Category Archives: ‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball

Matt Smith’s Monday morning column, looking back at the previous week in MLB and looking ahead to the ‘early’ games scheduled for the week ahead

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: More replay on the way

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For many people, part of baseball’s charm is the way it stays the same. The sport cherishes its past; traditions are embraced and comfort is taken in the idea that the game played today is little different to that of 100 years ago.

Yet within this nostalgic view, it shouldn’t be overlooked that we’re in the midst of a period of important change in MLB.

Last season saw the introduction of a new Wild Card round to the postseason, this year will bring season-long Interleague play with the Houston Astros moving to the AL West, and it appears that 2014 will herald the start of a new era of expanded instant replay.

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark recently wrote about the delay in making changes to the current limited replay system and all of the complexities that are currently being debated within MLB, with a view to a new system being in place for the start of the 2014 season.

Any fan who has seen their team undone by a clearly incorrect call – all that’s every fan, despite MLB umpires largely doing a brilliant job – will be keen for baseball to finally join the ranks of most other sports by introducing instant replay in a meaningful way.

However, the belief that replay is an officiating panacea is not true. Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter is quoted in Stark’s piece saying “Right now, they’re right 99 per cent of the time. But they should be able to get to 100 per cent [by using replay]”.

Sorry Buck, but you’re out of luck there.

Even with plenty of cameras at every game – and Stark’s article raises the important point that camera coverage is currently very varied in MLB ballparks – it’s impossible to get the perfect angle for every incident. That’s not always an issue, but it is in some cases and without the perfect angle you still have to rely on an element of judgement.

That judgement isn’t simply an interpretation of the rules, it can also involve how your brain interprets the images. We’ve seen it plenty of times in cricket: a super-slow-mo, zoomed-in image shows the ball coming into close proximity with the bat for a potential ‘knick’. Some will see the ball clearly deviate as it clips the edge of the bat, others will see it harmlessly passing by. Both sides are left incredulous that the other can’t see what looks indisputable to them.

So instant replay isn’t always a clear-cut way to answer every single argument and that’s an important point to keep in mind.

It still should be better than the current situation though and that’s really what most are looking for. What we want is an end to blatantly incorrect calls changing the course of a game.

The difficulty comes in implementing a system that allows the officials to target those important decisions without reviewing every marginally questionable case. MLB’s initial relationship with replay focuses on home run calls as these are key plays where a run or four is scored (or not). A close play on a runner reaching first base may be inconsequential if followed by an inning-ending double-play on the very next pitch, or it could be the precursor to a six-run rally.  It’s simply not always known what will turn out to be a crucial play while the game unfolds.

Stark’s article states that managers and players are not overly keen on a ‘challenge’ system, which suggests that it will be up to the umpire’s discretion as to whether a decision is referred onto a fifth umpire or not (thankfully the farcical sight of the umpiring crew heading off the field to consult replay images in secret as everyone else twiddles their thumbs appears to be on borrowed time).

That should be a manageable system as currently it’s rare for there to be more than a couple of incidents per game that might need to be reviewed. The danger is that umpires become overly cautious and start checking decisions just to be sure, perhaps egged on by managers demanding a play to be reviewed. The only way we’ll know is to live with the system for a few years and to see how it goes.

Whatever system is introduced, you can be sure that it will not please everybody and it will not bring an end to umpiring controversy. However, the new system in 2014 doesn’t have to be – and logic tells us it won’t be – the definitive answer to using replay.

So long as it’s accepted as a search for improvement, not a search for complete perfection, a new system should have a positive affect on those who play, watch, or officiate in MLB.

Rounding the bases

It was sad weekend for baseball with Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Earl Weaver passing away. The book ’Weaver on Strategy’ is one that any British baseball fan should consider adding to their collection.

One week ago, there were three main free agents left on the market, all of them being clients of agent Scott Boras. That list is now down to two (Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse) after Rafael Soriano agreed a two-year, $28m contract with the Washington Nationals. Boras’ strategy appears to be to wait for other players to come off the market – unless bowled over by an offer – to then leave him and his clients as a team’s only option if they want to improve via free agency. It worked with Prince Fielder last year and has worked for Soriano now, so don’t be surprised if Borne and Lohse end up with lucrative multi-year contracts too.

As for the Nationals, they followed up on strengthening their bullpen by trading Michael Morse to the Seattle Mariners in a three-club deal also involving the Oakland A’s. Morse became surplus to requirements once Adam LaRoche agreed to return to Washington on a two-year contract. The Mariners desperately needed to upgrade their offence, but their fans have some reason to feel underwhelmed by being reunited with Morse alongside the acquisitions of Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales and Jason Bay this offseason.

Mike Napoli’s move to the Boston Red Sox has finally been agreed, but the Red Sox’s concerns with one of Napoli’s hips has cost him a lot of money. The initial three-year, $39m contract that they had agreed early in the offseason has turned into a one-year deal guaranteeing him $5m, with a further potential $8m in incentives.

Enthusiasm for the World Baseball Classic still appears to be lukewarm in the States, but the announcement last week of provisional rosters for the event certainly caught the imagination of baseball fans in many other parts of the world. Barry Larkin, who will manage Brazil in this year’s tournament, explained the situation well in stating,“being on the other side internationally, the tournament is humongous .. there is a tremendous amount of interest and excitement. I think it’s more exciting because of the opportunity it gives the players who are not in the States”.

The highlight of the WBC roster announcements for me was looking at the talent on the Netherlands’ provisional list. Dutch Major league (Hoofdklasse) stalwarts such as pitchers Rob Cordemans and David Bergman could be joined by highly-touted prospects such as the Rangers’ Jurickson Profar, the Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts and the Orioles’ Jonathan Schoop, as well as the Braves’ shortstop whiz Andrelton Simmons. It’s possible that not all will be on the final roster, but the Dutch will have an exciting infield even with only a couple of them joining the team.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Hall of Fame

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The past week was dominated by the announcement of the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot results in which none of the 37 eligible players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

An election shutout has occurred seven times in the past. What made the eighth so notable is that it came from arguably the most star-studded ballot that the voters have ever been presented with.

The voters, 569 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), have attracted plenty of flak for their collective decision. However, in fairness to the BWAA this wasn’t a situation completely of their own making. MLB’s drug-taking past was the open secret that everyone acknowledged but no one really wanted to deal with. This year’s ballot was the most public case so far of one part of the baseball community, the Hall of Fame voters, having no choice but to confront it.

As expected, the process was difficult; the outcome was divisive.

In a strange way this is something to celebrate. It was difficult and divisive because people care so passionately about baseball stats and history.  The Hall of Fame, the way we recognise the history of MLB, matters because the sport itself is such an integral part of so many people’s lives.

Reconciling this with the complex realities of the game as it is played is not always easy, as seen during the 2012 season.

The official records show that Buster Posey’s .336 batting average led the Senior circuit in 2012. Baseball-Reference has highlighted his name and average to indicate that things aren’t quite that straight forward.  According to the normal rules, his ex-teammate Melky Cabrera should have won the ‘batting title’ with his .346 average. He didn’t because he failed a drug test in August and the player, Players Association and MLB agreed to pass a one-season-only rule to disqualify him from the running.

Introducing temporary rules to gain a more palatable result is hardly ideal, yet it seemed to be the pragmatic response to a difficult situation. Cabrera had tested positive and the batting title if awarded would have been a hollow achievement for the player. The most important part of the decision was to act quickly and to give the other players a chance to compete for it, rather than revise history once the season was over.

The difference between MLB today and when the Hall of Fame class played the bulk of their careers is the presence of the drug testing programme that caught Cabrera.

This was not introduced until the 2004 season. You can debate for hours what that might mean for any user’s culpability before then – was it truly against the rules etc – but any decision on that doesn’t change the fact that there was no mechanism to catch people and to provide actual evidence of use or non-use.

It is the non-use that should be emphasised here.

There is no reason for any genuinely clean athlete to accept the intrusion of being subjected to random testing on a consistent basis if they cannot hold up their clean record at the end of a long career as evidence that they did not take drugs.

Whilst we all know that drug-testing is not perfect and determined cheats may find ways to thwart the testers, the onus is on the drug-testing programme to catch up with them and the possibility of people cheating the system should not stain the reputations of everybody else.

The problem for the ‘clean’ players on the recent ballot is that they don’t have a resume of clean tests to help their case. From a collective point of view it is valid to point out that the players, through the Players Association, could have pushed to introduce drug-testing years ago. It wasn’t simply a case of bad timing, they could have helped to avoid this situation, and I’m sure there were players that tried to do so.

Why it didn’t happen until 2004 is no doubt a complex answer heavily influenced by the years of labour disputes, culminating in the 1994-95 strike.

The simplest answer is that baseball was booming during the so-called steroid era and it was easier for everyone, if not to turn a blind eye in every case, to feel a tinge of discomfort and then get back to revelling in the incredible excitement of the Run to 61 and all that followed.

That’s why landing all the blame on the players does not seem right. Fans and writers enjoyed the exploits on the field at the time. Many were expressing doubts by the time Barry Bonds was edging past Hank Aaron’s all-time home run total, but we all kept watching all the same.

The only reason Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio (I would add Jeff Bagwell to name at least one other) will not be giving induction speeches at Cooperstown this year is due to doubt caused by the ‘steroid era’.  With no actual evidence of drug taking by them to point to, that seems completely unjust.

The argument can even extend to Bonds and Roger Clemens. Although there is some evidence at least linking them to drug-taking, it is in part due to their elevated standing in the game – plus, I suspect, their possibly undeserved reputations as being surly and generally disliked – that they have been subjected to such scrutiny.  I’ve yet to see anyone construct a convincing argument that shows that alleged drug use turned them from being merely very good players to greatness.

If unarguable evidence showed they had taken drugs during their career – and with Bonds at least the case already seems set – that would affect my opinion of them, but it wouldn’t change my belief that they were two of the greatest players ever to play the game.

As such, they belong in the Hall of Fame.

Let the spotlight created by being elected for such an honour, not least the focus on their induction speeches, make us all reflect upon the era in which they played.  The best and most constructive way for us to learn from the era is to remember it, not to forget it.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: A 2013 return

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After a one-year hiatus, my ‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball column returns today.

Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the key stories that caught my eye in MLB over the past week.

Lonestar State MLB season opener

Our progression through the long baseball-free winter months reached a significant moment this past week as ESPN announced which game would be the 2013 MLB regular season opener.

Baseball fans in the U.K. will be putting sleep to one side in the early hours of Monday 1 April as the Houston Astros make their American League debut against the Texas Rangers. The game will begin shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday 31 March, making for a 1 a.m. Bank Holiday Monday start for us.

The game choice is a slight surprise. The obvious choice for the marquee season opener was the game between the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the reigning World Series champions the San Francisco Giants.

Over the past ten seasons, the reigning World Series champions have featured in the opening game on seven occasions (taking the three Japan series in 2004, 2008 and 2012 out of the equation).

On the other three occasions, the Orioles celebrated 50 years in Baltimore to start the 2004 season against the Boston Red Sox, Ryan Zimmerman memorably launched the new Nationals Ballpark by launching a walk-off home run against the Atlanta Braves in 2008, and there was no single opening game in 2011 when the action started on a Thursday.

The Astros’ move into the American League is certainly a notable moment. It marks the end of the organization’s 51-season spell in the Senior Circuit and is the first time a team has switched leagues since the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the AL to the NL in 1998.  Combine that with this being the first game in a new American League local rivalry against the Rangers and it should be the sort of memorable occasion that the marquee opener deserves.

The only problem from a neutral’s perspective is that the Astros aren’t very good. And that’s putting it kindly.

Houston lost 107 games in 2012, after losing 106 in the previous year, and their offseason inactivity coupled with the move to a more competitive division doesn’t bode well for their prospects in 2013.  Their number one starting pitcher right now is Bud Norris and whilst he’s a decent enough starter who can rack up some strikeouts for your fantasy team, he isn’t anyone’s definition of an ace.

It’s a shame that the Astros are starting this new era whilst being in the early stages of a rebuilding phase. The Major League team and farm system had needed an overhaul since 2009, but stubbornness alongside the protracted sale of the organization delayed the process for a couple of years and it’s probable that Astros fans will be waiting until 2015 or 2016 before they start to see real progress at the Major League level.

But let’s not be too negative. Every baseball fan knows that however mediocre a team may look on paper, and however poorly they may perform over the course of a season, they are capable of pulling out a win on any given day or night.

The Astros played six Interleague games against the Rangers last season. They lost five of them, but they did gain a 6-5 victory over their rivals on 19 May at Minute Maid Park.

One solitary win doesn’t count for much in the general scheme of things; however wouldn’t it be great if the unfancied Astros shocked the Rangers with an Opening Night victory, sending their fans home happy, decked out in clothing adorned with their new logo and colour scheme, toasting the joy of being able to claim that they have the best record in the Majors, for one night at least.

It could come true, or they could be put to the sword by a Texas team intent on showing the locals how tough life will be in the AL West.

The 2013 regular season opener will not just be a great occasion for the Astros, it will be an instant reminder, as another season gets underway, of one of the great wonders of baseball: you never know what’s going to happen.

Berkman joins the Rangers

Saturday’s news that Lance Berkman has agreed a one-year,$10m contract with the Texas Rangers will bring an extra storyline to the opening game.

Berkman is of course an Astros hero having been a star on the team from 1999 to 2010. Injury wrecked his 2012 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, restricting him to only 32 games; however, that followed a memorable 2011 campaign in which he helped the Cards to a World Series win.

Moving to the AL, where his knees can be rested as a Designated Hitter, increases the odds that Berkman will be able to contribute throughout the season. If he does, the Rangers’ offence is really starting to shape up again. This is their projected batting lineup against right-handed pitchers, as proposed by the brilliant MLBDepthCharts website:

1 2B Ian Kinsler
2 SS Elvis Andrus
3 LF David Murphy*
4 3B Adrian Beltre
5 DH Lance Berkman**
6 RF Nelson Cruz
7 C A.J. Pierzynski*
8 1B Mitch Moreland*
9 CF Leonys Martin*

Projected Bench
C Geovany Soto
IF/OF Leury Garcia
IF/OF Mike Olt
OF Craig Gentry

(* = left-handed hitter, ** = switch-hitter).

The one criticism you could level at the line-up is that David Murphy is not an ideal Number Three hitter, but if they could add another quality bat to the outfield mix – and they continue to be linked with a trade for Arizona’s Justin Upton – then it would become a very well-balanced offence.

The Rangers have lost several key players this offseason, not least Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli, whilst missing out on pitching targets such as Zack Greinke and James Shields.  However one look at their roster tells you that it would be a grave mistake to underestimate how good a team they remain.

Optimism in Cleveland

Positivity and optimism was overflowing this week in Cleveland as the Indians formally announced the signing of free agent outfielder Nick Swisher.

The former Yankee is one of the most gregarious players in MLB so the level of excitement coming from the player was no surprise. However, there seemed to be a wider sense at the press conference that Cleveland, with Terry Francona at the helm, are on their way up.

Moving from a 68-94 record in 2012 to challenging the formidable Detroit Tigers in 2013 may be beyond them, but there are genuine reasons for fans of the Tribe to look forward to the coming season with optimism that their team is heading in the right direction once again.

 

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Two more Wild Cards?

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WHGB11As so often seems to be the case, we are being treated to a grandstand finish to the MLB season.

The restructuring of the postseason back in 1995 with the introduction of Wild Cards was greeted with a healthy dose of scepticism, but in most years since we have been entertained royally as  the regular season has been played out.

Prior to Sunday’s games, both the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves were doing their best to keep that trend going.  Seemingly both on course for relatively comfortable postseason qualification as they entered September, the two clubs have slumped in the final month while others have piled on the pressure.

It’s made for an exciting final few days despite all six division winners being confirmed by last Friday.  Such excitement makes you wonder what impact the possible introduction of an additional Wild Card in each league will have on the competition.

It was noted in last week’s column that the provisional 2012 MLB schedule appeared to offer little room for an additional playoff round.  Since then, word has spread that it is still possible the new Wild Card round will be introduced next year.  

Reports suggest that the players will only accept an extra playoff round if that change is accompanied by a more balanced schedule, created in part by one team (almost certainly the Houston Astros) moving from the National League into the American League (and specifically into the AL West). 

The repercussions of all this will take time to be negotiated as part of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement; however it’s possible that the additional Wild Card could be added next year ahead of any other changes so long as a plan is agreed for the rest. What we do know is that the extra Wild Card will be added at some point.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: The playoff run-in

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WHGB11It’s that tough time of year where you log onto MLB.com, go to the standings and see your team’s elimination number has changed from a digit to the dreaded ‘E’.

The Houston Astros were officially eliminated back on 22 August on their way to a 100+ loss season, while it happened to my team, the Oakland A’s, last Sunday.  You know it’s coming, but it’s still a depressing moment; a sudden stab of reality where your hopes for the year have been officially consigned to the toilet.

Fans of 22 teams will go through this emotional process and 18 fan bases are already coming to terms with it (technically it’s 19, but the Braves’ ‘E’ is countered by their NL Wild Card hopes).   The other 12 will see their future decided over the next ten days. 

National League

Fredi Gonzalez does not want a late season collapse in his first year in charge of the Atlanta Braves.  There have been some signs that the team, particularly the young pitching, is wearing down a tad; however they have three games away to Florida (the team that unceremoniously dumped Gonzalez not long ago, don’t forget) followed by three in Washington to steady the ship.  Hopefully for the Braves their season finale at home to the Phillies will simply be a possible NLCS prelude rather than a nervy affair to secure their playoff spot.

As for those Phillies, with their fifth consecutive NL East title already in the bag, they will be getting ready for the postseason (the NL East was never their goal, they expect to get to the World Series) while putting three digits in the win column.  The Phillies have had two 100+ win seasons in their history, earning 101 victories in both 1976 and 1977.  Mind you, they were knocked out in the NLCS in both those years. Best aim for 102 wins just in case there’s something spooky going on there.

The Milwaukee Brewers should ride their 21-7 August into the postseason. After three games at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, they finish up with a six-game homestand against the Marlins and the Pirates (3 games against each).  Those contests at Miller Park are likely to be the last regular season home games Prince Fielder makes in a Brewers uniform, as most expect him to leave as a free agent over the offseason.  Whether another NL Central first baseman is coming to the end with his current team is more up for debate.

The St. Louis Cardinals end the season with three games in Houston, but prior to that they have three home games against the Mets and then three at home to the Cubs.  If Albert Pujols does leave the Redbirds, their bitter rivals from Chicago are one of the teams that have been mentioned as a possible contender for his services.  Those rumours will add an extra subplot to that home series.

In the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks are hoping that their recent losing streak will turn out to be a minor blip.  They are 45-27 at Chase Field this season and end the year with a nine-game homestand.  The middle three games are against the Giants and they could prove to be decisive. 

The Giants have three games at Dodger Stadium before travelling to Chase Field and then finish up the regular season at home against the Rockies.

American League

The Boston Red Sox have not had a great September so far; however the rest of their schedule looks quite favourable.  Seven of their remaining ten games will be against the Baltimore Orioles, against whom they have an 8-3 record so far this season.  Boston’s other three games are the small matter of a series in New York against the Yankees, but by then their rivals could have done them a big favour.

The Tampa Bay Rays now have a four-game series in New York and the Yankees could effectively knock them out of the running, sealing the Red Sox’s Wild Card spot. 

But it might not work out that way. 

If the Rays win that series and the Red Sox slip up against the Orioles, we’d be in a position of Boston having three tough games in New York while the Rays play three games at home against the Toronto Blue Jays, who they are 10-5 against so far this year.  The Rays’ final three games are at home against the Yankees and if the Bronx Bombers have secured their place in the postseason by then (which is likely to be the case in this scenario) then Tampa Bay could be in the driving seat.

There a few ‘ifs’ and ‘coulds’ in there and the stark fact that the Rays will face the Yankees in seven of their last ten games makes it a very tough task for them. 

The Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels are scheduled to end the season with a three-game set at Angels Stadium.  The question is whether L.A. could turn that into a grandstand finish or if the Rangers would have won the division already by then. 

Texas now has three games in Oakland, who they have absolutely dominated recently, before three at home against Seattle.  The Angels have four games on the road against the Blue Jays and then end with a six-game homestand against the A’s and the Rangers.

The Detroit Tigers have two games in Kansas City and then finish up with a seven-game homestand against the Orioles (4 games) and the Indians (3).  That’s a very favourable run-in, but the Tigers don’t need to rely on that now they have been crowned AL Central champs.

2012 Regular season schedule released already

We haven’t finished this season yet, but the 2012 regular season schedule has already been announced. 

The Florida – soon to be Miami – Marlins’ first game in their new ballpark was always going to be the highlight of the opening schedule, but I didn’t think it would stand out quite so much as it does.  The Marlins will play a single game against the Cardinals on Wednesday 4 April before both teams have Thursday off and then head out onto the road, with the Marlins facing the Reds and the Cardinals facing the Brewers.  That seems a bizarre way to launch a new ballpark.  ‘It’s here at last and, oh, we’re off again’.

Currently the Cardinals-Marlins game is the first scheduled contest of the year, but if that is the thinking behind the odd scheduling then it could be undone by the Mariners and A’s.  Talks are ongoing to move their opening series to Japan, which would make for a great event if Hideki Matsui re-signs with the A’s and therefore leads the team against fellow Japanese hero Ichiro.  When the A’s played two games against the Boston Red Sox back in 2008, they were brought forward to 25-26 March so that the teams could get over the jet lag before getting into the grind of the season.

The schedule is still subject to change – beyond the M’s-A’s series – however it’s unlikely to be altered to any great extent.  That surely means the plans for an extra Wild Card will now not become a reality until 2013 at the earliest.  Even without making a gap for the extra round (which might just be one extra game in each league if it’s a single-game Wild Card showdown), the World Series would already nudge into November if it goes the full seven games.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Alex Liddi makes it to the Majors

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WHGB11There are just over two weeks left of the 2011 regular season and many of the races for playoff spots are already as good as over. 

The Los Angeles Angels are putting pressure on the Texas Rangers in the AL West, while both the St. Louis Cardinals and possibly even the Tampa Bay Rays are hanging in there ready to take advantage of any late-season meltdowns suffered by the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox.  However, there’s a good chance that the eight teams currently in the playoff spots will be battling it out in October.

Despite this, there are still plenty of reasons to take an interest in the games played by the non-contenders.  Some of these teams have players that are trying to finish the season with a flourish in the hope of picking up an award or two: the Dodgers being a great example with Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw being in the running for MVP and Cy Young honours.

Additionally, all teams will take advantage of the expanded rosters allowed in September to call up some younger players and let them gain experience in playing at the Big League level.  Short spells in the Major Leagues like this are often referred to as the player getting a ‘cup of coffee’, but from a European baseball perspective the focus is on one player getting a cup of cappuccino.

In the early hours of last Tuesday European time, the Seattle Mariners issued a press release announcing that they had called up three players to their Major League roster.  With all due respect to Michael Saunders and Steve Delabar, the name that jumped out was that of Alessandro ‘Alex’ Liddi.

Alex Liddi is a 23-year old third baseman and he is an Italian baseball player.  He’s not Italian on account of a distant relative’s passport or because his uncle runs a pizza parlour.  He was born and raised in San Remo, Italy and – most importantly – developed as a ballplayer in his homeland until the Mariners signed him as a free agent in 2005.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: D-Backs proving the doubters wrong

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WHGB11This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ World Series triumph in an epic Fall Classic victory over the New York Yankees. 

Few would have predicted a re-match heading into this season.  While the Yankees were always going to be a contender, the D-Backs looked like being anything but.  Indeed, I predicted they would finish last in the National League West division.

Not for the first time – and surely not for the last – my prediction has turned out to be completely wrong.  Arizona currently lead the San Francisco Giants in the NL West and an excellent August has set up what could be a successful September.

My prediction was based on sound evidence.  The D-Backs had propped up the rest in the West in the previous two seasons and the 2010 campaign was particularly miserable in the desert. 

Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Josh Byrnes both received their marching orders in July as their team sunk towards a 97-loss season.  The bullpen was historically terrible and the decision to trade ace starting pitcher Dan Haren to the Los Angeles Angels midway through the year didn’t exactly increase levels of optimism that the team would be competing for a playoff place any time soon.

Kirk Gibson and Kevin Towers filled the Manager and General Manager positions in what appeared to be the start of rebuilding process.  Veterans Mark Reynolds (traded to the Baltimore Orioles) and Adam LaRoche (departing as a free agent) left the team over the offseason and there were even rumours that their young star Justin Upton was being dangled as potential trade bait.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Weaver stays with the Angels

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WHGB11As the football transfer deadline approaches on Wednesday evening, there will be a surge in rumours of high-priced deals and scarcely believable contract offers.  The stories will inevitably lead to debates on the wages that sportsmen earn and the role played by their agents.

We’ll see greedy stars accompanied by even greedier agents pushing deals through to boost wages and commissioning fees.  Maybe even demanding a ‘loyalty bonus’ from the clubs they are forcing their way out of, just to rub it in that little bit more to the fans working hard to afford the ever-increasing ticket prices.

Jered Weaver’s recent decision to spurn free agency and sign a contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels could be seen as a welcome contrast to this trend.  He signed a five-year/$85m contract extension knowing that he could have received more money had he tested the market after his existing deal expired at the end of the 2012 season.

His press conference comments in particular would have struck a chord with many fans that have sat bemused in a pub pondering why someone on £80k per week is so unhappy with his lot that he needs to jump ship for even more money.

As Weaver put it, “If $85 (million) is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of families then I’m pretty stupid, but how much money do you really need in life?”

The answer normally lies with the agent saying ‘as much money as you can get from whichever team is prepared to pay it’.  From a cynical point of view, the agent will say that because their commission will be higher depending on the overall value of the contract.  From a more realistic point of view, the agent will say that because they know teams will try and get away with paying as little as possible.

A sportsman, like any worker, is entitled to seek the best pay he can receive for doing his job and typically that aim is one of the primary reasons why a player will employ an agent in the first place.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Thome and Triple Plays

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WHGB11With two swings of the bat one week ago, Jim Thome elevated himself into the elite bracket of home run hitters.

The Minnesota Twins’ slugger had hit career home run number 598 back on 4 August against the Los Angeles Angels.  That marked the end of a ten-game road trip and Thome headed home hoping that he could get the two home runs needed to make it to the magical 600.

The six home games passed without Thome adding to his total, as did two games at the Cleveland Indians: the club where he started his career and for whom he hit 334 longballs.

And so he arrived at Comerica Park in Detroit on Monday 15 August.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, he took a first pitch fastball from Rick Porcello over the left-centrefield fence to make it to 599.  He was back at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, focused on the game situation but also feeling an emotion that only seven other people have ever experienced.  One more good swing would bring up the round 600.  One long drive would put an exclamation point on years of hard work, dedication and sacrifices.  One moment that would become part of baseball history.

Thome swung hard at a 2-1 curveball from Daniel Schlereth. He knew it was gone and he knew what that meant.  He had just become only the eighth person to hit 600 or more home runs in Major League baseball.

While it is an exclusive club, entry to it has been more frequent in recent years than at any other time in baseball history.  Alongside Thome, the 600 club includes one other active player (Alex Rodriguez) and three who have retired within the last five years (Ken Griffey Jr, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds).

Baseball as much as any sport has a storybook quality to it and the desire to cast its participants into groups of heroes and villains is strong.  Rodriguez, Sosa and Bonds will always have their achievements cast in a shadow of alleged – or in Rodriguez’s case admitted – steroid usage.  In contrast, Griffey’s 600th home run in June 2008 was greeted as a welcome antidote to the ‘tainted’ victories of others.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: ‘Bierbrauers’ keep on smiling

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WHGB11The smiles showed how much they are enjoying their baseball in Milwaukee this season.

Zack Greinke jogged back to the dugout with a big grin on his face, his delight mirrored by that of his teammates.

In the fifth inning of their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, manager Ron Roenicke decided to sacrifice Jonathan Lucroy over to second base and he called on Greinke to come off the bench and do the job.

Milwaukee traded for Greinke over the off-season in the expectation of acquiring a difference-maker who could get them into the playoffs.  They were looking for the type of contribution they received on Friday night, when the former Cy Young winner struck out nine and gave up only two runs in 7.2 innings as he gained his eleventh win on the season.

His ability to lay down a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt wasn’t factored into those difference-making expectations, but the contributions just keep on coming from Greinke and many other members of the Brew Crew.  He put down a perfect bunt on the first pitch.  The only mistake Greinke made was in wearing the wrong jersey: a ‘Bierbrauer’ version intended to be worn on Sunday as part of a German heritage promotion.

The Brewers have shown themselves to be adept at not letting such minor errors and more pressing problems get in the way of winning with a smile on their faces.

Marco Estrada made a spot start for the Brewers in that Saturday game after Chris Narveson suffered a freak injury, slicing a finger with a pair of scissors whilst tending to his glove.  Estrada didn’t miss a beat, giving up a single hit over five scoreless innings before coming out of the game for Greinke’s pinch-bunt, with the Brewers’ bullpen taking over the rest of the way on the mound.

Narveson was placed on the 15-day Disabled List to recover from his injury, joining several other important players on the sidelines. Milwaukee lost both centrefielder Carlos Gomez and second baseman Rickie Weeks at the end of July; a double blow that could have derailed the team.

However, Nyjer Morgan has been an able deputy in centrefield, making some highlight plays with the glove and bringing the same enthusiasm and energy that Gomez does to the team.  Weeks is one of the best second baseman – indeed one of the top position players when healthy – in the game, so replacing him has been trickier.  Felipe Lopez, brought back to the team prior to the trade deadline, hasn’t hit much while filling Weeks’ fielding position, but other players have stepped up.

On Saturday, the Brewers even received a positive contribution from Yuniesky Betancourt. He was seen as the bitter pill Milwaukee had to swallow as part of the trade to acquire Greinke from the Kansas City Royals and he’s done what was expected of him: provided a bit of a power from the shortstop position and not a lot else.  Against the Pirates, that was all the Brewers needed as he hit a solo shot in the second inning for what proved to be the only run scored by either team.

Heading into their game on Sunday, the Brewers had won fifteen of their previous seventeen games, a sequence that included taking four games from six against their closest rivals in the NL Central: the St. Louis Cardinals.  Now that they finally have a good starting rotation to go alongside the batting core of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Weeks, the smiles in Milwaukee could last long into the offseason.

Seeing-eye singles

Have we reached the end of the Carlos Zambrano soap opera? He might have finally burned his bridges in Chicago after one incident too many.  ESPN Chicago’s Jon Greenberg thinks that the Cubs should pay off the final year on his contract, stating: “Zambrano is owed only $19 million next year. Not exactly chump change, but easily digestible. Owner Tom Ricketts and his siblings can’t be happy about eating another contract after Carlos Silva was waived this spring, but this has to be done”.  I can just about understand what Greenberg means we he writes “only” $19m, but that sum and the mention of the Silva saga do not reflect well on the Cubs’ General Manager Jim Hendry.

The Reds hit seven home runs against the Padres on Saturday. It was fitting that Homer Bailey was credited with the pitching win for Cincinnati.

It wasn’t a great weekend for two AL Cy Young contenders.  CC Sabathia was plundered for five solo home runs on Friday and then Jered Weaver was knocked around on Saturday by the Blue Jays. Advantage: Justin Verlander.

Dan Uggla’s 33-game hitting streak came to an end on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra on Sunday evening.  Although that streak is over, the Braves have got to be delighted with the way he has turned his season around of late. Good job I didn’t get frustrated at his disappointing first half performance and kept him on my fantasy team.