Follow these leaders in AL
Front office shake-upAlmost as interesting as watching where the players go this winter will be tracking the movement of general managers. Theo Epstein would be the most spectacular prize available if he elected free agency, but all indications are that the Sox have no intentions of letting him walk. The other big name who could be available is Brian Cashman if George Steinbrenner decides to shake up the Yankees. Cashman, who grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, would figure to be a top name on the list of whichever ownership group is awarded the Nationals. Pat Gillick, who built winners in Toronto, Baltimore,and Seattle, is said to be hankering for a piece of the Washington action. Gerry Hunsicker wants back in, a year after cutting his ties with the Astros, and when Stuart Sternberg finally shoves aside Vince Naimoli for control of the Devil Rays, Chuck LaMar's run as GM could come to an end. Other GMs who could wind up on the endangered list are Dan O'Dowd in Colorado, Dan O'Brien in Cincinnati, Bill Bavasi in Seattle, and the two-headed partnership in Baltimore, Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie. Mike Rizzo, the former Sox scout and highly regarded scouting director of the D-Backs, is getting serious consideration for that team's vacancy. Giants assistant GM Ned Colletti and Sox assistant GM Josh Byrnes are other names that should be in play, along with Tigers special assistant Al Avila.
Great ScotYou won't see his name on many MVP ballots, but Sox manager Terry Francona mentioned Angels reliever Scot Shields, who led the league in relief innings pitched with 77 2/3 entering last night, as one of the game's most significant players. ''I don't think you've ever heard me say I'd vote for [a player] for MVP, I don't believe in that," Francona said, ''but Shields, he shoulders so much responsibility. Against lefties, against righties, he pitches a lot of innings. He's so valuable to a staff. [Angels pitching coach] Bud Black and I have had this conversation a lot of times. He says unless you get a lefty you can count on, our guys [righthanders] get lefties. It does put a lot of responsibility on them, but they've handled it." The Angels, who have not had a lefty in the pen, last week traded for Jason Christiansen from the Giants. Told that Angels manager Mike Scioscia had mentioned Shields in connection with the MVP last season, Francona cracked, ''Vladi [Guerrero] wasn't too bad, either. Let Shields hit fourth and see who's MVP."
The invisible manChristiansen, after being traded to the Angels: ''It's good to get out of a situation where if you pitch a good game, guys ask, 'Did you miss Barry [Bonds] today?' Life goes on without that guy coming to the park. The last five months, we saw him about 20 days. It's tough to answer questions about someone you don't know anything about unless you go on to his website."
Pitching changeDerek Lowe, who threw a one-hitter last week against the Cubs, credited moving to the first base side of the rubber with helping his command. Lowe said he also changed his grip on the ball to alleviate his chronic problems with blisters.
Helping the causeIf you plan to be in New York next weekend, I invite you to attend ''Gordon Edes and Friends" to talk baseball and fight cancer Saturday night at Stitch, a sports bar at 247 W. 37th Street, between 7th and 8th avenues. Come hang out with sportswriters from the Globe, Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant. Your $50 donation to the Jimmy Fund comes with open bar. Tickets are available at www.jimmyfund.org/eve/event/gordon-edes/default.asp. The Boston (212) Cafe, a New England-oriented sports bar/restaurant at 1009 2nd Ave between 53rd and 54th Street, will donate a portion of the proceeds from its bar sales during Sox-Yankees games that weekend. It is also raffling off dinner for two Sunday night (you must bring a ticket from the prior evening's event).
Know your current eventsBest line out of the Little League World Series comes from David Letterman, who cracked: ''The Hawaiian kids that won the Little League World Series got some prizes. They win KFC for the year and 52 six-packs of Pepsi. I think they might be healthier if they just used steroids."
Source: http://www.boston.com/
Great ScotYou won't see his name on many MVP ballots, but Sox manager Terry Francona mentioned Angels reliever Scot Shields, who led the league in relief innings pitched with 77 2/3 entering last night, as one of the game's most significant players. ''I don't think you've ever heard me say I'd vote for [a player] for MVP, I don't believe in that," Francona said, ''but Shields, he shoulders so much responsibility. Against lefties, against righties, he pitches a lot of innings. He's so valuable to a staff. [Angels pitching coach] Bud Black and I have had this conversation a lot of times. He says unless you get a lefty you can count on, our guys [righthanders] get lefties. It does put a lot of responsibility on them, but they've handled it." The Angels, who have not had a lefty in the pen, last week traded for Jason Christiansen from the Giants. Told that Angels manager Mike Scioscia had mentioned Shields in connection with the MVP last season, Francona cracked, ''Vladi [Guerrero] wasn't too bad, either. Let Shields hit fourth and see who's MVP."
The invisible manChristiansen, after being traded to the Angels: ''It's good to get out of a situation where if you pitch a good game, guys ask, 'Did you miss Barry [Bonds] today?' Life goes on without that guy coming to the park. The last five months, we saw him about 20 days. It's tough to answer questions about someone you don't know anything about unless you go on to his website."
Pitching changeDerek Lowe, who threw a one-hitter last week against the Cubs, credited moving to the first base side of the rubber with helping his command. Lowe said he also changed his grip on the ball to alleviate his chronic problems with blisters.
Helping the causeIf you plan to be in New York next weekend, I invite you to attend ''Gordon Edes and Friends" to talk baseball and fight cancer Saturday night at Stitch, a sports bar at 247 W. 37th Street, between 7th and 8th avenues. Come hang out with sportswriters from the Globe, Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant. Your $50 donation to the Jimmy Fund comes with open bar. Tickets are available at www.jimmyfund.org/eve/event/gordon-edes/default.asp. The Boston (212) Cafe, a New England-oriented sports bar/restaurant at 1009 2nd Ave between 53rd and 54th Street, will donate a portion of the proceeds from its bar sales during Sox-Yankees games that weekend. It is also raffling off dinner for two Sunday night (you must bring a ticket from the prior evening's event).
Know your current eventsBest line out of the Little League World Series comes from David Letterman, who cracked: ''The Hawaiian kids that won the Little League World Series got some prizes. They win KFC for the year and 52 six-packs of Pepsi. I think they might be healthier if they just used steroids."
Source: http://www.boston.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home