Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
BASEBALL INSIDER
Ichiro off to a fast start in pursuit of .400
By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News
CINCINNATI | Ichiro Suzuki, known here, there and everywhere as just Ichiro, only hit .356 in April and people are wondering, "What's wrong?"
That's what happens when you set a major-league record the year before with 262 hits. Some thought the Seattle outfielder would hit .400 this year.
Guess what? He still might.
April is not a good month for Ichiro. The .356 this year is 68 points higher than his career April average ... and 101 points higher than he hit last April.
That's right, a guy who had 262 hits, most in history, had only 26 hits last April and batted .244.
But he finished last year at .372, about 20 hits shy of .400. Can he do it, become the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941?
"It has been years (decades, more than a half century) since anyone hit .400," he said. "I don't know if I'll ever do it. I just want to be a player people say has a chance. But it is probably best that no one does it, then no one expects it can be done."
After April of last year, Ichiro averaged 47 hits for each of the other five months. If he had 47 hits in April, he would have hit .402.
Ultimate drop-shot
San Diego's Brian Giles was the catcher when tennis diva Anna Kournikova threw out a ceremonial first pitch in Petco Park.
The starry-eyed Giles promptly went 0 for 22, or, in tennis language, love-22.
Said San Diego Manager Bruce Bochy, "Brian kissed the princess and turned into a frog."
Hell to heaven
Broadcaster Charley Steiner, asked what it is like to move from the New York Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers quickly replied, "Well, The Shawshank Redemption comes to mind. And working with Vin Scully is like playing pepper with Babe Ruth."
A sure thing
Pay attention to today's Colorado Rockies-Florida Marlins game. The way baseball works, the Rockies are cinch winners.
Why? Because they figure to get smoked.
Colorado rookie Jeff Francis starts. He is 3-0 at home with a 2.55 earned run average. He is 1-3 on the road with a 6.69 ERA.
His opponent is Al Leiter, 8-0 for his career against the Rockies in any game outside of Colorado, including a no-hitter.
Bet the mansion and the three-car garage on the Rockies.
Three and out
Chicago Cubs pitcher Mark Prior continues to battle every injury known in pitcherdom, but his head is straight. While most players oppose Commissioner Bud Selig's three-strikes-and-out proposal, Prior stands with him.
"I'm all for it," said Prior. "We play in a three-strike league, so we might as well have three strikes in everything. Fifty (games) to 100 (games) to a lifetime ban sends a clear message."
Who was it who first said, "Just say no?"
Just walk on by
Here's a novel idea the Cincinnati Reds might have considered when they faced Milwaukee and first baseman Lyle Overbay.
JUST WALK THE GUY!
The Chicago Cubs walked him six times in a two-game span and Brewers catcher Damian Miller said, "Obviously, their idea is not to get beat by Lyle Overbay. (Cubs manager) Dusty Baker is no dummy."
The Reds didn't walk Overbay once during a three-game Milwaukee sweep and he went 9 for 11 with three homers, three doubles and seven RBIs.
Some folks are just slow learners.
Even if it's punishment
And here is something the Reds might consider, especially after that 10-run first inning foisted upon them Friday by Los Angeles.
How about a mandatory, full-team workout focusing on fundamentals, like at 8 a.m. before this afternoon's game.
After Pittsburgh lost a 6-4 game (only 6-4?) to the Astros in Houston, Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon ordered a mandatory workout six hours before the next night's game.
"The first thing I told my players is it was not punishment and I don't care what you want to believe. This is to make us better, to correct some of the mistakes we have been making."
Manager Dave Miley might change his message just a tad and say, "This is punishment ..."
Shortened drive time
Jermaine Clark, one of the last cuts in the Cincinnati Reds camp in 2004, was called up this week from Triple-A Sacramento to the Oakland A's.
He lives in San Mateo, 107 miles from Sacramento. For home games, he drove the round-trip 214 miles — rather expensive considering fuel prices in California.
"I was using it as a way to kind of get away from the game a little bit," said Clark. "The 10-minute drive (from San Mateo to Oakland) is a lot better."
On that trip, he has to think fast. And if he makes it in 10 minutes, he is getting a ChPs motorcycle escort.
Just a bad Day
Things aren't going swimmingly between Washington manager Frank Robinson and pitcher Zach Day, a Cincinnati native Robinson demoted to the bullpen last week.
In a recent game, with the score 2-2, Robinson trudged to the mound to take the ball. Day turned his back on Robby, refusing to acknowledge his presence.
"It's not the first time players have felt like this toward managers and I'm not the only guy," said Robinson. "If it comes to the point where it's so unbearable that it affects his performance and it affects my sleep patterns at night and my friendly, sunny personality, then you have to start thinking, 'Would (Day) be better off someplace else?"
Robby's friendly and sunny personality is a figment of his own imagination. Some believe Condescending is his middle name.
A novel approach
Everybody's heard of an intentional walk, but how about an intentional balk? Cleveland's Bob Wickman said he intentionally balked last week in the ninth inning of a game the Tribe led by two runs with a runner on second.
Why? He thought the runner on second base, Minnesota's Mike Cuddyer, might be watching the catcher and signaling pitches to the batter.
So Wickman, pitching out of the stretch, lifted his left leg, froze in position, then put it back down ... an obvious balk.
"As I did it, I'm thinking to myself, 'There it is, Dude, call it,'" said Wickman. Umpire Rick Reed called it, putting Cuddyer on third, where he couldn't relay pitches or location.
Amazingly, it was Wickman's first balk in 676 appearances over 911 innings.
The Phillies Phrenzy
Speaking of managers, Philadelphia skipper Charlie Manuel is known as a sweet guy, a drawling, down-home country guy who speaks in homilies — except to those tough-guy Philadelphia writers.
The season is barely a month old and already Manuel snapped, saying to the writers, "You can write about who should be on the team, who can pitch, who can bleeping play all you want. Really, I don't give a damn."
Calling Doc Kremchek
Cincinnati Reds team physician Tim Kremchek can expect a call from the San Francisco Giants and one of the worlds will be, "Help!"
Closer Armando Benitez completely tore his hamstring covering first base, something rare for a baseball player and unheard of for a pitcher.
Ken Griffey Jr. sustained the injury last year and needed three screws to re-attach the hamstring.
Trainer Stan Conte said there is no literature on any pitcher sustaining the injury, so he plans to consult with San Francisco 49ers physician Michael Dillingham and Kremchek.
Register To Reply
