As we head into the all star break it has become very clear that every team in the hunt needs pitching. I can’t rememember a season where there was less dominant pitching available as the trade deadline approaches.

Pittsburgh’s Kris Benson is the number one choice on the market. At best he is a fourth starter in any rotation. the Yankees, Mets, Cardinals, and Rangers are all after Benson.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

It has long been considered a good baseball omen to be leading your league or division on July 4th. This season things are different. Other than the Yankees in the East, every division is still up for grabs.

The late Hall of Famer, Leonard Koppett, my all time favorite baseball writer, maintained and it holds true today, that since the addition of the wild card no matter what record you have in July or August, if you are playing .500 ball on September 1st, you have a shot at the playoffs.

In addition, if you are in a tight race for the division crown, whoever plays the best over the last 35 games wins it all. Pitching down the stretch has always been the key.

Both the A’s and Giants took 5 of 7 from their SoCal rivals over the past ten days. Are the Dodgers and Angels dead? Absolutely not. With 85 games to go, teams should be pointing for September and not gloating about five game winning streaks in June or July.

Click Below for More!
[Read more →]

Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon personally let Saturday’s game slip back to the ever grateful Oakland Athletics. See, McClendon has been smarting for weeks about pitchers on opposing teams who have pitched too close to his batters. He is of the philosophy that payback is in order every time one of his boys gets buzzed.

Problem on Saturday he chose his best set up man to drill Damian Miller in the eighth inning with a nice 10-6 lead. Salomon Torres was kicked out of the game after throwing behind Miller twice without even hitting him. McClendon was gone too. Enter a totally unprepared Jose Mesa and the A’s were back in business. Mesa couldn’t stop Oakland and was gone after 48 excruciating pitches. So was the lead.

Pittsburgh tied it up against Arthur “all Rhodes lead to trouble” and it took another double by Marco Scutaro, the doubles machine, to win the game for Oakland in the ninth against an overmatched Mark Corey, the Pirates last pitcher.

Was it worth it Lloyd to drill Miller? Absolutely not and I think you have lost control of the game and whatever is left of your managerial career. I can’t see any other successful manager in the big leagues behaving the way you have this series.

Before trading the players, I’d trade the manager.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

After the Athletics finish with the Pirates this weekend, the team faces a twenty five game stretch against the Cards, Cubs, Angels, Giants, Red Sox, and Indians taking the team right up to the All Star break on July 12th.

By that time, general manager Billy Beane will know just where he has to tinker to strengthen the team for its annual second half run. From here it looks like a dependable hard throwing righthander will be needed in the pen.

So far, Justin Duchscherer has been terrific in spot outings in close games. Not an overpowering pitcher, the A’s run the risk of the league catching up with Duchscherer’s curves if they continue to use him every other day.

Click Below for More “Batter Up” [Read more →]

Tim Hudson, one of the best pitchers in the American League changed his delivery Saturday. Hudson has given up more hits this season than normal even though he still has enough on the ball to dominate most batters in baseball.

Lefties were hitting .331 against him and the league .274 going into Saturday’s game, well above his normal lifetime batting average by opponents of .242.

So, Hudson now taps his toe on the ground before delivering the baseball ala Robb Nen. He claims it gives him more balance and keeps his weight back.

You don’t see many big league star pitchers make these kinds of adjustments during the season. Hudson has nerve on the hill and obviously has confidence in his ability to make a radical change in one of the most successful deliveries in the game today.

Let’s see how long it lasts? Probably until he gives up some critical hits and then balmes it on the delivery. That’s the way these things usually pan out.

Pat Hentgen will not be highly sought this July as he was last summer. Hentgen is strictly a five inning guy right now without much on the ball.

I’ll say it again, Scott Hatteberg should get serious consideration for the All Star team. He is carrying this A’s offense with key hits almost every game. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but if you watch the games, he is the MVP of the team.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Batter Up June 5th

Interleague play starts next week and it is OK by me with this proviso. I would change the number of games played between the two leagues. I’d schedule one random series, then one weekend of whichever geographical rivals I could match.

It’s bad enough for a team trying to get to the playoffs to play teams in its own league an uneven amount of times, but throw in games from the other league and it just isn’t fair.

How do you think the resurgent Mets feel playing the Yankees six times while the Marlins get to square off half a dozen times with Tampa Bay?

You can’t blame this one all on Bud because the idea for interleague play was first kicked around way back in the 1920’s.

Click Below for more baseball! [Read more →]

The A’s won the game last night, but Eric Chavez took a Damaso Marte pitch right on his hand leaving the game with a bruise and a trip to the X Ray machine.

More news on his condition today.

The White Sox are a much improved team and crush the ball from the right side. If they could get some high on base percentage hitters in front of their power hitters, they may have a lineup that resembles the early season Angels.

Esteban Loaiza wasn’t his sharpest last night as many balls were hit hard, then turned into long outs.

The A’s bullpen was excellent until Chad Bradford stayed in beyond what he is accustomed to. Frank Thomas took him deep to make the score 4-3 A’s. Jim Mecir hung a screwball to Jose Valentin and that tied the score with two out in the ninth.

Justin Duchsecherer who will be the closer before too much longer completely dominated the Sox until Bobby Kielty homered from the right side off of lefty Neal Cotts in the 12th to end the game.

Today it will be quick. Mark Buehrle and Mark Mulder don’t throw games that last more than two hours and change. The weather is good so expect some homers. Buehrle has gotten rocked in the Coliseum before so I expect this one will be the A’s game today.

The Angels must be concerned about Bartolo Colon and Troy Percival. Both got hit hard last night even though the Angels hung on to win the game. How much longer until Frankie Rodriguez is closing for Anaheim?

Today Pedro and Jarrod Washburn under balmy skies in Anaheim. Seems like good weather will agree with Pedro and his one or two relievers that will undoubtedly follow him.

Click below for more!

[Read more →]

The Red Sox take their road show to Anaheim to face a different Angels team than the one that started the season.

With Bartolo Colon on the hill tonight the Angels will bring out the new lineup with Raul Mondesi either in centerfield or DH. Can the Angels slug their way past the AL the way they did earlier in the year? Probably not. The biggest question will be which pitchers will step up and dominate in their starts.

As June begins, starting pitching should be clicking. Colon has not been the stopper that the Angels had hoped. Without an exceptional bullpen, this Angel team would be about six games worse than their 30-20 record shows this morning.

So, the question for Anaheim will the pitching standup? They have enough hitting and play good baseball to compete, but the pitching will tell the story of where they finish this season.

Derek Lowe looked awful yesterday again. The A’s lit Bronson Arroyo up last Thursday. The Sox don’t play as well on the road, this one looks like an Anaheim win tonight.

Bob Brenly is probably going to loose his job this week. Even though management likes him, the losing is wearing everyone down. There are many reasons beyond Brenly’s control for the downturn in Arizona. With the Giants pounding the Diamondbacks every game, things don’t look good for Brenly.

The Giants are riding excellent starting pitching and of course the home run bat of Barry Bonds. No reason this shouldn’t continue until they face Randy Johnson, a pitcher they somehow beat.

If the Giants make it through Colorado, winning that series, then they should be in first place within seven days.

Click below for more. [Read more →]

Memorial Day marks the first big holiday weekend of the 2004 season.

Time to check in as baseball passes the quarter pole.

The Angels are struggling. Closer Troy Percival has lost his groove. In the past, when Percival blew three or four saves in a ten day period as he has done now, it was due to some physical ailment. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Percival as the next Angel to join the wounded in Anaheim.

Anaheim’s Shane Halter has nine errors and a .239 batting average filling in for Troy Glaus at third base. Arizona still needs pitching and can offer third baseman Shea Hillenbrand for Angel Ramon Ortiz. This is one deal that makes sense for both teams and should happen.

Click below for more “Batter Up”
[Read more →]

The Boston Red Sox once again are a different team at home than they are on the road.

They hit .290 or so at home and .248 at home. I think this disparity will ultimately cost them the AL East title and perhaps a shot at the playoffs because Oakland and Anaheim will fight them for the wild card all summer.

Curt Schilling is the perfect pitcher to beat the A’s. Schilling throws strikes, and he does it on the first pitch with something on the ball. Once the A’s can’t milk the count they are in trouble.

Tim Hudson got knocked around in his previous start against the Tigers although he got the win. The Tigers hit numerous shots off Hudson and last night the Red Sox knocked him around pretty good too.

This happens periodically to Hudson until he finds his sinker and gets the ball down.

Derek Lowe has gotten hammered recently and should be no mystery for the A’s tonight. The Red Sox bullpen will figure heavily in tonight’s game. Same goes for the A’s. Mark Redman goes about six if everything is looking up. Looking up is what happens when Redman pitches because he is the classic fly ball pitcher.

This one has all the markings of a typical seesaw Fenway Park game with the victor being the team with the last reliever who can get some outs. Keith Foulke versus Arthur Rhodes.

The Angels need a game from Bartolo Colon. It’s hard to say what is up with Colon because he always looks out of shape. With a day off yesterday, the Angels bullpen is rested so if he needs help in the sixth inning, it should be there.

Toronto has Carlos Delgado banged up, never a good sign for the Blue Jays. Pat Hentgen is capable of a decent start, but this one looks like the Angels night.

Click below for more! [Read more →]