Team meeting
In case you don’t read Jeff Sullivan’s blog (you’re missing out, really), read this. Sometimes, a good laugh cures a lot of ills.
Melvin: “We’ve all been in the big leagues long enough to know that losing 100 games stinks.”
Ichiro: “257?”
Dobbs: “Speak for yourself, coach.”
Reed: “Yeah, what are you talking about?”
Bloomquist: “Simmer down, guys, the skipper’s talking to you.”
Melvin: “Any veteran in the clubhouse can tell you just how tough it is, I mean psychologically, to lose 100 games. It can break your spirit.”
Boone: “Hey, I can put a spoon on my nose!”
Ichiro: “257.”
Melvin: “It reflects poorly on you guys, it reflects poorly on me.”
Boone: “Wait, no I can’t.”
Melvin: “I can’t speak towards my future with this organization, but a lot of you guys are near the end of your careers, and nobody wants to retire after losing 100 games.”
Reed: “Do you even know my name?”
Boone: “Why won’t it stick?”
Melvin: “I mean, do you think Edgar wants to leave on a sour note? All he wanted was one last shot at a ring, but things haven’t exactly worked out like we thought they would.”
Ibanez: “You have to lick it first.”
Melvin: “You’ve got to do it for yourselves. Everyone in this clubhouse has a lot of pride in their big league careers, both present and past.”
Dobbs: “Dude.”
Ichiro: “250, and 7.”
Boone: “It’s still not sticking.”
Melvin: “We know what we can do at this level. We haven’t done it most of the season, but if we play at the level I know we can for the rest of the year, then we can end on a good note and avoid those 100 losses.”
Ibanez: “No, no, that’s too much. Just a little moisture.”
Rose and wrongness
I realized something today, as I sorted through a stack of email from people mad about my answer to a Pete Rose related question I answered in a chat.
I can see why people think I was wrong and should fess up. I’ve been so caught up in the long slide towards having parts of it proven correct that I missed it. It’s more complicated but at its heart, there’s a crucial assertion in the original story that I now think was wrong.
Game thread, Mariners at Athletics, 9/30
12:35, on FSN
Franklin v Redman
Ichiro! v Sisler
Possible position players to plunk in retaliation for Ichiro’s beaning, if Melvin protected his players, which he doesn’t:
Erubiel Durazo, DH
Eric Chavez, 3B
Mark Kotsay, CF
If you want value for value, though, you really have to plunk Durazo and someone else like Byrnes. To make a serious point, you’d plunk Durazo and Chavez.
Not that I’m advocating a beanball war. Though the A’s might be slow to retaliate, given that they’re in a pennant race and don’t want to get injured or suspended.
I’m only going to say that if I was Melvin, I’ve got 20 relievers I can bring in to plunk somebody in the butt to make my point, if I get tossed it’s no big deal, if they get tossed it’s no big deal, but protecting Ichiro! is worth doing (if you think beaning, say, Durazo and Byrnes does that) (I mean, as long as you’re not going to protect Madrtisch’s arm).
Ramblings
Because I’m sitting at home sick as a dog, I’m just going to ramble. If you know any miracle cures for the cold/flu, feel free to leave them in comments.
1. I’ve flip-flopped on the wild card ever since it was instituted, but this year is one of the strongest cases for it that I can remember. The last weekend in the NL should be one of the most entertaining in baseball history.
2. I’d pay good money to ride “The Michael Vick Experience”.
3. One of the worst parts of the 2004 season has been the systematic weeding out of the blogosphere. One by one, watching passionate M’s fans lose the will to write about their team regularly has been disappointing. I miss my daily Musings post from Peter, business management analogies from Steve, long-winded recaps from Jeff. Here’s to hoping 2005 provides the inspiration necessary to bring them back.
4. Am I the only one who thinks they should consider renaming the NL manager of the year award after Bobby Cox?
5. I saw this in the comments the other day, so I’m curious; how many Carolina readers do we have? And among those, any interest in organizing a gathering to watch the playoffs?
6. Would anyone be against a 24/7 women’s health commercial network, where all femine hygene products had to be advertised on that specific station alone? If you’re not sure which herpes medicince to buy, flip to channel 842 now and leave the rest of us alone.
7. I hope Ichiro breaks the record at home. The fans deserve it, and having him break it in Oakland with 20,000 people watching would be a shame. And seriously, A’s fans, GO TO THE FREAKING GAMES. That’s all.
138
I’m not part of the crowd that calls for a managers head when his starting pitcher throws 138 pitches in a complete game to end the season. However, it seems like the sides defending Madritsch being left out for the 9th are using the “how bad can one start hurt?” theory, which ignores the actual pattern of how Madritsch has been used since being promoted.
Madritsch is averaging 110.4 pitches per start, 4th highest total in the majors. Only Jason Schmidt, Livan Hernandez, and Carlos Zambrano are averaging more P/GS than Mads.
Madritsch’s 138 pitch effort last night was the 3rd highest single game pitch count of the season. Livan Hernandez threw 144 once and Jason Schmidt threw 143. No other pitcher in baseball has been pushed as long as Mads was last night.
His last 5 starts, he’s thrown 126, 122, 119, 66, and 138 pitches. Last night’s outing was not an isolated incident. He’s been worked very hard since coming up.
We still have a long ways to go in understanding pitcher injuries and why they occur. It’s an indisputable fact, however, that Madritsch has been placed in a workload category that correlates with future arm problems. There is reason to worry about the effects this will have on him. The Mariners chose to ignore that risk, much like they’ve ignored similar risks with other pitchers, and they certainly don’t have the track record to say “trust us, we know what we’re doing”. When it comes to keeping pitchers healthy, the M’s have clearly shown that they don’t know any more than you or I. We all know very little, but it would be nice if the team would admit their ignorance on the subject and error on the side of caution. The 2005 M’s need a healthy Bobby Madritsch a lot more than he needed that complete game.