The Baseball Zealot

Is Chipper walking away…

“I’m not going to tolerate the numbers I have right now for very long,” Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m certainly not going to stick around for a big contract if I’m not having fun and not producing.”

He left himself an out though.

“I’m not saying I’m retiring at the end of this year or the end of next year, but if I become an average player, I’m not sticking around,” he said. “I’m not going to hamstring the ballclub with the money I’m making, and I’m not going to be happy being a mediocre player.”

My guess is that he’s just blowing off steam after going through a nasty slump. He’s hit .117 in the last 23 games. He has two more years of a lucrative contract left. I doubt he’ll walk away from that.

Jeter’s bid to Hall is secure

Last night in a game against the Orioles, Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time list. The fact that Gehrig was a revered Yankee player and that Jeter got his hit in front of 46,000+ fans added to the significance of the event in the eyes of the media.

That puts him #53 on the all-time list. With 2,722 hits, Jeter still needs a couple hundred more plus a few more if he wants to meet the goal of the magical 3000. At the age of 35, barring any major injury, he’ll most likely accomplish that goal.

Where does Jeter fall on the all-time lists in other offensive categories? Here is a quick breakdown:

Batting Average	65th	.316
At-bats	89th	8539
Runs Scored	50th	1564
Total Bases	85th	3945
Doubles	109th	437
Runs Created	65th	1572
HBP	22nd	142
Times on Base	64th	3738
OBP	118	.387

Oh yeah, he’s 47th in singles with 2,005 but that seemed like kind of a back handed compliment.

These numbers are very good but they don’t really jump out at you. That said, Jeter’s hit total is second (behind Ken Griffey) among active players. The difference is that Jeter is only 35.

I’m sure there will be plenty out there who will be comparing Jeter’s hitting stats to others claiming East Coast bias and Jeter-hype. Those will no doubt be the same who will bring up the argument of Jeter’s reputation of mediocre defense (fair or unfair).

But let’s face it. Barring a major scandal, Jeter’s bid for the Hall is pretty much secure when the time comes, like it or not. The phenomenon of Derek Jeter, a player who played his whole career for the Yankees, became their team captain and helped them win in the postseason, counts for more than any stat or fact that you can analyze.

Bring in (Jake) Fox

With the Cubs LF Soriano out now, maybe it would be a good time to get Jake Fox some playing time. He’s quite capable of playing left field.

Circling the Bases thinks so and I agree. Unfortunately, so far the Cubs have not taken that strategy. He hasn’t started since Sept 3 the last time Soriano played a game.

Are homerun celebrations getting out of hand?

Much is being made now about over-zealous homerun celebrations and the reactions they get from the opponents. I first came across this article on mlb.com about the Giants getting “irked” about a couple of homeruns in which teams exhibited in the Giants’ opinion, “unprofessional” behavior.

One was the actions of Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, the other of Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres. Giants starter Brad Penny, who gave up the four-bagger, thought Gonzalez lingered a bit too long, admiring his work before making the trot.

I saw the video of the Gonzalez homer and honestly, I didn’t notice it.

Now, USA Today has picked up on the story. And they have a pretty damning photo of Fielder’s antics to go along with it, too The story is compelling with good examples etc etc..

But it makes me wonder if this story has taken a life of its own. Does it merit this much attention?

Two thoughts that popped into my head regarding this rather unimportant issue (in the grand scheme of things):

One, mlb.com covered this a few days ago. The same news source that recoils at anything controversial. Normally, the cynic in me would surmise that MLB is just trying to perhaps generate controversy/interest/rivalry in the midst of a postseason hunt but the teams involved are not near the top of their division.

Two, god forbid should this story take off to the point that MLB feel that they need to “do something about it”. Professional baseball has enough regulations already and a lot of them range from unnecessary to a hindrance.

Some of you watch more baseball games from different markets than I. Is this really a problem? And why is MLB so worried about it?

Baseball is baseball

I talked on the phone with a friend today. In a nutshell, he is a Cubs fan who lives in Chicago proper. After going round and round about the Cubs woes, I mentioned I’ve been going to see the Illini baseball team practice a couple times this week.

“Wow, you go and watch and watch them PRACTICE?”

He seemed a bit incredulous.

And yeah, from his point of view, it does seem a little hard to believe. Living in Chicago, a few hundred feet from the Red line and boom! you’re at Wrigley Field.

But I’m not in Chicago (or for that matter, St Louis) and haven’t been all summer. I need my dose of real live baseball even if it’s a loosely played split squad practice game with the coaches hitting fungoes to the infielders in between pitches.

The fact that Illinois Field is one block away from my workplace doesn’t hurt either.

Meanwhile, the way I hear it from my friend, you can’t give away Cubs or Sox tickets these days. From his perspective, fans aren’t interested in either team this late in the season especially considering how they’re doing. Now that’s harsh.

I’m hoping the situation isn’t near as bad as my friend is portraying it. Baseball is baseball whether it’s college kids taking fungoes or two teams on the downswing.

The coolest baseball tattoo I’d never have

This tattoo belongs to an employee at my favorite coffee shop. It’s something else.

I was drawn to it initially when his shirt sleeve was down and all I saw were the baseball cleats and the stirrups. Knowing that he was a devout Yankees fan, I knew it had to be baseball related and I asked if I could see it.

Wow, imagine my surprise when he pulled up his sleeve and I saw the pretty woman barely dressed in a vintage-style baseball uniform. I’m not a tattoo person myself but I have to admit this was a conversation-starter.

He says it incorporated two of things he loved most in the world… baseball and women.

Sorry for the censorship box covering the good part. I didn’t want to offend. Here is the NSFW version (it is only a tattoo after all).

Illini baseball fall practice commences

I got a chance to see the University of Illinois baseball squad take full team practice today. This was the first full team practice of the fall.

You can see the update and some photos I took over at the Illinois Baseball Report.

Homerun first

Woo hoo! Former Illini shortstop and friend of the Zealot, Shawn Roof has hit his first pro homerun. It’s worth mentioning because the versatile infielder never hit one during his days as an Illini either.

Don’t expect another one soon because the Roof waited till the last game of the Erie Seawolves’ regular season for his first dramatic first.

Congrats, Shawn!

Slowpoke Papelbon

Jonathan Papelbon has been slapped with another fine related to MLB’s “pacing violation”. This rule which MLB has asked to be more vigorously enforced, limits the time that a pitcher takes to throw the ball.

I’m not a fan of the rule necessarily but I understand why it is in place. Papelbon is certainly familiar with the rule. This incident is the seventh time he’s been hit with this violation. This time he got a $5000 fine to bring his total to $10,000 for fines accrued for this practice.

Some baseball fans (who regard any infraction of the rules baseball as a personal affront) feel Papelbon is doing this because in the words of a commenter in one forum, “the rules are meant for someone else” or that it “shows the type of character he possesses”.

Sheesh.

Papelbon is, in my opinion, simply pitching the best he can in the way that he can. If getting fined a measly (in relative terms) $1,000-$5,000 a shot for a couple times a year in order for him to put up the numbers that he does, he’ll do it.

Should he find a way to hurry his delivery? Probably, unless he doesn’t mind that fine to continue to rise.

At this time, Pap has 34 saves in 37 opportunities with a 1.84 ERA. I’m sure Red Sox fans aren’t complaining about the extra time.

Tilly Walker’s place in baseball history

On this day in 1887, Tilly Walker was born. Unless you’re a devoted baseball historian, Walker is pretty much an unknown as baseball players go.

Coming to the bigs in 1911, he was a journeyman outfielder playing for the Senators, Browns and Red Sox before finding a more permanent home with the Philadelphia Athletics where he played for six years between the years of 1918-1923. He was a solid hitter for his era, ranking up there among the leaders in extra-base hits, slugging and yes, even homeruns.

His homerun numbers during his career weren’t Ruthian by any means. He ranked 3rd in the American League in 1914 with a grand total of six. As time went by, his total grew getting up into the double-digits even reaching as high as 37 in 1922.

But Tilly Walker has one major distinction, perhaps fodder for a trivia question. In 1918 while playing for the Philadelphia Athletics, he tied Babe Ruth for the AL lead in homeruns with 11. He was the last person to lead the league in that category before the Babe Ruth era. Ruth then continued his dominance of baseball by leading the AL in homers 10 of the next 12 seasons (the exceptions? In 1922 when Ken Williams had his career year for the Browns and 1925 when Ruth had his famous “Bellyache Heard ‘Round the World” aka gonorrhea).

If you look over Walker’s stats, you’ll note that those 11 homeruns he hit in 1918 is only time he ever led his league in any category.

Walker ended his career with 118 career homeruns which probably doesn’t seem like a lot. But considering that the career leader at the time of his retirement had 238 and that was Babe Ruth, he probably ranked pretty high.

Tilly Walker has obviously passed on (in 1959) in his home state of Tennessee. But he does have a place in baseball history. Happy Birthday, Tilly Walker!