Leiter out, WBC, and some Random Thoughts

I have to cram the past week's worth of thoughts into this one post, so that's why it's long. Thanks for reading, anyway.

Leiter Retires

First off, many of you who read a previous post know how badly I wanted Al Leiter to retire. Well, he did. And that makes me happy. The guy stayed in the game just long enough to realize that he's done everything he can. I know people are gonna say, 'well, without Leiter, Chacon, Small, and Wang we don't make the playoffs last year.' I mean, did Leiter's 4-5 record with a 5.49 ERA in 16 appearances - 10 starts - really get us to the playoffs? I know Cashman literally didn't have anyone to start that July 17th game against the Red Sox until he picked up Leiter, but still - I don't think he was what pushed us into the playoffs, and I think we could've done it without him. But this begs the question - how insane would it be if both Leiter and The Rocket made their last professional appearances in the World Baseball Classic? And how messed up is it that The Rocket is still so good?

World Baseball Classic

Next, the World Baseball Classic. I only had a chance over break to catch the March 13th, 2nd Round matchup between Cuba and Team Dominicana, and part of the March 16th Mexico v. USA game. First, the Cuba and Dominicana game was one of the best games I saw. I only watched till about the 7th inning, but it had everything. Seriously, we had the Cuban's weird style of play, and mix that with the David Ortiz v. Cuba matchup, (which I believe was actually a separate game.) I'm gonna leave the WBC for a second and talk about the Perez's.

Alright, we also had Odalis Perez going 4.2 innings and only allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 3 - and you have to think the Dodgers are delighted to see that out of him. Odalis has been one of the most up and down players these last few years, but he turns only 29 in June, and so maybe it's his year. Remember, in 2002, Perez put up 222.1 IP, with 38 BB, 155 K's, 21HR, and an ERA of 3.00. You can look at the stats for the other years yourself by clicking on the link above, but the bottom line is that he's gone on to pitch less innings while giving up the same amount of hits and HR, a little more runs, and less K's. We've been waiting for him to bounce back and maybe it's time. Be careful not to confuse Odalis, who plays for the Dodgers, with Oliver Perez, who plays for the Pirates. Oliver has had two years that couldn't have been more different. In 2004, he finally pulled it together and went about 200 IP with 239 K's and ERA of 2.98. He followed that up with an injury-ridden 2005 where he went 103 IP - none of them really healthy, I'll grant him - and had an ERA of 5.85 with 87 K's and 70 BB's - about the same walks in half as many innings. Just more information.

So, back to Cuba v. Dominicana. My favorite part of this game was, without a doubt, watching David Ortiz jerk Cuba's Jonder Martinez out of the yard in the 5th inning. There is no way to describe this if you haven't seen it, but basically Jonder left one over the plate, and it was gone before the bat was off Ortiz's shoulder, I mean I was watching at home and I still knew this blast was coming. Ortiz launched it over everything in Right Field, and you could even see the fans leaning out of the park trying to find where it landed. Anyway, instead of watching the Home Run, Ortiz tosses his bat about 20 feet, turns around, glares at the catcher for about a second, and then goes on his way. Priceless. Ariel Pestano, who was basically sick of dealing with the pitcher's inability to pitch, gets up and starts hollering down Jonder. Where do you ever see a catcher run down, scream at, and try to coach his pitcher after he gives up the biggest shot in the world? As if this isn't enough, the announcers decided to add the ESPN Deportes call. And here we go again - "No no no no no no no no!!!!" The whole call translates into something like, 'that ball ain't comin back, no no no no...' Priceless. If anyone knows where I can find this, please tell me.

As if this isn't enough, earlier in the game we got to see Albert Pujols score from first base. On a double through the gap? No. A ball off the wall? No. A throwing error, from third to first. Talk about sailing away. There was some additional technicality on the play too, I have no idea really, but anytime I get to see a guy who plays 1st base score from first base on a ball fielded by the 3rd baseman, that's just incredible. Albert Pujols is a big dude, and he just sprinted 270 feet. Alright. Does everyone remember Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run?

It was the fifth game of the 1995 American League Wild Card Playoffs. Down by one run in the bottom of the eleventh inning, the Seattle Mariners, with Ken Griffey Jr. up to bat, were setting the stage for the most exciting finish in a divisional series. Ken Griffey Jr. smacked a single to center field to advance a runner to third base. Then the American League batting champ stepped into the batter's box and drove a pitch deep to left field; one run scored easily to tie the game. But wait! Here comes Ken Griffey Jr. rounding third. He's going to try the impossible, scoring from first base. the throw to the plate is on its way. Ken Griffey Jr. hits the dirt. The throw is not in time! The Seattle Mariners advance to the American League Championship Series, thanks in part to Ken Griffey Jr.'s winning run!

This is from the inside cover of the Super Nintendo game, you guessed it, "Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run." So what if the account of the play which is the game's namesake reads like... it's really boring. These people made one of the greatest baseball games out of one play. There are no other major leaguers featured in the game. All the names are made up, except for Ken's. It's like, Ken Griffey Jr. Fantasy World. Ken's trade value is like, 130, and everyone else's hovers around 70. If you haven't played this game, buy a Super Nintendo and then buy the game. It's 10 years old but... it isn't going out of date.

Now, just a few words about the Mexico v. US game. I didn't see much of the game, only a few innings really, but I did see that Home Run, errr Double. Anyone else who watched that part of the game live probably sided with the announcers, as I did. Because they absolutely tore up the umpires. Really, its sad. Say you saw nothing of the actual play. All you saw was a ball in right field, about 20 feet away from the wall. How, you ask, did it get there? It didn't just land there. And if it did, it wouldn't be rolling towards the infield. Ok, so it could've hit the wall. The wall in Angel Stadium is about 10 feet tall. So, unless the wall is sloped upwards, there's no way that ball comes that far back. There, problem solved. And here's another thing, because I'll grant that the umpires didn't see exactly where the ball landed, because they certainly didn't see the ball anywhere else. If Mexico is yelling at you that it was a Home Run, which would eliminate them from the tournament, and the US is standing around watching... then it's a Home Run. Just like Barry Bonds, if I'm Roger Clemens and I know Mario Valenzuela is trying to take credit for going deep on me when he actually came up about 20 feet short, I'm gonna be pissed and screaming at the top of my lungs. In any case, you only overturn a call if you're absolutely sure that you saw something that no one else did, and you're positive about it - 110%.  I'm not gonna sit here and rip on Davidson because it's been done, and frankly, I'm sure the guy wasn't trying to incite something. My beef is with Selig, a man I usually respect. If you're all about this World Baseball Classic, why don't you go ahead and book the MLB Umpires? Apparently, he tried to do this but these umps said they didn't believe they would be getting paid enough to do the games, so they declined the offer. Now, Selig has an issue with the Umpire's Union, not the individual crews, but in any case if you're Selig you make them ump the game. You pay them more money, you do whatever you need, but you make it happen. The difference between an MLB and Minor League Umpire isn't huge, and maybe Selig could've gotten away with it, but you don't take that chance on your first attempt. It's also interesting to note that Davidson was a former MLB Umpire. And he'll stay that way now, because there's no way he's gonna be allowed back after nearly starting WWIII.

Now I'm just gonna talk about a few things that happened on my forced vacation in the last week. I'll outline them all now: Dwight Gooden and Denny McLain, Roy Halladay, Mark Mulder, Mark Prior, and A.J. Burnett.

Dwight Gooden and Denny McLain

So, recent news is that former Mets Star Dwight Gooden was arrested for violating the terms of his probation, which was the result of his DUI in August of 2005. Well, Gooden had a meeting with his parole officer where he admitted to using the nose candy - that's right, Gooden is back on the blow. Rick James once said, "Cocaine... is a **** of a drug." It appears he was right. The Super Freak himself was done in by Cocaine, contrary to the initial reports that he 'died of natural causes', because there's no way someone like that just shuffles off quietly in the middle of the night. In any case, most of that Mets team is having trouble with Coke. It's really too bad. I'm going to stay away from Kevin Mitchell and Strawberry because I don't want to be typing all night, but I couldn't help being reminded of Denny McLain when I heard about Gooden. And when I'm reminded of Denny McLain, I only think of two things: the 'Beyond the Glory' episode on him, and the fact that he now works at a 7-11. This may seem insignificant at first, but think carefully. McLain just finished serving his second stint in the slam, this time for stealing from a meat-packing pension fund. Remember that, when McLain won 31 games in 1968, he was draining an entire case of Pepsi every day... How do you put the fox in charge of the hens like that? No doubt McLain has a hose hooked up to the Big Gulp machine.

Roy Halladay and Mark Mulder

Roy just got extended through 2010, which is good news. He's amazing. Next, Mulder is gonna be a free agent next year. The Cardinals need to lock him up for seven years. I am pretty sure Mulder is baseball's winningest pitcher over the last five years. I've heard Colon, but I think Colon only has 84 wins to Mulder's 88. Again, I have to cite MVP Baseball 2004 and say that Mulder is amazing for my team. I like the Cardinals and I like Mulder, a lot. Imagine if Mulder is let loose and signs with the Red Sox or something? How can you like a pitcher that plays for the enemy?

Mark Prior and A.J. Burnett

A.J. Burnett, like Dontrelle Willis, has never been 'ok' in my book. Not sure why, I just get the feeling he's not a good guy. Mark Prior, on the other hand, I like a lot. Anyway, Prior pitches for the poor, sorry Cubs who aren't going anywhere this year. As long as Dusty Baker lets them cry, they're stuck. Again, I could get really sidetracked here so I'm going to stop. But my point is that Prior is a great pitcher, when he's healthy. I'll always be a fan. Collisions with players and balls don't make someone injury prone, but having your manager throw you out there for over 200 innings in your 2nd year in the majors, after throwing only 100 innings your first year and despite the fact that you're only 22, is a problem. And it looks like he's starting another season on the DL. Here's the deal with Prior, when he's healthy he's on. It's not like he's ever had a really bad stretch, or one nagging injury that sidelines him five times a season, like... a blister. Kerry Wood has the same problem, except his is nagging, and you have to wonder if Baker is the cause. Zambrano is a flat-out freak, so he isn't going to hit that wall. Next, A.J. Burnett. Toronto's hopes nearly got torn apart when they saw Burnett go down the other day. In any case, he appears to be fine. But doesn't that scare you to death, when your $11 million a year man goes down like that? At least they didn't sign Blister Beckett.

That's all for now. Thanks for waiting a whole week between posts. Recently this blog has gotten pretty popular - we've gotten people from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Croatia, UK, Canada, Israel, Honduras, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Venezuela and some others I'm probably forgetting. The main point is that people are reading, which is important. I mentioned earlier that Kevin and I bought a website - www.baseballradioshow.com - that should be up in about a month, hopefully. The website will feature this blog as well as the radio show, which will likely be in a podcast form. We also hope to both contribute articles to the site, along with pictures and more. As I said earlier, if anyone is interested in contributing in any way, please contact me. Thanks again for reading, and leave comments and emails.