Re-examining Wang, Part VII

It's been a while since I took a game-specific look at Chien-Ming Wang's performance, but after posting Jason Grey's analysis yesterday, it was as good a time as any to reprise this thread.

Here's where it starts: Wang's first inning scared me. Hit the first batter with the first pitch. The next three batters had well-hit fly balls to the OF. The kind of shots that lead you take a deep {gulp} and wonder how bad a night it's going to be.

Except that's not what happened.

Wang came out in the 2nd and was coolly efficient there on out, throwing just 83 pitches in 7-1/3 innings. I didn't make it that far, but I have no idea why Girardi felt Wang should come out of the game with so few pitches thrown. The bullpen has been taxed lately (Joba stretching out, Pettitte's lousy effort last time out, Farnsworth hurting and generally maddening, etc.) so why go to the whip when the horse seemingly was cruising along?

So after allowing three fly ball outs in the first, Wang reverted back to his "old" self, going 15-2 in GB:FB. Finishing the game with a nifty 3:1 GB:FB ratio is hopefully a nice harbinger of things to come.

The strikeouts were again down at just two, with two walks. He needs to have a better ratio than just 1:1 for K:BB. Wang's historically around 1.5 (up to 1.76 last year) so even if he's not back up to the K/9IP of 6+ like he was earlier, he does need to boost the K's a bit. But, after the last month of very uneven (being kind here) performance, this is just nitpicking and I know that.

Wang's current "indicator" stats stand at:
K/9 IP: 5.10
K:BB: 1.46
#PC/9 IP: 14.9 (more than the 14.2 in 2007)
BAA: .246 (career low, by a lot)
GB:FB: 2.23 (career avg: 2.79, including this year's average)


UPDATE: The smart brothers manning the "Pride of the Yankees" blog over at NJ.com had this to say about Girardi's (ahem) pulling of Wang {it's impossible to avoid the double entrendes sometimes!}:

In general, we try not to question the manager too much. It's never really worth it, it doesn't accomplish anything, and it just looks like you're trying to be negative. But last night, Chien-Ming Wang was, as we said, efficient and on the mark; he had thrown 83 pitches over 7.1 innings. To us, that's complete game territory. But instead, Joe Girardi risked the game by bringing in Jose Veras to finish off the eighth inning -- he promptly allowed two baserunners while it was still a 2-1 game, and the game almost went spinning out of control. (Just imagine what damage Kyle Farnsworth would have done, had he been available. On second thought: don't imagine that.)

Unless Wang told Joe G. that he was tired -- which is entirely plausible -- there was really no reason to pull Wang. It wasn't overly hot in Oakland (it was 67 degrees, unlike here in NYC where it was 100), and Wang registered the first out of the eighth inning quickly.

Anyway, like we said, there's no use being overly bitter, because the Yanks came away with a win last night. But that move just didn't make much sense.

Vitamin V

We've all heard of alternative medicines and all sorts of things like that. Homeopathics. Acupuncture. Mexican drug runners. Vitamin V? Well, guess again.

Seems that old buddy Clemens and a ton of others have been using Viagra as a performance enhancer, and not for the bedroom.

Clemens stashed the clearly marked, diamond-shaped pills in a GNC vitamin bottle in his locker at Yankee Stadium, according to a source familiar with the clubhouse, perhaps keeping the drug undercover to avoid the inevitable wisecracks about all the girlfriends he needed to please.

Clemens wasn't alone. The pitcher, who is believed to have scored the drug from a teammate, joined the burgeoning number of athletes who have turned Vitamin V and its over-the-counter substitutes into one of the hottest drugs in locker rooms.

The drug is so widely used for off-label purposes that it has drawn the attention of anti-doping officials and law-enforcement agencies in the United States and beyond.

"All my athletes took it," BALCO founder Victor Conte, whose acolytes included Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, said of an over-the-counter supplement he claimed mimicked the effects of Viagra.

"It's bigger than creatine. It's the biggest product in nutritional supplements."

Among the off-label uses for Viagra, which first went on the market in 1998, it:

• Helps build endurance, especially for athletes who compete at high altitudes
• Delivers oxygen, nutrients and performance-enhancing drugs to muscles more efficiently
• Counteracts the impotence that can be a side-effect of testosterone injections

......

Don Catlin, the founder of the independent organization Anti-Doping Research in Southern California, said he has been raising questions about Viagra's use in sports for years.

Catlin said he even wrote a letter several years ago to then-WADA chairman Dick Pound, notifying him that Viagra might be a doping agent.

The e-mail got bounced back by Pound's offensive-content filter, which thought it was spam.

Let the jokes begin, now.

A scout's look at Wang

I had been doing a review of Wang's starts though as he's struggled, there's been less to be really interested in. Biased, you betchya! Well, that's half the story. The other half is that I don't have the trained eye of a scout to tell you if he's "flying open" or where else he could be messing with his mechanics.

That said, here is part of ESPN's Jason Grey's dissection of Wang (insider access required for full article, sorry):

With a sinkerballer such as Wang, the first thing we want to do is take a look at his groundball numbers and his average on balls in play to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. His groundball-to-flyball ratio is 2.37, which is lower than the past two seasons, but still a very healthy number. His average on balls in play is .284, a number that is also not out of line in any way. He hasn't always been helped by his bullpen this season, which inflates his ERA slightly, but that doesn't explain how the baserunners got on in the first place.

When he was running well, Wang was walking fewer than three batters per nine innings. In his past four outings, that number has risen to almost five and a half, with his strikeout rate dropping from close to six per nine innings down to almost four. His strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first seven starts was 32-to-13. In his past six, it has been 17-to-20.
......
So why has his strikeout-to-walk ratio gone awry lately?

To answer that question, I went back to the video of a number of Wang's starts this season, both when he was running well and his recent outings.

Nothing has really changed about the actual way he's been pitching. He still has the same plan on the mound and is still getting his groundballs by the truckload as he usually does. He's throwing the same pitches, roughly the same amount of times, and his velocity isn't down.

The raw stuff is still there.

Therefore, the answer is likely that he is struggling with his mechanics. But how? He told the team's Web site he feels "he may be overthrowing" lately, but he simply has not been repeating his delivery well. There are two issues:

1. Sometimes his arm is getting out of sync with rest of his body on his fastball, so he can't hit his spots consistently.


2. Tipping his secondary stuff with his arm angle.

Well, there ya have it. I promise I will revise my reviews and try to take some of the things that Jason looked at and see how Wang fares.

In this corner, Mr. Met

YA GOTTA BELIEVE!

Sometimes, truth is just so much better than fiction. And you also have to just love those wacky Mets fans. Yanks fans take a lot of heat, but I've long believed that Mets fans are worse. And by reading this, I defy you to argue against me:

At a recent game, the drunken fan manhandled the Amazin's smiling, giant-baseball-headed mascot, police said. He also allegedly knocked down kids and took a swing at a security guard.
......
Christian Hansen of Gowanus, Brooklyn, was seen "harassing Mr. Met and pushing little children out of the way" at Shea Stadium, a law-enforcement source said. When security officials told the soused sports nut to leave, he refused. Then, as security guards escorted out the Mr. Met-basher, Hansen took a wild swing at an employee and spit in his face, law-enforcement sources said.

Let's go Mets!

H/T to Glenn for the story. Glad he's a Mets fan.

Psst! You've got two weeks.

As Shyster noted, this is probably for only the most die-hard steroid news followers (like me)...

Like most things surrounding steroids/PED usage in baseball, nothing will surprise me and no one implicated would surprise me. That said, it came out that it appears that some players who tested positive in 2003 were given advanced notice of when they were to be tested again in 2004.

Selig, Manfred and Fehr offered the committee information about a still-evolving testing program that had begun with anonymous testing of all players in 2003, with no public disclosure of positive tests and no punishments. In 2004, each player was tested once, and players who tested positive were subjected to additional tests. If a player tested positive twice, his name was made public and he was suspended for 15 games.
.......
As a result, players who apparently tested positive in 2003 were not retested in 2004 until the final weeks of the season, and might have been notified beforehand, perhaps skewing the overall test numbers for that year.

Just please no more Congressional hearings! It's clear (no pun intended, I swear) that Selig wanted to impose his will with PED testing but the Players Union was staunchly against it. Two questions:

1. Could others in the Commish's office, wanting to keep the league's image prettier than it might have otherwise been, tipped off players they needed to remain "innocent"?
2. Could this have done without Selig's knowledge?

Would the answers either of those two questions, if the answers are "yes", surprise you? Not me.

Friday fun: Video time, hockey style

In honor of Detroit's Stanley Cup win, I thought I'd give myself goosebumps again with this one:



This the most emotional win, as a fan, as I have ever been part of. Wasn't there in person, but to be in NYC at the time was just surreal. The 2nd Avenue party outside Dorrian's was awesome. Cars stopped, horns blowing. Apartment windows open, people yelling. Everyone dancing and jumping around, high fiving....

Good times, I tell ya.

Signability = It's About The Money, Stupid

So the Yanks drafted California HS RHP Gerrit Cole in the first round (28th pick overall) of the MLB Draft yesterday. First, his impressive scouting report from BaseballAmerica.com (emphasis mine, of course):

Cole is the best righthander out of Southern California since Phil Hughes starred at Santa Ana's Foothills High in 2004. Cole's four-seam fastball ranges from 93-96 mph, occasionally peaking at 97-98. He adds a hard, late-breaking curve which shows bite, tilt and depth. Cole used his changeup sparingly early in the season, though he used it more later. Adding to Cole's considerable appeal to scouts is his tall, lanky and projectable frame, which is nearly ideal for a prep righthander. Scouts are split over whether Cole profiles as a starter or closer. He maintains velocity and pitch movement deep into games, but his inconsistent command and tendency to run up high pitch counts may move him to the bullpen. Some scouts have compared him to Mariners closer J.J. Putz. Cole does bring mechanical concerns. He lands on a stiff front leg, and he recoils his arm during his follow-through. Both hurt control and raise injury concerns. Complicating the situation, Cole's adviser is the Scott Boras Corp., which may eliminate many clubs from consideration. Cole also hasn't endeared himself to scouts or teammates with what one scout described as his immature mound demeanor.

And here is the write-up by The Baseball Analysts:

Cole may have the best teenage arm in this draft. He throws a four seamer that peaks at 97-98 and a heavy two seamer that runs in the low-90s. Baseball America has ranked his fastball at the top of the high school class. There are two questions that have dogged Cole this spring: (1) his makeup and (2) his signability, as he is represented by the Scott Boras Corporation and has committed to UCLA. Slot money probably won't do the trick here. The tall righthander could slide like Rick Porcello last year, but it is unlikely that he will receive a signing bonus approaching Detroit's first pick in the 2007 draft.

Note, each site raves about this kid's "stuff" but why on earth did he fall to #28? SIGNABILITY. What's that, you ask? (OK, I know you know but I had say that) It means he's being represented by Boras and is demanding a signing bonus/pro contract worthy of someone being drafted in the top few picks. It's also another example how badly flawed the draft process is for MLB. Now, as a fan of a team who routinely drafts 1) at the bottom of the round and 2) has no problem paying over "slot", I'm uncomfortably happy. But, that doesn't diminish the fact that the draft needs a few changes.

There's a whole lot more to the draft that I don't know about, but here are a few simple ideas that I think MLB needs to at least consider:

1. Enable the trading of draft picks
2. Enforce slotting recommendations or eliminate them
3. Include foreign players (Central, South America; Caribbean)

Isn't the point of the draft to help the worst teams first, then the better teams? But if you sign with Boras, or leave indications that you want "over slot" value, you can force your way onto the better teams in the league. And I think I heard explained to me once that the reason MLB doesn't allow trading of draft picks is to protect teams from themselves (read: their owners) from mortgaging their future for a current run. [sidebar: Do yourself a favor and go read "Lords Of The Realm" by John Helyar. Worth a look at the history of ownership and their ineptitude.]

What's the penalty for going over slot? Nothing. And ask the Yanks if they cared about going over slot for Kennedy, Hughes and Joba. Ask the Tigers about going over slot to get Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, both of which were traded to the Marlins to get Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. That system works just fine for them, thank you very much. Either have a slot (aka "rookie cap") that needs to be adhered to and collectively bargained or don't. Just don't sorta have a slot that 2/3 of the teams adhere to and the others don't. You can have both: just have a penalty for exceeding the recommended slot by, say, 10%. Call it a tax if you like.

And the other thing worth at least mentioning, not that it means much, is that the scouting departments for the higher revenue teams appear to be more talented than the lower revenue teams. I mean, does it take a rocket scientist to draft Rick Porcello last year at the bottom of the first round when every draftnik recognized him as one of the top talents in the draft?

Again, I write this knowing I am (not so) delicately toeing the hypocrite line: I love that my team goes over slot for the best guys available. But, the system needs to fix some flaws. Just as I am OK with the Yanks spending whatever they like, so long as they pay the extra freight (tax), I think that teams that go over slot should also have to pay more to do so.

UPDATE #1: Smart reader themarksmith noted that international labor laws prohibit drafting of players, so that's the reason for the strikethough. See, I told ya I didn't know everything about the draft rules. As I learn more (if you have any insight/expertise here, please let me know), I'll post it!

UPDATE #2: The excellent Keith Law has his draft review on ESPN, and here is a piece of his "Best Pick" section. Sorta proves my thought that it doesn't "take a rocket scientist to draft" the best player available regardless of signability concerns. Of note:

Two other picks worthy of praise are the Yankees' and Red Sox's selections: Gerrit Cole and Casey Kelly, respectively. The praise should be tempered by the recognition that those teams' risk tolerances are higher, so they were more willing to meet those players' anticipated bonus demands than clubs earlier in the round were.

Moose impresses but not an All-Star

I'll be the first to admit it: After his dismal 2007 and his first few starts of 2008, I thought Moose was done. But, he's taken a page out of the Maddux Pitching Manual and has evolved into a different pitcher.

Let that be the lesson: It's not the speed, it's the location and the CHANGING of speed.

Without a fastball that can reach 90 mph any longer, Moose has gone the opposite direction, going slow, slower and even slower (that looping 63 mph eephus-like knuckle-curve or whatever it is).

Moose had a good night last night, lasting 6 IP, surrendering 5 hits while striking out 6 and walking just one. He looks confident, calm. Now, the YES Network guys, mostly Michael Kay, are claiming that Moose is an all-star this year, but with all due respect to his 9 wins, Moose is not an AL all-star pitcher. His ERA (4.01) ranks just 25th in the AL. Yes, his 9 wins has him tied for first but most sane minds can recognize that wins are not the single best barometer.

If I had to pick six-seven starters for the all-star game, my choices would be:

1. Cliff Lee (9-1, 2.45 ERA) *starter*
2. Dice-K (8-0, 2.53 ERA)
3. Roy Halladay (7-5, 2.94 ERA)
4. Joe Saunders (9-2, 2.63 ERA)
5. Ervin Santana (8-2, 3.02 ERA)
6. Shaun Marcum (5-3, 2.63 ERA)
7. Javy Vazquez (5-4, 3.43)

Data source: ESPN.com

Interesting that the logical big-name guys (Beckett, Sabathia, Verlander, Bedard) are not having great years. Beckett's doing well and I think he could easily be on this list (6-4, 4.07 ERA, 80 K in 73 IP) but his ERA ranks him one behind Moose. I also think King Felix, despite a poor 3-5 record, albeit with a nice 3.29 ERA, could be on the team if Ichiro is not voted a starter. I would have also pegged Wang an all-star but the last month has not been kind to him. Go figure.

Who would you put on this list and who would you take off?

Jeter passes The Mick

Not much to say here other than offering Jeter a hearty congrats as he just passed The Mick on the Yanks all-time hit list. Jeter's now #3 all-time, behind some other well known guys: Gehrig, Ruth. Pretty impressive company. Say what you will about Jeter (as some say: "overrated"), but this guy has done it every year, consistently and with class and respect.

Rank Player H PA
1. Lou Gehrig 2721 9660
2. Babe Ruth 2518 9197
3. Derek Jeter 2416 8655
4. Mickey Mantle 2415 9909

Nice work, Cap'n Jetes.

Gammons on Kei: Blame Guidry

Interesting Q&A with Peter Gammons from his segment on the Mike Felger Show on 890 ESPN. Below is part of that transcript and this was particularly interesting on two fronts (emphasis mine):

Don’t know if you’ve heard my spiel, but I wonder if you just have to make a few exceptions for Dice-K and really let throw more pitches than you’re used to allowing and let him go to 120?

PG: They’ve done that and I think it’s a good idea. That’s one thing that the Red Sox have really done. Ron Guidry was the Yankees pitching coach and he took Kei Igawa and changed his delivery and he’s never been the same. The interesting thing was that if the Yankees put Igawa on waivers the Sox, from my understanding, were going to put a claim in on him. He needs to go back to doing what he does when he was a very successful pitcher in Japan.

Let's review, shall we?

1. Guidry screwed up Kei
2. RedSox were ready to claim him if waived

What can we make of this? Just as a pitching coach is often credited with saving or returning a pitcher to a certain level, can we hang Guidry for messing up Kei? Can't Kei simply go back to doing what worked for him in Japan, now that Guidry is gone? I need to go hunting for the pitch mechanics who can look at the before/after deliveries of Kei and weigh in. (If you have seen something like this, please send it to me!)

As for the Sox claiming Kei, well, I just don't know. I can see them trying to "fix" him, hoping he'd be more comfortable with Dice, Okajima, etc. Maybe they were hoping to deal him for other spare parts. Maybe they were just eager to stick it to the Yanks.

Who knows? I just found it all pretty interesting.

More Farnsworth

Seems that I'm not alone in my affection (ahem) for Farnsworthless. Good blogging buddies Shyster and Pride of the Yankees seemed to enjoy my disdain. [Update: even the Providence Journal was in on my spiel!]

So naturally, when I saw this in the NY Times today, I had to run with it:

GIRARDI BACKS FARNSWORTH

In his last seven games — six coming since Joba Chamberlain began his transition to the rotation — Kyle Farnsworth has an 8.59 E.R.A. Opponents are hitting .414 and slugging .897, with four home runs.

But while saying he would “mix and match” in the eighth inning, Joe Girardi continues to maintain that everything is fine with Farnsworth.

“It seems to me that Kyle’s history gets brought up during the course of this year, where I feel he’s had a ton of good outings,” Girardi said. “He gave up a run yesterday in a tough situation, but that’s not going to keep me from using him in a tough situation, because for this team to be successful, Kyle has to pitch in those types of situations and be successful.”

Taken as a whole, Farnsworth’s numbers are not much different from his track record in New York. He had a 4.36 E.R.A. in 2006, a 4.80 mark last year and a 4.44 figure this season.

Forgive me for channeling the Kevin Bacon "Chip Diller" character from "Animal House", but I can see Girardi's face on Bacon's body, at the end of the movie, shouting: "Remain calm! All is well!" as chaos is breaking out.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not remaining calm about this.

REMINDER: As a result of this well-dispersed dislike for Farnsworthless, I created the following group on Yahoo! Groups: I Hate Kyle Farnsworth. Please come and join.

Walk this way

With apologies to Aerosmith (or the always fun Aerosmith/Run-DMC version), Joba's debut was not a good one last night. Some quick thoughts:

• I was surprised by the lack of control. Just nerves? Strange, though, as he's been super in high-pressure spots before.
• Could the build-up have gotten to him?
• I'm more concerned about the gaping hole in the bullpen than his eventual transition to starter.
• The bullpen caved last night, again.
• Could Michael Kay be any more breathless as the first pitch was delivered? Where were Suzyn Waldman's tears?
• Has Hank issued any ultimatums yet?
• I still believe in Joba
• Now that the first one is behind us, we can all dial it down a bit. Right? RIGHT?!?

Congrats to Unit

Now, I was no fan of his before he joined the Yanks, during his thankfully brief tenure with the Yanks, and now that he's back in Arizona... but a big old hat tip is due to the Big Unit as he passes Roger Clemens on the all time strikeout list. He's now #2 behind Nolan Ryan. Quite the impressive feat.

Almost as impressive as his re-grown mullet, thumbing his nose at anyone who thinks mullets are strictly an 80's phenomenon. Guess what? The mullet lives, baby.

Sometimes, it IS about the money

I love a good list, and this is about as good as they come (courtesy of SI.com)

Ranking the 50 highest-earning athletes in the U.S.

1. Tiger Woods: $127.9m last year, including $105m in endorsements. "With close to $800 million in total earnings on and off the course over his 13-year career, Tiger should become the first billion-dollar athlete in the next two years -- and he's still only 32." And that gets you Elin, which is a good thing.
   
2. Phil Mickelson: $62.4m.
   
3. LeBron James: $40.5m. (who needs college, right?)
   
4. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: $40.3m.
   
5. Kobe Bryant: $35.5m. With $16m in endorsements, like sponsors kinda sorta forgot about that whole "issue" that took place in Colorado a few years back. Just sayin'...
   
6. Shaq: $35.0m. Funny how Shaq and Kobe are still inseparable.
   
7. A-Rod: $35.0m. "Assuming A-Rod plays out his new mammoth 10-year, $275 million deal, he'll have earned $445 million in base salary alone over the course of what would be a 24-year career."
   
8. Kevin Garnett: $31.0m.
   
9. Peyton Manning: $30.5m. And no Gisele.
   
10. Derek Jeter: $30.0m. Cap'n Jetes, still on the list. And you needed another reason to hate him, or just want to be him?

Behold: The Awesomeness of Joba

With all the hubbub surrounding Joba's first start tonite (not to mention all the second-guessing), Larry Dubrow at CBSSports.com had this to say:

Just how anticipated is Joba's starting-rotation bow? The broadcast networks waved the white flag, serving up a mix of House reruns ("House makes an improbable diagnosis and acts all ornery and whatnot") and election coverage. The NHL bumped the potential Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs back to Wednesday so as not to intrude upon the low-brimmed righty's spotlight dance. The NBA delayed the start of the 2008 Finals by two days, just in case the country needs Wednesday to digest the beacon of magnificent awesomeness that is Joba.

So outside of the expected -- a no-hitter, a quasi-religious experience, the dawning of a new age in contemporary sports and, indeed, Western civilization -- what can we expect from Joba's first A-team night on the big stage? It'll probably go something like ...

I recommend a read of the entire article if you enjoy some tongue-in-cheek humor and can laugh at Yanks fans (or yourself, as the case may be).

Well, just for a taste, here is his view of Joba's last pitch of the night:

8:28 p.m.: Joba throws his 71st and final pitch of the evening. It is a wonderful pitch, an otherworldly pitch, a cruel pitch, a slider. This slider is to all sliders that preceded it what Alec Baldwin is to Java Man, what brie is to Kraft American singles. It goes for a called third strike and Lyle Overbay retreats dugout-ward, demoralized. On his way off the field, Joba tips his cap ever-respectfully to the fans, who respond by lapsing into euphoria-induced seizures.

Awesome! Well played, sir.

Have I mentioned: I hate Kyle Farnsworth

Maybe I've said it before. A time or two, right? Just in case you forgot: I hate Kyle Farnsworth. Bigtime. He's doing his best to botch the key role he was brought in to do a few years ago, but has yet to do: hold down the 8th inning role. Now, with Joba moving to the rotation, the Yanks need Farnsworthless to step up and all he continues to do is step back.

Here is the chart of the game, courtesy of the great fangraphs.com site, with the text layover by me:

UPDATE: Every now and then, I take a peek around the Statcounter "keyword analysis" to see how some of you guys find me, if not from a link elsewhere. Right now, the number one search criteria (over the last 2 weeks or so) that brought you guys here is "I hate Kyle Farnsworth". Congrats, guys. There's lotsa room in the pool, c'mon in! Oh yeah, there was one who searched "kyle farnsworth sucks", too. Feel free to identify yourselves!


As a result of this well-dispersed dislike for Farnsworthless, I created the following group on Yahoo! Groups: I Hate Kyle Farnsworth. Please come and join.

Group name: ihatekylefarnsworth
Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ihatekylefarnsworth

The difference a few years makes

This day in baseball history:

1999 - In the first-year player's draft, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected North Carolina State University prep star Josh Hamilton as their top pick. It was the first time since 1993, when Alex Rodriguez was selected, that a high school player has been chosen first.

What Josh Hamilton has gone thru is nothing short of staggering. From "best prospect ever" to coke addiction to leading the AL in nearly everything. Ponder this from Albert Chen's cover story on Hamilton from this past week's issue of SI.com:

When did he hit rock bottom? Hamilton thinks about this for a moment. So many low points to choose from. No, it wasn't the time the check he made out to a crack dealer bounced and he had to ask his father-in-law to go and give the dealer $2,000 cash. No, it wasn't the time after a party when he ripped the rearview mirror off a friend's truck, punched out the windshield and was thrown in jail. No, rock bottom, he says, was the night in the late summer of 2005 when he awoke from a crack binge in a trailer with a half-dozen strangers around him; with nowhere else to go, he appeared like a ghost at his grandmother's door -- his sunken face as white as snow, his 6' 4" frame shrunk from 230 pounds to 180. "He'd be at the lowest of lows," says [father-in-law] Chadwick, "and he'd sink lower."

So where is Hamilton now? Let these numbers roll around your brain for a few moments (AL ONLY):

• RBI: 63 (next highest in the AL: 48)
• AVG: .328 (3rd place, behind .330, .329)
• HR: 15 (leads AL)
• Runs: 40 (4th place; 47 leads)
• Total Bases: 144 (2nd place has a mere 111!)

So not only is he well in the hunt for the Triple Crown, but he's blowing away the field in total bases and is close to Hack Wilson's RBI pace.

Not too bad for a recovering addict who was out of organized baseball for two full years. Let the following be posted in every lockerroom, in every school, stadium, fieldhouse:

"When I first got into drinking and using drugs," he says, "it was because of where I was hanging out, it was who I was hanging out with. You might not do it at first, but eventually, if you keep hanging around long enough, you're going to start doing what they're doing."

UPDATE: Just found this here (thanks to John Heyman's excellent "Daily Scoop"; check the "Around the Majors" section) and I am not sure what to make of it. At first, I was taken aback and insulted that he'd switch his agent, one who presumably stuck with him and helped him to get this far, right as he's about to hit the lottery for himself (and his agent!). The other side of me understands, no matter how much I dislike the rationale. (emphasis mine, as usual)

Josh Hamilton's negotiations for a long-term deal may be held up a little by his decision to switch agents during negotiations that appeared to be progressing. Hamilton, a born-again Christian after returning from bouts with his drug addiction, explained to friends that he wanted to be with a Christian stable, so he switched agents from Matt Sosnick to Michael Moye as he seemed to be closing in on a long contract.

Now, I already read Jerry Crasnick's "License To Deal" (no, I do not make a penny for linking to Amazon, but it was a great read!), which was all about Matt Sosnick's attempts to develop a practice at the feet of the bigger, more ruthless agents like Scott Boras. So yes, I not only identified with Sosnick's "rooting for the little guy" approach but also due to his religion. To see him slighted because of his religion troubles me, particularly how I can imagine Sosnick working his tail off for Hamilton during the last few troubling years. Just ask Dontrelle Willis how hard Sosnick has worked for him throughout his career...

Your thoughts? Is it a shady/unfair move to dump your longtime agent as you're about to sign a big, long-term contract solely due to his religion? (I hope Sosnick got a partial share of the commission!)

Am I a hypocrite?


UPDATE 6/19/08: I spoke with Matt Sosnick today and he clarified an error that I passed along. Hamilton has only been his client since he joined the Reds, not before when he was a member of the (then Devil) Rays. This was part of a larger interview which will be published shortly. It does not change the tenor of my argument that it was a bogus excuse for dumping your client who had been working well for you. My apologies for passing along the error.


UPDATE 6/22/08: I just posted my full interview with Matt Sosnick. Click here to read.

Friday programming note

I'm taking the day off to play Mr. Mom as my boys have end-of-year activities today.

Have a great weekend!

Invading Big Mac Land

During batting practice, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols drilled a home run that knocked the lights out of the "Big Mac Land" sign on left field's second deck. Pujols blasted the "A" in "MAC," though it wasn't apparent until the game had started and the lights for the letter were dark.

While it was done during pre-game batting practice, the effect is still awesome:

The Voice of God

By now, everyone reading this blog should know how I feel about Bob Sheppard, his voice, his presence and how much I hope he's able to open TNYS next season. There's an encouraging interview with Sheppard here and it's worth a read, even if it devolves into a religious discussion on the 2nd page. (I'll skip the religious discussion since you're not coming here for that and frankly, I'm the wrong person to discuss that sorta stuff with anyways.)

Here are a few snippets (emphasis mine):

Bob Sheppard (BS): So my target date to be back is July 1. There is an All Star Game to be played at Yankee Stadium on July 15th and one of my goals is to be there and announce it. I did one years and years ago at Yankee Stadium but I can’t recall it. So now this would be something to remember. I do want to be there next year when we open a new Stadium. And I’d like to be the one who says, “Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen…Welcome to the NEW…Yankee Stadium.”
......
BH: Derek Jeter has requested a recording of your voice be played every time he gets up to bat. With technology the way it is now, would you like the Yankees to create a digital version of your voice to always be played at Yankee Stadium?

BS: No! No! No! (laughs) I didn’t even know that Yankee Stadium would preserve what I had been saying after introducing Jeter for years now. But they started using it because Jeter asked him to do it. And I didn’t even know that he (Jeter) had done the requesting (laughs)! He said, “Mr. Sheppard introduced me the first time I came to bat years ago and I want to keep going that way as long as I’m a Yankee, I want to hear him introduce me.”

As I mentioned before: Get well soon, Mr. Sheppard.