Some random thoughts on the opening 3 weeks of the season.

The Rotation
Towers & Ohka:  Pitching just fine, actually quite well for a #4 & #5.  Later in June/July we can look at upgrading via trade or promotion (Percey??).

Burnett:  Has lacked command.  The start in Det. could be blamed on the weather, not the ones since.  We need him to reel off a few good starts more than we need to trade the surplus of young arms for a #2-3 starter.

Doc:  Sweetness.

Gus: Gutsy pitching.  Shook off the DUI to have a nice start.  Granted, he scares the hell out of me when he starts, but some how he keeps it together.

The Pen:
After the 2nd blown save I knew something was wrong with BJ.  The pen is weaker with BJ gone, but I have a feeling that Frasor will be good enough.  A trade later in the season should bolster the group if we are still in contention.  Relievers are always available at the deadline.

The O
#3 in the league but still not that scary.  Loosing Glaus hurts but Jmac and Smith have been playing over their heads with the bat, so right now it is a wash.  If, when??, we loose Troy again JP needs to hit the phones, hard.  Big Frank looks lost at the plate.  Every time Vernon swings at pitch 1 i want to strangle him.  Sparky looked good and his loss mean more than any of the other losses right now.  He added grit and determination to the team.  Lind will hit fine but Reed just has "that" quality to get er done.  Hill is raking at the plate, but has been a rollercoaster in the field & I can say the same for Rios. Clayton: Average D, below average bat, but better than the SS's we had last year.

Lets hope that JP does not panic after a couple tough losses and trade Lind or Purcey for a marginal upgrade in the rotation or at 3rd.

Just a random thought, since I'm busy here at work (or so I'd like to believe, anyways), and I don't have the time to do the research.

Given the brutal weather conditions for much of this month, how much credit for the Jays' relatively strong offensive output should be given to the fact that they have played 13 of their 15 games indoors?  Maybe most other teams have too, but it's worth considering.

They've hit much better on the road than at home so far.  And their road games were in normally unfavourable hitting environments, Tampa and Detroit. The offence overall is almost exactly what I expected it to be (although the distribution of hits between John McDonald and Vernon Wells, for instance, is not)

I am not aware of research on the impact of humidity/temperature on the Rogers Centre, but anecdotally, the ball does seem to fly out in warmish, humid weather with the dome closed (as it did last April).  This year, our frigid "spring" has meant that the ball was not flying out until perhaps yesterday.

BBRef.com will have minor league stats with search capabilities by this summer.  Amazing!

Bizarre play in Cubs-Cards game. Excerpt from my blog:

The next batter attempts a bunt to sacrifice the runners [on first and second base] along, but pops it up right in front of homeplate. The St Louis catcher attempts to field the ball, but has to reach around the frozen in place batter/runner. The ball drops and the catcher picks it up and throws it to second base for the apparent force ahead of the sliding runner. The 2B then throws the ball to third base and the perplexed runner is tagged out. Now the throw over the first base (the batter still hasn’t moved) completes the apparent triple play to end the inning.

But hold on, the replay shows that the catcher tagged the batter before throwing to second, thereby negating the force at that base - so there should be a runner at second (he was never tagged) and two out.

The umpire sees it differently, calling the batter out for interference, killing the play on the spot. Only one out is recorded and the runners retreat to first and second; big break for the Cubs.

Never seen that before.

Here's the Wikipedia account of the Armbrister-Fisk play.  Apparently MLB stands by Barnett's intepretation of the rule.

Thanks Mike,

I wonder if this play is different (don't recall the specifics of the Armbrister play) in that the batter was standing in fair territory and didn't seem to be trying to run to first.

I don't think the interference was intentional, but perhaps the umpire saw it that way. The bunt (from a right handed batter) landed a foot in front of him and the catcher went around the batter's right side to field the ball, thus cutting off the runner's path to first base. I'm fairly certain that  had the runner not been in the way, the catcher would have caught the bunt on the fly.

http://bruce.mlblogs.com/bruce_markusens_coopersto/2005/06/1975_world_seri.html

Here is a nice description of the Fisk-Armbrister play.

You're welcome, Robert.  Bruce Markusen reported the Armbrister play in Cooperstown Confidential this way:


"Squaring himself into bunting position, Armbrister nubbed the ball in front of the plate. Perhaps not realizing that he had hit the ball into fair territory, Armbrister hesitated before breaking toward first. Just as he started running, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk stepped over home plate in an effort to field the bouncing bunt. Fisk and Armbrister collided, delaying the catcher’s pursuit of the ball. Once Fisk picked up the ball, he extricated himself from Armbrister with a sturdy glove-hand shove, set himself quickly, and hurtled a throw toward second base. The ball sailed high and to the right of Rick Burleson’s fully extended arm, tipping off the edge of the shortstop’s glove and carrying into center field. Fred Lynn retrieved the ball and unfurled a strong throw to third, but Geronimo slid into third just before Rico Petrocelli’s quick tag made contact with his body. Armbrister, in spite of his late start from the plate and his momentary tangle with Fisk, settled in at second base."

Intent is a difficult thing to divine, and keeps criminal lawyers busy.

Ha.  You win, Robert.