The Game of Baseball: April 2007

Monday, April 30, 2007

Hancock's Death Puts Baseball in Perspective

Baseball and sports in general took a step back on Sunday with the announcement that Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was tragically killed in an auto accident early on Sunday. The 29-year-old died on impact after his SUV hit the back of a parked tow truck that was assisting a disabled vehicle on Interstate 64. The death is even more of a blow to the Cardinals, who just few years back lost pitcher Darryl Kile to a coronary artery blockage. He was found dead in his hotel room in Chicago in June of 2002.

Losing a young man like Hancock makes all the problems we face in the world as well as all the time and effort that is spent on sports in general really take a back seat. Surely when Hancock got into his vehicle on Saturday night wherever he was going, he never thought that he would not be around for the Cardinals game vs the Cubs Sunday night. But that is the point, that as fast as you enter the world, it is that fast that you leave it, and you should embrace life a little more and treat each day like it is your last.

Hancock helped the Cardinals win the World Series last year in his first season with the club. He was 0-and-1 with a 3.55 ERA in eight games this season. What he did on the field will be remembered less to the person he was off the field. Cardinals chairman and general partner Bill DeWitt Jr., general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Tony La Russa all spoke volumes of Hancock as a player, teammate and as a person. La Russa said this is a very difficult time for the team, and Hancock was considered as a very valuable member of the Cardinals family, as you could expect.

While the pain and loss will linger, the Cardinals organization will go on. The team plans to honor Hancock in a variety of ways, including wearing a commemorative patch on their uniforms. While nothing will take away the pain of losing a teammate, hopefully the Cardinals can cope with this latest loss and be diligent in playing the season in honor of their fallen reliever. Reading about the person Hancock was, I'm sure that is exactly what he would have wanted.

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Tribe Coming Alive to Lead AL Central

Don't look now, but the Cleveland Indians have jumped out of the gate as one of the more solid teams in the American League after the first month of the season. Cleveland, which had a bizarre start after their first four games were snowed out, and they then moved three home games to Milwaukee, have won 13 of their first 20 games, and have won six straight and are 1.5 up on Detroit in the American League Central.

Cleveland has some exciting young players, the biggest may of which be Grady Sizemore, who the team got in the Bartolo Colon deal a few years ago from the Expos. Sizemore got off to a hot start, and has already as a leadoff hitter has popped out five homers to go along with 11 RBI, 22 runs scored and 7 steals. Friday night he was the difference as the Indians trailed 1-0 to the Orioles at home, then got a two-run single from Josh Barfield, but then it was Sizemore, who hit a three-run, inside the park homer to give the Indians a 5-1 lead as they held on to win 5-4.

Other players on the Indians roster have given fans a reason to feel their team may be back in form of two years ago, when they lost the wild card spot the last weekend of the season. Travis Hafner has five homers and 16 RBI, Victor Martinez is hitting .283 with 14 RBI, and newcomer Ryan Garko has been coming around, and hit a big game-winning homer last Sunday as the team cameback and beat the Devil Rays. Garko, who will eventually be the Indians first basemen, is hitting .275 with two homers.

On the pitching side, CC Sabathia is a stud. The big lefty is already 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA, and along with other starters like Cliff Lee, who should be back soon from an ab strain, Paul Byrd (2-1), Jeremy Sowers, and Jake Westbrook, make up one of the best staffs in the American League. Joe Borowski is probably best known as a 9th inning A-Rod victim so far this year that lost a game, but otherwise he has been solid, already saving 9 games.

So as the month of May starts to heat up, keep your eye on the Tribe, as the Indians look to be a team that could contend in the very tough American League Central.

Posted by Matt Loede at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Early Season Woes Have Astros Behind Already

It's as if we have seen this story before - Houston, we have a problem. The Astros that is, have a problem, and that is they simply cannot seem to get over the hump of the early season blues. It happened last season, one year after they reached the World Series, getting swept by Chicago. By the time old man Roger joined the pitching rotation mid-way through the season, the Astros were chasing, and yes, they did almost catch the eventual champion Cardinals and took it to the last weekend of the season, but if they had only gotten off to a better start.

The same thing appears to be happening this season. While only 20 games into the season, the Astros look like a repeat of 2006 is already taking place. Falling and getting swept by the Pirates is a sure indication that things are bad in Houston. Wednesday the Astros fell 4-3 to Pittsburgh in 16 innings. The maddening thing about the loss is that the game seemed to be theirs for the taking three times, as they left seven runners on base between the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings. They have lost five straight to Pittsburgh, the first time that has happened since 1991, and five straight overall to sit under .500 at 9-11.

Sure its early - that is what the vets on the team will tell you, but you just know that in the back of their mind they have to think even a little bit about last season, when they started so badly that just 2-3 more wins early in the season would have had them in the playoffs in October. Right now they have to find some sort of stride, hitting seems to be the big problem, as their best hitter - Carlos Lee, leads the team with a mediocre average of .266 with five homers and 20 RBI. Unless some of their other regulars, like Craig Biggio (.259), Adam Everett (.250), Chris Burke (.224) and Lance Berkman (.214) start to finally pick it up, no Roger will be able to save them and make them competitive this time around.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Will A-Rod's and Bonds' Homers be Enough to Carry Their Teams?

The stories of Alex Rodriguez being the fastest player ever to 14 homers and Barry Bonds closing in on Hank Aaron's homer record are the two biggest in baseball so far in 2007. The one thing that is going unforeseen about the two teams that these two players play for is that they are on teams that right now are not exactly tearing it up on the diamonds. The Yankees have been in a slump ever since A-Rod crushed a Joe Borowski pitch on Thursday afternoon that led to a stirring come from behind 8-6 win over Cleveland at Yankee Stadium. They have lost four in a row, three of which came at the hands of rival Boston.

The Yankees are a team that has always been clutch when they needed it most. But over the past few days, they have made numerous mistakes, and the pitching staff has been downright awful. Chase Wright, a band-aid in the starting rotation while others are on the DL, was punished by the Red Sox Sunday night as the Sox pounded four consecutive homers off of him in the 3rd inning. Wright, after a decent first outing against Cleveland last Monday, clearly is not ready for the prime time New York spotlight, as an ERA of 7.88 will show. The Yanks are 8-10 overall, and while they are 4 games back of the Red Sox, they should be okay down the stretch when players come back. For now though, not even A-Rod's record breaking April is enough to get them wins.

As for the Giants, they are a team that was supposed to have a new look in 2007, and there was many that thought that Bonds would not be a part of that new look. Instead, while he is hitting .348 with six homers already, the rest of the team is taking baby steps to become competitive in the NL West. Sure they have won five in a row and are at 9-8, but looking up and down their roster, many baseball experts think it will be a long summer by the Bay. The Giants are a one through nine lineup that will have a tough time up against teams like the Mets, Braves, and eventually the Cardinals when they get on track. They did spend money on pitching, and are better with guys like Barry Zito and Matt Morris, but it will be very tough for them to be good long term.

So while we all sit back and ohh and ahh as Bonds and A-Rod continue to crush the balls out of stadiums across the country, one has to wonder just how much it is going to overshadow the overall play of their teams - even if the teams do play good at various points of the season.

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, April 23, 2007

Red Sox Get Measure of Revenge on Yankees

It may not mean anything come August, but the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees this past week at Fenway Park was a measure of revenge the Sox had long waited for. If you recall, it was last August when the Yankees rolled into Fenway, and won not just three, not four, but FIVE straight in one of the most stunning sweeps in baseball the past decade. The sweep cemented the Yankees as the best team in the AL East, and all but eliminated the Red Sox from postsesaon contention.

While this past weekends three games did not mean as much, what it did do was send a message back to New York that the Red Sox are still a team that will have to be dealt with in the AL East. Sunday's display of power from Boston, hitting four straight homers, showed that it can match power with the Yankees game by game. Then it was the pitching and defense that led the way from there.

The sweep also gave the fans a lift in Boston, as the largest crowd since World War II crammed into tiny Fenway to watch their heros battle the Evil Empire. It was the first sweep of the Yankees by the Red Sox at Fenway since 1990. So while the records today look small compared to what they will be 2-3 months from now, the Red Sox mark of 12-5 does stand alone, and four games up on the Yankees in the East, the mental aspect of returning the favor of a season ago could be felt all weekend long at Fenway.

But before you go popping the championship corks for the Red Sox left, there is a long way to go before anyone can claim they are superior in this divison. As Derek Jeter stated after the game: "We didn't play well and we lost three games. "But we've got 147 left." Well said Mr.Yankee.

Posted by Matt Loede at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments

Saturday, April 21, 2007

It's Too Bad Bonds' Homers are Mostly Ignored

So Barry Bonds' homer on Saturday was the lone run of the game as the Giants improved to 8-8 with a 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks in San Fran. It is amazing as this countdown continues for Bonds, who is now at 739 homers, and will surely pass Hank Aaron this season, how people around the country simply don't really care. It is as if anyone outside of San Fran, and I am sure that even some there do, know that Bonds has basically cheated his way to the record, and once he breaks the record, all that people will look forward to is the next person to break the record.

It's not a good sign that even Major League Baseball is not going to honor the record that Bonds is certain to set. Major League Baseball is great at honoring those that deserve it. Just look at what took place last weekend around the League with the whole Jackie Robinson celebrations. That was done exactly right. And they did it to honor a man that paved the way for others to be able to play the game of baseball. Robinson deserved the honor that he got, and it was a great tribute to a great man. Bonds will get the honors that he deserves as well when he breaks the record - and that is the League will go to great lengths to simply push the honor away from Bonds.

It's too bad that a record that should be celebrated is going to be pushed aside because it is going to be done by one of the most hated players in the game. Bonds will get what get his, and it will come for years to come, as he will not only continue to be accused of cheating his way to the top, but he will also never get a shot at a bust in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Maybe Bonds should have thought better before cheating, but then again, he likely would be out of baseball right now if he would have stayed clean. But at least he would have his integrity.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments

Friday, April 20, 2007

Love for Rodriguez Swells in New York

Becoming the "King of New York" is not an easy thing to do these days, but for Yankees third basemen Alex Rodriguez, he is quickly becoming toast of the town in the city that doesn't sleep. A-Rod's heroic homer with two-out in the bottom of the ninth Thursday lifted the Yankees to an improbable 8-6 win over the stunned Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. The homer was stunning in that it came after New York trailed 6-2 entering the 9th, and it came after Indians closer Joe Borowski retired the first two Yankees and seemed well on his way to notching the save.

Then the wheels came off, and after a couple of runs came across for New York, and Borowski allowed runners on second and third with two outs up 6-5, he was faced with taking on Rodriguez, who had homered in the previous two games vs Cleveland. A-Rod had been having a rough day to date, with an error in the field and going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, but he more than made up for it by taking a Borowski meatball, and placing it over the wall in center for the walk-off three-run homer to give New York the 8-6 win.

A-Rod did a jig as he raced around the bases that would put some "Dancing with the Stars" contestants to shame. His teammates, some of the same ones that have openly bashed A-Rod in the past, awaited his arrival at home plate to celebrate his heroic homer. For Rodriguez, it was his 10th homer in 14 games, and he now has 26 RBI. He has quickly become the main story around the league, and while the Yankees are always in the headlines, when you have a player that is doing what Rodriguez is doing, the limelight shines all that much brighter.

In some ways, you have to feel good for Rodriguez. Here is a player that seems to go about things the right way for the most part, and last year he was just beaten up and down by anyone who had an opinion. The media was hard on him, the fans were tough on him, coaches seemed hard on him, and even his own teammates beat him up and down. Through all the trade talks and media bashing, A-Rod stayed true, and now the city is falling in love with him once again.

Maybe he won't hit 70 homers and drive in 140 runs, but for now, Rodriguez is as close to ever to getting the key to the city in New York. You have to wonder in the back of his head if he's thinking of telling those that were against him last year just where they can stick their praise. But as always, that is not in his makeup, and for now, he'll continue to take whatever praise is heaped on him as his torrid streak continues.

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Buehrle's No-No as Good as it Gets

You got that sense last night as the hitters just kept going away one by one that White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was on to something. The way that he was able to just keep mowing down the Rangers inning by inning, it came to no shock to look up and see that with three outs to go, Buehrle was on cruise control, and if it were not for one small measly walk, he would have been not only going for a no-hitter, but also a perfect game.

So when Gerald Laird hit a slow grounder to third that was easily dispatched for the final out, it didn't shock many as it showed just how great Buehrle was on this cool night in Chicago. It seemed like it didn't come to much of a shock to Buehrle, as he was quoted after the game that a "perfect game would have been nice too." The only miscue the pitcher made all night was a walk to Sammy Sosa in the fifth. Just as fast as Buehrle gave up the walk, he quickly made up for it by picking Sosa off of first base to end the only base runner of the night for Texas.

Buehrle threw 105 pitches, struck out eight, and needed just two hours and three minutes to complete the Sox first no-hitter since 1991. The last man to do it was Wilson Alvarez against the Baltimore Orioles. The Sox pitcher did get some help from the defense, the biggest play being a grounder that Joe Crede made a nice play on to throw out Jerry Hariston, who was trying to slide into first to beat the throw. Jermaine Dye also made a nice catch to help out the Sox hurler.
So baseball has its first real memorable moment of 2007. A pitcher that is in the final year of his contract going out and reaching about as close to perfect as you can get. It was as solid of a no-hitter that the game has seen for sometime, and for Buehrle, he was as good as it gets for one night.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Who Needs Pitching? Not this Yankees Lineup

Of course while we all sit here and feel sorry for the New York Yankees and their depleted pitching staff, one has to remember that this team is stacked in offense, one reason why they can throw a guy like Chase Wright and win on most nights. That fact was evident on Tuesday, as the Yankees rolled out six runs in the second innings, using the long ball in pounding the Indians 10-3 in the Bronx. Little do we quickly forget that this team still has the ability on most nights to score 5-10 runs, with power from players like A-Rod, who already has gone deep 8 times this season. Let's not forget that this team plated more runs in 2006 than any other, making them as dangerous as anyone in the American League.

When you have a lineup like Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, A-Rod and Jason Giambi in your 1 though 5 holes, you can afford to be a little lack in the pitching department. Tuesday night they got more than enough from Wright, making his first pro start. He ran into trouble in innings one and two against Cleveland, allowing the first two runners on in each inning. To his credit, he did get out of each jam, allowing a run in the first and not allowing a run in the second. He seemed to gain confidence from there, settling in and throwing strikes, going five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. While he wasn't overpowering, he didn't have to be, as the Yankees jumped out 8-1 after two innings, and cruised to a 10-3 win.

This is not to say that the Yankees are out of the woods yet in their pitching problems. Tonight they roll out Kei Igawa, who has allowed 9 earned runs in just over 10 innings pitched this season. Against the Indians, the Yankees may need another 10 runs to get a win, as you can bet that throwing out pitchers like that night after night will catch up with you. For now, they can take comfort in the bats while they wait for their pitchers to heal enough to be able to stop opposing offenses.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Cubs Rocky Start Continues with Soriano Injury

The Chicago Cubs had high hopes for the 2007 season with a new manager and new players, but possibly the key of those new players will now have to sit and watch for awhile. Alfonso Soriano injured his hamstring last night as the Cubs improved to 5-7 with a 12-4 route of the San Diego Padres. Soriano left in the 5th inning of the game and had a pretty heavy limp as he left the locker room in Chicago after the win.

"I don't like to get hurt," Soriano said. "I know that I'm not going to be able to play tomorrow, so it's sad for me because I like to play everyday. We'll see how I look tomorrow." Don't look for him to look much better than yesterday if that limp is any indication of how the injury is improving. For the Cubs, the loss of Soriano takes away their biggest free agent signing of the offseason, and a dynamic player that was to add instant offense to the Cubs lineup.

He will have an MRI today, and the first diagnosis is that it is a strained left hamstring. The only good news for the Cubs is that Soriano did leave the field under his own power, but did it in obvious pain. The upbeat player said it looks as if he will be out for at least five days. The Cubs have been cursed for sometime, and while 2007 has gotten off to a rough start, the team was hoping manager Lou Pinella's tirade after a loss last week would get the troops motivated.

While that along with some good baseball on the field did lead the team to win two of their last three, you already get a sense that we will see plenty more yelling and screaming from Sweet Lou before even the All-Star break. The Cubs should be somewhat fun to watch, but possibly for all the wrong reasons, and losing Soriano doesn't help matters in the least.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, April 16, 2007

Yankees Could Be in Trouble if Offense Doesn't Step Up

When describing the Yankees starting rotation right now, only one word comes to mind - thin. That comes after Sunday's putting of yet two more starting pitchers on the DL - Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano. That means that when the Yankees open up a home series tomorrow night vs the Cleveland Indians, they will throw out basically three pitchers that if it were not for injury would not be making starts in pinstripes. While the Yankees sit at 5-6, there has to be some real concern about three starting pitchers being on the DL this early in the season. Of course Yanks manager Joe Torre is not letting on that anything is wrong: "We're above water, we're holding our own. We're going to get healthy."

How long the Yanks can stay "above water" with Mussina, Pavano, and Chien-Ming Wang on the DL is anyones guess. Sure they can sit back and think that by getting those pitchers back everything is going to be OK, but what if they already are sitting behind two or three teams in the division, like Boston, Baltimore and Toronto, who have started off the season playing solid baseball? Yes this is a team of superstar players that look like they can turn it on when they need to, but the Yankees have not been the Yankees the past few years, as they have shown the ability to roll through the regular season but they have then dropped like a stone in the playoffs, like last year when they lost to the upstart Tigers.

What needs to happen now is exactly what Torre said - they need to stay within striking distance of the better teams in the division, and once those pitchers get healthy, start putting some wins together. This team is too good to allow itself to fold due to three starters being on the DL, but at the same time, it is asking alot out of unproven pitchers to step up and keep them competitive in the AL East. Now the focus falls on the offense, and players like A-Rod, Jeter and Damon to lead the team through troubled waters. If the offense struggles just a bit - look out. The Yanks could be in some serious trouble.

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, April 15, 2007

MLB Should Not Allow Whole Teams to Wear #42

The game of Major League Baseball will go out of its way today to honor Jackie Robinson and all that he did for the game. Games around the league today will have players, and some whole teams wearing the number 42. While I agree that players that wear the number today are doing the right thing in honoring the legendary Robinson, I think that whole teams wearing #42 are going a bit overboard. While it's a nice jesture, I think those teams that are doing it - the Pirates, Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies and Astros, should really downsize it to just a few key players.

There was more than a few players that spoke out about the whole team wearing Robinson's number thing - one of which was Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia. "It kind of waters it down," CC said. "I could see the Dodgers since that was his team, but not everyone else." In this case, I agree with CC, the Dodgers, they should get a free pass on this one, but the Pirates? Torii Hunter was another player that spoke out about whole teams wearing the number. "This is supposed to be an honor, and just a handful of guys wearing the number. Now we've got entire teams doing it. I think we're killing the meaning."

Major League Baseball will go out of its way today to do what they can to honor Robinson, and they should. But while they are allowing certian players to wear the number, they should not give the leeway of whole teams to wear the number.

Posted by Matt Loede at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments