Good News, Bad News for Giants
by Glenn Dickey
Apr 10, 2006

THERE WAS good news and bad news as the Giants rallied dramatically to beat Atlanta and close out a 4-2 first week yesterday.

Chief among the good news was the hitting of Lance Niekro, not just because he hit a game-tying home run in the ninth but because he appears to be a much improved hitter. He’s hanging in much better against tough right-handed pitchers; he had an RBI single off John Smoltz earlier in the game.

Niekro had been a top prospect for the Giants since he started in their minor league system in 2000. He hit well wherever he went, averaging .310 in his minor league career, but couldn’t stay healthy; in five minor league seasons, he played only 351 games. He started at third base but, knowing there was already a logjam at that position on the major league level, the Giants had him playing first base for about 40 per cent of the time in the minors.

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Thanks to Raf and Alma for posting these two shows. You will enjoy listening to the first show as Shooty Babitt and I give our 2006 predictions. By the way Shooty picks the Tigers to win the Central, and this was before the season started.

Show two has Shooty, Robert Buan, the A’s post game host, and me analyzing the first week of the season.

April 1:

Part 1/5
Part 2/5
Part 3/5
Part 4/5
Part 5/5

April 8:

Part 1/4
Part 2/4
Part 3/4
Part 4/4
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The baseball season can be divided into three stages.

First, everybody comes out of spring training raring to go. Pitching rotations are set. Optimism abounds. Everyone is with striking distance of the leaders.

It takes about two months for the flawed teams to be fully exposed. In the meantime the lesser squads are healthy enough to sneak up on the better teams, winning games they won’t win later in the year. [Read more →]

Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND – The King is dead. Long live the King.

We all remember when Hudson, Mulder, and Zito were synonymous with annual trips to the post-season. But the Big Three was also synonymous with annual trips home in time for Halloween following the ALDS.

Now Huddy and Mulder are gone, having joined perennial NL bridesmaids Atlanta and St.Louis, respectively.

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Even before opening night for the ’06 A’s I’d said that I really won’t miss Barry Zito next year when he’s gone.

I’d be willing to bet that the A’s front office won’t either.

Of course they’ll miss Barry Zito, the good guy. But they won’t miss Barry Zito the pitcher. People with more than “fan-typical” baseball knowledge know that Zito, the pitcher, is overrated.

He’s a charismatic, eccentric baseball player. Combine that with a Cy Young award (100 years ago)…and you’re going to see some serious “overration”.

The fact is, in professional sports, one recipe for superstardom is awesome production. However, there’s another way to become a “star”…

Eccentricity and a little bit of success. And I do mean “a little bit”.

And that’s specifically why Zito will get $14 mil per year after this season from some over zelous owner. Not because he’s worth that, but because a lot of MLB general managers/owners have “fan-typical” knowledge as well. And thats a sad, sad thing.

If you look at Zito’s stats since his Cy Young year he’s been simply…average. Yet he still has all that respect. Boggles my mind why people can’t get past the name on the baseball card and just turn it over and look at the stats on the back.

And thats why I won’t miss Barry Zito next year when he’s pitching for a different team.

Simply put, he’s not that good.

Sure he has his stretches where he still shows flashes of that past dominance. But a lot of pitchers have good stretches. What really gets me is that, like Eric Chavez, you can count on Zito to take half the season to get warmed up.

I’ve heard rumors that the Rangers are already intersted (what pitcher aren’t they interested in). To be honest…fine with me.

Having Zito pitch against the A’s in their division doesn’t worry me at all.

–Ned
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Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND – Nobody likes A.J. Pierzynski, the in-your-face, gets-under-your-skin backstop.

Except the White Sox and me.

Pierzynski is a ‘throwback’ player. Throwbacks are walking baseball cliches. They would look normal walking out of a cornfield in a woolen baseball uniform. They crash into walls. Most wear their pants fashionably ‘high,’ socks exposed to the knee.They run ’em all out, including everything from game-changing dropped third strikes in the 2005 ACLS (Thank-you, A.J.) to routine grounders in a 14-1 laugher. They get on base anyway they can, they move runners up, and they rise to the occasion with clutch hits.

They beat you.

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THERE’S NOTHING more distasteful to most sportswriters than a new idea. The latest one is teams using computer models as part of their talent evaluation, and never mind that NFL teams were doing it more than 40 years ago and the A’s have been doing it for a quarter-century. It still counts as a new idea for writers. I mean, Connie Mack never used computers, did he?

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Opening Day: Who’s On First?

Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND – Nomar Garciaparra is playing first now? For the Dodgers? Am I crazy? I thought the Cubs just got the former all-star shortstop from the Red Sox, and to play third base at that.

It doesn’t seem very long ago that the Red Sox brought in Cabrera to replace him at short.

But Cabrera plays third for the Marlins now. Oh, wait, that’s Orlando Cabrera. Miguel Cabrera plays short for the Angels. Doesn’t he?

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Choosing which teams will make the playoffs in 2006 is a very risky proposition.

As I analyze the opening day rosters all the teams look better. Starting pitching has been upgraded throughout all of baseball.

Teams with deep starting rotations and balanced bullpens must be feared over the course of the taxing 162 game season.

Now the “if” factor comes into play.

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