Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - This Day In Baseball: 8 July 2005

This Day In Baseball: 8 July 2005

This old porch is like a steaming greasy
plate of enchiladas
with lots of cheese and onions
and a guacamole salad

The Cubs, losers of 8 straight, have identified the Cause of all their Woes. They dispatched Corey Patterson and Jason Dubois to AAA Iowa after yesterday's double-header. Patterson has hit .168 since the first of June.

By the way, Neifi Perez, who is 17 for his last 113 (.150), went hitless in 8 at bats in yesterday's double-header. He batted second in the first game, and led off in the second game.

The Yankees put Carl Pavano on the DL yesterday, and last night Tom Gordon felt some tightness in his shoulder. He'll have an MRI today.

Jeff Kent missed his second game with a strained hamstring. The left side of the infield - Valentin and Izturis - are already on the DL. Along with RF Drew, CF Bradley, and pitchers Gagne and Alvarez.

Keith Foulke had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and may be out six weeks. Curt Schilling made his debut as Pawtucket's closer, and gave 2 runs in his inning of work. However, he was hitting 92 on the gun and throwing strikes.

Our old friend Carlos Delgado got his second day off of the season yesterday. In the fifth inning, however, the Marlins loaded the bases and Jack McKeon thought this would be a fine opportunity to use Delgado as a pinch-hitter. Carlos delivered his 10th career grand slam. Delgado also appeared as a bases loaded pinch-hitter during his other off day this season - but the first time he got an RBI the hard way, getting hit by a pitch.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Delgado was in the NL's top three in both slugging and on-base. A 5-43 funk has dropped him out of the Top 10. However, he's shooting up another leaderboard - he's now 5th in the league with 64 RBI.

Toronto and Texas are both three games back of current Wild Card leader, Minnesota. Three other AL teams are in between. Meanwhile, in the NL, the Wild Card leader Braves have a 3.5 game cushion on the next team, the Marlins.

Here's today's schedule:

AL
Cleveland (Lee 9-3, 3.68) at New York (Wang 5-3, 3.87) 7:05
Dtroit (Robertson 3-7, 3.35) at Tampa Bay (Kazmir 3-6, 4.27) 7:15
Boston (Arroyo 6-5, 4.15) at Baltimore (Ponson 7-6, 5.80) 7:35
Oakland (Saarloos 4-5, 3.94) at Chicago (Garland 13-3, 3.29) 8:35
Toronto (Halladay 12-4, 2.33) at Texas (Wasdin 0-0, 1.40) 8:05
Minnesota (Radke 5-8, 4.07) at Kansas City (Greinke 1-10, 6.09) 8:10
Seattle (Moyer 7-3, 4.58) at Los Angeles (Washburn 5-3, 3.06) 10:05

NL
Washington (Drese 6-7, 5.27) at Philadelphia (Tejeda 1-1, 1.96) 7:05
New York (Zambrano 4-7, 3.80) at Pittsburgh (Fogg 4-4, 4.42) 7:05
Milwaukee (Davis 9-7, 4.33) at Atlanta (Sosa 4-1, 3.02) 7:35
Chicago (Zambrano 5-4, 3.85) at Florida (Willis 13-3, 1.89) 7:35
Los Angeles (Houlton 4-2, 6.33) at Houston (Clemens 7-3, 1.41) 8:05
San Diego (Stauffer 2-4, 4.78) at Colorado (Wright 5-8, 5.14) 9:05
Cincinnati (Ortiz 4-6, 6.59) at Arizona (Halsey 5-7, 4.41) 9:40
St.Louis (Mulder 9-5, 4.63) at San Francisco (Schmidt 6-4, 5.11) 10:15

Posted by Magpie on Friday, July 08 2005 @ 12:10 PM EDT.

This Day In Baseball: 8 July 2005 | 43 comments | Create New Account

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

Rob - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#121872) #

Any Ottawa Bauxites planning on booing David Newhan over this?

That place is a mess and really doesn't deserve to be a Triple-A city at all. It's just a terrible place to be at. Terrible stadium, bad weather, bad fans, bad atmosphere, going through customs.

Sure, most (all) of that is true, but come on! Protect the capital!

Thomas - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 01:03 PM EDT (#121877) #

Gammons reports the recently DFA'd Jay Payton will be traded to Oakland for Chad Bradford. If this turns out to be true, I can't really understand why Beane would do it. Payton was DFA'd for getting into a confrontation with Francona concerning playing time and I don't see how he'd get much more in Oakland (save for the trade of Kotsay) with Kotsay, Kielty, Swisher and Byrnes all there, as well as Charles Thomas in Triple-A. Furthermore, Payton isn't that good and Bradford has some value. He's worrisome againt lefties, but very effective against righties and the A's hold his rights for another year. I can't see it happening and I don't understand why Beane would do it.

Jordan - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 01:04 PM EDT (#121878) #

The stadium seems okay to me, but I'm not on the inside -- I don't know what the dugouts, clubhouses, facilities etc. are like. And it's a pretty safe bet that zero money went into maintenance and renovation during the Expo years. He may well be right.

The weather is reliably brutal pretty much through the end of May. I sure wouldn't want to be standing around in the outfield on your average mid-April night when the wind is up. It's been sunny and hot now for almost six straight weeks, though, so he'd have little cause to complain.

I don't know if it's that the fans are bad so much as that they're few and far between. Your average school play probably draws bigger crowds than the Lynx do, and it's demoralizing to continually play in front of acres of empty seats. That said, the fans who do come seem to know and appreciate their baseball.

The atmosphere generally isn't all that great. The ballpark is basically a place where you come to spend the afternoon or evening and applaud when the home team does something good. There's very little passion for baseball here -- in fact, there's very little passion for anything beyond politics, except maybe hockey. And even the Senators get huge attendance bumps from corporate and government tickets; while "Go Sens Go" is the springtime anthem, there's a lot of disappointment hereabouts over their longstanding inability get past the second round (if not the first). Only the OHL's '67s are a beloved team around here; the Lynx, when they inevitably leave, will hardly cause a ripple.

Going through Customs, though? What's so bad about that? Unless you've got several iguana pelts stuffed into your carry-on, no one's going to look at you twice. Ten extra minutes at the airport isn't going to generate much sympathy from me.

Petey Baseball - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#121880) #

Thomas: Gammons loves the Sox, so of course he would love to see the Red Sox trade away nothing to get a solid reliever since the Red Sox need one so bad. Jamie mentioned on the broadcast last night something that really bugs me as well. The fact that the New York's and Boston's of the world for some reason believe that they could make any trade possible and there is nobody they can't get. Gammons, think you idiot...would a smart GM like Billy Beane make a dumbass trade like that? Yankees want Mark Kotsay? Hmmm how about we trade Bubba Crosby for him? Idiots.....

Marc Hulet - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 01:47 PM EDT (#121885) #

I think the Payton deal to Oakland definitely sets up another trade for the A's.

As for Newhan, I can't understand how he took the demotion to the minors so hard after batting under .200 for the season. Not to mention that he is a career minor leaguer, save for last season when he played above his skill level (but even then it was below average production for an outfielder). And he wants a trade... Who is going to want a 31-year-old outfielder/utility player who is slugging .320 with a .254 OBA?

Magpie - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#121888) #

"In Boston and New York, there's the attitude that because their teams want and need someone, that the Pirates, Tigers, Brewers, Athletics and Blue Jays should give them up. Think again."
Peter Gammons, June 26 2005

Petey Baseball - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:04 PM EDT (#121889) #

But Magpie, do you think there's any truth to this rumor? Or is it a case of a columnist who's favourite team needs a reliever and is speculating on who the Red Sox would really love to have? My pick is the latter of the two. Anybody else think Gammons favours Boston?

Me also thinks that the next three weeks could be the "climax" J.P. Riccardi's tenure. The moves made (or lack there of) in the summer of '05 I think will not be easily forgotten, given where the Jays are from an organizational standpoint.

VBF - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:20 PM EDT (#121892) #

Uh, no. I doubt that this is the climax of J.P.'s tenure. I do think that this offseason will be though.

J.P. did a great job bringing payroll down while still remaining competitive. He did a very good job establishing a contributing farm system and has built a solid core of young talent.

This 'gearing up' stage is the last stage of becoming a serious contender. We have the money, we have the foundation built. Even if he were to 'fail' at this last stage, what he has done is built something here that will last for a long period of time. At least in my opinion.

VBF - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#121894) #

That said, if there isn't anything available at the deadline (and there are alot of teams in the race right now, so the 'sellers' and 'buyers' are not clearly defined), then there simply isn't anything at the deadline.

The players that J.P. is looking for are not in abundance. Whatever he does, he will keep in mind the long-term future. Any significant trade whe makes, should be for a player that will be here for a few years. And based on who's tradeable right now, the odds are stacked against us.

Magpie - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:27 PM EDT (#121895) #

do you think there's any truth to this rumor?

I think it's true that it's a rumor... :-)

This is one of Gammons' functions in the baseball world - GMs and other people feed him information precisely to start conversations, or even more importantly, to change the context of conversations.

Cristian - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#121897) #

That place is a mess and really doesn't deserve to be a Triple-A city at all. It's just a terrible place to be at. Terrible stadium, bad weather, bad fans, bad atmosphere, going through customs.

Are we sure Newhan isn't Canadian? Every Canadian complains about Ottawa. Hence, it would be hyprocritical for anyone in Canada to boo him.

Ducey - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#121899) #

Apparently Jeremy Affeldt is on the block:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-marnot08jul08,0,6048900.story?coll=sfla-sports-headlines

Any interest in having him in a Jay's uni?

VBF - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:10 PM EDT (#121901) #

Terrible stadium, bad weather, bad fans, bad atmosphere, going through customs.

And in all fairness, Buffalo isn't much better off either, but you don't hear much complaining about that. Although baseball in Buffalo is much more on the map and gets better media attention, fan attendance still isn't all that great, they don't play in a particulartily great city, the weather is nice sometimes, but certainly not in the early months, and the stadium (at least from the outside) isn't much better than Ottawa anyways.

Named For Hank - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:14 PM EDT (#121902) #

Apparently Jeremy Affeldt is on the block:

Why is it that when I try to picture Jeremy Affeldt I see a duck that speaks with Gilbert Gottfried's voice? Seriously! This has been bugging me for a long time.

The_Game - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:17 PM EDT (#121904) #

Somebody on MLB.com has Eric Hinske's pitcher in the place of Roy Halladay.

It's hillarious, and I just came across it.

They have a little slideshow of 6 topics and the Roy Halladay, Garland, Willis and Clemens topic is the third one.

www.MLB.com.

At first,I couldn't really tell the difference. They look similar in a way with their beards.

Named For Hank - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:29 PM EDT (#121905) #

The_Game, that's priceless. Here it is, just in case MLB fixes it:

Mick Doherty - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:30 PM EDT (#121906) #

If Chad Bradford going to Boston facilitates Mark Kotsay landing in the Bronx, I'm all for it.

Mick Doherty - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:31 PM EDT (#121907) #

Dontrelle Willis leads the American League in wins? Really? He's having a better year than anyone could have imagined!

fozzy - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:39 PM EDT (#121908) #

Worst. Picture and cutline. Ever.

Joseph Krengel - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:41 PM EDT (#121909) #

A professor of mine once called Ottawa "the town that fun forgot." I think it's a fair assesment.

As for complaining about Buffalo... why bother? It's America's Armpit. That'd be like going to dinner at Denny's and complaining about a bad meal. Ottawa on the other hand is a big city, and our nation's capitol!

Marc Hulet - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#121910) #

It's being reported by Yahoo News that the Nationals and Rockies have agreed on a deal that will send Preston Wilson to Washington for Zach Day and J.J. Davis, pending an agreement on cash and Wilson's trade approval. In his contract, he had the Expos (now Nationals) as one of five teams he could not be traded to without consent.

The_Game - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:45 PM EDT (#121911) #

NFH, I was trying to figure out how to post that picture on here, but I couldn't figure it out.
I tried pressing print screen, and pasting it, but that didn't work. Do you have to put the link in between "[img]and [img]" like a proboards forum?

And yes, that picture is priceless. And to think, I didn't even notice it was Hinske the first time looking at it..

Named For Hank - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:48 PM EDT (#121912) #

That'd be like going to dinner at Denny's and complaining about a bad meal.

From Roger Ebert's review of the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard: "There is a sense in which attacking this movie is like kicking a dog for not being better at calculus."

Named For Hank - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#121913) #

The_Game, you have to copy the image, host it somewhere and then use regular HTML to display it.

The_Game - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 03:53 PM EDT (#121914) #

Alright I'll remember that for next time, thanks.

Paul D - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#121915) #

A professor of mine once called Ottawa "the town that fun forgot." I think it's a fair assesment.

Wow, i've seen alot of Ottawa attacks today (ther other was on Primer). Ottawa is my favourite Canadian city, I think it's full of fun and cool things to see and do, and I'd live there if it wasn't so far from my friends and family.

Flex - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:25 PM EDT (#121916) #

I'm wih Paul. I lived in Ottawa for three years a couple of decades ago. Even then it was pretty happening. Good wine at embassy parties.

Jay - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:28 PM EDT (#121917) #

Someone on John Sickels' site mentioned the possibility of the A's now moving Kotsay to the Cubs for some kids. I think he heard or read it somewhere but no kids were mentioned. That rumour seems to make sense if Payton now covers CF in Oakland and Patterson recently getting the shaft in Chi-Town. I wonder, if this whole series of moves is true, what kids would be going to Oakland? Murton? Dubois? More pitching? Mitre?

Jordan - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:29 PM EDT (#121918) #

Oh, I think Ottawa is great (except for the winters and the local media; I'm not sure which is worse). If a ballplayer was interested, he'd have no end of great museums, art galleries and exhibits to visit; parks, trails and natural attractions to hike through; and enough global culture to stuff a duck. But since David Newhan's idea of a good time probably involves a giant plasma TV, the WWE and a six-pack, I'm not surprised this isn't his kind of town.

I wonder how many ballplayers really take advantage of the city they live in. How many Blue Jays have been in the CN Tower, for instance? Or taken their kids to Marineland or The Ex? Or could find the Art Gallery of Ontario on a map?

fozzy - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:30 PM EDT (#121919) #

I second (or I guess third now) the greatness of Ottawa. I just graduated from university there, and I can't wait to finish teacher's college and get back there permanently. It is beautiful and clean and full of cultural and historical things to do. In my opinion, there is nothing more fun (or cheap) than spending an hour or two walking around the market downtown.

Try living in Thunder Bay, which I am (sadly) doing now, and telling me Ottawa is anything but great.

Jordan - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:38 PM EDT (#121923) #

I'm not sure Wilson is going to solve a lot of problems for Washington; he's at .224/.280/.411 in 107 road at-bats this year. Zach Day is a useful return if he's healthy, but that's a big if.

And with this trade, Colorado officially closes the books on the Mike Hampton signing, which is most certainly one of the ten worst free-agent acquisitions of all time. Taking Wilson was part of the price Florida demanded from the Rockies for acquiring Hampton's contract; the Marlins then flipped Hampton to the Braves and split the salary, making you wonder why the Rox couldn't have done that themselves.

Craig B - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#121925) #

I like Ottawa. Pleasant people, bicultural, good shopping, low traffic, great bus system, amazing museums, terrific parks.

I make my own damn fun anyway.

Craig B - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:48 PM EDT (#121926) #

How many Blue Jays have been in the CN Tower, for instance? Or taken their kids to Marineland or The Ex? Or could find the Art Gallery of Ontario on a map?

Honestly, though, how many Torontonians do these things? Most people say they like to do stuff, but my experience is that most people are like me - homebodies and happy with that. Though I do like museums.

The most honest "I don't like playing in Canada" comment I've ever seen was from former Expo Bryn Smith, whose wife once famously begged him to leave after she had trouble finding Doritos at the grocery store. That's the kind of thing that drives people nuts - the infinitesimal cultural differences that flavour daily life.

Many long-time Blue Jays have been devotees of all that Toronto has to offer. Two in particular that I can think of off the top of my head are Carlos Delgado and Pat Gillick.

Pepper Moffatt - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 04:55 PM EDT (#121928) #

I make my own damn fun anyway.

It's true. He mixes it in the bathtub and sells it out of the back of his truck.

VBF - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 05:14 PM EDT (#121931) #

Some really like Toronto on this 2005 Blue Jay team. It's not like they stay bottled up in their Harbourfront Condos.

Miguel Batista for one loves doing the whole Toronto thing, while a couple even take public transportation to games. Actually (and for a reason I as a Torontonian are particularily fond of) Miguel Batista really enjoys Toronto because nobody recoginizes who he is.

From what I've heard, Frank Menechino and Catalanotto really enjoy playing here, and really like the city.

SimonB - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 05:30 PM EDT (#121933) #

It's been about ten years now, but as a young kid I once took a baseball camp at Lynx Stadium. I think it was new at the time - it could have been the old park, but I don't think so - and I can understand why players accustomed to big league parks would find it subpar. It rained all week, and the dugout drains were clogged, so instead of playing baseball we were slogging through ankle deep water most of the time. I was no more than ten years old at the time and I have very little recollection of anything besides those clogged drains.

And I'm sorry to say, but Ottawa is a BORING place for a young man who is used to living the big league lifestyle. Ballplayers don't go to museums.

Magpie - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 05:39 PM EDT (#121934) #

Two in particular that I can think of off the top of my head are Carlos Delgado and Pat Gillick.

Gillick maintained his residence here even after he took the GM jobs in both Baltimore and Seattle.

Delgado lived in Yorkville, and was fond of cycling to SkyDome. (A lot of players live somewhere like Missisauga, because it's closer to the airport.) And if you're handsome, rich, and single... Yorkville's got a lot to offer. I like wandering there myself. Not that any of those qualities apply to me. Alas.

Magpie - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#121936) #

He mixes it in the bathtub and sells it out of the back of his truck.

And it's good fun, too.

Four Seamer - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 06:03 PM EDT (#121942) #

And I'm sorry to say, but Ottawa is a BORING place for a young man who is used to living the big league lifestyle.

One hopes David Newhan isn't too used to living the big league lifestyle, because I suspect his standard of living is in inexorable decline.

Now far be it from me to defend Ottawa, which is just one big company town in my view, but compared to the other destinations in the International League, it's about as cosmopolitan as it gets (and for that matter, compares pretty favourably to Baltimore). If he ever gets called back up, and finds himself in Toronto, he should try taking the ferry to Rochester. I'm sure he'll find there the breathtaking scenery and cultural sophistication he no doubt craves.

danjulien - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 06:13 PM EDT (#121944) #

HAHAHA
Sorry it took me so long to answer this guys but as someone who used to work with the Lynx, I'm gonna have to agree withs ome of the assessment. We never had good weather, the fans are absolutely brutal and never show up, creating absolutely no atmosphere. As for the stadium, the visitor's locker room is not that great that is for sure, and the stadium needs to have some covering above the bleachers....
Does that cover everything? And customs is a b*tch believe me, we once had to drive to the border only to bring someone's passport that he had forgotten for a road trip.
And there's not much for ballplayers to entertain themselves around the stadium unlike they like to shop, most don't know where the good...ballerina dancers dance...(for those wondering across the border in Hull)

JayWay - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 06:33 PM EDT (#121946) #

The Newhan story reminds me of something I read in Chasing Steinbrenner. One player, I forget which (and I am not going to go searching for it), in his contract, had identified two teams that he could not be traded to: Montreal and Toronto.

Now I know Toronto has its flaws - just ask the Rest of Canada about that. But I'm still confident that Toronto is a lot better than 90% of Major League locals. It offers everything a professional athlete could ask for and more.

And then there's Montreal, which I still contend is the best city this continent has to offer.

The idea that ball players who know nothing about these cities would immidiately refuse to move to either just because they are in a "foreign country" really bugs me. It just shows how closed minded some athletes are.

Mylegacy - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 06:44 PM EDT (#121948) #

I lived in Ottawa for 18 years. It was the longest 47 years of my life!

VBF - Friday, July 08 2005 @ 08:00 PM EDT (#121954) #

Although this probably belongs in yesterdays TDIB thread, it was Ted 'Double Duty' Radcliffe's 103rd birthday yesterday.

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