Bleacher Creature Feature

#22: Early Saturday Thoughts

3 August 2002

Does it ever make any sense to swing on 3-0? I remember being at a Yankees/Devil Rays game last year when Victor Zambrano gave up a single to Derek Jeter, then walked the bases loaded. David Justice then came up and just left the bat on his shoulder. Why not? Zambrano's relationship with the strike zone was not a cordial one. When he went to 3-0, I couldn't imagine why he would have the green light. What would be the point, especially with the bases loaded? And, natch, Justice walked in a run.

I mention this only because last Sunday against the Devil Rays, the Yankees had a great scoring opportunity in the second inning, with as yet no score. Tanyon Sturtze walked Robin Ventura and Jorge Posada to start the inning, then went to 3-0 on Raul Mondesi. What possible reason could Raul have to swing at the ball? A walk loads the bases, puts a ton more pressure on the pitcher, and turns a good scoring opportunity into a great one.

So Mondesi -- the alleged "great pick-up" of the Yanks' -- hits a cheap fly ball to center, Rondell White then grounds into a DP, and the inning ends.

Of course, the Yanks eventually won 9-1, so it hardly mattered. Still, I wondered as I was listening, why would anyone swing on 3-0, especially after two straight walks? That's a sure sign that the pitcher's control is off. If the count's 3-1, that's a different story, but in a situation where a walk would help you more than an out (and it would have in this case), and you don't have any strikes on you (so you can probably spare one this pitch in case the pitcher does finally find the plate), the bat should stay on your shoulder at 3-0.

The Good Ship Weaver finally righted itself Friday night. In fact, he had a night frighteningly similar to the guy they traded him for, as, like Ted Lilly, Jeff Weaver pitched an excellent game, and, like Lilly, the Yanks provided no run support, handing Weaver a tough-luck 2-1 loss in his best pitching performance since joining the team.

And, for the record, I still think the trade was dumb, even though Lilly's on the DL right now.

George Steinbrenner is justifiably angry that the Yankees are accused of trying to buy a pennant, yet nobody says a damn thing about the acquisition of Cliff Floyd by the Red Sox -- under, it might be added, dubious circumstances. For details on those circumstances, I point you to Baseball Prospectus guru Joe Sheehan's excellent column on the subject.

Montreal's powers-that-be (president Tony Tavares and GM Omar Minaya) have asked Steinbrenner for an apology (see the story at ESPN.com), and in my not-very-damn-humble opinion, Steinbrenner should tell them to stuff it. Let Tavares and Minaya explain why they turned around and dealt Floyd so soon after acquiring him. If Montreal's supposed to be eliminated (or "contracted," to use the popular euphemism), as Bud Selig keeps semi-threatening, why did they acquire prospects, which is a long-term future move? If they're still going to be around, why didn't they keep Floyd to try to keep their wild-card hopes alive? If they don't have wild-card hopes, why trade for Floyd and Bartolo Colon in the first place?

Making this stink all the more is the fact that a) the Expos are run by Major League Baseball, b) Florida, from whom the Expos acquired Floyd, is now owned by Jeffrey Loria, who used to own the Expos, but now own the Marlins, in a deal brokered by MLB, c) the new owners of the Red Sox include former Marlins owner John Henry, in another deal brokered under seriously dubious circumstances by MLB.

Not only should Steinbrenner not apologize, he should demand an investigation into this hotbed of conflict of interest. Not that he'd get one, of course.....

Andy Pettitte had another great start Friday night, coming within two-thirds of an inning of a complete game shutout. It would've been nice if he'd gone all the way -- that would've given him two CG shutouts since coming off the DL -- but I'll take it. This game was made even more impressive by coming against a good team. I mean, you expect Pettitte to shut down the Devil Rays (he's the one who won the 9-1 game Sunday), but the Angels are in the thick of the tough AL West race.

And the Yanks need the pitching to gets its act together. Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez are pitching okay right now, but you never know with El Duque. Mike Mussina is having an awful year, Roger Clemens's injuries are problematic, David Wells keeps complaining of back problems, Weaver is still a question mark, and Sterling Hitchcock is a joke. At least two of these guys need to be brilliant if the Yankees are to have any chance in the postseason. (I'm more sanguine about the bullpen. Even a Mariano Rivera that's less than perfect is better than most, Mike Stanton always pitches lousy in August, and Steve Karsay has been excellent. The biggest concern is whether or not Ramiro Mendoza can right himself.)

Everyone's (with reason) talking about Alfonso Soriano, but has anyone noticed that Jason Giambi has become the single scariest hitter in the league? He's fifth in BA (.317), first in OBP (.437), third in SLG (.603), second in OPS (1.043), fourth in HR (28), tied for third in RBI (87), second in walks drawn (75), and fifth in runs scored (82).

And they were booing this guy in April. Unbelievable.

Yesterday was the twenty-third anniversary of my favorite Yankee as a kid, Thurman Munson.

RIP, Thurm.

NEXT: Catching Up

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