Sunday Notes

So you are getting ready to hop on a plane. You will be traveling to Tokyo to watch your beloved Red Sox play the A’s and then you will stop off on the way back to watch the Sox in Oakland.

As the Red Sox have shined in the last few years one of the ongoing complaints is that Red Sox fans conduct themselves inappropriately on the road. I suspect that like all things in life this is a case of a small group of people acting like idiots and ruining the reputation of others.

Having attended many road games as well as being surrounded by obnoxious visiting fans at Fenway I have some suggestions on how to avoid offending the home fans when you are on the road. Doing so will allow you to avoid inadvertently offending the home fans and to have a more enjoyable time.

Cheer for your guys, do not criticize the home team

This is A#1 in my experience of how visiting fans cause problems. A road trip is the fan equivalent of going into someone else’s home for dinner. It is perfectly acceptable to cheer, even enthusiastically, when Mike Lowell homers off Joe Blanton or when Julio Lugo manages to…well, when Lowell homers anyway.

Where people get in trouble is when they start getting on the home team. If Lowell homers, applaud the homer but do not start scream “hey Blanton, take that!” This is a surefire way to get yourself in an argument.

Don’t overcheer

Yeah, this seems to go in direct opposition to what I just said but it’s really just another way of saying “use common sense.” Look, a home run, a key strikeout, yeah, go crazy. A one out single in the second inning? By all means applaud but don’t act like you just saw Fisk’s home run. I see this at Fenway all the time. Inevitably the folks who treat every at bat like it is the most important at bat ever are the ones who get in fights or simply get themselves heckled out of the park by the 6th inning.

Know thy enemy, or feel free to learn about your enemy

A little knowledge of the team you are seeing play the Sox is probably in order. Do not be shy about learning a little of the history of the ballpark you are at and know the other team a little. If there is something that strikes your fancy about the park or the team, do not be afraid to ask. Every park no matter how new has a story to tell and so too do the teams they house.

I had a great time in Philadelphia a couple years ago simply by asking some folks around me why they were giving Abreu a hard time. The fans around me wound up in a fun conversation about his worth to the club.

Ultimately the important thing to remember is you are effectively a guest in someone else’s home. You don’t have to remain silent or not support your team but doing so in a respectful manner will be appreciated by those around you and in turn will result in you having a better time.
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Lots of talk this week about Billy Crystal suiting up with the Bronx Bombers for a day. I am not a huge fan of this as people do pay legitimate money to see these games. On the other hand how many Yankee fans are going to be upset because they do not get to see Justin Christian bat?

The reality is that Crystal is a legitimate fan. I have no doubt that he is genuinely appreciative of this opportunity and I am confident that Crystal took steps to make sure his presence did not deprive a young player of an at bat that could help that player’s career.
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If you are familiar with this site you know that fantasy baseball is not often discussed here. If you are looking for some sleepers here is a quick lineup of guys I think will have nice seasons;

1B – Lyle Overbay – Last year was a down year, he’ll bounce back
2B – Rickie Weeks – If his average gets up to .260 he’s a potential monster
3B – Hank Blalock – Supposedly 100% healthy for the first time in a long time
SS – Julio Lugo – With Ellsbury in the lineup the Sox might run a lot more, 40-50 steals isn’t out of the question
OF – Nick Swisher – I disagreed earlier this off-season with a friend about how good he is, I was wrong. This is a player poised for a huge year in a great hitters’ park
OF – Geoff Jenkins – Decent hitter going to a great hitters’ park
OF – Jose Guillen – Cleanup hitters for KC had 104 RBI with a .732 OPS last year. Guillen’s OPS last year was .813.
C - Dioner Navarro – After a slow start he played very well in 2007 and he’s only 24.
SP – Scott Kazmir – Yeah, not a big secret but if the Rays stay healthy and get some relief help this could be his breakout year
RP – Brandon Lyon – Someone is getting 30 saves for that team and he is being given first crack at it.
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I don’t think I gave it the appropriate level of attention in light of the Doug Mirabelli situation but Bartolo Colon looked exceptional in my opinion. This is really critical because if he is able to give the Sox between 100-150 innings of decent performance that effectively eliminates the loss of Schilling.

One thing I did not discuss was his conditioning. Colon is obviously not a svelte man but he is fairly athletic. From my angle his pickoff move was still very good and this is an indication that his athleticism is still good. His next start will give us some sense of his ability to bounce back.
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Felix Pie suffered “testicular torsion” this week. This is a nice way of saying one of his family jewels performed the winning move from the 2006 Olympic figure skating competition.

One man’s loss is another man’s gain. This opened up the idea of a trade between the Cubs and the Red Sox for Coco Crisp. Unfortunately Coco hasn’t played in quite awhile and it becomes fairly difficult to trade a guy who has not played as the trading partner certainly wants to be sure he is healthy before the deal is done.

Because of this I would not expect a Coco Crisp deal in the near future. I would not be shocked if Crisp started the year on the Disabled List however.
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Much discussion surrounding the situation involving the Yankees and Rays this week. If you missed it Yankee AA catcher Francisco Cervelli suffered a broken wrist when he blocked home plate and was run over by Tampa infielder Elliott Johnson. On Wednesday Shelley Duncan spiked Evan Longoria in the thigh in retaliation.

My take on this was that when Heath Phillips hit a batter in the first inning of the game after Cervelli broke his wrist that should have ended things. However, Duncan took things into his own hands (or feet) and attempted to injure Longoria.

While I would have disagreed if Duncan simply had done a rollover slide or something of that nature I could have accepted that he felt that Phillips had not sufficiently stood up for his teammate. What Duncan did is 100% irresponsible though. Coming in spikes high has been unacceptable since day one, Ty Cobb was disdained in his era for that sort of behavior.

Very simply a rollover slide (think an aggressive takeout slide on a double play) is an acceptable form of retaliation. Trying to injure someone with a spike is not at all acceptable. It is the difference between throwing an 85 MPH fastball at someone’s butt and throwing a 95 MPH fastball at someone’s head. One sends a message the other potentially results in serious injury.

Duncan may be right that Phillips’ HBP was insufficient retaliation. What he did to correct that is inappropriate however.
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Some notes from a Saturday at City of Palms Park;

- Jon Lester didn’t have the same dramatic ground out/air out ratio we’ve seen. I charted pitches though and of the 17 pitches that were called “ball” that I charted 12 were low and only 5 were high. This seems to indicate that Jon Lester is focusing on keeping the ball down more compared to the past when it seemed he thought the strike zone was high and outside.

- Homer Bailey seems to have a slow, smooth delivery though the ball does not seem to leap out of his hand like it does with some pitchers.

- Jay Bruce looked uncomfortable in right field getting bad jumps on a couple of balls including Lugo’s two-bagger but he has a very strong and accurate arm.

- Craig Hansen looked very impressive in his lone inning of work.
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One of the things I have noticed is that since doing my Sunday Notes is that traffic has increased on Sundays and this is a good thing. To me the Sunday Notes is really four different sections; the main article, the random notes, the Keltner List and the Team Profile. I would be curious if you folks out there in readerland have any opinion on which of these you enjoy/don't enjoy or do you just like the various collection of stuff? As always comments posted here or e-mails to fragilefreddy@gmail.com are welcome.
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Keltner List – Edgar Martinez

This week we look at one of the most interesting names on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot.

1. Ever best player in baseball? Suggested as best player in baseball?

Arguably in 1995.

2. Was he the best player on his team?

No.

3. Best player in baseball or his league at his position?

Very obviously.

4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races?

His performance in 1995 was monstrously important in that race and his great 2000 helped the M’s edge the Indians for the Wild Card by a single game. His 2001 was part of the reason the Mariners tied the MLB record for single season victories.

5. Was he good enough that he could play regularly after passing his prime?

Yes. His age 40 season is no different from his age 28 season.

6. Is he the very best baseball player in history who is not in the Hall of Fame?

No.

7. Are most players who have comparable statistics in the Hall of Fame?

Of his ten most comparable players only Orlando Cepeda is in. This is critical because for Martinez to be viewed as a viable candidate he has to be considered a great hitter.

8. Do the player's numbers meet Hall of Fame standards?

Black Ink – 20 (27 average HoF)
Gray Ink – 107 (144 average HoF)
Standards – 50.0 (50 average HoF)
Monitor – 131.5 (100 average HoF)

This is actually more impressive than one would think at first glance. Modern players suffer a bit on these criteria as they play in 14 (or 16) team leagues rather than 8 or 10 team leagues.

9. Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics?

After the age of 31 Edgar played fewer than 10 games in the field a year. This is obviously partially injury driven but when Mike Blowers and Russ Davis are forced in there you know that the M’s would have liked to have let him play a little defense if he could have.

10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?

Yes.

11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close?

One MVP-caliber season in 1995 though he did not win.

12. All Star Type seasons?

He made seven All Star teams and probably could have made a couple of others.

13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant?

I doubt it. Due to the lack of defensive ability that he had a team of lesser players would be solid hitters with poor defensive acumen or a team of Coco Crisps.

14. What impact did the player have on baseball history? Was he responsible for any rule changes? Did he introduce any new equipment? Did he change the game in any way?

He is probably the best player ever considered purely a Designated Hitter. This is one of the big arguments for him going to the Hall of Fame; he is the best ever at his position.

At what point does that argument lose credence though? Should Lenny Harris or John Vander Wal go in as the best pinch hitters? Does Mike Stanton go in as the best LOOGY ever?

To me Martinez’ case is that he has to be unquestionably the best hitter not in the Hall. I have not at this point studied it enough to render a definitive opinion on the matter.

15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

Yes he did.
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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

After a one year break the Angels returned to the playoffs in 2007. Unfortunately their stay in the post-season was the briefest of brief stays as they were swept by the eventual World Champions for the second time in four years.

With the A’s rebuilding and the Rangers and Mariners seeming to be .500 teams the Angels have the clearest shot at the post-season of any team in baseball. To their credit the Angels did not stand pat this off-season making several high profile moves. Let’s look at a couple of them;

Added Torii Hunter – I am not a fan of this move as I feel Hunter is an overrated player. What I like about this move is that it is a not-so-subtle admission that the acquisition of Gary Matthews last year was an error.

By adding Hunter the Angels have done two things; they have moved Matthews to a reserve role and they have created depth for an outfield that features two fragile players in Guerrero and Anderson. Add Reggie Willits to the equation and you have a nice rotation set up.

Traded Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland – The Angels were fourth in the American League in runs scored in 2007. With some combination of Erick Aybar, Brandon Wood and Maicer Izturis manning shortstop in 2008 they should not have a tremendous drop off from Cabrera whose OPS+ of 95 was not impressive in 2007.

On the mound adding Garland should help the #5 pitching staff in the league. Garland is not great but he is steady and will give the Angels 200+ innings at better than league average.

The problem with both of these moves the Angels have improved their squad. Unfortunately all they did was make a 90 win team (Pythagorean record) a 93-95 win team. What they did not do is make an appreciable difference to this team come October. The Angels would have been better off aggressively pursuing either Miguel Cabrera or Johan Santana.

This team didn’t need incremental improvements, it needed targeted improvements designed to make October more than a three and out proposition. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim improved in the off-season yet came out as “losers” when all was said and done.
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Next week – 2008 Predictions in lieu of Sunday Notes
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(Rotoworld and Baseball-Reference were the primary sources for much of the above information)