Donutball

Is this thing on...?

2008-02-05T08:56:00.000Z

Until we get our arse back into gear, see what's going happeningon the allotments.

Foam Finger

2007-04-12T21:27:00.000Z

Hello old friend.

Time to dust off the old blog for a quick post. Spurs went down to a better Sevilla side in the UEFA Cup quarter-final. How different things might have been if not for the outrageous penalty decision in the first leg. Then again, Tottenham conspired in the opening seven minutes to throw away the good work of last week's match in Sevilla.

So, enjoy this very bad mobile phone screen shot of Aaron Lennon.

Also, I very nearly mocked a kid in an AS Roma cap yesterday. Guess he was part of a group of Italian kids visting the delights of Barnstaple.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - 40 man roster edition

2006-11-21T22:22:00.000Z

The Twins added Alexander Smit to their 40 man roster yesterday. The move protects Smit from the Rule 5 draft.

Football - Spilt Milk

2006-11-20T22:09:00.000Z

Blackburn Rovers 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1

The papers this morning focussed on the confused and fractious ending to the late Sunday game.

Spurs' manager Martin Jol appeared to have been given a red card in the closing seconds of the match after Hossam Ghaly also saw red for a leading elbow against Michael Gray.

What's of more concern for this Spurs' supporter is that a third of the way into the season Tottenham are mired in the lower half of the table. They should be hammering the likes of workhorse teams like Blackburn who, but for Tugay thumping strike in the first half, were devoid of ideas in front of goal.

It was another poor match and Tottenham played their part in making it poor viewing.

Ok, there are injuries. Jol has not been able to field a first choice midfield for most of the season. Steed Malbranque is back, but Aaron Lennon is out again.

The sight of Edgar Davids and Lee Young Pyo in the side rings alarm bells. With Davids running amok, there was a lack of fluidity in midfield for most of the match. Lee is a liability at the back.

And, then there's Mido. The Egyptian striker was lucky to be on the pitch at the end of the game. He's physical. He argues. He has a tendency to be a lightning rod for trouble. In the second half, I was surprised that Jol didn't lift him for Berbatov. After the Tugay red card - very unlucky, but it was a penalty and Tugay was the last man in defence - you could sense that there'd be another flashpoint and possible sending-off. Mido, already on a yellow, was favourite.

In the end, the inconsistent Ghaly got the red. He had no business launching himself into Gray, but he did - to my eye - turn to avoid making contact with the elbow. To this biased viewer, he deserved a yellow card. That's why Jol was incensed. He felt, as I am sure all Spurs' fans did, that the referee was looking for an excuse to "even things up" after the controversial Tugay incident.

Meanwhile, a third of season gone. Hope of a Champions' League place all but disappeared. Spurs' will progress in the UEFA Cup. But, the promise of last season has faded in poor performances, injuries and a lack of character.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Sickels Ranking

2006-11-20T22:03:00.000Z

Thanks to Brian of the Nationals Farm Authority for pointing out this link to John Sickels rankings of Minnesota prospects.

Alexander Smit comes in at No.7. That's quite a boost for the Dutch lefty. Sickels gave Smit a "C" rating in this year's Prospect Book. Sickels actually saw him pitch in 2005 though I have my suspicions that was when Alexander was struggling with his control at Beloit.

Smit again started poorly in 2006, but started to put things right around mid-May. Once he joined the rotation in June, he was becoming his dominant self as in the second half of 2005.

Football: I Heart Aaron Lennon

2006-11-05T18:33:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur 2, Chelsea 1

For a Tottenham fan, a perfect day. Spurs exorcised their Chelsea demons with a first ever Premiership win against the West London side. (That is a truly staggering and depressing statistic.) More importantly, Spurs finally put one over a "Big Four" club. As this blog has been bleating for most of its natural life, if Spurs have aspirations to be a big club again, then beating the other big clubs is part and parcel. Okay, so you can't do that to order. But, if Tottenham approached other big matches like today's encounter, I'm sure there'll be more successes.

Quite surprising that Martin Jol kept the same eleven that started against Club Brugge in what turned into a 3-1 stroll, one of the least intense European matches you'll see. Compare that to the Battle Royale at the Nou Camp on Tuesday - well, there was no comparison.

So, Donutball does indeed heart Aaron Lennon who netted the winner early in the second half. Lennon has attracted more attention this season, particularly from opponents. It was evident on Thursday when he was immediately surrounded by tow or three defenders when he got the ball. Chelsea did much the same today.

But, the inspiration to switch him from the left wing, where he too often cuts on to his right foot rather than going outside the full-back on his left foot, to the right wing left space for Robbie Keane to do his magic. Keane played Chelsea's substitute right back Boulharouz like a fiddle; a drop of the shoulder left the defender on his backside. Keane's cross to Berbatov was only deflected to Lennon at the far post. Aaron cushioned the ball in one move on his right, then hit a sweet side foot volley with is left leaving Ashley Cole for dust. Goal. 2-1. Ballgame.

Usual sour grapes from the opposing manager. Video

Doubly satisfactory as the Arse went down to a late West Ham goal thanks to nice interplay between two Tottenham old boys - Matthew Etherington and ageless Teddy Sheringham. Handbags between Alan Pardew and Arsene "I Will Always Shake Hands With the Opposing Manager, Except That Racist Alan Pardew" Wenger.

More sour grapes from Whinger.

Oh, how sweet.

Football - Chomp

2006-10-23T20:26:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur 1, West Ham United 0 (upper central incisor)

Well done Jermain Defoe for putting the (ahem) bite into Tottenham's attack. Jermain, struggling in front of goal (just one away from 100 in all club matches), appeared to take a bite at West Ham's Argentine "Rent-a-Player" Javier Mascherano in yesterday's 1-0 win.

All in all, it was a scrappy little affair which Spurs should have won comfortably but for another 90 minutes of missed chances.

This is becoming a familiar story. Despite five games undefeated since the 3-0 drubbing by Liverpool, Spurs are failing to kill off matches. Against Besiktas in last week's UEFA Cup match, Robbie Keane, in particular, was guilty of wasting gilt edged chances.

Three tests coming up that should see Tottenham's goal shy strikers find their boots.

Wednesday sees a Carling Cup clash at Milton Keynes Dons.
Spurs travel to Vicarage Road to play winless Watford on Saturday in the Premier League.
Next week, it's European football at the Lane as Club Brugge come to N.17.

Now's the time to start clicking, improving performances AND winning.

Meanwhile, Martin Jol called Defoe's alleged bite a "comical nibble". With that and Didier Zakora's flagrant diving, Donutball is not impressed with Tottenham's downward disciplinary path. Reminds us of the early days of Arsene "I did not see the incident where my player drove a Sherman tank over the opposition" Wenger up the Arse.

Just make sure you brush and floss after each Mascherano, Jermain.

World Series - Game 1

2006-10-22T21:16:00.000Z

A power failure meant I missed watching Game 1 of the World Series, re-shown on NASN this morning.

The last time the Tigers met the Cardinals in the World Series, my team made the League final...and lost.

Meanwhile

2006-10-12T20:22:00.000Z

Went AWOL for awhile: been busy with this and that. A few details can be found over here.

Meanwhile:

Don't blame Paul Robinson for England's 2-0 defeat to Croatia. Blame the other ten players and the clueless coach. Donutball already told you that Steve "Steve" McLaren was the wrong man for the job. Doesn't help if most of his players are overrated and big headed. Nevermind Wayne Rooney's troubles, it's players like Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand and even captain John Terry who are stinking up the place.

This is not the answer. We told you it might happen.

Nice timing with the announcement of the shortlist for FIFA Player of the Year. Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard? More like Playa of the year.

IRBL: 7 is a magic number

2006-09-18T20:33:00.000Z

Meanwhile, the Mariners (my International Replay Baseball League entry) leads the AL West by 4 games with 10 left to play. All of sudden, this light hitting bunch have a magic number of 7.

The next series is a 5 game home set against the Angels, our closest competition. Taking 3 out of 5 would give the M's at least a tie for the division.

This club is held together with string and candlewax. Big stick for this team? Try Jack Wilson (.281/.321/.454). Chad Tracy and Aaron Boone both have 20 homers. In fact, we've got a remarkable 8 players with double digit dingers. Then again we've also got a couple of top notch double killing leaders - Boone (23) and Marcus Giles (20). All in all, the Mariners are 11th out of 14 in hitting - .254/.319/.391.

Our strength has been pitching though as the season has worn on, the Mariners have slid down the rankings to sixth. Anchoring the staff have been a trio of veterans - Scott Elarton (18-9, 3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHiP), Mike Mussina (13-12, 3.81, 1.29) and Pedro Astacio (9-8, 3.53, 1.14). The bullpen is deep with contributions from Jeff Farnsworth (29 Saves, 1.13, 0.74), Todd Jones (7 SV, 5 Holds, 1.31, 0.85), Danys Baez (7 Saves, 8 Holds, 3.72, 1.44), Matt Miller (7 Holds, 2.92, 1.22) and Brian Shouse (14 Holds, 4.88, 1.41).

Whatever it is - luck, brilliant management, chutzpah, team chemistry or a collection of 1s and 0s in the right order - the Mariners tonight sit atop the AL West with an 82-70 record closing down on an unlikely playoff spot. It has helped playing in the IRBL's weakest division, but it has been a dogfight all season long.

If we can get past the Angels in the upcoming series, the Mariners look certain to play against the Tigers (97-50) in the first round of the playoffs. The Tigers pwn the M's with a perfect 9-0 record.

Fingers crossed.

UEFA Cup: Slavia Prague 0, Tottenham Hotspur 1

2006-09-14T21:53:00.000Z

An encouraging result for Tottenham in their long awaited return to European football. Okay, it wasn't the Champions' League (grumble) and it wasn't Barcelona (sigh). But, job done.

Jermaine Jenas scored a fine goal midway through the first half after a powerful run from Didier Zakora. Tottenham cruised through the first half, took the foot of the gas in the second, were always comfortable, but conceded too much possession. A better team would have punished them.

Still, 1-0 in the away leg. That's what counts.

Top performances from Zakora (more Viera than Murphy) and Michael Dawson (stout in defence). The lean, mean Mido machine (welcome home, BTW) had the occasional deft touch. Jermain Defoe looked poor. His confidence seems shot to pieces and he's unlikely to keep his starting place on this evidence.

Top marks to the visiting hordes who made a noise throughout.

Bottom marks for Channel 5's amateurish coverage and the chocolate brown strip. Worst. Strip. Ever.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Playoff edition

2006-09-12T21:26:00.000Z

Alexander Smit started game 3 of the Beloit Snappers first round playoff series against the Peoria Chiefs last Friday. The series was tied with Peoria taking game 2 by a score of 6-1 after Beloit had taken the opener 2-0.

In his last start of the season Smit had gone down 3-0. Friday night he again went 7 innings, this time allowing two runs whilst scattering just three hits and 4 walks. Smit struck out ten batters. Three Snapper pitchers preserved a 4-3 which took them into the second round against Kane County.

Log/Wrap/Box

The win last Friday turned out to be Smit's last appearance as Kane County tattooed Beloit 8-3 and 15-3 to take the series.

So, that's about it for Alexander Smit's 2006 season. It started in the Netherlands with the Dutch WBC squad, via practice in Florida, games in Puerto Rico, the Beloit bullpen, a surprise role in the rotation and finally a September evening in Peoria.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Summer turns to Fall

2006-09-02T20:50:00.000Z

Friday night saw Alexander Smit start his final regular season game for the Beloit Snappers. Smit went 7 full innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks with 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately, Peoria Chiefs starter Mitch Atkins was tossing 7.2 innings of 5 hit shutout ball against his teammates. Peoria won the game 3-0, handing Smit only his second loss of the season and his first loss as a starter.

Smit finishes the season with a record of 7-2 and an ERA just under 3. In 34 appearances - 13 of them starts - he pitched 108.1 innings, giving up 77 hits and 53 walks for a WHiP of 1.20, whilst striking out 141.

A season that started out as a rough ride in Arpil and May smoothed out in June and beyond with Smit picking up an award or two and praise along the way. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't got a chance to join the rotation through injury back in June.

Beloit will open up the Midwest League playoffs on Wednesday 6 September at home to Peoria. Smit figures to pitch the second game of the three game series.

Box/Game Summary/Game Log

Alexander Smit Dispatches - "Live" Update

2006-08-27T22:47:00.000Z

Sunday night, Beloit lefty and Donutball's adopted player, Alexander Smit, threw 7 innings of no-hit ball! Smit left the game at the beginning of the bottom of the 8th with a 1-0 lead. Danny Vais, in relief, allowed the first home hit in that inning and Cedar Rapids plated a run in the 9th to send the game to extra innings.

Following MILB.com, Beloit and Cedar Rapids are locked in a 2-2 tie in the top of the 14th.

More tomorrow!

**UPDATE**

Cedar Rapids took the game with a run in the bottom of the 19th inning.

Smit struck out 11 and walked 4 in his 7 innings of no-hit ball. MILB.com now show split stats on each player page, so check out Alexander's updated numbers. The splits after May are impressive.

From the game report:

"You can't worry about it," smit said of a potential no-hitter, adding that he focuses on retiring the first batter of each inning.
...
The Snappers dropped their second straight extra-inning contest, even though seven pitchers combined for 25 strikeouts.

"We both had chances, we came up short. That's baseball," said Smit, who started the season in the bullpen.

With nine games left in the regular season, Smit will probably get one more start. That's a shame given his recent form. He's pitched 14 consecutive scoreless frames. Well, he should get a shot in the Midwest League playoffs which start on 6 September.

Boxscore

Tottenham Anderlecht UEFA Cup Final 1984

2006-08-25T11:58:00.000Z

aaaahh! What great memories!

Tottenham: Czech's in the Post

2006-08-25T11:45:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur's re-entry into Europe starts in Prague, much loved destination for stag weekends.

Slavia Prague, mind you. Not, Sparta Prague who face off against Champions' League rejects Hearts.

Slavia were Czech champions back in 1996, but done little since then. They're not exactly laden with household names. Let's not be complacent though.

First round action in the UEFA Cup starts on 14 September. Spurs last won the UEFA Cup in 1984 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Anderlecht. Your citizen journalist was there.

Love this:

"The fact that the jersey is half white and half red should symbolize the dichotomy of life."

Win some, lose some.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Back in the Groove

2006-08-21T22:09:00.000Z

Alexander Smit bounced back from his rocky outing last week with a strong outing Sunday as Beloit downed Clinton 8-1 to help their Midwest League playoff push.

Smit went a full seven innings allowing a run on two hits and three walks. Once again he averaged over one strikeout per inning with a total of nine.

With last night's effort, Smit is 5-0 as a starter - 7-1 overall. He has lowered his ERA to 3.15 - 2.55 as a starter. Smit has given up 71 hits and 46 walks in 94.1 innings, whilst striking out 120.

Gamer/Box/Log

Thanks to Brian from the Nationals Farm Authority for picking up this mention (right down the bottom) of Alexander in Baseball Prospectus.

Football: Premier League Preview

2006-08-19T16:21:00.000Z

As promised, Donutball has got out it's crystal ball, put it's citizen journalist credentials on the line and bottled it. A quick run through each of the Premier League clubs on the opening day of the 2006-7 season.

Questions: a third title in a row for the "Chosen One"? Relegation for Pompey? Carrick the new Roy Keane? Red cards for Robbie Savage? Twenty goals for Berbatov? dodgy penalty decisions for Liverpool?

Answers: we haven't got a clue.

All you need to know about al-Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium - 900 toilets and 370 metres of urinals. Top four. Flush.

Aston Villa are buoyant with the arrival of Martin O'Neill, the man who should have been England manager, and new sugar daddy, Randy Lerner. Challenging for UEFA Cup place.

Mark Hughes has turned Blackburn Rovers into a tough nut to crack and surprised in 6th place last year, without Craig Bellamy they'll do well to match that performance. Lots of cards, not too many goals, mid-table.

A lot of print about Bolton's Sam Allardyce disappointment at not getting the England job. Wanderers - like Lancashire neighbours Blackburn - will be difficult to beat, but could be a let down. Up, down, up again, mid-table.

Charlton's Darren Bent was the top English premier League marksman in 2005-6, but failed to crack the World Cup squad. New boss Ian Dowie has a tough act to follow, but the 'Addicks are becoming a top table fixture. Lower half, but taking the odd scalp.

Ballack ,Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel, Shevchenko, "Khalid the Cannibal" Boulahrouz and, possibly Ashley Cole: quite a transfer window haul for Chelsea. Yet, Mourinho says "we're not ready". Champions (possibly of Europe too).

Sticky times for the Toffees. Everton in the post-Ferguson era. Andy Johnson is a great signing, but this squad's too thin. Struggling, but will survive.

Fulham have been rocked by the sulkiness of Steed Malbranque. Manager Chris Coleman has to work more magic, but this might be their last top flight season for awhile. Bottom four.

If any club looks like breaking Chelsea's grip on the title, it's Liverpool. Ignore opening day. Ignore the Community Shield. Liverpool's defence is rock solid; Sissoko, Gerrard and Bellamy hum in midfield; late signing Dirk Kuyt, much sought after by Premier League clubs, adds much needed pop up front. Runners-up.

With Stuart Pearce as manager, you can expect lots of effort from Manchester City. Last season's disastrous run-in showed how thin a squad Pierce has. A lot of transfer activity over the summer, but another struggling year. Lower half.

The start of the season, I think, is crucial for Manchester United. I expect the usual strong run after Christmas, so if they begin in good form Man U might make a race of it. Big surprise not to see a striker signed over the summer. Top four.

Ex-England man Gareth Southgate takes over at Middlesbrough with Steve McLaren off to Soho Square. Looks to be a baptism of fire. Will ship goals, but probably score a lot too. Lower table.

Owen injured. Shearer retired. Damian Duff, the only summer signing. Newcastle look like one of many fighting for scraps. Top half, possible run at UEFA Cup place.

It wouldn't be a proper season without a relegation battle for Portsmouth. Wheeler-dealer Harry Redknapp has brought in a lot of experience with Glen Johnson, David Thompson, Sol Campbell, David James and Kanu. Lower table.

Steve Coppell returns to the Premier League with Reading. The Madejski Stadium will be full, but it could be a short stay at the top. Fighting relegation.

A sleeping giant (tm), Sheffield United, finally return to the Premier League. They were founder members, y'know. Little top flight experience, but manager Neil Warnock is a magician. Watch the Blades disappear.

Despair at the end, but 2005-6 was Tottenham's best season in the Premier League - fifth (should have been fourth). Michael Carrick loss means more to Spurs than his addition means to Man U (huh?). How good is Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov? Zokora: Patrick Viera or Danny Murphy? Top six: short UEFA Cup run.

I know about zero about Watford's squad. Marlon King scored 22 goals last year. They threaten to be fit and will probably want to stop others playing. Struggle from post-to-post.

West Ham have quietly put together a decent Premier League squad. They have depth to overcome to Dean Ashton injury. Card shark Teddy Sheringham's still trotting along. Challenging for a European place.

Interesting signings for Wigan: Emile Heskey, Chris Kirkland and Denny Landzaat. They surprised most last season, but are no longer an unknown quantity. Mid-table (I'm sure they'll take that.)

MLB Debut - Rafael Perez

2006-08-17T21:02:00.000Z

Perez is a hard throwing lefty who until this season had only half-a-season above A ball. The lanky Dominican has fairly ordinary K/IP ratios and only slightly better than average control. He throws a 94mph heater which has good movement and a plus slider. Perez has yet to develop his change of pace. All in all, he looks like a possible LOOGY candidate if he can stick in the Bigs.

Cleveland called up Perez early in the season, replacing RHP Matt Miller. The club was looking for a long man out of the bullpen and Perez fitted better than most other candidates in the system. That said, he had barely time for the proverbial cup of coffee, pitching an inning on 20 April against the Orioles, picking up two strikeouts.

Perez returned to the Akron Aeros in AA a few days later. He had a longer spell with Cleveland over June and July, pitching in 12 games, allowing 7 hits and 4 walks over 8.2 innings, with 10 strikeouts.

At Akron, Perez started 12 games and posted a 2.81 ERA and had a WHiP of 1.11. That contributed to his recall, but he found himself at AAA Buffalo in late July. With the Bisons, Perez has pitched in relief, throwing 15.2 innings with a WHiP of 1.15 and 21 Ks.

MLB
ESPN
The Baseball Cube (ignore the Pulaski line in 2005 and the 1998 and 1999 White Sox numbers - whole different Perez's)

Alexander Smit Dispatches - The Swing Play the Blues

2006-08-16T22:00:00.000Z

Tough night Tuesday for Beloit lefty Alexander Smit, coming on the back of his Midwest League Pitcher of the Week award.

Smit lasted just three innings and a batter, allowing 3 runs on six hits and six walks. It was his worst outing since joining the rotation in June. Last night was his tenth start.

The Swing of the Quad Cities won 4-3, the winning run coming in the 6th inning by which time Smit was out of the game. This is a crucial series in the Western Division as Beloit and Quad Cities chase the final playoff spot. Quad Cities now lead by a game-and-a-half.

With 14 regular season games remaining, Smit figures to get two, possibly three more starts. Overall, he has posted a 6-1 record with a 3.40 ERA and 1.28 WHiP. In 87.1 innings, he has struck out 111 batters and walked 43.

Gamer/Box/Log

MLB Debut - Travis Ishikawa

2006-08-15T20:55:00.000Z

The Jints have been patient with Travis Ishikawa, a smooth fielding first baseman with a sweet stroke. At the same time, he does come with a reputation. It's probably time he earned it.

Ishikawa probably won't be mistaken for Prince Fielder or Conor Jackson. He might be a Hal Morris type, hitting for average but never turning the corner to be a all-star. Or, he could fizzle out at AAA.

He hit .282/.387/.532 at San Jose in the California League, with an OPS was +14 above the league average. That looked like Ishikawa's breakout year. But, despite his callup to the Giants in 2006, the numbers show a step backwards. As of 15 August, he's hit .232/.316/.403 in 86 games at Connecticut. Although in a pitcher's league, those are poor numbers. His walk total is just 35 in 350 plate appearances.

Stepping back to April, Ishikawa got an early call to San Francisco when Lance Niekro went on the bereavement list. He spent less than a week with the club and made a couple of brief appearances. On 18 April, he grounded out on the first pitch he saw, pinch hitting for Jack Taschner in the 7th. He picked up his first MLB hit the next day in another pinch hitting role and played an inning in the field.

Travis has had a couple more trips up to the big club since then and compiled a line of .292/.320/.500. On 26 May, the first appearance of his second stint, he went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

With the Hillenbrand deal, Ishikawa's opportunities have diminished. Clearly, he needs further seasoning at AA.

ESPN
MLB
The Baseball Cube

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Pitcher of the Week!

2006-08-15T20:42:00.000Z

This just into Donutball HQ:

"Beloit Snappers starting pitcher Alexander Smit was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 7-13. Smit pitched seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and allowed one hit in an August 10 start versus Fort Wayne. Smit no-hit the Wizards for 6 1/3 innings before Will Venable reached base on an infield single, the only hit Smit allowed. Beloit won the game 6-3 and went on to sweep the Wizards."

Midwest League Notebook:

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "He was great and had great stuff. He's got good numbers. We had a lot of strikeouts. I think [his fastball] was deceptive. Guys were having trouble picking it up. Give the credit to him. He's the first guy we've seen in a while that we couldn't get anything going off." -- Wizards manager Randy Ready told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette about Smit.

Congratulations, Alexander!

Football: Sven Gone, Beckham Out (Good Riddance?)

2006-08-13T21:40:00.000Z

Friday: smiling Steve McLaren names his first England squad.

There's a number of possible reasons for David Beckham's exclusion from the England squad to face Greece next week.

He's not very good: Beckham is one paced, cannot tackle or head. He cannot read the game, commits too many petulant fouls and gets too many yellow and red cards for a supposedly influential midfielder. On the plus side, he is still one of the best free kick specialists in the world (by far the best Englishman) and can deliver great crosses, albeit with decreasing frequency. Not even his greatest detractors could forget 10 years of loyal and occasionally brilliant service, 94 caps, 17 goals, ::cough:: 2 red cards.

Form: His World Cup performance was poor, despite his winner against Ecuador and a couple of "assists". Too often he drifted out of the game. His lack of pace showed and those assists apart his delivery into the box was erratic.

Age: This shouldn't be an issue, as he'’s just 31. For crissakes, Phil Neville's in the squad.

Injuries: Beckham ended the World Cup on a stretcher and is far from match fit.

The new coach: McLaren wants to stamp his mark on the team. What better way to distinguish himself from the discredited Sven Goran Eriksson.

Beckham wanted out: Resignation from the captaincy after the World Cup gave McLaren an excuse to drop Becks. The captain probably didn't want to "retire" from international football a failure. At the same time, with Eriksson gone his automatic selection was jeopardised.

Whatever the reason - or combination of the above -– Donutball is glad to see England move forward minus it’s overrated, inconsistent and one-paced liability. But, don't be surprised if Coach Steve makes the call to the ex-captain later in the season.

Meanwhile, Terry Venables as assistant coach? WTF?

Athletics: Second Place? That's Losing.

2006-08-13T20:54:00.000Z

Athletics (track and field) is not a sport about which Donutball normally gets agitated.

However, Britain's sorry performance in this week's European Championships in Sweden has got up our goat.

This was Britain's worst performance at the European Championships since 1978. It's part of a depressing pattern over the last five or six years which has seen disappointing results at several major events. The Athens Olympics, with Kelly Holmes double gold effort, now seems watershed. The (not so great) old guard has given way to the unfocussed, medicore new guard.

At Gothenburg this week, Britain took one paltry gold. Belgium, for goodness sake, took home three golds. Britain's total of 11 medals - with 5 each of silver and bronze - was joint second. But, the unofficial table is counted on golds, so that makes GB 10th.

Leave out the Russians, who have the population, talent and experience, Britain should be one of the top nations. GB should be top five.

What made matters worse today was the team dissension after that solitary gold which came in the 4x100 men's relay - effectively a consolation prize. Sprinter Darren Campbell left the track in a huff, not joining his teammates in celebration, choosing instead to give a cryptic interview about "certain accusations". Campbell left the air clouded. What accusations?

We can only assume that he was referring to how the British team has been slammed in the press for the poor performance. Or, perhaps there is lingering disquiet with the inclusion of disgraced relay team member Dwain Chambers. Chambers, you will recall, failed a drug test back in 2003 and served a lengthy ban before returning to the track earlier this year.

It's fairly widely known that the team is full of huge egos and split beteween several training and coahing camps. The days of Britain taking a team of individuals is long gone. With some exceptions, it's now a bunch of egos wearing the same vest.

This is not a blanket criticism of the athletes. There have been some excellent performances by the likes of Mo Farah, second in the 5000m, Rhys Williams's bronze in the 400m hurdles and Nathan Douglas's second in the triple jump behind the irrepressible Cristian Olsson. But, too many athletes came off the track seemingly baffled by their mediocre performances. Too many seemed content with mediocrity.

Now we get splits amongst former athletes, like the irritating Paula Radcliffe, about the involvement of other former athletes in training Britain's current crop.

Expectations, of course, have been built up by the BBC and other media. For the BBC, deviod of live sport thanks to Sky and other competitors, has hyped up these championships and the British hopes for medals.

The BBC has suffered from its own surfeit of egos in the commentary box and on the "comfy sofa" of the studio. Why they need the likes of British "leg ends" Steve Cram, Colin Jackson, Jonathan Edwards and Radcliffe on hand when BBC's American import Michael Johnson is the only one willing to level constructive criticism of team management and coaching.

Michael Johnson would never settle for second. Neither should the British athletes.

Alexander Smit Dispatches - One-hit wonder

2006-08-11T22:45:00.000Z

Terrific news for Donutball fans from the Midwest League. Beloit's Alexander Smit had his best performance of the season last night in front of 3,467 at Fort Wayne's Memorial Stadium.

Smit allowed a hit in seven innings of work, a one out infield single in the sixth. He struck out 11 Wizards and walked none, picking up his 6th win of the season. Another batter reached on catcher interference. Otherwise, Smit competely dominated the game.

"I was just trying to get ahead of (the hitters)," Smit explained. "That was the only thing I was trying to do, stay ahead in the count and use my fastball. My curveball and slider were working well. I mixed those up a little bit. But everything was going the way I wanted to tonight."

Actually, things have been going Smit's way since he became a regular member of the Snappers' rotation at the end of June. He's 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA as a starter

"I've been working with my arm slot and finding the strike zone," he said. "I worked with my pitching coach, Steve Mintz, and it's helped me out a lot. I've been trying to get my arm mechanics back like I did last year."

With opponents hitting just .160 against him in his last eight outings, has Smit thought about climbing the ladder in the Twins' system?

"I only worry about what I can control," he said. "I just worry about pitching well. I don't worry about all that other stuff. I just want my team to win."

Beloit won the game 6-3. Game Log Box

MLB Debut - Fausto Carmona

2006-08-10T20:44:00.000Z

Or, as some wag called him (probably on teh Yuda Chat) Cleveland's Snoop Dogg d/b/a Fausto Carmona. Or as Baseball America said in 2005: "When the Indians signed Carmona...he was a malnourished stringbean."

Well, he's svelte 6'4" 220 lbs these days and brings the heat. Complimenting his 94mph hard sinking fastball, Carmona delivers a biting slider and features a plus changeup (according to BA; Sickels and McKamey think it's below average, meh). With that great array, you might think Carmona could be added Liriano and Hernandez to form a Holy Trinity of rookie hurlers. What let's him down are average H/IP ratios throughout his Minor League career and mechanics - coaches worry about his whippy action.

Carmona was recalled on 15 April to replace Fernando Cabrera who went on the DL. He started the same day, pitching 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks whilst striking out 4. Carmona picked up a "W" as the bullpen preserved the 7-2 victory.

Two more starts followed in April in which Carmona got shelled. The Indians sent him back to Buffalo where he made 4 starts giving up 21 hits and 4 walks in 22.1 innings with 22 Ks. Carmona came back to Cleveland for good on 12 May when they dumped Danny Graves and Felix Heredia.

With the Bob Wickman trade, Carmona is now the de facto Cleveland closer. Donutball is not aware of any imminent rap releases from the 22 year old Dominican hurler.

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MLB Debut - Ramon Ramirez

2006-08-08T21:32:00.000Z

Colorado pitching coach Bob Apodaca had this to say about 24 year old righthander Ramon Ramirez back in May:

"[When Ramirez arrived at Spring Training] ... his back leg, his knee, would really collapse, creating a very flat plane to the plate ... I didn't see it. The other pitching coaches did because we were assigned different pitchers and catchers during Spring Training, and we discussed the guys. He had a good arm, a quick arm, and everything was flat and up.

"So he and I had a discussion that lasted about five minutes when they were playing catch in the outfield. I told him, 'This is what I'm seeing, but this is what I need to see. So how do we do that?' He just made a subtle adjustment on his back leg, still getting some flex but not collapsing, and he immediately took to it. He took it from that simple five-minute session, took it right into his side work, and was very impressive in his spring debut for us."

Those little adjustments have helped make Ramirez an essential component in the Rockies 2006 bullpen. Okay, he won't get to save Game 7 of the World Series, but the Dominican has taken big steps in his first MLB season.

Ramirez, picked up in the Shawn Chacon trade in July 2005, made his debut on 14 April against Philadelphia pitching 2 innings of relief allowing one hit and striking out two. Colorado lost 10-7.

Ramirez was used almost exclusively as a starter in the Minors though he started his pro career as an outfielder in the Rangers system back in 1997. His next stop was a brief stint in Japan with the Hiroshama Carp in 2002 - by then he was pitcher - and was signed by the Yankees in March 2003.

It was an up and down Minor League career and in 2005 the Yankees more or less gave up on Ramirez before he was packaged in the Chacon deal. Ramirez can bring the heat and had a Minor League career K/IP ratio of about 1:1. The rap is that he's a thrower rather than a pitcher. He can throw a decent curve, but has no changeup to speak off. However, with his mechanics improved, he's certainly become more of a pitcher this season and fits the bill as a power reliever.

He pitched 14 innings of relief to start his MLB career before allowing a run. Despite a rough July, (as of 8 August) he still leads Rocks relievers with a 2.80 ERA and sports a nifty 1.04 WHiP.

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Cricket: We Love Monty!

2006-08-08T19:56:00.000Z

Whilst 2006 has not been the golden cricket summer that was 2005 - when England wrested the Ashes from Australia in the series of the decade - there's been glimmers of glory and performances to cheer. The emergence of Monty Panesar, of course, tops the list.

Panesar was one of several key players in England's win today over Pakistan clinching the 4 match series 2-0.

If you'd told me 10 years ago that England's cult cricket hero would be a left arm spin bowler from Luton wearing a Patka, I think I might have raised an eyebrow. Monty has raised eyebrows over the last eight months since being a surprise selection for the test series in India. And, what a debut. Panesar's first wicket was none other than the great Sachin Tendulkar.

Injury to England's tried and trusted Ashley "Wheelie-bin" Giles has meant that Panesar has enjoyed an uninterrupted run in the England test side in this summer's series - a disappointing split with Sri Lanka and now the morale boosting victory over Pakistan. It's morale boosting for two reasons. This is England's first series win since the Ashes triumph, followed as it was by a 2-0 defeat to Pakistan in late 2005; second, it puts England in good spirits before the return series against Australia this winter.

England continue to have a selection dilemma. Over the summer injuries meant the likes of Monty, Sajid Mahmood and Ali Cook were been called up to the side. All have performed well, sometimes reaching great heights, as did Monty at Manchester.

If Giles is fit, the selectors have a tough choice between left arm spinners. Giles is more than handy with the bat and fills the difficult No.8 spot. But, Panesar has proved himself to be a both an attacking and defensive bowler, something Giles is not. Then again, can the inexperienced Monty handle the pressure of Aussie crowds? Can England risk someone who's a batting and fielding liability?

There are other big choices. At wicketkeeper: Read's 'keeping ability versus Jones's (so far invisible) bat. As for the bowlers, does Mahmood have the discipline to succeed Down Under?

Thos questions can wait. For now, it celebration time.

There's other positives to take from England's success. The series against Pakistan has been played in good spirit. Given world political that could have been an issue. (Though I'm keeping an eye out for reports of crowd behaviour given Leeds' sad history of racist spectator behaviour.) Then there's the appearance in the team of a British born Sikh and Lancastrian of Pakistani origins. A small statement for British multicultural society; a bigger statement for cricket in the modern era.

Why do we love Monty? The return of classic left arm spin bowling; his success, of course; his quiet determination; his youthful enthusiasm. He's from Luton!

MLB Debut - Matt Smith

2006-08-06T20:18:00.000Z

Yankee reliever Matt Smith debuted 14 April in a 5-1 loss against Minnesota.

The lefthander was recalled from Columbus on 14 April (though ESPN says 15 April) to replace catcher Koyie Hill who New York designated for assignment. Smith was subsequently shuffled back and forth to Columbus to fill in for injuries.

In his debut, he faced one batter (Joe Mauer) starting the 8th inning in relief of Tanyon Sturtze.

Matt Smith is your LOOGY (Lefty One Out Guy) in training. He's a converted starter who has seen his K/BB ratio improve after his move the the bullpen. He split time between Trenton (AA) and Columbus (AAA) last year as he made the switch in roles. Smith's fastball tops out at 92mph, but the curve is his out pitch.

Everbody needs a LOOGY.

Smith was involved in the Yanks/Phils deadline day trade. Smith, Minor Leaguers shortstop C.J. Henry, pitcher Carlos Monasterios and catcher Jesus Sanchez went to Philly in exchange for outfielder Bobby Abreu and pitcher Cory Lidle.

The new Phillie hails from Las Vegas, birthplace of Barry Zito and home to future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.

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MLB Debut - Tony Pena, Junior

2006-08-05T21:32:00.000Z

Tony Pena (2): or, son of 94 year old former MLB catcher Tony Pena Sr.

Just to confuse matters, Tony Junior is one of two Pena's to appear for the 2006 Atlanta Braves. Catcher Brayan Pena, a 26 year old Cuban defector, has ridden the same R-Braves shuttle as Junior. Brayan is currently back at AAA despite doing fairly well at the plate - .321/.345/.464.

Anyway, Junior is a slick fielding shortstop who has poor plate discipline and, so John Sickels says, makes too many mental errors. He's a toolsy infielder - great athletic ability and speed, but poor baseball skills.

Pena slipped off Baseball America's top 30 Braves' prospects this year and ranked fourth amongst the organisation's shortstops behind guys called Elvis, Yunel and Luis. In 2005, he had a full season at AAA and put up some lousy numbers - .249/.285 /.347 in 490 at bats. He walked just 21 times with 113 strikeouts.

Nevertheless, he got a chance early on in the season replacing Chipper Jones on 12 April when the All-Star went on the DL. Junior was optioned back to the R-Braves on 30 April as Atlanta recalled LHP Macay McBride from the DL. Pena was recalled 29 July when Jones went down again.

Pena's debut came as a pinch runner for Wilson Betemit on 13 April in Atlanta's 7-6 loss to the Phillies. He was stranded at second as the Braves rally stalled. Pena got his first AB on 15 April as he replaced the injured Edgar Renteria. He grounded out in the 8th. A first hit - and so far only MLB safety - came on 21 April against the Washington Nationals.

At Richmond this season, Pena had 298 ABs batting .282/.312/.359 and just 12 walks.

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Alexander Smit Dispatches - "Swing batter!"

2006-08-05T20:50:00.000Z

Friday night in Beloit, Wisconsin Dutch lefthanded pitcher Alexander Smit won his fifth game of the season - his third victory as a starter. On the way, he struck out 12 batters in 6 innings as the Snappers downed the Dayton Dragons 3-1. Box.

Smit's success as starter continues. He worked through a tough first inning, conceding a run on two walks, a stolen base, single and sac fly. Thereafter, he allowed just one hit and no further walks. He was dominant, retiring 12 batters in a row from the first to two out in the fifth when a batter reached on shortstop Toby Gardenhire's error. Smit fanned five in a row at one stage. His 12 Ks sets a club high for the season.

Last year Smit struck out an average of 12.3 batters per 9 innings in 96 innings split between Beloit and Elizabethton. In 2006, he's not quite on the same pace, but 98 whiffs in 77.1 innings is still good for 11.4 per 9. That's not bad for a guy who tops out at 92mph.

In each of his eight starts, Smit has made it to the fifth inning and has now extended his streak of going to the sixth to 6 games.

Our Banner has Returned

2006-08-02T22:10:00.000Z

It didn't go anywhere, we're just totally pants when it comes to CSS.

Lead by example, we say. Either that or pinch bits of code from someone else's blog.

For our next trick, we'll tackle that backlog of MLB Debut posts. And, watch out for that FA Premier League preview!

Alexander Smit Dispatches - 30 Games to Go

2006-08-02T21:27:00.000Z

It's the last month of the Minor League season and time running out for prospects to impress. Donutball's adopted Snapper, Alex Smit, did himself a further good as racked up his fourth win of the season on Sunday as the Beloit Snappers clobbered the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-3. (Box)

Smit worked 5 2/3 innings for the victory; the fifth consecutive start in which he has reached the sixth inning.

All three Wisconsin runs came on Robert Hudson's 5th inning homer. Otherwise, Smit retired the first 10 batters he faced and wound up with a 4 hit, 2 walk, 6 strikeout effort.

With Sunday's performance, Smit's ERA sits at a respectable, but hardly spectacular, 3.66. Still, it's a major improvement on the first two months of the season when the figure was closer to 9.

Since joining the rotation in late June he has not missed a turn, going 2-0 in 7 starts with a 3.12 ERA. In 37 innings as a starter, Smit has conceded 13 runs on 27 hits and 15 walks with 43 strikeouts.

Beloit Snapper 2006 baseball cards are now available. We're thinking of making an investment!

Tottenham: King crocked

2006-07-30T15:38:00.000Z

The "It never rains..." Department:

The day after Spurs and Man U agreed terms for the transfer of England midfielder Michael Carrick, the London side have suffered a further blow to their pre-season preparations.

Defender and club captain Ledley King has suffered a knee injury which will cause him to miss 6-8 weeks. That means King will miss at least the first month of the 2005-6 Premier League campaign and could be ruled out of Spurs' first UEFA Cup tie.

King, a semi-regular for the national side, missed the World Cup with a broken bone in his foot.

MLB Debut - Chris Britton

2006-07-29T22:04:00.000Z

At 6'3" 278lbs, Baltimore reliever Chris Britton is rather hard to overlook. Here at Donutball we missed posting on Britton back in April when he made his debut. Chris, no slight dude. We can see you. Bear in mind, this was around the time that 6'6" Chris Hammel made his debut for Tampa Bay, replacing 6'9" Mark Hendrickson on the roster, and giant Aussie Peter Moylan came, saw and walked a few batters for Atlanta.

Righty Chris Britton was called up from Double-A Bowie on 13 April when the Orioles optioned RHP Cory Morris to Triple-A Ottawa. Morris himself had only been recalled on 9 April, but did not appear for Baltimore.

Britton debuted on 12 April away to Tampa Bay, a game the O's lost 7-4. He pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief of Sendy Rleal in the 8th after the fellow rookie had given up a grand slam which broke a 3-3 tie. Britton walked one and struck out one.

Since that game Britton made three more unforgettable appearances before the Orioles optioned him back to Bowie when Todd Williams was reactivated from the 15-day disabled list. At Bowie, Chris worked 11 innings allowing 8 hits and 3 walks whilst striking out 18 batters.

He got the callup again on 15 May when Daniel Cabrera went on the DL. Britton has subsequently made himself a valuable contributor to the O's 'pen.

The big righthander has been one of the more dominant relievers during his four years in the Orioles system. In 2005, he struck out 110 in 78.2 innings. His WHiP was an impressive 0.89 as he blew through the Single A Carolina League with the Frederick Keys. Despite his size, it's Britton's curve which is his out pitch. His fastball and slider are serviceable and he's working on a changeup too. But, it's the yakker that has been his meal ticket to the Bigs.

That journey has included a couple of lengthy outages injured, including the whole of 2003. He plays with a metal plate in his head, courtesy of a line drive in 2002. His size makes health and conditioning an issue. That aside, the O's like the look of the big man.

Chris lists huntin'n'fishin' as his hobbies. We're not going to argue with him.

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Tottenham Hotspur: Michael Carrick leaves

2006-07-28T21:38:00.000Z

What has otherwise been a fairly satisfactory off-season for Tottenham Hotspur turned sour today as the protracted move of midfielder Michael Carrick to Man United has been finalised.

Man U's original £10 million bid for Carrick during the World Cup was resisted by Tottenham. But, it became clear after England were knocked out that the deal was going to be done. Carrick, Donutball's player of the season, rejected a new contract and the club were not willing to break the salary structure to accommodate him.

The silver lining, or more like it brass lining, is that Spurs got the transfer fee up to £18 million, a profit of over £15 million. That's the second highest fee paid by a Premier League over the summer after Chelsea's outrageously stupid lump for Andrei Sevchenko.

Cash in the bank for Tottenham is welcome and could be used to further strengthen the squad, but Carrick leaves a big whole in the centre of midfield. I doubt any of the existing midfield corps - God, I didn't realise Edgar Davids was still there - can fill his boots. Time is running out in the transfer window to find a suitable replacement.

On the positive side, Spurs have signed a couple of quality players over the summer. Didier Zokora, Ivorian midfielder, adds class and unpredictability. Up front, Dimitar Berbatov replaces the ever popular Mido and keeps up the competition for the two striking positions. Man U have also been linked with England castoff Jermain Defoe.

In other news, the Guardian also reports that Spurs arexaminingng moving to the London Olympic Stadium in 2013. White Hart Lane, with a capacity of only 35,000, is inadequate and there is almost no prospect of further improving the ground which sits off the crowded Tottenham High Road. Public transport links to White Hart Lane are, to be polite, crap and unlikely to get better. Moving to Straford, the site of the Olympic stadium, would break a 130 association with North London and almost certainly be resisted by die-hard supporters. The stadium is likely to retain a running track, another demerit. This one needs watching.

Donutball may, or may not, be posting a Premier League preview in August. But, we'll probably be watching the cricket, cycling around South London or working on a never ending supply of MLB Debut posts.

MLB Debut - Matt Albers

2006-07-26T21:02:00.000Z

Houston Astros' prospect Matt Albers made his Major League debut on 25 July against the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched to two batters allowing a double to Scott Hatteberg before getting a ground out. The Reds beat Houston 2-0 behind Aaron Harang's 8 inning, 4 hit effort.

Albers was promoted on 20 July from AA Corpus Christi replacing lefty Wandy Rodriguez in the bullpen. Houston sees Rodriguez as a long term starter optioned him to AAA Round Rock where he takes up a place in the Astros' affliate's rotation.

The 23 year old right hander has put up some outstanding numbers in AA this season going 10-2 with a 2.17 ERA. He allowed 96 hits and 47 walks in 116 innings of work spread over 19 starts. That's a huge improvement over 2005 when he struggled to maintain the excellent progress he had made in the Houston system. Drafted out of San Jacinto Junior College, Albers is a local product. He went to High School in Sugarland in the Houston area.

His fastball is already a plus pitch and scouts say his curve and slider have the same potential. Albers problem is attitude and preparation. That and problems with his mechanics hindered his progress last season, but by all accounts he has got back on track in 2006. His promotion to the big club is a reward for an improved work ethic.

The Astros project him as a candidate for the bullpen despite starting all but a handful of 97 Minor League appearances.

Manager Phil Garner said:

"The difference between last year and this year was a 100-percent turnaround," Garner said. "He's matured to the point where he really opened a lot of eyes. In Corpus ... he's leading the league in ERA. He's been nasty. Even though he's been a starter, we're going to put him in the bullpen, and let's see what he can do."

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Alexander Smit Dispatches - Mike Sweeney Edition

2006-07-26T20:33:00.000Z

Donutball's adopted Minor Leaguer, Alexander Smit, made another start on 25 July. He worked five innings conceding 2 runs on four hits, including a home run. Smit struck out 8, but also walked three.

Beloit lost the game 3-2 as Burlington Bees' third baseman Mario Lisson singled home the winning run in the 9th inning to break a 2-2 tie.

Royals' first baseman Mike Sweeney started for the Bees on a rehab assignment and went 0-for-3.

MLB Debut - Tony Pena (1)

2006-07-25T21:11:00.000Z

Tony Pena. You've heard that name in a baseball context before. Though the Tony Pena you usually think of retired at the age of 78 and his knees are made out of zircon. Meanwhile, Ramon Antonio Pena is the second debutante Tony Pena this year. We'll cover Tony Francisco Pena Jr, fellow Dominican, at a later date.

Tony Pena. Only, this Tony Pena started his US baseball career as Adriano Rosario and five years younger. When his identity falsification emerged, he became Ramon Pena. Some guides list him as Antonio Pena.

Right that out the way, he has still managed to make it to the majors. That's because Pena has a plus fastball and a serviceable slider and curve, and he shows good command. Though he's featured almost exclusively as a started in the Minors and was tabbed as a possible back-end starter for the D-Backs in Spring Training, Pena will most likely end up as a reliever.

He was recalled by Arizona on 18 July when Tony Clark went on the DL. Pena had racked up 13 saves this year operating out of the 'pen for Tennessee (20.1 innings, 0.89 ERA, 1.31 WHiP) and Tucson (26.1 innings, 1.71 ERA, 0.72 WHiP).

Pena recorded a 1-2-3 seventh inning in his maiden appearance on 18 July versus the Dodgers at Chase Field. He was tagged for a Nomar Garciaparra triple in his second inning of work chasing home Kenny Lofton who had doubled in the previous at bat. The Dodgers won 4-1 behind 7 strong innings from Chad Billingsley who picked up his first Major League win.

Five days later, Pena pitched two flawless innings against the Rockies. Whatever his name, this guy might stick.

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MLB Debut - Manuel Corpas

2006-07-25T20:04:00.000Z

[Placeholder for photo - Blogger are teh suck]
Okay, you want to be a Major Leaguer. Pitcher. Great, you get to be the focus of everyone in the park. You control the game. Better still, you have a 95-97 mph fastball. Throw from three-quarters? Ok, quirky, but that release point can fool batters. Sinker? Great! Sure, you'll probably only last as a reliever, but you might bounce around for 5 or 6 years. That'll do.

Crap. You've signed with the Colorado Rockies. You have to play half of your games at mile high altitudes. You know what that means. Deep power alleys or not, you'll struggle to keep your ERA under 5.00. Coors Field is the best hitters park in the National League over the last 3 years (and probably longer). Er, that means it's the worst pitcher's park.

Congratulations, Manuel Corpas - new meat in the Colorado bullpen.

When the Rockies reshaped their bullpen on 18 July, Corpas was a surprise promotion from Colorado Springs (another place that induces altitude sickness in pitchers).

Corpas had not pitched above Class A in six seasons in the Rockies system. But, he started putting things together last year and continued the good work over the winter in Venezuela pitching in 22 games with a 2.42 ERA. That helped earn him a place on the Panamanian WBC team where he pitched one inning allowing two runs.

This season he started at AA Tulsa where he saved 19 games before a mid-year promotion to Colorado Springs. In 8.2 innings he gave up one run on five hits.

Corpas relieved starter Jeff Francis on 18 July as the Rocks downed the Pirates 13-4. In true Rockies tradition, Corpas was greeted with a long ball though in Pittsburgh's less rarefied air. He worked an inning notching 2 strike outs with no walks and just Craig Wilson's bomb in deficit.

Corpas is your classic one pitch pony - bullpen fodder. In addition to his mid-nineties heater, he features a slurve which ain't getting anyone out and a changeup of no distinction. He has made great progress over the last year and might hang on in the bullpen. For his sake you've got to hope he gets out of Colorado.

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MLB Debut - Carlos Quentin

2006-07-24T21:41:00.000Z

Arizona Diamondbacks first round pick from the 2003 Amateur Draft, Carlos Quentin, go the call to the big club on 20 July. Quentin replaced pitcher Edgar Gonzalez on the 25 man roster.

Quentin started the same day in left field, spelling regular starter Luis Gonzalez. The 23 year old righty swinger went 1 for 4. His only hit was a two run homer in the bottom of the sixth of Dodgers' starter Mark Hendrickson.

Before his call-up to the bigs, Quentin was hitting .289 for Tucson and led the PCL with 30 doubles. He also had 9 HRs and 52 RBIs. Quentin was hit by pitches 29 times in 2005, but has already surpassed that this year with 31.

As you'd expect, Quentin crowds the plate, hits for power and average. He hit .301/.422/.520 in a full season at Tucson in 2005. With nothing left to prove he was spinning his heels in southern Arizona until last week. But, it looks like he'll have to settle for spot starts as the D-Backs are crowded at the corner outfield places.

Quentin is a complete athlete, was a three sport standout at High School and had three monster years at Stanford. His range and arm are above average. He's got little speed, but with all the other skills at his disposal, he looks like a solid Major Leaguer.

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MLB Debut - Melvin Dorta

2006-07-24T21:11:00.000Z

Infielder-Outfielder Melvin Dorta got the call from the Washington Nationals on 20 July to fill in for Jose Guillen DL'd with an elbow injury. Dorta's chief asset appears to be his versatility.

"I've seen guys that could play short and center field. But this guy plays left, center, right," Stearns continued before pausing for a breath, "third, short, second and first. We've had him at all those positions this year. And to tell you the truth, he's our emergency catcher if we ever get two catchers hurt in the same game."

Hat tip the Nationals Farm Authority.

The Venezuelan debuted 21 July in the Nats Re-opening Day 7-6 win over the Chicago Cubs. He pinch ran for Alex Escobar in the 9th inning only to be caught stealing. The next day he pinch hit in the 8th for relief pitcher Jon Rauch, lining out to Alex Ramirez.

Dorta joined Montreal back in January 2004 in a minor trade (for PTBNL) after five undistinguished seasons in the Red Sox organisation for whom he signed as a free agent in 1998.

He was hitting .277/.381/.329 for Harrisburg when he got called up. He's also turned his hand to pitching allowing 4 runs in one inning of relief work.

Dorta has spent the whole of the last two seasons with the Senators.

One of the accomplishments Dorta is most proud of during his time with the Senators was being selected by the fans during the last two home stands of the 2005 season as the "Fans' Favorite" Player.

His versatility counted for nothing during his cup of coffee at RFK. Following after Sunday's game Dorta was sent back to Harrisburg to make way for Damian Jackson who the Nats will/should/have/were supposed to activate from the Disabled List today.

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MLB Debuts- Kason Gabbard

2006-07-23T22:40:00.000Z

Lefthanded starting pitcher Kason Gabbard is the poster chiled of "Sleepers".

You have to go to page No. 600 in the Red Sox's media guide to find information about Gabbard, who was pick No. 872 overall by Boston in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft, fresh out of Royal Palm Beach School in Florida.

Yow. He's not in any of the guides I own either.

Anyway, Gabbard put up reasonable numbers in two stops this season at AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket. With the Bosox in desperate need of a starter on Saturday after Tim Wakefield was put on the shelf with a fractured rib, Gabbard got the call.

He did a creditable job hurling 5 1/3 innings against the Mariners allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits. All this in a matchup with one of the hottest young pitchers in the big leagues, Felix Hernandez.

Gabbard has suffered a number of injuries so had logged just 288 innings in his first 5 seasons of pro ball, nearly a half of those last year at Portland where he was less than spectacular (9-11, 4.61, 1.45 WHiP). This year Gabbard started again at Portland where in 13 starts he posted a 9-2 record with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.03 WHiP. At Pawtucket (just outside of Quahog), Gabbard made 5 starts going 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA and a 1.38 WHiP.

The 24 year-old out of Oxford, Ohio was the Sox ninth rookie starter this season.

Donutball can't say much about Gabbard's stuff or the pitches he throws. But, we'd guess he'll get a few more chances so long as Terry Francona is around.

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Alexander Smit Dispatches: Starting to get better

2006-07-23T21:53:00.000Z

When last Donutball reported on Alexander Smit, the young Dutch lefthander was struggling with his control and quickly slipping down the prospects list.

Smit, as you may recall, was signed at 16 by the Minnesota Twins. We picked up his progress last August in his repeat season at Rookie ball. At Elizabethton, he put up gaudy numbers fanning so many (86 in 46 innings) that the temperature dropped 3 degrees.

This Spring he returned to Beloit in the Midwest League where he had struggled for a couple of months in 2005 (1-9, 5.98, 1.72 WHiP) leading to his demotion back to Tennessee. As a result, Smit fell back from No. 20 to No. 30 on Baseball America's prospect list for the Twins.

Before returning to Beloit this Spring, Smit was on the roster of the Netherlands entry in the World Baseball Classic. Donutball reported on his one and only, less than auspicious, appearance. Beloit was a come down. Smit lost control and was by all accounts pressing. With an ERA over 9.00, things looked unpromising.

Since our last visit to Beloit (May or June or whenever), a series of improving relief appearances - a 0.00 ERA in six June appearances, while striking out 21 batters in 10.2 - and an injury to Beloit starter Eddie Morlan gave Smit a chance. He made his first start - in place of Morlan - of the season on 28 June against Kane County pitching 4.1 innings in an 11-3 win. He allowed 2 runs on five hits, including a homer, and struck out 4.

Since then Smit has had a couple more starts and currently has an 11.2 inning scoreless streak. Last Thursday he worked 5 2/3 frames for the win over the Clinton Lumberkings conceding just three hits and two walks. The Dutchman struck out 8 bringing his total for the season to 72 in 60.2 innings. His ERA has dropped to 3.65 and his WHiP is at 1.35.

Venting

2006-07-01T18:31:00.000Z

So, it's over. England lose on penalties in the World Cup again.

Thanks very much Mr Show Pony for getting Rooney sent off. What an overrated w@nker C Ronaldo is. Uncharitable yes, but I hope he gets kicked all over the Premier League. Disgraceful.

Rooney got sent off for being fouled twice by the cheat Carvalho. Ronaldo - almost as bad teeth as his namesake with Brazil - cons the ref. F&cking ludicrous.

Upset, sure. England never performed in the tournament until their backs were against the wall (fnarr, fnarr) in the quarter-final. The effort put in by Owen Hargreaves deserves special mention. Pilloried throughout the World Cup, but when the chips were down he was magnificent.

Eriksson. Good riddance. The selection was all wrong. The tactics were all wrong and the substitutions were mostly wrong.

Few of the players lived up to their reputation, but why on earth did Eriksson take four strikers - two injured, one who he'd never seen in a live game and one who was Plan B. As for the midfield, it never worked with Gerrard (lukewarm throughout) and Lampard (awful from the first kick). Spurs fan I may be, but Carrick wasn't the answer. Lennon though was the option on the right.

Blah, blah, sour grapes.

Well done Portugal. You were awful You cheat and con the referee and I hope you get thumped by Brazil. No ambition playing 11 against 10. England looked more like scoring. Looked like you were playing for penalties.

I need another beer.

EPO

2006-06-11T20:09:00.000Z

Just gimme some EPO. Fresh from 29.5km on the bike.

Come on England!

2006-06-10T11:03:00.000Z

We're ready.

But, the England store isn't.

World Cup Willies

2006-06-09T22:51:00.000Z

England bloody well does expect. But, what do we expect?

For the most part, if you read the tabloids and listen to the hacks on TV you'd believe that "this time, more than any other time, this time" England really will win when it matters. In fact, we're going to beat Germany, Argentina and Brazil on the way to the World Championship.

This evening, Clive Tyldesley was figuring out the permutations for England's second round match. Er, not only haven't England qualified, they haven't yet played. I recommend some of that spray to deal with that premature wot-sit, Clive.

Anyway, you're dying to read Donutball's predictions.

I predict Ecuador will cause an upset in the first round. There, that's the difficult one out of the way.

But now the questions for England. We all now about that foot. For now, let's assume Rooney doesn't play a significant part in the group stages. These then are the questions on Donutball's mind.

Can England retain possession? If there is one weakness that could undo England it's the inability to retain possession of the ball for long periods of the game. It undid the side against France and Portugal in Euro 2004. Good sides don't give away the ball cheaply. All the good work that England will put in, from the back four through an excellent if sometimes uncohesive midfield to the tall man and the speedy man, will be for naught if they hand the opposition too much possession.

What about that ball? We;ve already seen some fantastic long range shooting in day one. England 'keeper Paul Robinson has had plenty of practice with the new ball. But, we still fancy teams to have long range efforts at the Spurs man. Remember Uruguay?

Who provides the midfield cover? And, if England throw away possession, the midfield threatens to be overrun. Sven seems to have ditched the idea of playing the "holding midfielder" in front of the back four. Donutball is convinced Sven wanted to play Ledley King in that role. He slotted into the position fairly well in the torrid friendly against Argentina. Ledley needed a few more games to blossom, but we're confident he would have been the ideal choice and given England an extra edge, particularly against counter-attacking sides. But, Ledley is injured. Carrick had one game to prove himself, albeit a disjointed B international. So Sven goes into the tournament with a flat back four and a pretty much flat four in midfield. Gerrard and Lampard will have to take turns providing cover. Either that, or Sven is convinced that the back four can be exposed.

Will we be doing the Crouch? The question is will England play the tall man throughout the tournament. Sorry, we've got to talk Rooney. It's obvious that Crouch is the ideal candidate for Paraguay and T&T. His height and touch on the floor will unsettle both sides. We're less convinced about his effectiveness against the dour Swedes. Here, pace will be important picking the channels between the central defenders. Beyond the group matches Rooney becomes a factor. Does Rooney usurp Crouch? Or, does an out of form Owen get the chop. Too many questions for now.

How much playing time will Walcott and Lennon get? I hope that Lennon gets at least 25 or 30 minutes in one or two of the group matches. Firstly, that should indicate that the game is won and Beckham can come off. Secondly, his speed is just so unsettling. Thirdly, N.17. Walcott? Walcott could be an exciting talent. It doesn't need us to tell you that he's yet to play in the Premier League. Sven says he picked him on the recommendation of Arsene Wenger. Well, I think you know what we think of that vanquier. More to the point, against his youthful exuberance and speed (definitely a plus) Walcott has no experience of any big stage. Lennon has little more, but in his short Premier League career he's already developed into a budding star. Walcott may spell Owen. Donutball would, naturally, opt instead for the 24th man.

Okay, and now the big question. Can England go all the way? Are the tabloid headline writers right? Of course England can win the World Cup. England should win their group. Paraguay are a good test for the first game. We don't expect them to do an Ecuador, but Paraguay are not pushovers. T&T too will be a tough match, much like an English match given that most their side play in England or Scotland. But, T&T's results coming into the finals show that they are very short of quality. Sweden, even though they have the eye over England, are a team in decline.

Donutball expects England to advance. How much further depends on the opponents in the latter stages and of course England's performances. That leads to questions about the quality of the squad. This is, as we keep being reminded, England's "Golden generation" with the likes of Beckham, Owen, Gerrard, Terry, Ferdinand and Lampard coming of age. Add to that a sprinkle of youth in Joe Cole, Lennon and Walcott; solid squad and supporting players such as Crouch and Carragher; veterans Campbell and Neville. It looks a good side, perhaps England's best in many generations.

England are up there in the top six in the world. There are continuing questions, as above. With a fit Rooney, you might make a reasonable case for England making the final.

Donutball expects drama, triumph, injuries, great goals, saving tackles, yellow cards, bursts down the wing and magic free-kicks.

Too bad we'll miss the final on 9 July. And, if you're still interested, our predictions are...

Semi-finalists: Brazil, England, Ivory Coast and Spain
Winners: Brazil

MLB debuts - Peter Moylan

2006-06-02T19:34:00.000Z

Aussie hurler Peter Moylan has already ridden the R-Braves shuttle a couple of times this season. Moylan was recalled on 10 April as Atlanta tried to solve its bullpen woes. Nothing if not intrgiuing, and certainly no prospect, Moylan's World Baseball Classic performance got notice. He had 4 Ks and 5 walks in an inning and two-thirds against Venuzuela. Like I said, he's no prospect.

Moylan's sidearm delivery, however, gives a different look and if you're struggling for arms and outs, heck, why not give him a go. Then again, apart from two undistinguished years of rookie ball back in the 90s, Moylan has no pedigree at all.

In his first outing for Atlanta on 12 April against Philly (a 7-5 loss), he tossed an inning of relief allowing a hit and striking out one. He didn't get another shot in his stay with the big club though it was 21 April before he was optioned back to Richmond. Atlanta recalled him on 3 May and he spent another 2 weeks with the club before returning to AAA after he got lit up badly in two consecutive outings. So, Bobby Cox has probably seen enough and there's no rocking guy in the dugout to solve things anymore.

ESPN
MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debuts - Jason Hammel

2006-06-02T18:44:00.000Z

Tall guys.

Back on 10 April the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays called up 6 foot 6 inch right handed pitcher Jason Hammel promoted to replace 6'9" Mark Hendrickson, who went on the DL. Hammel to make MLB debut in Hendrickson's place.

In his first start for AAA Durham on 7 April, Hammel pitched five shutout innings versus the Norfolk Tides. However, he got bombed in his debut for the (Devil) Rays on 11 April against the Orioles. Hammel gave up 7 runs on 8 hits, including a Miguel Tejada homer, and a walk in 3 1/3 innings.

Interview:

"After the first couple innings I felt pretty confident," said Hammel, slated to pitch again Sunday. "I'm disappointed with the outcome. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one."

He pitched much better in his second start on 16 April which the (Devil) Rays won 9-5 over Kansas City. The tall guy lasted 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, including a homer, walking 3 and striking out 4. He left the game with the score tied at 3.

After two starts Hammel was demoted back to Durham with reliever Chad Orvella taking his place. In any event, Hammel was brought up only as an emergency replacement for Hendrickson.

Tampa appears to go for large body specimens. Apart from Hendrickson and Hammel, they've got 6'6" Seth McClung and the club's top prospect coming into the season was 6' 9" Jeff Niemann, a first round pick out of Rice University last year. With his size, you'd hardly expect Hammel to be a soft tosser. He's got a live fastball topping out at about 94mph. His curve is 15mph slower, but scouts say his improving changeup is his better second pitch. That figures to be a good combination and the (Devil) Rays obviously hope he'll fill a rotation spot either later this year or next.

Hammel had a breakout year in 2004, though he was repeating in the Sally League. In 2005 he split time between AA Montgomery, where he continued his progress and AAA Durham. His control seemed to diminish at AAA, probably an adjustment to smarter hitters. John Sickels likes his chances though adds that like many tall guys Hammel has suffered problems with his mechanics.

Oh, Hammel's replacement? Only 5'10". Let's hear it for small guys!

Update: Hammel is 3-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 9 starts at Durham.

Baseball Cube
ESPN
MLB

MLB debuts - Takashi Saito

2006-05-29T16:11:00.000Z

Oh, boy. We've got a bit of catching up to do.

Interestingly, this season has featured a couple more debuts by ex-Japan League players. The Dodgers signed 36 year old reliever Takashi Saito back in February. Saito racked up over 1500 innings in Japan though only held a closers role for a couple of years. Over 13 seasons and 339 games in Japan, he had a record of 87-80 and 48 saves with an ERA of 3.80.

Saito was called up by Los Angeles on 7 April and made his debut on 9 April pitching 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss at Philadelphia. He got a couple of groundouts on 4 pitches in the 8th preserving what was then a 3-3 tie. Tim Hamulack yielded a 3 run shot to Bobby Abreu in the bottom of the 9th, which handed victory to the Phils.

Saito played for the Taiyo Whales, who became the Yokohama Baystars, in Japan's Central League. He's not the first Japanese free agent pitcher signed by the Dodgers. Hideo Nomo, Kazuhisa Ishii, Masao Kida and Norihiro Nakamura all jumped across the Pacific straight to LA.

Update: Recently, with Yhency Brazoban and Eric Gagne still on the DL and Jonathan Broxton struggling in the closer role, the Dodgers have considered using Saito as a closer. As of 27 May, he's had two save opportunities both of which have been converted.

MLB
Baseball Cube (includes Japanese stats)
ESPN

Cry baby

2006-05-17T21:13:00.000Z

Boohoohoohoo. Hmmuph. Referee stole our ball. Boohoohoo. Thierry fell over. Ref not fair. Boohoohoo. We were robbed. Barca cheat. Ref cheat. UEFA cheat. Boohoohoo.

Eto'o no good. Ronald McDonaldino no good. Thierry good. Why not yellow cardy for Barca? Boohoohoo. I'm taking my ball home.

Ref no good. What do Norway know about football. Boohoohoo.

Boo bloody hoo.

MLB debut - Willie Eyre

2006-05-11T21:59:00.000Z

Willie Mays (yep, Willie Mays) Eyre made his debut for the Twinskies on 6 April at the stadium formerly known as Skydome. Mays, I mean Eyre, is a 27 year old rookie reliever. So, you'll guess immediately that he's not prospect. But, the guy's finally made it to the Bigs. That's always nice: to see an organisational type player crack the Show.

Being an organisation guy (7 years with the Twins, no less), it would not usually be easy to pick up a great deal of information about someone like Eyre. However, McKamey's "Minor League Baseball Analyst" has a few lines. It seems he's a recent transfer to the bullpen. As happens for many a pitcher, a move to the pen means he can throw nothing but heaters and get away with it. One of Eyre's problems seems to be arm-speed on his secondary pitches, so a bit of tipping going on there.

Last year, Eyre went 10-3 with 7 saves in 56 games with a 2.72 ERA.

Against Toronto, Eyre relieved Juan Rincon in the 7th with Minnesota down 6-2. He kept them in the ball game with an inning of one-hit ball. Apart from a single to Hillenbrand, Eyre threw three groundball outs.

(Correction) Eyre is the brother of the Cubs' Scott Eyre but is not, if you need telling, any relation to Willie Mays.

ESPN
MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debuts - Fabio Castro and Jordan Tata

2006-05-10T21:35:00.000Z

During Texas's 10-6 defeat of the Tigers back on 6 April, two relief pitchers of contrasting stature made their debuts.

Fabio Castro entered the game in the 4th inning, relieving starter R.A. Dickey who had been tagged for 6 homers. (Dickey was optioned to Oklahoma City after this game.)

Castro, just 21, went 3.2 innings in his Major League debut. He gave up an earned run on 3 hits and 3 walks, with 2 strikeouts.

The Dominican lefty was a rule 5 pick up for Kansas City off the White Sox roster, but wound up with Texas through a trade. Castro must stay on the Rangers roster all season or be offered back to Chicago.

In four seasons, Castro has never appeared above A ball. Last year he spent the entire campaign with Winston-Salem where he worked exclusively out of the bullpen. At 5' 8" and 157 lbs, most clubs look at Castro as someone lacking the strength and stamina to succeed. But, possessing a live fastball and serviceable no.2 and 3 pitches have kept him in the reckoning. Castro averages around a strikeout per inning, but has high walk totals so wildness might be an issue.

Castro wound up on the DL on 9 May with a groin injury.

Baseball Cube
ESPN
MLB

Detroit's Jordan Tata entered game in the 6th inning with the Bengals 8-3 ahead. The 6' 6" right hander pitched 3 innings allowing 3 earned runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. Tata struck out one batter and kept the Rangers from scoring until the 9th when he loaded the bases before being pulled. Fernando Rodney allowed a double to Ian Kinsler, clearing the bases and making the score 10-6.

Tata was a 16th round pick from Sam Houston State in 2003. He's crept under the radar in his three complete Minor League seasons with stops at Oneonta, West Michigan and Lakeland - all at single A. Even though it's an improving system, Tata has been rushed to the big club and could have done with at least a full year at AA. He was ranked No.7 by Baseball America in 2005, coming from nowhere. His 13-2 record and .239 opponents batting average stood out last year. He fanned 134 in 155 innings and his BB/SO ratio improved. Tata has a solid Major League fastball - topping out at 94mph - but has a ways to go in developing his curve and off speed pitch.

Tata might be slated for a Minor League assignment to get more work.

Baseball Cube
ESPN
MLB

Move on

2006-05-10T20:58:00.000Z

This is how we learned about Sunday's terrible events. A text message from brother Donut as we sunned in Croatia.

It's over. There's no need to discuss the controversy any more. Here at Donutball, we've accepted the result. It's a huge disappointment.

On the other hand, the sobering thought is that Tottenham managed to take just four points (all from draws) off of the top 4 teams in the Premier League. That's not to suggest that over the season 4th place wouldn't have been the fair conclusion. It does point out that no matter how far Spurs have come this season - from mediocrity to respectability to achievement - there is still some way to go.

Donutball has - and this haunts us - been consistent in the assessment that Spurs are not ready for the Champions League. Well, that's come to pass.

We need to get over the disappointment and realise that next season will be tougher. But, a top 6 place is again the goal as will be a UEFA Cup run and a better performance in the domestic cup competitions. There will be greater strain on the squad. This season the team played the minimum amount of matches possible: 40 (38 in the league, one in each of the domestic knock-out competitions). It will a much higher tally next season. So, there's work to be done strengthening the squad.

Though the club's appeal to the league failed, there is good reason for pride. Martin Jol has put together an exciting, entertaining and competitive team.

The final word goes to Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy.

A recurring theme is the pride you all felt in our 'heroes' on the pitch on Sunday and that you are looking forward to our return to Europe. It has been a great season and we should refuse to let this mar the achievements of it and the optimism with which we will now greet the new season.

Oh, and fuck the Arsenal.

Timing is everything

2006-05-03T21:21:00.000Z

With immaculately bad timing, Donutball takes a short break. We'll miss the battle for fourth place in the English Premier League.

It's off to here:

But, we'll be back next week to resume our series on MLB debuts, check out Alexander Smit's progress (looking ugly) and ruminate on Wayne Rooney's metatarsal.

Bad news in July also. Managed to book a break in the U.S.A. during the World Cup finals. Will be here on the day of the final.

Savour the moment

2006-04-30T22:36:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur 1, Bolton Wanderers 0

It gets better, but it's probably the time to savour the moment before the final week of the Premier League season.

Let's recap. 2005-6 will be, not matter what happens now, Tottenham's highest ever Premier League placing. It's their best finish in the top division in 16 years, way back in pre-Premier League days.

Aaron Lennon, Spurs young winger and today's hero, has sparkled this season. Michael Carrick is developing into a midfield general. Robbie Keane seems reborn, has led the line and been top scorer. Mido inherits the fan favourite title though his Spurs future is in doubt. Paul Robinson is England No.1 goalkeeper. Ledley King and Michael Dawson grow in stature every game.

Europe, here we come. Tottenham have not appeared in a European club competition since the UEFA Cup back in 1999-2000 (qualifying thanks to a League Cup victory) when Spurs limped out of the second round thanks to a last minute own goal by Stephen Carr. Arsenal's boasting aside, Tottenham have the best record of any London side in European competition with a Cup Winners' Cup win, 2 UEFA Cup wins, a UEFA final appearance and a European Cup semi-final. Next season's first European match will mark the club's 100th game in all competitions.

The question remains whether that's a Champions League appearance or the second tier UEFA Cup. To add flavour to the question, it rests as much upon what Arsenal do in the next three weeks as what more Spurs can achieve.

After today's 1-0 win over a dogged Bolton side, Tottenham can wrap up 4th place with a win at West Ham next Sunday. Or, Arsenal can hand that finish to Spurs by dropping points at Sunderland (Monday) or Manchester City (Thursday).

But, Arsenal can still sneak in the back door by winning the European Cup final against Barcelona on 17 May. Tottenham have already claimed that they should get the right to entry no matter what Arsenal do.

Whatever happens, Donutball salutes Martin Jol who has taken Spurs from the depths of early last season when Frenchman Jacques Santini resigned. Jol has fashioned an attractive, yet resilient team, in the true fashion of the great Spurs sides.

When was it better? FA Cup wins in the 80s? Gazza's semi-final goal against Arsenal?

Donutball picks the first leg of second round UEFA Cup at White Hart Lane. Standing on The Shelf, we were enthralled by a brilliant first half performance by Glenn Hoddle pulling the strings and guiding the home side to a 4-0 lead. Second half, the great Johann Cruyff in his final season more or less said, what Hoddle can do I can do also. Cryuff matched Hoddle pass for pass and brought Feyenoord back to 4-2. Despite Tottenham's grasp on the tie being in danger, the crowd applauded both maestros off the field. Spurs did manage a 2-0 win in the away leg to progress and eventually won the final on a memorable May evening with this author again on The Shelf.

Give that man a donut

2006-04-30T21:44:00.000Z

It's probably too easy nominating Luiz Felipe Scolari.

"Big Phil" had the gumption late last week to turn a 100% pay rise to come coach England's national football team in succession to Sven Goran Eriksson.

"I don't want anything more to do with England because in the space of two days my life has been invaded and my privacy has been disrupted. As I speak, there are still 20 reporters outside my home. If that's part of another culture, it's not a culture I'm used to."

Ouch! Well, Phil's got a point. Taking the England job is the equivalent of becoming the tabloid press's punching bag. Win, lose or draw - you will be vilified.

How Eriksson has resisted punching out the lights of journalists is beyond Donutball. He's had his private life scrutinsied beyond belief. Donutball believes he perhaps should have resisted the temptation of an affair with a secretary at the Football Association headquarters. But, then again, that's his personal matter. If he can guide an over-paid, inflated England side anywhere near the semi-finals of this year's World Cup, he deserves an honorary knighthood.

Not only has the handling of Sven's replacement been a shambles, Donutball thinks this is all a bit premature. What's the haste? Why not wait until the World Cup is over in July. There'll be plenty of coaches chasing jobs after the tournament. Scolari, of course, is under contract as coach of Portugal. England may well rue their ineptitude, especially as the World Cup quarter-finals could throw up an England-Portugal match-up.

As for Phil, he would not be our choice. And, it's nothing to do with being a Johnny Foreigner. Yes, he's won a World Cup with Brazil and not many coaches can claim that. We feel he's probably not suited to dealing with players of limited talent - we're looking at you Gary Neville - that litter the English scene. That said, his unusual approach is refreshing. It remains to be seen if he could mould a competitive English side.

None of the current English candidates inspire confidence.

Steve McLaren, the new favourite (again): won a League Cup with Middlesbrough. Excellent No.2 at Man United and England. But, probably an excellent No.2. Also, recently had an affair so his personal life will be tabloid fodder.

Sam Allardyce: ugly manager of Bolton, who play ugly football. Never had to handle prima donna England internationals, just El Hadji "Spit the Dog" Diouf. Won nothing - particularly not beauty contests.

Alan Curbishley: won nothing with Charlton. Another small overachieving club candidate.

Martin O'Neill: an Ulsterman (that's not English), but at least he's experienced driving up and down the M1. Too excitable for our liking and as Celtic manager only had to beat Rangers a couple of times a season. Otherwise, UEFA Cup runner-up was the only highlight of his tenure in Scotland.

We're struggling for other candidates. For the time, we'd suggest eating crow and offering Sven another 2 years.

But, we also suspect that Big Phil might be stringing the English FA along. Once the World Cup is out of way, he might come knocking on their door.

In the meantime, Big Phil. Here's your donut.

Everyone's a 'Boro fan

2006-04-27T22:47:00.000Z

For tonight, at least, if you care about English football you should be a Middlesbrough fan.

Yes, there is another English team in a European final. Middlesbrough, somehow, scratched their way into the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven in a couple of weeks time.

'Boro trailed 1-0 from the first game in the two-legged semi-final. Add to that, they lost a heartbreaker of a semi-final on Sunday in the English FA Cup. And, breaking news over the past 24 hours, their manager Steve McLaren appears to have been passed over for the English national team coach position, beaten by a mad Brazilian.

To get to this stage Middlesbrough had already pulled off one remarkable comeback against Basel, winning 4-1 to wipe out a 2-0 defeat in the first leg. Tonight, they made it even more dramatic spotting Steaua Bucharest a 2-0 lead after just 23 minutes.

That, it seems, was all part of the masterplan. Massimo "pasta the ball" Maccarone got one back in the 32nd minute. But, at half-time it still looked a daunting task. Three clear goals needed against an uncompromising opponent with the ability to break from defence and score themselves.

Yet, for virtually the entire 45 minutes of the second half 'Boro poured forward. First, Mark Viduka headed home as Steaua's Portuguese goalie came from a cross he had no right to claim. From Stuart Downing's saved cross shot, Chris Riggott levelled the aggregate score (Middlesbrough trailing on away goals).

Then, with just a minute left, the dangerous Downing received the ball on the left as Steaua failed to clear properly. The England prospect beat a man before sending a swerving cross into the penalty area. On my TV time froze for a second (dodgy digital), before the oft-crticised Maccarone outmuscled the defender to head the winner. A couple of close shaves survived in the 4 minutes of added time, 'Boro had won in unbelievable fashion.

Phil who?

Arsene Wenger's guide dog goes "woof!"

2006-04-23T23:08:00.000Z

Woolwich Arsenal 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1

Donutball wants to accentuate the positive. Tottenham outplayed illustrious neighbours and Champions League (tm) semi-finalists for much of this tense battle for fourth place. Aaron Lennon and Michael Carrick shared honours as men of the match. Robbie Keane scored his 16th goal of the season. Paul Robinson was a rock in goal but could do nothing about Thierry Henry's inspired equaliser.

Most importantly, Spurs have secured a place in European club football next season. Right now they are guaranteed a UEFA Cup berth. The last two weeks of the season will determine whether they can claim a Champions League place. Two wins from two matches or Arsenal dropping points will secure 4th place and (potentially) that lucrative Champions League entry.

But, there were negatives. Injuries: Tainio has picked up another knock; Ledley King and Jermaine Jenas might miss the last two games. Definitely missing for the Bolton and West Ham matches is Edgar Davids who picked up a needless red card. Harsh in our view, but we would say that.

The biggest downer is the sour grapes from Arsenal manager Arsene "I did not see the incident (in which my player garotted an opponent then drank his blood)" Wenger. For those who missed the match, in the 66th minute Tottenham attacked. Two Arsenal players fell over and the ball broke to Michael Carrick. Players from both sides momentarily froze. As both Arsenal men recovered to get up, Carrick played on. Davids broke down the left, slotted a cross to Robbie Keane. Wun-nil!

Arsenal, or at least mental midget Jens "Oliver Kahn sucks" Lehmann, went beserk (for which he should have been booked) believing Spurs took advantage of a couple of injured players. Wenger confronted Spurs' coach Martin Jol whom the Frenchman believed encouraged his players to take that advantage.

Wenger:

Their first goal was a disgrace. They lie when they say they didn't see it.

Well, let's deal with this step-by-step.

The current Laws of the Game (pdf file) state:

The referee:
...
- stops the match if, in his opinion, a player is seriously injured and
ensures that he is removed from the field of play. An injured player
may only return to the fi eld of play after the match has restarted
- allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in
his opinion, only slightly injured
- ensures that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the field
of play. The player may only return on receiving a signal from the
referee, who must be satisfied that the bleeding has stopped
...

Under the laws of the game, there is no obligation for a player to put the ball out of play if a teammate or opponent is injured. It follows from the above extract, that if the referee believes a player is seriously hurt, he will stop the game.

Now, in recent years players have got into the habit of knocking the ball out of play if there's an injury. It's claimed that this is good sportmanship. If that is the case, is feigning an injury, conning the referee or pushing a player off the pitch who has just received a red card considered good sportsmanship? Yet, these things happen as often if not more than the alleged fair play action of stopping play to let the medics come on the pitch. Increasingly, players are going down injured knowing (or at least assuming) that an opponent will put the ball out of play.

I'm with Wigan manager Paul Jewell, who thinks players should get on with the game and leave it to the referee to decide whether play should stop. In rugby league and Aussie rules, players can often taken treatment whilst play continues. That probably wouldn't work for soccer, but FIFA should look at how "fake" injuries are being used to disrupt play. (Just to add, that I have no idea how badly injured the Arsenal players were in Saturday's key incident or whether they were seeking to gain an advantage.)

On Saturday, Carrick hesitated. He saw both Arsenal players start to recover and get back to their feet. The referee indicated with a hand gesture that he saw the players on the ground but getting up and saw that there was no blood or serious injury.

Donutball concludes that Carrick and his teammates did no wrong.

As to Wenger assertion that Jol was taking advantage, tapes shown on BBC last night indicated fairly clearly that Jol did not see the incident, or if he did he didn't realise that two players may have been taken out of the game (which they weren't). Jol says he was encouraging Edgar Davids to get onside.

Wenger claiming that Jol and the Spurs staff lied is preposturous and showers little credit on the man. Whilst respecting what Wenger has done for Arsenal, creating an attractive side that's won trophies with style, he has also presided over a side that has had constant battles on and off the pitch with Manchester United and (though this year is an exception) been top or near in yellow and red cards season after season.

If Wenger is so concerned about sportsmanship, why does he tolerate the incessant ~~diving~~ cheating of Pires, Reyes, Ljungberg and Bergkamp? That's gamesmanship.

But, I forgot, Wenger never sees the incidents when his players transgress. Well, perhaps yesterday his guide dog barked and the master took notice.

Now lose 2-0 to Villareal you bad sports.

Alexander Smit Disptaches: St George's Day edition

2006-04-23T20:34:00.000Z

Back out in the frozen Midwest, Donutball's adopted Minor leaguer, Dutchman Alexander Smit, had a couple of outings this week. Smit lowered his ERA to 5.63 with two better performances.

He closed out Beloit's 8-2 win against Peoria 19 April with an inning of scoreless work. Smit gave up an infield hit, picked up a srike out and otherwise kept the ball in the infield.

The next night, Smit put in another scoreless effort as he wnet 2 innings allowing 2 hits and a walk. Smit earned his first win of the season as the Snappers posted a 7 spot in the 7th to come from behind 9-7.

PJStar

MLB debut - Taylor Buchholz

2006-04-21T21:45:00.000Z

Baby faced Houston hurler Taylor Buchholz debuted 7 April in relief of Brandon Backe as the Astros downed the Washington Nationals 6-1 at Corporate Larceny Field.

Pennsylvania native Buchholz came over the 'Stros in the Billy Wagner deal back in November 2003. Health problems retarded his progress when he arrived from the Phillies, but Houston were still high on his stuff and particularly his hard breaking curve ball. Buchholz's curve complements a 91-95mph heater though indications that injuries may have taken away some of the zip. Control, once a trademark, has gone south. He's also hittable and prone to the long ball allowing 1.7 per 9 innings at Round Rock in 2005.

Houston hopes his injury woes are behind him and he's been able to latch on with the big club this season earning the fifth spot in the starting rotation. (I wonder if he's keeping the Rocket's seat warm.)

Against the banjo hitting Nats, Buchholz came out of the bullpen as the schedule meant his first start wasn't due until at least 11 April. He worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings, yielding just one hit - a 9th inning single to Marlon Byrd. He struck out one, throwing 35 pitches, 25 for strikes.

With Backe going on the DL shortly after this game, the load on Buchholz's young shoulders looks set to increase.

MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debut - Sean Marshall

2006-04-21T20:45:00.000Z

Warning! Cubs' pitching prospect! Alert the surgeons!

Sean Marshall made his debut 9 April in the Cubbies 8-4 victory over keen rival St Louis behind Michael Barrett's 8th inning grand slam.

Marshall started and pitched 4.1 innings conceding 4 hits, 4 runs and a walk. The lefthander struck out two. He left with a 3-2 lead and the bases loaded in the fifth, but had a no decision. Up until the 5th, Marshall looked strong:

The 23-year-old Marshall, who had never pitched above Double-A, started the game by retiring David Eckstein and Juan Encarnacion on grounders. He then walked Pujols and Rolen hit a 3-2 pitch to left for his second homer.

Marshall retired 10 of the next 11 batters before running into trouble in the fifth.

"He showed me a lot today," Barrett said.
...
Michael Wuertz, making his first appearance this season, relieved and allowed a two-out, two-run single to Pujols that put the Cardinals ahead.

Sean was a 6th round pick out of Virginia Commonwealth University. His twin brother Brian was a fifth round pick by the Red Sox, but seems to have got lost in their system. (Well, Donutball can't find him.)

Sean throws a nasty sinker which tops out at 95mph and his curve is a plus pitch. He has still to develop a Major League slider and needs to work on setting up hitters. Good stuff helped him get an early promotion to AA in just his second pro season. Marshall suffered a finger tendon injury in 2004, but bounced back in 2005 despite a shoulder injury to help him get a serious shot at making the depleted Cubs rotation. And, here he is!

Stretcher, please!

MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debut - Brian "Nat Killer" Bannister

2006-04-21T19:52:00.000Z

Mets' righthanded starting pitcher, Brian Bannister, is all too familiar to Nats' fans. The 25 year old pitched 5 1/3 innings of no-hit ball in his MLB debut at Shea on 5 April before Jose Guillen hit a double. Bannister struggled through the rest of the start, but his 6 inning performance stymied Washington. Bannister allowed 2 hits, 3 runs, while walking and striking out four. Nick Johnson thumped a homer of Bannister as he tired in the 6th. The rookie got a no decision as Ryan "Dutch" Zimmerman tied it up in the 9th off Billy Wagner. The Nats then posted a 5 spot in the 10th to eventually 9-5.

Bannister got his first MLB decision - a win - in his second start, this time at RFK as he beat the Nats 7-1 on 11 April.

Brian is son of former Major League pitcher Floyd Bannister, who was the nation's number one draft pick back in 1976 and pitched 15 years mostly in the junior circuit. Bannister senior's best season was 1983 with the Chicago White Sox when he went 16-10 with an ERA of 3.35 as he helped the LaRussa led Sox into the playoffs. He retired with a losing record (134-143), but his ERA of 4.06 was +2% of the league average.

Bannister the younger has a mediocre fastball, serviceable change and curve. From early outings, he seems to have inherited pitching nous. He comes with a reputation as a soft tossing pitcher - sort of a righty version of Jamie Moyer, only with a fastball. His Minor League numbers don't leap off the page, but his stock has risen year-on-year, which is a good sign of a late developing hurler who knows how to use limited talent to get results. The Mets are happy with Brain holding up the backend of the rotation.

Baseball Cube
MLB

Vote for your favourite Donutball feature

2006-04-20T23:20:00.000Z

Over there. In the right hand margin. The teal coloured box. Click a radio button. Anyone will do.

Thank you!

N.B. - some browsers continue to refuse to show our lovely banner. Sorry for this, but our technical experts are baffled. We'll aim to rectify this hitch as soon as we can find the manual for this Blogger thing.

The alternative explanation is that we're waiting for MLB to announce the Washington Nationals owner. A national disgrace.

MLB debut - Sendy Rleal

2006-04-20T22:49:00.000Z

All Sendy Rleal has done in his short pitching career is throw strikes, but like Henny Youngman he gets no respect.

Beefs. Rleal is too old - 25 - to be considered a prospect. The Dominican lacks stamina. He's one-dimensional. He's not a real pitcher just a converted shortstop. No control. Not pitched above AA - two full seasons there no less.

On the other hand, Rleal has solid fastball and slider. He has been increasingly dominant especially since converting to relief full time. He eats up righties.

Baltimore gave him a shot this Spring after posting good numbers in Florida. Rleal got an early opportunity to show his worth at the Major League level.

He entered Baltimore's 5 April game against Tampa at the beginning of 9th with the game safely sewn up. In one inning he gave up a leadoff double to Josh Paul, but retired the rest of the side in order.

Rleal might not be the second coming of Armando Benitez. Then again, O's fans might feel grateful for that. Sendy could just pan out to be a valuable short man out of the pen: possibly even a ROOGY.

MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debut - Ricky Nolasco

2006-04-20T22:22:00.000Z

Minute Maid Park in Houston ... some of these naming rights sales haved blessed us with stupid stadium names. Minute Maid Park: bad name, meh connotations. Enron Field: passable name (but who outside of Texas had heard of Enron), dreadful legacy. You might as well call the place Cesspit of Corporate Larceny. Better still, call it a Mickey Mouse park; Pitchers' Graveyard; or, Coors in the Sunbelt. Anything but a Major League stadium. Bring back the Harris County Domed Stadium!

Anyway, back in Houston, 5 April was a big day for Florida's Ricky Nolasco as it was his turn to be an MLB virgin. He entered the game at beginning of the 3rd, replacing starter Brian Moehler who had been tagged fro 6 runs in 2 innings and lifted for a pinch hitter. Nolasco lasted 3 innings, allowing no runs on one hit and 2 walks. The righthander struck out two both coming after his shaky start when he gave up a walk and hit. He was perfect for the remainder of his outing.

Nolasco is out of the Cubs system, which is enough to make Donutball run a mile. Cub pitching prospects are a collection of blown out elbows and shoulders. However, this prospect seems to have stayed healthy through four above average Minor League seasons.

Nolasco was part of the Juan Pierre deal. Cub sniping apart, Florida has picked a live arm. He has a couple of plus pitches though lacks a decent change-up.

He repeated AA last year and was one of the Southern League's most dominant pitchers leading the loop in wins (14) and strikeout (173 in 161.2 innings). However, it was a repeat year and back in 2004 he was clobbered in a short stint at Iowa in AAA.

Nolasco looks like he's going to have duty as Florida's 5th or 6th option out of the bullpen. Who knows, he might even get a start. He's got a fair pedigree even without a changeup and could prove a useful pickup from the Pierre trade. (Yeah, the Cubs got stuffed there!)

MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debut - Kenji Johjima

2006-04-20T21:57:00.000Z

Ok, I think Seattle's latest Japanese import Kenji Johjima is the last of the opening day debuts on Donutball's list.

Johjima, after a 9 year all-star career with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League, signed a three year deal with the Mariners back on 22 November 2005. Seattle beat out 5 other MLB teams for Johjima who had expressed a desire to test his skill in the US after his highly successful Japanese career. Apart from a .299 career average, he won 7 gold gloves at catcher and was on the 2004 Japanese Olympic team. Of course, he joins fellow countryman centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki and a club with strong Japanese ties.

Johjima will add pop to Seattle's lineup. In 2005 he hit .309 with 24 home runs. His season ended early when he broke his left tibia on 22 September. Aside from the hitting side of things, there's a possible question about his ability to handle the M's pitching staff given the language barrier. Non-English speaking catchers (or pitchers, for that matter) are not a novelty so perhaps the effect is over emphasised, but the spotlight will fall on Kenji if Seattle hurlers struggle.

Seattle opened the season at home to the Los Angeles Angels on 3 April. Kenji batted 7th went 1 for 3 and belted his first MLB homer, a one out solo shot off Angel ace Bartolo Colon in the 5th. He was also hit by a pitch, not for the first time in his career as he broke Ichiro's record with 22 in 2004. Alas, it was a losing effort as the Haloes won 5-4.

Baseball Cube
MLB

Still in fourth place

2006-04-19T21:35:00.000Z

...but preparing for heartache...

Congratulations to the Arsenal in their first leg Champions League (tm) semi-final win over Villareal. One-nil to the Ar-se-nal.

On Saturday, let's hope it's the other way round. It's the last ever North London derby at Highbury. Unfortunately, Arsenal are not buggering off back to South London from whence they came - interlopers.

Tottenham have spent nearly five months in 4th place in the English Premier League. That's a remarkable run. Rarely will you see a team stick at one spot for week after week - Sunderland this season is another exception (woops).

With fourth place comes an invite to next season's Champions League (tm).

This blog has mentioned previously that Spurs have ridden their luck and have at many times this season not looked Champions League (tm) material. That's still the position.

Of course,Champions League is what Donutball wants. That's what long suffering Spurs fans desire (though finishing above Arsenal is probably more important). Spurs are a big club. But, we want to see a good run in Europe, not a hello/goodbye Everton performance. So, maybe the UEFA Cup isn't that bad. It's been great for Middlesbrough.

After a bad loss on Easter Monday to United of Manchester (though how many of their fans come from the third city) puts Arsenal in the driving seat for the 4th spot.

So. Saturday's derby has extra spice. Whichever way, the four point gap ensures that Spurs will stay fourth for at least another weekend.

But, we're preparing for heartache.

After Saturday, Arsenal finish with:

Sunderland (away) - should be three points
Man City (away) - Jekyll and Hyde (which is Stuart Pierce?)
Wigan (home) - the last game at Highbury, would you bet against a win

Spurs have:

Bolton (home) - even though they can't buy a win, it's a nasty match at this time of the season
West Ham (away) - as if West Ham needed further incentive to turn us over

Well, still in fourth place today.

MLB debut - James Loney

2006-04-19T21:07:00.000Z

Back in the nineties, my Diamond Mind team (which I'm sure you don't want to hear about) starred future ESPN analyst and then Dodger first baseman Eric Karros. I drafted Karros mainly because I liked his smooth stroke and moderate power. In the end though, I was slightly disappointed. Karros had a good, but not great career and never upped his game that notch that he promised early on, unlike his long time teammate Mike Piazza.

Karros played eleven solid if slightly dull years in LA then closed out with a brief flourish at Wrigley , which I'm sure helped his batting, and a forgettable swan song at Oakland. In all his totals were .268/.325/.454, not bad yet he'll have to pay like you and me to get into Cooperstown.

Meet James Loney, the latest Dodger resident at first base. Former first round pick Loney has scouts drooling, much like Karros (a 6th round selection) did when he rushed through the Dodger system. From what I read, Loney has the look and feel of a ballplayer; smooth hands, great glove, sweet swing and - not sure if this is appropriate for a ballplayer - airs and graces. Trouble is that, he likely will not half a quarter the career Karros had. Injuries have blocked his progress. He has great strike zone judgement, but little power. That and the Dodgers signed No-mah to play first.

Well, as we know, No-mah is as fragile as Loney and went on the DL on 4 April. Loney was promoted and started that very day against the Braves batting 5th against the great John Smoltz. An encouraging first AB saw Loney get a free pass. He added a hit in three official at bats with a run and a strike out.

Let's hope Loney is a better TV analyst than the anodyne Karros.

Baseball Cube
MLB

MLB debut - Fernando Nieve

2006-04-19T20:43:00.000Z

In the same 4 April Florida-Houston game mentioned below, the 'Stros young reliever Fernando Nieve made his MLB debut to mop up the ninth inning. Nieve allowed a hit and a run, walking one.

The Venezuelan is a product of the Astros scouting and development system in Latin America signing as a 16 year old. Nieve has the makeup of a solid middle reliever with the possibility of converting to a closer. He throws a hard riding four seam fastball and has adequate breaking stuff. He rarely throws an off-speed pitch, preferring to mow down batters.

He has completed 7 Minor League season almost exclusively as a starter tough he will be no better than a swingman for the big club. The lanky righthander should have a decent if unspectacular career probably bouncing from club to club.

His Minor League K/IP and K/BB ratios are above average, but he can be hittable. Splitting between Round Rock (AAA) and Corpus Christi (AA) in 2005, Nieve made 27 starts with 2 shutouts. He earned all-star honours in the Texas League and a call up for the MLB Futures Game.

(He did get a start on 15 April in place of the disabled Backe.)

Baseball Cube
MLB

MLB debut - Reggie Abercrombie

2006-04-19T20:20:00.000Z

Meanwhile, back with the rookie laden Florida Marlins, 4 April saw another fresh fish out of water.

Center fielder Reggie Abercrombie started in the 11-2 victory at Houston's Minute Maid Park. Batting 8th, Abercrombie went 2 for 5 with a run scored.

Abercrombie is another toolsy Marlin outfielder though he was originally drafted by the Dodgers. He's now with his third organisation and at 25 is not really a prospect any longer. For all his athletic ability, strong arm and great speed, Abercrombie displays the usual negative toolsy traits of no plate discipline, long swing, weak average and worse OBP. His strike out numbers were down last season at Carolina, though 2005 was his third part season at AA. His walk totals were horrid though his power production was adequate.

A modest career as a fourth/fifth outfielder or AAA organisation man awaits.

Baseball Cube
MLB

Addendum: Donutball will do a short roundup of debutants in the near future, but just to let you know Abercrombie did go yard tonight and brought his average close to the Mendoza line.

MLB debut - Boone Logan

2006-04-19T20:02:00.000Z

The Defending champion Chicago White Sox started the season with two rookies one highly touted - former first rounder and starting center fielder Brian Anderson - and one complete unknown lefty reliever Boone Logan.

Logan was a draft and follow from Temple College, Texas in 2002. The 21 year old has three pro seasons under his belt, all but a couple of weeks at rookie ball. He pitched just 5.1 innings at advanced A ball late in 2005. So, to make the White Sox roster is a huge jump. But, with a WHIP of 0.54 in 13 innings this spring, he did win a job in the Sox bullpen.

In the Sox second game on 4 April against Cleveland, Logan got the call in the 5th inning relieving starter Freddy Garcia with runners on 1st and 2nd, no one out. Logan lasted 2 innings conceding a hit, 2 walks (1 intentional) with 1 strike out. He allowed one of the inherited runners to score, but otherwise kept the Indians off the board though the visitors ran away 8-2 winner.

Baseball Cube
MLB

Alexander Smit Dispatches - back at Beloit

2006-04-17T22:31:00.000Z

Wisconsin in April I guess is not going to be quite as warm as San Juan, Puerto Rico where Alexander Smit last pitched a competitive game. But, the Class A Midwest League kicked off in the first week of April along with the rest of MiLB (short season and rookie leagues aside).

Smit suited up for the Beloit Snappers (that's a grim faced turtle, apparently)for the second season in a row. The lefty Dutch pitcher had a rough first couple of months in 2005 and wound up back at Elizabethton in the Appy League. He will want to hold his own in the Midwest League this season.

Smit got to see his first action on 8 April in Beloit's second game - a 4-2 extra inning loss. He entered the game in the top of the 7th with the Snappers 2-0 ahead. After a fly out to center, Smit allowed an infield hit and the batter, Patrick Reilly, advanced to second when the ball was thrown away. Reilly stole third and scored on a sac fly. A strike out ended the inning and Smit's appearance.

A couple of days later, Smit appeared in another Snappers loss - 7-2 to Wisconsin - and again gave up an unearned run. In this outing, he pitched an inning and a third allowing a lead off double and a couple of walks. The run was a result of his own throwing error on an attempted pickoff. That run scored after he left the game on a wild pitch.

The young Dutchman's early season struggles continued in the third game of the Wisconsin series on 12 April (report). Smit pitched two innings giving up 3 runs (1 unearned) on three hits, a walk, an error and a wild pitch.

This last Saturday Smit pitched the last inning against Burlington. Facing eight batters, Smit walked five and conceded a hit as he was tagged for three more runs completing an 8-0 drubbing for Beloit.

In the first week and a bit of the season, Smit's posted some crooked numbers - 8 runs (5 earned), 6 hits and 8 walks in just 5 innings.

MLB debut - Josh Barfield

2006-04-17T20:21:00.000Z

San Diego's rookie second baseman, Josh Barfield, is one a couple of sons of Major Leaguers to make debuts this year. Josh's dad, Jesse, had 12 seasons with Toronto and the Yankees in the 80s and into the 90s. His best season was 1986 when he went .289/.368/.559 and led the AL with 40 homers. His production thereafter slipped steadily and he was out of the game after 1992. He still finished with 241 careers homers.

Barfield senior was a No.4/5/6 outfielder. Barfield junior projects as a good power source from second base. He started his first game in the 8 hole, but could move up the order as the season progresses.

Slated to attend Baylor University, the Padres spent a 4th round pick on Barfield in the 2001 draft. He signed for $400,000, showing either foresight of foolishness given Barfield's lack of playing time at High School. But, for once the gamble paid off as Barfield put up three solid seasons at rookie, low A then Lake Elsinore in High A. However, in 2004 he went backwards at Mobile in AA. His average slipped 90 points, though Barfield continue to show developing power. And, in 2005, he pulled his game around at AAA with a solid .310/.370/.450 season. That was good enough to keep him top of the Padres prospect pile and paved the way for inheriting the second base job this season from Mark Loretta.

Barfield has a long swing and hits to all fields. He'll strike out a ton, but can hit for average and power. Scouting books say Barfield has improved his range at second, but is only average defensively.

In his debut against the Giants on opening day, Barfield went 1 for 4 with a run, as did opponent Barry Bonds, in San Diego's 6-1 victory. Barfield added a strike out. He handled three chances flawlessly.

MLB
Baseball Cube

MLB debut - Joel Zumaya

2006-04-11T21:22:00.000Z

The one thing Joel Zumaya will give you is heat. Rumours are around that the young right-hander out of the San Diego area has topped 100mph on the radar gun. Trouble for Zumaya and the Tigers is that he doesn't have a change-up to match the heater though his curve is serviceable. Develop an off speed pitch and Zumaya could be an effective starter. All the same, with an unhittable fast ball he might be a dominant reliever.

In 151 innings split between AA Erie and AAA Toledo last year, Zumaya fanned 199 batters. Throughout his Minor League career he's been a starter and he's averaged allowing less than a hit an inning (6.51 per 9 innings). Zumaya's command has improved. His BB/K ratio over his career is not outstanding, but in 2005 his WHIP at Toledo was an impressive 1.23.

The Tigers have decided to test him in the 'pen this year. He got his chance early on, in the Tigers' opening day 3-1 victory at Kansas City on 3 April. He relieved Kenny Rogers in the 7th and pitched two innings allowing a hit and walk. As per his reputation, Zumaya fanned three - Sanders, Brown and Teahen. He threw a lot of pitches - 34, 21 for strikes - but escaped without damage and was credited with his first Major League hold. Closer Fernando Rodney swooped in for the save.

KC are not the greatest test. Nevertheless, it could be an interesting ride this season with the rebuilding, seemingly rejuvenated Tigers and with fireballing 21 year old Joel Zumaya anchoring the bullpen.

MLB debut - Nick Markakis

2006-04-09T16:33:00.000Z

Nick Markakis is a rarity: a bona fide Oriole prospect.

Let's get the declared interest out of the way. For half a decade or more the Orioles were my team. It started when I inherited an Oriole based franchise in a Diamond Mind league. Moving to D.C. in '97, of course, meant the O's were just on the doorstep. I love Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It's my favourite MLB stadium even though the fans stink and the team owners stinks even more.

I guess the O's are still the AL team I follow more than any other though I've had a long time liking for the A's dating back to the Finley years; Rollie, Jackson, Bando, Campy and all.

That said, the O's suck. Sorry, the bLoWrilEss are teh suck! They are particularly teh suck in the drafting and Minor League instruction side of things. Blame it on whatever you want, but it'll come back to team owner Peter Angelos at some point. The 2004 draft was the nadir, as Angelos interfered with delection at the last moment when he ordered the club not pay a large bonus for a college pitcher out of the first round, then couldn't sign the guy they picked - Wade Townsend.

So, how do we explain Nick Markakis? Did they draft him because they thought (erroneously) that he was the Greek God of walks?

Markakis certainly knows the strike zone. His walk to strikeout ratio in 279 Minor League games is 133-194. Not quite Kevin Youkilis, but pretty good. Another look at the numbers shows he has developing power and he hits for average. His career line is 301/381/471. Based on the statistical evidence, Markakis projects as a .280/.300 hitter with gap power who might one day hit 20+ homers. Mind you that evidence includes with just 33 games at AA.

Hitting apart, Markakis used to be a two-way threat. He pitched in high school, junior college and for Team USA. Nowadays, he confined to the outfield. As a pitcher he's got a strong arm. Rounding out his abilities, Nick has speed though he's only ever likely to be an occasional base stealer.

There is a serious worry that the O's - desperate to cash in on a No.7 pick - have pushed Markakis too quickly. He could well have used a year or half a year to season at AAA and straightened out any kinks in his swing. But, he's earned his spot on the roster and the O's will blood him early and often.

Markakis entry into MLB was, in fact, quiet. He was defensive substitution in the 9th inning in the Opening Day 9-6 win. Rather than his usual position of left field, he played one inning at right field and had one put out.

(In the Orioles' next game on 5 April he made first start. Markakis went 1 for 3 with 3 walks and hit his first Major League homer in the 8th inning as Baltimore thumped Tampa Bay 16-6.)

MLB debut - Jason Childers and Ruddy Lugo

2006-04-09T12:53:00.000Z

Opening day at Baltimore, Tampa Bay had to go early to their bullpen as ace Scott Kazmir blew up in the 5th inning allowing back-to-back homers to Luis Matos and Melvin Mora. Manager Joe Maddon called on two debutantes Jason Childers and Ruddy Lugo.

Both pitchers are typical organisation men. Whilst not meaning to denigrate them, neither is likely to trouble anyone's fantasy league rosters.

Undrafted out of Kennesaw State, Childers toiled for the last four years at AAA, most recently with the Richmond Braves. In 2005, he posted a 2.09 ERA in 38.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.34. The 31 year old has never before made it to a Major League roster.

Childers' family made the most of his big day.

Childers couldn't hide how thrilled he was to finally be in "The Show."

"This ranks right at the top," Childers said. "Being able to go to work and come to Camden Yards ... it's pretty neat -- real neat. But this is why I've been putting in all the time in the Minor Leagues to try and get to this point. So I'm trying to take it all in now."

Too bad his performance didn't quite match the thrill. Childers entered game with 1 on and no one out. He pitched 1 inning, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. The runner he inherited from Kazmir also scored.

Childers was relieved by Lugo (no, not this Lugo). The Dominican faired little better than his fellow debutante allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 1.1 innings of work.

Lugo has previously pitched no higher than AA where he has been stuck for the last four seasons. From a quick glance at his stats, control is his problem. Against the O's he threw 28 pitches with just 15 strikes. With that ratio he might find himself taking a trip to AAA.

Balmer cruised 9-6; Julio Lugo left the game and soon visited to the Disabled List.

MLB debut: Dan Uggla, Eric Reed and Carlos Martinez

2006-04-06T20:14:00.000Z

Donutball continues its Major League debuts series with a couple of Florida Marlins' rookies.

Dan Uggla and Eric Reed made their first MLB appearances starting in Florida's Opening Day 1-0 defeat against Houston. Carlos Martinez came on as a reliever in the 8th inning.

Florida's starting lineup also included rookies Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida, Mike Jacobs and Jack Willingham. That's a AAA lineup.

Uggla was drafted out of Memphis by Arizona in the 11th round of the 2001 amateur draft. The second baseman has plodded along for 5 years going no higher than AA. That's a sure sign of "organisation man". He posted pretty good numbers in 2005 (297/378/502) at Tennessee. However, this is from a 25 year old at AA. So by this measure he is hardly a blue chip prospect. Florida took a chance on him and selected him in the Rule 5 draft. That means he is almost guaranteed a place on the Marlins' 25 man roster this year. Given the level the Marlins have sunk, he might keep that place on merit.

Things don't get much better with Eric Reed who inherits the centerfield job from Juan Pierre. For all Pierre's faults, he was double the player Reed projects to be. Eric has progressed through the Marlins system without posting any gaudy numbers of note. He split time between AA and AAA last year. At Alberquerque he posted 310 /335/404 with little power. Speed is his asset, but that's useless if he can't get on base.

There have been plenty of pitchers named Martinez. In fact, there was a banjo hitter called Carlos Martinez in the Majors back in the late 80s and early 90s. This Carlos Martinez hails from Venezuela. He zoomed up the Marlins depth chart after a breakout season in 2005 saving 22 games for Jupiter in the FSL. Martinez averaged just over a strikeout a game. In all he has only 240 innings in the Minors. Another sign of how stretched the Marlins have become.

Against Houston on Monday, Uggla batted 6th and went 0 for 2 with a walk and a strike out. Unfortunately, he christened his MLB career with a 6-4-3 rally killer in the second. On the field he was at the end of a strike 'em out/throw 'em out double play. (His keystone partner, Jeremy Hermida committed two errors.)

Reed also went 0 for 2, but showed his bunting prowess with a sacrifice in the 8th. It was a sacrifice for nought as pinch hitter Aguila popped out and Ramirez struck out stranding the tying run at second.

Of the three debutantes, Martinez had the best performance. Florida's fourth pitcher struck out the first two batters he faced then got Brad Ausmus to fly to Reed in center.

(Baseball Cube erroneously lists Carlos Martinez as pitching for Vermont in 2005. That's a different Carlos Martinez who is still in the Washington system. The Marlins' Martinez appears somewhat of an enigma so far. No doubt all will be revealed at some stage.)

Alexander Smit Dispatches - Opening Day (minus 1) Edition

2006-04-05T20:56:00.000Z

Donutball's adopted minor leaguer, Dutch southpaw Alexander Smit, starts the season at the Beloit Snappers in the Class A Midwest League. Smit also opened 2005 at Beloit but was demoted back to the Appy League when he was hit hard.

Meanwhile, Smit made one appearance during inaugural World Baseball Classic. He relieved starter Rob Cordemans in the 3rd inning of the Netherlands opener against Puerto Rico. The 20 year old looked nervous and tentative in an inning of work.

He recorded a loud fly out on his first pitch to Alex Rios to end the 3rd. In the 4th, he got Alex Cintron to hit another loud out to left after going behind 2-1. Luis Matos then worked a walk as Smit was beginning to lose consistency on his release point. Jose Valentin stroked a fastball to left for single. Then, Smit tried twice to go inside on Alex Cora only to hit on the second pitch.

That brought up crowd favourite Bernie Williams with the bases full. Again Smit struggled to keep his composure. Smit stayed outside; Williams hung tough with a fastball and drilled it to the warning track in right. Dirk van Klooster misplayed the ball into a hit, but recovered to throw out Valentin at home.

Smit came out after that play and looked downcast as you would expect he would. He didn't get another shot at pitching in the WBC though as the Netherlands were unlikely to progress from the group stages, it was always odds on that he would only get one games work. Indeed only one Dutch pitcher appeared twice in the Classic.

The experience should serve Smit well, but now's the time to knuckle down to the regular season. As with all WBC participants, there's likely to be close scrutiny of Smit's progress through the summer.

Beloit opens Thursday night at home to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the LA Angels' Midwest League entry.

Of course, Smit's exploits were completely obscured by Shairon Martis 7 inning no-hitter against Panama in the last game of the group. Martis, from Curacao, threw 65 pitches in the 10-0 mercy killing so just avoided being lifted under the pitch limit rule.

Martis, a Giants' prospect, pitched 34 innings over 11 games in the Arizona Rookie League last summer. Scouts say his breaking stuff is well advanced, but at age 18 there's a long way to go. Martis will probably remain in extended spring training. The Giants don't have a rookie league club outside of Arizona so Martis might repeat or be sent to Short Season A with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the Northwest League.

MLB debut: Angel Pagan

2006-04-05T20:35:00.000Z

Angel Pagan debuted on opening day, 3 April for the Chicago Cubs in their 16-7 victory at Cincinnati. He entered game for the Cubs in 5th inning as part of a double switch and went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.

Pagan was born and grew up in Puerto Rico, but briefly attended junior college in the 'States. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 4th round of the 1999 amateur draft as an 18 year old and progressed steadily up the Mets' system.

It's probably too easy to categorise Pagan as a "toolsy outfielder", but that is pretty much what he is. Pagan stole 163 bases in just over 500 Minor League games. However, his career OBP is .334 which is just not good enough for a guy with such speed and little power. Scouts say he's developed gap power, but the stats don't really back that up.

Pagan became an extra with New York after two seasons at AAA Norfolk and was dropping off people's prospect lists. Just when it looked like he might become an organisational player, the Cubs stepped up and purchased his contract in January 2006.

He made the club after a breakout spring going 381/417/833 in 42 at bats. He poked 5 homers and that probably secured his spot as a role player in the Cubbies outfield.

MLB debut - Ian Kinsler

2006-04-04T22:00:00.000Z

There were, by our reckoning, 11 debuts on Opening Day. Here's the first of them.

Ian Kinsler opened up at 2b for Texas replacing Nats' bound Alfonso Soriano who had a decent day at the plate, mixed fortunes chasing (or not) fly balls and a crappy day on the basepaths.

Kinsler was a mild surprise to make the team this Spring. Yahoo lists him as a SS, but he also played at second in the Minors. He projects as a better second baseman, shows good hands average range. With the bat, he displays good power though may chalk up a lot of strike outs with his long swing.

At Oklahoma in 2005 he went 274/348/464, not an outstanding performance and a downgrade on an excellent 2004 when he tore up the Midwest League (402/465/692) before moving to the hitter friendly Texas League where he let up a bit (300/400/480). Nevertheless, he popped 23 homers for Oklahoma, which is no mean feat for a middle infielder at AAA.

Drafted out of Missouri, the third of his colleges, Kinsler turns 24 in June. He's tall and lean - 6 foot and 175 lbs.

On Opening Day, Kinsler started at second, batting 9th and went 1 for 2 with a walk. He was at the back end of an 8-4 double play as Boston's Alex Gonzalez was doubled up returning on a fly ball. His first hit was a line drive single with 2 out and no one on in the third, poked to right off a 1-1 fastball from Curt Schilling.

Second base looks Kinsler's to keep ahead of D'Angelo Jiminez and Mark DeRosa.

MLB Debut Watch - Opening Day

2006-04-03T21:04:00.000Z

Donutball intends to cover Major League debuts throughout the season. This is partly to help scout for next year's IRBL draft and partly to broaden our knowledge of MLB players. USA Today Baseball Weekly used to do this sort of thing back in the pre-internet days. So, the ideas not new, but heck who's original these days?

As of Opening Day, we reckon there are 21 players on the 30 MLB rosters with no MLB experience. Unsurprisingly, Florida leads the way with five players of which at least two will be starting position players and one is a starting pitcher. Houston has two starting pitchers and, interestingly, there's 6 hurlers listed as starters.

Over the course of the season, we'll try to keep up with the transaction wire and boxscores to track player debuts. Could be a train wreck in September, but we'll try to keep on top of things. Any help or comments welcomed.

Oh, here's that list. If you think there are any omissions or errors, let us know in the comments box.

Nick Markakis, LF (BAL)
Sendy Rleal, RP (BAL)
Angel Pagan, CF (CHC)
Sean Marshall, SP (CHC)
Boone Logan, RP (CWS)
Joel Zumaya, RP (DET)
Carlos Martinez, RP (FLA)
Dan Uggla, 2B (FLA)
Eric Reed, CF (FLA)
Reggie Abercrombie, CF (FLA)
Ricky Nolasco, SP (FLA)
Fernando Nieve, SP (HOU)
Taylor Buchholz, SP (HOU)
Willie Eyre, SP (MIN)
Brian Bannister, SP (NYM)
Josh Barfield, 2B (SD)
Kenji Johjima, C (SEA)
Jason Childers, RP (TB)
Ruddy Lugo, RP (TB)
Fabio Castro, RP (TEX)
Ian Kinsler, SS (TEX)

Kinsler has already started at second for Texas and is 1 for 2 with a walk going into the bottom of the ninth with the Rangers 7-2 down. Pagan entered the game in the 5th in a double switch.

Japanese import Kenji Johjima is, of course, due to start later tonight for Seattle. Johjima better do the business as his backup, Guillermo Quiroz has just 88 Major League at bats.

Donut's glass ball - MLB 2006

2006-04-02T22:21:00.000Z

So what do I know? I'm just a soccer loving Limey.

The last time I could tell you who was the second string catcher of the Seattle Mariners, rattle off Cleveland's top prospects or give an in depth analysis of the Red Sox bullpen was around about 1996. Heck, I support two teams in the same division.

Credentials? Donutball doesn't care.

We all love predictions. This soccer loving Limey may not have quite the encvclopedic knowledge he once had and hasn't seen an MLB game live in 6 years, but I can pontificate like the rest of blogdom.

So, nyah! Here goes nuttin'.

In some ways, this year more than any other year could be seen as a no brainer. St Louis, Lost Anaheim and the Ozzie Sox have kept the core of division winning squads. Are you gonna bet against the Yanquis and the Bravos seventy-umpth titles in a row? And, San Diego wins by default.

But, that's no fun is it?

Let's start with the NL Central, because no one else does. St Louis is a great baseball town and the new old Busch was one of the best stadiums I've been to, especially of the cookie cutter kind. New old Busch has gone. The Cards will likely draw 3.5 million to see probably a 95 win season. Sidney Ponson's comeback will be interesting: another Dave Duncan re-tread. The Astros World Series debut was over almost as soon as it began. They should challenge for the wild card again, but Preston Wilson is not the offensive upgrade they needed. Pitching carries them, with or without the Rocket. The rest of this overcrowded division is a sorry bunch. But, you gotta like the youth movements at Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. The Brewers lost Ben Sheets before opening day and that'll hurt. Prince Fielder is a slimmer version of his dad and could make an assault on 50 homers one day. I used to hate the Pirates because they dominated the old NL East. Their rotation looks wonky though Zach Duke might be a Rookie of the Year candidate. Have the Reds recovered from Jim Bowden? God, that team is awful. Meanwhile, the Cubs come into the season without (yawn) Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Wrigley's new bleachers will be filled and patrons can catch lots of dingers from Derek Lee. However, there will be a lot more homers being thrown back.

As alluded to above, the NL West is a bit like the last man standing. It shapes up to be a dogfight between San Francisco and San Diego. The Bonds distraction apart, the Giants probably have enough pitching to edge the Pads, but age and health, as ever, is an issue. San Diego wheels out some right old geezers - Piazza, Klesko and Vinny. Pass around the cod liver oil. Oh my god, what happened to the rest of this division. The Dodgers have No-mah at first? Colorado plays to a half empty stadium? The D-backs have Vargas in the rotation? Euch!

Let's head over to the AL West. Oakland and the Angels of Orange County are set to try to out pitch one another. Both field a pretty impressive rotation and solid bullpens. It might come down to offense to decide between the two. I'm going for Oakland because I think the Big Hurt might have himself a good season. That monster foul territory and dense night air could damage his average and power, but I've got a feeling. Nats' fans know all about Texas's center fielder. It'll be the usual feast of 13-11 games at the Ballpark somewhere in the middle of Texan heat. Pleased to see Jamie Moyer still pitching for the Mariners. That probably tells you enough about their chances. Ichiro could get 300 hits and it won't help. Still, Seattle might be closer to .500 than any other bottom club and 4th place team.

Like it's NL counterpart, the AL Central features a couple of AAA teams - KC and Detroit. Both should remember that Minnesota used to be considered lame ducks. Well, they can hope. Okay, I'm picking the defending "adjusted" AL Central champs to take the "real" crown. Smartball is dead. Yeah, that White Sox rotation is frightening and the Injuns went backwards with the loss of Millwood and Elarton. I'm going for offense over pitching. This'll blow up in my face, but I expect Brian Anderson back in AAA by July and Jim Thome will be a bust. The Twins make a run at the wild card until the All-Star break. Johann Sanata might make a run at 20 wins with a sub-.500 club. Here's hoping KC's Zack Greinke gets his life sorted out. I doubt whether Jim Leyland can get the Tigers sorted, but I like Justin Verlander (so it's 2-14, 6.83 ERA for him).

Over to the soap opera that is the AL East, it's the Johnny Damon show. Red Sox Nation (tm) is heartbroke that Johnny has left for George Steinbrenner's bucks. Back in Beantown "Trade Manny" still wants a trade. When all's said and down, the Yankees will come top of the pile. There's too many bats to argue against though the rotation is both too old and too untested. Mariano Rivera can't keep going for ever - or can he? Pulling out of the World Baseball Classic was an indication that Rivera has thrown too much in the last two years. I expect a big trade mid-season (Soriano to the Yanks?). Behind the bickering Hadfields and McCoys, Toronto went out and spent plenty of Canadian green. This winds up as either a serious run at a wild card or a busted flush. Big bucks aside for Burnett and Ryan, there's a lot of young talent that might give Boston a close run for second. I working on a hunch and against my own logic to pick Toronto as the AL wild card ahead of Anaheim and Boston by single games. Oh, there's two other teams in the division. Tampa Bay looks like it's finally coming alive so could make a run at 75 wins. Baltimore? Well, position wise there's lots to admire: Roberts, Tejada, Millar. On the down side, Conine and Javy Lopez are the wrong side of 35 and the pitching is meh. More soap opera with Kirk Benson's divorce.

So, that brings us to the NL East. I don't intend to ride the waves of the Natosphere. Check the right hand column for better analysis of Washington. Suffice it to say, most agree that D.C.'s second season back in the big leagues could be a tough ride. At the top of the division, Donutball can't but ink in Atlanta for another title. John Schuerholz has quietly turned over 50% of the lineup bringing in blue chippers like Francouer, McCann and LaRoche. But, it's pitching that always wins for the Braves. The rotation is second to none: Smoltz and Hudson untouchable as a 1/2 punch. As usual, there are questions in the bullpen. Kyle Farnsworth wasn't the answer. I don't know if Bobby Cox will find the perfect answer this year. That in itself might spell playoff doom. Behind Atlanta, the Mets have had plenty of upheavals. It's time for Carlos Beltran to deliver. Much rests on Pedro and Glavine; Billy Wagner anchors the bullpen. Money might only buy second place, but I think it's the wild card too. Philly struggle with starting pitching. It'll still be fun to see how many homers Ryan Howard can poke. He might top 30 at home. The Marlins, of course, are your de rigeur Florida AAA club once again.

To recap:
NL East
1. Atlanta
2. NY Mets (wild card)
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington
5. Florida

NL Central
1. St Louis
2. Houston
3. Milwaukee
4. Pittsburgh
5. Chicago Cubs
6. Cincinnati

NL West
1. San Francisco
2. San Diego
3. Los Angeles
4. Colorado
5. Arizona

AL East
1. New York Yankees
2. Toronto (wild card)
3. Boston
4. Baltimore
5. Tampa Bay

AL Central
1. Cleveland
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Minnesota
4. Kansas City
5. Detroit

AL West
1. Oakland
2. LA Angels of Anaheim
3. Texas
4. Seattle

Donutball takes Atlanta to beat the Yankees in the World Series, 'cause they've gotta win it someday.

Now pitching, number 38...

2006-04-01T20:12:00.000Z

Curt Schilling, making an appearance in London...

Somebody stole our banner

2006-03-31T21:14:00.000Z

Bloody Blogger seems to have eaten Dounball's banner. We'll get it back up as soon as we can.

Meanwhile, this week in Donutball you can expect one or more (or less) of the following:

more wailings of a Tottenham supporter
a cut out and keep guide to the IRBL Mariners (honest, we're working on it)
Donutball's MLB predictions (you'd be surprised)
Donutball's five point plan for English rugby (point 3 - hire Sven Goran Eriksson)
(very old) thoughts on the World Baseball Classic and an Alexander Smit dispatch

You may have noticed we promised some of this stuff a couple of weeks ago. Well, patience is a virtue as my mum told me. Thanks, mum.

Rest assured patient reader, we'll be sitting here in our thick cotton Nats' t-shirt all weekend, if necessary, to give you the best in blogdom.

At the end of the day...

2006-03-27T21:26:00.000Z

Cliches win:

Tottenham Hotspur 2, West Bromwich Albion 1

West Brom gave 110%. Tottenham didn't show up in the first half.

The sign of a good team is winning when you play badly. "We got out of jail." Winners make their own luck.

"We'll take each game as it comes. If in May, we're there, we'll be happy."

"We're devasted not to come away with at least a point."

Robbie Keane spares Spurs' blushes. Two goals for the maestro as the home side comeback from 1-0 against a determined and physical West Brom side.

Lennon's eyebrow

2006-03-23T22:32:00.000Z

Aaron Lennon's eyebrow is the new Mido's headband.

What's the big deal with Spurs' Aaron Lennon? The 18 year old midfielder scored his first Tottenham goal last week to help the side to a 2-0 away win at Birmingham (they of the 0-7 reverse against Liverpool in the FA Cup this week).

Lennon has fast become a favourite down the Lane. He has speed to burn in the mould of Shaun Wright-Phillips. Speed excites. Add ball control and you're coming up with a good package. Crossing and shooting ability, now they'll be useful.

Soccer Weblog's gone weak at the knees over Aaron.

Great. Donutball is a fan of Lennon. But, let's not get too carried away. Around the time of the Theo Walcott move from Southampton the Arse, one old writer commented that there was a day when players like Walcott grew on trees or were on every street corner or some such silliness.

West Ham manager Alan Pardew was on the same lines last week with his comments about too few English players in the Premiership. Players like Walcott and Lennon stand out because there is a dwindling number of English players in the Premiership.

Dountball does NOT, however, advocate quotas for home players. That is not the solution and never was. Donutball has fond memories of Ossie and Ricky, the Argentine World Cup pair who trailblazed the foreign player influx in the late 70s. The best foreign players have improved the game in England. But, the problem is with the run-of-the-mill foreign player or the faded star (Patrick Kluivert is a classic example) who gets here and just doesn't fancy it.

What Donutball would like to see is roster limits (18 first-team players is plenty thank you) to help block the hoarding of star players, combined with stricter rules on imports of players under 18. We'd stop short of a salary cap, which would be illegal under EU law anyway.

When Arsenal, through the close connections with France look to the continent for development players, then that's what's wrong. And, that's why the Walcott transfer was such a big deal.

That brings us neatly on to Martin Jol's policy at Tottenham. Jol firmly believes that an equal proportion of home and foreign born players gives the right mix. Not for him the journeyman foreign pro looking for an easy payday languishing in the reserves or on the bench. Jol's policy is bearing early fruit with 5 Spurs men on the pitch for England at the end of the Uruguay match and that - tenuous it may be - 4th place standing. There's Tom Huddlestone and Andrew Dawson on the fringes of the England side too.

Lennon for England? Maybe. But, he needs a few more than 21 first-team appearances before pulling on the Three Lions shirt.

In the meantime: Mido needs to lose the headband; Lennon needs to lose the "gansta" eyebrow.

U.S. Soccer - rank outsiders

2006-03-22T22:31:00.000Z

As promised: a post on the U.S.A. - 5th in FIFA world rankings.

Well, that might possibly change after tonight's less than impressive result against Germany. The Germans were tentative in the first half, booed off the field and tails between legs.

It took confusion in the penalty area on Schweinsteiger's 46th minute free-kick to quell the German revolt. Another sub, Neuville scored a second as U.S. defending got progressively sloppy and naive. This after Kahn saved a sharp Johnson header.

Klose cleverly deeked Keller for the third, again after poor defending. The fourth was a powered header from 12 metres by Ballack, his 30th international goal (amazing record).

Kahn misjudged a 60 metre hopeful ball from Cherundolo to leave the final score 4-1.

Difficult to judge the U.S. performance as I think there were some missing cogs. Bobby Convey had a few decent runs. But, there was, otherwise, a lack of invention in midfield especially after Germany switched from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.

FIFA rankings are teh suck.

Flu sucks

2006-03-19T23:35:00.000Z

This week in Donutball:

a pull-out guide to the IRBL Mariners (or "I don't care if you're not supposed to blog about your fantasy/Diamond Mind Baseball team")
Aaron Lennon's eyebrow: the new Mido's headband
U.S.A. soccer: 5th in the FIFA rankings and what we should do about it
Donutball's five point plan for English rugby (point 4 - drink more beer)
soccer and sabermetrics: the adjusted Premier League
thoughts on the World Baseball Classic and an Alexander Smit dispatch

All this and more in your super environmentally friendly Donutball: now 'flu free.

Bah!

2006-03-13T21:49:00.000Z

Weekends can be ruined if your team loses. How about this then. (No links, too painful)

- Chelsea steal a win over Spurs in the last seconds of injury time.

- Bolton win to put pressure on Spurs' 4th place position.

- England rugby team drop the ball after 40 seconds paving the way for an awful, awful performance.

- Steven Gerrard hands Arsenal a victory.

And, the capper...

- England cricket team dissolve on Sunday and lose to India on Monday.

You can add, three of four British clubs get knocked out of the Champions League (tm) last week. The only survivor is not only the hated Arse, but they field an entirely non-English/non-British team.

To Dare is to Do, handball edition

2006-03-06T21:43:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur 3, Blackburn Rovers 2

We here at Donutball are nothing if not consistent. Some might say consistently boring; others would counter with perceptive, enlightened or well-reasoned if perhaps dogmatic.

Tottenham are not Champions League (tm) material. Top 6 would be a smashing finish. The next game is crucial.

Yet, the Spurs bird flu free cockerel sits proudly in fourth place tonight following the weekend's events. That's a five point advantage if you are counting down in Finsbury Park.

Luck certainly played a part in Sunday's 3-2 win over fellow European aspirants Blackburn. "Sparky" Hughes, Blackburn manager, had reason to gripe. Two of Spurs goals owed to fortunate refereeing decisions. Late on, with Blackburn battling to salvage a well deserved point, Stalteri handled in the box.

Results count. Of course, on the day it seems rough justice. Rovers were by far the better side: more skilful, better prepared and dominating in every aspect. But, a touch of impudence by the ageless Robbie Keane, a lucky bounce on a free-kick and Aaron Lennon's speed. Three goals.

Debit side, Sinama Pongolle nets an easy chance after Ledley King falls asleep; misses an easier chance; sets up Craig Bellamy for Blackburn's second after another King error. A header clips the top of the bar; Robinson makes a brilliant save; chances go begging.

Other issues - and these are consistent thoughts

- Edgar Davids looks lacking in pace and gets caught in possession too much (his lack of peripheral vision, maybe?).

- Keane has signed a new contract. What does this mean for England man Jermain Defoe? That threesome with Mido works, but will Defoe stand for the arrangement much longer?

- Y-P Lee at left back is too much a lightweight. Both goals came down his flank and in the second half Blackburn gave him an aerial bombardment.

Next week is the simple matter of avoiding defeat at Chelsea. Statisticians will be paraded in the media all week to tell you that Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister when the Pensioners were last cocked.

Alexander Smit Dispatches: Smit makes the cut

2006-03-05T13:45:00.000Z

Alexander Smit, Donutball's adopted Minor Leaguer, has made the final roster for the Netherlands WBC team.

Eenhoorn sees a bright future for lefty Alexander Smit, who is in the Minnesota organization. "He's a young pitcher with good stuff," Eenhoorn said. "He's still developing, but I'd rather take a guy with good stuff who's still learning the game than one who has been around but doesn't have the stuff."..

Lefty Smit has never pitched higher than A ball, spending most of his three years in the U.S. at the Rookie ball level. This represents a major step in his young career. He's still only 20.

The guess at this blog is that Smit will pitch little more than one inning. He's been converted to short relief by Minnesota and saw action in the recent World Cup as a one-inning only guy.

Nevertheless, we're delighted the guy is getting a chance to pitch against Major Leaguers in a competitive situation. Go Alexander! Hoep Holland, hoep!

Lanky, but skillful

2006-03-02T21:39:00.000Z

I'm too tired to write the post I really want to write about Peter Osgood, Peter Crouch and England.

Even though he played for Chelsea, Ossie (Os-good is good) gets respect from Donutball. Like Crouch he defied the stereotype of a traditional physical centre-forward who is only an aerial threat. As the footage shown last night proved, he had a soft touch for a tall man. Of course, he was a huge physical presence in a pretty robust Chelsea side of the late 60s and early 70s.

Osgood never got a decent run in the England side. Like his teammate Alan Hudson he was a non-conformist in an age when the England manager was as concerned about conformity as he was about talent. See also Jimmy Greaves, Frank Worthington, Tony Currie.

So sad that Osgood passed away yesterday.

As for England's performance last night, 2-1 against a side knocked about that less than great soccer power Australia is no great shakes. That said, Uruguay were well organised and for 75 minutes well disciplined. Once they started substituting and getting shirty about robust English challenges, they lost their shape and two goals.

Crouch proved again that he is Plan B for Germany. "Johnny Foreigner doesn't like it up him."

As the papers no doubt exclaimed - I only saw an early edition Guardian report - Joe Cole was en fuego. Michael Carrick (one of five Spurs players on the pitch at the end!) put in a creditable show, and is the injury option to Gerrard-Lampard. I thought David Beckham was a spare peg and Shaun Wright-Phillips once again showed that in 15 minutes he can do more damage than "Becks"(tm) can in 90.

Darren Bent hardly got a kick and ran offside in nearly every attack. Message to Sven: stick with Defoe, Michael Owen's fitness or not.

The defence gave me the jitters in the first half. Rio Ferdinand looked like he was cruising through the match with his head plugged into an iPod. John Terry was a rock, as usual. Ledley King, as a second half replacement, was passable but his positioning and ball watching are worries. Jamie Carragher, for the injured WAyne Bridge, again proved that he's an invaluable utility player. However, he's probably now the No.1 left back choice.

And, I've now run out of steam.

Addendum: I see Germany got pasted 4-1 by Italy. That makes me all the more determined to go down the bookies and place an each way bet on Germany in the World Cup. The price must be great. And, I beleive that old chestnut: "never right off the Germans."

Check (this) mate

2006-03-02T21:37:00.000Z

There is a blog for everything including chess.

Beisbol - "No cheering in the press box"

2006-02-26T22:18:00.000Z

A very bad World Baseball Classic article in today's Observer.

It is one of the enduring urban myths in sport that Fidel Castro, who played baseball as a youth, had a trial in the late 1940s with the Washington Senators (or the New York Yankees in some versions) and, had he made it, the course of late twentieth-century history would have been altered.

...

...the winner of baseball's first World Cup on 20 March won't be the major host nation. With any luck, it will be a victory celebrated by a funny old man in battle fatigues and cheered long into the night in the squares of Havana by people who have been sneered at by their neighbours for too long.

The drugs don't work

2006-02-26T20:14:00.000Z

On the penultimate day of the Winter Olympics, Britain's Alain Baxter skied to a creditable 16th place in the Men's slalom. That's creditable by British standards, I hasten to add. Alain's brother, Noel, was 20th. Arguably, the Baxters were the top family in the event.

However, what is noteworthy about Alain's performance was the very fact that he was allowed to compete. You see, in the Salt Lake Olympics the Scot placed an unexpected third but was stripped of the medal after testing positive for a banned substance. Baxter had bought an over-the-counter nasal spray which contained a drug on the IOC proscribed list.

Baxter stands in contrast to two British track and field stars Carl Myerscough and Dwain Chambers. Both Chambers and Myerscough served suspensions for drug violations. In both cases, the bans were handed down by the IAAF, the sport's governing body. The difference to Baxter is that the British Olympic Association added lifetime Olympic ban to both athletes.

It strikes me as grossly unfair. Chambers and Myerscough have served lengthy suspensions, depriving them of income. In Chambers case, it looks like he may have to hand back medals and winnings from several years ago. He admitted his offences and went public on how long he'd been abusing drugs. However, he and Myerscough will never get their Olympic bans rescinded.

You does the crime and serves the time. But, why should an athlete serve an international sanction then face a domestic sanction that an athlete from, say, France wouldn't have to suffer in the same circumstances?

I'm stuck in two minds here. I strongly believe that athletes owe it to themselves to know the penalty if they use proscribed drugs. There should be zero tolerance.

It's obvious that many athletes are either tempted to "cheat"; or coaches, trainers or whoever persuade them to take "this supplement" to aid their "nutritional needs" or help their recovery process. Nevertheless, the responsibility falls firmly on the athelete to keep clean.

Then again, there's part of me that says "let them do drugs". Sports men and women get every assistance in their training and preparation. Their diet, exercise and competition programmes are carefully planned and monitored. Why not add a bit of juice?

I guess what persuades me that the drug route is not quite the best option lies in the side effects of such substances - short and long term. One might think it's a good idea to get that little extra edge now. But, how many "cheats" know the risk of steroids, EPO or even the humble "nasal spray". (If they want to knowingly cheat, they sure as hell ought to find out the long term side effects.)

In the "good old days" of cycling, amphetamines and cognac were the kicker of choice. (Cyclists also thought they raced better dry - i.e. with as little water as possible even on those 40 deg Tour de France days in mid-July.) The death of Tom Simpson on Mont Ventoux in 1967 changed much. Simpson almost certainly abused "speed" as much as, if not more than, other cyclists.

As for EPO, there is - I believe - evidence that it leads to an enlarged heart and complications in later life. 'Roids won't do much for life expectancy either.

I wonder if tequila is on the IOC list?

Target practice

2006-02-22T22:21:00.000Z

Donutball offers a sticky fingered hand of commiseration to the ~~British~~ Scottish men's curling team after their heart breaking last stone loss to Finland in this evening's semi-final. Just bronze to aim for as an encouraging start to the Olympic tournament was a false dawn.

Scotland's heroic defeat offers this blog an opportunity to raise a burning issue about Olympic sports.

Winter sports? Well, why not include true winter sports - darts, snooker and shov' ha'penny. OK, this is not an original thought though as I recall the "debate" over darts centred on the 2012 summer games and the inclusion of one traditional British sport.

Then again, everyone knows ~~Britain~~ England invented all decent sports. Those that we didn't invent are either crap - e.g. basketball - or poor derivatives of the original - e.g. Aussie rules and baseball. (I'll make an exception for Kabbadi -though not entirely original - and possibly Naadam though that looks suspiciously like a midsummer English fete without the doilies.)

The Olympics already includes dull target sports - archery, shooting (though it takes little imagination to liven up this sport) and curling. What's wrong with a few more.

Who could argue with darts? It's a true family entertainment. Darts are a bit like javelins anyway. And, all that number crunching in the head, that's truly Olympian.

Snooker has all the subtlety of curling and, in the true Olympic spirit, years of drug abuse.

Shov' Ha'penny: Olympic sport? I offer you...

- Sailing: Olympic sport.
- Horse jumping thing: Olympic sport.
- Blazer wearing: Olympic sport.
- Synchronised diving... well...

I rest my case.

With Phil "The Power", "Rocket" Ronnie and, er, some geezer in a Fair Isle jumper who's the pub games equivalent to David Beckham, ~~Britain~~ England would storm to many a gold reversing years of sporting injustice. Johnny Foreigner would once again be left in our wake where he belongs. Pints of mild would be quaffed in celebration. St George would billow in the wind. It would be the 1950s again. Civil engineered brassieres would heave under cashmere sweaters. God Save the Queen!

Olympics news

2006-02-21T22:46:00.000Z

Late on this one too:

The International Olympic Committee voted just before the Torino games not to vote again on inclusion of baseball and softball at the 2012 Olympics in London. Double feck!

A national disgrace, I call it.

Tour de Obvious

2006-02-21T22:35:00.000Z

Catching up here, sorry:

Predictably, but disappointingly, the route for 2007's Tour de France prologue is a dull ride through Whitehall, up Victoria Street, Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch and finishing on the Mall. Ken and the orgnaisers have ignored my plea to make use of Herne Hill Cycle Stadium.

To make matters worse, the route out of London to Canterbury for the 1st stage also misses Herne Hill. Instead riders will have to put up usual cliched postcard sites - Tower Bridge, the London Eye and Greenwich. Dull.