My Giants source tells me that Neifi Perez knew the infield fly rule. I suppose that knowing the rules is something, but I’d rather have a player who can actually play the game. Everyone this weekend seemed to lose both their concentration and their cool–and thanks to some unfortunate luck, a number of them will lose some time to injury. Let’s get right to the good stuff…
Whatever its benefits, it’s clear that the unbalanced schedule has made it even more difficult to draw conclusions about teams in the early stages of the season. Schedules are so skewed that you have to consider quality of opponents in any discussion of what a team has done and what it might do going forward.
Take the Yankees. They opened the year 16-3 without Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, inspiring a discussion of whether this team might be as good as the 1998 team that went 114-48. Since then, they’re just 11-13, and not even alone in first place. The difference? They opened the season with the Blue Jays (seven games), Devil Rays (five games) and Twins (seven games)–teams that now have an aggregate record of 65-65. They’ve since spent three weeks playing the AL West, a division that’s 94-77 overall and 56-39–good for a .589 winning percentage–when not playing itself.
Kris Benson is a slacker for not pitching a shutout every time out. Jose Guillen fails to grasp the concept of small sample size. Craig Monroe earns the first complimentary Tigers quote all season. Plus more quotable notables from around the league.
Jack McKeon has his work cut out for him in Florida. Nick Johnson goes down just as he started to meet his potential. Kip Wells is one walk per game away from becoming a true ace. Plus more notes and notes on the Marlins, Yankees, and Pirates.