Don’t put away your Matt Kemp jersey away just yet – Part Two
Yesterday we set the stage as we try to catch up on Matt Kemp week.
Now that I was firmly invested in the game, and by myself, I looked around for candidates for high five moments. Luckily for me, a family of ten had taken residence in front of me, all wearing jerseys of their favorite Dodger outfielder. We had an Andre, a Puig, and a Kemp. Was it simply luck that the prettiest member of the family was wearing a Kemp jersey?
The first inning was very uneventful compared to what would follow in the 2nd inning. In between the top of the 2nd and the bottom of the second Alanna Rizzo broke some Dodgers news, and for the second time that day, tears dropped. I had been warned by Craig Minami that this was around the time that Vinny had announced he was coming back last year, but I was not ready for the announcement. It may have been a hokum way for the Dodgers to do it, but man did it play well at the stadium.
Anyone who is a Dodger fan has already seen the video but just in case you want to see it again, here is Eric Stephen from www.truebluela.com with the Vin Scully is returning announcement.
What gets me every time with Vinny, is his complete humbleness about the adoration. Young and old, every economic strata, every language, all Dodger fans love him. It has been that way since my grandmother in 1958 first heard him, and it is that way now when the little Dodger chika first hears him. We all understands he makes mistakes now, and if you care, shame on you. Roll with it, just as you would roll with your grandfather, and be glad your grandfather was so awesome. He can still describe a double play that would leave Charlie Steiner tongue-tied.
I large part of me died when Chick passed away, and stopped doing Laker games. No Dodger fan is ready for when Vinny will hang them up. It sure would be nice if the Dodgers, and other distributors of content could come to some sort of an agreement. Dodger fans know that every game that Vin Scully broadcasts could be his last, all Dodger fans should be allowed to listen/see them.
Anyway, the crowd was beyond amped after that announcement so it was ready for some action being down 1 – 0. Carl Crawford unexpectedly got on base, and even stole second while Matt Kemp was up. So with the crowd still swaying with emotion, Matt Kemp decided to bring it up a notch with the first home run at Dodger Stadium in a July moon. Matt thought he got all of it, but it was a wall scraper, just making it out.
Either way it was a Dodger Stadium home run, and it was a Matt Kemp home run, both very hard to come by in July.
The lead was short-lived as Josh Beckett gave it right back for a 4 – 2 Atlanta lead headed into the bottom of the fifth.
As the Dodger fifth inning unfolded this looked like Puig’s night, when he tripled, giving him a single / double / triple in his first three at bats. Puig had become a triple machine, and everything he hit was a line drive rocket, the only difference between his single and triple was the gap it found. All were lasers. Nothing quite excites me at a baseball game as an in order cycle, and all Puig had left to do was hit a dinger. By the time the fifth had ended, the Dodgers had tied it up at 4 – 4, with Matt Kemp making the last out. It was nice that Matt had hit a home run, but I wanted more.
Moving to the bottom of the 7th the score was still tied with Puig leading off. I fully expected the home run to complete the in order cycle, but he could only manage a single. Four hits in a game is nice, but I wanted more. Adrian banged out a single and eventually a ground out by Crawford produced the go a head run.
Which brought up Matt Kemp. And I yelled something silly about hitting another home run. Which made the girl in the Kemp jersey turn and high five me with my silly grin. It got a lot sillier a few seconds later when Matty finally did what we had all been waiting for. A patented Kemp moon shot deep into the left field pavilion.
Oh My, was Matty back?
Hell yeah he was back, Tuesday night was just the beginning of his onslaught for the week, winning his first player of the week since owning the award at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012.
And of course, more tears dropped. Because sometimes it is nice to want things, and actually have them happen. Welcome back Matty, we missed you, and to be honest I didn’t really think I’d ever see you again.
SVS – Middling his way into Kershaws heart
If Dodger fans were aghast that the greatest left hand pitcher of the 21st century was getting banged around by the Angels for the first three innings imagine what his teammates were feeling.
Scott Van Slyke let us know in such a way that my belly laugh brought my wife running in to see what was so funny. I doubt the Angel broadcast was looking into the Dodger dugout after Clayton had been pinch hit for so 70% of Dodger fans missed the simple gesture that initiated my guttural laugh so let me paint the picture for you.
Clayton was on the bench with his left arm wrapped in his towel, player after player came by to give him a hug or handshake, it was very Godfather like. SVS was to his left watching all this with a blank expression. Once the last Dodger had given Clayton his congratulations, you could see Clayton look to his left right at SVS. At that point SVS raised his left hand and did the little expression which stands for “meh”. Wasn’t great, wasn’t bad. Plus he dead panned it.
Maybe it was just me. My wife did not laugh, but it killed me.
And the game:
Kershaw was more than meh, after getting banged around he settled down to dominate and give his team a chance for the win
Uribebear just crushed his three run bomb to get them back into game
Kemp put on running show that I doubt anyone thought they would see again in 2014. Beat out an error, stole second, took 3rd using his GPS because his helmet looked to be covering his eyes, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Kenley Jansen beasting through the 9th
AJ Ellis with the rocket single that was an eyelash of becoming a rally killing double play, but instead basically won the game.
Oh, and SVS made a nice running haul of what might have become a triple. Must be nice to be 6’5 because he needed all of it.
The Scarecrow Of Romney Marsh
Life be funny. While on TrueblueLA a few weeks back I lamented about the fact that Disney had only released a limited number of DVD’s for their three part Wonderful World of Disney show called “The Scarecrow of Romney March”. I was but a wee lad when it first showed up on Disney, and it is pretty much my first recollection of anything on TV other than black and white images of the Packers / Bears. My family like many families in the early 60’s would sit down and watch the WWOD every Sunday Night. I could look it up but my guess was that it was on at either 07:00 or 08:00 at night. We watched many shows, but only two have stuck in my old brain. The Scarecrow and The Sword in the Stone.
Commentator Little Blue Bicycle (one Kenneth Noe of Auburn, Alabama) heard my lament and told me that he had recorded the show from the Disney channel back in the 1990’s and that he would try to find the tape. I could go on ebay and buy the DVD but it was now a collector item so was a tad pricey. I thanked Ken for thinking of me and figured that was that.
Lo and behold, those Alabamians are true to their word. Last week a package arrived with an old VHS tape containing some old-time gold. It had not only the full three parts (commercials were edited out), but also the 1995 HOF Football game, and son of a gun, Cal Ripkin’s 2131 record-breaking game. I don’t have a VHS that works anymore so my wife graciously took the old tape to my friendly DVD person, and had them make me three DVD’s. This was small business at it’s finest. The work was done on Friday, and he was closed on Saturday, but he agreed to meet me at a Starbucks on a Saturday if I brought 20 bucks with me. He would wear a purple shirt so I could recognize him. We did the meeting, all along I was looking around for DEA agents, but there he was in a purple shirt with my merchandize. We exchanged money for goods, and then he said that Cal Ripken was something wasn’t he? I laughed and said all I wanted was the Scarecrow part, but later I would realize, that was not the case.
So with much fanfare we setup Sunday Night just like the original night to watch a show I had not seen in 50 years. All I could remember was this cool song, and a cool hero. The opening credits did not disappoint, the song was inspired, and the laugh at the end was what probably cemented this show into my memory banks. I could imagine every elementary boy singing
“When the great Scarecrow
Would ride from the jaws of hell
And laugh (Ahahahahaha!)
With a fiendish yell!”
with a hellish yell at the end
The quality of course was tattered much like the Scarecrow clothing, but it was still a fun three hour romp down memory lane. Here is the song on Youtube
and below are the original lyrics.
Scarecrow!
Scarecrow!
The soldiers of the King feared his name
Scarecrow…
On the southern coast of England
There’s a legend people tell
Of days long ago
When the great Scarecrow
Would ride from the jaws of hell
And laugh (Ahahahahaha!)
With a fiendish yell!With his clothes all torn and tattered
Through the black of night he’d ride
From the marsh to the coast
Like a demon ghost
He’d show his face then hide
And he’d laugh (Yeeheeheehahahaha!)
‘Til he’d split his side!So the King told all his soldiers,
“Hang him high or hang him low!
But never return
‘Til the day I learn
He’s gone in flames below–
Or you’ll hang
With the great Scarecrow!”Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
The soldiers of the King feared his name
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
The country folk all loved him just the same
Scarecrow!He would always help the farmer
When there was no gold to bring
He’d find a way
For the poor to pay
The taxes of the King
“Scarecrow!”
Ev’ry man would singScarecrow! (Scarecrow)
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
The soldiers of the King feared his name
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
Scarecrow! (Scarecrow)
The country folk all loved him just the same
Scarecrow!
Scarecrow!
Scarecrow!(Aahahahahahahaha!)
Since I kind of promised that every column would have at least one iota of Dodger related stuff, here it is. In between the Scarecrow and the start of the Cal’s record breaking game, was some old fashioned ESPN Sportscenter with Charlie Steiner at the helm. The only memory I have of Charlie and ESPN was his infamous commercial “follow me to freedom” , I have zero memory of Charlie actually doing ESPN Sportscenter.
With nothing else to do I decided to watch the record breaking game and even though it was 20 years ago, I had already forgotten so many things. Joe Dimaggio was still alive and there. Many other baseball icons inhabited Camden Yards (can you believe Camden yards is 22 year sold already?). The Orioles were playing the Angels, and man, were the Angels loaded. This game was in early Sept of 1995 (Sept 6, 1995 to be precise) and the Angels already had 30 home runs by Edmunds and Salmon. Chili was the clean up hitter, Garrett Anderson was a .329 hitting rookie, JT Snow was on his way to blasting 24 dingers of his own. Even the wonder dog Rex Hudler was here. That team must have won the Western Division going away right?
Oops
11 game lead on August 9th with a 60 – 36 record. Breezing they were.
They ended the season on Oct 2nd with 78 wins. From August 9th – Oct 2nd the Angels went 18 – 29. and finished in 2nd place.
I had forgotten but I’m sure hard core Angel fans had not forgotten one of the all time great collapses in Southern California. Of course the Dodgers had Jack Clark waiting for them so not like they were prone to give Angel fans any sympathy.
Two brilliant teams, both denied greatness.
Oh, and Cal hit a home run in his big game.
Of course he did
One final note. I believe Kenneth is a history teacher. At the end of the tape is a history teacher, teaching about the Georgia parishes during the Continental Congress. He’s doing a great job in explaining that of the twelve parishes only five appeared to give a shit. He’s got my attention, and then the tape ends. I’ll never know what the whigs did. I hope that was Kenneth.
Don’t put away your Matt Kemp jersey away just yet – Part One
Last Tuesday (July 29th) I made my way to Chavez Ravine for the first time in 2014. I’d been selling or giving away tickets most of the year but given all the trade talk about Matt Kemp, and the Vin Scully trinket, I felt that this game should be my first game. I’ll be brutally honest, I mainly follow the team out of habit, some habits are hard to kick. I had little emotional connection with this billion dollar conglomerate of awful contracts, but the manic Puig, the brilliance of Kershaw, and of course Vinny keeps me around the fringes of blue. It didn’t help any that my favorite Dodger was a shell of himself as I drove to the game.
Matt Kemp and Dodger Thoughts came hand in hand for me. I started with Jon Weisman’s Dodger Thoughts in Aug of 2004. Matt Kemp had been drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2003 draft, thus 2004 was his first real professional work. As the 2005 Dodgers turned to dust, many of us at Dodger Thoughts turned to the minor leagues for comfort. Most of them stopped at the Jacksonville Five, but I kept going, and Matt Kemp caught my eye with his home run prowess for Columbia in the Sally league.
From that point on, I watched everything he did with interest. I followed him to the Arizona Fall League, and while everyone was watching James Loney and Andy LaRoche, it was the 21-year-old Matt Kemp who put on a home run display from batting practice till the end of the season, culminating in a home run in the season finale.
When Matt Kemp made an unexpected appearance at the Ravine in 2006, and hit home runs every which way before being schooled, I was at Dodger Thoughts when Bob Timmermann first hung the moniker of Bison on him. If my memory serves me correct someone said he looked like a Buffalo, but Bob doing what he always did, corrected the poster, and declared that the Bison is the correct term. During the Matt Kemp 2006 June run from June 1st – June 14th, Matt hit seven home runs in eight starts.
It took a while for Matt Kemp to meet his potential. In between his Puig like debut to his MVP 2011 season, he was constantly harangued for base running miscues, mental mistakes, and simply not being Jay Bruce. The skills were there, but no one expected 2011. Very few hitters have ever had a non PED season like 2011. Ryan Braun sure hasn’t.
For some fans all they saw was the remains of what was once the Dodgers franchise player. A player who at the peak of his career, was the best hitter in the game, and who signed a long-term team friendly contract extension. He had been removed from CF, planted in LF, and seemed moribund. He started to hit, but it just a group of singles, it was not Matt Kemp.
Rumors led by his agent Dave Stewart seemed to suggest Matt would be happy elsewhere. Normally these rumors would be cast aside but Dave Stewart couldn’t keep his mouth shut, so what seemed like a pipe dream started to take on reality. As the trade deadline got closer the more you heard his name being mentioned.
BUT
Yasiel Puig is the man who keeps on giving. In this case, Puig got hurt. Matt Kemp moved to RF, and from the moment the Bison hit his familiar turf, he seemed like a different ballplayer. As each game in RF field went by he looked more and more like Matt Kemp. Still no power, and still no signal from Donny boy what he was going to do when Puig returned. Would the light bulb that had gone off in many fans heads actually go off for Donny? I’m not going to go into detail about how pathetic it was that it took an injury to Puig for management to figure out what the solution to their outfield problems were, I’ll save that for another day.
Luckily, they made the right decision, and the new configuration of Matt Kemp in RF, Puig in CF, whoever in LF, became the defacto lineup starting with the Giants. The Dodgers won, and won, and won.
Still the rumors abounded when I hit the Ravine Tuesday night. I had to go, it might be the last time I ever got to see Matt Kemp. As I took my seat I was detached and wondered if I could make it for nine innings. With barely any interest I watched the pre – game ceremonies unfold. Eventually the team took the field, and the little girl ran out to Matt Kemp. For some reason the cameraman who had nine different players to choose from decided to stay on Matt Kemp. Kemp was smiling, joked with the girl, signed his autograph for her, and did I mention his smile. I had forgotten just how great a smile Matt Kemp had.
Tears poked their way out. This was my guy. My era. I realized quite suddenly how I didn’t want this to end yet. This team needed Matt Kemp. I needed Matt Kemp.
The game had yet to start, and what a game we had coming our way.
Part Two – Matt Kemp gets his groove on
Tip of the iceberg as Cubs promote Javier Baez
With the promotion today of Javier Baez by the Cubs, the team has taken the rebuilding process out of 2nd gear, and moved it into 3rd gear.
By this time next year the process should be in fifth gear with multiple 1st and 2nd year players, interacting with Rizzo / Castro to give Cub fans their first taste of sugar since Jame Loney fed them coal six years ago.
The Cubs brought up the versatile 22 year old Arismendy Alcantara several weeks ago. Vin Scully couldn’t get over how much range Alcantara was showing at second base, but going forward Vinny is going to have to enjoy him in CF. Javier Baez will be playing second base going forward. Soon, Jorge Solar should be playing RF. By April of 2015, 3rd base will belong to Kris Bryant.
Where does that leave SS Addison Russell the prize of the Jeff Samardzija trade? Theo will find something. They could move Starlin Castro for much needed pitching.
1st – Rizzo
2nd – Baez
SS – Castro
3rd – Bryant
RF – Soler
CF – Alcantara
LF – Lake
Which of these highly touted prospects can beat the odds and become a star only time will tell, but for Cub fans, this roller coaster ride might have finally reached the bottom, as they begin chugging back to the place they were before James Loney so rudely interrupted their ride.
NFBC First Place – Kershaw and Kemp lead the way
I should be knocking on wood, but my 17 point lead has me a bit giddy. One of the reasons for this blog-site was my entry into the NFBC leagues. My team name is Moustacheball and I’m a member of the Las Vegas Main Event March 22nd League One group. I’ve been playing for almost 30 years now, and as I fine tuned my skills over the years, I finally decided to take the plunge and play with the big boys. The League I ended up being slotted with was a scary group which included last years overall winner Dan Semsel ($100,000) along with other members who had done damage in years past. For a newbie I felt I might be chewing off more than I could chew.
In years past I’d leaned heavily on Baseball HQ, but for this league, I felt I’d need a novel approach, since many of the players were also disciples of Baseball HQ, or the Average Draft Position. Hitters I know, pitchers are tougher, so for the first time I spent some money that specifically addressed the area of pitching, combining scouting and metrics. I’m reluctant to say who I used because they were so damn good this year that I want to keep them to myself. Because of that info the staff I ended up with comprised of many pitchers who should have been drafted much higher but were ignored. Kluber / Lackey / Fister / Neise.
Given this blog is supposed to be a little Dodger centric I took a huge gamble with the 3rd pick of the draft. For the first time Clayton Kershaw was being discussed as a possible top six pick, but I decided to take it a step further. I used the 3rd pick on Kershaw. It changed the dynamics of the draft, and one month into the season it appeared I’d made a huge blunder. I was dead last in all the pitching categories, because not only did Clayton get hurt early, I had drafted Cole Hamels, and Fister who also missed all of April.
Yet, even while using the first pick on Clayton, I had struck gold in offense with Abreu in the 7th round, so while my pitching stats were moribund headed into May, my offense was keeping me in the game. It was fun to watch a team dead last in ERA / Wins / WHIP make the turnaround as each pitcher returned to the rotation. Slowly but surely I kept moving up the standings.
As I entered July I had moved into second place, fourteen points behind 1st. With July turning to August, I not only hunted down first place, I blew past them, and now have a 17 point lead, with quite a few points still to be earned.
However, while winning the league is what you need to do, being relevant in the overall is the main goal. Out of almost 500 teams, the Moustacheball team is now very relevant with an 18th place in the overall. Many many things have to break right to keep moving up, but one of the main things that has to go right has gone very right in the past week.
Matt Kemp was big question mark headed into this year. I threw a 5th round pick at him, which was a bit high when compared to his average draft position. While he’s been productive, up until last week he had been the least productive of my five outfielders. Last week changed everything. Five home runs in a week will do that. If Kemp can continue to show the life in his power bat, that goal of a top ten overall finish is looking better and better.
| NFBC | PTS |
| MoustacheBall | 116.5 |
| CC’s Desperados | 100 |
| Zefurs || LV2 | 99 |
| Seeing Doubles | 94 |
| The Governor | 92 |
| Welcome to Stevieland | 91.5 |
| DonnieBaseball ME | 83 |
| Four Headed Monster | 83 |
| Ozville Flying Monkeys | 81 |
| Tiger Slappy | 75 |
| Bama & Madcow | 71.5 |
| Team Cohan | 68 |
| Mudhens | 66 |
| Team Izenstark | 61 |
| Miami Mac | 18.5 |
Interleague Angel preview – Trout and company come to town
One year ago the Angels were 51 – 59, and many analysts were rightly mocking their big spending sprees on the likes of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. Mike Scioscia was ridiculed for how he managed his team, and many felt the game had passed him by. The only thing Angel fans could look forward to was watching the greatest player of the 21st century.
Move forward one year and the Angels just might be the best team in baseball with a 65 -44 mark. Mike Trout is still the best player of the 21st century, however his incredible production has been enhanced by new talent, somewhat comeback years from Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols. Mike Scoscia is once again a “brilliant” manager.
The Angels have many of the old faces that Dodger fans recognize Kendrick, Aybar, Trout, Pujols, Hamilton, Weaver, CJ Wilson, but those old faces have been augmented by a plethora of new faces, so it is probably a good time to get a primer on who these Angels are.
1st Base – Albert Pujols has bounced back from last year, but a recent slump has made his numbers rather pedestrian again. Overall Albert has an OPS+ of 127, but in his last fourteen games his OPS sits at .675. Albert has hit one home run in the last 28 days. So while he has 20 home runs on the year, he comes into this series without a home run since July 9th. The 23 Million dollar 1st baseman is already a bad deal. Is CJ Cron who plays for the minimum already a better hitter?
2nd Base – Howie Kendick has now been the regular Angel second baseman since 2010, and has been playing for the Angels since 2006. Howie never won the batting title that some thought he’d achieve, but he does have a lifetime average of .291. He still has a ways to go to catch Bobby Grich, but he’s firmly ensconced as the second greatest second baseman in the history of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This year he’s doing what he always does. Solid BA at .285, a smattering of stolen bases (12), an OPS+ above 100 (108), and on his way to playing over 140 games.
SS – Erick Aybar become the Angel starting SS one year before Kendrick in 2009. Much like Howie he had been around since 2006. While never wowing with the bat, Aybar has been consistent. These guys are like two pea’s in a pod. Never great, mostly good, always available. Also just like Howie, Erick Aybar is clearly the second best Shortstop in the history of the Angels. He won’t catch Jim Fregosi, no one will.
3rd Base – David Freeze came over from the Cardinals last year and is experiencing his worst year since he came up in 2009. His OPS+ currently stands at just 93, 19 points below his career average of 112. At least he’s been consistently meh. His first half OPS was 669, his second OPS is 683.
C – Chris Ianetta and Hank Conger split this gig with Ianetta getting more games even though he’s the right hand hitter. Ianetta is having the best year of his career with an OPS+ of 129, driven by his first foray into the .270 BA area. Much like AJ Ellis his offensive contributions usually centered around his excellent walk rate, but unlike AJ, Chris also had a little more consistent pop. Hank Conger may be the wrong guy for the left hand hand platoon side. He’s a switch hitter who is getting almost exclusive abats against RHP and not doing much with it. He’s been particularly awful the last 28 days with a .570 OPS.
CF – Mike Trout is simply the greatest player of the 21st century at the age of 20, 21, and 22. It is a matter of debate if he is also the greatest player of the 20th century at the age of 20, 21, and 22. Many have said the same thing, but we are watching what 19 year Mickey Mantle would have been had he not torn up his knee because of a sprinkler in the 1951 World Series. I’d list all of Trout’s accomplishments by the age of 22, but trust me. They would just make you gag.
RF – Kole Calhoun – this guy must be the best RF in the game no one has heard of. All he’s done since taking over for a hurt Josh Hamilton in 2013 is hit. And Hit. Quick and dirty using OPS+ Kole Calhoun has been the second best hitting right field in the AL since he started getting full time at bats on July 28th, 2013. He’s the bargain basement guy who simply needed a chance and has run with it.
LF – Josh Hamilton – If anyone thinks the Pujols contract was absurd given his age, don’t peek at what they Angels will be paying Josh Hamilton from 2015-2017. Let’s just say it averages just a tad under $30,000,000. And while Josh Hamilton has bounced back from a tough 2013, his season this year is still simply OK. His OPS+ is 128, but only seven bombs in 236 at bats.
DH – CJ Cron – 1st round pick in 2011 didn’t really impress in the minors given his advanced age for the levels he was at, but since being brought up, he’s done exactly what all the other DH’s could not do. Hit, and hit for power. So far he’s basically been Mark Trumbo, lot of home runs per at bat, lot of K’s per at bat, very few walks.
Starting Pitching – The Dodgers will miss Jeff Weaver but get to see Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago, Matt Shoemake, and C J Wilson.
Garrett Richards has kind of blown the roof off his suspected ceiling this year. I’ve heard talk of Cy Young contention which might be overstating his season, yet Garret Richard is clearly the ace of this team. From his 2.74 ERA, 11 – 4 record, 2.71 FIP, 8.9 K/bb ratio, 2.9 BB/ration, this is clearly an elite pitcher in 2014. For a guy who was the fifth starter entering the season, what a god’s send for the Angels.
Hector Santiago came over from the White Sox when the Angels sent Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks. Hector was supposed to be a vital part of the rotation but he was terrible in April, and was removed after his seventh start. He was sent to the minors for a few weeks, and came back to make some spot starts when Skaggs was hurt. Got to stick around when Wilson was hurt. Skaggs is hurt again so Hector gets this start. He’s dropped his ERA from over 5.00 to 3.76 since being demoted due to good work in the bullpen, and some decent starts. Hector has not pitched into the 6th inning but one time since June 10th, so even if he’s effective don’t expect him to be pitching in the 6th inning.
Matt Shoemaker – Life saver is what they should be calling him. When Hector Santiago was shitting the bed, when Skaggs kept getting hurt, when CJ Wilson got hurt, the crops were slim, and unlike the Dodgers, the Angels ignored Matt’s PCL numbers and brought him up, and he may never leave. Matt has not been great, but for a fifth starter on a potent offense he gives them a chance to win every game, and thus has a 9 – 3 record. Matt has a dynamite 5.20 SO/W ratio, so even though he gives up more hits per IP, his WHIP is still a respectable 1.216. Matt has made 12 starts and his 8 – 2 in those 12 starts. About those PCL starts. Five starts, 6.31 ERA, 25 IP, 34 hits, 1.675 WHIP.
CJ Wilson – who knows how this start is going to go. Wilson came off the DL on Saturday and didn’t last two innings. Is he still hurt? Rusty? Even before he hit the DL he wasn’t exactly vintage Wilson. Since June 24th Wilson had made five starts, and has given up 25 earned runs in 18 IP. Yikes
Bullpen – once a weakness the Angels can now boast Huston Street, Joe Smith, Jason Grilli, and Kevin Jepsen. Jepsen hasn’t given up an earned run since June 21st. During that time 19 IP, 7 hits, 0 ER, 5 walks, 21 K’s.
Zero Percent
Negotiation, promises, broken promises
Negotiation, promises, broken promises
Negotiation, promises, broken promises
Negotiation, promises, broken promises
This seemed to go on forever, but on April 21st at 11:33PM, the DVR finally said Zero Percent. Dr. Oz was gone. The telenovelas were gone. The craft shows were gone. Everything was finally gone. The constant battle to clear the DVR so the HDTV could finally display HD stations was finally over. The plug could get pulled on the antique Time Warner Scientific Atlanta DVR Cable box. With great fanfare I ripped the cables from her ancient carcass, and disassembled her for the journey to Time Warner to collect the latest and greatest TW DVR HD Cable Box.
I expected long lines during my lunch break, but when I entered the customer service center at 12:00PM, I was greeted by four TW customer service reps just waiting, apparently for me. I picked the friendliest looking one, and made an excellent choice. I handed her the antique box, and proudly proclaimed “Zero percent”. She laughed and exclaimed ” I guess so, we haven’t seen one of these for years”. Between the chit chat she brought out the new box, the new remote, the HDMI cable, and told me that she had modified my packagel which would result in a saving of $30 per month going forward. Even though I had a wireless already set up, I told her to throw one in.
As I left Time Warner, I couldn’t help but marvel that in 2014, I’d finally be joining the HDTV world. The mocking would end. I’d finally be able to see all of the age spots in all their glory. Sweat will glisten as though it was being filtered through Avanti water.
I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I”m sure when I’ve hooked everything up, my wife will say unto me “I don’t understand what all the hoopla was about”.
Chavez Ravine Opening Day Giant Season Preview
The Giants invade the Ravine with a different type of team compared to the teams that won two of the last four World Series. With the decline of previous aces Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, no longer is pitching at the forefront of the Giants success. If the Giants are to contend in 2014 it will be on the backs of what could be their most potent offense in years led by Posey/Belt/Pence/Panda/Pagan.
Last year I picked them 3rd coming off of their World Championship season, with the current injuries hitting Arizona/Padres I can see 2nd place for them this year.
1st Base – Brandon Belt went unnoticed by many, but by the end of 2013 he was as good an offensive 1st baseman as Freddie Freeman. Freddie Freeman was rewarded with a top five MVP vote, and a huge contract. Brandon Belt was rewarded with most Dodger fans making fun of his spring training chemistry comment. With Belt entering his 26 year old season expect more of the same from 2013 where his OPS+ of 142 ranked fourth among NL 1st baseman. Maybe a little more power as he has already hit 3 home runs in 2014.
2nd Base –this will be the Giants biggest bugaboo for most of 2014 unless they find a replacement. Scutaro is now 38, and already hurt. The back up is Joaquin Arias or Hicks. Scutaro has done an incredible job since showing up at the back end of 2012 to help lead the Giants to their 2nd world championship, but his ship should have sailed. Deals with the devil have a shelf life, and his should have expired last year.
SS – Brandon Crawford holds down shortstop by playing solid defense with some hot offensive streaks thrown in. He is no longer the offensive hole he was at the start of his career. Each season he has shown growth with an OPS+ climb of 67 to 86 to 96. The Giants would do well to find him a right handed platoon partner as he simply can’t hit left handed pitchers at all with a career OPS of .578 against lefties.
3rd – The Panda will always be made fun of because of his weight, but when he swings the bat, good things happen. He’s only 27 and has now accumulated almost 3000 plate appearances with a career OPS+ of 126. How many NL 3rd baseman have an OPS+ higher than 125 with 3000 plate appearances this century? One – David Wright. So laugh if you want but the Panda can hit at a position not many seem to be able to do so anymore.
C –The franchise player is of course Buster Posey. He’s such an impact player; MLB changed the game just because of him. There is little doubt he’s the best offensive catcher in baseball.
RF – Hunter Pence is the goofiest great player you will ever get to see play MLB. He does not do anything easily but does everything well. He’s never been the best right fielder, but he’s always been one of the top five, year in and year out.
CF – Angel Pagan is why you can’t laugh too hard at the Zach Wheeler for Carlos Beltran trade. The Giants went for all the marbles and lost big, but the following winter they fleeced the Mets out of Angel Pagan for someone no one longer in baseball. So I look at it like this – Pagan / Beltran for Wheeler/ Andres Torres. That looks better, a quality starting CF for a young pitching prospect. At least if I was a Giant fan that is how I’d look at it. Doesn’t hurt so much. Pagan is good; it was an awful trade by the Mets even at the time. Problem for Pagan is staying healthy, and the Giants need him for 500 at bats not 300 if they want to make hay in the West.
LF – Ok, this could also be a bugaboo. Mike Morse is probably not the answer. But Gregor Blanco surely was not the answer. The Giants should have done a better job of dealing with the LF problem, and because they didn’t, they will probably be fighting for 3rd place.
Bumgarner is good, and might be great, but he’s going to need to be brilliant to carry the staff. Tim Hudson is a big name, but he’s now 38. RyanVogelsongs pixie dust finally wore out, and I’m not expecting much of a change in 2014. The Giants gave a ton of money hoping a different Tim Lincecum is going to show up in 2014, or they felt the 2013 version was worth 17 million. Is Matt Cain entering his decline phase or was 2013 simply an aberration where his good luck finally hit a snag? I have no idea. He seemed to be close to the same Matt Cain in the second half but not close enough to erase the doubts that he’s seen his peak.
Diehard Dodger fan Sergio Romo has done a fantastic job since taking over as the closer for Brian Wilson. Since closer jobs are not long running, I would expect his to be coming to an end.
The Giants should have enough to battle for second place. I could see them finishing anywhere from 2nd – 4th. They are the only team in the West who has not lost a frontline starter yet. That could be the difference for them. As with most teams if everything breaks right, great things could happen. Belt might have the talent to be a MVP candidate. Posey is already a perennial MVP candidate. Can this be the year Bumgarner is in the Cy Young conversation?
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 