Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - This Day In Baseball: 4 July 2005

This Day In Baseball: 4 July 2005

Now the rooms are all empty down at Frankie's joint
And the highway she's deserted down to Breaker's Point
There's a lot of people leaving town now
Leaving their friends, their homes
At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone

Lee Mazzilli takes charge. Sammy Sosa (hitting .227, slugging .395, and 1 for his last 33) sat out yesterday for the second day in a row.

You knew it was too good to last. Nick Johnson, having been out since bruising a heel while scoring a run against the Blue Jays (divine punishment, meted out), goes on the DL retroactive to June 27.

Barry Zito halted the Buehrle Express yesterday, giving the White Sox ace his first loss since April 10. Buehrle allowed 14 hits in 6.1 IP and made a crucial throwing error in Oakland's 4 run sixth inning. The A's took 2 of 3 from the White Sox, who have lost 20 of their last 24 games in Oakland. Ozzie called it "the House of Terrors."

Dontrelle Willis pitched a 3 hit shutout for his 13th win, and almost certainly spared Blue Jays fans the awful specter of Chris Carpenter starting the All-Star Game. As if Voldemort wasn't bad enough....

I know, it's almost impossible to cheer for him. But Roger Clemens is one of the greatest baseball players any of us is ever likely to see. He pitched another 7 shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 1.41 and improving his record to 7-3. He made sure he had enough runs by banging out a double and an RBI single- he's now batting .281, which is 88 points higher than what NL hitters are batting against him.

One can only wonder what might have been. After all, Clemens took up swinging a bat pretty late in life. From ages 21 to 32, Clemens had 0 (ZERO) major league at bats. From ages 33 through 40, he had just 20 at bats (and went 4-20, .250). Last year, at the age of 41, he finally got to swing the bat on a fairly regular basis for the first time since high school, and hit .167 in 72 at bats. But it looks like he's getting the hang of it now....

We have a ML debut on today's schedule (Justin Verlander of the Tigers), and Tanyon Sturtze making a spot start in place of Carl Pavano, who has a sore shoulder. Tomorrow the Yankees will call on the 41 year old guy to start on short rest. So here's the holiday schedule:

AL
Baltimore (Chen 6-5, 3.54) at New York (Sturtze 2-1, 3.43) 1:05
Detroit (Johnson 5-6, 3.39) at Cleveland (Elarton 4-3, 4.99) 1:05
Tampa Bay (Nomo 5-6, 6.29) at Chicago (McCarthy 0-1, 7.17) 7:05
Detroit (Verlander 0-0, 0.00) at Cleveland (Elarton 4-3, 4.99) 7:05
Boston (Miller 2-2, 5.14) at Texas (Rodriguez 2-1, 3.65) 8:05
Seattle (Franklin 3-10, 4.85) at Kansas City (Howell 1-2, 6.98) 8:10
Minnesota (Silva 6-3, 3.55) at Los Angeles (Lackey 6-2, 3.84) 9:05

NL
New York (Ishii (2-7, 5.68) at Washington (Patterson 3-2, 3.17) 1:05
San Diego (Lawrence 5-6, 4.28) at Houston (Oswalt 10-7, 2.54) 2:05
Cincinnati (Ramirez 0-3, 6.75) at San Francisco (Rueter 2-7, 5.03) 4:05
Philadelphia (Lidle 7-6, 4.10) at Pittsburgh (Williams 6-5, 3.68) 4:05
Milwaukee (Sheets 3-6, 3.63) at Florida (Olsen 1-0, 3.86) 6:05
St.Louis (Morris 9-1, 3.31) at Arizona (Webb 8-4, 3.24) 6:10
Chicago (Wood 1-1, 5.29) at Atlanta (Davies 3-2, 4.63) 7:05
Los Angeles (Weaver 7-7, 4.51) at Colorado (Kim 2-7, 6.04) 8:05

Posted by Magpie on Monday, July 04 2005 @ 12:01 PM EDT.

This Day In Baseball: 4 July 2005 | 34 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mick Doherty - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 12:19 PM EDT (#121449) #

Any time I see the phrases "This Day in Baseball" and "July 4" paired, I can think of only one man's feat: Dave Righetti's no-no.

Jordan - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 12:35 PM EDT (#121453) #

I watched Righetti's no-hitter from start to finish, the first one I ever saw. He struck out something like 7 of the first 10 batters he faced, throwing some simply hellacious stuff. He was helped by a tremendous defensive play late in the game, a leaping catch into the stands by Steve Kemp, of all people. He struck out Wade Boggs swinging to end the game, and in 1983, that was a very difficult thing to do. The Red Sox were loaded on offence that year -- Boggs, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Tony Armas, and solid years from guys like Jerry Remy, but Righetti just dominated. A wonderful experience.

The Yankee lineup that day featured a future pitching coach (Righetti), batting coach (Mattingly) and two managers (Piniella and Baylor).

Pepper Moffatt - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#121458) #

Dwight Evans was also a batting coach for awhile.

Pepper Moffatt - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 01:21 PM EDT (#121460) #

Of course, Dwight Evans wasn't in the Yankee lineup. :)

Jim - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 01:55 PM EDT (#121463) #

Wasn't 84 the 19 inning game until 4am for Philadelphia and the Mets? When Camp hit the homerun to keep the game alive, and they still did fireworks after?

Mike Green - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 02:22 PM EDT (#121469) #

It's funny. I put on "Darkness on the Edge of Town" the other day, and thought to myself that there was an album that has aged well. The album has been the source of many memories, including driving to the Rockies with my 8 and 6 year old kids in the back seat, singing along to "Badlands".

Speaking of desperation, the Yankees are scraping the barrel clean in starting Sturtze. With all that money, is this the best that they can do?

The Tigers are insisting that this is a spot start for Verlander, and that he will be sent down after the game. I wonder if they will be able to resist temptation if he pitches a 2 hitter while striking out 13.

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 02:39 PM EDT (#121471) #

Wow. I just watched the first two innings of the Yankees-Orioles game, and Bruce Chen had nothing. Yeah, you could probably tell by looking at the box score, but...man! I seriously think some Bauxites could have thrown better than he did this afternoon.

One of the YES guys (Kay or Singleton) joked that Chen's fastball wouldn't get a ticket for speeding in some parts of the country.

Jordan - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 02:50 PM EDT (#121474) #

And here come the O's -- 4 runs of their own to close it to 6-4. At a time when the likes of Esteban Loiaza and Doug Davis are pitching quite decently, it's nice to see a matchup (Chen-Sturtze) of ex-Jays hurlers that makes you feel good about their release.

Ducey - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 04:18 PM EDT (#121484) #

Thats some staff the Yanks are running out there today:
Sturtz
Proctor
Franklin
Anderson...

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 04:58 PM EDT (#121490) #

Giambi just hit a HR...8-7 Baltimore. Both these teams need severe help with their starting pitching. The Yanks also need a bullpen too, aside from Rivera and Flash.
Baltimore starters last 2 games:
Ponson- 1.1 IP, 6H, 6ER, 2W, 1K, 1HR
Chen- 1.1 IP, 6H, 6ER, 2W, 2K, 3HR

Magpie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:01 PM EDT (#121492) #

Baltimore starters last 2 games...

Yikes. I sense an imminent Orioles slump. At least until the Break...

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:11 PM EDT (#121493) #

And BJ Ryan with his worst outing this season by far. He walked Arod with bases juiced. A couple singles and an error by Tejada and it's 11-8 Yankees. Giambi led off the 8th with a HR and is now batting again with bases loaded in the 8th. Now HBP and it's 12-8, still 1 out and Ryan can't find the plate.

Mick Doherty - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:19 PM EDT (#121495) #

The Yanks also need a bullpen too, aside from Rivera and Flash.

And the '61 Yankees needed more power, aside from Mantle and Maris. C'mon ... the best closer in the history of the game and one of the top five setup men right now, and the Yankees need bullpen help? If they were getting the starting pitching they expected, nobody would be saying anything about the bullpen. They do need to fix the rotation, sure. But the bullpen is somewhere down around 975th on the list of things to "fix" in the Bronx.

Mike Green - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:31 PM EDT (#121497) #

Things I did not expect to see in July. Chris Woodward as the starting first baseman for the Mets and hitting .320. Youneverknow.

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#121499) #

Mick,
Is 2 reliable arms enough for a stretch run and postseason play? Maybe it is, I admit I know about 9999999X more about hockey than baseball. Seems like an awfully thin bullpen to me though. Although I would agree that the rotation is a far bigger problem. As is the outfield and first base. There was no need for such drastic sarcasm though.

Magpie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:46 PM EDT (#121501) #

the best closer in the history of the game and one of the top five setup men right now, and the Yankees need bullpen help?

True, but they probably do anyway, because the rotation has been such a disappointment. It's demanded a whole lot more from the bullpen than was actually there.

They need to either fix the rotation or pick up some bullpen depth so that Rivera's arm doesn't fall off by Labour Day. I'm thinking it's probably easier to find some competent bullpen arms than the kind of starter the Yankees would want.

Paul S - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 05:51 PM EDT (#121503) #

Too bad Independence Day is on The River. :-) I made that mistake too, once. Darkness is still great, and perhaps his best overall album.

BJ Ryan was painful to watch. I think his main mistake was throwing nothing but fastballs to A-Rod. After he nearly swung at that awful 1-2 pitch at head level, I would've thrown a slider in the dirt. Ryan instead nibbled with fastballs. It was all downhill from there.

I'm off to have dinner with the family, as it is my sister's birthday. She was outaged to learn that she shares a birthday with George. And now I found out it's Angelos' birthday too! Yikes.

Red Sox/Rangers is on Sportsnet at 8 EST. I love when they give us multiple out of market games in the same day.

Mick Doherty - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 06:57 PM EDT (#121512) #

That's sort of the point ... if the rotation gets fixed, there's no need to fix the bullpen because three or four average guys and two dominant back of the pen guys will get it done enough if the starters are going 7. You don't need to fix both, and as Mags says, it might -- MIGHT -- be easier to rebuild the bullpen.

Wave, it wasn't sarcasm, it was an analogy expressing my honest astonishment at the statement. I think the Mantle/Maris and Rivera/Gordon comparison is pretty valid.

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 07:22 PM EDT (#121514) #

Well then I must say I disagree. 2 of the best power hitters of all time in one outfield(when there are a grand total of 3 outfield positions on one team) is just flat-out unfair. 1 HOF closer and a good, aging overworked Gordon in a bullpen does not make a GREAT pen or even an above average one. The statement was pure showmanship. The 61 Yankees outfield might be one of the top 2 or 3 of all time. If you think the 05 Yankee pen is equally as good, I question your rationality.

You'll also notice my statement didn't say it was their BIGGEST need, just that it could use improvement. And yes, improving the rotation would lessen the workload on the pen(A rather obvious point)-but that isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. The Yankees bullpen imploded last season because Rivera, Gordon and Q were overworked massively. Now it's just Rivera and Gordon.

I know I'm not a baseball expert but I don't think my statement was that far-fetched.

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 07:37 PM EDT (#121517) #

Justin Verlander through one inning:

4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA of 27.00, WHIP of 6.00.

It can only get better.

Mick Doherty - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#121521) #

Okay, I get it. You don't appreciate hyperbole. Lots of people don't.

Mike Green - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:18 PM EDT (#121530) #

Thanks, Paul S. Ugh, the memory fades and the soul gets weak. "The River" was good, but not quite the same. Of course, it is after all Independence Day in the States, and I should have known that Magpie would have the appropriate lyrical reference. Better that than Born in the USA anyway.

I don't know if Gordon is the equivalent of Roger Maris, but I wonder how many pitchers have 100 wins, 100 losses and 100 saves. Smoltz and Eckersley probably. I would guess that not too many others do.

Mick Doherty - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#121531) #

Fascinating question, Mike, and I don't know how to look it up. My first three guesses were Roy Face, Gene Garber and the recently-released Johnny Franco, but Face (104-95) fell five losses short, Garber (96-113) fell four wins short while Franco (90-86) did't have quite as many decisions as I thought.

You're dead on about Smoltz and Eck and here are a few others through 2004:

Dennis Eckersley (197-171, 390)
Rollie Fingers (114-118, 341)
Rich Gossage (124-107, 310)
Hoyt Wilhlem (143-122, 227)
Lindy McDaniel (141-119, 172)
John Smoltz (163-121, 154)

There are a number of others who had 100 wins and 100 saves but nowhere near 100 losses. 'm sure I'm missing someone or more.

Brian W - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:36 PM EDT (#121536) #

Beyond the guys already listed there are:

Stu Miller (105-103, 154)
Ron Kline (114-144, 108)
Ron Reed (146-140, 103)

That is all for the 101 guys with 102 or more saves through 2004 (the Baseball Reference website only lists the top 100 guys in each category). I must confess I had never heard of any of these three.

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:37 PM EDT (#121538) #

No worries, Mick. Sorry if I got too defensive :) I'm a little nervous being new at this site. Great site.

Sox-Rangers is 3-3 in the 8th. Great game.

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:40 PM EDT (#121539) #

And 30 seconds later with Ortiz on first Manny hits a HR. 5-3 Sox.

edtjeerd - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 11:25 PM EDT (#121541) #

Keith Foulke continues to struggle tonight. The Red sox lose this in the bottom of the ninth.

Pop out, Triple, run-scoring double, walk, HBP, run-scoring single.

Any ideas with what is wrong with him this year so far?

Waveburner - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 11:29 PM EDT (#121542) #

Foulke blows another one. Texas wins 6-5 in the 9th.
His inning went: Pop-out, Triple, Double, Walk, HBP, Single.

Who is out there for the Red Sox as far as closers? Eventually if he doesn't turn it around a playoff team will need someone reliable.

Craig B - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 11:48 PM EDT (#121544) #

John Franco just got DFAed by the Astros, but the Red Sox probably aren't that desperate.

Some names the Red Sox might consider and might be able to land are Greg Aquino, Troy Percival, Dan Miceli, Mike MacDougal, Ricky Bottalico, Danny Graves, Braden Looper, Roberto Hernandez, Jose Mesa, Eddie Guardado, Matt Herges, and Danys Baez. There's some good pitchers in that group.

There's also Jeremy Affeldt and Derrick Turnbow out there but their teams are not likely to be willing to move them.

Antonio Alfonseca won't be traded since he's on the DL, and won't return until after the trade deadline, but he's a potential waiver deal for them if he can get healthy before September 1.

SimonB - Tuesday, July 05 2005 @ 01:39 AM EDT (#121547) #

*Any ideas with what is wrong with him this year so far?*

They say it's because there's no difference between his fastball and changeup...They're only about 5 mph apart in velocity.

Joseph Krengel - Tuesday, July 05 2005 @ 02:27 AM EDT (#121549) #

All this talk about the Yankees getting another starter poses one interesting question: who do they send down? They're already paying a good $20 million to players not playing in the majors, and CM Wang has been their most reliable starter in the last six weeks. Somehow I don't see Randy Johnson or Carl Pavano taking too well to a minor league stint.

The bullpen is the only place they have room to insert pitching talent.

King Ryan - Tuesday, July 05 2005 @ 03:08 AM EDT (#121550) #

On the W/L/SV discussion, I found an excellent site the other day that helps with this kind of research. Click here for batters and here for pitchers.

Using this little database, it's easy to answer the question. You guys already named them all, though.

The_Game - Tuesday, July 05 2005 @ 03:21 AM EDT (#121551) #

I think Brian Fuentes might be a good fit in Boston's bullpen. I've heard Colorado has been shopping him around, so this could be a guy they take a run at.

Jefftown - Tuesday, July 05 2005 @ 04:14 AM EDT (#121552) #

Speaking of stats (mediocre segue at best, I admit), I enquired on the SABR list serve as to whether Reed set a record on Friday night for most RBIs by a player who didn't start a game.

I got a reply saying at least one other player did it...Detroit's Dave Birrer on July 19, 1955, who entered the game as a relief pitcher, no less, and proceeded to hit two three-run homers (which ended up accounting for the only 6 RBIs of his career).

So, thanks to Mr. Birrer's Robert Person-like performance (although I think Person hit a grand slam and a 3-run shot that game for the Phils, and was a starter), Reed has, at most, only tied a record.

This Day In Baseball: 4 July 2005 | 34 comments | Create New Account

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