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May 21, 2008
Wednesday Walewanders
By Mike McClary in Fungoes | 1 comment
Dontrelle Willis returns to the D as a reliever. If he continues to pitch the way he has in Spring Training and early in the regular season, his name might very well end up ahead of Damion Easley as the Tigers most expensive contract-as-main-course ever. Rob Neyer’s already weighed in on the move. Speaking of Mr. Neyer, in case you haven’t listened, today I posted an interview with him on the podcast. He thinks the Tigers are still very much alive in the A.L. Central; it’s Kenny Rogers and Willis, Neyer’s all but certain, who’re finished. In case you need one more article on the effect of Jim Leyland’s verbal fireworks, check out Mike Bauman’s column on MLB.com. Baseball and poetry? Why not? In college I penned a poem about my first game at Tiger Stadium. At BardBall.com, Tigers fan Jim Garner publishes baseball poetry — doggerel to be exact (I had to look it up). He’s featuring a poem on Freddy Dolsi’s first major league pitch. You remember it, the one to Manny Ramirez that might still be sailing. Here’s a sampling:Freddy went down the middle
To show off his heat.
Manny clobbered that apple
Five hundred feet.
Chris Shelton, Rangers: .179, 2 HR, 3 RBI Wil Ledezma, Padres: 0-1, 3.54 ERA, 1.54 WHIP Tony Clark, Padres: .238, 0 HR, 1 RBI Mike Rabelo, Marlins: .219, 1 HR, 7 RBI
And here comes the Omaha Royals Trio:
Mike Maroth: 0-2, 12.91 ERA in three starts (7.2 IP) Roman Colon: 0-0, 6.30 ERA in 10 IP Jason Smith: .253, 10 HR, 27 RBI (His 10 homers lead the team.)
Finally, from Baseball-Reference.com, on this date in 1967, Earl Wilson gives Detroit its third straight win over the Yankees, 9-4. Mickey Mantle hits his fifth homer in six games but it’s not enough for Whitey Ford, who appears in his last ML game.
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jamesfinngarner | May 21, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the plug, Mike. I should point out that 100 years ago, most baseball columnists filled their columns with many things–stories, gossip, and poetry. Ring Lardner did it, and that’s how “Tinker to Evers to Chance” was made famous. We started BARDBALL.COM last year after we realized we had 30 limericks about Barry Bonds and needed to put them somewhere.
I have a poem about Dontrelle Willis ready if he ever makes it back to the rotation. Not holding my breath, though.