Daily Archives: April 12, 2010

Previewing the Angels…

Meanwhile, Tyler Kepner gives his first impressions of Target Field:

You cannot overstate how cool the massive old-fashioned Twins logo in center field is. The Minneapolis and St. Paul characters will share a neon handshake every time a Twin hits a homer. Like the Mets’ apple or Bernie Brewer’s slide or the Phillies’ giant Liberty Bell, this is a distinctive feature that will have special appeal to kids.

…As Peter Pascarelli of ESPN points out, it doesn’t remind you of anywhere else, and that’s a good thing. But there are some of the best elements of other parks, like the evergreen trees behind the center field fence (similar to Coors Field in Denver) and the nearby downtown skyline, like Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cleveland.

Martine’s Legs, By Henri Cartier-Bresson (1968)

Love this bass line, man.

The classic is still classic even if modern editions don’t include the recipe for simmered porcupine.

Admittedly, when your team finishes dead last and does so mostly with mediocre veterans and an insufficient amount of young talent, it’s difficult to find the silver lining. It’s sort of like the guy standing on the deck of Titanic shouting, “What a wonderful view we have of that shiny iceberg!” That’s the kind of blind optimism that all of us find annoying–if not downright nauseating.

If there was a bright spot to be found on the awful 1990 Yankees, it was Roberto Kelly. On a team bogged down with too many Bob Gerens and Oscar Azocars, Kelly was a legitimately talented prospect. He possessed four of the requisite five tools, lacking only in arm strength, which was merely average for a center fielder. Kelly also looked like a pure bred athlete. Long and lean, but well toned from top to bottom, Kelly played the game elegantly. Scouts looking for a recipe of future stardom did not need to look any farther than the graceful Kelly.

From day one, Kelly brandished a picturesque swing from the right side of the plate. I felt that if Kelly could improve his pitch-taking ability even slightly, he could become a consistent .310 to .320 hitter who could hit 25 home runs, steal 30 bases, and draw 50 to 60 walks a season. Well, it didn’t happen. In some ways, Kelly peaked during his 1989 season, when he batted .302 with 41 walks in his first full major league campaign. After that, his patience at the plate never improved, his batting average regressed substantially, and his strikeout totals mounted. Offensively, Kelly increased only his power, as he reached a high of 20 home runs in 1991. Even in the outfield, Kelly’s progress seemed to flatline. Although he covered a substantial amount of ground with his gliding gait, he sometimes made bad breaks on batted balls and too often looped his throws into no-man’s land. Instead of getting better, Kelly simply stagnated, and in some areas, retrenched into mediocrity. For a Yankee team desperately in search of building blocks, Roberto Kelly was becoming a frustrating liability.

(more…)

Thanks to Baseball Think Factory for the link.

A few days ago, Torii Hunter called Hideki Matsui, “The Los Angeles Godzilla of Anaheim.”

Well, done, sir.

What are you favorite baseball nicknames? I’m of the Bob Lemon School and think you should just call everyone “Meat.”