Baseball Thread Number 8: Cal Ripken says the playoff hunt is fun

To add some wood to the fire ...

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but what the hell are the Angels doing with Brandon Wood?

Yeah, the guy has issues making contact. But he's hit 76 home runs the past three seasons in Class AAA and has NOTHING left to prove in the minors. You'd think that kind of a production -- from a shortstop nonetheless -- is worth more than 26 major league at-bats, his total so far this year.

Give the guy a chance, Scioscia. If not, just fucking trade him already.

 

So, let's see ... Crede's done for the year. So's Morneau.

They have nobody left, do they?

(And who let BYH steal Trey's login?)

 

Yeah, he needs a change of scenery. If he goes elsewhere next year, there's no reason to believe he can't have a Russell Branyan/Jack Cust-style impact for some team ...

 

Well, the guy's had 209 career MLB at bats (including an extended call-up last year when he got 150 at bats in 55 games) and his OPS+ is 36. Plus, his minor league numbers are somewhat inflated because the PCL is a hitter-friendly league. He also plays about half the time at third now, where they don't really have a need. And the Angels aren't exactly in a position where they can plug a .187 hitter in the lineup during a pennant run and hope he figures it out. He's only 24, so obviously he could be next year's Kendry Morales or something. But playing every day and getting the reps is better for a young player than riding the pine in the bigs. I don't think you can fault Scioscia for not playing him.

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with your bullet points. It's still illogical though. He's considered to be a very good manager. You're saying that he shouldn't be considered a very good manager even though you acknowledge that he was the best manager in the league this year. Makes no sense.

 

It's possible to think someone is good and yet overrated.

Not-MVP with an RBI single, 1-0 Cream-Filled-Goodness.

 

Color me stunned. Mike Hampton out for 2010:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-astros-hampton&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

If the Tigers don't start hitting, the Twinkies will cruise into first. Of course, Non-MVP Man won't have anything to do with that.

Honestly, this feels a little like 2006, when the Tigers lost the division because they were swept at home by KC. Except this year, they won't have the wild card to fall back on.

 

With Morneau and Crede done for the year, OCab not hitting his weight for the month and at least two holes in the rotation, your boys are safe, Hank.

 

Yeah even I'm not hammering Scioscia on Wood (huh huh he said Wood). Until further notice, he's a whiff-happy product of a hitter-friendly league.

And thank you, Zeke, for summing up the Scioscia issue in 10 tidy words. I owe you a Coke.

 

Hey, that's the kind of Tieing-For-Fifth-Place-With-Slappy-On-One-All-S.J.-Team post I can pull out of my ass every once and a while.

 

In Boston tonight, Matsuzaka returned by opening with 4 innings of no-hit ball and didn't give up any runs in six innings -- Francona pulled him after walking the leadoff man in the seventh. Still, 93 pitches in six innings is progress.

Though it adds to a truly mind-boggling stat that Gammons featured in one of his latest ESPN blog posts: in the 48 Red Sox games started by Matsuzaka, Paul Byrd, Brad Penny, Junichi Tazawa and John Smoltz, those starters have recorded exactly three outs after the sixth inning. I mean, even the blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, but back-of-the rotation Sox starters can't even get into the eighth once.