Big Money, Big Disappointment, Big Mouth

The $103 million gamble by the name of Daisuke Matsuzaka is now blaming the Red Sox workout program for his recent pitching struggles. Dice-K, who makes insane money thanks to the 2006 bidding war and pissing contest with the Yankees, has for his three seasons in the Majors been an often over-rated player. He had a season in 2008 that, by the numbers, was spectacular as he earned 18 wins and had a 2.90 ERA. Throughout the season, however, I expressed fear of his pitching to anyone who would listen; he was getting it done, but I couldn't figure out how. He rarely made it out of the sixth inning and always had runners on base. He seemed afraid to pitch from the stretch and looked very uncomfortable with men on base, and he was often, rightly I think, criticized for being too fine; he was simply afraid to pitch for contact. But he kept getting the job done (though not without taxing the bullpen) so my criticisms seemed, even to me, unfair.

This year, on the other hand, he has posted an abysmal 8.23 ERA and was 1-5 before being placed on the DL with shoulder soreness, a condition which he apparently blames on the Red Sox. According to WEEI, who translated a Japanese newspaper interview with Dice-K, the pitcher thinks that the Red Sox workout program is hindering his performance. He told the paper,

"If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able
to pitch like I did in Japan,” Matsuzaka said. “The only reason why I managed to
win games during the first and second years (in the U.S.) was because I used the
savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan" (Boston Herald)

Really? The only reason he doesn't pitch here like he did in Japan is because the Sox strengthening program is deficient? I'm not so sure. Let's look at some other reasons that Dice-K may be having problems here.

1) Uh, duh, this isn't Japan. Dice-K got a lot of criticism in the Japanese media when he first came to the states because he wasn't pitching complete games like he did in Japan. This was of course unfair to Dice-K, for the same reason that Dice-K may be having a hard time getting batters out here. Hitters are better in the Major Leagues than they are in Japan. This may seem like an obvious point, superfluous for this discussion, but Dice-K seems to be forgetting, or neglecting, this truth in his Japanese interviews. Without a doubt, the Japanese leagues are gaining legitimacy, but they are not the Major Leagues. After all, Japan is where players go when they realize they are never going to make it above AAA in the states and they want the bigger contracts that the Japanese Leagues can offer compared to the minors over here.

2) Here, Dice-K must pitch every five days. In Japan, where games are never played on Sunday and most teams work on a six man rotation, pitchers will generally pitch only once a week. With this type of schedule, it is clear how Dice-K would be able to pitch complete games. More time to heal after each start + mediocre hitters = pitching dominance.

3) The final reason is, imagine the audacity, his own pitching. When Dice-K first came to the states, many hitters were perplexed by him. His style was curious (though not as curious as his countryman who was brought with him, Hedeki Okajima), he was deceptive, he had a lot of different pitches, and there were rumors that he threw a version of the screw-ball, a mythical pitch with unearthly, physics defying movement that may or may not actually exist, and which no one can actually explain how to throw. But it only takes big league pitchers so long to scout a pitcher, learn how he pitches in certain situation, and begin to see his pitches better. In this case, it seems to have taken two years. Dice-K blames "ethnic, racial, and physiological differences" that require different conditioning for causing Japanese pitchers to fade after a couple of seasons in the states. Here again, he seems to forget about big league hitters. Japanese pitchers' problems must be because Japanese are built differently, not because their stuff isn't nearly as dominant against big league hitters as it was against Japanese hitters. Furthermore, Dice-K has shown an intense fear of throwing strikes. He tries to paint the corners and throw out of the strike zone in an attempt to get batters to chase. the problem is, he has not shown that he has dominant stuff inside the the strike zone so hitters have learned not to swing at his junk and wait for a pitch in the zone. If a pitcher can't throw strikes, hitters always have the advantage.

So, Dice-K's problem is likely less about the way he's being conditioned (by a program that has developed Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, and Clay Buchholz) and more about his ability to pitch in the Major Leagues. I'm convinced that the Red Sox mistake was not in the way that they have developed him, but in the amount they were willing to pay - $103 million for a mediocre number three starter.

"This One Counts"

In 2003, after watching ratings for the All Star Game drop steadily, and after receiving criticism for allowing a tie in the 2002 All Star Game, Major League Baseball decided to spice the game up by awarding the winning league with home field advantage in the World Series. So, for six years now, we've been subjected to commercials that feature the tag line "This one counts," a now tired (and inaccurate - since it is the sixth to count, not the "one") phrase. After these six years, there have been no shortage of people who decry MLB's system of awarding home field advantage based on this game. It is, therefore, perhaps redundant for me to add mine, but I cannot help myself.

To me, this move by MLB is yet another example of baseball selling its soul (or at least its integrity) in order to win fair weather fans. The problems making the game count and forcing the leagues to play players from every team, and not just the best players of the league, have already been beat to death. Many writers like the idea of making the game count, but conclude that each league should be able to put the best team on the field, regardless of whether each team is represented. I, on the other hand, like the idea of each team being represented, since the teams are to represent each league as a whole. Each team should be able to send its best player as a reward to that player. That's the whole point.

The All Star Game is designed to be an honor to the best players in the game. It is extraneous to the season, and so it ought to be inconsequential to the season. The idea of the game is to bring together the game's elite and allow them to play with and against each other in front of fans who are getting to watch their dream team. It doesn't have to (and the beauty is that it shouldn't) "count." It's supposed to be a showcase - a laid-back, back yard style game (but with the best players on Earth) that takes place during the only break in the pressure cooked grind of the Major League season. And, to me, putting false importance in it ruins what makes the game great, and fun.

So let the ratings drop. If they're so bad, put the game on ESPN2 and let it become an event for the die-hard fan. After all, in the end, its crazy fans like me and my wife that are going to follow the game no matter how low the ratings get. And fans like us care about the tradition, the honor, and the integrity of the game.

Hiatus

My twin boys were born last week but they are early and not able to leave the hospital yet. So I have little time to pay attention to baseball until I get them home (at which time I will have only slighly more time). I am slowly reading the S.L Price book "Heart of the Game" about the career and the death of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh. I will report ASAP.

Walk Off!

Redhawks vs. Nashville Sounds 6/20/09

After an atrocious display of pitching by the Redhawks, it was a different story tonight. Bryan Corey, the ex-Red Sox reliever who the Redhawks are converting to starter has been getting better and better in his new role and has been going deeper into games. Tonight saw him go 7 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and he struck out 4. Mike Burn had an extremely similar line of 7.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 4 K. So the night after a 14-3 blow-out, Corey and Burns put up a nice pitching duel.

But neither of them would figure in the decision as the Sounds would take a 4-3 lead into the ninth after Willie Eyre would begin a major league rehab assignment withe the Hawks by pitching one scoreless inning, followed by a scoreless inning by Brian Gordon. R. J. Swindle relieved Burns for the Sounds, coming into the game with one on and one out in the eighth. He got two quick outs to end the eighth.

But in the ninth, he gave up a one out base hit to Joaquin Arias, who went 4 for 5 with two infield hits. he then struck out Esteban German, bringing 0 for 4 Max Ramirez to the plate. Max had not hit a home run since May. But he would play the hero tonight, hitting a long home run to right center.

The Redhawks have taken a 2-1 advantage in this series against Nashville who they play again tomorrow and they are 3-3 on the home stand.

Go, Cubs, Go.

I feel sorry for Cubs fans, and it has little to do with their underwhelming record. My empathy is that they have to sing this at Wrigley. Sweet Caroline never seemed so good.

Horrible, Awful, Terrible

6/20/09 Redhawks vs. Nashville Sounds

Because the Redhawks have been so bad defensively this year, when Julio Borbon made a diving catch on a line drive from Jason Bourgeois in the first play of the game, I took that as a good omen and I thought surely I would be watching a good game. Instead of putting my faith in omens like a pagan, I should have thought scientifically. The starting pitcher, Elizardo Ramirez, came into the game with a modest ERA in the low 4.0's but he had been relieving a lot lately and, as a reliever, he had an ERA of 11.05. Plus, though Borbon had made a great play, Bourgeois had hit the ball on a hard line in front of the outfielder, who just happened to make a great play. And this happened on the first pitch of the game. So I might have taken this first play (a hard hit ball caught by a quick center fielder) as a bad sign rather than a good omen.

In fact, Ramirez would hit the next batter (one of three batters hit by Redhawks pitchers in the game) and go on to allow five runs on five hits in a first inning that saw all nine Nashville batters. Ramirez would ultimately go 4+, allowing 9 runs (all earned) on 10 hits (2BB, 1HB, 1K).

And the horrible pitching didn't end there. OKC native Mike Hinkley allowed no runs of his own but allowed the final two on Ramirez's line to score when he gave up a double to Cole Gillespie that scored both his inherited runners.

The streaky Luis Mendoza would then come in and allow five runs of his own on five hits in an eighth inning in which he faced ten hitters. (Note: the official scorer and I are in disagreement on one of Mendoza's runs. Brendan Katin scored in the eighth after reaching base on a broken bat, grounder to SS Joaquin Arias that Arias dropped. It was initially scored an error but changed later in the game, I assume because the scorer decided to give Arias the benefit of the doubt and thought he was distracted by the shard of bat flying through the infield. I kept the error in my score book).

Before all was said and done, every single Nashville hitter had at least one hit. Three (or four according to the official score keepers stats) had three hits games. Another three (or two) had two hit games. Redhawk pitching allowed ten extra base hits - 7 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run. By contrast, Redhawks hitters hit only one extra base hit, a double by Greg Golson in the second inning. Sounds pitching scattered eight hits across the game, allowing three runs, two of which came in a rainy ninth inning. Chris Cody, the Sounds starter, went 8+, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and now has a 1.69 ERA with Nashville.

It may have been the worst pitching I have ever seen in person. And things get tougher today as Bryan Corey (3-2 4.75) faces Mike Burns (7-2 2.69). But I am holding out hope because Corey has been getting better over the season, as he is in the middle of being converted from a reliever to starter. His outing have been getting longer and cleaner as the season has progressed. He has allowed only four runs in three starts this season. In his last outing, he beat Cubs superstar prospect Jeff Samardzija, pitching seven scoreless innings in which he surrendered five hits and struck out four while walking only one.

What Ron Washington Proves About Managing

The Rangers picked up Ron Washington's option for next year today. His contract was for three years plus a team option for a fourth, an option that the team has taken. John Daniels, the Rangers GM, is apparently happy with Washington, fans seem to be saying nice things about him for the first time ever, and three days ago Howard Bryant wrote a glowing story about him on espn.com.

The last three years, I have spent many nights in Rangers Ballpark listening to fans heckle in frustration with Washington's managing, but now, as the Ranger sit in first place, all that seems to have been forgotten. Suddenly, we are hearing about how old fashioned, and pleasantly apolitical Washington is. Writers and fans alike are touting his virtues and forgetting what a ridiculously stupid manager he can be. Washington is notorious for bringing in the wrong pitcher at the wrong time, making strange substitutions, and making all around goofy managing decisions.

But the Rangers are winning this year. And those that suddenly find themselves wanting to give Ron credit have begun talking about how players are finally buying into his fundamentals first, defensive mindset et cetera, et cetera. But to me, the Rangers success thus far proves one thing about managers in baseball: they just don't matter that much. If the general manager can put together a good enough lineup and a good enough pitching staff, there is little that a manager can do to mess things up. And a good team can make a mediocre manager look pretty good (Joe Torre managed the cardinals to a 20-27 record before being fired the year before he "managed" the 1996 Yankees to a World Series championship).

Of course, a manager can blow some games when he makes stupid decisions with pitchers, or screws up a line-up royally. But baseball is a game about individuals. One pitcher pitches to one batter who hit the ball toward one player. If each of these men is the best at doing what their role requires them to do, not much team-wide strategy is necessary, save for which pitches to throw (a decision usually made by the catcher and pitcher-though some managers control pitches more than others), how to line up outfielders and whether or not to steal a base. Except for decisions of which pitches to throw to which hitters, these are, frankly, usually small decisions of little consequence.

So good managing, in reality, has little to do with good decision making. If it did, no manager could expect to be anything but inconsistent. After all, as any Red Sox fan knows, when Francona makes some of his bizarre decisions, our view of his managing has much to do with whether or not the gamble works. If it works, he is a freaky baseball genius. When it doesn't, we yell, "Ohmagod Tito, what are you doing?!"

Instead, the best thing a manager can do is manage his players' personalities well. If a manager can take heat from the media, heat from umpires, and heat from other players in the clubhouse off of his guys, he can keep a clubhouse that trusts him and wants to play for him. If he can get a team to buy into a team concept so that players, instead of thinking entirely of individual interests, instead sacrifice for each other, and play hard together, he has done his job. This ability is what separates good managers from bad ones. What managers like Terry Francona, Tony La Russa, and Ron Washington have in common is that they are able to build a trust with their players who often see these managers as father figures who they want to please and are willing to play for. So if you give a man like these some good players, he can make a lot of silly decisions and still put together a successful season. After all, if your manager brings in Eric Gange, it helps if you like him enough to risk injury crashing into the wall to rob the home run Gange is giving up. So, the one thing I really like about Ron Washington is probably what he does best as a manager; he is a nice guy.

Update:

I'm going to insert for you here a conversation I just had with my wife over facebook because it speaks to this conversation:

Jeffery:
Not an hour after I wrote about the mediocre managing of Ron Washington, he
calls for a suicide squeeze with a man on third and one out with a rookie at
bat. Andrus misses bunt, runner picked of, then Andrus hits a fly ball to right.
. .which would have been a sacrifice fly but was out number three instead

Charissa:
Cruz was SAFE, might I add...

Jeffery:
That doesn't make the play less stupid. As a sabermatrician, you know that
it doesn't make statistical sense to try this play because it fails so often.
The chances are much better that Andrus hits a fly ball (which scores the tying
run) than that he gets down the bunt AND Cruz gets a good enough jump to beat
the pitcher to the ball. Read Moneyball already!

Charissa:
I'm not saying the suicide squeeze was a good call, just that my boy Nelly
got hosed. And anyway, I can't read moneyball, you loaned it out to
someone!

Offense! . . .And Defense!

In the three games I saw this week leading up to tonight, I saw the Redhawks score in only three innings. In game 1 of the May 3oth double header, the Hawks won 1-0. In the second game, they, again, could only manage one run. But they gave up two runs in the seventh inning (of a seven inning game - double header games are shortened in AAA) to lose 2-1, and the Hawks one run came in an inning in which the Hawks did not get a hit. On May 31, they managed three runs (one in the fifth, two in the sixth), and on June first, the Hawks scored two runs in the seventh. On June 2, things looked like they were off to a good start when the Hawks scored four runs in the first inning, three on a home run by Emerson Frostad. But that would be the last inning in which they would score and they would ultimately lose 8-4.

So, in five games, the Redhawks scored in only six innings. Just as the Redhawks had begun to clean up their defense, it seemed that they had totally forgotten how to score runs. Then yesterday, the Hawks put on a slug fest (while I was passing out fliers for a church event) and won 10-4.

And that brings us to today. Tonight's game might be the best that they have played so far this year. The Hawks defense continues to improve. Esteban German, especially, flashed some leather tonight, stealing a bloop base hit with a Willy Mays catch in short right from Greene in the first at bat of the game. He dove for catches and turned double plays all night. The Redhawks are improving all around defensively, turning a couple double plays on an error-less night.

More impressively, they are finally beginning to scatter hits. Redhawks hitters hit safely in six of the eight innings in which they came to bat tonight. Frostad went three for three with two RBIs and scored a run. Three of their ten hits were for extra bases. The Hawks are learning to play pepper, stringing together hits (the four runs in the fourth came on four straight hits - three of them singles).

. . . . . . . . .

I read something in the game notes that puts this all in perspective. This season, the Redhawks have had eleven players make their AAA debut. This is a completely different type of team than the team that won the division last year. That team played most of the season with Nelson Cruz, Marlon Byrd, Jerrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis, and Brandon Boggs - all of which are now playing with the Rangers who sit in first place in the AL West. Last year's team was a team full of players who were ready for the big show. This year's team, on the other hand, is a team of young prospects who still need a good deal of developing. So this will be a year, not to count wins and think of the playoffs, but to watch a team of young players grow. This will be a year to watch Bobby Jones coach, and watch players as they learn to play solid and consistent defense, and as they learn to hit when the hits count.

So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Pitchers are Hungry

Since Dennis Eckersly has been filling in for Jerry Remy on NESN, we have listened to one food reference after another. His use of the word "cheese" to describe a pitch is like a drinking game. In baseball parlance, "Cheese" usually means a fastball, especially one with movement that is, thus, hard to hit, but Eckersly uses it for everything. That is until tonight, when he finally threw in "salad" (an easily hit pitch) to describe the danger of pounding the strikezone. His actual quote was something like, "pounding the strikezone is great, unless you're throwing salad." At this point, Charissa blurted out, "pitchers sure are hungry!" That got us thinking about how many references there are to food in baseball slang.

Here is our list of gatronomical nuggets:

First off, the pitcher throws to the plate (popular slang once called it a "platter"). If he is throwing hard fast balls, he is throwing cheese or mustard, but if his fastball has no movement or is too slow, he is throwing salad. In this situation, the ball is easy to hit and so it's called a meatball, or a grapefruit, or a cookie. If you throw a meatball with the bases loaded, the hitter may hit a salami (grand slam). This would give you four ribeyes or steaks (RBI's or runs batted in). You've been able to do this because the hitters before you are table setters, meaning they tend to get on base. Even if the bases aren't loaded, you could trot the bases slowly, having hit a tater (homerun). This will probably lead to a tea party on the mound, which is a coaching visit involving other players, usually infielders. The pitcher may be able to avoid this if a Ken Griffery jr. type outfielder can jump and catch the ball above the wall, robbing you of your tater. If he catches this in the very top of the web of the glove, he has caught an ice cream cone.

Of course, if a pitcher keeps it high in the zone, he may induce a lazy, easy to catch pop fly, or a can of corn. If the batter has just been called up to the majors and hits too many of these, he will only have a cup of coffee (meaning, he will spend very little time in the majors. . .just enough time to drink a cup of coffee). But maybe that batter will make the team for good next year, if he can prove himself in Grapefruit League play (spring training for the east coast team which takes place in Florida).

If all this food talk is giving you a headache, take an aspirin (a pitched ball to a slumping hitter - because the ball looks small). Perhaps next time, we'll move on to animal slang, mainly because I want to talk about worm-burners.