If we had to pick a side to be on for the HR Derby, gimme the NL please!
The Brewers’ Prince Fielder, the Padres’ Adrian Gonzalez, the Phillies’ Ryan Howard and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols all are scheduled to participate in the Home Run Derby.
The AL participants have yet to be announced, but no matter the choices, I will take the NL.
Had this one sent to me from a friend yesterday. I didn’t really realize it, but it made me chuckle. As you can see, it was written a few days ago, before the final voting results were announced, but it doesn’t change the ‘story’.
Jewish fans of baseball — fascinated with Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg and Lou Boudreau — may have a new crop of athletes to dote upon at this year’s All-Star Game.
Ryan Braun, Kevin Youkilis and Ian Kinsler lead in balloting for the squads, and pitcher Jason Marquis had the most wins in his league through June 30, meaning the four Jewish players are favorites to earn invitations to Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game on July 14. It would be the first time four Jews were named to the event.
I’m not an overly religious sort, but I do find this type of thing, um, “interesting”, for lack of a better word. As fans, we’re predisposed to root for players who:
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I admittedly missed this play live, but saw the replays (thanks to Matt Pouliot at CTB who nailed it). OK, the ump missed the call. It happens. Except when the ump knowingly made the wrong call and stood by it.
When Derek Jeter was called out attempting to steal third base with no one out, he asked third base umpire Marty Foster for a reason.
Jeter thought he was safe. The ball had beaten him there, but he moved his left hand around Scott Rolen’s glove and replays showed he touched the bag before Rolen’s tag.
“He didn’t tag me,” Jeter told Foster.
“He didn’t have to,” Foster said, according to Jeter. “The ball beat you.”
That’s absurd.
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The Manny-love is back in full bloom. He’s back in LA, hitting, having fun, and the fans are going wild. But let’s not forget why he was missed in the first place. Courtesy of FOTB Anthony Roberts, quoted in this NY Daily News article yesterday:
Ramirez still hasn’t explained why he needed hCG, a fertility drug that Jose Canseco was arrested for bringing across the U.S.-Mexico border in October of 2008. While it’s not technically a steroid (a point Ramirez strove to make early on) hCG is well-known to bodybuilders, who use it as an adjunct to their testosterone regimens, according to experts interviewed by the Daily News.
“Every steroid dealer carries hCG because he knows his customers will use it,” says Anthony Roberts, a trainer, blogger and steroid expert who has written two anabolic reference books. “That indicates he was a longtime user and that he knew what he was doing. The fact that he was using hCG is as damning as a positive drug test to me.”
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ESPN’s Keith Law posted his picks for the All Star Game(behind the Insider wall). Funny what happens when you take the emotion out of the selection process and what you have left is analysis and (mostly) logic. Some of his best comments:
- Charlie Manuel is confused by positional requirements, arithmetic (as it relates to selecting Howard and the lack of the DH in the NL ballpark)
- Charlie Manuel is also hypnotized by win totals (as it relates to selecting Marquis over Jimenez, despite otherwise inferior numbers aside from wins)
- Joe Maddon might need new glasses (selecting Wakefield, focusing on win totals; I think Law misses the ‘sentimentality’ behind this pick)
- Apparently both managers expect to face multiple save situations (or, how Javier Vazquez got screwed out of a spot)
- His own omissions, AL-style:
“The best players omitted here are probably Justin Morneau (passed over in favor of Pena, a much better defender and almost Morneau’s equal as a hitter), Adam Lind (no DH in the NL park — another dumb rule, since no one wants to see pitchers hit or bunt in an exhibition game), and Jered Weaver (who would have had Bailey’s spot if I didn’t need it for an Oakland player).”
- And what about that Manny dude:
“And yes, Manny Ramirez belongs on the NL All-Star team. He was one of the most valuable hitters in baseball last year, is an immensely popular player and still ranks fourth among NL left fielders in VORP despite missing 50 games. He belongs in the game, and ignore anyone on a high horse who tells you otherwise.”
Don’t blame me. I’ve said that Manny is still among the top 3 NL OF, despite the suspension.
Ladies and gents,
Now presenting, the newly formed, fresh off the press “Internet Baseball Writers Association of America“. Their goal:
…to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as an alternative voice to the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The ultimate goal? A Hall of Fame vote.
Now, I need to get myself on this board. Dave Pinto, sign me up! Best of all, they take PayPal for their annual dues. Good ideas from the get-go.
Here are the announced rosters, subject to change due to injuries/replacements:
American League Starters
- C Joe Mauer, MIN L/R
- 1B Mark Teixeira, NYY S/R
- 2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS R/R
- SS Derek Jeter, NYY R/R
- 3B Evan Longoria, TB R/R
- OF Jason Bay, BOS R/R
- OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA L/R
- OF Josh Hamilton, TEX L/L
American League Bench and Pitchers
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I mentioned this back in May when the entire MLB universe was told to wear red hats for Memorial Day. Glad the proceeds of the sales of these caps go to charity, but why-oh-why must teams change their look for the sake of sales?
Maybe I am just overly grumpy being back in the office after a truly sublime weekend, but these hats are ugly on teams who do not ever wear any red. Just make the logo stars and stripes and be done with it. Not the entire color.
Bad idea.
Hard to do much with this one by Joe Pos, other than admire the beauty of the subject and the author’s wordsmanship:
There is a Yankee mythology that sustains New York fans and drives everybody else crazy, and it goes something like this: To play for the New York Yankees, you need to have a certain quality — quiet dignity, maybe, that’s part of it, or valor or a sense of the moment. All of that. More. To be a Yankee, the mythos goes, you should suffer your pain in private like Mantle, and keep hitting home runs even when your hair falls out like Maris, and find your true self in October like Reggie. You can be larger than life, like the Babe, and call yourself lucky when dying like Gehrig, and see the world through your own eyes like Yogi. You can even punch out marshmallow salesmen like Billy Martin. As long as you win almost every time out, like Whitey, and make perfectly timed moves, like Casey, and are willing to dive headfirst after victory like Jeter.
No team has so many legends … and no team celebrates their legends to New York Yankee excess. This is what makes the Yankees so beloved and despised, depending on which side of the pinstripes you stand.
Yep.
And the subject is Mo Rivera.
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Fallen Yankee hero Jim Leyritz was busted early Thursday on charges of beating up his ex-wife.
Leyritz went ballistic and dragged Karrie Leyritz out of bed and socked her twice because she’d written a check without his permission, police said.
Oh yeah, this took place just two months before his trial on a DUI manslaughter charge was set to begin.
I hope he enjoys some long reflective moments while locked away.
He’s baaaaaaaack! (Well, almost)
Tomorrow is July 3, 2009. The day that suspended superstar Manny Ramirez returns to the Dodgers. He did the crime and he did the time. Welcome back to Mannywood.
I’m not going to pound my chest in feigned anger that he’s being honored like a conqueroring hero returning from battle. Fans don’t care so long as you produce. Or have really cool hair and baggy pants. I cheered ARod’s home run last night; that precludes me from criticizing Dodger fans.
Since it’s a discussion today, I wanted to bring up a few thoughts on Manny, the All Star Game and Bud’s role in fixing things.
On Manny and the All Star Game:
Mr. Selig, please consider adding this to the list of loopholes that I firmly believe should be closed. Guys who are suspended for PEDs should not:
- Be eligible for an All-Star game for 12 months from the end of the suspension
- Be eligible for any after-season (MVP, Cy Young, etc.) awards for 12 months from the end of the suspension
- Be eligible to appear in any game, facility, event, function sanctioned by his major league team and the team’s minor league affiliates until the conclusion of his suspension.
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Could MLB actually be hearing my calls for change regarding the ASG? I doubt that I register on their noise-o-meter, but this is at least a small step in the right direction.
For those of you new to IIAMTS (and for those long-timers, please bear with me), allow me to recap. Here’s how I’d change the All Star Game:
- Make the game an exhibition, like it used to be. Let the fans vote however they wish. If a contingent of fans wish to stuff the ballot boxes for one player, so be it. Each team will have a representative, no matter if they deserve the spot. If it’s a tie, so be it. Each manager will try to get every player in the game. At the end of the game, shake hands and get ready for the 2nd half. It’s an exhibition.
- Or make the game count for something (even the stupid World Series HFA). But, if you are going to make it count, then first cease the mandatory representation and have the best 33 guys play. Then have a three-pronged election for the starters (fans get 1/3, players get 1/3 and managers get 1/3). It’s not perfect but it’d be better than what we have.
- My point is this: You cannot have a game that counts with a selection process that is fit for an exhibition. It’s dumb.
- Also, a new rule: any player dinged for PEDs cannot play in an ASG within the next 12 months of the beginning of their suspension. That covers players who get caught in the 2nd half of a season so they can’t be selected in the following ASG.
Adding a 33rd player to the team, as a 13th pitcher, is at least a good start. It allows for managers to keep a guy in their back pocket for the rare extra inning game. It also rewards an additional player, possibly one who might not have been selected due to the mandatory representation rule.
Select View Full Post to view the strikezone plot analysis of the bad calls that had Angels yelling.
Here’s what I don’t quite understand: so many teams are looking for a bat, and a cheap one at that. The Yanks had to give up two very low level prospects and received $400K from the Pirates to take Eric Hinske off their hands. Let’s repeat that: the Pirates PAID THE YANKEES half of Hinske’s remaining salary to take him off their hands. The Pirates PAID THE YANKS $400K. Hinske might only be a role player, but he’s cheap, capable and tested.
“It can make us a little bit better because he’s a left-handed bat,” [Yanks' GM Brian] Cashman said. “He can play third, first, left, right. We all know that we probably have to rest Alex once a week. We have a different choice now. That was another reason he made some sense.”
Hinske’s familiarity with the AL East — he played with Toronto and Tampa in addition to winning a World Series with the Red Sox — also played a role.
“We felt it was important,” Girardi said. “Because he does know the league and he knows the brand of baseball that’s played here. We feel that he’s a tough player. We like his credentials and what he can bring here.”
Eric Hinske might not be the answer that most teams are looking for, but for a mere $400K (the balance on his 2009 salary), they could have had Hinske to fill in at either corner IF or corner OF spots and produce solid results. And your team could have had him, too. So when you complain about your team’s GM not doing their job to fill needs cheaply, look at a deal like this and wonder.
