Redefining relief pitching
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ST. LOUIS -- Tony La Russa was the manager of the Oakland A&#39;s almost two decades ago when he helped revolutionize baseball. La Russa and his pitching coach, Dave Duncan, took a washed-up starting pitcher, Dennis
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The market for over-40 pitchers will likely be enticing for teams looking to add the final piece to the rotation this offseason. After all, there will be no top-of-the-rotation starters available (short of Andy Pettitte leaving the Yankees), unless you consider Carlos Silva or Kyle Lohse of that ilk (and if you do, you probably won't be employed as a ...
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The New York Yankees' struggling starting pitchers are beginning to put it together -- just in time for the big weekend series against the Red Sox.
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Whaddya think? Let him close tonight? He threw only 99 pitches and he was still pumping high-octane gas at the end. Curt Schilling might be good for a batter or two in a pinch tonight.
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There are progressions that must continue in Josh Beckett's game. Last season, he went over the 200-inning hump for the first time. He faced American League hitters for the first time and realized how much tougher the lineups with a DH can be.
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Poor relief pitching plagued the Yankees Friday, as the bullpen gave up three runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth.
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The star starter and the key reliever for the Mets may seem to have little in common, but both are seeking to defy expectations.
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Julian Tavarez&#39;s 2-2 slider to Carlos Beltran was theoretically a good pitch Sunday afternoon. It was low, outside and traveling 81 miles per hour.
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A little extra work between starts helped Steve Trachsel pitch an unusual complete game.
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It's a relatively recent story, and a familiar one. The Red Sox had two big sluggers in the middle of their lineup -- one a lefthanded hitter, the other a righty, both .300 hitters, one a former MVP, one who would soon be named one. They were the linchpins of a Sox team that had high hopes of playing deep ...
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NEW YORK -- Seventh games are postseason baseball&#39;s mother lode. When you hit on one of those babies, you&#39;ve hit on something big.
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Jeremy Bonderman went to the mound planning to just throw the ball without thinking. That approach worked wonders against the Chicago White Sox.
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When Ichiro Suzuki is batting, he is a walking, swinging nightmare for pitchers. He is batting .353 with 6 homers, 58 runs batted in and 37 stolen bases before Tuesday nightâs game.
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In most sports, there are athletes built for the long haul, and those who dazzle in quick, mercurial bursts. Track and field has distance specialists and sprinters. Baseball has starting pitchers, setup men, and closers. Based on anecdotal evidence collected from 40-odd years immersed in sports literature, I suspect sportswriters fall into roughly the same categories. Like the starting pitcher who is awkwardly relegated to the bullpen, some writers aren't a great fit for every project. Lars Anderson, author of "Carlisle vs. Army," is a case in point.
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The Oakland Athletics thrive on offense when Eric Chavez is hitting. He is finally beginning to feel like himself again at the plate following a frustrating month in which his troublesome forearms have hindered his swing.
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A reliever in the Cleveland Indiansâ system set up a Web site through which fans could purchase a piece of his future major league earnings.
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The next few weeks will decide whether Joe TorreÂs batting order was a master psychological ploy or merely a clubhouse version of pin-the-tail-on-the-cleanup-hitter.