Big night keeps Bay on a roll
Few major leaguers ever drive in eight runs in a game. Jason Bay has already done it twice — and he’s still a rookie.
The 25-year-old outfielder who attended North Idaho College and Gonzaga University is giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a much-needed dash of hope as they try to avoid their 12th consecutive losing season.
Bay, making a push to become the first Pirates player to win the N.L. Rookie of the Year award, had nine RBIs as Pittsburgh swept a doubleheader from the Brewers on Friday night. He had a sacrifice fly in an 8-1 opening victory, then hit three two-run doubles and a two-run homer in a 13-2 decision in the second game.
Coincidentally, it was also during a Friday night doubleheader Sept. 19 that Bay had his first eight-RBI game, barely a month after he joined the Pirates following the trade that sent star outfielder Brian Giles to San Diego.
He became the first Pittsburgh player to knock in eight runs since Ralph Kiner in 1950.
“I thought I had kind of set the bar high last year,” Bay said. “I thought that would be safe for a while.”
So did manager Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, who called Bay’s repeat performance “pretty impressive … pretty amazing.”
Jim Spencer was the last major league player to have two eight-RBI games in so short a span, doing so twice in two months in 1977.
Monetary reasons have forced the Pirates to make some uneven trades in recent seasons — such as Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs — but they are starting to get some payback for the deal that sent Giles to San Diego for Bay and promising young pitcher Oliver Perez.
Bay is coming on with a rush after missing more than a month at the start of the season following shoulder surgery. Going into Saturday night’s game, he was hitting .299 with 10 homers and 34 RBIs in only 134 at-bats. He was leading N.L. rookies in homers, slugging percentage (.619) and on-base percentage (.364), and was chosen N.L. rookie of the month in June.
Friday night’s outburst gave Bay, a former youth hockey player from British Columbia, a .367 average with seven homers and 22 RBIs in his last 15 games.
Angels pondering name change
Arte Moreno invaded Los Angeles last winter, selling the Angels as “L.A.’s Team” on television commercials and as “The A Team” on billboards and buses along Wilshire Boulevard and Ventura Boulevard. The Dodgers offered no resistance, all but paralyzed by a protracted ownership transition.
Now, as Frank McCourt and his new Dodgers management team prepare for their first winter marketing campaign, the Angels owner might fire another shot at the Dodgers. After stripping “Anaheim” from the team’s uniforms, schedules, tickets and website last fall, Moreno might reclaim the original franchise name and call his team the Los Angeles Angels.
Moreno has discussed the possible change with Commissioner Bud Selig, according to a high-ranking baseball official. Moreno declined to comment, as did Selig. If Moreno decides to proceed, McCourt is powerless to stop him. The city of Anaheim, however, might not be.
In the spring, after watching the word “Anaheim” virtually disappear at Angel Stadium, the city sent a letter to Moreno, reminding him the stadium lease requires the team to be called the Anaheim Angels. The city attached that stipulation to its $30-million contribution toward the 1997 stadium renovation.
Foulke puts away patriotic hat
The flag flap is over for Keith Foulke.
After a personal letter from commissioner Bud Selig, plus talks between the players’ union and baseball management as the Fourth of July approached, Foulke reluctantly packed away his Boston cap that featured a patch of the American flag.
“I still think I should be able to wear it,” the Red Sox reliever said this week at Yankee Stadium. “But I don’t want to do anything that would cost the team.”
Foulke was the only player in the majors with his own such hat. The son of a U.S. Air Force man, he wore it most of the season to show his support for the American troops in Iraq.
Hollandsworth on DL
Todd Hollandsworth, who’s been a valuable spot starter, backup and pinch-hitter for the Cubs, was put on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised right shin.
Hollandsworth fouled a ball off his shin last Sunday against the White Sox and has been bothered by nerve problems in his right leg.
He was batting .318 with eight homers and 22 RBIs.