MLB Hit Parade: April 2011

April 25

RAZZBALL: "I don't veto trades, I protest them."


April 24


The Chicago Cubs record this season has been 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10. This has never happened before in major league history.



April 17

On this day in baseball history in 1929: Babe Ruth and actress Claire Hodgson are married at 5:00 AM to avoid crowds. The next day, in his first at bat against Red Ruffing, the Babe will hit a home run. Rounding second base he'll doff his cap to Claire.


Jake Peavy is about two weeks away.


Hot Tub Bug Machine: "Health officials identified legionella bacteria in a whirlpool spa at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during an investigation in February that began when people were sickened after attending a fundraiser."

April 15

Remembering Jackie Robinson at iam42.com.

Pauly's Pickup of the Week: Nick Hundley.

I knew the Mets were going through hard times, but apparently so are the ex-Mets: Lenny Dykstra charged with embezzlement; and Dwight Gooden sentenced for child endangerment.

MLB Hit Parade: December 2010

December 30


KID K HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Welcome back, Kerry Wood.

JENKS AND THE WHITE SOX are like a bad divorce. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Bobby Jenks.




December 16

BOB FELLER: The New York Times remembers the late Hall of Fame pitcher and WWII vet:

Joining the Indians in 1936, Feller became baseball’s biggest draw since Babe Ruth, throwing pitches that batters could barely see — fastballs approaching 100 miles an hour and curveballs and sinkers that fooled the sharpest eyes. He was Rapid Robert in the sports pages. As Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez was said to have remarked after three Feller pitches blew by him, “That last one sounded a little low.”

YOU DECIDE! Take a look at this year's Hall of Fame ballot and list your picks here.


December 12

CARL CRAWFORD AND THE UNSTOPPABLE SOX: This article is a perfect example of the enthusiasm surrounding Carl Crawford's signing with the Red Sox. But I'm not sure why the Red Sox receive praise for this while the Nationals are panned for the Jayson Werth signing. Both contracts are huge money over seven years for players who are relatively high risk. In some ways, the Crawford signing could be higher risk because so much of his game depends on speed -- and that can be taken away with an injury. I hope Crawford works out for the Red Sox, but it could be Ken Griffey Jr. all over again, minus the home town discount.

ALBERT PUJOLS: Could the Cubs go after Phat Albert in 2012? My hunch is no, but hey, it's fun to think about!


December 7

PAUL KONERKO talks have hit an impasse. Lots of White Sox fans are worrying about this, but let's wait and see. You want Konerko, but only at the right price. Let's not forget his disappointing 2007-2009 years, or the fact that he tends to play his best in contract years. (UPDATE: White Sox have re-signed Konerko. Looks like the right move to me, especially considering that his teammates and the fan base love him.)

PAYING THEIR RESPECTS: Wrigley turned into a Ron Santo shrine.

MY NEW FAVORITE COMMERCIAL:



Chicago finally has a star basketball player in town again. It's only been 12 years. BTW, where can I buy that poster of Rose dunking on Oden?

MLB Hit Parade: November 2010

Nov. 28

REST IN PEACE, Leslie Nielsen.




Nov. 20

COLLEGE GAME DAY: So I'm heading to Wrigley Field today to watch my alma mater, Illinois, take on Northwestern.

As you've probably heard, the Big Ten stepped in at the last minute to say both offenses must head toward the west end zone. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney said, "The health and safety of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance." Yeah, right. If the health and safety of these student-athletes was of the "utmost importance," then the Big Ten would hand them skirts instead of helmets and have them play two-hand touch.

Also, Wrigley Field isn't the only baseball field hosting a football game today. So is Yankee Stadium.


FANTASY BASEBALL 365: Charlie Saponara and his untrusty sidekick, Joe, tackle the tough topics of Jose Bautista, Pablo Sandoval, and potentially overrated catchers. I'm biased in favor of this podcast because these are the topics I suggested via Twitter. Isn't social networking cool?

Nov. 17

WHAT DO YOU THINK was the worst MLB trade of the past 25 years? Hmm... the only thing this list is missing is every trade the Pittsburgh Pirates have made with Jim Hendry. (Although,in fairness, the guy who made all those bad trades for Pittsburgh now works for Hendry. Go figure.)


Nov.13

CHICAGO CUBS' WEEKEND HEADLINES: All Cracked up. "The Cubs continue with the unintentional metaphors for the 2010 season, having cracked the beloved Harry Caray statue in the prep for the Big Northwestern/Illiois game." Plus the Cubs have asked our bankrupt state of Illinois for $200 million to help fund their billion-dollar entertainment business.

ROBBED!

HT: Carl Skanberg's Smells Like Mascot


Nov. 11

VETERANS' REFLECTIONS: Former Pro Baseball Players Reflect on War Service.

BOB FELLER'S TIME IN THE NAVY. This video is 10 minutes long, but it's Bob Feller in his own words and rather enjoyable for any WWII buffs out there.

WHITE SOX trying to repair damaged recruiting reputation in Latin America. "Re-establishing an honorable presence in Latin America has been placed in the hands of Jerry Krause, the former Bulls general manager and baseball scout who was hired last spring as director of international scouting with an emphasis on restructuring scouting in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela."


Nov. 10
SOX MACHINE: Why Alexei Ramirez was robbed of the Gold Glove. "Plain and simple, Ramirez made waaaaaaaaaaaaay more plays — and because of the error stat (and, going a step further, fielding percentage), he effectively gets punished for having more chances to make errors."

JOE MORGAN AND JON MILLER ARE OUT at ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. But who will replace them?


Nov. 7


2010 UPL BASEBALL Wrap-Up and Post-Season Awards: This year's manager of the year is Pauly.


THE WEATHER IS GETTING COLDER but the stove is heating up. For the third straight year, Schruender is rating a different MLB player each day of the offseason.


MY NEW FAVORITE COMMERCIAL:



Welcome back, Conan.


Nov. 4

REMEMBERING SPARKY ANDERSON: 

No manager in baseball history was more true to his nickname than George "Sparky'' Anderson. No manager ever loved the game more than Sparky. No manager did the job with the same relentless energy and enthusiasm as Sparky. No manager smiled as often as Sparky. No manager was more of a gentleman than Sparky. No manager was nicer than Sparky. Late in his career, Anderson asked the media to start calling him by his given name, George, saying no man in his 50s should be called Sparky. But, it never took. He was and always will be Sparky.

UNDERCOVER BOSS: This Sunday, November 7, at 8 p.m. on CBS, you'll get to see one of the Chicago Cubs' owners, Todd Ricketts, go undercover and work at Wrigley Field (taped last September).

Ricketts grew a beard and went undercover in September as "Mark Dawson," an out-of-work roofer who won a contest to appear on a TV show in which he is given the chance to earn a job on the grounds crew based on his performance during a week-long trial period.

He strikes out. "I was fired from the bathroom crew," Ricketts told Eric & Kathy Thursday morning on 101.9 FM The Mix.

He's given a second chance, though, and eventually does several jobs, including selling hot dogs, parking cars and working the grounds.

"The most exciting one was working the scoreboard," Ricketts said on The Mix. "It was the first time I'd been up there. It was only the second time cameras had been up there ... It's really special."

Nov. 2

CONGRATS TO THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS!

MLB Hit Parade: October 2010

Oct. 31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Oct. 30

JOSH HAMILTON: "I could smell weed in the outfield. It was crazy. I was looking at the cops a couple of times during the game." So far all the World Series' drama has been off the field...

MYWRIGLEYVILLE.COM:

I still haven't made it to the rooftops for a game. One of these days...

Oct. 29

FEAR THE BEARDED THONG:

Parents, don't let your kids dress up as a bearded thong for Halloween.

NO WAY, JOSE? Jose Guillen part of HGH probe. This might explain why he's not on the Giants' roster right now. And while I'm usually a staunch supporter of innocent until proven guilty, this is Jose Guillen we're talking about...

Oct. 28

NO SURPRISE: World Series ratings dip without Yankees.

KERRY WOOD: Could he be coming back to the Cubs?

MY NEW FAVORITE COMMERCIAL:

Funny and true, except at the end. I don't think this phone can do anything to stop people from keeping their noses in their smartphones. Unfortunately, I'm also guilty of this ridiculous behavior.

Oct. 26
CLIFF LEE'S wife was harassed by Yankees fans. Some people think that this will cost the Yankees a shot at Lee in free agency. I doubt it. Every fan base has idiots. The important things here are that the Yankees offer Lee the most money and that his wife likes the city of New York. 

THE BACKWARDS K to end your team's postseason. It already has happened twice this year (with both Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard being caught looking). But how many times has it happened in postseason history? Not many.

IN DEFENSE OF A THREE-MAN ROTATION? "I was soon persuaded that the three-man rotation was the way to go in the post-season after a conducting a study with Sean Forman on the impact of pitches thrown and rest days on performance. In our analysis of games from 1988 — 2009, estimates showed that days of rest had very little impact on performance. On average, every rest day lowered a pitcher’s ERA by about 0.015; however, the estimate was not statistically different from there being no effect. It seems that most of the recovery benefits that pitchers receive occur in the three days of rest between starts."

More on pitcher recovery times here.

Oct. 24

BENGIE MOLINA has it made. No matter what, this year he's going to win a World Series ring.

ESPN's 30 FOR 30 SERIES continues this Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST with Fernando Nation.

Nicknamed “El Toro” by his fans, Fernando Valenzuela ignited a fire that spread from LA to New York—and beyond. He vaulted himself onto the prime time stage and proved with his signature look to the heavens and killer screwball that the American dream was not reserved for those born on U.S. soil.

In this layered look at the myth and the man, Cruz Angeles recalls the euphoria around Fernando’s arrival and probes a phenomenon that transcended baseball for many Mexican-Americans. Fernando Valenzuela himself opens up to share his perspective on this very special time. Even 20 years later, “Fernandomania” lives.

Oct. 23

CONGRATS TO THE RANGERS! In all the best stories, somebody slays the giant. How fitting it was for Alex Rodriguez, who made disparaging remarks about the Rangers being "me and 24 kids" when he was traded, to be struck out for the final out by one of those kids, Neftali Feliz, throwing 97 miles an hour.

WHO IS THIS mystery woman?

JOSE BAUTISTA: Looking ahead to 2011, will Joey Bats turn out to be a one-hit wonder? This was a good article. Although, it didn't directly mention OBP. If you're curious, Bautista's OBP in 2010 was a very good .378. In 2009, Mark Reynolds' OBP was only .349. It's also interesting to note how Reynolds' 2010 numbers reverted back to basically what he did in 2008. I've put a big question mark on Bautista for 2011, but I would certainly rate him higher for 2011 than I rated Reynolds for 2010.

TODAY'S LUNCH: Who knew that my neighborhood hot dog place, Wiener and Still Champion, had a blog? Plus major props to the guy who ate the Triple Undisputed (a.k.a. 911) in 16 minutes. 

Oct. 19

BASEBALL IS HER BOYFRIEND: Now Micah Chapman is who I'd call a dedicated baseball (and Rangers) fan. 

RYNO IS DISAPPOINTED that he didn't get the Cubs job. I think the Cubs made the right move by giving Mike Quade two years. As for Ryne Sandberg, I wish him the best. My hope is that next season he's able to get some type of major league coaching job.

Oct. 18

THE NEXT CARLOS GONZALEZ: Tim Dierkes goes in search of the next CarGo. Of the people on his list, my bet would be Jason Heyward.

BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE names Buster Posey and Neftali Perez as their rookies of the year. It's kinda fun to go through and check out all the different baseball blogs that were involved. I found many that I hadn't seen before.

Oct. 16

I'M STILL ROOTING AGAINST THE YANKEES, but I just had to post this picture of George W. Bush and Nolan Ryan watching the Rangers' 8th inning implosion last night during Game 1 of the ALCS:

My cable was out so I missed the show. Probably just as well. The above picture tells me exactly what happened.

Oct. 1-14

ERIC SHOW: Remembering the tortured life of Eric Show. "The 12-year-old boy sat in the rear of his father's car, getting an earful. This was 1968, the year of the pitcher in the big leagues, the year of Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA and Denny McLain's 31 wins. But in the backseat of a white Mercury Comet, it was not the year of a Pony League pitcher named Eric Show. His father, Les, was in a rage. He had just watched young Eric walk a batter, hit a batter and generally have a mediocre day. It had triggered the scariest part of Les: his temper."


ANOTHER CUBS BLOG: "A lot of people, including the Cubs owner, spend time trying to think of ways to improve Wrigley Field. Me? I've already got the answer and it's been done before. Here, have a look for yourself.  It's pretty cool what you can do these days."


COLUMBUS DAY: There has never been an MLB player with the last or first name of "Columbus." But there have been a few minor leaguers with the name. 

Hit Parade: 7/25 - 7/31

MAYBE THEY'RE NUTS: Why don't more MLB players wear cups? (And if Huston Street doesn't wear one, will he change his mind?)

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE NO-HITTERS this year? Uh, not much, really. Joe Sheehan's article from a few weeks ago still holds up today: "This isn't actually that unusual, even in modern baseball history. Back in 1990 there were four no-hitters in June alone, capped by Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela each tossing one on June 29. A year later, there were five no-hitters in a two-month stretch starting just before the All-Star break, including two combined no-hitters and a perfect game by Dennis Martinez. Those two seasons, '90 and '91, are tied for second place all-time in number of no-hitters thrown at seven, and they hold the modern record."

ARE THE WHITE SOX running into trouble? (Personally, I buy into the 70% theory.)

NEW BULLS' FORWARD Kyle Korver demonstrated how not to throw the first pitch at a Cub game this past weekend.

HAWK IN THE HALL: "I never knew what it felt like to be loved by a city until I arrived in Chicago. You are the reason I kept playing the game. I can't thank you enough for what you gave to me. You were the winds beneath the Hawk's wings." (Congrats to Andre Dawson!)

REPORT CARDS: Chairman Gau is handing out grades for the first half of the UPL fantasy baseball season.

ADVANCED FANTASY BASEBALL: Post All-Star Break Prospects to Watch. (I was disappointed a few days ago to discover that Domonic Brown is not available in the UPL. Blast you, CJ! Fortunately, this article goes way beyond Brown.)

CARLOS QUESTIONABLE: This is for all you Sox fans and Carlos Quentin fantasy owners out there:

HT: Carl Skanberg's Smells Like Mascot.

Hit parade...

Tough day for Joe Saunders. AP photo

CUBS ARE NUMBER ONE! (Most expensive tickets in baseball)

UPL UPDATE: The JimmyDix Restructuring.

FORBES: Ten most valuable MLB teams.

1. New York Yankees - $1,600,000,000
2. Boston Red Sox - $870,000,000
3. New York Mets - $858,000,000
4. Los Angeles Dodgers - $727,000,000
5. Chicago Cubs - $726,000,000
6. Philadelphia Phillies - $537,000,000
7. Anaheim Angels - $521,000,000
8. St. Louis Cardinals - $488,000,000
9. San Francisco Giants - $483,000,000
10. Chicago White Sox - $466,000,000

THE START of something special? Strasburg to debut in the minors this Sunday for Harrisburg.

PRINCE FIELDER could be in line for a $200 million deal.

CHEATER? Twins third base coach tried to imitate runner during the last play of the Sox-Twins game.

Hit parade...

 

Joba Chamberlain / Photo courtesy: Sipken/News

Sunday, March 7

I hope your day is going better than Joba's outing last Friday.

Were you disappointed with the umpires during last season's MLB playoffs? You're not alone.

Joe Nathan is having tests on his elbow. He says he's not worried, but of course Twins fans (and fantasy owners) are worried.

Tim Dierkes has posted his undervalued hitters for 2010. (Guys on this list who are currently on my 24-man roster include Chris Coghlan and... that's it. Although, in his "others I like" he mentions Carlos Gonzalez, Miguel Montero, and Billy Butler, who are all on my team as of this writing. But I'll need to drop at least one or more before our keeper draft.)

Monday, March 8

The top ten stories of spring training thus far.

Good start: Aroldis Chapman is beginning to feel at home with the Reds.

Tuesday, March 9

Jason Heyward: Peter Gammons offers high praise for Heyward and the importance of family.

Old school fantasy baseball: The Sports Guy has posted notebook scribbles of his 1983 catcher rankings and outfield rankings. (I like the Bo Diaz pick. He was my first baseball idol, and yes, I wore his #6 when I caught during one Little League season  in the late 80's.)

Pauly returns.

Joe Nathan injury update: Bad news.

Wednesday, March 9

Canadian health care: First Jose Reyes and Alex Rodriguez, now Huston Street.

The 9th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft goes to... SuckMyKnuckleballs. And the 8th pick goes to... Cheeseheads.

Thursday, March 10

UPL draft order results continue:

• 7th pick: Phatsnapper
• 6th pick: Muddy Mush Heads
• 5th pick: Hats for Bats

Reminder: We're 99% sure that Nathan is done for the year, not 100%.

A new and unproven fantasy baseball advice site, DraftPerfect.com, gives its two cents about ESPN's and Yahoo's fantasy baseball experts. (I can see the success stories now. "I won my fantasy baseball league because I knew to trust Brandon Funston over Brad Evans. Thank you, DraftPerfect.com!)

Sunday, March 14

Top four picks of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft:

• 4th pick: Benver Droncos
• 3rd pick: '90 Reds (my team)
• 2nd pick: Black Sox
• 1st pick: JimmyDixLongballs

Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard? Could this rumor possibly be true?

Best wishes to top Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland.

Hit parade...

Houston, we have a baseball problem. The Astros' baseball mission hasn't exactly gone as planned this season. Their manager Cecil Cooper didn't have a safe landing, and on Friday their starter Brian Moehler got blasted to the tune of 8 hits and 7 earned runs in just 2.1 innings pitched.

How good will Stephen Strasburg be? The Mark Prior comparisons seem fair. Prior went 6-6/3.32 ERA/1.17 WHIP/11.3 K/9 in his first season; and then 18-6/2.43 ERA/1.10 WHIP/ 10.4 K/9 in his second season. Wins and losses are inherently difficult to predict, but I'd guess that while Strasburg's strikeout totals might be similar to Prior's, I'd be surprised if his ERA and WHIP are as good as Prior's in those first two years.

I'm sure he loves it when you call him Big Papi. After starting out the year in a horrible slump, dogged by steroids allegations, and eventually benched, David Ortiz is on the comeback trail. After basically doing nothing the first 2 months, he could still end up with another 30 HR/100 RBI season. Color me surprised.

Phat Albert. Unlike Ortiz, Albert Pujols doesn't seem to do 2-month slumps. He has been amazing this year (again) with .447 OBP/47 HR/.675 SLG/120 R/129 RBI/14 SB. Not bad for a guy who was drafted 402nd in the 1999 MLB draft.

Ichi-jected! Up there with Albert Pujols among the greatest players of all time, yesterday Ichiro Suzuki achieved another milestone in his career: His first ejection. Way to show the fire in the belly!

Hit parade...

Big Z in big trouble: Last Saturday the Cards weren't kind to the Cubs' ace. 10 hits. 9 earned runs. 4 homers. One of Carlos Zambrano's worst starts ever. Ouch.

Red storm rising: No, not Russia or China. The '90 Reds. A few weeks ago I was 40 points out in the UPL. Now I'm just 20 points out.

The Tortoise and the Haren? During the All-Star break the O.N. Thugs offered me Carlos Quentin for Dan Haren. I gladly obliged, and here are their numbers since: Quentin: .417/.745 with 11 homers, 23 runs, 24 RBI. Haren: 4-1, 35 K in 33.1 IP, 4.05 ERA, 1.29 WHIP. Both have done well, but the important thing is that I'm closing like Jason Lezak on the Thugs...

Snakes on a plan: I really like the D-Backs' trade for Adam Dunn. That, combined with their earlier trade for Jon Rauch, makes them all the more dangerous if they make it to October.

Trivia: If Ryan Braun manages to hit 12 more homers this season, he will hold the record for most homers in the first two seasons of an MLB career. Who currently holds that record with 75?

Hit parade...

Chase-d away early: Monday was tough on Jorge De La Rosa and the Rockies who gave up 20 runs to the Phils, including 6 RBI to Chase "MVP?" Utley.

Pitchin' ain't easy: Has anyone else noticed that, dating back to the early 90's, nearly all of the relatively young MLB players who have unexpectedly died have been pitchers?

Bruce Almighty: So Jay Bruce has had two nice games so far. I'll still be surprised if he puts up Ryan Braun-like numbers this year. But then again, I dropped Braun last year...

Dangerous Mind: Padres' GM Paul DePodesta, who earlier this decade helped Billy Beane revolutionize scouting, has started his own blog.

Trivia: In 2007, the Chicago Cubs won at least 20 of the games that one of their pitchers started. Who was that pitcher?

Hit parade...

Feeling Chipper's Bat: The Reds' pitching got roughed up by the Braves 14-7 on Sunday. Chipper Jones had 5 RBI (good for my fantasy team), but woe to anyone who had Bronson Arroyo starting: 1.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 1 BB.

Who Shot J.R.? I'm embarrassed to admit that I used my waiver priority to take Houston catcher J.R. Towles early this season. He's only mired in a minor 9 for 55 slump over the past month. And by "minor," I mean if he keeps this up he'll be back in the minor leagues.

Wang Chung Havin' Fun: Chien-Ming Wang is now 6-0 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 32 K in 45 IP. Two years ago I heard some expert say Wang had the best stuff on the Yankees staff, including Randy Johnson. It looks like he's finally living up to that hype. (And yes, I regret dropping him from my team last season!)

Bale Break: Royals pitcher John Bale, already on the DL with a bum shoulder, broke his throwing hand while punching a hotel door in a fit of rage on Friday. I know it sounds stupid, but I've punched a door too. I think it was about a month after I dropped Wang...

Happy Trails, Julio: In case you haven't heard, Julio Franco, age 49, finally retired from baseball last week. When he homered off Randy Johnson last year he became the oldest player to homer in the majors. I'll miss Julio. He and Eric Davis had two of my favorite batting stances.