August 27th, 2006 → 1:47 am @ Seth Mnookin
Oops: got a little carried away there. (And really, that wouldn’t be fair to Embree — by the end of his tenure with the Sox, he wasn’t pitching in high leverage situations.) So let’s just say it: Mike Timlin is sucking ass. In the last nine days, Timlin’s gone 4.1 innings, coughed up 7 earned runs, blown 2 saves, and picked up 2 losses. (Take a deep breath before you read this next sentence. Ready? Here goes.) If Timlin had done nothing more than hold the line in the last week-plus, the Sox would only be 2.5 games behind the Yankees in the East. (It’s only because I’ve been over this ground before that I’ll resist going back to drink from that well.) (Oh, and remember: be nice. Or at least polite. Ish.)
Post Categories: Mike Timlin
August 26th, 2006 → 11:56 pm @ Seth Mnookin
“He’s never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. He hits second – that’s totally different than third or fourth in a lineup.”
— Alex Rodriguez, Esquire, April 2001
It really is, isn’t it?
New York Yankees starting lineup, August 26, 2006
1. Damon, CF
2. Rodriguez, 3B
3. Jeter, SS
4. Abreu, RF
5. Giambi, 1B
6. Cano, 2B
7. Williams, DH
8. Cabrera, LF
9. Fasano, C
Post Categories: A-Rod & Derek Jeter
August 26th, 2006 → 11:48 pm @ Seth Mnookin
With A-Rod’s three strikeouts on Saturday — to go along with his four on Friday — he now has 13 Ks in his last 23 at bats.
Post Categories: A-Rod
August 26th, 2006 → 11:46 pm @ Seth Mnookin
Sure, his run in the ’86 playoffs was as good as, say, Mark Bellhorn’s in 2004. But man, does he suck in the booth. He makes Ron Gant look like Howard Cosell.
Post Categories: Broadcasting
August 26th, 2006 → 11:08 am @ Seth Mnookin
From the Elias Sports Bureau, August 26, 2006:
“Alex Rodriguez struck out four times in a 6-5 loss to the Angels, and in the sixth inning he stranded a runner at third base with one out. That was the 25th runner that A-Rod has stranded at third base with less than two outs this season, the highest total in the majors.”
Which begs the question: Do golden sombrero‘s go with purses?
Post Categories: A-Rod
August 26th, 2006 → 12:15 am @ Seth Mnookin
Last week, someone who spends a lot of time around baseball told me he thought Coco Crisp was the worst centerfielder in the A.L. I thought that seemed excessive, although admittedly I hadn’t seen Crisp much in Cleveland (and the wild variations in defensive valuations — is Trot Nixon the best right fielder in the league? Or one of the worst? — leave a bit to be desired).
So I can’t speak with any authority on where Coco ranks among other centerfielders. I can say his instincts have been atrocious, and rarely as much as they were tonight. In the bottom of the fifth, with Schilling dealing and Yuniesky Betancourt on first, Willie Bloomquist hit what should have been a bloop single into center field…except Coco decided he was going to be a hero and bellyflopped about ten feet short of the ball, allowing Betancourt to score and giftwrapping a triple for Bloomquist. The last time a person made that kind of decision — needlessly diving for a ball when the benefit of a catch would be far outweighed by the danger of letting the ball get by you — Adam Stern ended up with a highlight reel, along with a stern lecture. (I’ll be here all week, folks.) “We’re playing no doubles there,” Francona said after Stern’s game-ending, April 18 grab. “We want it to take two hits to have the guy score from first. If he doesn’t make that catch — if the ball slides by him — he scores on hit. I think he learned a lesson, and thankfully it didn’t cost us a ballgame.” By the 20th, Stern was back at Pawtucket. He hasn’t been back since.
Who knows what Crisp was thinking. Maybe he’s running scared, and hoping he can find some way — any way — to win back his confidence, and Sox fans. Maybe he was thinking back to June, when he made what was immediately called a highlight reel grab for the ages. (That’s obviously hyperbolic, although it might have been the catch of the year. At least for a couple of days, until Gary Matthews Jr. literally climbed the outfield wall to steal a homer from Mike Lamb.)
Maybe he really is the worst centerfielder in the league. Or maybe he’s not cut out to play in Boston. It happens. This could be one of those times.
I think it’s weak when writers slam baseball execs for making moves those same writers supported at the time, and I supported the Crisp signing. He was young, he came cheap, and his offensive numbers were good and trending upwards (and were significantly better away from Cleveland than they were at home). Right now, it looks like this was a move that didn’t pan out. And if the season ends up as it began — with Crisp looking as if we wants to be anywhere but on the field at Fenway — I can’t imagine Coco will be patrolling center for the Sox next year.
Post Categories: Coco Crisp
August 25th, 2006 → 1:06 am @ Seth Mnookin
…and one bloody finger. The good news? Apparently this isn’t the result of Beckett’s (in)famous blister issues.
(Also? I really hate the Angels broadcasters. And because I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I’ll leave it at that.)
(And: If you only watch one highlight from last night’s game, it shouldn’t be Big Papi’s homer or Lil’ Papi striking out the last two batters of the game. It most definitely should be Mirabelli’s deke to nail Juan Rivera at the plate in the bottom of the 7th. When I wake up, I’ll still have this same shit-eating grin on my face.)
(Finally: there’s something so satisfying about a visiting stadium erupting in rabid cheers when the Sox pull out a nailbiter. Shoot, they should just bring “Dirty Water” on the road.)
Post Categories: Broadcasting & Doug Mirabelli & Jonathan Papelbon & Josh Beckett
