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Jeff Fletcher | April 12, 2011
This is pretty wild. I’m covering the Dodgers this week for the Riverside Press-Enterprise. They have a podcast feature on their web site, so you can actually hear a computer generated-voice reading the stories.
For some reason I couldn’t download the gamer to my blog, but you can read it and hear it here. I particularly enjoyed hearing “the Dodgers six dash one victory.”
Jeff Fletcher | April 11, 2011
Here at AT&T Park tonight, covering the Dodgers for the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Orange County Register. (Gotta pay the bills!) So, I was mostly Dodger-focused today, but I’ve still got a few items of interest.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said they thought that Madison Bumgarner’s move to first was a balk. He said umpires gave them some guidelines on balks in spring training, and he felt that Bumgarner’s move crossed the line. Matt Kemp took off early on a Bumgarner throw to first — or Bumgarner stopped his move home to throw, depending on who you ask — in the second inning. In the fifth, Clayton Kershaw got picked off. I don’t know if they were balks or not, but once a manager starts talking about it, umpires are sure to look closely. Stay tuned for that one.
Jeff Fletcher | April 11, 2011
One of my loyal readers — I have perhaps as many as seven — emailed the other day to ask an interesting question:
Just throwing this out there: Tim Hudson could be quietly producing a Hall of Fame career. Career: 167-87 ERA: 3.41 WHIP: 1.24.
If he gets 200 wins, would you vote for him?
-Dale (athleticsafterdark.com)
I have to admit I had never really thought of Hudson as a Hall of Famer, but as I think about it and do a little research, he’s actually sniffing around the periphery.
Through his age 34 season, Hudson has some pretty good pitchers as comps. You see John Smoltz, Andy Pettitte, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Bret Saberhagen, etc. Of all of these, the only one who I think is a HOFer is Smoltz. He gets extra points, to me, because he was not only a dominant starter, but a dominant closer. I think Brown should have gotten a lot more than the 12 votes he got when he first showed up on the ballot this year. Not even enough to stick around on the ballot. I don’t think Pettitte is a HOFer either. He was a good pitcher who happened to be on a team that gave him a lot of opportunities to pitch in the postseason, but he was rarely the No. 1 pitcher on those teams.
So, if Hudson’s career ended today, I don’t think he is a HOFer. But his career isn’t over.
Jeff Fletcher | April 11, 2011
Manny, Manny, Manny. You’re killin’ me.
As longtime followers of my work know, I am in the camp of Hall of Fame voters who give a pass to the steroid guys. In fact, I wrote what I consider to be my definitive treatise on the subject in the wake of Manny Ramirez’s 50-game steroids suspension in 2009.
I don’t think using drugs to make yourself better at your job is that egregious of a character flaw, considering the overall atmosphere of the game during the peak of the steroid era. Lots of guys used steroids. Baseball didn’t give any indication that it cared to stop them. The commissioner, the owners, the GMs were happy to look the other way and reap the rewards.
I understand that a lot of my colleagues disagree with that, and I respect their right to do so.
Anyway, that logic served me well when considering the steroid users, and suspected users, from the ’80s and ’90s, and up to about 2004, when baseball started imposing real penalties for using.
Then Manny came along.
Jeff Fletcher | April 9, 2011
It’s late on a Saturday night, when no one is reading my blog anyway, so I couldn’t resist.
Which is worse?
Jeff Fletcher | April 9, 2011
Today I sat down in the Giants dugout with Andy Baggarly, author of A Band of Misfits, the definitive story of the 2010 World Champion Giants. I just started reading the book and so far I like it. I obviously followed the Giants pretty closely, and I’ve already learned a few things.
Funny story: When my review copy arrived, I showed my wife and her first question was: “Isn’t that the book that you should have written?” My initial thought was that I didn’t write it because I was simply too lazy. Really, though, it’s more than that. I couldn’t have written it. Not as well as Baggs, anyway. This is a book that could only be written by someone who covered the Giants on an everyday basis for years. The story didn’t just start in 2010. It started years before that, and Baggs was there the whole time.
Anyway, here’s my talk with Baggs. Enjoy.
Jeff Fletcher | April 8, 2011
Quite a day at the old ballpark. It was nice to get back and see so many folks and get a chance to participate, just a little, in the pregame ceremony. (A little video at the end of this post.)
I was on the field to present Tim Lincecum with the Babe Ruth Award, which I’d actually never heard of. Given by the New York chapter of the BBWAA, it goes to the player who is the most outstanding performer during the the postseason. (The plaque actually said “World Series” so I don’t know the deal with that.) Anyway, I’m an officer of the local chapter of the BBWAA, so I gave him the award. While we were standing on the field watching the little video of Cody Ross’ two homers against Roy Halladay — Ross got his NLCS MVP award — I noticed Lincecum in the on-deck circle, so I said to him: “Doc didn’t want to walk Ross because you were on deck.” He laughed. Here’s the official video showing my part.
But enough about me. That was quite an interesting ballgame. Let’s dig into it a little.
