The Baseball Zealot

Weekend roundup

-There is some baseball happening in the south that doesn’t involve the Rangers. The Arizona Fall League season has started.

-Speaking of the Rangers, there’s no doubt they got the most bang for their buck in 2010.

-I guess we aren’t ready to forget the Cubs’ collapse in the 2003 postseason… but our remembrance might be delayed. Steve Bartman: Catching Hell, the documentary on the unfortunate affair, will be postponed till next year. Could they possibly wait till after the Cubs win a World Series (that way, we might not see it)?

-No surprise here: The columnists at the Sun-Times and Tribune respectively have differing opinions on Mike Quade’s hiring. Post-Trib (owned by ST) column headline: “Sandberg got Sandbagged”. The Trib column claims that Quade is a “good fit”.

Old habits die hard.

-Finally, some Chicago tattoo artists apparently aren’t Sox fans.

Sammy’s corked bat up for bid in online auction

If anyone is interested in plopping down $10,000, you could own parts of Sammy Sosa’s corked bat that he used in the game he caught using it. The auction at Schulte Auctions is still going on and the bid at the moment is $9.840. Hurry, Hurry though! The auction ends October 31.

The current owner of the bat? Former reliever from the Cubs (and pretty much every other NL team) Mike Remlinger, who won the game that night against Tampa Bay. He had the foresight to pick up the barrel of the bat (MLB confiscated the rest of the bat.

The Cardboard Connection has a good write-up on the story.

2010 Worst List

No doubt, I enjoy “best of” lists but I have a morbid fascination with “worst” lists, too.

As always, Andy from the Baseball Reference Blog comes through with his “2010 Least Valuable Player” post. Be prepared to make your arguments because most likely, a favorite player will be on this list.

Somehow, I knew former Cub Ryan Theriot would be on this list.

Quade- the right answer for the Cubs

What to think about the hiring of Mike Quade?? Well, let’s start with the details… He’s getting a two-year contract from the Cubs with an option for 2013. At this point, no money considerations have been discussed.

I like the deal. I’ve been struggling to evaluate the move on its merits alone. As a natural born cynic, I’ve tried to distance myself from my perceptions of the Cubs’ potential motives of hiring Ryne Sandberg (should they have done so). Let’s face it, Ryno has proven himself as manager in minors the last few years. Hiring him would have been more than just a public relations move as I’ve insinuated to my friends. Honestly, Sandberg wouldn’t have been a bad choice at all.

But when it came down to it, I favored hiring Mike Quade as manager of the Cubs and now that the deal is done, I still like it. Forget the 24-13 record he posted at the end of 2010, the 53-year old Evanston, IL native has the goods without it. Quade has experience. He’s managed a prolific 2,378 games in the minors. But more importantly, he has a reputation of possessing strong leadership skills and being a good on-the-field manager, all which comes with experience.

Earlier, I said forget Quade’s 24-13 run with the Cubs in 2010. But maybe don’t dismiss it completely. The Cub players responded quite well to Quade’s leadership and even said so to the press. The cynics among us have said that perhaps it was more the lack of Piniella that players were responding to and that is a point well taken. Yet, no one can dismiss the support that he got both implicitly and explicitly.

What does Cub Nation think about the Quade hiring?? If you take Bleed Cubbie Blue’s vast readership as any indication, you can check out its poll on the hiring of Quade. BCB readers support it… kinda. A whopping 38% supported the hiring of Quade while 19% didn’t (41% didn’t really have an opinion. An indecisive bunch, these Cub fans).

A few questions remain:

How much of a leash does Quade have with a rebuilding 2011 Cubs team?
For that matter (and this is relevant, of course), what of Jim Hendry? Is he on the hot seat?
Will Cub fans learn to embrace Mike Quade when he won’t be able to replicate his 24-13 success in 2011 (let’s face it, the biggest Quade fans out there know he can’t do that)?
What happens to Ryne Sandberg? There have been rumors you might see him on the coaching staff of the Cubs.

At any rate, I wish Mike Quade well. He’s (officially) stepping into some big shoes and doesn’t have an easy row to hoe in 2011.

Good info on the Three-I League

Charles Braxton points out in a TBZ comment that there is a nice summary on the Three-I League in Baseball Reference’s Bullpen section.

You usually don’t find a lot of documentation on the now defunct Midwest-based league anymore so I’m happy to see this. Indeed, you’ll find standings and league leaders for each year of its sixty-year history at the BR Bullpen.

If you browse the page, baseball historians will most likely find names they recognize. Hank Majeski, Joe Vosmik, Tony Kubek, Mudcat Grant,.. and some pitcher named Warren Spahn.

And only in the early-to-mid 1900s Midwest would have team names like the Peoria Tractors, Moline Ploughboys and Bloomington Bloomers.

thanks for passing this on, Charles! A real gem!

Burgos to speak at UI

For those in the Champaign-Urbana area, professor and noted author Adrian Burgos will be giving a talk at the Y Friday Forum this week. The title of the talk is “Playing for the Dream? Baseball, Latinos, Immigration and the American Dream”.

Burgos is an associate professor at the University of Illinois and has wrote Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line (a good book if you haven’t read it). He specializes in Latino and race relations and yes, baseball,

Friday, October 15 · 12:00pm – 1:30pm

More details at the University YMCA’s website.

Instant Replay and respect for the men in blue

Sports columnist Terence Moore has it right when it comes to umpires, instant replay and when it comes down to it, fan respect. And he quite succinctly makes his point in his first two sentences of his article posted today (my emphasis):

This umpire mess has to stop. Not the questionable calls or even the horrible ones, but the whining over it all.

As a person who works in a technology field, I should probably embrace instant replay over the inconsistencies of human judgment, But I don’t. Call me a traditionalist but that’s just not how baseball is played.

My special concern is WHY the idea of instant replay is gaining so much ground now.

1. The mob mentality.. Now that the issue has come to light, many fans have seized on it and thrown it back into the umps’ face. Instead of “where are your glasses, Blue?” fans are yelling “Replay! Replay Replay!” It gives them something else to be angry about.

2. Major League Baseball, in their effort to appear to please everyone all the time (without really doing so) is slowly jerking their knee and responding. “See we’re doing something about it?”

(In complete fairness, I know of plenty of knowledgeable, even-thinking people who support the idea of Instant Replay and have logical, thought-out reasons why they support it. I certainly would not clump them in with the first group.)

Whether or not one supports Instant Replay should not give a fan license to treat an ump with disrespect as Terence Moore’s piece describes in detail. Now, I go to 20 or so college baseball games a year and sure, I’ve been known to call out an ump on a questionable call. But though I do not like his particular decision at the time, he has my respect for the tough job that he does.

Even Frank Robinson from the MLB commissioner’s office weighed in on the umpires’ treatment.

"From fans, players, managers, coaches and front office people, I’ve never seen so much hostility toward umpires that I’ve seen this year. "All of this (umpire bashing) is very, very unfair. Do they miss calls? Of course they do. One thing people forget: Umpires are human beings.”

So let’s proceed with the Instant Replay discussion carefully and thoughtfully. And if you’re lucky enough to be out at park this year, don’t take it out on the ump.

Guest post: Rich Williams on what happened to the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals

This post is penned by friend and die-hard Cardinals fan Rich Williams. When asked by us Cub fans over email what happened to St Louis this year, Rich wrote this very thoughtful and analytical piece on the Cardinals. What went right, what went wrong and the look to the future.

I asked his permission if I could re-post it here and he graciously yes. Thanks, Rich!

-tbz

After watching Halladay pitch a no-hitter in his first ever post-season appearance, Texas pound the Rays, and the Yankees continued Torment of the Twins, I think we can all agree that both STL and the Cubs (maybe a little more with the Cubs) have a longgggggggggggg way to go. My pleasure will become in watch Dusty make stupid pitching choices on the way to a 3-and-out.

So, I can’t let Alex’s questions go by without some insights. I have to admit, this is the most complex Cardinal season I have ever tried to dissect. I think there are a few problems I can immediately identify:

1. LOW OBP by leadoff batters caused overall run totals to sag. Felipe Lopez was not the answer offensively or defensively to Schumaker sagging to his career means in both areas. Ditto Aaron Miles, although his BA was inexplicably decent for a part time player.

2. Inconsistent performance by 3-4 hitters in RISP situations. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a clutch hitter (ala Bill James), so the only explanation I can offer is both were pressing and expanding their strike zones because ……

3. Very LOW OPS in 5/6/7 slots after Freese went down, Rasmus went down, Ludwick was hurt then was traded, Allen Craig could not hit MLB pitching, etc. Molina struggled offensively all year and finally broke down when Larue got his head kicked in by Cueto.

4. Lack of depth, period for third base (feliz????) both at bat and on the field.

5. Not getting Jake Westbrook enough innings after spending so much to get him

6. Bad chemistry in the club house with enough blame to go around. Felipe became the scapegoat, but the problems between the players and Tony eventually extended to Albert, Holliday and Carpenter. Losing Ludwick was a major contributor to negative clubhouse atmosphere just when they needed it most.

7. A curious inability to beat tail-ender teams like the Cubs while piling up an impressive record against above-.500 and contending teams.

8. Below average defensive performance compared to previous years in general, particularly against lesser teams.

Summary:

The Cardinals season got decided in the six weeks following the sweep of the Reds immediately after the All-Star Break. All the problems above seemed to descend in a vengeance. Problems in finding a 4th and 5th starter (Lohse and Suppan) aggravated these issues by consistently putting a team behind 4-5 runs early when they could not score. This in turn burned down what had been one of the most effective bullpens in the NL culminating the outrageous game in Denver where the Rockies came back in the bottom of the 9th trailing 9-3 to win 12-9 on a walk-off 3-run homer. September found them so far behind and still struggling to score runs that even the Cincy mini-collapse only narrowed the ending gap to 5 games. Getting swept by Cubs (who finished 11 games in back of them) in STL was pretty much the end of the line.

2011 Needs:

1. A lead-off hitter that improves on these stats:

BA (rank) … OBP (rank) … SLG (rank)

245 (12th) … .309 (13th) … .350 (13th)

2. An everyday 2nd baseman with league average OPS at least. (Trade)

3. An everyday third basement with league average OPS at least. (Freese, Descalso, Greene are likely contenders)

4. Overall depth at infield positions as opposed to outfield positions. This is where a lot of younger players from Memphis who came on late will contend (Greene, Descalso).

5. An everyday right fielder with minimum league average OPS, if not a little more.

6. Sign Pujols to an extension.

7. Resign Westbrook.

NB: Brendan Ryan remains an way above league average fielding shortstop that the pitching staff trusts and insists is in the game most of the time. His offense can remain a semi-black hole as long as his defense comes back in 2011 instead of his 2010 where he got injured early. The Skip Schumacker experiment at 2b is over and he will either return to outfield duty of get traded as a throw-in somewhere.

Good things in 2010:

1. Young players making strides: Jaime Garcia, John Jay, Tyler Greene, Colby Rasmus, Jason Motte, Kyle McClellan.

2. Starting pitching and bullpen.

3. Pythagorean for RS/RA projected a better record (92 wins) even with problems above. See defensive issues, problems against lesser teams, consistency in run scoring.

4. 86 win season matching 2006 club. Reds simply beat them despite playing sub-.500 ball against winning teams by cleaning up on tail-enders (but only by 5 games=91 wins). Reds outscored Cardinals gave up far fewer runs and dominated the heads up series 12-6.

Where to improve:

Offense:

Improve on these 2010 numbers across the board:

RUNS 736 14th Overall

ON BASE PERCENTAGE .332 13th Overall

SLUGGING PCT .402 16th Overall

Pitching:

Improve on following 2010 numbers

QUALITY STARTS 94 6th Overall (Find 4th and 5th starters who are healthy and go six innings)

WHIP

1.30 10th Overall (Ditto)

BAA

.256 16th Overall (Ditto)

Cardinals are way ahead of the Cubs in fielding a contending team, but need to fill some obvious gaps to stay competitive. The Reds will likely come down to earth in terms of RS/RA but will look to improve as well. Offseason will be worth watching for both. Cubs need to clear deadweight payroll, Cardinals will try to deal with limited payroll flexibility given they have locked in Holliday, Lohse and Carpenter and look to lock in Albert.

And what will Tony Larussa do?

What ever happened to Matt Murton?

He’s breaking records in Japan, that’s what

On Tuesday, former Cub outfielder Matt Murton broke the Japanese professional baseball record for most hits in a single season. That record had formerly been held by none other than Ichiro Suzuki.

Murton got his 211th hit for the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday. Ichiro’s former record of 210 hits was accomplished in 1994.

One monkey wrench thrown into the whole record business… Japanese baseball has extended the season 14 games since 1994. Ichiro got his 210 hits in only 130 games while Murton hit his record-breaker in his 142nd game. I don’t know if Japanese baseball culture is hung up on that kind of thing like we were here in America ala “the asterisk”.

Humble Matt gave credit to Ichiro:

"1994 and 2010 are two different seasons. He did it in 130 games. It is what it is, it’s a great honor. In terms of Ichiro, this doesn’t change anything. He’s one of the best players in baseball."

142 games or not, I’ll bet the Cubs would like to have some of that hitting action.

World Series time (sorta)

I sat first row in Game 1 of the World Series today. Ok, maybe it was University of Illinois baseball’s annual “Orange and Blue World Series” but it was still a baseball game. The O&B WS is the Illini’s split squad series they play at this time of year.

I took some photos and did a write-up over at IllinoisBaseballReport.com if you want to see more details.

Update: I went back for Game 2 and Game 3, too.