September 30, 2009 - 12:25 PM | Comment
Eric Wedge was officially whacked as Indians manager today and so was his entire coaching staff. That means fellow ex-Bison managers Jeff Datz and Joel Skinner and ex-Buffalo pitching Carl Willis are also gone at the end of the season.
In large part, today's announcement marks the final split between the Bisons and Indians. The staff and so many players that took the Bisons to two titles and six playoff berths from 1998-2004 and the Indians to within one game of the 2007 World Series are now gone.
Wedge's Cleveland teams suffered from a rash of poor starts and this year was no different. What was different was the way the Indians, who claim to be losing $16 million, unloaded key players. Cliff Lee's trade marked two straight Cy Young winners gone and there were several other pieces dealt like Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco, Rafael Betancourt and Mark DeRosa. With essentially a Triple-A team the last two months, Wedge & Co. had no chance.
The Indians would have loved to hire ex-Bison John Farrell, now Boston's pitching coach, but he has a clause in his deal that he can't take a managerial job until 2010. So it looks like an open hire. Should be interesting.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
September 30, 2009 - 11:03 AM | Comment
No MLB promotion schedule called Tuesday "Night Owls Night" but that was surely the case as there were three big pennant-race events that happened in the 1 a.m. neighborhood.
---The Red Sox clinched the AL wildcard when the Angels eliminated the Rangers with a 5-2 win in Anaheim. That came nearly three hours after Boston's 8-7 loss at Fenway to the Blue Jays. Many Red Sox players left the park and came back later to celebrate the end of the Rangers' playoff hopes. So the verdict sets the AL division series: The Red Sox and Angels will meet (again) while the Yankees play the AL Central winner, be it the Tigers or Twins. (After salvaging a doubleheader split, Detroit has a two-game lead and a magic number of four heading into tonight's 7 p.m. game on ESPN).
---The Rockies took a three-game lead in the NL wildcard chase as pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to beat the Brewers, 7-5. Milwaukee had tied the game in the ninth with a stunning three-run homer by Jason Kendall off Rockies closer Huston Street.
---The Dodgers' magic number in the NL West remains stuck at one for the third day in a row after a 3-1 loss at San Diego.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
September 29, 2009 - 8:53 AM | Comment
There was a wonderful scene Monday night in Anaheim that we all missed here it because it happened after midnight. The Angels clinched the AL West with an 11-0 romp of the Rangers and that was no big deal. Neither was the standard champagne celebration in the clubhouse. Then things became different.
The team emerged back on the field to more cheers from the crowd. Then they headed to center field, to the mural on the fence honoring late pitcher Nick Adenhart. The rookie was killed in an April car accident and a team that has been a power for eight years running likes to think it has a real Angel in its midst on the road to a World Series.
Be sure to click here for some powerful video of the scene from MLB.com. Definitely lump-in-the-throat stuff.
---Mike Harrington
September 27, 2009 - 8:00 AM | Comment
----Give it up for former Canisius College pitcher John Axford, who's made four September relief appearances for the Brewers this month to cap the long road back from Tommy John surgery. Had a great phone interview with Axford Thursday as he's the subject of Sunday's Inside Baseball column. The 26-year-old Canadian, who pitched for the Griffs in 2006, started this season in Class A ball and made it all the way to the majors in five months!!
---Andy Pettitte and the Yankees go for the AL East clincher today at 1 against the Red Sox (it's on ESPN).
---The real intrigue starts Monday in Detroit, when the Twins and Tigers start a four-game series that's the only division race left. Meanwhile, the NL wildcard is still in play because the Braves have gotten red-hot. The Rockies are suddenly only 2 1/2 games in front and the Braves have a huge edge in the schedule.
The Braves play one more today at hapless Washington, host Florida for three and finish the year with four at home against the Nats, who are going to lose at least 105 games. The Rockies, meanwhile, might catch a break with the post-clinch hangover Cardinals today. They're off Monday, then open a three-gamer in Denver against the Brewers on Tuesday. They finish with a three-gamer at Dodger Stadium.
September 25, 2009 - 8:00 AM | Comment
The Indians have lost 11 straight for the first time since 1931 so Eric Wedge's days in Cleveland are almost certainly numbered. At this point, he'd probably like to stay under the radar as he likes to say. Gonna be tough to do that now with all the rubbernecking that will be done in his neighborhood, near where the old Richfield Coliseum once stood. That's because Wedge has a new neighbor. You might have heard of him.
Shaq.
Check out this odd couple, courtesy of MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.
---Mike Harrington
September 24, 2009 - 3:19 PM | Comment
The G-20 Summit has opened in Pittsburgh and there are security concerns aplenty so folks are staying away from PNC Park. Thursday afternoon's Pirates-Reds game, for instance, had about 2,500 people in the stands and the Post-Gazette's live blog has some wild pictures of acres of empty seats (right, click for bigger view) as the Pirates have shut down the upper deck for the day.
Of course, this isn't all about security. The Pirates' loss today dropped them to 3-23 in their last 26 games -- yes, 3-23! -- and they haven't been that bad in a similar stretch since they went 3-35 in 1890, as this story from Wednesday's P-G documents.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
September 23, 2009 - 8:42 AM | Comment
It was nearly 2 a.m. today before the Yankees got to officially celebrate their return to the playoffs once they wrapped up a 6-5 victory over the Angels. It's only the first step for manager Joe Girardi's team, which has a 5 1/2-game lead over the Angels in the fight for the AL's best record and a six-game edge on the Red Sox in the AL East.
No late night tonight as the Yankees and Angels play at 3:35. Then it's time to meet the Red Sox for the final time in the regular season starting Friday night in the Bronx. The magic number to clinch the division is six.
Click here for the MLB.com recap of the Yankees-Angels game with video highlights.
---Mike Harrington
September 22, 2009 - 4:43 PM | Comment
It was an off day and his team is mired in a 3-16 September and eight-game losing streak but Indians manager Eric Wedge kept his commitment for an appearance at a suburban Cleveland elementary school on Monday. At least he can't get heckled there. After the assembly, Wedge told Associated Press reporter and big friend of Inside Pitch Tom Withers that he'd like to serve the final year of his contract in 2010 but understands the realities of the team's collapse this year may not allow that to happen.
The Indians have a hand in the pennant race as they open a three-game series with the first-place Tigers Tuesday in Progressive Field. Wedge has nurtured Cleveland prospects through the organization for 13 years, including his 2001 and 2002 playoff teams in Buffalo. But even before their fire sale, no one expected the Tribe to be this bad in 2009.
"I know that sometimes change has to be made for change's sake," Wedge said. "You've got to be professional about it. You've got to understand it and I do."
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
September 21, 2009 - 5:29 PM | Comment
Some odd news late Monday afternoon out of Houston: The Astros have fired manager Cecil Cooper with just 13 games left in the season and have replaced him on an interim basis with third-base coach Dave Clark (right), the power-hitting outfielder who played for the Bisons in 1984, 1987 and 1992 and was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame last summer.
Highly respected Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice says Cooper lost the clubhouse a long time ago and Clark should have gotten the chance much earlier. Usually, you don't fire a manager this late in the season when you're going nowhere but the Astros are 70-79 and coming off an 0-6 road trip. Maybe this is a mini-audition for Clark.
Strangely enough, Clark will be replaced at third base by another former Bison, ex-Herd shortstop Al Pedrique. Clark is a highly respected manager for Houston's Double-A club in Corpus Christi (2005-07) and Triple-A Round Rock (2008). Cooper, the former Red Sox and Brewers first baseman, was a pretty surly type from my dealings with him when he managed Indianapolis. Clark has a reputation for being a solid communicator with players young and old.
Clark, now 47, has a unique distinction in Buffalo baseball lore: He is the only player to play for the Double-A Bisons, the Triple-A Bisons in War Memorial Stadium and the Triple-A team downtown in what's now Coca-Cola Field.
His 1987 season in the Rockpile's farewell year ranks as one of the best in franchise history. Clark's average of .340 is a modern-era record that still stands and was the highest by a Bison since 1952. He added 30 homers, 80 RBIs and whopping numbers in slugging (.621) and OPS (1.034) that have yet to be matched. You can see Clark's full career stats here.
---Mike Harrington
(Photo: Associated Press)
September 21, 2009 - 12:09 PM | Comment
I've been pretty close to declaring all the races over but I'm still waiting to see if somebody is going to go all Mets on us and choke one away. The Tigers were the first candidate but Sunday's win in Minnesota gave them a three-game lead in the AL Central and some desperately needed breathing room.
The Angels, Phillies, Cardinals and Dodgers appear to have safe division leads while the Red Sox and Rockies seem to have a stranglehold on the wildcards. Give the standings a look here.
But can the Red Sox really catch up to the Yankees? The lead was nine games earlier this month and now it's down to five (just four in the loss column). The Sox have won 10 of 11 and open a four-game series tonight in Kansas City while the Yankees open a three-gamer in Anaheim.
The teams open a three-game set Friday in the Bronx and Boston has a very, very soft schedule the rest of the way. Both teams could end up with 100 wins. It's still a longshot that the Yankees would blow the lead but their pitching is a concern with Joba Chamberlain blowing up Sunday in Seattle and sore-shouldered Andy Pettitte going tonight.
Both teams are going to make the playoffs but things will be very interesting if the Sox can close the gap before this weekend. And the division winner likely gets the Tigers in the division series, a much more favorable opponent than the Angels.
---Mike Harrington
