posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 3:24 AM
by
Jim
Three things that baffle me
1. Carlos Quentin's throw didn't make "Web Gems" on Baseball Tonight.
I know there's not much of a point about complaining about ESPN, but to me,
there are few things more impressive than great throws from corner
outfielders. For instance, as impressive as Ichiro's
Spider-Man act was,
The Throw is still the best play he's ever made in my book.
I ended up watching the Quentin play six times, which took me about 25
minutes thanks to the Microsoft Silverlight player MLB.tv uses. With
the old Windows Media Player version, it was a helluva lot easier to
click to spots in the game's timeline. Still, it was plenty worth it.
Whattathrow.
Aside from Adam Kennedy's dive, roll and throw from his back, the rest
were your garden variety diving catches and stabs, save Kosuke
Fukudome's running catch that Aaron Rowand made a billion times.
On a related note, I
am pulling for Fukudome, though, if only so I don't look like a huge idiot
for badly wanting the Sox to sign him this offseason. So far, I don't think either Chicago team can complain about their outfield acquisitions.
2. John Danks and Gavin Floyd provided the only quality starts in the rotation's first turn.
And ...
Floyd got the rotation's first win today. How 'bout it.
The thing that impressed me most about Floyd today is the way he attacked Miguel Cabrera. Sox pitchers walked him three times in the series opener, including two of the four-pitch variety. It's one thing to be careful, but that's overkill -- especially when Cabrera's got a bad leg and it's cold.
Floyd threw first-pitch strikes to Cabrera every time and made easy work out of it. Can't quite say the same for the guy Cabrera usurped, Brandon Inge, but he performed well.
If nothing else, it takes a little bit of pressure off the top of the rotation, although Mark Buehrle should be feeling some heat after
the shortest non-injury related start of his career.
3. Kenny Williams is engaging Jose Canseco.Williams has every right
to stand up for himself with regards to Canseco's allegations that Williams was aware of alleged steroid use in the Sox clubhouse, but
I think this is overdoing it a little:
''I don't take too kindly to being called a liar. I'm pretty consistent in how I answer questions and do business. So I need to take a look and see from a legal perspective if I want to see how damaging those comments were. I'm not the guy that you want to go down that road with. Because I'm more likely to come out swinging, and I'll swing a hell of a lot harder than any punch you'll throw at me.''
If his word is believable -- and there's plenty to suggest it is, more so than Canseco's, at least -- there may be a point in going down this road, but so far, nobody's taken on Canseco and come out looking better for it. A second "tell-all" book has diminished his credibility, and to me, people are better off letting him rave like a mad man.
If he did have to say something, Williams could've merely stated what's already on the record -- that he was
the only GM to give Canseco a chance in the waning moments of his career and wasn't part of the "blackballing" scheme Canseco claims was designed to remove him for his transgressions.
Williams wanted to go as far as to give Canseco a final day in the sun. From a Carol Slezak column after Canseco's retirement in 2002:
I'll bet general manager Ken Williams can hardly wait to read the chapter on how Canseco has been blackballed . It was Williams who rescued Canseco last year. Rescued him from the Newark Bears, an independent-league team. Rescued him from a diet of peanut butter sandwiches, I remember a grateful Canseco saying last summer. Gave him the chance to get 16 home runs closer to the 500 mark. And Canseco says he has been blackballed ?
I'm disappointed by some of what I've read," Williams said. We have a difference of opinion as to how he was treated here."
Williams rescued Canseco again this spring after he was cut by the Montreal Expos. The Sox' Class AAA affiliate in Charlotte may not be the major leagues, but it sure beats Newark. Trouble was, Canseco had a difficult time getting untracked at the plate.
I've never seen so much head-shaking at the plate," Wunsch said of Canseco 's at-bats.
On the day Canseco announced his retirement, Williams spent part of the afternoon trying to give Canseco a proper send-off.
I was thinking of ways to bring him back [to Comiskey Park], at least to put him in a uniform for a day, so he could retire from the big leagues," Williams said.
Basically, this is similar to the Frank Thomas situation, in which
lashing back against Thomas' words didn't win him any respect. Of course, these allegations are far more serious, but sometimes it's better to let dirty dogs lie.
***************************
Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 3, Columbus 0
- Lance Broadway dominated in his first outing, throwing seven innings of two-hit ball. Better yet, he didn't walk a batter, which is encouraging since his control was his biggest weakness last year.
- Fun fact: He won the battle of the L. Broadways, as Larry Broadway went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Josh Fields is off the schneid. After two 0-for-4, three-strikeout days, Fields went 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and he didn't strike out once.
- Jason Bourgeois drew two walks and stole his third base.
- Ehren Wassermann closed it out with a perfect inning, striking out two.
- Tennessee 2, Birmingham 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- One bad pitch resulting in a two-out, two-run homer ruined an otherwise good outing for Kyle McCulloch. He gave up only three hits and didn't walk anybody while striking out four.
- Ricardo Nanita had two of the Barons' six hits. Dave Cook, Miguel Negron and Javier Castillo each doubled.
- Tennessee 5, Birmingham 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Clayton Richard was roughed up for five runs in three innings in his Double-A debut.
- Matt Zaleski, John Lujan and Clevelan Santeliz held Tennessee scoreless the rest of the day.
- The Barons only managed three hits off Jeff Samardzija, with Nanita driving in the lone run.
- Kannapolis 6, Greenville 2
- Christian Marrerro led the Intimidators offense with a 3-for-5 day, doubling and driving in one.
- Anthony Carter pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs on three hits, two walks, and striking out seven.
- Jason Rice picked up an old-fashioned save with three scoreless innings.
- Winston-Salem vs. Kinston PPD