TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Saturday, August 02, 2003

I'm going to lead with reporting that Shannon Stewart got picked off with the "pitcher fakes to third with runners on the corners then checks first" routine. Ouch.

The Twins just had their 16-game winning streak against the Tigers snapped. Johan Santana goes tomorrow. I think Detroit is the kind of team that he will just overpower, but we'll see about that -- my predictions about the Twins haven't gone so well this year.

At any rate, I've seen Santana go twice, once against Brandon Webb and once against Barry Zito, and he looked like the second coming of Steve Carlton: 14.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 14 K. He beat Webb 3-1 while filling in for Rick Reed before the All-Star break, and left with a 1-0 lead against Zito in his first start at the Metrodome since replacing Joe Mays in the rotation with one out in the 8th, but LaTroy Hawkins gave up a game-tying hit before the Twins touched Zito for two runs in the bottom of the 8th. Santana got a well-earned standing O for his effort against the A's. The first three hits he gave up were infield hits, and Zito had only given up one hit at that point -- a soft liner over a drawn-in infield that would have been caught if Chavez would have been playing at normal depth. That's how close it was to being a double no-no through seven innings in that game. The blossom has fallen a bit from Santana's rose but I don't think the Tigers will give him too much trouble (if I may step out on a limb with that prediction).

I look forward to checking in from time to time, probably mostly about the Twins, or whatever catches my eye in the stats section at SI.com.

Tom

posted by Tom Renbarger 7:59 PM

Going Extinct
A few weeks back I saw Mark Grace and the Arizona Diamondbacks. That took me back to the 1989 NLCS, where I witnessed the three games in San Francisco. It made me feel a little old, because at first guess the only person on those rosters still active was the now-bench player Grace.

Turns out I was missing a big one. Sure, Matt Williams retired this season, and Shawon Dunston hung them up after last year's World Series, but how can you forget GREG MADDUX? I guess it's part of taking Maddux for granted. As it turns out, Joe Girardi is on St. Louis' roster, although he hasn't seen much playing time this year (he's on the DL right now).

Of course, both Lloyd McClendon and Bob Brenly (who wasn't on the postseason roster, IIRC) are now managers, so I feel old again.

posted by David 8:37 AM

Thursday, July 31, 2003

I happened to notice that Barry Bonds was walked twice by the Cubs today. That's not too surprising, the hotter the Giants get the more Barry will get walked, and they are about as hot as you can get right now. The interesting note is that puts him at 2020 walks for his career. Mr. Ted Williams is sitting at 2021. In my book, any time you pass up Ted in a hitting category, that's a big event. But I doubt we'll hear much about it when it happens. No, not because the media is biased against Barry, but because the walk is undervalued by most people who report baseball.

Babe Ruth is at 2062, so while Barry might pass Mays in dingers this year, he is sure to pass Ruth for the #2 slot in walks. Of course, the all-time walk king is still active. Rickey currently sits at 2181... and sadly has an OBP of just .237 (small sample size).

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Well, last night I pointed out to Tom Renbarger that Barry was about to eclipse Ted. He responded that it was possible that he could do it in the same game where Sammy passed Ted on the homers chart. And lo and behold...

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Here's a copy of the AP report of the game in Chicago. Note that only the editor (who writes the headlines) knew what Sammy's homer meant historically, and Bonds' achievement went unnoticed.

posted by David 8:32 AM

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

He Actually Smiled
I just wanted to share a photo of Barry Bonds I took last week.



Click to Enlarge

Yeah, the focal plane is on the photographer in the background, not Barry himself. So technically it's a poor shot, but it was nice to catch Barry in a good mood. This was taken a few days before Barry's father went under the knife. I have the feeling that the next few months are going to be hard on the Bonds family. It's good to know that Barry is like the rest of us, he can leave his troubles behind him and lose himself at a ballgame.

posted by David 1:58 PM