Dave Stewart Hopes To Leave Impact On Staff

A's great Dave Stewart accompanied the club's young pitchers on the field during Wednesday's first official spring workout. A familiar intensity remains, his mere presence often speaking louder than his gentle voice.

Oakland Official Site

Dave Duncan Enjoying Life Around Familiar Faces

Dave Duncan is back where he belongs.

Arizona Official Site

First-Place Dodgers Get A Boost From Dan Haren

The Dodgers have four starters with at least 12 wins for the first time since 1985, which means Dan Haren has been among their most successful fourth starters in decades.

Los Angeles Official Site

David Price Not Pitching Against Cardinals In Upcoming Series, Experimenting With Spilt-Changeup

It's intriguing that the Rays set up their rotation for David Price to not pitch this week against the Cardinals, who are among those interested (and have the prospects, led by OF Oscar Taveras).

Tampa Bay Times

1989 Athletics Champs Like Look Of Current A's

Could this be the A's team that gets back to the World Series? Members of the 1989 championship club believe so.

Oakland Official Site

How Cardinals Speedsters Rattled Bob Welch In 1985 NLCS

After losing the first two games of the 1985 National League Championship Series, the Cardinals could have been fazed by the prospect of facing Dodgers pitcher Bob Welch in Game 3. Welch had produced two complete-game wins against St. Louis in the regular season. A loss to him in the third game of the postseason series would push the Cardinals to the brink of elimination.

RetroSimba

Mark Whiten & Mike Easler On The Jim Edmonds & Tim McKernan Show 6-10-14

Inside STL

Bob Welch Dies At 57

The power pitcher who gained greater prominence because of a final-pitch strikeout in a World Series game than he did for a seminal season and winning a Cy Young Award has died. Bob Welch, forever linked to Reggie Jackson for the strikeout that ended Game 2 of the 1978 Series, died Monday night in Seal Beach, Calif., his legacy tied to two California teams.

Los Angeles Official Site

If Jamie Moyer Had Been Average In His 20s

If Jamie Moyer had been just a mediocre starting pitcher in his 20s, he would have presented a fascinating test case in the continuing debate about the worth of the won-loss record. Let me explain.

The Hardball Times

Jack Morris, Dave Stieb, & Most Wins/WAR Of the 1980s

We've all had "the talk" with one of our friends.

You know, the one where we tell them Jack Morris wasn't as good as they thought he was.

Beyond The Boxscore

Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa Are Legends At The Helm

Baseball is in a golden age for managers.

Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre enter this season with a combined 7,211 wins, making them three of the most successful managers in baseball history.

USA Today

Dave Duncan Proves Over Three Decades That He Is The 'Complete Pitching Coach'

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer stepped onto the field on a sunny Oakland morning nearly four decades ago and heard the crack of the bat.

Palm Beach Post

Checking The Numbers: Swinging Role Reversals

Last week, we took a look at swingmen, those pitchers that spend a decent amount of time in both the rotation and bullpen during the same season, doing so as a means of gauging the true expected performance differential when a pitcher shifts roles in either direction.

Baseball Prospectus

Dave Duncan On The Fastlane

101 ESPN

Cubs Should Try For Dave Duncan

Now that the Cubs have signed the supposed best hitting coach in baseball in Rudy Jarmillo, maybe they can start thinking really big and go after a coach who can make an even bigger difference: Cardinals pitching guru Dave Duncan.

Chicago Sun-Times

The Earthquake Series....20 Years Later

I can’t believe it has been 20 years… sometimes it seems like it was yesterday… sometimes it seems like it was 100 years ago.

Sully Baseball

Tony LaRussa On Chris Carpenter & Adam Wainwright

Tony La Russa was asked if he’d ever had a better feeling going into the postseason than he did this year with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright starting the first two games:

Cardinal Beat

Cardinals Not Planning To Play Hare In Race (Game Notes 8-26-09)

The Cardinals may have a healthy nine-game lead in the National League Central with a little more than a month to play, but that doesn't mean they are putting things on cruise control.
Cardinals Official Site

For Astros outfielder Hunter Pence, the adjustments continue.

Pence, who made his first All-Star Game this season, is working his way through a second half that has heretofore not been as stellar as his first, when he hit .298 with 11 homers and 47 RBIs prior to the All-Star break.
Astros Official Site

Top 20 Second-Half Flops: #11-20

I have always had an interest in baseball players who had terrific seasons that just went south on them after the All-Star break. I had poked around the internet for the last couple of years looking for someone who had written a piece on this topic but could never come up with anything.

The Hardball Times

For Tony LaRussa, It's Always About The Winning - Still

Twenty years later, Tony La Russa still has a unique connection with the 1989 A's.

SF Gate