Rangers - Haselman, 441, 313

Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 08:29:30 -0500
Reply-To: Texas Rangers MLB Discussion <RANGERS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU>
Sender: Texas Rangers MLB Discussion <RANGERS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU>
From: Beau Sharbrough <beau@SHARBROUGH.NET>
Subject: Haselman, 441, 313

Hello to the list,

I come today to praise Bill Haselman. Maybe the 200 innings he's caught this season are statistically a fluke. Maybe his hitting is a fluke. Still, the DaMN leads me to believe that he is having a big influence on young pitchers, and for some reason that I don't understand, the Rangers need it.

That's not an attempt at a joke. Here's what I mean. In the first inning, three Royals hitters pulled the ball down the left field line for a double. In each case, the fleet footed FrankCat was nowhere close to the ball. When I see an outfielder that far from a batted ball, I assume that the pitcher lacks command, missed the target by a foot.

I have a few other assumptions behind that. I assume that there were meetings before the game where it was agreed how the Rangers want to handle the hitters. I don't know why I assumed this, but I always thought that there was a coach present. I realize that is an assumption, I've never been to a pregame meeting. I also assume that someone communicates that to the infielders and outfielders. If we plan to pitch a guy away, we may not want to play him to pull, that kind of thing. I'm not suggesting that we want to tip the pitches by moving them around, but that we indicate a general expectation of where the ball will be batted and that this expectation is influenced by where the ball is pitched.

Having voiced those assumptions, you can see what went through my mind during the first inning. FrankCat was way off the line, but the ball was being hit right down it. That makes me think that Davis was missing, that the plan was to pitch those hitters away.

Enough preamble, you say, what about Haselman? Today's paper says that Davis was shelled in KC and in the first inning because he relied on a cut fastball on the fists to righties. They camped on it in KC and they came out camped on it last night. After the first inning, in the dugout, Haselman suggested to Davis that they go to the cutter away. Davis agreed, saying he just "nods and hits the glove." The KC hitters never made the adjustment very well, and Davis only gave up three more singles.

So why praise Bill Haselman? Here's a guy who has ridden the pine since he got here, except when Pudge has been hurt. Somehow, he's managed to remain ready to play big-league ball, and ready to help. I don't wish any unhappiness to Pudge, and I want him somewhere on this Rangers team. But Bill here has a catcher's ERA of 4.41 (according to the USA today site, the team era for the season is 5.57, for 1253 innings) for just over 200 innings, and is hitting 313 to boot. He says that playing every day is getting his timing back.

The team ERA with Haselman catching last year, according to the MLB site, was 4.95. I don't know what the Rangers team ERA was. I use it to suggest that things are different in Arlington today. On 1 May, we didn't see everyday production from Young, Lamb, Catalanotto, Sierra or Haselman. We didn't see Moreno, Kolb, Davis, Bell or Myette pitching.

I like what I see on the field these days, and I like what I hear about the way that Bill Haselman works with the young pitchers. I don't expect Bill to be a big part of the 2003 Ranger team, the one that contends for the World Series, but I think he is making a contribution today. He's showing our young pitchers that working with a catcher can make them better. I hope that the expectation of the players, coaches and manager is that catchers continue to do that here in Texas.

Schedule conflict? Did you see that the Angels team doctor, Lewis Yoacum or some similar spelling, won't be at Pudge's knee operation because of a schedule conflict? I'm trying to imagine that phone conversation. "How about Tuesday?" "Busy." "A week after that? This isn't life threatening." "Busy." "Some other day before the 30th?" "Busy." There aren't many other scenarios that would prevent this from happening. Do you think they would let the List Group assist?

Beau Sharbrough