Birds, Fish and other Baseball Observations

The Diamondbacks' walk of Barry Bonds with the bases loaded the other night was certainly a unique event. According to Rob Neyer of ESPN Sportszone, no major leaguer had been walked with the bases loaded in over 40 years - but, ironically, the intentional walk probably made a lot more sense in that situation than in most situations in which it is used. So it really shouldn't be considered controversial or questionable. Now, if anybody ever walks in the tying run with an intentional walk, that would be something! Bonds' May has been his best month in several years, by the way, but it's hardly been noticed in the shadow of McGwire mania.

Factoid of the month: The pitcher receiving the most run support in the National League is on the same team as the pitcher receiving the least run support. The former is Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park, who has received over nine runs of support per nine innings, while the latter is his teammate Hideo Nomo, who has received less than 2 1/2 runs of support per game. Make of that what you will.

The Orioles are being called the disappointment of the season by many sportswriters, but there's absolutely no reason anyone should be surprised by their downfall, which was predicted in this column and by other analysts of the game. The Orioles are an old team which spent the offseason weakening themselves, and with little help available in the upper minors, their fall over the next few years should be steep. Still, there's enough talent left here so that they should be able to finish as a .500 team this season.

I talked about the Marlins this winter as if they still had a shot at the wildcard. That was before they traded away Leiter, Sheffield, Bonilla, and Johnson. Now they're literally an AAA team, if that. Still, Dave Dombrowski has done an outstanding job assembling young talent with his trades despite the corner he was backed into, and if the team can get its ownership situation together, there's a lot of talent to build a future on. If a future for major league baseball in Miami is possible after this fiasco, because the fans may never come back.

Mike Piazza ended up with the right team for him in the Mets. But the Todd Hundley situation isn't close to being resolved, and whether Piazza is worth the money he's demanding is an open question for the Mets. Piazza has been the best offensive catcher in major league history the past five years, and his defense is not as bad as advertised. But it's hard to believe he's going to hold up under the punishment of catching for the next five years, and he's simply not as valuable if he doesn't catch.

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