And They Get Older

Weekly Tejada Trade Update:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	OPS
Tejada	71	11	22	5	1	3	13	4	.886
Scott	61	6	22	9	0	1	8	9	1.000

	G	IP	W	L	K	ERA	WHIP
Albers	6	13.1	2	0	9	0.68	0.687
Sarfate	8	8.0	2	1	11	6.75	1.625

New Stat this week: YAABYUICLA (Years Added to Age Because You’re Under Investigation and Can’t Lie Anymore)

Scott: 0

Albers: 0

Sarfate: 0

Tejada: 2

A good week on the field for Tejada. Not his finest week off the field. Albers made a couple of scoreless relief appearances and Luke Scott had a couple of big hits during Orioles wins over the Yankees and White Sox. Sarfate had a second straight rough week. His strikeout total is still looking good, but, the strike zone is eluding him far too often.

“Runners whom renown outran and the name died before the man…”

When did I get old? The young stars from my formative years are being put out to pasture. Mike Piazza is unemployed. Ryan Klesko was unemployed until he announced his retirement on Wednesday. Randy Johnson got smacked around today in his second start since his return from the DL. Mike Mussina can’t get anybody out. Hideo Nomo was waived today by the lowly Royals. And, most incomprehensible, Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas got his walking papers today from the Blue Jays. It was a rough week for mid-1990’s superstars.

This is probably it for Nomo. He wasn’t the first Japanese-born player to arrive in North America, but, he was the first imported star from Asia to turn into a huge hit in MLB. In his wake came some true superstars (Ichiro, Daisuke, Fukadome), some really solid talent (Wang, Matsui, Okajima) and one absolute bust (Hideki Irabu) who was so bad that he even got a shout out in a rant during the disappointing final episode of Seinfeld. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Nomo was something above a mere-mortal when he first came to the majors. His wind-up was, by a long shot, the most-imitated during little league warm-ups. I prided myself on doing a particularly good Nomo imitation.

The talking heads seem to think that today’s action by Toronto does not mean that Frank Thomas is done for good. He is still a respected Designated Hitter/Pinch Hitter. He can still hit the ball hard enough and often enough to have a spot on a major league roster. For the decade of the 90s, Thomas was one of the most feared hitters in the majors. Before their was “Big Papi” there was “The Big Hurt.” I cringed every time he swung when playing against the Orioles. He was larger than life. His arms seemed twice the thickness of my legs. Thomas even had his own video game: “Big Hurt Baseball.” He did a Reebok commercial in which he famously stated “When I slide into home, it’s like two trains colliding. I’m the Big Train.” Somehow, a player who was so big and so good ought to stay young forever.

On August 4, 1991, Mike Mussina made his major league debut for the struggling Baltimore Orioles. He pitched great but lost a 1-0 decision to the Chicago White Sox. His 1 big mistake, an RBI Double by Frank Thomas. By 1992, both men were bona fide stars. Both would appaear on any respectable list of the “Team of the 90s.” As the end nears, Mussina most likely will remain well outside the Hall of Fame debate. Thomas will merit serious consideration. Nomo and Klesko will likely land on a ballot for 1 year, provide fans 5 years from now with a quick moment of nostalgia, and then officially move into the land of distant memories. Randy Johnson? Well, we’ll see. No one really knows how this era’s pitchers will be treated by Hall of Fame voters.