Clarification and Some More
Random Thoughts
By Joe

Wanted to clarify my point in the last post. I probably failed to express this cleanly, but I wasn't trying to say Alex Rodriguez has suddenly become Mr. Clutch. Rather, I simply wanted to point out that he finally got a big hit in a pressure situation and it visibly relaxed him. Now, he seems accepted more by his teammates, looser at the plate and enjoying the game more. Does this mean he will be a stud in October? No, but it's a good start toward improving his post-season performance. As insignificant as it may seem, getting a clutch home run in April may very well allow Rodriguez to begin figuring out how to handle clutch situations. It also doesn't hurt that he feels more at ease with his teammates, several of whom have not shown a liking to the guy in the past (Giambi and Jeter).

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season and possible post-season irons out. Thanks to Matt for bringing up a good point in the comments.

Other thoughts

Travis Hafner hit his first home run of the season Thursday against Anaheim, a game-winner off Scot Shields. Hafner hadn't homered in spring training either, unless you count one in an intrasquad game way back in mid-March. That's pretty remarkable considering how talented the Indians' DH is at the plate. For Cleveland and my fantasy team's sake, I hope he starts getting them in bunches.

I had to do a double take at the box score between Toronto and Detroit last night to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Jeremy Bonderman and Roy Halladay threw two absolute gems, going pitch-for-pitch through nine innings. Halladay eventually won 2-1, with a 10-inning, one-run performance. The two stats lines for both pitchers were eerily similar. Amazingly, neither threw an exorbitant amount of pitches -- Bonderman had just 96, while Halladay threw only 107. In this day in age, it's rare to see this kind of performance by two pitchers in the same game. We are light years past the days when guys like Bob Gibson averaged 20-25 complete games per year.For a variety of reasons -- pitch count, more bullpen 'specialists', increased arm problems among pitchers -- extended outings of nine or 10 innings are unique. That's what makes it so incredible that both starters in this game went pitch-for-pitch for so long.

As Eric alluded to in a previous post, the Yankees have absolutely no pitching. None. Nada. Zip. You know its bad when, in his first start, your Japanese import wears the same sunglasses Corey Hart wore in his 1983 song, "Sunglasses at Night." Yikes. Just look at the starting rotation for the Yankees and the their division rival, the Red Sox.

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Chien-Ming Wang (injured) vs. Curt Schilling (old, but good)
Carl Pavano (injured) vs. Josh Beckett (I don't like him, but he's better than Pavano)
Andy Pettitte (old, but good) vs Dice-K (stud)
Mike Mussina (injured) vs. Wakefield (surprisingly solid)
Kei Igawa (Japan version of Corey Hart) vs. Julian Tavarez (Ok, he's terrible)

Those rotations convince me that the Yankees cannot match-up with the Red Sox. It's not even close.

I went to the Tigers/Orioles game a couple days ago and enjoyed the game, despite cold and rainy conditions. Only 13,000 showed up, so I bought a $9 ticket and had my choice of seating. I watched the first five innings from the right field bleachers, about 10 rows from the field. Then I moved to the right field line for a couple innings before settling behind home plate for the remainder of the game. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a ridiculously nice venue. It's set up a lot like the Jake in Cleveland, and that's probably because the same person designed both fields. It has all kinds of different beers and foods (like Guinness and pork sandwiches) and has an old-time park feel to it. It's really a shame a crappy team like Baltimore plays there. If the Orioles ever become a winner, Oriole Park will be a premier place to watch playoff games. A must-see ballpark if you're in the area.

It's also fun to watch two teams that you don't care about because it gives you a chance to watch other subtleties of the game, without worrying about the score. I made a few mental notes.

First, Gary Sheffield looks like he's swinging a tree trunk at the plate. His bat speed is pedestrian slow. As someone who owns Sheff in a fantasy league, this is a major concern, considering he's hitting all of .136 this season. During his at-bats, the Oriole pitchers pelted the outside third of the plate and Sheff either dropped his back shoulder and popped the ball up, or was late in his swing and missed the ball altogether. If they weren't hitting the outside corner, the Orioles worked inside and forced Sheff to turn on a pitch and knock it into foul territory for a harmless strike.

Nick Markakis is a beast. Just a really strong, muscular guy. I don't know much about him, except that he is supposed to have a breakout season this year. I can see why after watching him at the plate. He holds his hands down near his belt and then brings them up slightly before unleashing an uppercut on the ball. He has the perfect home run swing. He'll probably strike out more than you'd like, but his build and stance make him a likely candidate to bomb 30 home runs in a season.

In contrast to Markakis, Aubrey Huff has a body identical to Will Ferrell. He has little muscle definition, a pudgy stomach and has an awkward demeanor at the plate. Basically, he looks a large oaf. I think it's safe to say Huff is past his prime.

Fernando Rodney pitched a couple innings in relief and surprised me with his pitch selection. Baltimore had several guys on against Rodney in the eighth inning with one out in a tie game. For six straight pitches, Rodney threw change-ups between 81-83 miles per hour. And each time, the Oriole hitters swung way out in front, missing the ball. I find this interesting for two reasons. One, I didn't know major league pitchers could rely on a change-up that often and be successful. And two, wouldn't this make you nervous as a Tigers fan, knowing your star set-up man is lobbing up 80 mile per hour pitches to major league hitters on a consistent basis? Don't you think eventually someone's going to sit on a change-up and blast it out of the park? Ironically, Rodney got the loss in that Bonderman-Halladay duel Friday night.

You know your team isn't making the playoffs when the five through nine hitters have the following names: Huff, Gibbons, Millar, Patterson and Bako. It's almost as if the Orioles front office said, "Who are the most washed-up, average ballplayers we can find? Let's put them all on the same team. That'll motivate our fan base to attend games." I think you'd see better lineups in the Little League World Series.

I love Curtis Granderson. He's cutting back on his strikeouts and shortening his swing when he's behind in the count. The guy has speed, some pop and plays good defense in center. Jim Leyland can hit him first, second, or ninth in the lineup. I think Granderson is going to be a stud this season.

Looking forward to seeing how King Cole does this afternoon against Houston. Another good start and I'm officially starting the Cole Hamels fan club. I love this kid. Hopefully the bullpen won't blow it for him again today.