Baseball In The Daytime: 6-27-07

You'd best get yo ass to the liquor store and pick up some ice, because there's a six-pack of matinee baseball that needs cooling and consumption today. The variety pack includes a future Hall of Famer, a Japanese wunderkind and some intrigue in Anaheim. Salud!

Interestingly, five of the six day games on the slate feature teams gunning for a series sweep, and the teams on the wrong side of that possibility may surprise you.

Your leadoff hitter today is the Rangers-Tigers game from Comerica. Kevin Millwood brings his rickety repertoire and 4-6 record to the bump opposite Kenny Rogers, who won his season debut last week after lounging on the DL all spring. Rogers is also an accomplished country and western vocalist, championship chicken-roaster and maintains a salt-and-pepper beard like no one's business. And he gums up the baseball like Eddie Harris. Catch this game at 11:05 Mountain on XM 180 and DTV 734 (Extra Innings package only), as Texas amazingly goes for three straight against the AL Central co-leaders.

From the lavish indoor/outdoor baseball palace that is Miller Park, the Brewers and Astros renew acquaintances at 12:05 on XM 185 and DTV 735. Milwaukee is 7 1/2 up on the Cubs in the NL Central following two relatively easy wins over Houston. The 'Stros, now 13 games out, are pretty much playing out the string and artificially rigging Craig Biggio's chase for 3,000 hits. The annoying second baseman actually played last night and collected a single, leaving him three shy of the milestone. He'll once again grab a seat on the bench today, as Woody Williams (3-10) and Jeff Suppan (8-7) add to the storied legacy of crappy ex-Cardinal pitchers.

The Friendly Confines host the third chapter in what has been a pretty damn compelling Rockies-Cubs series at 12:20. Game One was an all-timer, chronicled here. Last night the Rockies once again rallied in the ninth, only to fall short. Colorado is now a game south of .500 for the first time since June 13 and six games out in the NL West. They'll send young Jason Hirsch to the hill today opposite Big Z, and this pitching matchup highlights one of the Rockies' biggest deficiencies--they lack a true stopper in the starting rotation. As their losing streak has now reached five games following their historic sweep of the Yanks, pitcher after pitcher has failed to set the team up for victory (last night Rodrigo Lopez's magic start came to a screeching halt with eight ugly earned runs). Your channels are 184 on the XM and WGN on the television.

Out West, the Padres and Giants tangle at 1:35 in one series that has yet to be decided. Greg Maddux (6-4) faces hard-luck Matt Cain (2-8) on XM 188 and DTV 737. San Diego is lingering a game out in the division, while San Francisco will host no meaningful games save for the All-Star Game the rest of the year. They stink.

The other 1:35 start is of great interest to at least a couple HoG denizens: Bankmeister's Royals have taken the first two over my cousin Brian's Los Californaheim Angeles and go for the sweep today behind Jorge De La Rosa (4-9). Jered Weaver is the scheduled starter for the Halos, but he's having some sort of medical issue where he can't swallow water (?). Even though Los Anaheim technically sent Joe Saunders down to Triple-A on Saturday, he's remained in Orange County just in case he's needed to spell Weaver. Tune in to this page-turner on XM 178 and DTV 736.

Finally, from the God damned beautiful city of Seattle, the Mariners attempt to finish off a whitewash of the Red Sox at 2:35. Boston made it close in the ninth last night but couldn't break the impenetrable wall of cheese that is Mariners closer J.J. Putz. Today they'll send Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-5) against some kid named Feierabend (1-2). I watch a lot of baseball and I've never encountered this young man, but I'm sure he'll throw a two-hit shutout. The M's streak coupled with the Angels skid has cut Los Anaheim's lead to seven, while the Red Sox maintain double-digit lead in the East. This gem gets the double barrel DirecTV treatment (731 in high-def, 738 in lo-fi) and the standard Red Sox XM slot (177).

Read more

Name's Roy. Roy F. Almania

Editor's Note: This post was put together by the cousin of yours truly. I can't vouch for him; he lives in Joplin, Missouri, was home-schooled (still lives with my aunt and uncle who, by the way, vacation in Arkansas every year), has never been west of Kansas City or north of Omaha or east of Jefferson City, and I'd imagine the only form, if any, of sex he's ever had probably shares some strains of DNA with the both of us.

That said, he lives and dies with the Kansas City Royals, and I've given him the keys to the House so that he may voice what one might call bumpkin fandom of said ball club. We'll see how it goes.

The man pictured here has more power over my mind than my mama, my pops, and the Playboy channel combined. He sometimes appears in my dreams, he's frequently mentioned in my sports page, and he has offered me something I ain't had in some time: hope.

There's been lots I've wanted to say about the Kansas City Royals under his now one-year-old tenure. He's gotten the Glass family to increase payroll, shuffled staff and personnel in ways that caused folks to chuckle and look at one another funny, and, perhaps most surprising, he's kept the skipper aboard.

I couldn't very well let this weekend's failed trade go unmentioned, though. Especially after the Royals put together a great stretch of inter-league play. Trouble is, they've now lost four in a row, and Royals' GM Dayton Moore must've figured he was fed up.

In typical trade-like fashion, secrecies were swirling, and the trigger was almost pulled on a deal that would've sent Royals pitcher Leo Nunez to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Milton Bradley. Turns out, safety was on; Moore didn't fire. Fox Sports talks about it here. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on it, and of course, The Kansas City Star's Joe Posnanski had something to say about it.

Check out each of these accounts in that order. They're brief enough, and I like to think Posnanski's take on Moore's as soothing as the smell of apple pie cooling in the window of mama's kitchen. I especially like "Reason No. 3" where Posnanski writes about Moore being fed up with all them Ls.

"And it seems to me that hits closest to home. The talk about plans is all well
and good. It's wise to have a long-term philosophy. But at some point, I think,
human nature kicks in. Dayton Moore has seen enough losing. He's heard too many
excuses. He wanted to make it clear to everybody that he's mad as heck and he's
not going to take it anymore."

I reckon the only thing I can rightfully say about Milton Bradley is that my folks got me lots of toys with that name on it when I was a kid. Lest, I find it funny there's a ball player called that. As you can imagine, I found it funny (albeit a waste of fine adult beverage) when the guy chucked that bottle back at the fan a few years ago.

Anyhow, June's been a peculiar month for us Royals fans, and word is that Bradley himself told the Royals he wasn't healthy, and the Royals backed out. Doesn't really matter to me whether or not Bradley was healthy, and just didn't want to play for Kansas City, or if he was telling the truth. What's important is that Moore continues to have the feelers out there that search for pieces that will help the Royals steer themselves back towards the winning avenue.

My guess is that the second half of the season will be a busy one for the Royals' front office. I'll have my eye on Moore's future moves and mix-ups.

--Roy F. Almania

Editor's Update: In the bottom of the fifth, the Royals, playing game three of three against the Brew Crew, are well on their way to a series sweep. While usually having decent pitching and bad hitting or vice-versa, the Royals have managed to throw crap from the hill and swing with anvil-laden bats while in Wisconsin. Awesome.

Read more