Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Hank Blalock, Texas Rangers 4 for 5, 2 2B, HR, 4 runs, rbi Hank matched his career high in hits in a game with four. In the same game, Kenny Rogers pitched his last game before he finds out whether his suspension will be shortened.
Hank Blalock, Texas Rangers
4 for 5, 2 2B, HR, 4 runs, rbi
Hank matched his career high in hits in a game with four. In the same game, Kenny Rogers pitched his last game before he finds out whether his suspension will be shortened.
If you’re from Chicago, you might be a White Sox fan if… you spell “clue” K-L-U. you hate Hunter Wendlestedt you turn off your cell phone before a baseball game. you’ve worked a day in your life. you think Jon Rooney should be in the Hall-of-Fame. losers aren’t lovable. Nellie Fox is the greatest second … Continue reading “YOU MAY BE A WHITE SOX FAN IF…”
If you’re from Chicago, you might be a White Sox fan if…
Just got this as an e-mail and wanted to share it with all. Hope you enjoyed it. GO SOX GO!!!
On a double he hit against the Seattle Mariners last night, Baltimore Oriole Rafael Palmeiro became the 26th player to reach the 3000-hit plateau. He added a single before the night was through. Palmeiro has always been an underrated player but talk of the Hall of Fame is inevitable. Of the 26 players with 3000 … Continue reading “Palmeiro reaches 3000. Is there still doubt?”
On a double he hit against the Seattle Mariners last night, Baltimore Oriole Rafael Palmeiro became the 26th player to reach the 3000-hit plateau. He added a single before the night was through.
Palmeiro has always been an underrated player but talk of the Hall of Fame is inevitable. Of the 26 players with 3000 hits, all but four are in the Hall. Three of the four (Ripken, Gwynn, Henderson) are not yet eligible. The other one… well, you know about the other one.
But let’s not stop there. Let’s not forget Raffy has passed the 500 mark in homeruns and is within striking distance of 600. Last count, he has 566. Using the same methodology, there are 20 players with 500 career homeruns. Every eligible player in that group in is in the Hall (Bonds, Sosa, Griffey and Palmeiro are still active, McGwire is not yet eligible).
And yet, after all that, there are still those who do not believe. Buster Olney says in his latest article,
Palmeiro has reached 3,000 hits, and the debate is ongoing about whether he has the credentials for the Hall of Fame.
I would like to think that any thinking baseball fan would not need any more credentials than 3000 hits and 500 homeruns. Not that Raffy doesn’t have ’em. I am curious as to what debate there is.
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox 1 for 6, HR, 2 runs, 6 rbis This is an unusual LSOTD by Ortiz during the Bosox’ 17-1 drubbing of the Yanks. He had a grand slam in the 6th inning. The addtional run and rbi came courtesy of a fielder’s choice. Ortiz was Fenway Nation’s 2004 Player of the … Continue reading “7/15 Linescore of the Day”
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
1 for 6, HR, 2 runs, 6 rbis
This is an unusual LSOTD by Ortiz during the Bosox’ 17-1 drubbing of the Yanks. He had a grand slam in the 6th inning. The addtional run and rbi came courtesy of a fielder’s choice.
Ortiz was Fenway Nation’s 2004 Player of the Year.
The Cubs won 11-1 today. And this is the lineup they used. Hairston Walker Lee Burnitz Ramirez Hollandsworth Perez Barrett Wood They’ve used a variation of this lineup for most of July. Either Dusty is reading the Cubs blogs or he is just doing what makes sense. He’s finally realized that Neifi Perez (with his … Continue reading “Lessons in Lineups”
The Cubs won 11-1 today. And this is the lineup they used.
They’ve used a variation of this lineup for most of July. Either Dusty is reading the Cubs blogs or he is just doing what makes sense. He’s finally realized that Neifi Perez (with his sub-.300 OBP) and Corey Patterson (now in Iowa AAA) are not leadoff hitters and Jerry Hairston can get the job done, thank you very much.
Walker makes an excellent #2 hitter. Let’s keep him there. He has a high OBP and is a good contact hitter.
Now that the table is set, let Lee, Burnitz and Ramirez clear it off. Simple as that.
This isn’t rocket science, folks. Somehow, it has escaped our Clueless Fearless Leader Dusty, till now.
But remember, he is a player’s manager.
Won’t be long before we see Nomar Garciaparra back at Wrigley. At least that’s what we hear from the Cubs’ organization. The target date is August 1. Right now he’s working out in Mesa, AZ and word has it he’s looking pretty good. ‘Course we’ve heard that before from the Cubs upper management. But what … Continue reading “Return of Nomar in a couple weeks”
Won’t be long before we see Nomar Garciaparra back at Wrigley. At least that’s what we hear from the Cubs’ organization. The target date is August 1. Right now he’s working out in Mesa, AZ and word has it he’s looking pretty good. ‘Course we’ve heard that before from the Cubs upper management.
But what to do with Neifi Perez? The Neifi phenomenon, such as it was, has grown to cult status within the Cubs blogosphere. Some may not be ready to give him up. Well, come August, he may need a break. Despite his hot start, Neifi has cooled off considerably. A friend mentioned this to me so I decided to look it up. Since June 1, his stats are indeed quite messy (.227, .244 OBP, .299 slg, ouch!). I believe the Cubs have squeezed every ounce of production out of Neifi and are anxious for Nomar’s return.
I am the first to give Neifi kudos. He stepped up when the team really needed him and until the end, really produced. The Cubs have made use of of his bat and occasional defense.
But I am ready for Nomar.
Matt Stairs, Kansas City Royals 2 for 4, 2 HR, 2 runs, 6 rbis KC needed all the production they could get from Stairs. Going into the 8th inning, it was 6-5 Royals. Ten runs were scored that inning; six by KC (including Stairs’ second homer), four by the Tigers. KC ended up winning 12-9. … Continue reading “7/14 Linescore of the Day”
Matt Stairs, Kansas City Royals
2 for 4, 2 HR, 2 runs, 6 rbis
KC needed all the production they could get from Stairs. Going into the 8th inning, it was 6-5 Royals. Ten runs were scored that inning; six by KC (including Stairs’ second homer), four by the Tigers. KC ended up winning 12-9.
Even with all the baseball information out there on the Internet, sometimes I like nothing more than to curl up in bed with a good baseball book. However, finding the right book isn’t always easy. Now we have baseballbooks.net. Brought to you by the same people who gave the wonderful resource that is Baseball Reference, … Continue reading “Baseballbooks.net”
Even with all the baseball information out there on the Internet, sometimes I like nothing more than to curl up in bed with a good baseball book. However, finding the right book isn’t always easy.
Now we have baseballbooks.net. Brought to you by the same people who gave the wonderful resource that is Baseball Reference, this site categorizes books and DVDs by topic. It also lists the current top selling books, upcoming books, an editor’s choice list. Of course you can perform searches based on author, keywords, and title. Other features include reviews and a baseball book blog.
Next time you’re in the mood for a good read, check it out.
… and he’s not just putting a sign in his yard. Barry Zito has pledged $100 for each strikeout to help “provide the comforts of home” for military personnel via his Strikeouts for Troops foundation. It benefits soldiers recuperating at the Walter Reed, Bethesda Naval, among other military hospitals. His foundation’s web site is http://www.strikeoutsfortroops.org. … Continue reading “Zito’s Supporting the Troops…”
… and he’s not just putting a sign in his yard.
Barry Zito has pledged $100 for each strikeout to help “provide the comforts of home” for military personnel via his Strikeouts for Troops foundation. It benefits soldiers recuperating at the Walter Reed, Bethesda Naval, among other military hospitals. His foundation’s web site is http://www.strikeoutsfortroops.org.
While I certainly don’t support our country’s war in Iraq, I think this is a very worthy cause. The wounded soldiers need all the help they can get.
Strike ’em out Barry!
The mysterious banner unfurled over the left field wall with a web address belonged to Chevy. And according to The Register, Fox Sports broadcasters weren’t as dumb as they sounded as they were in on it. The whole thing was a ruse to bring attention to the banner and advertse more for Chevy, one of Fox … Continue reading “All-Star Banner Mystery Solved”
The mysterious banner unfurled over the left field wall with a web address belonged to Chevy. And according to The Register, Fox Sports broadcasters weren’t as dumb as they sounded as they were in on it. The whole thing was a ruse to bring attention to the banner and advertse more for Chevy, one of Fox Sports’ biggest advertisers. Pretty slick.
According to the article:
As Fox came back from a commercial break in the bottom half of the third inning, many viewers caught sight of a very long, flashy banner draped over an equally ostentatious advertisement picturing a yellow Corvette. The banner read HHRYA.com with the letters done in pseudo Asian design – clearly the work of professionals. However, the Fox Sports broadcasters Joe Buck and Tim McCarver played off the ad like it was the work of a goofy sports fan, dangling his banner in the hopes of securing a moment of TV glory.
Here’s the chatter as Fox panned across the outfield and then held on the supposed fan’s sign for between 10 and 20 seconds.
“Welcome back to Detroit,” Buck said. “A lot of banners and signs around the ballpark. No surprise there. Somebody just unfurled a big banner behind left field.”
You’ll love the next bit, as Buck devolves into a second grader.
“H-H-R-Y-A. Tim, you’ll have to tell me what that means. I am not sure, but someone went to a lot of trouble, obviously, to put it up out in left center field.”
You’d think that would be the end of the stunt, but no. Fox returned to the action to see baseball’s best pitcher Roy Oswalt face off against Johnny Damon. After one pitch, McCarver brought all the weight of his formidable intellect to bear on the puzzle:
“I don’t know what that sign means, but ‘hooray’ is the first thing that comes to my mind.”
Funny you should mention that, Tim. Hooray is exactly the sound Fox executives made as they cashed their checks from the largest advertiser of the day. Chevy, the sponsor, must have been disappointed as it failed to prepare its HHRYA.com website for the traffic it expected to receive. Visitors to the site were unable to reach the page for about thirty minutes after the “I don’t know what that is” ad appeared.
Hehe, I like the part about Buck devolving into a second grader. That wouldn’t be a stretch.
That said, I knew they couldn’t be that stupid.