Author Archive for Eric

The Best First Third

Eric, June 14, 2010, 10 Comments

It occurred to me the other day that this might be the most story-filled first third to a season ever. Consider how much excitement has already been packed into the year:

A no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez, who happens to be 12-1 with an ERA so small you can barely see it.
Arguably he worst call in the history of sports, and certainly the most memorably botched call in regular season baseball history by Jim Joyce costs Armando Galarraga a perfect game on the 27th out.
Perfect games by baseball’s best and angriest pitchers respectively in Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden
The hilarious drama between the aforementioned Braden and Alex Rodriguez
The accusation that all-time great Ken Griffey Jr slept through a pinch-hit opportunity followed weeks later by his quiet retirement
Griffey teammate Milton Bradley exits the Mariner clubhouse mid-game.
Strasburgmania enters
Jose Lima exits
And all the other stuff I missed

See how much has happened? So tell me. Are these the most exciting two and a half months to ever open a baseball season, or is my giddiness unfounded?

Thinking, 10 Comments

Along with three friends, I am coaching a Little League team of seven, eight, and nine year olds. All four of us are in our early twenties. Needless to say, we are the only coaches in the league without kids of our own. Our goal? Utter domination. Throughout the season I will keep Pitchers & Poets readers updated on the goings on surrounding the team.

You may have noticed by the relative slow-down in posts on the Killer Bees. I am running out of things to say about the team. In any case, this will be the last post. The season is over. The Killer Bees are no more. We end the year with a record of 4 wins, 5 losses, 2 ties, and one unknown.

As it is for the players, the end of the Little League season is a bittersweet time for the coaches. We will miss the kids, we will miss (as they do) the time spent out of doors. But we won’t miss the baby-sitting aspect of the job. We won’t miss the weekday and weekend obligation that often felt like a chore due to the dreariness of the Seattle spring.

The kids, meanwhile, are on the cusp of summer, of camp, of family trips. Young Zach Greinke for example, missed our last game for a month-long trip to Italy with his family. This coach would have gladly traded the season finale (but not the ensuing picnic featuring great quantities of watermelon — by far the best post-game snack ) for a month in Italy.

The final game was a thriller. Down 10-6 going into the 5th and final inning, we managed to score three runs and load the bases. With two outs, young John Kruk emerged from the dugout wearing a sheepish grin. On his way to the plate, he said to me – I was coaching first base – “I guess it’s all up to me.” Aware of the gravity of his at-bat, yet completely apathetic about winning and losing, young John Kruk proceeded to strike out swinging.

Despite the result, highlights were plentiful: Young Frank Thomas made his first appearance on the mound. Young Eric Bruntlett nailed his first clean single of the year, between third and short, to an eruption from the spattering of team parents. (His dad jogged over to first base, camera in tow, to pat his boy on the back).

This group won’t be coaching together next year. So there is a tinge of sadness: we won’t get to see whether Young Shawn Green, who batted over .700, continues progress into actual Shawn Green or chooses to pursue another hobby at which he excels, like chess. We won’t get to see young Bruntlett take even bigger strides next year, or whether the team’s only girl, Dottie Hinson, sticks with baseball (she totally should; she rocks!).

But that’s okay. We are, or were, after all, just Little League coaches. These kids have awesome, engaging, (and generous – thanks for the gift cards!) parents, who will see to that stuff. We just hope they had as good a time this year as we did.

Killer Bees, 4 Comments

Podcast 14: Flips, Flops, Fly Balls with Craig Robinson

Eric, June 10, 2010, 4 Comments

In Podcast 14 we are joined by illustrator Craig Robinson of the brilliant Flip Flop Fly Ball. We use the word Brilliant, in part, because Mr. Robinson is English. How and why an Englishman became baseball’s foremost progenitor of cerebral infographics is our main topic of discussion. Also: Vladmir Putin’s chest, Stephen Strasburg’s socks, the best and worst in major league uniforms.

Right-click here to download.

A sample of Mr. Robinson's work.

Podcast, 4 Comments

Stephen Strasburg Live

Eric, June 9, 2010, 0 Comments

Chief Washington D.C. Correspondent Helen Thomas Brad Matheson was lucky enough to see the next Savior of Baseball, Stephen Strasburg pitch last night. Here are some of his observations:

Whether you paid $500 on StubHub or $5 as a game-day walk-up (like I did); whether you were practically on the field or your vantage point was on par with the tourists on top of the Washington Monument (like mine was), Stephen Strasburg gave you your money’s worth in DC on Tuesday. Few games I have attended defied the conventions of baseball fandom — sitting while your team is at bat and getting your beer/hot dog while they are in the field — like Tuesday’s K-Fest.

Once you look past the loud boos that greeted thethe two balls Strasburg threw to start the game, Nats fans were better than I have ever seen them. They were on their feet before every strike three, turning to the pitch speed monitor expectantly until it finally flashed triple digits. Strasburg won the game with run support by Washington’s fan favorites Zimmerman, Dunn, and Willingham (nicknamed “The Hammer,” who knew?).

Even when Strasburg wavered in the 4th, the Nats organization was ready to step up with entertaining stadium hijinks. The Presidential Mascot Race featured appearances from a Pittsburgh Pierogi AND some Sausages — an assembly of characters that would normally top the Nationals’ monthly if not annual highlight reel. And Adam Dunn got in on it merely by coming to the plate to his ridiculous at-bat music: Phil Collins –”In the Air Tonight.” Enough said.

Here’s a disclaimer for anyone who thinks they wants to see Strasburg pitch: if you cherish your excitement for watching a pitcher who throw a 92-93 mph fastball with a respectable 15+ mph drop-off to their off-speed, stay as far away from Strasburg as possible. The 99-81 differential made the opposing pitcher look just as silly as the batters who were bailing out on Strasburg’s curve.

For a team who’s top three single-game attendance records are probably held by back-to-back-to-back games hosting the Red Sox, Tuesday’s Strasburg-mania should go down as the greatest night in the Washington Nationals’ short history. I guess I’ll save my ticket.

America, 0 Comments

Podcast 13: A Portrait of the Umpire

Eric, June 3, 2010, 0 Comments

In this episode, we overstate our podcast experience, speak fondly of Ken Griffey Jr. and the 1990s, and commiserate with all parties of the tragic Armando Galarraga/Jim Joyce fiasco. We appreciate the fine work of Bobby Abreu, his consistent bat, and his colorful glove. We choose sides on the best way to lose, welcome the incoming Strasburgmania, and contemplate the Nationals Identity — or lack thereof.

Right-click here to download.

Podcast, 0 Comments

Some Killer Bees Notes

Eric, June 2, 2010, 1 Comment

Our season is almost over. Before the final wrap-up post, I thought I’d post some interesting statistical notes sent by coach/statistician Kenneth:

Young Roy Oswalt has come up to the plate 25 times this year and has walked or struck out 24 times. He gets a free pass in 60% of his trips to the plate, the best rate on the team.

Young Shawn Green has 8 of our 18 extra base hits this year (you could probably write an entire post with his more impressive tidbits…*

Young Joe Mauer and Young Craig Biggio both have 11 hits, but Biggio has 18 RBI while Mauer only has 4.

Past two starts by Dottie Hinson: 4 IP, 10 K’s, 6 BB’s, 0 Runs, 49 total pitches.

*Young Shawn Green has a slash line of .700/.769/2.019. On Balls in Play, his batting average is an even more insane .870.

Killer Bees, 1 Comment

Modern Day Milton

Eric, May 31, 2010, 1 Comment

A few days ago, a reader named Greg left an epic comment on one of our most popular posts: The Definitive Unsourced Milton Bradley Timeline. We liked the comment so much that we decided (with his gracious permission) to republish it here:

As you say, the timeline requires periodic updating. Here’s my suggestion for the moment you left off in 2009 to date:

2009 C: December 18, more than a few days later, the Cubs trade Bradley to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Carlos Silva and cash.

2010: May 4, 2010: With the team on a losing streak, and Bradley one of the only bats recently making any noise, he is moved into the cleanup spot, where he starts off by going 0-3. After being pulled from the game in the 7th inning after consecutive strikeouts looking, the latter with the bases loaded, and the team trailing 3-1, he reportedly complains that manager Don Wakamatsu isn’t defending him sufficiently with the umpire and says, “I’m packing my stuff. I’m out of here.” The team loses 5-2, its fourth in what would become an eight game losing streak.

May 5, 2010: Bradley makes a scheduled appearance at a local elementary school, gives an impassioned talk about what motivated him growing up to become a ball player, then meets with his manager and the GM and says he needs help for ongoing personal problems. Art Thiel’s Seattle PI column describes the prior night’s loss as the “worst game of the season” and notes that Carlos Silva will continue to be the “gift that keeps on giving, right into his start for the National League in the All-Star Game.” Art’s “worst game of the season”would be topped (bottomed?) by others before the month of May is over.

May 6, 2010: The Mariners announce that they have placed Bradley on the restricted list. Thus begin his 15 days off to seek counseling.

May 19, 2010: Bradley is reactivated, the Mariners having gone 3-10 in his absence. Other candidates for “worst game of the season” in the intervening stretch include back to back 8-0 losses to the Rays and the Angels May 6 and 7, and a 6-5 loss to the Orioles in which Felix Hernandez pitches 7 innings, and exits with a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the 8th.

May 24, 2010: Bradley gives interviews about why he asked for help. He says he thought about getting help in 2009, while still with the Chicago Cubs: ”I wanted to take some time out, get my thoughts together, and just speak to someone and get an understanding from somebody unbiased,” he says. “But you can’t really do that in Chicago. There’s just too much going on.” Meanwhile, in Arlington, Texas, the Cubs spot Carlos Silva a 4 run lead in top of the first, and he scatters 6 hits and 3 runs over 5 1/3 innings to improve his record to 6-0.

May 25, 2010: Bradley, hitting cleanup for the first time since his May 4 meltdown, goes 2 for 4 with a two-run home run and three RBI as the M’s defeat the Tigers 5-3. After his RBI single in the 8th scores Chone Figgins for the go-ahead run, he leaves first base as a pitching change is made and celebrates with teammates in the dugout. He comments later, “I was full of joy,” he said. “The whole day, I just felt right. I had the right attitude and the right approach. My mind was clear, and I didn’t have a worry at all up there. I was able to come through.”

…and they all lived happily ever after.

Kooks, 1 Comment

Jose Lima (1972-2010)

Eric, May 23, 2010, 3 Comments

He had his greatest successes with the Astros and Dodgers — our favorite teams. But in any and every uniform, Jose Lima was a joy to behold. People like him, careers like his, triumphs and failures like those he embodied are why we we continue to love baseball. (Pic via Andy Hutchins)

Thinking, 3 Comments

Pity

Eric, May 20, 2010, 0 Comments

One thing Ken will always get is the respect and dignity he deserves in this game,” Zduriencik said. “And he’ll always get that from this organization and this community, and he deserves that.

You should read Dave Cameron’s recent rant at USS Mariner, simply titled Respect. In the growing genre of the anti-front office polemic, the post stands out for both its eloquence and the firm ground on which Cameron’s argument is planted. It’s the kind of essay you can only write when you are absolutely sure that you’re right. In other words, Christopher Hitchens would be proud.

But as somebody decidedly less invested in the ongoing saga of Ken Griffey’s role with the Seattle Mariners, there are a few things I’d like to add about the above quote, even after its able shredding at Cameron’s hands. There is a difference between respect and pity. From what I have seen this season in Seattle, Griffey has crossed the threshold from the former to the latter. In the eyes of Mariners fans, his presence on the team and in the starting lineup is more about guilt than deference.

Recently, I was forced to fire a person from a job for the first time in my life. I had no particular fondness for this person, and I was confident that the firing was entirely merited. And yet I spent an entire day thinking up ways to get around it. I rationalized, and I hemmed and hawed. Maybe I could offer one more chance. Maybe it’s too soon.

The unsettling issue, the one that racked my conscience, was not how to do it. I got some good advice on that front from my dad: eye contact, few words, whiskey for afterwards. And my nerves weren’t stirred by the fact that I was taking away this person’s income or career. I was not shattering dreams – this was a part-time, short-term job.

The hard thing about it was coming up with a way to tell somebody that they were simply not good enough. Because what it comes down to in the end is that some people can do the job and some people can’t. And to hear that you can’t, to hear that you are incompetent, is a hard and painful thing. We all have our weaknesses. Coming to terms with them is another story. Especially when the job at which you are incompetent, in Griffey’s case, is a job that made you rich and famous – a job that you once performed better than anybody on earth.

Griffey’s former magnificence is not the only exacerbating circumstance. There is a great deal of emotion at play here. He is a man with feelings, on a team of men with feelings, surrounded by fans with their own feelings. There is a financial bottom line. There is still the issue of respect to deal with, and more than just respect–love. It’s not hyperbole. Griffey–at least historically–is beloved in Seattle. So maybe it’s not a firing, since you don’t fire the ones you love. Maybe it’s something more personal.

Telling Ken Griffey Jr. that he can’t play baseball is like telling a senior citizen that they can’t drive a car. Even broaching the subject is an insult and no geriatric just hands over the keys to his or her Buick. But as arduous as the task is, you know it is necessary. You know it is in the best interest of the driver (Junior), the family (the Mariners), and those with whom he shares the road (pained baseball fans). You only hope he bails out before the inevitable crash.

Thinking, 0 Comments

Podcast 11: Vote for Bronson

Eric, May 19, 2010, 2 Comments

In podcast 11, we talk all kinds of Bronson Arroyo, converse aimlessly about Hanley and Fredi, get all up in Jared Saltalamacchia’s messy brain, and contemplate the baseball road trip — nay, the baseball pilgrimage.

Or right-click here to download.