i just looked at the interactive 3-D thingy for the Nats' new park. our seats in RFK are in Sec 422, Row 3, right behind home in the third row of the upper deck. the comparable seats in the new place are Sec 313-314, and they stay the same price. i got those seats the first night they went on sale for 2005.

i will be very disappointed, but not surprised, if things don't work out.



bottom line, the long-time season ticket holders are the one that will end up on the short end. they HAVE us. it's the corporates and law firms they need to get in the expensive seats, and they will. those are the folks that have been staying away from crummy RFK in droves. they are the ones that were there in the first half of 2005 when the team was brand new and was winning.

this will be just like the other new parks. first couple years the attendence will spike significantly. then it's up to the talent to keep it full. Cleveland-still full; Camden Yards-not.

The injury that Brian Roberts sustained at the end of 2005 to his elbow was grisly to watch and probably plagued him all year last year as he tried to regain his swing and power. And while the O's aren't expecting Roberts to hit homers like his double-play partner, he is exhibiting all-around strength in his hitting game and on the base paths as well.

He currently leads all qualifying AL 2Bs in OBP, runs and steals, and isn't that what you want out of your lead-off hitter? Here's his raw stats:

.327/.420/.439, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 38 R, 19 SB.

Pretty good all around. His low RBI totals are a direct result of hitting behind Corey Patterson all year long. Roberts has 73 hits, it's not his fault Patterson only has a combined 51 hits and walks. Patterson seems allergic to hitting the ball again this year, but that's a topic for another day.

So I was doing a little research the other day and came to a surprising and interesting realization. There are 14 players in the AL that have the majority of their games played at DH. In the fantasy context, that means that in most leagues, including the AL-only league I'm in, these players will be eligible to be drafted ONLY at DH. Last year there were eight such players, and they are all on pace again.

Here's the list:

F. Thomas, TOR
D. Ortiz, BOS
J. Vidro, SEA
T. Hafner, CLE
G. Sheffield, DET
J. Giambi, NYY
M. Sweeney, KC
S. Hillenbrand, ANA
S. Sosa, TEX
J. Thome, CWS
M. Piazza, OAK
J. Cust, OAK
M. Cirillo, MIN
J. Gomes, TB

Some of these names are an interesting study in themselves. Sosa has 13 games in the OF, he almost certainly will get enough time in the OF. Will Gomes or Cirillo even matter enough to be drafted next year? When Piazza comes back and Cust is still hitting, does Piazza catch enough games to qualify there, or does Cust have to stumble around in the OF for the A's? Time will tell. One thing we do know is that everyone else on the list will only play on the field during interleague play, if then.

So on to the two points I want to make out of all this.

1) Isn't it time to make DH a position to be voted on for AL All-Star? These guys don't play in the field. Five of the 14 haven't put a glove on yet. Seven have played less than five games in the field. These guys ARE DHs. That's their position. Put them on the permanent ballot. It's ludacris (intentional) that Ortiz is listed at 1B for BOS on the ballot and Youkilis is no where to be found. Youkilis could be hitting .400 and not be voted as an all-star. Who cares that you'd vote for 9 positions in the AL and 8 in the NL?

2) There in one team in the AL that does not have a "permanent" DH. That's right, your Baltimore Orioles. Millar/Huff/Gibbons all have plenty of DH appearances, but only Millar has more games at DH than in the field, and that's only by 4 games. He'll make that up. He is, unfortunately, the O's best defensive 1B-not counting Chris Gomez, which makes me even with Sam Perlozzo. So if every other team is doing it, does that make what the O's are doing wrong? Looking at the numbers, the O's DHs rank 12th in average, 12th in on-base pct, 9th in slugging, 6th in homers, 11th in RBIs and 11th in runs.

I know this has nothing to do with baseball, but I did make the caveat when I started that I would throw in other things as I saw fit, and I see fit on this. I can't freaking wait to see The Police. Here's the set list from last night's show in Vancouver:

Message In A Bottle
Synchronicity II
Spirits in the Material World
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Walking On the Moon
Truth Hits Everybody
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Bed's Too Big Without You
Murder By Numbers
De Doo Doo Doo De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne

Encores:
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

Are you kidding me!?!

Miguel Tejada said in the paper this week that he "isn't a power hitter". That may be true, and the recent stats certainly back him up on it. But it wasn't always true. In fact, for several years he was a classic power hitter. Let's take a look:

1999: .251/.325/.427, 21 HR, 84 RBI
2000: .275/.349/.479, 30 HR, 102 RBI
2001: .267/.326/.476, 31 HR, 113 RBI
2002: .308/.354/.508, 34 HR, 131 RBI
2003: .278/.336/.472, 27 HR, 106 RBI
2004: .311/.360/.534, 34 HR, 150 RBI
2005: .304/.349/.515, 26 HR, 98 RBI
2006: .330/.379/.498, 24 HR, 100 RBI
2007: .309/.365/.383, 2 HR, 18 RBI

High home run totals? Check. High RBI totals? Check. Decent average, middling on base percentage? Check. All these things, combined with the fact he plays shortstop? That's a really valuable player.

But his power has dropped precipitously since mid-2005, the summer of his 29th birthday. So I don't think we can account for the loss of power due to age yet. By all reasonable estimations he should be in the prime of his career, especially considering the outstanding numbers he put up in ages 23-29.

In the first half of 2005, Tejada was putting up some great numbers. Through June 18 he'd hit .320/.366/.636 with 19 HR and 55 RBI in 292 plate appearances, clearly on his way to a career year, even better than his MVP year of 2002. Since becoming a regular player Tejada has averaged roughly 700 plate appearances per season. As of June 18, 2005 he was on pace for 45 HR and 132 RBI. So what happened? In 412 plate appearances the rest of the way, he hit 7 HR and 43 RBI. And I posted the numbers for 2006 and so far this year above.

So the questions stands, "What's happened to Miguel Tejada" from June 19, 2005 to present that makes him a completely different player than the previous six and a half seasons?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2169007

Here's the quote that tells the story about yesterday's debacle for the O's from baltimoresun.com:

"Me and Tim Wakefield looked at each other on the bench in the ninth inning when they took Guthrie out, and we said, 'We're going to win this game,'" said Red Sox starter Josh Beckett, who allowed two runs in four innings before leaving with irritation to the skin of his right middle finger. "We both believed it."

There's much to be disheartened about here. First, if it's true as the story implies that Perlozzo told Guthrie that if a runner reached against him in the ninth--despite having given up only two hits and two walks all game--he'd be lifted, well, Sam, that's just unacceptable. Basically you've already made a decision based upon no factual evidence. It was a dropped pop-up. The only difference between that and an out is execution. It shows no confidence in ANY of your players to lift Guthrie at that point. Even if the next batter were to homer against him, he still pitched a HELL of a game for a guy making his third start, and you still have a three-run lead. You then have permission to go get the closer to save the game, Sam, with no runners on and no bad feelings and without inviting blame against yourself.

We attended the game last night, sitting in our actual seats behind home plate in the upper deck, section 422, row 3. First off, what did the aliens do with the real Cristian Guzman? He actually looked replacement level last night! That will be it for my attempt at comedy this morning.

Shawn Hill looked great again, of course until halting his warm-ups for the sixth inning. We waited around after the game and got some autographs, and Hill was one of the last players out. After saying good night and hugging all 30 or so family members he had in for the game, he actually came of the the half-dozen of us left and signed and talked with us. He said he was sore, but not alarmingly. During that last warm-up he said he felt a twinge that ran from his elbow up his forearm a little and decided that he shouldn't continue. He said the tests (he didn't say MRI) showed nothing structural, just inflammation and that he should be ready after the 15 DL stint. We got it straight from the horses mouth.

Big thanks to Hill coming over to talk with us, stand up guy after leaving the game hurt. Hopefully last night's diagnosis is correct and he'll be back on the "hill" in two weeks. Sorry, couldn't resist.