Peabody: Life, Friends Baseball

John Lackey has been a bit of a nemesis against the Ms owning a career 13-9 record with an ERA of 3.64 before tonight’s game. He fell behind 1-0 in the third when Milton Bradley, gamer that he,  is doubled in the first run. Next hitter Olivo is called out on a terrible call at first base and MB took umbrage with the second base ump in what looked like regular conversation and the blue boy rung him.

Then in the sixth inning my own personal favorite of the week Jack Cust, singles to left field against the shift and rumbles around to third on Saunder’s single and a Ryan sacrifice. Jack Wilson hits a medium deep fly to former Oregon State centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and Jack tags up and heads to home to try to score on the sac fly.  The camera set up was perfect as Cust ran and Ellsbury’s throw came towards home.  What seemed like a piece of cake turned into this four seconds of near agony as Cust resembled a big rig going through the gears to get up to merging speed and the ball kept getting closer and closer.  Thankfully the ball was off line a bit to the first base side and Cust slide in on a cloud of dust.  A better throw might have got him, but he was in.  Note to thirdbase coach Jeff Datz, Cust runs like a killer whale on land.  Note to self, close eyes when situation develops again.

Doug Fister pitches out of a bases loaded, no outs hair ball and hands it over to Aaron Laffey for two and a third innings, the scariest part of Laffey’s time was getting big Papi to fly out to deep left with guys on second and third.  Brandon League gets the save in the 9th. 

They did not hit as they had in the first four games of this winning streak, but they got ahead and the pitching stood up with some great defensive plays to behind them. 

13-15 is delightful and should be enjoyed as a wonderful dish of chocolate ice cream or your favorite twenty year old scotch.  It is just very nice thank you. 

Their pitching is good enough to play well.  They have a very good infield defense and the outfield defense without Gutirriez is adequate and will improve with his return.  Generally, though if they can hit like this they will compete.  If not it is like the previous few weeks.

It is still very early in the season, but we are already starting to see most of the cream rise to the top, as far as Runs Created are concerned in our 25 Player Challenge.  Remember, prior to the start of the season we picked a variety of players to watch to follow how they help their teams win by producing runs (points), either by scoring them themselves, or knocking in a teammate.  Is anyone surprised Pujols has already made his way to the top of the list?

Even though he has an OPS of .806, he finds ways to score runs. Impressive with his slow start.  By the way, Bautista has an OPS of 1.305 so far, but still trails Pujols.   The top three in the ML right now are Ryan Braun with 42, Matt Kemp with 37, and Miguel Cabrera with 36.

Runs       RBI         Points

1B Albert Pujols           Stl                   17           17          34

OF Jose Bautista           Tor                  20          11           31

3B Alex Rodriguez       NYY                 14           17          31

2B Robinson Cano        NYY                11           14          25

OF Jason Heyward       Atl                  12           12          24

3B Pablo Sandoval       SF                   11           13          24

1B Adrian Gonzalez      Bos                 10           12          22

C Carlos Santana Cle                   9           11           20

OF Ichiro Suzuki           SEA                 11           9           20

OF Mike Stanton          Fla                  12            7           19

OF Milton Bradley       Sea                   8           11          19

OF Jason Werth           Was                13             5          18

2B Dan Uggla               Atl                    9             8          17

3B Chone Figgins         Sea                   8             6          14

1B Justin Smoak           Sea                   6             7          13

SS Hanley Ramirez       Fla                    5             7          12

SS Brendan Ryan          Sea                   6             6          12

OF Carl Crawford                Bos                   5             6          11

2b Jack Wilson             Sea                   6             3            9

OF Grady Sizemore      Cle                    3              5            8

C Miguel Olivo             Sea                   4             4            8

1B Russell Branyan      Ari                    3             2            5

OF Franklin Gutierrez  Sea             no at bats

OF Desmond Jennings Tam                     minor leagues

An infield full of A-Rods, an outfield of Mickey Mantles, and Johnny Bench behind the plate.  That would work.  Every GM hopes to run a team out that can outscore their opponent on a regular basis, and there are several strategies teams use to accomplish this.  We know small ball (think Padres), we know long ball (think Red Sox).  Both of these strategies only work with batters getting on base, hence the appeal of OBP.  Get on, move them over, and drive them in.  Get on, bop one over the fence.  Both are waiting for runners, to spring into action.  Then, of course, we have the teams at the bottom of the heap praying for a plan to arrive after throwing the players on the field (think Pirates).  No matter what the plan, the team is waiting for the big at bat.  Long ball is waiting for the ding dong, small ball the clutch hit or sacrifice, and the rest are looking for somebody to do anything good.

Last year the Yankees only batted .258 with runners in scoring position, while the Major League average was .259.  With their pitching you would think this would be a problem, except when you see that they had the most ABs with RISP.  Given the most opportunities, the Yanks scored the most runs with men in scoring position, and the most runs in baseball overall.  Any guesses which team had the highest OBP last year?  Yanks at .350.  Half the league was more clutch, but with fewer men on base, they couldn’t keep up.

On the other side of the coin, last year the M’s batted .226 with men in scoring position.  Next lowest were the A’s at .241.  Ouch.  Now this wouldn’t be as huge a problem if, let’s say their OBP was .320 or so.  It was .298.  Not batting average, but on base percentage.  For the whole team, for the year.  So, they had they had a hard time getting guys on base, no clutch hitting, and thus were one of the worst scoring teams ever.  So how is the team doing in 2011?  Their team OBP is improved all the way up to .314.  Even with Ichiro hitting .429 and Smoak .294 with runners in scoring position, the team is hitting .219 when it counts.  That’s not going to get it done, though there is a little sunshine.

So far this year the team is scoring more runs (with the help of a few big games) than last, 3.9 vs. 3.2.  They are on pace for 636 runs (vs. 513) for the year, which last year would have put them ahead of four teams.  Looks like the offense has improved all the way up to 26^th from 30^th.  Looks like an 11-15 team.  Further improvements to the teams OBP would be a good start to scoring more runs (well, so would a few more homeruns, but let’s keep it realistic).  Smoak was a great addition in this regard, as his OBP this year is .413, but he needs some help.  Are there any Yankees available?

Ron Fitzgerald

Mariners seek to extend winning streak.

Smoak seems to be the straw that is stirring this drink. Olivo was productive last night and Jack Cust, let me repeat Jack Cust with the big double last night to drive in the go ahead run.

Geoff Baker does the Mariner’s blog for the Seattle Times.  He devotes a ton of time to it, as he is paid to do so GEOFF BAKER WROTE ME THIS MORNING AND SAYS HE’S NOT PAID TO DO THIS AND THE VIDEO STUFF IS ALL HIM AND ON HIS DIME ..12:13 4.29. 11, he  should work at it.  He has a broadcast portion of it frequently and works hard at it.  That is all to his credit and actually his efforts have raised the quality and quantity overall of  formal Mariner coverage.

At one point he was a beat writer covering the Blue Jays.  Perhaps he was a Blue Jay fan before that, I am not sure of his pedigree beyond that.  When he wants to punctuate some point he is making he will trot out the Blue Jay thing as if he’s a ring knocker having graduated from Annapolis.

It does wear thin, but if he’s off of the Nationalistic bent he is not afraid to bring up sore points.  As a reporter he’s pretty strong and will stick his nose into situations.

He’s reading more and more sabremetric stuff and like so much of the base sabremetric work, his efforts to incorporate it into his work are to be applauded.  There are large gaps in the basic work though and how he applies it presents the same problem.

Today he jabbers around the notion that the M’s hitters have not been hitting enough fly balls and that they need to hit more deep fly balls.  Except for Ichiro and Figgins. Of course.

My first take was to say, well sure, but it is not that simple.  Why not just say they need to hit more home runs, which is true.  But even that would sort of miss the point.

Can you see a major league hitting coach coming up to a player and saying, “Umm, hey Jack Cust, do you have a second?”

“Sure, Chris, what is up?”

“Well, I’ve been studying up on your stats and I think you need to hit more balls in the air and quit hitting ground balls.”

Cust says, “Is that it?”  Chambliss nods and Cust leaves with a bunch of f-bombs flying out of his mouth like half chewed cookies.

The point really begs the question:  As in why is Cust hitting so many ground balls, other than pitchers know if they throw a ball middle away he’ll roll over and pound it to the second baseman.  Chris Chambliss would or should approach him and say something like, “Hey, I noticed something in watching some video and I’d like to break it down for you.  Do you have a second?”

The next question should be is that really how it goes?  Well maybe, might even be more subtle than that.  Cust is signed to a $2.5 million deal surviving by his wits and talent.  He might not trust the hitting coach to be able to help him.  As it stands now, Cust is about ten days of bad hitting away from contemplating selling encyclopedias door to door and he should listen, but many, many major league hitters don’t trust a hitting coach who wants to help them, to be able to help them.

So the whole ground ball percentage to fly ball discussion might not actually happen or be actionable.

Cust has a really odd swing that decelerates up to a very modest follow through from when his hands are in the zone.  He needs help for sure.

Telling him to quit hitting ground balls is probably not the way to go about it.

The Mariners swept the Tigers and I watched a great high school game and then saw Jake Locker drafted by the Tennessee Titans.

I have been watching and listening to Husky Football since the 1959 season when they won the conference and went on to beat Wisconsin 44 to 8.  I have listened to radio broadcasts for years, when I was a student I sat and watched the Warren Moon led team go on to defeat Michigan 27-20.

Watching Jake Locker go through this process to be drafted, he was the target of lots of criticism some of which was extremely miscast and mean spirited.  Especially from some of the of guys on NFL.com such as Michael Lombardi and Charley Casserly, both of whom were vicious and it turns out both of whom were full of hooey.  Early this week Michael Silver of Yahoo sports had a piece in which a retired NFL scout Dave Razzano drew favorable comparisons between Jake and Brett Favre.  It appears that is what the Titans saw as well.

One of my favorite movies is Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man about the true story of James J. Corbett the down on his luck fighter who beat Max Baer for the heavyweight championship during the depths of the depression.  There is a scene just as the fight is about to happen and the stadium is packed with regular people and it is deathly quiet and one guy yells, “You can do it Jimmy!”  The whole crowd roars in support.  Then during the fight there are quick cuts to a Church full of Irish immigrants listening to the fight on a radio and praying for his victory.

The Lockers live in Ferndale which is about the size of Poulsbo.  They are long term residents up there, Northwest kind of people from way back.  My son played college baseball with Jake’s cousin Brady, we watched games with Brady’s mom.  They are humble. nice, regular people. 

The kid is talented beyond belief.  Yesterday Steve Sarkisian said that during Jake’s senior year that the Huskies had better talent than their opponents in two games.  Guess who drug them to the Holiday Bowl and led them to their victory against mighty Nebraska, after losing badly to them early in the year.  It was Jake.

He’s not God, he’s just a kid that has captured the heart of a region.  He’s one of us and always will be, no matter whay heights he ascends and almost all of us will root for him.

What a day.  One to remember.

Miguel Cabrera up.  Swings at 98 mph fastball, fouled straight back.  Strike two called 98 mph fastball down middle, maybe a little low, 0-2. then throws four pitches for balls around the zone, nibbling.  Three were fastballs, one slider.

Brendan Boesch comes up and Pineda gets him 1-2 on a fastball down the middle fouled back, a ball outside and then a hard fastball in off the plate three inches or so that Boesch fouls back.  Throws a fastball up for ball two, throws another fastball up and Boesch strikes out.   One out.

Ryan Rayburn goes through same sequence 0-2 on fastballs, gets to 1-2 and then pops up to new cleanup hitter and start Miguel Olivo.

Finally the third lefthander comes up, catcher Alex Avila and the proceeds to foul off several two strike pitches and two trips to the mound by Olivo who blocks an over thrown slider with his ribs and then Pineda near the end of his endurance spikes a fastball that goes about 54 feet and then all the way to the back stop and does two things allows David Pauley to get closer to being warm and to calm down Pineda.  Then Pineda humps up throws a high strike and gets the call from Jim Joyce.  Third out and day is done for Pineda.

The last pitch was 96 to Avila.  In the beginning of the inning to Cabrera he was 98 and when he lost him, showed some signs of distress or anger at walking him.  The velocity to the next three hitters up to Avila’s last pitch was 93-94, which was off where he was most of the game.

Trainer was talking to him in dugout and Pineda shook his head, so no pain or none that he will admit to at this point.  Stress pitches with the lead and the pitch count near 100 are not good.  Watch to see if it means anything.

I spend a lot of time watching high school and some college baseball. Most of my adult life actually.

It is an activity this spring that has invited my demise from pneumonia. Be it rain, snow, wind or combinations thereof it is an event best served with blankets, knitted caps, gloves, parkas and wool knee socks. Beyond parents and girl friends, it is obvious when the odd recruiter or scout shows up.

The routine is to bring coffee which is supposed to stave off the shivering. It may cause spillage, which would might cause stains and ice.

After the game you move slowly towards the car so as to not induce a bone snapping in the lower leg.

Upon reaching home pull out of the oven a pot of stew for both players and parents such as this. Enjoy!

Bigos

Ingredients

• 2 thick slices hickory-smoked bacon
• 1 pound kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 pound cubed pork stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 4 cups shredded green cabbage
• 1 (16 ounce) jar sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ½ cups raisons
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon caraway seed, crushed
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 ounce dried mushrooms
• 1 dash bottled hot pepper sauce
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 5 cups beef stock
• 2 cups sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and kielbasa; cook and stir until the bacon has rendered its fat and sausage is lightly browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and transfer to a large casserole or Dutch oven.
3. Coat the cubes of pork lightly with flour and fry them in the bacon drippings over medium-high heat until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to the casserole. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, fresh mushrooms, cabbage and sauerkraut. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir until the carrots are soft, about 10 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown.
4. Deglaze the pan by pouring in the cognac and stirring to loosen all of the bits of food and flour that are stuck to the bottom. Season with the bay leaf, basil, marjoram, paprika, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper; cook for 1 minute.
5. Mix in the dried mushrooms, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock. Heat through just until boiling. Pour the vegetables and all of the liquid into the casserole dish with the meat. Cover with a lid.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until meat is very tender.
7. Take out and just prior to serving stir in sour cream.  Let sit for ten minutes.  Serve  with brown bread and butter.

For second day reheat in a slow oven at 205 degrees.

Not much to add to the regular coverage except you can see after watching him throw tonight how alluring it is to have even an average left hander, let alone one that flashes great stuff once in a while.

Smoak hits another homer on his second day back from the bereavement leave for the death of his father. He is a quiet young man, still not comfortable in front of an interviewer, efficient with his words and modest both. He could be a very, very good player. Ichiro and Figgins both relax and produce a nice evening.

Ms win.

For years, years and finally decades Dave Niehaus nurtured major league baseball in the Northwest.  To everything there is a season which is  from Eccliasastes is at play now.  For those of you of Irish descent listening to the Ms this year on the radio and television must seem like an extended electronic wake.

Dave Henderson, Dave Valle, Ken Wilson and Ken Levine and Ron Fairly of course have paired up with Rick Rizzs and Mike Blowers.  Wilson and Levine are good.  Wilson is as good as anybody in this market in any sport and Levine is funny with an edge.  Look on Facebook for his blog, he has a very funny and hard edge.  I am one of the few or minority who enjoy Ron Fairly, having heard him on the radio and in front of a group, he evokes for me a generation of baseball guys that were around when I was young.  He uses phrases that may sound simple to people that have not been around the game, but for others they resonate.

Similarly, I like Hendu, but could take or leave Dave Valle.  Rick Rizzs is now also an icon for the team and is to be tolerated, even if his overly excessive homer type stuff serves as an irritant.  I am reminded of the phrase that he is just happy to be here and as such is so very loyal to organization and to Dave Niehaus.

Back to the wake thing.  The point of a wake is for people to say good bye and to show respect both to the person and their family.  Stories come forth, tears and laughter both.  Sometimes a punch is thrown, especially if the event is fueled with spirits.  So it goes.  When it is over, most people feel drained, exhausted and hoping for sleep that will turn to a sun filled morning.

This though is a bit longer.  The year will tell how long the tone continues.  Dave deserves everything and the Hall of Fame stuff, which came ten years too late, he earned.  I think, could we ask him, that he would say that he is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and affection, but it was time to move on.  It is baseball and he would not want folks to dwell on his passing but rather to watch the young kids coming up.

There is an ex-Northwest kind of guy doing the primary broadcasting work for the Florida Marlins for the last seven years, Rich Waltz.  I have no idea why he would want to return from South Beach, as I look outside into the 42 degree drizzle on April 27th.

But if not him, then somebody for the next thirty four years.  Red Barber, Mel Allen and Harry Caray were wonderful and were replaced at some point.  Have a great day