SHL: Scattered Hits

A near 30-game hitting streak comes to an end, southpaws Plank and Carlton toss one-hitters only a day apart, the Expos try to keep their starters’ arms from falling off, and A-Rod is benched in New York.

It’s Like Deja Vu All Over Again: In 1984, my family and I took a trip from Vancouver, Washington to Brookline, Massachusetts on Amtrak (no, I’m not kidding; yes, it was as brutal as it sounds) for my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  As fate and luck would have it, we ran into some trouble somewhere in the area of Nebraska, which delayed our trip and caused us to arrive in Chicago later than we were supposed to.  We ended up with a layover that had us in Chicago until late the next day.  Instead of stressing out about it, my father and I took advantage and went to Wrigley Field to catch the Cubs and Phillies.  Fate and luck were on our side again when we realized future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton was scheduled to pitch for the Phils.  He didn’t disappoint either, allowing only two runs on five hits in eight innings.

What made the game really interesting, however, is that “Lefty” started the game with three hitless innings, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, except that my dad and I had a train to catch and we knew we wouldn’t be able to stay for the entire game.  The thought of missing a no-hitter began to weigh heavily on our minds and we started to root even harder for the Cubs than we already had been (The Cubs became our favorite NL team when we got cable in 1983).  Fortunately the long-forgotten Gary Woods singled with two outs in the fourth to break up the no-no, and my father and I were free to leave Wrigley without regret.

Flash forward to the virtual date of May 10, 2008.  Steve Carlton at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.  Three hitless innings to start the game.  But with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, the not-so-long-forgotten Ernie Banks drove a frozen rope off the right field wall to break up “Lefty’s” no-no .  Unlike the June 14, 1984 game my father and I partially witnessed, the May 10 game would see no more hits from the Cubs as Carlton retired 16 of the next 18 batters (he walked Sosa and Anson) in the complete-game, 1-hit shutout .  With the win, he improved to 6-1 on the year and lowered his ERA to 3.29, and he now owns the top “ Game Score ” with a mark of 91.

Can’t (Even) Buy Me (Virtual) Love: Alex Rodriguez was unceremoniously benched by Yankees GM Matt Dahlgren in favor of Matt’s grandfather Babe Dahlgren , who earned rave reviews as a slick-fielding first baseman in his 12-year career, but also backed up Red Rolfe for a spell at third base.  Now Dahlgren is getting a chance to man the hot corner for one of the greatest clubs ever assembled.  A-Rod is batting .262 with five homers and 12 RBIs, but his .798 OPS is disappointing and he’s committed six errors at third for a .931 fielding percentage.

“Perhaps in due time I’ll put A-Rod back in the lineup,” Dahlgren the younger told this writer, “but for now he needs to sit and think about things.  [Babe] won’t have near the numbers that A-Rod has, but he’ll drive in some runs.  It’ll be fun to watch.”

In an ironic twist, both men have been accused of transgressions that stained (or will stain) their respective careers.  Recent news has A-Rod failing a steroids test in 2003, which, if true, could severely tarnish his legacy.  Dahlgren was once accused of being a pot smoker, and he ended up being purchased, traded, or released eight times from 1941-1946 by teams who were afraid their reputations would also be tarnished by the allegations.  I’m rooting for Babe to do well, and if you read Matt’s fantastic book about his grandfather’s life and career, Rumor in Town , I guarantee you’ll be pulling for him too.

A Call to Arms: Expos GM Jonah Keri has been frantically searching for a recipe that will save his starters’ arms over the course of a long season, and it looks like he’s found the solution: a seven-man rotation and a shuttle bus between Montreal and Ottawa.  Even before Dennis Martinez admitted to being totally exhausted after his last start against the Royals on May 12 , Keri expressed concern about his starters’ well-being.  On April 22, he called up Charlie Lea from Triple-A, then a week later he purchased the contracts of Jeff Fassero , Andy McGaffigan , and Carlos Perez .  On May 9, he demoted Pedro Martinez and promoted Ken Hill , then on May 13, he demoted Dennis Martinez and re-promoted Pedro.

The last two moves weren’t made because the Martinez boys (no relation) are doing poorly—Dennis is 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA, and Pedro is 2-2 with a 4.64 ERA and is among the league leaders in strikeouts—but because the only way to guarantee that their arms won’t fall off is to send them to Ottawa and hide them from the computer AI.  Pedro is on pace to throw a career-high 256 innings and Dennis is on pace to throw 245 innings, which would rank as the fourth highest.  Considering Pedro is more fragile than a Faberge egg, shuttling him back and forth between Montreal and Ottawa may not be such a bad idea.

How Could an Angel Break My Heart?: Boston Globe sportswriter and SHL Angels GM Chad Finn recently admitted that he’s kicking himself for not inviting his readers to help him build his 40-man roster.  So instead, with his team off to a 9-22 start, he’s soliciting their help with his lineups and pitching assignments.  Some have taken the opportunity to bash Finn for his selections and are lamenting his failure to include Garrett Anderson, Chone Figgins, Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein.  No, really.  Others have risen to the occasion and have suggested logical moves (make Mark Teixeira the full-time starter at first base), while others are really thinking outside the box (put Carew at second, move Grich to shortstop, and give Fregosi some PT in left).

Finn is still getting a feel for his team and has made some moves of late in an effort to right the Angels’ ship.  John Lackey was demoted to Triple-A Salt Lake in mid-April in favor of Jim Abbott , but has been given a reprieve and was recalled to the big club on May 9, not so much for what he did with the Bees (he posted a 4.50 ERA in three appearances), but because Frank Tanana was Godawful for the Angels (0-5, 6.00 ERA).  And Frank Robinson and Doug DeCinces were recently brought up to the Angels after spending the first couple weeks in Salt Lake.

By Finn’s own admission, “I’m just hoping to get through the season without [Roy] Firestone making me cry.”  So far, so good, but if his team doesn’t improve soon, Finn may be reduced to a blubbering mass of gelatinous goo by the All-Star break.

Napoleon Finally Surrenders: Indians second sacker Nap Lajoie saw his 29-game hitting streak come to an end against the White Sox on May 12 when he went 0-for-4 against Eddie Cicotte, LaMarr Hoyt, and Gary Peters in Cleveland’s 5-3 victory over the Pale Hose .  Lajoie grounded out to short in the first, to third in the third, to the pitcher in the fourth, and again to third in the seventh, but failed to get a fifth crack at the Chicago pitching staff when pinch hitter Al Rosen grounded into an inning-ending double play with Lajoie on deck in the ninth.

The ohfer marked the first time Lajoie failed to record at least one hit in a game since Opening Day when he went 0-for-3 with a walk against the Tigers, and it was the first time all season that he didn’t reach base at least once.  He’s hitting .363 on the year.

Hot/Cold Hitters: Cleveland’s Joe Sewell is 16-for-his-last-28 (.571), raising his average on the year to .412, but he doesn’t yet qualify for the batting title because he platoons with Lou Boudreau , who plays against lefties.

Willie McCovey has five homers and 12 RBIs in his last nine games, giving him 10 big flies and 27 ribbies on the year.

Cards outfielder Jim Edmonds boasts a 1.733 OPS over his last five games, in which he’s gone 10-for-20 with a double, four homers, 11 RBIs, and eight runs scored.

Royals second baseman Frank White is 1-for-25 in his last seven games, with a run, an RBI, and eight strikeouts.  It’s already been a long year for White, who’s projected to finish the season with a .191 average, a .199 OBA, and a Vorp of -40.4.

Reds slugger Ted Kluszewski started the season like a man possessed, hitting seven homers in his first eight games, but he has only one long ball since.  He’s battling a 2-for-27 slump, but he’s still on pace to hit .299 with 40 homers and 119 RBIs, which would closely resemble a typical “Big Klu” season between 1953-1956.

Dodgers speedster Maury Wills may be enduring the oddest slump in the early goings of the SHL—he’s hitting only .148 with an OBA of .179 in his last 23 games, yet he’s managed to steal eight bases over that span.  That’s because he’s relying on his teammates to get on base before he enters the game as a pinch runner.  The strategy appears to be working—Wills is 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts and has scored four times despite reaching base only six times on his own.  He’s on pace to steal 40 bags, which would be impressive considering he’s expected to reach base only 30 times this season.

Hot/Cold Pitchers: Tom Seaver is 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in his last four starts to raise his record on the season to 5-1 with a 2.71 ERA.  Interestingly enough, his best performance of the season came against the Padres on May 5 when he allowed only one run on three hits in eight innings.  It was the same team against whom Seaver set a record by fanning 10 straight batters in 1970.  It looks like “Tom Terrific” owns them in virtual reality too.

No pitcher in the SHL is as hot as Phillies hurler Cole Hamels , who sports a microscopic ERA of 0.78 in his last three starts.  Yet he somehow managed to go 0-1 in those starts and is only 1-2 despite an ERA of 2.94 and 55 strikeouts, the third best total in the league.  Hamels left two of those starts with leads of 3-1 and 2-0 only to watch Brad Lidge do his best Human Torch impression and lose both.  The third game was just a case of running into Curt Schilling at the wrong time, as the D’Rocks ace tossed a complete game gem and beat Hamels 2-1.  Hopefully Hamels has better luck with his new closer, Billy Wagner, who was promoted to replace the ineffective Lidge.

With the exception of one bad appearance against the Royals, D’Rocks closer Jose Valverde has been lights out in his last nine appearances, recording three saves, posting a 1.17 ERA, allowing only seven hits in 15 1/3 innings, and fanning 18.

While the Expos are hoping their version of Jeff Fassero can bolster their staff, the Mariners have already given up on their version and shipped him back to Tacoma after the southpaw went 1-1 with a 9.16 ERA in four starts, and posted a 13.06 ERA in his last three.  Fassero was so bad, he failed to make it out of the third inning in two of his four starts.  Mark Langston (6-1, 2.07 in Triple-A) was recently brought up to give the Mariners’ pitching a boost.

Randy Johnson isn’t doing much to help the Mariners either.  The “Big Unit” is 1-4 with an 8.04 ERA in his last six starts and has pitched past the fifth inning only once since April 14.  He’s 1-5 with a 6.41 ERA on the year.  He’s striking out batters like there’s no tomorrow (10.5 K/9 IP), but batters are slugging .505 against Johnson and he’s surrendered 21 extra-base hits, including nine homers, in 46 1/3 innings.

Cardinals Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean has fallen on hard times since his 4-2 win over Seattle on April 21, in which he allowed only one run in eight innings.  Since then, Dean is 0-4 with an 8.10 ERA, and is 0-3 with a 9.37 ERA in May after going 3-2 with a 3.97 ERA in April.

Fast Forward: If the players maintain their respective paces, here are some of the more interesting stories we can look forward to at the end of the year.

The home run chase could be one for the ages as five players—Carlos Delgado, Jim Edmonds, Willie McCovey, Kevin Mitchell , and Babe Ruth —are on pace to finish with exactly 50.

Willie Stargell is looking to plate the sixth highest number of runs in baseball history (174), and if he reaches 170, it’ll be the first time since Jimmie Foxx in 1938 that a batter reached that mark.

Red Sox center fielder Tris Speaker is on pace to cross home plate 169 times, which would rank second in modern day history to Ruth’s 177 in 1921, and would be the fourth highest total in all of baseball history.

Not only is the doubles record in Jeopardy, but no less than three batters— Eddie Collins (A’s), Honus Wagner , and Buck Weaver —are on pace to smack 70, which would eclipse Earl Webb’s record of 67 set in 1931.  Cubs backstop Gabby Hartnett is on pace to belt 65 two-baggers, which would shatter the record by a catcher, Ivan Rodriguez’s 47 in 1996.

Padres outfielder Gene Richards is on pace to steal 99 bases and would be slated to pilfer even more if he wasn’t stealing at a 62.5% clip.  Richards has 20 steals through 31 games, but has already been caught 12 times.  His chief nemesis has been Montreal catcher Gary Carter , who’s tossed Richards out four times already, including three times in the same game .  Richards shouldn’t feel so bad, though; Carter has thrown out 42.1% of would-be thieves so far this season.

Despite playing in a league that boasts a plethora of Hall of Famers, Marlins/Rays shortstop Hanley Ramirez has established himself as the best hitter in the SHL.  Ramirez is on pace to hit .391 with 30 homers and 129 RBIs, 114 runs, 233 hits, 55 doubles, 15 triples, 25 steals, and 408 total bases.  And his VORP of 127 would easily outdistance runner-up Rafael Palmeiro (110.1).  Oh yeah, he’s also committed only three errors in 31 games.

Roy Halladay is projected to finish the season with a ridiculous ERA of 1.24, yet is expected to go a slightly-better-than-pedestrian 20-15 because the poor sap can’t get any run support.

Pirates ace Jesse Tannehill has a shot at 30 wins, as he’s projected to go 29-5 at this stage of the season.  Tannehill is 6-1 with a 1.37 ERA and has yet to throw fewer than eight innings in any of his seven starts.  His only loss so far was a 3-2 heartbreaker in which he allowed only five hits to the D’Rocks.

Bruce Sutter of the Cubs and Hoyt Wilhelm of the White Sox are on pace to battle it out for the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award.  Sutter is 10-for-10 in save opportunities, while Wilhelm is 10-for-11, and both are on pace to finish with 50 saves.  Tom Henke and Joel Zumaya are right on their tail with nine saves apiece and a projected total of 45.