Notes from Today's Game

Beautiful SF Sunday, Giants (Matt Cain) against Arizona (The Pecklers' own Brandon Webb).

I thought about going down to the park and picking up a ticket, but decided to be lazy and hang out at home and watch the game on the tube with Kruk and Kuip. Here are my notes: 1st inning, runners at 1st and 2nd, 1 out, Barry was up with a 3-2 count. With the runners moving, Barry checked his swing on a ball out of the strike zone. Estrada threw down to Tracy at 3rd who tagged the runner who had slowed down thinking it was ball four. The 3rd base ump called strike three on the appeal, and then signaled the runner out at third. 2-5 double play.

Krukow was talking about Moises’ hands and how quick they are through the strike zone, while showing yesterday’s walk off homer. He described that homer as a “2 iron shot.” May 12 against the Dodgers is orange wig night. Make sure you don’t miss that. Actually, I do, indeed, have tickets. I’ll have to take someone special and make sure to get there early.

I was downstairs in the kitchen watching the game with none on and two out in the Arizona 2nd inning and the game was scoreless. I shut the TV, called Max to go with me upstairs, and headed up to the TV room. I turned on the game and the score was 2-0. What the hell happened? At least Max was happy, as we were about to begin our own game of ball. He loves day games.

Kruk and Kuip showed some nut with a Barry 700 t-shirt (must have been XXL) wearing these gigantic orange sun glasses, with each lens about 5 inches across. Krukow’s comment: “That’s what it’s all about.” What, lunacy?

Sweeney made a beautiful backhand grab in foul territory while sliding of a sharp grounder right over the bag by Counsell. It reminded me of JT Snow, the best 1st baseman (defensively) I ever saw. Later in the game he missed a backhand stop one step from him that went for a 2 base error. That didn’t remind me of JT, who never would have missed it. Speaking of JT, he’s wearing number 84 for the Red Sox. Pretty cool.

Kruk was talking about Omar Vizquel and his fielding. Watching him make every play, every day is really special. Sorry, but Ozzie wasn’t any better. Kruk now calls him “The Great Vizquel.”

The Aflac trivia question was “Who are the 3 current members of the D Backs who were on the championship team of 2001? The answer was Luis Gonzalez, Craig Counsell and Miguel Batista. There are only 3 members of the Giants who were on the 2002 World Series team. They were…Barry, Schmidt and Worrell. Shinjo was on that team, and the paper reported today that he has retired from baseball to become a nude model. Is Barry next?

They played the Yogi Berra Aflac commercial. Thanks to Tivo, his lines about Aflac in the commercial were:

“That’s the one ya really need to have. If ya don’t have it, that’s why ya need it.”

“If you get hurt and miss work it won’t hurt to miss work.”

“And they give you cash, which is just as good as money.”

It’s always nice to see Yogi making a buck. Me hee for Yoo Hoo.

Brandon Webb hit one into the gap in left center field. Krukow pointed out that Randy Winn raised his arm quickly when he knew he could get it. This was a signal to Barry that he could ease off. Kruk added that the signal is "by request."

The portly right field ball dude missed an easy grounder. Kuiper: “You need a longer glove or you need to bend over.” Kruk: “Bending over is not an option.”

A guy got on TV by holding a sign that said: “Kruk, scratch this guy out ==>, with the arrow pointing to his seatmate. Kruk scratched the guy out, then scratched out the holder of the sign for sniffing his armpit.

Before he went out of the game, Matt Cain threw a 98 MPH fast ball. He’s only 21.

A foul ball went into the KNBR booth, where a guy Kruk referred to as Butlee dropped it. His name is Lee, but he’s referred to as Butlee because anyone but Lee could have caught it.

They showed Matt Cain sitting in the dugout. Does he shave yet?

Chad Tracy absolutely crushed a ball down the line off Fassero. This boy can rake. Is there anyone on earth that wouldn’t trade Pedro Feliz for this kid? Let’s throw in Fassero too, who is fully cooked.

Fassero struck out Luis Gonzalez. Krukow: “That’s how you pitch to Luis Gonzalez. Throw him a hanging slider and he’ll swing through it. I was a connoisseur of hanging sliders. I could throw one whenever I wanted to.”

7th inning, 1st and 3rd, no outs. Barry was on third, having raked a one bounce double to the centerfield wall to drive in the Giants’ first run. Moises drove a single to left, but Barry, moving at the speed of a glacier, had no chance to score. Finley hit a hard one hopper to Clark at 1st, who threw home instead of starting a double play. Barry had no chance, and they got him easily in a run down.

In the 8th, Shawn Green completely misplayed a shot to right into a triple for Finley. In the 7th he dropped a catchable ball in the right center gap that hit his glove, misplaying that one into a triple. Didn’t he used to be a great fielder?

Webb is a serious stud. All-star caliber. We’ve got him at 14. We must consider extending him to 19 next year. It’s against George’s foremost rule – don’t extend pitchers. It’s a good rule, but this guy looks like he’s really put it all together.

Brandon Medders came in to mop up in the 9th, and immediately gave up a couple of bouncing singles. He got out of it unscathed, but I could imagine him ruining Webb’s numbers for us.

You’ve got to love Kruk and Kuip. They really have a good time and it’s infectious. Max likes them too.

Puzzled Pickled Pecklers Pursue Power

I was litterally about to post this piece when I was logged into by Larry Dot Net, who said I needed to use the above title. We have a grand total of 6.5 hitting points, so let the phone ring. Or better yet, send an email. After all, we're email guys.

LDN wanted me to add another word beginning with P that means suck. I suggested Psuck, which is kind of like Psoriasis.

By the way, no one actually logs onto Larry Dot Net...they are logged onto by LDN. It's kind of like the way the defense department computer called back Matthew Broderick in "War Games."

Anyway, onto a bunch of bullet point observations for this weekend:

Speaking of psuck, check out the featured picture above, and in his D-Rays cap! Tyler Walker got a save in his first post-Giants outing for the Devil Rays this week. Yesterday he came into the ninth with a 6-5 lead and gave up 4 runs. Beware those ex-Felipe dead-armed relief pitchers.

Brett Tomko picked up a nice win yesterday in San Diego to bring his record to 3-1. He gave up 2 runs, 5 hits and no walks in seven innings. Tomko is a notorious slow starter, but he certainly showed some fearsome stuff in 2004 when he is right.

Tomko beat the Pecklers’ own Chad Hensley in his 3rd career start. Hensley also went 7 innings, giving up 3 ER, 3 hits and 4 walks. He increased his pitch count to 87. There is nothing scarier than having a safe middle reliever become a starter (he replaced the ill-fated Brazleton in the Padres’ rotation). This is particularly true because we have over half of our BABI points in ERA and WHIP. What’s to fear: Any 9 just crossed 30 points in the wrong direction, and his deal with the Cartel has yet to take effect.

Speaking of Any 9, their ace, Justin Vargas, almost earned a Bullinger yesterday: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB. Not quite award winning – more earned runs next time, please.

We got to see Tom Glavine’s stinker on Monday, but he threw a beauty yesterday, shutting out Atlanta over seven innings for win #280. It’s really amazing what he and Greg Maddux are doing, but you’ve got to be suspicious about how well their arms will hold up through the summer.

Roberto Hernandez picked up his 2nd save of the season in Pittsburgh. Mike Gonzalez came in for the save in the 9th, but he walked two guys while only getting one out, and Hernandez came in to mop up. Not a good sign for Gonzalez and his owner, The Old Bat, but guess who has Hernandez and his 1.765 WHIP at a buck? Yup, Mr. Leaguer. He is tough in the end game.

David Aardsma gave up 3 runs, 4 hits and 3 walks in 2.1 IP in that Brewers blowout yesterday to bring his ERA up to 10.50. Aardsma was in that deal last year along with the demoted Jerome Williams for LaTroy Hawkins. Since he’s in the AL (Baltimore, traded for Steve Kline), I had no idea how he was doing this season, so I’ve looked it up: 0-0, 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 11.1 innings. He’s only struck out 4. He had a big contract, and he’s starting to look his age. It will be interesting to see over the season if Felipe wore out his arm too. Meanwhile, last season’s trade looks to be a nothing for nothing that cost the Giants a couple of million dollars.

Just when I’ve seen Carlos Delgado look super-human and wrote about it, he puts up this stinker: 4 AB’s, 4 K’s.

Reggie Abercrombie got a hit today. His 1 for 5 brought his average UP to .175. He’s just creaming Eric Reed (.083).

Andy Petitte got smoked by the Reds yesterday for 11 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings, bringing his ERA up to 5.25. Was 2005 a fluke?

The Yankees scored in every inning yesterday. I saw a big headline, that’s why I know, because, as you know, I really don’t look at AL box scores. That was kind of an ugly win for Randy Johnson, 5 innings, 6 hits, 6 ER, 4 walks. We’ve all gotten the occasional numbers killing win like that. You gulp and look at the bright side – you got a win. It goes along with the blown save – win.

While I’m looking at the right side of the page, I see some guy named Carlos Silva (I swear, I don’t know who he is) had a nice line for Minnesota against the Tigers yesterday: 2.2 IP, 9 H and 9 ER. No Bullinger, though, because first, he’s in the AL, and nothing there counts, and second, he didn’t walk anyone. You’ve gotta walk people to get a Bullinger.

More AL...Hmmm…Jim Thome, homer number 10. Good for him. Must be nice hitting in front of Paul Konerko. Both guys are ex-Pickled Pecklers. We had drafted Konerko as a minor leaguer, but he didn’t turn into a ball player until he crossed over to the dark side.

Back to the good guys: Neifi Perez, .171. That’s more like it. I can't believe we wasted money on that stiff.

John Rodriguez is hitting .360. When are they going to just stick him in the lineup and let him play every day?

Hanley Ramirez – player. I have to make a note to go see the Marlins when they come to town.

Corey Lidle lost a tough game yesterday, giving up only 4 hits and no walks over 6 innings. Maybe Jeff really got that one right, but he’s not a buck. He lost yesterday to Paul Maholm, one of the Voglesong-type hype guys, who got his first win of the season and brought his ERA down to 5.86.

Raffy Furcal’s finger has got to be hurt, with that .198 BA. We’re giving him the finger-we gave up Andruw for him. Speaking of that, check out Robert Wuhl’s “Assume the Position” on HBO, in which he traces giving the finger back to the 100 years war. It’s hilarious.

Are Borowski and Borkowski the same guy?

Finally, Albert Pujols, $59. Keeper.

Enshrined On the Wall

The Giants honored Robb Nen yesterday with a plaque on the right field port walk commemorating his 300th save in 2002. At 32, Nen was the youngest pitcher to reach 300 saves. Unfortunately, he finished his career with only 314, having pitched until his arm literally came off.

We have a special place here at Sour Grapes for Robb Nen. The very first blog entry I ever wrote, entitled “We Wuz Robbed” was about Nen’s decision to retire. The Giants paid a lot of money to Nen in 2003 and 2004 on the 4 year contract they gave him in 2001, but it was money honestly earned. His shoulder was wrecked, but he went out there every day with nothing but guts and moxie, doing whatever he could to get the job done.

The last game he ever pitched was Game 6. I can’t even bear to think about Game 6, much like the Red Sox fans can’t bear to think about their Game 6. Nen probably shouldn’t have been out there, but he figured just one more inning and he’d have all of the winter months to get better. As it turned out, he’s got the rest of his life to get better. And I hope it’s a good one – he became one of my all-time favorites that day.

A Battlefield Bullinger

I believe we can award a Bullinger today to Glendon Rusch, who offered up to the Busch Leaguers the following line:

IP 2.2, H 6, ER 7, BB 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Congratulations to Glendon. His stablemate and Bullinger favorite, Will Ohman had one of his better lines of the season (no award):

IP 2, H 4, ER 3, BB 2

When a team gives up 16 runs, there’s a pretty good chance Mr. Bullinger is going to be seen on this site.

I see Braden Looper, he of the 1.54 ERA picked up his 2nd win today for the Pecklers. And you all laughed at our $5 preempt on the set up man for the best team in the NL, a team with a famously injury prone closer. Meanwhile, Big Al hit #14 and drove in #32. BUT, his 1 for 3 dropped his average to .350, and the slacker had no steals.

As I wrote this, Moises knocked out a walk off homer in the 9th against. This guy is among the lead leaders in all categories. He’s famous as a slow starter (he has leg injuries every spring), but he’s carrying the Giants while we wait for Barry earn his salary. Fatmondo, Kline and Fassero worked a one hit no walk scoreless last three innings.

Meanwhile, Juan Cruz had a hell of a start, with 2 hits, no walks 1 run in five for the DBacks. A former closer of the future, Cruz may be something entirely different.

Passing the Babe

Uncle Bud has proclaimed that baseball will not celebrate homeruns 714 and 715.

"Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record," Selig said. "We don't celebrate anybody the second or third time in…We celebrate new records, that's what we do. We're being consistent. There's nothing to read into that."

So, since it’s not a record, it doesn’t matter.

Since when?

I live in San Francisco, and I root for the Giants. I’m not a Barry Bonds devotee, though I’ve certainly enjoyed many of his exploits including his dramatic game-tying homer on Wednesday. So, I guess I’m a little biased. My college buddies in the east have been debating the importance of Barry passing the Babe and they seem to think, like Bud Selig, that this is not significant.

Hey, guys, I just said you think like Bud Selig. That ought to make you think twice about your position.

I did like mhs’ note about the Babe:

“The only career HR "record" the Babe still has is most career HRs by a white guy playing against white guys.”

I responded to this chatter with the following email (cleaned up for better spelling and grammar):

First off, let me say that Bud Selig may not care about Barry passing Babe, but the Giants do. It's a big deal out here, and it means significant promotional dollars. The Giants are going on the road soon, and believe you me, they'll be packing the stadiums wherever the Giants are playing in hope of seeing 714 and 715.

Is it a record? No. Is it a significant milestone? You bet. People wanted to see 500 and 600 and 661 (Willie) and 700. People want to see a 3000th hit and a 3000th strikeout and a 300th win.

Are you suggesting that if someone was bearing down on Ty Cobb's hit "record" (it isn't one, but it did stand up for an awfully long time), we wouldn't be paying attention and it wouldn't matter? Is mhs really suggesting that no one would care if someone passed Gehrig's consecutive game number? Sure they would -- it's part of the fabric of the national pastime.

Here is something even more obscure--how many of you Yankee fans "noticed" when Griffey passed Mickey on the homerun list? I did, and I have every time someone has passed him. It's certainly not a record, but it still means something to those of us who were fans of Mickey.

It has nothing to do with white or black. It is a recognizable milestone, and it is one that is less arbitrary than 500 homers or 600 homers or 700 homers or some even number. It is less arbitrary because it connects to baseball and its history in a very personal way. Only one guy has ever done this (passed the Babe), and that hasn't been done since we were in college. I remember watching Aaron hit his in my apartment on Crescent St. Did you guys notice last September how old we all got since then? That was a long time ago.

Barry's black, he's an asshole, and he's apparently been caught. That's why people are minimizing this. It may not be a record, but it's history. But this whole sordid steroid affair has made it tainted history.

Baseball isn’t just about records. It’s about history. It’s what makes baseball different from all other sports, that you can have a conversation that includes Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth in the same sentence. This gives us a chance to celebrate Babe Ruth, not just Barry Bonds, to discuss just how dominating he was in an era before most people alive in 2006 were born.

When juiced up Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were headed toward homer 61 and beyond, Roger Maris, long dead, got more attention than he did since that fateful summer of 1961. It was as if he finally got the recognition for how great his feat was – passing the Babe.

Barry is giving us a chance to pay tribute to them all, Hank and Roger and Mark and Sammy and Willie and the Babe. And so we should.

Wright as Rain

As previously reported, I made it to two of the three Giants-Mets games this week and saw pieces of Tuesday’s game on TV between poker hands. A few notes about the Mets, since I won’t see them again this year (until maybe the playoffs):

They have a hell of a lineup. Beltran didn’t play in the series, but Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Floyd is quite an order topper. I don’t believe Nady will continue to hit like this, but Delgado, Wright and Floyd were just mashing the ball all week. Delgado and Floyd each hit water shots, and there haven’t been that many non-Bonds splash homers at Telephone Park since it opened. Of course, this is the moment for the obligatory doffing of the cap to the Crespo brothers, each of whom have splash hits.

Endy Chavez can’t hit, but he has some serious wheels. He beat out two straight infield hits by blazing down the first base line, and he almost beat out a sacrifice bunt that the Giants knew was coming.

David Wright can play. The first time I saw him, as a rookie for the Mets in 2004, it was obvious here was the real deal. He doesn’t look fast (he kind of looks like a catcher), but he can fly, and he can swing. He’s 23, and barring major injuries, the minimum is making it to the HOF ballot. He has all the tools, and is going to be a star for years. Craig Biggio with more speed and more power?

I’m not sure the Mets have the starting pitching to go all the way, but Atlanta is not the team they used to be. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make the playoffs, and I would be shocked if they weren’t at least contending right to the end.

Finally, Steve Trachsel did another number on the Giants on Tuesday. He seems to have the Giants’ number. He came off the DL last fall and pitched his first game at what was SBC, and just mowed them down. If he were on my fantasy team, I’d be trying to trade him off of this week’s outing right now.

Boof Brittain told a funny story about Trachsel coming to town a few years ago. He had thrown out Trachsel’s name for a buck to buy some time, and he got crickets. He had been holding the spot for someone, and ended up with Trachsel, who proceeded to absolutely kill his pitching staff. As he put it, he was out of the race by May 15.

Boof went to a the game that season in Kenny 9’s seats down the right field line in front of the visitor’s bullpen for a game with the Mets in which Trachsel was pitching. He got to the game early and standing along the bullpen while he was warming up were 25 other Trachsel fantasy owners who were screaming curses at him for ruining their teams. They were absolutely abusing him. The crowd was so incensed that the Giants had to send extra security down there.

We all have guys who have wrecked us. Trachsel’s been around long enough, that he’s wrecked almost everyone at one time or another. You can never forgive a pitcher who has wrecked your team. Fantasy players have long memories. You know what they say: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Which is why he always goes for a buck, year in, year out. Usually to a new guy.

Just to be an Asshole

On Tuesday night, we were playing our usual game, 7 card stud, hi-low, nothing wild. On the third hand, I was dealt an ace on third street, an ace on fourth street and a third ace on fifth street. There were a couple of promising high hands that dropped out in the face of my potential aces over boat.

Larry Dot Net said he folded trip 8’s. The Colonel said he had a hell of a hand, but the three aces and potential boat were just too much. I wasn’t challenged for the high, and so I mucked my cards. Everyone wanted to know if I had the boat. I told them, “check my blog tomorrow for the answer.”

Hey, anything for regular readership. To hear my answer, you’ll have to read to the end of this piece, boys.

Anyway, one of the topics of conversation came in response to someone asking “Why?” I don’t even remember the subject at that time. And the answer to “Why?” was “Just to be an Asshole.” I observed that made a great title for a blog entry.

I’m born and bred in New York, and I’m willing to say anything for a laugh. In New York, that’s just one of the crowd. But after 32 years in San Francisco, that generally just makes me an asshole.

On the second to last hand of the night, I had the only low on the board with A-2-5. Unfortunately, that 5 paired me underneath, but I continued to bet as if I had the lock low. After a final round of max raises, Mr. Leaguer, with 6, 8 and two face cards showing went low with a 10 low (which, for you non-players, really, really, really stinks). I had paired up again on the river, and so I was bluffing with a king low. How he could throw $32 into the pot on the last card with a 10 low with my board is beyond me. I did something awful at that moment: I whined. I asked him why he would stay in and go low with an unbluffable low board and a terrible low hand.

The answer: “Just to be an asshole.”

It was, for me, the difference between winning money and losing money (particularly after losing the previous pot to him when he topped my 8’s over full house).

Speaking of assholes, Barry Bonds hit a game-tying homer with 2 outs in the ninth yesterday. I have a couple of observations about the current state of Barry’s ability. First, he can’t pull the ball. There is something with his knee that doesn’t let him get around with power. All of his homers have been to left center, to the deepest part of the ballpark. He blasted another ball in the 11th yesterday, but it died on the centerfield warning track.

Barry is really hurting. He’s beyond a liability in the field: he’s worse than me, and I’m 53 freaking years old. And I stink! He almost won the game yesterday, but he also lost it when he let a soft liner by Chris Woodward not only drop in front of him, but he then played it into a double. The winning run scored and Woodward ended up scoring an insurance run for the Mets. Right now it’s hard to imagine Barry playing beyond this season.

You might be wondering why I put a picture of Phil Hellmuth in this entry. Well, it’s about poker and it’s about assholes. And I didn’t have a picture of Mr. Leaguer turning over that full house the other night.

So did I have Aces full? Maybe. If you really wanted to know, you should have paid to see the cards. Instead, I mucked them.

Just to be an asshole.

1406...and Counting?

After the Giants gave up 3 runs in the eighth to the Mets yesterday to go down 7-4, Connie and I left her seats in the deep left field hinterlands of the AAA club to head toward the right field line, closer to the parking lots. We were standing in about the same place where I jinxed Matt Cain on Monday night, behind section 107.

Connie just loves celebrities. I elbowed her and said “look to your left, there’s Ricky Henderson.” There was a short, well built, middle aged man at the top of the section, walking down the steps to a seat near the field in the lower reserved seats. “Yeah, right,” she replied.

In this morning’s paper, there was a mention at the end of the Giants’ Notes that Ricky was at the game. He was a special instructor for the Mets in spring training. You’d think the Mets could get him a better seat, but he just doesn’t get the respect anymore.

Last week I wrote about unbreakable records. Here’s another unbreakable record, one that will last beyond Joe D’s 56: Ricky Henderson’s 1,406 stolen bases. It’s ridiculous. Lou Brock is second with 938. Brock broke Ty Cobb’s record of 893 that had stood since he retired in 1928.

It is really an unbelievable number. It’s 70 per year for 20 years plus 6. It’s 50 per year for 28 years plus 6. Hell, it’s 100 per year for 14 years plus six. Unbreakable.

Here is what it took:

33, 100, 56, 130, 108, 66, 80, 87, 41, 93, 77, 65, 58

That’s Ricky’s first 13 years, which totals exactly 1,000. Three times over 100, 7 times over 75. Nobody steals like that anymore (or ever). And then, just for kicks, he’s added another 406 steals in the last 12 years of his career. The 406 steals would rank him 64th all time, including guys from the 1800’s!

Seeing the 47 year old Ricky in the stands suggests that Ricky’s not going to reach 1,407, or 300 homers (he’s stuck on 297). I guess he’s not playing anymore for the Toledo Mud Hens, or whatever pathetic semi-pro team he was with last season.

It’s ironic, because a guy exactly his age, Julio Franco, helped the Mets win the game with the key hit in the Mets' three run 8th (before Barry’s dramatic game tying 2 run homer with 2 out in the 9th). Franco drove in two with a bad pitch loop single up the middle. Then, probably because Old Man Henderson was in attendance, he stole second.

Now that’s a fine tribute.

Rusty's Carcass

The Doc and I were out to Ma Bell Park Monday for our first game of the season where we saw the Giants beat the Mets and our own Tom Glavine 6-2. The star of the game was Moises, with a 3 run jimmy-jack in the first and 5 Ribbies, but there was another star, one who isn’t 39 years old: Matt Cain.

Cain, the can’t-miss 21 year old pitching prospect, had a perfect game through 5. It went on long enough that people stopped talking about it. I scolded Beverly for saying he had gotten out 12 straight batters. I put my ticket in a safer place to protect it as a potential souvenir. It started to get exciting.

I’ve been to a perfecto. Father’s Day, 1964, Shea Stadium. It was the first game I ever went to that I personally purchased the tickets for. I was with my brother Noah and my two cousins, Ken and Neil, as Jim Bunning was clean through seven. I remember yelling “over the wall, Christopher” (that’s Joe Christopher, one of those lousy Met outfielders of the Casey Stengel era) in the eighth. By that time pretty much everyone else was pulling for the no-no.

When John Stephenson came up with two outs in the ninth to pinch-hit for the pitcher, the crowd was roaring and I knew Bunning had it in the bag. Stephenson was a 23 year old rookie who wasn’t even good enough to play regularly for the Mets. He hit .158 in 1964, the beginning of a 10 year major league career in which he would play for 4 teams (including the Giants), get 989 at bats, and have a career average of .216. Bunning struck him out as if he were a Little Leaguer, and became one of what is now only 4 pitchers to hurl no hitters in both leagues. For those interested, the other three were Cy Young, Nolan Ryan and most recently Hideo Nomo. Don’t forget, Nomo’s NL no-no was in Colorado!

Anyway, I was 11 years old, just about to celebrate birthday #12. In fact, it was one of those 30 days per year when my brother Noah and I were the same age. Noah and I were 11 months apart, so on his birthday, for one month, he “caught up” to me each year. Anyway, it’s been almost 42 years since that day, and hundreds of baseball games that I’ve attended, and in all that time, Cain came closer to pitching a no-hitter with me in attendance than anyone else.

It’s a rare, rare thing, and you don’t do anything to spook it. I have to admit, I did. I had arranged to meet Kenny 9 near Section 107 at the top of the sixth. So after the final out of the fifth, the Doc and I took a walk out of the field club seats and met Kenny 9 at the appointed place. When we got there, our old favorite Kaz Matsui was leading off the sixth for the Mets, and ended the suspense by bouncing one up the middle. My fault, I accept all of the blame. I shouldn’t have moved. I just hope I don’t have to wait another 42 years, because, I doubt I’ve got another 42 years.

Anyway, after the no-no and shutout were disposed of during the sixth, we started talking about all of the nice changes in the ballpark. They have finally remodeled the field club, just in time to raise our ticket prices by 75% next season. It looks great. And there are plasma TV’s all over the ballpark now, scores of them. I suspect as I look at other areas (like the AAA Club at today’s game) I’ll see more nice changes.

One of the big changes is the right field wall. Old Navy has been replaced by Levi’s Landing, and they’ve replaced the old mechanical splash hits counter with a modern electronic one also sponsored by Levi. We started talking about how nice the wall looks, and Kenny 9 told us about an interview he heard on the radio with Larry Baer about all of the changes. One caller said he sits out on the right field wall, and complained that parts of what used to be “Rusty” are still there and it blocks his view.

You all remember Rusty, don’t you? That’s Rusty, the huge mechanical right fielder that once a game would come out of his box on the right field line and extend out toward center field. It was one of those dopey, early ballpark ideas now long gone, like Father Guido Sarducci’s swimming, ball-retrieving dogs.

I liked Rusty, but apparently I was the only one who did. Anyway, Rusty’s box is gone, but parts of Rusty’s carcass are still out there. Larry kind of chuckled and admitted that they had a long list of improvements and they just didn’t have time to get around exhuming Rusty’s remains. I hope they never get around to it. I hope 1000 years from now when archeologists dig up Ma Bell Park and learn about the ancient sport of baseball, Rusty is still there to confuse them thoroughly.

Opening Day

The Doc and I are going out to Telephone Park tonight to see our first game of the season. I find it impossible to take the time to see a game before tax day, and the Giants have been out of town since then. The Doc had tickets to one of the rain out games and could not go to the rescheduled game later that week.

So for the Pickled Pecklers, today is opening day. And lo' and behold, the Mets will send up our very own Tom Glavine, old guy, and one of the great lefties. Before we were in BABI, the Doc and I played on Compuserve. In 1991 we picked him up for $4 after a bad year, and he was the ace of our staff. We had an amazing team that season, coming in second overall among all of their leagues, losing by a fraction to Mr. Rotisserie himself, John Benson. Benson threw his team away the following year, refusing to play having blown up his future. We won our league again the following year.

We've liked Tom Glavine ever since.

He and his former stablemate, Greg Maddux are pitching like it's 1996, not 2006. Maddux won his 4th straight yesterday, and holds a 0.99 ERA and 0.73 WHIP for the season. Glavine is 2-1 with a 1.38 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Most interesting about Glavine is he has 26 strikeouts in 26 innings, not something you would expect from a guy who turned 40 last month. It will be fun to watch him, and we'll have that classic fantasy awkwardness when one of your own faces the Giants.

Maddux is also 40, and is 3 weeks younger than Glavine. He's a sure thing HOF'er, with 322 wins and a career 3.01 ERA and a career 1.132 WHIP and has 3070 strikeouts and counting. He won 4 straight Cy Young awards from 92-95, and in '95 actually came in 3rd in the NL MVP voting. Here is an amazing stat: he's won the NL Golden Glove every year since 1990, 16 straight years. He is as sure a HOF'er as there is, along with Clemens.

What about Glavine? He spent 10 years as Maddux's teammate from 1993-2002, and he played Ed Norton to Maddux's Ralph Kramden. All of his numbers are behind Maddux, but they are certainly more than respectable: 279 wins against 185 losses, a career ERA of 3.44, a WHIP of 1.302 and 2376 strikeouts. He holds two Cy Youngs (91 and 98), was second to Maddux in 1992 and finished in the top 3 three other times. He has no Golden Glove awards because of Maddux. But he does have 4 Silver Sluggers, and as we know, chicks dig the long ball.

He doesn't look like a first ballot HOF'er, but with a couple more good years, he'll reach 300 wins. I say he's already in, but 300 wins makes it automatic if not immediate. He has started 32 games in the post season (12-10) with a 3.58 ERA. He was never THE dominant pitcher in the game, but he was always among the best.

I took a look at the stats of some pitchers with some comparable stats. Here are the lines. Two of them are in the Hall, 4 are not. Glavine is X at the bottom of the list:

........W....L....ERA.WHIP..SO
A - 283-237, 3.45, 1.259, 2461
B - 209-166, 2.95, 1.148, 2486 (not Koufax)
C - 254-186, 3.90, 1.296, 2478
D - 287-250, 3.31, 1.198, 3701 (5th in strikeouts)
E - 288-231, 3.34, 1.283, 2245
F - 286-245, 3.41, 1.170, 2357
X - 279-185, 3.44, 1.302, 2376 Glavine

B and F are in the Hall. B is Don Drysdale, who was a kind of Ed Norton himself to Sandy Koufax. It is surprising that he only finished with 209 wins. F is Robin Roberts, who must have been in the voting for a while before he got in.

A is Jim Kaat. He is thought of as a guy who lasted a long time. Other than the higher number of losses, his stats are fairly comparable to Glavine's.

C is Jack Morris, who probably just doesn't have enough wins, though he does have one of the most memorable pitching performances in MLB history.

D is Bert Blyleven. I never thought of him as having these kinds of statistics, particularly the strikeouts. He is behind only Ryan, Clemens, Randy Johnson and Carlton, and ahead of Seaver, Sutton, Perry, Walter Johnson etc,. You would think that 3000 strikeouts would be automatic (there are only 13 pitchers who have reached it and they are all in except the active guys), but he's been eligible since 1997 and not a nibble. I'm not sure I get this one.

E is more famous for a medical procedure, Tommy John surgery. Too many losses, I guess, and not enough dominance.

One thing that separates Glavine: his 2 Cy Young awards. Only Drysdale had one (1962) among the guys above. Add to that his substantial post-season activity, and I think he's undeniable. Bruce Jenkins always says it's not always about statistics as to whether a guy is a HOF'er or not. The guy was either at the top of the game or he wasn't. Glavine has been at the top of the game, pitching big games for an awfully long time.

The Doc and I get to see him in the twilight of his career tonight, pitching for us again after all these years. It could be the last time we get to see him live. He's one of the greats. I hope it doesn't rain. And I hope he doesn't get a Bullinger.

Fantasy Inflation for Dummies

I am going to submit the following essay to the committee evaluating candidates for the Nobel Prize in Economics. This begins our analysis of the 2006 BABI auction results. This will be Long.

To remind you all of how we approach player valuation before the draft, 180 hitters and 120 pitchers are assigned 2 values: a “PECK” value, representing our evaluation of what the player is worth, and an “INF” value. The total of both values of 300 players is 3,360, with our allocation of 2,280 to the 180 hitters and 1,080 to the 120 pitchers.

Every keeper’s INF value is his contract price. We then allocate the rest of the money to the remaining players in a sort of pro-rata basis, but with a little more allocated to the top guys and a little less to the bottom guys. The purpose of the INF value is to get an idea of how much players will probably go for in the draft, factoring in inflation.

For the unkept players, the INF value is higher than the PECK value. Always. For the keepers, for the most part the PECK value exceeds the INF value. For these players, there is the great Pickled Equation:

PECK – INF = Keeper Profit

The 2006 formula was:

1,756-1,108=648

Simple so far.

Conclusions:

1) There was 3,360 in value purchased (we don’t believe in negative numbers).
2) There was 1,604 (3,360-1,756) value purchased for the remaining 2,252 (3,360-1,108) to be spent.
3) The average purchase price was 40.4% overpriced (2,252/1,604).

Ouch.

This was way more than last year, and more than any inflation in memory, though I’ve only been keeping this information since 2005.

The result? Albert Pujols, $59. Another result? Cory Lidle, $11.

The pre-draft profit was higher for hitters than pitchers. Traditionally, there isn’t that much inflation in pitchers, but we had so many cheap closers kept (Turnbow, Gonzalez, Fuentes, Reitsma, Valverde, Hoffman), that there was much more pitcher profit than in the past.

DISCLAIMER: These are OUR values. We get that. We can be wrong. And the result of our analysis is that our team will look better than it really is, and everyone else will look worse than they really are. We get it. We get it. We get it. Don’t Eddie Kuhl us on this.

But we’ve got to start somewhere.
The pre-draft profit by team was as follows:

Falkuhns – 87
Cappers – 84
Old Rips – 78 (would have been higher without the pitching deals)
Cartel – 77
Bums – 76
Hobo – 58
Pounders – 52 (mostly Zambrano and Turnbow)
Bats - 51
Busch – 46 (not bad after a dozen consecutive championships)
Pecklers – 28 (left it on the field last year)
Lickers – 8 (I never understood that deal with Hobo)
Any 9 – Minus 3. (Sorry. We don’t think much of Vargas.)

Here are the post-auction results, and I guess, our evaluation of the standings on April 1. Keep in mind this doesn’t take into account that Klesko had surgery or that Barry appears to stink, or any of the myriad of stuff we’ve learned since April 1.

Bums – 36
Cartel – 25
Falkuhns – 24 (before Gagne went down)
Old Rips – 22
Cappers – 18
Bats – 8
Hobo – EVEN STEVEN (minus 14 on Pujols)

And the minus teams:

Busch – minus 2 (minus 10 on Lidle)
Pecklers – minus 9 (probably really minus $39)
Pounders – minus 17
Lickers – minus 26 (remarkably small movement, only 34)
Any 9 – minus…get ready for this…minus 67

I’m not picking on Kenny 9 because his team really stinks and we know that now. I sent him an email after the draft that said we rated him last by a mile.

Looking at that bottom group, the Lickers are 4th today. The other 4 teams comprise 4 of the bottom 5 teams along with the Falkuhns, who wasted $30 on Gagne.

Some individual team thoughts:

So we picked the Bums to win? Well, they still have to manage their team, but we thought they did a fine job on draft day. We liked Hudson at 26 (PECK 23, INF 30) and we were big fans of Odalis Perez at 16 (PECK 10, INF 19, but we wanted him). The only players they seemed to go too high on were Hairston at 12 (4,6, but that may have been because things weren’t clear about the Cubs at 2nd base on April 1) and Corey Hart at 9 (we like him, and they may have been flush with cash at the time, but that was a bit much). I wish we had bought Sweeney as our corner instead of Jose Hernandez.

Cartel only overspent a lot on Arthur Rhodes (we only considered him worth a buck), but with the big investment in Flash Gordon, he can be forgiven. Jack Wilson at 7 was a nice buy (8,12) and we thought at the time Sledge at 1 was a great pickup (2,7). For the most part the Cartel was buying right on our INF numbers. We still don’t get him keeping Tony Armas.

Larry’s a lot worse off than we thought. We had Gagne at PECK 25, INF 29, but we really didn’t believe it. We wanted Baez (we made the penultimate bid.) There was no way we were going to buy Gagne. He’s looking like $30 down the drain. And the Falkuhns just had to have Ryan Madson (7,10) after throwing him back at $8, so he spent 14 on a highly hyped guy. He might work out, but that Bullinger he won last week was pretty ugly. He’s got a lot of young guys with good stuff on his staff, but he spent a lot on that staff. We show him with a big loss on pitching and an even bigger gain in hitting. But that pitching loss is before Gagne went down…it’s a lot bigger than we originally thought.

Dan Wheeler was the only player that went well beyond our numbers for the Rips, though that may be because we wanted Finley so much. Boof paid 9 for Wheeler (2,5) but he can be forgiven for fishing for protection for Lidge. That said, we don’t see a single player purchased at a real profit at the auction. Not one. Usually you get somebody at a profit.

George needs to read this inflation piece. The Cappers are unwilling to overspend, until he’s got nothing but money for no value at all. Sorry George, but we were all talking about it at the breaks. That said, you chased Adrian Gonzalez and Jeff Davanon, and those are looking like pretty good picks right now. You should trade for Klesko to protect Gonzalez. That said, I can’t forgive purchasing Sidney Ponson at any price.

The Old Bat chased Willingham and Rowand $3 beyond our INFL numbers, but they were the kind of players you could expect overspending on. The Doc liked Zach Duke more than I did, but he went about where we projected. Actually, Barry’s numbers are pretty much right on ours.

We had Pujols at 45, 55, (we jumped the bidding right to 50) so 59 Hobo’s bid is not looking outrageous. They way he’s playing, it’s looking damn cheap. We didn’t get the Freddy Sanchez purchase at 6, or Matt Diaz at $4 (maybe they just had to get rid of their money). Noel only overspent our INF numbers on Suppan (by 2), but we gave him a $1 real profit and $6 INFL profit on Jorge Sosa, which isn’t looking so good right now. Craig Wilson for $9 was their best pick.

Mr. Leaguer knows more about pitching than we do. He also knows more about hitting and baseball in general. We admit this. But we had Cory Lidle at PECK 1, INFL 3. The spirited bidding ending with his $11 bid is just off our charts. We could be wrong, but we’ve got him down for a minus 10 on the deal. For a closer, Borowski was cheap, but he stinks and he doesn’t look much like a closer for long. He’s the guy who outbid us for Ryan Sheely (Helton went down, and they didn’t bring him up today, heh, heh, heh), but as much as we wanted Sheely (we bid the 7), we only had him at PECK 2, INFL 2.

I love the Lickers’ cheap staff. Actually, I don’t like it at all, but I like the attempt. There were no major mistakes (Saenz was high, but they probably had the money at the end for him, and he WAS better than Jose Hernandez). Vizquel and Burnitz are old, but they were nice purchases (well below INFL, only 2 above PECK), as was Guillen. We didn’t like 39 on Helton, but that’s just a matter of opinion, I guess. On the other hand, he just went on the DL…

Finally, Any 9. Ken purchased 9 pitchers at the auction. Every one was purchased for more than our INFL price. He spent 81 on his 10 pitchers (including Izzy), and we think he bought $40 of value. That said, Worrell is looking like a bargain. Johnson might actually be something (although that might be a starter, not a closer), and the rest, well who knows? Ken knows pitching, and he watches a lot of baseball, so he’s seen most of these guys a lot more than I have. So what I say may not count.

But I say his staff stinks. And I say it on April 1. It’s looking like I might be right.

Winning the Bullinger Prize

Even Noel, who hates the unsolicited email, loves those emails like the one I sent around this week for Ryan Madson:

1.0 IP 7 H 9 R 9 ER 4 BB 1 K

I referred to the outing as “Bullingeresque.” Our newest newcomer, Big Rick, emailed back “You mean ‘Brazletonesque.”

Nope. I mean Bullingeresque, as in Jim Bullinger. Boof Brittain will never let me forget what he did to our team one season.

In 1997 the Pickled Ones went into the draft among the favorites, with a great keeper list. The heart of the team was our starting staff. Right from the start of the season, it all turned to shit.

Al Leiter declined from 16 W, 2.93 ERA and 1.263 WHIP to 11-4.34-1.480. Hideo Nomo went from 16-3.19-1.161 to 14-4.25-1.375. They were the stars of the staff.

We purchased Steve Traschel for $10. Now before you all start laughing, Traschel was young then, and was coming off 13-3.03-1.185. We thought ten bucks was a bargain. We lost that illusion when he went 8-4.51-1.460.

Our star pickup, without doubt, was Jim Bullinger. Bullinger had a couple of nice seasons in 94 and 95, and then had some arm problems in 96. He was traded to the Expos for 97 and earned a spot in the rotation with a flawless spring. John Hunt started hyping the hell out of him in Baseball Weekly, and before the draft he made his first start, winning a beauty. He was on the Pecklers’ A list.

Near the end of the draft we threw him out for a buck, hoping we’d get him. Boof started to laugh, but Larry (he hadn’t become Larry Dot Net quite yet) took him off our hands by saying 2. The Pecklers were not to be denied, and we raised it to 3. At going twice, Larry said 4. Boof was in convulsions. This was the guy on our A list. We said 5, and he was ours. Boof was on the floor.

Jim Bullinger, Pickled Peckler.

7 wins, 5.56 ERA, 1.539 WHIP

And just to clarify how bad that was, he pitched 155 innings. Remember, this was in the days before open FAAB, so you couldn’t even get rid of him.

Pickled Pecklers, out of the money. Way out of the money.

About 6 weeks into the season the Cubs faced the Expos, and lo’ and behold, Traschel went up against Bullinger. I checked the box scores late in the day, and the final score was something like 15-13. Neither guy made it out of the 3rd inning. We were toast after that game. It’s moments like that when you start to realize just how long the baseball season is.

It’s like a knife in the back to see one of your starters serve up batting practice for a couple of innings. When a guy makes a habit out of it, well, you can never forgive him. Never. And of the long list of guys I can never forgive, Jim Bullinger is at the very top of that list.

And so in his honor, Sour Grapes will now award “Bullingers” to pitchers who put up very special pitching lines. Let us award the first one to Ryan Madson for that outing. Brazleton will just have to earn one like everyone else. The good news for Kenny 9 is he’s not on Any 9 any more.

Actually, Brazleton’s rotation replacement, the Peckler’s own Clay Hensley, is pitching as I write this. Uh oh. I’ve got a feeling one of those emails is coming my way.

Grand Reopening - Under Old Management

Old, being the operative word.

We've been open, as I have been dabbling here the past 10 days. Today I transferred over the postings we did on our private preseason blog. It only took about 5 hours, but it was done at work during work hours, so life is good. For those of you who have no life (that would be...pretty much every one of you), here it all is, open to you all.

The price is right.

I'm happy to have a BABI blog competitor. There is room for you all. I'm going to change the look of this page this weekend and provide a link on my page to Ken's Meatstout page. We'll both be providing fair and balanced coverage of our fight for last place in BABI.

What's Your Name?

The Pickled Pecklers pay attention to much more than projected stats and values when we are putting together our team. Among the many things we consider is a player's name. We think that a player's name tells volumes about him. Barry Bonds, BB = Big Bum. See how that works?

We believe the Pecklers have set a BABI record never to be broken. I saw one of those Summer Sanders shows on Fox about the 10 most unbreakable records. Freakin' idiots, the most unbreakable record wasn't even in the top ten: Cy Young, 511 wins. The second most unbreakable record also wasn't on the list: Cy Young, 316 losses. I guess Fox didn't have any good footage of ol' Cy, so they forgot him.

The #1 record was 56. We all know about Joe D's 56. I don't know if it will ever be broken, but if it is, Cy Young's records will still be around. Cal Ripken was #2. Wilt's 100 was #3. Jerry Rice was #4 or 5. UCLA's basketball streak was in there, as was Gretsky's 215 points. Nolan Ryan made it for his 7 no hitters, although I think someone will break that before his 5714 strikeout record. That one is going to live forever. That's 300 strikeouts per year for 19 years. Plus 14.

When I was in high school, I listened on radio (TV blackout in those days, even for sold out games) as the Redskins beat the Giants 72-41 in the highest scoring game in NFL history. But that isn't the unbreakable record from that game. The unbreakable record set that day was most extra points by a pair of brothers - 14 by Charlie (9) and Pete (5) Gogolak. Interestingly, they both missed one.

Gogolak. Great football name. Oh yeah, names, that's what this is about. The Pecklers set a record never to be broken in BABI: most Arizona pitchers named Brandon - 3. That would be Webb, Lyon and Medders. Lo and behold, that was the pitching lineup last night against the Giants for the Dbacks in their 10-3 win. We challenge any of you to break that one.

One more Peckler name player has suddenly risen from the about to be sent to the farm to become our hottest hitter: Reggie Abercrombie. That is a beautiful baseball name. Reggie really blasted one last night, estimated at 493 feet. Steroids? Don't care.

Anyway, back in the '60's, our cousin Ken (long time PEFArarian to those of you in our football league) had a collie named Abercrombie. Great dog, great name. Ken's had many other dogs and pets living as a farmer, but if pinned down I think he'd admit none was as special to him as Abbie. And that began a tradition for Ken, naming his dogs with 4 syllable names. He later had Knickerbocker and Penelope. Then he wanted to name his kids Pocahantas and Saskatchewan, after which his wife Paula decided that shorter names were better.

Anyway, when Abercrombie was available for $8, I couldn't resist. The Doc was still pissed at me from the Klesko fiasco, and being younger than I, he was too young to remember the original Abercrombie quite so fondly. After all, he wanted to use that money for another rookie getting Voglesong size hype who has already been sent to the minors: Brandon Watson. Another Brandon for our team. What was I thinking?

God Bless Any 9 and the Busch Leaguers.

I'm Back

April 17, 10:38 AM, PDT

I’m done.

I was kind of done yesterday, but there is always something on filing day. God bless electronic filing, particularly electronic extensions, which have really taken the sting out of filing day. And in the great tradition of tax filing day (and more importantly, the day after) it is beautiful outside. A little golf and a little tennis tomorrow.

Too bad there is no poker game scheduled.

So today we begin the regular blog filings. No more excuses, although to be truthful, I really have been busy. It always cracks me up to get those phone calls from clients in April which begin with the “I’ve been really busy” excuse. Bite me. Hey, I’ve been busy. You’ve just been lazy. I’m sure Mark would confirm these calls.

Let me take a moment and discuss the direction I’d like to go with this space this season. It will be more of the same, but I’d like to make it a little more about baseball, a little more about other stuff, and a little less about BABI. Just a little change of balance, otherwise I’ll only end up with about 15 readers. I’d like to see if I can get it over 20.

So let me address what has been in the papers day after day throughout this past tax season: Barry. Steroids? Don’t care. Won’t comment other than to say I’d bet a months pay Eric Gagne (done forever, folks) was doing them too.

What interests me about Barry is I think he suddenly got old. He looks hurt all the time. He used to never miss pitches, now he regularly looks bad, off balance, swinging at stuff way out of the strike zone – in sum, ordinary. Or worse. Life is bad for him, really bad, Martha Stewart bad, but on top of it, he’s now … me. He’ll never reach Aaron. Maybe not even Ruth. OK, he’ll reach the Babe. But never Aaron. That’s a shame.

It’s certainly a shame for the Giants, but give them credit, they planned for it. Finley is a good player, and as Larry (Baer, not Dot Net) told me when he encouraged me to buy him in the auction (we made the penultimate bid), Finley is going to get 450 at bats. If they are like 2005, who would want them? But he’s still got some talent, and enough speed and power to be a reasonable fantasy player. He better be more than that, because the Giants are going to need him, big time.

The Giants are 7-4, but they look to be crumbling. Schmidt looks like 2005 was a picture of his future. After Morris, the rest of the starting pitching is being held together by Jamey Wright (does anyone believe it?) and guys who didn’t make the roster out of the spring. They’re probably good enough to win the NL West, he said, damning with faint praise. Three and out in the playoffs, maybe 4 assuming Matt Morris wins one.

A Rod hit number 432 yesterday. He’ll turn 31 on July 27. That seems like a huge number for that age. Griffey had 438 homers when he turned 31, and everyone was sure he’d break the record. Barry only had 292. Sammy had 336. If he stays injury free, he might do it.

A Rod and Steroids? Probably. Don’t care.

Here is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Today, I have time to do it.

Here are 2 five year scans:

..AB....Runs....Hits......Ds....HRs....RBIs....BA
2618....683.....925.....191....165.....638.....353
2954....629.....982.....227....201....621......332

Pretty impressive, huh? What is more impressive is that for both players, they were the first 5 seasons. Both players were instant stars, monster stars. Neither had anything other than a great year in each of those seasons.

I know you know who one of these guys is – Big Al Pujols. His is the second line. Got an idea about that first line? It’s Ted Williams.

A couple of notes about Ted. First and foremost, his first 5 years were 1939-1942 and then 1946. He missed 3 seasons for WWII, but then came back and hit .342-38-123. That is sick. He also missed virtually all of 2 more seasons, getting 10 AB’s in 1952 and 91 in 1953 because of the Korean War.

Second, that BA is really high because there was a .406 in there in 1941. What a year, 1941. Pearl Harbor, .406 and 56. The guy hit .406, led the league in homers, was 4th in RBI’s and didn’t win the MVP.

The next year, 1942, his last before WWII, he won the triple crown, but STILL didn’t win the MVP. He did that AGAIN in his 2nd year back from the war in 1947 – triple crown, no MVP. I’m too lazy to prove it, but I’m pretty sure he’s the only non-MVP among triple crown winners, and he did that twice. He missed 3 seasons sandwiched between 2 triple crown years.

Greatest hitter ever? Maybe. Add those 5 seasons right in his prime, and he’d have 700 homers. He had 521 homers, 1838 RBI’s and a lifetime BA of .344, and missed 5 seasons. He also walked over 2000 times, so like Barry, he was regularly pitched around. That’s the difference, by the way, in the AB lines above. For some weird reason, they pitch to Big Al. Not Ted.

Anyway, Pujols is on Ted’s track. He has the potential to be the greatest hitter ever. Of course, I used to think Roberto Alomar was going to break Pete Rose’s hit record.

Pujols – steroids?

Don’t care.

Glad to be back.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

April 15, 6:18 Pacific Standard Time

I'm still at the office, but I'm nearing the end of the tough stuff. Of course, we still have 2 days, until April 17 this year, but I'm hoping that filing day will be nothing but party day around here. Boof Brittain will be on a plane Monday headed to the Islands, but as for me, April 18 is just a day off, with tennis, and some blogging, and who knows what else.

Actually, April 18, Tuesday, is a filing day for 2 of my clients who live in MA. Monday is a state holiday, Patriots day, celebrating Paul Revere's ride and the Boston Marathon. So all of those democrats in the "Commonwealth" get an extra day to file.

I've taken a moment today, the traditional filing day, to make a note about our Pickled ones and their special day yesterday. Our team is a mess, but we had the following pitching line yesterday:

16 IP, 14 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 15 K, 2 W

Now THAT is a pretty fine line. Webb and Glavine. We would have gotten a save too, but the Cubbies put up 3 in the top of the 9th so Dempster lost his save situation.

On the other hand, our hitting line:

37 AB, 4 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB.

What a day!

It's pretty clear we don't have enough hitters on our team. Carlos Lee is going to win the NL MVP this season, and we're certainly happy with him, but half our team is under 200, so we'll be on the waiver wire once someone decent shows up. The Doc blames me for the Klesko blunder (I swear, I only bid on him because Mr. Leaguer wanted him), but if Klesko was putting up Big Al numbers instead of NOTHING, we'd still have lousy hitting.

As for that Carlos Lee MVP prediction, we also predicted about this time last year that Milton Bradley was going to win the NL MVP. He will win the AL MVP this year, assuming his head doesn't explode.

As for BB, no homers yet. Think he's a little distracted? I saw an interview with Gary Sheffield's attorney yesterday, and she was saying how there is no way the Feds can prove perjury. Those are scary things to be talking about. I'll have to start catching Bonds on Bonds, which may evolve into the OJ trial. Too bad for Barry that Johnnie is going, going GONE.

Finally, I'd like to reminisce about the 1968 New York Mets. They stunk. The pre '69 Mets all stunk. Yet the town loved them. Shea Stadium always had lots of adoring fans with their signs. One day in 1968 the Mets held a banner day, during which people paraded the field with their clever banners and prizes were awarded. The Mets had always finished last every year since inception, but in 1968 they finished second to last ahead of the Cubbies. My favorite banner was in a fancy text font and said "GOD BLESS THE CHICAGO CUBS."

In that spirit, I'd like to say:

GOD BLESS ANY 9.

Blue Saturday

Kenny 9 is blue. He needs a Sour Grapes fix. He actually took a look at his team and realized he needs a good laugh. So I’m going to take time out from my April 8 CPA Saturday at work at 6:30 PM schedule to accommodate my bettin’ friend.

Kenny 9 and Mr. Leaguer sat next to each other at the Sweet 16 in the seats made available to the Doc and me from our philanthropy at USF. We were sitting one section over from them, but Noel and Larry Dot Com were there to report that they bet on everything. Noel said the most outrageous bet was the over/under on how many UCLA cheerleaders had boob jobs. I’d like to offer to act as the Diebold Counting Machine. My hands need no paper backup.

The Sweet Sixteen is really an amazing event, worth whatever you pay to get inside. We saw Memphis slaughter Cinderella Bradley, and then the opera that was the Gonzaga choke finish against UCLA. It was really shocking. Kudos to UCLA for not giving up, and Larry Dot Net will blame the refs, but walking out the crowd was stunned. Gonzaga beat the crap out of them for 37 minutes. You’ve got to play all 40, though. I love watching Adam Morrison play, and his 4 point play seemed to end it all. But in the end, it is about guards, and Gonzaga’s strength was up front. They didn’t have a guard to really take over in those last fateful minutes and make UCLA foul him. When they trapped Morrison in the backcourt corner and forced him to stop his dribble and pass cross court to their center, the game was over. A great guard would have busted through the trap. It’s a game anyone who was there will remember for a long time.

So where’s the baseball? OK, we’ve had spring training, and a premature BABI draft and opening day and a home version of opening day here in SF. We’ve had Bonds on Bonds, and some wins and some losses. Sorry, but it won’t exactly seem like baseball season until it stops raining and I stop working 7 days per week. How DID they get that game off last night? It was pouring at 7 PM last night. The game didn’t start until about 9. It was crazy, but they got it in. Too bad for Connie, who was there, and was falling asleep by the 3rd inning.

The Giants? They’ve got hitting. It’s all going to be about pitching. Is Schmidt any good this year? Busch says a big $26 yes. Morris looked pretty good. Then Noah went almost straight to the DL. I loved the talk show guy saying how he went out with a one hitter. A one hitter? There was 2 outs in the 2nd inning! That’s not a one-hitter. That’s a guy screwing up your staff! Jamey Wright got an ugly win today. Correia? Cain? Hennessey? Lots of question marks there. But the division sucks, so their hitting will keep them close until Sabes makes a deal for another veteran pitcher (god, please, not Ponson, please) in June or July.

Here is my opening day story. Brandon Webb is pitching a beauty on opening day in Colorado. He goes 7 innings giving up one run. The eighth starts and the Dbacks bring in their set up guy. Terry Freaking Mulholland. Are you kidding me? Can anyone believe this guy has been in the major leagues for TWENTY YEARS? He made his first appearance for the Giants in 1986. 15 appearances, 10 games started, 1-7, ERA 4.94, WHIP 1.57. This guy was considered a hot prospect? He didn’t pitch in the majors in 1987, and then he did every year since, with 2006 being his 20th season. Is there in the history of baseball a worse player who played 20 years in the majors? I challenge you on that.

Check this out:

5.15, 5.11, 4.66, 5.70, 4.91, 5.18, 4.27

That’s his ERA line since 1999. This is what convinced the Dbacks to make him their setup man on opening day. The result? It was predictable. 1 out. 2 hits. 1 run. 1 blown save.

There is a lesson here. Fathers, have your sons grow up to be left handed pitchers.

Joey Devine came up yesterday. We should have made the Falkuhns keep him. He pitched both yesterday and today. Check out his lines:

4/7 - 1/3 inning, 2 hits, 1 walks, 3 runs
4/8 - 2/3 inning, 3 hits, 4 walks, 4 runs

The Doc said it reminded him of another 2 appearance career (to date). See if you can name this pitcher:

2004, 2 appearances – 1-2/3 Innings, 4 hits, 3 walks, 5 runs.

That would be the major league career of Merkin Valdez. I’m proud to say I’ve seen it all.

Bonds on Bonds – haven’t seen it. Too busy. Bruce Jenkins said it was pretty good, pretty honest. I’ll check it out if it’s not opposite My Name is Earl. If you haven’t seen that show on NBC, you’ve got to check it out. Look for the episode “Got a Free Beer.”

Meanwhile, I’m going on record – I don’t care about Bonds and the steroids. Are you going to tell me Gagne wasn’t doing them? That guy is NEVER going to throw a pitch 99 MPH again that doesn’t completely sever his arm. Danny Baez is the closer in LA, period. We should have bid $16, but we really didn’t have it because we were saving $7 for Ryan Sheely, who we didn’t even get. Same excuse for not saying $7 on Vinny Castilla. Gagne is now a footnote. And Bonds is still looking for 2006 HR #1.

Final note. I got my Warriors bill for next season. I’ve had season tickets since 1974. I was there in the Cow Palace for the championship. 8th row seat at the foul line. Finals: $9. My seats next season: $120. I got a bill from them for $20,600. That is Twenty Terry Mulholland Freaking Thousand Dollars! For the Warriors! I’m out. I’m gonna watch the USF Dons from now on.

Ralph Barbieri had a great line at the BASHOF induction for Chris Mullin the other night. He introduced him, and he said that BASHOF wanted to bestow the honor on him after the Warriors finally made the playoffs again, but on second thought, they didn’t want the award to be posthumous. Since 1978 – 4 playoff appearances. Four. The worst sports fanchise ever?

Well, there is always the Arizona Cardinals.

See you after 4/17, when I promise to be more regular. And we’ll get the preseason stuff posted then too.