Sunday, April 14, 2002
MLB chatter
Enquirer staff and news services
A cold one at Miller Park — The heating system at $400 million Miller Park in Milwaukee is only strong enough to warm the air inside 30 degrees above the outside temperature. So when the Brewers opened at home last week, there were pockets in the ballpark where the air was less than 40 degrees, making for frigid conditions for both the players and paying customers.
“This is a nice ballpark and all, don't get me wrong,” said visiting pitcher Randy Johnson. “But I don't know who's paying the heating bill. If we come in here again, I'll chip in a little bit.”
Road warriors
Because their interleague play will be against the NL Central this year, the Athletics are scheduled to travel a major league-high 52,000 miles this season. That includes 12 cross-country flights and translates into an estimated 132 hours in the air.
Pitcher switch
Aaron Sele left the Mariners and signed as a free agent with the Angels. Seattle signed James Baldwin to replace him. The two pitchers faced each other Wednesday and Baldwin was the clear winner. He gave up one run in seven innings and got the win in the 8-1 game. Sele gave up seven runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher.
Woe-for-6
Like the 1988 Orioles, the Tigers this week changed managers after an 0-6 start. But will firing Phil Garner make a difference? Remember, those O's lost 15 more in a row after Frank Robinson took over for Cal Ripken Sr.
Nothin' special
The Giants won their first six games. Barry Bonds hit five homers. San Francisco outscored the Dodgers and Padres by a combined score of 41-5. The five runs allowed tied an obscure record for the first six games of the season set by the 1915 Phillies. Yet second baseman Jeff Kent didn't seem to impressed. “This isn't a phenomenal week for us,” he shrugged. “It was a good week that showed the makeup of this ballclub. I expect things like this to happen often, because we're a good ballclub.”
Cheers
To the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sure, reality will catch up to them eventually. But it's nice to see a team that lost 100 games last season get off to such a good start.
“It's a lot of fun,” said catcher Jason Kendall. “We're playing good ball and the attitude is just so much better. The difference is amazing. Last year seems like such a long time ago. Winning is a cure-all for so many things.”
Jeers
To the Pro Player Stadium concessionaire. Even though Florida's ballpark was barely half full for the home opener, the food service ran out of hot dogs. In the fourth inning.
Stat corner
The Rockies had the smallest home crowds in franchise history back-to-back this week, 30,153 against Houston on Tuesday followed by 29,522 on Wednesday.
The Brewers drew 23,311 to Miller Park for Curt Schilling's start last Sunday, the fewest to attend a game in the two-year history of that facility.
The Marlins failed to sell out their home opener Monday for the first time in the 10-year history of the team. Only 23,877 tickets were sold.
Cleveland's Jacobs Field opened in 1994. The smallest crowd ever (23,760) showed up for Tuesday night's win over the Twins.
Only 22,781 were in Oriole Park at Camden Yards for Wednesday's game against the Devil Rays. That's the lowest attendance for a regularly scheduled game at the 10-year-old facility.
Hmmmmmm.
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