May 2007
Final Mini-ballpark tour stop
“Speed, for a pitcher, is like looks for a girlfriend. It is meaningful, but not determinative.” – Bill James
The above quote is from The Mind of Bill James – How a Complete Outsider Changed Baseball by Scott Gray. I was reading this on the plane trip home and decided it explained the game I just saw on Wednesday night perfectly. It was final game in our mini-ballpark trip at Shea Stadium.
We saw Barry Zito shut down the powerful Met lineup like they were the Bad News Bears. I thought the above quote was appropriate because both starting pitchers (the Mets started Tom Glavine) failed to exceed 85 MPH on the gun, but both were very effective, mixing their pitches, speeds and keeping the ball on the corners. Zito did not allow any runner to reach third base, and no one reached as far as second after the second inning except a stranded leadoff double by Lo Duca in the 7th. It’s hard to have a rally when you don’t have any runners in scoring position. Glavine must be doing something right since he will end his career north of 300 wins, something that extremely few pitchers will do from now on. After a two out, two run rally in the first, Glavine and Mota only allowed 5 hits the rest of the game.
Before the game, I marveled to my wife about the strength of the Met lineup, particularly for a National League team. Then they went out there and laid a goose egg. The Big 4 of Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Wright managed only two hits between them in fifteen at bats. There were very few hard hit balls for either side.
Barry Bonds singled and scored a run, but the offensive story was Pedro Feliz, who drove in all 3 Giant runs with a 2 run single in the first and an RBI triple in the third. Rich Aurilia, entered the game hitting only .244, but had a 4 for 4 night, to supply the rest of the Giant firepower. After the third inning they only got one hit other than Aurilia. The other big story was that the Giants used Brad Hennessey to close out the game in the ninth rather than turning to the hot tempered head-hunter, Armando Benitez. The game was a quick, relatively uneventful affair punctuated by both pitchers throwing strikes in their repertoire of slow, slower and slowest.
Shea Stadium
I didn’t realize they were building a new stadium to begin use in 2009. I liked the drawings as it appears to resemble Ebbets Field from at least one vantage point. Shea is an older stadium with very little special features, which reminds me of the 60’s and 70’s cookie cutter, multi-use facilities Veteran’s Stadium, Three Rivers and Busch. It’s the last of these to be phased out in favor of a new ballyard. I liked the Stadium for the following reasons:
1) Its ingress and egress were great. We got there about 1 hour before game time and were able to pull into a reasonably priced parking lot with almost no hassle even though it was rush hour. When we left, we were able to get out of our seats quickly, to the parking lot and out the gate immediately. I didn’t think this was possible in New York. Despite the surrounding neighborhoods being a little scary, I guess it makes sense to put the new Citi Park right next door.
2) The seating was modern with good sight lines. I was able to get seats in the Mezzanine right behind home plate for less than face value. What I don’t understand was why there weren’t more people there. OK, it was a Wednesday night, but there was a great pitching matchup of Zito vs Glavine. The Mets are leading their division and the Giants are formerly from NY, so I would expect a good crowd. Down the lines, no one was in the upper deck, so there were at least 10,000 empty seats. In USA Today the following morning, it reported that the Stadium was sold out, but that can’t possibly be true unless there were 10,000 no shows. I know there are less Met fans that Yankee fans by a long shot, but was really surprised how they failed to support their division leading team. If they build it, will they come?
3) They also sang “Sweet Caroline” in the 7th inning stretch. Am I missing something? When did this become a baseball song? Neil Diamond is so …………70’s! I thought Boston was weird for singing this golden oldie that my grandmother liked. This song is a major league beating!
4) I found the people at the stadium well mannered and funny. Everyone was helpful about directions and other assistance. The crowd didn’t have much to get excited about, but occasionally, got a “Let’s Go Mets” chant rolling. A few had blindfolds that said “Boycott Barry” on them, but I couldn’t get a good picture. After the game, some fans were dancing to the “bucket drummers” and singing a fun version of “Let’s Go Mets” which we thought was pretty entertaining. We also enjoyed the “Meet the Mets” song played earlier in the game. I thought they made that up on “Seinfeld” but it did make me laugh.
5) Say what you will about the Mets, but they do have 2 World Championships in their 45 year existence, which is two more than our local heroes, in addition to several other World Series appearances. If they weren’t in the shadow of the Yankee Dynasty, they would have a lot more loyal fan base.
6) The Diamond Club at Shea is weird. You can’t see the field from it! What is the use of having a bar / restaurant at the stadium if you can’t see the field at all? As long as the Stadium has been there, you would have thought that would have been remedied by now. Hopefully they will figure that out with the new field.
7) Their scoreboard was simple and effective, with more information on out of town games than most of the others I have seen. It even identified the umpires, so you could boo them by name if you wanted to.
That’s it for my mini-ballpark trip of 2007. Hopefully in 2008, we will visit Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to finish off the Northeast and Mideast section of the country. In 2010, a whole new crop of stadiums will come on line, so we will be back to New York.
Day 2 of mini-ballpark trip – Fenway Has Got to Go!
The People’s Republic of Massachusetts Welcomes You – I really expected to see a sign like this somewhere. Texas is the antithesis of New England and that had me in a foul mood as we drove up to Boston from our New Jersey home base, although I was looking forward to seeing Fenway Park. The trip took 4 hours in light traffic. Our hotel was in Cambridge right next to Hah-vahd, so we pahked our cah there and took the subway to Fenway on Memorial Day. (Sorry I am posting this a bit late. I wanted to get out of Boston alive before posting this.)
View from my Seats
We didn’t have tickets, and I knew this was going to be tough. As we walked the 4 blocks from the subway to Fenway, numerous guys were asking if people had extra tickets. None were selling except one guy who wanted $150 per ticket for field box tickets way out in the outfield. I walked around Fenway three times until I finally found someone selling grandstand tickets somewhere in the vicinity of home plate. I won’t mention what I paid for them, but suffice it to say it was some where between a ridiculously expensive baseball game ticket and a super bowl ticket.
This was another great game. Curt Schilling VS Cliff Lee pitting two of the division leaders against each other. Pitching dominated early (which was great because they are both on my fantasy team) but the Sox broke through in the 4th for a 2-0 lead, which increased with a Manny laser beam HR that just cleared the monster. The Tribe got on the scoreboard in the 6th, but Kevin Youkilis hit an inside the park home run (a rare sight) in the 7th to keep the lead at 3. After Schilling was taken out, I mentioned to my wife that here was the Tribe’s chance. Sure enough, they rallied to load the bases with one out, but only got one run, stranding 2 runners. Back to back doubles got the Sox an important insurance run for a 5-3 lead going into the ninth. Papelbon came on to preserve the lead, but walked the leadoff hitter and allowed Barfield to double off the Monster to bring the winning run up to bat with nobody out and Grady striding to the plate. After Sizemore popped out, the Indians’ hottest hitter, Casey Blake got his turn. Then the controversy began.
On a 2-2 count, Blake checked his swing and the ball hit him. The home plate umpire sent him to first base to load the bags. The Red Sox players erupted. We thought the controversy was HBP or foul ball. Then the home plate ump and Francona conferred with the first base umpire, and he gave a fist signal, indicating that Blake had swung at the pitch and was out. The ball hit him so it was dead and he didn’t need to be thrown out at first. If I were the Tribe’s manager, I would have been tossed. There is no way that Blake swung and this terrible call killed any momentum the Indians had. Papelbon converted the save by striking out the frigid Travis Hafner, whose night ended oh for five with a golden sombrero (4 K’s).
Here are my hot sports opinions on Boston and Fenway Park:
1) Fenway Park needs to be replaced ASAP. It needs to be bulldozed and replaced with a modern stadium with similar dimensions. I don’t see how a refurbishment would work. The Green Monster has character, but as a right handed line drive hitter I would have hated playing there. It turns pop flies into homers and doubles, while laser beams are converted to singles and doubles. The rest of the stadium is one quagmire after another. The entrances, walkways and exits were tiny, creating a logjam with a crowd of only 37,000, making it seem like 80,000. The demand for seats far exceeds the 37,000 capacity making tickets only available for season ticket holders and wealthy people. The only kids present were with their rich yuppie parents. You didn’t see the normal dad and his son going to the game at the spur of the moment like you see at every other major league ballpark. I love old stadiums like Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium, but Fenway needs to meet Mr. Wrecking ball.
2) Yawkey Way was a beating. It is open until 3 hours before game time, then closed off for an hour until the gates open 2 hours before. My wife was enjoying the air conditioning in one watering hole while the area was closed off while I was on my search for tickets. After I got my tickets, it took a long time for me to figure out the only way to reach her was to wait for the gates to open and plow through the mass of humanity or go through several back alleys and find the rear exit of the bar. This really ticked both of us off. There was a special atmosphere around the ballpark, but give me Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field any day. Numerous bars outside the park, you can go broke fast. Driving to Fenway isn’t an option. Parking is hard to come by and costs $35 and up. No place to tailgate. Frankly, I think Frog Alley at TCU football games has a better gameday experience.
3) Seating – The grandstand area was one of the few areas to sit anywhere near home plate. The chairs in this area are made of wood and appear to be the original seats installed before World War One. I know they can’t be, but they look and feel that bad. For their location, these are the most uncomfortable seats in all my stadium travels. I would have expected to see seats like this on Alcatraz.
4) Music – Boston is sorely lacking in songs played at the ballpark. Singing along with ”Sweet Caroline” is the worst tradition around. Playing “Dirty Water” after the game is probably second. The person singing “God Bless America” tricked it up so bad, I almost wanted to boo her after the song, but didn’t want to disrespect America (like she did).
5) The Fans are definitely the most obnoxious in all of Baseball. It could have something to do with their winning streak and 13 game lead in the East, but Boston fans make me long for the relatively “friendly” fans of Yankee Stadium. Maybe it’s just because they are made up of yuppie frontrunners, but there were not many redeeming qualities here. Now I understand why the Boston fans at Rangers games are the most obnoxious – they think it is normal fan behavior. I thought people from California were pretentious, but Boston takes the cake, calling Fenway “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” (Wrigley – no contest) and Boston “The Athens of America” and generally having that superior air about themselves.
OK – I have told you the bad news. I need to be positive and give a few opposing viewpoints.
1) Good Chowder – We had Chowdah twice and both times it was great.
2) History – Boston has more American history in a 1 square mile than in all of Texas combined. We did enjoy walking the Freedom Trail on Tuesday since we decided this would be our first and probably last trip to Boston. We liked the north end of town with all the Italian eateries.
Boston Common
3) The Boston Common was a very relaxing oasis in the center of Boston.
On to Shea Stadium on Wednesday – I am pumped about the pitching matchup – Glavine VS Zito. – We have been blessed with the greatest weather, pitching matchups and close games we could have asked for. Let’s hope this game is equally exciting.
Road Trip To NYC – Yankees Lose! Yankees Lose! BAAAAHHHHHHH Yankees Lose!
Heard in the stands at today’s game:
“Get Your Brooms Out!”
“We didn’t even make them hit the ball, we beat ourselves”
“We get a great start and the bullpen blows it.”
“The middle of our lineup did nothing today. They looked terrible.”
“One game we hit, the next we pitch, we just can’t put it all together”
“It’s going to be a long season”
Take heart Ranger fans, I was in Yankee Stadium today listening to the Yankee faithful doing their Ranger fan impersonation. I have heard all these lines before in Arlington night after night. It was nice to hear a different fan base using the same old lines. After the euphoric high of sweeping the Red Sox this week, the Yanks got swept at home by the Angels, prompting calls for changes in the Big Apple. Coupled with the Red Sox sweep of the Rangers, the three games gained earlier this week went right back to the Sox.
Torre shuffled his lineup again, moving Abreu down and giving Damon and Posada a day off. The meat of the Yankee lineup, Matsui, Arod and Giambi continued to struggle, going a combined oh for 11 off John Lackey. Back up catcher Will Nieves entered the game hitting .037 on the season with one RBI. Today he looked like an all-star going 2 for 2 and driving in the first two Yankee runs to stake them to a 2-0 lead. Mussina struck out the first 4 batters of the game and although he allowed a single, he was still facing the minimum number of batters to begin the 5th inning. Later in the 5th, he yielded 4 of the total of 5 hits off him, allowing the Angels to cut the lead to 2-1.
The first three times Vlad Guererro came to the plate, it was with two out and nobody on base. I commented to my wife that this is the way to beat the Angels – keep the bit players off the bases in front of Vlad. That has been a recipe for success for most teams. When you have Gary Matthews batting cleanup, you do not have a powerful lineup.
With one out in the 7th, Mussina issued his only free pass of the day and despite a pitch count of only 95, Joe Torre yanked him and brought in Scott Proctor. I mentioned to my wife that this is Angel’s chance because the Yankees middle relief has been terrible. Sure enough, the next batter doubled and then Proctor walked the next 3 hitters, forcing in 2 runs, blowing the game for Mussina and earning himself a big black “L” facing 4 batters and retiring none. A sacrifice fly tallied another run, which proved to be the eventual game winner.
After John Lackey sailed through the 8th inning, I was thinking they might let him finish the game, but K-Rod began warming up right as the Angels came in to bat in the 9th, so that wasn’t going to happen. K-Rod was less than stellar, allowing an immediate walk, allowing a bloop single to Posada and then Damon grounded to first, advancing both runners. Cabrerra flied out to score one run and advance Posada to third, bringing Derek Jeter to the plate with two out and the tying run 90 feet away. As the crowd stood, chanting DER-EK JE-TER, DER-EK, JE-TER, he worked K-Rod hard, fouling off many pitches, but eventually flying out to send all the Yankee “faithful” home searching for answers and praying that the Rocket will soon come to their rescue.
Yankee Stadium is a special place to watch a game. We got there 2 hours before the game started to walk around the BallPark, look at the t-shirts (always fun) and check out the monuments. My favorite t-shirts dealt mostly with the hated Red Sox. There was the obligatory “Got Rings” and a few curse words or hand gestures, but my favorite was a blue shirt with Red Sox style lettering saying 2090 – implying that given their years required to win the last World Series, that’s the next year they are due. It’s not family friendly, but I still laughed at another shirt with Red Sox style lettering stating “Manny loves Big Papi’s Little Wee-Wee”. The Yankee’s current slogan “Where Great Players Become Legends” is truer than most opposing fans would ever care to admit. They do a good job of flaunting their past glory to intimidate the other team, but when it came down to crunch time, the Angels didn’t buy into the hype.
We saw where the new Yankee Stadium is being built. Frankly, I think this is the worst use of $1 Billion that I have ever seen. Yankee Stadium is truly a Cathedral of Baseball, however the seating is modern, it has great sight lines, and it just works on all sorts of levels. The only reason I can fathom for a new stadium is greed. A desire to squeeze more money out of “corporate” fans and leave less room for the average fan, adding luxury boxes and increasing the number of expensive seats while reducing the overall capacity. I just don’t understand shrinking the stadium size in a city with 10 Million people. People love the Yankees such that they could sell out every date. Even though I have always supported several new stadium projects, if I were a citizen of New York, I would be upset with the resources that are going to be wasted on this project. I don’t understand why they couldn’t convert the loge seats to luxury boxes and make other refurbishments. What a waste of money! A billion dollars could do so much more good elsewhere.
I was very impressed by the New York fans. Although they were almost as quick as Philly fans to boo, (dropped foul balls got you booed, also walking in the tying and lead run got you booed, but anyone who does that should be booed lustfully) overall they were pretty congenial. Several of them were actually seen being very friendly with some hard core Angels fans prior to the game. The ballpark was 99.95% Yankees fans with nearly everyone having the colors or logo on display.
What a stark contrast to the Yankee fans that show up at Ranger games. The obnoxious transplanted fan is obviously a different breed, who is forced to be as annoying as possible because they have other difficulties that are best not investigated too deeply. I ALMOST found myself rooting for Jeter to get a hit in the 9th, but let’s not get ridiculous. I felt good as Gary Matthews squeezed the final out, and was upset that my wife didn’t let me bring the small broom I threatened to bring to the game.
Tomorrow we head to Boston in the morning. Let’s see how their fans compare to the New York fans. I am so glad I was not at the Ballpark in Arlington on Sunday. The obnoxious Red Sox transplant fans have been coming out of the woodwork since 2004 and I can not think of anyone I would have wanted to listen to less – unless there was a marathon medley of the “Jukebox from ****” featuring such hits as “Kung Fu Fighting”, “Funkytown”, “Seasons in the Sun”, and my all time worst song ever, “Wildfire” by Michael Murphy.
Go Tribe!
Hitless Wanderings to Visit New York and Boston (and I need your help – please leave comments!)
Last year’s Ballpark tour is being followed up by a brief trip to see three old ballparks that I have never seen in person. I am really looking forward to this trip. I thank my wife for coming along with me (voluntarily) to visit these Cathedrals of Baseball. Here is the agenda for our “quickie” East coast baseball trip:
Sunday 1:00 – Angels at Yankees – I was able to get cheap tickets on EBAY, so we don’t have great seats. We are in the Upper Terrance right behind home plate. We will be getting there early so we can walk around the Stadium and get some pictures. We plan on taking the ferry from Hoboken to Yankee Stadium. Has anyone ever done that?
Monday 7:05 Indians at Red Sox – My friend was not able to help me out with reasonable tickets. I know Boston is sold out for the entire season but was hoping there would be something reasonable out there. I haven’t found them yet. We aren’t driving to Boston and then not go to the game, but I don’t really want to pay $100 per ticket for lousy seats. Where is the place near the ballpark where scalpers congregate to sell tickets? Do I need to be concerned about the police? Our hotel is in Cambridge. I was planning on walking to Fenway and taking a cab back that night. Should we walk back or is that too dangerous? The map I used says its 2 miles from Fenway to my hotel.
Tuesday – We are going to be in Boston most of the following day and wanted to see the sights. We plan on walking the Freedom Trail. Are there any other must-see places or must-sample food (besides Chowder)?
Wednesday 7:05 Giants at Mets – We were able to get a good deal on mezzanine tickets right behind home plate. Our tickets allow us access to the Diamond Club. Is that worth eating there? We aren’t really planning on spending much time around Shea, but we were going to check out the US Open Tennis site nearby. We have to park our rental car at Shea. Any advice on that?
I am looking for offbeat things around the parks that will be unique to that location. We planned on hitting a sports bar or two around Fenway and then hanging out just beyond the monster while the teams take batting practice. I am expecting it to be a carnival atmosphere on Memorial Day at Fenway.
One idea I had was getting a Yankees and Red Sox t-shirt, and then wearing the “wrong” one to each ballpark. I might learn some new cuss words or other “colorful” language. It might also answer the age old question – “Are Yankee or Red Sox fans more obnoxious?” While driving around New York we will visit all 5 boroughs, so at least I can say I have been to all of them now.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I will try to add something to my blog every day while on the trip.
Rangers need to learn from great Americans
With today’s loss, the Rangers now have the worst record in the American League. Their pitching has been spotty, their offense inconsistent and their defense terrible. As Jim Reeves wrote this week, the whole team needs to be fired from the GM thru everyone on the 25 man roster. While it’s easy to say that, let’s take a more pragmatic view of what the Rangers need to do. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, so strap on your helmet and get ready. With apologies to Thomas Paine, the Ranger mantra should be something like this:
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer ticket holder and the sunshine Ranger fan will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their team; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of Ranger Management. Losing, like ****, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph (World Series Championship).
In this fan’s eyes, here is what the Rangers should do with this sinking ship:
1) Admit 2007 is not their year. Rangers’ management fails to do this year after year. They continue to make moves as if the team is one or two pieces away from being a contender. Because they want the best attendance numbers they can get, they won’t make a “white flag” trade. I had a brief conversation with Doug Melvin back in the day and he basically said that Ranger management will not win a World Championship because they are unwilling to hit rock bottom and rebuild the team on a firm foundation. What’s so funny about this is that the Rangers have managed several terrible records over the past 8 years, but they have never really re-tooled the team. Look at what the Brewers are doing this year behind Doug. This is the year he has been planning for and so far they are rolling nothing but sevens. I hope this year is different but I am not counting on Ranger management to do what they need to do.
2) If you mange to get past #1, the second one is easy – You must trade Tex – NOW. In order to do this, the Rangers have to offer him a long term deal – how does $90 Million over 5 years sound? By making this offer they would get the fans off their back. Tex and the baseball Antichrist, Scott Boras would turn that down, saying that they want to test the free agent waters when he is eligible after the 2008 season. Who in the AL could use a power hitting switch hitter in their lineup for the next one and a half seasons? The Yankees or Angels would die to get Tex in their lineup. Other potential partners might be the Indians or Tigers, who are both loaded with young talent available for the right deal. In addition, all the older players who won’t be around for 3-4 years, but have value, should be traded for prospects. The Rangers have no need for Kenny Lofton or the Catman on their current roster. Cruz, Diaz, Vasquez, Kinsler and other young players should be playing every day to see what they can do.
3) This leads us to the next question. What should the Rangers demand for Tex? Isn’t this the most obvious answer? Young pitching, developed enough such that they will be major league ready in 1 to 2 years. The Rangers can’t sign free agent pitchers unless they drastically overpay for them, so they need all the pitching they can get. The Yankees have a ton of really good looking pitchers like Phillip Hughes. The Angels have a lot of great prospects as well with a load of both pitchers and position players.
4) The Draft – The Rangers have 5 picks in the first 60 selections. They need to use all of those picks on pitching both at the college and high school level. These players will be a minimum of 2-3 years away, but they are the second wave of pitchers this team will need in the future.
5) Invest more time energy and money in their minor league system and scouting. The days when the Rangers picked up the greatest young stars in Latin America are over. They need to hire the right people and sign the top quality players that they used to. In addition, they need to have better coaches in the minors than the majors. Their roving minor league pitching and hitting coaches should be two of the most important people in their organization.
6) Play the kids – How do we know if the players we currently have are keepers or guys who will never make it in the big leagues? The only way we can find out is to play them.
7) When the team is close to being a contender, then they can go out and get some free agents. Most of the free agents needed will be position players, but hitters should be salivating to come play in the homer friendly ballpark, as opposed to pitchers, where it could damage their contract hopes for years to come.
8) If Tom Hicks is unwilling to take on this task, he needs to sell the team to someone with the vision and foresight to make this happen. If Jon Daniels or Ron Washington aren’t up to the challenge, find someone who will teach and consul the players such that the best of them will be solid major league players.
I think this historical quote has a lot to say to the Rangers current predicament:
“My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead — months in which both our patience and our will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.” President John F. Kennedy – Address to the Nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Please post your comments on how you would fix the Rangers!
Orlando Blues
Hopefully, the Rangers won’t be forced to play any more games in Orlando in the future. Losing three to the D-Rays is not a sign of great things to come. That “thump” you just heard are the remaining Ranger fans jumping off the band wagon, leaving it almost unoccupied.
The best thing that can happen to the Rangers this year is ARod opting out of his contract, but that still won’t matter if management doesn’t invest that money wisely in 2008 and beyond. What’s really sad is that our minor league system seems equally devoid of talent.
No funeral – bang.
Paying Homage to the Diminutive Black Rat
The Rangers and Devil Rays begin their series today at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex. This is truly a Mickey Mouse series featuring two teams struggling to find their way to .500 this season. Both teams are good at trailing early, allowing most of their runs early in the game.
Tampa probably has the best young position player talent in the majors with Carl Crawford leading Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young and BJ Upton on their way to MLB stardom. Their outfield is one of the league’s best. Unfortunately, no one clued the Rays in that pitching and defense is what wins in baseball. Other than Scott Kazmir and Jamie Shields, their pitching staff is a mine field of explosive ERAs and walks. They added Al Reyes to their bullpen and he has been great, but they have no one to get them through the middle innings. Salas’ 50 game suspension creates a massive hole in their pen. If I were playing them with Kazmir or Shields pitching, the main goal would be to work the count and as their pitch counts rises, feast on the middle relief guys. If I were the Rays, I would use their speed to score one or two runs, trying to turn the game into a track meet.
The Rangers aren’t that much better off than the Rays. The Rangers have one of the best offensive infields in the game of Tex, Kinsler, Young and Blalock. Alas, their defense is also pretty offensive of late. The Rangers counter with the worst OF in the majors, none of whom would start for the Rays. The Rangers pitching, while deeper, does not have a true number one starter. The Rangers bullpen has been very good with Aki, CJ, and Benoit as its bright spots. Gagne gets an “incomplete”.
I have the solution! We need to combine these two teams – use the TB outfield, the Ranger infield, have BJ at DH. Make Kazmir and Shields one-two, add Millwood, Padilla and Tejada and suddenly it’s a real rotation. The combined squad would compete for the World Series championship unless their defense killed them. TB’s entire payroll is only about $30MM and Hicks can spring for that. We could change the team name to the Texas Bay Devil Rangers!
It is sad commentary that only by combining two teams does either have a chance to be competitive, but that’s the way it is right now.
Let’s pay homage to the diminutive black rat by visiting his home at Disney World. It’s an incredible minor league park, but it is in no way “major league”. Way too few seats and other infrastructure to be considered a major venue. I guess Tampa chose to move Rangers games there because the Rangers don’t draw well in Tampa anyway. I wonder if they will even be able to sell out this bandbox. I have seen a spring training game at this facility. It was about 7-10 years ago while the tribe was playing the Braves. We sat in the players’ family section, so we had to watch what we said. Ron Karkovice was trying to make a comeback and we sat next to his wife and kids. It was very interesting to talk with them about life in the majors. He had just finished several years with the White Sox and they were anxious about leaving Chicago. Richie Sexson was still in the Cleveland organization and we were paying close attention to him as he was supposed to be an up and coming power hitter.
Former Ranger great Dave Nelson got us some tickets. He was doing color commentary on the Indians radio broadcasts after stepping down as first base coach. His partner was Ray Fosse. Later that trip, I explained to the boys the most famous play involving Ray and they thought that was cool. I knew Dave from a year when he was helping coach TCU in his spare time. What a great guy! Dave worked with me a lot to try and turn me into a first baseman, but I was beyond anyone’s help with the glove. My fondest memory was when we were playing Rice in Houston. Dave never took batting practice with us, but we persuaded him to jump in the cage to take a few cuts. He lines the first pitch out of the park – drops the bat and said “I still got it” as he laughed and strutted out of the cage. Too bad Dave didn’t want to be a full time coach. TCU would have benefited greatly. Some of my TCU buddies keep up with Dave and occasionally will meet up with him when their travels intersect.
Happy Mother’s day
No matter what happened on Mother’s Day at your house, it was probably better than Bob Feller’s most memorable Mother’s Day:
On Mothers Day, 1939, White Sox third baseman Marv Owen lined one of Feller’s pitches into the stands near first base, hitting Feller’s mother in the face. She spent the next two weeks in a Chicago hospital with cuts and bruises, as well as two black eyes.
Worst player of 2007 (so far) – Jeff Weaver
Worst Player of 2007 (so far)
Given my article about the Weavers last year (O Brother, Where Art Thou), some of you are going to think I don’t like Jeff Weaver. Well, truth be told, I am still pretty ticked off at him for being so terrible last year. When pitching for the Angels, he was utterly putrid, killing my fantasy baseball team’s ERA and Whip before I dumped him in April. Then he turns around and pitches fairly well for the Cardinals down the stretch and in the post season. Because he was mediocre in the last half of the year and good in the playoffs, the idiotic Seattle Mariners GM Bill Bavasi signed him to an $8.3 Million dollar one year contract. If you are getting Déjà vu about that amount, it’s because that’s what he earned in 2006 from the Angels last year. I guess the performance expected from pitchers is pretty low for your $8.3 Mil.
I don’t know how much baseball GM’s get paid, but how does Bavasi have a job after making stupid decisions like this? Weaver obviously can’t hack it in the hitter rich AL. Throwing this kind of money after spares like this is not only stupid, it’s criminal. I am going to have to include major league teams in my job search. Surely they could use a consultant to advise them on stupid decisions like these. If asked about Weaver in the off season, all I would have had to say was “Look at the video from all of Weaver’s Angels starts last year. If you get all the way through them and you still want him, go ahead. If you throw up, you can thank me later for saving you $8.3 Million.”
How bad was Weaver last year with the Angels and this year with the Mariners? Let’s put some numbers to my ramblings, shall we?
Jeff Weaver Over the Past 2 Years
ERA W-L WHIP IP Games HR
2006 with Angels 6.29 3-10 1.52 88.2 16 16
2006 with Cardinals 5.18 5-4 1.5 83.1 15 18
Combined 2006 5.76 8-14 1.51 172 31 34
Post Season 2006 2.43 3-2 1.15 29.2 5 3
2007 with Mariners 14.32 0-6 2.59 22 6 4
After the 2006 season, how many pitchers with an ERA of 5.76, who give up a home run per start are rewarded with an $8.3 Million contract? I can only think of one. His 3 wins in the post season probably earned him 90% of his 2007 contract. Even though his numbers improved, he was hardly overpowering. In 2007 he has managed to bring down the number of HR’s allowed, but a 14.32 ERA, 2.59 WHIP and 0-6 is one of the worst starts in baseball history. Right now his BAA (batting average against) is .429 – said another way, he makes the average player into Ty Cobb or Rogers Hornsby (Ted Williams never hit that high). To use my favorite quote from Dave Schmotzer, my Assistant Baseball coach at TCU – “If we had 25 guys like him…………. We’d be oh and 25.”
The other funny thing was that the Mariners didn’t remove him from the rotation until this week. How long did he have to kill them before they figured that out? The next step is to release him like the Angels did last year because they can’t send him to the minors. He’s kind of an expensive mop-up reliever, but that’s his role for now. His 2007 season has been a model of consistency. He has lost every game he has started. He has allowed 6 or more earned runs in every start except one (He only allowed 3 ER in 3 IP against the Angels.) Maybe he liked that last year when he was released and cashed a $7 Million paycheck for guaranteed portion of his contract – who wouldn’t?
The thing that is even more off the wall is that Weaver is still on an active roster in my fantasy baseball league – the GDML. After last year’s debacle, I was surprised anyone drafted him. The team that drafted him has 9 staring pitchers and is punting saves. By keeping Weaver, he is also punting ERA and WHIP as well. Can you punt 3 pitching categories and be competitive? The person that owns him is trying to do as few transactions as possible to conserve money, which is a losing strategy to begin with. This past week, he had the third pick on the waiver wire, but passed on several good pitchers to hang on to Weaver. As Jerry Seinfeld would say, “Good luck with all that”.
Jeff Weaver – consecutive years for bust of the year? – Maybe. However one thing is certainly true. He has the worst performance of any player in the GDML history for a 45 day period to begin 2007. Look for him to be released in the next few weeks. (The same day I wrote this, Weaver was placed on the 15 day DL with right shoulder tendinitis. Strange that he has no pain and has not complained about it at all. Sounds like Bill Bavasi is trying to pull a fast one, stashing him on the DL, followed by a long minor league rehab assignment.)
Weaver’s agent? – How could I have not mentioned this sooner? It is the baseball Anti-Christ Scott Boras.
Who would have thought that! (Heavy sarcasm while rolling eyes) Boras has been the instigator of some of the most ridiculous signings in baseball history. Why general managers continue to do business with this snake oil salesman is beyond me. When Boras retires, he is going to write a tell-all book about how he convinced all these baseball executives to pay stupid money year after year for dead weight like Weaver. Only then will we find out about his naked pictures of team owners and GM’s in all sorts of compromising positions. Either that or he has learned to use the force – “Jeff Weaver is the front line starting pitcher you have been dying to spend $8 Million a year on and these are not the droids you’re looking for – move along.”
Return of Hitless Wanderings
I have not blogged since the World Series, but I missed writing my reports. The big news is that my wife and I will be making a brief baseball trip during Memorial Day weekend. Last year over the week of Memorial Day, we took the family on a driving vacation through the Midwest, stopping at major league cities along the way, watching 7 games in 6 ballparks in 8 days. We saw games at Wrigley, Comerica, Rogers Center, Jacobs Field, New Comiskey and New Busch Stadium.
Here is the link to that trip which was the featured blog on MLBlogs.com for 2 days last year.
Our trip this year less than half of last year, but I have never been to a game at any of the three stadiums. It’s hard to believe I have never seen games here, but something was always getting in the way. I still give my beautiful wife grief that I struck out when the Rangers played a playoff game in Yankee Stadium while we were in town. I had to go to the rehearsal dinner for my brother-in-law’s wedding – and I wasn’t even in the bridal party!!!! (Just married to a bridesmaid.)
A family friend had some airline tickets that were due to expire by June1. He was willing to let us use them for free, so Gaye and I can’t let them go to waste. Now I just have to figure out getting tickets without breaking the bank. This is important since I am between jobs right now. Without any business from a dead 2006 hurricane season, I worked my way out of a job, collecting the A/R until the lack of business caused my work to dry up. My former employer treated me well and I certainly understand what they are going through. If you know anyone who needs a Treasurer / VP Finance / CFO type to help them squeeze more cash out of their business or plan for the future, let me know.
Gaye’s teaching isn’t done until May 25, so we had to wait until Saturday to travel. I have plenty of time, so the return date isn’t that important, but I need to get back to my job networking. I was really excited when I saw the schedule for the days we will be there. Here are the three games we will attend:
Sunday May 27 – Angels at Yankees
Monday May 28 – Indians at Red Sox
Wednesday May 30 – Giants at Mets
This could be a preview of the playoffs, although I think the wild card will probably come from the Central. In our NL tilt, Barry Bonds will be sure to draw a crowd as well. Although I have been to New York several times, I have never been to Boston. I am looking forward to going there and find out if people really talk that funny there.
Fantasy Baseball 2007
The GDML (General Dynamics Memorial League) began its 17th season this year. I am in my 3rd year as commish. My team has had several injuries, but none of them has been season-ending, so I guess it’s not too bad. One of my few heavy hitters is Jim Thome, who will be coming off the DL shortly. Thome is my homeboy, coming from Peoria, Illinois where I grew up playing baseball every day. I played on an American Legion team with Thome’s cousin and briefly dated another cousin of his. I have always loved Jim’s desire and respect for the game. He is definitely “old school” like me. Baseball could use a lot more players like Jim.
You have got to love the Bossman.
The rest of my team is almost exclusively “phenoms” – younger guys with huge upside. Over the past 3 years, one guy I have projected for greatness is the Bossman – B.J. Upton. He has always had a major league bat, but has been a man without a position. Kind of reminds me of my own playing days as a barely passable 2B in high school, who converted to OF / 1B in college, but still rarely played the field, primarily playing at DH in college. My other phenoms are Delmon Young, Curtis Granderson, Ryan Shealy (who has killed me until he got hurt), Rocco Baldelli, Adam Lind, Ryan Garko and Billy Butler (just picked up off the waiver wire – expecting big things!). It’s a pretty deep AL only league, so any promising player is snapped up pretty quick. My BA is also getting killed by the slow starts of Jermaine Dye and AJ Pierzynski.
My pitching staff consists of 6 solid starters, 2 middle reliever and 2 closers with one of them on the DL still (Dotel). My starters are Kelvim Escobar, Jose Contreras, Nate Robertson, Ervin Santana, Cliff Lee and Curt Schilling. Other than a bad game by Nate yesterday, they are all starting to hit their stride. Both Lee and Escobar pitched complete game shutouts today so I am pretty excited. After not getting a save opportunity for three weeks, Seattle has been winning and my closer, J.J. Putz has been getting some saves. I picked up Jason Frazor, who has added a few saves and could get some more with BJ out for the season.
Get ready for some posts to get me ready for my trip and some more Ranger talk.
By the way – The Rangers finally beat the Yankees today. Hopefully Tex and company will snap out of it.
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