The Baseball Zealot

Aaahh! It’s good to be online again!

I’m back from vacation and rarin’ to go. Thanks to the guys for keeping the flame going while I was gone. I went to a family reunion in beautiful Wisconsin. After that, we hit Wisconsin Dells. I asked a friend who had been there what he thought of the place. He hesistated and said “Well, … Continue reading “Aaahh! It’s good to be online again!”

I’m back from vacation and rarin’ to go. Thanks to the guys for keeping the flame going while I was gone.

I went to a family reunion in beautiful Wisconsin. After that, we hit Wisconsin Dells. I asked a friend who had been there what he thought of the place. He hesistated and said “Well, it’s a bit developed”. That’s an understatement! But we knew that going there.

On our drive to the Dells, the kids were doing the “Are we there yet?” bit the whole way. On I-94, my 8 year-old son saw a billboard for a mini-golf place and said, “Daddy, are we close now?”. Nothing gets by him.

No, I never made it to a wireless cafe due to lack of time and dearth of wireless hotspots. Maybe I just didn’t know where to look.

I managed to avoid baseball while I was gone too. Probably a good thing since the Cubs lost every game while I was gone until the day before I got back. Sheesh! They’re kickin’ the Cards now but by now they’re 17 back.

Back to combing the boxscores…

GOODBYE DOUBLE DUTY

Former Negro League star Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe died yesterday in his Chicago home at 103 years of age. In the 1932 Negro World Series he caught Satchel Paige in the first game of a doubleheader, then pitched a shutout in the second game. This performance prompted sportswriter Damon Runyon to provide the nickname “Double Duty”. Radcliffe pitched & caught multiple no-hitters in his career, won more than 400 games on the mound, batted over .300 lifetime with more than 400 homeruns. He belongs in the Baseball Hall of Hame. It’s just a shame that Double Duty didn’t live long enough to see himself enshrined into the Hall.

8/11 Linescore of the Day – Jason Kendall

Jason Kendall, Oakland A’s 2 for 4, 2 runs, 1 mad dash for 1st place With 2nd & 3rd and two outs in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game Jason Kendall streaked home from 3rd with the winning run when pitcher Francisco Rodriguez dropped a throw back to him from his catcher … Continue reading “8/11 Linescore of the Day – Jason Kendall”

Jason Kendall, Oakland A’s

2 for 4, 2 runs, 1 mad dash for 1st place

With 2nd & 3rd and two outs in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game Jason Kendall streaked home from 3rd with the winning run when pitcher Francisco Rodriguez dropped a throw back to him from his catcher Jose Molina. The win by the Oakland A’s over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim put the A’s in sole possession of first place in the AL West. It was a timely heads up play by Jason Kendall.

8/10 Rookie Watch – Ryan Howard

With the score tied, bases loaded, nobody out, in the top of the 9th rookie Ryan Howard stepped to the plate for the Philadelphia Phillies against Los Angeles reliever Yhency Brazoban. A moment later the Phillies were up by four as the big rookie creamed a homer deep over the right centerfield fence. Final score … Continue reading “8/10 Rookie Watch – Ryan Howard”

With the score tied, bases loaded, nobody out, in the top of the 9th rookie Ryan Howard stepped to the plate for the Philadelphia Phillies against Los Angeles reliever Yhency Brazoban. A moment later the Phillies were up by four as the big rookie creamed a homer deep over the right centerfield fence. Final score Phillies 9 Dodgers 5. It was Howard’s 8th home run since being called up July 1st to fill in for Jim Thome.

BERNIE BREWER

Bernie Brewer used to slide into a stein of frosty beer whenever a Brewer hit a home run. It’s nice to see Bernie is till sliding down his slide after every homer even if it’s not into a beer. Bernie getting ready to do his thing.

Bernie Brewer used to slide into a stein of frosty beer whenever a Brewer hit a home run. It’s nice to see Bernie is till sliding down his slide after every homer even if it’s not into a beer.

Bernie getting ready to do his thing.

8/10 Linescore of the Day – David Wright

David Wright, New York Mets

4 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 3 runs, 1 SB

David Wright hit his 30th double, 17th homer, drove in six, stole his 12th base, and was a triple away from the cycle. Wright paced the New York Mets to a 9-1 over the San Diego Padres. David said he was motivated when Cliff Floyd was intentionally walked ahead of him, not a good idea, as Wright launched a three run shot over the leftfield fence.

8/9 Rookie Watch – Felix Hernandez

Felix Hernandez lowered his ERA to 0.69 pitching 8 innings of shutout ball against the Minnesota Twins before turning the game over to Everyday Eddie. The Seattle Mariners and this 19 year old phenom bested tough luck loser Kyle Lohse 1-0. Jeremy Reed doubled with 2 outs in the 7th and rookie Yuniesky Betancourt tripled to drive in the only run of the game. Hernandez has electric stuff, featuring a 97 MPH fastball and a sharp breaking curve. Felix showed amazing poise getting out of a bases loaded jam along the way. Matt LeCroy & Jacque Jones singled opened with singles, Lew Ford attempted to bunt the runners up, but Felix the Cat pounced off the mound & fired to Adrian Beltre to force LeCroy. The kid then struck out Justin Morneau on a heater. Terry Tiffee hit a two out grounder to Beltre, Adrian tried to beat the runner to 3rd before throwing to first too late & off the bag for an error to fill the bases. Hernandez jumped into the air to snag a comebacker off the bat of Jason Bartlett to get out of the jam. Eddie Guardado converted his 27th consecutive save and 28th in 29 tries with a perfect 9th. But the real story was Felix Hernandez who struck out six, walked nobody, and allowed only five singles in eight innings of work.

8/9 Linescore of the Day – 9th Inning

9th Inning, Cleveland Indians 8 for 12, 11 runs, 1 homer, 3 doubles, 2 walks Cleveland trailed the Royals 7-2 in the 9th inning in Kansas City. Mike MacDougal was brought on to close out the game. But then the Tribe woke up scoring 11 runs for a 13-7 win. Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore … Continue reading “8/9 Linescore of the Day – 9th Inning”

9th Inning, Cleveland Indians

8 for 12, 11 runs, 1 homer, 3 doubles, 2 walks

Cleveland trailed the Royals 7-2 in the 9th inning in Kansas City. Mike MacDougal was brought on to close out the game. But then the Tribe woke up scoring 11 runs for a 13-7 win. Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore opened the frame with back to back doubles. Coco Crisp singled. Jhonny Peralta struck out before a double by Travis Hafner and a single by Victor Martinez. Ronnie Belliard grounded into a FC for the 2nd out. Jeff Liefer got on base on an error. Aaron Boone doubled. Jimmy Gobble was brought on to intentionally walk Casey Blake, Grady Sizemore singled, Coco Crisp walked, Jhonny Peralta homered, and mercifully Travis Hafner struck out to put an end to the carnage. Now the Royals know what Custer must’ve felt like.

8/9 STRANGE DAYS INDEED

It’s hard to believe the Cleveland Indians scoring 11 runs off the KC Royals in the 9th inning might only be the 5th strangest thing to happen tonite. An 18 year old fan plunged out of the upper deck at Yankee Stadium in the bottom of the 8th inning in a game against the White … Continue reading “8/9 STRANGE DAYS INDEED”

It’s hard to believe the Cleveland Indians scoring 11 runs off the KC Royals in the 9th inning might only be the 5th strangest thing to happen tonite.

An 18 year old fan plunged out of the upper deck at Yankee Stadium in the bottom of the 8th inning in a game against the White Sox. Scott Harper told his friends he wanted to see if the netting could hold his weight, before leaping onto it.

In Los Angeles Oscar Robles got a 1st inning hit & run single off the Phillies Robinson Tejeda on a pitch that bounced before it reached the plate. Cesar Izturis and Robles later scored to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in a game in which they lost 8-4.

Jeff Kent didn’t help the Los Angeles Dodgers cause any. Kent became the 41st player to strike out four times in a nine inning game. Jeff had a chance to break the record, but was spared when Billy Wagner walked Kent on a 3-2 pitch in the 9th.

New York Mets thirdbaseman David Wright got a standing ovation for a catch he made against Padre Brian Giles in San Diego. Wright raced back and twisted in the air to snag the flair off Giles’ bat. David was in such a position that the only way he could grab it was with his bare hand, which he did. Later Wright came in on an easy bouncer and threw it away for an error. The Mets lost to the Padres 8-3.

TRIBUTE TO BASEBALL IN MILWAUKEE

It was nice to see these plaques dedicated to MLB in Milwaukee even though it wasn’t the Brewers. Note: the first MLB game in Milwaukee was on my birthday, three years before I was born.

It was nice to see these plaques dedicated to MLB in Milwaukee even though it wasn’t the Brewers.

Note: the first MLB game in Milwaukee was on my birthday, three years before I was born.