cubfan33
08-22-2002, 11:11 PM
College football and pro football were both on TV tonight, with the Rams-Chargers game in prime time. A meaningless, worthless game you could barely pay most football fans to watch was on prime time network TV and I can't even get some of the games in the best pennant race in years because I don't have a dish. Things like this should be a clue to the Lords of Doom that baseball, while still the most wonderful sport ever, is losing its place in society. Football is better on TV, better for the corporate market that is so important, and they use the college system to develop players for them. Nice deal ... better marketing.
I called Shyam Das' office four times today and recieved no reply. Maybe that's what's happening with the baseball decision. If he doesn't return my call or at least tell me "no comment" I think I'll publish his phone number here tomorrow. It's not tough to find, if you're so inclined.
Outside of the excellent "MLB Gameday" netcasts and the audio feeds, there's seldom a thing on MLB.com worth the time to type out MLB.com. Indicative of this is an attempt at sabermetrics which is just ... well, read it yourself here and try not to giggle. For most of us, it's terrible, but for MLB, it may be a quantum leap forward.
Speaking of research, thanks to everyone who's responded to my "help wanted" request. I'll be emailing each of you in the coming week with more details and then the rest of you will see some of the fruits of this new project soon. I'm very excited about some of the things UTK will be doing in the offseason. We'll go with a more irregular mailing schedule, but hopefully we can make each edition packed with things to help you next season.
Finally, the mystery of A.J. Burnett's elbow is solved. The Marlins weren't able to wiggle any further and gave out the info everyone had been looking for. It turns out i wasn't terribly far off last night with one of my guesses. Quoting myself from last night, "Some things I heard make it sound like this could be a serious problem, like chondral lesions - don't ask me to explain this, please - or that it could be something as simple as his bad biomechanics created a friction somewhere in the elbow, much like having bone chips without the chips." In the end, it was the latter. For those that want to look at this positively or that are worried about Burnett's workload, this will give him some time off. For those that want to be pessimistic, the bones "subtly banging together" could be indicative of some looseness in that elbow.
The Yankees problems continue. Mariano Rivera heard those three words all pitchers dread: see Dr. Andrews. No new information is available yet, but it's looking bleak for the Yankees designated ninth inning finish the game pitcher. Jeff Weaver continues to pitch like he's a secret agent sent in to sabotage those dastardly big market Yankees. Bernie Williams is having some hamstring soreness and Joe Torre was forced to use Raul Mondesi in center field. The rest of baseball owners continue to pretend they never saw the musical "Damn Yankees!" and ignore the fact that every time they use the Yankees as an object of vilification, they should try and explain how the Braves have been so good for longer than the Yankees have.
The Braves have some dings as well as they coast down the stretch. Andruw Jones hurt his shoulder and wrist making one of his patented diving catches, which could keep him out a couple games, depending on swelling and pain. Jason Marquis left the game early after being struck by a Phil Nevin comebacker on his calf. Marquis could miss his next start, his last before DDD. If there's any team that could be helped by a short strike, it's the Braves.
Josh Beckett has yet another blister. Early reports have this one in nearly the same spot as the one that kept him out for over a month. Scratchy ball or not, Beckett is going to have to make some adjustment to his grip or delivery or it won't matter how talented he is. Ismael Valdes had (has?) a lot of talent. Erubiel Durazo has a lot of talent. Not being healthy to showcase the talent is almost worse than not having it at all.
The AL West races will do without two big names for a couple days - Tim Salmon has been placed on the DL retro to August 14 with his bone bruise in his hand, meaning he likely will not be back before DDD. In Seattle, John Olerud has a mildly strained groin and will miss a couple games with Jose Offerman filling in for him. Stop snickering, Red Sox fans.
The Cardinals will be racking up some Memphis to St. Louis frequent flyer miles as both Woody Williams and Garrett Stephenson will make rehab starts there. Stephenson was scheduled to start tonight and once more for the Redbirds before alledgedly returning to the Cards rotation, while Williams will start on Saturday. Williams threw a simulated game yesterday in St. Louis and the UTK observer said his velocity was still not there, but he was pitching with his normal easy motion.
Johnny Damon dislocated a finger, which adds to his problematic knee. Have a backup ready if you own Damon, because either Damon or the Sox is going to have to pull the plug on this soon. Damon is literally hurting himself and his team by trying to play hurt. The Red Sox have enough players - Trot Nixon, Rickey Henderson, Cliff Floyd, Manny Ramirez - to cover the outfield while Damon heals and tries to return to his form from earlier in the season.
I don't normally do minor league injuries but I will when the player is exceptional. Jason Stokes is a possible Minor League Player of the Year candidate from A ball and has as much power potential as anyone in the minors. Making his stats even more amazing is that he's played with pain the entire season which has made it tough for him to even take BP. Stokes has a cyst in his wrist which will be removed. I know someone in the majors had this problem earlier this season, but I can't find it in my notes. The only knock I can find on Stokes is that even this early in his career, he seems a bit injury prone. The Marlins also have some excellent 1B prospects ahead of him, but you can't hit like this kid and get blocked ... or can you, Lyle Overbay?
Reader George Ronczy had a great point in an email today that I'd literally never even considered. "I saw something on Prior and pitch counts in the Tribune a week or two back. The gist from Kimm Lachemann and Prior is that he has leeway to go more pitches in a game because he uses fewer pitches in warmups. The article said most pitchers throw about 50 in pre-game, and eight between innings. Prior seldom goes above 25 in pre-game, and usually does 5-6 between innings. The difference is fairly large. If we assume 100 pitches over seven innings, the average pitcher would throw 100 + 50 + 6*8 = 198 pitches. Prior would throw 100 + 25 + 6*6 = 161, or 37 fewer, or about 23%. Now I haven't watched him pitch to know whether this is actually the case, but it is worth checking on. It is also interesting that in this average pitcher scenario, only half of his pitches actually count, the rest being exhibition pitches (for lack of a better term)." This is an amazing point and if we're going to use pitch count as a measure of overuse - something most of you know I'm not ready to do - then we should also consider the pitches in warm-ups and on off-day pitching sessions. I did do some checking and my Cubs source said it was true, that Prior does not take as many warm-up pitches, instead using several other techniques to get his arm ready and "warm" before picking up the ball to get the feel for the ball, mound, and release point. If anyone has seen warm-up pitches considered in any study, I'd love to hear about it.
Next report tomorrow. As always, I'll see you on Netshrine.com for some lively chatter.
This report powered by two cups of Nandipura Estate coffee from Freshcoffeenow.com, three Foster's Lagers while on the air with Greg Rakestraw today, and one serving of rotini with my secret balsamella sauce.
I called Shyam Das' office four times today and recieved no reply. Maybe that's what's happening with the baseball decision. If he doesn't return my call or at least tell me "no comment" I think I'll publish his phone number here tomorrow. It's not tough to find, if you're so inclined.
Outside of the excellent "MLB Gameday" netcasts and the audio feeds, there's seldom a thing on MLB.com worth the time to type out MLB.com. Indicative of this is an attempt at sabermetrics which is just ... well, read it yourself here and try not to giggle. For most of us, it's terrible, but for MLB, it may be a quantum leap forward.
Speaking of research, thanks to everyone who's responded to my "help wanted" request. I'll be emailing each of you in the coming week with more details and then the rest of you will see some of the fruits of this new project soon. I'm very excited about some of the things UTK will be doing in the offseason. We'll go with a more irregular mailing schedule, but hopefully we can make each edition packed with things to help you next season.
Finally, the mystery of A.J. Burnett's elbow is solved. The Marlins weren't able to wiggle any further and gave out the info everyone had been looking for. It turns out i wasn't terribly far off last night with one of my guesses. Quoting myself from last night, "Some things I heard make it sound like this could be a serious problem, like chondral lesions - don't ask me to explain this, please - or that it could be something as simple as his bad biomechanics created a friction somewhere in the elbow, much like having bone chips without the chips." In the end, it was the latter. For those that want to look at this positively or that are worried about Burnett's workload, this will give him some time off. For those that want to be pessimistic, the bones "subtly banging together" could be indicative of some looseness in that elbow.
The Yankees problems continue. Mariano Rivera heard those three words all pitchers dread: see Dr. Andrews. No new information is available yet, but it's looking bleak for the Yankees designated ninth inning finish the game pitcher. Jeff Weaver continues to pitch like he's a secret agent sent in to sabotage those dastardly big market Yankees. Bernie Williams is having some hamstring soreness and Joe Torre was forced to use Raul Mondesi in center field. The rest of baseball owners continue to pretend they never saw the musical "Damn Yankees!" and ignore the fact that every time they use the Yankees as an object of vilification, they should try and explain how the Braves have been so good for longer than the Yankees have.
The Braves have some dings as well as they coast down the stretch. Andruw Jones hurt his shoulder and wrist making one of his patented diving catches, which could keep him out a couple games, depending on swelling and pain. Jason Marquis left the game early after being struck by a Phil Nevin comebacker on his calf. Marquis could miss his next start, his last before DDD. If there's any team that could be helped by a short strike, it's the Braves.
Josh Beckett has yet another blister. Early reports have this one in nearly the same spot as the one that kept him out for over a month. Scratchy ball or not, Beckett is going to have to make some adjustment to his grip or delivery or it won't matter how talented he is. Ismael Valdes had (has?) a lot of talent. Erubiel Durazo has a lot of talent. Not being healthy to showcase the talent is almost worse than not having it at all.
The AL West races will do without two big names for a couple days - Tim Salmon has been placed on the DL retro to August 14 with his bone bruise in his hand, meaning he likely will not be back before DDD. In Seattle, John Olerud has a mildly strained groin and will miss a couple games with Jose Offerman filling in for him. Stop snickering, Red Sox fans.
The Cardinals will be racking up some Memphis to St. Louis frequent flyer miles as both Woody Williams and Garrett Stephenson will make rehab starts there. Stephenson was scheduled to start tonight and once more for the Redbirds before alledgedly returning to the Cards rotation, while Williams will start on Saturday. Williams threw a simulated game yesterday in St. Louis and the UTK observer said his velocity was still not there, but he was pitching with his normal easy motion.
Johnny Damon dislocated a finger, which adds to his problematic knee. Have a backup ready if you own Damon, because either Damon or the Sox is going to have to pull the plug on this soon. Damon is literally hurting himself and his team by trying to play hurt. The Red Sox have enough players - Trot Nixon, Rickey Henderson, Cliff Floyd, Manny Ramirez - to cover the outfield while Damon heals and tries to return to his form from earlier in the season.
I don't normally do minor league injuries but I will when the player is exceptional. Jason Stokes is a possible Minor League Player of the Year candidate from A ball and has as much power potential as anyone in the minors. Making his stats even more amazing is that he's played with pain the entire season which has made it tough for him to even take BP. Stokes has a cyst in his wrist which will be removed. I know someone in the majors had this problem earlier this season, but I can't find it in my notes. The only knock I can find on Stokes is that even this early in his career, he seems a bit injury prone. The Marlins also have some excellent 1B prospects ahead of him, but you can't hit like this kid and get blocked ... or can you, Lyle Overbay?
Reader George Ronczy had a great point in an email today that I'd literally never even considered. "I saw something on Prior and pitch counts in the Tribune a week or two back. The gist from Kimm Lachemann and Prior is that he has leeway to go more pitches in a game because he uses fewer pitches in warmups. The article said most pitchers throw about 50 in pre-game, and eight between innings. Prior seldom goes above 25 in pre-game, and usually does 5-6 between innings. The difference is fairly large. If we assume 100 pitches over seven innings, the average pitcher would throw 100 + 50 + 6*8 = 198 pitches. Prior would throw 100 + 25 + 6*6 = 161, or 37 fewer, or about 23%. Now I haven't watched him pitch to know whether this is actually the case, but it is worth checking on. It is also interesting that in this average pitcher scenario, only half of his pitches actually count, the rest being exhibition pitches (for lack of a better term)." This is an amazing point and if we're going to use pitch count as a measure of overuse - something most of you know I'm not ready to do - then we should also consider the pitches in warm-ups and on off-day pitching sessions. I did do some checking and my Cubs source said it was true, that Prior does not take as many warm-up pitches, instead using several other techniques to get his arm ready and "warm" before picking up the ball to get the feel for the ball, mound, and release point. If anyone has seen warm-up pitches considered in any study, I'd love to hear about it.
Next report tomorrow. As always, I'll see you on Netshrine.com for some lively chatter.
This report powered by two cups of Nandipura Estate coffee from Freshcoffeenow.com, three Foster's Lagers while on the air with Greg Rakestraw today, and one serving of rotini with my secret balsamella sauce.