Category: Uncategorized

Before too much is made of this, Luis Gonzalez is trying to put the whole thing to rest. The best way he can.

Yes, yes, he groused a little about not playing in Thursday’s game. Let’s not make a scandal of it. Gonzo, one of the D-backs more popular players in recent years (does anyone remember the 2001 World Series? I do.) came back on Friday for three hits including his 526th double. That ties him with Dave Parker (the Cobra!) for 30th all-time.

The Diamondbacks won 6-2 over the Rockies.

Popular as he is in Arizona, Luis may not be there for very long, though. The Rangers have their eyes on him.

Speaking of the D-backs, Orlando Hudson who started out poor this year, has really turned it on. On May 24, he was battting a paltry .218. The next day, he went 4 for 4 and since then has batted .309 with a +.500 slugging percentage.

Roy Campanella .276, 242 HRs, 856 RBIs
Hank Greenberg .313, 331 HRs, 1,276 RBIs
Mickey Mantle .298, 536 HRs, 1,509 RBIs
Mel Ott .304, 511 HRs, 1,860 RBIs
I just got my Baseball Sluggers stamps at the local Post Office in King, WI. I ordered them ahead and picked them up when I picked up my Superhero stamps. But getting back to baseball, and sluggers, these hitters were pure hitters – no juiced balls or players in their eras. Roy Campanella’s career was tragically cut short due to a car accident, best year 1953 .312, 41 HRs, 142 RBIs, fantastic defensive catcher. Hank Greenberg lost four years due to World War II, best year 1937 .337, 40 HRs, 183 RBIs, 170 & 183 RBIs in back to back full seasons. Mickey Mantle, followed Joe DiMaggio as Yankee centerfielder, best year 1956 .353 52 HRs, 130 RBIs, 132 runs, could do it all, & switch hit. Mel Ott, lefthanded power hitter in the Polo Grounds, used leg kick to generate power, similar to Sadaharu Oh, best year 1929 .328, 42 HRs, 151 RBIs, 138 runs, still remember his spinner disk from Cadaco’s All Star Baseball Game (he had an amazing home run spot). These stamps bring these great players from the past back to life.

J.J. Hardy has a tendon injury that will put him on the shelf for the rest of the year. One door closes, another one opens, Bill Hall will assume the role of starting SS for the Milwaukee Brewers this season. Hardy is a smooth fielding shortstop, who is a hard worker, and came up along with Rickie Weeks & Prince Fielder as Milwaukee’s future. Hall was given a shot at the starting shortstop job, but was soon bypassed by Hardy when Billy proved to be inconsistent. Although Hall has been slumping lately, he already has 18 home runs, and has made spectacular plays in the field, along with a few miscues here & there. It looks like the Brewers have found their shortstop of the future in Bill Hall.

For those of you wondering what beleaguered starter Zach Greinke has been up to, The Pine Tar Rag has an update.

Apparently, after one good outing for Wichita, Zach followed up with a somewhat poor one… including hitting 2 batters in one inning.

The $100,000 question that Royals fans are asking is how long it will take before he is ready for the bigs.

According to PTR, the rumor is management is in no hurry to rush him up.

Boston Ace(?) Josh Beckett got bombed again, this time by the A’s in a 15-3 loss. Beckett has a winning record of 11-5, despite leading the league with 27 homers allowed, and a 5.12 ERA. There is a serious concern he may develop whiplash from watching balls sail over his head as they leave the ballyard, or post tramatic stress syndrom from so many bombs going off.

Maybe David Ortiz would have won the HR hitting contest in Pittsburgh had he used teammate Josh Beckett as his pitcher, especially if David told Josh to try to get him out.

With MLB taking a few days off it gave me time to think, it didn’t hurt that the other three major sports also have the days off the day before and the day after the All Star game. These are the only two days all year, which feature no scheduled games among the four major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL). I started thinking about my youth, you might do the same when you turn 50, anyway my thoughts went back to a friend of mine when I was a kid – wiffle ball. When I was a kid we would play this game for hours behind my house in Chicago in the alley. You had to be a straight away hitter, because if you hit it into a yard you were out. A grounder that bounced by the pitcher was a single, there were marks in the alley signifying doubles, triples, and homers. A really big game would be three on three. We would bat just like our major league heroes, lefty/righty, and imitate their stances. A yellow plastic bat with black tape would be used to try to hit the dancing, curving, dipping sphere as it was hurled plateward. We didn’t call balls & strikes, hence the nickname The Statue of Liberty one player earned as he held his bat high in the air, just like Carl Yastrzemski, waiting for his pitch.

Click here if you wanna learn the history of the game and here if you wanna know about upcoming wiffle ball tournaments. Wiffle ball will live on forever in my memory, but I’m glad to report it is doing better than ever today.

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!! LET’S GO AL!!!

KC Royals Billy Butler, game MVP

The USA Futures All Stars defeated the World Futures All Stars 8-5, thanks in large part to a five run third inning. Since 1999 Baseball America and Major League Baseball have selected the best young players in baseball to play in the ultimate prospect game. This year’s game MVP Billy Butler (2004 1st round draft choice) was 2 for 3 with a two run homer, nothing but time stands between him and a starting leftfield job with the Royals. The Royals 2005 first round pick Alex Gordon also was 2 for 3 with a double & two runs knocked in. The Royals are coming, as last year’s game MVP was KC’s own Justin Huber. Other Futures who shined were the Rockies Joe Koshansky 1 for 3 with a two run blast and the White Sox Josh Fields 2 for 3 with a double, their paths to the bigs may be a little less clear as they are blocked by Todd Helton & Joe Crede respectively. DonS & I both saw Koshansky & Fields mash in Spring Training in Arizona. San Diego Padre catching prospect George Kottaras had a nice day with the bat for the World team ripping a double & homer in two at bats. You can get all the history of the Futures Games here.

Last year I visited Milwaukee’s Miller Park for the first time and boy did the Brewers ever get it right! Not so much with their new ballpark, but with Helfaer Field which sits where old County Stadium used to be. County Stadium holds fond memories for me as it’s the place where I saw my first major league baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and my Chicago White Sox. It was the annual Boys Benefit Game held April 7, 1968, the game didn’t count, but try telling that to a couple of kids out to see their heroes duke it out, my cousin Bill bleeding Cubbie blue and me being a rabid White Sox fan. If anybody has a scorecard from that old game, I’d sure appreciate it. And now it seems a fitting tribute that the site where I saw my first game is home to a baseball field where kids can play a little baseball.

Well, Ryan Howard became the second Phillie in as many years to win the Home Run Derby.

Yawn, show me a competition that really tests the skills of our baseball players. I mean something that is truly fun and exciting to watch and that adds some suspense as well. For example:

Bunt for a Hit Showdown: This will give a sense of worth for all those speedy leadoff men with low OBP out there.
Suggested participants: Juan Pierre, Corey Patterson, Willy Taveras and the like. For kicks, we’ll let Matt Stairs play, too.

Catcher’s Throw Competition: Who has the best arm in the league? Find out when they try to throw out the best basestealers.
Suggested participants: I-Rod, Jorge Posada, Ramon Hernandez. Haha, we could invite Piazza and tell him it was a home run derby or something.

Home Run Derby: Pitchers Style: Why let the sluggers have all the fun? The lineup for this derby would be stacked with those arms with the best sticks.
Suggested participants: Carlos Zambrano, Bronson Arroyo, Jorge Sosa. Maybe Ryan Howard could pitch.

Managerial Press Conference Duck and Run: This would be quite fun. Get the press involved.
Suggested participants: Ozzie Guillen (give him a handicap, though), Dusty Baker, throw in Bud Selig for good measure.