Im-perfect

Yeah, sometimes they just blow the call.

Galarraga will never get his perfect game back. His center fielder, Austin Jackson, had kept it alive for him on the first pitch of the top of the ninth, racing on a full sprint to the distant warning track at Comerica Park, fully extending his left arm for a twisting, over-the-shoulder catch. After Mike Redmond grounded out to shortstop, Donald bounced a ball between first and second. Miguel Cabrera fielded it and threw to Galarraga covering.

The ball got there in time. So did Galarraga. He seemed to catch the ball near the top of the webbing; perhaps Joyce did not hear the telltale thwack of ball meeting leather before he heard Donald’s foot cross the base. He spread his arms — safe, an infield single.

It's a tough job.

The Yankees cruised to victory over the Orioles, and Robinson Cano ("doncha know!") is still blisteringly hot.

Games played

Cliff Corcoran notes the one benefit Rodriguez gained from using PEDs as a member of the Texas Rangers -- no need to take a day off. It's overlooked -- the ability of a player to recover quickly isn't just about getting a thicker neck, but it also should help get through the rigors of the toughest season in sports.

As a fan, I'm not sure I have a problem with that.

On a related note -- and be advised, there will be no posts about either Alex's or Bristol's much covered media appearances this week -- Scott Lemieux takes a closer look at the "sanctity of the record books."

The same game only different

Madame Cura and I watched the original broadcast of Don Larsen's perfect game last week and although I was mostly struck by the original advertising, I noticed this too.

So these 1956 players, who looked more like store clerks than like athletes, were flailing away with these telephone poles. And then there was Mantle. He didn't look like any store clerk. He wouldn't have stood out in a crowd of muscled-up 21st century ballplayers. He was also noticeably quiet in the box -- but he also ended every swing, including one that produced a home run, with his head flailing toward the first-base dugout.

Watching the game was fun, but don't let anyone tell you that today's players and pitchers aren't as good as yesteryear's. To put this in perspective, Jason Giambi, whose seven-year adventure with the Yankees ended this week (he's returning on a one-year deal to the A's, as he's been made obsolete by Mrs. Teixeira), is tenth on the HR list for all-time Yankees. 10th, in a seven year stint.

Over the course of his seven years in New York, Giambi continued to do exactly the same thing. He compiled a .404 on-base percentage (fifth in Yankees history), .521 slugging percentage (seventh in Yankees history) and 209 homers (10th in Yankees history).

Making his home run total more impressive is the fact that he accomplished it in just seven seasons. Of all the storied sluggers in Yankee history, the only players who had that many over a seven-year span were Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

Alphabet City

Steve Goldmand writes the post I had intended to write, only he's smarter and a better writer.

This day in baseball!

Next time you hear someone calling a game who complains that umpires insert themselves and bait the players too much these days, remember this:

1911 -- In a Reds win in Cincinnati‚ Cards player-manager Roger Bresnahan is called out on strikes by Bill Klem to end the game. When Roger argues too long over the call‚ Klem belts him. An embarrassed NL president Lynch will fine the arbiter $50 for the punch.

Does Milton Bradley know about this?

This day in baseball

Ah, those were the days.

Dec. 11, 1959: The New York Yankees traded outfielders Norm Siebern and Hank Bauer, first baseman Marv Throneberry, and pitcher Don Larsen to the Kansas City Athletics for outfielder Roger Maris, shortstop Joe DeMaestri, and first baseman Kent Hadley.

It was bad enough for the A’s to send Maris, already widely recognized as one of the most exciting young left-handed power hitters in the game, along to the Yankees and their short right field porch. But it was far worse that they did it for no defensible reason.

Yes, Siebern was a fine young left-handed-hitting outfielder. But so was Maris; exchanging one for the other accomplished nothing for the A’s, and moreover Maris was younger than Siebern, more powerful, quicker on the bases, and a far better fielder. And yes, Throneberry was an impressive young long-balling first baseman, but so was Hadley; Throneberry as well provided nothing the Athletics didn’t already have.

And Bauer and Larsen had of course once been standouts, but at this point Bauer was obviously over the hill and the tender-armed Larsen had struggled in 1959. Acquiring them wasn’t close to worth surrendering DeMaestri, Kansas City’s light-hitting but slick-fielding first-string shortstop.

The deal worked out spectacularly for the Yankees, of course, as Maris immediately blossomed into a back-to-back MVP-winning superstar. But the discomfiting aspect of the trade was the manner in which it was so transparently designed to serve the Yankees’ purposes, and their purposes only: they achieved an upgrade from Siebern to Maris while costing themselves nothing (indeed, while converting the unneeded Bauer and Larsen into a useful backup shortstop in DeMaestri). Meanwhile the Athletics improved nowhere.

Given the cozy business relationship between the Yankees’ and Athletics’ ownerships (K.C. owner Arnold Johnson held the deed to Yankee Stadium, and was thus the Yankees’ landlord), and the long string of similarly questionable trades between the franchises that had been occurring since Johnson’s acquisition of the A’s in 1954, there’s little conclusion to draw other than that this one stunk to high heaven.