cubfan33
09-27-2002, 10:10 AM
I know most UTK subscribers read this in the morning, so for many of you, this isn't late. I don't often miss a 'deadline' but last night - well, I just can't begin to tell you about what I did. Yesterday afternoon, Matt Holmes of ESPN 950 calls me up with a Florida St - Louisville ticket. We drive down and somehow, we had a great time. I say somehow because the entire game was played in the rain. Not just rain - it was more a biblical torrent. I've never seen rain so hard for so long with no let up. Every time I would say "I can't possibly be any wetter," I would be reminded somehow that I could. I've never seen fans so on edge, so angry, and well, downright rude in any sport and I think the U of L really needs to consider much better security arrangements. The team on the field for Louisville played the game they needed to for the win and congrats to them. My clothes are still wet and I'm unsure if they'll ever dry out. I'm reading that during the game alone, there was five inches of rain. You know, there's a REASON baseball doesn't play in the rain ... it's called intelligence.
Enough football talk ... let's do injuries. This edition of UTK is powered by the best new coffee I've had in a while from our friends at Freshcoffeenow.
The Diamondbacks managed to break their slide with another great Randy Johnson outing, but they may be showing how they'll have to win - some timely hitting and a complete game from the Unit. During the game, the D-Backs also lost some of their precious remaining depth when Quentin McCracken had to leave the game after fouling the ball off his foot not once, but twice. McCracken should be available for the playoffs. Before the game, Danny Bautista took some BP for the first time since having surgery on his separated shoulder (the same type of surgery that Luis Gonzalez will have on Monday). Bautista reportedly looked good and is at about ninety percent and might be activated for the playoffs. Clearly, Bautista is not Gonzalez, but any depth has to be considered a plus.
No more bells this year in San Diego as Trevor Hoffman has been shut down for the season. Hoffman's consistency has been unchallenged for years, but all that use appears to be starting to catch up with him. Hoffman has been dealing with some tendinitis all season and the team has decided that there's no value in having him continue. There's some concern that Hoffman will have to deal with this again next year, but my sources are telling me that rest should take care of the situation.
While he may take a look at finding a better offer, Frank Thomas will likely be back with the White Sox next year. Will he be better than he is this year? It's unclear, but no player has fully come back from the type of biceps injury that Thomas suffered. Peter Gammons is reporting that the "diminished skills" clause will not be invoked, which only makes sense if it would open up more salary room for the White Sox. If Reinsdorf isn't ready to spend more money on his Sox, why just defer the money to Thomas?
The Reds have a couple injuries that they've been dealing with a while - Barry Larkin is available this weekend, but he is having surgery on his bothersome toe on Monday to kick off the surgery season. Scott Sullivan has been wrong all year and now back spasms have for all intents ended his season. Sidearmer or not, all those innings have taken their toll on Sullivan and he's had no zip. I'm not high on him for next season either.
Larry Walker will be playing in glasses this weekend in preperation for LASIK eye surgery. What? Walker is going to have better vision? If his eye gets better, will he get better as well? There's a lot of players that have had this surgery and many have made some gains the following season, so this is something to keep in mind for next year. It's not as if he's been a slouch up until now.
Eric Hinske may get Rookie of the Year and deserve it, but Josh Phelps is the most exciting young player on the Blue Jays and perhaps in the AL. The only problem in Phelps' game is a pair of bad knees and home games on turf. I'm willing to bet that the Jays couldn't go the route of Reliant Stadium's "grass on a platter" plan, but as there are fewer and fewer turf stadiums, it will be interesting to see if there's the expected reduction in knee injuries.
Back later tonight with all the day's injuries. For those of you interested, UTKHoops will debut on Monday on FoxSports.com and will fast become basketball's best source for injury info. There will be no daily UTKHoops email, so don't worry - baseball remains our main focus and always will.
You may not have the same insider contacts, but there's no excuse for not having the same data that Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, Will Carroll and Bill James have. The Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia is easy, powerful, and perhaps the best value in all of baseball. You can buy one for you and one for a friend without worrying about crossing the luxury tax threshhold. Maybe some "small market" teams will use their revenue sharing money to buy the SBE and figure out what it is they've been doing wrong all these years.
Enough football talk ... let's do injuries. This edition of UTK is powered by the best new coffee I've had in a while from our friends at Freshcoffeenow.
The Diamondbacks managed to break their slide with another great Randy Johnson outing, but they may be showing how they'll have to win - some timely hitting and a complete game from the Unit. During the game, the D-Backs also lost some of their precious remaining depth when Quentin McCracken had to leave the game after fouling the ball off his foot not once, but twice. McCracken should be available for the playoffs. Before the game, Danny Bautista took some BP for the first time since having surgery on his separated shoulder (the same type of surgery that Luis Gonzalez will have on Monday). Bautista reportedly looked good and is at about ninety percent and might be activated for the playoffs. Clearly, Bautista is not Gonzalez, but any depth has to be considered a plus.
No more bells this year in San Diego as Trevor Hoffman has been shut down for the season. Hoffman's consistency has been unchallenged for years, but all that use appears to be starting to catch up with him. Hoffman has been dealing with some tendinitis all season and the team has decided that there's no value in having him continue. There's some concern that Hoffman will have to deal with this again next year, but my sources are telling me that rest should take care of the situation.
While he may take a look at finding a better offer, Frank Thomas will likely be back with the White Sox next year. Will he be better than he is this year? It's unclear, but no player has fully come back from the type of biceps injury that Thomas suffered. Peter Gammons is reporting that the "diminished skills" clause will not be invoked, which only makes sense if it would open up more salary room for the White Sox. If Reinsdorf isn't ready to spend more money on his Sox, why just defer the money to Thomas?
The Reds have a couple injuries that they've been dealing with a while - Barry Larkin is available this weekend, but he is having surgery on his bothersome toe on Monday to kick off the surgery season. Scott Sullivan has been wrong all year and now back spasms have for all intents ended his season. Sidearmer or not, all those innings have taken their toll on Sullivan and he's had no zip. I'm not high on him for next season either.
Larry Walker will be playing in glasses this weekend in preperation for LASIK eye surgery. What? Walker is going to have better vision? If his eye gets better, will he get better as well? There's a lot of players that have had this surgery and many have made some gains the following season, so this is something to keep in mind for next year. It's not as if he's been a slouch up until now.
Eric Hinske may get Rookie of the Year and deserve it, but Josh Phelps is the most exciting young player on the Blue Jays and perhaps in the AL. The only problem in Phelps' game is a pair of bad knees and home games on turf. I'm willing to bet that the Jays couldn't go the route of Reliant Stadium's "grass on a platter" plan, but as there are fewer and fewer turf stadiums, it will be interesting to see if there's the expected reduction in knee injuries.
Back later tonight with all the day's injuries. For those of you interested, UTKHoops will debut on Monday on FoxSports.com and will fast become basketball's best source for injury info. There will be no daily UTKHoops email, so don't worry - baseball remains our main focus and always will.
You may not have the same insider contacts, but there's no excuse for not having the same data that Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, Will Carroll and Bill James have. The Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia is easy, powerful, and perhaps the best value in all of baseball. You can buy one for you and one for a friend without worrying about crossing the luxury tax threshhold. Maybe some "small market" teams will use their revenue sharing money to buy the SBE and figure out what it is they've been doing wrong all these years.