October, 2007 | The Baseball Zealot

GO SOX!!!

On a tour of Florida , the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the coast for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the beach in the Pope-mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off shore.

A helpless man, wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey, was struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25-foot shark. As the Pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with three men wearing Chicago White Sox jerseys aboard. One quickly fired a harpoon into the shark’s side. The other two reached out and pulled the bleeding, semi-conscious Cubs fan from the water. Then using (autographed by Paul Konerko himself) baseball bats, the three heroes in Sox jerseys beat the shark to death and hauled it into the boat.

Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. “I give you my blessing for your brave actions,” he told them. “I heard that there was some bitter hatred between White Sox and Cub fans, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not the truth.”

As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies “Who was that?” “It was the Pope,” one replied. “He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God’s wisdom.”

“Well,” the harpooner said, “he may have access to God’s wisdom, but he doesn’t know shit about shark fishing…. how’s the bait holding up?”

ERSTAD IS OUT

Darin Erstad Last year White Sox GM Kenny Williams was lauded for picking up veteran CF/1B Darin Erstad. Now the club has declined to exercise their option on him. Erstad, who plays the game as hard as anybody, seems to have broken down at the age of 33. This past season Darin batted only .248 … Continue reading “ERSTAD IS OUT”

Darin Erstad

Last year White Sox GM Kenny Williams was lauded for picking up veteran CF/1B Darin Erstad. Now the club has declined to exercise their option on him. Erstad, who plays the game as hard as anybody, seems to have broken down at the age of 33. This past season Darin batted only .248 and was limited to 87 games as he experienced a myriad of injuries. It appears he may be at the end of the line.

RENTERIA’S MOTOWN BOUND

Edgar Renteria

Tigers acquire Edgar Renteria from Braves for two minor leaguers. I used to view deals like this much differently when I was young. I’m not going to say Detroit made a mistake in picking up the veteran shortstop who posted a .332 batting average at the age of 31 with Atlanta in 2007. Current Tiger SS Carlos Guillen will shift to firstbase in 2008, and a lot of baseballs would roll into the outfield through the vacated shortstop spot wasn’t filled. But giving up OF Gorkys Hernandez and RHP Jair Jurrjens might’ve been a bit much.

Jair Jurrjens is a 21 year old righthander from Curacao who was 3-1 with the Tigers after going 7-5 with a 3.20 ERA in Triple-A. Venezuelan outfielder Gorkys Hernandez stole 54 bases in the minors last year, batting .293, and might make Braves fans forget Andruw Jones if he opts out of Atlanta. Meanwhile Yunel Escobar who batted .326 appears ready to takeover for Renteria for the Braves.

OH NO, NOT LUTHER HACKMAN!!!

Luther Hackman

MLB-Suspended free agent RHP Luther Hackman 50 games for violating baseball’s minor league drug program after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

When is baseball going to get serious about performance-enhancing drugs? Well here’s the first step, no baseball isn’t going after the guy with more homers than anyone in the history of the game, but rather the notorious Luther Hackman. In his minor league career Luther is 57-76 with a 4.46 ERA, and has a 9-10 record with a 5.09 ERA in the bigs. But at the age of 31 in the Independent Leagues Hackman posted an 8-0 mark, with eight saves, and a 2.81 ERA. It’s obvious something was fishy and I’m glad baseball did something about it.

2007 AFL REPORT

Jed Lowrie Boston Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie provided the most excitement of my visit to the AFL as his two-out two-run homer lifted Mesa over Scottsdale 9-8. It seems as though the rich get richer as Lowrie looks to be the real deal both in the field and at the plate. The former Stanford … Continue reading “2007 AFL REPORT”

Jed Lowrie

Boston Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie provided the most excitement of my visit to the AFL as his two-out two-run homer lifted Mesa over Scottsdale 9-8. It seems as though the rich get richer as Lowrie looks to be the real deal both in the field and at the plate. The former Stanford infielder might be the starting SS in Boston in 2008, move over Julio Lugo.

I’m looking forward to doing a podcast about my AFL experience, but in the mean time I thought I’d write a little bit about what happened.

Here are some prospects that were there…

PEORIA JAVELINAS
05/1 Jeff Clement SEA – didn’t see him, was with Team USA
05/4 Justin Maxwell WAS – didn’t impress, although he played with the Nats in 2007

PEORIA SAGUAROS
07/1 Joe Savery PHI – he was supposed to start the game I went to, but didn’t, disappointing
NO Chin-Ling Hu LAD – this LAD SS will provide lots of “Hu’s on 1st” in 2008

SURPRISE
03/1 Adam Miller CLE – looked good, should be ready for the Tribe’s 2008 rotation
05/1 John Mayberry TEX – big – just like his daddy, fast – not like his daddy

MESA
05/1 Jed Lowrie BOS – walkoff homer, next year’s Bosox SS, impressed in the field
05/4 Josh Flores HOU – out of Triton JC, just like Kirby Puckett & Lance Johnson
07/1 Matt LaPorta MIL – big time power, 2008’s Ryan Braun
04/10 Sam Fuld CUB – fast, with power, older though

PHOENIX
05/3 Ryan Mullins MIN – lefty strikeout pitcher, Big League ready
02/33 Nyjer Morgan PIT – played hockey in Canada explains late start, 2008 Pirates CFer
03/2 Ryan Sweeney SOX – didn’t impress, looked sluggish
05/1 Andrew McCutchen PIT – star of the future, this kid can do it all
04/3 Eduardo Morlan MIN – power pitching Cuban, 2008 MLB bullpen ready

SCOTTSDALE
02/39 Calvin Medlock TB – old, but impressive, should be in Tampa’s pen this year
04/2 Reid Brignac TB – Devil Rays SS of the future, looks like a star
05/6 Aaron Cunningham AZ – Sox giveaway OFer to AZ, this kid is a hustling, fast, leadoff man
06/1 Travis Snider TOR – 5’11” 245, fast, with power, young, on the Blue Jays fast track
04/9 Mike Carp NYM – NYM firstbaseman, good power, nice glove, 2009 major leaguer
NO Wilkin Castillo AZ – can play everywhere, was a switch hitting catcher when I saw him
06/1 Evan Longoria TB – didn’t see him, was with Team USA

Here were some interesting facts I found in the Media Guide about the players…

OF JOSH FLORES (HOU) won the national junior college batting title by hitting .519 at Triton Junior College.

OF MATT LaPORTA (MIL) was a two-time SEC player-of-the-year at Florida. He hit a Gator single-season record 26 home runs as a sophopmore in 2005 and was a member of Team USA National Baseball Team.

C JEFF CLEMENT (SEA) played on the 2003 and ’04 US/National team. He set the national high school record at Marshalltown HS (Iowa) with 75 career home runs. Clement also played on the 1996 Marshalltown team that played in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

IF MATT TUIASOSOPO (SEA) is the youngest brother of NY Jets QB Marquis and the son of former Seattle Seahawk Manu. His grandfather is Chief Asovalu of a village of 800 people in American Samoa, one of six men who hold that title.

IF CHIN-LUNG HU (LAD) was MVP of the 2007 MLB Futures Game in SF.

LHP MARK ROSEN (AZ) was forced to take the mound in relief of Mobile AA teammate Matt Elliot, a 2006 AFLer, who was trapped in the bathroom for over 40 minutes after slamming the door shut behind him. The game continued with Rosen on the mound after a brief delay. The fire department eventually was called to extricate Elliot from the bathroom.

Also saw Team China defeat the Phoenix Desert Dogs 2-1. Team China’s manager is Jim Lefebvre. Some coaches instructing Team China are Bruce Hurst, Duffy Dyer, Barry Larkin, & Tom Lawless.

Some 2006 AFLers that made a big splash in the big leagues in 2007 were Yunel Escobar, Hunter Pence, Ryan Braun, Mark Reynolds, & Troy Tulowitzki. The AFL is a great place to see tomorrow’s stars today. The tickets are only $6.00, there are only about 100 fans in the stands, including scouts.

Some other highlights of my trip were meeting Tom (a freelance NY scout), meeting a 90-year-old fan (who’d seen Ruth & Gehrig, his wife was a vocalist for the Sammy Kaye band for five years), saw Ryne Sandberg at Don & Charlie’s in Scottsdale, said hi to Roland Hemond at the ballpark in Scottsdale, and the absolute best thing about my trip was the best pizza in the world at Pizzeria Bianco. I love baseball, but I love food more!

AROD SCHMAY-ROD

Alex Rodriguez Last night while watching the final game of the World Series, with the sound off, I saw Alex Rodriguez’ picture flash across the screen. I said to myself, I thought the Yankees had been eliminated from the World Series picture. So I flicked on the sound to hear the knuckleheads talking about how … Continue reading “AROD SCHMAY-ROD”

Alex Rodriguez

Last night while watching the final game of the World Series, with the sound off, I saw Alex Rodriguez’ picture flash across the screen. I said to myself, I thought the Yankees had been eliminated from the World Series picture. So I flicked on the sound to hear the knuckleheads talking about how the Yankees offered ARod a contract and he decided to test the free agent market. Could the timing be any worse? Here we are about to crown this year’s baseball champion and they’re talking about Alex Rodriguez and money. I turned off the sound and watched the Bosox clinch in a clean sweep.

Congrats to the Red Sox!!!

Tune into Baseball’s Greatest Hits

Imagine a radio show where all they play are baseball songs. Well. that’s essentially what you get with baseball author and historian Wayne McCombs’ podcast, Baseball’s Greatest Hits. I got some time to listen to a couple shows and believe me, his songs run the gamut. I heard team-specific ditties like Harry Caray’s “The Cardinals … Continue reading “Tune into Baseball’s Greatest Hits”

Imagine a radio show where all they play are baseball songs. Well. that’s essentially what you get with baseball author and historian Wayne McCombs’ podcast, Baseball’s Greatest Hits.

I got some time to listen to a couple shows and believe me, his songs run the gamut. I heard team-specific ditties like Harry Caray’s “The Cardinals are on the way, Tra-la, Tra-la” as well as Ol’ Blue Eyes singing “There Used to be a Ballpark”.

McCombs sometimes includes interviews. One I heard was a conversation between Jack Buck and Jonathan Winters which was quite funny (I’m a big Winters fan).

There are commercials and interestingly they are local ones for the Oklahoma area.

So check out Baseball’s Greatest Hits if you are looking for music from our favorite sport. FYI… you can also get it on iTunes.

Taco Bell makes a run for the profit margin with promo

The Red Sox may be having their way with the Rockies so far in the World Series but I’ll bet the higher-ups in Taco Bell Inc. are hoping this series will go seven games. They’re making a killing with the “Steal a base, Steal a taco” promotion. Fox mouthpieces Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are … Continue reading “Taco Bell makes a run for the profit margin with promo”

taco bell

Fox mouthpieces Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are gleefully playing along at MLB’s behest.

During Wednesday’s game (from NYT):

“No stolen bases yet in the game,” McCarver said, as David Ortiz batted.

“No free tacos for America,” Buck said. “At some point it’s going to happen.”

Sad to say, I expect that. But MLB has gone the extra step. Now they gotten the players involved. While wired so we can hear their on-the-bench discussion, Royce Clayton and Coco Crisp chatted up the Taco Bell promo.

I wonder how much that was worth to the MLB.

O’Neil award a step in a right direction…

…but it’s still not enough. Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum. (MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent … Continue reading “O’Neil award a step in a right direction…”

…but it’s still not enough.

buck oneil

Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum.

(MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent 18 months seeking a proper way to pay homage to O’Neil after he was not in the Negro League inductees.

Eighteen months? It took them 18 months to come up with this? Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who was on the committee, came up with this double speak:

“In some ways it’s going to be bigger than getting a plaque in the Hall of Fame,” Morgan said, denying the move was made to right what many saw as a wrongful exclusion of O’Neil.

Sure, Joe. Easy for you to say. You have your plaque up in the hallowed halls. Morgan continues:

“I don’t think it’s really righting a wrong. I think it’s doing something for someone who was a great amabassador for the game. That’s why you see this.”

Ironically, this isn’t the only time Joe has weighed in on Buck O’Neil.and the Hall of Fame. After Buck was denied induction a year ago, Morgan addressed the situation the most tactful way he could, ” “If you’re asking me, ‘Do we lower our standards to get more people in?’ My answer would be no.”

Forget Joe. Let’s get Buck O’Neil in the Hall of Fame not just the museum.

Gene “Therapy” may replace performance enhancing drugs

Obscure reference? Hmm… this is looks rather disturbing. Gene doping or “therapy”, if you will may be the performance enhancer for athletes in the future. How it works (from Scripps): Through gene therapy, doctors can target specific, problematic genes by injecting a virus into the person’s body. The virus has been stripped of its disease-causing … Continue reading “Gene “Therapy” may replace performance enhancing drugs”

dr bashir

Obscure reference?

Hmm… this is looks rather disturbing.

Gene doping or “therapy”, if you will may be the performance enhancer for athletes in the future.

How it works (from Scripps):

Through gene therapy, doctors can target specific, problematic genes by injecting a virus into the person’s body. The virus has been stripped of its disease-causing materials and instead carries a human gene that is mutilated or missing in that person. When the virus multiplies, the new, healthy gene will have different traits than the one it replaced.

In athletes, the injections could add traits that didn’t exist before or reinforce existing traits.

How it works or how WELL it works or even what the side effects are really up in the air at this point. But I bet that won’t stop some people once it becomes viable.