The Weekly Roundup 05.23.08
Posted by A.J. Stevens on 05.23.2008
We look at last week's injuries, tasteful celebrations, walkoffs, and a special look at the Last Year that Could Have Been!
NEWS FROM LAST WEEK
Albert Pujols, Padres killer
I was expecting a semi-decent game (for some reason) when I turned on Cards-Pads Wednesday night. Well, I was at least expecting an alternative to American Idol. What I got was another chapter in the disappointing story of the San Diego Padres 2008 season. It's no secret that the Padres haven't performed to anyone's expectations this year. Their anemic offense, combined with the spacious outfield of Petco Park, means that they've gone -- and I don't think I'm exaggerating here -- roughly 2 months now without scoring a run. I was surprised to see Adrian Gonzalez sock one into the right-field seats early in the game. Chris Young appeared to be pitching well, so I was settling back for a decent game.
Instead: disaster. Albert Pujols, a man who has been credited for single-handedly destroying Brad Lidge's career as an Astro, sent the Padres battery to the DL in one trip around the bases. Facing a 2-strike count, Pujols lined a pitch directly back to Chris Young, breaking his nose and sending him to the hospital. Fast-forward two batters. Troy Glaus hits a single to right field. Pujols comes around to score, and arrives at the same time as the throw from Brian Giles. Catcher Josh Bard catches the throw and blocks the plate... and finds his ankle grotesquely twisted from the force of Pujols' slide. Yikes.
This bad news precedes ominous rumblings from the Padres front office that "drastic changes" are going to be made. Having already released free-agent flop Jim Edmonds, look for the Padres to begin rebuilding soon. At least players like Young, Bard, and perennial Cy Young candidate Jake Peavy will be protected by their injuries from the fire sale. Bittersweet for them, as they have been the bright spots of the Friars for the beginning of the season, and now may be forced to watch their team broken up around them when they can do nothing to aid San Diego's fortunes.
Bizarre injuries not limited to West coast
"Destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be." -Dean Koontz, Lightning
Yunel Escobar, meet Ryan Church. Ryan, Yunel. Now that you've been properly introduced, you're going to be seen a lot together. Specifically, on the highlight reels for "plays of the year." And not in a good way, either, I'm sorry to say. In the fifth inning of the second game of the Mets-Braves doubleheader on Tuesday, Church "slid" to unsuccessfully break up a double play. While neither player was injured on that play, destiny would rear its ugly head on the final play of the game. With Church (again) on first base with one out, Damion Easley (again) hit a double-play ball. Church again "slid" into second base -- and by "slid" I mean "crouched at the last minute while running directly at Escobar" -- but this time, he paid the price.
Escobar did his best to hurdle Church, but alas, Escobar is not Superman, and managed to knee Church in his temple, right underneath his helmet. The AP report says that Church did not lose consciousness, but I highly doubt that. Regardless of that, he went down like a sack of potatoes, faceplanting on the dirt just beyond second base. Church exited -- eventually -- on his own power, looking very lost and confused, and was taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation. Turns out he has his second concussion of the year, and is out indefinitely. This is bad news for the bedraggled Mets, who have found one of their consistent performers on the shelf at the exact same time that their manager is painstakingly painting a bullseye on his chest.
An incredible feat of no-hittery
What Gavin Floyd could not accomplish twice this year, Jon Lester pulls off for his first MLB complete game ever. As you may have heard, Lester no-hit the Royals Monday night at Fenway Park. I caught the last few innings of this gem on NESN, and I must admit, Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy outdid themselves. Though they have the reputation of being insufferable blowhards, they did their best to skirt around the words "no-hitter," and more importantly, after announcing Lester's accomplishment, shut up and let the images and words taking place on the field tell the story. I've always been of the opinion that a picture tells 1,000 words, and being able to listen to the Fenway faithful cheer while Red Sox individually congratulated and spoke to Lester was a great opportunity and a great moment in announcing. As much as I love my "local" announcing team, I can't picture themselves doing the same thing in this situation.
WALKOFFS OF THE WEEK
Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals, vs. Tampa Bay, 5/17/08
Adam Dunn, Reds, vs. Cleveland, 5/17/08 (after attempting to sac bunt twice... great job again Dusty)
Skip Schumaker, Cardinals, vs. Tampa Bay, 5/18/08
Howie Clark, Twins, vs. Texas, 5/19/08
Blake DeWitt, Dodgers, vs. Cincinnati, 5/19/08
WEEKLY FEATURE: WHY BASEBALL IN APRIL/MAY IS JUST AS GOOD AS BASEBALL IN SEPTEMBER
I was reading an article recently that mentioned watching baseball in May as one of the most pointless things to do. Now, while I freely admit that I am not a fan of basketball (on any level), and there are many other major sports taking up the airwaves during this time of year, I refuse to believe that early-season baseball can be any less thrilling or important than late-season baseball.
So, let's do an experiment together, dear reader(s). I have no idea how this is going to turn out in advance, so we are going to learn together. Here's the hypothesis: The first two weeks of the baseball season are as exciting as the final two weeks. We'll use the 2007 season as a guide.
(Apologies in advance for the poor formatting: my limited knowledge of HTML broke the post, so I'm playing it safe.)
For reference, here are the 2007 final season standings:
AL EAST: Red Sox, Yankees (-2, WC), Blue Jays (-13), Orioles (-27), Devil Rays (-30)
AL CENTRAL: Indians, Tigers (-8), Twins (-17), White Sox (-24), Royals (-27)
AL WEST: Angels, Mariners (-6), Athletics (-18), Rangers (-19)
NL EAST: Phillies, Mets (-1), Braves (-5), Nationals (-16), Marlins (-18)
NL CENTRAL: Cubs, Brewers (-2), Cardinals (-7), Astros (-12), Reds (-13), Pirates (-17)
NL WEST: Diamondbacks, Rockies (-.5 WC), Padres (-1.5), Dodgers (-8), Giants (-19)
Here are the standings at the close of play September 16, 2007:
AL EAST: Red Sox, Yankees (-4.5), Blue Jays (-15.5), Orioles (-25), Devil Rays (-27)
AL CENTRAL: Indians, Tigers (-4.5), Twins (-15), Royals (-22.5), White Sox (-23)
AL WEST: Angels, Mariners (-8.5), Athletics (-14), Rangers (-17)
NL EAST: Mets, Phillies (-3.5), Braves (-7.5), Nationals (-17.5), Marlins (-18.5)
NL CENTRAL: Cubs, Brewers (-1), Cardinals (-7), Reds (-9.5), Pirates (-11.5), Astros (-12.5)
NL WEST: Diamondbacks, Padres (-2), Dodgers (-4.5), Rockies (-6.5), Giants (-17.5)
Here are the standings if we were to count the games in reverse order, from September 30 until April 15 (the one-game playoff for the NL Wild Card is excluded from these numbers):
AL EAST: Red Sox 90-62, Yankees 89-62 (-.5), Blue Jays 76-74 (-13), Orioles 63-87 (-21), Devil Rays 61-89 (-28)
AL CENTRAL: Indians 90-63, Tigers 81-69 (-7.5), Twins 72-78 (-16.5), White Sox 67-84 (-22), Royals 66-84 (-22.5)
AL WEST: Angels 88-62, Mariners 83-71 (-7), Athletics 70-79 (-17.5), Rangers 70-80 (-18)
NL EAST: Phillies 86-65 ,Mets 81-70 (-5), Braves 76-75 (-10), Nationals 70-80 (-15.5), Marlins 65-86 (-21)
NL CENTRAL: Cubs 81-70, Brewers 77-74 (-4), Cardinals 72-79 (-9), Astros 69-83 (-12.5), Reds 65-85 (-15.5), Pirates 64-88 (-17.5)
NL WEST: Rockies 84-66, Padres 82-68 (-2), Diamondbacks 81-68 (-2.5), Dodgers 74-76 (-10), Giants 68-84 (-17)
So we can see from this that the pennant races for the AL Central, AL West, NL East, and AL Wild Card are more or less wrapped up. I find it interesting that if we view the season from this perspective, we would be talking about the Phillies' near-collapse rather than the Mets' astounding collapse. The NL Wild Card is just as close as it was at the end of the season, which is a good sign.
Now, let's take a look at what key matchups we would be treated to: Phillies-Braves; DBacks-Rockies (twice!); Padres-Rockies; Cubs-Brewers; Phillies-Mets; Angels-Indians (as a possible ALDS matchup; their divisions are already clinched at this point); and Angels-Red Sox. On the last day of the season, Colorado would lose to the Diamondbacks, 8-6, forcing a one-game playoff with the Padres, who crushed the struggling Giants 7-0.
And here's what we actually saw: Rockies-Padres; Brewers-Braves; Phillies-Braves; DBacks-Rockies; and the Mets getting crushed by the Nationals and then the Marlins. On the last day of the season, Milwaukee would beat the Padres 11-6 while the Rockies rode an incredible win streak, beating the DBacks 4-3 on a 3-run 8th inning to set up a one-game playoff and eventual appearance in the World Series.
So, which is the better situation? Looks to me like the first one does, actually. Division rivalries plus two possible playoff previews really lights my fire. I do think it's safe to say, however, that either scenario is exciting, therefore proving the hypothesis posed at the beginning of the experiment.
LEGAL: The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet (retrosheet.org). Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd., Newark, DE 19711.
That's it for me this week, folks! If you want to talk some baseball, leave a comment or drop me a line at 411baseball@gmail.com. We'll see you next Friday morning with more baseball goodness!
