Dropped Third Strike: Never Mess with a Winning Streak

2008 marks the 20^th anniversary of what is arguably the greatest sports movie, not just baseball movie, ever made: Bull Durham. With that in mind, I’d like to take the time to name the position players, and pitchers alike, who have been “Lollygaggers”, and those who have most definitely “Hit the Bull”, to this point in 2008.

“You know what that makes you?!?...Lollygaggers!”

Andruw Jones – CF, Los Angeles Dodgers: Is there a more perfect personification for the term “lollygagger” than a guy who, while remaining uninjured in ’08 thus far, is batting below the Mendoza Line – and I mean way below the Mendoza Line (.164?!? are you freaking kidding me?!?)? This guy hit a combined 92 homeruns in 2005-2006 (as well as 257 RBI in the same time frame), yet he has managed to hit only three dingers in 72 games played this season, and as a result, has seen his playing time significantly reduced by manager Joe Torre. On the bright side, that home run total means that Jones has hit one more homerun than notable sluggers Nick Punto and San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain, although he still has more work to do to match the 2008 power outputs of J.R. Towles and Shawn Riggans. It’s a lofty goal indeed, but probably not exactly what Ned Colletti had in mind when he agreed to pay Andruw over $14 million dollars to play center field in Dodger Blue this season. At least Jones’ underachieving lead to the club acquiring Manny Ramirez, which should comfort Dodger fans - until he bolts for greener (as in the color of money) pastures this off-season.

Detroit Tigers Pitching Staff: I considered giving this dubious honor to Johan Santana, but upon further review, his stats have actually been very respectable, in spite of a lack of run support in his starts and a horrendous bullpen backing him up. Then there’s Barry Zito who, although he will most likely never live up to the gaudy contract that he signed before the 2007 season, has quietly won three of his last four decisions, and after all, hasn’t the “Zito’s contract is the worst idea since Speed 2 was green lighted” angle been beaten to death in the past year and a half? This leads me to give this half of the Lollygagger award to the entire Detroit Tigers pitching staff. Going into this season, multiple publications, oh, and me, considered Los Tigres to be the favorites in the A.L. Central, if not the entire American League. It’s true that this was mostly the result of an upgrade in their everyday lineup, and not what their starting pitching offered on paper, but still, there is no good reason that a team with the second most runs scored in the American League should be two games under .500 on August 8^th. Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman have become sympathetic figures due to injuries and overall ineffectiveness, but the truth is that the rest of the staff hasn’t exactly picked up the slack. Armando Gallaraga has been a nice revelation since Willis first went on the D.L., but Justin Verlander and Kenny Rogers have been very inconsistent and mostly disappointing so far this season, and the closer’s role has been a revolving door lately due to Todd Jones’ injury and the rest of the bullpen’s struggles. I’m sure they would like a mulligan on the Jurrjens for Renteria trade, but I do think that the Farnsworth for Pudge trade will work out in Detroit’s favor in the long run. And if not, at least Tiger management tried to upgrade their biggest weakness, while giving up an over the hill and underperforming catcher in the process, when they had a far less costly veteran to take his place. It’s too bad that Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, etc. won’t get to play past September this season, but that will be the fault of the team’s pitching staff, which to this point has a 4.54 ERA, good for 11^th in the American League. Ouch.

“He Hit the [Expletive Deleted] Bull!”

Ryan Ludwick – RF, St. Louis Cardinals: Raise your hand if you saw this guy’s season coming out of spring training? Ok, put your hands down, because you’re lying. Look, I know that last week I wrote that it’s going to be a two-team race for the N.L. Central down the stretch between Milwaukee and the Cubs, and I still believe that, but Ludwick’s outstanding production is a huge reason why the Redbirds have been in the thick of things for this long. Albert Pujols is always going to get most of the headlines in the St. Louis lineup, and for the most part deservedly so. But Ludwick’s numbers have been very comparable, and therefore very respectable, this season. Apparently all that this guy needed was a full-time job, and give credit to the Cardinals coaching staff for coming to that realization early on this spring.

Honorable mentions for this award are Josh Hamilton – CF, Texas Rangers and Carlos Quentin – LF, Chicago White Sox

Cliff Lee – SP, Cleveland Indians: What a great story Cliff Lee has been this year. He went from pitching for AAA Buffalo for a good portion of 2007 to starting for the American League in the All-Star game in 2008, and a Cy Young award could be on the way later this season as well. Lee is tied for the American League lead in wins, and is a very close second to Justin Duchscherer for the right to claim the Major League’s best ERA. Not bad for a guy who had to battle for a spot in Cleveland’s rotation this March.

Honorable mentions for this award are Justin Duchscherer – SP, Oakland A’s and Ervin Santana – SP, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Thanks for reading, DTS fans, and remember, “Throw some ground balls – it’s more democratic”.