Slam-dancing again off Baker's show on Thursday -

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I/O Ryan Rowland-Smith:  Baker, who isn't an extreme optimist about RRS anyway, reminds that Rowland-Smith has never gone a year in a big-league rotation.  Baker throws in the observation that "Rowland-Smith is historically a slow starter in April and May."

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CRUNCH:  Hm.  Certainly RRS had velo problems in March-April last year, so much so that SSI wrote him off at those 86 gun readings... looking at it again, it wasn't until August (!) that he got untracked, and in 12 starts down the stretch he posted an ERA of right around 2.00.

Is this a career thing?  Interesting suggestion.  In 2008, RRS was equally strong both 1H and 2H ... in 2007, he didn't arrive in the bigs until very late.  Somebody else can check his minor league splits...

This would be a positive interpretation for RRS -- rather than just having an arm that gives in, every time he throws 35 innings in a month, actually he just takes his good sweet time getting loosened up.  (Not unheard of.)

If that's true, the M's could wind up looking at a repeat of the 2009 process -- send him down to AAA for quite a few starts before calling him up to do a relatively good job for them.

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SSI still has RRS at #4 in its SP-SEA power rankings, but has a sharp eye on that radar gun.  If RRS is below 90 to start the season, ::clubberlang:: he's GONE-a git HURT.

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I/O:  Bradley's first ejection this spring occurred at the hands of a bush league -- literally a AAA -- umpire.

According to Baker, this ump has a reputation for enjoyment when he throws a player out - even more so when he throws out a manager.  Considers it "good for the game" when managers get ejected.

Geoffy charges that this particular ump likes to grandstand any time he gets in front of a few thousand people -- remember many AAA games are played in front of a few hundred -- and relished the chance to throw a big leaguer out of a game.

Baker sez, you want to challenge a man, go out to the parking lot and challenge him 1-on-1 where he can do something about it.  Don't abuse authority and power to hit him when he can't hit back.

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CRUNCH:  Spot on.   There is a tendency for petty individuals, around the periphery of baseball (of whom Baker is NOT one) to take physically imposing athletes and if they get them tied to the flagpole?  Then they just whip them across the face with a shoestring until they cry.

IMHO, black men seem particularly exploited by this.  Bo Jackson, Barry Bonds, Milton Bradley, Albert Belle, Barry Bonilla, Carl Everett,  -- take a man who's scary and intimidating in the clubhouse, and if the smaller guy, the ex-math-club guy, gets a chance to spit on him without punishment, well... it's very cathartic for the geek to back the scary guy down.  Short man's disease.

We're not saying that the players don't draw heat on themselves.  But the tone of the little guy's revenge is slightly nauseating to us ....

I'm hardly the poster child for PC, but this is one context in which I think the subconscious racism does play a part.

Whether you buy that or not, Milton Bradley is getting baited by the umpires on a game-in, game-out basis.  Baseball needs professionalism in its umpires.

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BTW, Geoffy gets buried in catcalls by Chicago fans intent on burying Milton Bradley for 2010...  Geoff deadpans, "If I were a Cubs fan, I'd worry about this year.  I'd focus on forgetting about last year.  I'd focus on forgetting about the last hundred years."

HEH !