Baseballhead: Nomo is No Mo

Michael Cox

Ow. Now I have to justify that headline?

Well, ah, there is one big difference between the soon-to-no-longer-be-a-Dodger Hideo Nomo and the possibly-eventually-not-to-be-a-Red-Sock Mo Vaughn: Vaughn reacted to the rumors of being jettisoned from Boston by working hard and telling everybody who'd listen that on the whole, he'd rather stay. Nomo reacted to a (likely untrue) trade rumor with total self-immolation on Saturday followed by a trade demand. The latter does not create much value, although Nomo is somewhat of a gate attraction before he even throws a pitch, so limited use as a fifth starter could pump up attendance in, say, Oakland...

Item: Every single Dodger player except Gary Sheffield is rumored to be traded to the Mariners for Randy Johnson. Don't you people have anything better to do? No, no, I'm not talking to our readers, I'm talking to Mariner ownership, who should have realized already that there isn't a single Dodger worth the Big Unit.

Item: J.D. Drew's agent, Scott Boras, couldn't see eye-to-eye with the Phils, so Drew is going back into the draft. Expect Drew to go no higher than #3 (Cubs), and possibly #10 (Rangers) or lower. If he gets picked by a "small-market" team like Oakland or KC, that smell is likely either some sinister owner collusion (although with Boras on the recieving end, it's kinda funny) or the lawsuit that Boras will surely have Drew file. No matter how you slice it, Drew is likely missing out on two potentially important years of earning power by listening to Boras.

Item: The oldest "Would you ever..." question in baseball was answered when Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter had Barry Bonds intentionally walked with the bases loaded on Thursday. Hey, with Brent Mayne hitting after Bonds, who wouldn't walk him?

Item: Brewers C Mike Metheny is hit in the face by a runaway (no, really) Rich Loiselle pitch but plays the next day; and in that second game, three Pirates are accidentally (no, really) plunked by Brew Crew pitcher Steve Woodard. If that had happened in the AL, Gene Budig would have likely suspended both Loiselle and Woodard for five to eight games just on principle.

Item: Mike Piazza did not get traded this week. Stay tuned...

Item: When there's Tony Larussa, there's gamesmanship, and Padres manager Bruce Bochy might have wanted to think twice when he asked the umpires to tell Cards RHP Manny Aybar to change his cap. The cap in question had the number "123" written on the front in tribute to friend Jose Oliva, but still, an altered uniform is an altered uniform, and when Bochy complained, the cap went.

Bochy failed to realize that LaRussa doesn't take such percieved slights lying down. The Cards skipper had the umps yell at Pads third-base coach Tim Flannery, who was the customary couple of paces outside the coaches' box (you very rarely see a coach in that box). Plate umpire Frank Pulli got the last laugh of all, however, when he decided that if Flan had to stand in the box, so did Cards base coaches Rene Lachemann and Dave McKay. If only umpires paid that much attention to the strike zone...

Item: I'm watching the end of a slugfest (read: crappy pitching-fest) between the Orioles and Mariners at Camden Yards, and in the bottom of the ninth with the Birds leading by a run, the hometown fans are screaming like a pennant is on the line. Maybe they're rejoicing because they realized that the Oriole staff isn't the absolute worst in the league after all...

Item: That new Major League Baseball Charities ad featuring Frank Thomas and the elderly woman? That has gotta be the most sadistically funny ad MLB has ever produced, and I heartily approve.

Michael Cox is convinced that those little basketballs at the amusement park will really fit through the hoop. Pitty his naivete at mc@strikethree.com.