WOULD ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME SMELL HALF AS SWEET? "I’ve been accused of everything. But I’ve never been accused of being a cocaine dealer and a drug seller before. All I can tell you is, you’d better have credible evidence if you’re gonna write that kind of stuff." —Pete Rose, in a Jayson Stark…
Andy Pratt is a young left-handed starter in an organization that’s in desperate need of big-league pitching help. Pratt pitched well in middle-A and high-A ball in 1999 and 2000, posting ERAs under 3.00 with very good peripheral numbers, including a 195 to 42 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 164 1/3 innings. He struggled in making the…
Contrary to appearances, the Chicago White Sox may be closer to a World Series appearance than they were in 2000. They won’t make the playoffs this season, and they’ll win far fewer games than they did last year, but the team they are developing has a better shot of someday making it through October than…
Last week, I asked people to put themselves into the Johnston-Murphys of either Allard Baird or David Glass, prior to the trades of Jermaine Dye and Rey Sanchez, and come up with a plan of action for the Kansas City Royals. I had no idea of the scope of solutions from which people would choose…
There are new, ugly accusations about Pete Rose floating around, but rather than deal with them I’m going to look at how the story has developed. Rose’s camp initially said they weren’t going to comment on the situation, but as it grew, they did, and Rose has now given an interview to a sympathetic ear….
Taking their cue from the compassionate conservative currently occupying the White House, a group of Congressmen have taken it upon themselves to personally intervene in an individual’s job action. The catch? The person in question is Eric Gregg, one of the major-league umpires who resigned as part of an end run around a perfectly legal…
Last week, I pointed out that Eric Karros has been pretty bad against right-handed pitchers this year. Earlier this season, I mentioned Brian Jordan‘s problem with righties in making the case that he should be platooned. I got to wondering about how many players there are like this, guys who have regular jobs, but who…
Not too many guys who convert from the infield to the mound make it to the majors. Even fewer make it in just their fourth pro season. But Bob File, a third baseman and shortstop at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Sciences (a Division II school), has a great arm and has learned how…
Dear Davey, Please accept, as my gift to you, this videocassette. On it, you’ll find the Indians/Mariners game from August 5. I’ve cued it to the top of the seventh inning. Love, Rickey Any small shred of credibility left to the unwritten rule about when a team should stop trying its hardest to score went…
GOTCHA. CAN’T WIN, DON’T TRY "I don’t think you can teach a guy to get walks. I really don’t. He’s going to have his batting style and you’re not going to change him." —Larry Bowa, Phillies manager "It’s like people who say we need to walk more. Sure, that’s great to say. But then you…
It appears we’re supposed to take the Dodgers seriously as contenders, since they lead the division in early August, have played excellent baseball since the All-Star break, and are doing all this with $427 billion worth of pitchers on the disabled list. Watching their game last night, though, one thing nagged at me, a sign…
The frenzy surrounding the July 31 trade deadline is a relatively new phenomenon. I don’t know–and am too lazy to check–whether there are more deals around deadline time now than there were, say, 10 years ago, but to my untrained eye, it sure appears as if there’s a lot more attention paid to "Deal Week"…
This week’s question comes from T.W., who asks: Does anyone track errors against for a hitter? It would seem to me that this might be a consistent skill (due to speed, an ability to consistently hit hard ground balls, and continued hustle). If it is a consistent skill shouldn’t this be tracked and shouldn’t certain…