June 29 | 7:30 p.m. ET
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Approaching the halfway mark of the season, here are the five most surprising teams in baseball:
ARIZONA
The young talent has been building over the last two years, but the Diamondbacks ability to sustain winning through the first half is impressive and a positive statement on manager Bob Melvin. Early in the season some coaches of an NL West rival of Arizona's told me they feared the Diamondbacks' roster, but were unsure that the youth could hold up through a baseball summer.
Eric Byrnes has been a catalyst, and it's amazing that Arizona was unwilling to sign him to a multi-year deal. But the veteran is leading the way for the kids.
What they need most: Health for Randy Johnson, consistency for Livan Hernandez, and continued stealth closing from Jose Valverde.
MILWAUKEE
Like with Arizona this isn't a shock as much as a pleasant surprise. The pieces were in place, but the degree to which the Brewers are maturing and meshing has given them a comfortable edge in a weak division.
Milwaukee had to suffer through a lot of losing, but the Brewers finally are reaping the benefits of strong drafting and player development. Their future looks strong, but for this year the only potential hurdle they seem to face is injury, particularly in the bullpen. The Cubs are starting to move, but the Crew should have enough to withstand.
What they need most: The Turnbow-Cordero closing combo to stay healthy and wise.
COLORADO
A rare bullpen collapse has cost the Rockies the momentum created by their recent sweep of the Yankees. But there is still room for hope after a .500 mark through the first 76 games. The same theme as above: young players have emerged (Troy Tulowitski) or solidified (Matt Holliday, the NL's best outfielder in the first half).
What they need most: A good second half from their unheralded bullpen and more pop from Todd Helton.
CLEVELAND
The Indians have responded to the pressure. Last year's disappointment is behind them. A remade bullpen has succeeded, particularly after an ugly April meltdown at Yankee Stadium. C.C. Sabathia is having a breakout year to reach the top echelon of starters, but no hitter is having a career year. If Travis Hafner (the game's purest DH) and/or Grady Sizemore have a ripping second half, it should allow the Indians to separate from Detroit and claim the division title.
What they need most: One monster second half from a hitter.
L.A. ANGELS
Most thought they would be good, but .636 ball? No way. Reggie Willits has been a find, compensating for a no-show in Garrett Anderson. Gary Matthews has soared past his nightmare spring (HGH allegations), and been solid. Vlad Guerrero is simply astounding, and Orlando Cabrera has recaptured his Montreal prime form that lifted him, briefly, to the top of the NL shortstop heap. The pitching is exemplary, deep starters and a lights-out bullpen.
What they need most: To play well in head-to-head games with Oakland, lessening the chances of a patented second-half A's surge.
June 29| 12:00 p.m. ET
A special night, one commanding attention as two milestones are reached in the same evening -- the first time baseball witnesses a player reach 500 home runs and another attain 3,000 hits on the same day.
Craig Biggio of the Astros is a throwback. In one uniform he reaches 3,000 hits -- an achievement I thought had been done for the last time after Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn did it. This milestone is an automatic ticket to the Hall of Fame. Biggio has proven his versatility by moving from catcher to second base to centerfield to left field (briefly) then back to second base. At each position, he has been a contributor with four Gold Gloves in his second-base era.
Biggio could have left Houston. Colorado made a huge push for him in the late 1990s, offering him more money and his ex-teammate Darryl Kile was the Rockies' chief recruiter. At the last moment, Biggio stayed, wanting to bring a title to Houston alongside his wingman, Jeff Bagwell.
That dream almost happened two years ago, but it is the only thing that eludes Biggio in his gloried career.
Why is he so important? In this era when players move around so frequently a constant presence is so crucial to a city and a franchise. Biggio is Houston, involved heavily in local causes, remembered for his kneeling prayer after manager Larry Dierker was felled by an in-game seizure.
How fitting that Bagwell greeted him at home plate after hit No. 3,000 for they were the two that repaired the Astros' relations with fans unforgiving of the franchise allowing Nolan Ryan's escape to Arlington.
There are only 27 players in Biggio's club, one of the milestones relatively unaffected by BALCO talk. His numbers as a second baseman, both with bat and glove, are Hall-of -Fame caliber.
Frank Thomas reached his milestone 500 home runs 425 miles and several years removed from the city where he got his nickname: The Big Hurt. He wasn't the only weapon -- just the biggest -- when the White Sox were reborn in the early 1990s.
In Thomas there is a football body in a baseball uniform. We see a slugger with the patience and plate discipline of a leadoff hitter. We see an extraordinary hitter who seemed destined for multiple awards until injuries began to slow that march.
He missed the 2001 season, then 2004 and 2005 as well, by which time matters of business had become personal between Thomas and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. So Thomas was unceremoniously allowed to enter free agency, to pursue his quest for 500 home runs elsewhere.
Early last year, he looked the part of a goner in Oakland. But something kicked in around midseason and Thomas had a second half that had some talking of his winning a third MVP (he finished fourth in the voting).
What last season earned Thomas was a multi-year deal in Toronto, where his first half has resembled a year ago. What the Blue Jays need is a monster second half from him, and what Thomas needs is another career accomplishment.
At the end of his playing days his resume will glow with the consecutive MVP's, 500-plus homers and a possible .300 career average (.303 as of today). But there will also this number: 68 -- representing the games Thomas has played in the field THIS DECADE, none in the last three years. With no running ability, his game has been all bat. And the verdict is not totally in on how Hall-of-Fame voters regard the DH.
Biggio is a no-doubt Hall of Famer to me, but I am on the fence with Thomas, hoping he does something special in his last years playing the game to push me to his side when it comes to the Hall of Fame.
No one expected to see the two aging greats face each other. But Barry Bonds started all three games of last weekend's Yankees-Giants series in San Francisco. Roger Clemens, not scheduled to start in San Francisco, made the trip, and volunteered to relieve in a 13-inning game Saturday although he was not called upon by manager Joe Torre.
But on Sunday afternoon Clemens bailed out an exhausted bullpen and, in his one relief inning, faced Bonds. If anyone wonders why the Giants need to keep Bonds this year, the question was answered when he batted with the bases loaded in Saturday’s seventh inning. Everyone in the ballpark stood. There was electricity present at no other time. When Bonds faced Clemens Sunday, the same atmosphere swept the ballpark. Clemens threw carefully-placed fastballs, tempting but not challenging Bonds, who never swung and wound up with a walk on five pitches.
Here’s what we took away from the moments:
For all the talk of Clemens operating by his personal schedule, he was with the Yankees and scored huge points with his volunteer relief status.
For Bonds supporters, there was irony in the presence of Clemens. Defenders of Bonds often accuse the media of issuing Clemens a free pass, not questioning another player defying age with extraordinary performance.
Clemens’ fastball in the Bonds at-bat topped out at 88 mph. Is that enough to carry him through a summer against AL lineups? And is it realistic to expect heavy innings, something the Yanks desperately need from their starters, from a 44-year-old against those lineups?
Will the Yankees' bullpen be standing in September? A crushing early workload, eased a bit by the return of Chien-Ming Wang and Clemens, could take a huge toll through the heat of summer.
Bonds may be playing himself into an enviable position. Once he hits home run 756 and the All-Star Game in San Francisco passes, will there be any other reason to watch the Giants? Could a 43-year-old make himself indispensable?
Talk of a Bonds trade is absurd. A 10-and -5 player, Bonds would never waive those rights and accept a trade without compensation (read: a 2008 contract.) What are the odds of any team offering him a deal for next season?
Sit at a game in San Francisco (sorry, but I can’t keep up with the changing name of the ballpark) and enjoy the unmatched beauty of baseball and the San Francisco Bay, all to be showcased during the All-Star Game in a few weeks until your senses are assaulted by the following announcement: "Giants fans, make sure you vote for Barry Bonds for the NL All-Star team."
What!
The greatest home run hitter in the game, poised to break the most prestigious record in a sport rooted in numbers, needs public address announcements and scoreboard support in his own ballpark!
This is wrong on so many levels. Obviously, the fact that Bonds is fourth in the national voting for NL outfielders reflects the antipathy felt towards him in many precincts. But he is still -- on the eve of his 43rd birthday -- his team’s best player.
Giants fans, who have showered him with unconditional love for 15 years, should not need a push to cast votes for Bonds to be part of his own city's All-Star show. Is it that like in many marriages this one has cooled a bit?
Meanwhile, at Shea Stadium, fans are openly encouraged to vote numerous times for Paul Lo Duca, second to Russell Martin in NL catcher voting. Again, wrong on many levels. New York fans are smart and sophisticated with no need to be prodded into a stance although that statement could be questioned by pointing out the lead of Carlos Beltran among NL outfielders.
But here’s the level that bothers me most: If the All-Star Game is openly portrayed as a popularity contest, which is fine with me, then how CAN IT COUNT in determining which league gets homefield advantage in the World Series?
I recognize the need of MLB to cater to the Fox network, which subsidizes the game to an amazing degree through both its national contract and local cable deals with 17 teams. But can’t bright minds devise better bang for the Fox bucks than a transparent attempt to attach meaning to an exhibition game?
Major League Baseball should not promote the All-Star Game as a gift to the fans, have them vote for the players they want to see participate, and then turn around and sell the game as legitimate.
The good and bad of what we see and hear: Monday night I watched highlights of Curt Schilling’s outing and listened to pointed analysis from Steve Phillips, supported by video, of an astonishing drop in Schilling’s velocity. Good stuff made more so by Tuesday’s announcement of an MRI for Schilling. Though the exam found no major damage, Schilling will be placed on the 15-day DL when the Red Sox get to San Diego on Friday.
Tuesday night Texas owner Tom Hicks made an on-air comment that included an allusion to Juan Gonzalez having used steroids. Regrettable words without support, all would agree. But after hearing the statement Fernando Vina, former second baseman who earned approximately $27 million in his career including $6 million from Detroit in return for a total of 29 games played, and uttered the following words, “Owners should just sign the checks and stay in the background.” Regrettable words as well.
Vina may have been fortunate in Detroit, but rest assured that in most of the real world, it does not work that way.
Assorted thoughts from the weekend:
Let's start with two spotlight series, one in New York, the other in Boston. Friday night the Mets beat the Yankees and showed how best to attack Roger Clemens. Bunt and run on the 44-year-old and his aging legs. Jose Reyes ran wild, and rookie Carlos Gomez beat out a bunt. After the bunt hit, Gomez learned that his teammates were right -- Clemens was livid that a kid had the spine to bunt on him.
On the subject of legs, I saw Phil Niekro's last game and it was evident that his knees betrayed him, not allowing him to have any chance to field his position. Smart teams will try to exploit the same from Clemens.
Saturday's ninth inning in the Bronx raised a huge question to this set of eyes. Jose Reyes batted right-handed against Mariano Rivera. The move makes sense in neutralizing Rivera's famed cutter, much as left-handed batters neutralize a lefty's changeup (see: Glavine, Tom).
Reyes singled in a run. The next batter, Carlos Beltran, also a switch-hitter, hit left-handed and made the game-ending out on the first pitch by popping one up. I could find no record of anyone asking Beltran why he didn't follow the lead of Reyes. And Beltran hasn't made anyone in New York forget Game 7 of last year's NLCS.
In Boston the deterioration of the San Francisco Giants continued. A weekend sweep leaves them buried in the N.L. West. And big money Barry Zito was not afraid to gently point fingers at plays not made behind him Friday night. Problem is Zito doesn't have the stuff to pitch through misplays. He needs good defense, something he might have considered last winter when he was choosing his new team.
Of course, Zito didn't mention his recent numbers against Boston (2-3, 6.45 last three years) or for that matter against the Yankees (1-5, 7.01 last three years.) Those stats likely didn't make the (agent Scott) Boras Bible on Zito, but rest assured the Mets and Yankees knew those numbers when presented with the chance to bid for his services last winter.
There's no buzz about Ichiro who is absolutely smoking again (already to 100 hits, .356 BA, .406 OBP). With free agency looming and the Giants in desperate need of a signature position player, doesn't it make sense that San Francisco would try to lure Ichiro this winter?
Tonight Yovani Gallardo, 21, makes his major league debut for Milwaukee. Three of last year's top 10 draft picks are in the big leagues, and other teams have pushed their best pitching prospects (Phil Hughes, Yankees, Andrew Sonnanstine, Devil Rays). No longer can we preach patience with young arms. The urgency in baseball is extreme and manifested in the presence of all these prize arms in the majors.
June 15| 4:00 p.m. ET
We enter the prime weekends of interleague play with attractive matchups on tap. This weekend no one can argue with the historic appeal of the Giants first visit to Fenway Park since 1915 or Tony LaRussa’s first trip back to Oakland in 12 years. Next weekend the Yankees play games that count in San Francisco for the first time since the 1962 World Series and Ken Griffey Jr. makes his return to Seattle.
These series make sense. Sadly, however, both weekends will feature at least half the teams in both leagues involved in matchups that make no sense. It no longer makes sense for Washington (formerly Montreal) to play Toronto. And who was the bright light that had Washington and Baltimore as well as St. Louis and Kansas City, “natural rivals” we are told, playing on weeknights.
This allows me my annual chance to resurrect the interleague plan advocated during my time doing Mets' broadcasts. Have two weekends of interleague play which would allow natural rivals to meet and sell out stadiums, and also afford the franchises without built-in rivalries to sample interleague play (thus allowing series like the one that will bring Griffey back to Seattle). This plan would also restore some fairness and league balance to the schedule.
There is NO rational explanation for the San Francisco Giants playing the Toronto Blue Jays in a mid-week series. There is NO rational explanation for Toronto playing in San Francisco three times this year and St. Louis (charter member of the N.L.) playing in San Francisco just twice this year: I sat at the Toronto-San Francisco game earlier this week and was thoroughly unmoved. It was an oddity, not an attraction. That series should have seen the Giants face another N.L. team and the Blue Jays play another within the A.L.
Unforunatley these pleas to fix the baseball schedule, to eliminate the competitive imbalance inherent in the current system, and to restore integrity to the leagues, will likely continue to fall on deaf ears.
There is also a cry to allow visiting team rules to be employed in interleague games. Wednesday afternoon Toronto led San Francisco 7-2 and second-year pitcher Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants had just doubled in a run for his first major-league hit. Dave Roberts battled to a 2-2 count with two out when Dustin McGowan delivered a pitch in the dirt that momentarily eluded catcher Jason Phillips. Then, something remarkable happened. Sanchez took off for third- with two outs and his team trailing by five runs. You can sense the rest of the story. Sanchez was out, the inning was over, and the Giants proceeded to lose.
What happened points to how interleague play highlights the curse of the DH. That’s why Sanchez made the inexplicable decision to try and advance. From the time they are identified as valued arms, pitchers are ushered away from every other part of baseball. The DH is used from high school onward, in every level of pro ball and every league except the N.L. Pitchers like Sanchez rarely hit in the minors. And we see they receive no experience in the nuances of base running.
As someone who truly loves the game, it wrenches me to see kids turned into specialists. And, make no mistake, starting in youth ball pitchers become like football kickers. Do one thing and do it well. The result that I see is more kids now play sports like lacrosse, spring offerings that bookend perfectly with football and afford action as well as ALL-AROUND play. No self-respecting athlete wants to be told at an early age that they can’t do something. And that is the DH -- it tells some kids they CAN’T hit.
Like with he interleague schedule, there is no belief here that this will ever change. The DH is too embedded in our baseball culture. And offense always wins the argument over the concept of a well-rounded player. During three years in New York with Tom Glavine, I often talked to him about the most appealing part of his Atlanta troika with John Smoltz and Greg Maddux. All three could hit, all three could bunt, all three could handle the bat, all three fielded their position, and all three knew how to run the bases. Just a few years after their heyday, I now look back and think, “what an archaic concept.”
Here’s the scenario: A successful team (four postseason berths in seven years, a staggering 116-win season, four straight 90-win seasons, four years of over three million in paid attendance) hits the skids. The lapse sees them endure three consecutive losing seasons, casting a cloud over one of the game’s feelgood stories.
This past offseason ownership draws the line: win or else management will be held accountable. The team strikes out in attempts to lure its most desired free agents and, like other clubs in last winter’s frenzied shopping spree, settles for “Plan B” types.
The season starts with little expectation from the baseball world. But in mid-June the team is eight games over .500 and a surprise contender in the A.L. In many parts this would be a new feelgood story, highly promoted as a team to watch through the summer. But the team here is the Seattle Mariners.
No words will be wasted by me in hammering the East-Coast-centric coverage of MLB. Let it suffice that this space tries to serve as an outlet for the game outside the Yankees-Red Sox axis. So Seattle is the best team no one talks about in 2007.
Mariners manager Mike Hargrove, rattled in the spring when ownership’s mandate was voiced by the media, has cleverly managed a pitching staff whose starters have been collectively awful (5.46, .301 OBA, 12th in the A.L.). Hargrove’s bullpen has saved the Mariners (3.34, .233 OBA, third in the A.L.).
The Mariners have scored enough runs without any overwhelming contributors. Newcomer Jose Vidro has been a light-hitting DH, and Richie Sexson a hole in the lineup, yet the Mariners have pieced together enough offense through the star-of-the-day routine.
Surviving their April snow fiasco in Cleveland was crucial. Two of the games have been made up, but at the expense of off days and rest for the taxed bullpen. How Hargrove manages that strain and the potential help general manager Bill Bavasi might be able to provide in July’s trading derby may well determine how long the Mariners can stay in the hunt.
This is a terrific franchise that should be MLB’s sales tool for “never give up.” A moribund franchise was resuscitated and, through good management and a new ballpark, became a gem. Three stumbling seasons quieted the roar and brought about the demands from above. It’s good to see the Mariners respond with a strong first half and re-energize the fans of the Pacific Northwest.
June 13| 1:00 p.m. ET
During the French Open Roger Federer broke a record held by John McEnroe. Two decades past his prime, McEnroe has become accustomed to having his records fall, thus he calmly reacted that, “records are made to be broken.”
That made me think about Hank Aaron. Last week Aaron appeared in Milwaukee and thoroughly dismissed any thought of his being on hand should Barry Bonds break his all-time home run record.
Here’s the unanswered question: In 2001 when Bonds hit his 500th home run and ultimately set the single-season mark for home runs, he entered into a business arrangement with Aaron and Willie Mays. No word since but Aaron’s words and intended actions can only leave us to believe the deal is off. Is that why he is treating Bonds’ march to breaking his record with disdain?
Aaron owes Bonds nothing, and he owes the public no explanation for his actions, but the question of whether a business deal -- or the crumbling of one -- has anything to do with Aaron's position on Bonds is certainly an intriguing one.
Last week’s amateur draft was most important to the Giants. This team needs to embark on a post-Bonds plan, build a productive farm system, and end the practice of living only for today. The Giants had six of the first 51 picks, and with the team in dire need of position players, it drafted high school pitchers with its first two selections.
That's brave on the part of Giants general manager Brian Sabean whose employment status may depend on the evaluation of this draft. The Giants are reeling at the big-league level, having lost 12 of their last 18, dropping five of six to Oakland and falling into last place in the N.L. West. Ownership, right or wrong, expects more particularly in a year where the Giants will host the All-Star game. Without a turnaround or quick payoff from this draft, change could loom.
Oakland’s push to six games over .500 must gall the Giants. Mike Piazza has been out over a month, Milton Bradley and Rich Harden have been non-factors and the Athletics end-game bullpen (Justin Duchsherer and Huston Street) is on the DL. Yet, they win, the continuation of one of the game’s great stories in this decade. They are the Roadrunners of MLB, no matter how often they are squashed, they do not stay down.
I know things are improving for the Yankees, but couldn’t Gary Sheffield (.281-17-43) and Randy Johnson (3.52, 1.8 BB and 11.9 K per 9 IP) have helped?
Word from New York is that Moises Alou is not ready to return from the DL. Well, Alou started 18 of the first 19 games and anyone around Alou the last few years can assure you that he is no longer an everyday player. His play must be rationed and the Mets may start to feel his long-term absence. After being swept by the Dodgers the slumping Mets will be in the Bronx this weekend to take on the red-hot Yankees.
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