Tag Archives: Chicago White Sox

White Sox have eyes on a Wild Card

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The MLB Winter Meetings surpassed all expectations as a source not just of rumours but actual trades and free agent signings.

Plenty of players found new homes, or had them chosen for them, and many of the moves seem likely to prompt further deals to occur over the next month or so.

The most intriguing protagonist in all this so far has been the Chicago White Sox.

They lost 89 games in 2014 despite receiving quality performances from the likes of true ace Chris Sale, Cuban slugger Jose Abreu and the effective Jose Quintana.

A few years ago, a team in that position may see its better players as being of more value to another team than themselves. Paying for quality performances when your side as a whole isn’t a contender can be a waste. With all teams on the lookout for upgrades, often it made more sense to cash in and trade those players away for a package of prospects that could blossom at a more opportune time period.

Thanks to the second Wild Card and booming TV revenues, this position now seems to be rarer. If you’ve got a core of players, that means you could be just a handful of moves away from getting back into the playoff mix.

What I’ve been particularly impressed by is the way that the White Sox’s General Manager Rick Hahn has acted to improve all areas of his roster.

Their bullpen has been boosted by the additions of David Robertson and Zach Duke and the rotation now boasts an impressive 1-2 punch with Jeff Samardzija joining Sale as a deadly duo. As for the offence, Adam LaRoche should add some quality at-bats on his own, whilst also allowing Abreu to save his legs by DH’ing on a regular basis, and Saturday night’s signing of Melky Cabrera not only puts one of the better free agent bats on their roster but also keeps him off a potential contender.

The two keys to baseball are scoring runs and preventing runs, so improving both aspects of your team gives you a good chance to make some inroads.

There’s no question that the White Sox have a lot of ground to make up and even after these additions it may prove they haven’t done quite enough to bridge the gap to reigning AL Central champs the Detroit Tigers (although, if they cannot bring back Max Scherzer, they may start slipping back to the pack more quickly than expected).

However, even if that does prove correct, that doesn’t mean they won’t be good enough to beat out teams like the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians for a potential Wild Card.

The mere possibility is exactly why the White Sox are going for it this offseason, trying to take advantage of having the likes of Sale and Abreu rather than letting someone else enjoy them.

White Sox fans have genuine reason for optimism after a depressing 2014 and the playoff race in the American League should have another contender to add to the mix.

If the awards matter, why announce them like they don’t?

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MlbHlSqDerek Jeter’s retirement had many scribes pondering who will become the new ‘face of MLB’ and how the sport could do a better job at promoting its stars.

Consequently it was wonderful to see Mike Trout, unquestionably one of the most dazzling young players the sport has got, receiving his first Most Valuable Player Award a couple of weeks ago.

The news stories, online videos and TV coverage garnered by him receiving a trophy from a legend of the game in front of a packed crowd at a gala event would have been a good way to keep MLB fresh in the mind.

That’s not how the awards are dished out in baseball, though.

Instead, there was a bland press release and various TV networks interviewing him on a video link from his parents’ house. From the point of view of demonstrating Trout is really just ‘a regular guy’ then that approach may have some merit.

From the point of view of celebrating a great baseball talent, and convincing people he’s someone special they should be excited about watching, it’s as much use as a chocolate teapot.

A televised gala award evening to celebrate the recent MLB season is a blindingly obvious way to present all the major trophies, reliving the pennant races, the postseason and also all the other smaller stories that made up the year, as well as acknowledging again the people elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame that year.

Getting everyone together in a single place in the offseason might not be the simplest task, but it is certainly achievable and would be a great way to send-off the season in style, whilst getting people excited about next season in the process.

MLB does many things very well. Promoting its players is not one of them.

It was only recently that MLB decided it might be worth making a show of the early rounds from the amateur draft. They are starting to build that up as a televised event now and an end-of-season review extravaganza would be a positive next step to further promote the game’s emerging young stars and established names.

Quite simply, if MLB can’t be bothered to make a big thing of the awards, why would a casual sports fan care about them either?

Evaluating achievements

Irrespective of the ropy way they were announced, this year’s selections for the four main awards all gave reason to consider some of the subtleties around how achievements should be weighted when selecting a winner.

With the MVP awards, the main talking point was the decision to crown LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw as the NL’s MVP alongside his now traditional Cy Young award. The fact that pitchers have their own prestigious award, and that they play in significantly less games over the season than a position player, does call into question whether a pitcher should win the MVP award.

The voting criteria makes clear that pitchers are eligible for the award; the case from there is how you measure a position player’s contribution against that of a starting pitcher. Starting pitchers may only take the ball one day out of five, but on that day they have a far greater impact on the game (delivering 100+ pitches) than a position player taking four or five at-bats and making a couple of fielding plays.

Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen both had great seasons, yet neither were exceptionally above Kershaw’s outstanding performance for the Dodgers and consequently that made him a fitting choice.

There were fewer arguments around Kershaw’s NL Cy Young award success. In the AL version it was Corey Kluber who came out on top over Felix Hernandez. Both had excellent years so whichever way you went with those two there was a good case to say you had the right answer.

King Felix clearly has the more impressive track record over a number of seasons, which could be argued as being a crucial factor rather than just focusing on one exceptional campaign. Ultimately there’s a good case that Kluber had the slightly better season – for example, using Baseball-References’ WAR as a guide Kluber added 7.4 wins to his team over a replacement player, compared to Hernandez’s 6.8 – and if the award is there to honour the best pitcher that season then previous seasons should only come into it if there is really nothing else to separate them.

In the Rookie of the Year stakes, Jacob deGrom gave the New York Mets a rare reason to be cheerful and Jose Abreu was a similarly uplifting presence for the Chicago White Sox.

Abreu doesn’t quite fit the traditional image of a young, fresh-faced rookie. He made his Major League debut this year as a 27-year-old having defected from Cuba and came into the Big Leagues with considerable experience of playing in his homeland and on the international stage.

His unanimous selection as Rookie of the Year showed that his strict definition as a Major League rookie regardless of his previous experience was good enough for the voters. Considering the challenge he faced in competing against MLB pitchers and in adjusting to life in the States, it was a decision few could find much fault with.

Finally, the Baltimore Orioles’ Buck Showalter and Washington Nationals’ Matt Williams took home the Manager of the Year honours for the AL and NL respectively.

Showalter’s work with the Orioles has cemented his reputation as an excellent, experienced manager. In some respects this contrasts considerably with Williams for whom 2014 wasn’t simply his first year as a Major League manager, but a manager at any level.

His team led the National League with 96 wins and that’s a good starting point for any discussions on how successful a year a manager has had. Still, the impact that a manager can have in the standings is always largely determined by the roster of players he has at his disposal.

There is a school of thought that Williams made his share of mistakes this year. Had Williams been given his managerial break by the Arizona Diamondbacks – for whom he was a coach for several years before joining the Nationals – or perhaps a team like the Colorado Rockies, then I’m betting he would not have been any part of the Manage of the Year conversation.

The problem with that stance is that you end up penalizing a manager for having the benefit of a talented group of players to call on, as trying to put some subjective value on what a manager brings to a team is devilishly difficult.

Bruce Bochy would have been an obvious alternative for his postseason exploits, yet let’s give Williams some credit for leading the Nationals to 96 wins and wait and see if he can do it again in 2015.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Head-first hurts

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WHGB11Josh Hamilton was one of the major question marks hanging over the Los Angeles Angels coming into the 2014 season.

If he could regain his position as a fearsome hitter then the Halos would be one step closer to pushing for playoff contention; if he got lost in a mire of wild swinging again then they’d need to hope someone else could pick up the slack.

As always seems to be the case with Hamilton, things haven’t turned out quite that simply. He had shown encouraging signs at the plate that he was being more selective over his first eight games. The trouble is, he’s not going to be stepping into the batter’s box again for at least six weeks after tearing a ligament in his left thumb whilst sliding head-first into first base.

There’s no doubt that the all-action head-first slide looks good; it gives the impression of a player going all out to try to be safe regardless of any risk to his body. It’s not a smart way to play the game though; the Angels needed Hamilton in their lineup for the next six weeks much more than they needed him to be safe at first in the seventh inning of an early April game.

Sliding into bases does pose an injury risk, whether head-first or with your legs, and, as with any risk, you have to weigh up the rewards for the effort. The Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman fractured his right thumb diving back into second base on Saturday and he’ll be a loss to Washington, but from second base through to home plate the slide is often your only option to get there quickly whilst avoiding a tag play. You accept the risk that it’s the right way to do it and every now and then a digit can get caught in the wrong place.

That’s not the case at first base. The rules specifically allow you to run through the bag and not be tagged out. It’s the quickest way to get there, as shown in an ESPN Sports Science experiment, and is much the safer way. In a crucial late inning moment when a throw to first base is high it can be worth the gamble to slide, but in any other case it just doesn’t make sense and calling it ‘playing hard’ is to overlook the facts.

Facts that include Josh Hamilton sitting on the sidelines for the next six weeks or so, rather than helping his team to win games that may prove to be the difference between making the playoffs or not.

Injuries

Hamilton and Zimmerman were only two of the players to land on the Disabled List this week.

Much of the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent low-payroll defying success has been built on their young pitching talent and their ability to keep their hurlers relatively healthy.  That made it all the more painful a sight to see Matt Moore clutching his pitching arm elbow after throwing a pitch against the Royals on Monday.

Moore had problems with his elbow last season and was able to come through them. His consultation with Dr James Andrews didn’t provide a definitive prognosis so there remains some hope that he will not be added to the Tommy John surgery list, but the Rays will be looking at their pitching options with the potential that they could be without Moore’s services for the next year or so.

That fate has already been decided for another bright young pitching prospect. The Pirates hoped to add Jameson Taillon to their rotation at some point this season, joining fellow youngster Gerrit Cole as a great duo to build around for years to come. Instead, Taillon will spend the next year rehabbing after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow this week.

Elbow injuries to pitchers are a common theme, which makes them all the more frustrating as – rightly or wrongly – they seem like something the sport could do more to prevent.  Injuries will always be a part of the game though and we saw that this week when the Chicago White Sox’s outfielder Avisail Garcia landed awkwardly on his left shoulder when attempting a diving catch against the Rockies on Wednesday. Had he landed slightly differently he may have just been winded, instead he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder and will now miss the rest of the season recovering from surgery.

When is a cheat not a cheat?

Cheat: verb, “act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage” (definition as per Oxford Dictionaries)

Cheat is a word that gets bandied about quite a bit, but despite the seemingly straightforward definition, it is a muddled label to apply to someone, based predominantly on subjective opinion.

Take the topical case of Michael Pineda, the New York Yankees’ resurgent pitcher, and the dirty mark on his pitching hand during Thursday’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

Rule 8.02, paragraph 4 of MLB’s Official Rules states that a pitcher shall not “apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball”. Within the Rules themselves, the only indication of what constitutes a foreign substance is in Rule 3.02, which explains that  “No player shall intentionally discolour or damage the ball by rubbing it with soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sand-paper, emery-paper or other foreign substance”.

If, as it appeared, Pineda was putting some pine tar on his pitching hand, and therefore onto the ball, then that would contravene the rules and be an illegal act. The Boston Red Sox TV crew made much of the footage, not surprising perhaps after two of Boston’s pitchers – Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester – were hauled over the coals for the same thing last season. However, after the game players from both teams collectively shrugged their shoulders.

Pineda claimed it was just dirt used to stop the ball from slipping from his grasp and – after seeing Omar Infante get hit in the face by a pitch this week – if a bit of dirt or similar helps to avoid pitches slipping into a batter’s head then you could understand players being relaxed about such ‘cheating’.

Something brewing in Milwaukee

We’ve seen teams get off to hot starts in the past many times, only to quickly fall away. Still, the Milwaukee Brewers were touted as a team that could potentially pull itself up into Wild Card contention this season and their MLB-best 9-2 record to start the year gives fans of the Brew Crew something to shout about again after their disappointing 74-88 season in 2013.

Offseason so far: AL Central

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After taking a look at the comings and goings in the American League East division yesterday, we move on to the AL Central.

Detroit Tigers

So near and yet so far, the Tigers reflected on a losing World Series appearance in 2012 and a losing American League Championship Series in 2013 and had to work out whether a small tweak or two would be enough to keep them in with a shot, or if a bold move was needed to get over the hump and win a World Series.

They’ve taken the latter approach. Veteran manager Jim Leyland has retired and in his place Detroit have chosen a new direction with rookie manager Brad Ausmus. That was a brave move, as was the decision to trade away first baseman Prince Fielder just two years into his blockbuster nine-year contract. Fielder has joined the Texas Rangers with Ian Kinsler – typically a second baseman, although he may move to the outfield in Detroit – going the other way.

Pitcher Doug Fister has also departed in a trade with the Washington Nationals, which wasn’t a surprise in itself considering Detroit have some excellent options already for their starting rotation, although the meagre return (primarily utility man Steve Lombardozzi) did leave many scratching their heads. Omar Infante (Royals) and Jhonny Peralta (Cardinals) have also found new teams as free agents.

As for incomings, Joe Nathan will fill the void as the team’s closer with Joba Chamberlain and Ian Krol also being added to the relief corps, whilst Rajai Davis should provide a speedy option from the bench.

Cleveland Indians

The Indians were one of the surprise teams of 2013, not just in making the playoffs but also in the way they went out over the previous offseason and added leading free agents Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. The pair represented something of a splurge for the cash-strapped team and so they are making more modest investments this time around, primarily in the form of ex-Rangers outfielder David Murphy and reliever John Axford.

Cleveland’s rise to a playoff appearance once greatly helped by the pitching performances of Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez, both of whom are free agents this offseason. Kazmir has already found a new club in the Oakland A’s, but Jimenez is still on the market and there does seem to be some hope that a deal could be agreed for him to return to the Indians. Meanwhile right-handed reliever Joe Smith has left the club as a free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals made a splash a year ago by trading top prospect Wil Myers for pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis. Shields has just one more left on his contract before he becomes a free agent and whilst the team did jump from 72 wins in 2012 to 86 in 2013, that wasn’t a big enough leap to earn the postseason appearance that the team arguably needs to feel like trading such a talented young player as Myers was worth it.

So far this offseason, the Royals have added former Angels’ starting pitcher Jason Vargas and ex-Tiger Omar Infante on four-year contracts and also pulled off what could turn out to be a nifty trade by acquiring outfielder Norichika Aoki for pitcher Will Smith. They were close to bringing back Carlos Beltran to KC nine and half years after they traded him to the Astros, before the Yankees jumped in at the last moment and beat their bid. Pitcher Ervin Santana had a good season for the Royals last year and, as with Jimenez and Cleveland, the fact that he hasn’t yet found a match on the free agent market leaves open the possibility that he could still rejoin the team.

Minnesota Twins

Joe Mauer will not be catching in Minnesota in 2014 but that doesn’t mean the hometown hero has been taken away from the Twins. The 2009 AL MVP winner is ditching the ‘tools of ignorance’ and will give his body a rest while playing first base instead from this season onwards. Kurt Suzuki has been brought in to provide some experience at the catching position whilst prospect Josmil Pinto continues to develop (probably starting the season at Triple-A and earning a promotion mid-season). The Twins’ roster planning will also be mindful of the impending promotion of the exciting third baseman Miguel Sano.

The main development, aside from Mauer changing gloves, has come in the form of three free agent additions to the starting rotation. Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey have been brought in to revamp the pitching staff and it’s rumoured that they may also be joined by Bronson Arroyo in the near future.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox suffered a dreadful 99-loss season in 2013 and one offseason isn’t going to be enough to turn that around. In fact, the south-siders have been open about cutting payroll in 2014 and trying to inject some young talent back into the organization.

However, they have made a couple of promising signings that could provide reason for cheer in the coming season. The most notable came in beating off a lot of competition to win the signature of Cuban slugger Jose Abreu. The 6-year, $68m contract is the most lucrative signed by an international free agent so far and reflects the fact that he is not merely someone with potential, but a 26-year-old slugger heading into what should be the prime of his career,

The White Sox joined with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the L.A. Angels to complete a three-team trade that resulted in Chicago gaining all-action outfielder Adam Eaton. He’ll join a White Sox lineup that will once again, and quite probably for the last year, feature Paul Konerko. The Chicago favourite had considered retirement but was tempted back for another season, albeit on the basis that he’ll be used as a part-time player.

Rounding the Bases: More deals

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The week of the MLB Winter Meetings had a lot to live up to after the transaction bonanza of the preceding week.

Consequently it was a slightly underwhelming few days relative to what had come before, but there was still a series of signings worth catching up on.

Hello Cano

The major event of the week came in Seattle where second baseman Robinson Cano was officially unveiled as a Mariner, having agreed a staggering 10-year, $240m contract with the AL West team.

Such monumental investments carry a significant amount of risk, as discussed a week ago, but any concerns can be pushed to one side right now for Mariners fans as the revel in the excitement of their team acquiring one of the very best players in the Majors.

It is great to see a team like Seattle making a bold signing and further shows how competitive MLB is.

Every year, the vast majority of teams will start the season with genuine reason for optimism that they could be in the running for a playoff place, with the main exceptions being teams, such as the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins, who have deliberately chosen to take steps backwards to reload for better days in years to come.

Only ten teams can make it to the postseason in a given season, so those hopes will not be realised for many, but it is hope that keeps fans going and MLB has done a great job in creating an environment where most teams can offer this.

The Mariners’ next big task is to make further improvements to supplement the addition of Cano, particularly in the batting lineup. Former Milwaukee Brewer Corey Hart has been signed on a one-year deal after he missed all of the 2013 season due to knee surgery. If he’s healthy, Hart should add some much-need power to the lineup, and he’ll be joined by Logan Morrison, who was acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins.

Seattle are unlikely to end their recruitment drive there and they continue to be linked with outfielder free agent Nelson Cruz, although his price tag may prove to be too rich following their spending so far this offseason.

Yankees still shopping

The sight of Robinson Cano smiling in a Mariners uniform didn’t just drive home the impact of his signing for Seattle, but also for his former team in the Bronx.

The Yankees have a Cano-shaped hole to fill at second base and that hasn’t started very well, with one potential target slipping away from them this week.

Omar Infante has reportedly agreed a four-year, $30.25m contract with the Kansas City Royals after the Yankees refused to increase their offer of a three-year deal worth $24m. The 32-year-old isn’t a superstar and holding firm at three years isn’t an overly questionable decision, but solid second baseman aren’t easy to find and there’s no doubt that the Yankees have a pressing need for such a player.  There were rumours of a potential trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Brandon Phillips early last week, but no deal was agreed and apparently talks have ceased for now, with New York turning their attention to Darwin Barney of the Chicago Cubs.

The Royals presumably will take a modicum of satisfaction from outbidding the Yankees for Infante after the Bronx Bombers did the same thing to them with Carlos Beltran.

Three teams, six players

We did get one Winter Meeting specialty last week: the three-team trade. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels combined in a deal including six players.

The best-known name of the bunch was Mark Trumbo. He will take his homer-hitting skills (although arguably supplemented with little else) from the Angels to the D-Backs, whilst Adam Eaton moves from Arizona to Chicago. The Angels are reunited with young pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who they drafted in the first round of the 2009 amateur draft but then traded to Arizona in August 2010 as part of a deal to acquire Dan Haren, and received another starting pitcher in the form of Hector Santiago from the White Sox.

Back to where they were

Several teams and players have decided to stage a reunion.

Juan Uribe has agreed a two-year, $15m deal to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Uribe struggled badly with the Dodgers in 2011 and 2012 and his hack-happy approach at the plate has never endeared him to connoisseurs of the science of hitting. However, he did a good job for the Dodgers in 2013 and, with limited options available, a reunion was always a decent possibility.

Former Dodger James Loney has also rejoined his 2013 team, agreeing a three-year, $21m contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. Loney doesn’t offer much power for a first baseman, yet he’s a good hitter and he enjoyed a comeback in 2013 with the Rays as a change of scenery from L.A., where he looked a little weighed down by not meeting the lofty expectations placed on him, worked out well.

That could have proved a problem for the Rays as good players tend to end up moving out of their price range (David Price being a prime example, although at time of writing his expected trade away from the Rays hasn’t materialized), yet in this case they’ve been able to come to an agreement to keep hold of one of their free agents.

Elsewhere, Clint Barmes has returned to Pittsburgh, whilst Mike Pelfrey has decided to stay in Minnesota. The Twins have now added three pitchers to their rotation, Pelfrey being joined by Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, and they may still be in the conversation to sign former Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo too. None of these hurlers are aces, but they all have their plus points and if they can find some form at Target Field then the Twins may be able to reverse their recent run of disappointing seasons and at least get back on the right path.

Pitchers changing places

Pelfrey wasn’t the only pitcher agreeing terms on a new contract this past week.

Bartolo Colon will try to continue to defy the ageing process after signing a two-year, $20m contract with the New York Mets. Colon performed brilliantly for the Oakland A’s over the last two seasons and a move to another pitcher-friendly home ballpark should increase the odds that he can keep that run going, although moving to the non-DH league where he may have to find his way around the basepads may be a problem for the Mets, and a source of laughter for the rest of us.

The A’s have continued their recent activity by trading away Brett Anderson to the Colorado Rockies and Jerry Blevins to the Washington Nationals. Anderson has been beset by injuries in recent seasons and Coors Field isn’t the first place a pitcher would pick to get their career back on track, but A’s fans will wish him well whilst hoping that former top prospect Drew Pomeranz (selected fifth overall by the Cleveland Indians in the 2010 draft) is a gamble that pays off in return. Blevins should usefully fill a hole in the Nats’ bullpen as a reliable lefty, with the A’s receiving speedy outfield prospect Billy Burns in return.

Another reliever changing teams this week was Joba Chamberlain. Much-hyped as a New York Yankee prospect, Chamberlain never quite lived up to his billing in the Bronx and a move to the Detroit Tigers as a free agent could be just what he needs to get his career going again.

Doc calls it a day

Finally, Roy Halladay announced his retirement this week, signing a one-day deal so that he could retire as a Toronto Blue Jay. His dominating run of seasons from 2002 to 2011 were the equal of some of the very greatest the game has seen and although he doesn’t have all of the impressive counting stats that you’d normally associate with a Hall of Fame player (‘only’ 203 career wins, for example) he was an exceptional pitcher for a significant period of time and should receive serious consideration for a place in Cooperstown.

Scorecards in Action: White Sox-A’s 25 April 2012

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Last Wednesday evening, many sports fans in the U.K. were excited about the prospect of watching a Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

There was no doubting it was an important game, one made all the more interesting by Chelsea’s surprising win over Barcelona the night before in the first semi-final, but my attention was directed towards a ballgame in Oakland instead.

An early season encounter between the Oakland A’s and the Chicago White Sox wouldn’t even grab the attention of many baseball fans, never mind general sports fans, but it was a notable event for me as Jarrod Parker was scheduled to make his A’s debut.

Parker made his Major League debut for Arizona at the end of last season (27 September) and he pitched well over 5.2 innings against the Dodgers. Arizona’s TV commentators were gushing during the game about Parker’s bright future in a D-Backs uniform, but that turned out to be his only appearance for them as he became the headline-grabbing part of the package that Oakland received from Arizona for Trevor Cahill over the offseason.

The White Sox had an exciting young pitcher of their own on the mound in Chris Sale, so it seemed like another good opportunity to get out a blank scorecard and my coloured pens to keep score of the action.

[ilink url=”https://baseballgb.co.uk/wp-content/2012-04-25CwsOak.pdf” style=”download”]25 April 2012 – White Sox vs A’s Completed Scorecard[/ilink]

Parker had a very respectable debut, as shown by the White Sox’s side to the scorecard. He found some ‘blue’ danger in the second inning; however he was able to escape without any damage done to the scoreboard and despite allowing the odd base-runner, he kept Chicago at bay until the top of the seventh inning.

That proved to be a tricky passage of play for me, as hinted at by the scribbled-out marking where the inning begins.  I had quickly checked on the Bayern-Real game and found that it was heading towards a penalty shoot-out, so I had one eye on the muted footy game while listening out for any developments in the baseball.

Commentator Ken ‘Hawk’ Harrelson was talking about the A’s pitcher Ryan Cook so I assumed he had been brought into the game for the seventh inning, leading me to make a mark to show the pitching change and to fill out Parker’s pitching totals. It was only then that I looked up at my monitor and realised Parker was still in the game.

Things got even more confusing as the inning progressed. While I was listening to and noting down Kosuke Fukudome being caught in a run-down between third and home, Kaka was busy missing a penalty for Real. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Bayern buried their final spot-kick to book their place in a home final and I could get back to giving the baseball my full attention.

After the first pitch of the top of the ninth, I would have been glad of any distraction. Aussie Grant Balfour had come into the game to try and close out a 2-1 lead and promptly gave up a game-tying homer to Paul Konerko on his very first pitch. That was Konerko’s 400th career longball and that milestone, along with the game situation, left Harrelson bellowing out his trademark “you can put it on the board … yes!” home run call with even more gusto than usual.

So much for a quick and relatively easy A’s victory.

Soon I was reaching towards my folder and grabbing another blank scorecard as the game hurtled through my two additional inning columns and on to an extra sheet.

The A’s flirted with danger in each inning and kept dodging bullets until the top of the fourteenth when Alexei Ramirez doubled home two runs to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead.  The A’s third baseman Eric Sogard inadvertently started the White Sox’s rally with an error to lead off the inning and as he trudged back to the A’s dugout having struck-out to start the bottom of the frame, it looked like my efforts in sticking with the game would go unrewarded.

But then, all of a sudden, the A’s sprang into life against Hector Santiago.

Josh Reddick reached base with a single and up stepped Yoenis Cespedes, who promptly smacked a two-run bomb to tie the game at 4-4. In a scene most baseball fans in Britain will relate to, it was only near the end of my celebrations – consisting mainly of me jumping up and down repeating Harrelson’s “you can put it on the board ….. yes!” line whilst narrowly avoiding smashing my head against a light shade – that I remembered it was coming up to half-past midnight and that, perhaps, my neighbours might not greatly appreciate the commotion.

I quietly got back to the task of filling in the details on my scorecard and watched with joy as Santiago fell to pieces and Kila Ka’aihue blooped home the game-winning run.

I left the totting up of totals, made that little bit trickier by them being spread out over two scorecards, for the next day and turned off the light thinking that while it may have cost me a good hour and a half of sleep, all in all I didn’t mind that Balfour had blown his lines in the ninth.

If you’re going to spend four hours keeping score of fourteen innings of baseball over two scorecards, you might as well do it in a walk-off win for your chosen team.

MLB manager vacancy: managerial experience not required

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When veteran St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa called it quits while World Series ticker tape danced in the air, he created yet another managerial vacancy in what is proving to be an early offseason of considerable change in the manager/Front Office ranks.

Having managerial experience might normally be seen as an essential requirement before filling out the application form and sending in the CV.  However, based on the first two appointments of the early offseason, direct experience has been considered irrelevant to the decision-making process.

The Chicago White Sox led the way with the surprise appointment of Robin Ventura.  He hasn’t managed or coached at any professional level since retiring as a player in 2004 and even admitted that he was surprised when General Manager Kenny Williams put forward the idea of him taking over from Ozzie Guillen after the outspoken Venezuelan moved on to Miami. 

Williams was in no doubt that Ventura was the right man for job, as he made clear when the appointment was announced. 

“I wanted someone who met very specific criteria centred around his leadership abilities. Robin Ventura was that man. His baseball knowledge and expertise, his professionalism, his familiarity with the White Sox and Chicago and his outstanding character make him absolutely the right person to lead our clubhouse and this organization into the seasons ahead”.

These sentiments have been replicated following the announcement of Mike Matheny’s appointment as the new Cardinals manager on Monday. General Manager John Mozeliak spoke of Matheny’s “leadership, his passion, his intelligence and his work ethic, all of these assets will lead to his success as manager of the Cardinals”.  

Matheny comes to the job in a very similar position to that of Ventura.  Both represented their respective team as a player and had advisory roles in their organization.  They know what it’s like to be part of their club, they know how the local fanbase and media interacts with their team and, perhaps more importantly than anything, the Front Office knows exactly what they are like as people and leaders.

‘Leadership’ has been the watchword, with the assumption being that former players who can put a big tick in that box will succeed as a manager.  There’s good reason to think that this assumption is correct.  Much of the day-to-day, decision-making and tactical work that a manager is involved with should already be familiar for players who have been involved in the game for years with their eyes, ears and minds open.  By all accounts, Matheny and Ventura were always diligent, intelligent, hardworking players.  Continue reading →

2011 MLB Preview: American League Central

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MlbHlSqThe Minnesota Twins were the class team in the Central last year, but the White Sox and Tigers have every intention of putting them under more pressure in 2011.

2010 final standings

1. Minnesota Twins (94-68)
2. Chicago White Sox (88-74)
3. Detroit Tigers (81-81)
4. Cleveland Indians (69-93)
5. Kansas City Royals (67-95)

The 2010/11 offseason

It was a good offseason for the neutrals, as the main challengers made some key additions in an attempt to chase down the reigning champs.

The Tigers made their moves early.  They signed free agent catcher/first baseman/designated hitter Victor Martinez, bringing the former Cleveland Indian back to the AL Central after a year and a half with Boston, and gave Joaquin Benoit, a reliever revelation for the Rays in 2010, a three-year contract.

It looked like Detroit would be the Twins’ only real challenger as the White Sox contemplated entering a rebuilding phase.  However, Chicago’s owner Jerry Reinsdorf had a change of heart and opened the purse strings instead.  That allowed General Manger Kenny Williams to not only re-sign first baseman Paul Konerko and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, but also to bag the big bopper Adam Dunn on a four-year contract after he left the Washington Nationals as a free agent.  Former Twins reliever Jesse Crain and lefty Will Ohman were added to the bullpen, while Matt Thornton was given a contract extension and the closer’s role after Bobby Jenks wore out his welcome and was granted free agency, during which he signed with the Red Sox.  Continue reading →

Countdown to SABR Day 2011: 1910s Cobbette – Shortage of balls nearly terminates 1914 tour game

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Cobbette-(128x128)This is post nine in a ten-post countdown to SABR Day 2011. The series is going through the decades of the 20th Century, backwards from the 1990s. On SABR Day itself, there will be a special feature on the 1890s, which will celebrate the significant link between keeping score and baseball history. This article will be published at 05:00 British time in order to coincide with the start of the day in the time-zone of the Cleveland-based SABR office. To view all the Cobbettes published to date, click here.

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Major League money 2010: Part One

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MlbHlSqWe might be living in an age of budget cuts in the UK, but Major League Baseball is successfully braving the global economic storm in the States.

Midway through December it was revealed that the average MLB salary had exceeded $3m for the first time in 2010 ($3,014,572, equivalent to £37,425 per week) and just before Christmas details of the final 2010 payrolls were disclosed by the Associated Press.

Typically the figures used to describe a team’s expenditure relate to their opening day payroll, but the final payrolls give a more accurate picture of what a team spent on their playing staff throughout the season.

Everyone clicking the above link would expect to see the New York Yankees at the top of the money tree and, sure enough, that’s exactly where they are with a total of $215,053,064. Their bitter rivals the Boston Red Sox came in second with a relatively modest total of $170,650,856. It’s striking that the difference between those top two, $44,402,208, is more than the sum spent by both the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates at the bottom of the spending pile.

Those of us who like to believe that money isn’t the be all and end all can take comfort in the positive year had by the Padres (the Pirates are a lost cause at the moment, but that’s a consequence of a long period of terrible leadership rather than simply a money matter). The level of competition in the National League West doesn’t match that of the AL East, but that doesn’t diminish San Diego’s 90-72 season, in which they narrowly missed out on a playoff spot. No one bettered the Padres when it came to wins per dollars spent ($485,046 per win).

In contrast, the Yankees’ wins cost them $2,263,716 apiece. That’s a cost they can afford thanks to their gleaming new ballpark and lucrative TV network, which both service the biggest sports market in the States. The Red Sox and Yankees effectively force each other to raise the financial stakes and Boston’s free agent-signing exploits this offseason are the latest development in this compelling trend.

That makes the Tampa Bay Rays’ AL East triumph all the more astounding. They had to compete against by far the two biggest spenders, and also a surprisingly competitive Toronto Blue Jays team, with a final payroll that ranked twentieth in the Majors ($77,510,502). To put it another way, the Rays were working with a budget only 45 per cent the size of the Red Sox’s and 36 per cent the size of the Yankees’.

And yet they beat them both.  Continue reading →