These are the kinds of stories that make me love this game: After meeting an Astros fan with Muscular Dystrophy, 74 year-old Miguel Tejada promised the eight-year-old Jacob Scott that he would hit him a home run in his game against the Milwaukee Brewers.In the 6th inning, Tejada does that. However, not to be done, both Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee hit home runs after Tejada, making for the picture-perfect back-to-back-to-back home runs. But never mind the game a moment — Tejada’s home run was something special — it made that kid happy, but I’m sure it also made Tejada happy if for no other reason than people would get off his back for a minute or two. I saw the E360 report on Tejada’s age, and I did not approve of the way they essentially cornered Tejada about what is, in essence, a non-issue. So as a fan it makes me happy to see Tejada get some good press for a change.
Also, in Hunter Watch: The former big leaguer turned blogger turned back to big leaguer had two home runs and three RBIs.
Roger, Roger, Roger… what happened, man? You spent 20 years in the big leagues and cemented your legacy as, arguably, the best pitcher of all time. Now, you’ve been reduced to… to what? Your whole defense was that you were an honorable family man — and in the past week you’ve been linked to three women, including the ex-wife of John Daly and a fifteen year-old girl.
Now you’re lawyer is suggesting you drop your defamation lawsuit for no other reason than so that you can save what little bit of face you have left. Yes, Brian McNamee is scum. He’s the lowest form of life on the planet Earth, but maybe you should just let this go and run while you still can. For your own sake, just let this drop and go silently into the night.
When I was younger and playing ball in pee-wee leagues, I idolized Roger Clemens. As a ballplayer, Clemens was everything I wanted to be. Now, though, he’s become a laughing stock. A farce. A self-parody in the most tragic of ways, and that is just depressing.
Okay, so I’ve been gone a few days — let me explain. I write for other websites besides this one. Case in point, I write for BingeGamer.net, a website that talks almost exclusively about video games. I love it, even if it doesn’t pay for [censored] (and I own the damn thing). I tell you this to tell you this: I’ve been playing GTA IV all week. That’s why I’ve been gone. I have to write three reviews for the damn game, so I’ve been busy this week.
But I’m back now, and there have been some pretty interesting stories this week. So, let’s get back to it.
Boy, it must suck to be Barry Zito right about now. Only a few years ago Zito was the talk of the baseball — a 23 game winner in 2002 who had always shown himself to be a quality starter — and now, in 2008, he’s done something that hasn’t been done by… by… *sigh* Mike Maroth in 2003.
What such feat is this? Barry Zito has gone 0-for-April, taking on six losses this month. For the record — he’s lost more games this month than he did in all of 2002.
So what is Barry’s problem? Could he be injured? Maybe. Could it be mechanical? Probably. But what if he’s washed up? Nah. It’s too early to think that. But I will say this about Barry Zito — he needs to get his act in order before he starts being mentioned with Mike Maroth more often this season.
There are few moments in sports that are truly scary. A NASCAR driver doing flip after flip after flip at 180mph, a NHL player getting slashed across the throat with a skate, and a batter getting drilled in the bean by a 100mph fastball immediately come to mind. But what about the umpire?
If you hadn’t seen it yet, umpire Kerwin Danley was drilled in the jaw by a Brad Penny fastball. While he did lose consciousness for a brief period, he was overall fine — besides the fact that he kissed a fastball.
Things like this can hurt, of course — but to this day, there has never been a more painful looking bean ball than the cosmic accident that was… the pigeon.
Two years ago Francisco Liriano was it. At least, he was it if you asked a Minnesota Twins fan, and while his 37 major league starts may not be too many to judge on, I’m going to judge anyways: Liriano is a bust.
That’s not to say he was always a bust — after 2006 he was “the shiz”, as the kids say. Unfortunately, having reconstructive surgery on your throwing elbow can have a hell of an effect on your throwing. Don’t believe me? Ask Mark Fidrych. Of course, Fidrych’s story is one of tragedy and human error on the part of the doctors who never found the torn rotator cuff. A cosmic case of “what the deuce?” if I ever heard of one.
Regardless, coming back from any major surgery on your throwing arm is something that most pitchers never do. Not to the skill level they were prior, in any case. Liriano looks to be similar. A one-hit wonder who had an amazing, albeit brief 2006, before going down to injury. Kind of like Mark Prior, only without the repetition. But maybe his time in the minors will do him good. Maybe a good stint in the AA league will wake him up, and bring back the beast of a thrower within.
But I hope not. Because the AL Central is being rough on my Tigers as it is.
If you haven’t heard this gem, get this: Joe Girardi has banned candy, ice cream, and any other kind of sweets from any Yankees consumption. Why? Why the hell not!
According to reports (and there are more than a few), Girardi has contacted every major league team on the Yankees 2008 schedule and asked them that any ice cream or candy machines be removed from the visiting team locker rooms before the Yankees arrival.
You know what my issue is with this, besides my unwavering love for 3 Musketeers? There have been more than a few players who were, to be kind, disgusting who have flourished in the Major Leagues. In fact, Babe Ruth himself was nothing short of a glutton who would eat the equivelent of an entire thanksgiving dinner before the 1:05pm first pitch.
You don’t have to be in peak physical condition to succeed in baseball.
Does it help? Of course. If you aren’t the most gifted player out there, exercise and eating right can certainly do wonders for your ability. But at the same time, don’t punish Alex Rodriguez because you think Morgan Ensberg will bulk up and hit .345 with 55 home runs.
What do you people think about this? Do you support the candy ban, or do you believe in freedom of sweet choice?
By the time I came of age to realize what was going on in the world around me, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had pretty much become docile. I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to experience Steinbrenner in all of his pre-ban glory. It is for this reason that I am thankful for Hank Steinbrenner, and all his douchebaggery.
Hank Steinbrenner has only been the guy for a few months, and already I’m sick of him, from his crackpot conspiracy that ESPN is run by Red Sox fans, to his lovely little reminder to the rest of Major League Baseball that the Yankees are paying money to the rest of baseball. Now, only three weeks into the season good ol’ Hank is demanding that Joba Chamberlain get into the starting rotation — a move that Yankees GM Brian Cashman (aka “the only guy left who actually knows what the hell he’s doing”) isn’t so keen on.
Joba Chamberlian reminds me of Joel Zumaya (minus the love for Guitar Hero). Yes, Chamberlain has a freaking cannon for an arm, but it’s only good in short bursts. It happens to every hard thrower — they’ll come into the rotation, they’ll be successful for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and then they get shelled. Why? Because most truly hard throwers don’t have much else. They don’t usually need much else, because they’re usually in the bullpen.
Now is this to say that Chamberlain couldn’t succeed as a starter? No. I think it’s very possible that Chamberlain, at least for a while, would find great success as a starter. But I think that Hank thinks that if you throw Chamberlain into the Yankees rotation, his 0.38 ERA from 2007 will transfer with him.
It won’t. But that’s okay, if Chamberlain goes into the rotation and gets hit around, you know who’s fault it will be?
That’s right — Joe Girardi’s. At least in Hank’s eyes.
If you don’t live in or near Toronto (or listen to six hours of ESPN Radio a day, like I do) then I won’t blame you for not knowing that the Toronto Blue Jays released 19-year veteran Frank Thomas after yet another early season slump. People around baseball, as well as Toronto Blue Jay fans, are split on whether or not releasing Thomas was a good idea… well… okay, maybe not Blue Jays fans, but many analysts are split on the idea. So, being the all around decent guy I am, I’ll present both sides to the argument to you.
Good:
Frank Thomas is washed up! Sure he hit 26 home runs last season, but he only hit .277! “The Big Hurt”? Yeah, no kidding. 10-for-60 (.167) and 13 strikeouts sure as hell makes ME hurt, I’ll tell you. What were we thinking to bring in a guy like him? Old man has one decent season in Oakland and we sign him to a multi-year deal? What’s that?! The man hadn’t hit over .270 before that one season in Chicago, and hasn’t hit over .300 since 2000.
Besides, we get rid of the dead weight in Thomas, and we can go after Barry Bonds!
Bad:
Frank Thomas is notorious for slow starts, but has always turned it around. He’d hit .200 in April, and finish out the season hitting .350. It’s just how he is, and you look at the past two years and you could see how he’s been turning it around. .270 average in ‘06, .277 in ‘07. His power numbers dropped a little, but it’s to be expected when you play 81 games in the SkyDome (Yes, SkyDome).
Besides, who are you going to pick up? Barry Bonds? A guy who has a history with injuries and a federal trial hanging over his head? Hell, he hasn’t even played a game this year, Spring Training or otherwise. You have to be out of your mind to think that it’d be a good idea to bring in a guy like that!
So who’s right? Well, if you ask me — everybody is. If the Blue Jays are willing to take on the weight and responsibility of Barry Bonds, with his legal issues and steroid allegations and constantly growing skull, then so be it.
Look, I love watching a baseball game go into extra innings as much as the next guy, but last night’s affair with the Padres and Rockies was just ridiculous. Last season I sat through every pitch of a Tigers/Yankees game that lasted until 3:32am EDT, after starting at 11:00pm the previous day. That game was preempted by a rain delay.
So what’s your excuse?
After 21 painfully boring innings (nobody scored until both teams scored in the 14th), Troy Tulowitzki finally put the Rockies over the top, and I finally went to bed.
You know who I feel bad for? San Diego. After playing 22 innings against the team that knocked them out of the playoff hunt last year… they lose. At home. After the game, the Padres had to get on a plane and fly to Houston Phoenix where they had to play the Astros Diamondbacks the next night. So how do you think they were going to bounce back from that marathon? That’s right, folks — they got spanked 11-0.
This only furthers my resolve for baseball to adopt some kind of curfew rule. 1am, 2am, I don’t care what time you list it as. After a while you need to let players to rest, especially when they have to fly out of town for a game the following day. You can have the teams meet again to finish the game IF necessary towards the end of the season, if the two don’t meet again. If they do, have a double-header… kind of.
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If you don’t live in or near Toronto (or listen to six hours of ESPN Radio a day, like I do) then I won’t blame you for not knowing that the Toronto Blue Jays released 19-year veteran Frank Thomas after yet another early season slump. People around baseball, as well as Toronto Blue Jay fans, are split on whether or not releasing Thomas was a good idea… well… okay, maybe not Blue Jays fans, but many analysts are split on the idea. So, being the all around decent guy I am, I’ll present both sides to the argument to you.
