In an effort to make things a little less complicated the blog is moving from its current URL to http://thehammerspeaks.blogspot.com. If you goggle "the hammer speaks" or "hammer speaks" it will direct you to the new site.
Any comments or suggestions about the layout and style of the new format are more than welcome. And if you can tell me how to write script to center the blog title, better still.
Thanks for reading.
The Hammer
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Welcome to the Show
Erik Kratz is a 30 year-old minor league baseball player for the Indianapolis Indians that I'm sure you have never heard of. Tomorrow he will become a major league baseball player for the first time.
Last night Kratz was playing in the AAA all-star game in Leigh Valley, PA. Because he grew up in Tedford, PA about 45 minutes from Allentown, he had a bunch of family and friends in attendance. During the fourth inning of the game his manager, who was also a coach in the all-star game, told him in the dugout that he was coming out of the game. Kratz asked why. He was schedule to bat one more time and play one more inning. His manager asked him if he wanted to play one more inning or play in the major leagues. There were handshakes and hugs all around. These guys weren't his everyday teammates, it was an all-star game, but they understood that one of their own had just achieved the dream that they were all working for.
Kratz has spent nine seasons in the minors. Tomorrow he will put on a major league uniform (yes, it's the Pirates, spare the jokes) for the first time. Aside from all the excitement that will undoubtedly bring, this is a guy with a family who will go from making $35K to a pro-rated $400K for the next 2 1/2 months. Not every guy gets $5 million a year.
The all-star game was being televised nationally by the MLB network. The announcers quickly got him on the air. Here is the interview and accompanying story. It's pretty great.
Last night Kratz was playing in the AAA all-star game in Leigh Valley, PA. Because he grew up in Tedford, PA about 45 minutes from Allentown, he had a bunch of family and friends in attendance. During the fourth inning of the game his manager, who was also a coach in the all-star game, told him in the dugout that he was coming out of the game. Kratz asked why. He was schedule to bat one more time and play one more inning. His manager asked him if he wanted to play one more inning or play in the major leagues. There were handshakes and hugs all around. These guys weren't his everyday teammates, it was an all-star game, but they understood that one of their own had just achieved the dream that they were all working for.
Kratz has spent nine seasons in the minors. Tomorrow he will put on a major league uniform (yes, it's the Pirates, spare the jokes) for the first time. Aside from all the excitement that will undoubtedly bring, this is a guy with a family who will go from making $35K to a pro-rated $400K for the next 2 1/2 months. Not every guy gets $5 million a year.
The all-star game was being televised nationally by the MLB network. The announcers quickly got him on the air. Here is the interview and accompanying story. It's pretty great.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Zach Duke, On The Block
(Sorry for the lack of posts recently, the radio show is cutting into the writing. I'll pick it back up shortly. This one is for the diehard Pirates fans out there.)
The Pirates will come out of the all-star break with a 30-58 record, the worst in the National League. As I have written here ad naseum the problems with the club extend to all facets of the team--hitting for average, hitting for power, baserunning, starting pitching, defense. Just to drive the point home the bullpen, which has been the lone bright spot all season, blew two games late over the weekend, blemishing the 23-0 mark when leading after eight innings. Needless to say, they have lost in a variety of ways.
For me the interest in the second half will be to see if the young guys are going to improve and will be the foundation around which the team can build. Those guys include McCutchen, Alvarez, Tabata, Milledge, Walker, Lincoln, Ohlendorf, Hanrahan and Meek. There are other guys who may be around for a few years like Jones and Maholm, but I think we generally know what we have there.
One guy definitely not on the list is Zach Duke. I'm sure Zach is a great guy, but in a season of perplexing decisions by the team, having Duke start Friday night against Houston, in the first game after the break, may take the cake. Duke last pitched June 16 and then went on the DL with a strained left elbow. On the season he is 3-8 with a 5.49 ERA. All his peripherals are right in line with those numbers. He has never been a big strikeout guy and this year is no different. He's 27 and is making $4.3 million this year and next year will be his last year of arbitration eligibility. After that he can become a free agent.
On a team that is bereft of starting pitching Duke certainly isn't one of the two best the Pirates have and one can make an argument that he is actually fourth or fifth best. Ross Ohlendorf, the Pirates best starter in the second half last year, has pitched well of late after a bad start and Paul Maholm, a somewhat similar pitcher to Duke, has clearly been better. Yet Duke, coming back from injury and two brief rehab appearances in AA, is making the inaugural second half start.
The only rational answer for this is Zach Duke is on the block. If Duke can put together 2-3 quality starts before the end of the month the Pirates might be able to move him for a marginal prospect and save $2 million. (I realize the budgets are separate, but that $2 million would go a long way in fortifying the draft class of 2010.) At the end of the season I assume the team will non-tender Duke because I can't imagine them wanting to pay $5-5.5 million for that type of production. Maybe he would take a one-year deal for $3.5 million to stay, but I doubt it.
I think it needs to be asked of the coaching staff why Duke is starting Friday. I realize everyone in the pen will be fresh, but Duke will most likely be on a pitch count and I'm not sure him going four innings is what your are looking for when it will be ten days until the next off day. I doubt the team will say they are showcasing him, but I will be amused as to what they do say because no other answer is really credible. And, during a season where John Russell has said leadoff hitter Aki Iwamura, he of the .160 batting average, wasn't the reason the Pirates weren't scoring runs and that he had to keep running Ryan Church out there because of the way he's been hitting, when he was hitting about .125 in his previous forty at bats, at least it could lead to some more comedy. More comedy from Russell and watching some prospects are unfortunately all Pirates fans have left to look forward to with the major league club this year.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Running...With Bulls or Naked.
Here are a couple links courtesy of the Huffington Post which should elicit a visceral reaction. Make sure to catch the photos.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Unexpectedly Europe!
The wins were coming in bunches. In fact the only loss had come in a game where Chile's objective wasn't so much to win as it was to not get beaten badly and miss the knockout stage. They didn't.
South American, not European, nations rolled into the final sixteen, the knockout stage, with flare and panache. Five nations had qualified to play in South Africa, five were still in the tournament. Brazil and Argentina are known to the most casual of football fans, the others, less so. Uruguay has history, having hosted the first World Cup in 1930 and winning the title in 1930 and 1950. Chile was surprisingly good in the 1980s and early '90s and had returned with aggressive and stylish play. Paraguay was a surprise.
They were all there for the party. The balance of power was clearly swinging. Italy, the defending champion, and France, the 2006 runner-up, were bounced during the group stage. Spain and Germany suffered early defeats. This was the appetizer to the 2014 main course hosted in Brazil where the locals undoubtedly feel they will be sambaing to yet another title. South America was going to rule Africa.
All went according to plan in the Round of 16. Argentina showed their extraordinary talent up front with Huguain, Tevez and World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi, easily handling Mexico 3-1. Manager Diego Maradona's style was being vindicated every step of the way and he wasn't shy about letting the media and the world know it.
Two matches pitted the South Americans against Asian nations. Uruguay overcame a game South Korean side 2-1 with a brilliant strike by Luis Suarez. Paraguay was able to outlast Japan in penalties. Only a draw that pitted Brazil against Chile served to dampen a continent's joy. The favorites played their beautiful game and outclassed the Chileans 3-0. South America would have a participant in each of the quarterfinal match-ups.
And then it all went off the rails. Brazil drew The Netherlands. The Dutch had yet to lose, but they hadn't played as well as their faithful would have liked and it was rumored there was some in-fighting amongst the side. Brazil got off early on a great strike by Robinho and controlled the tempo through the interval. But in a fifteen minute stretch in the second half all was lost. Wesley Sneijder was the perp on both occasions and it left Brazil disorganized and desperate. When Felipe Melo deservedly got sent of for stamping Arjen Robben it was done. Brazil was out. Europe would have at least one representative in the quarterfinals. The pressure on Brazil four years from now will be more than the world has ever seen.
Next up Uruguay played the whole African continent, in this case represented by Ghana. In an unbelievably entertaining and dramatic match Uruguay was able to get by on penalties after Ghana had missed a penalty spot kick at the end of overtime. It was an incredibly difficult loss for the Black Stars, but put Uruguay into the semifinals. Although Brazil-Argentina, the dream Final, was no longer in the cards, the first all-South American Final since 1950 was still in the offing.
Disaster for the South Americans struck Saturday. Argentina ran into a German team that was well-coached, well-prepared and finished with clinical precision. All the fears about Maradona managing the side were realized. Argentina had no answer when things got difficult. No tactics to counter Germany's counterattacks or penetrating through balls. In the end it was embarrassing. The scoreline provided an honest account. Germany 4 Argentina 0.
Paraguay was supposed to be the one team that would be fodder. Against a Spainsh team that was one of the pre-tournament favorites, it was believed their only chance was to defend and hope to get to penalties after 120 minutes. The Paraguayans chose a different route and gave the world a wonderful showing in the process. They may not have been the better team on the day, but they played a fantastic game. They went home defeated 1-0, but walked off the pitch with heads held high.
Now, the world is left with Uruguay vs. The Netherlands and Germany vs. Spain. Holland has never won, losing to the host nation in both 1974 and 1978. Spain has never been in the Final. Germany hasn't won since unification, losing in to Brazil in 2002. Uruguay has been mostly an afterthought since winning in 1950.
As always the World Cup is still filled with great story lines and magnificent stars, it will still cause much of the world's population to stop everything to watch. Entire countries will breathlessly wait for the results. But these stories are different than the ones many expected five days ago. South America's greatest teams have gone crashing out of the field, while two European nations always seemingly on the cusp are there once again.
2006 saw the first all-European Final since 1982. That appeared to be a long-shot a week ago. Now, I'd bet on it.
South American, not European, nations rolled into the final sixteen, the knockout stage, with flare and panache. Five nations had qualified to play in South Africa, five were still in the tournament. Brazil and Argentina are known to the most casual of football fans, the others, less so. Uruguay has history, having hosted the first World Cup in 1930 and winning the title in 1930 and 1950. Chile was surprisingly good in the 1980s and early '90s and had returned with aggressive and stylish play. Paraguay was a surprise.
They were all there for the party. The balance of power was clearly swinging. Italy, the defending champion, and France, the 2006 runner-up, were bounced during the group stage. Spain and Germany suffered early defeats. This was the appetizer to the 2014 main course hosted in Brazil where the locals undoubtedly feel they will be sambaing to yet another title. South America was going to rule Africa.
All went according to plan in the Round of 16. Argentina showed their extraordinary talent up front with Huguain, Tevez and World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi, easily handling Mexico 3-1. Manager Diego Maradona's style was being vindicated every step of the way and he wasn't shy about letting the media and the world know it.
Two matches pitted the South Americans against Asian nations. Uruguay overcame a game South Korean side 2-1 with a brilliant strike by Luis Suarez. Paraguay was able to outlast Japan in penalties. Only a draw that pitted Brazil against Chile served to dampen a continent's joy. The favorites played their beautiful game and outclassed the Chileans 3-0. South America would have a participant in each of the quarterfinal match-ups.
And then it all went off the rails. Brazil drew The Netherlands. The Dutch had yet to lose, but they hadn't played as well as their faithful would have liked and it was rumored there was some in-fighting amongst the side. Brazil got off early on a great strike by Robinho and controlled the tempo through the interval. But in a fifteen minute stretch in the second half all was lost. Wesley Sneijder was the perp on both occasions and it left Brazil disorganized and desperate. When Felipe Melo deservedly got sent of for stamping Arjen Robben it was done. Brazil was out. Europe would have at least one representative in the quarterfinals. The pressure on Brazil four years from now will be more than the world has ever seen.
Next up Uruguay played the whole African continent, in this case represented by Ghana. In an unbelievably entertaining and dramatic match Uruguay was able to get by on penalties after Ghana had missed a penalty spot kick at the end of overtime. It was an incredibly difficult loss for the Black Stars, but put Uruguay into the semifinals. Although Brazil-Argentina, the dream Final, was no longer in the cards, the first all-South American Final since 1950 was still in the offing.
Disaster for the South Americans struck Saturday. Argentina ran into a German team that was well-coached, well-prepared and finished with clinical precision. All the fears about Maradona managing the side were realized. Argentina had no answer when things got difficult. No tactics to counter Germany's counterattacks or penetrating through balls. In the end it was embarrassing. The scoreline provided an honest account. Germany 4 Argentina 0.
Paraguay was supposed to be the one team that would be fodder. Against a Spainsh team that was one of the pre-tournament favorites, it was believed their only chance was to defend and hope to get to penalties after 120 minutes. The Paraguayans chose a different route and gave the world a wonderful showing in the process. They may not have been the better team on the day, but they played a fantastic game. They went home defeated 1-0, but walked off the pitch with heads held high.
Now, the world is left with Uruguay vs. The Netherlands and Germany vs. Spain. Holland has never won, losing to the host nation in both 1974 and 1978. Spain has never been in the Final. Germany hasn't won since unification, losing in to Brazil in 2002. Uruguay has been mostly an afterthought since winning in 1950.
As always the World Cup is still filled with great story lines and magnificent stars, it will still cause much of the world's population to stop everything to watch. Entire countries will breathlessly wait for the results. But these stories are different than the ones many expected five days ago. South America's greatest teams have gone crashing out of the field, while two European nations always seemingly on the cusp are there once again.
2006 saw the first all-European Final since 1982. That appeared to be a long-shot a week ago. Now, I'd bet on it.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Next on the Chopping Block for the Bucs
No, this is not about Ryan Church......yet.
I think it was pretty easy for all to see that Aki Iwamura wasn't the guy the Pirates thought they were getting. After a first week in which he showed some good plate discipline, something rarely seen at the top of the Pirates' order in recent years, things went downhill and they went downhill fast. I think the Pirates waited almost exactly the right amount of time before they DFA'd Aki-san. The Pirates were 40% of the way through their season and it was clear, at age 31, that Aki wasn't going to be re-signed. They gave him a chance to play his way out of his slump, but it wasn't happening and he didn't seem to be adding anything in the clubhouse. Time to take your medicine. While people can criticize the trade, at least the team recognized the mistake and moved on.
Now it's time to think about the next moves. Here is Aki's line at the time he was DFA'd compared to Ronny Cedeno's today:
PA AB BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ BB K
Iwamura 193 165 .182 .292 .267 .558 54 26 31
Cedeno 239 223 .220 .258 .309 .568 54 10 55
You can guess where this is headed. The Pirates are unlikely to DFA Ronny Cedeno at this point because they really lack middle infield depth, but I don't think it should be ruled out. I had pretty high hopes for Ronny after he posted a .701 with 5 HRs in 155 ABs during his time with the Bucs last season. But, I have completely lost all hope that he develops into anything more than he is now. He is 27. His career OPS is .618, OPS+ is 60. He has ZERO plate discipline. Cedeno is adequate with the glove. He has a 0.0 WAR this year because his fielding has been above average but his career UZR/150 is slightly negative.
Cedeno is only making $1.125 this year and is under control for one more year so he is by no means unaffordable. Instead he has become unplayable. Yesterday basically sealed the deal for me. Fifth inning, zero-zero game and Ronny comes up with runners on first and second. Cedeno bunted the first pitch fastball foul. He took the second pitch for a ball and then bunted another fastball foul. Tom Gorzelanny then threw a slider in the dirt and Cedeno didn't have a chance. He checked his swing but the first base umpire rang him up. Thanks for coming.
I have not been able to find anything in the game story, but from this at bat one or two things are obvious. 1.) If Cedeno was told to bunt by the coaching staff they clearly think pitcher Brad Lincoln, who was on-deck, is as good or better hitter than Cedeno. I'm not sure I can ever remember seeing the number eight hitter bunting runners over with no outs. 2.) If Cedeno was bunting on his own, he has no idea of the game situation or has completely lost all confidence in his ability at the plate. Neither of these is a good thing, obviously. And to emphasize the point, he didn't get the job done. (Lincoln followed up with a perfectly executed sac bunt, btw, but the Bucs didn't score as Tabata walked and LaRoche grounded sharply into a force play to end the inning.)
To their credit again the Pirates had already made the move to reduce Cedeno's playing time by playing Bobby Crosby at short. But Neil Walker got banged up and Crosby had to move to second (again, Andy LaRoche not being prepared to play second base rears its ugly head), and now Crosby is banged up and Walker isn't back.
The point is Cedeno is done as a Pirate. I'm happy to have Bobby Crosby be the everyday starting shortstop beginning tonight. I'd even consider bringing up Argenis Diaz to be his back up and give him 20-30 starts even though he isn't hitting at all down in Indy. I realize this isn't at all likely to happen, but I think, like Aki, it is time to move past Ronny. The alternatives other than Crosby aren't apparent, but JR likes Crosby at short while Walker and Alvarez learn on the job. So do I.
Not to make this a throwaway paragraph in the post, but while we are making moves to make the team better, it's time to call up Steve Pearce. I'm sure Ryan Church is a good guy and all, but we are half way into the season and his produciton has been non-existant. The team isn't going to get anything in a trade. Church's OPS is .509, OPS+ is 38. In 146 PAs he has 7 BBs and 33 Ks. I don't think you need to know much more than that. He's making $1.5 mm on a one year deal. Time to move on from Ryan as well. Get Steve Pearce back to Pittsburgh.
I think it was pretty easy for all to see that Aki Iwamura wasn't the guy the Pirates thought they were getting. After a first week in which he showed some good plate discipline, something rarely seen at the top of the Pirates' order in recent years, things went downhill and they went downhill fast. I think the Pirates waited almost exactly the right amount of time before they DFA'd Aki-san. The Pirates were 40% of the way through their season and it was clear, at age 31, that Aki wasn't going to be re-signed. They gave him a chance to play his way out of his slump, but it wasn't happening and he didn't seem to be adding anything in the clubhouse. Time to take your medicine. While people can criticize the trade, at least the team recognized the mistake and moved on.
Now it's time to think about the next moves. Here is Aki's line at the time he was DFA'd compared to Ronny Cedeno's today:
PA AB BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ BB K
Iwamura 193 165 .182 .292 .267 .558 54 26 31
Cedeno 239 223 .220 .258 .309 .568 54 10 55
You can guess where this is headed. The Pirates are unlikely to DFA Ronny Cedeno at this point because they really lack middle infield depth, but I don't think it should be ruled out. I had pretty high hopes for Ronny after he posted a .701 with 5 HRs in 155 ABs during his time with the Bucs last season. But, I have completely lost all hope that he develops into anything more than he is now. He is 27. His career OPS is .618, OPS+ is 60. He has ZERO plate discipline. Cedeno is adequate with the glove. He has a 0.0 WAR this year because his fielding has been above average but his career UZR/150 is slightly negative.
Cedeno is only making $1.125 this year and is under control for one more year so he is by no means unaffordable. Instead he has become unplayable. Yesterday basically sealed the deal for me. Fifth inning, zero-zero game and Ronny comes up with runners on first and second. Cedeno bunted the first pitch fastball foul. He took the second pitch for a ball and then bunted another fastball foul. Tom Gorzelanny then threw a slider in the dirt and Cedeno didn't have a chance. He checked his swing but the first base umpire rang him up. Thanks for coming.
I have not been able to find anything in the game story, but from this at bat one or two things are obvious. 1.) If Cedeno was told to bunt by the coaching staff they clearly think pitcher Brad Lincoln, who was on-deck, is as good or better hitter than Cedeno. I'm not sure I can ever remember seeing the number eight hitter bunting runners over with no outs. 2.) If Cedeno was bunting on his own, he has no idea of the game situation or has completely lost all confidence in his ability at the plate. Neither of these is a good thing, obviously. And to emphasize the point, he didn't get the job done. (Lincoln followed up with a perfectly executed sac bunt, btw, but the Bucs didn't score as Tabata walked and LaRoche grounded sharply into a force play to end the inning.)
To their credit again the Pirates had already made the move to reduce Cedeno's playing time by playing Bobby Crosby at short. But Neil Walker got banged up and Crosby had to move to second (again, Andy LaRoche not being prepared to play second base rears its ugly head), and now Crosby is banged up and Walker isn't back.
The point is Cedeno is done as a Pirate. I'm happy to have Bobby Crosby be the everyday starting shortstop beginning tonight. I'd even consider bringing up Argenis Diaz to be his back up and give him 20-30 starts even though he isn't hitting at all down in Indy. I realize this isn't at all likely to happen, but I think, like Aki, it is time to move past Ronny. The alternatives other than Crosby aren't apparent, but JR likes Crosby at short while Walker and Alvarez learn on the job. So do I.
Not to make this a throwaway paragraph in the post, but while we are making moves to make the team better, it's time to call up Steve Pearce. I'm sure Ryan Church is a good guy and all, but we are half way into the season and his produciton has been non-existant. The team isn't going to get anything in a trade. Church's OPS is .509, OPS+ is 38. In 146 PAs he has 7 BBs and 33 Ks. I don't think you need to know much more than that. He's making $1.5 mm on a one year deal. Time to move on from Ryan as well. Get Steve Pearce back to Pittsburgh.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Opportunity Squandered
The Americans would play Ghana in the Round of 16. Ghana had finished second to Germany in Group D. The winner would play the winner of Uruguay-South Korea--not the world's most-feared footballing nations. One of these four teams would reach the last four of the World Cup. From that point, with confidence undoubtedly running high, anything could happen.
It won't be the United States.
On Saturday in Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg the U.S. again came out flat. But eyebrows were raised even before the team took the field. All the lineup and tactical changes coach Bob Bradley made in the first three games worked out beautifully. Versus Algeria he changed three starters opting to use Jonathan Bornstein in the back, Maurice Edu in the midfield and Herculez Gomez up front. Against the Black Stars the skipper went back to Ricardo Clark over Edu in midfield and Robbie Findley instead of Gomez up front. Questionable decisions that immediately proved costly.
Five minutes in the team again fell behind early, the third time in four matches. Clark made a terrible give away in midfield and Ghana attacked quickly down the left side. Central defender Jay DeMerit couldn't have played it worse. Backing off he tried to channel the attacker, Kevin-Prince Boateng, to the inside, but got beaten badly to his right, the outside. Boateng, whose nationality was only changed to the land of his father as opposed to the land of his birth (Germany) on May 12, got a step and ripped a left-footed drive from sixteen yards past goalkeeper Tim Howard. Howard should have done better as well, giving up too much of the near post. 1-0 Ghana.
From there Ghana controlled the possession, but both teams looked vulnerable in the back. Bradley recognized his lineup misjudgment and mercifully replaced Clark around the thirty minute mark. Shortly thereafter, Robbie Findley squandered a particularly delicious opportunity and the US went to break on the wrong side of 1-0.
The second half saw a changed storyline. Benny Feilhaber replaced Findley and the Yanks immediately seemed energized. Feilhaber had a great chance that was well-saved, but the U.S. kept up the pressure and was soon rewarded. Clint Dempsey was deemed to have been taken down in the area and awarded a penalty shot. Landon Donovan stepped up and knocked it in off the right post. The giving of the penalty was questionable, but with all the Americans had suffered at the hands of the referees, it was nice to see them get the benefit of the doubt.
From here it seemed clear the United States would win the match. They had the momentum and their superior fitness was clearly showing. But it was not to be. Clinical finishing and good central defending had abandoned them the entire tournament and this match would be no different. The U.S. wasted opportunities in the final thirty and went to overtime level at one. Three minutes into the overtime Asamoah Gyan latched onto a long ball played down the middle and crushed a volley past Howard into the U.S. net. Ghana defended well enough from there to earn the right to play Uruguay in the quarterfinals on Friday.
What could have been. The U.S. had a draw that afforded every opportunity to achieve more than they ever had on the world stage. A 2:30 pm EST match on the Friday afternoon before a long national holiday weekend would have been a fantastic opportunity to rally a country that rarely has the chance to get behind a National Team or the inclination to invest in soccer. But in the end, the side was lacking. The United States team didn't have enough elite talent to push through. The coach and most players are unlikely to be back four years from now when the World Cup sambas into Brazil. Hopefully the exposure the sport got during this tournament expands the talent pool that the U.S soccer federation has to choose from when picking that squad and those that will come after it. Opportunities like the one the Americans had in South Africa are few and far between. They wasted one this time.
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