By Phil RogersTalking baseball while wondering what the single-game sack record is in the NFL:
1. Right place, wrong time for Alan Trammell. He came to the Cubs as Lou Piniella's bench coach hoping to resurrect his own managerial career after being saddled with non-competitive teams in Detroit, where he preceded Jim Leyland, but hasn't attracted much attention elsewhere, in part because there were no playoff victories under Piniella.
Trammell is a great baseball man and just as good of a guy and really shouldn't have to walk through life with a .383 career winning percentage as a manager. But he is more about substance than style -- just as he was during a player career that compares well against the Ozzie Smith standard but hasn't gotten him into the Hall of Fame -- and rarely toots his own horn. Replacing Piniella might have been his best chance to manage again but Jim Hendry decided he's not the kind of guy he's looking for.
Hendry said Sunday that "over the last few weeks'' he had decided Trammell wouldn't be considered in a managerial search he's previously described as wide open, but he did not say why he had come to the conclusion. My guess is that Trammell has become too closely tied to Piniella, rightly or wrongly.
Hendry calls Trammell a "tremendous human being,'' a "quality, quality person'' and "an outstanding coach.'' He would seem to fill the bill as a "teacher,'' the word that is being thrown around by insiders in regard to the managerial search, although Starlin Castro might have undercut that qualification.
Castro is having a great rookie season, but has consistently shown an embarrassing lapse in the field -- the inability to hold a tag in front of the bag on steal attempts. He has cost the Cubs at least five outs by reaching out to make a tag and having a runner maneuver around him -- Juan Pierre did it three times in the White Sox series -- and Trammell hasn't broken Castro's bad habit.
This is exactly the kind of issue that Hendry and owner Tom Ricketts feel their next manager and his coaching staff should be able to fix on the fly.
Ryne Sandberg is going to be judged on the fundamental soundness of the guys who have played for him, such as Darwin Barney, Welington Castillo, Sam Fuld and, when he arrives, Micah Hoffpauir. Nothing would sell him better than Hoffpauir to arrive as an improved player after spending 2010 playing for Sandberg with Triple-A Iowa. These are the kinds of things that Hendry and his assistants will be evaluating the next six weeks.
2. Hawk Harrelson is still steamed about umpire Joe West starting Friday night's game in Kansas City with reports that a rain storm was on its way. That wasted Edwin Jackson, who had gotten loose and started the bottom of the first when the game was stopped, and played a major role in the bullpen unraveling that prompted Ozzie Guillen to use Bobby Jenks for three innings on Sunday. With a little different results, this could have been a heroic weekend for White Sox pitchers. Chris Sale was lights out in 11-inning opener to Saturday's doubleheader, when he was stuck with the loss, and Tony Pena's seven-inning, 91-pitch start in the second game was one of the gutsiest performances in a long time. Then Jenks went three innings on Sunday, getting the game to the 10th, where Scott Linebrink lost it. This was the second straight hard week for Sox pitchers, who are the biggest reason that Guillen's team has lost 6 1-2 games in the standings to Minnesota since Aug. 7, when the Sox had a 1 1-2-game lead. Dad-gum it, as Hawk would say.
3. Can you get off the carpet better than Dusty Baker's Reds? Swept by St. Louis in the Aug. 9-11 series that featured the ugly brawl in which Johnny Cueto kicked Jason LaRue in the head, the Reds had fallen to second place in the division. But they ran off a seven-game winning streak once the Cardinals left town and have now won eight of nine, moving 3 1-2 games ahead of St. Louis. Tony La Russa's team is fighting for air after a stretch in which it lost five straight home games (to the Cubs, Brewers and Giants). It had dropped three games back in the wild-card race Friday but won Saturday and Sunday, starting this week two games behind Philadelphia in the wild card and 3 1-2 behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. The recent acquisition of Pedro Feliz could not have inspired much confidence in Cardinals Nation. This could be a turnaround week, however. St. Louis travels to Pittsburgh and Washington.
Castro is having a great rookie season, but has consistently shown an embarrassing lapse in the field -- the inability to hold a tag in front of the bag on steal attempts. He has cost the Cubs at least five outs by reaching out to make a tag and having a runner maneuver around him -- Juan Pierre did it three times in the White Sox series -- and Trammell hasn't broken Castro's bad habit.
This is exactly the kind of issue that Hendry and owner Tom Ricketts feel their next manager and his coaching staff should be able to fix on the fly.
Ryne Sandberg is going to be judged on the fundamental soundness of the guys who have played for him, such as Darwin Barney, Welington Castillo, Sam Fuld and, when he arrives, Micah Hoffpauir. Nothing would sell him better than Hoffpauir to arrive as an improved player after spending 2010 playing for Sandberg with Triple-A Iowa. These are the kinds of things that Hendry and his assistants will be evaluating the next six weeks.
2. Hawk Harrelson is still steamed about umpire Joe West starting Friday night's game in Kansas City with reports that a rain storm was on its way. That wasted Edwin Jackson, who had gotten loose and started the bottom of the first when the game was stopped, and played a major role in the bullpen unraveling that prompted Ozzie Guillen to use Bobby Jenks for three innings on Sunday. With a little different results, this could have been a heroic weekend for White Sox pitchers. Chris Sale was lights out in 11-inning opener to Saturday's doubleheader, when he was stuck with the loss, and Tony Pena's seven-inning, 91-pitch start in the second game was one of the gutsiest performances in a long time. Then Jenks went three innings on Sunday, getting the game to the 10th, where Scott Linebrink lost it. This was the second straight hard week for Sox pitchers, who are the biggest reason that Guillen's team has lost 6 1-2 games in the standings to Minnesota since Aug. 7, when the Sox had a 1 1-2-game lead. Dad-gum it, as Hawk would say.
3. Can you get off the carpet better than Dusty Baker's Reds? Swept by St. Louis in the Aug. 9-11 series that featured the ugly brawl in which Johnny Cueto kicked Jason LaRue in the head, the Reds had fallen to second place in the division. But they ran off a seven-game winning streak once the Cardinals left town and have now won eight of nine, moving 3 1-2 games ahead of St. Louis. Tony La Russa's team is fighting for air after a stretch in which it lost five straight home games (to the Cubs, Brewers and Giants). It had dropped three games back in the wild-card race Friday but won Saturday and Sunday, starting this week two games behind Philadelphia in the wild card and 3 1-2 behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. The recent acquisition of Pedro Feliz could not have inspired much confidence in Cardinals Nation. This could be a turnaround week, however. St. Louis travels to Pittsburgh and Washington.
Answer why the sox didnt sit jackson.. OZZ-- he doest read reprts or look this type stuff up.. He will leave that to others who dropped the ball.. Oz is too dep in twitter ,and TV shows to be bothered by weather reports . Or pitchers reports or anything NOT Ozzie material
Were the Royals playing in some alternate reality where Joe West's decision didn't affect them, too? Ken Harrelson's constant complaining is beyond tiresome. Winners find a way to win; losers make excuses. And blame the umpires.
Lou may not be the last big name to leave town. If Ozzie goes nuts and/or loses the division, he may be out. And then we have Lovie Smith. Another bad season, and he is gone. After that, we are talking about GM's next year. Hendry, Williams, Paxson & Angelo. Maybe Obama employment plan can help these guys find jobs later on.
Can someone explain to me this whole "thing " Joe West did to the White Sox? Jackson threw 7 pitches. That sounds like a game of catch with a child who doesn't like baseball. Maybe its just me, but why did that knock him out of commission until next week? It the pregame that taxing? I just think teams have gotten way too careful with pitchers. None of them seem to be able to do anything more than 100 (or less) pitches every 5 days.
Is it not a fact that the home makes the decision to start a game and thereafter the umipires make the call on continuing play?
I understand the anger at Joe West for having started Friday night's game in the face of a storm. But if the Sox knew that bad weather was on its way, why didn't they hold Jackson back? Start Pena or even Linebrink for what seemed certain to be a short stint. Was it because Jackson was already warmed up? Aren't there examples of games in which a starter warms up, game is postponed before start, and the guy is available the next day?
If the White Sox were so convinced that the game was going to rain out, why did they start Jackson? I know Hawk likes to whine, as he did yesterday, but it is really getting old. Maybe it is time he gets replaced.