=== Junior ===
My son asked if every AB this season is going to result in a roller to second base.
Well, it's not like this is a new phenomenon. They shift him for a reason. (His 2-RBI knock, they couldn't shift him, because the bases were loaded.)
He believes in getting the bat out in front of home plate. "There's no money, no production back there" when the bat is behind the plate. I wish he'd reconsider this attitude. These days, he just has to cheat too blinkin' much to get the bat in front of the plate on every single pitch.
If I were in his shoes, I'd take the ball up the middle and let the homers occur when they wanted to. As it happened, later in the game Junior actually did this, lofting a fly ball the other way.
Junior is now as old as his dad was when they played together. He's got to be realistic. If he does, the BB's alone will allow him to contribue in a platoon role. LH vs RHP he can defend himself.
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=== Franklin ===
One of his patented 0.9 second "groundballs" for a huge RBI bingo.
I like where his head's at. He's not trying to drive the green; he's squaring up the first pitch he sees for a line drive. Let the power come naturally. That is precisely what we want to see from him at this point in his career, 1,400 AB's in.
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=== Jose Lopez ===
For all my ragging on Kotchman, this is the other guy in the M's lineup who throws out GIDP's by the handfuls.
He gets in front of -- and on top of -- fastballs. He smokes hot-shot two-hoppers right to the 3B, spins his wheels in the RH batter's box, and gets relayed out by 20 feet. This man is a GIDP the way you draw it up on the blackboard.
GIDP ended the first inning, after Ichiro's picturesque double into his #4 gap. GIDP should have ended the 7-run third inning, but Wigginton had bet Seattle.
It's not Jose Lopez' fault. Jim Rice spent a career doing exactly the same thing -- led the league in GIDP's four straight years, averaging 30+ a season.
Seems inconsistent, I know, but hey: Kotchman's GIDP's, at least in the past, were rooted in lack of ambition. Lopez' GIDP's are rooted in a bat that is like a Porsche with its pedal glued to the floor -- fastball in, hot-shot-3B out. (Although Jose Lopez doesn't look for as much as he should, either...)
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=== 3B Coach ===
Bases loaded, Cranklin up in the third. He slams a hard groundball through the SS hole. I sit back to enjoy Ichiro's technique as he comes around third base.
Ichiro hits the bag, takes one step, two, and Montanez scoops the ball up.... THE COACH HAS THE STOP SIGN ON!!!! WHAAAAAT!!!
...............
A few minutes later, Ken Griffey Jr. is on first when Milton Bradley doubles to left field. The OF takes the ball cleanly off the wall and fires back in .... the coach waves Junior around. If you saw the game, you saw the catcher gather the throw, glare up the 3B line, and then shoot a quick Twitter to his family, "Watch this! I'm going to knee Ken Griffey Jr.!"
What does it take to get a 3B call in Seattle...
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=== Baseball's Prospectus Dept. ===
O's are a mess. Take one with Vargas on Tuesday and then the sweep is a gimme on Felix Day. The O's, 2-14, would be off to play twelve against the Yankees and Red Sox. Trembley's lookin' at another job.
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BABVA,
Dr D