ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Ken Hill on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 7/1 (elbow inflammation); recalled LHP Jarrod Washburn from Edmonton. [7/2] Coming on the heels of losing Belcher, you might think this is bad news for the Angels. But Hill’s been pitching hurt all year, and losing someone walking more than five guys per…
Entering the 1999 season, 20-year-old Gil Meche was rated the fourth-best prospect in the Seattle Mariners’ organization by Baseball America, behind Ryan Anderson, Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen. Both Garcia and Guillen started the year with the big league squad, and while Anderson is currently laboring at Double-A New Haven, Meche has pitched so well…
KENDALL OUT FOR THE SEASON “It was one of the worst things I’ve seen. I’ve never seen anything like it. He was probably going to set the record for steals by a catcher, but will that speed come back? I just don’t know.” — Gene Lamont, Pirates manager “It’s one of the most gruesome things…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed OF Matt Luke on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/25 (partially torn rib cage muscle); recalled LHP Mike Holtz from Edmonton. [6/27] Placed RHP Tim Belcher on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/27 (fractured right pinky); recalled C Bret Hemphill from Edmonton; acquired OF Mike Stoner from the Diamondbacks for OF Jason…
The most important thing Bill James did for baseball, in my opinion, was to question the assumptions that were prevalent in the game and determined how it was played. His statistical methods were tools, and only tools, developed to help test the validity of those assumptions. Some analysts–myself included–have occasionally forgotten that point, and treated…
Game Report: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox, June 24, 1999: Brad Radke versus Jaime Navarro I like to go to the ballpark with a few things on my mind. Sometimes they’re questions, and I see if the game gives me any clues about their answers. Sometimes I go just to see a player I’ve…
JIMENEZ NO-HITS D-BACKS “It’s unbelievable. I can’t explain it. I just want to fly tonight.” — Jose Jimenez, Cardinals pitcher “If that doesn’t thrill you, then you should be doing something else for a living. He really had tremendous movement on his pitches. He has Kevin Brown-type movement.” — Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager “Since I…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Re-signed manager Terry Collins to a contract extension; activated SS Gary Disarcina from the DL; designated UT Tim Unroe for assignment. [6/22] Disney rallies around its man, but it isn’t like they can’t afford to eat the contract should they finally realize that Collins is part of the problem. It’s been interesting to…
BALTIMORE ORIOLES Placed 2B Delino DeShields on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/20 (strained hamstring). [6/21] DeShields is well on the way to earning a "fragile" label. Between injuries he hasn’t exactly busted out to the kind of offensive season (.274/.355/.374) people might have expected from a guy coming into Camden Yards in what’s turning…
LARRY DIERKER “It was scary to hear that he might have a tumor. You couldn’t eat or sleep last night. It was great to see that he is OK. Now we can go out and do what he trained us to do the last three years, have fun and play hard.” — Derek Bell, Astros…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed CF Mike Colangelo on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/14 (torn thumb ligament); announced that INF Tim Unroe cleared waivers, and selected his contract back from Edmonton; transferred CF Jim Edmonds from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [6/16] The only surprise is that Colangelo was hurt worse than expected in his…
Are the Phillies for Real? For the second straight June, the Philadelphia Phillies find themselves on the brink of wild-card contention, just a game and a half behind the Cubs and Giants. As has been the case in most NL seasons since the wild card’s debut, this "race" pits a handful of .530 teams battling…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Purchased the contracts of OFs Mike Colangelo and Matt Luke from Edmonton; optioned 1B Chris Pritchett to Edmonton; designated UT Tim Unroe for assignment; transferred RHP Pep Harris from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [6/12] To add to this mess, as you should already know, Colangelo promptly got injured in his first…
EXPOS BEAT MARTINEZ “What an unbelievable game. Obviously the fans here love Pedro and they’re pulling for him but I think when it came down to it, they really wanted us to win.” — Mike Thurman, Expos pitcher “I just wanted to come back here and keep on rolling but they beat me. If I’m…
"Baseball is 75% pitching." "Pitching and defense are what win baseball games. " We’ve heard these cliches spouted countless times, but thanks to the work of analysts like Bill James, among many others, we know they don’t stand up to scrutiny. Scoring runs plays just as important a role in winning as preventing runs. However,…
Unexpected Results in Oakland The Athletics are in a virtual tie for second place in the AL West with a 30-29 record, while being outscored 296 to 275 (a Pythagorean record of 27-32). What’s strange about this is not that the A’s are outperforming their projection, but just what part of the team is responsible…