There's been a lot made of Sabathia's record in his nine starts for the Brewers, and rightly so, what he's done is quite remarkable. However, after his *fifth* complete game, one in which he threw 130 pitches, I started to wonder about the possibility of over use. So, I went looking for some info on his career averages and compared them to what he's done so far with the Brewers, through the whole season, and what he can be projected to do the rest of the year. 

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Well, tonight's events have greatly increased Z's chances for winning the Cy Young. Here's what happened:

Chris Carpenter took the loss tonight for St. Louis (vs. the Padres). His ERA went up to 3.09. Carpenter is now 15-8.

Brandon Webb got a no decision against the Giants. His ERA is 2.88. The interesting thing here is that Webb was taken out for the bottom of the ninth in a tie game after throwing 86 pitches. I was watching, and the announcers mentioned it was a cool, pleasant night. I have no idea why Melvin took Webb out, but sure enough Mo Alou homered to end the game in the bottom of the 9th. Webb is now 16-7.

Brad Penny has been mentioned, mostly on the basis of his W-L (16-9) but with an ERA over 4 he is not regarded as a front runner. I saw his last two starts and they weren't pretty. (One was the four back-to-back homers game.)

Z, for comparison's sake, is 16-6 with a 3.43 ERA.

Webb is, I think, the favorite to win the Cy Young. However, each man has one more start to go, and it's possible that these last starts will determine the Cy Young.  Another factor may be strikeouts, but I'm not sure how highly the Cy Young voters value the different stats.

Adam Greenberg was picked up by the Dodgers' AA Jacksonville Suns last week. Since then he's done really well. This from 6-4-2:

"And, oh, yes, new recruit Adam Greenberg is hitting .400/.471/.667 after six games with the Suns, and has himself a little four-game hitting streak, including the homer he popped off today, his first all season long."

Courtesy of: www.6-4-2.blogspot.com

Last night two very strange things happened in baseball, neither of which had much to do with the Cubs. (Except that one of them involved the Astros losing.)

First, Astro's pitcher Russ Springer threw five consecutive pitches at Barry Bonds. He was warned after his first pitch, a slider, went behind Bonds. The next three were all very much inside, with Bonds having to get out of the way a time or two. One of the pitches hit the handle of Bonds' bat for a strike, and so on a 3-1 count, Springer plunked Bonds. Both Springer and Garner were ejected at this point.  The weirdest part is that no one has offered an explaination why. I saw the at-bat while in a restaurant, so I didn't get any audio, but it seemed clear Springer was trying to hit Bonds. Anyone got any ideas as to why?

The next odd thing was far more lighthearted. In the bottom of the 6th inning at Angel Stadium, with two outs and Scott Schoenweiss (former Angel) pitching, Jose Molina stole second. Now, first thing, Jose is slow, I mean, slow for a catcher. Second thing, the guy behind the plate? Former Angel Benji Molina, Jose's brother. Everyone got a good laugh when it happened. Then we all got an even bigger laugh in the top of the 7th when, with two outs Benji (who I've thought for years is the slowest man in baseball, though Bonds gives him a "run" for his money this year) gets a hit and then steals second while Jose is behind the plate. Both Molina brothers scored after their steals, too.

So, as for the other odd thing, has anyone ever heard of two brothers stealing bases in the same game when their brother was behind the plate?

Well, the inevitable has happened again:

http://tinyurl.com/o3v7b

"Garciaparra said he felt tightness in his right side during pregame warmups for Sunday's Freeway Series finale, felt it grab fouling off a pitch in his first at-bat and felt worse yet in his second and final at-bat. He was treated during and after the game, but discomfort persisted overnight and when he awoke Monday. Olmedo Saenz replaced him in the starting lineup for Monday's opener.

"I kept swinging and kept feeling it," said Garciaparra. "I was hoping it would feel better today, but it's still pretty sore."

Garciaparra said he has never had a similar injury. "

(That's a partial quote, full article at the link above.)

Well, I haven't heard his name mentioned, so I thought I'd point out that Tim Salmon will be looking for a job this spring. I'm hoping the Cubs are gonna be watching, he'll be right down the road in Tempe, and if healthy, could be a nice add.

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Minor League Baseball (.com) has started doing year end reviews of different organizations. The Cubs review is here. I haven't read it yet, I just thought folks would like to know before they went home and had to read it on their own time. ;-)

Okay, so since it won't accept this entry with less than three hundred characters, I'll type a bit more. Comments and your opinions on the article are welcome.

Well, at Al's urging, I'm posting this here. It's the email I sent to the Hall of Fame after the Veteran's Committee failed to admit anyone for the second election in a row.

Just fyi, one of the things my mom, a pretty amazing woman, taught me is that people take your concerns far more seriously if they intersect with their own. So I tried to put this in terms that will appeal to the desires of the folks who run the Hall. In doing so I assumed that they value at least one, if not both of the following things: 1) their image, and 2) customers coming through their doors.

And yeah, maybe it's harsh. But maybe they deserve harsh, y'know?

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