Travel/Preparation

ALBURQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO---Gray skies, mini snow flurries, and howling winds greeted the Aztecs as they arrived here for a critical three-game conference showdown with New Mexico.  The team (and it's announcer) flew in yesterday afternoon on Southwest, with a turbulent bumpy landing that led pitching coach Rusty Filter to rename our flight choice "Knuckleball Airlines", and led head coach Tony Gwynn to consider the merits of making the 11-hour drive instead of the 90-minute flight.  

The team immediately went from the airport to the University of New Mexico to stage a practice, using the team's half-astroturf, half-grass field.  Coach Gwynn placed a screen inside the batting cage, behind the plate, and then sat on a chair behind that screen, instructing his hitters not to hit the ball out of the park (not an easy feat, given the icy but blasting wind, mile-high conditions, and inviting fences).  Instead, the hitters were told just to work on their swings, the plane of the bat traveling through the strike zone, and hitting the ball the other way.  Trying not to do too much at the plate is a constant refrain from the coaching staff, pounding the message home to try and counter the natural, youthful tendency to pull and hook the ball in search of a homerun.  It was a good practice to help acclimatize the young kids into the thin air while also getting the blood flowing after a day of travel.  

What's there to do in Albuquerque?  Well, I'm sure there's something, but it doesn't exist around the team hotel.  The Drury is actually very nice, with a hot, free breakfast buffet and complimentary wings and drinks for Happy Hour.  It just happens to be in the middle of an industrial complex.  I asked the clerk at the front desk where the nearest sundry store was.  He told me it was "a block" down the street at a Chevron station.  1 mile+ later, I found it, after walking past dozens of empty office buildings.  Oh, and there's a Clear Channel radio multiplex across the street.  Yay, dark reminders!

This morning provided a fascinating glimpse into Coach Gwynn's teaching style.  The team bused to the Albuquerque Baseball Academy after breakfast, an indoor hitting facility.  After 7 or 8 rounds of BP, Gwynn huddled the team around a video monitor, where the Academy had frame-by-frame recordings of the swings of various MLB players.  

"Head behind the ball, head behind the ball," said Gwynn, "doesn't matter who you put up there (on the screen), you'll see their head is behind the ball."

Up popped Joe Mauer, A-Rod, Giambi, Soriano, Carlos Lee, and others.  Sure enough, at the point of contact, the head was always behind the ball, the arms were extended in the hitting V, the eyes were watching the ball into the hitting zone.

"Look at the bat plane through the zone now," as the next frames clicked into place.  "Flat.  Flat.  Flat.  Look at the knob of the bat.  The knob of the bat goes to the ball, the barrel follows.  Watch."

The video of A-Rod would back up two frames, and there it was.  The knob, then the bat barrel.  

Next, Gwynn asked the video tech to put up some different players.  Derrek Lee, bad bat plane, rolling over on a fastball and hitting a grounder to third.  

"See?  That's the bad, low bat plane I get on you guys about, and look at the result."

Then, the video tech had to smile at the next group of hitters Gwynn asked to see on the screen.  The tech said, "nobody's asked us to look at the David Eckstein video before!"

But there was little Eck, with the Cards, taking (as Gwynn put it) "97-mile-an-hour cheddar" to right field.

"Here's a Punch and Judy guy, but look again.  Head behind the ball, he's choking up on the bat, but the bat plane is flat, and he takes that pitch (a Bartolo Colon fastball) on a line into right field."

I've always heard about Gwynn's exploits as "Captain Video", but to watch it in person as a lesson imparted to his hitters was fascinating for a seam-head like me.  

The last message delivered to the team was one of focus, heightened awareness, staying on the little things that lead to success, and trusting your ability.  I don't know what SDSU's results will be this weekend in New Mexico.  I do know that they are ready to play.  Catch all the action on goaztecs.com, I'll have the call at 5pm (Pacific Time) tonight and tomorrow, and 11am on Sunday.  

On the Road with SDSU Baseball

I join you from my hotel room in Las Vegas, feeling just about the way most people feel the 3rd day they wake up in this town: worn out and dehydrated.  There is something about Sin City, between the dry, desert air, and that bizarre smoky-yet-not inner casino air, that just sucks the moisture right out of you.  But enough about me.  As Tony Gwynn said on the bus last night, this is a business trip, and the Aztecs have taken care of business so far, winning last night's opener against UNLV by a 15-4 count at windswept Earl Wilson Stadium.

As the bus pulled up to the stadium yesterday, the flags atop the press box almost served as a taunt as well as a warning: Abandon Hope, All Ye Pitchers Who Enter Here.  The three flags were starched in the 35+ MPH breeze, all three pointing directly out from home plate to center field.  The tiny flags circling the outfield fence all seemed to be pointing directly out, no matter which field you looked at.  Any contact that got up in the air was going to be trouble.  The Aztecs' counter-offer was a pitcher who doesn't allow much contact, Stephen Strasburg.  

Strassy wasn't bad by any means last night, but he wasn't in supreme command either.  The Rebels touched him up for 7 hits in 6 innings, but Strasburg still struck out 13, walked only one, and held UNLV to one run.  His fastball was getting hit a little bit, so Stephen relied on the slider to help him through.  It also looked like his mechanics were a bit off, as Strasburg was getting out in front and yanking some pitches way off the plate.  But in the end UNLV was still no match for college baseball's best.  

It was on offense where the Aztecs made the most headway on Thursday, with the bottom of their order erupting to score seven runs.  Easton Gust and Ryan O'Sullivan not only had three hit nights, but both used the whole field and played their best offensive games of the season.  O'Sullivan is the kid this SDSU coaching staff would love to get going with the bat, and he looked sharp last night, hitting an outside fastball to right-center for a double before pulling a single in his next plate appearance.  

Erik Castro continues to maul opposing pitchers.  He got a fat pitch in the middle innings and absolutely lost it in the night, blasting a three-run homer that simply disappeared.  I can't tell you if it was wind-aided or not.  The ball might have just vaporized.  Pat Colwell and Brandon Decker also continued their fine table-setting, with both extending their hitting streaks, to 11 and 13 games respectively.  

Today the Aztecs went right back to UNLV for batting practice, and they will play game two of the weekend series tonight at 7pm on www.goaztecs.com.  Jon Berger, the changeup specialist, gets the ball against UNLV freshman Tanner Peters.  Berger struck out 10 over 8 innings, allowing just one run in his first matchup with the Rebels this year.  He will be tested by the conditions today without question.  Last year SDSU and UNLV played an 18-16 game here...but as long as the Aztecs keep putting up the big run totals, their pitching staff should have enough to at least limit the windswept damage against an overmatched Rebels squad.  

Aztecs take 3 of 4 from UC Davis

While you never feel great about losing to a 4-21 team, taking three out of four in a weekend series is never a bad thing.  The Aztecs showed great promise at the plate in the first two games, but struggled in the final two, overswinging at times and reverting to some old habits.  Erik Castro continued his amazing hitting tear, and other than a poor start from Nate Solow on Sunday, the pitching staff was outstanding as usual.  

The biggest bugaboo for the '09 Aztecs has been the ability to shrug off a poor defensive play.  SDSU is 2nd in the conference in fielding percentage, but it seems that they let their defensive miscues turn into big innings more often than not.  That was the case yesterday, as one pitch after Pat Colwell broke the wrong way on a flyball and turned it into a two-out bloop single, Solow grooved a fastball for a three-run homer.  

At 22-11, the Aztecs now face four games on the road this week, tomorrow at Long Beach State and Thu-Sat at UNLV.  

UPDATE: Baseball America moved the Aztecs UP in the rankings to #18 this week.

Highlights, courtesy of Scott Horvath and Goaztecs.com:

Game 1: 14-0 SDSU at Petco Park

Game 2: 9-5 SDSU at TGS

Game 3: 5-3 SDSU

Game 4: 6-5 UCD

How To Ruin Your Own Column

...in three easy steps.

1) Start with a predetermined conclusion

2) Make the boldest possible statement

3) Disprove it yourself within three paragraphs.

I give you Thomas Boswell, dismissing Stephen Strasburg in the Washington Post.

Thomas starts with a discussion that in the abstract is both worthy and interesting.  Is there any historical value in taking a pitcher #1 in the MLB amateur draft?  What's the historic success rate of pitchers #1 vs. hitters #1?  

Well, Thomas has already decided.  The answer is hitter, and he's sure of it.

"History is unequivocal. Strasburg, no matter how much he dominates college hitters, will probably either be a .500 pitcher with a 150-150 record, or he'll be a bust."

And he's going to go a step further: picking a pitcher #1 has never worked EVER.

"Nobody -- n-o-b-o-d-y -- has used a No. 1 overall pick on a pitcher and been glad they did it. Thirteen teams have tried it since the draft began in 1965. Nine have gotten egg on their faces. The lucky four got Andy Benes (155-139), Tim Belcher (146-140), Mike Moore (161-176) and Floyd Bannister (134-143). No Hall of Famers. Just a bunch of guys who could throw a ball through a wall when they were young but never became great."

OK, so the very best #1 pitcher ever taken in the draft was Andy Benes.  Got it?  As Boswell continues to hammer the point home, oops!  The back door swings open, and in creeps the guy he doesn't want to talk about.

"The only reliever of note: ex-Oriole Gregg Olson. Josh Beckett (89-62) may end up high on the list eventually."

There he is, after Boswell has already gone through starters and down to relievers.  Josh Beckett.  Who?  Oh yeah, the former #1 pick of the Florida Marlins, who went on to lead the Marlins to the 2003 World Series, and was named MVP, and pitched the clincher at Yankee Stadium.  And then, was moved on to the Red Sox in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, a franchise shortstop who is a Marlins All-Star right now.  And in Boston, Beckett won another World Series.

I guess he's a n-o-b-o-d-y.  Oh, and then there's David Price.  Do the Rays regret that pick too?

What really irritates me about this style of arrogant writing is that he started with a decent idea, and makes a decent point in one section of the column.  But he totally loses me with his dismissive attitude toward facts that don't please his thesis.  I've been to every Strasburg start this year, and EVERY time I've had the chance to see a gun he's been 97-98-99 with a slider that can be 84 or up to 93.  Oh, but the time Boswell saw him HE saw 93-97 so everyone else must be full of it.  

Now, is he right about not paying mid-career prices for the formative years of a pitcher?  Maybe.   But who is the real-life hitter who Boswell thinks the Nats should take instead of Strasburg?

Oops again.  Leaves that part out.  But he does tantalize his Post readers with Chipper-ARod-Strawberry-Griffey-Mauer.  Not that there is anyone like that necessarily in this year's draft, or even an obvious #2 pick behind Strasburg.  Nope, just take a hitter, because I saw Ben McDonald and he was a bust, and this guy's gonna be a bust too. 

Ivory tower writing, rife with the assumption that the reader will just sleepwalk through his list without noticing the gems he's trying to cover up with soil.  
Late add: here is Rob Neyer writing a similar column, but MUCH better.  Note how he just lets the facts tell the story.  His discussion of Ben McDonald's a little different from Boswell's, isn't it?