October, 2006 | The Baseball Zealot

Fredi G called to manage Fish; Won’t mind if Owner Meddles

It’s official. Fredi Gonzalez has been hired to take on the managerial role for the Marlins.

Fredi G had a rather humorous quote regarding Loria:

“If he wants to yell, he can yell,” he said. “He paid for the team. He has the most expensive seat in the stadium.”

Hmm, careful what you wish for, Fredi.

Gonzalez was the early favorite for the replacement for Dusty Baker. Now that he is gone, Girardi may be the new favorite.

What’s Baker up to now? He’ll be working in ESPN’s broadcasting booth. Rumors are he is in line for the Nats position.

It’s a game of Musical Managers and the music just stopped.

TWO OUTS AT THE PLATE

In the 2nd inning of the 1st playoff game between the Mets & the Dodgers, Russell Martin lined a single to right off the wall with runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out. Dodger 3rd base coach did his best Joey Cora imitation, waving Jeff Kent & J.D. Drew plateward. NY Mets rightfielder Shawn Green fired the ball to secondbaseman Jose Valentin, who relayed it to catcher Paul LoDuca. Kent held up thinking Green might catch the ball and was tagged out at home. LoDuca was showing the umpire he still had the ball when he looked up, surprised to see Drew trying to score, and tagged him out as well. Martin should have been credited with a double, but only got a single when Kent failed to score from 2nd base. John Maine allowed four straight hits, but only one run in the 2nd inning.

ESPN talking heads were saying how they’d never seen such a thing. Well any White Sox fan could tell you about a similar play in which Carlton Fisk tagged out two guys trying to score, the play relives before every Sox home game on the scoreboard.

2006 ALDS Oak v. Min Game 1 Linescore of the Day: Frank Thomas

3 for 4, 2 HR, 2 runs, 2 rbis How smart now do you think the A’s were when they picked up Big Hurt? Never mind his regular season performance which surpassed everyone’s expectations. He now takes his smattering of post-season experience and puts it to work this year. Comeback Player of the Year? No … Continue reading “2006 ALDS Oak v. Min Game 1 Linescore of the Day: Frank Thomas”

3 for 4, 2 HR, 2 runs, 2 rbis

How smart now do you think the A’s were when they picked up Big Hurt?

Never mind his regular season performance which surpassed everyone’s expectations. He now takes his smattering of post-season experience and puts it to work this year.

Comeback Player of the Year? No doubt.

2006 NLDS StL v. SD Game 1 Linescore of the Day: Albert Pujols

2 for 4, HR, 2 rbis

San Diego Padres meet Albert Pujols.

Prince Albert continues his torrid pace into the post-season. His two-run homer broke a two-all tie. Cardinals win. Simple as that.

To say that the Cardinals needed to win this game is an understatement. After their losing ways toward the end of the season, I’ll bet it felt good to have this under their belt. Having Carpenter going for them in Game 1 is a blessing. He allowed only one run in six and a third.

From here out, it may get a little sticky. The rest of the Cards’ staff will not be a sure thing and they can’t expect Pujols to do it all in every game.

The teams get a day off and continue on Thursday.

Pujols/Howard debate

If Ryan Howard won NL MVP, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. But it wouldn’t be the right decision. Sometimes I wish fans could get past total homeruns because there is so much more to the game. If you look at Pujols’ and Howard’s stats, let’s face it, they are essentially equal. Not the … Continue reading “Pujols/Howard debate”

If Ryan Howard won NL MVP, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. But it wouldn’t be the right decision.

Sometimes I wish fans could get past total homeruns because there is so much more to the game.

If you look at Pujols’ and Howard’s stats, let’s face it, they are essentially equal. Not the same but equal. Howard gets the edge on HR and RBI. Pujols has it in runs, doubles, BA, OBP, SLG. Howard also gets a nod in playing time due to Pujols’ injury.

But what you don’t hear are the clutch stats. Pujols has the big edge here.

RISP
Pujols: .397/.535/.802
Howard .256/.426/.518

Game Tied
Pujols: .305/.433/.640
Howard: .315/.466/.726 (slight edge to Howard)

Score Trailing by one
Pujols: .453/.562/.922
Howard: .325/.389/.738

On top of that, Pujols leads the league with 19 homers that account for game winning rbis. That, I think is unprecented.

On top of THAT, Pujols is a better fielder.

This is no news to Cardinals fans who will tell you all this ad nauseum.

This has no bearing on the MVP race but is interesting anyway. Pujols, who is in his 6th season and just hit his 250th homerun, is actually younger than sophomore Ryan Howard.

Sox Fight Song on CD

The Baseball Zealot gets repeated inquiries about the White Sox fight song, Let’s Go, Go-Go White Sox and how to obtain copies of it. In a previous post, commenter Ray points out that the song is available on CD from Beverly Records, a rare record shop. I don’t own any interests in the company but … Continue reading “Sox Fight Song on CD”

The Baseball Zealot gets repeated inquiries about the White Sox fight song, Let’s Go, Go-Go White Sox and how to obtain copies of it.

In a previous post, commenter Ray points out that the song is available on CD from Beverly Records, a rare record shop.

I don’t own any interests in the company but I thought any interested Sox fans might want to know.

Overhaul in Wrigleyville

Andy McPhail stepped down as Cubs’ president On the heels of the somewhat unexpected news that Cubs’ prez Andy McPhail has stepped down comes the more expected news (and perhaps news that most Cubs fans have been waiting for) that Dusty Baker will not be returning as manager next year. First things first… I wasn’t … Continue reading “Overhaul in Wrigleyville”

Andy McPhail stepped down as Cubs’ president

On the heels of the somewhat unexpected news that Cubs’ prez Andy McPhail has stepped down comes the more expected news (and perhaps news that most Cubs fans have been waiting for) that Dusty Baker will not be returning as manager next year.

First things first… I wasn’t aware of any rumblings in the executive office and didn’t see McPhail’s resignation coming. John McDonough, Cubs’ senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting will replace MmcPhail in an interim role.

The big question is how safe is Jim Hendry’s job. It’s my feeling that as interim prez, McDonough won’t make too many hasty moves unless his position is solidified,

That said, McDonough had this to say:

“My goal is singular. The purpose of why I’ve been asked to do this job is for the Cubs to win the World Series — not win the Wild Card or win the division or win the pennant. It’s time to win. It’s time to win the World Series.”

I’m a pretty cynical guy and I know he’s supposed to say the right stuff but I have to say I’m glad he chose THESE words to say.

As for Baker, he officially didn’t find out till today that he was out but on Sunday, he knew the writing was on the wall.

Fortunately, the Cubs gave him a win for a going away present. Some classless fans who love kicking a man when he’s down, booed Dusty whenever he made a pitching change.

Others held signs that said “Keep Dusty”. Ok, let’s not get carried away here. Charity can go a little too far.

As for Baker?

“At this point, no,” Baker said. “I am what I am, and I am who I am. My dad taught me a long time ago to speak with truth and honesty and be yourself with no regrets.”

Sanchez’ Title Almost Didn’t Happen

Congratulations to Freddy Sanchez on winning the NL batting title. He’s the first Bucco since Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock in 1983 to capture the crown. Nobody could have predicted this before the season since the Pirates themselves weren’t even convinced that Sanchez had the tools to be an everyday player. It was by pure luck the he became an everyday player in 2006. Despite the fact that in his first full season he hit .295 and he was the player they wanted badly when trading Jeff Suppan to the Red Sox the Pirates inexplicably went out in the winter of 2005-06 and signed an aging Joe Randa. The ironic thing is that the Pirates traded for Randa in 1996 in the last of the fire sales dumping Jay Bell and Jeff King to KC. All Randa did was hit .302 that season but for some reason the Pirates didn’t re-sign him that winter and he left for Detroit. If Randa didn’t get hurt early this season the NL batting champ would have spent the season on the bench. And for those who think that Freddy’s title was a fluke here’s a look at how he has fared against some of the best in the game in his brief career (the following chart is from the Pirates MLB.com website).

Brandon Webb: 2-for-6
John Smotlz: 3-for-10
Mark Buehrle: 2-for-6
Jose Contreras: 2-for-3
Bronson Arroyo: 2-for-5
Dontrelle Willis: 6-for-10
Roger Clemens: 4-for-10
Roy Oswalt: 6-for-18
Andy Pettitte: 7-for-20
Greg Maddux: 6-for-11
Chris Capuano: 8-for-18
Johan Santana: 2-for-3
Pedro Martinez: 2-for-4
Chris Carpenter: 6-for-17