The Cards were in Fort Myers this past Tuesday to play the Twins and I snagged a third row box seat behind home plate. The joy was watching Johan Santana pitch up close and personal. As a former catcher who never caught anyone who threw above the low-80s, I am in awe of guys like Santana – terrific velocity and phenomenal control down in the strike zone. It reminded me of 1991 when I got to stand ten feet behind the catcher while Jack Morris was warming up.
Santana is a minor god on the mound. When he went two strikes on Chris Duncan you knew what was coming and it was just cruel. A vicious change left Duncan looking like a Little Leaguer. He never had a chance.
Other thoughts:
Wells looked very smooth in his three innings of work. I was not expecting a pitcher who seemed so in command and comfortable.
Rincon gave up a couple of runs. The rest were surrendered by guys who aren’t projected to be on the staff. In particular, I saw that Hawkesworth was designated for assignment today. He punched his ticket to Memphis on Tuesday. He was not sharp. Everything was up in the zone and the Twins smoked several line drives off of him in his single inning of work.
Our previous subject of ridicule, Tagg Bozied, beat the piss out of the ball. He was 1-4 and the hit was among his weakest swings. He took Santana 400-plus feet down the left field line, hooking just foul. It was a mammoth shot, especially from my perspective just behind home. Still, it was his second hardest hit ball of the day. Later in the game I had switched around to a seat along the third base line and Bozied CRUSHED a liner that nearly tore the third baseman’s glove off.
Molina also put his cannon on display, gunning down a runner at second. His release and velocity from behind the plate are inversely proportional to his release and velocity on the basepaths, which he demonstrated in one of the most impressive slow motion first-to-third scampers I’ve ever seen.
Finally, Electric Boogaloo. One of the joys of Spring Training is sitting next to a fan with knowledge of baseball history. The gentleman next to me was originally from Cleveland. When the subject of the 1970s Cleveland Indians came up, on cue, we both said, “Oscar Gamble!” You can't buy moments like that.
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