• Yes, this story about the David Ortiz jersey has been a pleasant little diversion from our daily humdrum. But I can't help thinking it could have been more fun. If I were Hank Steinbrenner, I would have announced with great fanfare that the jersey would remain buried in concrete until Ortiz -- at this moment, 3 for 43 on the season -- got his batting average above the Mendoza Line. Can you imagine the reaction from Red Sox Nation?
• Do you think someday, thousands of years from now, historians will wonder if The Onion was for real? If so, they'll have to look real hard to find
this game.
• As David Pinto points out,
Joe Girardi took a lot of crap for pitching to
Manny Ramirez on Saturday ...
and didn't deserve even the tiniest of crap.
• Richard Sandomir writes movingly about the
few remaining New York Giants fans. If I lived in New York I'd show up at the meetings and just listen.
•
David Wright hit his third homer yesterday, against the Brewers. That's not bad. If he hits three home runs every two weeks he'll finish the season with 35 or 40. But of course the real story in that game was
Gabe Kapler hitting his
fourth home run. Which, considering Kapler's recent history, is
a great story even if he doesn't do anything else this year.
• Speaking of names from the past, you gotta be happy for
Nelson Figueroa, who Friday night picked up
his first win in the majors since 2003. If he'd just been a kid in 2003, or if he'd built some credentials prior to 2003, we might have expected to see him again someday. But Figueroa didn't reach the majors until he was almost 26, and in his first five seasons in the majors he never won more than four games in one season.
• Saturday, the Braves released
Scott Spiezio, who'd been playing for their Triple-A team, after he showed up at the ballpark
"not ready to play." In the old days they used to call this being "out of condition." Funny how some things don't change.
• If you've been wondering how much money the Marlins
really are losing (or making),
this treatise by a real Miami accountant should hold you for a while. (H/T to
The Hardball Times.)
•
Brian Bannister pitched brilliantly again yesterday. No Banny Log from Posnanski yet -- I guess he's still making his way home from Augusta -- so that'll have to wait. But PECOTA predicted six wins for Bannister this season, and after two weeks he's halfway there (and yes, one of these days I'll get PECOTA in here to defend him/itself).
•
Francisco Liriano didn't pitch so brilliantly yesterday, and Baseball-Intellect looks at
the big differences between Liriano pre- and post-Tommy John surgery.
• OK, so maybe he's no Brian Bannister. But
Chien-Ming Wang is pretty good, too. Driveline Mechanics looks at
Wang's mechanics (naturally) along with his Pitchf/x data.
Rob Neyer
