Checking in before first pitch
Apr 5th, 2007 by Rob Bradford
Wanted to check in before Cirque Du Matsuzaka. (I will be charting Matsuzaka’s pitches, but won’t post until after he is finished.)
Here are some nuggets from Red Sox pre-game notes:
“Mike Lowell committed 3 errors on Wednesday night, his most ever
in a major league game… It was Lowell’s 1,101st game at 3rd base to go along with 8
appearances at 2nd base…Marked just the 3rd time he has made more than one error
in a game, June 30, 2000 at Montreal and July 1, 2005 at the New York Mets.
- Prior to Wednesday, Lowell had committed just 2 total miscues in his last 113
games beginning May 25, 2006 and had gone 23 contests without a miscue
beginning September 6, 2006.
- Mike made a pair of errors in the 3rd inning on Wednesday, just the 2nd time he
has committed 2 miscues in an inning, the other on July 1, 2005 versus the Mets.
- Lowell has the highest career fielding percentage all-time among 3rd baseman
with at least 1,000 games at .976…Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson is 2nd at .971.”
Mike Lowell … 3 errors … that, my friends, is an abberation.
“Daisuke Matsuzaka will become the 12th native of Japan to ever
start a major league game when he takes the mound today against Kansas City…He
is the 3rd native of Japan to start a game for the Red Sox, joining Hideo Nomo (33 in
2001) and Tomo Ohka (25 from 1999-01)…Of that group, 6 made their major
league debuts in a starting role (source: STATS):
Pitcher Team Date/Opponent Result IP H R-ER
Hideo Nomo Los Angeles 5/2/95/SF ND 5.0 1 0-0
Shigetoshi Hasegawa Anaheim 4/5/97/CLE L 4.1 7 5-5
Hideki Irabu New York (AL) 7/10/97/DET W 6.2 5 2-2
Masato Yoshii New York (NL) 4/5/98/PHI W 7.0 3 0-0
Tomo Ohka BOSTON 7/19/99/FLA L 1.0 5 5-2
Kazuhisa Ishii Los Angeles 4/6/02/COL W 5.2 2 0-0
- Nomo made his Red Sox debut on April 4, 2001 and pitched a no-hitter at
Baltimore, walking 3 and fanning 11 in a 3-0 win.
- The natives of Japan to start in the majors ware Mac Suzuki (67), Stephen
Randolph (6), Masao Kida (2), Masanori Murakami (1), and Kaz Tadano
(1)…Murakami was the 1st, with the San Francisco Giants in 1965…Suzuki’s 1st ML
start was against Boston for Seattle on September 2, 1978, a no decision.
- Matsuzaka is the 4th native of Japan to pitch in a game for the Red Sox…Nomo,
Ohka, and Hideki Okajima are the others… The only other Sox player to ever be born
in Japan was outfielder Dave Roberts.”
The last item is a really good trivia question because I don’t think many would get Roberts.
Somebody asked about Eric Hinske and his value to the team. I think you will see that he is a very valuable piece of the puzzle, especially against certain match-ups. I referenced his success against the Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang (13 for 22, 3 HRs), and he has had similar success against today’s KC starter Zack Greinke (6 for 12). There is one line of thought that would say that this would be a perfect time to integrate Hinske into the season (Terry Francona said he was contemplating pinch-hitting him for Manny Ramirez in Game 1 in the 9th), but on the flip-side Boston is also trying to get its regulars in some kind of rhythm.
Talk soon …
3 reader comments to “Checking in before first pitch”
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1Anonymous said:
I knew that about Dave Roberts! Do I get a prize?
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2Anonymous said:
Love the random Mike Lowell info, keep it coming. I fell off my chair yesterday when he made that third error, and he was so hard on himself after, shows a lot of heart.
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3lwinlc said:
Hey Rob: you’ve written a lot about Beckett and his new peace with himself. I was so happy to see that translated in to a game situation. He seemed much calmer and poised yesterday than he did last year. I feel encouraged that he will have a good year. Also, I know it’s early but Pedroia seems to be hitting the ball hard with some success. One of the early questions possibly answered? (I hope I don’t jinx it!)
