12 June 2007
Who believes this?
Richard Justice posted this tidbit last week:
Garner made it clear on Sunday that Biggio will continue to play no matter what his numbers are. In a related note, Drayton McLane said he hadn't told his people to play Biggio. ''I've never told our manager and general manager to play anyone,'' he said.
Do we believe this?
I see a couple of possibilities.
1) McLane is not lying. He hasn't told Purpura or Garner to play Biggio every day. He had someone else do it, or he has made it clear nonverbally that Biggio should play every day.
2) Garner is a complete baseball fool.
While Garner is a poor tactician, it is impossible to believe that he thinks a guy with Biggio's diminishing skills, poor batting average, and poor on-base percentage should be leading off every day. No baseball guy -- and Garner is a baseball guy despite his tactical deficiencies at times -- can believe that.
It is much easier to believe that Purpura and Garner understand that a record is being pursued, that it's a big deal to the boss, and once it's gotten out of the way, they can turn their attention to trying to capture a sorry division.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/12/07 10:51 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 June 2007
Graham's intentions may be fine, but...
There's a pretty telling quote in a Chron column by John Lopez that was apparently intended to defend Rice's Wayne Graham from recent criticism of his use of young pitchers:
Graham implemented a 120-pitch limit on his starters last season, even though he said: "I don't believe it makes that big a difference."
If he wasn't overusing his pitchers before, then why implement the strict pitch count?
He and Rayner Noble both have let their best starting pitchers throw a lot of pitches in some games in the years I've been watching college baseball in this town. Too many pitches, in my view. It's only natural that people start to wonder about their use of some of the stud pitchers who have gone from those programs to injuries at the pro level.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/11/07 09:45 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 June 2007
Is this a pattern?
KTRK-13 reports that Houston Texan Fred Weary has wound up in another "situation":
We've learned new details about a fight that involved Houston Texans player Fred Weary.
Police say he was involved in a fight with another person inside Secrets night club on Kingspoint near Almeda Mall in southeast Houston. It happened Tuesday night.
The manager of the club says he decided not to press charges after Weary paid him for damages. However, there [sic] investigation is ongoing because of possible assault charges.
Weary was shocked by Houston police armed with a Taser back in November after being pulled over. Charges of resisting arrest were later dropped.
After the Taser incident, many local media people rushed to defend Weary.
At some point, though, you have to wonder about a guy who always seems to be around trouble. Two incidents don't necessarily equate with "always around trouble" but it's two more incidents than one would like.
Interestingly, the Chron.com folks are silent on the matter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/03/07 08:49 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
02 June 2007
Rocket's crotch not ready for ignition
The Rocket's a little sore, and won't be starting for the dreadful Yankees just yet:
Roger Clemens was scratched from Monday's start against the Chicago White Sox because of a fatigued right groin.
Insert your own jokes in the comments.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/02/07 11:16 PM | Technorati | Comments (3)