• Chris at Capitol Punishment examines the Nationals’ least clutch plays of the 2007 season.
• Speaking of the Nats, Harper at Oleander and Morning Glories explains why Manny Acta didn’t get serious consideration for NL Manager of the Year.
• Erik at Philliesflow wonders why Jimmy Rollins won the NL Silver Slugger at shortstop over Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. Remember, this is a Phillies blogger asking the question.
• Will at Chop-n-Change looks at the best ever to play left field for the Braves.
• Alex at Mets Geek marvels at the success Tom Glavine has enjoyed over the years despite never having great stuff.

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Glavine returns home
Will one year in Atlanta
Erase his last start?

White Sox ship Garland
To Angels for Cabrera,
Have no pitching left

Three years of Lowell
Only in Red Sox Nation
Is he a bargain

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The Mets are down, 7-1, after two innings. They are running their third pitcher of the morning out there now.

[Update: This game is now a final: Florida has won, 8-1, and the Mets' season is finished.]

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Meanwhile, here are the games that matter:

• Marlins at Mets, 10:10 a.m. PT — Dontrelle Willis vs Tom Glavine. I can’t think of a better pitcher to make this start for New York than Glavine. To say the guy is well prepared for this situation is to make a colossal understatement. He’ll face a tough Florida lineup, but also a pitcher in Willis who has been a disaster in the second half (batters are hitting .315/.383/.522 against him since the All-Star break).
• Nationals at Phillies, 10:35 a.m. PT — Like the Mets, the Phillies play a lousy team at home. Like the Mets, they’ll send out a 40-something left-hander (Jamie Moyer) to get the job done. Jay Bergmann counters for Washington, and all of his splits come up bad. He’s much less effective on the road, in the second half, and against left-handed batters (hello Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard).
• Padres at Brewers, 11:05 a.m. PT — How has San Diego’s season come to depend on Brett Tomko? I’m pretty certain that wasn’t in the script. The Padres also have the pleasure of facing a playoff-caliber club on its home turf. Jeff Suppan, who has been stronger at home and in the second half, gets the call for Milwaukee.
• Diamondbacks at Rockies, 12:05 p.m. PT — Arizona has already clinched the NL West. Although the Snakes own the best record in the league, they also don’t have much incentive to play their regulars. The Rockies, meanwhile, have won 15 of their last 20 games and have shown no interest in going home for the winter. Two young right-handers, Yusmeiro Petit and Ubaldo Jimenez, hook up in this one.

There you have it. Fire up a pot of coffee and plant your posterior on the couch. It’s gonna be a fun morning…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• Tigers at Yankees, 12:55 p.m. PT — Two teams fighting for a playoff berth, Roger Clemens pitching… Clemens’ career ERA by team: Tor, 2.33; Hou, 2.40; Bos, 3.06; NYA, 3.99.
• Angels at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — Same as above, but with Curt Schilling instead of Clemens.
• Cardinals at Cubs, 12:55 p.m. PT — Take the NL Central, please. Nobody wants it, and here come the Cards. Gee, I sure hope another 83-win team wins the World Series this year.
• Diamondbacks at Braves, 4:05 p.m. PT — Bobby Cox has his team in the wild card chase. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine have been replaced by Buddy Carlyle and Chuck James. But, oh, that is a fun lineup.

There you go…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

First Alex Rodriguez hits his 500th homer, then Barry Bonds hits his 755th, now Tom Glavine wins his 300th game. The veteran left-hander beat the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday evening to reach his milestone.

As impressive as Glavine’s accomplishment is (and it certainly is), what blows my mind is that if he’d managed to pick up one more victory in 2003, he now would have 19 consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins. That is insanely consistent. Glavine also is the first 300-game winner since Warren Spahn (1942-1965) never to crack the 200-strikeout mark in a single season.

Congratulations to Glavine on a job well done!

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The Crank digs deep, back into the 19th century, and finds that early southpaws weren’t particularly effective. He cites the creation of the American Association in 1882 as the first breakthrough for lefties, noting that “startup leagues are often quicker to process innovation.” The second key point came two years later, when pitchers began throwing overhand.

Fascinatingly, in 1919, there were eight right-handers with 300 career wins and only one left-hander (Eddie Plank). In fact, Plank was the only lefty in history with even 200 wins to that point.

It’s interesting, to me, to see how various trends evolve over time. The Crank’s piece on the place of left-handed pitchers in the history of baseball makes for a thought-provoking read…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Not that it took a genius to figure out that Felix Hernandez/Daisuke Matsuzaka would be a great matchup, but a one-hitter from Hernandez? Against that lineup? Yesterday I said, “…and if something should happen to Johan Santana, Hernandez could garner some Cy Young support.” I’d like to remove the qualifier from that statement. You dominate the Red Sox in their house, and you’re something special.

And the Justin Verlander/Adam Loewen matchup turned out to be a dandy as well. Both struggled with control a bit, but kept the game scoreless. Actually, the game remained that way till the 12th inning, when Craig Monroe knocked a grand slam. We were out at the Padres game last night. I pointed to the scoreboard and said to my wife, “Look, it’s 0-0 in the 11th.” She said, “yuck,” or some such. Needless to say, we have slightly different tastes in what makes for a good baseball game.

I would also point out that the Brewers/Marlins game was pretty good, but I think I’ve already strained something while patting myself on the back. Let’s move on to Thursday’s games, shall we?

American League

• Tigers at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT – This isn’t really my kind of game, but with Mike Maroth and Tomo Ohka on the mound, the runs could be flowing in a big way. I’ll go out on a limb and say it won’t be tied 0-0 in the 11th.

National League

• Phillies at Mets, 4:05 p.m. PT – Jamie Moyer made his big-league debut June 16, 1986, against his current team while pitching for the Chicago Cubs. When Moyer signed his first pro contract after being a sixth-round pick in the ‘84 draft, current teammate Cole Hamels was just 5 1/2 months old. Moyer, now age 44, starts for the Phillies, while Tom Glavine goes for the Mets. The 41-year-old southpaw made his big-league debut August 17, 1987, against the Houston Astros. A second-round pick in that same ‘84 draft, Glavine was selected by the Braves before current teammate Lastings Milledge was born.

Okay, now I feel old. Speaking of which, another future Hall of Famer is pitching at 4:35 p.m. PT. John Smoltz takes the hill for Atlanta against the hapless (really, they have no haps) Nationals. The game will be brutal, so I cannot in good conscience recommend it, but maybe tune in every now and then to watch Smoltz abuse the Washington batters. You know, if you’re not too squeamish that way.

Happy Thursday, folks. Enjoy!

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Baseball is back. Everything feels right again.

5:12 p.m. PT: Carpenter misses low to Jose Reyes for the first pitch of the ‘07 season.
5:16 p.m. PT: New Cardinals second baseman Adam Kennedy has made each of the first two chances he’s seen tonight a little too interesting. No harm done.
5:20 p.m. PT: David Eckstein fights off an inside pitch from Glavine and dumps it into left center for the season’s first hit.
5:22 p.m. PT: David Wright starts a beautiful 5-4-3 DP on a wicked hop. Nice turn by Jose Valentin at second. Why is Preston Wilson batting so high in the order?
5:24 p.m. PT: Glavine, down 3-1 in the count, comes back with a couple change-ups to retire Albert Pujols and complete the first inning. Pujols swings off his front foot on the 3-2 pitch and flies weakly to center.
5:29 p.m. PT: Moises Alou whacks Carpenter’s first pitch back through the middle for a single, the Mets’ first hit of the year.
5:31 p.m. PT: Carpenter makes a mistake 1-2 to Shawn Green, who slices a single over shortstop. Alou, running very aggressively, takes third.
5:36 p.m. PT: Fantastic throw by Jose Reyes to nip Scott Rolen at first. Nice job by Delgado to stay on the bag at first.
5:38 p.m. PT: Glavine freezes Jim Edmonds on a nasty pitch at the knees to end the second. Glavine a Hall of Famer? You bet.
5:45 p.m. PT: Carlos Beltran just misses hitting the season’s first homer. Hooked foul. Now he’s plunked by a pitch.
5:47 p.m. PT: Delgado crushes one deep to left. So Taguchi takes a curious route to the ball and it’s over his head for a two-run double.
5:53 p.m. PT: Kennedy triples to dead center. A good throw gets him at third; the ball almost skips into the stands but Glavine does a nice job of backing up the play.
6:01 p.m. PT: Carpenter is getting hit pretty hard.
6:09 p.m. PT: Paul LoDuca wins a tough battle against Carpenter, knocking a 3-2 pitch back up the middle for a two-run single. Great approach by LoDuca.
6:12 p.m. PT: Carpenter survives the inning, but it’s not pretty. He and the Cards are down, 5-0, after 3 1/2 innings.
6:16 p.m. PT: Glavine gets Wilson swinging on a 3-2 change-up. That’s got to be all kinds of frustrating.
6:33 p.m. PT: Another nice double play by the Mets. Joe Morgan is praising Valentin’s turn at second, and I have to agree; Valentin doesn’t waste much motion over there.
6:44 p.m. PT: Terrific diving catch by Alou. He and Glavine may be 40+ years old, but they don’t look like it tonight.
6:47 p.m. PT: David Eckstein drills a double down the left field line to drive in the Cardinals’ first run of the season.
6:48 p.m. PT: Holy smokes, that’s a terrific throw by Beltran to nail Eckstein at home on a single by Wilson.
6:53 p.m. PT: Glavine has lost it. They need to get him out of there. Nails Rolen to load the bases.
7:08 p.m. PT: Another fine play by Reyes. Backhands a short hop off the bat of Kennedy to start an inning-ending 6-4-3 DP.
7:30 p.m. PT: Just finished dinner. Rookie right-hander Joe Smith didn’t do himself any favors in his big-league debut. Sick 4-6-3 DP behind Aaron Heilman saves the day. Brilliant defense from the Mets tonight. They’re beating the Cards at their own game.
7:36 p.m. PT: Reyes gets picked off first on the third-to-first move. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are debating whether this should be a balk (it isn’t) based on the fact that it deceives the runner.
7:45 p.m. PT: Peter Gammons says Tim Hudson is going to have a monster season for the Braves.
7:47 p.m. PT: Taguchi singles up the middle off Billy Wagner. How did Taguchi get on top of that pitch?
7:49 p.m. PT: Aaron Miles lofts a lazy fly ball to right and the first game of ‘07 is in the books. Glavine wins his 291st, as the Mets finish off the Cardinals, 6-1.

Thanks for reading. We won’t be doing this all year, but there’s only one first game of the season. Gotta do something, right?

Post from: Knuckle Curve