Hi Dr. D.,
Long time reader, first time poster. I don't mean to be snide, but do you mean Sheets instead of Harden in the post above? I wasn't sure if you wanted Harden in there because you touch on the Angels next, and were then referencing the Rangers indirectly as well? Just seeking to clarify.
Random question, but why do you feel that you will not be a fan of MB "on a personal level"? To be honest, I went into the season worried, but the more I see, the more I believe he is a fundamentally troubled--but not necessarily EVIL--person. Reading on the 'net (I think it was via S.Drayer) that he has been seeking and utilizing psychiatric aid for some time leads me to suspect that it's not from lack of effort that problems continue to plague him emotionally. Granted I'm not a psychologist (I'm a historian for what it's worth... ) but that's just my read on the situation.
Anyway, please keep up the great work! Always a pleasure to read your material.
Warmest regards,
[another] Jeff [from Japan]
=== Brett Anderson ===
Right now, Anderson doesn't look a whole lot different to me, from a young C.C. Sabathia. Dallas "Better Changeup" Braden followed his 10K detonation of the M's with a quality start and win in game 2. Justin Duchscherer is a quality pitcher. They've got Harden, er, Sheets. And Gio Gonzalez wiped out the Angels from the 5 slot: 6 6 2 2 1 6. Right now, the evidence is coming in on the side of Bill James' fears about this being the year for the Angels' pitchers.
Anyway, a very tough, high-K lefthander in Safeco ... SSI thought that the Mariners put an excellent night's worth of at-bats on him. After 7 innings, the M's had left 9 men on base, and were pretty unlucky not to have a decent lead for Fister.
Very possibly, the first week was just over-pressing, and as the season gets into its rhythm, the lineup will get into its game. Tuesday, despite the scoreless innings, it was.
.
=== Milton Bradley ===
Having "watched" him from the same city for a month or so...
(1) Don't believe that he's been misunderstood, especially. Just a real tough guy to get along with, is my take. Dr. D is not going to be a big fan on a personal level.
(2) Was worried, after the .300+ SLG all of last year in Wrigley, that maybe he'd aged past his power. Not very worried now. He takes vicious cuts, should have three home runs in 9 games (54/year prorated), and the homer Tuesday was Branyanesque. Verrrrrry high, well back into the seats ... and it was off a pitcher's pitch.
His lefty fly balls are going to hit the Safeco seats. 30 to 35 homers, pro-rated, seems likely to me. If you're playing roto, go get Milton Bradley right now.
(3) The superb franchise support system should logically make the difference. Had Milton experienced this slow start elsewhere, it might (in Chi, actually did) snowball. Not in Seattle. He's going to be able to ride it out until the hits start falling in.
That may have been Tuesday.
...........
Bottom line: MB will probably have a big year in 2010. Despite the .090 AVG, I love the way he looks at the plate.
.
=== Ichiro ===
His tendency towards bad Aprils is now a well-established fact. He OPS+'s only 82 for his career in April.
No idea why; he doesn't come from a hot climate. Japan's climate is very similar to Seattle's.
When Michael Jordan returned to basketball, it took him a good 2-3 months to find his groove again. He explained this as, it took him that long before he could see the seams in the defense and play his game.
Ichiro's game may occur on such a high level that it takes him a while before he starts seeing things in his own dimension...
Good news is, May is as good for Ichiro as April is bad. Let's hope that the M's get to May within striking distance, because once they're hitting on all cylinders...
.
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
Bradley is a bad apple no doubt. But I kinda like the idea of having a spit in your face/smack em in the mouth football mentality guy on our side. Pretty it ain't, but Bradley isn't gonna take no crap from no one. As long as the aggression is focused towards the other team and winning (not squabbles with teammates), I'm all about it. So long as it doesn't interfere with him staying on the field, ie suspensions.
Bradley got a taste of Safeco's gaping chasm in left-center in the 2nd inning. That would have been his first homerun of the game in most parks.
Bad Apple is somewhat a subjective term, but for me all sport is simulated warfare (some examples being less 'simulated' than others, such as MMA or NFL football). And in war, you want the Brock Lesnar/Brian Urlacher/Milton Bradleys on YOUR side, not charging across the field directly at you with bad intentions burning behind their eyes.
Jose Guillen was exACTly what this team needed when he was here. A clubhouse leader he wasn't, but a rock-em-sock-em battlefield officer he most certainly was. When he glared at opposing pitchers, you knew it wasn't the false bravado we see too much of in the current incarnation of pro baseball. There was true animosity there, and he didn't mind expressing it.
And really, I've been on teams with guys like that and I always appreciated them and their presence. They can't be the guys who will rally the team, or help with a mid-game strategy shift, but by golly they're the ones you want on the mat when the match is a little closer than you'd like.
Thanks for the correction.
.............
On MB, it's nothing sinister - just that what we've seen of his personality is rather off-putting. This from a guy who doesn't mind Carl Everett, Ben Davis, Barry Bonds...
Needless to say, MB is not going to lose any sleep over my opinion. :- ) And am not saying that my distaste is going to cost the M's clubhouse anything.
..............
Hope you can chime in often!
It isn't a NYT-fashion committee meeting. ;- ) It's large, hostile men trying to kill people and break things.
A couple of guys with red ears can help, assuming that you can keep the friendly fire to a minimum.
LOL.
Don't remember the play.... :taps chin: ... was in the 3rd deck and don't remember being annoyed at having one like that taken away...
Will take your word though amigo... and if that's so, Bradley could be sitting on 4 early HR's in different parks, if the Rajai Davis ball had been hit in, say, Texas ...
...................
Safeco will amputate HR's from all hitters ... after 2 weeks of ST, was worried that Bradley would have warning-track power from both sides. Am glad to note that from the LH side, he's got more than enough distance in Safeco -
This is off topic, but BrianL at Lookoutlanding.com has some posted of high temporal resolution movies of a variety of M's pitchers and hitters. They are awesome and I'm sure many here will appreciate them. They can be found in the recommended fanposts list on the right.
Brett Anderson reminds me of Steve Carlton. The rule of thumb is that sliders have a big platoon split, but Anderson got a lot of swing and misses on the sliders aimed at the RH back foot, just like I remember Carlton doing.
And don' know how old you are Kelly, but Carlton when he first came up had one of the best FB's in the bigs. In that sense, he matches even a little better to Anderson than on my Bedard thing.
will check 'em out -
My own take on MB notwithstanding, in terms of the clubhouse fit, apparently it's quite the reverse ... nice to see...
Monster year forthcoming?
But it looks like it went 400 feet out to the deepest part of the field. Maybe it looks worse in animation than in real life.
Probably would have been a double or taken a real good catch if it was in another park. Didn't get close to the wall or even the track if I recall
Definite solid contact but I don't think it would have been a home run in most parks.
That was the one where the announcer got fooled a bit (Niehaus) and said "And a flyball to center" nonchalantly like it was a can of corn...and then Davis turned tail and ran hard to the spot and Dave was like "actually, that's hit pretty DEEP out there...but the park will hold it, I think..."
It was just a fly ball though...didn't sound good off the bat.
The first I remember of Carlton would be from the early eigthies with the Phillies. Then the pitch mix was more Bedard like, though my eye sees Bedards curve ball as superior, but the results don't match.