Comebacks are not only a wonderful part of baseball, but of life as well. I always like to root for the underdog, or somone who is going through a rough stretch. It's about hope. In keeping with that idea, every year there is a player from either league who is voted to be the Comeback Player of the Year. These are individuals who have had success in the past, but have struggled to repeat that success since. The award is given to acknowledge the fact that these men have returned to their productive ways. Of course it is way too early in the 2010 season to doll out any awards, but there are a few guys who have had such great starts to this season, that we should take some time to evaluate their resurgences.
I'm sure there are some players I will unintentionally overlook, but it's early in the season, and there are some particular performances that happened to catch my attention more than others. So without further ado, let's do some praising.
First off, there is San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito. When it comes to past success, you can't do much better than winning a Cy Young award. In 2002, Zito cemented his place in history by winning 23 games and losing only 5. While posting a meager 2.75 ERA and striking out 182, Zito dominated the American League with his devastating curveball. This signiture pitch dropped like a dead duck, and fooled some of the best hitters in the A.L. But eventually hitters caught up to it, and/or Zito lost his effectiveness, because the bulk of his remaning years in Oakland were not quite as good. He signed an exorbinant contract in 2007 with the Giants, but hasn't posted a winning record with the club yet. Many baseball appreciatives, myself included, have looked upon this as one of the worst free-agent signings of all-time.
But Zito is trying to put those complaints to rest this year. So far in 2010, the lefty has gone 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA and has struck out more batters than hits he has allowed. Whether his pitches are sharper, or whether he's just having a lucky run, I couldn't tell you. I haven't had the pleasure of watching him pitch yet this season. But if Zito continues to post these kinds of numbers for a full season, he could silence a lot of naysayers about that contract of his. Until next year, at least.
Another player having a comeback year is in the same division. Second-baseman Kelly Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks is off to a blazingly hot start. Kelly made his way through the Atlanta minors and had a cup of coffee with the Braves in 2005. Then took his place as an everyday guy from '07 onward. During that stretch he proved to be a guy who could hit for a decent average, belt about 15 homers and steal about 10 bags a year, while putting up a solid OBP. But in 2009 his numbers took a dive, and thus, so did his playing time, until the Bravos decided to part ways with the young man this off-season. The Diamondbacks perhaps saw a (cough)diamond(cough) in the rough with Johnson and gave him a shot. And all he's done to repay them this year is smack eight homeruns, drive in 15 runs and have a .393 OBP. These numbers will obviously level out, but Johnson has the potential to hit 20+ homers for a season, and if he can keep that on-base percentage high, he could score 80-90 runs again, like he did in '07, '08. Great job Kelly.
One more player that deserves some hype is Vernon Wells. Like Zito, Wells is in the midst of a contract that he is not earning. Until this season anyway. Vernon is an anomoly of sorts. He hit 33 homers one year, 23 the next, then back up, then down. Same with his average. He hit .317 in 2003, then hit .272 the following year. He seemed like a player that could never put everything together in one neat little package. But this year Vernon is bidding to put the Toronto Bluejays on his side for good. So far Wells is hitting .333 with a .398 OBP. He has 7 HRs and 14 RBIs and 11 doubles, which is already half of his entire 2008 doubles total. Vernon might never quite live up to his contract, but he's helping the team win, and in the end, that's what it's really all about.
Just a quick note on a few other players having great starts. Andy Petitte will go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, but rarely has he gotten off to a hotter start to begin a season. He's 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA. Not bad for a 38 year-old. First-baseman Paul Konerko of the White Sox has 8 dingers and 14 RBIs. Nice job Pauly. But perhaps most extraordinary case is that of Livian Hernandez. Hernandez is pitching for the Nationals, and doing things he's probably never done before. Livian is 3-1 in 2010, but his ERA is a microscopic 0.87. And his WHIP (which stands for Walks + Hits in Innings Pitched) is just 0.871. This means that less than one person is reaching base on average. That leads to wins. But of all the players that are having great years so far, I think Livian will be the most likely to come back to Earth, and relatively soon. Livian is a crafty pitcher and knows how to win, but these numbers are unsustainable, even for an elite pitcher in his prime. So, enjoy your resurgence Livian and others. Comebacks are great, but they do mean you were just losing.
Thanks www.baseball-reference.com for the stats.
Thanks www.bayareasportsguy.com for the pic.
P.S. If you are ever wondering who the legal owner of any of the past pictures I've used is, just click on it, and it will show you their URL. I'm writing this in hopes that I don't one day get sued. Thanks.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Tall and the Beautiful
I love baseball. I love everything about it. Just mention the word "baseball" around me, and I smile like a five-year-old getting money from a grandparent. I especially love baseball trivia, though. But as I have mentioned before, there is a lot about baseball I don't know. So when my good friend sent me an email with a baseball question, I was giddy. Then I read it and realized I was going to get it wrong.
The question was: Who are the only four switch-hitters in major league history with as many as eight seasons with 25 or more home runs? This is a pretty extraordinary feat. Switch-hitting, meaning you can hit from both sides of the plate, is not that common. Maybe every team has one or two swith-hitters throughout a season of play, but rarely do these players hit for much power from either one or both sides.
However, I do know something about the game of baseball, so I knew one of them had to be Yankee legend Mickey Mantle. The man could mash obviously, but he did it from both sides of the plate. Mantle actually hit over 25 homeruns for nine years in a row, from 1954 until 1962, and had a totally of ten years of at least 25 dingers. He hit 373 HRs right-handed and 163 HRs left-handed. But sadly, that is where my correctness ended.
My second guess was current Yankee first-baseman Mark Teixiera. I knew Mark was a switch-hitter, and that he has a great power bat, so I took a chance and guessed he's had eight seasons of 25 or more HRs. But I was off by one. He has had only seven so far, but could eventually join this prestigious club, and soon. Tex is off to an obismal beginning to this season, but he is notorious like B.I.G. for having slow starts. I have no doubt that Tex will join this club sooner rather than later.
So I was one for two so far, but I had no idea who else could've been in this group. I'll admit that I didn't think too long or hard about it, but I knew I didn't know the answer. I figured the players I missed were from a much earlier time, and probably people I hadn't learned about yet. But, again, I was wrong. Two other members of this illustrious quartet are still playing today, which made me feel even more dumb. Yes, more dumb.
Larry "Chipper" Jones, third-baseman for the Atlanta Braves has 428 career homeruns thus far, and he is a swith-hitter. Now, Chipper has never had 25 or more homeruns in eight straight seasons, but that's not what the questions asked. Like Mantle, Jones has had ten seasons of 25 or more. I should've known this one because Jones is often the scourge of the New York Mets, and I've been privvy to Larry smacking my team around for almost two decades now. But alas, this vital information escaped me when I needed it.
Lance Berkman, is also a switch-hitter, which I know. But I never would've guessed he was part of this club, mainly because he's always injured. That is more of a recent occurence with Berkman, though, but it clouded my better judgement nonetheless. And despite injuries, Fat Elvis still hit 25 last year in 2009. He has two years of just 25 homers, and meets the minium with 8 years, but he's on there, and that's no small achievement. If Berkman can stay healthy for a few more years, he's likely to had to these numbers considerably.
The fourth and final member of this group, I never would've guessed. He came from a time before my current player knowledge, and undeservedly fades into the background of some of the great names of the recent past. Eddie Murray, leads all members of this club with 12 seasons of 25 or more homeruns. The 1977 Rookie of the Year was a staple of Baltimore Oriole greatness, pounding the ball alongside Cal Ripken Jr. Steady Eddie, maybe one of the most accurate nicknames of all time, was a consistent hitter, day-in, and day-out. Sidenote, Eddie Murray only wore the number 33 while playing for five different teams.
Just so you know, this friend that sent the trivia my way, missed only Chipper Jones. I, on the other hand, batted a meager .250 on this question, getting only one right answer. If Teixiera gets 25 this year, I'll at least be 2 for 5 then. That's a little more respectable. And speaking of this friend, I now own one of his distant relatives. Let me explain.
I get a lot of information off of www.baseball-reference.com, as you can tell. And each player has a page that you can sponsor. After careful deliberation, I decided to sponsor the page of Joe Altobelli. The other Joltin' Joe wasn't too Joltin' though. He played only 166 games for both the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.
Joe Altobelli was a great manager, though. As a minor league coach, his teams went a combined 870-670 over 12 years, including 4 league titles. In the major leagues he managed the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles and even the Chicago Cubs for one game. His most crowning achievement though came in 1983, when he led the Orioles to a World Series title. If you don't believe me, go take a look, and enjoy the rest of the site while you're at it. And then come on back here, so we can have more good times. Dy-no-mite!
The question was: Who are the only four switch-hitters in major league history with as many as eight seasons with 25 or more home runs? This is a pretty extraordinary feat. Switch-hitting, meaning you can hit from both sides of the plate, is not that common. Maybe every team has one or two swith-hitters throughout a season of play, but rarely do these players hit for much power from either one or both sides.
However, I do know something about the game of baseball, so I knew one of them had to be Yankee legend Mickey Mantle. The man could mash obviously, but he did it from both sides of the plate. Mantle actually hit over 25 homeruns for nine years in a row, from 1954 until 1962, and had a totally of ten years of at least 25 dingers. He hit 373 HRs right-handed and 163 HRs left-handed. But sadly, that is where my correctness ended.
My second guess was current Yankee first-baseman Mark Teixiera. I knew Mark was a switch-hitter, and that he has a great power bat, so I took a chance and guessed he's had eight seasons of 25 or more HRs. But I was off by one. He has had only seven so far, but could eventually join this prestigious club, and soon. Tex is off to an obismal beginning to this season, but he is notorious like B.I.G. for having slow starts. I have no doubt that Tex will join this club sooner rather than later.
So I was one for two so far, but I had no idea who else could've been in this group. I'll admit that I didn't think too long or hard about it, but I knew I didn't know the answer. I figured the players I missed were from a much earlier time, and probably people I hadn't learned about yet. But, again, I was wrong. Two other members of this illustrious quartet are still playing today, which made me feel even more dumb. Yes, more dumb.
Larry "Chipper" Jones, third-baseman for the Atlanta Braves has 428 career homeruns thus far, and he is a swith-hitter. Now, Chipper has never had 25 or more homeruns in eight straight seasons, but that's not what the questions asked. Like Mantle, Jones has had ten seasons of 25 or more. I should've known this one because Jones is often the scourge of the New York Mets, and I've been privvy to Larry smacking my team around for almost two decades now. But alas, this vital information escaped me when I needed it.
Lance Berkman, is also a switch-hitter, which I know. But I never would've guessed he was part of this club, mainly because he's always injured. That is more of a recent occurence with Berkman, though, but it clouded my better judgement nonetheless. And despite injuries, Fat Elvis still hit 25 last year in 2009. He has two years of just 25 homers, and meets the minium with 8 years, but he's on there, and that's no small achievement. If Berkman can stay healthy for a few more years, he's likely to had to these numbers considerably.
The fourth and final member of this group, I never would've guessed. He came from a time before my current player knowledge, and undeservedly fades into the background of some of the great names of the recent past. Eddie Murray, leads all members of this club with 12 seasons of 25 or more homeruns. The 1977 Rookie of the Year was a staple of Baltimore Oriole greatness, pounding the ball alongside Cal Ripken Jr. Steady Eddie, maybe one of the most accurate nicknames of all time, was a consistent hitter, day-in, and day-out. Sidenote, Eddie Murray only wore the number 33 while playing for five different teams.
Just so you know, this friend that sent the trivia my way, missed only Chipper Jones. I, on the other hand, batted a meager .250 on this question, getting only one right answer. If Teixiera gets 25 this year, I'll at least be 2 for 5 then. That's a little more respectable. And speaking of this friend, I now own one of his distant relatives. Let me explain.
I get a lot of information off of www.baseball-reference.com, as you can tell. And each player has a page that you can sponsor. After careful deliberation, I decided to sponsor the page of Joe Altobelli. The other Joltin' Joe wasn't too Joltin' though. He played only 166 games for both the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.
Joe Altobelli was a great manager, though. As a minor league coach, his teams went a combined 870-670 over 12 years, including 4 league titles. In the major leagues he managed the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles and even the Chicago Cubs for one game. His most crowning achievement though came in 1983, when he led the Orioles to a World Series title. If you don't believe me, go take a look, and enjoy the rest of the site while you're at it. And then come on back here, so we can have more good times. Dy-no-mite!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Wackness
Sometimes in baseball it seems like a lot of crazy stuff happens all at once. Saturday, April 17th was one of those days. There was some history-making pitching, some non-hitting, a Cy-Young candidate hitting like a Silver Slugger, and just all around strangeness. But where to begin. Well, we have to give credit where credit is do, and talk about the "Rocky Mountain High" that occurred Saturday. Miss you John Denver.
There were four teams going into Saturday that have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter; the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets. Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez sought to remedy that while facing the Atlanta Braves yesterday. Jimenez pitched a beauty in Atlanta, going the distance with 7 strikeouts. He was a little erratic though, walking 6. But his electric stuff and solid defense behind him(the diving catch by Dexter Fowler was amazing) helped secure the first no-no in Colorado Rockies history. This extraordinary feat is just icing on the cake to an already stellar season start for the 26-year old. In three games, Jimenez is 3-0 with 1.29 ERA and 20 strikeouts. This kid has an extremely bright future ahead of him. Congratulations young man!
Unfortunately this game wasn't available in my area, so I had to catch highlights. What was available in my area was the barnburner between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. This game was scoreless in the 18th inning. You heard me right. The futility of both teams' hitting was palpable. Both of the Mets' runs were scored off of sacrifice flys which don't count as hits. So only Yadier Molina's single to drive in Albert Pujols counted as a hit with runners in scoring position, or RISP. Therefore, the two teams combined to be 1-25 with RISP. Wow. Don't get me wrong, there was some great pitching last night. Both starters were fantastic, and the bullpens did a great job. Even the two position players that the Cardinals used to pitch did a decent job. But this was due mostly to bad hitting. Oh, and I should mention, 652 pitches were thrown last night. That's a lot in case you're wondering. And the game went 6 hours and 53 minutes. I think a Yankee-Red Sox game might even have been over quicker.
So the game I watched was remarkable too, just in a different way. But this got me thinking; 'What is the longest scoreless game ever played?' Well I looked it up, and oddly enough it also had the Mets in it. On April 15th, 1968 the Mets and Houston Astros played a game into the 24th inning, when [Al] "Weis, utility infielder for the Mets who was filling in at shortstop because Bud Harrelson had a sore arm, let a bases-loaded grounder go through his legs... The Astros and the Mets matched zeroes for what seemed forever before Bob Aspromonte's grounder skipped through Weis' legs to score Norm Miller in the 24th inning. The run gave the Astros an incredible 1-0 victory in a six-hour and six-minute marathon that ended at 1:37 a.m. (Houston time)." Thanks Astros Daily, http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/19680415/
But I also found another interesting piece of information while searching last night. Apparently the longest professional baseball game ever recorded was a Triple-A game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings in Pawtucket Rhode Island on April 18th, 1981. What is it with April games taking so long? Anyway, the game began on a Saturday night and continued into Easter Sunday morning. While most leagues have a curfew rule to suspend games, the home plate umpire's rule book did not contain one, and they had to keep playing. "So the teams continued playing until the president of the league, Harold Cooper, was finally reached on the phone sometime after 3 a.m. Finally at 4:07, at the end of the 32nd inning, the game was stopped. At this point, there were 19 fans left in the seats, all of whom were given season passes to McCoy Stadium." People say don't trust Wikipedia, but who would make this up, so thanks Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_professional_baseball_game. I love the fact that the last 19 people got season tickets. The game was resumed on June 23rd and took only one inning and 18 minutes to play. Ha!
But back to present day. A couple other funny things happened on Saturday. Nothing monumental, mind you, just something I thought worth mentioning. Tim Lincecum is known for pitching outstanding games, but not so much for being a great hitter. No one expects him to be though, because he's a pitcher. But the career .151 slugger went 3-4 yesterday, driving in three runs, while pitching his way to his third season victory. And speaking of runs. Who would've thought that the Washington Nationals would be scoring runs at a high pace lately. In three of their last four games the Nats have scored 7 or more runs and with Adam Dunn's first homer of the season coming the other day, this team could be a dangerous threat to many other N.L. teams. Now I'm not saying they are taking the pennant or anything, but it should be noted, and respected that the Nats may be more than just a summer annoyance. How ya like that one!!
There were four teams going into Saturday that have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter; the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets. Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez sought to remedy that while facing the Atlanta Braves yesterday. Jimenez pitched a beauty in Atlanta, going the distance with 7 strikeouts. He was a little erratic though, walking 6. But his electric stuff and solid defense behind him(the diving catch by Dexter Fowler was amazing) helped secure the first no-no in Colorado Rockies history. This extraordinary feat is just icing on the cake to an already stellar season start for the 26-year old. In three games, Jimenez is 3-0 with 1.29 ERA and 20 strikeouts. This kid has an extremely bright future ahead of him. Congratulations young man!
Unfortunately this game wasn't available in my area, so I had to catch highlights. What was available in my area was the barnburner between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. This game was scoreless in the 18th inning. You heard me right. The futility of both teams' hitting was palpable. Both of the Mets' runs were scored off of sacrifice flys which don't count as hits. So only Yadier Molina's single to drive in Albert Pujols counted as a hit with runners in scoring position, or RISP. Therefore, the two teams combined to be 1-25 with RISP. Wow. Don't get me wrong, there was some great pitching last night. Both starters were fantastic, and the bullpens did a great job. Even the two position players that the Cardinals used to pitch did a decent job. But this was due mostly to bad hitting. Oh, and I should mention, 652 pitches were thrown last night. That's a lot in case you're wondering. And the game went 6 hours and 53 minutes. I think a Yankee-Red Sox game might even have been over quicker.
So the game I watched was remarkable too, just in a different way. But this got me thinking; 'What is the longest scoreless game ever played?' Well I looked it up, and oddly enough it also had the Mets in it. On April 15th, 1968 the Mets and Houston Astros played a game into the 24th inning, when [Al] "Weis, utility infielder for the Mets who was filling in at shortstop because Bud Harrelson had a sore arm, let a bases-loaded grounder go through his legs... The Astros and the Mets matched zeroes for what seemed forever before Bob Aspromonte's grounder skipped through Weis' legs to score Norm Miller in the 24th inning. The run gave the Astros an incredible 1-0 victory in a six-hour and six-minute marathon that ended at 1:37 a.m. (Houston time)." Thanks Astros Daily, http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/19680415/
But I also found another interesting piece of information while searching last night. Apparently the longest professional baseball game ever recorded was a Triple-A game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings in Pawtucket Rhode Island on April 18th, 1981. What is it with April games taking so long? Anyway, the game began on a Saturday night and continued into Easter Sunday morning. While most leagues have a curfew rule to suspend games, the home plate umpire's rule book did not contain one, and they had to keep playing. "So the teams continued playing until the president of the league, Harold Cooper, was finally reached on the phone sometime after 3 a.m. Finally at 4:07, at the end of the 32nd inning, the game was stopped. At this point, there were 19 fans left in the seats, all of whom were given season passes to McCoy Stadium." People say don't trust Wikipedia, but who would make this up, so thanks Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_professional_baseball_game. I love the fact that the last 19 people got season tickets. The game was resumed on June 23rd and took only one inning and 18 minutes to play. Ha!
But back to present day. A couple other funny things happened on Saturday. Nothing monumental, mind you, just something I thought worth mentioning. Tim Lincecum is known for pitching outstanding games, but not so much for being a great hitter. No one expects him to be though, because he's a pitcher. But the career .151 slugger went 3-4 yesterday, driving in three runs, while pitching his way to his third season victory. And speaking of runs. Who would've thought that the Washington Nationals would be scoring runs at a high pace lately. In three of their last four games the Nats have scored 7 or more runs and with Adam Dunn's first homer of the season coming the other day, this team could be a dangerous threat to many other N.L. teams. Now I'm not saying they are taking the pennant or anything, but it should be noted, and respected that the Nats may be more than just a summer annoyance. How ya like that one!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Early Success
We're only in the second week of baseball, but I've been trying to catch as much action as I can. While taking breaks from watching Jason Bay strike out with runners in scoring position... again, I've seen some great pitching, and some timely hitting throughout the league. The season is still young, but a few players have gotten off to extremely hot starts, and already have made some remarkable achievements.
Let's first start off with Jorge Cantu, the third/first-baseman for the Florida Marlins. Mr. Cantu has set an MLB record already, and they haven't even played two full weeks yet. He now holds the record of having a hit and an RBI in his first ten games of the season, besting the previous record by two. While this may not seem like a gargantuan feat to some, it goes to show how timely Jorge's hits are. A hit streak is well and good, but if it's not helping the team win, then it's essentially wasted. But Cantu's success has come in crucial situations, and for that, his achievement should be applauded. It should also be noted that 25% of Jorge Cantu's hits are doubles. First, this is a ridiculous percentage, and second, it's probably the reason why he drives in so many runs. Way to go Jorge.
Another player attained a milestone this past week as well. That was Detroit Tiger's own Johnny Damon, who reached 1000 RBIs for his career. This is a great feat for Mr. Damon because for most of his lengthy career he has batted second in any lineup. Meaning that his chances for RBIs was slimmed. But being the consummate hitter that he is, Johnny managed to put the ball in play when it was vital to the team, something he's done for five squads now. Add on to that the fact that Damon is closing in on 2500 hits, and he just might have a chance at the Hall of Fame one day.
Other players, while not breaking records, or passing milestones, have been lighting up the majors. Almost no one has been hotter than Texas Ranger Nelson Cruz. So far he's batting .353, with 6 homeruns, and 12 RBI. It's scary to think how good this guy can be. The Rangers early success has come in large part to him, and Vladimir Guerrero carrying the team. Also in the American League, Jose Guillen, with his ninth team, the Kansas City Royals, is batting a beefy .350 with 5 jacks of his own. Also for the Royals, Scott Podsednik might be finally healthy again, because he's batting a silly .436 right now, and has six stolen bases. Can he steal 70 bags again, like he did in 2004? That remains to be seen.
In the National League, Philadelphia Phillie Chase Utley is dominated any pitcher he sees this week. He has five homers in four games, and for the 2010 season Chase has 6 dingers, with 12 RBI, and is batting .368 with a .510 OBP. Time will tell if the absence of Jimmy Rollins will hurt these numbers, but right now, Utley don't care. Also for the Phightin Phils, Roy Halladay is pitching gem after gem. Last night marked Roy's home debut and he made it a beauty, going 8 innings and striking out four, without walking a soul. Doc seemed just a tiny bit mortal, though, because he gave up eight hits and two runs. But you have to forgive the man, it was raining after all. For the season, Halladay is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA and has as many strikeouts as hits allowed, with 21. Doc was the one who ended Cantu's RBI streak last night at ten, although Jorge did get a hit. Meanwhile in the N.L., New York Met Jeff Francoeur is hitting a meteoric .457 with 3 homers, and Tim Lincecum is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 17 Ks for the S.F. Giants.
I wish I had more time and space to comment on every individual's success, but alas I'm just one man with a small blog. I'll try and keep up with as many teams and players as I can throughout the season. For more information check out www.baseball-reference.com, www.mlb.com, watch MLBNetwork if you have it, or maybe even go buy a newspaper and check out the box score. Enjoy the games, and I'll talk with you again real soon.
Let's first start off with Jorge Cantu, the third/first-baseman for the Florida Marlins. Mr. Cantu has set an MLB record already, and they haven't even played two full weeks yet. He now holds the record of having a hit and an RBI in his first ten games of the season, besting the previous record by two. While this may not seem like a gargantuan feat to some, it goes to show how timely Jorge's hits are. A hit streak is well and good, but if it's not helping the team win, then it's essentially wasted. But Cantu's success has come in crucial situations, and for that, his achievement should be applauded. It should also be noted that 25% of Jorge Cantu's hits are doubles. First, this is a ridiculous percentage, and second, it's probably the reason why he drives in so many runs. Way to go Jorge.
Another player attained a milestone this past week as well. That was Detroit Tiger's own Johnny Damon, who reached 1000 RBIs for his career. This is a great feat for Mr. Damon because for most of his lengthy career he has batted second in any lineup. Meaning that his chances for RBIs was slimmed. But being the consummate hitter that he is, Johnny managed to put the ball in play when it was vital to the team, something he's done for five squads now. Add on to that the fact that Damon is closing in on 2500 hits, and he just might have a chance at the Hall of Fame one day.
Other players, while not breaking records, or passing milestones, have been lighting up the majors. Almost no one has been hotter than Texas Ranger Nelson Cruz. So far he's batting .353, with 6 homeruns, and 12 RBI. It's scary to think how good this guy can be. The Rangers early success has come in large part to him, and Vladimir Guerrero carrying the team. Also in the American League, Jose Guillen, with his ninth team, the Kansas City Royals, is batting a beefy .350 with 5 jacks of his own. Also for the Royals, Scott Podsednik might be finally healthy again, because he's batting a silly .436 right now, and has six stolen bases. Can he steal 70 bags again, like he did in 2004? That remains to be seen.
In the National League, Philadelphia Phillie Chase Utley is dominated any pitcher he sees this week. He has five homers in four games, and for the 2010 season Chase has 6 dingers, with 12 RBI, and is batting .368 with a .510 OBP. Time will tell if the absence of Jimmy Rollins will hurt these numbers, but right now, Utley don't care. Also for the Phightin Phils, Roy Halladay is pitching gem after gem. Last night marked Roy's home debut and he made it a beauty, going 8 innings and striking out four, without walking a soul. Doc seemed just a tiny bit mortal, though, because he gave up eight hits and two runs. But you have to forgive the man, it was raining after all. For the season, Halladay is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA and has as many strikeouts as hits allowed, with 21. Doc was the one who ended Cantu's RBI streak last night at ten, although Jorge did get a hit. Meanwhile in the N.L., New York Met Jeff Francoeur is hitting a meteoric .457 with 3 homers, and Tim Lincecum is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 17 Ks for the S.F. Giants.
I wish I had more time and space to comment on every individual's success, but alas I'm just one man with a small blog. I'll try and keep up with as many teams and players as I can throughout the season. For more information check out www.baseball-reference.com, www.mlb.com, watch MLBNetwork if you have it, or maybe even go buy a newspaper and check out the box score. Enjoy the games, and I'll talk with you again real soon.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Go West, Young Man
Rarely is off-the-field baseball news made by someone who isn't a player. Occasionally a manager will make the news for getting fired up at players. Sometimes an owner is a racist old woman, who spouts insane dogma. But more often than not, there is no real noteworthy news coming from the mouths of umpires. Until a few days ago.
This week umpire Joe West complained about the length of time it takes the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to play a game. "They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West. "They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest? It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play." The backlash from these statements came quickly and with ferocity.
One of the more outspoken opponents of Joe West's comments was Boston second-baseman Dustin Pedroia. "To call the Yankees and Red Sox, two of the best teams in baseball, 'pathetic' and 'embarrassing,' that's just ridiculous," said Pedroia. "If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too." Threatening an umpire with not calling the game of teams he is publicly calling out, doesn't make much sense. But Pedroia wasn't the only one who was upset.
Yankee closer Mariano Rivera also had some words to say on the subject. "If he has places to go, let him do something else," Rivera expressed. "What does he want us [the players] to do, swing at balls? We don't want to play four-hour games, but that's what it takes. We respect and love the fans and do what we have to do, and that's play our game." Obviously the players were upset about being called out like this, but to a degree Joe West has a point. From Gordon Edes' article for ESPN.com, "The average length of Sox-Yankees games in '09 was 3:40. The average in the major leagues was 2:55. The average of the three games played this week between the teams was 3:38." Now when you are talking about a 45 minute difference between average game length, there is something wrong.
Boston skipper Terry Francona probably had the most well-reasoned response to West's comments. "Looking back at the series, I can't say I sit there in the seventh inning and go, 'Oh, god, let's play quicker.' That's just the way it is. I think there were 411 pitches thrown in one game. That's a lot of baseball." And Francona is right. If you watch a Yankees-Red Sox game, just about every batter tries to run a full-count to work the pitch count of the opposing team. This is a strategic plan, and this shouldn't be changed or regulated.
However, watch one of these games and you'll see other reasons why these games drag on. The slow pitching, the visits to the mounds, and the stepping out of the batter's box happen way too often. Those things are a fact of baseball, but watch David Ortiz step out of the box. He doesn't just take a step out, readjust for a second or two, and then come back in. He steps out halfway to the on-deck circle, takes his time to fix his gloves, do his superstitious routine and mosey on back to the box. And they all do it. Youkilis steps out and practices his girly swing two or three times each pitch. And guys on the Yankees do this too. It tedious, and it's unnecessary.
You can't help the number of pitches thrown either, but the fact that guys like A.J. Burnett like to take 30-40 seconds between pitches is ridiculous. I know these games are important, and more often than not they are good contests, but I can't tell you the last time I've watching one of these games fully. These theatrics may help the ratings and increase the fan noise when the bases are loaded and the game is tied. But when there are two outs and you are down by seven, get in the box and swing the damn bat already. Throw your pitches. They aren't going to get any prettier or more accurate with you staring at the catcher.
Francona also made a point about the length of time between innings because of commercial time. He makes a fantastic point, but MLB isn't about to take less money from advertisers to shorten games, and there is nothing the players can do about that. But Umpire Joe West's complaints are valid. True, he should not have made the comments public. It was out of line and it should have been handled behind closed doors. But maybe he's done that already and nothing has happened. The Yankees and Red Sox have two of the highest revenues, and payrolls and draw the biggest audiences. Major League Baseball probably isn't too keen on changing anything that they are doing. And if fans love it, maybe it should stay the same. To each their own. But there are a lot of things I can do with 3:40 of my day, and watching a baseball game, whoever is playing, isn't that high up on my list.
All quotations were taken from Gordeon Edes' article which can be found at http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5071970.
This week umpire Joe West complained about the length of time it takes the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to play a game. "They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West. "They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest? It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play." The backlash from these statements came quickly and with ferocity.
One of the more outspoken opponents of Joe West's comments was Boston second-baseman Dustin Pedroia. "To call the Yankees and Red Sox, two of the best teams in baseball, 'pathetic' and 'embarrassing,' that's just ridiculous," said Pedroia. "If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too." Threatening an umpire with not calling the game of teams he is publicly calling out, doesn't make much sense. But Pedroia wasn't the only one who was upset.
Yankee closer Mariano Rivera also had some words to say on the subject. "If he has places to go, let him do something else," Rivera expressed. "What does he want us [the players] to do, swing at balls? We don't want to play four-hour games, but that's what it takes. We respect and love the fans and do what we have to do, and that's play our game." Obviously the players were upset about being called out like this, but to a degree Joe West has a point. From Gordon Edes' article for ESPN.com, "The average length of Sox-Yankees games in '09 was 3:40. The average in the major leagues was 2:55. The average of the three games played this week between the teams was 3:38." Now when you are talking about a 45 minute difference between average game length, there is something wrong.
Boston skipper Terry Francona probably had the most well-reasoned response to West's comments. "Looking back at the series, I can't say I sit there in the seventh inning and go, 'Oh, god, let's play quicker.' That's just the way it is. I think there were 411 pitches thrown in one game. That's a lot of baseball." And Francona is right. If you watch a Yankees-Red Sox game, just about every batter tries to run a full-count to work the pitch count of the opposing team. This is a strategic plan, and this shouldn't be changed or regulated.
However, watch one of these games and you'll see other reasons why these games drag on. The slow pitching, the visits to the mounds, and the stepping out of the batter's box happen way too often. Those things are a fact of baseball, but watch David Ortiz step out of the box. He doesn't just take a step out, readjust for a second or two, and then come back in. He steps out halfway to the on-deck circle, takes his time to fix his gloves, do his superstitious routine and mosey on back to the box. And they all do it. Youkilis steps out and practices his girly swing two or three times each pitch. And guys on the Yankees do this too. It tedious, and it's unnecessary.
You can't help the number of pitches thrown either, but the fact that guys like A.J. Burnett like to take 30-40 seconds between pitches is ridiculous. I know these games are important, and more often than not they are good contests, but I can't tell you the last time I've watching one of these games fully. These theatrics may help the ratings and increase the fan noise when the bases are loaded and the game is tied. But when there are two outs and you are down by seven, get in the box and swing the damn bat already. Throw your pitches. They aren't going to get any prettier or more accurate with you staring at the catcher.
Francona also made a point about the length of time between innings because of commercial time. He makes a fantastic point, but MLB isn't about to take less money from advertisers to shorten games, and there is nothing the players can do about that. But Umpire Joe West's complaints are valid. True, he should not have made the comments public. It was out of line and it should have been handled behind closed doors. But maybe he's done that already and nothing has happened. The Yankees and Red Sox have two of the highest revenues, and payrolls and draw the biggest audiences. Major League Baseball probably isn't too keen on changing anything that they are doing. And if fans love it, maybe it should stay the same. To each their own. But there are a lot of things I can do with 3:40 of my day, and watching a baseball game, whoever is playing, isn't that high up on my list.
All quotations were taken from Gordeon Edes' article which can be found at http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5071970.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Opening Day
What a beginning to the 2010 MLB season! After the long winter wait, the off-season maneuvers, the Spring Training games, and the fantasy baseball drafts, baseball has finally returned. And when all the smoke cleared from the fireworks, and the huge flags were taken off the field, a chest-protected gentleman said "Play ball", and I was delighted again. And what better way to start the season than with the best rivalry in all of sports; the New York Yankees vs the Boston Red Sox.
Sunday night played host to a great game between these two teams. The Yanks jumped out to an early lead, but the Sawks kept coming back, as they always do. Behind clutch hitting by Kevin Youkilis, who I learned from YES Network was called "The Greek God of Walks" in the minors (great nickname!), the Sox battled to take the lead and the opening game of the season. And even though Boston didn't actually play on Opening Day, they still managed to make the news on Monday by signing pitcher Josh Beckett to a 4-year, $68 million extension, taking one of the best players off next year's free-agent list.
But so, so much more happened on Opening Day. New faces in new places had some major impacts yesterday. Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Jason Heyward not only had the great honor of catching the first pitch from baseball legend Hank Aaron, but he also electrified the crowd by jacking a 3-run homerun in his first Major League at-bat. Five other runs were scored against Carlos Zambrano in the first inning and 1/3, forcing Big Z out in the second. The pounding didn't stop though, and the Braves crushed the Chicago Cubs 16-5. The Philadelphia Phillies certainly took notice, but not too much, because they were busy watching their newly acquired ace Roy Halladay burn through the Washington Nationals' lineup. Third-baseman Placido Palanco, returning to the Phils, hit a grand slam, producing some Philly offense of his own. And New York Metropolitan Jason Bay helped his new/old team to victory against the Florida Marlins with a triple, providing enough offense to give Johan Santana his fourth consecutive Opening Day win.
Seattle Mariners' new second-baseman Chone Figgins sparked his new team with two stolen bases as the M's bested the Oakland Athletics. The A's committed four errors, and new ace Ben Sheets walked four batters, helping the M's to victory. Hideki Matsui also made a splash in the A.L. West yesterday as he brought the Japanese news media, and some clutch hitting to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He had a dinger as the Angels offense proved too much for the Minnesota Twins. New S.F. Giant Mark DeRosa also hit one out of the park as ace Tim Lincecum outpitched Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros in Roy's 8th Opening Day start. And Jim Edmonds made his return to the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers, but couldn't stop Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from being dominate for most of the day. The Rockies won thanks in large part to a 4 for 5 day from outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Brewers' new outfielder Carols Gomez also had a 4-5 day, with a homerun, but it just wasn't enough to top Colorado.
It wasn't all new-comers doing the damage yesterday. Albert Pujols reminded everyone why he in the reigning MVP by jacking two homeruns on Opening Day for the second time in his career. Yadier Molina added support when he hit a grand slam as the St. Louis Cardinals beat up on the Cincinnati Reds 11-6. Garrett Jones of the Pirates also bashed two homeruns of his own as Pittsburgh toppled the L.A. Dodgers. Dan Haren took the mound for the Snakes and shortstop Stephen Drew had an in-the-park homerun as the Arizona Diamondbacks roughed-up the San Diego Padres. Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke had a nice pitching duel in Kauffman Stadium. The Royals' bullpen imploded late though, giving up six runs as the Detroit Tigers took game one from Kansas City. Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle started his 8th career Opening Day, setting a new club record, but he wasn't done there. Buehrle displayed some fantastic defense with a play at first which helped Chicago blank the Cleveland Indians. And finally Shawn Marcum almost made some history of his own by becoming the first pitcher since Bob Feller in 1940 to pitch a no-hitter on Opening Day. Marcum's campaign was broken up by new Texas Ranger Vladimir Guerrero in the 7th, though. The game would go into the 9th with the Toronto Blue Jays leading by one, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia's walk-off hit pumped up the crowd and brought a win to Arlington, giving Texas its first walk-off Opening Day win since 1980.
All in all, it was a great day for baseball. The weather was beautiful, and the games were awesome. I hope this is a sign of yet another fantastic year of Major League Baseball. Oh, and my fantasy teams are doing good so far, so that's something too. Now go watch a game or two.
Sunday night played host to a great game between these two teams. The Yanks jumped out to an early lead, but the Sawks kept coming back, as they always do. Behind clutch hitting by Kevin Youkilis, who I learned from YES Network was called "The Greek God of Walks" in the minors (great nickname!), the Sox battled to take the lead and the opening game of the season. And even though Boston didn't actually play on Opening Day, they still managed to make the news on Monday by signing pitcher Josh Beckett to a 4-year, $68 million extension, taking one of the best players off next year's free-agent list.
But so, so much more happened on Opening Day. New faces in new places had some major impacts yesterday. Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Jason Heyward not only had the great honor of catching the first pitch from baseball legend Hank Aaron, but he also electrified the crowd by jacking a 3-run homerun in his first Major League at-bat. Five other runs were scored against Carlos Zambrano in the first inning and 1/3, forcing Big Z out in the second. The pounding didn't stop though, and the Braves crushed the Chicago Cubs 16-5. The Philadelphia Phillies certainly took notice, but not too much, because they were busy watching their newly acquired ace Roy Halladay burn through the Washington Nationals' lineup. Third-baseman Placido Palanco, returning to the Phils, hit a grand slam, producing some Philly offense of his own. And New York Metropolitan Jason Bay helped his new/old team to victory against the Florida Marlins with a triple, providing enough offense to give Johan Santana his fourth consecutive Opening Day win.
Seattle Mariners' new second-baseman Chone Figgins sparked his new team with two stolen bases as the M's bested the Oakland Athletics. The A's committed four errors, and new ace Ben Sheets walked four batters, helping the M's to victory. Hideki Matsui also made a splash in the A.L. West yesterday as he brought the Japanese news media, and some clutch hitting to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He had a dinger as the Angels offense proved too much for the Minnesota Twins. New S.F. Giant Mark DeRosa also hit one out of the park as ace Tim Lincecum outpitched Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros in Roy's 8th Opening Day start. And Jim Edmonds made his return to the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers, but couldn't stop Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from being dominate for most of the day. The Rockies won thanks in large part to a 4 for 5 day from outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Brewers' new outfielder Carols Gomez also had a 4-5 day, with a homerun, but it just wasn't enough to top Colorado.
It wasn't all new-comers doing the damage yesterday. Albert Pujols reminded everyone why he in the reigning MVP by jacking two homeruns on Opening Day for the second time in his career. Yadier Molina added support when he hit a grand slam as the St. Louis Cardinals beat up on the Cincinnati Reds 11-6. Garrett Jones of the Pirates also bashed two homeruns of his own as Pittsburgh toppled the L.A. Dodgers. Dan Haren took the mound for the Snakes and shortstop Stephen Drew had an in-the-park homerun as the Arizona Diamondbacks roughed-up the San Diego Padres. Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke had a nice pitching duel in Kauffman Stadium. The Royals' bullpen imploded late though, giving up six runs as the Detroit Tigers took game one from Kansas City. Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle started his 8th career Opening Day, setting a new club record, but he wasn't done there. Buehrle displayed some fantastic defense with a play at first which helped Chicago blank the Cleveland Indians. And finally Shawn Marcum almost made some history of his own by becoming the first pitcher since Bob Feller in 1940 to pitch a no-hitter on Opening Day. Marcum's campaign was broken up by new Texas Ranger Vladimir Guerrero in the 7th, though. The game would go into the 9th with the Toronto Blue Jays leading by one, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia's walk-off hit pumped up the crowd and brought a win to Arlington, giving Texas its first walk-off Opening Day win since 1980.
All in all, it was a great day for baseball. The weather was beautiful, and the games were awesome. I hope this is a sign of yet another fantastic year of Major League Baseball. Oh, and my fantasy teams are doing good so far, so that's something too. Now go watch a game or two.
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