A 17-game schedule Wednesday provided enough baseball to last anyone…OK, about one day: The Indians impressed the hell out of me, sweeping a doubleheader at Fenway to move back into first place in the wild-card race and push the Red Sox ever so close to extinction. The Tribe got seven innings of one-run ball from…
Reaction to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ recent decision to increase the team’s debt load by $20 million has been loud and unanimous: the sky is, once again, falling. How could one of baseball’s "most successful" teams–a defending divisional champion–find itself in need of cash? As you might expect, there’s a lot more to this news than…
Olympic Prospectus series Exhibition Roundup Olympic Outlook Team USA Pitching Team USA Hitting "I don’t believe in pitch counts. We lost our counter, so I have no idea how long they worked. That pitcher [Japan’s Daisuke Matsuzaka] was outstanding. I think that’s the way it should be. I think a young pitcher has to strengthen…
First off, a nod to readers Paul Drye and Stephen Roney, who both took me up on my triple-dog-dare from last week. Referencing Dazzy Vance‘s strikeouts and Babe Ruth‘s homers, I challenged readers to find another instance in which one player so thoroughly dominated his league in any significant category. Both Drye and Roney rose…
CHICAGO CUBS Placed RHPs Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani on the 60-day DL; designated the contract of OF-R Raul Gonzalez for assignment; purchased the contracts of CF-L Corey Patterson and LHPs Joey Nation and Will Ohman from West Tenn (Double-A). [9/18] In a sense, this is all progress. Pulling the plug early on Kevin Tapani’s…
Now, the fun begins. The Indians looked like the 1995-1999 version over the weekend, winning three of four games from the Yankees, two by blowout and the third with a one-hitter. Coupled with Boston’s split in Detroit, their performance sends them into Hell Week with a three-game lead over the Red Sox. Then again, the…
LOSING IT OVER BAD CALLS "The pitchers in the bullpen told me it was a home run. The umpires have got to be closer to the play, but it’s their decision. I can’t do anything about it." — Richard Hidalgo, Astros outfielder, on having an apparant home run ruled in play in an 8-7 loss…
Olympic Prospectus series: | Olympic Outlook | Team USA Pitching | Team USA Hitting (Ed. note: This isn’t another NBC joke. Derek filed this prior to the Olympic competition began, only to see it disappear on the editorial desk. Our apologies to you readers.) I have two things to get off my chest before I…
(Today’s Daily Prospectus is brought to you by NBC Sports.) Another Midsummer Classic is behind us, as the American League defeated the National League Tuesday 6-3. The Yankees’ Derek Jeter, one of the many players whose spot in the lineup came at the expense of an injured starter, had three hits and became the first…
CLEVELAND INDIANS Activated RHP Charles Nagy from the DL; placed RHP David Riske on the 60-day DL (torn labrum). [9/14] In theory, Charles Nagy is healthy, although most reports seem to indicate his velocity is off. His ability to pitch well has to be in doubt. Even then, he might yet crack the Indians’ postseason…
Did you know that some umpires are more steal-friendly than others? I have to admit, that possibility had never crossed my mind until a recent discussion on Usenet’s rec.sport.baseball mentioned a couple of articles in previous years’ STATS, Inc. books that addressed the relationship between umpires and stolen-base percentage. The earlier of those two articles…
With sincere apologies to the late, great Allan Malamud… On June 21, Bobby Cox brought John Rocker in to start the ninth inning with the Braves trailing 3-1. It was Rocker’s third appearance since his recall from Richmond, and he was brutal: one out, four walks, a hit and five runs. Since then, Rocker has…
By now we’ve all heard the predictions of doom for Major League Baseball. Many sportswriters have solemnly declared that the player compensation structure of the game is fundamentally broken and that only a few teams can compete these days. The 1998 season was declared to be a model of what we would see in the…
CHICAGO WHITE SOX Recalled LHP Jesus Pena from Birmingham (Double-A). [9/12] It seems strange that Jesus Pena was not called up sooner. Kelly Wunsch is the only left-hander on the roster assigned to late-inning relief, what with Mark Buehrle usually having to come in early to help staunch the bleeding whenever one of the starters…
Who’s the best Cy Young candidate on the Braves? ERA GS CG ShO IP W-L Tom Glavine 3.62 31 3 1 214.0 19-7 Greg Maddux 3.09 32 6 3 230.1 17-8 As I write this, I don’t have updated Support-Neutral or VORP data. Suffice to say Greg Maddux has extended his lead over Tom Glavine…
Taking a cue from Chris Kahrl’s latest NL Central Notebook, what should teams in the AL West be doing as the season winds down? Anaheim Angels Mike Scioscia’s troops have had a surprising run, but still find themselves six games back in the division with two teams to climb over and five-and-a-half games behind in…