I've been away from you for far too long devotees. I apologize for my nearly month-long absence, but I've been involved with a great deal of theater of late. As Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Well I've missed a lot of baseball since the middle of May, but I'm here to hopefully recap some of the bigger and better moments of the past few weeks. So without further ado...
We start with one of the oddest baseball stories of this season. Wilson Valdez of the Philadelphia Phillies got the win versus the Cincinnati Reds on May 25th. Doesn't sound so incredible? Well, not only is Wilson Valdez not a pitcher, but he started the first 18-innings of this 19-inning affair at second base. He was moved to the mound in the 19th, and didn't let up a hit, as he torched the ball to the catcher at 88 mph, which is pretty damn good for someone who hasn't pitched since high school. The Phillies eventually won the game on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Raul Ibanez, who up until that point had been 0-7 in the game. Valdez was the first position player to win a game since Brent Mayne did so for the Rockies back in 2000.
Another feat happened on the pitcher's mound, but it wasn't so pleasant for the guy toeing the rubber. Jo-Jo Reyes of the Toronto Blue Jays tied a Major League record for going 28 straight games without a win. His last win came on June 13, 2008, as he had battled some injured that kept him from pitching a full season the past few years. According to a USA Today article, Reyes tied that undesirable record "with Cliff Curtis of the Boston Braves, who set the original mark in 1910-11, and the Oakland Athletics' Matt Keough, who matched it in 1978-79." Say It So Jo-Jo managed to just tie the record, though, as he finally notched a win on May 30th, when he pitched a complete game against the Cleveland Indians. The Jays certainly gave Reyes enough run support, as they scored 11 against the Tribe's one. It was touching, and somewhat silly when Reyes' teammates came jogging off the bench and congratulated him as if he had just tossed a no-hitter. But you have to value the man's persistence.
Speaking of the Tribe, they have fallen on hard times of late. The Indians got off to a hot start with contributions from nearly every offensive member, and with some dominate pitching at various times from different members of the rotation. But since the beginning of May, the Tribe has gone just 18-23, and have fallen into second place in the AL Central, just behind the surging Detroit Tigers. Travis Hafner seemed to return to mid-decade form, but got hurt again. Meanwhile, no one besides Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley has an average above .255. Grady Sizemore has had troubles staying consistently on the field, and Shin-Soo Choo has been dreadful during the first three months of baseball. If you don't believe me, check my fantasy standing. The Tribe still have plenty of time to turn this around, but with the Tigers showing off their collective muscles, and the Twins starting to play better baseball, the Indians have a tough road ahead.
There have been some other key injuries around the league, as well. Jorge Del La Rosa torn a ligament in his pitching elbow, and will be out of commission for the next 12-18 months, which puts even more pressure on Ubaldo Jimenez, who until June 1st, had no wins, and has lost two more since. He's pitching much better, but he's not getting lots of offense behind him. Just when you thought this is good news for everyone else in the NL West, Buster Posey goes and gets railroaded by Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins on May 26th, ending his season with a torn knee ligament and perhaps sidelining him from catching with regularity in the near future.
Emotions ran high as Giants fans were out for blood, and even Giants' GM Brian Sabean had some nasty words for Cousins, saying that Cousins' collision was "malicious" and "If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy.” Sabean later backtracked, but there was plenty of bad blood as Cousins tried to call Posey to apologize, but Posey didn't return the call, and then Logan Morrison backed up Cousins by calling out Posey. It all boiled over into a sort of high-school drama, and it was really uncalled for. Any baseball fan with half a brain in his head knew that Cousins wasn't going out of his way to hurt Posey, and that he acted like a gentleman by trying to reach out the man he hurt. However, Posey had every right to be pissed, but he'll get over it eventually. Sabean's comments, on the other hand, were completely out of line, and he came off as a petulant child who just had his favorite toy taken away from him. I know GM's sometimes look upon their players as family, but collision happen in baseball, and this was just an unfortunate circumstance. I wish it had ended there, but now collisions themselves have been called into question. Now guys are talking about banning a hard slide or fining people for playing too rough. Pete Rose would be turning over in his grave... you know, if he was dead.
The New York Mets were in the news plenty, and mostly not for good things. Owner Fred Wilpon made some insulting comments about Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright. Some claimed these comments were outrageous, while others admitted they were mostly true, but ill-timed. Wilpon later retracted a bit. Then came the minority sale to David Einhorn, president of Greenlight Capital, Inc. for $200 million. If the Wilpons don't repay the $200 million loan(?) within three years, then Einhorn gains a 60% of the team for an additional $1. Some claim he's getting ripped off. And then came news that legendary catcher Gary Carter was diagnosed with malignant brain tumors, which hit many Met and Expo fans like a ton of bricks. The Kid was one of my favorite players ever, and probably my favorite Met of all time. He played the game with a tremendous passion, a thrill for the dramatic, and with a great big smile. He's everything I wanted to be like, if I could have played baseball. His diagnosis is not great, but if we have learned anything about the man over the years, he'll face this newest struggle with dignity, strength, and a smile.
There was some good news for the Mets, too. Jose Reyes, possibly spurred by his owner's insensitive remarks, has been playing the best baseball of his life. He is currently leading all of baseball with a .345 average, and in his last 10 games, has had seven of those for multiple hits. He is also leading the league in hits, tied for fourth in runs, is third in stolen bases, tied for third with doubles, and leads in triples. And on the other side of the continent, there was good news in the case of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was brutally beaten earlier this season. A crucial arrest was made in his case, which could hopefully bring about the eventually capture of all those responsible for this heinous act.
What else have I missed? The Arizona Diamondbacks were in first place! For a day or so, but they are still holding strong in a bad division. The Red Sox won nine in a row, until yesterday. The Marlins are like fish out of water right now, having lost seven in a row. The Milwaukee Brewers jumped into first place in the NL Central the other day. Derek Jeter is slowly but surely getting closer to the magical number 3,000, which could come during the present home stand. The Royals' young prospects Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are making a quick bang in the league. Bryce Harper apparently blew a kiss to a dude he hit a home run off of. Whatever. Oh, and the draft came and went with the Tampa Bay Rays cleaning up like a woman with her mother-in-law coming over.
I know I've had to be brief with some things, and I've almost assuredly left some huge issues out. If there is anything I missed that you want me to discuss in more detail, please let me know and I'll try and get on that. I won't be back to a regular routine for another week or so, so please be patient with me. I appreciate all of your support, and I hope this little hiatus hasn't killed your interest. Until next time folks!
