The Florida Marlins are trying to do the unthinkable. They’re doing their best to prove that yes, you can have too much pitching. Or, at the very least, too much young pitching. Dave Dombrowski, who has a nose for young pitching unlike any other GM today, has assembled a collection of young aces-in-training that is…
Now that the All-Star starters have been announced, and the Japan-Kroger plot to avenge the memory of Gus Bell has been thwarted, let’s take a shot at figuring the rest of the AL and NL All-Star teams. Note: I’m not talking about "deserving" here; I’m just playing the home version of the game Bobby Valentine…
The San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers met in the 1984 World Series. They been linked ever since by second-division finishes, directionless player development, stadium issues, and Randy Smith. The Padres finished in last place in the NL West last season, and are there again this year, while the Tigers are in fourth place in…
Just some of the notes I made this weekend… I’ve never led a column with an umpire comment, so I’ll put this first. The last play of Saturday night’s Padre/Dodger game saw one of the great displays of men-in-black hustle ever. D’Angelo Jimenez drove a ball to the warning track in right-center field. Shawn Green…
OUCH "We got our brains kicked in for two games but we avoided the sweep and that’s what counts. I don’t put any credence on this series. It’s another game. If we’re talking in the month of September obviously it’s more important." —Larry Bowa, Phillies manager, on going 1-2 in a series against the Marlins…
Not surprisingly, after I did the ESPN chat last week, I received about 400 e-mails from people who participated or read the transcript afterwards. About 25% of those were from Derek Jeter fans/apologists, and his defense, along with that of Omar Vizquel, appears to be one of the hottest buttons in baseball. I’ll be discussing…
Successful sports franchises tend to fall in one of two ways. Injuries and age may take their toll. Far more dramatic and frustrating to fans, though, is the team that begins to smoke its own dope: after years of having transactions work out in its favor, the team starts to interpret luck as skill and…
How many of you saw last night’s Red Sox/Devil Rays game? I hope you all did, because it was the most egregious example of a full managerial pout I have ever seen in my life. Setting it up…the D-Rays had just blown the last of a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning. Leading 6-3, Paul…
Yesterday’s Daily Prospectus was about two-thirds written when I realized I was going to have to throw it out. It was a rant about the Blue Jays and their handling of Tony Batista, and included a comparison to their 1999 decision to demote Jose Cruz Jr. in the middle of a pennant race. Unfortunately, that…