommy. Hopefully, we’ll…
Recently we’ve been running a series by Gary Huckabay in which Gary evaluates major-league fielders using a combination of the available metrics and his own visual observations. Defense has proven difficult to quantify, and without a "killer app" for the task, we’re left with a combination of flawed tools. One of the problems with evaluating…
Just read your "Doctoring the Numbers" piece on the sucking Rockies. It would be good to see how non-Rockies teams fare on road trips. Perhaps fatigue, stinky underwear, the cumulative effects of restaurant food or some other aspect that builds over a road trip makes all teams hit significantly worse later in a road trip….
First off, I’d like to thank Rabbi Pesach Wolicki for a great idea, which is to include info on batter handedness like so: 2B-R is a right-handed-hitting second baseman. As always, I’m grateful for yet another sensible suggestion from our readers. ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Al Levine on 15-day DL, retroactive to 7/31 (elbow inflammation);…
When Jim Bowden announced the Barry Larkin signing, he managed to darken the mood slightly by admonishing the fans that they were getting exactly what they wanted…and that they’d have to pay for it. He told fans that ticket prices would be going up, perhaps as early as this season, because of the deal. In…
As I mentioned the other day, 16 teams made moves before the trade deadline to improve their chances in 2000. Of course, that means 14 others didn’t, 14 teams that haven’t had much success this season. Still, amidst the wreckage of a 65-97 campaign can often be found the pieces of next year’s playoff contender….
Can you love a team and hate the players? I’ve long maintained that following your local club is like being overly interested in the Kinko’s on the corner, knowing too much about the height, weight and varying abilities of the different clerks. The Kinko’s corporation doesn’t really care about you in return, and neither, really,…
This is the third in a series of rankings of major-league defenders, highlighting the top ten and bottom five at each position. The ratings are a combination of Zone Rating, Range Factor and my best (and admittedly grossly flawed) assessment of the job they’re doing. Today, we prepare for a huge amount of angry e-mail…
After the disappointing trade deadline of 1999, at which more trades didn’t happen than did and the biggest name to change addresses was probably Juan Guzman, the events of the past four days serve as a reminder of what an exciting deadline period can feel like. It was a non-stop adrenaline rush for seamheads, with…
Anyone else remember all of those predictions that this would be one of the most boring trading deadlines ever? Instead, we got one of the best. Take a deep breath, and let’s dive into it: ANAHEIM ANGELS Acquired 1B/OF Chris Hatcher, RHP Mike Heathcott and 2B Brett King from the Cubs for RHP Brett Hinchliffe…
On Tom Kelly I think Tom Kelly is getting a bad rap for his dealings with young players from malcontent underachievers like Todd Walker. Yes, Kelly is abrasive, and probably in an unnecessarily public way. Yes, his focus on defense is probably excessive, but I can’t see that he’s cast off too many players that…
A WEEK OF TRADES "I will leave here with nothing but the best memories on and off the field. I was booed so much less than I probably deserve to be booed here, which I don’t think too many people leaving Philly can say." — Curt Schilling, Diamondbacks pitcher, on leaving Philadelphia "If I could…