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| Monday, June 24 Updated: June 25, 10:42 AM ET Baker's Dozen: The week in preview By Jim Baker Special to ESPN.com |
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1: Best Matchup of the Week Here is Baker's Baseball Axiom: As soon as you notice something, it stops. Witness Boston's fantastic road record. We used this space to compare them to some of the best road teams of all time just two weeks ago. But they lost two in Atlanta, one in San Diego and were cored out by the Dodgers in Los Angeles and those comparisons with the 1906 Cubs suddenly look rather silly now. Baker's Axiom was working full out yesterday. I spent the afternoon at Shea Stadium where the out-of-town games are listed on the scoreboard in a sort of chronological order according to start time. Around the middle of the Mets-Royals game, I noticed that of the eight games that were underway, the team with the winning record was leading in all but one. The exception was the Rangers over the Pirates. With the victory, though, Texas vaulted right over them. Then, the Mets came back and beat the Royals so I got to wondering aloud (which is kind of sad because I was alone at that moment) if all 15 games would end with the team with the better record getting the win. I thought that might be pretty novel. Hah! In the late games Baltimore beat San Francisco, Detroit beat Florida, Toronto beat Arizona, Los Angeles beat Boston and the Cubs beat St. louis. The Yankees were the only team to continue the earlier trend, beating San Diego. Does Baker's Baseball Axiom translate to other walks of life?
2: The Biggest Mismatchup of the Week When people say that baseball is a part of show business they are certainly right in one sense: both live by the adage "the show must go on." While Saturday's Cardinals-Cubs was postponed owing to the death of Darryl Kile, the Cardinals went right back at it the next night as they believed Kile would have wanted it that way. Reading the reactions around the league reminds us of how many different players, coaches and managers a given ballplayer will come in contact with in the course of his career. Kile's untimely departure leaves pockets of mourning throughout the game, as those whose careers intersected with his, however tangentially, react to his loss and take stock of their own mortality.
3: The No Time Like the Present Matchup of the Week As opposed to the "Now or Never Matchup of the Week" because the Sox could split here or take only one or even get swept and still have plenty of time to recover and win the division. However, it would be a whole lot better for them if they took at least three of these games. They sure seemed like a pretty good bet to take the American League Central this year, didn't they? I'm reminded of 1984 when, after blowing through the West by 20 games the year before, they added Tom Seaver to a starting rotation of LaMarr Hoyt (24-10), Rich Dotson (22-7) and Floyd Bannister (16-10). Britt Burns was also due back at full strength, making for a top-to-bottom great starting staff. Talk about your mortal locks! But it all went bad. Seaver, who was supposed to be the icing on the cake, ended up instead as the main course and finished the year as the ace of the staff. They dropped off by 25 games and allowed the Royals to cop the title of a very weak division.
4: The Last Ever All-Canada Matchup of the Week As I'm writing this, I'm leafing through a copy of an Expos' special program for 2002. It has the current roster but is, for the most part, a retrospective of the team's history. There is a finality about this publication that is really quite sad. It is meant to be a celebration of the franchise but has the look and feel of an obituary. They are all in there: Bob Bailey, Coco Laboy, Andre Dawson and Bill Lee (with what must be the funkiest beard in baseball history outside of the House of David teams), as well as every other significant Expos player from the past 33 years. One thing that is interesting is how many of the most famous Expos either came from the Mets organization or were traded there or played for both at one time or another: Rusty Staub, Steve Renko, Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, Hubie Brooks, Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Mike Jorgensen, Mike Torrez, Joel Youngblood, Dan Norman, Ron Hunt, Jeff Reardon, Greg Harris, Mel Rojas and Scott Strickland all spent time in the uniforms of both teams.
5: The Hey, Didn't You Used to Be Me? Matchup of the Week So named because the Yankees spent the first two years of their existence as the Baltimore Orioles. Then, sensing perhaps that New York would one day become a larger media center than Baltimore, they split north in 1903. You probably knew that, though. Here's something I'll bet you didn't know (I know I didn't know it): Yogi Berra once wrote a novel. It's true! It's sitting right here on my desk as I type this. It's called "Behind the Plate." It was published in 1962 and, I'm saddened to report, there was a co-writer involved (Til Ferdenzi). I could find no Yogisms in any of the random sections I read leaving me to wonder just how much input Yogi actually had. It's the story of Tommy Riggs, a catcher of course, for a fictitious team called the Gold Sox. I have not read it but will one of these days. I will also make time for Whitey Ford's companion effort, "The Fighting Southpaw," co-written with Jack Lang, long-time president of the BBWAA.
6: The Worst Matchup of the Week It's either this one or Toronto at Tampa Bay. Perhaps it's all the World Cup I've been watching, but it occurs to me that it might be interesting to turn these two series into a kind of mini-tournament. (The winner will not be relegated or contracted.) There are only two possible outcomes in terms of how the standings will look:
3-0 or
2-1 In the case of the latter, run differential will have to serve as the tie-breaker. So, who is favored? Toronto has the best record but is playing on the road against the fourth seed, Tampa Bay. Kansas City would get the second seed as they are the other home team. Sounds like a complete pick 'em situation to me. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.
7: The Reds Did What With Austin Kearns? Matchup of the
Week What manner of mind-altering substance are the Reds absorbing into their blood streams? Did they really demote Austin Kearns to "make room for a reliever?" Am I missing something here? Somebody elucidate me. A player of this talent should be in the majors, plain and simple. Of course, I'm getting all botherated for nothing. Kearns, hitting .284 (but just .216 in June), will be back up in no time.
8: The Minor League Scheduling Method Matchup of the Week In order to save money on hotel rooms, minor-league teams often play these sorts of home and home series. (For instance, in the New York-Penn League, the Brooklyn Cyclones visit the New Jersey Cardinals tonight and then host them tomorrow night.) Of course, the cost of hotels are no object in the rarified air of the major leagues. This unique arrangement came about not to save food and lodging costs, but due to a scheduling conflict with the San Diego Chargers who have first dibs on the Stadium Formerly Known as Jack Murphy. (Here's something I've been wondering: if you were Mets radio announcer Bob Murphy -- Jack's brother -- would you refer to the stadium by its new name while on the air? I know I wouldn't.)
9: The 1909 World Series Redux Matchup of the Week Pity the poor Tigers. They won the American League pennant from 1907 to 1909 and, on each occasion, ran into a vastly superior unit in the World Series. In 1907, it was the Cubs, winners of 107 games to the Tigers 92. The next year they matched up again and the Cubs were better by nine games this time. In 1909, Detroit had its best season of the three (98 wins), but ran into the Pittsburgh juggernaut that won 110 games. Interestingly, they came the closest to winning that one, taking it to the maximum seven games before being shut out -- something they managed to do in each of the closing losses in all three Series. Here's something to ponder: did the 1909 World Series feature the greatest hombre a hombre showdown in history? By that I mean, did this Series have the best two players ever to square off against each other in the fall classic? I am referring to Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb. I think there is a pretty strong case that this is so, but, for the sake of argument, here are some other top matchups:
Cobb vs. Wagner, 1909 The 1906, 1983, 1989 and 2000 World Series are also revisited this week.
10: The Vengeance is Sweet Matchup of the Week It simply doesn't get any better than this, does it? The team ticketed for extermination hosting the team owned by the family of the man who would have had them exterminated with the former leading the latter by something like 15 games. Dee-freakin'-licious. Will the Brewers be the worst team ever to host an All-Star Game? Not by a long shot. Without checking, I'm going to cast my vote for the 1964 Mets as having that distinction. At least the Brewers have a couple of players worthy of selection. Richie Sexson is having a decent season and will make a good choice as a backup at first base. Jose Hernandez is, to this point, having arguably the best offensive season of any National League shortstop. So, if nothing else, at least the Brewer or Brewers selected will be genuine All-Stars.
11: The Most Relevant to a Pennant Race Matchup of the
Week OK. Is this cause and effect or just one of those things? Since trading Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies for journeyman John Mabry (a trade I questioned -- not so much for getting rid of Giambi, but because they got so little in return), the A's have gone 24-6. Mabry is slugging .579 and, as part of his A's initiation, drew his first walk in 39 plate appearances this weekend past. Oddly though, Giambi has played out of his mind since going to Philadelphia. He's walking up a storm and hitting for power at levels previously not achieved. The Phillies are 11-15 since his arrival, though. So far, it seems like a trade that has helped both teams but I can't really explain why.
12: The Will My Brothers Forsake Me Again? Matchup of the
Week Sedlacek, a non-prospect as recently as the beginning of this season, was recalled from Double-A Wichita a week ago by the Royals and has pitched quite well in his two starts, only to see his leads blown by the bullpen. So, instead of being 2-0, he has no decisions and an ERA of 2.93. Which leads us to this:
Who should be feckless but rather has feck?
Who went to the hill and kept 'em in check?
13: The Wrong Year Wrong Guy Same Name Matchup of the Week
Check out ESPN Insider Jim Baker's 'Baker's Dozen' column appears on Mondays during the baseball season. He also writes Monday through Friday for ESPN Insider. |
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for the details on Cleveland signing Schilling.
