ATM report--Who's pitching? No, Who's on first; A bum

[nyy26wc]

1) Yesterday's games--

AL
Indians 9, Devil Rays 5
Yankees 10, Royals 5
Twins 6, Orioles 0
Whitesox 12, Rangers 3
A's 5, BlueJays 4
Mariners 10, Redsox 3
Angels 7, Tigers 6 (12)

NL
Astros 5, Cubs 4
Rockies 5, Marlins 4
Expos 4, Dodgers 3
Phillies 3, Brewers 1
Cardinals 9, Pirates 5
Padres 7, Mets 2
Diamondbacks 6, Reds 1
Giants 7, Braves 2

2) Standings--

AL EAST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Yankees          73   44  .621   -     36-20  37-24  31-22 20-04 11-11 WON  2
Redsox           68   49  .586   5     31-27  37-22  37-16 13-10 13-10 LOST 1
Orioles          56   60  .487  16 1/2 27-26  29-34  19-28 15-12 13-11 LOST 2
BlueJays         52   66  .444  21 1/2 29-33  23-33  24-27 07-10 12-20 LOST 1
Devil Rays       39   79  .333  34 1/2 23-37  16-42  17-35 10-14 05-19 LOST 2

AL CENTRAL      WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Twins            71   49  .592   -     41-20  30-29  13-14 33-17 15-10 WON  1
Whitesox         58   62  .483  13     34-25  24-37  08-09 27-26 15-17 WON  2
Indians          52   65  .444  17 1/2 29-29  23-36  15-09 22-31 09-13 WON  1
Royals           48   71  .403  22 1/2 32-27  16-44  06-18 25-27 12-13 LOST 1
Tigers           45   74  .378  25 1/2 28-30  17-44  08-15 24-30 07-17 LOST 2

AL WEST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Mariners         73   46  .613   -     37-24  36-22  23-17 14-09 25-13 WON  1
Angels           71   48  .597   2     38-23  33-25  14-08 27-14 19-19 WON  4
A's              69   51  .575   4 1/2 37-25  32-26  22-22 12-08 19-19 WON  1
Rangers          50   68  .424  22 1/2 28-32  22-36  12-07 17-27 13-25 LOST 1

NL EAST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Braves           77   41  .653   -     40-20  37-21  31-19 21-09 10-10 LOST 1
Expos            59   59  .500  18     36-22  23-37  23-27 17-13 07-13 WON  1
Mets             58   60  .492  19     30-29  28-31  23-26 17-13 08-13 LOST 3
Phillies         56   62  .475  21     30-29  26-33  23-26 09-10 14-18 WON  2
Marlins          56   63  .471  21 1/2 34-27  22-36  24-26 14-16 08-13 LOST 5

NL CENTRAL      WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Cardinals        64   52  .552   -     36-22  28-30  09-15 32-24 15-09 WON  4
Astros           62   56  .525   3     34-25  28-31  16-14 36-29 05-07 WON  2
Reds             61   56  .521   3 1/2 30-28  31-28  12-12 33-23 14-11 LOST 1
Pirates          52   67  .437  13 1/2 26-34  26-33  08-04 31-34 10-20 LOST 4
Cubs             50   67  .427  14 1/2 26-33  24-34  10-14 23-34 11-13 LOST 2
Brewers          42   76  .356  23     25-34  17-42  06-19 23-34 11-13 LOST 1

NL WEST         WON  LOST  PCT  GB      HOME   ROAD   EAST  CENT  WEST STREAK
Diamondbacks     74   45  .622   -     39-20  35-25  21-11 12-07 30-20 WON  4
Giants           66   52  .559   7 1/2 34-25  32-27  12-08 17-13 29-21 WON  3
Dodgers          66   53  .555   8     33-26  33-27  11-10 17-13 26-24 LOST 2
Rockies          56   63  .471  18     36-22  20-41  13-08 16-14 20-30 WON  2
Padres           49   69  .415  24 1/2 31-29  18-40  10-10 11-19 20-30 WON  1

3) Today's schedule--

AL
BlueJays (Pete Walker) at A's (Tim Hudson), 3:35
Indians (Danys Baez) at Devil Rays (Paul Wilson), 7:15
Yankees (Andy Pettitte) at Royals (Paul Byrd), 8:05
Orioles (Travis Driskill) at Twins (Brad Radke), 8:05
Whitesox (Jim Parque) at Rangers (who has a clue?), 8:05
Tigers (Mike Maroth) at Angels (Ramon Ortiz), 10:05
Redsox (Derek Lowe) at Mariners (Jamie Moyer), 10:05

NL
Astros (Wade Miller) at Cubs (Carlos Zambrano), 2:20
Giants (Livan Hernandez) at Braves (Tom Glavine), 7:05
Rockies (Denny Neagle) at Marlins (Brad Penny), 7:05
Dodgers (Kazuhisa Ishii) at Expos (Bartolo Colon), 7:05
Brewers (Jamey Wright) at Phillies (Brett Myers), 7:05
Cardinals (Andy Benes) at Pirates (Kip Wells), 7:05
Diamondbacks (Brian Anderson) at Reds (Jared Fernandez), 7:10
Padres (Brian Lawrence) at Mets (Al Leiter), 7:10

4) Yesterday's HRs--

Jim Thome--#35
Rafael Palmeiro--#31
Jeff Kent--#25 & #26
Paul Konerko--#25
Robin Ventura--#24
Aaron Boone--#23
Manny Ramirez--#19
Jose Valentin--#16 & #17
Steve Finley--#17
Bernie Williams--#16
Jermaine Dye--#14
David Ortiz--#14
Erubiel Durazo--#14
Carl Everett--#13
Benito Santiago--#13
Mike Lieberthal--#13
Alex Gonzalez (Cubs)--#13
Doug Mientkiewicz--#7 & #8
Hiram Bocachica--#7 (#3 in AL)
Julio Franco--#5
John Vander Wal--#4
Vance Wilson--#4
Troy O'Leary--#3
Bengie Molina--#2
Karim Garcia--#2

5) HR leaders--

AL
1) Alex Rodriguez--38
2) Jim Thome--35*
3) Rafael Palmeiro--31*
4) Alfonso Soriano--29
5) Jason Giambi--28
T6) Magglio Ordonez--27
T6) Miguel Tejada--27
T8) Ellis Burks--25
T8) Eric Chavez--25
T8) Paul Konerko--25*

NL
1) Sammy Sosa--40
2) Shawn Green--34
3) Barry Bonds--33
4) Vladimir Guerrero--32
5) Lance Berkman--31
6) Brian Giles--30
7) Pat Burrell--29
T8) Fred McGriff--26
T8) Albert Pujols--26
T8) Jeff Kent--26**

**--hit 2 yesterday
*--hit 1 yesterday

6) Jim Thome passed Ron Cey and tied George Brett for 84th place on the all time HR list, with 317.

7) Jeff Zimmerman is listed as the Rangers's probable starter for today. There are just 2 little problems with that--he's a reliever and he's out for the season.

Correction from yesterday--Sammy Sosa did not tie the NL record for 40 HR seasons. I get a stupidity award for missing Hank Aaron when eye balling the all time 40 HR leader list. I get a second stupidity award for telling the truth, rather than going with the convenient excuse of it was a parody of AP and Sportsline's mishandling of both the HR and BB lists last week.

[nyy26wc]

1) Mets C Mike Piazza was scratched from yesterday's lineup, due to a sore left wrist, but was able to pinch hit.

Another mention of Piazza, another time to emphasize what a great career he's had. Nah, I'm not going to do it. This time, I'm going to present a list that shows him in a negative light.

The all time leaders, for catchers, in OBA vs. the league average--

                              DIFF  PLAYER LEAGUE
1    Mickey Cochrane          .060    .419   .359 
2    Mike Piazza              .048    .390   .342 
3    Wally Schang             .044    .396   .353 
4    Darrell Porter           .025    .353   .328 
5    Bill Dickey              .025    .382   .357 
6    Ted Simmons              .025    .355   .330 
7    Gabby Hartnett           .023    .370   .346 
8    Rick Ferrell             .023    .378   .355 
9    Butch Wynegar            .020    .348   .328 
10   Thurman Munson           .020    .346   .326 

Piazza's not #2 on the list? Then, release the bum immediately. Replacing him with a bunch of farting fat guys will produce a better smell than him.

And it should come as little surprise to everyone familiar with my constant bashing of Ivan Rodriguez that Mr. Super Overrated has a negative figure in this area.

2) Diamondbacks LF Luis Gonzalez had to leave yesterday's game, due to a strained rib cage, and is day to day.

3) Willis Hudlin died on August 5, at the age of 96.

Hudlin pitched for the Indians, from 1926-40, and then spent limited time with 3 other teams, in 1940 and 1944. He had a 4.41 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.41, and 16 RSAA in 491 games. While Hudlin gave up Babe Ruth's 500th career HR, his 36 HR better than the league average ranked him 7th best among his contemporaries.

4) The Astros signed OF Orlando Merced to a 1 year, $1.7 million contract extension.

After -1 RCAA/.817 OPS and -1 RCAA/.786 OPS in 1999 and 2001 (he spent 2000 in Japan), Merced is off to a .494 SLG, .376 OBA, .870 OPS, 8 RCAA in his 89 games. It's the first time he's had a positive RCAA since 1997 and the 35 year old's on pace for career highs in SLG and OPS, with a 2nd best OBA.

5) The Cubs placed P Juan Cruz on the 15 day DL, retroactive to Saturday, and called up P Frank Beltran.

Cruz has a tired arm, with the team doctor saying there's nothing wrong structurally. After a 3.22 ERA/5 RSAA in 8 starts as a 22 year old rookie in 2001, he's off to a 4.18 ERA/-1 RSAA start in his first 32 games (9 starts).

Beltran appeared in his first 2 major league games in a recent callup.

6) The Giants activated OF Tsuyoshi Shinjo from the DL and placed OF Shawon Dunston on the 15 day DL.

Dunston has a right hip pointer and sprained right thumb. A sign of a bad career is when a 38 year old achieves a career high with 2 RCAA, and that's only the 2nd positive figure of his career. That's what Dunston did in 2001. He's off to a .272 SLG, .241 OBA, .513 OPS, -10 RCAA start in his first 63 games and is working on his 3rd season with a double digit RCAA in the past 4 years and the 8th overall in his career.

Worst OBA vs. the league average over the last 50 years (MIN: 5000 PA)--

                              DIFF  PLAYER LEAGUE
1    Aurelio Rodriguez        -.051   .275   .326 
2    Ozzie Guillen            -.047   .287   .335 
3    Tim Foli                 -.047   .283   .331 
4    Ed Brinkman              -.043   .280   .323 
5    Alfredo Griffin          -.043   .285   .328 
6    Ken Reitz                -.043   .290   .332 
7    Tony Armas               -.041   .287   .328 
8    Shawon Dunston           -.038   .296   .334 
9    Frank White              -.035   .293   .328 
10   Sandy Alomar Sr.         -.035   .290   .325 

After a -8 RCAA/.725 OPS in 123 games as a 29 year old American rookie with the Mets last year, Shinjo's off to a .367 SLG, .296 OBA, .663 OPS, -7 RCAA start in his first 93 games.

7) Indians CF Milton Bradley was scratched from yesterday's lineup, due to a stomach flu.

After starting his career with -11 RCAA/.613 OPS and -21 RCAA/.620 OPS, the former touted prospect is off to a .422 SLG, .314 OBA, .736 OPS, -8 RCAA start in his first 80 games.

8) Indians MGR Joel Skinner says Jason Phillips will replace Charles Nagy in the rotation and, while Dave Burba will be used out of the bullpen, he may also make some spot starts.

9) The Royals called up 1B-3B Kit Pellow.

Pellow, 28, came into the year with a .843 OPS (.335 OBA, .508 SLG) in 6 minor league seasons, including a .799 OPS (.353 OBA, .446 SLG) in AAA in 2001 and is off to a .912 OPS (.350 OBA,. 452 SLG) start in AAA this year.

10) The Tigers placed P Julio Santana on the 15 day DL, retroactive to August 11, and called up P Fernando Rodney.

Santana has a partially tore ligament in his elbow, but doesn't need surgery.

Rodney, a 25 year old rookie, is off to a 7.56 ERA/-3 RSAA start in his first 9 major league games.

11) A's 2B Ray Durham left the team after his uncle, who he was very close to, died and the team doesn't know when he's going to return.

12) The Mets sent OF Mark Little to the minors, after he cleared waivers. He had already been removed from the roster when he was designated for assignment shortly after being acquired in a trade with the Rockies.

13) The Mariners are moving James Baldwin to the bullpen and will replace him in the rotation with Ryan Franklin.

After 4.65 ERA/11 RSAA and 4.42 ERA/-2 RSAA the past 2 years, Baldwin's off to a 5.05 ERA/-14 RSAA start in his first 23 starts. He has a 4.99 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.71, and -55 RSAA in 219 games.

After a 3.56 ERA/5 RSAA as a 28 year old rookie in 2001 (he also pitched in 6 games in 1999), Franklin's off to a 4.21 ERA/-1 RSAA start in his first 32 games (4 starts).

14) The Padres will place Bobby Jones RHP on the 15 day DL today and call up P Mike Bynum.

Jones has a sore back. After 5.06 ERA/-12 RSAA and 5.12 ERA/-25 RSAA seasons the past 2 years, Jones is trying to top last year's incompetence, with a 5.28 ERA/-18 RSAA in his first 18 games (17 starts). He has a 4.34 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.28, and -43 RSAA in 244 games.

Bynum, 24, came into the year with a 3.42 ERA in 3 minor league seasons, including a 5.02 ERA in AA in 2001. After having a 0.82 ERA in 5 starts in AA this year, he was promoted to AAA a month ago, where he's off to a 3.69 ERA start.

15) Angels CF Darin Erstad was scratched from yesterday's lineup due to a "fatigued right shoulder" and was able to be used a pinch hitter.

16) According to UnderTheKnife, "Word is coming from sources that [Cliff] Floyd injured his achilles tendon on the Big "O" turf and was considering shutting it down if he hadn't been dealt. With the deal to Boston, he's been able to play with the soreness, but it may have contributed to the injury to his hip. Floyd will continue to try and work through the pain while Boston fights with Oakland and Anaheim for the wild card slot."

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