- That's 6 for 6 in save ops so far for CJ Wilson. And Cowlishaw decides to celebrate by giving us this unfortunate column headline........
Wilson gives Rangers happy ending
So far in the lefty's closer tryout: six saves in six tries
04:14 AM CDT on Thursday, August 16, 2007
ARLINGTON – No one was more thrilled to see Eric Gagne show up in a Rangers uniform this spring than C. J. Wilson. And no one has taken better advantage of Gagne's exit to Boston than C. J. Wilson.
Wilson, the Rangers' free-spirited left-hander, loves to pick the brains of the game's great pitchers. It started when Jim Palmer walked into the Nordstrom's where Wilson was working at 17.
It continued this season with Gagne. Wilson tried to soak up all he could learn about becoming a successful pitcher, even changing to baggy pants in honor of the former Dodgers closer.
Then Gagne was dealt to Boston. And with Akinori Otsuka on the disabled list, the Rangers turned to Wilson as their closer by trial.
On July 31, Wilson recorded his first big league save. Including that night, the Rangers are 7-7 and Wilson has saved six games, including Wednesday's 4-3 win over Kansas City.
Wednesday was the first real dent we have seen in Wilson, and it wasn't much. Although he gave up two runs (one earned), they came via a bad-hop double over Michael Young's head and a single off of Wilson's glove by the speedy Joey Gathright.
Until Wednesday, Wilson's hitless streak had spanned nine games and 13 innings.
Wilson contends that pitching a scoreless ninth is no different from pitching a scoreless seventh – possibly even easier.
"It's not different for a pitcher, but it is different for a hitter," he said. "They're down to their last out. They're in a different mode. They're going to be more aggressive, maybe swing at a borderline pitch they would take earlier in the game."
They're swinging and missing at what Wilson's throwing right now. There aren't that many left-handed closers in baseball, and Wilson isn't there yet, but the necessity of finding a replacement for Gagne has produced a potential low-cost closer for 2008.
That's something Wilson figured he was going to become, anyway.
"They've talked about trying me as a closer before because they had no choice," Wilson said. "I ask them about it all the time. I talked to Buck [Showalter] about it last year."
Wilson then produced an off-season text message from general manager Jon Daniels he had saved. Wilson had – again – asked for a trial as closer.
"We're counting on you," Daniels wrote. "Don't [mess] it up."
He hasn't, and in some ways, it's no surprise. Wilson's a high-energy adrenaline pitcher, seemingly suited to ninth-inning drama.
"As a closer, you don't have a lifeline," Wilson said. "I like the high stress. It's the most extreme situation in our sport."
Wilson's free-spirited nature might seem at odds with the discipline required to be an effective closer. He's getting a Porsche and driving from Barcelona to Italy in the off-season. He has one of the most elaborate MySpace pages you are likely to find among Major League Baseball players.
But the reality is he's a serious student of the game who tirelessly studies video in the off-season.
No one knows where this will lead. For now, manager Ron Washington likes what he sees and doesn't hesitate to call on Wilson in the eighth inning, as he did in Tuesday's 5-3 win.
"He's throwing strikes, working fast, pounding the strike zone," Washington said. "That's what you need out of your bullpen."
Wilson wants the job to be his when the Rangers go to Arizona in February, but he is counting on nothing.
"Until someone walks over here and says, 'Hey, you're the closer,' I'm not," he said. "But my goal was to be a starter or a closer, someone who makes a big difference.
"There are guys that go about it different ways. In St. Louis, [Jason] Isringhausen has kind of made a career out of putting guys on and then working his way out of trouble. I'd prefer to be like [Mariano] Rivera and just blow hitters away."
Well, who wouldn't? But Wilson is passing his initial test. If that keeps up for six more weeks and the Rangers convince themselves to go with a low-cost closer for 2008, that would free up money to be spent elsewhere.
Center fielder Torii Hunter? Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano?
Who knows?
But for Wilson, an emergency situation has produced an emergence. The job he has sought for two years is, for now, his. He's no longer unhittable, but he hasn't blown a save since getting the job.
Perfection out of the bullpen is something the Rangers can live with.
- Rangers hold on late, 4-3. A day after another disappointing Ranger, Kevin Millwood, strikes out 9, Vicente Padilla comes off the DL and strikes out 8.
Padilla a plus in Rangers' win
01:40 AM CDT on Thursday, August 16, 2007
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – As usual, Vicente Padilla threw the Rangers a curve.
That it registered 80 mph on Wednesday was, by the club's estimation, a good thing.
In a 4-3 win over Kansas City, the unpredictable Padilla made his long-awaited return to the starting rotation and finally started throwing the hard breaking pitches that had been absent from his repertoire all year.
Even before Padilla went on the disabled list June 25 with triceps tendinitis, the only curveball he threw was a loopy lob that traveled in the high 60 mph range. While he struggled through a monthlong rehab at Double-A Frisco, Padilla didn't use the hard curve that made him a 15-game winner last year.
On Wednesday, though, Padilla – and the curveball – made their return. It resulted in five innings (he was limited to 80 pitches) in which Padilla allowed one unearned run and struck out eight batters. The eight strikeouts were a season high for Padilla.
"He threw some good, hard breaking balls tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "Hard breaking stuff that I hadn't seen."
The evidence of the breaking pitch was most evident toward the end of his evening. Trailing 1-0, Padilla allowed a leadoff double to Alex Gordon in the fifth. He responded by striking out the next three batters. The last pitch he threw in the inning, which also turned out to be the last one he threw for the evening, was a hard breaking ball to Tony Pena Jr.
Padilla's struggles were a significant part of the team's early slump. He went 0-4 in April, and the Rangers lost all six of his starts. The Rangers were 10-15 for the month. They went 2-4 in his six May starts on the way to falling as far as 19 games below .500.
- Nebraska News/Notes
- Slow day, no practice yesterday, so only a few items today.
- Missouri hoping to shut a lot of Nebraska fans out of their stadium this October. What's funny is, I see this same column in the preseason every year. Some school comes out with some sort of "Nebraska" rule on season or individual tickets so that Nebraska fans can't snatch as many up as they can. There's at least 2-3 opponents a year that adjust their ticket policies in order to not have their stadiums overtaken with red.
Memo to these schools, it never works. Nebraska fans are ridiculous, they'll pay whatever and go wherever to watch the game. So in the end, it's all wasted time by the AD's.
MU fans hope Huskers are shut out of tickets
By MIKE DEARMOND
T hat sea of red that has so often washed over Memorial Stadium when Nebraska plays a football game at Missouri may only be a relative puddle this year.
“For the first time in my life,” said Joe DeSimone, a gleeful Missouri fan from Lee’s Summit, “I think there are going to be fewer than 15,000 Nebraska fans at Faurot Field.”
Try no more than 8,000 according to some estimates for an Oct. 6 game that is — except for a few tickets being held back for Tiger Scholarship Fund and new season ticket holders — a sellout.
And according to DeSimone, Nebraska fans have only a few of their own number to blame.
Last week, some Nebraska fans flooded a Missouri internet Web site with messages. That ticked off DeSimone, a frequent poster on message boards.
“These arrogant Nebraska fans,” DeSimone said, “they think they’re so entitled to be great because they were once great.”
And so he personally mounted a campaign to help sell tickets to Missouri fans and to promote more MU fans to buy multiple tickets by joining the Tiger Scholarship Fund.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the MU ticket office and the TSF office were flooded by MU fans answering DeSimone’s call.
Just how many Cornhusker fans will eventually make it into Memorial Stadium on Oct. 6 is hard to pin down.
MU guaranteed a ticket allotment to Nebraska of only 3,850 tickets. Those have all been sold. At 5 p.m. Friday, 4,000 tickets went on sale via the internet, and DeSimone said he had been told that more than half of those tickets — all gone now — went to MU fans.
MU’s ticket office and the TSF fund are holding around 10,000 single-game tickets for late-buying season-ticket or TSF donors. Of that number, MU officials say that 7,000 would be for seating on the grass on the hill behind the north goal posts or in temporary bleachers on the North concourse.
Anticipating that most of those remaining seats are sold to MU fans, DeSimone positively cackles over the possibility that a game seen as key to winning the Big 12 North could possibly have 62,000 out of a projected 70,000 screaming for the Tigers and against the Cornhuskers.
Season-ticket rush
Vince Volpe, head of the TSF, told The Star that as of now, Missouri has sold “just a hair under 28,000 season tickets.
“And you’ll get 6,000 to 7,000, maybe even 8,000 more, once the students come back and get their tickets and the student sports passes,” Volpe said.
That would give MU a school-record season-ticket total of between 34,000 and 36,000 for the upcoming season.
- Another Touchdown Tommie Clip
- Steve Octavien is committed to kicking ass this year after 2 years filled with injury and unrealized potential. Like I've said earlier, Nebraska's defense should be top 25, but for it to get to higher levels, its only playmaker and biggest disruptive force must be heard from. He can take the defense to a whole other level if healthy.
NU's Octavien primed for big season
By Mike Babcock
sports.desk@theindependent.com
How's this for commitment? Steve Octavien prepared to prepare for his senior season at Nebraska. He went home to Naples, Fla., and trained to get ready for summer conditioning.
"Some guys go home and, yeh, they run. But they don't run as hard as they could," he said.
With Tim Butts watching, however, Octavien had no choice but to run and to lift as hard as he could. Butts, like Cornhusker strength coach Dave Kennedy, doesn't tolerate slackers.
So "there's no possible way I could cheat myself," said Octavien.
Butts coached at Lely High School, the offensive line for the football team and weight throws for the track and field team, when Octavien was a student there.
Octavien was state discus champion as a junior, with the 10th best throw in the nation. And at William Rainey Harper College in suburban Chicago he was the national Division III junior college discus champion as well as running on a champion 400-meter relay.
Butts also coached Octavien's sister, Dayanna, a three-time All-American in the discus and hammer throw at South Florida. She is training with Butts, who has since moved to Palmetto Ridge High (a new school in Naples), in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
In any case, Octavien went home in May, after the university's spring semester ended, and returned to Nebraska in June. He was able to focus on football because he needs only one class in the fall semester to complete a sociology degree and graduate in December.
"This was a lucky year," the weakside linebacker said.
Working out with Butts is "just like working out with Coach K (Kennedy)," Octavien said. "It's impossible not to get stronger. It's impossible not to work hard. They don't let you not work hard. If you don't work hard, you're not there. You're sweating after warm-ups, seriously.
"It's really intense training, so that's why I like going home."
Though hardly the only measure of the results, the 6-foot, 240-pound Octavien broke the Cornhuskers' bench-press record for linebackers, "455 (pounds) for two (reps)," he said.
"I'm going for the school record after the season. I'm pretty sure I can do that."
He never set out to break the linebackers' record, however. That wasn't his intention. "It was just doing Coach K's workouts," he said. "My weights kept going up, and I went after it one day."
That strength coupled with his speed makes him a force with which to be reckoned. Though he is a WILL linebacker by definition, he'll be used in other ways this season, in particular as a speed rusher off the edge. "There's a lot of variation, good flexibility, versatility," coach Bill Callahan said.
"I've been harping on that same message (to players). You've got to be versatile in this defense because we can plug you in just about anywhere to create the match-up we want."
Or mismatch, more accurately.
Bo Ruud, last season's starter on the weakside, was moved to the strongside in the spring, to replace the departed Stewart Bradley and take advantage of his abilities, according to defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Kevin Cosgrove, making way for Octavien to step up at the weakside.
And Lance Brandenburgh, a fourth veteran linebacker, can be on the field when Octavien rushes on the edge in a 3-4 alignment. "I love rushing the passer and getting sacks, big hits, all that stuff," said Octavien, who has one career sack and six tackles for loss among 36 total tackles.
He wants to "show the NFL and whatever comes in the future," he said.
More importantly, however, he wants to show that even though ends Adam Carriker and Jay Moore are gone to the NFL, "we can still get a good pass rush," he said.
Octavien has figured in the defensive scheme from the time he arrived. The problem has been injuries. He was lost for the season just seconds into the second quarter of the 2005 opener against Maine (he had already made four tackles) and he missed five games because of injury last season. In addition, he was injured his second season at William Rainey Harper and played in only four games.
He is healthy now, but doesn't take it for granted. "Accidents happen. You can get blindsided, anything. I don't even worry about it. I put that in the Lord's hands," he said.
"Whatever happens, happens. I just do whatever I can do, work my butt off, play hard physically and mentally, do everything I've got to do, so I have no regrets."
That's why he went home to Naples in May to train with Butts.
- National News/Notes
- ESPN's preseason Power 16 Poll. Once again, like for the past 5 years or so, the USC love fest has begun. In fact, there's even a headline stating, "Experts pick: USC vs. Who?".
Much like in 2005, when it was just a given that USC was the best team of all time (until they met In-Vinceable), I guess it's a given this year that they're the no-doubt National Champ. The love affair for USC just kills me. They'll have 2 losses at least, UCLA and Cal. Chalk it up.
1. USC | 2. LSU | 3. Texas | 4. West Virginia | 5. Michigan | 6. Oklahoma
7. Virginia Tech | 8. Florida | 9. Louisville |10. Wisconsin | 11. Georgia
12. Ohio State | 13. Penn State | 14. Cal | 15. Florida State | 16. Auburn
- And who else but ESPN to project all 80 bowl games 5 months in advance?
2007-08 Bowl Projections
(Matchup)
Ivan Maisel
Mark Schlabach
Allstate BCS Championship Game
USC vs. Oklahoma
USC vs. LSU
Allstate Sugar
LSU vs. Louisville
Florida vs. West Virginia
FedEx Orange
Virginia Tech vs. Florida
Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin
Tostitos Fiesta
Wisconsin vs. TCU
Texas vs. Louisville
Rose Bowl presented by Citi
Michigan vs. Texas
Michigan vs. Oklahoma
GMAC
Tulsa vs. Western Michigan
Tulsa vs. Ball State
International
Toledo vs. Pittsburgh
Ohio vs. Pittsburgh
Capital One
Penn State vs. Georgia
Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Gator
Florida State vs. Rutgers
Florida State vs. Rutgers
Outback
Ohio State vs. Auburn
Penn State vs. Georgia
AT&T Cotton
Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas
Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
Roady's Humanitarian
Boise State vs. Wake Forest
Boise State vs. Wake Forest
Chick-fil-A
Maryland vs. Kentucky
Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina
Valero Alamo
Purdue vs. Missouri
Purdue vs. Missouri
Meineke Car Care
West Virginia vs. Clemson
South Florida vs. Clemson
Champs Sports
Miami vs. Iowa
Boston College vs. Iowa
Insight
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
Oklahoma State vs. Indiana
Liberty
Southern Mississippi vs. Alabama
Southern Mississippi vs. Alabama
Brut Sun
Cal vs. Notre Dame
Washington State vs. Notre Dame
Gaylords Hotels Music City
Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee
Miami vs. Auburn
Texas
Kansas State vs. Houston
Texas Tech vs. UCF
Pacific Life Holiday
Oregon vs. Nebraska
California vs. Nebraska
PetroSun Independence
South Carolina vs. Texas Tech
Kentucky vs. Kansas State
Emerald Bowl
Arizona State vs. NC State
Oregon vs. Maryland
Motor City
Michigan State vs. Miami (Ohio)
Minnesota vs. Central Michigan
Sheraton Hawaii
Hawaii vs. UTEP
Hawaii vs. Houston
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Wyoming vs. Washington
BYU vs. Oregon State
New Mexico
New Mexico vs. Fresno State
Nevada vs. Wyoming
Papajohns.com
Memphis vs. South Florida
Marshall vs. Cincinnati
R&L Carriers New Orleans
Troy vs. Central Florida
Troy vs. East Carolina
Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas
UCLA vs. BYU
UCLA vs. TCU
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Utah vs. Navy
Utah vs. Navy
- The NoTex Rant Top 25
#25 - Missouri
#24 - Hawaii
#23 - Oklahoma St.
#22 - Alabama
#21 - Texas Tech
#20 - South Carolina
#19 - Boston College
#18 - Boise State
- #17 - Rutgers
Alright, Rutgers, what can you do for an encore?
The program arrived last year winning 11 games and its first bowl game in 137 years of existence, but now it has to prove it wasn't a fluke. With substantial momentum and a loaded team returning, there doesn't appear to be any slowing down. However, as many before have found out, winning when it's expected is a whole lot tougher than it is to sneak up on everyone.
On a foundational level, Rutgers is building brick by brick with Greg Schiano as its unflappable mason. His decision to remain in New Jersey by spurning Miami and blowing off Alabama resonated even louder than the team's Texas Bowl victory last December. He cast his vote regarding the future of the program and his commitment to it, and recruits, particularly those local blue-chippers that never used to consider the Knights, are beginning to pay attention.
Not that there needs to be a major youth movement. Almost 70 percent of the roster last season had three or more years of eligibility remaining, including the one really, really big star, running back Ray Rice, along with starting quarterback Mike Teel and just about the entire second unit, some of whom will be starters this fall. If Teel is better and is a bigger part of the offense, the team could go from tremendous to truly special.
If last year was the breakthrough, this season should be what cements the program as a power. The Scarlet Knights have the impetus and the returning talent on both sides of the ball to land a third straight bowl invitation, moving further from their dark days, while adding to the swelling masses of believers. There's still time to get on board the bandwagon.
What to watch for on offense... While Rice will continue to be the focal point, Teel, with a season of experience behind him, is about to get the training wheels taken off. The junior struggled mightily throughout most of 2006, but made noticeable strides late in the season and will be throwing to Kenny Britt, Tim Brown and Tiquan Underwood, a trio with enormous upside. Don't expect this to be Air Rutgers; Rice will be the offense with Teel along for the ride when things start to get tight.
What to watch to watch for on defense... Rice and Schiano gobbled up most of the headlines, but without the play of the Knights' no-name defense, 11 wins could have easily turned into seven. As a whole, the unit isn't big, but it is extremely quick and aggressive, which translates into takeaways while doing a surprisingly good job against the run. The soul of the group is undersized tackle Eric Foster, whose knack for penetrating into the backfield is contagious and tone-setting. Courtney Greene and Ron Girault, arguably the Big East's best safety combo, fill the lanes instantly in run defense and should be rocks in pass coverage.
The team will be far better if... Teel evolves into more than just the guy that hands the ball off to Rice. The defense, running game and special teams are in good shape, but unless the quarterback can get those exciting, young receivers involved in the offense, contending for a conference crown comes off the table.
The Schedule: The schedule can't be used as an excuse if the team doesn't build on last year's breakout campaign with South Florida, West Virginia and Pitt all coming to New Jersey. The non-conference schedule is more than manageable with four of the games at home and the only challenge of the four (no offense to Navy) to come against Maryland. The one non-Big East road game is at Army; a layup if the team's head is on straight. In all there are only four games: going to Syracuse, Connecticut and Army before finishing up the year at Louisville. In other words, 11-0 is possible before the showdown against the Cardinals.
Best Offensive Player: Junior RB Ray Rice. In a sublime 2006, Rice made the leap from nice player to national phenomenon, slashing through defenses for 1,794 yards and 20 touchdowns, while turning into the national face on one of the year's biggest stories. Even without breakaway speed, he's got the right mix of vision, balance and cutting ability to always crank out positive yards.
Best Defensive Player: Senior DT Eric Foster. After sitting out 2005 with a knee injury, Foster blossomed into the physical and emotional leader of an underrated defense. At only 6-2 and 260, the defensive captain relies on a sudden burst off the snap and tremendous athleticism to embarrass plodding linemen and hunt down opposing backs and quarterbacks for negative yards.
Key player to a successful season: Sophomore TE Craig McGovern. It'll either be McGovern, a Michigan State transfer, junior Kevin Brock, or redshirt freshmen Jessie Cisco and Jeff Minemyer, or a combination of the four, to replace three-time All-Big East star Clark Harris. All Harris did was catch 105 passes for 1,431 yards as the team's main safety valve. Now Mike Teel will have to find a new go-to guy in the clutch.
The season will be a success if ... Rutgers wins the Big East title and goes to the BCS. Last year was just a primer for what should be coming if everything works out as hoped. With South Florida, West Virginia and Pittsburgh all coming to Piscataway, only the season-ending showdown at Louisville should be able to screw things up if RU can hold serve at home. Schiano has built enough of a monster that beating the Cardinals can be expected, too.
Key game: Nov. 29 at Louisville. Of course, if the Scarlet Knights don't beat West Virginia, South Florida and Pitt, and the other Big East teams, the battle in Louisville won't mean nearly as much, but if they win the games they're likely going to be expected to, the late-November date could be for even more than just the conference championship.
2006 Fun Stats:
First half scoring: Rutgers 204 — Opponents 89
Sacks: Rutgers 41 for 259 yards — Opponents 8 for 62 yards
Average yards per carry: Rutgers 4.7 — Opponents 2.9
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Team Information
Head coach: Greg Schiano
7th year: 30-41
Returning Lettermen: 36
Lettermen Lost: 21
Ten Best Players
1. RB Ray Rice, Jr.
2. DT Eric Foster, Sr.
3. OT Pedro Sosa, Sr.
4. OT Jeremy Zuttah, Sr.
5. S Courtney Greene, Jr.
6. PK Jeremy Ito, Sr.
7. DE Jamaal Westerman, Jr.
8. S Ron Girault, Sr.
9. WR Kenny Britt, Soph.
10. LB Brandon Renkart, Sr.
2007 Schedule
Aug. 30 Buffalo
Sept. 7 Navy
Sept. 15 Norfolk State
Sept. 29 Maryland
Oct. 6 Cincinnati
Oct. 13 at Syracuse
Oct. 18 South Florida
Oct. 27 West Virginia
Nov. 3 at Connecticut
Nov. 9 at Army
Nov. 17 Pitt
Nov. 29 at Louisville
- And this is what makes the fall so great. The start of the football, hockey, basketball seasons, and baseball pennant races. St. Louis was left for dead a few months ago, SI even wrote an full research piece detailing just how far the World Series champs had fallen.
Now they're charging hard up the standings, only 3.5 games back of fading Milwaukee (Well).
With the Cardinals, Brewers, and Cubs all separated by 3.5 games in the NL Central, Detroit and Cleveland locked in a battle for the AL Central title, with Seattle only 3 back of the Angels, with the Yankees coming on strong after Boston, and the other divisions all within 3 games of 1st and 2nd place, this could be a great last 1.5 months of the season.
Watch out for the Champs....
Cards drop struggling Brewers for 4th straight W
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals' deal for Joel Pineiro didn't make much of a ripple at the trade deadline, but it's beginning to look like a key move that could help push the team back into contention in the National League Central.
Pineiro, who was acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on July 31, gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings as the Cardinals beat the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers 8-3 on Wednesday night.
"When your starting pitching is out there shutting guys down, everybody thinks, 'Hey, we've got something going here. We've got a chance to win,'" Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
Albert Pujols hit his 275th career home run and Scott Rolen had his ninth career four-hit game as the Cardinals closed to within 3½ games of the division-leading Brewers. St. Louis remains in third place in the NL Central but will go for a three-game sweep of Milwaukee on Thursday.
- Picks O'the day
Yesterday - 1-1
YTD - 114-94
1) LA Angels -120 - LAA is 15-7 in Escobar's starts and has a 1.71 ERA in his last 3 starts.
2) NYY -160 - Mussina is 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA in his last 3 starts. Detroit is tanking.
No comments:
Post a Comment