May 2005
Rockies 2, Cardinals 1
The Rockies have made a lot of roster moves with regards to their pitching staff this season, but none has had the impact of the exchange of mediocre Jason Jennings for his dazzlingly effective identical twin Jeremy. Today only a Todd Greene throwing error kept Jeremy from shutting the Cardinals down entirely. No ripping on Greene, though, because he hit the second of back-to-back homers in the 4th. Dustan Mohr hit the other. Todd Helton didn’t start against the lefty Mark Mulder, leading to much hilarity from the TV announcers regarding his role as a defensive specialist when he entered the game in the 8th.
Mohr flubbed a sacrifice attempt in the 8th with two on and nobody out, popping out to the catcher, but the Rockies ended up not needing the insurance runs. After Jennings’ seven innnings (6 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, no perfect innings but only 1 earned run), Jay Witasick and Brian Fuentes shut it down proper.
It’s wonderful to get a win any time we can, but besides Jennings and Matt Holliday (2 for 4), the major contributors in this game were marginal veteran guys who aren’t the foundation of our theoretical future success. Clint Barmes and Brad Hawpe and J.D. Closser need to get it going. Eddy Garabito did get his first major league hit tonight, so good on him.
Tuesday News
Measured answers to pointed questions from Troy E. Renck. The best question is the last one — why does Hurdle keep giving Desi Relaford and Todd Greene starts when the Rockies’ won-loss record is clearly just an academic question at this point? There is no good answer to this question. Hurdle (apparently) doesn’t have to win to keep his job. Also, further Preston Wilson speculation. I am backing off this topic until I see a rumor mentioned in more than one place.
Another story everyone is sick of: the Wayne Hagin-Todd Helton conflict. The Rockies’ brass have apparently asked Hagin to avoid Helton at all costs during this series, which seems like needless escalation to me. One imagines Hagin is as anxious to get this ugly situation behind him as Helton is. Well, the newspapers have to run something in between all the car dealership spreads, I guess. A St. Louis columnist gives his readers a fairly accurate reading on the state of the Rockies, although the musings about steroids he brings in towards the end are completely silly.
It’ll be at least a week until Aaron Miles tries any baseball activities…Matt Anderson, step right up…Jason Jennings can set a dubious record tonight…two big names are out of the draft at the last moment…Purple Row wants your opinion on to whom Colorado needs to hang on. My list: Francis, Closser, Barmes, Hawpe, Holliday, Carvajal, Sullivan. Oh, and Todd Helton. He’s good.
Hearing the Bell
Well, it’s Buddy Bell in KC. I am Jack’s complete lack of interest and/or surprise. Royals owner David Glass was adamant (registration required) that the team hire someone who had managed in the majors before, and he gets his wish. Of course, the teams Bell managed (Detroit 1996-98, Colorado 2000-02) were all bad. The Royals will neither benefit nor suffer from Bell’s hiring. He merely gives them another retroactive excuse for their pathetic play besides the fact that they don’t spend any money on players and their minor league development system is predicated on drafting players too young and promoting them too early.
Colorado and Kansas City are the two worst teams in the majors right now, but I see some hope for the Rockies that the Royals just don’t have. Colorado has shown the potential for being at least a strong mid-market team, assuming they can first put a core of young players capable of finishing at least .500 together first. Were the Rockies ever to become a consistent contender, they have a whole untapped region to conquer. The Royals are stuck with a crummy TV contract and the much more alluring Cardinals, their competitive payroll, and their impending new stadium in the same state. Kansas City as a host for an MLB team has always been a shaky proposition. The Athletics didn’t post a winning record their entire sojourn there (1955-67). The Royals had some great years in the late ’70s and early ’80s, but that was during an era of admitted collusion on the part of the owners to keep payrolls down.
You don’t have to spend $200 million to make the playoffs. There is, however, a floor somewhere. The Devil Rays, the Royals, and possibly the Pirates are under it. The Brewers and the Blue Jays are toeing the line. The Rockies are not. Sensible signings, good drafting, and a canny trade here and there, and it’s a new day for baseball in Denver. The Rockies kept Todd Helton, while the Royals had literally no chance at retaining Carlos Beltran. A new day isn’t coming in Kansas City. Will it come in Portland or Las Vegas?
Cardinals 5, Rockies 4
Well, I committed a cardinal sin last night (ha ha, little joke there) — I went to bed before the game was over. Between the rain delay, the long road trip the day before, and waking up at 4 in the morning to drive my father to the airport, I just wasn’t up for another loss. I saw Pujols’ homer, and I thought "Well, there goes that one."
For those who didn’t see any of the game, it was a weird one. Jamey Wright was effective. Desi Relaford reached third on a three-base error and scored on an overthrow by catcher Yadier Molina. The Cardinals picked up an unearned run right back on an error by Relaford. Then Colorado retook the lead on a Jason Marquis wild pitch in the 6th, and padded it on an infield hit that could have been called an error on shortstop David Eckstein. I felt fairly confident throughout that whichever team managed to first score a run with a solid hit would win it, and indeed Albert Pujols hit one where no Rockies defender could bobble it in the 7th, scoring Eckstein and Roger Cedeño.
The long and short of it is the Rockies are not going to win many games at Coors when they get only one extra-base hit (a double by suddenly potent J.D. Closser in the third). Brad Hawpe had a 2 for 4 day, and Todd Helton at least walked twice (remember, Closser started walking in bunches right before he started hitting a bit), but this offense has not yet shaken the rust of the brutal road trip off of its back. 1 for 5, Clint Barmes? You can do better!
I have nothing to say bad about Jay Witasick, who gave up Pujols’ shot. Albert hit a very good pitch, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Great hitters will hit good pitches sometimes. Matt Anderson sure didn’t do much in his Rockies debut, though. As for Jamey Wright, well, even a blind chicken finds a kernel of corn every now and then. Onward!
Four Days in Late May/Early June
It’s way more fun to write about dysfunctional teams than good teams. Pointing out shortcomings is just more of a charge than admitting another’s job well done. That said, Walt Jocketty has done an excellent job assembling a St. Louis team to defend last year’s National League pennant. As I alluded to earlier, the Cardinals probably won’t win 105 games as they did last year. A lot has to go right to win that many, and last year’s Cards were lucky in terms of injuries and getting career years from starters like Chris Carpenter and Jason Marquis. This year Jason Isringhausen has spent some time on the DL and the great Scott Rolen is out for a while.
An article in today’s Rocky Mountain News effectively outlines how St. Louis retooled on the fly. Woody Williams was replaced by Mark Mulder — huge upgrade. Mike Matheny’s job was given to youngster Yadier Molina — not any better or worse, but a great deal cheaper. The old keystone combo of Tony Womack and Edgar Renteria gave way for Mark Grudzielanek and David Eckstein, a slight on-field gain for a huge drop in salaries. Womack (.616 OPS) is making $2 million for the Yankees (and playing left field), while Grudzielanek’s numbers are .846 and $1 million. Renteria: .764 and $8 million for the Red Sox, Eckstein: .767 and $2.3 million.
Of course the guys who make it all go get paid the big money, but they do happen to be Albert Pujols, Larry Walker, and Jim Edmonds, and they deserve it. Reggie Sanders is having himself a good year, and John Mabry has been more than adequate in a super-utility role. The Cardinals lead the league in runs and OPS. Their pitching staff checks in at a very respectable fourth in the league to boot. In short, they’re the class of the league.
Besides Rolen’s absence, the Rockies will get no favors in this four-game series with Marquis, Mark Mulder, and undefeated Matt Morris set to start the first three games. Wow, that’s a lot of M’s. Jeff Suppan, a better fifth starter than a lot of teams have #2 guys, will go in the Thursday day finisher. Colorado counters, such as it is, with Wright, Jennings, Kennedy, and Chacon in that order. Marquis and Suppan have relatively swell Coors numbers in limited exposure, while Mulder and Morris haven’t pitched there (at least since ’02, which is as far back as ESPN’s splits go).
The Rockies have had their two best series of the year at home against fairly hot teams (LA and SF), but St. Louis is a whole order of magnitude better than either of those clubs. I have been overly optimistic too much lately, with no good coming of it, so I’m going to predict a Cardinal sweep. We’re in rain delay, so technically this preview isn’t tardy.
Back at Home
No matter how short a trip lasts, it always feels as if you’ve missed something at home when you return. Such is not the case with the Rockies headlines, which are the usual lamentations. Whither the rotation? "We have been anything but consistent off the mound," says Clint Hurdle, who ponders replacing Jamey Wright as a starter with Byung-Hyun Kim. This in my view is sort of like standing over a raging campfire with a can of gasoline, thinking better of it, and chucking a can of bug spray in instead. Except I never weighed Kim vs. Wright at Boy Scout camp.
The Post profiles catcher-in-waiting Danny Ardoin, who is much older than I thought (30), and is therefore like recently recalled Eddy Garabito a complete waste of the Rockies’ time. Mike Klis oddly describes the Cardinals as "gritty." The White Sox are gritty. The Brewers are gritty. The Cardinals have superior talent, a wonderful veteran core, the best right-handed hitter in baseball, and a Hall of Fame manager. I’ll get back to them a little later today, when I explain why the Cardinals have a better team than they did last year, yet will win fewer games.
Todd Helton has no idea, either: "I am going to be all right. I just need to hit the ball hard for a change." He apparently feels that no curse of Wayne Hagin is in effect, as he does not wish to speak to the Cardinals’ broadcaster who implicated him as a steroid user. "Now that’s a really stupid question," Helton said when asked. Interesting note here (fourth item) about Colorado players’ chances to win, place, and show in NL Rookie of the Year voting. J.D. Closser is not in the running but seems to be reacting well to the Rockies’ weird decision to evaluate him on practically an at-bat by at-bat basis.
Clint Hurdle on the upcoming stretch of games against St. Louis and Chicago AL: "I look forward to it. We will be able to take a litmus test and find out where we are." Uh, Clint? You don’t need a strip of funny paper for that. A regular one with newsprint will do just fine. You’re 16 games back. Also, Tracy Ringolsby (second item) notes that Mark Prior and Brad Hawpe‘s paths have crossed before.
Cubs 11, Rockies 6
Well, at least the road trip is finally over. Mine and the Rockies’. Neither Jeff Francis nor Marcos Carvajal had their best stuff as the Cubs returned to .500 at Colorado’s expense. At least Preston Wilson is heating up and J.D. Closser finally managed to hit himself a homer. Luis Gonzalez is making a bid for Aaron Miles‘ job, nudging his average up to .306 with a 2-for-5, 3-RBI game. Todd Helton avoided going hitless-for-Chicago by the narrowest of margins. Clint Barmes still looks lost out there. No one on the Rockies, with the possible exception of Jamey Wright, will be sorry to return to relatively friendly confines of Coors Field.
Driving back from Chicago afforded me the opportunity to retrieve most of my baseball reference library from my parents’ basement. Maybe I will be able to track down the Eddy Garabito info I promised earlier now. I also have my extensive collection of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" literature with me at last. We’ll see how I’m able to incorporate that.
Aha, here we go! From John Sickels’ Prospect Book, 2003 edition, written when Garabito was in the Orioles’ system: "He has little power or untapped offensive upside that I can see, but he does decently with the glove and can swipe a base, 25th man material." And the Watcher’s Guide Volume 1 notes that Nicholas Brendon (Xander) played baseball at California’s College of the Canyon and intended to try his luck in the pros until a broken arm detoured him into acting. Now that’s some research.
Cubs 5, Rockies 1
As I was driving from Chicago to Grand Island, Nebraska (on my way back to Boulder), the beat went on for the Rockies. Early MVP candidate Derrek Lee homered for the third and fourth times in the last two days as the Cubs easily defeated Colorado. Todd Helton is still hitless for this series, and 2 for his last 42. Byung-Hyun Kim pitched as well as could be expected (5 innings, 3 homers, 5 runs, but happily no walks), but the Rockies’ offense utterly rolled over for Glendon Rusch. Dustan Mohr, getting the start against the lefty, had two of Colorado’s six hits. Luis Gonzalez chipped in another two, and Preston Wilson had the lone RBI.
Before the game, the Cubs reacted quickly to the loss of Mark Prior, dealing useless reliever LaTroy Hawkins to San Francisco for two fairly interesting young guys. Giants’ GM Brian Sabean said the high risk was worth it for Hawkins: "We’re in desperate need to rearrange the bullpen. We followed (Hawkins) for the better part of May. I believe he needs a change of scenery. He’ll fit in nice in our seventh and eight inning." Just don’t boo him, San Franciscans, he’s sensitive like that.
Clint Hurdle returned to the Rockies Friday, and it sounds like his daughter is going to be OK. I guess that means I can go back to advocating his firing. Neifi Perez: "It bothers me to not have been [in Colorado] my whole career. It’s still a painful subject." Perez claims he called his shot in Friday’s game as well. Clint Barmes, hitless today, turned an ankle Thursday and that’s why he missed the game I attended. The ugly Todd Helton feud with broadcaster Wayne Hagin will be revisited this coming week with the Cardinals in town.
It’s never too early to start talking about whom the bad teams will trade. SI fantasy writer David Sabino repeats what we already know about the Rockies: Preston Wilson will go, Todd Helton probably won’t. Speaking of bad teams, here’s a Royals managerial search update: Art Howe and Buddy Bell interviewed, Jerry Manuel and Terry Collins scheduled. But is Kansas City moving too fast?
Cubs 10, Rockies 3
For some reason when I go to Cubs games, momentous things happen. In 2002, in Milwaukee, I saw Mark Bellhorn hit home runs from opposite sides of the plate in the same inning. In 2003, at Wrigley, I saw Sammy Sosa ejected from a game when cork was found in his bat. This time around, I saw Brad Hawpe break Mark Prior’s arm with a line drive that had the sound and effect of a gunshot. If this is what the Rockies have to do to affect a pennant race, I don’t want to see them lead off SportsCenter again this season.
The game itself was nondescript, although a few good defensive plays brightened what was otherwise a dull blowout. Todd Wellemeyer came in after Prior‘s injury and locked the Colorado offense down, allowing nary a hit in 3 2/3 innings. Meanwhile Joe Kennedy got pounded, although only three of his seven runs were earned thanks to a Garrett Atkins error in the fourth. None of the Rockies’ pitchers fared particularly well as Neifi Perez, Corey Patterson, and Derrek Lee homered, Lee connecting twice. Once again Kennedy couldn’t avoid the big inning and the Rockies’ offense was ill-equipped to bail him out.
Preston Wilson did homer, boosting his trade value. He was busy in center as well, as we could see from our vantage point in the upper bleachers. J.D. Closser was hitless but drew three walks, which I’m taking as a good sign. Todd Helton’s struggles continued with an 0 for 4 day. Luis Gonzalez was the only Colorado hitter to have a multi-hit day, with two singles in five at-bats. Clint Barmes took the day off. Eddy Garabito pinch-hit for his major league debut.
Even if the bleacher fans are occasionally abusive to park patrons in out-of-town colors, Wrigley Field is the best place to see baseball games in the world. It’s a credit to the Cubs’ fans that they have 38,000 people every home game, even weekday day contests. Today was Cubs’ radio announcer Pat Hughes’ 50th, so I joined in singing "Happy Birthday" for him. Northern Illinois’ football coach sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch. I yelled "Rockies" as loud as I could at the appropriate time, but it didn’t seem to much help.
News Post, Chicago Edition
All is revealed: you wouldn’t like Jason Jennings when he’s angry; an experiment gone awry turns him into effective starter and S.O.B. Jeremy Jennings when his ire is raised. "I heard on TV how they were talking about how they were going to sweep us like we are everyone’s homecoming game. It’s personal." A slight change in his delivery may have helped as well. Meanwhile, Jeromy Burnitz would have loved to stay with the Rockies, but they disrespected him by not giving him a huge raise he didn’t deserve. Also, Shawn Chacon won’t make his scheduled start Saturday and Aaron Miles will see some DL time. As expected, Byung-Hyun Kim will sub for Chacon.
Jamie Quirk has enjoyed his brief managerial career: "A lot of the things the manager does, you’ve seen him do it but you’re not involved in it. It’s been an enlightening experience." Quirk may still be a long-shot candidate for the Royals’ job, although Kansas City has publically said they want someone with major league experience. Jamie notes how it’s difficult to leave an MLB coaching job to gain managerial experience at a lower level: "It’s very hard to leave a major league job. Obviously, the money is better…. Just to go with no guarantees is kind of hard."
As soon as I find something written about Eddy Garabito, I promise you’ll hear about it. Meanwhile in Chicago, reaction to the Cubs losing to the Rockies is dramatic: "The Cubs are such marshmallows that you hope they consider using steroids and corking their bats," writes Jay Mariotti. "Right now, we’re just not a very good team, that’s the bottom line," says Todd Walker (registration required). If they want to keep hacking away at every pitch they see the rest of this series, that’d be just fine with me and the Rockies’ pitching staff.
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