Author: The Baseball Zealot

Illinois Loses to Minnesota in first game of Big Ten Tournament

Didn’t make it to the Illini game yesterday. Elected instead to take my 5-year daughter out on a date. It was a close call but she’s a real sweet talker sometime. Got back in time to listen to most of it on the radio… if only I could stay awake. It wasn’t that the game … Continue reading “Illinois Loses to Minnesota in first game of Big Ten Tournament”

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Didn’t make it to the Illini game yesterday. Elected instead to take my 5-year daughter out on a date. It was a close call but she’s a real sweet talker sometime.

Got back in time to listen to most of it on the radio… if only I could stay awake. It wasn’t that the game was boring, it’s just been a long week. I remember waking up briefly and hearing that the Illini were up 6-2 and falling back in blissful slumber thinking that the good guys had things well in hand.

I had forgotten one of reasons I like the game of baseball so much:

Almost anything can happen and usually does.

And when we’re talking about college baseball, that rule is especially true. Unfortunately, the Illini fell to the Gophers 11-8. The good news is that the Illini have started to score runs which they didn’t against Iowa last weekend.

Next up, it’s now or never. Later this afternoon, they play the winner of the Purdue/Michigan game which is just getting on its way right now.

And I’ll be there

Updated Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Followup:
I forgot to mention that Michigan eliminated Iowa from the tourney by defeating them 8-6 yesterday. Much as I dislike Michigan, I can’t help feel a little relieved. We had a tough time with Iowa last weekend.

One more thing… for those who want to listen or follow the Illinois game via Gamecast, go to the Big Ten Tournament Central web page.

Catchers as Managers- a historical look

MLB.com has an article about former catchers who are now managers. According to the article, twelve of the thirty current managers in the majors have caught at least some games at the pro level. The prevailing premise is that catchers work closer with the managers and get a better sense of the game. Of course, … Continue reading “Catchers as Managers- a historical look”

MLB.com has an article about former catchers who are now managers. According to the article, twelve of the thirty current managers in the majors have caught at least some games at the pro level.

The prevailing premise is that catchers work closer with the managers and get a better sense of the game. Of course, there is obligatory comments from a few of the former catchers/now-managers who say this is probably not true.

That got me thinking. I know that Connie Mack was a catcher before he reached his calling as the Master Tactitician. Al Lopez, too. So before I knew it I started making a mental list of historically great managers who might have been catchers in their playing days. I did a quick lookup and came up with a list of inactive managers in the top 75 in wins whose primary position was catcher.

Manager Games Caught Record as Manager
Connie Mack 609 3582-3814
Al Lopez 1925 840-650
Wilbert Robinson 1316 1375-1341
Birdie Tebbetts 1108 748-705
Johnny Oates 533 797-746
Buck Rodgers 895 784-774
Steve O’Neill 1532 1040-832
Paul Richards 486 923-901
Lee Fohl 5 713-792

This does not include Lou Boudreau (a University of Illinois alumni, BTW) who played 3 games at catcher. Lee Fohl managed Cleveland, St Louis and Boston in the teens and early twenties. He got as high as second place only once but still managed to win 713 games.

I don’t if this shows that mlb.com’s theory can be extended to the historical realm or not. It does seem that this is more of a recent phenomenon.

Kyle Davies Redux

Twenty-one year-old Atlanta lefty Kyle Davies is beginning to make people stand up and take notice. In his first career start, he threw five scoreless innings. Then today he continued where he left off. He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts against the Mets, this time at Turner Field for the benefit of … Continue reading “Kyle Davies Redux”

Twenty-one year-old Atlanta lefty Kyle Davies is beginning to make people stand up and take notice. In his first career start, he threw five scoreless innings. Then today he continued where he left off.

He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts against the Mets, this time at Turner Field for the benefit of the home town fans.

5/24 Linescore of the Day

Reed Johnson, Toronto Blue Jays 2 for 5, 2 HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis Reed Johnson tripled his homerun total today. Also, kudos to Tuesday’s LSOTD Carlos Lee who turned it around and went 2 for 4 with 4 rbis.

Reed Johnson, Toronto Blue Jays
2 for 5, 2 HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis

Reed Johnson tripled his homerun total today.

Also, kudos to Tuesday’s LSOTD Carlos Lee who turned it around and went 2 for 4 with 4 rbis.

Big Ten Tourney Update

The first two games were played today at Illinois Field. Ohio State 7 Michigan 3 Minnesota 14 Iowa 7 But now I’m confused. Look at the updated bracket and see if this makes sense to you. According to the playoff bracket, shouldn’t Illinois be playing Ohio State? Anyway, Illinois is scheduled to play Minnesota Thursday … Continue reading “Big Ten Tourney Update”

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The first two games were played today at Illinois Field.

Ohio State 7 Michigan 3

Minnesota 14 Iowa 7

But now I’m confused.

Look at the updated bracket and see if this makes sense to you. According to the playoff bracket, shouldn’t Illinois be playing Ohio State?

Anyway, Illinois is scheduled to play Minnesota Thursday night at 7:05pm and barring any last minute crises, I should be there rooting them on.

Update: I am confused no longer. If I taken the time to look at the original bracket (below), it explains it clearly. Illinois is playing the lower seeded team.

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Big Baseball Weekend at the U of I

Well, classes have been over for a couple weeks but if you’re a college baseball fan, things are still abuzz this week here in Champaign-Urbana. Tomorrow, the Big Ten Baseball Tournament begins! Big Ten Coach of the Year Itch Jones First things first though. Illinois Coach Itch Jones was named Big Ten Coach of Year. … Continue reading “Big Baseball Weekend at the U of I”

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Well, classes have been over for a couple weeks but if you’re a college baseball fan, things are still abuzz this week here in Champaign-Urbana. Tomorrow, the Big Ten Baseball Tournament begins!

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Big Ten Coach of the Year Itch Jones

First things first though. Illinois Coach Itch Jones was named Big Ten Coach of Year. Jones guided the Illini to a 20-12 conference season (30-21-1 overall) and won the Big Ten title.

Congratulations Coach Jones!

Other Awards
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Big Ten Player of the Year Drew Davidson

UI Centerfielder Drew Davidson won Big Ten Player of the Year. Drew hit 14 homers with 51 rbis while batting .326. All while playing excellent defense (he had no errors for the season). Nice going, Drew!

Five Illini made the All-Big Ten team first team.

1B- Dusty Bensko
OF- Drew Davidson
OF- Ryan Rogowski
C- Chris Robinson
SP- Brian Blomquist

and three made the second team.

2B- J.R. Kyes
DH- Mike Rohde
SP- Jimmy Conroy

Finally, Chris Robinson won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees Award.

Official story from fightingillini.com

Congrats to all for a great season!!

But It’s Not Over Yet

As mentioned earlier, the Big Ten tournament begins tomorrow. Being the first place team, the Illini have a bye and don’t play till Thursday night.

Here is the tournament bracket:

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You can find the bracket pdf here

Also, check out The Tournament Central web page.

Finally, a comment from Coach Jones regarding the Illini’s chances:

“I feel confident in our players. We didn’t have a hot, cold, hot, cold season like other teams. We just went hot, hot, hot and then cold.”

I hope that’s a good thing.

Good luck, team!!

Garland/Sox Shut Down by Rook

It took a shutout by Santana to end Jon Garland’s winning streak. The punchline is that it wasn’t Johan. LAA’s Ervin Santana, in his second MLB start pitched a CG shutout to give Garland his first loss of the year. Santana struck out seven and walked one. Let’s put the Santana rook on the Rookie … Continue reading “Garland/Sox Shut Down by Rook”

It took a shutout by Santana to end Jon Garland’s winning streak.

The punchline is that it wasn’t Johan.

LAA’s Ervin Santana, in his second MLB start pitched a CG shutout to give Garland his first loss of the year.

Santana struck out seven and walked one.

Let’s put the Santana rook on the Rookie Watch. Maybe the Angels fans out there can give us the scoop on E. Santana.

Ouch! The DL List Grows and Grows.

Every year about this time I look at the number of players on the DL and wonder if injuries are up from the previous year. I have no data to prove this, it’s just a hunch. This year is no exception. Right about this time, just like clock-work, key players are dropping like flies. A … Continue reading “Ouch! The DL List Grows and Grows.”

Every year about this time I look at the number of players on the DL and wonder if injuries are up from the previous year. I have no data to prove this, it’s just a hunch.

This year is no exception. Right about this time, just like clock-work, key players are dropping like flies.

A sampling of stars, key players and prospects who are now on the DL:

O. Hernandez SP Shoulder 15-day DL
M. Ordonez RF Hernia 15-day DL
V. Guerrero RF Shoulder 15-day DL
F. Rodriguez RP Arm 15-day DL
N. Swisher CF Shoulder 15-day DL
B. Crosby SS Ribs 15-day DL
B. Madritsch SP Shoulder 60-day DL
C. Koskie 3B Hand Late June
K. Wood SP Shoulder Mid June
N. Garciaparra SS Groin 15-day DL
T. Walker 2B Knee 15-day DL
J. Valentin 3B Knee Mid Aug
M. Loretta 2B Hand Late July
S. Rolen 3B Shoulder Late June

Update: Add Roger Clemens to this list. He left today’s game with a groin injury. Fortunately for him and the Astros, it’s not too serious and it’s possible he might not miss a start.