by Gregg Pearlman
Sunday, May 23, 1999
Marvin Benard, who's beginning to show glimpses of the Hitting Alien that occupied his body last season, led off the bottom of the first with a home run off the annoying, gratuitously animated Jose Lima. It's the sixth inning now, and there's been no scoring since then.
Let me correct that: Just as I finished that last sentence, Richard Hidalgo looped a one-out single over shortstop to score a run, and an ill-advised throw to third by Stan Javier has led to (a) Jeff Bagwell, the runner on first, heading to third; (b) Hidalgo heading to second on the throw; and (c) a trip to the mound by Dusty Baker, with Jerry Spradlin loosening up in the pen.
Baker has now left the mound all by his lonesome, and Estes is still in there, pitching to Carl Everett, who's killed the Giants all year. The count is 2-1, and the infielders are playing back. Now it's 3-1. Now 4-1. Bases loaded, nobody out, and here comes Dusty again.
As Baker left the first time, Mike Krukow praised him for leaving Estes in -- show of confidence, work out of his own jams, etc. I think it was more about knowing full well who was looming in the bullpen, ready to come in and hose this game up.
I believe Spradlin has had one good outing with the Giants, a scoreless two-inning stint in his first appearance for us (in a Giants loss, I think). And I'm convinced that the only reason it happened was so the Baseball Gods could show me up for my Earnest Ragging, and to give me just a tiny bit of thoroughly unjustified hope for future outings. The Baseball Gods hate me, as I believe we've long established.
With no outs and the bases loaded, our catchers hit into 1-2-3 double plays; with one out and the bases loaded, they hit into inning-ending double plays. Their catcher, Tony Eusebio, runs the count to 3-1... and looky here! There I was, expecting to say "hits grand slams," but Spradlin gets him swinging! Yay! Earnest Ragging pays off, for the moment. Ol' Jer has a long way to go.
Tim Bogar, who's nickeled us to death all year, poops a little liner to Snow, and the inning is over. And the Gods stick it to me again, only this time I'm pleased about it.
Evidently Astros starter Jose Lima, whom I can't stand to watch because of his idiot hothead antics, took offense to this, since he'd done it the day before and evidently thinks he invented the maneuver (which has been around in the majors for at least 10 years). Lima was shown yelling at Santangelo from his dugout.
I felt, or at least hoped, that Santangelo had accomplished what he'd set out to do, which was to get under Lima's skin and screw up his concentration. But it was not to be. It just made the guy madder, and evidently being madder makes him do better.
Scott Servais led off the sixth with a double, and Santangelo batted for Spradlin, setting up a hoped-for matchup (on both sides, I'd imagine). Santangelo ended up smoking a grounder right at the first-base bag, which Jeff Bagwell grabbed before touching first base for the out. Servais had to hold. A grounder by Benard sent Servais to third, and Bill Mueller's up with a 3-2 count.
Yes, Giants fans, Bill Mueller's up. Really. It's his fourth game off the disabled list, so, happily, Charlie Hayes has regained his rightful spot on the bench.
Now J.T. Snow's up, batting in the third spot today -- and if that doesn't show you how terribly the Giants miss Barry Bonds, nothing will. Snow's picked it up a bit, but he still has just two home runs on the year and no overabundance of doubles and triples (though he has walked a lot). Oh, joy! Snow smacks the first pitch to right field, where it's caught with little ado. Inning over.
Now that I can take a breather, I should point out that this is probably the best Shawn Estes has thrown all season, and I'm not sure that's saying much. It's 1-1 heading toward the seventh, and Joe Nathan has taken the hill.
The Giants are 25-19, a game and a half ahead of the Diamondbacks (who briefly took over first place, dropping the Giants to second for the first time all season) and two and a half ahead of the Dodgers at the start of play today.
It's tense times for Giants fans -- it's always tense times -- and those who would agree include Anson, James F., Tim I., Andres, Sean, Ben F., Dave F., Richard, John G., Ethan, Greg L., David M., Mike W., Jim J., Jonathan, Aaron, Paul, "SFLgnd," William, Philip, Woody, Jason, John B., "Munki," Richard P., Lee, "hwyshark," Todd, Carlos, Ron J., and Jon R.
"You think that was bad?" says James F. "I had to go to bed after the 10th because it was 4:45 a.m." In England. Where he lives. 'Cause he's English.
The best part was that when Biggio came up in the eleventh and bunted. Yes. Larry Dierker, who's evidently looked at as the leader of the new breed of managerial geniuses (and no doubt he deserves to be), has this famed Giants killer, a .900-plus-OPS player, lay one down instead of hitting the game-winner. In relief of Nen, Joe Nathan said, "Heck, I'll take that, finished off the Astros, striking out Bagwell on a 3-2 pitch to end it.
Nathan is in now. He just struck out Russ Johnson (who started at third base, with Ken Caminiti having hit the DL yesterday), but the Astros have runners on first and second with one out... and Bagwell at the plate. (See, the reason for all the baserunners is that Nathan started the inning by walking Bogar and Lima, the last two hitters in the lineup.) Ball one. (Krukow's talking about the Bob Welch-Reggie Jackson matchups in the 1978 World Series. Read about them yourself, for crying out loud.) Nathan throws a change, and Bags swings through it. The 1-1 pitch is in the dirt. Now it's 3-1. And Bagwell takes a strike. (Meanwhile, Dusty's got Felix and Rich Rodriguez throwing in the bullpen, which means Nathan has to get out of it....)
So once again it's Nathan vs. Bagwell with a 3-2 count. Bags fouls off a 97 mph fastball, and we'll do it all over again. This time Bags hits one out the opposite way -- thanks just one great big fat hell of a lot, Kruk -- and the Astros take a 4-1 lead. Outside corner at the knees, 96 miles an hour... the ball couldn't have been out by more than five feet, but it doesn't matter. He may as well have hit it six miles.
Back to a happier Sunday, the way the Giants scored the winning run was on a home run by Armando Rios, the Giants' first pinch-homer all year. He won the game the other night, too, with a late, run-scoring double off the right-field wall.
At least it's not Biggio who's killing us today. Yet.
"Is there a more annoying player to Giants fans than Biggio?" says Tim I. (Answer: right now, it might be Joe Nathan.) "He is to the Giants what Theo Fleury is to the Sharks, pretty much -- a major pain in the arse and thorn in the side."
"Just call him what he is: a Giants Killer," says Andres.
"Joining the illustrious ranks of Astros' Giants Killers, along with Mark Portugal and Kevin Bass," says Sean. "If it's any consolation, if the Giants ever manage to acquire Biggio, his career will go in the toilet."
"There were other Giant killers from Houston, which always seems to produce more than its share," says Tim. "Bagwell puts the hurt on 'em pretty badly. [Tim is a prophet. -- GP] And let's not forget one of the greatest Giant killers of them all, Mike Scott."
For many the worst Mike Scott memory would be no-hitting the Giants to clinch the division in 1986. For some reason, I was lucky enough to miss that game, so for me, the worst Mike Scott game was maybe that same year, quite possibly the very day they found sandpaper on the mound, or whatever it was that actually happened. Anyway, the first three Giants reached base and scored... and Scott then retired the next 27. We lost. Sucked. Awful. Thanks for mentioning him, Tim.
"I actually have a pleasant Mike Scott memory, from right after the sandpaper incident [That is, he was caught stuffing sandpaper down his pants -- but, as I recall, unaccountably not disciplined in any way. -- GP]. He was pitching at the 'Stick, right after he got caught, and there were hundreds of fans waving sandpaper at him the whole game. [Yes! I deeply wanted to be there, because there was talk that this would happen. -- GP] The Giants absolutely ripped him that day. Will Clark had two homers, and even Mike Aldrete hit one out. In the fourth or fifth, [Astros manager Hal] Lanier finally pulled Scott, and he had to make that lo-o-o-ong walk down to the visitor's clubhouse with thousands of fans jeering at him and the PA blasting 'Hit The Road, Jack.'
"I have a vague memory of Kevin Bass also getting taunted that day. Was he ever caught with a corked bat?"
I think he sanded it....
"Who was the Astros player whose bat broke in half and revealed he had a corked bat? [Billy] Hatcher?" says Ben F. "I remember watching it at Candlestick waiting for the game to start on the JumboTron. They kept showing it over and over."
Not only did they catch Hatcher, but they also suspended him for 10 days (right?) during a stretch run. Good move, Billy!
"Hatcher, that's who it was!" says Sean. "He had recently come back from that suspension at the sandpaper-waving game, or hadn't begun to serve it, but the fans chanted, "Corky, Corky" every time he came to bat or had a ball hit to him. Again, great game."
Good thing that, as Giants fans, we're universally sympathetic -- emitting those shouts in a show of support for this poor man whose timing was so poor, and in commemoration of the possibly trumped-up accusations... reminiscent of the sandpaper-waving fest, the purpose of which was to let Mike Scott know, "Hey, Mike, we're with ya, baby!"
It's only a shame I wasn't there to taunt these guys at the time....
Meanwhile, the Giants have gone down quite, quite meekly in the seventh, meaning that Lima -- the opposing pitcher I dislike most, now that Jeff Juden's out of the majors and Todd Stottlemyre's on the disabled list (he left with a huge lead against the Giants after four innings; not that I want the guy to be hurt, but I loved this) -- is just zooming along. (I should be fair: Lima's legitimately good, and evidently it's all due to adding a change-up to his repertoire. Stottlemyre's good, but not as good as his reputation, and Juden never really stays with a team long enough for us to know whether he's any good or not.)
"Very nice game," says Dave F. "Every starter had a hit, except for Mueller, who had four walks. There were no errors, which is a nice change. [I'll say. The Giants have had a serious case of butterfingers throughout the season. It's disgusting. -- GP] Rueter looks like he is ready to settle down into the past years' form.
"The Jater had another good game, and is very close to a 300 batting average with an OBP approaching 400. Maybe he'll have a '97-like year since his contract is up. I still hope the Giants don't sign him again.
"In the other dugout, it's amazing how badly Andy Benes has started. I still remember him as a guy who used to kill the Giants back when he was in San Diego. Another veteran pitcher who is normally quite good, off to a horrible start."
Fine with me, because I've always disliked him, too, though that's more about hearsay than on-field antics.
The end to the Giants' mini-losing streak also meant the end of a long hitting streak by Diamondbacks left fielder Luis Gonzalez: 30 games.
"Gonzalez's streak is over," says James. "Shame." "The crowd gave a bigger cheer when Gonzales struck out in the eighth than they did at game's end," says Richard.
John G. says, "The huge cheer was depicted by Henry Schulman [in Thursday's Chronicle] as a standing ovation for Gonzalez, as in, 'San Francisco's classy fans show their appreciation for an admirable streak.' However, I think that people [in the the Giants newsgroup] are correct: The big cheer was for the Giants stopping the streak. At least, that's what I prefer to think. We don't care about no stinking streaks -- of other team's players -- unless they are streaks of foul play."
"I think the prevailing attitude was, 'If we are going to lose, at least stop that damn streak,'" says Richard. "And we got a win, and the stop.
"From where I was sitting, the cheer was a lot more derisive than complementary. It hasn't taken long, but already everyone really seems to hate the Diamondbacks."
And well we should. The Dodgers -- not to defend them -- at least have a "rich history" that includes, at one point, being called "The Daffiness Boys." Granted, now they're Ugly Americans (and really always have been since coming to LA, but now everybody can see it, even if they won't), but at least there was a kind of humility to them... long ago....
The Diamondbacks are just plain cigar-chomping, plaid-pants-wearing nouveau riche who say "ain't" a lot, and "he don't"; they laugh too loud, summon waiters by yelling, "Hey waiter!," and go "Oh, you love it!" after getting slapped for pinching women on the butt. Who could like this team?
Russ Ortiz, Alan Embree, John Johnstone, and Robb Nen faced the Astros 3-1; the Giants mostly scored on outs. Lou Seal invaded the Family Pavilion and did a strange, frightening, sexually suggestive dance with some 11-year-old girls.
Meanwhile, today, Jose Lima's only looking better and better, and the Giants are still down 4-1 through eight. Joe Nathan's about to suffer his first major league defeat.
"I remember one season a few years back where we absolutely dominated the Astros," says Ethan. "That was back when we would play them more often, and as the season wore on, trips to the Astrodome became something to cheer. But I can't seem to remember what year that was... I think we did pretty well that year... hmm... anyone remember?"
"We've never dominated the Astros," says Greg L. "Ever. Even if you can produce stats that show the Giants swept the Astros in a season series, I will still post a convincing argument that Mark Portugal beat them four times that year, Biggio stole 20 bases against them after being hit 10 times on his elbow pad, and Bagwell had five game-winning home runs. Thus, the definition of 'EEEEEE!' So there."
But in 1993," David M. says, "the Giants posted a 10-3 mark against the Astros, including 6-1 in the Astrodome. Pretty dominant. Portugal was responsible for at least two of those three losses, if not all three. One was during the September stretch drive. I'll admit that this is at variance with our usual success -- or lack of same -- against Houston."
"Just thought it might interest some people that starting in mid-June, the Giants will play the final 3-1/2 months of the season with only six games on Astroturf," says Ethan.
Guess that means Ellis Burks will pretty much be a regular.
"With the Giants really scrapping for runs right now, I just have this very bad feeling that a stupid, overreactionary trade is not far away," says Richard. "And here is betting it does not involve dumping Julian Tavarez or anything useful like that."
I've had the same thought -- but it seems a bit early for El Sabomeister to pull the trigger on something like that. I can more readily see the trade of an exciting prospect (Ryan Vogelsong. I didn't say that. Never mind.) to some much smarter team for a guy like... well, a guy like Jerry Spradlin, frankly."
This would horrify me, of course, but I picture it nonetheless. Of course, just saying that leads a semi-famous Giants newsgroup lurker to launch into his quarterly rant: "It's interesting that Brian Sabean is highly regarded around the baseball community yet most of you 'regulars' seem to think he's an idiot. I guess you 'experts' could run a team much better."
"I'd be happy to prove it for half his salary!," says Mike W.
Is it really impossible that laypeople could know at least one thing about Brian Sabean's job better than he does? I don't think so. He's proven that the possibility should at least be considered, but that doesn't matter to this particular lurker, whose raison d'être is to come out of the woodwork every few months and tell us we don't know what the hell we're talking about.
"Brian Sabean's particularly well regarded in the John Hart household," says Jim J. (Or "Yim Yay," if you prefer.) "I don't think many folks around here think they could 'run a team better' than Sabean, nor do most think that he's Tom Haller without the pleasant disposition; it's just that it's equally true that not many of us would have suggested moving Steve Reed for... er... what do we have to show for Steve Reed again?
"Did Al Morman leave anything behind? Hair care products? Sump'in?
"Besides, my biggest current problem is Dusty, who's got to accept that Marvin and his sub .300 OBP is crippling our offense. But he sure is gritty!"
I don't see how it could require the acumen and experience of a long-time Baseball Insider to see that it just might be a bad idea to trade possibly the best reliever in the league at the time and a reasonable, high-hopes outfield prospect for possibly the worst reliever in any league, plus an old, oft-injured backup shortstop who can't really play defense anymore, plus a hard-throwing "closer" who'd been booed off the mound in Cleveland (and damn near duplicated that performance in San Francisco). This isn't one of those 20-20 hindsight things: it was obviously a bad trade at the time, and I can't remember anyone in the Giants newsgroup feeling otherwise, except perhaps this particular lurker.
It's true, without a doubt, that the Snow and Kent acquisitions have worked out well for the Giants -- and I say this knowing that Snow pretty much slurped last year (under horrific personal circumstances) and really hasn't hit for any power this year. It's true that I, at least, should've adopted more of a wait-and-see attitude with those deals. But it's not true that I, or other baseball fans, could not possibly know more about any facet of a GM's job than the GM himself. It's just not. Overall, I'd say it's a given that Brian Sabean would do a significantly better job as the Giants' GM than I would, or anybody I know, but that doesn't mean that if he and I were to disagree (during our various, lengthy discussions that I've never told you about), he'd always be right and I'd always be wrong. Why's that so hard to see? This isn't same thing as me saying "I always know better."
"OF Chris Van Rossum (Arizona) was promoted from Class A to AA El Paso. He hit .311 in 28 games with Class A High Desert (Adelanto, Calif.).
"Troy Brohawn is also holding his own for Arizona's AAA Tucson team:
W L ERA G SV IP H R ER BB SO 1 0 3.29 3 0 13.2 22 8 5 3 12"For comparison (albeit short-term), our own FRod's numbers:
W- L ERA G SV IP H R ER BB SO 0- 2 6.20 11 0 20.1 23 14 14 9 13"But FRod has done somewhat better in some recent appearances. Can he harness his stuff? I think he may be another Salomon Torres, who had good stuff and good movement, but the ball always seemed to break right into the hitting zone.
"Meanwhile, the specter of Scott Boras raises its ugly head against the Giants with this report by Beaton:
"'An especially sharp outing Friday improved Class A St. Petersburg (Fla.) RHP Matt White (Tampa Bay) to 5-3 with a 4.14 ERA. White was a 1996 first-round pick by San Francisco, became a free agent and signed for $10 million with the Devil Rays.'
"Apparently White is over his arm troubles. I hate Bore-Ass."
"Let's see," says Jonathan, "that's $10 million for 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, right? Getting him all the way to... Class A. Hey, [Boras] gets what he can for his guys. It's not his fault that teams do dumb things."
"On the subject of former Giants farmhands sent away in recent trades, I'd thought I'd report a bit of happy news," John G. says: "The two minor league pitchers the Giants gave up along with Darryl Hamilton for Ellis Burks are doing poorly for Colorado farm teams:
'Jim Stoops was a reliever with decent numbers in the Giants chain. Now, he is pitching at AAA Colorado Springs. His stats:
W L ERA G SV IP H R ER BB SO
Stoops, Jim 0 2 5.04 13 1 30.1 32 17 17 24 15
"'Jason Brester seemed like a nice left-handed starter prospect for the Giants. He's still starting, but blowing chunks, for the Rockies' AA Carolina of the Southern League.
W L ERA G SV IP H R ER BB SO
Brester, Jason 2 5 6.10 8 0 41.1 50 33 28 20 28
I think the colorful metaphor might have been a bit strong. Perhaps "gagging like a big gagging gagger."
"Meanwhile," John says, "here's how Hamilton himself is doing vs. Burks this year:
AVG SP OBP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E
Hambone .310 .413 .379 31 126 22 39 52 5 1 2 12 14 5 1 1 0
Burks .267 .450 .400 36 120 27 32 54 7 0 5 22 27 24 5 4 2
Look at the stolen base and runs columns, then repeat after me: "I'm about speed."
By the way, I had no idea that Burks had been so unsuccessful on the basepaths himself.
"Hmm," says Aaron, "Burks has a higher OBP than a leadoff guy. He's also got more runs scored than Hambone, and the oft-injured Burks has even played in more games."
Paul says, "That's somewhat misleading, as you'll note that (a) Hambone has more at-bats (indicating that more of Burks' appearances have been as a pinch-hitter or otherwise short), and (b) the Rockies have played the fewest games in the majors (due to snowouts, Littleton shooting, etc.)
"But yes, it does look as if the Magic Walk Tonic(tm) Hamilton was using last year has worn off and he's back to free swinging, with predictably mediocre results."
That's kind of understandable, though. Seems to me that Coors would be the place to try and change your style, given how attractive and even seductive the place is for a hitter. Then again, you'd expect some actual pop from Hamilton if that's what he's going for... I mean, when Americans change their swings in Japan, that usually works....
"I think Benard's situation is very similar to Javier's," says Anson: "Halfway through 1997 Javier came off the bench, hit really well, and took over Glenallen Hill's job. In 1998 Dusty handed Javier the right field job and he sucked. When the Giants started searching for another right fielder in July, he started hitting better, but it was too late. This year he's hitting great again off the bench.
"Benard hit great for two months last year, and was handed the center field job. Now he sucks. I think just like Javier, Dusty thinks Benard has earned his spot and will play him until the All-Star break. If he doesn't come around by then he'll lose his job. Then he'll hit well again, like Javier.
"Some players are born to be bench players."
"Loyalty is great, but it's also a two-way street," says William. "Benard is an excellent fourth outfielder but is not your everyday answer as a leadoff man or center fielder.
"Rios has earned his way through the organization. His production has him climbing past organizational hopefuls: Calvin Murray, Dante Powell, Jacob Cruz, and others. All Rios does is hit and play great defense. What more can be asked of Rios?
"He hits for average, hits for power, can steal bases, plays a solid game defensively and we have seen his great arm in action. Because of his size (not his heart or play) he has needed to show himself above and beyond at every level. Rios has passed all of those tests with flying colors.
"He would be a great bat in the three-hole until Barry returns. Then (hopefully before the ten weeks projected), slide Armando into the five- or six- hole.
"Then stand back and watch Armando excel in center field and drive in 90-120 runs annually. Benard then can be used as pinch-hitter, pinch-runner, and fourth outfielder when Barry or Ellis needs a day off."
I don't have that view of Rios. I think he's almost certainly better than Benard in all phases of the game, and probably better than Javier, too -- but I'm not sure he's any better than a fourth outfielder. However, I think I'd prefer to see him in center over Benard, even though Benard's the kind of player I enjoy pulling for.
"A couple of games ago I would have agreed," says Philip, "but with Marvin's [recent] 3-for-5 performance, it seems like he is starting to heat up. What I would agree with though is putting Rios in left field and taking out Javier. Rios is a great player without an opportunity right now."
Tim says, "I know. I was hoping to see him more regularly while Bonds is out. If he's only a part-timer now, what will happen to him when Bonds returns?"
He'll go back to Fresno, probably. Either that, or they'll trade Javier.
In any case, the absence of Bonds still leaves a gargantuan hole in the lineup, and I don't understand why some can't see it. Indeed some fans and sportswriters have said that the Giants are plugging along quite nicely without Bonds, thank you, and I don't know what they're talking about. I'm amazed that the Giants have been a game over .500 since the season-opening five-game win streak, but I believe that with Bonds, we'd be at least 28-16 instead of 25-19. Maybe that doesn't sound like much to you, but it puts us at least 4-1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks, maybe more. With Bonds, the Giants always have these nagging little holes in their team, but without him, they seem miles from complete. And yet they're "plugging along." Give me a break.
"[This] sort of reminds me of a comment my former college roommate -- a rabid Bonds-hater -- made about how the Giants hanging tough proves that Bonds is not only overrated, but 'contributes nothing essential' to the team," says Woody. ("You must have hated rooming with Bruce Jenkins," says Jason.) "My reply was, 'Could be. Also could be that if the Giants continue playing tough when Bonds gets back, they'll be unstoppable.' Barry's mouth indisputably gets him into a lot of trouble, but it's also clear that in the eyes of a lot of people, he's gonna be damned no matter what he does."
So clear.
"Charlie has approached Batistian depths this year," says John B., whom I have refrained from calling "Sloopy" and who provides these numbers:
AVG SP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E
Hayes .179 .274 33 117 13 21 32 3 1 2 22 15 24 2 0 6
Batiste .208 .323 54 130 17 27 42 6 0 3 11 5 33 3 3 11
Jason says, "Hayes has started 31 of 34 games that he's been eligible (taking into account his suspension) and has struggled throughout, except in the RBI department. He continues to drive in runs -- he's the only Giant with more RBIs (22) than hits (21) -- which is why Baker never lost faith."
"This is why RBIs are overrated," says Sean. "With all the baserunners that have been on ahead of Hayes this year, even Alex Diaz would have 22 RBIs. More RBIs than hits only means that Hayes has been driving in runs with groundouts and sacrifice flies -- not exactly productive hitting."
Funny moment in yesterday's game: One of the Astros batters hit a shot to third base. Bill Mueller made a fantastic stop, then threw the ball by J.T. Snow at first. Greg, as Mueller got up to throw, said exactly what I was thinking: "No way Charlie Hayes woulda made that play." He then groaned as the throw skipped merrily toward the dugout, and we muttered darkly about Earnest Praising and the Baseball Gods.
Ben F. says, "He was out of options (I think), so he had to clear waivers to be sent to AAA, and neither the A's, nor [later] the Giants, let him clear them. At least he didn't have to find a new apartment."
This is pretty much how it happened, as far as I know. (I took some satisfaction in knowing that he got bombed with Oakland.) At the time, Johnstone was the first player in at least 15 years whom I could remember having two stints on a team on either side of a stint with a different team. However, I think that in the same year, the Reds and Royals kept playing games with the aptly named Tim Pugh. Every time his team wanted to send him down, he couldn't clear waivers, and the other team would snag him. I think it happened about three times apiece.
And I'm not certain, but it may have happened with Scott Service, who I think bounced between the Reds and Rockies in 1995.
If you, happy reader, know of other players who played with at least two major league teams in a year, one of them in at least two nonconsecutive stints, I'd love to hear about them.
"And look at that season Matt Williams is having. I'll bet you all wish that trade could be reversed now."
Lee says, "Bonds bats in front of Kent. You were saying...?"
Actually, I don't think Rich really misspoke. For the most part, folks on the Giants newsgroup don't buy too heavily into the notion of hitters "protecting" the guys who bat ahead of them, and to say that Bonds, in batting ahead of Kent, "protects" him isn't necessarily invalid, because Bonds is on base all the time, is a reasonable threat to steal, and I'm guessing Kent sees lots more fastballs as a result.
Ethan says, "Okay, at exactly one-fourth of the way through the season [which would be 40-1/2 games... -- GP], Kent is on track for 100 RBIs without Barry's .450 OBP in front of him, and he hasn't hit the hot streak that we all know he'll have. Kent is indeed meandering right now, but meander well he does."
He doesn't seem to be striking much fear into anybody's heart right now, though, except Giants fans....
Well, not lefties, anyway. Then again... Jeff Brantley... Rick Reuschel....
"Whither Atlee?" is a prime candidate for "Jocks in the Box."
Interestingly, in his first book, evidently, Dave Dravecky cites Hammaker as one of his main influences. You wouldn't think so, you know? There's this widespread perception that Atlee's completely nutso because he appeared to be such a flake (and that he lost his mind as the result of being pounded in the 1983 All-Star Game), and that his flakitude is why his career went down faster than [complete the metaphor yourself; this is a family website... or something].
Jonathan has said, "No, Atlee didn't lose it because he was nuts; he lost it because he was hurt." And frankly, because Atlee was Atlee, that hadn't occurred to me... but it sure does seem more plausible, doesn't it? I mean, he was always hurt.
He was just a lefty, see... which doesn't mean I think he was inherently nuts, just that lefthanded pitchers are routinely portrayed that way, so they often seem not to be given due "credit" for their injuries. I wonder if Estes is still hurt. (And I'm even sicker of hearing about his concentration level.)
"The recent talk about Atlee and Giants All-Star Pitching (GASP) woes reminded me of something I posted on another site last year," says John B. "I checked out the Sporting News All-Star archives, and here's what I found: Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, Giants' pitchers have compiled a 7-3 record, with an ERA of 4.14 (25 ER in 54.1 IP). However, a closer look at the record book reveals three distinct eras of San Francisco Giants' All-Star pitching performances: The first, I call the 'Marichal Era' from 1958-71. Second is the 'Transitional (or 'Vida') Era' from '72-'82. And then there's that period of time I like to call the 'Atlee Era' from 1983 to present (and hopefully not much farther).
"During the Marichal Era, Giants' pitchers went 6-0 and allowed just 4 earned runs in 37.1 innings pitched, for an 0.96 ERA. Marichal allowed just one earned run (and one unearned) in his eight All-Star appearances, covering 19 innings of work. (Can I just say right here that Marichal was Da BOMB! Dennis Martinez? pfffft!)
"One other thing: Stu Miller's '61 outing at the Candlestick All-Star game is often cited as another example of 'The Curse.' Well, check out Miller's line from that game: 1.2 innings, no hits, one unearned run, one walk, four strikeouts. And he was the winning pitcher! Stu went on to toss three more scoreless innings in the second '61 All-Star Game at Fenway Park (the game ended in a 1-1 tie). Miller's very impressive '61 All-Star totals: 4.2 innings, one hit, no earned runs, one walk, nine strikeouts.
"In the years prior to the Atlee Era, Giants' pitchers were 7-0, with a 1.37 ERA (7 earned runs in 46 innings). Little did Atlee Hammaker know when he took the mound on that fateful night in 1983, that he was about to usher in a time where Giants pitchers would go 0-3 with an ERA of 19.44! In the Atlee Era, Giants pitchers have allowed 18 runs in 8.1 innings. Out of nine Atlee Era appearances, Giants pitchers have managed to emerge unscored upon in just two of them (Rod Beck in '94 and Mike Krukow in '86). The Atlee Era also was marked by the first instance of a San Francisco Giant being the losing pitcher in an All-Star Game: Jeff Brantley, 1990.
"My conclusion is that Giants' pitchers are not cursed. They are merely suffering through the Atlee Era -- a bad stretch which hopefully will soon come to a conclusion, and give way to another good era -- how about the Ortiz Era?
"Here are the numbers:
Todd says, "With Ortiz mastering Houston today and Chicago's Kevin Tapani losing to the Braves (six innings, four earned runs), the former has just claimed the NL ERA lead: Ortiz, 2.25; Tapani, 2.31. As Mel Allen would have said, 'How about that?'"
"That's great," says Anson, "but I hope it won't get into his head in his next outing. Also, it'd be great if he stop walking two batters before he leaves the game."
"From what I have heard so far, he is quiet and humble," says Carlos. "I've heard quotes from him that sound like he won't get cocky. I also heard that he has his wife's and mother's names on the underside of the bill of his cap. Before an inning starts, he looks up at them and uses them as inspiration. I had a chance to verify this last year in the game against the Rockies in San Francisco when Barry gunned one on McElroy, but I forgot about it so I didn't watch Ortiz' behavior before the start of an inning.
"Now that's a fellow with perspective in my book."
True... but it he keeps performing well, he's liable to wind up on the All-Star team... and we know what happens when that happens.
Know what's scarier? I said this on Saturday, and today I was greeted to the cheery sight of Ray Ratto's picture in the Examiner, accompanying an article saying the same thing. Eeeeeehyuhhyuhhyuh.
Woody says, "To any and all who feel at times that the travails of being a Giants fan can at times make baseball just too frustrating to deal with, consider the following exchange between myself and an umpire in an adult league here in France who yesterday called me out at second when the tag missed me by (no lie), nearly a yard:
Me: Out?! You're joking. He missed me by a meter. [That's French, as you know, for "yard." -- GP] There's no way you could have seen him tag me."My hand to God. And it was all in French -- not like there was any language problem. Apparently, the Major League Umpires Union has enforced its incompetence rules around the world, awaiting global expansion. Can't wait till Angel Dupont decides to give me the thumb for chewing gum in a disrespectful manner."Pierre Umpire: You're out!
Me: Hang on. Did... you... see... him... tag... me?
P.U.: No, but I heard a noise.
Me: What noise?
P.U.: Of an out.
What I really should do is zoom through the archives of my correspondence with Woody -- you wouldn't believe how much there is -- and extract his Baseball Idiot stories. An absolute laff riot.
However, I do see the benefit in having a real solid base-stealer at the top of the lineup, especially if he's the kind of guy about whom no one says, "You can't steal first." Guys like this -- Rickey Henderson, say -- are disruptive and distracting, and over the years I've often wished the Giants could have a guy like that, especially after watching it happen to them a whole bunch of times.
"While it may well distract the pitcher it's absolutely clear that base stealers distract the batter more than the pitcher," says Ron J. "Here's an interesting one: Stats tracked the effects of pickoff throws. The study on pitchouts appeared in the 1994 STATS Major League Scoreboard:
Overall 0 throws 1 throw 2+ throws
AVG .284 .287 .279 .274
SP .423 .429 .423 .395
"No OBP numbers sadly, but walks would have to go up a ton to cover this."
By which I assume Ron means, "In order to make up for the drops in batting average and slugging percentage, walks would have to increase."
"At any rate, the best study on stolen base attempts was presented in [Bill James'] 1987 Great American Baseball Stat Book (though STATS has also run a few.). Done by Kevin Hoare and using 1985 AL data:
AVG OBP SP ISO
No SBA .262 .326 .408 .146
SBA .209 .365 .304 .095
-20% +12% -26% -35%
(SB: stolen base attempt. ISO: isolated power, meaning slugging percentage minus batting average -- in other words, extra-base hits per at-bat.)
"In other words," says Ron, "there is a tradeoff of 39 points of OBP for 104 points of slugging percentage. Not a good deal. Interesting comment from John Strelow: 'Also evident is that stealing the base often takes the bat out of the hitters' hands, as evidenced by their much higher walk rate after SB attempts.'
"To allow a base stealer to run you've got to take pitches. Whether you would have chosen to take it or not. More called balls and strikes."
Yeah -- plus, you never know, the batter might have taken THE pitch, thus sacrificing far more than a stolen base can provide.
"For those in the 'appeal to authority' crowd, it's interesting to note that in Pete Palmer's discussion of stolen bases in The Hidden Game he has a quote to the effect that Maury Wills' 104 steals in 1962 cost the Dodgers the pennant. The logic being that Junior Gilliam had to take a lot of hittable pitches to allow all of this base stealing.
"Don't know if I buy this. Gilliam's 1962 looks like a typical Gilliam year. And it's very much a minority opinion."
Plus, anything that costs the Dodgers a pennant is fine by me.
I'm not trying to defend the stolen base as a strategy overall -- steals are kind of fun, but I do think they're generally pointless unless the runner knows he's pretty much gonna make it -- but I'm also thinking, "Well, the major leagues are gonna steal. Fans like it -- it's exciting. So since they are gonna steal, what's the best way to go about doing it?"
"I hear you," Ron says, "but consider this. More than base stealing, fans like wins. Concentrate on winning, not on pleasing the fans."
And I hear Ron. (Well, I don't actually hear him, per se.) And I feel the same way. Still, I believe that owner integrity is such that if a given owner knew he'd make more money (justified as "pleasing the fans") by fielding a loser than a winner, he would. Not that that's a revolutionary thought....
I wonder what the above numbers would show on most Rickey-occupied teams.
"Some of you might remember in 1982 Dwayne Murphy said publicly that he'd rather bat last than bat second (behind Rickey Henderson)," says Anson.
"You can also throw in Joe Morgan and Frank Thomas as players who've said publicly that they didn't like batting with a base stealer on first," says Ron.
We know this anyway, but there are times Joe Morgan should just shut up.
"Well, Joe Morgan and Frank Thomas are just crybabies compared to Murphy, who had a much more legitimate claim, since that year Henderson had over 200 steal attempts (which I believe had to be a record, and likely will never be broken)," Anson says.
Makes me wonder if Morgan rationalizes his statement by saying that the guy batting behind him was comfortable batting with a base stealer on first.
"Okay, I need to get this out of my system every once in a while."
I doubt Ethan would enjoy my saying so, but I laughed.
"As did I," says Woody. "Not only at the absolute legitimacy of what non-Giant fans might uncomprehendingly interpret as an outdated explosion of frustration, but also because now I feel less stupid about doing the same periodically about my entire life. 'Periodically' being defined as 'almost daily,' and 'virtually always when I'm in a movie theater or other venue where people are trying to concentrate.'"
(I've read, too, that if you laugh and cry and burp, sneeze, cough, and throw up at the same time, you die....)
Jason says, "Sometimes I have this sick vision that the Giants will finally win the World Series as soon as I no longer care."
"That's not sick at all," says John B. "Lots of people feel that way. Just look at how many people are trying to feign indifference by not attending the games."
"I take full responsibility for '93," says Jon R. (And frankly I'm delighted, because I want it to stop being my fault.) In fact I'm glad that the eight-game losing streak was mentioned; I always remember that... not too many people do. The losing streak coincided almost to the day to a short vacation I took that summer up the northern coast of California. Most evenings we watched the Giants on TV when the they were on, if we were at a bar/restaurant that had a TV going.
"I remember one particular frustrating game that was part of the skid. It was against the Pirates, and the Giants were trailing by one fairly late in the game. Matt Williams hit an amazing two-run shot to give the Giants the lead. Then the next inning Don Slaught hit a two-run homer to give the Pirates back the lead -- that's the way it ended.
"Sigh... at that point I realized I was being punished by the Giants for taking time off from work."
Hey, don't blame the Giants. That's the Baseball Gods at work.
"Good Lord!" says Jason. "I thought the streak was my fault since it coincided with my business trip to Phoenix, and I wound up not able to use Giants-Pirates tickets I had bought beforehand. That's a relief...."
"Well, I think you both bear at least some of the responsibility," says John. "Then again, so do I. I have repeatedly damaged the Giants' chances, year after year, basically just by caring about them. So it's actually my fault, and both of you guys' fault. And it's Gregg's fault. [I knew it. -- GP] And Salomon Torres' fault, and whoever threw that pitch to Don Slaught's fault [Mike Jackson. -- GP], and Bob Quinn's fault for not trading for Dennis Martinez when he had the chance, and the stinkin' Padres fault for giving away McGriff, and the stinkin' Rockies for rolling over like dead dogs whenever they played the Braves that year, and Jane Fonda's fault, and Jim Deshaies' fault, and whoever broke Robby Thompson's face's fault ... (I could go on)."
"Trevor Hoffman," says Jason. "I was there in the Pavilion and glad I wasn't closer. Apparently the Baseball Gods didn't have a problem with that one."
"Glad you two mention this, 'cause all these years I thought it was my fault!" says Anson. "I was already celebrating the division title in the beginning of September. Thanks, guys, now I can sleep much better!"
"You were celebrating prematurely?" says Richard, incredulously. "In that case, it was all your fault (which you know in your heart). Glad we have settled that."
Copyright ©1999 by Gregg Pearlman
Last updated 5/24/99 Gregg Pearlman, gregg@EEEEEEgp.com