Month: June 2007

Rod Beck no longer Shooting

Mr Rod Beck, intense reliever yet laid back teammate, is dead at 38. The Shooter signing autographs at the 2007 Cubs Convention I saw the Shooter at this year’s Cubs Convention. Out of all the old-timers signing autographs on the lower level, Rod Beck was one of the more popular ones with the fans. He … Continue reading “Rod Beck no longer Shooting”

Mr Rod Beck, intense reliever yet laid back teammate, is dead at 38.

The Shooter signing autographs at the 2007 Cubs Convention

I saw the Shooter at this year’s Cubs Convention. Out of all the old-timers signing autographs on the lower level, Rod Beck was one of the more popular ones with the fans. He had a friendly way with those waiting in line. With his signature handlebar mustache and longish hair, he stood out.

His cause of death is unknown and is pending an autopsy. I’m not holding my breath and quite honestly, you probably won’t hear about the results here. The results probably won’t be surprising.

That said, Beck’s persona was one of a kind. A pitcher who camps out in an RV beyond a minor league scoreboard is bound to have a little color.

But let’s not forget that the Shooter was once one helluva a pitcher. Yes, he had 286 career saves but he had incredible control too.

In 1994, when he had 48 saves for the Giants, he came in 8th in the Cy Young voting. Cubs fans will remember his 1998 season when they made the playoffs. That year he recorded 51 saves, his career high.

 

6/21/07 Linescore of the Day: King Felix

Felix Hernandez: 8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (Win)

Felix had his way with a quiet Pirate offense. It was second game in a row Pittsburgh got shut out.

It’s Hernandez’ second win in seven starts since coming back from the DL but he’s showing improvement. His May ERA was a lofty 6.30 and so far, his June ERA is a much lower 3.86.

Sammy Sosa and 600

I never understood the “hatin’ on Sammy” thing. Many of my Cub fan friends are bound and determined to think ill of Sosa since he left our team. Not me. Let’s make one thing clear. While I think it’s great Sammy has reached his milestone, I sure wouldn’t have minded if he had waited till … Continue reading “Sammy Sosa and 600”

Sosa

I never understood the “hatin’ on Sammy” thing. Many of my Cub fan friends are bound and determined to think ill of Sosa since he left our team. Not me.

Let’s make one thing clear. While I think it’s great Sammy has reached his milestone, I sure wouldn’t have minded if he had waited till the Texas’ series with the Cubs was over. The media had a field day with it but I didn’t.

That said, I guess it’s hard for me to get down on any player who contributed as much to my favorite team despite the manner he left it. Let’s face it, in the thirteen seasons he played for the Cubs, he gave us 545 homeruns, 1414 rbis, and 1245 runs. All that for ONE team. My team.

Not to mention he was involved in one of the most exciting homerun races in recent history albeit one that has been tainted slightly. Sosa has recently been maligned about how he handles the press but let’s not forget how exciting he was back then and the press ate him up. He handled that well.

For all that, I’m willing to give Slammin’ Sammy a mulligan for his transgressions in his time near the end with the Cubs.

It is said that Sammy Sosa has big ego. Those who actually know him would say that he is a proud individual. A fine line maybe. Either way, I’m happy for him.

But couldn’t he have waited just a couple of games?

 

 

The Physics of Baseball

Alan Nathan is a professor of Physics here at the campus of the University of Illinois. He’s lucky enough to devote a lot of his work on the study of baseball and the physics within. His website on The Physics of Baseball is chock full of white papers such as The Effect of Spin on … Continue reading “The Physics of Baseball”

Alan Nathan is a professor of Physics here at the campus of the University of Illinois. He’s lucky enough to devote a lot of his work on the study of baseball and the physics within. His website on The Physics of Baseball is chock full of white papers such as The Effect of Spin on the Flight of a Baseball, The
Physics of the Trampoline Effect in Baseball and Softball Bats and other such esoteric matters of baseball science.

Nathan speaks on campus occasionally on his hobby work. As a matter of fact, on June 25, he will be talking on his latest work, Wood vs. Aluminum Bats. If you’re interested on his thoughts on the matter, you can read his paper on the subject.

If you live in the area, he will be speaking at 12:15pm on June 25 at room 144 Loomis Laboratory on the University of Illinois campus.

Followup: I stopped by Alan Nathan’s talk today. Walking into Loomis Lab reminded of my college days when I had to take Physics 100 course to fulfill my science equivalent. Nathan’s class was like the old days only with baseball.

There was a switch in topic in Nathan’s talk. He talked on the flight of the baseball both in midst of a pitch and after being hit. Admittedly, my physics is not up to par so some of it went over my head but it was very informational.

Nathan did mention that MLB gathers all kinds of data on all pitches and makes it available for download. Afterwards, he forwarded this link to Friar Watch which serves as a “how-to” on how download and make sense of the data,

Statheads, definitely check it out.

 

Catcher’s ERA

A news release I received via email from cubs.com announcing the Barrett-Bowen trade contained this tidbit: Behind the plate, Bowen has turned in a 3.46 ERA in 26 contests with San Diego, posting a 16-10 record in those games. It didn’t surprise me that Catcher’s ERA as a stat exists. I’m sure it is used … Continue reading “Catcher’s ERA”

A news release I received via email from cubs.com announcing the Barrett-Bowen trade contained this tidbit:

Behind the plate, Bowen has turned in a 3.46 ERA in 26 contests with San Diego, posting a 16-10 record in those games.

It didn’t surprise me that Catcher’s ERA as a stat exists. I’m sure it is used and discussed in more esoteric baseball stat web sites. But it does surprise me that a mainstream media outlet like mlb.com would use it so prevalently in a news release.

Am I living under a rock or is Catcher’s ERA as a stat becoming mainstreamed?

The Barrett-Bowen deal

When I heard that the Cubs traded Barrett to the Padres, I immediately thought of the scene in A League of Their Own where poor misunderstood Kit finds out that she’s been traded. I can just see pretty Dottie Hinson say, after having the ball thrown at her, “You!? They were supposed to trade ME!” … Continue reading “The Barrett-Bowen deal”

league of their own

When I heard that the Cubs traded Barrett to the Padres, I immediately thought of the scene in A League of Their Own where poor misunderstood Kit finds out that she’s been traded. I can just see pretty Dottie Hinson say, after having the ball thrown at her, “You!? They were supposed to trade ME!” Though I somehow I doubt Zambrano entertained that idea.

Quite honestly, I don’t like trades like these. The Barrett-Bowen trade was made more for HR reasons (that’s Human Relations, not HomeRun) rather than team improvement. Additionally, it almost seems like it was a public relations move. A trade to make things right. Trades made under these situations are obviously made for reasons outside of realm of baseball talent.

Cub fans as are most baseball fans, are a picky bunch. It wasn’t just a year ago that hard core fans considered him a hero for landing a punch on cross-town rival backstop A.J. Pierzynski. On top of that, he was a solid hitter, solid enough to win the 2005 Silver Slugger award.

But things change and so do attitudes and apparently defensive skills. As an aside, it kinda surprised me that Barrett is only 30. It seems like he’s been around for a while. Anyway, with a overload of young catchers waiting in the wings, the Cubs have had their fill of Barrett. At least that’s what I hope. Even if they are using the Zambrano and Hill incidents as an excuse to bring in some new blood behind the plate, I wouldn’t mind. But please, I hope this isn’t any move to simply move Barrett without any long-range
plan.

By the way in addition to Rob Bowen, the Cubs did get OF Kyler Burke in the deal as well. You can see the breakdown of his minor league stats here. Nothing too special hitting .211 with one homer in 213 at-bats playing for the Fort Wayne Wizards (Low A ball). The good news is that he’s only 19.

Farewell, Mr Barrett.

Followup: Here’s an article from Chattanoogan.com about Burke’s trade to the Cubs. Burke is from the Chattanooga area.

Keeping up with the Illini

The Illini who are playing in college summer leagues have been busy typing away for the fightingillini.com’s Summer Diamond Notes. A few days ago, Mike Stankewicz checked in from the Crystal Lake Cardinals and just today, Nick Stockwell writes from the Lombard Orioles. Both are in the Chicago Suburban League. I don’t know if the … Continue reading “Keeping up with the Illini”

The Illini who are playing in college summer leagues have been busy typing away for the fightingillini.com’s Summer Diamond Notes. A few days ago, Mike Stankewicz checked in from the Crystal Lake Cardinals and just today, Nick Stockwell writes from the Lombard Orioles. Both are in the Chicago Suburban League. I don’t know if the Illini baseball
program plans for these Summer Diamond Notes to keep up at this pace but I think it’s a great idea.

Oh, in case anyone is interested, here is Lars Davis’ profile on Purple Row, a Colorado Rockies blog.

Finally, I notice that former Illini Chris Basak has gotten in a couple games for the Yanks. No at-bats yet, though.

Followup: Shawn Roof, the Illini shortstop who was drafted in the 33rd round by the Tigers is now on the roster of their Rookie League affiliate, the Gulf Coast League Tigers in Lakeland, Florida.

Lars Davis is now on the Tri-City Dust Devils located in Pasco, Washington.

Here’s Fighting Illini.com’s writeup on Roof and Davis making it to pro ball.

Spiezio x 2

Nice Rings! (MLB Photo) I ran across this article last weekend about Ed and Scott Spiezio. It was a fluff piece leading up to Father’s Day but I found it interesting. A lot of people know that Scott, now playing for the St Louis Cardinals, was a University of Illinois grad but I’ll bet precious … Continue reading “Spiezio x 2”

edscottspiezio

Nice Rings! (MLB Photo)

I ran across this article last weekend about Ed and Scott Spiezio. It was a fluff piece leading up to Father’s Day but I found it interesting. A lot of people know that Scott, now playing for the St Louis Cardinals, was a University of Illinois grad but I’ll bet precious few know dad Ed was too.

Something I learned from the article, Ed Spiezio retired as a player six days after Scott was born.