Bleacher Report - Articles by KP Wee

Mats Sundin Will Not Play in 2010 Olympics

KP Wee — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:48:17 -0400

(Originally posted in Orato.com)

Mats Sundin, who played for the Vancouver Canucks this season, says he will not play for Team Sweden at the Vancouver Olympics this February, according to an interview he did with Swedish newspaper Expressen.

Sundin was quoted as saying, "There will be no Olympics in Vancouver for me next year...I will not change my mind" (HockeyExpressen.se, June 21, 2009). There was a comment about seeing the next generation of players taking over in the Olympics instead, citing Sweden has many good players at the present time.

Meanwhile, the biggest question Vancouver fans will be wondering is whether the 38-year-old Sundin will return for the 2009-10 season. According to the interview, Sundin will make a decision in the summer, though he stated he "absolutely" wouldn't rule out the possibility of playing for the Canucks again next season.

Canucks fans most likely would rather not see GM Mike Gillis wait around for Sundin as he did this year, when Sundin didn't make up his mind about which team to sign with until the new calendar year.

Sundin also expressed disappointment that the Canucks bowed out in the second round of the playoffs to Chicago, saying that had Vancouver gotten past the Blackhawks, the Canucks could have given the Detroit Red Wings a tough time in the Western Conference Finals.

Sundin scored nine goals in 41 games in a Canucks uniform last season after spending the previous 13 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin added three goals and eight points in eight playoff games this past spring. For his career, the Swedish centre has 564 goals and 1,349 points in 1,346 career regular-season games.

Blue Jays Sweep Phillies

KP Wee — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:58:17 -0400

(Originally posted on The Press Box)

Well, despite all their injuries, the Toronto Blue Jays swept the Phillies in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon.

This time, it was thanks to ex-Phil Rod Barajas, whose pinch-hit homer leading off the ninth gave Toronto an 8-7 win.

Brad Mills, making his ML debut, lasted only 3 2/3 innings, giving up four runs. Cito Gaston was forced to use seven relievers in this one.

Despite blowing the save in the eighth inning, Jason Frasor got the win (now 5-0) by getting the final out before Barajas' heroics.

B.J. Ryan got one out in the ninth before Jeremy Accardo retired the final two Phillies for his first save.

Accardo was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to take the spot of closer Scott Down (DL). Mills, a lefty who was 1-8 with a 4.48 ERA in Triple-A, was called up to take Casey Janssen's spot.

Amazingly, the NL East-leading Phillies are only 2-10-1 in home series this year (with both series wins against the awful Nationals) and are 13-19 at Citizens Bank Park. On the other hand, they are an ML-best 23-9 on the road.

Speaking of the lowly Nats, they stunned the Yankees again at new Yankee Stadium, winning 3-0.

Someone named Craig Stammen (0-2, 5.86 in 5 career starts--all this year) pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings for Washington for his first ML win--at the Yankees' expense.

New York (37-29) has lost six of nine.

With the Yankees' loss, the Blue Jays (37-31) and idle Angels (35-29 and who have won six in a row) are 1 game back in the Wild Card standings. Tampa Bay, which has now lost two straight following a six-game winning streak, is now three back.

The Jays are in third place in the East standings, four back of the Red Sox.

For now, Toronto remains in the race, but for how much longer?

With ace Roy Halladay (10-1, 2.53) on the DL, and with Mills being the FOURTH starting pitcher this season to make his ML debut for the Jays, the team is in big trouble.

Their top five projected starters--Halladay, Janssen, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, and Jesse Litsch--are all on the DL.

The ironic part about all this?

A.J. Burnett, the guy that was supposedly the brittle one, is healthy and injury-free! Burnett, who was part of the Jays' 2008 rotation, isn't doing that well in the Bronx in '09, but at least he's managed to stay off the DL. For now anyways.

The Jays now start a three-game series in Washington against the hapless Nationals (an MLB-worst 18-46), a team that just took two of three in New York against the Yanks. (They could have won all three, if not for a blown lead in the late innings in the first game.)

If the Jays don't sweep this weekend series, you can call them officially dead. You've simply got to win games you're supposed to win, if you want to stay in the race.

Jays Win Second Straight But Lose Ace Halladay and Two Others

KP Wee — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:07:04 -0400

Well, the Blue Jays won their second straight game in Philadelphia on Wednesday, and coupled with the Yankees' 3-2 loss against Washington (!!), are only two games back in the Wild Card standings.

The only thing though, is that Tampa Bay and the Angels are now in the mix too, having put together six game winning streaks.

But the real bad news came when it was announced that Roy Halladay (10-1 this season) and closer Scott Downs will be placed on the DL on Thursday.

Before Wednesday's game, starter Casey Janssen (2-3, 6.23) was placed on the DL also.

That means the Blue Jays have their projected top five starters (Halladay, Janssen, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, and Jesse Litsch) on the disabled list.

Say goodnight to the Jays' season.

It doesn't matter if they're only two games back in the standings. If teams like the Rays and Angels can win put together six-game winning streaks (and the Yankees have all those big bats and that $200-million payroll) there's no way Toronto can overcome all these pitching injuries.

I think Brian Tallet will give the Jays decent starts, but even he got bombed last Sunday...by the Marlins, of all people.

I guess people are right when they said the '09 Jays are just like the '05 Orioles: a team that got out to a fast start but then slowly faded away.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, how about that Chien-Ming Wang? He's now 0-5 this season, and it seems like every time he's on the mound, the Yankees find a way to lose.

Perhaps they should trot him out every day.

Also with the Yankees, it is unfortunate to hear about what happened to ex-Bomber Mel Hall earlier today. 45 years is a long time.

* * * * *

I guess I was wrong about Scott Richmond.

He hasn't slumped at all. In fact, he fanned 11 (a career-high) as Toronto beat Philadelphia 7-1 on Wednesday. This came after the Jays rallied in the ninth inning one night earlier and stunned the first-place Phils 8-3 in 10.

Ricky Romero started Tuesday's game and did all right, though he struck out three times in three at-bats, stranding eight baserunners. If you remember, for interleague games, the Jays lose the DH in NL ballparks, thus pitchers have to bat in such contests away from Rogers Centre.

But that's not the worst thing to have happened Tuesday.

Downs' injury came when he strained his big left toe while swinging at a pitch during the Jays' five-run 10th inning...yikes. And to make things worse, Downs' at-bat came AFTER Toronto had gotten the five runs (and he made the final out of the inning with his ground-out), so that means Cito Gaston could have pinch-hit for him and brought in another reliever to pitch in the bottom of the inning.

Toronto left the bases loaded in the sixth, eighth, and ninth innings, but still recovered with those five runs in the 10th.

I would guess Cito would much rather have lost the Tuesday game than to lose Scott Downs.

Enough About Glavine Already

KP Wee — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:49:26 -0400

(Originally posted on The Press Box)

There was a big fuss made earlier this week when the Atlanta Braves decided to release old-timer Tom Glavine.

Yes, the left-hander won them a World Series in 1995 (he was the Series MVP) and had been a standout all those years with the team.

But seriously? Everyone from the media to the fans were actually crying because the Braves decided Glavine was no longer good enough?

The reality is Glavine is finished. (Just ask Mets fans, whose 2007 season ended prematurely thanks to Tommy.)

Last season with the Braves, he made only 13 starts and pitched a total of 63 1/3 innings—that’s less than 5 innings per start—and was brutal.

He was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA.

And this coming off a disastrous 2007 season with the Mets, when he was knocked out of the first inning in the season finale, with a postseason berth for New York on the line.

Glavine, who won No. 300 earlier that season, gave up seven runs in 1/3 of an inning against Florida, costing the Mets the NL East title.

And Glavine says he can still pitch.

Give me a break.

I think I’ve heard enough of whining and complaining from athletes who think they should get whatever they want, whenever they want it.

What good will a return to the big leagues do for Glavine? He’s proven he can no longer pitch, he can no longer stay healthy, and he sulks when he is no longer part of the Braves’ plans.

Does he really want 2009 to be an encore of 2008, when he was atrocious?

Baseball—as with any sport—is all about business, and Glavine—who was a high-profiled players’ union rep during the 1994 strike—should get that. It’s not about being sentimental, about “oh, you pitched all those years in Atlanta so you should AUTOMATICALLY get a spot in the Braves’ rotation” or whatever nonsense people will have you believe about him “deserving” to be there because of his past.

Professional sports is a business. If you can’t do the job anymore, you don’t “deserve” to be there just because you were good A LONG TIME AGO. Pro sports isn’t a charity or anything like that, and it’s very ironic Glavine doesn’t get it.

Funny, we never got this much outcry when Barry Bonds wasn’t re-signed by the San Francisco Giants, who benefited when the home run king was going after No. 756.

Another funny thing about Glavine’s career is he always got help from the umpires.

Glavine, a finesse pitcher, made a living “painting the outside corner”, as baseball people will remind you all the time.

He would throw a pitch one inch outside the strike zone, and the umpire would call it a strike. And then as the game went on, his pitches would continuously go away from the strike zone, but since he could go to the “corner” consistently, he got the calls from the umps.

Again, that’s really ridiculous. Why bother having a “strike zone” when a pitcher can throw the ball outside the zone and have it called a strike?

Just because he can do it consistently while say, his mound opponent, rookie Joe Blow, can’t?

That’s one thing I never understood. If the pitch is not in the strike zone, it’s not a strike! And yet Glavine (and his Atlanta buddy Greg Maddux) got the calls for years.

It’s just like saying, “Oh, Tommy, you’re an A student consistently, so it’s okay if you didn’t do your homework this time. Oh, it’s okay you’re late. BUT JOE!! You’re an F student and you’re LATE! Go to the principal’s office… NOW!”

Just another one of baseball’s dumb “rules.” Double standards.

Richmond and Toronto Blue Jays Lose to Kansas City Royals

KP Wee — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:32:36 -0400

No, it wasn't the seventh game of the 1985 ALCS, but the results were the same.

The Kansas City Royals, thanks to a three-run triple, turned the tide Saturday afternoon, pulling out a 6-2 win at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays had staked Scott Richmond to a 2-0 lead on Raul Chavez's two-run homer—his first dinger of the year—in the third inning.

However, after looking good for the first few innings, Richmond ran into trouble in the fifth, when the Royals scored five runs.

Mark Teahen hit a two-run home run off Richmond, before the right-hander allowed a double and walk, as the Royals threatened to take the lead with two outs.

Richmond ran the count to 3-0 on David DeJesus and then walked him two pitches later, loading the bases for Willie Bloomquist.

Why didn't manager Cito Gaston pull Richmond right there? Yes, he'd pitched four scoreless innings leading to the fifth. But he'd also given up two runs in the fifth and had loaded the bases, having walked the last two batters in a row.

Instead, Gaston left his starter in the game, and Bloomquist—who was hitting well against the Blue Jays, as color commentator Rance Mulliniks had said in the pre-game—delivered a drive to deep center to clear the bases.

Kansas City 5, Toronto 2.

Then, Gaston came out to take the ball from Richmond, one batter too late. Reliever Shawn Camp, who replaced Richmond, went on to pitch 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

This was an absolutely winnable game for the Blue Jays. Had Cito removed the starter one or two batters earlier, who knows, the game might have been different.

Still down by three in the seventh, Chavez came up, with two on and two out. But the catcher—not a long-ball threat by any means—grounded out to third to end the inning.

The Royals added a run in the eighth, and won it 6-2.

Alex Rios left two more runners on base, and went 0-for-3 with a walk. This after that disastrous 0-for-5, five-strikeout showing on Thursday afternoon.

The 3-4-5 hitters—Rios, Vernon Wells, and Adam Lind—combined to go 0-for-10.

The walk that Rios got came in the ninth inning, when he, Wells, and Lind were up, with the Jays down by four runs.

However, Wells promptly hit into a double play, and Lind ended the contest with a fly to right.

With the first-place Yankees also losing on Saturday afternoon, a victory over the Royals—who had lost eight straight—would have helped in the standings.

But chalk up yet another loss, in a very winnable game.

The good news is ace Roy Halladay (9-1, 2.77) will be back on the mound Sunday afternoon, as the Jays look to win the series.

* * * * *

And it's about time the experiment with Richmond in the rotation ended.

Yes, he was 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his first five starts and was the AL Rookie of the Month in April.

But in three of his last five starts, including Saturday afternoon, he has allowed at least five runs.

The Blue Jays lost four of those five outings.

Richmond did well coming out of the bullpen on May 31 against the Red Sox in an 8-2 loss—he pitched two shutout innings in relief of Ricky Romero—when his turn in the rotation was skipped because the Jays had two off-days in the last couple weeks.

So, why not put Richmond in the bullpen?

He could probably give the Jays an inning or two, before closer Scott Downs gets the ball.

If New York Comes Back to Overtake the Blue Jays...

KP Wee — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:00:16 -0400

If the Yankees overtake the Blue Jays this season, all you need to do is look at this weekend's games.

Yes, the Jays won four straight at home against the White Sox. But so did the Yanks against the Minnesota Twins. And in all four games, the Yankees rallied to win, including the first three in the late innings and in their final at-bats.

Look at three of those wins for New York right there. If the Yanks win the Wild Card over Toronto by three games or fewer, look at those three games the Twins blew right there.

For now, Toronto is in first place, 3.5 games ahead of idle Boston, with a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway starting Tuesday.

The good news is if the Jays (27-14) lose all three in Boston (22-16), they will still leave town in first place. The Yanks (21-17) are 4 1/2 games back, followed by the Rays (20-20) at 6.5 games back.

The Orioles, 16-22 and 9.5 out, are pretty much done in the AL East.

Blue Jays Win Again, Sweep White Sox

KP Wee — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:58:30 -0400

How about those Toronto Blue Jays?

With the Seattle Mariners slumping (5-11 so far this month, pending Monday night’s outcome against the Angels) and no longer in first place, the Blue Jays have surely supplanted the M’s as the team of choice on the West Coast.

The Blue Jays were at it again this weekend, shaking off their lucklaster performance against the New York Yankees in their last series, coming back to take four straight from the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre.

The Jays’ starting rotation used to consist of ace Roy “Doc” Halladay and everybody else, while...click here for more.

Ray, Jays Win, Beat White Sox 2-1

KP Wee — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:09:14 -0400

Rookie Robert Ray pitched a heck of a game for the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.

But after eight innings, he was behind, 1-0, to the visiting Chicago White Sox.

The Blue Jays had outhit the White Sox 8-3, but hadn't been able to cross the plate against starter Bartolo Colon and a pair of relievers.

The Jays' best chance came in the seventh inning, when they had two on and two out for Aaron Hill. The second baseman, however, struck out swinging on a low 3-2 pitch to end the inning and finish off an 0-for-4 day.

But the Jays rewarded Ray for his fine pitching in the eighth.

Vernon Wells singled and stole second, before Adam Lind was somehow able to hit a low pitch from Scott Linebrink, the White Sox's fourth pitcher of the day, into right field for a game-tying double.

Linebrink then bounced the next pitch, which got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski, sending Lind to third.

Jose Bautista promptly hit the next Linebrink offering to left field, scoring Lind and giving Toronto the lead.

Scott Downs retired the White Sox 1-2-3 in the ninth inning for his fourth save in four chances.

Though B.J. Ryan has returned from his stint on the DL, the Jays have announced Downs will be the closer for now.

For Ray, who was making his third career start, it was his first victory in the majors.

Ray gave up just one unearned run in eight innings, striking out three and walking one. He gave up only three hits.

The lone walk Ray surrendered was to the very first batter of the game, and Chicago capitalized.

Scott Podsednik walked to lead off the ballgame, went to second on a groundout, stole third base, and came around to score on Jays catcher Raul Chavez's throwing error.

For seven innings, that lead held up for Chicago.

* * * * * *
On Friday night, the Blue Jays had beaten the White Sox 8-3 in the opener of their four-game series, but surely it wasn't a great night.

Sure, the Boston Red Sox lost in Seattle, blowing a 4-0 lead. As I'd said earlier, enough of Jon Lester being a hero coming back from cancer, throwing a no-no and pitching in the 2007 World Series-clinching game.

Lester plain sucks. Staked to a 4-0 lead, he allowed a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. Boston lost 5-4.

And oh, he allowed Ichiro Suzuki to hit two home runs. Ichiro's homer in the fifth put the Mariners on the scoreboard, and his two-run bomb turned a 4-3 deficit to a 5-4 lead.

Meanwhile, Boston DH David Ortiz was benched. Ortiz was out of the lineup after his embarrassing showing in Anaheim the day before, going 0-for-7 with 12 runners left on base in their extra-inning loss.

12 men left on base! That tied a Red Sox record.

Ortiz still doesn't have a home run this season.

OK, that was the good news for Toronto.

The bad news?

The other two East rivals won. Worse, they rallied big time to get the job done.

Now, it's only May, but all games count. If you think Toronto will have to battle with Tampa Bay and the Yankees for the wild card (assuming the Red Sox will eventually take over the AL East lead), you'll want the Rays and Yanks to lose as much as possible. And nobody thinks the Wild Card will come out of the Central or West.

In Tampa, the Cleveland Indians led 7-0. The Rays, however, scored in each of the final four innings, and won it 8-7 on B.J. Upton's walk-off homerun.

When will these Indians learn you can't just build a big lead and then sit on it? The day before, the Tribe jumped out to a 9-0 lead before hanging on to beat the Rays 11-7.

Meanwhile, at new Yankee Stadium, the Minnesota Twins jumped out to a 4-1 lead with 9 outs to go, before the home team rallied.

Twins closer Joe Nathan allowed a run in the ninth before getting two outs. But the Yankees loaded the bases, and Melky Cabrera's single ended gave the Yankees a 5-4 win.

Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez, in his first game at the new ballpark, went 0-for-1 with four walks.

Would have been good to see both Tampa and New York lose, since they were both on the ropes. But oh well, you could say the same about Boston since the Red Sox had the big lead.

Speaking of A-Rod, he sure made a big splash when he returned from the DL last week, homering on the first pitch against the Orioles.

However, through the first eight innings of Saturday's tilt with the Twins (still in progress), A-Rod has been struggling.

Rodriguez has gone 0-for-3 so far in the game, and is hitting .120.

.120!

And it's not even October yet.

Who knows, as soon as I say this, he'll probably go on a tear.

Jays-A's: Cecil Shuts Down Oakland as Jays Win 5-0

KP Wee — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:26:48 -0400

I was one of the cynics when the Toronto Blue Jays called up Brett Cecil from Triple-A Las Vegas.

But two starts in, Cecil has looked really good.

On Sunday afternoon, the rookie left-hander shut down the Oakland A's to pick up his first big-league win, and the Blue Jays won, 5-0.

Cecil gave up just five hits in his eight scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out six.

Alex Rios homered for the Blue Jays, and had three RBI. Rios' third homer, a solo blast in the third inning, gave the Jays a 1-0 lead, before his sacrifice fly in the fifth upped the advantage to 2-0.

Toronto had a shot to blow the game wide open in the fifth, but Oakland starter Dallas Braden struck out both Vernon Wells and Adam Lind with runners on second and third to end the threat.

Rios added a ninth-inning RBI single to cap off the scoring, giving the Jays a 5-0 edge.

The A's Jason Giambi, who hit two homers the day before, is stuck at 399 career homers. Giambi went 0-for-4 on Sunday.

Braden, who was 3-3 with an impressive 2.50 ERA going in, again didn't receive any run-support against the Blue Jays.

This was the second time Braden has suffered a shutout loss to the Blue Jays, and the third time overall. Braden was the losing pitcher in Ricky Romero's 1-0 gem on Apr. 19 at Rogers Centre, and the A's starter also lost 3-0 in Anaheim in his first start of the year.

But the story on Sunday afternoon was definitely Cecil, who helped the Jays win yet another series. Toronto has dropped just one series thus far in 2009, when it dropped three-of-four in Kansas City at the end of April.

The question now is: When injured pitchers Casey Janssen and Romero come back, what will the Jays do with Cecil?

Send the 22-year-old lefty back to the minors, or keep him in the rotation?

Or do you send Brian Tallet, who has pitched so well in his last two starts, back to the bullpen?

Surely, it's a good "problem" for the Blue Jays to have.

For now, they are 22-12, tops in the American League. The second-place Boston Red Sox are one-and-a-half games back, pending their outcome against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday night.

Boston and Tampa Bay will play at Fenway Park in the Sunday Night Baseball game.

* * * * *

The Yankees-Orioles contest on Sunday afternoon was one of those annoying games where the skipper's mismanagement cost his team a game.

In this one, you can blame Orioles manager Dave Trembley for handing the victory to the Yankees.

34-year-old Japanese rookie Koji Uehara got the start for Baltimore, and was cruising along after giving up a first-inning home run to Mark Teixeira.

Aubrey Huff's three-run bomb gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead, and Uehara pitched five scoreless innings after the Teixeira home run.

The rookie pitcher retired the Yanks on seven pitches in the sixth inning, getting Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Hideki Matsui (the No. 3, 4, and 5 hitters) in a 1-2-3 inning.

So, what does Trembley do?

The Baltimore manager sent in lefty Jamie Walker to start the seventh. Walker gave up a home run to make it 3-2, but also retired two batters.

Trembley then decided to bring in righty Jim Johnson to face right-handed batter Francisco Cervelli, the Yankees' third-string catcher who had only 12 major-league at-bats (and an .083 batting average) going into the game.

So, the O's manager wanted a righty-righty matchup, even though Walker had already gotten two outs in the inning, and there were two outs and none on. Talk about over-managing!

The Yankees made Trembley pay immediately.

Cervelli beat out an infield hit. Derek Jeter does likewise.

Johnny Damon, 0-for-3 on the day, simply redeems himself by belting a three-run shot, giving New York a 5-3 lead.

Damon had hit into a double play and struck out twice against Uehara. Was Damon happy the rookie pitcher was gone from the game?

“He had me guessing and chasing all day long,” Damon told the AP of Uehara. “I wasn’t too happy with that” (The Associated Press, May 10, 2009).

The Yanks won the game, 5-3, but look at Orioles manager Dave Trembley for this one.

Look at him pulling Uehara despite the rookie's great outing through six innings. Look at him pulling Walker with none on and two outs.

And it's not like Trembley doesn't know about his bullpen's struggles. An interesting stat courtesy the AP:

In 2009, Baltimore has outscored the opposition 79-59 in the first three innings. However, the Orioles have been outscored 57-35 after the sixth inning.

Thanks Dave, for giving this one to New York.

A's-Mariners: Oakland Rallies for 3-2 Win Over Seattle

KP Wee — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:42:41 -0400

Oakland rookie Trevor Cahill pitched well on Saturday, but once again didn't pick up the victory.

Fortunately for him, the A's rallied for a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

Cahill, making his fifth career start, is still seeking his first major-league victory.

The right-hander, who took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on April 12 against the Mariners, this time allowed just one run in his six innings of work.

Russell Branyan's second-inning homer was the only run given up by Cahill, who was lifted with the score 1-1.

The Mariners took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning on Endy Chavez's sacrifice fly, but the Seattle bullpen couldn't hold it.

The A's scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to pull this one out, ending a seven-game losing streak to the Mariners.

Jason Giambi's two-out RBI single off Mark Lowe tied the score in the eighth, before Gregorio Petit's two-out RBI hit off David Aardsma plated Bobby Crosby with the game-winner.

Petit, batting ninth in the Oakland lineup, was making his 2009 debut on Saturday. He went 3-for-4, and also scored the A's first run of the game on Giambi's two-out, sixth-inning double.

All of Oakland's runs came on two-out hits.

Petit, who batted .348 in 23 at-bats in 2008, was called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday.

Meanwhile, why is Ken Griffey Jr. still batting third in the Mariners' lineup? Junior, who is batting only .190, went 0-for-3.

Griffey wasted an opportunity to give Seattle insurance runs in the seventh inning, when he came to the plate with two on and two outs.

Right after Chavez's sac fly had given the M's the 2-1 lead, Griffey simply grounded into a fielder's choice for the third out of the inning.

And yet Griffey is still hitting third in the Seattle lineup.

Junior has not homered in his last 43 at-bats, and has just two homers and five RBI this season.

Seattle (14-10) may be sitting atop the AL West for now, but if Griffey continues to be in the everyday lineup, the M's good run may not last that long.

Not when he continues to struggle at the plate.

Hill Goes From Goat to Hero; Blue Jays Win in the 11th

KP Wee — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:22:46 -0400

How about that Aaron Hill?

How about those Toronto Blue Jays?

The Blue Jays won again, clinching their seventh series win in eight tries in 2009, rallying for an improbable 5-4 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles in 11 innings.

Hill's RBI single in the last of the 11th drove in Rod Barajas with the winning run, as the Blue Jays improved to 17-9.

It was Hill's error that led to Baltimore's go-ahead run in the top of the 10th.

Nick Markakis, who went 0-for-4, reached base on Hill's error, moved to second on a single, and went to third on a flyout. He then scored on an RBI groundout, giving the O's a 4-3 lead.

It seemed as though the Orioles were going to snap their four-game losing streak. And what a tough way it would have been to lose the ball game.

But instead, Hill led off the bottom half of the 10th with a home run off Baltimore closer George Sherrill, tying the game at 4-4.

Jason Fraser (4-0) pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the 11th, before the Blue Jays won it in the bottom half.

Barajas led off the Jays' 11th with a single, went to second on a sacrifice, and came around to score the game-winner on Hill's single.

What an eventful last couple of innings for Hill, who had gone 0-for-4 before his sixth homer in the 10th.

Adam Jones homered with one out in the first inning to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead, before the Blue Jays struck for three runs in the second.

Aubrey Huff's two-run double tied things up in the third inning for the O's.

Then the pitching took over for the next six innings, as neither team scored again until Hill's miscue led to the O's fourth run.

Robert Ray pitched well for the Blue Jays in his first big-league start, allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed four hits and four walks and struck out two.

Ray, who was called up the day before, took over David Purcey's spot in the Jays' rotation.

Meanwhile, the Orioles' Brad Bergesen allowed three runs in six hits in six innings in his third major-league start.

Boston's Top Five Heartbreaking Losses in Extra Time

KP Wee — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:49:56 -0400

Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls stayed alive in their NBA Eastern Quarter-Final series in a thrilling triple-OT classic against the Boston Celtics on Thursday. Chicago squeaked out a 128-127 victory, overcoming Celtics guard Ray Allen's 51-point effort. The Bulls-Celts series heads to a Game Seven on Saturday. Boston is expected to win, with oddsmakers listing the Celtics as a 6.5-point favorite. Still, I thought it was a good opportunity to look back at some of the most painful playoff losses, overtime edition, in Boston sports in the last 25 years.

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Richmond Helps Jays Win, Toronto Back in First Place

KP Wee — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:12:42 -0400

So, it was another Canadian who came up big in the AL East race.

On Monday, Jason Bay (from Trail, B.C.) of the Red Sox hit a game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning, giving Boston a 3-1 victory and a share of first place in the East. It was Boston's 11th straight win (Bay could have been a hero again on Tuesday night, but more on that later...).

On Tuesday, it was Scott Richmond (from North Vancouver, B.C.) of the Blue Jays' turn. The right-handed starting pitcher improved to 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA this season, and the Jays won in Kansas City, 8-1.

Couple with Boston's 9-8 loss in Cleveland on Tuesday, the Blue Jays (15-7) regain sole possession of top spot in the division. The Red Sox (13-7) are a game back.

Blue Jays fans must have been wondering if Boston would ever lose again, as the Red Sox looked unbeatable in their 11-0 run.

The Sox were finding new ways to win, including hitting game-tying homers in the ninth inning (which Bay did last Friday off the Yankees' Mariano Rivera) and overcoming 6-0 deficits (which they did on Saturday against New York). They were getting great pitching and clutch hitting. It seemed they just knew how to win.

Well, one thing to note: The last time the Red Sox won 11 straight was back in 2006, when Boston went 12-0 that June. Ironically, the Sox didn't even make the postseason that year, finishing in third place in the East, a game behind Toronto.

Hey, it's still April, and 11-game winning streaks don't necessarily mean the teams involved would be crowned champions at the end.

As for Tuesday's game, in addition to Richmond's pitching, the offense came through again. Vernon Wells went 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Aaron Hill was 3-for-4 with two ribbies.

Toronto jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a four-run fourth inning against Royals starter Gil Meche, who gave up seven hits and five walks. Meche was KO'ed that same inning due to lower back stiffness.

Richmond gave up five hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Red Sox blew 5-1 and 7-3 leads, before losing in the last of the ninth. The winning run came home on an error.

Bay went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two walks for the Red Sox. The only time he made out was in the first inning, when he fanned with runners on first and third. After that, Bay got on base every time he stepped up to the plate.

In fact, with the score tied 8-8, Bay led off the Red Sox's half of the ninth with a single and made it all the way to third with one out. He, however, was left stranded there.

Monday's Baseball Musings

KP Wee — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:39:26 -0400

The Yankees dropped their fourth straight, 4-2 in Detroit, as CC Sabathia couldn't stop New York from losing.

Sabathia pitched his first complete game for the Yankees (albeit an eight inning CG because the hometown Tigers didn't need to bat in the ninth), allowing six hits and striking out seven.

He also gave up a home run—a two run shot to Magglio Ordonez.

According to the Associated Press, Sabathia said his outing was “definitely” his best of the year and manager Joe Girardi agreed.

It's interesting that even when their so called ace pitches his best, they still lose.

Hmm...

Wonder what the Daily News and the Post think about that?

Sabathia's ERA is now 4.73.

I guess at least that's way better than Chien-Ming Wang's.

*****

The Florida Marlins lost again, this time 7-1 to the Mets in New York.

The Marlins, who started 11-1 this season, have now lost seven straight.

They blew a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia on Friday, by allowing seven ninth inning runs to lose 7-3, and lost another ninth inning lead on Saturday to the Phillies before losing 6-4 in extras.

On Sunday, it was a 13-2 defeat to the Phillies, with nine runs coming in the seventh and eighth innings.

Then in the loss to the Mets, Florida gave up six big runs in the very first inning, and that was pretty much the ballgame.

The one consolation? I suppose giving up just one run from the second inning onwards must be a positive sign.

*****

Speaking of the Phillies, they rallied past the Washington Nationals 13-11 with six runs in the bottom of the eighth, capped off by Raul Ibanez's grand slam.

Ryan Howard had hit a grand slam earlier in the contest.

It's only April, but it must be a good sign for the defending champs that they could come back in the late innings to win ballgames.

When Washington took a 6-2 lead in the fifth, the Phils immediately tied it in the bottom of the inning on Howard's grand slam. The Nats regained the lead 7-6, only to see the Phillies tie it in the bottom half of their inning.

Then when Nick Johnson and Adam Dunn slammed two-run bombs in the eighth, the Nats looked to be in control, up 11-7.

But the Phils just refused to die.

Speaking of Dunn, wonder if he regrets signing with the Nationals, who at 4-14, are the worst team in the majors.

*****

Now on to the best team in the AL.

No, it's no longer the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost 7-1 in Kansas City.

It's now the Boston Red Sox, who have won 11 straight to move into a first place tie in the East.

Boston (13-6) is percentage points ahead of Toronto (14-7) atop the division.

And what can you say about Jason Bay?

Yet another ninth-inning blast, this time a three-run homer, as the Red Sox won 3-1 in Cleveland. (Bay had homered off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning on Friday night to tie the Yankees before the Red Sox eventually won it.)

The contest featured quite a pitching duel, with the BoSox's Tim Wakefield and the Tribe's Cliff Lee both pitching scoreless balls.

Wakefield gave up only one hit in seven innings, while Lee gave up five hits in eight innings to go with five strikeouts.

The Indians could at least take solace in the fact it was Lee's best start of the season.

Jays-White Sox: Toronto Wins Sixth Straight Series

KP Wee — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:22:01 -0400

The Toronto Blue Jays, expectedly, lost on Saturday night to the White Sox in Chicago, getting blown out 10-2.

Brian Burres kept the Blue Jays in it until the fifth, when he loaded the bases and gave up an RBI single to Paul Konerko, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Shawn Camp then relieved Burres and gave up another RBI hit before Alexei Ramirez clubbed a grand slam to put the Jays behind 8-2. Amazingly, that was Ramirez's fifth grand slam already, and he's only in his second season. He became the second-fastest ever in MLB history to reach five bases-loaded jacks.

That Saturday loss was a write-off, especially since Burres' stats at Triple-A Las Vegas weren't that great (see my post from Friday), and the lefty's ERA in Baltimore the last two seasons were 5.95 and 6.04. Yikes.

That, coupled with the fact the White Sox had Mark Buehrle going, made the result somewhat predictable. Buehrle went six innings and gave up only two runs, and is now 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

On Sunday, however, the Blue Jays had a great shot at winning their sixth straight series, especially with Roy Halladay going to the hill against Jose Contreras (1-6 in his last 11 appearances dating back to 2008).

Contreras struggled in the first inning on Sunday, giving up a two-out, two-run double to Adam Lind.

The White Sox got a run off Doc in their half of the first, cutting the score to 2-1, but the Jays were at it again in the second inning. Contreras, however, escaped a two-on, two-out threat when Aaron Hill flied out to end the frame.

Konerko then doubled home two runs in the third, to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead, before the Jays tied it on an RBI groundout in the fourth.

Contreras then remarkably settled down, retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced before Chicago skipper Ozzie Guillen sent in reliever Scott Linebrink to start the eighth, with the score still 3-3.

Vernon Wells promptly greeted Linebrink with a double. Lind walked. Scott Rolen then delivered what turned out to be the game-winning hit with an RBI single to send home Wells.

With Halladay having thrown seven solid innings and now with the lead, manager Cito Gaston decided to go to the bullpen. Jason Fraser and Jesse Carlson pitched the eighth, before Scott Downs nailed down his second save of the season to give Halladay his fourth win and the Blue Jays their sixth straight series victory.

Halladay allowed eight hits and fanned six in his seven innings of work.

With the win, the Jays are now 14-6, and are 1.5 games up on the Red Sox, who have won nine straight and play New York on Sunday night.

The Blue Jays now head to Kansas City for a four-game series starting on Monday, where they'll run into former manager John Gibbons—now a bench coach for the Royals—and the early AL Cy Young candidate in Zack Greinke (4-0, 0.00 ERA).

Greinke, who saw his 38-inning scoreless streak end—dating back to 2008—in his last start, will face the Jays in the Wednesday game against Brian Tallet.

Will the Jays make it seven series in a row in KC? Or at least manage a tie?

Yankees—Red Sox In-Game Blog: A.J. Struggles In Boston

KP Wee — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:48:59 -0400

Going into Saturday afternoon's game at Fenway Park, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett had been pretty good in a New York uniform.

The $82.5-million man was 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA in his first three starts.

There was some concern though, when ex-Yankee (and current Indian) Carl Pavano actually outpitched A.J. last weekend at new Yankee Stadium.

On Saturday afternoon in the FOX Game of the Week, Burnett looked good early on.

For the first three innings, A.J. held the Red Sox scoreless, while his teammates battered Boston starter Josh Beckett for a 6-0 lead.

In the fourth, however, the tables turned, when the Red Sox loaded the bases off A.J.

Jason Bay singled to drive in Boston's first run, and Jason Varitek delivered a two-out grand slam to cut the Red Sox's deficit to 6-5.

In the fifth, A.J. got rocked again. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a homer to tie the game, and Burnett proceeded to load the bases with no outs.

After A.J. got a 3-2-3 double play ball, he started celebrating by pumping his fist.

He needn't have done that, however, as Bay promptly doubled to drive home two more runs, and give Boston an 8-6 lead.

Surprisingly, manager Joe Girardi allowed A.J. to stay in the game to get the last out of the inning.

But wouldn't you know it, the Yankee offense have just rallied to let A.J. off the hook. With Beckett still in the game for Boston, ex-Sox Johnny Damon has just homered with Derek Jeter aboard, to tie the game, 8-8.

This is the second straight game the Yankees have had to bail Burnett out.

Had the Yankees not rallied last weekend against the Indians' bullpen, Carl Pavano would have bested Burnett—which would have been a shocker... Pavano (who was a major bust in New York from 2005-08) getting a win at the Yankees' new ballpark before one of the current Yankees starter?

And in this one, had the Yanks not given A.J. all that run support, he would be staring at an embarrassing loss. They gave up eight runs in the first five innings, yikes. Not exactly a stopper-like performance (after the Yankees had lost to the Red Sox in extra innings one night earlier).

Isn't it amazing how the two team's fortunes have reversed since 2004? On Friday night, the Yankees led 4-2 in the ninth and loaded the bases with no outs. They couldn't score. One inning earlier, they had a runner on third with two outs but couldn't score.

Then Mariano Rivera served up a two-out, two-run homer to Bay to tie the score, before Kevin Youkilis homered in the 11th to end the game.

According to Yahoo! Sports, this was the first time in the New York—Boston rivarly that the Sox had rallied with a ninth-inning game-tying homer and an extra-inning walkoff shot against the Bombers in the same game.

And on Saturday afternoon, the Yankees let the Red Sox take a temporary 8-6 lead after going up 6-0.

The Yankees in the past just didn't do that... in back-to-back games, no less. These were the types of gut-wreching games the Red Sox used to blow to the Yankees before 2004—seemingly every year, without fail.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

If the Red Sox do win on Saturday (the game is still in progress at the time this blog was posted), what will the papers in New York say?

Toronto Blue Jays Continue to Win

KP Wee — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:39:13 -0400

Blue Jays fans received bad news on Thursday when Toronto placed rookie starter Ricky Romero (right oblique) and closer B.J. Ryan (left trapezius) on the 15-day disabled list.

Romero has looked great so far this season, going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts. The struggling Ryan has a pair of saves, but has also blown two other save opportunities, and owns an 11.12 ERA.

In case you haven't been keeping track, the Jays have been thin in the pitching department, having already lost three starters: Jesse Litsch, Dustin McGowan, and Shaun Marcum. Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Litsch could return by June, McGowan by mid-June to late July, and Marcum by August.

Despite all that, the Jays just keep winning.

On Thursday, the Jays knocked off the Texas Rangers 5-2 to win their fifth straight series to start the season. Canadian Scott Richmond (2-0) scattered six hits—including two home runs—in six innings for the victory, while Scott Downs picked up his first save of the season.

Alex Rios finally hit his first homer of the season, a two-run blast, while Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay added solo shots.

On Friday night, the Blue Jays were at it again, as they began a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

Brian Tallet, who pitched well in place of Litsch last Saturday (but didn't pick up the win), made his second start since 2006—and the eighth of his ML career—and this time, did he ever get the run support.

It turned out to be a laugher.

The Blue Jays battered White Sox starter Gavin Floyd for six runs and nine hits in only 4 1/3 innings, as Toronto won, 14-0.

The Jays outhit the White Sox 21-6.

Seemed more like a football game than a baseball contest.

The 14 runs and 21 hits were both season highs.

Meanwhile, Tallet allowed four hits and three walks, striking out five in his 5 2/3 innings of work. By the time he was relieved, the Jays were already up by four field goals.

Tallet had a 3-0 lead even before he even needed to take the mound. Wells doubled home two runs before Adam Lind doubled Wells home to give the lefty the three-run cushion.

Scott Rolen singled home Rios in the third inning to give Toronto a 4-0 lead.

In the fifth, Gavin threw two wild pitches and gave up two singles with a walk, before he was finally lifted by White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen. Aaron Hill later added an RBI single in the same inning as the Jays were up 6-zip.

Six hits by the Jays in the sixth—including four in a row—upped the lead to 12-0.

Seemingly every Blue Jays batter contributed in the blowout win. Everyone in the starting lineup—except Overbay, who went 0-for-4—had at least one hit.

Lind finished the game with three doubles, while Hill drove in three runs. Rod Barajas went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Jose Bautista added a solo homer in the ninth to close out the scoring. Marco Scutaro (3-for-4), Wells (3-for-5, 2 RBIs), and Travis Snider (3-for-5) also each collected three hits.

A good sign for the Blue Jays—they were able to capitalize on the opportunities given to them on Friday night. After a leadoff walk to Scutaro, Hill reached base when White Sox shortstop Ramirez muffed his grounder. Rios struck out, but Wells delivered with the two-run double.

Good to see the Jays not wasting the extra out given to them.

Toronto is now 13-5, and sends lefty Brian Burres (0-2, 6.97 in Triple-A Las Vegas) to the hill on Saturday night. The White Sox counter with Mark Buehrle (2-0, 3.00).

Roy Halladay (3-1, 3.72) starts Sunday against Jose Contreras (0-3, 8.04).

Even if the Jays don't win Saturday, they should be able to win their sixth straight series—after all, Doc will be starting on Sunday.

Fun times for the Blue Jays!

Rangers-Jays: Toronto Wins Again

KP Wee — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:02:03 -0400

On Wednesday night, Rod Barajas more than atoned for his missed opportunity with the bases loaded a night earlier... but it almost wasn't enough.

Barajas hit two two-run bombs in his first two at-bats of the night against Texas, and the Blue Jays looked great, leading the Rangers 7-3 going into the eighth.

Texas scored a run on a groundout in the eighth, before rallying against Jays closer B.J. Ryan in the ninth inning.

Chris Davis (HBP) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (walk) reached base to lead off, before Ian Kinsler grounded to short. Second baseman Aaron Hill's throwing error, however, prevented the Jays from turning the DP, allowing Davis to score.

Kinsler, who moved to second on the play, promptly stole third and scored on a groundout.

Down to their last out, the Rangers were hoping Michael Young could come through again with some ninth-inning heroics—his ninth-inning bomb on Sunday against Kansas City won it for Texas—and Young didn't disappoint.

Young homered off Ryan, his fourth of the year, tying the game 7-7.

It was B.J.'s second blown save of the year.

In the 11th, Kevin Millar came through with a single over a drawn-in outfield, scoring Vernon Wells from second to give the Blue Jays the 8-7 win.

It was Millar's third hit of the game, and all his safeties actually counted for something.

Millar, batting seventh ahead of Barajas, had kept the second inning alive and triggered a three-run outburst in the fourth.

With two outs in the second, Millar singled and came around to score on Barajas' home run.

With one out in the fourth, Millar doubled before Barajas' second dinger.

Both of Barajas's homers broke ties.

Still, Millar and Barajas weren't the only heroes.

Alex Rios' batting average was raised by 40 points (up to .246) as he finally broke out with four hits, collecting two RBI singles. Jose Bautista, the No. 9 hitter, went four-for-five and scored a pair of runs. Adam Lind remained hot, getting an RBI single in the sixth. Lind is now on an eight-game hitting streak.

Not to be outdone, Jason Frasor also contributed to the win.

Despite this being a slugfest—and the Jays outhit the Rangers 17-10—Toronto still got some clutch pitching after Ryan's meltdown.

Fraser (3-0) entered to start the 10th, and promptly retired all six batters he faced, pitching two perfect innings with two strikeouts.

So, a total team effort, with Barajas, Millar, Bautista, Rios, and Frasor coming up huge.

Jays are now 11-5.

Can they win their fifth straight series by taking the finale on Thursday?

Ryder Delivers As Bruins Sweep Canadiens

KP Wee — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:37:11 -0400

So many times we'd seen this before. It was like an old script.

Tony Pena. Adam Oates. Adam Vinatieri . Joe Juneau. Tom Brunansky. Bob Sweeney.

Players who used to don a Boston uniform and then resurfacing later as ex-Bostonians to defeat their former teams in the playoffs or crucial games down the stretch.

It never failed.

Or, you had players like Tom Barrasso and Kevin Stevens—who were from the Boston area—torching the hometown team in a big way.

On Wednesday night, however, the exact opposite happened. Something I don't think I've ever seen before. And if I have, it's been a while.

Remarkable.

An ex-Habs player now playing for Boston haunting his old team.

Think about that for a moment. A former Montreal Canadien helping the Boston Bruins? Has it even happened before?

And it actually happened twice, no less.

Michael Ryder had given the Bruins a commanding 3-0 series lead by potting the game-winner late in the second period on Monday, stunning the Bell Centre crowd.

What did he do for an encore?

Incredibly, Ryder, who spent four seasons with les Habitants before joining the B's in the offseason, did it again.

Ryder scored two goals and added an assist to lead Boston to a 4-1 triumph, as the Bruins finished off the Habs in a four-game sweep on Wednesday.

Montreal actually took the lead 39 seconds into the game and had many scoring opportunities in the first period—the Canadiens outshot the Bruins 16-7—to add to the lead. Ryder, however, beat goaltender Carey Price with a one-timer—thanks to a horrible giveaway by Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik in the slot—with two and a half minutes left in the period.

But the former Hab wasn't done.

With time winding down in the first, Ryder worked a give-and-go with David Krejci, with the latter beating Price with only 34 seconds remaining. Credit Ryder for drawing Price out of the net to allow Krejci to score into the open cage. No chance for the Canadiens goalie, and a great goal for the Bruins.

After Boston took a 3-1 lead on Phil Kessel's fourth goal of the series midway through the second period, Ryder was at it again.

Ryder took Krejci's perfect cross-ice pass and re-directed it past Carey, giving the Bruins a commanding three-goal lead at 12:43. It was his fourth goal of the series, and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.

When was the last time you saw an ex-Montreal player sticking it to the Habs while playing for the B's?

Prior to the series, I was expecting the Canadiens to become the '71 Habs or even the '02 or '04 Canadiens, to find a way to upset the Bruins. After all, it was Montreal's 100th NHL season, and despite the regular-season dominance by the Bruins, I had some doubts.

Could this be a magical season for the Habs, in their 100th season, facing a team they've had so much success in the playoffs?

Not this time.

Michael Ryder made sure of it.

Texas Rangers-Toronto Blue Jays: Halladay and Blue Birds Fall 5-4

KP Wee — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:27:03 -0400

The Blue Jays were supposed to beat the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

After all, their ace, Roy Halladay, was on the mound to pitch the opener of the three-game set against the reeling Rangers, who had gone 2-7 in their past nine games.

In fact, the Rangers needed to rally from an eighth-inning, 5-3 deficit just to beat the Royals on Sunday and avoid an embarrassing sweep.

Also, Halladay was trying to become the first four-game winner in the majors this season, and set the tone for the series.

Sure, there are some concerns on the Jays, particularly Alex Rios' slow start to the season—he is hitting below his weight (.207 batting average going into Tuesday's action, vs. his listed weight of 215) and the pitching injuries with Jesse Litsch joining Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan on the sidelines.

Regardless, Doc was the one sure thing. With Halladay going on Tuesday, surely the Jays would go 11-4 on the young season.

The Jays offense has been leading the way so far, and surely another double-digit effort in runs was possible, right? Especially against a guy like Brandon McCarthy, who was just 14-20 lifetime with a 4.56 ERA. Not an ace or anything, obviously.

The Rangers' own ace, Kevin Millwood (1.17 ERA), isn't even scheduled to pitch in this series, having thrown on Saturday.

Another interesting tidbit was the Rangers have a habit this year of giving up a ton of runs in the opening games of a new series, as they'd already lost 15-2 (Detroit), 10-9 (Baltimore), and 12-3 (Kansas City) in such contests. Ouch.

The one tidbit that came to play on Tuesday night though, was actually Doc's mediocre lifetime record against Texas. Halladay was a pedestrian 7-6 with a 5.34 ERA versus the Rangers, and that ERA was Doc's highest against any team he's faced more than four times.

Well, as it turned out, Doc would be 7-7 against them by the end of the night, with that ERA climbing slightly.

The Rangers touched Halladay up for five runs in eight innings, with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler tagging him for two-run home runs. Halladay gave up five extra-base hits in total. Ouch.

Toronto had a chance to rally in the eighth, down 5-3, to bail out Halladay, as he's done so often for his team. The Jays scored a run on Adam Lind's RBI single and loaded the bases with one out.

The 2008 Blue Jays would have choked in that bases-loaded scenario. No way would the 2009 edition let that happen.

Right?

Now, after Lind's hit off mediocre reliever C.J. Wilson (aren't all Rangers pitchers other than Millwood horrible?), Rangers manager Ron Washington gambled and brought in closer Frank Francisco, who gave up a single to Scott Rolen and a walk to the batting hero from the last couple games, Lyle Overbay.

Bases loaded, one out!

However, Francisco came back and retired both Rod Barajas and Travis Snider to keep the score 5-4 for the visitors.

Interestingly, the Rangers elected to bring in their closer an inning early, which sometimes backfires and the manager gets scrutinized. Unfortunately for Blue Jays fans, however, this time it worked out for Texas. Barely.

(The Brewers using one of their relievers—Todd Coffey—to get an eight-out save last week—because Trevor Hoffman is on the DL—sure reminds old-time baseball fans of a totally different era, doesn't it?)

By the way, Wilson, the Rangers' left-handed specialist, doesn't even have good stats. 6.02 ERA last season, and 5.68 in 2009 going into Tuesday's action (yes, his high ERA this year was due to two poor outings, but he was due for another one anyway, if you looked at his pitching log).

Yikes. It would have been interesting to see how he would have fared had he stayed in the game for more than the one batter he ended up facing.

And oh, that eighth-inning drama wasn't all.

Aaron Hill's double off Francisco with one out in the ninth put the Blue Jays back in business. Rios, however, could only ground to short, moving Hill 90 feet away from plating the tying run.

But Vernon Wells popped out to end the contest.

Yes, Rios got a big RBI double to help the Jays rally in the third inning, but he was only 1-for-5, and his batting average, guess what, dropped. And advancing a runner to third is okay only if there was none out, not when there was already one out as was the case in the ninth.

Overall, a disappointing game. A game the Jays could have won.

Look at the bases-loaded situation in the eighth.

Look at the blown opportunity with Rios and Wells coming up in the ninth.

Weird stuff happening in the game:

-Who says an umpire's job is easy? The game was delayed for 10 minutes in the sixth when HP ump Kerwin Danley was hit on the head by Hank Blalock's broken bat. He had to leave the field on a stretcher. Yikes.

Last April 26th—almost one year to the day—Danley was taken off the field on a stretcher too after he was hit in the head by a Brad Penny pitch. He also left a 2006 contest after being hit on the collarbone by a pitch. Wow.

Random Thoughts on D'Backs-Giants, Big Unit, and Cahill

KP Wee — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:08:24 -0400

In case you missed it, the Oakland-Toronto series on the weekend wasn't the only one that featured great pitching. (Well, two-thirds of it anyway...)

The Arizona-San Francisco series was awesome.

Every game ended 2-0, with the Giants winning the first and third contests while the D-Backs taking the middle game.

Poor Dan Haren. The D-Backs right-hander lost the first game, and is now 0-3 despite a 1.89 ERA. Arizona was shut out in his first start of the year (3-0), and he's also lost a 3-1 decision.

Haren couldn't have pitched any better, walking none and allowing just five hits with six strikeouts in six innings against the Giants. Jonathan Sanchez, however, was that much better, allowing just two hits to Arizona and pitching into the seventh.

In the second game, both Tim Lincecum and Doug Davis pitched shutout ball for eight innings, before the D-Backs broke through against the Giants' bullpen in the ninth.

Then Sunday...Randy Johnson time.

The Big Unit took a no-hitter into the seventh, and picked up his 296th career win. Johnson ended up allowing just one hit in his seven innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks, and lowered his ERA from an unsightly 11.42 to 6.32.

And what was with all these no-hit bids in the Bay Area of late?

Apparently the Big Unit's performance was the third time in eight days that a pitcher took a no-no into the seventh. The others were the A's Trevor Cahill (who lost 1-0 to the Mariners and Erik Bedard the previous Sunday) and the Red Sox's Tim Wakefield (who defeated the A's).

Anyway, this Arizona-San Fran series kind of reminded me about the Boston-Toronto series at what was formerly called "SkyDome", oh, 19 years ago.

Toronto had just beat the Red Sox 4-3 to gain ground and was just a single game behind Boston for first in the East.

Then the Boston pitching took over, as the BoSox won 2-0, 1-0, and 1-0 in the final three games, capping off the series with a remarkable run of stellar pitching.

Of course, the D-Backs and Giants were nothing like those Sox and Jays. After all, it's still early in the year, it's not a pennant race, and those two teams are struggling (5-8 and 4-8, respectively).

Still, a weekend of great pitching!

*****

Speaking of Dan Haren and tough luck, what about A's rookie right-hander Trevor Cahill?

The 21-year-old has been solid this season, pitching to a 2.60 ERA in three starts.

However, Cahill has nothing to show for his efforts thus far, as he is only 0-1 in those three outings. The A's lost two of those, including Saturday's game against the Blue Jays, 4-2 in 12 innings.

Prior to that, Cahill took a no-hitter into the seventh inning—in just his second major-league start—before Adrian Beltre broke it up with a single.

Not only that, Cahill ended up with the loss when Beltre scored on Mike Sweeney's double later in the inning. The M's Erik Bedard didn't allow a run in his eight-and-one-third innings, giving Cahill the hard-luck defeat.

On Saturday against the Blue Jays, the A's rookie finally had some runs (two, to be precise) to work with, but it wasn't meant to be. Oakland gave Cahill two one-run leads, but he was chased in the sixth inning after surrendering a double to Lyle Overbay and Travis Snider's game-tying RBI single.

Unfortunately for Cahill, the A's used up all their runs the night before (Oakland defeated the Blue Jays 8-5 on Friday night).

It was the same story prior to the 1-0, near no-hit game as well. The A's had plated three runs in the second inning—and five overall—against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez the night before, which was the same game where Jason Giambi asked to be lifted because of tired legs.

Will Cahill get some run support this season? I mean, he's been pitching well, so we'll see...

Yankees-Indians: What, What? Pavano Actually Showed Up at Yankee Stadium?

KP Wee — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:31:13 -0400

Saturday's 22-4 Cleveland win at new Yankee Stadium was a stunner.

But, as most baseball fans know, momentum depends on the next game's starting pitcher, so you'd probably expect the Yankees to kind of return the favour to the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

After all, it would be the Yankees' new ace, A.J. Burnett, going up against former Bomber bust Carl Pavano.

A.J. had gone 2-0 with a 2.70 in his first two starts with the Yanks after getting his huge contract following his breakout year in Toronto (when he went 18-10 and led the league in strikeouts) in 2008.

Meanwhile, Pavano was 0-2 with an unsightly 16.71 ERA for the Tribe. (Hey, at least it was better than Chien-Ming Wang's 34.50 ERA!) This was coming off that disastrous nine-win stint (over four years) with the Yankees, who had foolishly given him a $39.95 million contract.

It was Pavano's first outing against the Yankees since New York cut ties with him. Coming off two straight subpar appearances for Cleveland this season and with the Yankee Stadium crowd booing his every move, surely you'd expect Pavano to get absolutely slaughtered.

So, who knew Pavano would actually outpitch A.J.?

Indeed, Pavano set down the first 10 batters while the Indians hit two homers off Burnett, giving Carl a 3-0 lead.

With the score 3-1 for Cleveland, the Tribe failed to tack on even more runs off Burnett. A.J. threw two wild pitches in the seventh and loaded the bases, but reliever Jonathan Albaladejo got out of the jam.

Cleveland manager Eric Wedge removed Pavano from the game with the score still 3-1, and the Yankees immediately exploded, scoring six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take a 7-3 advantage.

Amazingly, in that hostile environment, Pavano was able to pitch well, giving up just four hits in his six innings of work.

A.J., on the other hand, didn't pitch well, giving up seven walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Still, none of that mattered in the end.

The Yankees still won.

If the Bombers hadn't rallied, who knows what the papers in New York would be saying on Monday? (For the record, after the 22-4 debacle, the headlines in the Post included "Stinkees" and the Daily News had "Wang is garbage" and "YOU STINK" on its cover. Classic!)

But for the first six innings on Sunday afternoon, the New York writers must have been ready for more derogatory headlines. For the first six innings, Yankees fans must have been worried. And wondering why this Pavano didn't show up during those four miserable years when he got that $39.95 million contract.

For one game, Carl Pavano actually showed up.

An absolute stunner indeed.

How About That Ricky Romero?

KP Wee — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:52:09 -0400

The Blue Jays actually took two out of three against the Athletics this weekend!

But this time, it wasn't all about their offense, which was a big part of their success, especially in the Minnesota series (when they scored 31 runs in the four games at the Metrodome). Stellar pitching sealed the victories in these games.

On Saturday, Brian Tallet did a great job filling in for the injured Jesse Litsch. Tallet allowed just four hits and one earned run in his 5 1/3 innings in his first start since 2006 and helped the Blue Jays win 4-2.

Then on Sunday, it was Ricky Romero's turn.

The rookie turned in his third straight great outing, beating the A's 1-0. The lefty struck out six in seven innings and now has a 1.71 ERA.

Forget Travis Snider. If Romero keeps this up, he might be in contention for the Rookie of the Year! Okay, yes, it's still early, but who knows, it could be a battle between Snider and Romero for the RoY. That could only help push each other to do better, right?

After the game, Oakland right fielder Jack Cust compared Romero to Mets ace Johan Santana: "his body, his mannerisms, the way he throws...He's similar (to Santana), he's got a similar arm slot, similar delivery. He's going to be good" (The Associated Press).

The Jays would sure hope Cust is right.

But we can't forget about the hitting hero in this one: Lyle Overbay.

Overbay, who won Saturday's marathon with a walk-off two-run shot in the 12th inning, won this one with a second-inning single.

Credit the defense, too for keeping this a 1-0 game.

The A's tried to rally in the third when Ryan Sweeney smoked a two-bagger to right-center with a runner on first. But just as things started to look up for Oakland, Blue Jays' center fielder Vernon Wells threw the ball back to the infield to second baseman Aaron Hill, who threw home to catcher Raul Chavez to get the runner trying to score.

Romero did run into trouble two innings later when the A's put two more runners on. But this time, the lefty got Sweeney to fly out to end the threat.

Great game by the rookie!

Sports Bloggers Are Annoying

KP Wee — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:35:16 -0400

In the day of blogging and the Internet, anyone with access to a computer can post anything they want about anything.

And in the case of MLB, we've got boatloads of bloggers doing just that—posting about whatever nonsense they can come up with.

For instance, on this website alone, I saw a headline proclaiming "Rangers proving they can win the West."

Hello?

The season is only three games in—four now. The Rangers lost 15-2 in Detroit after their 3-0 start, and suddenly people think a team has "proven" itself with some early-season success?

The Rangers have given Kris Benson a contract and, by the way, Benson started in that 15-2 rout. Inevitably, there will be bloggers bringing up Anna Benson instead. Why do "fans" post garbage about things unrelated to sports if it's a sports blog they're maintaining? Not the Bleacher Report specifically, but other blogs dedicated to their respective teams these bloggers are following.

(No, I won't provide links to those blogs. Why advertise for them?)

This is the same as articles or slideshows about the top 10 hottest baseball wives or hottest sideline reporters, etc. Is this a sports blog or a tabloid website?

Another thing that is kind of annoying is when a non-story becomes a big one, and then fans across the country decide to take shots at each other. Someone on Yahoo! Sports blogged about how the Phillies fans have no class for booing Adam Eaton (I didn't say it, that blogger did). Soon enough, you had people taking shots at Philadelphia, with others ripping the Philly-bashers.

How can one say fans from blah-blah city are the "most passionate" or "most knowledgable", by the way? I mean, perhaps the second one is quantifiable...maybe. But the first one? How can Joe Fan from a particular city claim his town is the most passionate?

How? Has he lived in say, the other 30 or so cities to be able to pass on that informative insight?

Bloggers are annoying. I'm sure there are plenty who will say even worst things about this particular blogger writing this piece right now.

Opening Week: Random Baseball Musings

KP Wee — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:01:07 -0400

The baseball season has started, and when every team begins 0-0, it seems all clubs feel they have a shot at a magical year, if they have a good start.

And it's funny how people react when they do get off to say, a perfect start.

Take the Texas Rangers, for example.

They're off to a 3-0 start, and it's the first time they've begun a season with three-straight wins since 1996.

Now, they are in the same division as the favored L.A. Angels, who are expected to win the AL West. (The tragic death of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart isn't going to send the Angels off to a bad year.)

And with 159 games still to play, obviously it's way too early to know.

Yet, it doesn't stop Marlon Byrd from saying the following to the press after the Rangers' 12-8 win over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday: "This team has a different feel. We go out there and we're expecting to win now."

Huh?

Looking at Texas' last two games, however, shows the Rangers are still having the same problem as always: they can't pitch. In those two games, they allowed 13 runs against the Indians (while scoring 20).

That's not going to carry them to the playoffs, especially if the pitching continues to be mediocre.

The Rangers were almost a .500 team last season (ending up with 79 wins), so is Byrd trying to say they're "expecting to win" more games now this year, and thus the division and go to the World Series?

"The team chemistry in here is second to none, and right now it's a special team to be part of," said pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

I wonder if McCarthy has been in the clubhouses of all the other big-league clubs to know that their team chemistry is the best. Hmm—and "special", huh? Remember, we're only three games in. You can only wonder what adjective he'll use when—inevitably—the Rangers don't outslug the opposition every day and go on a losing streak of some sort.

And McCarthy didn't exactly pitch that well on Thursday, going only five innings and giving up four walks and three runs. Oh, he gave up two home runs too. You wouldn't exactly call that a great start by any means. And I haven't even mentioned that he threw over a hundred pitches (105, to be exact) in only five frames.

Oh, by the way, I wouldn't be that impressed with the Rangers' win on Thursday. A big part of that Texas victory was due to the fact Cleveland started Carl Pavano. Yeah, THAT Pavano, the one who stole all that money from the Yankees after having one big year with Florida.

Nine of Texas' 12 runs came off Pavano in the first two innings, before the Rangers bats cooled off the rest of the way.

Alas, the Rangers won't go 162-0 this season; they were blown out 15-2 in Detroit on early Friday afternoon.

Speaking of the Yankees, again, it's only the first few games of the season, and I'm sure a lot of Yankee haters were having fun with CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira's lackluster performances against Baltimore in the season opener.

Even the papers in New York said it all: In the Daily News, "Money for Nothing" was displayed prominently as a headline, and Bill Madden sort of took shots at Sabathia by suggesting—albeit sarcastically—Darrell Rasner could have done better on the mound.

If pitching is supposed to win championships, then Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang's outings didn't really inspire any confidence for New York fans. Then again, it's still early.

Fast forward to Thursday, when A.J. Burnett, making his first start for the pinstripers, came through with a decent start, and the bats woke up in an 11-2 romp over the Baltimore Orioles.

Burnett gave up two runs and pitched into the sixth inning, and fanned six.

And thus, the former Marlin and Blue Jay hurler is the hero, for now. The one knock against Burnett though, is that he never stays healthy. Will he be able to avoid the disabled list with the Yankees?

With the Yankees, Burnett is sure to get tons of run support, and should win a lot of ballgames should he be able to last the entire season.

Ultimately in New York, it's all about wins and losses, so if A.J. gets 15 wins and the Yankees make the postseason, he's going to be fine.

But if Burnett's mound opponent had been, say, Chris Carpenter (who pitched one-hit ball for St. Louis against the Pirates), then people and the New York papers would talk about A.J. being a bum too.

We'll see how A.J. does during a pennant race and pitching in places like Boston when the games are more meaningful. After all, this isn't Toronto or Florida anymore. We'll see.

But for now, A.J. is a hero, while CC is a bust—according to what you see in the papers.

Surely that will change later on as the season progresses...

Boston Bruins Fans: Pray for Series with New York Rangers Instead

KP Wee — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:13:08 -0400

The Boston-Montreal tilt Thursday night at the TD Banknorth Garden was a thriller, to be sure, with the Bruins coming out on top with a 5-4 overtime win.

Sure, the Bruins have shown they can beat the Canadiens, and the Habs themselves have shown they're vulnerable this year, including in goal and now with injuries to their defense.

Boston won the last five meetings against Montreal this season, and they are the Eastern Conference's top seed. And though the Canadiens lost this contest, they still (finally) clinched a playoff berth by earning a point in the defeat.

Thus, the Habs will be in the playoffs, and if the postseason started right now, Montreal (eighth seed) and Boston (first) will clash in the opening round.

Sure, there's one more game to go in the regular season, and Montreal and the New York Rangers are tied for the seventh position. However, the Blueshirts own the tiebreaker by virtue of having more wins.

If the Habs (against Pittsburgh) and Rangers (in Philadelphia) both win their finales, New York would get the seventh spot, with Montreal being the eighth seed.

Now, I've talked about this before earlier in the year, but Boston-Montreal in the playoffs doesn't favor the Bruins.

If you believe in "hockey gods," then despite the regular-season records, you'll probably believe Montreal has some sort of an edge.

The Habs have owned the Bruins in the playoffs throughout hockey history. Yes, in 1971, the B's outscored everyone by over 100 goals and were clearly the league's best team, but they fell to rookie Ken Dryden and the Habs in seven in the first round.

It was in the spring of 1984 when an unknown named Steve Penney (another rookie) helped Montreal upset Boston in the opening round in a shocking sweep.

And who can forget 2002, when Boston was the top seed in the Eastern Conference, only to see Jose Theodore make miraculous save after save to help the eighth-seeded Habs on to the next round with a six-game triumph?

When Joe Thornton was sent to the penalty box for a double-minor in the sixth game with the score tied, you just knew Montreal was going to score. The Habs did, and it turned out to be the series winner.

Yes, the players are different now, the teams are different now. But once the playoffs start, throw out the season records. Everyone starts 0-0 in the postseason.

Goalie Tim Thomas—who will be 35 next week—may be the MVP of the Bruins and may be the top netminder in the league, but weren't we all raving about Byron Dafoe years ago?

In the playoffs, it's all about matchups. During the last Cup run for the Habs in 1993, yes, Patrick Roy was the savior, but you can't overlook the fact the Canadiens had somewhat of an easy ride without playing some of the top teams in the league.

Those Habs faced inferior teams like the Sabres and Islanders on their way to the Finals. Oh yeah, matchups are important in the playoffs, and I just don't feel comfortable, being a B's fan, seeing Boston-Montreal in the first round.

And, let's not forget, this is the Canadiens' 100th season, and it looks like they've overcome a lot of adversity—with the midseason slump, Carey Price's poor play, some players being mentioned hanging out with a gangster, and Guy Carbonneau's firing—and have finally made the playoffs.

Oh yeah, and the Habs' Alex Kovalev has turned it around after being sent home earlier in the season for a couple games. Kovalev led all skaters a week ago with nine points (with seven assists) and was named the "first star" in the NHL on Monday.

Perhaps the Habitants will come together and win at least one round, led by the rejuvenated Kovalev?

Boston-Montreal also will undoubtedly bring out a lot of emotion from both teams, and in an emotional series between two longtime rivals who have already played seven times during the season there's just no edge for either team, regardless of seasonal records.

Thus, as a Bruins fan, I desperately want to see Montreal finish seventh so the B's avoid a first-round matchup against the hated Habs. Pray for the Rangers to stumble in Philly in their final game of the regular season, and for the Habs to beat Pittsburgh.

Let's take our chances with the Rangers in the first round instead.

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, Showing Their Scales, on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Bruins-Blackhawks: Newcomer Mark Recchi Scores Twice To Secure Win

KP Wee — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:46:03 -0500

Newcomer Mark Recchi scored twice, giving the Boston Bruins a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in an Original Six matchup on Saturday afternoon.

Phil Kessel added his 27th goal of the season and David Krejci his 21st, while P.J. Axelsson scored an empty-netter for the Bruins. Krejci's goal was his first in eight games, while Kessel's was only his fifth point in the last 17 contests.

But the star was clearly Recchi, who played his second game, since being acquired by the Bruins from the Tampa Bay Lightning at Wednesday's trade deadline. The veteran winger was held pointless in his Boston debut, in a 2-1 loss to Phoenix, after tallying five assists in Calgary in his final game with the Lightning.

It was a much-needed victory for Boston, who wrapped up their six-game home stand by winning for the first time in four contests. For the home stand, the Bruins went 3-2-1 but had been on a 3-6-3 funk before Saturday's triumph.

Had the Bruins not beaten the Blackhawks, they would have endured their second four-game losing streak in less than a month.

But Recchi's heroics ensured the B's would be back on the winning track.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas reached the 28-win plateau for the third straight season in the victory, stopping 32 Chicago shots.

The Bruins seemingly put the game out of reach early in the third period, when Kessel's goal gave the Bruins a 4-1 advantage. The Blackhawks, however, got to within 4-3, when Kris Versteeg and Patrick Kane scored in a four-minute span.

Jonathan Toews scored the other Chicago goal—his 27th.

Axelsson's clinching goal came with 33 seconds remaining—his fifth of the season.

Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet, who had been 10-3-0 with a sub-2.00 GAA against Boston going in, made 34 stops.

The Bruins' next opponent is Sean Avery and the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden—a tilt which will be broadcast on NBC.

Cubs Becoming Canada's Team?

KP Wee — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:33:46 -0500

The Associated Press has reported the Chicago Cubs, seeking a backup for third baseman Aramis Ramirez, have signed Corey Koskie to a minor-league contract.

Koskie, from Anola, Manitoba, hasn't played in the major leagues since July 2006. The third baseman has a lifetime average of .275 with 124 home runs in 989 games, before missing the last two seasons with a concussion suffered when he fell chasing a fly ball in 2006 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

If Koskie makes the Cubs, the team will have three Canadian-born players on its roster: ace pitchers Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC) and Rich Harden (Victoria, BC).

With the Toronto Blue Jays buried in the American League East behind contenders in Boston, New York, and Tampa Bay, perhaps baseball fans north of the border will be rooting for the Cubbies instead of the Blue Birds?

After all, the Cubs have won two consecutive NL Central titles and are led by Lou Piniella, a skipper who seems to always take his teams to the postseason. Dempster had a strong season in 2008, going 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA with 187 strikeouts, after being converted back to a starter following three seasons as the Cubs' closer.

Harden, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career thus far, was simply sensational since joining the Cubbies in the middle of the '08 season. Harden went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA in a dozen starts, including five 10-strikeout games.

Ted Lilly, a 17-game winner (and ex-Jay), and Carlos Zambrano, who won 14, are also part of a Cubs staff that had the third-best ERA (3.87) in the National League last season. Lilly has won 15+ games three years running, and who knows, perhaps Zambrano just might finally put together a 20-win season this year (while bashing a few more balls out of the park in the process).

Reed Johnson, a fan favorite while he was with the Blue Jays from 2003-07, is also a platoon player with Chicago. The outfielder split time with Jim Edmonds last season and batted .303 with six homers. Johnson should be able to contribute again for the Cubbies in 2009.

Even with Derrek Lee's weak numbers (20 HR, 90 RBIs), the Cubs will be able to score lots of runs again as they did last season in being among the top five teams in several key team offensive categories. With last season's NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto, Alfonso Soriano, and Ramirez hitting long balls in the lineup, the North Siders will be a fun team to watch.

But will they be Canada's Team as well, especially if Koskie makes the club?

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales,” on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Odalis Perez: An Absolute Joke

KP Wee — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:06:20 -0500

No steroid stuff this time - thank goodness.

But it's back to the negativity that you hear about on an annual basis: Players showing up late for spring training, or worse, refusing to report and holding out.

You expect that from the superstars, guys taking their time to report to spring training or guys waiting for a mega contract.

However, the Odalis Perez situation with the Washington Nationals is an absolute joke.

Perez didn't show up at the Nationals' spring training facility because he reportedly wanted the team to show him more appreciation and to up the value of his contract (from his $850,000 minor-league deal).

Yes, Perez was the Nationals' Opening Day starter in 2008, but he wasn't their best pitcher. Nor was he their second-best.

Perez was 7-12 with a 4.34 ERA in 159 2/3 innings last season. Not great numbers when you consider offense was down and he pitched in a league without the DH.

In fact, the lefty hasn't really had a stellar career to begin with; he has had only two outstanding seasons in his 10-year stint in the majors. In his best season, Perez was 15-10 with a 3.00 ERA in 2002, pitching a career-high 222 1/3 innings for the Dodgers. After an off-year the following season, Perez had a 3.25 ERA in 196 1/3 innings in 2004 but had only a 7-6 record due to a lack of run support by his Dodger mates. (Pitching half his games at pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium certainly didn't hurt.)

And that was it.

His ERA in his other seasons were well over 4.00, and he hasn't been the same since his 2002 and 2004 campaigns.

Yes, there are quite a few other mediocre major league starters with similar stats making multi-millions--and Perez is a lefty on top of that, something that's always a valuable commodity in the majors--so he likely thought he deserved to be paid more, and given at least a guaranteed deal.

However, in the economic situation that we're in now, will he realistically get a bigger deal from another club? Not to mention, GMs will no doubt look at his behavior and wonder if this is the kind of player that their team needs? Someone who doesn't honor his contract, and according to reports, didn't bother to answer numerous phone calls from Nationals management in the last few days. Someone who thinks he's Manny Ramirez when he's not even that good--as his overall 73-82 record and 4.46 career ERA indicates.

Besides, Perez had already agreed to his deal, and for him to hold out just showed the kind of character he is.

The Nationals did the right thing in releasing the left-hander on Monday instead of giving in to his demands. After all, Washington is better off washing its hands off someone who's not committed to the team and moving forward.

Perez didn't do himself any favors by holding out. It definitely hurts his reputation, and if he's indeed sitting home in the Dominican Republic as was reported, he's not going to be in shape for the season, if another team indeed picks him up. And no way will he get a guaranteed deal that's worth more than what he had with the Nats--unless some team out there is desperate or has an injury in its rotation.

Perhaps some other GM will indeed sign Perez... Then he'll become that team's headache.

Though I have to wonder, which is worse: Hearing about a player taking steroids, or hearing about a selfish/greedy player? Both types of players just continue to tarnish the sport and turn fans off, unfortunately...

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales,” on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Boston May Be in First Now, But...

KP Wee — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 23:51:14 -0500

While many Boston Bruins fans are excited about the possibilities of this season, I, for one, am not.

That's because I've been burned too many times.

And think about it: This is the Montreal Canadiens' 100th anniversary season, and though they're having a lot of problems right now, I wouldn't be surprised if they play the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs and knock the B's out.

But there are still a couple months before the playoffs start, so let's see what happens.

Still, I've been burned too many times. I've believed in this team, and each time, the men in black and gold have always found a way to disappoint me.

Let's start with the 2003-04 season, shall we?

The Bruins had an awesome rookie season from goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who went on to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Raycroft (29-18-9, 2.05) led the Bruins to the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed, as they finished with 104 points, two back of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bruins went up three games to one against the Canadiens, led by Raycroft's Game One shutout and two dramatic overtime victories.

Then the wheels fell off, as Boston lost 5-1, 5-2, and 2-0, letting the Habs win it in seven games.

After the lockout season, Raycroft slumped to a 3.70 GAA, and was banished after the 2005-06 season.

Oh, the Bruins finished with the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed in 2001-02, and again looked like they were the best team in the conference. Yet the B's fell in six games to the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, as Montreal goaltender Jose Theodore outplayed the Bruins' Byron Dafoe.

The Bruins outshot, outchanced, and practically dominated the Canadiens, but Theodore was stellar in winning the fifth and sixth games, both by 2-1 scores. To make things worse, the series-winner was scored by the Habs with Joe Thornton in the penalty box in Game Six.

Dafoe? He wanted more money in the off-season and went to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he would suffer through two awful and injury-plagued seasons before retiring.

Serves him right.

In 1995-96, the Bruins re-acquired former Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie Bill Ranford, who went 12-3-2 down the stretch for Boston. Yet Ranford was completely outplayed by the Florida Panthers' John Vanbiesbrouck as the Bruins fell in five games in the opening round of the playoffs.

At least it wasn't against Montreal this time. Oh, right. Panthers captain Brian Skrudland used to be a Hab.

One year before that, there was more hope as the Bruins had won eight of 10 to end the season, and got a superb season from rookie goalie Blaine Lacher. Boston was No. 1 in penalty killing, and No. 4 in power play efficiency. Their first-round opponent? The New Jersey Devils, who were 16th and 23rd in those categories, respectively.

Yet the Bruins got shut out in the first two games at Boston Garden, and fell easily in five.

In 1993-94, the Bruins took a 2-0 series lead in the second round against the Devils, winning both games in New Jersey. But they let the Devils win four straight.

And oh, the Devils were led by ex-Canadiens Jacques Lemaire (behind the bench) and Stephane Richer and Claude Lemieux. In fact, it was ex-Hab Richer's breakaway goal in overtime in Game Four in the 1994 series that proved to be the turning point.

The Bruins won the division in 1992-93 and were the second-best team in the regular season. But the B's fell in a four-game sweep in the opening round against Buffalo, in the Stanley Cup's 100th season.

That spring ended with the Canadiens winning yet another Cup.

I wasn't around for this one, but back in 1983-84, the Bruins were 49-25-6, tied for the best record in the conference with the New York Islanders (though the Isles had the tie-breaker with 50 wins). In the first round of the playoffs, the B's took on the Habs, who won 14 fewer games and had 29 fewer points.

Of course, Habs rookie Steve Penney--who had never won an NHL game in his life--beat the Bruins in three straight to eliminate Boston in the best-of-five.

In the early 1970s, the Bruins finished in top spot in the league three times, winning the Stanley Cup in 1971-72. But in those other two seasons, they suffered through embarrassing losses--once in the first round to those Habs again, and the other time to the upstart expansion Philadelphia Flyers in the Finals.

Boston would finish in first place in its division four more times the rest of the decade, but in three of those seasons, were eliminated by the Canadiens.

So, Boston is sitting pretty now in first place in the Eastern Conference, but I've seen and heard this story before...

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales,” on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**