Olympic Baseball Update: Brace Yourselves For The Shit Storm

Team Canada fell 7-6 to the Cubans in an exciting, dinger-filled see-saw affair this morning that will produce a torrent of criticism of JP Ricciardi from local haters Richard Griffin, Bob Elliot and Bob McCown because, sad to say it, this was a game the Canadians might have won had they trotted Scott Richmond out as originally planned.

(A bit of a warning, the box scores at CBC are pretty shitty. There's no record of who had extra base hits, walked, stole bases, errors, etc., not to mention who scored the runs. BUT the game recap article goes into great depth if you're not averse to actually reading instead of looking at numbers. If you want a proper box score, go to the official site.)

Canada started Brooks McNiven, a 27-year-old career minor leaguer with shitty peripherals out of Terrace, BC who was originally selected by Gord Ash in the very late rounds of the 1999 amateur draft, and he gave up two ER in 2 IP of work. He was followed by Jon Lockwood, a 26-year-old Torontonian who never advanced beyond A+ ball and now appears to be out of the game professionally, and he gave up 3 ER through 3. Former major leaguer Chris Reitsma gave up one earned in his inning of work, but otherwise the bullpen was solid.

It's pretty hard to argue that Richmond wouldn't have put up a much stronger effort than the 5 IP cobbled together from McNiven and Lockwood, though I mention this without malice. There's no question that a big league team has to put its own interests, not to mention use of players that it's paying, above those of a national team, even if you're talking about the only ML club in the country. I'm still kind of disappointed about the way that all played out, but I won't shit on JP for it. Still, don't expect Team Canada Manager Terry Puhl to do JP any favours by smuggling Cuban shortstop Eduardo Paret out of the country in a duffle bag at the conclusion of the tournament.

On the offensive side, promising Indians prospect Nick Weglarz of Stevensville, ON stole the show, socking a pair of dingers and going 4 for 4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. Mariners farmhand Mike Saunders of Victoria, who homered in Canada's opener against China, launched another 2-run dinger. Stubby Clapp, who actually did get a 25-AB cup of coffee with the Cards in 2001, got a pair of hits and drew a walk, while my personal favourite Londoner (after Rachel McAdams) Adam Stern went 0 for 5 out of the leadoff spot.

Elsewhere, the US shut the Neederlanders out 7-0, China surprisingly held Korea to a 0-0 tie through 6 when the game was called due to rain, and Japan took it to Taiwan 6-1.

Canada continues onward and upward with two games tomorrow (EST), Korea (6 a.m.) in the morning and USA (10:30 p.m.) in the evening. Full sched here, though mind the 12-hour time difference.

Jeff Blair has kind of been forgotten since he went over to Red China a few weeks back, but he did sneak in time for a (long) commentary piece on baseball at the Olypmics the other day. Short version, he doesn't think it's ever coming back because (Eurotrash) IOC members don't appreciate the game and the MLB has nothing to gain financially by releasing players for the Olympics, especially when it has it's own potential money-maker in the World Baseball Classic.

You can respond to this either one of two ways. A) I never really cared about Olympic baseball, so I'm going to continue to ignore it; or B) This is the last crack, I'm going to start following Team Canada now even though I had little or no interest in the past. Since a good portion of my shit is in boxes and I've got precious few diversions to keep me occupied until the move at the end of the month, I'm going to go with B. If you're not feeling it I've got absolutely nothing against you or your point of view.

Live blog tomorrow night against Team USA, all are welcome to chug PBRs, swear, and carry on in an inappropriate manner.

JAYS SHIT:

* Our highly esteemed colleagues over at The Mockingbird and Ghostrunner on First have joined us on the Dave Purcey Express. Welcome aboard fellas, there's room for everyone! If there is one Eternal Truth about Big D, it's that the Detroit Tigers cannot put bat on ball when he's on the mound. Through 10.1 innings over 2 starts they've only managed 4 hits against him (drawing 10 walks which I will now conveniently overlook) and scored only 1 run. Give 'em shit, buddy!

Purcey still needs a nickname and I'm really unsatisfied with "Bigfoot" as suggested at Batter's Box the other day. Did you know that Dave Winfield's (6' 6") nickname when he played in Mexico was "El Gigante Negro"? I don't speak Spanish, but I'm going to guess that means "the big negro" anyway. "Big Whitey" for Purcey? No? Something better?

* In unsurprising news, Scott Downs "is likely headed to the disabled list after spraining his ankle on Wednesday night" according to Rotoworld.

* MLB to introduce instant replay at the end of August? Why not 5 years ago?

-- Johnny Was

The Squaredown

Way back in April pretty much everyone was pointing the finger at the Baltimore Orioles (and San Francisco Giants) when the discussion turned the worst teams in baseball, you know, the autolock 100-loss type. You called it, I called it, Wilner called it. Everyone did. I admit that I've done more than my fair share of Oriole-mocking over the years, but then everything changed with one courageous roster move in late March. Yes, the decision to DFA'd half-goblin HGH-user Jay Gibbons, the most loathsome player in baseball.

Even though the O's join us on the south side of the .500 line o' suck in taking the loss last night, I think you would be hard pressed to come up with two more exciting back-to-back games in the same series at any point since... Opening Weekend? There were a couple of nail-biters in LAoA back at the start of June, but they wound up as heart-breaking/infuriating losses rather than heart-warming triumphs. If we're going to enjoy baseball for baseball's sakes, give thanks to that motley collection of sad-sack losers from B-More for putting on an entertaining show for us.

AJ Burnett continues to do a pretty solid Josh Towers c. 2006 impression as he auditions for a trade to a contender. Last night on JaysTalk JP and Wilner addressed the question of whether his piss poor performance of late will affect his trade value, reaching the conclusion that AJ suitors either like him or don't and won't be deterred by a few starts good or bad. Who knows, maybe it's just been bad luck of late (paging some pitch fx magic from the Mockingbird), but the collective exhale we've been building up towards can't come until he does finally get moved.

Dick Griffin believes that AJ is now "indispensible" with McGowan and Marcum out indefinitely, a contention that I politely disagree with. Pride is about the stupidest thing you can play for, especially when it means passing on a trade that would make you better in the future. At this point I could really care less if the Jays finish the year with 85 victories or 75 so long as they set the team up for a better 2009. JP had to recant the white flag insuinuations of his manager a day earlier for the benefit of ticket-buying public, but still, the situation is what it is.

The Sun reports that the erstwhile Dustin McGowan has a torn rotator cuff and we'll be gone for at least a month, perhaps the rest of the season. Here's hoping Dusty recovers well and returns as an integral part of the 2009 Jays; you just don't mess about with the health of a guy with his health track record and importance to the team. It's kind of at the point where this things don't really shock anyone anymore, we've just seen so many injuries over the past 2-3 years. Where does MLB stand on cloning your players in a Korean lab and dusting off model 2.0 when the original is unable to play?

Is it time to reconstitute my man-love posts for Dave Purcey? The AAA All-Star won't get the call immediately, but expect him to join the rotation post-All Star Break if it does turn out that McGowan is lost for the year. Exciting stuff, folks, in a left-handed sort of way.

One thing that sucks: when you live outside of Toronto and can only make it up to about half a dozen games a year because it's a four-hour roundtrip drive from London and the scheduled starter for the first game you'd gone to since April gets injured and you get to see Brian Tallet or Francisco Rosario get the emergency start. This always happens to me, always. Again, this Sunday against the Yankees.

If you're like me and feel the need to do something for the betterment of humanity in an abstract sense, you could do much worse than rounding up a bunch of cans and handing them over to the Lady Jays, who are doing their annual food drive at the Rogers Cente this weekend for the Yankees series. They've got autographed swag, too, for anyone who donates $20 or more. Do the right thing, readers.

-- Johnny Was

A Feel Good Loss?

Is there such a thing? If there is, I think Dave Purcey took one tonight.

After running out of gas after throwing 5 innings in his last outing, Purcey went deep against Norfolk and ended up getting tagged with the loss. He was dealing through 8, but surrended a solo shot to Scott Moore before getting yanked down 3-0 after 7.1 IP. His control was good, walking only 1, K-ing 6 and throwing 67 of 102 pitches for strikes. He kept the ball on the ground, inducing 11 ground outs to 5 fly outs. This was a good outing despite the outcome.

Offensively, the Chiefs were in deep hibernation; Adam Lind wasn't in the lineup again and we're starting to wonder... JP denied knowledge of anything untoward happening to his starting left fielder for 2009 in his weekly phone-in with Wilner on Wednesday, so I think it's pretty clear that something untoward has happened. One of my colleagues here in the history department at the random Ontario university I go to just got back from a conference in Lake Placid and did a stop over in Syracuse on the drive back home. He was happy to report that autographed Lind photos are a staple at area liquor stores. Cirrhosis of the liver? Seems as good of an internet rumour as any. Tell your friends.

Meanwhile, the Jays are knotted at 2 with the Angels. Scott Rolen, frankly, is the best third baseman I've ever seen ever in my entire life. He's better than the third-basemaning I imagined Mike Schmidt was doing in Philly when I put baseball card sticker books together back in grade two. He is to his position what J-Mac is short stop: an artiste schooled at the Sorbonne.

Rando thoughts: Casey Kotchman is the most fearsome bat in this lineup, would you have predicted that in March? Francisco Rodriguez just ain't right. I think he's going to suffer a major arm injury at some point this summer. The home plate ump here is fucking high, his strike zone is all over the shop.

I'm becoming furious with the extended commercial breaks on Sportsnet. They frequently come back one to two pitches into an AB and we just missed an Eckstein double in the top of the 8th. Occasionally an inning "starts" with one out already. I realize ad revenue keeps these broadcasts free for Joe Blow, but seriously.

Brett Lawrie, some other Canucks and the draft? A week ago it seemed like the Jays would be overdrafting if they took him and now it seems unlikely that he'll slip to the 17th pick in the first round. My brother likes to brag that The Economist rates Vancouver as the best city to live in in the world, and the lower BC Delta just adds to its superiority by hosting the best amateur baseball league in the country. I really like Ontario and all, but the West Coast beckons.

Do you want "The Roundup" on Saturdays? Leave a comment if you do. I can pound this stuff out and eat bacon and eggs at the same time should popular demand warrant it.

-- Johnny Was

These Are The Daves I Know

It was good, bad and ugly all wrapped up in one for young David Purcey down on the farm against the Richmonds tonight. It was 5 and out for the young southpaw after the Chiefs put up a 5 spot in the top of the 6th to go up 8-1, making his continued mound presence kind of redundant. They might've squeezed another inning out of him, but it really didn't seem worth the bother when he'd reached 90 pitches and had been sitting on the bench for over half an hour. The Syracuses ultimately won a 12-2 laugher even though they tried to give the opposition a sporting chance by leaving Adam Lind on the bench.

As an aside, which of the Kids in the Hall do you resemble most? Sadly for me, it would be Mark McKinney.

Purcey was uncharacteristically hittable on the night, surrendering 6 hits (including a double and a triple) over his 5 inning start. He surrendered only one walk and struck out 2 but got into a lot of deep counts as evidenced by a pitch count of 93 (58 for strikes). Really? The box score doesn't lie. He was successful in keeping the ball on the ground, getting 7 ground outs to 4 fly outs, a positive sign. And it was just the one earned run in a winning effort, so that ERA still looks nice and sparkly.

For the year, Purcey's numbers look more fabulous than Elton John at the Princess Diana-Prince Charles wedding. 57 K :19 BB in 50.2 IP, 1.95 ERA, .194 BAA and a GO/AO of .88. You're not biting on this? Fickle.

If he doesn't stick, well, he doesn't stick. But the indicators for success are all there. As I said last time, you're a right hypocrite if you think 19 ABs aren't enough to evaluate Adam Lind yet 2 starts (one in a sand box park against the sluggingest of slugging lineups in baseball) suffice it to show that Purcey doesn't have the makings of a successful big leaguer. You're not a hypocrite are you, eh?

-- Johnny Was

Dave Purcey Bulletin

After getting Shellac'd by the Phillies in Philly on Friday, Dave Purcey was back on the Greyhound to Syracuse for some home action against Sergio Santos and the Rochesters this afternoon. And as clever as it is to suggest that he use "My Black Ass" as his new intro music for future major league starts, he was great once again pretty much as he has been in each of his minor league starts this year.

Purcey threw up goose eggs for 6 IP and left in line for the win, but Brandon League suffered a minor meltdown in the 9th for a blown save before the bats won it in the 10th. Normally I don't really bother to note who got the W and who wore the goat horns, but Purcey did match up with some guy named Francisco Liriano, of whose exploits you may be familiar.

In the end, Purcey surrendered 5 hits, walked 3 and K'd 5. The rest of the ledger is somewhat of a mixed bag: on the plus side, he kept the ball on the ground, inducing 8 groundouts to 3 flyouts; on the negative side, well, sort-of-negative side, he threw 80 pitches, only 49 of which were strikes. That low pitch count must've been imposed since he was throwing on 3 days rest thanks to the abbreviated outing on Philly.

We knew coming into this year that at age 26, it was time for Purcey to shit or get off the pot. He's been excellent in AAA as the raw numbers indicate (57:19 K:BB in 50.2 IP, 1.95 ERA, and .194 BAA), but has looked very much out of his element in 2 big league starts. Hrm, if we've all been saying said that a 19-AB ML audition for Adam Lind was ludicrisly short, why would one jump to the premature conclusion that Purcey can't translate his minor league success into something more?

Does that mean he joins the rotation some time later this year or next? Maybe, but his development doesn't have to follow a predicable linear path for him to become a contributor to the big club in the short term. This familiar lefty didn't really find success until age 27 and didn't find his true calling until the following year. Maybe some low leverage relief innings would help with the rookie jitters. In any event, we continue to observe closely.

-- Johnny Was

Dave Purcey, hangin' loose

Are we at the point yet where our affections for Big D are clear and I no longer have to refer to him as "resident favourite"? I'm going to assume that we are and press on with it...

Purcey took the hill for the Chiefs this afternoon in Durham, getting tagged with the loss after a laborious 5 2/3 IP against the Rays' affiliate. It was probably his poorest start of the year, but he didn't have his ass handed to him by any means and it just wasn't happening for a sleepy 'cuse offense. At the end of the day Purcey surrendered 3 earned runs on 5 hits, including a solo homerun, gave up only 2 walks, and struck out 7. That kind of an outing can go either way; today it went downhill.

Syracuse
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Purcey (L, 3-3)	5.2	5	3	3	2	7	1	2.22
League	1.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	3.95
De Jong	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.50

Moving into the box score minutae, note that he threw 68 of 106 pitches for strikes, indicating that his control was good for the night despite the early-ish exit. Reversing a recent trend towards keeping the ball on the ground, Purcey got only 2 groundouts to 8 fly outs. His GO:FO ratio will be as much of key to any future big league success he may go on to have as keeping the walks in check.

The Chiefs apparently decided to get shut out as a touching gesture of solidarity with the real Jays, falling 3-0. Lindy LaRue went 2 for 4 with a double.

Getting a funny feeling Purcey will be in the big league rotation at the end of July, right around the time that an unnamed flake with an electric arm gets shipped out of town for somebody's young talent...

I have some other esoteric thoughts, but I'm not really in the mood right now honey. The humiliation so far in Cleveland has been total--why am I still watching this shit?--and its hard to shake the listlessness that this club takes to the field on a nightly basis. Evening gents, I'm off to pour a whisky.

-- Johnny Was