Welcome to the Baseball World: Joshua and Sean!

Scott Silversten’s column, "Age of Reason" will not appear this week because he became a father on Tuesday! He and his wife Jill welcomed Joshua and Sean Silversten. They were announced as "the newest Yankee fans," although as the boys’ aunt and uncle, we will do our best to tear them away from the Evil Empire. We have very little confidence that it will work. But baseball fans are baseball fans, and we are thrilled to have these two new little additions in our life.

Congratulations Scott!

-Auntie Sarah/The Fanatic’s Wife and Uncle Doug

Scott Silversten's column, "Age of Reason", normally appears every Thursday and will return next week.

Shock and Awe: September 18, 2006, Padres vs. Dodgers

by Doug Silversten

This week's Wild-Card Wednesday is going to be short, because I am in awe and I don't know what to say. Given the circumstances, perhaps the greatest regular season game EVER was played on Monday night, and I feel it is not getting the attention it deserved. After a great regular season game, my father always comments to me, "If that was played in the postseason, they would be talking about it forever." Well folks, if Monday's match-up between the Dodgers and Padres was played in the postseason, I honestly think it would immediately become the greatest postseason game ever. The Buckner game? Kirk Gibson? Carlton Fisk? Aaron Boone? Eh, great games, but second class citizens to this gem.

As for regular season games, the only one that immediately comes to mind is the Bobby Thomson game in 1951 (which was technically a regular season game, even if the last of a 3-game playoff). And considering it sent the Giants right into the postseason, I guess that would still be tops.

I guess. But I am not so sure.

Think about it. 1/2 game division lead. 2 weeks to go. The home team, who trails by that 1/2 game, trails by 4 in the last of the ninth. Then this results:

Bottom of the 9th:
Jon Adkins pitching:
Jeff Kent: Ball, Kent homered to center.
J.D. Drew: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Drew homered to right.
Trevor Hoffman relieved Jon Adkins.
Russell Martin: Martin homered to left center.
Marlon Anderson: Anderson homered to right.

8 pitches. 4 Homeruns. The last three coming on three consecutive pitches. Shock. And. Awe.

But wait! There's more. Hoffman settles down, gets out of the inning. Padres score in the top of the 10th and take the lead. If the Padres win, the 4 HRs become a footnote.

But the baseball gods don't have any of that.

Bottom of the 10th:
Rudy Seanez pitching:
Kenny Lofton: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Strike swinging, Ball, Lofton walked.
Nomar Garciaparra: Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Garciaparra homered to left, Lofton scored

Absolutely amazing. I feel this game isn't getting the attention it deserved. It should still be the lead story on Sportscenter. If you were there, keep your stub. I have a feeling we will be talking about this one for, well, forever.

Is baseball the greatest game in the world or what? Wow.

"Wild-Card Wednesdays" appears alternate Wednesdays

Beane Does It....Again

by Doug Silversten

Awhile ago, I wrote a column stating that the best GM in the game is Billy Beane, and it is not even close. I’ve been accused of being a “Billy-Lover,” “Beane-Obsessed,” etc. However, how can you not be in awe of a guy who puts winners on the field every year, makes incredible moves- and does all this with none of the advantages that the perennial contenders enjoy? This year, he has maybe outdone himself. With (almost) as many injuries as the Red Sox but with half the payroll, the A’s are looking good for a playoff birth. And a big reason for that is an off-season acquisition which has turned out to probably be the year’s best. And, I hate to toot my own horn, but I called it.

Obviously, there are a lot of ways to judge a GM’s effectiveness. However, in general, unless money is not an issue at all (which only concerns the Yankees), it is all about getting the biggest bang for the buck after player development, drafting, etc. Now imagine getting a top to HR hitter in your league for….pretty much nothing. Let’s take a look at the top 11 AL HR hitters through Saturday’s games:



All things equal (which they never are), you want to have one of the top 2 players on this list – A) David Ortiz or B) Travis Hafner. However, it doesn’t take too many GM skills to figure out that having Ortiz or Hafner would be a good thing for your club. The key is to find value where others don’t. Let’s keep moving down the list.

C) Jermaine Dye - Great player, excellent signing by Ken Williams of the White Sox last year. However, not exactly cheap.

D) Jim Thome - Another great acquisition by Williams. He took a chance, and boy did it pay off. But then again, how many other teams could afford to take on $14.2mm in payroll?

Let’s skip E, the year’s best off-season acquisition. For a mere $500k, every team could have had him.

F) Jason Giambi - The exact opposite of player E. Who else but the Yankees can afford that salary? Not surprisingly, the highest paid player on this list belongs to the Yankees. “Bang for the buck”-wise, the lowest ranked person on this list. Does that make it a bad move? Of course not. Giambi is super valuable for the Yankees, but it’s like play money from them. If you spend almost $100 million more than your nearest competitor, it’s very easy to put together huge offenses, something the Yanks do every year.

G) Carlos Lee – Started the season in the NL, where the Brewers had to trade him because they knew they had no chance to sign him. Give credit to the Rangers for making a good trade. We’ll see where he winds up next year.

H) Manny Ramirez – Second only to Giambi in salary, although he is a better player. Like Giambi, if you can afford him, doesn’t take many brains to decide it’s a good move.

I) Troy Glaus – Good signing by Riccardi, but again, not exactly cheap.

That leaves us with the two clear standouts on our list:
J) Justin Morneau – Bang for the buck, the best player on this list. Terry Ryan’s organization deserves credit for drafting him and when Morneau reaches free agency, he’ll be a Yankee.

K) Alex Rodriguez – No comment necessary.

So, who is left, and the move of the offseason?

E) Frank Thomas - For $500,000, now here is a guy every team in baseball could have had. Actually, that’s not quite true. For the most part, he can’t play the field anymore, so it had to be an AL-team. How many AL team’s have a DH with better numbers than the Big Hurt? I count 4 – The Red Sox, Indians, White Sox and Yankees. That’s it. They all have big-money players…something that most of the other 10 AL teams cannot afford. They all could have had Thomas though. Most GMs looked at his injury history and shied away. But a closer look at his numbers the previous two years showed that, when healthy, he still performed. The best GM in baseball saw that and took a low-risk gamble that Thomas could stay on the field. If it didn’t work, no big deal. Even for a small market team, $500,000 is not a back-breaking sum.

Once again Billy Beane, take a bow. You are in a class by yourself.

Doug Silversten's column, "The Big Picture", appears alternate Mondays