Further Feelings from Phoenix
- Dan Meyer pitched for Oakland against the Angels yesterday. The lefty was acquired in the Tim Hudson trade with Atlanta last year, and promptly hurt himself working out. And then didn’t tell anyone, which made things worse both physically and in his relationship with management. He seems to have fully recovered from the terrible 2005 season. He was effective pitching, and other than one bad inning, he was impressive in his control and his ability to go after hitters. He did give up a 900 moon shot to Vladimir Guerrero, but that’s going to happen occasionally no matter who you are. All in all, I was impressed with his outing, and his progress. It was good to see at least one part of the Hudson trade start to come around… Charles Thomas and Juan Cruz, I’m looking at you.
- Speaking of young pitchers, I went to the game in Peoria last night between the Diamondbacks and Mariners. Taking the mound for the boys from the pacific northwest was none other than “King Felix” himself. The 19 year old Felix Hernandez looked as good as he did last year. He struck out 8 Diamondbacks over just 5.0 innings pitched, only giving up 4 hits, one run, and one walk. It was his best outing of the spring, and a week before opening day is a good time to have your best start.
- Freddie Bynum needs to make the A’s 25 man roster. The man can hit well, run faster than anyone else I’ve seen in Arizona, play at least 6 positions, and is out of minor league options. The A’s can’t lose this kid. I’ve been as impressed with him as anyone else I’ve seen here. Plus, he’s a nice guy.
- Last night in Peoria, I was sitting in the parking lot behind my car, grilling my dinner as usual, when the team bus pulled in. Not out of the ordinary so far. But then a guy walking on the sidewalk by the bus stopped, took off his shirt, stepped in front of the parked bus full of ballplayers, and started flexing. He wasn’t exactly in good shape, either. It was bizarre and inexplicable, but really funny. I think I may have been the only one to see this odd demonstration, too, so I thought I’d share it.
- At the Angels game yesterday, I sat in front of some interesting folks dressed in Angels gear. I talked with them throughout the game, and was about to remark that they were the first Angels fans I’d found in Arizona that I could actually carry on an intelligent baseball conversation with, when they revealed that they are actually Dodger fans. They then left in the 7th inning. Yes, I’m serious. I’m not ripping on all Angels fans here, I’m sure there are some great ones out there. I just haven’t found them yet. There is a good Angels/Dodgers blog at 6-4-2, but past that, it’s a wasteland. People like the idiots I met at the A’s-Royals game, and Rev Halofan of Halos Heaven give all of you good fans a bad name.
Games on the lineup for today:
White Sox @ Mariners
Padres @ A’s
I’ll be back tomorrow with another quick update, and on the 27th/28th I’ll begin to post full writeups of my various experiences down here in the desert southwest, home of March baseball.