Well, we’ve reached the halfway point of the season, the All-Star game is nearly upon us and players who are not part of the festivities are looking forward to a break (all three days of it!). As always, MLB has produced a wide variety of stories over the last week. Here’s my personal selection of the highlights and lowlights.
Hargrove gone – The week started off in a strange fashion, with the Mariners’ manager Mike Hargrove announcing his shock resignation. Seattle had won seven games on the spin prior to the announcement and, confounding everyone’s pre-season predictions, had put themselves into a position to make a real push for the play-offs in the second half of the season. In Hargrove’s last game in charge, after the news had been broken, the M’s sent their leader off in style with a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth against the Blue Jays.
Narron next – Hargrove’s departure was a surprise; Jerry Narron getting the boot from the Reds was less so. Narron had a sub-.500 record in his two years as manager in Cincinnati and he left the team languishing at the foot of the Major League standings with a 31-51 record in 2007. The Reds made the cut with the division-leading Brewers sitting 16.5 games ahead. As with the Orioles and Sam Perlozzo two weeks ago, the team’s desperate plight is the consequence of many factors, but sacking the manager is the easy way to try and make a break from the past.
The fate of Fuentes – The managers aren’t the only people who are having a bad week. In the previous edition of WHGB, Brian Fuentes’ dramatic collapse was highlighted and it appeared that his hopes of making the All-Star team had been dealt a fatal blow; however Fuentes’ early season form was acknowledged with a place on the NL’s All-Star team after all. Just when Rockies’ fans were hoping that Fuentes’ confidence may have been restored, he suffered an injury which means that he won’t be able to take the mound in San Francisco. Fortunately it’s only a minor injury and a trip to the DL does not appear to be on the horizon.
Sweeping New York – It certainly wasn’t all bad news in Colorado this week. Two weeks ago, the Rockies gained a mention in WHGB by sweeping the Yankees at Coors Field. Well, New Yorkers clearly don’t agree with that Mile High air. Colorado swept the Mets this week in a three-game series, earning themselves the distinction of being the first team in history to sweep both the Yankees and the Mets in the same season.
350 for Clemens – Which figure was more decisive in convincing Roger Clemens to put his retirement on hold for another season: the $28 million pro-rated contract or the approaching landmark of 350 Major League wins? Yes, I’m as cynical as you, but that doesn’t mean the Rocket shrugged off his win against the Twins on Monday as no big deal. “I just feel really blessed. I don’t know any other way to put it,” was Clemens’ remark to MLB.com. He earned his 350th career win in fitting style as well, giving up just two hits and one earned run over eight innings. Tick it off as another supporting fact for the case of Clemens being the greatest pitcher ever.
Some win, some lose – From wins galore to losses aplenty. The Devil Rays came into this season with a batch of exciting young players and hope, at last, of a winning season. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out that way. Great stories such as the form of James Shields have been accompanied by the traditional tales of promise going unfulfilled (Elijah Dukes being a case in point). The Rays managed to snap an eleven game slide on Friday night, but went straight back to their losing ways the following day against the Royals. It could be another one hundred loss season in Tampa Bay.
A new Japanese hero – Hideki Okajima’s achievement of winning the AL Pitcher of the month award for April, ahead of his high-profile compatriot, was noted in the week five edition of WHGB. Nine weeks on, Okajima has one-upped Dice-K yet again by being selected for the final AL All-Star roster spot. Okajima might have been an afterthought prior to the start of the season, but Boston fans have quickly learned what a good pitcher he is.
No laxatives required! – White Sox pitchers had a bad case of the runs on Friday. The Twins pounded them for twenty in the first of a double-header on Friday and then followed it up with a further twelve in the night game. Mark Buehrle stopped the rot with a great start yesterday, but it looks like that may be his last performance in a White Sox uniform. The 2005 World Series champs are having a miserable season and Buehrle might not be the only player leaving the South Side over the next few weeks as they re-tool for next year.
Made in Canada – As part of the Twins’ run-feast on Friday, Justin Morneau hit three homers in the second of the two games. Earlier in the week, the Rangers’ Brad Wilkerson matched this feat, going deep three times against the Angels. Mildly interesting link between the two: Morneau is Canadian while Wilkerson was the last person to wear the Montreal Expos uniform during an MLB Japan All-Star tour at the end of the 2004 season.
The “I wish he was in my fantasy team†performance of the week – While Fantasy owners would be happy with Morneau and Wilkerson’s three-homer days, Erik Bedard gave the best fantasy performance of the week. Bedard struck out fifteen in a complete game shut-out win against the Rangers, good for fifty-nine points in the Fantasy Baseball UK competition. And no, he isn’t in my team (they never are)!
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Note that I carefully stated that Mark Buehrle “may” have pitched his last game for the White Sox! While all of the stories on Sunday morning suggested that talks over a new contract had broken down, it’s just been announced that Buehrle has signed a four-year extension with the White Sox. Some good news for the South siders at last.