The Bleacher Bums: March 2006 Archive

Baseball salary navigator

Posted at 9:10 AM on March 1, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Have fun with this one: a treemap-based comparison of base salaries of baseball players. It's a bit clunky once you zoom in, but still a nice visualization.

Also, an excellent disclaimer on the frontpage: Salaries are unofficial and may appear to be larger than your lifetime earnings.

Baseball salary vs. performance

Posted at 11:30 AM on March 2, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I guess when it rains it pours: another interactive baseball salary application crossed my desk, this time the salary vs. performance chart, which tracks what teams are spending versus how they are doing in the standings. I particularly kept an eye on the Twins (who dropped like a stone in August) and the Yankees (who's big fat line slowly crept back up at the end of season). Also interesting to watch was Houston, who jumped back and forth from blue to red like a signal meter.

Coming to a screen near you

Posted at 4:07 PM on March 2, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The "Twins" are playing the "Red Sox" (I put them in quotes because both are just spring training shells of their actual selves) tonight at 6:05pm. It's on FSN, I believe. If you don't have/steal cable (or have one of those super-antennas which I've just heard about,) there is a Sunday afternoon game being broadcast on FOX 29 in the Twin Cities. Go put on a straw hat and pretend you're in Florida. Tomorrow is the start of the WBC, but I already mentioned the tough TV schedule.

The first game

Posted at 9:14 AM on March 3, 2006 by Ben Tesch

So the Twins win, although that doesn't really matter too much in spring training. Johan and Carlos both allow some baserunners but escape with scoreless outings, Tony Batista whips out some surprisingly deft defense, Scott Ullger goes back to third base coach and leaves the bat coaching to Joe Vavra, Torii Hunter cranks the first pitch he sees in a looong time directly over the left field fence, Joe Mauer and Coco Crisp both hit very well, and somehow the Twins cobble together 3 home runs. Yes, three! In the same game!

Let's try that again... how about today at 12:05 against the Reds?

Puckett in critical condition after stroke

Posted at 10:10 AM on March 6, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The latest news is that Kirby is still in critical condition from having a stroke on Sunday. He had neo surgery at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn on Sunday and is now in intensive care at St. Joseph's in Phoenix. I will add updates if I hear or see anything along the way. Feel free to leave your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes in the comments or the news forum. Get well, Kirby.

Update: In the first hour of Midday (11am) there will be discussion of the situation and any more news. (Listen live)

Game 6 is Kirby's true legacy

Posted at 7:42 AM on March 7, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

Less than 15 years after he ended Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Kirby Puckett is dead. Carl Pohlad and Herb Carneal are still with us and Kirby is not. It doesn't make sense.

As a high school junior I attended the before-mentioned Game 6. Sitting in the first row behind the plexi-glass in left-centerfield, I can still see that small white ball sailing into immortality. Back then, at age 16, I thought of Kirby the same way -- immortal, untouchable. I was not the only one. We all know the events that changed that perception. They are true and they are sad, but they are not the way we should remember Kirby.

Here in Minnesota, we've been blessed with several spectacular athletes who have flirted with greatness, but only Kirby has delivered when it mattered most. After losing Game 5 in Atlanta 14-5, the Twins returned home trailing 3 games to 2 and had every reason to roll over. Kirby wouldn't have it. What he did in Game 6 is the greatest performance in our state's history (sorry Jack Morris, there is no 10 inning, Game 7 shutout without Kirby).

In this information age of intense media scrutiny, the true hero is dead. Let's not blame Kirby for that. It's up to Puckett's family to assess his transgressions; Game 6 is his legacy to us. Farewell Kirby, you're the best we've ever had.

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A sad day in Twins Territory

Posted at 10:31 AM on March 7, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

If you would like, you can share your Kirby Puckett memories here. There is a growing collection of thoughts and remembrances. There is also a collection of stories which is sure to grow in the coming days and weeks.

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Time to say goodbye

Posted at 1:01 PM on March 8, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Twins have announced a public memorial service for Kirby Puckett on Sunday at 7pm at the Metrodome. Admission is free to the public, doors open at 6pm, and the event will include testimonials from family, friends and baseball figures. The Legislature today honored Puckett with a moment of silence.

Mookie, movie; movie, Mookie

Posted at 10:10 AM on March 9, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I hadn't heard anything about it before today, but apparently there is a movie coming out tomorrow called Game 6, which is a fictional story about the personal crisis of a playwright which also happens to be centered around the historic Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and Mets. Alot of talk has happened this week revolving around Kirby Puckett and his Game 6, and the tagline for the movie makes me wonder... Where were you on that night?

45 grams of fat

Posted at 3:43 PM on March 10, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

The big news on a casual Friday is the donut burger, a promotion by the Gateway Grizzlies baseball squad of the Frontier League to finish their quest of creating "baseball's best burger". The sandwich is a hamburger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon, all between a bun made of a sliced Krispy Kreme donut. It weighs in at 1,000 calories and 45 grams of fat, but the bonus is you get your dinner and dessert at the same time!

The last sports-related food item to garner this much attention was the Roethlisburger, a sandwich named for the popular Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. This baby had ground beef, sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions and American cheese, and each took 10 minutes to make.

The sad thing is, I don't think either get close to Burger King's Meatnormous Omelet Sandwich.

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It's got to be fiery

Posted at 4:42 PM on March 14, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The paper of record has an excellent interview with the excellent Larry Bowa that you should be sure to check out.

For Bowa, coaching third is a combination of instincts, research and personality. He keeps a book on outfielders and tries to analyze them for himself, independent of scouting reports. Who overcomes a weak arm by charging hard? Who throws well but hangs back on balls? What are the tendencies of the runners he will send or hold? Bowa is finding out, and he promised to take calculated risks. "If you coach third and you don't get anybody thrown out, you're definitely not doing a good job," he said.

My kingdom for a castle

Posted at 12:28 PM on March 15, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Fairly soon after Kirby Puckett's passing, there were already legislators saying that people are urging approval of a new Twins ballpark named for Puckett, and that his death may reinvigorate the stadium debate. Is it just me, or is this all slightly less than tactful?

In other weird stadium situations, the Washington Nationals got the MLB to co-sign for its stadium. Yes, somehow a once-dead team (Expos) with no official owners (its ownership is shared by all the other 29 baseball teams) was able to get a stadium... so it can get an owner. Wow.

The final four of baseball

Posted at 9:59 AM on March 17, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I don't know that it comes as a surprise to me, but Mexico knocked the United States out of the World Baseball Classic. The teams in the semifinals are Korea, Japan, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. I was actually more suprised with Venezuela's showing, and how low-scoring the 2nd round was. I still have trouble seeing anyone beating Dominican Republic, and apparently based on the poll that was on ESPN.com that I recently took, most of the world agrees with me.

My predictions: Seung Yeop Lee is on fire, and Korea is clicking too well to get beat by a Japan team that was only 1-2. Dominican Republic already beat Cuba once before, and has the firepower to keep rolling. Your predictions?

Could I be any more wrong?

Posted at 9:50 AM on March 20, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Well, my rock solid predictions were rock solid wrong. Japan and Cuba advance to the final game of the WBC. It's tonight at 8pm (Central) on ESPN. Should be a great game.

Japan last played Cuba for a championship in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta, where Cuba beat Japan 13-9 to win the gold medal. They met more recently in the '04 Olympics; Japan beat Cuba 6-3 in the first round, but Cuba ended up winning the gold, and Japan won bronze.

Gambatte, Nippon!

Posted at 5:10 PM on March 21, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

Japan won the WBC yesterday with a very solid presentation of both pitching and batting. Matsuzaka ended up doing quite well, even after giving up a solo shot to his first batter, right after getting 4 runs in the first. For alot of pitchers that could be a bad bellwether, but he got through it and dominated most of the very-good-hitting Cuba team.

Matsuzaka ended up being the tournament MVP, with Ichiro and Satozaki both being selected to the All-Tournament team. Gourriel, Garlobo, and Marti from the Cuban team were also selected.

I personally loved seeing the different styles of play shown by the various teams. I loved seeing the fire and passion displayed. I loved how the teams actually stood at the top of the dugouts and watched the actual game happening, and were even cheering along with the crowd. I especially loved really small things, like how the Cuban catcher fired the ball as fast as he could back to the pitcher every time. I swear he would have caused several errors if not for the pitcher's quick reaction. Anything that caught your eye?

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Sweating the details of uniforms

Posted at 3:55 PM on March 22, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Paul Lukas' post about vertically arched lettering is an ode to a dying art. The pace and turnover of players on teams will probably make the process of custom fitting player names to uniforms die in the near future, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Profile of Place

Posted at 9:03 AM on March 23, 2006 by Ben Tesch

If you miss the ping of the bat, check out this nice multimedia slideshow by the Spartanburg Herald-Journal profiling Jason Place, South Carolina's top high school prospect.

Projected to win

Posted at 9:39 AM on March 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch (3 Comments)

The stat geek at Replacement Level Yankees crunched the projection numbers on a bunch of simulators, and guess who comes out on top in the AL Central? The Twinkies. They are projected to get about 87 wins and take the division, with Chicago and Cleveland in close vicinity. Detroit isn't that far away either. The Twins have about a 48% chance of making the playoffs by the numbers.

But then again, I think he speaks for alot of people who he says "Minnesota seems kind of high to me. I'd put them behind Cleveland and the White Sox." I'm pretty sure why someone came up with this phrase: "that's why they play the game."

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A Boone for the Tribe

Posted at 11:30 AM on March 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Cleveland Indians have sent top prospect Andy Marte down to AAA, as they now intend to start the season with "seasoned" veteran Aaron Boone at third.

Yes, this is the same Andy Marte who they got when they gave up Coco Crisp to the Red Sox, and who was hitting .359 this spring, including 6 doubles and 9 RBI.

This is also the same 30-something Aaron Boone with the two knee surgeries, can't hit lefty pitching, and whose first two months with Cleveland last year were "the lowest points of my career."

Why do I get the feeling Aaron has incriminating photos of someone in the front office?

One week to go

Posted at 12:18 PM on March 27, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

I thought it was maybe just a problem with the air ducts at work, but it turns out "excitement" is in the air. The regular seasons officially starts in a week. Less than a week, even! The defending champion White Sox host the Indians on Sunday night, the only (real) game for that day. Then on Monday, it will be one of the great times of the year, where my eyes are glued to the GameTracker in the middle of the work day. The novelty doesn't last long, but man is it fun.

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It's up to the "M&M boys"....again....

Posted at 3:02 PM on March 28, 2006 by David Zingler

They’ve added a legitimate All Star (Luis Castillo), a solid veteran (Rondell White), a semi washed-up hacker (Tony Bastista) and have a top prospect returning from a devastating injury (Jason Kubel), but none of that will matter if Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau don’t step up and carry the Twins offense in 2006. This season is a pivotal particularly for Morneau, who became a piñata for both the fans and media as the team floundered down the stretch in 2005.

We know Castillo will get on base and White won’t give away outs, but who knows what to think about Batista, who is already giving me flashbacks of Butch Huskey. Of the two “M&M boys” (sorry Maris and Mantle), Mauer is much more of a sure thing. In just over one big league season he’s shown more command of the strike zone than Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones have in their careers – combined! He’s also demonstrated a calm, mature demeanor and has an image so wholesome it leaves even the most hardcore member of the Christian Coalition envious. Morneau meanwhile, picked up a little baggage in ’05 including the “immature” and “cocky” labels while drawing the ire of Hunter. It’s basically 30+ homeruns or else for the big Canadian this year.

Where the Twins finish in 2006 is anyone’s guess – the White Sox will tough, the Indians dangerous and the Tigers intriguing – but one thing is for sure, the fate of their offense lies square on the young shoulders of Mauer and Morneau. Oh yeah, and don’t expect that to change in the years to come.

Trying to find a balance

Posted at 12:09 PM on March 29, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

David Schoenfield does an excellent piece on the competitive balance of Major League Baseball. The myth is that small markets will never win, and the same teams get in every year. A lot of people believe it. David does a little number crunching and finds that not only is it not as bad as you probably think, but baseball even has it better than most other professional sports. Surprised the heck out of me.

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Two smart moves

Posted at 1:58 PM on March 29, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Smart move #1: The Twins released Dennys Reyes and kept both Baker and Liriano on the big league roster. Baker appears to be penned in at the #5 starter spot, and Radke's new role appears to be keeping Liriano's seat warm.

Smart move #2: The Indians signed Grady Sizemore for a long time and for alot of money. The Indians also have Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez locked up for 5 more years. Wow. If they can get Cliff Lee signed to the same kind of deal, watch out.

Corky Miller sighting....

Posted at 9:58 AM on March 30, 2006 by David Zingler (5 Comments)

It came as a surprise no one when the Seattle Mariners re-assigned back-up catcher Corky Miller to their minor league camp on Wednesday. Thus, Miller will begin the season at Triple A Tacoma. I'm sure however, the move left some geeky blogger in the Seattle area severely disappointed.

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Baseball traditions.

Posted at 11:36 PM on March 30, 2006 by Josh Lee

A new baseball season rolls in, looking nothing like the old. Jacque Jones has moved to the north side of Chicago, while Jim Thome has gone to the south; Alfonso Soriano is in the outfield, while Nomar Garciaparra is at first base; Johnny Damon is trying on pinstripes, while pigs are trying on wings. It seems like a totally different sport than the one I knew so long ago (and by "so long," I mean "five months").

Luckily, there are things about the game that remain constant: Prior and Wood are both on the disabled list; everybody hates Manny, unless he's standing at the plate with a bat in his hand, in which case everybody loves him; my home town of Portland continues to fool itself into thinking it can support a major league baseball club; the Metrodome continues to manage the neat trick of sucking and blowing simultaneously, and Minnesota continues to manage the neat trick of failing to figure out what to do with it. In a world that's always changing, it's nice to know that some traditions persist.

Get yer free crap here! Free crap!

Posted at 10:04 AM on March 31, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Twins released their events and promo schedule for home games. Highlights include the Ron Gardenhire fishing lure, the Billy Martin bobblehead doll (does it come with bobble legs so you can have it kick little mini piles of dirt?), a Carlos Silva growth chart, a wiffle bat and ball set, and the usual array of jerseys, hats, visors, and statues.

Potential future promotions include:

• Juan Berenguer horizontal growth chart
  
• Chuck Knoblauch kids throwing target
  
• Frank Viola stick-on moustache
  
• Joe Niekro nail care set