Marty–It is time to stop putting the best face possible on the Giants prospects this year and address realities. These realities include not only looking at this immediate year’s problems but the future for the franchise. In a fashion typical for a longstanding fan, there has been an attempt in the past few weeks to downplay obvious difficulties, to say that it is too early to give up, that the season has just begun and things will get better. Unfortunately, it is true that the season has just started but it is wrong to say that things will get better.

Click below for E’ds hard look at the 2004 Giants! [Read more →]

The Yankees are starting to hit with some power. Not just singles anymore, they are stinging the ball.
A Rod was a dud so many times as a Ranger in Oakland, but he brought his team back into the game last night with a monster three run homer off of Mark Mulder.

If you watch a tape of the pitch, it was one of the worst pithces Mulder has thrown in his career. The ball was high and over the plate excactly in the spot a slugger like Rodriguez makes his money.

The A’s have handled the Yankees before, but it takes pitchers who have command to stop them. Right now the A’s key pitchers have no command.

Will it change? It better, but this is the first time I can remember when the big boys look lost on the mound.

Don’t ask about the bullpen right now. The NY pen is solid with Paul Quantrill throwing strikes, Tom Gordon has the drop working, and what can you say about Mariano Rivera.

In an era of bullpens, the A’s pen is no match right now for New York’s.

The Red Sox continue self destructing at the plate as well as in the field. When Cleveland plays the game better than you do, the flags go up.

The Angels keep smacking the baseball, Detroit’s Nate Robertson, like Mulder gets too much of the plate when he pitches. Against the Angels, you can’t put the ball where they can extend because they swing from their heels everytime they turn it loose.

Tonight the Angels main guys in the pen are rested and ready to go if in fact Kelvim Escobar is on the hill for the Halos.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Amaury– I haven’t given up on the Giants yet. It is far too early to throw in the towel. Somehow, this team, over the past three years, has managed to make believers out of non-believers too often to allow the luxury of surrendering early. Having said that, where are they going to find three more starting pitchers? How long are they going to continue starting Rueter for the simple pleasure of seeing him give up a five run lead which he enjoyed by the bottom of the second inning? If some club needs a left-handed batting practice pitcher maybe the Giants can find a place for him.

Click below for more of Ed’s well thought out response!

[Read more →]

Believe it or not, the Texas Rangers are sitting comfortably atop the AL West this morning.

There are many reasons why a team suddenly jells and the Ranger story begins with Michael Young. Not only is he hitting .362, but he is playing nice shortstop replacing you know who.

Alfonso Soriano hammered the weak pitchers last year and he is starting to heat up as the Rangers walloped the Red Sox this weekend.

Make no mistake, the Red Sox are good, but their offense is a shell of what it was last year. When you have no alternative to Cesar Crespo with the game on the line in the ninth inning, you know there is trouble in paradise. The Sox miss Nomar and Trot Nixon. Just too much Pokey Reese, Mark “the walking man” Bellhorn and David McCarty in this lineup for me.

Bill Mueller and Brian Daubach haven’t hit much to date either.

So, the Rangers have a bullpen and last night Francisco Cordero saved his 10th game of the year. RA Dickey shut the Angels down earlier in the season, last night he mesmerized the Sox with his knuckle curve. Is he for real? Could be, and we’ll see this month.

Chan Ho Park, Kenny Rogers, Ryan Drese, and Jaoquin Benoit lead the starters, need I say more. Enjoy the resurgence while it lasts.

Texas can hit, they are playing nice and loose and I hope they hang in because it makes the West a terrific place to play.

With Tampa Bay and its band of underachievers due in this week, things look rosy in Texas.

click below for more. [Read more →]

In 2002 the Anaheim Angels
finished the month of April
6-14. I remember in some
Press Boxes some reporters
talking about:
When is Angel manager
Mike Sciosia is going to
be fired ?
That same season the
Angels won the World
Series over the Giants
in seven games.

By Amaury Pi-González
San Francisco [Read more →]

Batter Up May 1st

The A’s were swept in Yankee Stadium this week and all of baseball marveled how the sputtering New Yorkers saved their season. The same may be said of the A’s if they learn from the debacle in the Bronx.

Here’s why.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

After winning three of four games on Tuesday night, the AL West was swept on Wednesday.

Detroit can hit and did so against Bartolo Colon who continues his disturbing pattern set last season when he would inexplicably lose games that you would think he had in the bag. It ended up costing the White Sox a shot at the division crown.

Anaheim can withstand injuries because of its depth, but with David Eckstein out, Garret Anderson on the DL, and Vladimir Guerrero hurting, they are not as scary with the bat.

Today Jarrod Washburn faces Nate Robertson in a battle of lefties. Washburn hasn’t gone past five innings yet in any start, so the bullpen better be ready. Scott Shields and Frankie Rodriguez will see some action today for sure. Robertson has a live arm, so this is a good test for the rookie.

The A’s are reliving playoff nightmares this week in NY. It will take sometime for this new group of Athletics to get their feet on the ground in Yankee Stadium.

Barry Zito was rocked in his last start and unless he has his good curveball, the Yankees will tee off on him as the Angels did. Zito likes to pitch in NY, but his stuff has been less than stellar so far.

Kevin Brown keeps the ball down and will be tough on the A’s who are hurting for middle infielders these days. Someone needs to surprise the Yanks today such as Mark Kotsay or Erubiel Durazo because you can’t put the onus on Eric Chavez and Jermaine Dye to lift this offense on a daily basis.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

The AL West gets to take a look at the intriguing AL Central this week when the Angels meet the revamped Tigers in Detroit. The Rangers get to match bats with the Royals in Kansas City.

The A’s meet the Yanks in the Bronx and Seattle sees the Orioles in Camden Yards.

Kansas City throws lefty Jeremy Affeldt against the Rangers. Affeldt, the only legit power arm on the staff, had an excellent seven innings against the Indians his last time out. The Indians don’t hit very well, Texas does.

Kenny Rogers who missed his last start with the flu will have his hands full with this team. Mike MacDougall is back in the KC bullpen and will be in action right away.

Anyway, it will be instructive to see if the Rangers can hit with Kansas City or vice versa.

Detroit has scored more runs this month than they did in two months last year or so it seems. They will need to hit to keep up with Anaheim. Nate Cornejo is righthanded, so maybe he’ll slow the Angel bats to a measley four runs in six innings.

John Lackey pitched well his last game and with a day off the Anaheim bullpen is ready and loaded, so if Detroit is to get lucky tonight they better do it before the sixth inning.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Marty- Glenn Dickey beat me to the punch. His Saturday article outlined the systemic problems the franchise has, problems which go beyond their present difficulties on the field. He discussed “three mistakes in judgment” the team made. He probably stopped there because he ran out of room.

Click below for Ed’s look at his Giants! [Read more →]

The 2004 season is three weeks old and the surprises are outweighing the predicted performances by far.

How about the NL Central where the Reds are tied with the Cubs for the lead. The Brewers knocked off the Cardinals again and they did it with pitching and timely hitting. The Pirates aren’t exactly pushovers either sweeping the Mets last weekend.

Texas may be the biggest surprise in the AL. Given up for dead after the A Rod trade, the Rangers are tied with the A’s and the Angels for the lead in the West. Texas is doing it with a young lineup and hold onto your hats: good starting pitching.

Detroit, the pathetic team that lost 119 games last year, is 1/2 game out of the lead in the AL Central. How about that? The revamped lineup scores runs, Ugueth Urbina leads a semi reliable bullpen, and Pudge Rodriguez gets my vote for most enthusiastic player in the league.

Click below for more! [Read more →]