Giving Lester and others their just due
Posted: Saturday, October 11, 2008 7:07 AM
Each of the four teams in the LCS has its mega stars that pretty much own the headlines. And each has the somewhat underappreciated contributor who shines in the baseball world if not on the highlight shows. You know their names, Howell, Lester, Hamels and Mattingly but it’s time to give them the recognition they deserve for the roles they play in the success of their respective teams.
JON LESTER: No. 1 starters usually aren’t anonymous but Lester plays for Boston, the team of David Ortiz, Kevin Youklis, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell. It’s the franchise with names such as Ted Williams, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Carl Yazstremski, Carlton Fisk and Manny Ramirez in its star-studded past. All hitters as pitchers are rarely mentioned in Red Sox lore. So here comes Lester, a 24-year-old rebounding from cancer to start twice without allowing a run against the Angels in the ALDS. And no one talks about him. Think Minnesota wonders about passing on Lester in a proposed trade for Johan Santana last winter?
COLE HAMELS: See Boston and Lester. The Phillies are becoming the NL’s Red Sox despite their history, not as rich with titles or Hall of Fame members but including such greats as Robin Roberts and Steve Carlton. But their new yard is a bandbox and the fact that Hamels has pitched two Game 1’s and shut down the opponent in each is astounding. He has quietly become an ace and the premier young lefty (Time Lincecum the righty) in the NL.
J.P. HOWELL: A perfect example of why Tampa Bay is playing to get into the World Series. The Rays stole Howell -- a former No. 1 pick of the Royals in 2004 -- from Kansas City in a June 2006 trade for Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez.
Tampa Bay has traded well using a surplus of drafted players accumulated with their litany of high draft positions. Howell has become a lead lefty out of the bullpen with a chance to emerge into the rare lefty closer. Without injured veteran closer Troy Percival, Howell and Grant Balfour have steadied the Rays’ bullpen.
DON MATTINGLY: Yes, a coach gets this nod for the Dodgers. The team added Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake at the trading deadline but Mattingly’s midseason return brought a new view to the Dodger hitters. And he has the utmost respect of manager Joe Torre. Honorable mentions here to Matt Kemp (could anyone have imagined the Dodgers making the postseason with neither Andruw Jones nor Juan Pierre starting in centerfield?) and Blake DeWitt (he solidified third base early in the season allowing the Dodgers to trade Andy LaRoche and he has supplanted Jeff Kent at second base for October, playing both positions soundly).
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. THE WRONG MANUEL…is in the headlines. It’s all about Jerry and his new Mets deal but here comes Charlie in the postseason for the third time in his six full seasons as a manager (his Indians missed the 2000 playoffs by one game after winning 90). All six of Charlie’s managerial seasons have been winning ones, none with less than 85 wins. Can we finally get past the fact that Charlie is not telegenic? The man can manage and if his Phillies make the World Series perhaps that will become obvious to those who haven’t yet realized it.
2. INTERESTING THAT…two of the four managers in the LCS, Manuel and Joe Maddon, benched key players down the stretch. Jimmy Rollins was late for a game and B.J. Upton didn’t run out balls. Should other managers take note?
3. THE DOW PLUMMETS DAY AFTER DAY…and I read about the impending free agency of this year’s crop of players hitting the open market. Does it strike you that their timing (not their fault) may not be the best?
4. THE ANGELS WIN 100 GAMES…, beat the Red Sox 8-1 in the regular season series between the two teams and now Angels manager Mike Scioscia will spend the winter answering questions about a botched squeeze. Scioscia, the game’s most under-praised manager, “felt comfortable” with the call, Again, if his big boys had hit with any pop, Scioscia would not have had to even think about a squeeze.
5. INTERESTING WORDS FROM A FRIEND…who knows the Marlins. Various reports have them readying another offload of arbitration-eligible players. I asked why given the impending new stadium. Word I get is that the Marlins want to build around their young pitching as when healthy in the second half of the season they were strong. Their hitters were homer-happy, strikeout prone and mediocre in the field. That’s the mix that Florida will change. A new stadium looks like it will open in 2012 now that lawsuits are out of the way and the 2009 payroll is likely to rise to $35 million, nothing great but a 60 percent hike from this year.
