Month: April 2005

In the top of the 5th, after Adam Dunn’s homerun, Zambrano plunks Austin Kearns and is promptly ejected.

Down 6-3 in the bottom of the 5th, the Cubs explode for 5 behind Aramis Ramirez’ 2-run shot into Sheffield Avenue. Cubs lead 8-6.

Then Cincy scores 1 in the sixth and 3 in the 7th to take a 10-8 lead.

What’s interesting is that after his homerun yesterday, Neifi Perez was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat by Reds pitcher Eric Milton.

Update: It went down to the last out but the Reds held on to win 11-9.

by Teddy Ballgame

The current White Sox team is fun to watch, but I can’t listen any longer. You know that the Hawk & DJ are the worst when the best you’ve ever heard of the “Disasterous Duo” is, “they’re not that bad”. Well if they’re not that bad, then who the hell is?

If I have to hear “Put it on the board, YES!”, “He gone!”, or “You got that right, Hawk!” one more time I think I’ll lose it. As a lifetime White Sox fan these guys are the worst. And they keep getting worse. I thought Tom Paciorek was bad, but he was nothing compared to the Hawk’s sidekick in a coma DJ. DJ is nothing more than a bobbing head Chihuahua, he agrees with everything the Hawkmeister has to say.

They are continually talking about how things are different than when they played. Excuse me, but their careers weren’t really anything to talk about. Hawk nicknamed for the size of his beek rather than his skills as an outfielder played eight years and managed a .239 career average. During which time he was on six different teams, mostly because he was a nonconformist and a troublemaker. Now he’s a company man, but he’s just plain bad! Darrin Jackson played 15 years in the majors, mostly as a defensive replacement. My question is whether DJ stands for Darrin Jackson or Dull Joe?

It’s just a shame that I’ve got to watch the White Sox in silence. While keying this story I looked up to see the Sox just completed a three game sweep of the Kansas City Royals. Made all the sweeter with the mute button on.

Speaking of Piazza, he has only thrown out only one basestealer in 21 attempts.

I’m sure Bill James has a formula for that.

Followup:
Inquiring minds want to know.
April 11: CS – M Ensberg (2, 2nd base by T Glavine/M Piazza)

Mike Piazza broke out of 1 for 13 slump to get 3 hits and help the Mets stop the Braves 4-game winning streak. The Mets won 5-4. Piazza came into the game hitting .200.

Sophomore 3B David Wright hit his 4th homerun of the season in a winning cause.

by Teddy Ballgame

There has been a lot of talk about team chemistry and how the Cubs are better off with Sammy Sosa & Moises Alou gone from the team. That Sammy was a cancer has been mentioned in the same way Garciaparra is talked about by some Red Sox fans. The funny thing is that not so long ago these players were all these franchises had. Sammy & Nomar were revered by their respective fandoms in a very recent days gone by. It’s hoped that Cub fans who traded their Sammy jerseys for Nomar ones got them on sale because it now looks as if he may not play another game for the Northsiders in his career. Garciaparra’s on a one year contract that runs out at season’s end, probably about the same time he’ll be over his injury. A lot of Cub fans are glad to see Sosa gone because he was a one dimensional player, not a team guy. But is Jeromy Burnitz the solution? Burnitz’ best home run season is only two more than Sammy’s worst and Jeromy did that in Colorado. And Alou has been replaced by a career bench player Todd Hollandsworth.

This was the year the Cubs were all set to FINALLY win the World Series. Two years ago it was that damn Bartman character and last year it was Steve Stone, Sammy’s boombox, and Prior’s injuries. With all their troubles behind them, this was the year.

Then it started to happen. One at a time the wheels started to come off. Joe Borowski broke his hand, Todd Walker got hurt, and Nomar Garciaparra suffered an injury that reminded fans of Joe Theisman where his groin muscle was torn from the bone. Can you say Silence of the Lambs?

In reality the Cubs just don’t get it. The Boston Red Sox FINALLY won last year after getting rid of Nomar Garciaparra. Don’t get me wrong, Nomar is a hell of a hitter, especially for a SS, but you need a shortstop who can field the position. The Red Sox also picked up a firstbaseman with a golden glove. This isn’t a fantasy baseball team, this is real life baseball. And in real life baseball you need a doubleplay combination that can field the ball, a leadoff man, a quality bullpen, & a solid rotation.

It’s just too easy to lay the blame on the decline of Sammy Sosa. But when you look at the facts the Cubs actually did better when Sosa was on the decline than when he was hitting all those home runs. So I don’t think Sammy was the problem.

Looking at what it takes to win and what direction the Cubs are taking to build a winning ballclub it’s easy to see where the Cubs are missing the mark. I’ve already addressed the infield defense and lack there of. The team hasn’t had a quality leadoff man since Bobby Dernier. LaTroy Hawkins is a good setup man, but hasn’t shown the same abilities as a closer. The rest of the bullpen is in shambles. And the rotation is average at best, especially after losing Matt Clement. But other than Greg Maddux there are no proven winners. Kerry Wood has never won 15 games, but he should be much better off without Steve Stone telling him how to “pitch”. Pitch is the operative word seeing where Wood is not a pitcher, he’s a thrower. Mark Prior is another very talented member of the rotation, but other than winning 18 games two years ago his highpoint has been six wins. Who’s to say Prior’s injuries are a thing of the past? Then there’s Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano won 16 games last year and 13 the year before. Like I said with all this team’s shortcomings this rotation is average at best.

So getting back to baseball team chemistry and cancers on a ballclub. I’m not going to say Sammy Sosa was good for team chemistry, but for the most part he did his job by hitting home runs and driving in runs. It’s not crucial for a winning ballclub to have a good glove in RF. On the other hand it is very important for a winning ballclub to have a defensive shortstop. Just ask the Red Sox?

While watching Braves-Phillies game the other day, my son told me he didn’t know why they called it a “bullpen”. I had to admit I didn’t have a satisfactory explanation.

So I e-mailed my circle of baseball friends asking this question. I got a few responses back and a few links pointing to some possible answers. The most authorative source came from Wikipedia which gave a few possible origins for the name:

1. The bullpen symbolically represents the fenced in area of a bull’s pen, where bulls wait before being sent off to the slaughter. The relief pitchers are the bulls and the bullpen represents their pen.
2. Late arrivers to ball games in the late 19th century were cordoned off into standing room only areas in foul territory. Because the fans were herded like cattle, this area became known as the bullpen, a designation which was later transferred over to the relief pitchers who warmed up there.
3. At the turn of the century, outfield fences were often adorned with advertisements for Bull Durham Tobacco. Since relievers warmed up in a nearby pen, the term bullpen was created.
4. In the 1800s, jails and holding cells were nicknamed bullpens, in respect of many police officers’ bullish features — strength and a short temper. The term was later applied to bullpens in baseball.
5. Casey Stengel suggested the term might have been derived from managers getting tired of their relief pitchers “shooting the bull” in the dugout and were therefore sent elsewhere, where they wouldn’t be a bother to the rest of the team — the bullpen. How serious he was when he made this claim is not clear.

My guess is that #5 was meant tongue-in-cheek considering the source.

I’d like to introduce someone who will be posting from time to time on The Baseball Zealot. He goes by Teddy Ballgame. He’s a White Sox fan but I try not to hold that against him ;-) But more importantly, he’s opinionated and knows his baseball better than almost anyone I know.

His postings will be longer and more opinion-oriented than mine. If you don’t agree with what he says (I know I don’t half the time), take the time to tell him so by leaving a comment.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy his postings.

-TBZ