2001 September

Archive for September 2001

Nevin, Nady, and Bonds

Thursday, September 27, 2001
by Geoff Young

Phil Nevin has rejected the Padres offer of $32M for 4 years. He'll probably get more, and it probably won't be in San Diego. Both sides remain optimistic, but I have my doubts we'll be seeing Phil in a Pads' uniform next year. Xavier Nady won't be working out at second base this off-season. Instead, he'll be undergoing and recovering from surgery on his right elbow. He first injured the elbow in the Arizona Fall League last year, and it never fully recovered. Gotta like a guy who plays hurt and still wins his league's MVP award. Bonds battles hostility in his pursuit of history (ESPN.com). Is there anybody more in need of a life ...

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Six Links

Wednesday, September 26, 2001
by Geoff Young

More goodies... The latest on Matt Harrington. I, for one, believe that Scott Boras will be a big improvement over Tommy Tanzer. If you've ever had any interest in being a scout, here's one from Josh Boyd at Baseball America you won't want to miss. An interesting site: http://baseballnews.blogspot.com/ Not to take anything away from the amazing season Barry Bonds is having, or the great careers Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken have had, but Rickey Henderson is about to break Ty Cobb's record for runs scored. Rickey will now own the Major League record for ...

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Padres tickets Chargers tickets Sports tickets

Phillies Relievers

Monday, September 24, 2001
by Geoff Young

A few items of interest: ESPN.com's David Schoenfield makes a compelling case for Freddy Garcia for AL Cy Young: Stroll through the Stats: Clemens vs. Garcia Tuffy Rhodes ties Sadahuru Oh's Japanese single-season homer mark This past off-season, a current playoff contender signed two relievers for what generally was regarded as way too much money. Here's what those two did last year: IPHERHRBBSOERA 68.17435717434.61 80.289481141845.36 149.01638318581275.01 Fast foward to 2001: IPHERHRBBSOERA 50.14622417363.93 64.06018419552.53 114.110640836913.15 Who could have predicted this kind of performance from Rheal Cormier and especially Jose Mesa, who hadn't done anything useful in a baseball uniform since 1997? As for the Phillies, who looked like anything but ...

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How Are Hampton and Neagle Doing at Coors Field?

Thursday, September 20, 2001
by Geoff Young

First off, congrats to Tony Gwynn on being named the SDSU Aztecs baseball coach. Second, I'm going to throw out some stat lines for you. Don't worry, I won't leave you hangin' till tomorrow like I usually do. ;-) Here are the first two: IPHRERHRBBSOERA Player A190.221712210729811125.05 Player B155.0168908626551254.99 Clearly, neither of these guys is having a terrific season. Here's what they did last year: IPHRERHRBBSOERA Player A217.2194897610991513.14 Player B209.021010910531811464.52 Okay, Player A is Mike Hampton and Player B is Denny Neagle. Both signed with the Rockies in the off-season, and almost universally Hampton was expected to succeed at Coors, while Neagle was expected to fail miserably. And for a while, it looked like that would be the case. Here are their numbers through May: Now here is what they've ...

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Muslim in America, MST3K

Wednesday, September 19, 2001
by Geoff Young

No time to talk; just a couple quick links for you. First is to an article by Baseball Prospectus' Rany Jazayerli on being a Muslim in America right now. Second is to a great MST3K site (I'm an unabashed fan of the show), which, among other things, gives detailed instructions on how to build the robots. I'll try to sort through my notes on Jason Middlebrook's debut but I probably won't get around to posting my report till the weekend. Very busy around here lately, and it's only going to get worse.

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California League Playoffs, High Desert vs Lake Elsinore

Tuesday, September 18, 2001
by Geoff Young

I'll talk about Jason Middlebrook's big-league debut tomorrow, but first some unfinished business: Game Two of the High Desert/Lake Elsinore series. In what turned out to be the final game at The Diamond in Elsinore, Storm power lefty Eric Cyr matched up against sidewinder Jim Lynch. On paper, this looked like a mismatch, as Cyr came in with a 1.61 season ERA over 100.2 innings, while Lynch owned a 6.64 ERA in 85.1 innings. But, as we all know, baseball is not played on paper. The Mavs struck in the top of the first inning, only to be answered by Vince Faison's leadoff homer down the left-field line in the bottom half of the frame. Cyr, working with a low-90s heater and an inconsistent breaking pitch, allowed ...

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Church of Baseball Reopens

Monday, September 17, 2001
by Geoff Young

The Church of Baseball reopens today. Jason Middlebrook makes his long-delayed big-league debut tonight in Los Angeles. I'll be worshipping in front of the television, cold beer in my left hand, scorebook in my right. I won't be covering the tragic events of last week here any longer; this is a place for baseball. However, I won't forget what happened, either. The page honoring the victims and their families that has occupied this space these past several days will remain on this domain at geoffreynyoung.com/memorial for as long as the domain exists. Play ball!

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