The Baseball Zealot

I’ve noticed that there have been a more than a few players in both leagues who have really not been pulling their weight.  Some are players who are hitting below their potential.  Some are just plain not hitting for any player relative to a full-time status they have. 

I’m including pitchers who are off to a stinky start as well.

This is my AL list in no particular order.  Stats as of 4/25.

The Yankees’ Jorge Posada almost made this based on his .153 batting average but when six of your nine hits are homeruns, you get extra credit. 

Posted in: slumps by The Baseball Zealot
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There is another three way deal on the horizon, this one involving the Phillies, the Blue Jays, & the Mariners.  Philadelphia would get righthanded ace Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays & pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont (plus another Seattle youngster, yet to be named) from the Mariners, Seattle gets Cliff Lee from the City of Brotherly Love, and Toronto picks up superstar phenom outfielder Michael Taylor, sky’s the limit starter Kyle Drabek (Son of Doug), and minor league catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the Phils.  In a deal involving two former Cy Young Award winners switching uniforms, the third party player might end up being the big winner, that’s how good Michael Taylor might end up, he’s that good!  Trader Billy Beane jumped into the frey to make it a four-way deal, sending 1B-3B Brett Wallace, a 2008 1st round pick out of ASU by the Cardinals who was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday trade, to Toronto for Michael Taylor.  While Wallace has some serious power 20 or more homers in each of the last two seasons, he also swung & missed 106 times in the minors this past year.  To me, the A’s look to be the big winner getting the highly skilled outfielder Taylor.

This three way deal was probably made possible when the Red Sox inked John Lackey away from the Angels.  Once the Bronx Bombers knew Boston was no longer in the hunt to pickup either Halladay or Lee, the Pinstripers could relax and let the trade proceed without outside interference from NY.

In another move, not made by the Yankees, World Series MVP Hideki (Godzilla, but you can call me Shemp) Matsui headed west to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  The Orange County team needed to bring somebody on board after losing leadoff man Chone Figgins (now with the Mariners) & ace starter Lackey (over in Bean Town) already this offseason.  Still I don’t know if it’s much of a consolation prize, seeing the Mariners added Figgins & Lee, while on this day the Halos, in effect, swapped Lackey for Matsui.

Posted in: Free Agents, Hot Stove, Prospects, Trades by Teddy Ballgame
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As Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over”.  And as my buddy Don, who is an Angel fan said late night, “If Brian Fuentes had walked Swisher, I think I would have jumped off my roof”. 

Fortunately for the Angels (and Don S), he didn’t.

I learned my lesson though.  I watched the game on TV at home till the beginning of the 7th.  John Lackey had been pitching brilliantly up until then and had a 4-0 lead.  Thinking that Big John had things well in hand, I decided to head to local coffee shop and watch the rest of the game on Gameday while I got some work done.

It’s a 6 block walk to the coffee shop and I was away from the game for 15 minutes, 20 tops.  Logging into Gameday, I was rudely greeted with a 7-6 Yankee lead.  Refreshing the browser didn’t seem to help. 

Looking back at it, I had a sneaking suspicion that Lackey was tiring.  Mid-inning, the camera crew show him in the dugout and boy, he really looked spent.  I remember commenting on that to my kid.

But thanks to a 3-run seventh fueled by back-to-back base hits by Guerrero and Morales, the Angels got back on top for the final score 7-6.

I’d like to say that was the end of the excitement but the Yankees made the Halos earn their pay Thursday night.  Angel reliever Brian Fuentes made things a little too interesting.  After a two-out, bases empty intentional pass to Alex Rodriguez, Fuentes followed that up with a Matsui walk and a Cano HBP to load the bases.  If that weren’t enough, Nick Swisher took him to a full count before popping out to short for third out to end the game. 

Fuentes line looked good.  One inning, no hits and a save.  But that sure didn’t tell the story of the game.  However, he got the job done.

The Angels got their miracle.  Three-Two sounds a whole lot better than Two-Zero or Three-One.

Other Postseason News:

• The MLB is panicking calmly reacting to the controversial calls that some of the umps have been making and readjusting the World Series lineup.  Is this a PR move or a logical move on their part?
• One analyst in, one analyst out.  ESPN’s Steve Phillips is taking an “extended leave of absence” after admitting to an affair with another ESPN worker. 
  Over at Fox Sports, they’ve decided to hire Sox manager Ozzie Guillen as a pre- and post game analyst for the World Series (The Baseball Zealot’s opinion:  Good on them… he’ll at least be interesting)
• Is MLB doing a little damage control?  The same day an article came out in the Washington Post entitled Phillies Want Shot at Yankees, MLB.com came out with an awkwardly titled article, Series Opponent Doesn’t Matter to Phillies.  Not that we as fans really care a whole lot but image is a big deal to Major League Baseball.

Posted in: Postseason by The Baseball Zealot
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I’m so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I’m the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees

“3-Minute Rule” by the Beastie Boys

Yeah, the Yankees score alright.  Yet, like any team should, the Angels remain hopelessly positive. 

"We’ve got a mountain to climb," said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "We’ve just got to know we have to go out there [Thursday] and try to get that win. It’s a must-win. It’s not like we’ve got games left. We can’t go out there and let these guys win. If they do, it’s over with. We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done."

But it ain’t going to be easy.  With the Yankees now 3 games to 1, it’s simply going to be an uphill battle that will take a miracle to overcome. 

Up until Monday night’s win for the Angels, the playoff series for them has been characterized as ugly and full of mistakes.  Not Tuesday night.  They were simply out-pitched and out-hit and the Yanks won 10-1.  C.C Sabathia is doing his best to outdo ARod in his bid to strip him of MVP of the Series.

On just three days rest, Sabathia almost repeated Game One’s numbers, allowing just one run in eight innings with just five his and two walks.    In Game One, he allowed one run in eight innings as well with four hits.  For the postseason, C.C. is 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez led the hitting attack, going 3 for 4 with his fifth homer of the fall and 2 rbis and 3 runs scored.  Melky Cabrera chipped in with a 3 for 4 performance and four rbis of his own.

The Angels have to be disappointed with their offense till this point.  Up until Tuesday night, the starting pitching has held up pretty well.  No Halo starter has given up more than three ER until last night (and if you want to pick nits, Kazmir only gave up four but we won’t go there).  Had the offense been a little more productive even a little more timely, it would be a different series now.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are John Lackey and A.J Burnett.  Don’t look for Torii Hunter to have a great night.  He’s 2 for 23 lifetime against Burnett.  However, those two hits?  Homeruns.

ARod is in pretty much in the same boat with Lackey.  He’s 9 for 51 (.176) lifetime against Big John.  Most of those hits have gone for extras though.  One double, one triple and FOUR homeruns. 

This is first time I’ve said this publically but…

Go Angels!

Posted in: Postseason by The Baseball Zealot
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