This Injury Report Can Be Written In Ink And Other Stories

• Mark Mulder leaves his first start after 16 pitches with shoulder discomfort:

I flipped to the Phillies-Cardinals game to have a look at Mark Mulder in his first start and it

was delayed by rain; later I tried again; they were in the third inning and Brad Thompson was pitching for the Cardinals; my first thought was that since the game was delayed, the Cardinals didn't want to risk putting Mulder out there after a long delay, see the game stopped again and waste his start, so they pushed him back a day; it was only later that I learned that Mulder did start the game, lasted 16 pitches before shoulder discomfort forced him out and he'll be evaluated Thursday. I wouldn't expect a positive evaluation and even if it's somewhat ambiguous, I wouldn't expect to see Mulder contribute much of anything this season.
It's a shame because in the games he had pitched in relief since being activated, Mulder's velocity was around 90 and his motion appeared to be back to the smooth-as-silk delivery he displayed with the Athletics. It's almost to a similar point with Mulder as it was with Alex Fernandez after his repeated shoulder surgeries: how much aggravation, rehab, stops and starts and pain do you want to put up without results and the same pain over and over again?

• Oh, Enough Already! Part II:

Just like it was enough in early May when Mike Hampton reported more pain in another

part of his body as he tried unsuccessfully to come back for the Braves, it's the same situation with this player; here's the quote from today's New York Times:

The Mets said Moises Alou reinjured his left hamstring Wednesday in the seventh inning of his second game of a rehabilitation assignment with Class AA Binghamton. Alou, who was playing against the Connecticut Defenders, dove for a ball and was injured. He will come to New York on Thursday to have the injury re-evaluated.

The Mets have to move on. If Alou is able to come back and contribute something at some time this year, then fine; he and Orlando Hernandez may function as useful late season pickups disguised as players returning from injury. They're going to have to go and get an

outfielder who can hit. There are such players available: Raul Ibanez; Xavier Nady; Casey Blake (who's a perfect fit); or they could go for Matt Holliday (the Indians supposedly told Mets GM Omar Minaya that he had the organizational depth to get C.C. Sabathia; whether Dan O'Dowd with the Rockies feels the same way is a question and what that depth would entail is an even bigger question). Bottom line, the Mets can't sit around and wait any longer for Alou to return because it's not going to happen anytime soon and if and when it does he----like Rich Harden and Mulder----are only one small, wrong twist, turn or sprain away from being out for the season. They need an outfield bat that's reliable to not only hit, but to stay out on the field for an extended period without the organization having to hold it's breath every time he has to exert himself.

• Why was Jorge Posada out rehabbing his shoulder if he's not going to catch anyway?

When Jorge Posada went on the disabled list with shoulder problems earlier this season,

he was able to do everything but throw. The Yankees sent him for rehab so he'd be able to catch later in the season. The best thing for the team at the time was probably to keep Posada's bat in the lineup and use him at DH and first base, but they decided to make the player happy and allow him to get back into a modicum of shape to be able to catch. Now he's back and he's not catching and not happy about it----NY Times Story.
No one seems to be admitting the real reason behind the switch to Jose Molina catching regularly: that Molina is a far superior defensive catcher and his presence behind the plate mitigates the opponent's running game whereas Posada's presence behind the plate is a detriment because he can't throw very well. The Yankees are hiding behind Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon's injury to have Posada DH or play first base when everyone knows why they're doing it even if they refuse to admit it. If this was their intent, wasn't it silly to deprive themselves of Posada's bat for all that time when they could have convinced him that his value was actually at the plate rather than behind it?

• Dodgers 2-Braves 1; Derek Lowe perfect through six innings:

I was waiting to see if Gregor Blanco was going to try and bunt to break up another no-hitter (this one by Derek Lowe) as he led off the seventh inning for the Braves. As irritating as it would have been had he done it, it would have been appropriate in this instance because

the score was 1-0, Dodgers and his presence on the bases could have meant the difference between winning and losing. He lined a hard single up the middle to break up the perfect game anyway. Lowe's motion looks better from the last time I watched him in June when he was rushing his delivery among other things; whether the Dodgers coaching staff helped him fix it or Lowe did it himself is the question, but his sinker was sinking again and it showed in the results and near history-making performance.

An Unnecessary Umpire Instigation

• Umpire Brian Runge deserves a fine and suspension:

In the days of yesteryear (before everyone was walking around carrying a video camera at

the ready) cops handled minor infractions such as writing graffiti in a much simpler and quicker way by whacking the perp over the head a few time with his nightstick and warned him not to do it again. They saved time by avoiding the middleman for a piddly offense that would have amounted to no sanctions by employing some prudent use of street justice. Of course, using this technique resulted in some overzealous officers going overboard and it was once a similar situation for major league umpires; they could pretty much do and say whatever they wanted with impunity. The streamlining and consolidation of the American and National League umpires under the MLB brand put a stop to the separation of leagues and the suspension of umpire Mike Winters last

year for his part in the late-season confrontation with Milton Bradley sent a message that the umpires weren't so untouchable anymore. After last night's umpire-instigated confrontation during the Mets-Mariners game, it will be interesting to see who gets the blame and the punishment.
In the fourth inning of what eventually became a Mariners 11-0 win, Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran respectfully objected to a strike call from home plate umpire Brian Runge. In general, the umpires don't mind if the batter complains while looking anywhere other than directly at him. In reading Beltran's lips, he didn't even cuss; all he said was that the pitch was "down". Runge stepped out from behind the plate, removed his mask and stood in front of Beltran starting a problem where there shouldn't have been one. Beltran kept his composure and manager Jerry Manuel came out to protect his player and was bumped by Runge for what

appeared to be no reason. In a moment of completely justified anger, Manuel exploded and was ejected. Beltran soon followed suit and the Mets went on without their manager or number three hitter for the rest of the game. Players get fined and/or suspended for such infractions as bumping the umpire; will Runge be suspended for initiating the contact with Manuel? For standing in front of Beltran like some would-be tough guy in a bar who yaps and yaps and ends up getting his brains beaten in when he goes too far?
And what exactly did Beltran do that was so out of line? Has anyone ever seen Jeff Kent

barking at an umpire while he's batting? In what seems to be every at bat, Kent disputes a call while staring down at the plate and unleashing a series of colorfully decorated complaints to the home plate umpire and gets away with it every time; from what I understand, Beltran isn't one to cuss much, if at all; what did he do to warrant such a reaction from an umpire who was obviously looking to assert some invisible code of manhood?
Winters's suspension last year was construed as a betrayal of the umpires by the league office, but it was applauded by those who have seen and been on the other end of an umpire's megalomaniacal power trips for years; is Runge going to be allowed to get away with going out of his way to start the confrontation and then in an unprovoked move, bump the manager who was just trying to protect his player? Beltran and Manuel are going to get fined when Runge is the one who deserves the punishment. The question is whether the league is going to turn a blind eye to one of their "cops", or are they going to send the message that some of these wannabe macho men had better tone it down a bit? At the very least, Runge deserves to be called on the carpet because he's the one at fault.

• White Sox 6-Dodgers 1:

Derek Lowe has been getting raked around this year and his ground ball/fly ball ratio is far worse than what has been normal for him throughout his career. From memory of his mechanics while with the Red Sox and first couple of years with the Dodgers, he looks out of whack. In his good years, the ratios of ground balls/fly balls and line drives has been around

2/1 or better; now it's about 1.5/1 or worse. I'd like to think I'm not disclosing anything that Dodgers manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt can't see for themselves, but here goes:
He's no longer turning his hips as prominently, nor is he pausing in mid-delivery as long as he once did and Lowe appears to be rushing his delivery from his leg lift. It used to be that he lifted his leg and pushed his throwing hand and glove together before breaking his hands and firing; now he looks like he's moving too quickly; because of that, he's short-arming the ball by not making as big a circle with his throwing arm to catch up and compensate to get where he's supposed to be. He also looks like he's dropped his arm angle and isn't getting on top of the ball as he did when he was at his sinkerballing best. If these mechanical issues are out of sync, of course Lowe's results aren't going to be what they once were; of course his pitches aren't going to dive down at the hitting zone and will be devoid of pop. What's most disturbing is that it took me such a short time to notice the problems and the Dodgers haven't corrected them already.
These things should neither be hard to spot, nor to correct. If Honeycutt hasn't noticed it, what good is he as a pitching coach; if Torre hasn't noticed it after all those years facing Lowe while he was with the Red Sox and Torre was managing the Yankees, I'd want to know why if I were owner Frank McCourt. Isn't their expertise why they're getting the big bucks?

• Rays 6-Marlins 4:
  

The days in which Rays fans could be skeptical about the improvement of their team

appear to be over; and the Marlins fans have proven that they have little interest in their team (no matter how good or bad they are) until they're actually playing in the World Series. Even with all of that, an announced attendance of 12,352 for last night's game between the two Florida teams is downright embarrassing.

• An apology from J.P. Ricciardi to Adam Dunn...or not?

Adam Dunn is denying J.P. Ricciardi's assertion that the two spoke in a phone call from Dunn to Ricciardi on Saturday----ESPN Story. Ricciardi is saying that he apologized to someone identifying himself as Adam Dunn and that he may have been the victim of a "prank". If that's not true, then someone's lying and given his history, my money's on Ricciardi. How much more are the Blue Jays supposed to take by way of off-field embarrassment and on-field mediocrity from J.P. Ricciardi, baseball's answer to Eddie Haskell?