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There is something about a Yankee Angel game that is unlike others that the New Yorkers play.

The Angels play the Yankees with alot of confidence, knowing that if they stay close somehow they hit enough to beat the Yankees in the late innings. I saw it last year when Scott Spiezio hit a extra inning homer to win a game after Troy Percival let it get away in the ninth inning before over 40,000 in the Bronx.

The Angels exposed the Yankee staff in the last year’s ALDS and have the upper hand now in 2003.

Aaron Sele who pitched quite well in his last start, but who rarely beats NY in the Bronx, goes today against Jeff Weaver.

At some point NY has to be concerned about the fact that the A’s, Angels, and Mariners can beat the heck out of George’s boys on a regular basis.

I’m on record now saying that the Red Sox will give the Yankees a run for their money this season in the AL East, too.

Ken Griffey Jr is back in the Reds lineup. Other good news for this team that is scoring some serious runs, is Danny Graves finally looks like his arm strength is sufficient to get him past the middle innings. Graves threw 117 pitches and nine shut out innings against the Cards Wednesday to open my eyes.

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The Detroit Tigers don’t have much going for them this season other than some promising young pitching.

What they do have is a friendly groundskeeper at Comerica Park who has tailored the infield to help their sinker ball pitchers.

Not since the days of Candlestick Park in the early 60’s, when the Giants watered the basepaths to stop speedster Maury Wills, have I seen an infield that has been designed to stop the opposition offense like they are trying to do in Detroit.

First, the ground around home plate is so soft that any ground ball which strikes the area six feet or less in front of home plate immediately is slowed by the loose soft dirt.

Then the fun begins. The grass in the infield is so high that any grounder turns into an adventure for the fielder attempting to make the play. By the time the fielder is in position to stop the ground ball, the ball has virtually come to a halt in front of his outstretched glove. Each play is now made on the run in bang bang fashion on the throw to first.

The A’s worked two walks from Mike Maroth in the fateful seventh, then with two out Miguel Tejada scorched a Steve Sparks knuckleball over the head of Detroit’s stunned left fielder clearing the bases and giving the A’s a 3-1 lead they never relinquished.

Until that point both teams consistently pounded the ball onto the infield dirt leading to a 1-1 score heading into the seventh frame.

Wednesday night Tim Hudson, a sinker baller with a ground ball to fly ball out ratio thisd season of 109:45 goes for Oakland. This park is tailor made for Hudson who will be digging worms with his diving sinker all night.

The Tigers throw Gary Knotts, a finesse ground ball pitcher, his ratio is 50:34 ground ball outs to fly ball outs, so much of the same may be expected.

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I was looking at the standings in the NL West the other day and saw something that caught my attention.

Anyone feel that the dodgers are out of the race in that division? Didn’t think so.

So, if LA can catch the Giants take a look at Arizona, a team that trails LA by only 2 1/2 games. Puts the Diamondbacks in a better light even though they are 8 1/2 behind SF.

Point is this, figure out which teams wouldn’t surprise you if they won a particular division and then look at the teams closest to that team.

Can the Phillies win in the NL East? Absolutely, well, don’t overlook the Mets, they trail the Phillies by 5. Hardly, overwhelming in May.

Can Anaheim win the AL West? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, well, the Rangers are only three starters and 1 1/2 games behind the Halos.

Key is to get to .500 and then see what can happen. Summer trades, hot players, injuries to leaders, they all will be a part of the story of the 2003 season.

Today’s games tell a new story, click below!

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Baseball is a funny game, but apparently horse racing is too.

Let’s see if I have this straight. It’s OK to hit a horse with a whip while flying down the home stretch, but not OK to shock the horse with a hand held buzzer?

Just checking?

Torii Hunter cost his team the game Saturday night in Minnesota with one of those throws that cause mangers to say why.

Manny Ramirez was on third, Jeremy Giambi (.159) hit a short fly to center with less than two out, Ramirez wasn’t going to be able to score on the play, Hunter threw a rocket to the plate, it one hopped the catcher and squirted away, in the Twins effort to corral the throw they inadvertently left home plate uncovered. Ramirez seeing this, took off for home and scored the decisive run in the game.

The Red Sox will get help in the pen as Robert Person, a pitcher I’ve thought has good stuff, will be activated any minute. Much travelled lefty Bruce Chen is also in the Boston picture after they signed him this week.

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With Friday night’s game fresh in my mind, let me tell you some thoughts about how the Yankees and the A’s matched up in Oakland’s 7-2 win.

First, Tim Hudson dominated the Yankee hitters just as effectively as he did last Saturday in NY. Other than a walk to Nick Johnson, who has a great eye at the plate, followed by a high pitch to Jason Giambi that he hit out in left, the A’s righty was flawless.

Eric Byrnes continues to ignite a lethargic A’s offense. Say what you want about Byrnes’ lack of ability to hit off speed stuff, when he gets his pitch he doesn’t miss it very often. Friday night he tripled to right center, not easy to do in this park, driving in the first run, then scored the second run on a following ground out to tie the game 2-2.

Click read more and I’ll tell you how the A’s won the game and Joe Torre fell asleep at the switch. [Read more →]

The Yankees broke loose from their mini hitting woes in Seattle Thursday night beating the Mariners senseless 16-3.

After losing two of three to the A’s last weekend in NY, the Bombers now come to the Bay Area to see if they can hit Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, and Mark Mulder.

In NY, the first two simply pitched as well as they could shutting the Yankee bats down.

For the A’s to duplicate the series victory this weekend, they will need seven plus innings from the big three, continue to play flawless defense against NY, and hit in the clutch. The Yankees make the A’s hit the ball, no steady stream of free passes for the walk conscious Athletics, so offense is at a premium for the A’s.

Meaning, hitting behind the runner, scratching for runs early in the game, taking an extra base, maybe a hit and run if they have the chance, and using the dreaded sacrifice bunt late in the game.

Sounds like one heckuva weekend. Jeff Weaver and Roger Clemens, two pitchers the A’s seem to find a way to beat against Tim “sinker ball” Hudson and Cy Young winner Barry Zito, open the series on Friday and Saturday.

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Mike Mussina ran his record to 7-0 with another dominating performance Wednesday night in Seattle. Moose struck out 12 and kept his team in the game until they could get loose against Joel Pineiro.

Mussina is throwing a lot of pitches. Last night, he threw 114 in eight innings. At his age, he must be watched carefully because he will be expected to go to the post 34 times before October.

Mussina will open up any playoff series the Yankees are in. I don’t trust David Wells, Roger Clemens, Jeff Weaver, or Andy Pettitte in the big game. Mussina is the one that must lead this staff, scary for a team that MUST win.

How do the A’s stack up against NY?

Click below and I’ll match them up. [Read more →]

On August 12, 1979, the A’s Rick Langford hooked up against the Twins Jerry Koosman in the Metrodome. Minnesota won the game behind Koosman’s ten hit shut out one to nothing.

The game was played in one hour and forty three minutes. Last night the A’s and White Sox finished their game in one hour and forty nine minutes, the A’s fastest game since that getaway day in Minneapolis in 1979.

Mark Mulder and Mark Buehrle had a lot to do with last night’s game, getting the ball and thowing it back towards the hitter with accuracy, walking few, few three ball counts, and generally a well pitched game on both sides.

Tonight it’s Ted Lilly versus Esteban Loiaza, two pitchers who take their time on the mound and get deeper into the count.

Lilly needs to be aware of his pitch count and Loiaza has to be aware of the fact that he is known as an April pitcher and the calendar now shows May on its front page.

The Sox aren’t hitting, but they are definite contenders in the mediocre AL Central, thus there is no need to panic and threaten to fire the manager.

Just let them get away from Oakland and Seattle and things will be fine on the Southside of Chicago.

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With the first month of the season history, the story of 2003 now begins to become more significant in May.

The Diamondbacks in a strange way may be in better shape than people think. When your team is built around two aging starters, it may be a blessing in disguise when Randy Johnson will not pitch until the end of the month, thereby saving his arm for the tough summer months ahead. Same for Curt Schilling who normally would have 50 or more innings by now, as he works his arm strength back to starting form.

These two just may lead Arizona on a summer charge because they didn’t wear themselves out early in the year.

It seems that the Royals are in wierd bull pen games every night. That isn’t good as the pen with Jason Grimsley leading the way, will never make it through the summer. The Royals need to have some bull pen reserves ready for the games in August and September if they hope to stay close.

Same reasoning applies to the Red Sox especially because Derek Lowe is not looking like the 20 game winner of one year ago. When the Royals and Red Sox meet, you don’t have to start watching the game until the seventh inning, that’s when all the action begins.

Is Nomar Garciaparra going to turn his miserable start around? He makes errors nightly, goes in batting funks, and is not looking happy in Boston. Is it crazy to think Billy Beane would consider a trade of Miguel Tejada for Garciaparra? Stay tuned on this one, it may not be as absurd as you think.

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