Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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Zito's New Pitch


Rick Kaplan

OAKLAND (Sept. 5) – I’m not a baseball insider.

I don’t have access to the locker room or the up-to-the-minute injury reports. All I know is what I see on the TV or, occasionally, from the stands.

So, when the KICU speed gun tops out at 85 yesterday against Texas, that’s as much as I know about how hard Barry Zito is throwing. Especially since the Coliseum gun was mysteriously “broken” last Wednesday when I watched Barry coast against a very hittable Curt Schilling, as the A’s raked the Bosox, 7-2.

As a matter of fact, even 85 MPH was rare yesterday. It was usually more like 82 or 83 in fastball counts.

Click below for more!Just when the A’s seemed to be turning their attention and the hopes of their fans toward the Fall Classic, this development could throw a cloud over their post-season chances, and make Rich Harden’s return to the rotation a matter of great importance.

Zito has always thrown his fastball 88-89, occasionally 90. Never overpowering but, with good location, it was hard enough to tie up right-handed hitters on the inner half of the plate when they have been preoccupied with looking out for his outstanding curve ball and change-up on the outer half.

At 83 MPH the hitters can easily adjust to the fastball. Boom, boom, boom. And that’s just what the Texas hitters did yesterday, despite Ken Macha’s being puzzled that the A’s had “more hits and less runs” than the winning Rangers.

Despite Ken’s frustration, the A’s and Zito were lucky it wasn’t worse. And don’t forget that all three balls that Jay Payton uncharacteristically messed up were hard hit.

I was reminded by Barry’s performance yesterday of Esteban Loaiza’s last outing, against the Angels, before going on the DL back in July. It was painful, to the fans and to his teammates, watching him try to get good hitters out with an 82 MPH heater that afternoon at McAffee.

But there was no mention in the media, during or after the game, of Zito’s loss of velocity. What game were the announcers and writers watching yesterday?

I may not be an insider, but I know a problem when I see one.

LOAIZA: OAKLAND’S NEW ACE?

Coming soon to a theater near you: “The Esteban Loaiza Story” . . . How a much maligned free agent overcame the mysterious early season loss of his fastball to rise to the top rung of American League hurlers, just in time to save the Athletics’ run at their ninth World Series title.

As Danny Haren and Joe Blanton hit a few bumps recently, and Barry Zito gets hit hard more and more regularly (remember the 14-0 loss to Texas a few weeks ago?), an unlikely stopper may have emerged in the nick of time.

Maybe the World Baseball Classic deserves some of the credit. According to Ken Macha, it was the WBC which wore down Loaiza so much that his arm went dead. However, in what could be the ultimate happy ending for A’s fans, it was the stint on the DL that alllowed Loaiza to embark on a new conditioning program, one which has resulted in him throwing harder than he ever has in a relatively mediocre twelve year MLB career.

Maybe Barry Zito should have gone to the WBC.

THE BARRY BONDS BANDWAGON

All aboard!!

Two weeks ago he was finished, a drag on his teammates, an embarrassment.

Now that he has again demonstrated that he is still a great hitter and a game decider unlike probably anyone else who has ever played, with the possible exception of Reggie Jackson, the writers are crawling back.

Don’t they feel silly?

Probably not, because this is their job, whether they like it or not, to accentuate angles, or fabricate them, even when they don’t exist, and overlook others that really do tell a true story. Otherwise, how could a player of Bonds magnificence be so maligned when another unnaturally extended specimen like Roger Clemens be so lauded for his half-seasons (Remember his mysterious self-yanking in the eighth inning of the sixth game in the 1986 Series against the Mets, or the ACLS meltdown against Stew in 1990, or the loss to Mexico in the WBC?), heartlessness and history of big game failures?

Baseball is a story that takes many twists and turns. I wondered earlier in the season: How does a Billy Beane justify going after an Esteban Loaiza with a huge contract? Or trading a blue chipper like Andre Ethier for the mercurial Milton Bradley?

Good moves.

But then again, sometimes Moneyball means Nelson Cruz for Keith Ginter.

Baseball is a funny game. And the ending always surprises.

Next: Post-season picks

0 comments

1 Anonymous { 09.07.06 at 1:20 pm }

This is yet another insightful, witty, and enjoyable piece written by Rick. I’ve read all of his articles and find him to be the most entertaining and informative of all the writers on this site. Does Rick write for a newspaper or magazine? If not, he should!! The word “refreshing” keeps popping into my head whenever I read his articles. Looking forward to Rick’s postseason picks and the pleasure I will have in reading who they are and why.

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