Jarrod Washburn has had his share of unique injuries. A few years back, he had a minor scapular fracture, similar to the one Kurt Ainsworth suffered last season. Now, Washburn is having neck and shoulder spasms, leading some to look to the outfield and ponder Garret Anderson’s condition. It looks minor for now, but any spasm can return, so until the root cause is found there’s definitely cause for concern. The Angels have been dreadfully unhealthy so far this season, but depth and good roster construction have kept them in the AL West race.
Things are looking up in the Bronx. Mike Mussina will make his next start, feeling that his strained groin will be healed sufficiently. He will be watched closely, however, so expect him to be pulled earlier than normal. Kevin Brown is also making good progress, but some reports have been a bit ahead of reality. While Brown is tentatively listed as next Saturday’s starter, he’ll have to make it through two bullpen sessions before Joe Torre writes his name in ink instead of pencil. Even in the minors things look better. Orlando Hernandez made it through his first rehab start and will head to Triple-A for his next. He could certainly solidify the front of the bullpen as well as help his countryman, Jose Contreras.
Is Mike Sweeney the answer to the Dodgers’ offensive woes? Has Johan Santana been getting a raw deal from his bullpen this season? And do the Giants have any bargaining chips left to deal at this year’s trading deadline? All this and many more fascinating, rhetorical questions from Los Angeles, Minnesota, and San Francisco in your Monday edition of Prospectus Triple Play.
"It’s pretty."
So says Sophia about Petco Park, which we both visited for the first time on
Saturday night. The park is located in downtown San Diego, and very much a part of the area. In fact, before the game
we traipsed over to Seaport Village and walked around, and the post-game
options for attendees make it possible to make a night out of a day at the
ballpark.
The most significant impression the park made on me was the size of the
outfield. Seeing it on television just doesn’t do it justice. If Petco Park
doesn’t have the most actual acreage between the infield and the fences–I
guess the really deep center field in some parks could give them more square
footage–the 400-foot distances to left-center and right-center fields make the
outfield look vast, almost as if a fourth outfielder would be needed to cover
the ground.
The way in which Petco’s huge outfield affects the game was a big topic of
conversation on Saturday. Padres GM Kevin Towers, addressing an audience of
nearly 100 BP readers before the game, referenced the park’s dimensions and
their effects on game play and team construction frequently in an hour-long
session. Towers was enthusiastic, forthright and informative, exactly what
you’d hope for from a speaker. His turn at the mike made the Ballpark Feed a
success.
Every once in a while you have a day or a week that flashes back to other, older days and weeks.
Last week, the United States and Great Britain signed a treaty pledging to protect the wreck of the Titanic, which sank beneath the waves in 1912; Roger Clemens and Mark Prior faced off in a pitching match-up that was a descendant of one in 1912; and a boob from Texas mistreated a four-year-old fan in a way that made one wish it was 1912. John McCain even had an opportunity to bolt the Republican Party last week, but apparently no one told him that Theodore Roosevelt had done so with honor back in 1912, because the Senator refused to go along with the 1912ness of things. Baseball, though, was unabashedly singing
Drayton McLane’s ominous statements about the state of the Astros. Allard Baird throws in the towel. Barry Bonds, on many and varied topics. All this and more in your Monday edition of The Week In Quotes.