Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Interesting analysis of Bartolo Colon's start for the Red Sox last night. Bottom line? It looks like he still has his fastball and that's the pitch he needs to be successful... Everyone is making a fuss out of the Tampa Bay Rays and their turnaround but the bigger story may actually be the rebuilding job done by the Oakland A's. The poster boy for the A's resurgence is probably Dana Eveland who was acquired in the Dan Haren trade and who is currently 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 10 starts for the A's (compare to Haren who is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 9 starts for the Diamondbacks).... Speaking of the A's - Frank Thomas seems to be doing a decent job since his signing (3HR / .282 BA / .855 OBP). I guess I may have been incorrect with predictions of his demise. Frank Thomas also needs just 2 more HR for 521 to tie Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 16th place on the all-time HR list... Mike Piazza may have been pretty one-dimensional but he's a first ballot Hall of Famer nonetheless... Happy 35th birthday Julian Tavarez - for your birthday the Red Sox are sending you to Pawtucket... Today also would have been Hall of Famer Al Simmons (real name Aloys Szymanski) 106th birthday. Simmons had a run of over 100 RBI in 11 of his first 12 seasons in the major leagues. His career total of 1827 RBI is good for 16th place all-time (just ahead of Frank Robinson but just behind Dave Winfield)... If Willie Randolph thinks of himself in the same vein as Herm Edwards and Isiah Thomas - then he should be fired. Edwards and Thomas are perhaps the worst coaches in their respective sports. I don't care about skin color. I do care about what expectations a professional sets for himself. If Randolph is thinking "I want to do as well in this city as Herm Edwards did" then he should be fired... Omar Minaya is the real problem with the Mets. However, if a manager change is inevitable - I think Tony Pena would do a great job for the Mets...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

With the Padres and Rockies playing a 163rd game - I was reminded that in 1978 when the Red Sox went to a playoff - Jim Rice played in every game that season - all 163 of them. Adrian Gonzalez came close to Rice's mark by playing 161 games this season... I figured out who was to blame for the Mets' collapse - Mr. Met. Wally the Green Monster never would have allowed the Red Sox to fall apart like that... If I had a vote for NL MVP - I'd have to give it to Matt Holliday of the Rockies. Holliday was taken in the 7th round of the 1998 draft. In the first round the Rockies took pitcher Matt Roney with the 28th pick, outfielder Choo Freeman with 36th pick and catcher Jeff Winchester with the 40th pick. If I'm the Rockies I'm not sure how I feel about the success of those 3 first rounders... Prediction - if the Phillies go on to win the World Series then the number of people who die in the "celebration" will outnumber the US military deaths in Iraq for October... If I had a vote for NL Manager of the Year - I'd vote for Willie Randolph just to screw with people... The Red Sox having to carry 3 catchers on their playoff roster for the series against the Angels points out how much of an albatross Doug Mirabelli has become. His only skill is being Tim Wakefield's buddy. He's become Robert DiNiro in Bang the Drum Slowly. I understand the flexibility having 3 catchers give you in the late innings but come on - there's a reason no playoff teams normally carry 3 catchers...

Top 5 - Baseball Players from South Carolina

Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players from South Carolina.

1. Shoeless Joe Jackson - 3rd highest career batting average of all time - yet never lead his league in batting. Not in Hall of Fame for obvious reasons
2. Larry Doby - Hall of Fame Outfielder - broke color line in the American League
3. Jim Rice - lead league in total bases 4 times, home runs 3 times and was 1978 AL MVP - should be in Hall of Fame
4. Willie Randolph - 6-time All-Star 2nd baseman for the Yankees
5. Reggie Sanders - one of six players in baseball history to have both 300+ HR and 300+ stolen bases

I think South Carolina is the first state where I picked five position players and no pitchers.