Sunday Baseball Notes
1) The USA got crushed in the WBC last night, losing 11-1 in seven innings. It was truly a dark day for the American squad, whose chances of advancing to the next round are fading. My favorite reaction? Gerry Fraley of foxsports.com said that, "All that was lacking was American parents behind the dugout, telling their sons that they had tried hard." Journalists, reporters, and experts have all agreed that "this shouldn't happen to the Americans," but I think that people need to start realizing that there is a wealth of baseball talent all across the world. And while the game will always be America's "national past-time," the fact is that there are other teams that are just better.
2) Yankees GM Brian Cashman angrily took issue Thursday with an anecdote about him and Jason Giambi that is contained in a new book about Roger Clemens. The book, The Rocket That Fell to Earth, by Jeff Pearlman, is to be released later this month. The book said that when Giambi went through a slump in the 2002 season, his first with the Yankees, Cashman was heard yelling, "Jason, whatever you were taking in Oakland," get back on it. Cashman's response? "That is completely false." I'm sure it is, Brian.
3) The Marlins finished 84-77 last season and received not one appearance on Fox's 2009 Saturday baseball schedule, which includes three regional games each week. The Braves (72-90) were given eight games. Even Oakland (75-86) and Seattle (61-101) got one apiece. How can this be? The Marlins' low payroll and lack of a national following are among the reasons why they are the only U.S.-based team with a winning 2008 record that did not get a 2009 game on Fox. Toronto (86-76) also got left off. And the Marlins were omitted from ESPN's first-half Sunday night schedule, too. It always seems the Marlins fly under the radar; no one expects them to do well, but come September, they are often fighting for the division.
4) Which team has the best rotation in the N.L. East? Is it the Phillies with Cole Hamels? The Mets with Johan Santana? Nope - I say it's the Braves. With Derek Lowe leading the way, Javier Vasquez taking the number-2 role, and Jair Jurrjens, Kenshin Kawakami, and Tom Glavine rounding out the rotation, the Braves are poised to make a move in 2009 (if they could get some offense). They also have a prospect named Tommy Hanson, who is said to be one of the best pitching prospects out there, second only to David Price.
5) Here are some leaders so far in Spring Training: Craig Monroe has six home runs, Ryan Howard and Joe Mather (St. Louis) each have 13 RBI's, Matt Tulasosopo (Seattle) has 17 hits, Eric Bruntlett, Adam Jones, and Juan Pierre each have six stolen bases, Fausto Carmona has three wins, and Micah Owings has pitched 14.2 innings and struck out 16. The fact that Matt Tulasosopo has the most hits of any player in Spring Training proves that these stats are essentially negligible.
Who's Hot: A.J. Burnett, Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa, Brett Gardner, Brett Tomko
Who's Not: CC Sabathia, Mark Melancon, Nick Swisher
Quote of the Week: "The wedding got over a little early, and I had a plane standing by and I wanted to be here. Maybe I should have stayed longer." -- Team USA manager Davey Johnson, who missed the first few innings of yesterday's game against Puerto Rico because he was attending his stepson's wedding.
Link of the Week: Click here
