SB Nation - Greg Maddux

Astros Winter Meeting, Day Three: Links, Thoughts and Idle Speculation

davoag — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:54:48 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Unless you have this man closing games for you, do you need a big-name closer? And yes, I was referring to Yogi...

Look, I'm all for conventional wisdom. There is usually a reason it's conventional; it's worked for years and years. It's what people do. In baseball, it's what teams do to win. I don't mock all conventional wisdom in baseball. Some of it is very sound. One thing I can't figure out, however, is why this one fact has become so crucial to a team's offseason goals. Why do the Astros 'need' to find a closer this winter? Just because they lost their closer from last season?

Let's consider last season*. How many teams went into the 2009 season with unsettled or unproven closers? That would be 11. Here's the complete list, followed by some quick thoughts on the situations.

*This isn't the most scientific study, since I'm looking just at teams from 2009 and not expanding the data range past that. I acknowledge that. Let's move past it.

Tampa Bay (84-78) Had Percival ostensibly as closer, but pitched 10 innings in 2009 and was not used as closer much early. Still had six saves, but so did five other members of bullpen.
Toronto (75-87) Knew BJ Ryan would be back at some point, never signed anyone as replacement.
Detroit (86-77) Had a group of a couple players, sorted itself out during the season.
Seattle (85-77) Found David Aardsma off junk pile.
Oakland (75-87) Went with all-kids, Andrew Bailey emerged as closer
Florida (87-75) Went with unproven kid in Matt Lindstrom, moved to Leo Nunez halfway through season.
Washington (59-103) Went with Mike McDougal, had okay season.
St. Louis (91-71) Found Ryan Franklin after going through motions with several others
LA Dodgers (95-67) Broxton saved some games at end of 2008, but still unknown entity going into 2009
San Diego (75-87) Entered season with Heath Bell as closer, no prior experience
Arizona (70-92) Let Brandon Lyon walk,used Qualls as new closer
Atlanta (86-76) Traded for Soriano, but also had Mike Gonzalez

Obviously, there were some teams that were going to be bad no matter what. They'd made the decision to rebuild and thus, didn't invest heavily in a closer. Those teams (Washington, Oakland, San Diego) finished with losing records. The Padres found Heath Bell could be a successful closer and the A's had the same thing happen with Andrew Bailey.

The rest of the teams? 7 of the 11 had winning records. There are numerous examples of teams being killed by not having a late-inning guy. That's the 2008 Mets excuse, anyway (forcing them to spend ungodly amounts of money on JJ Putz and K-Rod). I think, however, that a large majority of teams don't necessarily need to focus on getting a closer as part of their success. Finding good players and putting them in the bullpen will work itself out. Why spend the money on a luxury item when you can win without one?

Maybe this is all rationalization since the Brewers are going to swoop in and sign both LaTroy Hawkins and Randy Wolf in the same day. I really believe that the Astros success in 2010 won't hinge on who pitches the ninth inning. Houston will be an average-to-below average team no matter who the closer is.

Onto the links:

Add the Cardinals to the list of Miguel Tejada suitors. Well, maybe not...it's just that Tony LaRussa likes him. Which he revealed for the sole purpose of driving me crazy. Would St. Louis play Tejada at shortstop or third base?
Could the Tigers end up being Jose Valverde's landing spot? The Granderson/Jackson deal saved them about 10-12 million dollars, depending on how much Jackson gets in arbitration. That puts them in perfect position to pick up a player like Valverde for the back end of the bullpen. It would also give the Astros the 19th pick in the 2010 draft. Apparently, the Nationals had interest but pulled back due to his cost. Did Valverde's agent overestimate his market?
Here's a nice defense of the Pudge Rodriguez signing. While I agree the human aspect of baseball decisions is often minimized by everyone, this seems a bit much. For one, it was widely reported when Pudge joined the Astros that he really doesn't prepare for the mental side of the game very well and is mostly concerned with hitting. Sure, he may provide moral support out there on the mound, but don't look for him to tell Strasberg what kind of pitches this guy doesn't want to see.Aaron Gleeman seems to agree with me, too.
I don't know what's more disturbing; that the White Sox could beat us out for Putz's services (and that that would be considered a bad thing) or that Matt Thornton uses the term 'bromance.' I have nothing more to say.
One of the better Twitter feeds during the Winter Meetings has been Will Carroll's. The Baseball Prospectus writer was profiled by his hometown newspaper and has apparently been one of the stars of the Indianapolis show. As someone who purchased his Carroll Guide to Sports Injuries, just so I could sound smart when I talk about Lis Franc-type injuries, I am very appreciative he's in the business.
Finally, here's a little prospect talk for those minor league nuts in the audience:
Some data on player speeds out of the box in the Arizona Fall League. The guys at Project Prospect only timed Castro twice and he fell into the below-average category, but he may have suffered the same fate as Buster Posey: fatigue. From what I'd heard to that point, Castro should have average speed in the majors.
We were recently contact by a site with some great prospect video (though it is a pay site). One of the profiles is on Henry Villar. Some very good video here with lots of pitches thrown. I didn't see any closeups from the side to tell how his arm mechanics looked, but could see some other things. His delivery is relatively smooth, but the fact he falls off to the first base side so heavily means it might not be as repeatable as you'd like. He's also not in great fielding position when he finishes. His arm slot doesn't look to put too much stress on his delivery and for a hard thrower, he certainly has a free-and-easy motion. Not too many warning signs for injury down the road.
Here's a video of Ross Seaton. I have to say, this was pretty encouraging. While Seaton did struggle with command issues in this particular start, it was a TON of video on his delivery. I can see why scouts would like him; Seaton has a very smooth delivery throughout. He lands in a balanced position, it's not too violent of an arm motion. His arm slot seems comfortable, though he does tend to miss the same slot sometimes. His elbow does not seem to fly forward before the ball and he seems perfectly balanced to field after the play. In fact, the end of his delivery reminds me a little of Greg Maddux. Now, he definitely didn't show Maddux-like control, but if his effortless delivery can really bring 92-93 MPH heat? He's a lot more interesting. Here's my end of the season scouting effort on Seaton, based on his numbers.
There's also video of Jordan Lyles on Baseball Intellect, but I won't bore you any more with prospect talk. At first blush, it's some of the longest video I've seen on prospects and a good source for first-hand scouting reports.

Frank McCourt has a strange way of defining "Business as Usual"

Phil Gurnee — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:09:13 -0000

Eric seemed a bit ticked off today as Frank McCourt proved once again that economics is more important then fielding the best team now and in the future. When Ned Colletti was hired among the news of the divorce he said he was told that the Dodgers would conduct "Business as Usual". And he's right, the Dodgers are conducting business as usual for them. Ever since the summer of 2008 Frank has shown that he's more concerned with saving money and playing in the now then he is in the long term future of his Dodgers. Move after move has saved him money in the short term while allowing him to compete in the short term, but this strategy can only work so long, and just like leveraging the team time and time again at some point you have to pay the piper.

Many seemed shocked by todays news that the Dodgers would not offer Wolf/Hudson arbitration. I'm not sure why, the Dodgers have clearly had a trend for the last 18 months of saving money at every opportunity and being risk averse when it comes to arbitration.

Cost cutting moves since the summer of 2008.

2008

1. Selling/Trading Carlos Santana/Jon Meloan to the Indians for a free and clear Casey Blake. The ramifications were the loss of the best player in the California League who played a premium position in exchange for a good 3rd baseman for the current team at zero cost saving the team around $2,000,000. The only thing wrong with the deal was that to get the Indians to play Casey's salary the price seemed much much to high when you consider who the Indians got from the Brewers when they traded CC and didn't pay any salary.

2. Trading/Selling 2007 2nd round pick Michael Watt for Greg Maddux. Nothing wrong with getting Maddux but since we didn't want to pay any salary the cost of the prospect was kind of high for a 40 something year old pitcher who could barely go 5 quality innings.

3. Trading/Selling Andy LaRoche/Byron Morris for Manny Ramirez. Nothing wrong with acquiring Manny but again the Dodgers managed to acquire a player for the post season push at no financial cost to them by trading prospects.

In 2008 the Dodgers managed to trade Carlos Santana/Jon Meloan/Michael Watt/Andy LaRoche/Byron Morris and acquire Manny/Blake/Maddux while not taking on any salary. Surely a short term bonus to the team but quite a price to pay for the future instead of just spending some money.

2009

1. Deferring Andruw Jone's contract instead of simply eating it and not having to worry about the cost in the future. By deferring his contract it allowed them to sign Wolf/Hudson/Manny.

2. Deferring Manny's two year deal so that the pain would endure for many years to come.

3. Trading Tony Abreu for Jon Garland. The cash strapped Diamondbacks threw in some money ($3,661,102) to cover Garlands buy out and for that price they got someone who will probably be there starting 2nd baseman in 2010. The Diamondbacks now have a cheap 2nd baseman for the next several years while Dodgers have no Garland and no 2nd baseman.

4. Shockingly the Sherrill trade was not about money, but the long term ramifications might be felt for years to come as Josh Bell and Steve Johnson were ripped from the system.

5. With the possibility of gaining four high draft picks the Dodgers opt to not offer arbitration to Randy Wolf or Orlando Hudson because of the fear of having to pay them even though the odds of them accepting arbitration were not very high. And even if they did accept, one year deals for productive players in their 30's is usually a good plan of attack. For once they may have screwed themselves not only in the short term but in the long term. In the long term Eric noted the value of those draft picks is in the millions with these tweets from Jay Jaffe:

4 years ago Nate Silver estimated that team losing type A f-a is compensated with $12 million in draft picks.

So, for avoiding 4 bonuses ($1-2 mil per, max), Dodgers lose out on $24 mil of picks by not offering Hudson & Wolf arb. #mccourtsmustgo

In the short term we certainly could have used either Wolf or Hudson in 2010 on one year deals.

Also in 2008/2009 the Memories of Kevin Malone chronicles how the Dodgers over the last two years have spent the least amount of money on draft bonuses

The Dodgers have paid $8.5 million in signing bonuses for draft picks over the last two years -- the lowest figure among all major league teams, according to Baseball America.

The Dodgers, so proud of their heritage in Asia and Latin America, today are a non-factor in bidding for top amateur players abroad. In 2008, according to Baseball America, major league clubs combined to sign 115 such players for bonuses of more than $100,000. The Dodgers did not sign one.

Let us not forget how they handled the following draft picks as Eric reported in the comments.

2006: Dodgers draft Alex White in 14th round, big time talented P out of HS, don’t sign him (he went #15 to Indians in 2009)
2007: Dodgers draft Kyle Blair in 5th round, fail to sign him for $1.35m…he goes to USD and will be 1st rounder in2010.

And you wonder why I was shocked that Garret Gould was signed. I wonder what Logan White had to do to make that happen?

Face it, this ownership has cash flow problems and has done everything it can possibly do to mitigate current financial obligations by either deferring the problems to the future or selling assets (prospects) to help them compete in the short term. A $100 Million dollar payroll is no small amount but when your competition in the NLCS is spending $140 Million it might seem you are playing with an arm tied behind your back. However the Padres won't feel sorry for the Dodgers since the Dodgers outspend the Padres by the same margin.

Amazingly with all of this the team still has a core good enough to get back to the postseason but now I'm wondering who will be next to finance the short term goal as they throw the long term vision away?

If Frank came out and said, you know I've got some financial problems and we need to cut back until we get this straightened out, I'd feel like writing a Hobo Frank column saying we should support this team. I could live with the current team as we throw out Haeger/McDonald/Elbert/Lindblom into the rotation along with a host of cheap NRI's. I could live with DeWitt/Belliard manning 2nd base until DeJesus is ready. I can live with having to go cheap with the farm in combination with what we currently have. What I can't live with is bullshit PR spin about Business as Usual and the selling of the future because they don't have the cash for the present. This may be business as usual for Frank McCourt but it is not how Dodgers fans expect the team to be run. At least I hope not.

How Did They Do That?

dajafi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:02:53 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Ryan Madson: last man standing of the Phillies' 2008 pitching stalwarts. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Not quite 24 hours after the Phillies saw their season come to an end one day and two wins before we hoped it would, my disappointment at the conclusion is starting to give way to something like amazement that they got as close as they did. Of arguably the six most important Phillies pitchers from the 2008 championship run--starters Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and Jamie Moyer, and relievers Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and J.C. Romero--a stunning five saw their contributions plummet in the season that just ended.

By contrast, consider the last NL team to win back-to-back pennants: the Atlanta Braves of the mid-1990s. The world champion 1995 Braves boasted a rotation led by future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, who combined for 47 wins and 601 innings that season. Their bullpen was anchored by closer Mark Wohlers (204 ERA+) and setup men Greg McMichael (153) and Brad Clontz (117). The '96 Braves, who also lost their repeat bid to the Yankees in six games, had a pitching staff led by... Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Wohlers, McMichael and Clontz. The three starters combined for 54 wins and an amazing 724 innings; Wohlers (ERA+ 145) and McMichael (136) were strong again, though Clontz (77) was much less effective. To sum up, the top five pitchers powered the Atlanta pennant-winners in both years.

Which brings us to the 2008-2009 Phillies.

In '08, Hamels, Myers and Moyer combined for 40 wins and 613.2 innings in the regular season (plus 6 wins and 65.2 innings through the three rounds of the playoffs). Lidge pitched to a superlative ERA+ of 225; Madson (144) and Romero (160) were great as well, and came up even bigger in the playoffs. A year later, Hamels went from "Darth Vader in spikes," as the Braves broadcasters (in perhaps the sole contribution to humankind) once dubbed him, to a young pitcher struggling with command and composure. Myers looked like he might challenge Bert Blyleven's single season home run record through a middling month and a half, then got hurt. Moyer pitched his way out of the rotation, remade himself as a surprisingly effective long reliever, then suffered a season-ending injury in September. They combined for 26 wins and 426.1 innings during the season, and Hamels added another victory in October. Lidge... well, you know about Lidge: his 2009 campaign was arguably the worst any closer has ever suffered through. His ERA+ was *59*. That's not a misprint. Romero missed the first fifty games of the season with a suspension for taking illegal supplements, briefly returned and was middling, then got hurt and missed the last month plus the playoffs. Only Madson stood tall again, with an ERA+ of 131. They were the anti-Braves.

That the Phils came within two wins of raising another championship banner anyway has to be credited mostly to GM Ruben Amaro Jr., whose late July trade for Cliff Lee and bargain-price signing of Pedro Martinez saved the rotation and who gave the bullpen a crucial boost in the person of Chan Ho Park. Manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee, who got great work from J.A. Happ and small but important contributions from the likes of Antonio Bastardo, Rodrigo Lopez, Tyler Walker and Kyle Kendrick over the course of the year, deserve kudos as well.

It's unclear what, if anything, this means for the future. Certainly there's every reason to hope Hamels will return to form, and Lidge and Romero seem decent bets to rebound from their miserable 2009 campaigns even if neither recaptures the heights of '08. Myers is a free agent who might or might not be back; Moyer will turn 47 this month and will be attempting to rebound from a fairly severe injury. But if you'd tried to sell the story eight months ago that the 2009 Phils would see five of their top six pitchers from the championship run essentially melt down, yet still win the pennant and take the World Series to six games, you likely would have had few believers.

History Is Not On Their Side: World Series Game 2 Preview, Phillies vs. Yankees, Thursday 10/29, 6:57 CT

Al — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:43 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

Hey, look! The umpires got one right this postseason!

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Chris DeLuca in today's Sun-Times tells us what the Yankees are up against in trying to win the World Series:

The last six teams to win Game 1 -- and 10 of the last 11 -- all went on to win the Series.

The last team to win Game 1 and not win the Series? Dusty Baker's Giants in 2002.

More history: as you likely know from watching the game last night, Cliff Lee was on target, before Jimmy Rollins' bad throw, to throw the first CG shutout in a World Series since Josh Beckett's clinching shutout in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series. That was also the last CG of any kind in a World Series; to show you how rare such events now are, since the division series round was added to the playoffs in 1995, there have been only two other complete games thrown in a World Series: by Randy Johnson in Game 2 of the 2001 World Series and by Greg Maddux in Game 1 of the 1995 World Series, in which he gave the Indians only two singles and both runs he allowed were unearned.

So the Yankees have an uphill climb, and I think Pedro Martinez is an inspired choice to start tonight for the Phillies; a similar choice was made by Connie Mack in the 1929 World Series against the Cubs for another Philadelphia team, with excellent results (for Mack's team, not for the Cubs).

Phillies at Yankees, 6:57 pm CDT. Phillies lead series 1-0. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight and Yankees site Pinstripe Alley.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Busting out in the Divisional Round: Alex Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell

HighLeveragePerformer — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:37 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

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Story after story after story have been written in the past week about Alex Rodriguez' playoff redemption. For a player as maligned as Rodriguez, truly positive press can be hard to come by. After a season of high expectations for his team, the Yankee third baseman thriving outside of the spotlight- free agent signees Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia, the resurgent Derek Jeter and their new baseball palace have stolen headlines that used to belong to A-Rod. If the result of this relative lack of exposure is the success we've witnessed over the first few games of the playoffs, then maybe Rodriguez could use some of that $300 million contract to force the NY beat writers to focus on Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Brett Gardner in 2010.

Besides the lessening of external pressure on the slugger, the lineup the Yankees have fielded this season is much stronger than those in playoff years past. Outside of 2004, his playoff performances have been well below his career averages. It's tough to judge a player based off of fewer than 35 AB, but it's the nature of the beast playing in New York, on baseball's biggest stage.

Jeff Bagwell never had to deal with the New York media, or the ire of the baseball public during his illustrious career. After four failed attempts to escape the first round the playoffs, Bagwell and the Astros finally managed to lay their collective demons to rest by beating the Atlanta Braves in the 2004 NLDS. Bags would see extended playoff ABs for the first time in his career, and he responded by posting a stupendous "triple-slash" of .318/.400/.682 in 22 ABs. No longer would he be forced to head into yet another off season coming off of tepid October performances.

Was there anything special about that October as compared to 1997, '98, '99 or 2001 (which in fairness was a solid, albeit short, postseason for Jeff)?

1997:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.305
1B	Bags	.428
2B	Craig	.410
3B	S. Berry/Spiers	.316/.404
SS	Bogar/Ricky	.315/.302
LF	Gonzo	.320
CF	Hidalgo	.373
RF	Abreu	.319

1998:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Ausmus	.318
1B	Bags	.422
2B	Craig	.406
3B	Berry	.387
SS	Gutierrez	.301
LF	Alou	.416
CF	Everett	.359
RF	Bell	.373

1999:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Eusebio	.320
1B	Bags	.422
2B	Craig	.368
3B	Cammy	.374
SS	Bogar	.294
LF	Javier	.374
CF	Everett	.416
RF	Bell	.296

Note: This season saw the likes of Daryle Ward (.336), Javier, and Matt Mieske (.333) start playoff games in the outfield. Yikes.

2001:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.270
1B	Bags	.408
2B	Craig	.364
3B	V. Castilla	.339
SS	J. Lugo	.303
LF	Alou	.397
CF	Hidalgo	.346
RF	Lance	.435

2004:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.271
1B	Bags	.364
2B	Kent	.369
3B	Ensberg	.321
SS	Everett	.313
LF	Craig	.349
CF	Beltran	.404
RF	Lance	.427

While the addition of Beltran and Kent in 2004 were huge additions, it wasn't as if the Astros became the '27 Yankees. In fact, this was Bagwell's worst season in his career (to that point), yet he had his best postseason ever. While A Rod's mates are clearly superior in 2009 than in seasons past, the same can't truly be said of Bags' bunch in 2004. Between his and Craig's declines, and the lowest output from 3B since 1997, this was a pretty good, but not superior lineup. What surprised me was that Jeff Kent, a power hitting second baseman throughout his career, posted Biggio-like numbers at second in 2004. Lance Berkman is great....like, "play for five more seasons and punch his ticket to Cooperstown" great.

If anything, I'd chalk up their 2004 NLCS appearance to not having to face Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Kevin Brown, and John Smoltz, and instead facing off against Jaret Wright, John Thomson, Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton. Wait a second...Ortiz? Hampton? Weren't they on the....this season? Damn.

Dodgers Wanted To Wait For True Blue LA Night

Eric Stephen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:01:02 -0000

via www.brooklandsvideo.com

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This is starting to get a little comical. Nine times the Dodgers had a chance to win the National League West, with either a win or a Rockies loss. Nine times they have been denied. Tonight becomes divisional match point number 10, and it just happens to be True Blue LA night at Dodger Stadium!

The Dodgers' playoff situation is pretty simple:

Win one of the next two games, and they are the top seed in the NL playoffs, with home field advantage during the first two rounds.
Lose both games, and the Dodgers are the number four seed, likely traveling to Philadelphia to start the NLDS

The Cardinals can no longer get the top seed. They can only max out at 93 wins, and the winner of the NL West will have at least 94 wins. Any win by the Phillies or loss by the Cardinals locks the Cardinals in as the number three seed, meaning they will play the winner of the NL West in the NLDS.

If the Phillies win one of their two remaining games, they are guaranteed at least the number two seed, by virtue of having the tiebreaker over the Cardinals, and would play the wild card winner in the NLDS.

If the Rockies win both games, they will win the West, and are guaranteed at least the number two seed. If the Rockies end up tying Philadelphia at 94 wins (Phillies would also have to win their final two), the Phillies would get the top seed by virture of winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Rockies. If the Rockies lose a game, they are the wild card, and the number four seed.

As bad as the Dodgers are playing, they still just need one win. One win will fix everything. it really is that simple.

Team	W-L	GB
Dodgers	93-67	---
Phillies	92-68	1
Rockies	92-68	1
Cardinals	91-69	2

The Dodgers' fate rests in the hands of young Clayton Kershaw. It seems like a tall task for a 21-year old who hasn't pitched past four innings in a game for over four weeks, but if anyone is up to it, it's Kershaw. Kershaw will be the game two starter in the NLDS, so what better way to prepare for the playoffs than winning the division clincher?

The Rockies counter with Jorge de la Rosa, an under-the-radar 16-game winner this season. It's easy to discount his 4.45 ERA or his 0-5 record and 7.12 ERA against the Dodgers in his career, but like Ubaldo Jimenez, it's important for the Dodgers to not overlook de la Rosa. On the road, de la Rosa is 6-3 with a 3.45 ERA and a 3.93 FIP. Actually, his overall FIP is just 3.98, so he has enjoyed a nice season.

More importantly, tonight is True Blue LA night at the stadium! It is our second trip this season. We showed up 20 strong in San Diego on July 3 for the return of Manny Ramirez (more pictures here), and tonight we increase our throng from one Hall of Famer (Sutton) to another (Koufax), as 32 seats in the reserved level, section 44, rows K through N, will be filled by True Blue LA faithful.

We will plan to meet at the seats before the game. We have a few fun things in store, including some prizes to give away. A fun time shall be had by all, especially if the Dodgers are able to clinch the division.

I have seen the Dodgers clinch twice in person:

September 30, 1995: a win in San Diego on the penultimate day of the season behind Hideo Nomo gave the Dodgers the NL West crown
September 30, 2006: a win in San Francisco, also on the next-to-last day of the year, gave the Dodgers a playoff spot (the division was still in play, but they ended up as the wild card) behind Greg Maddux

I lived in San Diego for about 14 years up until I moved earlier this season, but if I didn't move maybe I could have been there in person for another road September 30th clinch on Wednesday. That didn't happen, so I'll have to settle for clinching the division at home in the company of friends and family.

The Dodgers before the game will honor Juan Pierre for winning the organization's Roy Campanella Award for being the Dodger who "best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late Hall of Fame catcher." In addition, the Dodgers will honor their minor league player of the year (Dee Gordon), and pitcher of the year (Scott Elbert). To help mimic a game situation for Elbert, the Dodgers can have a person stand in the left-handed batter's box as Elbert receives the award, then have Elbert come off the mound after an all too brief ceremony.

Kathy Ireland will throw out a ceremonial first pitch, an interesting choice on a night featuring Star Wars fans and blogger fans. Remember folks: no Lightsabers will be allowed into Dodger Stadium.

Game Time: 7:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket, MLB Network

Baseball Reference Preview

It Was Twenty-Five Years Ago Today: Cubs vs. Giants Preview, Thursday 9/24, 9:15 CT

Al — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Write your own caption.

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As mentioned in this FanShot, today is the 25th anniversary of the clinching of the Cubs' first title of any kind in 39 years, the 1984 NL East championship. It happened in Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium in front of a crowd announced as 5,472, but it sounded more like 50,000 -- almost all rooting for the Cubs. I know, because I was one of them. Some friends of mine and I paid an usher $10 to let us sit six rows behind the Cubs dugout, where we saw (and congratulated) Dallas Green on his way from the dugout to sit in one of the suites.

Here's the boxscore from that game, which was not only the clincher, but Rick Sutcliffe's 20th win of the season (capping his 16-1 run as a Cub, it was his final regular season start). He threw a complete game and allowed only two hits and a run, striking out nine. What many people don't remember about the two hits -- but I do -- is how close those hits came to being outs. Both hits were by Pirates outfielder Joe Orsulak. The first was a sharp grounder down the 1B line in the third inning that just eluded Leon Durham's glove. It quickly went into the RF corner and Orsulak, then a 22-year-old September callup with good speed, legged out a triple. He later scored on a groundout.

Orsulak came up in the sixth inning with two out and laid down a perfect bunt (hard to do on that old Astroturf field) and beat it out for a single. He was promptly picked off; Sutcliffe thus came within a couple of heartbeats of throwing a perfect game. Orsulak also thus wound up being the final out of the game, a called strikeout, setting off a celebration among the Cubs fans in Pittsburgh.

Wonderful memories. If only we could have repeated them this year. Also, Bruce Levine recounts his memories of being there as a reporter and has this cogent observation on Ryne Sandberg:

Veteran shortstop Larry Bowa and future Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg did what they always did before a game, taking 75 ground balls from coach John Vukovich. It was a routine that Sandberg said helped solidify his work ethic, one that he teaches today as a minor league manager in the Cubs organization.

There is no doubt in my mind that Sandberg will make an excellent major league manager.

Last night's impromptu photo caption contest drew some really good and funny entries, so I'm doing it again tonight. Write your caption in the comments; I'll go through all of them and post the winner's user name in the thread in the morning (if you missed it, last night's winner was ballhawk -- and to be fair, ballhawk, you can enter but you can't win again). Go for it.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Ryan Dempster Cubs	vs.	Brad Penny Giants

10-8	W-L	10-9
3.72	ERA	5.35
150	SO	100
61	BB	49
20	HR	22
vs. SF	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Ryan Dempster	10-8	28	28	0	0	0	0	179.0	178	87	74	20	61	150	3.72	1.34

Note: Brad Penny's stats below are with the Giants only; see the pitcher box above for his full-season stats.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Brad Penny	3-1	4	4	0	0	0	0	24.2	18	11	11	5	7	11	4.01	1.01

Brad Penny is 3-3, 2.64 in nine career starts vs. the Cubs; the most famous of them is probably this 2006 game at Wrigley Field, pitched by Penny not long after Greg Maddux was traded to the Dodgers. Penny let Maddux call all his pitches that day and Penny threw seven shutout innings, allowing seven singles and no walks. Penny had a rough time with the Red Sox this year; they released him and he's been better with the Giants, although he got pounded in his last start against the Dodgers. Aramis Ramirez (10-for-26, .385) and Derrek Lee (6-for-13, 3 doubles), both of whom have been hot this month, like hitting Penny.

In Ryan Dempster's last six starts, he has gone 4-1, 1.91 with 33 strikeouts and only eight walks in 42.1 innings, looking very much like the dominant pitcher of 2008. Let's hope he continues that tonight to finish this season on a positive note. He threw seven strong innings in a 4-2 Cubs win at Wrigley Field on May 4. Current Giants are hitting .235 (31-for-132) against Dempster; the only one who'll likely be in tonight's lineup who hits him well is Edgar Renteria (7-for-22, 2 HR).

Today's game is CSN-centric; Chicago and Bay Area. If you have EI and get the Giants feed, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper are among the best local broadcast teams. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

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Please visit our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles. Grant, who runs the site, is one of SBN's best writers.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 10:15 and 11:15 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Padilla, Dodgers Look To Get Back Into The Win Column

Eric Stephen — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:30:18 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

Vicente Padilla takes the mound for the Dodgers today in Arizona.

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The Dodgers' last eight games have gone like this: Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. It would be nice to continue that trend today, as the Dodgers begin a three-game series in Arizona with a Labor Day day game.

Dodger pitchers have give up more than four runs only twice in their past 26 games. In he two games they had the audacity to allow more than four runs, they allowed only five runs, and in extra innings to boot. In other words, the Dodgers have not given up more than four runs in regulation in nearly a month.

The Dodgers have won each of the last two Labor Days, in games started by someone acquired after the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline:

In 2007, Esteban Loaiza (acquired August 29) started his first game as a Dodger, beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 11-3
In 2008, Greg Maddux (acquired August 19) started and beat the Padres, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium

Today, Vicente Padilla (acquired August 19) starts his third game as a Dodger, against his original team. Padilla has done well so far in Dodger blue, allowing a total of three runs over 10.1 innings. This is a small sample size warning of course, but as a Dodger, Padilla has a 2.61 ERA and a 2.27 FIP.

The Dodgers have to face Max Scherzer, who shut them down Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. Scherzer has started against the Dodgers three times in his career, giving up three earned runs, then two, then one. Let's hope that trend doesn't continue downward today. This is Scherzer's first career start against the Dodgers in Arizona.

Per the Dodger game notes, the Dodgers outscored their opponents 7-0 in the first inning on their last road trip, and they haven't given up a first inning run in their last 15 road games. The Dodgers are 57-25 in games when they score first this season.

The Dodgers have won nine of 15 games against Arizona this season, including splitting six games in Arizona. They are 38-20 against the NL West this year, including 17-11 on the road.

For those outside of the Los Angeles area, this week will bring some games you can watch. Wednesday's 7:10pm start in Arizona will be televised on ESPN, in addition to Prime Ticket, and Saturday's 6:05pm start in San Francisco, also a Prime Ticket game, will be on MLB Network.

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Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.

Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies.

Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.

Game Time: 12:40pm

TV: Prime Ticket

Baseball Reference Preview

Baseball Stadiums And You

Eric Stephen — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:06:54 -0000

Watching the Dodgers at another stadium is fun, especially when they win.

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Yesterday, Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts took his first trip to AT&T Park in San Francisco, and what followed from that in the comments was a nice discussion of various ballparks people have attended. It made me do some digging and reminiscing about the stadiums I have been to. What better way is there to spend the off day today than to look back at all the stadiums you have been to? Feel free to give us your ballpark memories in the comments.

Outside of Dodger Stadium, here is my list:

Angels Stadium

I have been here on numerous occasions, but the few that stick out for me are these:

July 18, 1991: This game was one of the reasons I almost never leave early. I was 15, attending the game with both of my older brothers, and thus not exactly in full control of the transportation opportunities. Once Albert Belle broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth off Bryan Harvey, my brothers started to get up and leave. Stunned, and without a ride home if I stayed, I had to leave too. By the time we got to the car, it was 4-1 Indians, which had justified the decision by my brothers...until, that is, the Angels stormed back for four runs off four Indians pitchers (including former and future Old Friends Shawn Hillegas, Jesse Orosco, and Jeff Shaw) to win, 5-4.

August 8, 2000: Sitting one deck up behind home plate, I got to see the tremendous movement on the pitches from Pedro Martinez at his peak, which was a treat. The Angels somehow scratched together two runs to beat Pedro that night.

October 16, 2005: The White Sox won the pennant by taking Game 5 of the ALCS, as Jose Contreras pitched the fourth straight complete game of the series for Chicago. The final out of the series was an unassisted groundout to Old Friend Paul Konerko. The highlight of the game for me was seeing a family friend -- a huge Notre Dame fan -- at the stadium and showing him my USC shirt one day after the Leinart Sneak / Bush Push game.

Petco Park & Qualcomm Stadium

I lived in San Diego for the better part of 14 years, and saw numerous games here. The Dodgers never seem to do well with me in attendance in San Diego, as they are 7-19 lifetime (they did win on July 3 this year though, so I'm on a hot streak). Two games that stood out:

June 11, 1993: The very first game I went to in San Diego. Kevin Gross pitched eight scoreless innings, but the Dodgers -- including rookie Pedro Martinez -- blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth, and the Padres won 5-4.

September 30, 1995: This was the first time I saw the Dodgers clinch anything, as they won 7-2 behind Hideo Nomo to clinch the NL West over the Rockies (who would win the Wild Card). There were quite a few Dodger fans at the park that night.

Coors Field

July 27, 2000: I have only been to one game in Denver, and it was during a family reunion in Colorado. My cousins and I got picked up at the airport and went straight to the stadium. This game was nearly four hours long, yet only nine innings. The Dodgers won 16-11, behind the greatest game of Alex Cora's life. Cora had two home runs, and a double that hit high off the wall.

Chase Field (Bank One Ballpark)

I have been to three games here, only one of which was against the Dodgers.

July 24, 1999: I made the unwise decision to drive to Phoenix from San Diego and back in one day, and was rewarded with Brian Anderson outdueling Darren Dreifort. The D-Backs rode home runs by Steve Finley and Bernard Gilkey to a 3-0 win.

August 22, 2003: The only no-hitter I ever saw, only it wasn't a no-hitter. Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs allowed no hits into the eighth inning, then with two outs future Old Friend Shea Hillenbrand was awarded an infield single even though it was painfully clear from my nosebleed seats that he was out at first base. Zambrano got the next three batters out, so he has a no-hitter in my mind.

AT&T Park

September 30, 2006: I took a detour on my way home from a business conference to see my first two games in San Francisco. The first game was the next-to-last day of the season, and Greg Maddux beat the Giants to clinch a playoff spot for the Dodgers (they would end up as the Wild Card, although at this point that was undetermined). Thanks to Stub Hub, I was sitting in the same row as many of the Dodger family section, including Mia Hamm, Russell Martin's dad, and Carolyn Hughes (who is stunning in person, by the way).

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

August 23, 1996: I have been to a total of four games at Camden Yards, and truthfully none of them really stand out as memorable games, but the park is awesome. This game was a 2-0 Angel win, behind home runs from Chili Davis and Jim Edmonds, but I mostly picked this game because I forgot David Wells was once an Oriole.

Network Associates Coliseum

May 12, 2000: This is a late-inning Matt Stairs home run of which I actually have fond memories, and the only reason was that there are few things better than calling the guy who has a closer who just blew a save in your fantasy league -- in this case Kaz Sasaki of the Mariners -- and letting the crowd noise do the talking.

Safeco Field

October 1, 2004: This game was memorable because Ichiro Suzuki broke the single-season record for hits in a season with his 258th hit, in the first inning. Ichiro, who broke George Sisler's xx-year old record, added two more hits in this Friday night game, and went on to collect two more over the season's final weekend to settle the record at 262 hits.

Wrigley Field

June 4, 2003: My only trip to Wrigley was for a night game, but it was still a great experience. There are really only a few lights there, so it has a surreal effect of having the stands dark and basically only the field lit up. Its almost like watching an outdoor play. This game was the day after Sammy Sosa got ejected for having a corked bat, and the Cubs' faithful, including Jesse Jackson, gave Sosa a rousing ovation before his first at-bat. Five future Old Friends started this game: Julio Lugo, Marlon Anderson, and Toby Hall for Tampa Bay; Hee Seop Choi and Paul Bako for Chicago.

That's my list. A total of 10 stadiums (including Dodger Stadium, and counting both San Diego parks as one). What's yours?

Rick Sutcliffe: "Sometimes a pitcher just has to hit somebody"

Eli Greenspan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:11:56 -0000

A lot has been written in the last week about pitchers hitting batters, (see post below) and 1984 Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe has some things to say on the subject. His column can be seen in its entirety at ESPN.com. He said it's often hard to get pitchers to fess up or even address the issue for fear of being fined but his take on it explains a lot about why it's always had its place in the game and why it's not likely to change.

"It's never really something you particularly enjoy, but often hitting your opponent is necessary to send a message to both your opponent and teammates alike. In my days with the Cubs, I wasn't trying to be "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" or anything, but I knew that if Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson were constantly getting knocked down by opposing pitchers they weren't going to be able to get to that outside corner of the plate and do the damage that they were capable of doing. But that was just part of it. I also wanted those guys knowing that if somebody threw at them intentionally, that I would take care of it.

He goes on to tell an interesting anticdote involving Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, when he was at the beginning of his career:

The one incident that I remember most is from 1987, when Pirates pitcher Eric Show hit Dawson in the face. I wasn't pitching that day, actually a young Greg Maddux was, but I'd had a feeling that the Pirates might be out to get Hawk. I even said something to him about it, telling him I didn't have a good feeling. He had hit two home runs the night before and another in his first at-bat of the game. Then, in the third inning, Show drilled him in the eye with a fastball. People may remember that I charged the mound from the dugout when that happened.

Before the game, management had told Maddux that if he didn't get the win he'd be sent down. Knowing that, as I was getting ejected for fighting, I told him to go out and get through the fifth inning to get that win he needed before thinking about retaliating. He wasn't hearing any of that. I reminded him that he needed to get that win or else he was going back to the minors. He told me he didn't care if he got another win in his whole career. And the very next inning with the lead and two out and no one on base Maddux got payback by hitting Benito Santiago in the back as hard as he could. That tells you what kind of teammate Maddux was even starting out. He got sent down the next day, but his teammates knew what kind of guy he was. People might not expect it from a mild-mannered guy like him, but he would protect his hitters as much as any pitcher I ever played with.

To his credit, Sutcliffe makes the point that this practice has no place in baseball at anywhere but the professional level. Hearing it condoned and endorsed by a well-known former pitcher should not be seen by young people as a necessary skill to acquire until they're at the professional level. However, if you've ever been to a little-league game and seen parents act out, you know his words will not always be heeded.