cubfan33
06-30-2002, 11:47 PM
The big news of the day is my birthday present from Webmaster Larry – yes, the Under The Knife site is now up and running. Everything from archives to sign up will be handled here. It’s a great looking site I think and I’d highly recommend Larry and his company to anyone seeking a great site. I hope everyone enjoys it … check it out at www.willcarroll.com. I also want to thank those of you that emailed, sent cards, or even the very cool person who sent me something off my Amazon wish list for all the birthday wishes. One of the best things about this year is being able to have great readers.
Quick admin note: Unlike Lee Sinins, I have no computer skills to speak of. I’m really happy when I push the power button and the thing comes on. Therefore, I’m more at the mercy of other sites for providing my mail list. While we still haven’t made the switch yet, its coming. Anyone who was on the list AS OF LAST FRIDAY will not need to re-subscribe. I guess you could … or you could tell a friend … but there’s no need to resubscribe. I’m working as fast as possible to get the problems behind us. As always, check out Netshrine.com for the latest UTK and for discussion of same and millions of other baseball topics.
I wont’ pretend to think that this is a good idea, but I do think it deserves a little bit of coverage. Many fans are attempting to “strike” baseball on July 11. Wait, that sounds more like a terrorist thing, like the idiotic reports that Al Qaeda is about to blow up Mount Rushmore. Some fans are going to attempt to make their voice heard by boycotting baseball on a certain date. One UTK reader is also hoping to take out a full page ad in the Milwaukee newspaper on the day of the game. (I hear Frank singing, “dream … the impossible dream”) This isn’t the right place or time to discuss economics, but my town of Indy is getting a big wake-up call with our football team. No new stadium in the next year and you’ll be watching Peyton and Edge playing for the L.A. Colts. If you’d like to contribute to the newspaper ad, contact fansallstarstrike@hotmail.com.
Ok, on to injury news:
The word ‘shenanigans’ – besides being fun to say – is an accurate description of the current use of the disabled list by the Diamondbacks. In the NBA, it’s perfectly acceptable to hide a player on the injured list more for roster purposes than any real injury. The players are always listed with some vague injury that is fun to see them asked about. I wish I could remember which player was asked about his “injured” ankle and he had to ask to know which one was supposed to be injured. Well, that sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen in baseball, but it is. Shenanigans! According to some reports, MIKE MORGAN was told he’d need to go on the DL or be released. Morgan has honestly been playing since Jimmy Carter was President that is really pretty amazing when you think about it. According to the always-handy Sabremetric Baseball Encyclopedia (what? You don’t have one yet? Get to www.baseball-encyclopedia.com !) Morgan is FORTY games below .500 and has only had two or three positive years. Miraculously, one of them was for the Cubs in the early 90s! Someone found a bruise on Morgan’s knee, for which he’s indefinitely on the DL. Hmm.
J.D. DREW headed for the DL today with patellar tendonitis. He’ll likely load up on anti-inflammatories and rest prodigiously. With the ASB, he’ll only miss 10 games and should be back, but this is an injury to watch. Speed is an important part of his game and this type of condition seldom completely goes away during the season.
This one may need to be filed under “miracle” with several others this year. GEOFF JENKINS is out of his ankle “cast” and will begin a rehab program at the Brewers’ Arizona training complex. Walking around is pretty amazing at this point. I still see absolutely no reason for him to rush back when the Brewers are so far from being good, but if he can, it will be a real testament to his conditioning and to the Brewers medical staff.
SHAWN GREEN injures his thumb. No, too easy to make some sort of bad gardening joke. GREEN “jammed” his thumb at some point during last night’s game – honestly, he wasn’t sure. The injury prevented him from gripping the bat or he could have been the DH. While the Dodgers are currently saying it’s a minor ding, a slugger’s thumb is always something to keep an eye on, especially when said slugger is red frickin’ hot.
Let’s note … in the last five years, the Twins have been one of the best organizations for keeping people off the DL and when they did end up there, which is inevitable, their players got back quickly. This year – complete reversal of fortune. Before the season, the Twins fired longtime trainer Dick Martin. Coincidence? The latest injured Twin is MATT KINNEY who has the dreaded “dead arm.” In this case, dead arm seems to mean “we’re not sure yet, so we’ll call it dead arm until we can get an MRI done and hope that he didn’t tear his labrum.” Kinney wasn’t likely to keep his starting slot with BRAD RADKE expected back at the ASB and JOE MAYS shortly behind him (allegedly), but its still not good to have injured young pitchers.
REY SANCHEZ is taking grounders and reporting he feels near 100 percent, but he’ll likely stay on the DL until after the ASB. There’s no real need to rush him back at this point and it’s not like he helps the Red Sox much anyway.
This may be the best quote ever about RYAN RUPE. ``He felt good for about 11 or 12 minutes and then he malfunctioned, and I shut him down,'' pitching coach Jackie Brown said. Anyone that knows Rupe has thought of him as malfunctioned for quite a while. Really, it’s not as much of a setback as it sounds. He wasn’t expected back until the ASB and it’s not like the Devil Rays can’t lose without him.
Blisters on pitching hands are getting to be a real problem. There’s some reports coming in to me from players and trainers that the ball itself may be the cause. Evidently the stitching of the baseball appears to be a bit rougher than usual. I don’t know if there’s any way of testing this or correcting it, but since no one tracks this type of info, I can’t say for sure if this is actually happening more this year – but it sure seems like it. For most afflicted by this, such as KEVIN MILLWOOD and SIDNEY PONSON, it forces them out of games earlier than possible, but isn’t going to be significant. To others, like JOSH BECKETT, it’s very serious. Beckett is currently having to learn to pitch with all new grips on two pitches. (I’m honestly not sure if Beckett has a third pitch.) When the phenom does return, it should be very interesting to see if the grip holds him back any. If the Marlins can afford it, Beckett still has options and a short sting in Double or Triple A might not be a bad idea to give him time to learn to pitch.
A couple starters will return this Tuesday. The most significant is BARTOLO COLON, whom will make his first start for the Expos. Colon reports no problem with his painful side. It is, evidently, no longer painful. BRAD PENNY returns for the Marlins and will be on a strict pitch count, while KENNY ROGERS will head out for the Rangers.
Tomorrow is UTK @ Fox day so be sure to check it out. Next “normal” report will be Tuesday, but I’m giving you a heads up on some administrative messages relating to the changeover and I’m hoping to have a feature done late tomorrow or early Tuesday.
Quick admin note: Unlike Lee Sinins, I have no computer skills to speak of. I’m really happy when I push the power button and the thing comes on. Therefore, I’m more at the mercy of other sites for providing my mail list. While we still haven’t made the switch yet, its coming. Anyone who was on the list AS OF LAST FRIDAY will not need to re-subscribe. I guess you could … or you could tell a friend … but there’s no need to resubscribe. I’m working as fast as possible to get the problems behind us. As always, check out Netshrine.com for the latest UTK and for discussion of same and millions of other baseball topics.
I wont’ pretend to think that this is a good idea, but I do think it deserves a little bit of coverage. Many fans are attempting to “strike” baseball on July 11. Wait, that sounds more like a terrorist thing, like the idiotic reports that Al Qaeda is about to blow up Mount Rushmore. Some fans are going to attempt to make their voice heard by boycotting baseball on a certain date. One UTK reader is also hoping to take out a full page ad in the Milwaukee newspaper on the day of the game. (I hear Frank singing, “dream … the impossible dream”) This isn’t the right place or time to discuss economics, but my town of Indy is getting a big wake-up call with our football team. No new stadium in the next year and you’ll be watching Peyton and Edge playing for the L.A. Colts. If you’d like to contribute to the newspaper ad, contact fansallstarstrike@hotmail.com.
Ok, on to injury news:
The word ‘shenanigans’ – besides being fun to say – is an accurate description of the current use of the disabled list by the Diamondbacks. In the NBA, it’s perfectly acceptable to hide a player on the injured list more for roster purposes than any real injury. The players are always listed with some vague injury that is fun to see them asked about. I wish I could remember which player was asked about his “injured” ankle and he had to ask to know which one was supposed to be injured. Well, that sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen in baseball, but it is. Shenanigans! According to some reports, MIKE MORGAN was told he’d need to go on the DL or be released. Morgan has honestly been playing since Jimmy Carter was President that is really pretty amazing when you think about it. According to the always-handy Sabremetric Baseball Encyclopedia (what? You don’t have one yet? Get to www.baseball-encyclopedia.com !) Morgan is FORTY games below .500 and has only had two or three positive years. Miraculously, one of them was for the Cubs in the early 90s! Someone found a bruise on Morgan’s knee, for which he’s indefinitely on the DL. Hmm.
J.D. DREW headed for the DL today with patellar tendonitis. He’ll likely load up on anti-inflammatories and rest prodigiously. With the ASB, he’ll only miss 10 games and should be back, but this is an injury to watch. Speed is an important part of his game and this type of condition seldom completely goes away during the season.
This one may need to be filed under “miracle” with several others this year. GEOFF JENKINS is out of his ankle “cast” and will begin a rehab program at the Brewers’ Arizona training complex. Walking around is pretty amazing at this point. I still see absolutely no reason for him to rush back when the Brewers are so far from being good, but if he can, it will be a real testament to his conditioning and to the Brewers medical staff.
SHAWN GREEN injures his thumb. No, too easy to make some sort of bad gardening joke. GREEN “jammed” his thumb at some point during last night’s game – honestly, he wasn’t sure. The injury prevented him from gripping the bat or he could have been the DH. While the Dodgers are currently saying it’s a minor ding, a slugger’s thumb is always something to keep an eye on, especially when said slugger is red frickin’ hot.
Let’s note … in the last five years, the Twins have been one of the best organizations for keeping people off the DL and when they did end up there, which is inevitable, their players got back quickly. This year – complete reversal of fortune. Before the season, the Twins fired longtime trainer Dick Martin. Coincidence? The latest injured Twin is MATT KINNEY who has the dreaded “dead arm.” In this case, dead arm seems to mean “we’re not sure yet, so we’ll call it dead arm until we can get an MRI done and hope that he didn’t tear his labrum.” Kinney wasn’t likely to keep his starting slot with BRAD RADKE expected back at the ASB and JOE MAYS shortly behind him (allegedly), but its still not good to have injured young pitchers.
REY SANCHEZ is taking grounders and reporting he feels near 100 percent, but he’ll likely stay on the DL until after the ASB. There’s no real need to rush him back at this point and it’s not like he helps the Red Sox much anyway.
This may be the best quote ever about RYAN RUPE. ``He felt good for about 11 or 12 minutes and then he malfunctioned, and I shut him down,'' pitching coach Jackie Brown said. Anyone that knows Rupe has thought of him as malfunctioned for quite a while. Really, it’s not as much of a setback as it sounds. He wasn’t expected back until the ASB and it’s not like the Devil Rays can’t lose without him.
Blisters on pitching hands are getting to be a real problem. There’s some reports coming in to me from players and trainers that the ball itself may be the cause. Evidently the stitching of the baseball appears to be a bit rougher than usual. I don’t know if there’s any way of testing this or correcting it, but since no one tracks this type of info, I can’t say for sure if this is actually happening more this year – but it sure seems like it. For most afflicted by this, such as KEVIN MILLWOOD and SIDNEY PONSON, it forces them out of games earlier than possible, but isn’t going to be significant. To others, like JOSH BECKETT, it’s very serious. Beckett is currently having to learn to pitch with all new grips on two pitches. (I’m honestly not sure if Beckett has a third pitch.) When the phenom does return, it should be very interesting to see if the grip holds him back any. If the Marlins can afford it, Beckett still has options and a short sting in Double or Triple A might not be a bad idea to give him time to learn to pitch.
A couple starters will return this Tuesday. The most significant is BARTOLO COLON, whom will make his first start for the Expos. Colon reports no problem with his painful side. It is, evidently, no longer painful. BRAD PENNY returns for the Marlins and will be on a strict pitch count, while KENNY ROGERS will head out for the Rangers.
Tomorrow is UTK @ Fox day so be sure to check it out. Next “normal” report will be Tuesday, but I’m giving you a heads up on some administrative messages relating to the changeover and I’m hoping to have a feature done late tomorrow or early Tuesday.