2003 Season

Hello to fellow HSL’ers. Sorry to miss the first Monthly HSL lunch. So much to do and so little time. Looking forward to next month.

Story of the week. How about Moises Alou’s revelation to Gary Miller that he pisses on his hands so he does not have to wear batting gloves. This would seem to me to be one of those deep dark secrets that should not ever be revealed. Although I am not one bit surprised that if anyone would engage in such activity, it would be a grease ball like Moises (which I understand in Spanish literally means “one with wet hands”). However, following the Moises “coming out” I heard Kerry Wood with my own ears say that he also pisses on his hands intentionally from time to time. Nice example for our little leaguers. I am sure Marv Albert is proud of these boys.

Runner up story of the week. In case you had not heard, Raul Mondesi is out of baseball for 2004 season because of a legal dispute with Mario Guerrero (an Italian Dominican?) in which he secured a $640K judgment against Raul for teaching him unspecified baseball skills. Clearly Mouse should have anticipated this turn of events before wasting a 18th round draft pick on him. Evidently Mario sued several other player also claiming they agreed to pay him 1% of their salaries for his training. I am sure these were well documented transactions. How would you like your fate to be determined by the Dominican Republic court system? A couple of first class guys.

Whining. I don’t usually whine about my team, but take the case of Barry Bonds. I hate to complain about a guy hitting near .400 with an OBP of .650, but it really is a joke that he gets maybe one or two at bats a game. Even if he was not on my team I would argue that it is bad for baseball. He has 50 walks in 29 games. That equates to 279 walks over a 162 game season. One more little gripe, Garrett Anderson saved his first trip to the DL in his career (or at least the last five years) until signing a mega-buck long term deal and landing on the Red Bird roster. Exasperating.

Mismanagement. On May 7 I promoted Jon Lieber and demoted Guillermo Mota. Lieber walked backwards 5 points on May 7, while Mota, a fairly reliable middle reliever, scored 8.5 points May 7, 12 points May 8, and 5.5 points May 9. A move right out of the Senators playbook. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!!!

San Diego in August. Everyone is in for the trip I hear except Denny and Bob which is great, not being that Denny and Bob are out, but that everyone else is in. Let’s try and convince the two stragglers to make the trip. Just think of the mound ball game! Where are our itineraries? Regarding the trip, I have a proposal for a side trip to Del Mar Race Track. The Saturday game is a night game and the thoroughbred racing at Del Mar in August is some of the finest in the world, not to mention the weather. Dave and I have a partner that could help line up some box seats and it is hard to beat the combo of great weather, gambling and cold beer. Let’s talk about it at the June HSL lunch.

Week 5 Observations. How do the Skipjacks do it? I hated his team on draft day and still do, yet he is in third place. There ought to be an inquiry. How about Big Guys first 16 rounds of picks, I love his team and except for bad luck, he will be there until the end. How about Michael Young as league MVP. Who would have thunk it? Who will pick up Juan Uribe? Ditto for Barry Larkin. What is wrong with Mark Prior? Blongo, aren’t you glad he slipped to you in the first round. If he pitches, the Cubs, barring mismanagement or serious injuries will win the World Series over the Angels. Also, if he pitches the Blues will double their pitching points. Bob, don’t you get frustrated with your pitching? I don’t think I could pick up a Sports Section. Has anyone ever tried going the whole season without a closer? May God have mercy on his sole. Did Screech offer any of his “speedy” outfielders to anyone else the first week of the season. Oops. In this league speed kills, as in kills your team. In case no one noticed, it’s all about the long ball. Roger Clemens is unbelievable!!

Until next time, may your pitchers pitch, and hitters hit. Redbirds Rule!!!

SKIP'S BLIPS

w	The red hot Michael Young is now the leading point-getter with 191 points, scoring at a torrid Bondsian clip of 6.2 PPG. Bonds is also averaging 6.2 PPG, but having missed a couple of games with the flu (the wuss), he is second in total points with 179. Carlos Beltran is third with 160 points, followed by Itchie's prize hot corner man, Adrian Beltre with 155. Okay, maybe he won't cool off.
w	In the World-Has-Turned-Upside-Down Department, there are five third basemen in the top twelve in hitting points, and an even more surprising number who are averaging more than 4.0 PPG, none of whom, by the way, are named Rodriguez. To put this in perspective, last year not a single third-sacker finished the year with a 4.0 or better PPG average.
w	There are three catchers, Posada, I-Rod and Javy, who are averaging at least 5.1 PPG. While catching through the dog days of the summer will surely bring their hitting production down, it is remarkable that we have a trio of catchers who are currently averaging more than a 5-spot per game. Only six other non-catching players are currently in such elite company.
w	It is not surprising that the top-scoring first baseman is a Senator. The only surprise is that it is not Albert Pujols, but Sean Casey.
w	You have to say that Lyle Overbay (tied with Helton for second place among first basemen) has been a bit of a pleasant surprise this season, considering that nobody saw fit to draft him on Draft Day. You could also say that the top scoring second baseman, Mark Loretta, with 143, has been overperforming his draft status just a bit.
w	On the pitching side, saying that Curt Schilling is now the top-ranked pitcher with 130 points will hopefully bring an end to Possum's shrill whining about being shafted on points for Schilling pitching performances.
w	The starting pitcher with the highest PPG average is none other than 41-year-old Roger Clemens, who is tearing it up at a clip of 21.8 PPG for his new National League team. Clemens is now 6-and-0, just past Lefty for second place on the All-Time Strikeout list, and is about to pass Phil Niekro for 14th place on the All-Time Wins list. And to think that Clemens went undrafted until the eighth round when Itchie was at the bottom of his list of pitchers to draft and decided to wait no longer. The leading point-getter among pitchers is Armando Benitez, the one bright shining spot in Magpie's lineup so far this year, who has already accumulated 150 points, compared with ____ points through all of last year while sitting on the Senators' roster.
w	The fifth-highest scoring pitcher to date is a middle reliever, the so-far untouchable F-Rod, who is yet to give up an earned run this season. Until I jinx him by pointing this out, that is.
w	Joe Kennedy of the Colorado Rockies is the fourth-leading starting pitcher? You gotta be kidding! He's no Tom Glavine.
w	Speaking of Tom Tom, I see that he passed the 250 career wins mark. Could this guy actually make it to 300 wins, assuring him of a spot in the Hall of Fame? Heaven help us.
w	The second-leading RBI man in the majors is the aforementioned Lyle Overbay. he also leads the major leagues in doubles with 16. Belliard leads the American League in batting average with .383. Mike YOung leads the AL in runs with 30, RBI with 26 and hits with 50. Somebody named Figgins from Anaheim leads the majors in triples with 5. Carlos Silva has the best record in the AL at 5-and-0. Podsednik leads the majors in stolen bases with 18. My point? It's a new order, boys. A new day has dawned.
w	This year's Jekyll-and-Hyde team is clearly the Blues, who trailed all teams during Week 5 while mustering up a humiliatingly-low total of only 266 points, fewer even than the woefully dismal Tribe. Worse still, the Blues' pitching staff has slumped to the point that with 387.5 points through five weeks, it threatens to drop below the Tribe staff (350.0 points through five weeks) in terms of sheer madness. Painful.
w	How, oh how, are those Skipjacks keeping their boat afloat? Why is luck always a lady for Itchie, when it's just a four-letter word for most of the rest of us?
w	Three cheers for Craig Biggio, who garnered Hit No. 2500 the other day, and then for an encore hit home runs for Nos. 2501 and 2502. Could this Killer B be headed for the Hall of Fame? I wouldn't have guessed it, but don't be surprised if Biggio keeps it up until he has 3000 hits.
w	And speaking of Hall of Fame candidates, somebody tell Rickey Henderson that he isn't eligible until after he retires, and not then for another five years. Let's just hope that Rickey doesn't keep signing with the Newark Bears because he needs the cash. Why can't any of us imagine that Rickey might have invested his millions in earnings wisely?

And that will do it for this issue. See you down the road.

Skipper

WEEK 5 STANDINGS

1.	Wahoos	2028
2.	Tigers	1973
3.	Skipjacks	1934
4.	Irates	1878
5.	Cubs*	1792
6.	Redbirds	1769
7.	Chiefs	1682
8.	Senators	1680
9.	Blues	1629
10.	Reds	1562
11.	Bombers	1532
12.	Tribe	1277

WEEK 5 POINT TOTALS

1.	Cubs*	462.0
2.	Skipjacks	422.5
3.	Wahoos	413.5
4.	Irates	386.0
5.	Senators	351.5
6.	Tigers	341.5
7.	Chiefs	336.5
8.	Reds	327.5
9.	Redbirds	317.0
10.	Bombers	311.5
11.	Tribe	269.5
12.	Blues	266.0

PLAYER RANKINGS

Pos.	Player	Pts.	PPG
C	Posada	149	5.1
	I-Rod	146	5.2
	Javy	126	5.2
1B	Casey	142	4.6
	Helton	137	4.6
	Overbay	137	4.4
	Pujols	134	4.2
	Bags	131	4.4
2B	Loretta	143	4.5
	Kent	139	4.6
	Soriano	129	4.3
3B	Beltre	155	5.2
	Rolen	146	4.6
	Glaus	145	5.2
	Blalock	143	4.6
	Lowell	143	4.8
SS	Young	191	6.2
	Guillen	136	4.5
	Tejada	126	4.5
LF	Bonds	179	6.2
	Dunn	154	5.0
	Manny	154	5.0
CF	Beltran	160	5.5
	Biggio	135	4.7
	Edmonds	129	4.0
RF	Cabrera	143	4.8
	Vladdy	141	4.5
	Sosa	132	4.2

Pos.	Player	Pts.	PPG
SP	Schilling	132	18.6
	Clemens	131	21.8
	Clement	123	20.4
	Kennedy	120	17.1
	Wood	118	19.7
	Penny	117	19.4
	Brown	116	16.6
	RJ	116	16.5
	Zambrano	116	19.3
	Glavine	111	15.8
	Oswalt	110	15.6
	Hudson	107	15.3
MR	F-Rod	127	9.1
	Otsuka	118	7.3
	Lopez	109	9.9
	Nathan	100	6.6
CL	Benitez	150	7.9
	Rivera	145	8.5
	Wagner	121	4.3
	Graves	114	6.3

Official Publication of The Omaha Redbirds Special Edition of From the Bullpen Guest Editor: Tirebiter
2004 Season	Edition No. 12	May 11, 2004