Operation Dumbo Drop

"With Frankie? Are you kidding me?" Darin Erstad told a reporter Thursday late afternoon, when asked whether he was "irritated" after the drop heard ... well, up and down the West Coast to begin. "I'll never be irritated at that guy. He's a great player, a great person, a great teammate. You just feel for him. It's hard to explain."

As it happened, it was only slightly easier to explain than Erstad seemed willing to acknowledge on behalf of having his teammate's back. And his teammate did it for him. "I should have caught the ball, and I didn't, and it cost us the game," said Francisco Rodriguez, his half-marksman, half-cherub face bloated in shame. "It was a throw a 5-year-old could have caught. I'm embarrassed we lost a game like that, but what can you do? You have to get over it and get ready for the next game."

It almost seems a shame K-Rod can't make personnel decisions. In the wake of his most humiliating hour, in a career described as brilliant with some understatement, he showed more wisdom than evinced by higher authorities than he in the Angels' chain of command. Those authorities might begin to accept that they have allowed one very gaping flaw to creep into an otherwise sound team which had, until what one Orange County Register columnist called their come-from-ahead losses in Oakland, the best bullpen in the American League at least.

"Must," of course, is not synonymous with "will." Ask Mike Scioscia, customarily among the most acute of baseball seers, currently in danger of Operation Dumbo Drop. "I'd rather have the right-handed arms we have than the lefties that are available, and I'll stand by that," he told said columnist after the Drop Heard 'Round the Coast. "It's a valid argument about needing a left-hander, but where's the solution now?"

Where was Scioscia — and, for that matter, Bill Stoneman, the composed general manager — when the Boston Red Sox decided to stick a fork in Alan Embree and the Empire Emeritus took a flyer on the aging setup man? Very well, this one may come with a qualifier. About the only aging pitching the Yankees seem not to be scouting these days can be narrowed down to Mike Maddux, Atlee Hammaker, and Jon Matlack.

Where was Scioscia — and, for that matter, Stoneman — earlier this week, when the Chicago Cubs designated Mike Remlinger for assignment and the Red Sox slipped a little green through the waiver wire?

Where was Scioscia — and, for that matter, Stoneman — last winter, even better, when the same Red Sox were willing to let Mike Myers (left-handed opposition batting average in 2004: .189) walk as a free agent, but went whoops! in short enough order and dealt a couple of prospects to get him back?

Myers signed with the Cardinals December 22nd. The Angels could have swept him up in time enough and without having to deal a thing for him as the whoops! Sox ended up doing. Through the end of July, Myers has averaged 6.14 inherited baserunners per nine inheritance-possible innings pitched based on having had 29 inherited runners to work with, and he has a 4.39 stranded inherited runners average against a 1.75 inherited runs average.

Of course the second guess is a convenience, but allowing that it is reasonable to suspect that Mike Myers, spelling a less-than-full-power Brendan Donnelly to pitch to Eric Chavez Thursday afternoon, had at least a far better chance of not watching his best service take a game-tying flight to the right centerfield seats.

But it is also reasonable to suspect that Scioscia with his bullpen has begun straddling that very treacherous line between addictive confidence and flagrant abuse thereof. Clearly, the Angel bullpen has been either overworked, mis-worked, or pitching at less than peak efficiency since the All-Star Break. Just as clearly was there no pressing requirement to lift Ervin Santana Wednesday night, Santana having outpitched Barry Zito with less than his best repertoire, on a night Zito had his monstrous curveball breaking at better than peak power and showing its voluptuous self with telling frequency after Vladimir Guerrero hammered one of Zito's fastballs for a parabolic second-inning home run.

And there was almost as little pressing requirement to lift Paul Byrd Thursday afternoon, however many pitches Byrd had thrown through six, however many leadoff hitters the A's put on base, considering Byrd seemed to take such leadoff baserunners as calls to arms and the Angel defense had shaken off the stumbles of the first two games in the Oakland set.

Could Scioscia have been that surprised when Oakland manager Ken Macha, knowing Guerrero had not a Garret Anderson (knee tendonitis) hitting behind him for two games, walking Vlad the Impaler at any reasonable opportunity, even with two out and the bases empty late in the Thursday game?

Could Scioscia not have entertained even a momentary thought of moving Steve Finley up in the order Thursday? Finley has not entirely shaken off his summertime hitting miseries, it being reasonable to assume that a 40-year-old man does not recover a swing compromised by a foolishly played-through shoulder injury as swiftly as once he did. But he did shoot one off the right field foul pole screen in his final Wednesday night plate appearance and might have offered a minimum of the appearance of Guerrero protection.

As if to add to the prosecution's evidence, Finley on Thursday afternoon swung for a bases-loaded, two-run double into the right field corner off Oakland reliever Joe Kennedy in the top of the seventh, making the game 4-0, Angels.

Finley's Wednesday night screen shot might have proven the Angels' insurance had Scioscia, leading 2-1, not hooked Santana prematurely and gone to Scot Shields an inning earlier than Shields customarily arrives. Shields had not worked in five days and Jay Payton greeted him with a leadoff triple. A groundout later, Nick Swisher singled Payton home with the tying run. A base hit and a fly out later, Angel shortstop Orlando Cabrera — who is making the case of late that the Angels made a mistake letting David Eckstein walk — overran Mark Ellis's grounder into an RBI single. Then Sheilds hit the backstop with a wild pitch and Melhuse found a clear path across the plate.

The good news is that there are 49 games left to play, at this writing, and the Angels begin that schedule with a weekend in Seattle. The bad news comes in two parts. 1) When last they met, in Anaheim, over a month ago, the Mariners swept a four-game set. 2) Assuming the Angels recover from Thursday's thud and take the division once again, they could still square off with the Red Sox in a postseason set.

And, if and when they do, the Angels will spot that tapered enough, sidewhipping lefthander, aged but deadly accurate, coming in from the bullpen to let them know vividly enough that the ball they dropped between last November and December might prove to have been deadlier than the jaw Jason Kendall dropped for a split second before gunning home from third on the return-throw ball poor Francisco Rodriguez dropped.