A Little Klezmer Music

A Little Night Music

My wife has been a really good sport lately. That's not what I meant. Hey...

Audrey humored me by staying up late this week to watch the Mets get swept by the Dodgers, and has taken a genuine interest in this round of the NBA Playoffs. I've managed to cure her of her initial allegiance to Los Angeles sports teams, and she's picked up her own idiosyncratic likes and dislikes along the way. She loves Max Scherzer and LeBron. She despises Carlos Beltran and Pau Gasol. And she likes to call Fernando Tatis, "TAY-tis."

If ever there was a week to get into NBA basketball, this would be it. To be honest, I haven't really followed the NBA that closely since the Knicks became a Minor League hockey team, and with the exception of the glitz and gloss of last year's Lakers/Celtics match up, I generally find professional basketball unwatchable. I know that NBA purists say that the Spurs aren't a boring team to watch, but the Spurs are boring. The Mavericks are boring. In fact, all teams in any sport from Texas are boring. Except for the Cowboys. And they're not from Texas, they're from America.

What I've seen of the last four games between the Cavs, Magic, Lakers, and Nuggets has been truly entertaining. The game has so much more flow and rhythm and pace when the refs aren't calling a foul every ten seconds (I was going to write, "when the Knicks aren't playing."). Here's an idea for the NBA, officiate regular season games the way you officiate playoff games. Why are there two sets of rules? Why can players flop in the regular season, but not in the playoffs? It makes no sense.

Also, four teams from each conference should make the playoffs. The regular season is too long, all the games are meaningless because the strongest teams make the playoffs no matter how poorly they play, and you always know who's going to win in the first round, anyway.

Last night, the league's most marketable player did something truly extraordinary, something the NBA really needed him to do (I'm sure Daniel Stern and the networks were really psyched at the prospect of a possible Magic/Nuggets Final. No wait, they weren't).

I was a little boy when Michael Jordan hung in the air, and hit "The Shot." I was still little when, after the shot, he turned and did that arm throwing fist pump celebration that still stands as the single coolest reaction an athlete has ever had to anything. It was one of the first basketball games I ever watched on television, and my imagination was completely captured. Jordan had branded me, in one form or another, a fan for life; not Kenny "Sky" Walker, not Trent Tucker, not even Patrick Ewing (By the way, it's a little weird to see Ewing on the Magic bench, and eerie to see him once again bested by greatness).

I wonder how many little boys and little girls were reeled in by what LeBron did last night, and whether my Audrey was among them. He may have even branded her a fan for life, and bought me hours upon hours of guilt-free sports viewing. Either way LeBron, I, and the good people at the Disney Corporation, thank you.

Bitch Tits

This list looks at ball players that are clearly taking better supplements; not necessarily banned substances, just better. I'm not suspicious of everyone. I think Adam Jones and Rickie Weeks are kids who have turned the page, and learned how to hit Major League pitching. The goal is to uncover the Brady Andersons of the world. The guys whose production basically makes no sense.

Aaron Hill started the day with 11 homers in 177 abs. He entered the season with 28 homers in 1,720 career abs. He's short in stature, and yet on highlights Hill looks like he might catch a little chin music with his bare hand, and take a bite out of it.

Michael Young's slugging percentage went from .513 in '05, to .459 in '06, to .418 in '07, to .402 in '08. This year Young is inside-outing the ball over the fence to the tune of 7 home runs and a .588 slugging percentage. A position switch usually hurts a player's offense, and Young's numbers stand to improve as the weather heats up in Arlington this summer.

Johnny Damon is on pace for 7,000 home runs.

As the season progresses, more biologically enhanced career years may come to light, and when they do I'll make sure to publicly abhor them from my ivory tower. For now, let's just say I'm watching you, Wandy Rodriguez!

Send in the Clowns

Things that make me mad:

Book reviewers describing fiction as "spare."

Drivers indicating that pedestrians should cross in front of them with that impatient "you first" gesture. I always want to say, "No shit me first, you've got a stop sign, and I'm half way into the crosswalk." 

Tommy Lasorda.

People on the subway that make that sucking, slurping noise with their mouth and teeth.

Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

I take back everything bad I've ever said about Carlos Beltran. Not really. 

I've often argued that the reason Carlos has the greatest stolen base percentage of all time is that he never steals a meaningful base. In fact, I'll go one step further. The reason Carlos has such a great career stolen base percentage is that he attempts steals in situations where it's actually a bad baseball play. 

Well, Carlos stole a big, big base tonight, allowing the Mets to tie the game with a productive out supplied by Luis Castillo. The Mets came back to win a game they trailed by three runs heading into the 8th, and by a single run heading into the 9th. These kinds of wins have got to mean a little more to a team. Snatching victory from the clutches of defeat, beating a team's closer. 

Beltran led off the 9th with a double off Mike Gonzalez, especially impressive after falling behind in the count. Beltran has been fantastic with the bat all season (in his quiet, pious sort of way). For the second time in the early season, David Wright found himself in a position, in the 9th, facing the opposing team's closer, to move a runner on second, representing the tying run, to 3rd with less than two outs. Both times I've screamed at my wife for the lovable slugger to sacrifice the runner over to third with a bunt, knowing full well that that's not how we play the game in the United States.

Let me back this truck up a bit. I got into a sizable argument with my father during the World Baseball Classic. We were both watching the semifinal game between the U.S. and Japan when he called me up, and told me that all his life he had viewed the World Series Champion as the best team in baseball, but now, after watching Japan and Korea, he wasn't so sure. I, of course, argued that the Americans weren't in mid-season form, that Venezuela was playing without Johan Santana, that Japan had four Major League Players in their starting lineup, but he wasn't having it. We were sort of having two different conversations, but that's neither here nor there. 

There were a couple of things about what I saw in the World Baseball Classic that I found very significant, and both of them relate to the Mets' decision not to bunt with David Wright.

When you watch the team from Japan, for example, the best hitters know how to bunt. Even the cleanup hitter that might be known for hitting home runs most of time, knows how to bunt if the situation calls for it. If an American born player has been a stud on every team he's ever played for, the chances are good that he simply doesn't know how to do it.  

The other thing I noticed about Japan and Korea is that they don't strike out. Not like we do.

When the Mets faced the Marlins at home last week, Wright was facing Matt Lindstrom. Obviously, David Wright is an above-average hitter, and many would argue that he should be able to swing the bat and, at the very least, advance the runner to third with less than 2 outs. However, at the time, David Wright was leading the league in strikeouts. In an incredibly similar situation tonight, David ranked third in the league in strikeouts, and in both cases faced a strikeout pitcher. 

Last week, I loved the bunt partly because, since there were runners on 1st and 2nd, and assuming all of these overpaid, overfed Americans are hustling, the bunt takes away the chance of the double play. Tonight I loved the bunt because there was no force at third. A bunt has to be pretty lousy for a tag to be slapped on the speedy Beltran. Of course, I knew in both cases he wasn't bunting, and in both cases our best hitter didn't advance the runner to the next base. 

Now, I don't know what the deal is with the best hitters in the game striking out 125 times a year, but there's something wrong with it. When my father and I have the quintessential generational argument about progress vs...whatever he's arguing for, he often sites Joe DiMaggio's strikeout totals.

Take a look at Joe D's lifetime numbers: 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dimagjo01.shtml

Notice how those 39 strikeouts his rookie year were the most he ever racked up. Why is it that great hitters in today's game have to strikeout 125 times a year? They don't shorten up, I guess is the answer, but why don't they shorten up? Are they more concerned with stats, with launching the occasional long ball? That's what it looked like when we played in that Classic. A lot of guys with long swings.

In the W. B. C., I saw a lot of at bats where Japanese batters flicked balls into the outfield with two strikes. You might call such a Texas Leaguer lucky, but there's no shot at a Texas Leaguer if you don't make contact. That's one of the reasons why all of the best pitchers are the pitchers that strikeout so many batters. When they get into a tough spot, they don't allow poor contact to beat them. Because after all, a hitter battling, a hitter flaring something out into no man's land may not be pretty, but it's beautiful baseball.

nudes and goats

Remember how well Jordan Schafer started the season for the Braves? I'll remind you. Schafer homered twice in his first 3 Major League games, and posted a line of .421/.500/.842 through his first 5 games. Schafer must have had whatever Emilio Bonifacio was having because since that point, Schafer has hit .172/.327/.230, and has already struck out 389 times.

Speaking of prospects and great expectations, Cameron Maybin was sent down yesterday. And here I was hoping for a Dustin Pedroia-type May turnaround. Yeah, not so much. Maybin had been swinging and missing 99.7% of the time.

Last year's #1 overall pick, Tim Beckham, is starting to percolate in low-A. Beckham is hitting .350 in his last 10 contests, and has driven in a run in each of his last 9.

Top pitching prospects Madison Bumgarner, Tim Alderson, and Jarrod Parker have all impressed after recent promotions to double-A. Of these three, Bumgarner has the highest ceiling, and might be rushed to the Majors if the Giants find themselves in the mix. 

I like when baseball analysts take credit for things that have already happened. Does anybody remember when Max Scherzer had that debut out of the pen when he struck out something like 8 guys in 4 innings? Buster Olney went on television and said, "This year's Joba Chamberlain is Max Scherzer." 

Or as my wife would say, "Max Schehzeh!" Thanks for the insight, Buster. I can read the box score too. And by the way, Crazy Eyed Scherzer is now winless in his first 13 big league starts.

A Little Night Music

This article recaps last night's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Some amazing one-liners.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090510/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_correspondents

It's surprising who hosts Saturday Night Live well. In the last couple of years, some of my favorites have included Peyton Manning, Brian Williams, and Justin Timberlake. Check out the long awaited sequel to Dick in a Box:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/digital-short-motherlover/1099491/

Around the NL East

Jesus Flores is hitting .314/.388/.535, and throwing out 42% of base stealers. He'll be 24 all season.

The Nationals are 8-8 in their last 16 games.

Jo-Jo Reyes hasn't won in his last 17 starts, Tommy Hanson's numbers in triple-A are incredible, and the Braves lack star power.

Brad Lidge gave up his 5th home run of the season last night after giving up only 2 last year. Lidge has given up 11 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings after giving up only 15 in 69 1/3 innings in '08.

The Mets won last night, and were able to avoid using Francisco Rodriguez who had pitched four straight nights. Rodriguez has converted 203 of his last 225 save opportunities.

Fernando Martinez is 13 for his last 27, and is now batting .300/.349/.550.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 6: Attack of the Clones

In July of 2004, Scott Kazmir was at the midway-point between being rated baseball's #12 prospect ('04), and baseball's #7 prospect ('05). Not counting deals involving players that have struck homeplate umpires with their bat, the only player with that kind of pedigree to be traded since Kazmir is Cameron Maybin, and he was traded for a 24 year old Miguel Cabrera.

Teams trying to deal a slugger or an ace pitcher still try to bring in a blue chip prospect or two, but more and more the very top prospects in the game are deemed untouchable. It's almost impossible to conceive of Matt Wieters or David Price getting traded, but the reality is that after Kazmir, Tommy Hanson's not getting traded either. Even for Jake Peavy. A very raw Michael Stanton wasn't getting traded last year for Manny Ramirez, with the playoffs on the line, and the Red Sox willing to pay Manny's salary. Madison Bumgarner, Jason Heyward, Travis Snider, Buster Posey - these guys are not getting traded.

The Rays played so well last year, and are so well set up for the future, that other teams are definitely going to try to follow their model. Teams have become so protective of their draft picks that this past off-season Major League Baseball was ready to make an arrangement with the player's union so that certain free agents wouldn't cost their new team draft picks. I don't think that was just a byproduct of the economy, I think as time goes by teams are going to horde their youthful commodities even more.

I guarantee you this: Brian Cashman was paying attention when the Kazmir deal happened. Johan Santana is a Yankee if not for Scott Kazmir. Maybe I should thank Rick Peterson. And Jim Duquette. And Fred and Jeff Wilpon. And Al Leiter.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 5: The Lightning Round

Raise your hand if you're getting tired of me breaking down trades. Let the record state that I raised my own hand.

Now the lightning round...

There was no way I wasn't going to forget trades and do this out of order, and now it's official! Two weeks before Alfonso Soriano was sent to the Nationals, probably the biggest trade in the last five years took place. The Marlins traded Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Guillermo Mota for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Harvey Garcia, and Jesus Delgado.

Beckett was something of an emigma at the time of the deal (and sort of still is). He's the best post-season pitcher of the decade, but gets hurt a lot, gets blisters a lot, and tends to be pretty average during a lot of regular season starts. All of that doesn't really matter because he's personally responsible for the Marlins winning in '03, and the Red Sox winning in '07. I almost didn't include the trade because at the time it was made Beckett was 25 years old. This really ought to fall into the Miguel Cabrera category, and I've just decided to put it there.

Also, Hanley Ramirez is good at baseball.

Moving right along. The Braves shrugged off fears of a Scott Kazmir redux when they traded Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, and Beau Jones for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay. The Rangers were just rated by Baseball America as having the best farm system in all of baseball, and this trade is a big reason why. Saltalamacchia and Andrus were both top prospects (not elite) when the deal was made, but Neftali Feliz exploding the way he did last year makes this trade, at least at this point, incredibly one-sided.

To makes matters worse the Braves got far, far less when they turned around one year later and dealt Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek. Kotchman is a classic, slick fielding, no power, first baseman in the Rafael Palmeiro (before steroids) David Segui (before steriods), James Loney (maybe he should help out my fantasy team and take some steroids) mold. Remember when you could be a slick fielding first baseman with gap power, and not be a huge handicap to your team? Well, the Mark Graces and Keith Hernandezes of the world would probably have a hard time getting scouted these days.

Leading up to the 2008 campaign, 3 young aces were dealt for hundreds of thousands of prospects. This reminds me of something Keith Law wrote about taking Bryce Harper over Stephen Strasburg, if he were eligible, in the '09 draft. Your appropriate reaction to that should be, "Whhaaahhhtttt???" Oh my god, I reacted exactly the same way! But Law actually makes a really good point. How many young, cornerstone of a franchise type, catchers do you see traded? How many times have McCann, Mauer, Wieters, and Martin been traded? Compare that with young aces that seem to get traded all of time. Chew on that.

So Bedard goes to the M's for Adam Jones, George Sherrill, and Chris Tillman; Dan Haren goes to the D'Backs for Carlos Gonzalez, and a lot of other people that wound up in Oakland's rotation in '08; and Johan Santana, the best pitcher in baseball, gets dealt to the New York Mets, the Mets are granted a window to negotiate with him, that window is then extended by Major League Baseball, and the Twins get in return...

Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, and three large cartons of orange juice.

Now that's making a splash with your first trade as a general manager. The Twins probably should have bit on the package built around Lester, or the package built around Ellsbury, or the package built around Hughes. Speaking of Deolis Guerra, I need to write about the Mets insistence on pushing top prospects so that they're always young and overmatched at every level of the minors.

And in the last 10 months, C.C. Sabathia was traded for a group of minor leaguers headed by Matt LaPorta (definitely not an elite prospect because, although he can hit, he's an unathletic outfielder); Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers in a three way trade that I'll write about later; and Matt Holliday was traded for a then not as well thought of Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and spare parts.

In hindsight, the prospect packages have really worked out on three occasions: Haren's been infinitely better than Mulder, the Bedard deal looks great for the Orioles (Jones is a beast, Sherrill's their closer, and Tillman is supposed to be great), and the first Teixeira deal looks great for the Rangers. However, I'm more interested in the level of prospect that has been dealt since our boy Scott...

A Little Night Music

If you don't know David Benioff's writing, get to know it. He's married to Amanda Peet, and she may be the lucky one.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 4: Kazmiritis

I've decided to skip the White Sox dealing Carlos Lee because the biggest piece coming back from the Brewers was Scott Podsednik, a Major Leaguer, and the Phillies making room for Ryan Howard by dealing Jim Thome and a lot of money for Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez, and Daniel Haigwood because I thought Thome was done at the time of the deal.

That brings us to a trade of an all-world player, an electrifying talent, for less than a bag of shells. I believe this deal hasn't gotten the attention it deserves because the star player didn't stay with his new team for very long, however, this is a doozy, and it must take its rightful place in the pantheon of bad trades.

Eyebrows in the baseball world were collectively raised when the lowly Nationals traded for Alfonso Soriano a year before he was set to make a huge payday. Soriano responded with a 40/40 campaign, in a terrible hitter's park, playing a new position, that would have been even more impressive if he hadn't faded down the stretch. The Tigers were believed to have a case of Kazmiritis when they were unwilling to part with elite prospect Cameron Maybin in a deal for Soriano (even though they would have been able to afford signing him to a long-term deal), so the Texas Rangers decided to pull the trigger on...

Brad Wilkerson, Termel Sledge, and Armando Galarraga.

Whoops. Wilkerson, the crown jewel in the Rangers haul, is now retired. Termel Sledge is Termel Sledge. And Galarraga, who was not all that well thought of, the Rangers would deal before blossoming.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 3: Don't Call Me Danny

Two days after trading Hudson, Billy Beane parted ways with the second of "The Big Three," California surfer Mark Mulder.

Mulder was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for Daric Barton, Danny Haren, and Kiko Calero. Barton's patience fit the Moneyball philosophy, and in February 2005, Baseball America would rate Barton as the #32 prospect in the game. The A's gave Barton every opportunity last year, but it appears patience is the only thing the converted catcher brings to the table. In 523 plate appearances in 2008, Barton walked 65 times, but he hit .226 and slugged .348. Patient corner infielders with big frames that don't hit for power are so annoying. Sean Burroughs and Dave Magadan come to mind. All Haren had to do was change his name from Danny to Dan and he became an ace. Calero, a spare part in the deal, had two good years and one bad year with the A's. Mark Mulder had one solid season with the Cards before being ravaged by injuries.

Again, an ace (not Victor Zambrano) gets dealt for a top prospect (not an elite prospect like Kazmir), a mid-level prospect, and a middle reliever. Billy Beane should be credited with dealing these guys when they still had value, and not spending limited funds on long term deals. You know, super duper pitching genius Rick Peterson and his biomechanics led to a lot of injuries and small windows of success for "The Big Three." Peterson was widely accused of not liking Kazmir's biomechanics, but thinking with an adjustment or two he could right the troubled vessel that was Victor Zambrano. Thanks, Rick.

nudes and goats

Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. I guess this makes sense - you're not supposed to get better when you're 37 years old.

Last night, Dan Meyer responded to my less than flattering post by coming out of the Marlins bullpen and having his best outing as a Major Leaguer. Meyer struck out 5 and didn't allow a run in 2 2/3 innings.

Johan Santana is a very, very good baseball player.

nudes and goats

Contrary to published reports, there were well over 12 fans in attendance at last night's Yankees/Red Sox game.

Joba Chamberlain walked off the mound to a standing ovation from scores of fans that made it out to the Bronx last night. Chamberlain gave up 4 earned runs on 6 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Carlos Deldago dropped a routine pop up that would have been the final out in last night's Mets game. One wonders whether Delgado's mind had drifted to his signature fist pump reserved for double plays and the last out of ball games.

Ryan Zimmerman is good again.

Cole Hamels' hair is totally ridiculous in a new ESPN The Magazine spot with Chad Johnson and Jameer Nelson.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions Part 2: Bucket of Baseballs

Let's start with Tim Hudson to Atlanta for a bucket of baseballs.

The Atlanta Braves traded Dan Meyer at the perfect time in December 2004 following easily his best campaign as a professional. In Baseball America's annual top 100 prospect list (put out each February), Meyer jumped from #82 in '04, to #43 entering the '05 season. At his apex, Meyer was a very good prospect, but never projected as a top of the rotation starter like Kazmir. The A's also brought in Juan Cruz, a solid middle reliever, and Charles Thomas whose ceiling was a useful third or fourth outfielder in the Endy Chavez mold. Anybody remember that month on Baseball Tonight when it seemed like Charles Thomas made a sprawling catch a night? Well, Cruz and Thomas both had one bad season for the Athletics before in Cruz's case moving on to Arizona, and in Thomas' case being sent down. Charles' lifetime slugging percentage in 8 Minor League seasons is .383.

Hudson has been a disaster for the Braves, but that's beside the point. At the time of the deal he was an ace in his prime (although a strikeout plunge in '04 was clearly a red flag for the A's), and had considerably more value than Victor Zambrano and his befuddled expression ever had. The As got quantity, but Dan Meyer is no Scott Kazmir.

The Scott Kazmir Trade and its Repercussions

Most Mets fans remember where they were when they found out that pitching phenom Scott Kazmir had been dealt to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a bag of shells. It was a move cynical Mets fans hated from the start, and for good reason. Victor Zambrano was terrible with the Mets, and as my father recently pointed out, Scott Kazmir keeps getting younger. Over the next few days, I'd like to examine what I believe is a change of philosophy, across major league baseball, as a result of the Mets historic blunder. 

It has been almost five years since the Mets traded Kazmir in the famously one-sided deal. During that time, a fair number of star players have been dealt for top prospects. What I'd like to investigate is whether there has been any change in what teams are willing to give up for established players that are most often approaching free agency. I won't include the Miguel Cabrera/Willis/Maybin/Miler deal as Cabrera was 24 at the time of the deal, and therefore doesn't fit my model of youth for experience, potential for a proven commodity. I'll leave out trades like Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young to San Diego for Adam Eaton because while Gonzalez has developed into a marquee player, he wasn't at the time the deal was made. 

Javier Vazquez

Javier Vazquez is something of a statistical anomaly. I challenge my readers, if there are any of you out there, to name another starting pitcher who dominates as much as Javy does, part of the time, but winds up with mediocre results (after looking into it a bit, A.J. Burnett is the only guy that compares). Javy gives his team length, he strikes people out at a prodigious rate, he keeps people off base at a decent clip, he doesn't give up a ton of home runs, and he's not that good. 

Last year, Javier Vazquez finished 10th in all of baseball with 200 strikeouts. Strikeouts are usually a decent indicator of stuff, and last year the guys with the most strikeouts, with the exception of Vazquez, were the guys that were the best pitchers. Of the other pitchers with 200 strikeouts, only Burnett's era wasn't a full run better than Vazquez's (and Burnett won 18 games in the AL East, while Vazquez went 12-16 in a weak division). This year, Javier has gone from a hitter's park in the American League to a pitcher's park in the National League. The result is that his stuff is dominating even more. His 50 strikeouts are 2nd in baseball behind the unconscious Zack Greinke, and his strikeout rate per 9 innings is 4th behind Rich Harden, Tim Lincecum, and Johan Santana. That's some company. 

By the way, Vazquez is 2-3 with a 4.19 era. Pitching in the National League in a pitcher's park hasn't made Javy a winning player.

Balls and Strikes and Mike Piazza

I have a number of theories about balls and strikes and how they are called by home plate umpires.

First of all, it truly amazes me that the dead center field camera angle, which is used in Boston, St. Louis, and Minnesota, and on a number of ball/strike instant replays, isn't used all of the time. At a later date, I will devote an entire post to the travesty that is the network's decision to keep force feeding us the standard center field camera angle. You know the one I mean. The one where both pitcher and batter's box are large in the frame, and a left handed batter trying to hit a left handed pitcher's breaking ball looks about as easy as trying to drink coffee with a fork (That's Willie Stargell's line about trying to hit Sandy Koufax. Where have all the lyrical ball players gone?) Because the standard camera angle isn't straight on, we have no way of knowing which pitches are truly over the plate. With all of the technology at our fingertips, with all of the advanced scouting (I selected high school sophomore Bryce Harper in my fantasy baseball draft), and the sabermetrics, and the blogs, and the comments on blogs, with all of the demand for more sophisticated ways of understanding the sport, isn't it a little bit crazy that the action is shot from an angle where you can't trust what you're looking at?

If you're like me and follow games on Gamecast or Gameday, you might be shocked and frustrated by how bad umpiring has gotten. The outline of the ball is clearly in the rectangular box, how could you have missed that, blue! Whenever I see blown calls on Gamecast I attribute it to the pitcher missing his spot. During the Mets/Phillies game on Saturday, the home plate umpire would not call a strike if the pitcher missed his spot. I have a problem with that. I also have a problem with a catcher setting up on the black when Oliver Perez has no idea where it's going, but that's for another post. It's as if the umpire isn't just deciding whether the pitch crossed over the plate or not, but also judging intent. The catcher was set up inside, you through a somewhat fat strike, thigh high, on the outer third of the plate, therefore I will call a ball because that's not where you meant to throw it. This may sound loony, but remember umpires referred to intent in explaining the absence of the high strike, "We're not going to give that to pitchers because they're trying to keep the ball down. We're not going to reward them for missing their spot." Well, now pitchers don't get the high strike, or the low strike (where they are trying to throw it). Every time they show a borderline low pitch from that dugout camera angle, it's always high enough.

My theory is that umpires are far too wrapped up in the catcher's body. Yeah, you heard me. Remember the Eric Gregg/Livan Hernandez playoff game? I can still see The Crime Dog's look of disbelief as he was wrung up on a pitch a foot and a half off the plate. Last time I looked at the rule book, there was a designated area where the catcher had to position himself. That area is called the catcher's box. There's also supposed to be a batter's box, delineated by white chalk. The only time I've ever seen that rule enforced, Carl Everett looked like he was going to jump through my television set and beat me.

Saturday's Mets/Phillies strike zone was such a clear example of bad umpiring. The pitcher would get the call on a borderline pitch if he hit the target. An inch off the plate, two inches off, why not, the guy threw it right where he wanted. But if that catcher had to reach a few inches towards the middle of the zone, no sir! It may be an issue of where the umpires are positioned. Supposedly, because an umpire always sets up over the inside part of the catcher's body they don't give inside strikes. The rationale being that they can really see that side of the plate, whereas they give more on the outer half because seeing 17" over is inexact. One might ask, why doesn't the guy set up in the middle of the zone no matter where the catcher is?

And another thing. The strike zone is supposed to resemble a rectangle - horizontally from one side of the plate to the other, and vertically from the knees to the letters. Umpires don't really recognize the top of the strike zone, but it is theoretically there. When I watch a game on television it's clear to me that an umpire's actual zone doesn't look so much like a rectangle. It looks more like an oval. An umpire will give a pitcher the very bottom or very top of the strike zone if the pitcher centers the pitch. The same goes for the inverse. The umpire will give a pitcher that strike on the black, but you better split the catcher's body perfectly and hit the glove. An umpire can only give so much. The result is that the height depends on the width and vice verse. The umpire makes it clear that you can throw to one edge of the strike zone, but not to two. The result is, that most dreaded word to associate with umpiring, inconsistency.

And then there's the catcher's body. Presently, I'm very excited about Yankees prospect Jesus Montero, an offensive-minded catcher who is tearing up the pitcher-friendly Florida State League (and who I drafted in my fantasy baseball draft). Montero stands (or squats) at, less than ideal for a catcher, 6' 4," making it difficult for him to get low, and theoretically making the umpire's job even harder. Most scouts don't believe Montero will stick as a catcher, but the Yankees see Montero as a Mike Piazza type (so says Baseball America, anyway). A catcher in the Mike Piazza mold? Maybe I should be the one to tell the Yankees that that's not good.

This got me thinking a little about our old friend Mike, an all-time great offensive player, but a remarkably bad defensive player. I used to try to calculate how many strikes Mike Piazza would cost his pitchers per game. Was it one a game? One an inning? I've never seen a catcher frame pitches so badly. Mike used to move his glove with the impact of the pitch instead of "keeping it there," and then if the pitch was just off the plate, he would jerk his glove back into the strike zone instead of turning his glove. So he had a double move. Catchers are taught, or should be, to move their glove, when catching the baseball, as little as possible. Umpires know that if a catcher brings his glove back towards the strike zone, he didn't think it would be called a strike where it was. The best framers use a bit of psychology. It's better to leave your glove where it is, and turn or shape the pitch, even if it's off the plate, than move the whole glove back towards the zone. The first move in Piazza's style was just an inability to be quiet with his hands as he received the ball. He would stab at the ball, catch it, and let the momentum of the pitch take his glove away from where he caught it. That was followed by the conspicuous full move with the glove back. The Flying Molina Brothers make everything look like a strike, and the Mets had The Pizza Man making strikes look like balls.

Why is it that if a catcher drops a close pitch it never gets called a strike? Why is it that if a catcher gets crossed up, rises up for a fastball, then has to react to a breaking ball, no matter where the pitch is, it never gets called a strike? Why is it that 12 to 6 hooks get judged based on where the catcher catches the ball, and not where the pitch crosses the plate? And why is it that when Randy Johnson is batting the top of his strike zone is below his belt buckle?

Umpires need to keep their eyes on the baseball, call a strike a strike, and stop judging everything based on the positioning and presentation of the catcher.

Grit

All this talk about how gritty the Phillies are and how ungritty the Mets are has got me thinking. 
 
a) The Phillies weren't so gritty - minus Chase Utley - until they got hot at the right time, and wound up winning the World Series. Six months ago, they were a team that pretty consistently underachieved in the Pat Burrell Era. Of course one has to give them credit for getting hot, and winning the World Series, but doesn't it seem like all of the gritty talk is going a little overboard? Victorino is a fun, scrappy, clutch player. Utley is an incredible player and gritty to boot - a rare combination. But are Ryan Howard, Pedro Feliz, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson and Jayson Werth so gritty and selfless? It seems to me that they're just good. 
 
b) Part of the reason the media has bestowed the Phillies with this lunch pail persona is that they are being compared with the Mets. Eric Karros said something on yesterday's telecast that really made sense to me. About the Mets elaborate handshakes Karros said something like, "If they're spending time working on that stuff, that's time they're not working on things that will actually help them be better baseball players." 
 
I love youthful enthusiasm if you're good. I love the showmanship of K-Rod. He's as entertaining a pitcher as I can remember watching (just had flashes of Turk Wendel go through my mind). The 1986 Mets are so near and dear to my heart partly because they were a little ridiculous. However, I don't want to see two outfielders jump into the air and knock sides in the fashion that has become so popular if we win a game that makes us 11 up and 13 down. If someone wins a game with a hit or a great play and there is actual excitement that's one thing. But I don't want to see any choreography unless we're playing significantly better than we are. It makes us look like a bunch of clowns.