The Baseball Zealot | The Baseball Zealot

Illinois Marathon has everyone running

There was no college baseball in town this weekend but there was the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon, becoming quite the event these days.

Over 18,000 participated in the marathon, half-marathon, 10K or the 5K on Friday and Saturday. These photos are mostly from the marathon (there are a lot more here) at around the 12 mile mark.

By the way, that’s the eventual first place finisher among the women on the right Lauren Kromrey (#27).

A few more photos:

You can find the results of the all the races this weekend here.

Yankees send out personal info to season ticket holders

The Yankees have had a bit of a security problem it seems. Not the kind with unruly fans (well, maybe they do but that’s not what I’m talking about) but with their email. Seems the team accidently emailed an internal spreadsheet to “several hundred” season ticket holders. The spreadsheet which was attached to the email included personal information about each ticket holder.

From the letter posted on the Yankees site:

Monday evening, April 25, 2011, an employee of the Yankees sent an e-mail to several hundred Yankees Season Ticket Licensees. The e-mail mistakenly attached an internal Yankees spreadsheet that listed the following information associated with your New York Yankees account:

• Your name, and the address, phone number(s), fax number, and e-mail address that you previously provided to the Yankees
• Your seat numbers, Yankees account number, Yankees account representative name, and the ticket package code associated with your account

The letter went on to say no other personal info such as credit card or banking info was included in the spreadsheet.

Needless to say, any time lists like this get out which tie names to email addresses and street addresses, it’s not a good thing. These kind of lists are prime material for those who wish to engage in what is called spear-phishing or targeted phishing schemes.

Plus, now everyone knows where everybody sits. That can’t be a good thing.

Ozzie’s caught tweeting in the dugout

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is in doghouse again though I’m not sure for the right reasons. He’s been suspended for two games following his altercation with umpire Todd Tichenor at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night. MLB states that Guillen is in violation of its “social media policy and other regulations regarding the use of electronic equipment during the course of a game.”

Indeed, after arguing balls and strikes with Tichenor, Guillen went back to the dugout and showed him up the best way he knew how. By using Twitter. Kicking dust at the ump is so old school.

Two tweets came through Guillen’s account… the first simply said, “This one going to cost me a lot money this is patetic” The next a little more to the point, said, “Today a tough guy show up a yankee stadium”.

As of now, his twitter account has been silent since then.

I’m usually pretty tolerant of Guillen’s antics. He makes the game more colorful and gives the organization a respectable amount of uncomfortableness that I like. But MLB has it right. Guillen has a job to do in the dugout and it’s not to be using his smartphone to twitter about the game whether to badmouth the umps or whatever.

By the way, Cubs manager Mike Quade has made it clear that HE won’t be caught using Twitter mostly because he can’t pronounce it:

“I will never get in trouble tweeting, twittering, tweetering — I can’t even say it — because I will never do it. I don’t have the time, energy or know-how, and I’m real happy about that.”

Give him time, he might come around.

And Ozzie, arguing balls and strikes, really??

Roger McDowell needs to apologize for anti-gay slurs

Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell seems to have gotten himself into a bit of a spot. When confronted by a baseball fan in San Francisco, he reportedly hurled anti-gay slurs at him and also responded that kids don’t belong at a ballpark.

Now, I know there is more to this story than what is being reported to the press or what Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing the “abused” fan, would have you believe, but if there is anything to this story, McDowell needs to shape up.

I’ve heard some people already draw analogies between McDowell and former MLB pitcher John Rocker who was also known for stating his ideas quite vociferously. The situations are quite different in my opinion. As much as I did not care for what Rocker said, it must be noted that he made his comments while in a private conversation with a sportswriter. McDowell, however, was on the field and was in all purposes representing the game of baseball and the organization of Major League Baseball. If (and again, it’s a big if) McDowell is culpable for his actions, he has what is coming to him.

Mr. McDowell has “apologized” if you want to call it that. My guess it was more damage control than anything.

From the NY Daily News:

"I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans in San Francisco on Saturday. I apologize to everyone for my actions," McDowell quickly responded in a statement.

It sounds more like he’s saying he hadn’t said what he was thinking.

We don’t need to make a federal case out of this. Indeed, the fan in question, environmental researcher Justin Quinn, only really wanted an apology from McDowell. I’m sure the lawyers involved will talk him out of that.

But let’s at least get that. A real one, I mean.

Slow Starters: NL edition

A couple days ago, I posted my list of slow starters in the AL. Now it’s the NL’s turn.

Stats as of 4/27.

Dan Uggla, Atl	.188, 8 rbis	Those eight rbis come on 5 HR. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing.
Geovany Soto, Chi	.227, 1 HR	I’m thinking that unless Geo starts shaping up, his time is running out with the Cubs.
Ryan Dempster, Chi	1-2, 7.63 ERA	Eight HR in 30 2/3 IP. Yikes!
Hanley Ramirez, Fla	.211, 3 SB	hitting the same as John Buck
Carlos Lee, Hou	.207	…but does have 13 rbis
J.A. Happ, Hou	1-3, 6.94 ERA	lack of control isn’t helping
Jonathon Niese, NY	1-3, 5.10 ERA	workhorse is leading Mets in IP, though
Albert Pujols, StL	.250, 8 EBH	I know he’s got 17 rbis but have you noticed? He’s got more Ks than walks so far.
Madison Bumgarner, SF	0-3, 7.79 ERA	I think a lot was expected from this Giant hurler

Slow Starts, AL edition

I’ve noticed that there have been a more than a few players in both leagues who have really not been pulling their weight. Some are players who are hitting below their potential. Some are just plain not hitting for any player relative to a full-time status they have.

I’m including pitchers who are off to a stinky start as well.

This is my AL list in no particular order. Stats as of 4/25.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos	.219, 21 K	I may be a little too gleeful about putting Ellsbury on this list. I dropped him in my APBA league before our 2011 season. Perhaps I should temper my glee. He’s tied for the lead the Sox in homers. Do I have the right Ellsbury??
John Lackey, Bos	2-2, 6.35 ERA	Lackey just pitched a solid game yesterday (eight shutout innings) putting him at 2-2. It may take a long time to get that ERA at a respectable level but he may be on his way.
Nick Markakis, Bal	.208, .279 OBA	A very untypical low OBA for the OF with the good eye.
Shin-Soo Choo, Cle	.207, 2 HR	The Indians can bat a .207 hitter #3 for only so long.
Torii Hunter, Ana	.200, .255 OBA
Vernon Wells, Ana	.169, 1 HR, 4 rbi	my Angel fan friend, DonS has plenty of frustrations with this guy
Ervin Santana, Ana	0-3, 5.51 ERA	I’m not too down on Santana for two reasons. Just 8 BB in 32+ innings plus he has 28 Ks in that same amount of time. I’d give him time.
Francisco Liriano, Min	1-3, 7.40 ERA,6.1 BB/9IP	Last year was vindication for the Twins. But can FL follow up?
Jack Cust, Sea	.171, 0 HR, 7 rbi	Maybe no one expected much of Cust but he’s got 20 games and 70 at bats so far for Seattle. My thoughts? Seattle is devoid of power and Cust’s potential for the long ball is the only thing keeping him in the lineup

The Yankees’ Jorge Posada almost made this based on his .153 batting average but when six of your nine hits are homeruns, you get extra credit.

Interview with sports photographer Cary Frye at IBR

When I grow up (yes I know, I’m 46), I want to be a sport photographer. That’s why it was it was especially fun for me to interview sports photographer Cary Frye. Cary specializes in shooting University of Illinois sporting events. He’s a regular at Illinois baseball games and that’s how we got connected.

You can read the interview over at Illinois Baseball Report.

Best paid athlete by country (baseball has 12 of them)

ESPN has an interesting article that breaks down the best paid athletes by country. All 182 of them.

Baseball can claim twelve of those, third most represented sport after soccer and basketball. The highest of those is Alex Rodriguez of course. ARod must share the title of highest paid athlete with Manny Pacquiao, a boxer from the Philippines.

Country	Best-Paid Athlete	League, Team (or Competition)	Annual Salary	Per Capita GDP
Canada	Jason Bay	MLB, New York Mets	$18,125,000	$39,795
Cuba	Yuniesky Betancourt	MLB, Milwaukee Brewers	$4,300,000	$5,437
Curaçao	Jair Jurrjens	MLB, Atlanta Braves	$3,250,000	$20,295
Dominican Republic	Alfonso Soriano	MLB, Chicago Cubs	$19,000,000	$4,618
Japan	Ichiro Suzuki	MLB, Seattle Mariners	$18,000,000	$39,864
Mexico	Jorge De La Rosa	MLB, Colorado Rockies	$10,000,000	$7,956
Nicaragua	Vicente Padilla	MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers	$2,000,000	$1,114
Panama	Carlos Lee	MLB, Houston Astros	$19,000,000	$7,155
Puerto Rico	Carlos Beltran	MLB, New York Mets	$19,325,436	$24,744
Taiwan	Hong-Chih Kuo	MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers	$2,725,000	$18,500
USA	Alex Rodriguez	MLB, New York Yankees	$32,000,000	$44,872
Venezuela	Johan Santana	MLB, New York Mets	$21,644,707	$11,404

Go figure, Malaysia’s highest paid athlete is in the sport of badminton.

What are they saying, really?

Ok, I can’t help but see this little gimmick at the first Phillies home game as a subtle message about the inherent possibilities of technology at baseball games ala instant replay

Robot to throw first pitch at Phillies game

But I’m a cynic at heart.

Woman suing for copyright infringement over Yankee logo

There’s got to be a statute of limitations for this kind of thing.

After some 70 years of existence, a woman claims that it was her uncle who created the cap logo for the New York Yankees. She is, of course, seeking damages for copyright infringement, breach of contract and “unjust enrichment”.

The logo has long been credited to Lon Keller. Spokespeople at the Yankees simply say there is “no proof” for the allegations.