Saturday, February 10, 2007 - Posts

Oddities and ends

Josh Paul lost his arbitration hearing against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  The guy just can't catch a break.

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The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran an interesting full-blown feature on Jim Parque, who's trying to make a comeback.  The lede struck me as unintentionally funny:

Parque looks in at catcher Charles Johnson, shakes off a couple signs and then reaches back for a 93 mph fastball that freezes Olerud for strike three.

It should have been a magical moment for the 25-year-old pitcher, a rising star in the White Sox's rotation with a 13-6 record and good enough stuff to be the Game 1 starter in their division series with Seattle.

Instead ...

Of course the batter had to be Olerud.  Dark Helmet posted a .589 OBP against the White Sox in 39 October at-bats with the Blue Jays, Mariners and Red Sox.  Sox pitchers basically had to put their livelihoods on the line to get him out in the postseason, and Parque was the one to pay the price.