Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
In case anyone didn’t notice, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki became the all-time Mariners hits leader with 2,248. Knowing him, I’m surprised it took him this long.
Ichiro did it in style, too:
Suzuki has 2,248 hits, one better than Edgar Martinez’s previous club record. The milestone came on the 10th anniversary of Suzuki’s major league debut.
Maybe now he’ll announce to the world that he really can hit for power, too.
2004: Dugout confrontation with Indians manager Eric Wedge in spring training before getting traded to the Dodgers.
Slammed a plastic bottle at the feet of a fan in the right-field seats at Dodger Stadium after someone threw it onto the field. Bradley drew a five-game suspension. Also received four-game suspension for tossing a bag of balls onto the field after an ejection.
2005: Feuded with infielder Jeff Kent, accusing him of being a racist, and prompted Dodgers to trade him that winter.
2007: Bitter public disagreement with A’s general manager Billy Beane. After trade to Padres and in thick of pennant race, tore ACL in his right knee when he was spun to the ground by Padres manager Bud Black, who was trying to keep him from umpire Mike Winters. Bradley claimed he had been baited by Winters, who was suspended for the final five days of the regular season.
2008: According to Dallas Morning News, Bradley attempted to confront Royals television announcer Ryan Lefebvre in the press box after a game due to what he believed were unfair comments made on the air. Texas manager Ron Washington and GM Jon Daniels chased after him and stopped Bradley before he got to Lefebvre.
January 6, 2009: The Cubs will be the seventh team for Milton Bradley, who has a history of behavioral issues during nine seasons in the majors.
April 16, 2009: Milton Bradley’s suspension was reduced from two games to one by Major League Baseball on Thursday, but that didn’t make him any happier. The Chicago Cubs outfielder still feels he was a victim of his reputation as a hothead. “It figures,” he said after MLB announced its decision regarding the April 16 incident. “I never get treated fairly. This is me. This is exactly what I expected. “I’m Milton Bradley, you know what I’m saying? You expect me to be crazy and throw stuff and do whatever.” Bradley didn’t throw anything after umpire Larry Vanover called him out on strikes with the bases loaded. But the famously volatile ballplayer did get in Vanover’s face and the umpiring crew contended that Bradley’s hat made slight contact with Vanover. It was Bradley’s first Wrigley Field at-bat after he had signed a $30 million contract during the offseason.
June 12, 2009: Milton forgot how many outs there were in a game at Wrigley Field, after catching a fly ball, he turned, and tossed the baseball to a fan in the rightfield bleachers, but there were only two outs, there were two runners on base. The error didn’t cost the Cubs, as there were runners on 1st & 3rd, the runner on 3rd would’ve scored on the sac fly and the other runner was stranded after moving from first to third. Here’s what Bradley had to say about the incident. “I wasn’t embarrassed. I’ve done a whole lot of things to be embarrassed about,” Bradley said. “My heart was in the right place. I tried to give a souvenir. It was messed up.” “We talked about it today, just have fun and relax,” Bradley said. “It’s hard to get me to smile on a baseball field, but I had to smile today. You can’t just keep taking yourself too seriously. You have to chill out, have fun. If we do that, we’ll be all right.”
September, 2009: Here’s what Cubs GM Jim Hendry had to say after suspending Bradley in September for the rest of the season. “Recently, it’s become intolerable to hear Milton talk about our great fans the way he has,” Hendry said. “We pride ourselves on having the greatest fans in baseball, so at this time we felt it was best to send him home for the rest of the season.”
All of this should come as no surprise, it’s been with Milton Bradley, pretty much, his whole life. Here is a recap of a situation involving Milton when he was a minor leaguer with the Montreal Expos, he even was suspended one game from his high school baseball team. Bradley’s anger grew to the point where would explode at authority figures left and right, particularly umpires: He poked one in the mask and later spit his gum at another, earning him a seven-game suspension and the worst reputation in the minor leagues. “It wasn’t violent,” Bradley explains. “It was something I shouldn’t have done. You can’t touch the umpire. You can’t spit on the umpire. I know that. But you just get to the point where you’re just, ‘There, I got that off my chest.’ ”
I remember following this talented switch-hitting kid way back when, when he was in the minors with Montreal, the kid with the board game company name, and his birthday being April 15th, an Aries, my birthday’s the 14th & my brother’s is the 16th, so I was intrigued, but after the spitting incident I decided to strike him from my list.
I just can’t see how so many major league teams have fallen for his B.S. Certainly he is a talented hitter, but he can’t field any more, he once was fleet-footed, but after knee surgeries, those days are long gone. So I can’t see what the attraction is, other than his bat, he is a cancer in the clubhouse, and basically, can’t get along with anyone. Bradley never seems able to accept responsibility for his actions and always comes off playing the victim.
I knew where this was going when the Cubs signed him to that big contract before this past season, why didn’t Jim Hendry? Now Hendry is looking like the hero, finding a new home for Milton & his baggage in the Pacific Northwest with the Seattle Mariners. The Cubs got starting righthanded pitcher Carlos Silva from Seattle, he’s the Mariners version of a mistake signing, $25 million over the next two years. Since signing his lucrative contract the injured hurler has posted a record of 5-17 over the past two seasons, perhaps a change of scenery will do him good, but don’t count on it.
Getting back to the lame excuse Hendry gave for bringing Bradley to the Northside of Chicago in the first place, the team needed a lefthanded bat to balance out their lineup, after getting swept by the Dodgers following a 1st place finish a couple of years ago. There were some very high quality alternatives to Milton, Raul Ibanez (a lefthanded hitter & one of the nicest guys in baseball) signed with the Phillies and Bobby Abreu (a lefthanded hitter, with a long career of solid numbers, & a decent rightfielder) signed with the Angels, both for less than Bradley’s contract.
Milton Bradley will probably do pretty well as Seattle’s regular DH in 2010, but most certainly it won’t last. The Mariners will be his eighth team in ten years. How many bridges must a man burn before there are none left to cross?
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.
The Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs. Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.
C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher. Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.
1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.
2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever. Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.
3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner. He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.
SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees. Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.
OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro. Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years. This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.
OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.
OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.
DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad. Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup. It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.
SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year. 16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.
RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera. He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age. He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it. He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters. This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.
Buehrle/Schmuehrle…Buy stock now in Jarrod Washburn if not too late. He has done it again.
Pitching seven shutout innings, Wash has won his fourth in a row and is finally after all these years making a good argument that he is a front row starter.
With Seattle, he pitched decently in the first half but didn’t get the breaks. Now things are falling into place for the 6’1” lefty. He’s only allowed 8 ER in his last 42 2/3 innings spanning six starts. More importantly for Seattle, he’s won five of those games.
Tonight’s win gives Washburn a .500 record for his career.
The Seattle Mariners defeated the Orioles last night behind a classic one-hitter pitched by Jarrod Washburn. The good pitching by Washburn was not necessarily out of character this season. The 9-0 win was.
After a few iffy seasons, Washburn has pitched well in 2009. He sports a 3.08 allowing 7.7 hits per 9 innings and has a WHIP of 1.10. Much improved compared to the last few years. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they haven’t been able to capitalize on his success on the mound. Despite the fancy-dancy stats, Washburn only has a 5-6 record.
Some are rumoring that Washburn will be tradebait considering this is his last year of his contract. The LA Dodgers are considered high on that list.
Russ Branyan has been signed by the Mariners to a one-year deal.
Branyan has always been the kind of hitter who makes the most of his hits. Secondary average, I believe Bill James calls it.
Two years ago, he hit .228 yet almost reached the .500 mark in slugging (.498). This past year, he had a .250 average but slugged .583 with a .342 OBP. Mr All-or-Nothing can pretty much be counted to three things: whiff, walk, or hit a home run.
That is assuming he is in the lineup. In the 11 seasons he’s been in the majors, he’s never batted more than 378 times.
The Mariners say they plan to use Branyan as a firstbaseman, thirdbaseman and, of course, DH.
The Seattle Mariners named former White Sox catcher Don Wakamatsu their new skipper. Wakamatsu becomes the first Asian-American manager in major league baseball history. He is a fourth generation Japanese-American, born in Hood River, OR, to a Japanese-American father and an Irish-American mother.
Don last managed in 2000, when he guided the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League to a 12th place finish, with a record of 47-94, which would be seven losses better than the 2008 Mariners 101 losses, and there is no way they could finish in 12th place. Wakamatsu’s bloodlines might give him an edge in managing Seattle’s Japanese players, Ichiro Suzuki & Kenji Johjima, but more important than that are his baseball bloodlines. He’s paid his dues, is a baseball man, seems qualified for the job, and was on the Texas Rangers short list when the Rangers went with Ron Washington.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him, Gokouun o inorimasu, which is Good Luck in Japanese.
Looks like the Mariners who lost 101 games in 2008, are planning to focus more on statistical analysis.
It was about a year ago that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ newly hired smartypants GM Neal Huntington was talking sabermetric smack at a press conference. One would have thought that have meant they were approaching the game in a different fashion. So different that they finished… last again.
Must have been in the implementation.
The Mariners meanwhile, are creating a whole department devoted to the topic.
The department will fall under the auspices of Tony Blengino, a longtime baseball stats analyst and a special assistant to new Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik. Details of the department’s mandate and size are still to be worked out, but the move could vault the Mariners from their perceived Stone Age approach to stats to one in which they’re seen as one of the game’s more progressive franchises.
hehe, Stone Age. Good one.
The Mariners plan to take all the statistical data they accumulate and combine it with their scouting info.
