Notes, quotes and comment

It's the law in Illinois: An Illinois appeals court, in the course of upholding a trial court's dismissal of a civil suit filed against the Chicago White Sox for ejecting a fan, ruled (in a footnote) that the Twins are the "arch rival" of the Chicago White Sox.

The relevant text:

Fricano asserts that the Cleveland Indians are “the arch rival” of the Chicago White Sox. While the two teams maintain a healthy rivalry, this court notes that it is generally accepted, at least among informed baseball followers, that the title of arch rival belongs to the reviled Minnesota Twins, to be shared, during inter-league play, with the Chicago Cubs.

I assume that this ruling would be upheld on further appeal, and that a Minnesota court would concur. It should be noted, however, that the ruling specifically says it may not be cited as precedent.

$1,500 for this?

I wonder who a Michigan court would find to be the arch rival of the Tigers. Judging from the Tigers-oriented blogs I keep tabs on, the Twins might qualify there too.

Somebody had too much money: The Kardashian-Humphries ball that the Twins auctioned for their community fund drew a top bid of $1,500.

This is approximately $1,498 too much.

Wakefield calls it quits: Knuckleball artiste Tim Wakefield opted against accepting a minor-league contact with spring training invite from the Boston Red Sox. He announced his retirement on Friday.

So if Jamie Moyer doesn't win a job with the Rockies -- he is on the kind of deal Wakefield declined -- we will be back to not having an active 200-game winner.

R.A. Dickey is now the primary torch-bearer for the flutterball pitch. I have a fondness for knuckleballers, perhaps because it looks like a pitch even I could throw. If it were that easy, of course, there would be more knuckleballers. 

Pitchers and catchers: The Twins batterymen report today, with the first official workout on Sunday. It's a good weekend.

Contemplating Tim Wakefield

Tim Wakefield is 45, and he went just 7-8, 5.12 last season.

The veteran knuckleballer hasn't had an ERA below 5 since 2009, hasn't qualified for the ERA title since 2008, hasn't had an ERA below 4 since 2002.

Tim Wakefield began
his professional career
as a third baseman.

 It's February, and the Boston Red Sox have not offered him a contract. He has had nibbles from other organizations, but he has long said he won't pitch for anybody other than Boston. It looks like the end for Wakefield.

If so, it's been an odd career, odd enough that it may be unique. He has 200 career wins (on the nose), but never won more than 17 games in any season. He hit the majors as a 25-year-old flutterball savant -- in his half season in 1992 with Pittsburgh, he went 8-1, 2.15, won a couple more games in the playoffs, and looked like he was set for a long run as a top-flight pitcher for years to come.

And then he crashed and burned and rose again: 6-11 in 2003, back to the minors in 2004, re-emerged with Boston in 1995 with a 16-8, 2.95 season.

He had two half seasons in his 20s -- 1992 and 1995 -- in which he had a case for being the best pitcher going. He wasn't. He was a durable utility pitcher -- he won 17 games for the Sox as a starter in 1998, then led the team in saves the next season -- and Boston rewarded him, but he was never an ace. He ground through his 30s and into his 40s as a back-of-the-rotation guy.

Knuckleballers, as a rule, mature late. It's a rare k-baller who shines in his 20s. It takes time to master the nuances of the pitch, and, I suspect, to master the emotional aspect of relying on the unpredicable. Knuckleballers also, as a rule, get their chances with bad teams. 

Wakefield is an exception to both rules. 

200 for Wakefield (finally)

Tim Wakefield: 200-178.

Tim Wakefield collected career win 200 on Tuesday. It took him eight starts and a long relief appearance to get from 199 to 200, a protracted delay caused by some poor pitching on his part and some poor work on the part of his teammates. He was 0-3 in those nine games; the Red Sox won two of them.

So we now have an active 200-game winner, whether or not Jamie Moyer makes it back to the majors. Of course, there no guarantee either Moyer or Wakefield will ptich in the majors in 2012, so the same historical rarity I wrote of earlier may still apply.

Roy Halladay is the next up; he has 186 wins, so -- assuming good health -- he'll likely get to the milestone next season.

Knuckling down

Tim Wakefield on Monday pitched
seven innings against the Twins, allowing
three earned runs, striking out five
and walking none. 

I'd rather not see the Twins lose, but if they had to lose Monday night I would have preferred to see Tim Wakefield get the "W." No luck there, either; the veteran knuckleballer left with the lead, but Alfredo Aceves vultured the decision.

So we still don't have a truly active 200-game winner. Wakefield is stuck on 199.

Watching him toss his flutterball got me to pondering, once more, the apparently dying knuckleball. When I started paying attention to baseball (1969) there were quite a few accomplished knuckleballers — future Hall of Famers Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm, plus guys like Wilbur Wood (the rare left-handed knucklerballer) and Eddie Fisher — and a few others, such as Jim Bouton, throwing the pitch without great distinction.

Today there's Wakefield, 45 and clearly near the end of his career, and R.A. Dickey, whose record this season with the Mets doesn't look as strong as last season on the surface but really isn't that much worse.

The Twins had Dickey in 2009, and he gave them a half season of good work, then deteriorated rapidly. The Mets have used him almost strictly as a starter, and he's been pretty effective.

Dickey's 36, which is normally a bad sign. But it's a rare knuckleballer who flourishes before age 30. They start late and finish even later. I suspect the pitch requires a sense of fatalism a 20-something hasn't developed. Nobody really controls the knuckleball. The pitcher lets it go and hopes it does something between his hand and the bat.

Which is why knuckleballers are the last to get a chance. Managers like to be in control. We'll pitch this guy inside, that guy outside, and don't throw this one a breaking pitch in the strike zone. There's no control with a knuckleball.

Right now, Dickey is the future of the pitch, although I'm still holding out some hope for Charlie Haeger, who's only 27 and has had some moments in the bigs. None of those moments have come this year, however, and he's not fared well in Triple A this season.