Helped by another performance by Jose Lima‘s Traveling Home Run Circus, the Cubs’ Kerry Wood made a successful return last night. He threw 95 pitches in six innings, allowing a run on three hits and four walks, striking out four and mixing in a two-run bomb to boot, as the Cubs won 11-1. It was…
And You Thought the Big Story was Home Runs The National League single-season record for walks drawn was set by the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, who worked their opponents for 732 free passes. This season, no less than three NL teams are on pace to shatter that record through the end of April: the Astros (845-walk…
Peter Bergeron, the young Expos center fielder, has something as rarely seen in Quebec as a sweet-smelling separatist: good plate discipline. Baseball Prospectus 2000 projected him at .300/.376/.419 this year, but he’s hitting .227/.299/.241. I hope this is only an amazingly bad month, because Bergeron has shown thoughtout his minor-league career that he’s a hitting…
Tonight, Kerry Wood will make his first major-league appearance since Game 3 of the 1998 National League Division Series. Coincidentally, he will face the Houston Astros, the team that helped vault him to prominence by striking out 20 times against him on May 6, 1998. The start will cap a comeback from Tommy John surgery…
Well, so much for baseball’s tightest division. The NL Central was supposed to be a three-team race with the Reds, Cardinals and Astros all closer than Angelina Jolie and her brother. Instead, the Cardinals have shot out of the gate like Secretariat, while the Reds and Astros are desperately trying to right their ships while…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Claimed OF Scott Morgan off of waivers from the Indians and placed him on the 40-man roster; transferred OF Jeff DaVanon from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [4/28] Optioned RHP Lou Pote to Edmonton; recalled LHP Mike Holtz from Edmonton. [4/29] Placed RHP Jason Dickson on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/29…
Thursday’s column addressing the abundance of offense in baseball today inspired a significant amount of reader mail, most of it making salient points. I wanted to follow up on a couple of issues. A couple of people pointed out that I contradicted myself, claiming that there wasn’t enough evidence to say there was a "problem"…
While everyone was talking about Florida’s hot start–prior to their five-game losing streak–no one noticed that the Phillies were getting phlattened, to the tune of 7-16. The culprit? The Phillies are dead last in the National League with 82 runs scored. That’s an average of 3.6 runs a game, a number that seems respectable until…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated SS Gary DiSarcina from the DL; optioned IF Keith Johnson to Edmonton. [4/24] Activated RHP Elvin Nina from the DL and assigned him to Erie (Double-A). [4/25] Finally resurfacing after too much quality time in Calgary, Benji Gil managed to demonstrate that there’s still no reason to consider him to be more…
Baseball has suspended 16 players and fined nine as a result of the White Sox/Tigers brawls that marred Saturday’s game. Baseball Vice President Frank Robinson is quoted as saying, "Altercations like the one that took place in Chicago last week show a lack of sportsmanship. It sends the wrong message to our fans–particularly young people….
It seems much of the mainstream media is up in arms over the continued surge in offense. It’s just three weeks into the season, and we’re hearing about how the ball needs to be changed, the mound needs to be raised, the bats need to be checked, the hitters need to be tested…pretty much everything…
Not too long ago, a panel of "baseball experts" were interviewed on WBEZ, Chicago’s National Public Radio affiliate. All three sang the praises of what stadiums "do" that makes some teams more profitable than others. Bringing up Jacobs Field, they couldn’t help but enthuse about how much money the mallpark makes for the Indians, which…
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Activated RHP Matt Mantei off of the DL; designated RHP Darren Holmes for assignment. [4/21] Darren Holmes is almost certain to be claimed by a team like the Cubs or Astros, so it will be interesting to see if the Snakes pull off a trade while they can. Mantei’s absence didn’t hurt the…
They’re Similar in Everything but Religion With Randy Johnson‘s torrid start, his career won/lost record is now 164-88. There are those who think that despite his terrific winning percentages and his two Cy Young Awards, Johnson simply hasn’t won enough games to merit Hall of Fame consideration yet. To that, I say, "phooey." Check out…
Periodically, I’ll be taking a look at the 30 teams as a whole and ranking them based on where they stand at that moment in time. These rankings will be based primarily on the the team’s truest indicator of actual ability–runs scored and allowed–but will also take into account other factors. Take these rankings with…
Yesterday, I talked about the long winning streaks assembled by the Braves and Mets. The Mets stretched theirs to eight games Monday by beating the Dodgers 1-0, while the Braves had the day off. But even with that success, neither team is the best story in the division. The best story in the division is…