Ponderings…
- Curt Schilling takes the mound tonight for the Carmine Hose while Rob Bell toes the rubber for the Devil Rays. Facing Rob Bell is fun for the whole family. I can’t stress this enough. Between 2001 and 2003, Bell yielded an .875 OPS to opposition batters. For a little perspective here, Alex Rodriguez has an .876 OPS thus far in 2004. Carl Everett had an .876 OPS last year and Derrek Lee had an .872 OPS in 2002. The fun part about facing Rob Bell is that everybody becomes an upper echelon offensive contributor. Go get ‘em, Pokey!
- Kevin Millar looked brutal last night. While he hasn’t been quite as terrible thus far in May, it is still worth noting that he is currently slugging .363. Among Major League right fielders, Millar currently ranks 24th in slugging – right behind the big bopper himself, Ichiro!. Among firt basemen, he would rank 23rd, sandwiched between notable sluggers Doug Mietkiewicz and J.T. Snow. All of this makes me wonder; if Kevin Millar isn’t hitting, which he has not been doing for at least 10 months now, what the hell is he contributing to the Boston Red Sox? It reminds me of my favorite quote from the late football coach John McKay who had this to say after another agonizing Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss:
“We didn’t block very well today. But we made up for it by not tackling.”
Millar hasn’t hit very well. But he has made up for it by not running or fielding.
- And now for the weekly “Olney’s counterfactual drivel” segment…
Today we get this gem:
“Jeter’s at-bats tend to get more focused in the postseason; his plate discipline improves as he picks and chooses from pitch to pitch.”
So naturally, Olney has done his homework and noticed that Jeter’s postseason on-base is significantly better than his career regular season on-base. Oh wait. No he hasn’t.
regular season: .313/.385/.455
playoffs: .314/.385/.469
Virtually the same numbers.
If the Red Sox lose tonight, I promise to write a heavily researched entry on Rob Bell with an undeniably positive spin.
