Ding Dong! The Witch is dead.
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
— The Wizard of Oz
After the game today, Giovanni Carrara was outrighted to Tacoma to make room for John Mabry to come off the DL. There’s always room for a gripe — they should have just released him — but at least this is a step in the right direction.
That raises a different point, though: if McLemore’s in the game to rest Cirillo, why move McLemore to short and put Cirillo in? Why not play Ugueto/Bloomquist at short (or third, if you’re fixated on Mark the Shortstop) and let Cirillo continue to have a day off? In other news, Edgar has his prosthetic legs back, which must be reassuring for him. Still, burning a roster spot on a pinch-runner is a poor use of resources.
The M’s are at it again, moving players around as if player development was a game of three-card monty. Never fear, dear readers, the Big Board is here for all your minor league needs. Real live major leaguer John Mabry is rehabbing in Tacoma, a move which cost minor league veteran Jeff Abbott his job. The Rainiers also received Rett Johnson from San Antonio this week, and he’ll make his AAA debut on Friday. Johnson is the M’s most advanced pitching prospect and could easily see the majors before the year is out. In other prospect news, Chris Snelling is back in San Antonio after a few weeks rehabbing his knee in Peoria. Snelling DHed for the Missions last night and will probably do so for a few games until he gets his timing back. Despite the fact that it’s nearly July, he really hasn’t faced that much live pitching this season.
Finally, I know some of you were waiting for the AquaSox to join the Big Board, but I have to ask that you be patient. Let’s give it about a week to see who’s playing regularly and what the starting rotation looks like, and I’ll get them on there soon enough.
Today’s Baseball Prospectus features a funny article on the Washington Mutual Kids’ Inning, and I think everyone should read it. If you don’t get a good laugh out of it, I’ll be shocked. Or disappointed.
“Yeah,” some of you say, “but it’s a subscriber article.”
“Yeah,” I would respond, “you should be a subscriber, what’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing, I just don’t want to spend $34 on content when I can get much worse, free content elsewhere.”
“Hey, if you want to eat the discounted hot dogs of the Net, that’s no skin off my back, but are you going to tell me you’re not a big enough baseball fan to pay to get 3-5 ad-free top-quality baseball articles every day from some of the best baseball writers working, and me?”
And then you’d go subscribe and become happy customers, wallowing in the sea of awesome content presented to you every day, and your life would become appreciably better. I’ll stop now.
Anyway, check it out.
Minor League Highlights for Wednesday, June 18
Tacoma 5, Memphis 2. LHP Craig Anderson pitched a solid game (8 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), leading the Rainiers to their second straight victory since returning home. Anderson allowed a run in the first inning but settled down after that, improving his record to 5-7 on the year. LF Andy Barkett led the offense with his 9th homer of the year, finishing 2-4 with a run scored and two driven in. CF Chad Meyers and C Pat Borders each added a pair of hits, and Meyers stole his 20th base of the season. RHP Aaron Taylor worked a perfect 9th to pick up his 15th save (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K).
San Antonio 5, Midland 2. 2B Jay Pecci, recently sent down from Tacoma, led a 12-hit attack with a 3-5 night in his first game with the Missions this season. RF Elpidio Guzman also added three hits, and the five runs were more than enough for LHP Bobby Madritsch (5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) to pick up the win. RHP Jared Hoerman worked the 9th (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) for his 21st save of the year.
Lake Elsinore 6, Inland Empire 3. RHP Kevin Olore was hit hard (1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) and took the loss, though after the game he learned he was being promoted to San Antonio to help fill the club’s starting rotation. The bullpen helped keep the team in the game (combined: 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K), but the 66ers couldn’t get things going on offense. 3B Blake Bone, recently promoted from Wisconsin, went 2-4 with a double to lead the attack.
Wisconsin returns to action tonight after the Midwest League’s All-Star break. The team has yet to announce a starter, though it’s Bobby Livingston’s turn if they keep in rotation from before the break.
Everett 6, Vancouver 4. The AquaSox opened their Northwest League season with a win behind the bat of CF Chris Colton, who homered, doubled, scored twice and drove in two runs in four at-bats. 1B Brian Lahair and LF Josh Womack each also added a pair of hits in support of LHP Victor Ramirez (5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), who picked up the win in his professional debut. Relievers Brad Rose (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) and Brandon Moorhead (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) combined to retire the last nine hitters of the game in order, with Moorhead pitching the 9th to pick up the save.
My bad. I didn’t see that McLemore started the game at 3B tonight. Please, save your emails.
Carlos Guillen just left tonight’s game with a bruised right elbow. Mark McLemore replaced him. I’m no Luis Ugueto fan, but if you’re not going to use him here, what’s the point of even having him on the roster? McLemore really shouldn’t play the infield these days, and particularly not shortstop. Sure, Ugueto can’t hit a lick, but at least he can field the position. And it’s not as if McLemore’s an offensive threat, either.
I just posted something about the AquaSox, but apparently Blogger ate it. Oh well. The basic message is that the Everett AquaSox open their Northwest League season tonight at home against Vancouver. Lefty Victor Ramirez will take the mound for the Frogs and first pitch is scheduled for 7pm. The Everett Herald has a couple of good articles about the team, most notably this 2003 season preview and this piece about catcher Brian Lentz, an undrafted free agent signed out of Harvard.
Provided you’re far enough north of Seattle to pick up their signal, you can catch all the action on KSER 90.7 FM. To get the broadcast on the ‘net, you’ll need this link. Tell Pat Dillon the boys at the USS Mariner sent you.
U.S.S. Mariner-endorsed Seattle Times writer Larry Stone has another couple of fine articles in his “Art of Baseball” series up. This time it’s about clubhouses and while it contains some of the more worn cliches (“One of the supreme compliments in baseball, thus, is to be “a great guy in the clubhouse,” because more teams have been brought down by internal bickering than by poor fielding or untimely hitting.”) it’s still a good read. There’s a companion piece “10 Great Moments in Clubhouse History“. Stone continues to provide the best Seattle-area baseball coverage that rubs off on your hand.
Super Tuesday usually means jerky, but last night it meant Dave Niehaus Story Time CDs, which I swear I thought was some kind of elaborate hoax when I first heard it announced. In the spirit of last night’s Super Tuesday giveaway, we now present Dave Niehaus and Ron Fairly in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Hamlet:
To bunt, or not to bunt: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The bunts and steals of run manufacture,
Or to swing away for dingers,
And by hitting win games?
Horatio:
Hamlet, what you need to remember here is that you’re not the one in trouble. Claudius is the one in trouble. He’s got to stop the bleeding.
(yes, I know the pentameter’s busted)
Overheard at the ballpark, Tuesday 6-17-2003
“What do you do with an elephant with three balls?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Walk him and pitch to the giraffe! WAHAHAHAHAHA!!”