Author: The Baseball Zealot

Cardinals need rock-steady Albert Pujols back

When May ends, Albert Pujols will no doubt have recorded his worst month on record.  For the month, heā€™s currently hitting .256 with one homerun.  His slugging percentage?  .385.  Heā€™s managed 10 rbis and 10 runs scored and has a .396 OBP which certainly isnā€™t embarrassing but quite honestly, Iā€™m afraid something is wrong with the God of Baseball ™. 

Letā€™s put it in perspective.  In May, Cubs infielder Mike Fontenot had a better slugging percentage than Albert.

Not only that, MLB.com reports that Pujols denies having words with Tony LaRussa.  Letā€™s face it, if it gets by the editors at MLB.com than there is probably something to it.

This is a bad time for Pujols to go into the first slump of his career.  Itā€™s possible that he could be a free agent at the end of this season should the team decline his option at $16 million.  I seriously donā€™t think that will be an issue but you never know. 

Add into the mix that Dan Lozano who is Pujolsā€™ agent, is making an exit from Beverly Hills Sports Council to start his own agency.  Lozano plans to keep Pujols as a client. 

Iā€™m no Cardinals fan but with them battling it out with the Reds, this is no time for their star player to get into a slump possibly fueled by a nagging injury (purely conjecture on my part) or to get involved in any dugout dramas. 

80 years ago today: Joe Sewell fans twice

Joe_Sewell Eighty years ago today, something happened that has occurred only twice ever. 

Joe Sewell struck out twice in one game. 

Sewell, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, was famous for his penchant for contact hitting.  In 14 seasons and 7132 career at-bats, he fanned only 114 times.  In nine straight full-time seasons between 1925 and 1933, he never went into double digits in Ks.

And yet on May 26, 1930 as a member of the Cleveland Indians ballclub, he struck out twice at the hands of White Sox pitcher Pat Caraway.  For his part, Caraway wasnā€™t much of a flamethrower.  For his career, he only struck out 2.8 batters per nine innings. 

Seeing that it was relatively early in the season, I suppose some wondered if Sewell was losing his touch.  Instead, he finished the 1930 season striking out only one more time.  That total of three strikeouts was tied for his lowest total in his career.

Sewell had struck out twice in a game earlier in his career in 1923.  That year he had the obscene total of 12 strikeouts.

Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB Pos. Summary
1930-05-26 (2) CLE CHW W 5-2 4 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 3B
1923-05-13 CLE WSH W 5-2 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 SS
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/26/2010.

Irabu in trouble again

Oops, it looks like former pitcher Hideki ā€œFat Toadā€ Irabu was arrested for drunken driving in the LA area this week. 

The connection of Irabu and trouble seemed to ring a bell and I did a quick search.  Sure enough, in 2008, he got in trouble in a Japanese bar for public drunkenness after failing to pay his bill. 

Lay off the booze, Hideki.

Interview with UI Asst. SID Ben Taylor

 

A week or so ago, I did an interview of Ben Taylor whoā€™s an assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Illinois.  He is responsible for coordinating publicity for the U of I baseball team.  The resulting article is posted at the Illinois Baseball Report. 

I correspond with Ben fairly regularly especially during the college baseball season and we have a pretty good relationship.  So I threw him this slightly hard ball question.

IBR:  As SID for college athletics, you act as a public relations guy for the team.  Is there a fine line between providing as much information as possible about the baseball program to the public yet at the same time keeping the program in a good light?  For example, we donā€™t hear too much about injuries and the like in official press releases.  Is that University AD policy?

BT:  Yes, there definitely is a fine line.  Fans have become much more adept at sniffing out spin in the last decade, so most of them can tell when they arenā€™t being given the whole story.  But as the official spokesperson for the athletic department, our office doesnā€™t release much in the way of injury updates unless itā€™s of the season-ending variety.  Even then, itā€™s often up to the head coach because it can be construed as a competitive advantage for opponents.  We realize that it is our job to portray the program and the university in the best possible light, so we try to focus on the positive aspects rather than injuries, suspensions, etc., but we also realize that in order to have credibility with our constituents (i.e., fans) we sometimes have to provide the less positive side of things.

All things considered, I like how Ben handled the question.  He at least recognized that folks out are becoming more media savvy and recognizing ā€œspinā€ when they see it. 

You can read the whole interview at IBR.

Not-so-random Baseball Birthday: Bob Knepper

Bob Knepper was born 56 years ago today.

Categories which Knepper has led his league:

Shutouts

6

1978

Fielding Errors

5

1979

Hit by Pitch

8

1980

Shutouts

5

1986

Fielding Assists

47

1986

Losses

17

1987

 

I always liked Bob Knepper but the one thing I remember about him was his inconsistency from one year to the next.  One season he would be 17-11 with a 2.63 ERA and the next he would be clobbered with a 9-12 record.  You never knew which Bob Knepper you would get.

Can wood bats make a comeback in college baseball?

batBundle Is college baseball considering making a move back to wood bats?  It appears so.

Currently, colleges almost universally employ aluminum bats and its distinctive ā€˜pingā€™.  Now, it looks like there might be a movement to get back to using the traditional wood bats.  According to this article at the NCAA web site, Division II in particular is serious about  contemplating the change:

Pitchers in high school or community college who are throwing the ball between 88 to 92 miles per hour typically are drafted into professional baseball, (Flagler head coach Dave) Barnett said, because scouts look initially for velocity. Those who either donā€™t sign or are not drafted who have that kind of speed will be scooped up by Division I. That leaves Division II schools being in more of a development mode, Barnett said.

That makes wood the right choice for Division II, Barnett said. He and his colleagues in the Peach Belt ā€“ especially since Brunk arrived ā€“ have talked about changing but are reluctant to do so unless the division acts collectively.

Interest on the Division I level?

But is Division II the only level considering a change?  Maybe not. 

This month, the Big Ten Network posted a poll on its baseball page asking, ā€œCosts aside, should college baseball move to use wood bats or stay with sweet "ping" of metal?ā€.  Rather odd, considering the Big Ten is comprised of Division I teams.

As far as Iā€™m concerned, the results arenā€™t incredibly important.  If youā€™re interested, Wood has the edge 70.7% to 29.3% (surprised??  yeah, I was, too).

However, what IS important is that the poll is there at ALL.  It tells me two things:

1)  The issue is on their minds.. that itā€™s even an issue at all.  By ā€œtheirā€ I mean the Big Ten Network who certainly has the close ears of the Big Ten itself. 

and

2)  Itā€™s a potential way to push the issue into the publicā€™s minds (and by ā€œpublicā€, I mean the small subset of the public that follows college baseball.  Polls can go both ways.  Yes, they may be a good way to gauge opinion but they are also a tool to throw a wet noodle issue onto a wall and perhaps see if it sticks.

From the looks of it, Division II college baseball is on their way to discussing the issue of wood bats on the diamond.  It seems those conferences have more to gain from it considering the development of the players involved.  Still, it will be interesting to watch this story unfold.

 

 

 

Illini alums who done good

purduesat165

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of meeting former MLB players, Donn Pall (left) and Darrin Fletcher.  Theyā€™re both University of Illinois alums and they showed up for Alumni Weekend at Illinois Field.

They got a good show.  Illinois starter Kevin Johnson shut out Purdue and Illinois won 7-0.  See the full report at the Illinois Baseball Report.

five year old can PLAY

Man, this 5-year old kid can really hit the ball.  Apparently, he can field, too.

 

 

I almost feel for him.  Heā€™s doomed to a life of pressure, over-bearing adults, hype and over-expectations and heā€™s not even in first grade yet.

Deadspin pretty much sums it up:

You’ll have to watch the video to see Ortiz salivating at the idea and the dollar signs in his eye.

Go have a life, kid.

Illini Baseball: Trading interviews with the enemy (Michigan)

The University of Illinois baseball team is now in the throes of the Big Ten play and this weekend, theyā€™ll be playing the University of Michigan.  Any time Illinois plays Michigan in any sport, itā€™s a big deal.  I can vouch that baseball is certainly no exception.

In anticipation of this weekendā€™s upcoming series, Michigan sports website, MGoBlog did a Q&A interview of me.  I did the same, interviewing their baseball expert and posting the results on Illinois Baseball Report. 

Illinois is a quite improved team.  After losing six of their first seven games, they have an overall record of 15-13. 

Go Illinois!!