Ziggy Appreciation

It’s been a busy month or two – sadly too busy to think much about baseball. And as my Oakland A’s (or as I think of them, the Sacramento River Cats plus Mark Ellis) slide deeper in the AL West, there has been at least one thrilling and heartening recent storyline.

Brad Ziegler, a 28-year-old middle reliever who was brought up to the majors for the first time at the end of May, has shattered a record by beginning his career hurling 30 consecutive scoreless innings to begin his career.

Ziegler has caught the attention of A’s fans with his back story, all the while keeping a journal of his experiences on the most popular A’s blog. (If you want to know what goes through a pitcher’s head as he walks to a big league mound for the first time ever, it’s here.)

Ziegler was a college teammate of Ryan Howard’s at SW Missouri State, and he was also drafted by the Phillies. He was quickly dropped by the Phillies organization, pitched in an independent league, and eventually signed a minor league contract with the A’s, who convinced him to become a sidearmer. He worked his way up the farm system, joining AAA Sacramento at the end of last season. He also took a line drive off his head at a youth baseball camp last year, resulting in a skull fracture and a concussion.

Ziegler has pitched in all types of situations, inducing ground ball double plays to get out of jams, getting out Garret Anderson, Torii Hunter and Casey Kotchman out to earn his first win, and even mopping up two or three innings at a time to ease the workload of the predictably injured Oakland bullpen.

Photo: Ziegler warms up in the bullpen on June 29 against the Giants. He gave up no runs - but Joe Blanton sure did.

All-Star Starters...?

So apparently, yesterday the New York Post spilled the beans on the All-Star starters. The Hardball Times has the list (scroll down a bit): Mauer, Youkilis, Pedroia, Rodriguez, Jeter, Ramirez, Hamilton, Ichiro and Ortiz, with Cliff Lee on the mound. Follow the link for the NL guys.

From the performance perspective, I've only got a few nits to pick from that list (Jeter and Manny, to name two); however, according to this story from the Post's George King today, there were some "incorrect" players listed yesterday. So I'm not sure which story is referring to which list, and the above players may not be entirely correct. We'll see if it matches the final starters when they get announced today, and I'll have more thoughts then.

Rules for the Ambidextrous

I'm sure you remember the video I circulated previously about Pat Venditte, the Yankees' ambidextrous pitcher who danced the batter's box tango with a switch hitter in his professional debut.

Well, as a result of that incident, the minor league umpires' commission has created new rules to deal with it. It seems that the pitcher must now declare which arm he's pitching with first; the batter can then decide where he wants to bat. This seems like it would pretty much neutralize any advantage an ambidextrous pitcher would have.

In other news, check out the Newark Star-Ledger's coverage of one of the things that makes Yankees/Red Sox great: interminable games.

All in a Name

I am a terrible blogger. Between summer school and campaign work, I just don't have the time to be able to follow baseball to the point where I might have something to say about it.

But watching Robinson Cano ground into yet another force out with men on base, after popping out for the trillionth time this year in an earlier at-bat, I've decided that he of the fifth-worst OPS in all of baseball needs a new name. Hence, I dub him Robinson Cannot. Calling trademark now.

Damn those 1800s rules

Literally a tough break for the Yankees, as Chien-Ming Wang broke his foot rounding third yesterday. He's likely out until September and joins Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy on the DL.

Given the beleaguered state of his starting rotation, I can understand why Hank Steinbrenner is upset, but I question his response that the National League needs "to grow up and join the 21st century."

Hank continues, "I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He's going to be out. I don't like that, and it's about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s."

Now, I'll admit, that the NL rule seems at times a bit, well, quaint. But I like it. There is something satisfying about seeing a fire-balling ace pitcher step up to the plate and a) strike out trying to bunt or b) sending one over fences.

Secondly, I've always been a fan of the pinch hitter: the scrappy player, going out there with chip on his shoulder, looking to prove he deserves to start. Look at the Phillies' Greg Dobbs this year; while pinch hitting he is batting .457 with 16 hits and 11 RBI in 35 at bats...well on his way to breaking all pinch hitting records. Pretty cool and only happening in the NL.

When Worlds Collide

So this blogger, who has gone only by the pseudonym "Poblano," has done some truly excellent statistical work in parsing the polls this election cycle (if you're not yet familiar, check it out).

Well, today Poblano finally announced his identity - and it's none other than Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus fame. I was pleasantly surprised to find that out. It's just a very neat example of worlds colliding.

In other news...who do you like to win the Series this year? The Bosox, Cards, Cubbies, and Angels have all looked good this year - and who isn't rooting for the Rays these days? - but I have to say, Arizona's rotation would scare the be-Jesus out of me in a playoff series. Webb, Haren, Johnson, and Owings look like a seriously legitimate, championship-caliber rotation. And if any of them falters, Scherzer has looked pretty spectacular so far as well. If they can come up with enough offense, watch out.

Got Brains?

The other day I saw somebody wearing this shirt:

It’s a Yankees shirt that rubs in the fact that the Yankees have won more World Series than the Red Sox. But why would you wear a shirt that advertises six championships by the team you hate?