Royalties & Cardinalate

Spanky strikes again

I like to refer to Ken Harvey as Spanky, alluding to Spanky McFarland of Little Rascals fame. He’s a big, loveable guy who’s always in the middle of something, stumbling around, creating havoc where it was not intended.

Last season, there were several episodes where Harvey’s clumsy footwork around first base resulted in an entanglement with a baserunner who would end up sprawled out somewhere beyond the first-base bag. Then there was the time when he when over to the rail in quest of a foul pop and found himself wedged between the rolled up canvas and the rail. He maims catchers with his big, looping backswing. Gregg Zaun was his latest victim in this regard.

If I were a big-leaguer, I would steer clear. Spanky is on the rampage.

Cora, Cora, Cora! Did you see Alex Cora’s 18-pitch at-bat against Matt Clement the other night? I was off work that night and was watching. The venerable Vin Scully was calling the game – an experience I always relish – and his excitement over the building tension was quite contagious. The Dodgers on the bench were laughing and standing as the at-bat wore on and the crowd got louder and louder with each foul ball. Then, unlike Frank Thomas’ epic at-bat early this season against Darrell May which resulted in a walk, Cora golfed a low and inside pitch over the right-field wall and everybody went nuts. Clement was through after that and even though I am a Cubs fan and have Clement on my fantasy team, I was pretty excited myself. Scully said it was one of the best at-bats he had ever seen and he called his first game for the Dodgers in 1950.

What a relief! In lieu of a competent closer, I am happy with the way that Tony Pena is using the bullpen since Mike MacDougal’s promotion. In effect, he is using the 70’s-style approach in which you bring in a reliever when the starter is in trouble and, if he is effective, you let him pitch as long as his stuff and pitch count allows. Jeremy Affeldt was used like this during the second half of 2003 and with great results. On Tuesday, Shawn Camp came on and pitched that last three innings and did a great job. After two innings, with the Royals nursing a small lead, Camp had thrown on 20 pitches. There was no reason to take him out. However, some managers would have brought in a new pitcher, one a handful from the premeditated closer committee, and let him take a stab at finishing it off. But Camp was throwing well, had not burned many pitches and so Tony Pena went with the hot hand. I like it.

Homestand: 2-1 with 3 To Go

Like many others, I am concerned about Edgar Renteria. He was taken out of today’s game because of more lingering back problems. You might recall that he sat out one game in Montreal last weekend due to back spasms. Seems like back problems are never solved in a timely manner. Edgar has also been sporadic defensively. I have seen at least two, perhaps three plays where he easily could have been given an error but was not after kicking a grounder. Offensively, his .298/.345/.419 numbers are about what is expected, but he has had more bad swings than what is typical for him. It seems that he is holding back on his swing at times and kind of reaching for outside pitches rather than stepping into them and driving them to RF.

If Edgar must sit out a game or two, it is scary to think of our middle infield being that vulnerable. Tony Womack cannot throw the ball well consistency, something that has really surfaced this week. He ate a grounder on Tuesday out of fear of making a quick throw and today Womack threw a potential double play ball wide and short of first base.

Six Cardinals pitchers combined to throw 183 pitches on Thursday, led by Jeff Suppan’s 88 in 3.1 innings.

It took 35 games, but Pujols finally got his first three-hit game of the season on Thursday. I predict he will bat .500 in the Marlins series.

Lanky at No. 4: I do not like Ray Lankford batting cleanup. Sure, Bert Pujols had three hits today but that is because he is a great hitter, not because the Braves were giving in to him. Lankford is 1-for-14 with men on base and two out. He has two RBI in 19 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Even worse, he has just two RBI in 37 at-bats at Busch Stadium.

Morris Musings: On nights I work late, I record the Redbirds via TiVo. Often I have to zip through parts of the game to fit it in, but I noticed last night that Matt Morris is already on FF. His rhythm is so quick you cannot even get to the FF button in time. If most pitchers worked like this, it would be quite fan-friendly. Also, I love Mo’s beard. I think he will go undefeated with the beard because of the extra grit it provides.

Words of Wisdom: I might begin to compile some of Al Hrabosky’s offhanded and poorly articulated comments, but this is a good one from Wednesday’s game: ”Scott Rolen is the type where if you make good pitches you will get him out a certain percentage of time.”

The Bow: Edgar bowed to So Taguchi in the dugout after Gooch’s blast to LF on Wednesday. It was pretty cool.

Missing Link; Royals flashback

I have been calling Woody Williams the Cardinals’ missing link. With Jason Marquis, Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan and Matt Morris pitching well, I’ve been thinking Woody has the rest of May to prove himself or risk being shelved for awhile. But he was brilliant last night, painting the corners, keeping the ball down and maintaining a great flow and rhythm all night. Sure, it was a boring game, but in a good sense. If this offense heats up again, we could see a 6-0 homestand. Friday is a must-win being that it is my birthday and I’ll be there, as will long-time Cardinals fan Will Leitch. Hope the Budweiser (and Schlafly) is nice and cold.

I did not realize how unspectacular the Braves infield is, at least by name. Seeing Adam LaRoche, Marcus Giles, Jesse Garcia and Mark DeRosa out there does not scare me much.

Royals Flashback: Flashback to October 16, 1985. I am a 12-year-old Royals fanatic and am on the edge of my seat as the Royals are playing the Blue Jays in the 1985 ALCS Game 7. KC rallied from a 3-to-1 series deficit to force a Game 7 with Dave Stieb and Bret Saberhagen on the mound. The situation is sixth inning, Blue Jays up 2-1, bases loaded and catcher Jim Sundberg at the plate. To this day I am not sure if I have seen a more unusual postseason blast as Sundberg nailed a fly ball down the rightfield line that, well, just did not look like much when it left the bat. But the ball literally came down on the top of the wall, rebounding back into play as all three runners scored to propel KC to a 6-2 win and a trip to the World Series. Charlie Liebrandt was the winner after four innings of stellar relief. It was the first ALCS between expansion franchises.

I only saw about ten minutes of today’s ESPN afternoon game between the Royals and Blue Jays but they showed this play and also the final out of that game at Exhibition Stadium. Seeing Frank White scoop up a grounder, throw to Steve Balboni and seeing Balboni bear hug Dan Quisenberry and the celebration begin was a heavy and emotional dose of nostalgia.

Gooden vs. Tudor: Neatest stats from 1985: As great as John Tudor was, Dwight Gooden was even better. Gooden finished 24-4 with a ERA of 1.53 with 268 strikeouts in 276 innings. He also had 16 complete games and eight shutouts. Tudor went 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and 10 shutouts in 14 complete games. He allowed just 209 hits and 49 walks in 275 innings.

Departed ‘Birds: The J.D. Enigma

Since the MLB season is at its 20-percent mark, it is a good time to check in on some of the 2003 Redbirds ex-hitters:

Tino Martinez, Devil Rays: He has appeared in 26 of Tampa’s 30 games. He has two doubles, six homers, 15 runs and 11 RBI. His hitting line is .289/.419/.553. His projections are 32 homers, 59 RBI and 81 runs. In 2003, Tino was .273/.352/.429 with 25 doubles, 15 homers, 66 runs and 69 RBI. Oddly, he has quit hitting doubles, but his homers and average are still up. Sure, he has several solo homers, but overall his production is below average for a 1B. But would we be better off with Tino than Ray Lankford (who replaced Albert Pujols in LF so he could move to 1B). That is the question and it is too early to answer it. Given that we only saved $1 million to rid of Tino, it is still debatable given our LF situation.

J.D. Drew, Braves: Same old story. He is good when he plays. In 22 games (out of 30), Drew is hitting .317 and ranks seventh in the NL with a 1.043 OPS. Of course, given the money Drew commanded, the trade with ATL is looking good with Jason Marquis and Ray King pitching so well. Plus, the money the club saved enabled the Birds to get Reggie Sanders. Unless Drew plays at least 140 games, I will not have any lingering frustration over his departure.

Chipper has a good take on J.D.: "He's a guy who, if he's not 100 percent, doesn't really feel like he's helping the team. What some players don't realize is, just their presence in the lineup can make other guys better. It can get another player a pitch to hit in certain situations. Sometimes you don't necessarily have to produce to help the team. I think I probably play 90 percent of the time in a season without being 100 percent."

Fernando Vina, Tigers: He is now 35, so it was a no-brainer to let him go, though no one realized Tony Womack would take his place. He still hits too many balls in the air and does not walk nearly enough. He is at .236/.320/.282 with 21 runs (a pace for 110) and five doubles. But he has stayed healthy. Playing on the highest-scoring team in MLB helps his runs total. He has just nine walks and only eight strikeouts. Last season he had 11 walks in 61 games, so he is being a little more patient.

Brad, I am not sure if Brian Anderson and his plain-jane name deserves to be mentioned alongside those old school fellows with names like Snake, Chick, Bobo, Togie and Pink. But he can be lumped in with Tanyon Sturtz circa 2002.

Royal record?

If he stays in the rotation for the entire season, Royals pitcher Brian Anderson could be headed for a record-breaking season. Anderson is on pace to allow 248 runs - which would be the most any pitcher has allowed in the modern era. On the bright side, ten of the runs have been unearned.

No.  Pitcher                  Year      Runs

1    Brian Anderson           2004      248*

2    Snake Wiltse             1902      226   

3    Bill Carrick             1900      224   

4    Joe McGinnity            1901      219   

5    Chick Fraser             1901      210   

6    Pete Dowling             1901      209   

T7   Bobo Newsom              1938      205   

T7   Togie Pittinger          1903      205   

9    Pink Hawley              1900      204   

10   Bill Carrick             1901      198

* - projected total

I guess it's not really fair to play so loosely with stats from just 8 starts but it merits keeping an eye on. Think about it - the Royals are on the hook with Anderson for two years. They don't have many options for the rotation. They almost have to leave him in the rotation. And if they do and he keep pitching like this, historic things are going to happen.

Goodbye, Montreal

Turns out over 20,000 folks did filter through the turnstiles at Olympic Stadium for last weekend’s three-game series - 23,244 to be exact. Considering that Sunday was Warren Cromartie Bobblehead Doll Day, I am stunned that 23,000 did not show on Sunday alone. I wonder what will become of all the extra dolls not given away. Perhaps Warren will become a cult hero in some third-world country where the dolls are sent as a massive toys donation. He deserves an eternal legacy as much as any other Expo (other than Razor Shines.)

I also wonder what the Expos will draw for, say, their three-game series in mid-August against the Diamondbacks. My guess: under 10,000 total. The Redbirds are done in Montreal for 2004, so who knows if they’ll ever be back.

Why not Portland Expos? Without delving into the intricacies involved and ignoring any existing market research etc., it seems like Portland would be ideal for a baseball team. Decent-sized market, only one pro team in town and the NBA’s Blazers were an automatic sell-out throughout the 90s.

Short Games: It seemed as if each game over the weekend went by very swiftly and with an average time of 2:20, they did. I believe the average MLB game is around 2:50.

Transposed Production: The Cardinals’ offense will inevitably regain its potency, so the recent stretch of good pitching is encouraging. In the season’s first 15 games, the Redbirds had a 5.55 ERA, but over the past 15 games it has been 3.50. But the offense has averaged just 3.2 runs in that later span (compared to 7.1 in the first 15 games).

Perez out for Year: See that brutal injury to Tampa’s Eduardo Perez on Sunday in Anaheim? He suffered a torn Achilles' tendon and essentially collapsed as he was running toward third base in hopes of a triple. He was taken off the field in a motorized cart. Oddly, it was Eddie’s first game against the Angels, who drafted him in 1991. Perez is hitting .211/.286/.342 with 1 HR and 7 RBI in 2004.