August, 2007 | The Baseball Zealot

Steve Trachsel comes home

I was a little surprised to hear that the Cubs acquired Steve Trachsel from the Orioles. It’s conventional wisdom that the Cubs already have a solid, deep rotation. That said, there are reasons that down the stretch and beyond, he may be useful. With proper rest, Trach can pitch effectively if not overpoweringly. His lifetime … Continue reading “Steve Trachsel comes home”

strachsel

With proper rest, Trach can pitch effectively if not overpoweringly. His lifetime ERA at Wrigley is solid (4.13). And beyond all that, Trachsel has a way to pitch above his talents.

Most of all, my bet is that the Cubs are trying to cover their bases. It’s all too easy for a pitcher to fall to injuries right now, they are in the midst of a 22-game stretch without a day off.

Call-ups

soto

Geovany Soto

Somebody else who will be joining the squad will be catcher Geovany Soto. What a season he’s having in AAA! With 106 rbis and 31 doubles and a .353 average, he won the PCL’s MVP award.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do.

BZR chats with Al Yellon from Bleed Cubbie Blue

I caught up with Al who gave me an interview for the Zealot. He’s quite busy this season especially this time of year.

I think this was the first time we’ve had a Cubs fan on the show. A real treat for me and a quite a switch from putting up with my Sox fans co-hosts. Just kidding, CLuke.

Thanks to Al for his time.

Thanks for listening!!

Show Notes for Episode 29:

Hosts: Tom

Summary: Al Yellon is one of the biggest names in the Cubs blogosphere. His blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue, is a great resource for Cub fans and judging by the amount of feedback, he has a large following.

For Episode 29, Tom chats with Al. We talk a few minutes about the BCB blog then spend the rest of the show on what’s happening with the Cubs.

Links:

Bleed Cubbie Blue

During the show, the topic of BCB’s Top 100 Cubs of All Time came up. You can find the full list here.

Time: 22:44

Date Recorded: 8/30/07

Link to Episode 29

Listen via iTunes

Listen to other Baseball Zealot Radio episodes

Memphis Redbirds forfeit game against the Iowa Cubs

A Cardinals farm team learned the hard way they need to pay more attention to the books. Because they used Kelly Stinnett, who was ineligible, the Memphis Redbirds had to forfeit a 7-6 win against the Iowa Cubs. Stinnett was placed on the MLB restricted list but was used anyway as a pinch hitter. Stinnett … Continue reading “Memphis Redbirds forfeit game against the Iowa Cubs”

A Cardinals farm team learned the hard way they need to pay more attention to the books.

Because they used Kelly Stinnett, who was ineligible, the Memphis Redbirds had to forfeit a 7-6 win against the Iowa Cubs.

Stinnett was placed on the MLB restricted list but was used anyway as a pinch hitter.

Stinnett singled and drove in a run.

Arizona Fall League announces 2007 rosters

It’s hard to start thinking about the Arizona Fall League when you’re in the middle of a playoff race but if you’re thinking of attending AFL games, start making plans. The games start October 9th. The rosters were announced on Monday. Many of the first round picks of this year’s draft will be there. The … Continue reading “Arizona Fall League announces 2007 rosters”

The rosters were announced on Monday. Many of the first round picks of this year’s draft will be there. The direct link to the rosters here.

I probably won’t be attending this year but Baseball Zealot writer Teddy Ballgame will be going and we’re hoping to get some good stuff from him. Maybe we’ll even get him on Baseball Zealot Radio for a special report.

Piniella celebrates b-day with a comeback victory

HERE WE GO CUBBIES, HERE WE GO!! HERE WE GO CUBBIES, HERE WE GO! My friend Alex said that last night’s game was key. If we could win the first one against the Brewers, a series victory is guaranteed. My pitcher Rich Hill was going. I can call him “my pitcher” because he’s on the … Continue reading “Piniella celebrates b-day with a comeback victory”

bcake

HERE WE GO CUBBIES, HERE WE GO!! HERE WE GO CUBBIES, HERE WE GO!

My friend Alex said that last night’s game was key. If we could win the first one against the Brewers, a series victory is guaranteed.

My pitcher Rich Hill was going. I can call him “my pitcher” because he’s on the starting rotation of my Twin City Thunderchickens in the Illowa APBA League. So when he pitches, the stakes are doubled for me.

Boy, did Hill have his stuff the first two innings. Five strikeouts to start the game! Though he left with the Cubs down by two, the offense came through in the bottom of the seventh with 4 runs. Maybe they were inspired by Bob Uecker’s license with TMOTTBG. I know the fans were judging by their reaction.

Hill ended up with nine Ks and the win. Once again, the Cubs bullpen (in this case, Howry and Dempster) who was so suspect earlier this season, did their job.

Ahh, it’s so nice to be in a playoff race.

Tonight, it’s Zambrano versus Sheets who’s pitching his first start coming off the DL.

Back to work for the Illini

Monday was the first day of practice for the University of Illinois baseball team, I showed up to watch and take a few photos.

Thanks to Coach Hartleb and the staff for the privilege. I was the only non-team member there so I felt like I had quite an exclusive.

Here’s my first look at Aaron Johnson. He’s an incoming freshman catcher. He’s known for being the third Illini catcher from Canada in four years. More info about Johnson

Coach Hartleb feeding the pitching machine. When I got there, they were going through fundamentals drills… bunting, baserunning…

… and playing catch.

After a while, they got up a mock game going to work on the glove skills.

Here’s Assistant Coach Eric Snider hitting fungoes for some infield practice. By the way, if you haven’t seen Snider’s bio, you should. He already has quite a legacy for the baseball program at Illinois including having a hand in recruiting 14 eventual pro ballplayers.

I took a whole lot more photos today. Check them out. I also have past photos of the Illini baseball team.

It was a fine day to see some baseball even if was practice. Thanks, guys!

2007 APBA Convention and Tournament

It looks like a lot of fun was had at the 2007 APBA Convention. I’m sorry I missed it. Over 60 APBA-philes attended with 56 participating in the tournament. You can read the summary here. Who won the tournament? The 1927 Yankees, any knowledgeable baseball fan will recall, steamrolled their way to the pennant and … Continue reading “2007 APBA Convention and Tournament”

It looks like a lot of fun was had at the 2007 APBA Convention. I’m sorry I missed it. Over 60 APBA-philes attended with 56 participating in the tournament. You can read the summary here.

Who won the tournament?

The 1927 Yankees, any knowledgeable baseball fan will recall, steamrolled their way to the pennant and swept the Pirates in the World Series that year. Now they can add one more momentous achievement to their storied history: THEY FINALLY WON AN APBA TOURNAMENT!!!

John Duke took the top prize with a three-game sweep of Dan’s 1970 Orioles, setting two records in the process: he won six games in a row en route to the title, and he became the tallest Champion ever at six foot, eight inches!

Conrgrats to John for the tourney win! And thanks to the guys at APBA for putting this on. I’ve been to two of these in the past and I think it’s great to get together with APBA fans around the world. It’s a great time.

Reeser, Stockwell win Summer Honors; Fall Practice Begins

In their respective collegiate summer leagues, Illini players Ben Reeser and Nick Stockwell won post season awards before heading back to the University of Illinois for classes. Reeser was dubbed Coastal Plain League Defensive Player of the Year after winning a Fayetteville Swampdog team record 8 games with a 1.61 ERA. Stockwell ended the summer … Continue reading “Reeser, Stockwell win Summer Honors; Fall Practice Begins”

In their respective collegiate summer leagues, Illini players Ben Reeser and Nick Stockwell won post season awards before heading back to the University of Illinois for classes.

Reeser was dubbed Coastal Plain League Defensive Player of the Year after winning a Fayetteville Swampdog team record 8 games with a 1.61 ERA.

Stockwell ended the summer season well. His Lombard Orioles won the Chicago Suburban Baseball League World Series and he was the Most Valuable Player of the series.

Back to School

Well, classes have started at the U of I and that can only mean one thing… Fall practice for the baseball team. They will begin drills next week,

Also, the dates for the Orange and Blue series have been set. Mark your calendar for the week of September 24.

Fun with Boxscores

For the stat geeks I was playing around with some of the boxscore data that Baseball Reference has available (much of the actual raw data is courtesy of Retrosheet). I’m amazed what you can find out these days. There’s a boxscore video tutorial narrated by none other than B-R founder Sean Forman. It gives you … Continue reading “Fun with Boxscores”

For the stat geeks

I was playing around with some of the boxscore data that Baseball Reference has available (much of the actual raw data is courtesy of Retrosheet). I’m amazed what you can find out these days.

There’s a boxscore video tutorial narrated by none other than B-R founder Sean Forman. It gives you an idea what’s out there.

For the real number crunchers, try B-R’s Play Index, a set of data tools that allow you to find streaks, events, totals etc. Some of the more involved searches using the Play Index do require a paid subscription.

MLB.com brings on Silverlight

MLB.com has gone live with Silverlight as its default media player for its videos. There are some caveats though. One and a big one for me, it is not compatible with the Firefox web browser. Looking at my logs, some 30% people who hit The Baseball Zealot are using Firefox. Silverlight has been touted … Continue reading “MLB.com brings on Silverlight”

MLB.com has gone live with Silverlight as its default media player for its videos. There are some caveats though.

One and a big one for me, it is not compatible with the Firefox web browser. Looking at my logs, some 30% people who hit The Baseball Zealot are using Firefox. Silverlight has been touted as a cross-platform media player so I hope this incompatibility will be addressed.