Lima Time No More

It’s Lima Time no more here among us mortals. Those of us who haven’t won 21 games in a season or led a team to the playoffs and those of us who don’t talk to everyone we see, sign autographs for every kid and love to dance will miss him. Jose was one of a kind; he loved playing baseball and felt lucky to be in the major leagues. He stomped around the mound, pumped his fist, loved the limelight. But unlike some of the spoiled brats around baseball these days, he enjoyed every day and brought joy to everyone around him.

After his major league career was over, he kept right on playing anywhere he could – the Mexican League, the Golden League, the Independent League. His energy, good humor and love of the game will be remembered everywhere he played for a long time. And if there’s baseball in heaven, he’ll be throwing tomorrow.

While I Wasn't Watching

The Artful Dodger has been busy becoming a grandmother for the last few days and hasn’t watched much baseball. Now that the future Astro is safely delivered, here’s what I seem to have missed.

The surprising Cincinnati Reds keep winning. Guess who’s atop the N.L. Central. It’s the Reds, whose specialty this season is winning in their last at bat. Not surprising when you see that their everyday lineup has no one hitting below .250 and that their starters generally go deep into games.

The Dodgers continued their win streak. Despite blowing a three run lead, the Dodgers beat the Astros for their ninth straight win. With Andre Ethier going on the DL, and the blown lead, you’d think the streak was in jeopardy, but this was the Astros, who unlike the Reds hardly have anyone in the starting lineup batting above .250.

The Nationals have started losing. Don’t know whether to start worrying about them quite yet, but the Nats have dropped five in a row and the magic that was Tyler Clippard seems to have vanished. Clippard is a middle reliever who was an astonishing 7-1 until a few days ago when his habit of letting inherited runners score caught up with him. Now he’s letting not only the other guy’s runners score, but also his own. The Cardinals took advantage of that and edged the Nats 3-2 last night.

Bullpen Woes

It’s tough to be a starting pitcher when your team has no bullpen. Just ask Jason Vargas or Brian Matusz. Yesterday, Vargas took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning and had a two run lead. He left the game after allowing a couple of cheap hits and the Mariner’s bullpen took over. Enter Brandon League, the same guy who blew a big lead a few days ago against Baltimore. This time he faced the Tampa Bay Rays and the result was the same. Vargas’ terrific effort was wiped out as both runners scored. Jesus Colome finished the job by giving up a walk-off home run in the ninth.

Fate or the bullpen was even crueler to the Orioles' Brian Matusz who also had a two run lead against Cleveland yesterday entering the ninth inning. In walked Alfredo Simon, who has been used as a closer since injuries sidelined Michael Gonzales who had been spectacularly ineffective in his brief stint as closer and Jim Johnson, the inconsistent set-up guy. Simon had been credited with five saves and had a 0.00 ERA. He promptly gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. The five saves and zero ERA were misleading. Simon has flirted with disaster in each outing; he falls behind hitters, issues walks, and has been saved by remarkable defensive plays behind him. This time no one could save him and he let Matusz’ effort go to waste. After allowing four runs, he was replaced by Cla (yes, that’s really how it’s spelled) Meredith who gave up four more.
The bullpen, charged with getting three outs and preserving a shutout, gave up eight runs to the Cleveland Indians. They say bullpen pitchers have short memories; that they can have a bad outing and come back the next day and do well. Let’s hope starting pitchers do too. And that they forgive quickly too.

Here's Why You Never Leave Early

A funny thing happened yesterday afternoon on the way to another mediocre loss for the Baltimore Orioles. They won.

And their victory was a perfect illustration of why you should never leave a game early. The Orioles were playing the Mariners and facing Felix Hernandez, one of the best pitchers in baseball. The M’s had a comfortable 5-1 lead through seven lackluster innings. It would have been easy to give up. But there’s no clock; the game wasn’t over, even if the outcome felt like a foregone conclusion. Because all of a sudden, the fun started. In the bottom of the eighth, King Felix was replaced by the oft-used Brandon League who gave up a home run, a wild pitch, a single, a walk and then a grand slam to Luke Scott. Suddenly, the score was 6-5 and the Orioles had the lead. The futility of the first seven innings was erased.

O’s closer Alfredo Simon opened the door for the Mariner’s in the top of the ninth but just as quickly the O’s defense slammed it shut. The game ended with a play at the plate. A strong throw from left field caught a runner trying to score on a single by Ichiro. Bang. Game over but not the way you’d expected.

Perfect Magic

How ironic that Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden was the young pitcher who dared to take offense when Alex Rodriguez ran across the mound after fouling off a pitch a few weeks ago. Rodriguez dismissed Braden as someone who wasn’t important enough to respond to. Since then we have been treated to dozens of tiresome comments on who was right and whether there really is an unwritten rule that a batter doesn’t run across the pitcher’s mound.

Yesterday, Braden joined a small group (he’s the 19th) of pitchers who’ve thrown a perfect game. It’s such a fragile thing and not in one’s control. Theoretically, a pitcher can control whether he gives up a hit or a walk. But no errors? Wow. Eight other guys have your game in their hands and as the outs mount up, the tension builds. By the time Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop, you’ve been holding your breath for three innings.

Naturally, the Yankees were asked for their reaction. On the surface, their remarks seem congratulatory. But look again. Rodriguez and his buddy AJ Burnett’s remarks are flip and classless. It was Mother’s Day. What did Mom teach you? If you can’t say something nice…

Congratulations, Dallas Braden and the Oakland A’s.

How Many Pitches is Enough?

Last night a funny thing happened to 22 year old Mat Latos on the way to pitching his first major league shutout for the Padres. His manager took him out after the eighth inning. This despite the fact that he had cruised through the game, had a 7 – 0 lead and had given up only two hits.

Half a continent away, Jamie Moyer also had a shutout going He too had given up only two hits and would win the game 7-0. At age 47 he would become the oldest pitcher to throw one because his manager let him finish the job. Besides, there probably would have been a riot in Philly if Moyer had been removed.

So Moyer made history and Latos pitched eight innings and was done. Are managers becoming slaves to the concept of pitch count? In some cases, I think they are. Now, I have nothing against bringing young guys along slowly. It’s a lot better than leaving guys out there too long, or using guys out of the bullpen day after day until their arms go dead. But when reaching your pitch count supplants throwing a complete game as the goal of a pitcher, something’s wrong. Latos had thrown 107 pitches, the Astros weren’t hitting any of them. He should have been allowed to finish.

New and Improved

Don’t look now but the Washington Nationals are no longer the doormats of the National League. Sporting a respectable 15-13 record they have won 5 series thus far and these guys have an attitude: they hate to lose and are having fun winning. And they are not afraid to show it. After each victory, the TV guy interviews the player of the game. Instead of the usual mumbling and “aw shucks” the guy wears a giant silver Elvis wig throughout the whole interview. It’s not the fact that it’s outlandish, outrageous and makes them look ridiculous. It’s the fact that they all do it. They are a team.

I think the change from no so loveable losers to “let’s find a way to win this thing” started last year with the departure of Manny Acta and the promotion of Jim Riggleman as manager. Both are good baseball men but Manny seemed to accept losing with a little too much grace. Maybe that’s a good thing because his new team, the Cleveland Indians, is pretty good at it. Riggleman practically wears an “I hate to lose” decal on his uniform and the guys who play for him got the memo-- even though they go on TV in silver Elvis wigs.

Will the Real Barry Zito Please Stand Up

I am fascinated by the career of Barry Zito, the left-handed pitcher whose fortunes seemed to plummet when he moved across the Bay from Oakland to San Francisco. Well, at least his pitching fortunes. His actual fortune was something like $126 million over seven years. In 2007 when the Giants signed the Cy Young award winner, they assumed they were getting a top of the rotation guy and Zito’s numbers in his seven seasons with Oakland justified that belief. His curveball was widely regarded as the best in baseball.

Alas, his first two years with the Giants were pretty awful. He struggled mightily with control, lost velocity on his fastball and his ERA ballooned. After a mediocre 2007, with the litany of excuses: new ballpark, new league, pressure because of the huge contract, 2008 started off even worse. Zito went 0-6 in April with a 7.53. He was relegated to the bullpen and got his first win of the season in late May.

While his stats in 2009 were nothing to write home about, Zito seemed to settle into the middle of a Giants rotation led by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Once again, like in Oakland, the pressure was off. And this season, Zito has started 6-0, with wins against some decent clubs (as well as some light-hitting teams).

So what is the explanation for the roller coaster that is Planet Zito? I don’t buy the change of league excuse. Even I, a genetically determined National Leaguer, admit that pitching there is easier than in the DH-ridden American League. And while no park is easier to pitch in than Oakland, with its acres of foul territory, San Francisco’s ballpark, (whose name has changed so often I won’t even guess what it is this morning) isn’t a place pitchers go to die. I think Barry Zito was never a number one starter and we just didn’t know it. In Oakland, he had Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson surrounding him in a low-expectation environment. In San Francisco during 2007 and 2008 he was supposed to be the second coming. Didn’t happen. He wasn’t that guy. Now he doesn't have to be.

Voices of the Game

Baseball lost Ernie Harwell yesterday, one of the last great voices of the game. I’m sure you could tune in to any game being played yesterday and hear broadcasters reminisce about Harwell’s kindness and enthusiasm, the great stories he would tell and how he was once traded by the Georgia Crackers for a player. Harwell, like all the other great broadcasters, had that special voice. Unmistakable, relaxed, natural, sounding like he was doing exactly what he was meant to do.

When will the national television stations that broadcast baseball tap into the few remaining voices? Why can’t we hear Vin Scully the next time ESPN carries the Dodgers? I have nothing against the nice young men in suits who can barely speak English and know little or nothing about pre-1985 baseball. I just don’t want to listen to them call a game.