All-Star Game thoughts posted by David

Thank goodness Joey Votto (.314/.422/.589 with 22 home runs) was elected to the National League All-Star team via the Final Vote.  Billy Wagner, Carlos Gonzalez, and Ryan Zimmerman are great players and were all worthy of roster spots, but Votto should have been the NL’s starting first baseman over Albert Pujols, and it would have been a travesty had he not made it in the end.  Votto leads the NL in both On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage and is tied for the lead in home runs; if the season ended today, he’d likely be voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.  It’s too bad, then, that Votto went 0-2 and did not make an impact in the game.  (Each of the other first basemen on the National League side – Pujols, Ryan Howard, and Adrian Gonzalez – went 0-2 as well.)

In case you missed it, the pitchers who looked the most dominant among all the flame-throwing hurlers who took the mound on Tuesday night were not the starters, Ubaldo Jimenez and David Price.  The best of the best were Florida’s Josh Johnson, who looked strong in retiring all six hitters he faced – all of them starters for the American League – and Detroit closer Jose Valverde, who struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth to at least give the AL a chance to make a dramatic comeback.  Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, and Phil Hughes, like Jimenez, each gave up a couple of hits and Jonathan Broxton, who earned the save all showed they are not untouchable. 

How ‘bout that?

Farewell to a pair of the game's greats posted by David

The game of baseball lost two old-timers this week, as beloved Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away at the age of 92 and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts died at 83.

Harwell is best known for his 42 years broadcasting Tiger games, but before his career in Detroit, Harwell made history.  For this, I turn to wikipedia: In 1948, Harwell became the only announcer in baseball history to be traded for a player when the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager, Branch Rickey, traded catcher Cliff Dapper to the Crackers in exchange for breaking Harwell's broadcasting contract.

In 1981, Harwell became the fifth broadcaster to receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Harwell was inducted into The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 1989, and in 1998, he was elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Radio Hall of Fame.  “The Voice of the Tigers” retired after the 2002 season.

Roberts spent the bulk of his career with the Phillies.  His best full season came in 1952, when he led the majors with 28 wins, 30 complete games, and 330 innings pitched, all of which would be considered absurd numbers in today’s game.  He won 20 games six years in a row, throwing 300 innings in each of those seasons as well.  Though he was a seven-time All-Star, Roberts never won a Cy Young Award, as the award was introduced in 1956, just after the peak of Roberts’s career.  He finished with 286 wins, 305 complete games, 2,357 strikeouts, and a 3.41 ERA.  Roberts also holds the record for surrendering the most home runs in major league history, with 505.  Jamie Moyer – still pitching (for the Phillies, no less) at age 47 – has allowed 498 and could pass Roberts some time this season.

Oh, what a night! posted by David

As if Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter was not enough excitement for one day, the Mets and Cardinals took part in a marathon contest, playing a 20-inning game Saturday in St. Louis.  If that does not…, the most remarkable part of the monumental occasion was that the two teams went scoreless through the first 18 frames!  That’s like back-to-back shutouts being thrown by both teams!  In a game that took nearly seven hours and featured an astounding 18 pitchers (two of whom were actually position players that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sent to the hill), three Met hitters – Jose Reyes, Jason Bay, and Jeff Francoeur – went a combined 0 for 21.  That is an ugly line in the box score for three of the team’s four best offensive players.

How ‘bout that?

How about Roy Halladay?  In his first four starts, Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 0.879 WHIP.  He has thrown two complete games – including one shutout – and in 33 innings pitched, has struck out 28 while walking three.  The ace of the Philadelphia pitching staff has more wins than walks, and has collected as many hits (three) in the batter’s box as he has allowed earned runs.  With a strong team playing behind him, Halladay has a real chance to become baseball’s first 25-game winner since Bob Welch, who in 1990 won 27 of his 35 starts.

How about Jorge Cantu?  The Marlins infielder had a hit and an RBI in the first 10 games of 2010 to set a new record to begin a season.  It is worth noting that Cantu also collected a hit and RBI in the last four games he played in 2009 and dating back to last year, he has a 20-game hitting streak.  Cantu’s consistency has helped Florida to a 9-7 record thus far – just a game and a half behind the division-leading Phillies.  To put into perspective how impressive Cantu’s hit-and-RBI streak is, consider this: during Joe Dimaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941, the longest RBI streak he put together was seven consecutive games; in fact, The Yankee Clipper even went seven games straight

Third member of Yankee trio not a lock for Hall posted by David

After their playing careers are over, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will undoubtedly be elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, but will teammate Jorge Posada join them in Cooperstown?  Yankee fans may feel differently, but the truth is that if Posada retired from baseball today, he would not belong in The Hall.  His credentials include five trips to the All-Star Game, five Silver Slugger awards, 243 home runs, and five seasons with 90+ RBI’s, as well as having caught the perfect game thrown by David Wells in 1998.  Arguments against Posada’s candidacy are that he is not a strong defensive catcher, has only once batted over .300 (.277 career average) and his 1,488 career hits do not make him stand out among his catching peers.  Despite 11 career playoff home runs, his postseason line (.239/.351/.384) is sub-par for a catcher known primarily for his hitting.

While offensive expectations for Hall of Fame catchers have tended to be lower over the years, Posada has never drawn comparisons as a hitter to Mike Piazza (2,127 career hits), Johnny Bench (2,048), or Ivan Rodriguez (2,711), who at 38 still has a chance at reaching 3,000 hits.  Posada’s supporters might point out that Roy Campanella collected only 1,161 career hits, but he also won the Most Valuable Player Award three times in a span of five years, and more importantly, missed out on years of big-league ball before African Americans were welcome.  Jorge Posada has had a solid career, for which I give him a lot of credit, but at this point in time, he’s not bound for Cooperstown.

A new shortstop and new uniforms! posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey Everyone,

Not sure who is out there but hopefully someone is!    Anyway, for those that don't know my name is Joe and I've been a Twins fan since I was six years old.  I hope you find this blog entertaining and thought provoking.  Let's get started shall we?!

In my first entry I'd like to discuss how the Twins acquired a new shortstop for the 2010 season and what I think of the acquisition and also the news that was announced today, that they are going to be wearing new uniforms next year.

The Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Carlos Gomez.  I am excited about this acquisition.  It potentially fills a very big need for the Twins, a right-handed bat with good power and an infielder at a position of need.  It thins out the Twins depth in the outfield but they still have four guys who are capable of playing out there everyday and you can only have three out there everyday.  Gomez is very talented but he gets way too excited when he's at the plate a lot of the time which causes him to swing wildly and strike out a lot.  He has the potential to be special at the plate if he ever calms down his approach.  He is an excellent defender as well.

Hardy, while he is coming off a bad year offensively is capable of hitting in the upper .200's to .300 and has pop enough to hit 20+ home runs a season and plays consistent defense.  Overall for 2010, the trade favors the Twins.  In the future, it could favor the Brewers but the Twins had to take that chance to give themselves a better chance to compete in 2010.

College Fantasy Football posted by Chad

It's been awhile, a loooonnnnng while.  Lots has changed since the last time I posted on here.  In fact, the NBA season kicked off; The Office started up again, The Community is taking my Thursdays by storm.  Some things haven't changed:  The Pac-10 is overrated, my team can't win, and I'm still the man.  All in all; I guess people have missed my thoughts and were begging for more. 

I was going to do a fantasy football preview for the week, until I realized I deleted last weeks email with the records and opponents for the week, so there is no real update.  I have the rankings posted below, so you can check those out.  That's about it.  I do, however, want to clear the air on a few things.  Certain members of this prestigious league that has been around for 3 years now (we're ahead of our time, no big deal) are starting to take this a little too seriously.  We have an interesting array of characters here.

We've got husbands and housewives (Bill); bachelors that spend all day on their computers, college students, and a few d-bags from Minnesota.  We've got guys that work full time AND go to school AND coach basketball.. guys that travel and sit on their computer, guys that are on the road all day, guys that wish they had jobs, and a lot of guys that pretend they work a lot harder than they do.  Some of us eat too much, some used to starve themselves to make weight, some eat just right, and some don't eat at all, but drink their supper instead.  

This interesting blend of characters has been up and down all season long.  Some weeks have been battles; 8 mile like.  Better yet, fake 8 mile like.  Some guys are the Eminem wannabe, some are Cena; either way neither of them are really bringing it.. they just like to think they are.  Either way, they're like the Milwaukee Brewers starters right now, starting to fade after the 5th innings; the season isn't done yet and the talk is quieting.  The emails are slowing, nicknames are crawling.  I'm disappointed, a league where I picked the people to bring it.  I thought my mix was on spot; I thought I had a killer dish to keep people coming back for more.  In the end, it looks like I'm missing a special ingredient.  I'm missing an Anthony Mason like Point Forward on a run and gun jump shooting Bucks team; I need that spark to get me over the top.  I can't just throw anybody into a spot; I'm not Ted Thompson here.  I don't throw darts and hope to find a starting offensive line for a fragile QB.  I need gamebreakers, PTP'ers.  I need The Answer, The Truth.  

Was Prince Fielder's Celebration OK? posted by John Frascella

For the past couple days, that's a question that baseball fans have been asking throughout the country. And what's the answer? Is there an answer? Is it OK for a baseball team to premeditate a celebration as over-the-top as Milwaukee's earlier this week?

Well, this is certainly a matter of perspective. As is often the case when something like this comes up, it's New School vs. Old School. Now I'm admittedly a "New Schooler," but that doesn't mean I'm on board with every aspect of the movement. It's like being a Democrat without a single Republican view -- pretty rare situation to find. 

So what's my take? To be specific, I prefer the Yankees' wedding bouquet celebration to Milwaukee's bowling pin topple. The bouquet thing is subtle in comparison; the toppling pins were a little much for me. I pitched for 15 years of my life, and I know I'd hate it if an opposing team celebrated in that fashion. I think a celebration like that has a home in the NFL (a la the Baltimore Ravens of the past), unfortunately football's hierarchy is so uptight that it cut all of the fun out of scoring.

Does that mean it's baseball's turn to take over in the "flash" department? Is it the Hot Dogs' game now?

Well, hot dogs are the dinner of choice at the stadium.  

Cards Continue September Tear and Recent Sports Oddities posted by Ryan Turner

The Cardinals continued their dominance of the National League Central this week, going 5-1 on a road trip with a blown save on Sunday, meaning it could've been a 6-0 trip. Last night the Cards got a boost from John Smoltz who was rocky early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but he stuck with it and shut out the Brewers over the next three innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Brewers had their chances for a knock out blow, but they couldn't capitalize, just as the Cards couldn't do so with runners in scoring position. When a team goes 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and can still grind out a win, that's the make of a championship caliber team. Even when they don't play that well, they win.

Today, the Cards played much better as Adam Wainwright was back to his normal self after only going five innings in his last start. He went seven scoreless innings today, while striking out six, and also helped himself by doubling and scoring a run. Albert Pujols has officially entered beast mode, as he jacked two more homers today, including the first of his career against former teammate Jeff Suppan. Over his last 14 games, he's batting .460 with seven home runs, six doubles, 17 RBI, 10 walks, and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 50 at-bats. He now has 47 home runs for the season, just two shy of his career high of 49 and he now has three and a half weeks left to pass that mark. The guy is unbelievable. As for his partner in crime, Matt Holliday, he left the game today after stumbling across first base on a ground out with what the team is calling a bruised knee. He had a minor injury a few weeks ago and it didn't phase him, so even though I cringe every time I see him or Chris Carpenter stumble, I'm not worried about this particular injury.

"Giants Can't Score Off Pedro Martinez; Lose to Phillies" posted by Michael McGauley

  Eugenio Velez drilled the first pitch of the game of Pedro Martinez for a home run and a 1-0 Giants' lead.  Too bad that was the end of the scoring for the rest of the game in a 2-1 loss to the Phillies Thursday.  Martinez looked really good with 9 strike outs over seven innings. No, his fastball is not what it once was, but he knows how to pitch, and still features a deceptive delivery with his arm angle. Philadelphia is hoping THIS will be the same Pedro they can take with them into the post season. Giants' fans may remember when Pedro came off the DL in May of '08 as a New York Met, and beat San Francisco at A.T.& T. Park. He also had two hits in that game, and Barry Zito was awful - I remember because I was there!  Now Zito has regained his form, and apparently, so has Pedro, because he was Way better today then he was at anytime last year with the Mets.

  Tim Lincecum was once again snake-bit, and just cannot buy a victory - still stuck on 13.  Since August 1st when he beat the Phillies at home, he's gone 1-1 with four no-decisions.  Today, he was absolutely fantastic, except for a couple of mistakes - a hanging breaking ball that Jayson Werth crushed into the upper deck for his 30th homer of the year. Then, with two-outs in the sixth, he hit Chase Utley, and then gave up an RBI double to Ryan Howard.  Howard also drove in the only run off Jonathan Sanchez in Tuesday's 1-0 Philly victory.  Lincecum struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk.  He leads all of baseball with 233 K's after fanning 265 last season.  

"Brad Penny on the Bump for the Giants" posted by Michael McGauley

  Hopefully for Giants' fans, Brad Penny can find his groove back in the National League.  In his three inter-league starts against national league teams this year, Penny posted a 2.70 ERA, while his overall earned run average was well above five.  How much of that points to a comfort factor pitching against familiar hitters and pitching in familiar ball parks.  Also, the American League has overall better hitting and the DH- that's one less hitter he's got to worry about in the NL.  Penny clearly has something to prove after getting released by Boston, and is basically auditioning for perhaps one last BIG pay day (with the Giants or someone else).   San Francisco looks to bounce back in Philly this afternoon after getting blanked 1-0 by Cole Hamels, who kept the Giants off balance with a brutal change up Tuesday.  A short-handed line-up -- playing (again) without Sanchez, Sandoval, and Molina -- only managed to scratch out two hits; a double by Ryan Garko and a pinch-hit single by Rich Aurilia.  Classy move by the Giants to conveniently drop Richie on the DL through the end of August, and then bring him back with the expanded rosters Tuesday.  He didn't deserve to end his career with the Giants by getting released before the end of the season.    Back to the offense...this is a team that has enough trouble scoring runs, but when you trot out a 3-4-5 of Aurilia, Garko, and Uribe, you've got problems.  Hamels tossed a complete game: walking one and striking out nine in 118 pitches. JonContinue reading ""Brad Penny on the Bump for the Giants""

Rangers-Brewers Preview (The Associated Press)

After a promising start to a nine-game homestand, the Milwaukee Brewers are in the midst of a five-game skid. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Jay lifts Cards over Brewers in 9th

Jon Jay homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth andAllen Craig and Daniel Descalso each hit home runs to lead the St.Louis Cardinals to a 7-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers onSaturday. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Do Pittsburgh Pirates Have a Legitimate Beef that Milwaukee Brewers Are Stealing Signs? (Yahoo%2

COMMENTARY | It's been a pretty rough go for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park lately. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates Will Need Four AL East Castoffs to Continue Hot Start to Win NL Central Crown (

COMMENTARY | After an anemic start to the season that made the hope of a mere 81 wins seem beyond reach, the Pittsburgh Pirates got hot, winning eight of 10 before dropping two straight games to the Milwaukee Brewers (owners of a 46-7 record against the Bucs when playing at Miller Park since 2007). [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates Will Need Four AL East Castoffs to Continue Hot Start to Win NL Central Crown (

COMMENTARY | After an anemic start to the season that made the hope of a mere 81 wins seem beyond reach, the Pittsburgh Pirates got hot, winning eight of 10 before dropping two straight games to the Milwaukee Brewers (owners of a 46-7 record against the Bucs when playing at Miller Park since 2007). [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports