Diamond Rundown – Edition Two

Facts, figures and other tidbits from the second week of the ’08 major league baseball season.

The Home Opener Curse: Pirates’ new manager John Russell lost 10-8 on April 7. Back to the 1960s, every new Pirates manager has lost their home opener. The last new manager to win was Larry Sheppard in ’68.

Notable Quotable I: “We’re going to win the World Series this year. I told you guys that in spring training.” The Orioles’ Kevin Millar after a four game sweep of the Seattle Mariners on April 7.

Notable Quotable II: “Who cares? He’s out.” Philadelphia’s Brad Lidge on whether or not the pitch he threw to Cincinnati’s Javier Valentin for a called third strike in the Phillies’ 5-3 win over the Reds on April 7.

Ball Magnet: The Phillies’ Chase Utley tied a major league record after getting hit by pitch three times against the Mets on April 8. However, it was the fourth time that was the charm. With the bases loaded and Utley on first, Ryan Howard hit a sure double play grounder to Carlos Delgado. Delgado’s throw to second hit Utley and bounced into center field allowing two runs to score. Then, Utley scored on a Jayson Werth single to put the Phillies up 3-2 and they eventually won 5-2.

Notable Quotable III: “I look forward to all our hits with the bases loaded that we’re not getting. It’s going to be exciting.” Manny Acta on leaving the bases loaded nine times in their first eight games.

Golden Sombrero: Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts against the Royals on April 8.

Gutsy Performance: The Diamondbacks’ Doug Davis pitched 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs with 7 strikeouts in Arizona’s 10-5 win over the Dodgers. Davis, due for surgery for thyroid cancer, also added two hits and an RBI on April 8.

Older Than Dirt: Maybe not that old but the Phillies’ Jamie Moyer, the only active pitcher older than Shea Stadium, helped spoil the Mets’ final home opener at Shea on April 8.

Firsts: Reds’ rookie Johnny Cueto became the first pitcher since 1900 to strike out 18 without a walk in his first two starts. His third start on Sunday was a bumpy one and he finally walked a player after striking out 22. Cueto is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA.

Milestone: Detroit’s Ivan Rodriguez became the 87^th player to reach 2500 hits after a 0-for-15 slump against Boston on April 9.

Notable Quotable IV: “I told Griff if I get 12 a night, I’ll be a pretty good pitcher this year.” Cincinnati’s Josh Fogg after their 12-4 win over the Brewers on April 9.

Don’t Tug On Superman’s Cape: After a heated pregame exchange with Houston’s Brandon Backe over a play at the plate, Albert Pujols bombed two homers in their 6-4 win over the Astros, his first two of the year. Despite Pujols’ apology to catcher J.R. Towles for the previous night’s play, Backe was not satisfied.

Disturbing Update Of The Week: Buried in every AP recap of Astros’ games, there was a daily update of Kaz Matsui’s status. Matsui suffered an anal fissure which required surgery. Currently, Matsui is in Corpus Christi on a rehab assignment where he is healing on schedule.

In A Pinch: Inserted as a pinch runner in the bottom of the seventh, San Francisco’s Dan Ortmeier was caught stealing trying to get in scoring position to break a 0-0 tie. In the ninth, Ortmeier got an opportunity to redeem himself after Rajai Davis was inserted into the game as a pinch runner for Bengie Molina and stole second. Ortmeier delivered a double and the Giants won 1-0 over the Padres on April 9.

Notable Quotable V: “Man, they booed you worse than they booed me. That was tremendous!” Ken Griffey, Jr. to Francisco Cordero after Cordero appeared against his former team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and notched a save in Cincinnati’s 4-1 win.

What A Difference A Season Makes: Tampa Bay’s Edwin Jackson pitched 8 innings and gave up just two hits with 6 strikeouts to help the Rays over the Mariners 7-0 on April 10. He threw just 99 pitches and 61 strikes to get to 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA. He didn’t register his first victory in 2007 until June 24 and was 1-9 before getting victory #2.

Notable Quotable VI: “The guy was out. He didn’t make it. Maybe Ted wanted to go home. He told me he got there first. Maybe he ought to go look at it.” Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel on umpire Ted Barrett’s call on a close play at the plate in the twelfth that gave the Mets the win when Barrett declared Jose Reyes safe on Angel Pagan’s single on April 10.

Record Books: The Marlins hit a team record 6 home runs against the Astros on April 11 including 4 off of Houston’s ace, Roy Oswalt.

Minor Woes: First, the Braves found out that their hot prospect Jordan Schafer was suspended for 50 games in accordance with the minor league drug policy for HGH use. Then, they released Scott Spiezio because he was not ready to play after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving.

Who’d A Thunk It?: The Royals have the lowest ERA in the American League at 2.58 and have committed just 3 errors so far. Brian Bannister is leading the staff with a 3-0 record and a 0.86 ERA.

Notable Quotable VII: “It was miserable, wasn’t fun, and as cold as its ever been for me playing ball. The hardest part was when the wind kicked up. You didn’t want to be on defense too long.” Oakland’s Mark Ellis on the 38-degree weather accompanied by a 28-degree wind chill on Sunday in Cleveland. The Athletics lost 7-1.

Welcome Back, Kapler: Last year, Milwaukee’s Gable Kapler managed Class A Greenville. This year he’s hitting .423 with 4 homers and 11 RBIs.

Notable Quotable VIII: “Really? You mean the umpires were wrong?” The Cubs’ Lou Piniella after being told by reporters that the home run Mark Derosa hit in the sixth inning was actually foul. Piniella’s Cubs benefited from the call and won in extra innings 6-5.

Streaking: Pittsburgh’s Nate McLouth and Kansas City’s Billy Butler both have 12-game hitting streaks to open the season. McLouth is hitting .400 to Butler’s .386 average.

Erasing Barry Bonds: San Francisco’s John Bowker became the first Giant to hit home runs in their first two games with the club. There were seven players that had hit home runs in their first game with the club before Bowker did it. One of those players was Bonds.

The Numbers Game
1: San Francisco’s wins in day games this year. They were 0-6 going into Sunday before beating the Cardinals.
3: The number of steals the Royals’ Joey Gathright had against the Yankees on April 8.
4: Florida’s Jorge Cantu’s errors as the new third baseman this season.
6: The number of unearned runs scored by the Nationals against the Marlins on April 7.
11: Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury’s career stolen bases. He’s never been caught stealing.
12: The length of the Yankees stolen base-less streak, their longest since 1948. It ended when Johnny Damon stole a base in Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox.
18: Phillies’ Charlie Manuel’s ejections in his four seasons in Philadelphia after being run on Sunday for disputing a home run call on Sunday. Replays showed Charlie’s argument had merit as the ball was obviously foul.

Grand Slams
Torii Hunter, LA Angels vs. Cleveland (4/7)
Mike Napoli, LA Angels vs. Cleveland (4/9)
Jason Kubel, Minnesota vs. Chicago (4/9)
Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit (4/13)
Joe Crede, Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit (4/13)

Walk-Off Archive
Walk: None
Single: Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee vs. Cincinnati (4/8); Angel Pagan, NY Mets vs. Philadelphia (4/10)
Double: Dan Ortmeier, San Francisco vs. San Diego (4/9)
Triple: None
Home Run: Miguel Tejada, Houston vs. St. Louis (4/7); Torii Hunter, LA Angels vs. Cleveland (4/7); Bengie Molina, San Francisco vs. San Diego (4/8)