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The Full Count: Rangers are offensive


1. Two games, 28 runs: The Rangers’ pitching may never be good enough, but their hitting is always playoff-team caliber. On Monday they scored 14 runs for their second consecutive game as they pounded the Twins 14-4. Catcher Gerald Laird hit a grand slam, Sammy Sosa had three RBIs, and Kenny Lofton had three runs for Texas. Carlos Silva had his worst start of the season for Minnesota, as he gave up seven runs in just 4 innings. Reliever Julio DePaula also allowed seven runs in just one inning. The Rangers are still one of the worst teams in the AL at 18-27, but they now rank fifth in the league in runs scored. Unfortunately for Rangers fans, they’ve allowed more runs than anybody in baseball except the Devil Rays.

2. A-Rod is Back: After a 22-game streak in which he only had 1 homer and 5 RBIs, Alex Rodriguez is back to his April self. He has homered in three straight games, bringing his major-league leading total to 18. This is his third streak this season of three or more consecutive games with a homer. He helped the Yankees beat the Red Sox to start off a crucial series. On the pitching side of things, Chien Ming-Wang outdeuled the suddenly struggling Tim Wakefield. Ming-Wang pitched six innings and recorded a season-high five strikeouts, while Wakefield allowed six runs. The host Yankees won 6-2 to slash Boston’s division lead back to single digits (9.5 games). The 20-23 Yankees still have a lot of work to do to catch up with Boston, who is the only major league team with 30 wins.

3. The Power of the Brewers: Who would have thought Milwaukee would be one of the most powerful teams in the majors this season? They rank second in the majors in homers (behind Texas) and third in slugging percentage. The Brewers also have the two leading NL homerun hitters in JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder, who have 14 apiece. Fielder hit two bombs last night in their 9-5 win over the Dodgers. Just wait until their most powerful hitter from last year, Bill Hall, finds his stroke.

Player of the Day: Noah Lowry, Giants: 7 innings, no runs in a 4-0 win over Houston. Lowry has silently put up a 2.69 ERA, fifth best in the NL.

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MLB Cost Index for May 21 2007


The MLB Cost Index is one measure of how well your GM did over the course of the offseason and during the season. The Index takes a look at the payrolls for each team and calculates a Cost per Win number. Pretty simple stuff right? But in the wide open world of baseball with no salary cap, it’s the best way we can think of to judge teams on a level (monetary) playing field.

It’s hard to believe that we’re already 1/4 of the way through the 2007 season. Looking back at the first MLB Cost Index of the season, we find that some of the earlier struggling teams like the Phillies, Giants, and Astros have climbed into respectability with regard to the Cost Index.

Meanwhile, looking at the past week, not much as changed except the Royals making a big leap based on wining 5 of their last 7. Sure, they’re still firmly in last place but if you’re a Royals fan, you have to take any good news you can get.

The complete Major League Baseball Cost Index after the jump.

Continue reading “MLB Cost Index for May 21 2007”

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The Full Count: And now back to your regularly scheduled rivalries


1. Another Yankees Starter: The Yankees have started more pitchers this year than any other team in the majors, with 11. Seven of those have been rookies, including Tyler Clippard on Sunday against the Mets. After Clippard’s first three pitches struck out Jose Reyes, it seemed like he would be one of their better pitching experiments this year. And he was. Clippard was efficient in 6 innings, allowing one run, only three hits, and striking out six. He won as the Yankees avoided a sweep in the Subway Series. The Yankees’ offense featured homers from Derek Jeter, A-Rod, and Jorge Posada as they shelled John Maine for five runs. The Yanks are still 10.5 back behind Boston, as the Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Braves over the weekend.

2. World Series Revenge: The Tigers-Cardinals matchup was a rematch of last year’s World Series, and the result was a complete reversal. The Cards won the series 4-1 last October, but this time around, the Tigers swept struggling St. Louis. Sunday’s 6-3 win for Detroit was highlighted by Justin Verlander’s fourth straight win. Verlander pitched 8 innings, gave up just two runs, and improved to 5-1 on the year. Verlander has quietly been even better than he was last year, with a team-leading 2.68 ERA. Now they are tied with Cleveland atop the AL Central, while St. Louis is in fifth in the NL Central. The Cardinals just cannot find any starting pitching, and their batter have hit a major-league low 20 homers.

3. Interleague Results: The weekend was highlighted by many strong Interleague matchups. Cross-town rivalries included the Yanks-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers, and A’s-Giants. The Cubs took two of three from the White Sox, though the White Sox won 10-6 on Sunday after smashing Carlos Zambrano for seven runs in six innings. The Angels swept the Dodgers by a combined score of 19-4 using some excellent starting pitching. Kelvim Escobar finished the series with an 8-inning shutout performance as the Angels won 4-1. Oakland won the first two games of their series against the Giants, but San Fran won 4-1 on Sunday behind a complete-game outing from Matt Morris. Barry Bonds continued his slump, and he has no homers or RBIs in his last ten games. The next Interleague action will be the second week of June, with some of these same rivalries.

Player of the Day: Mark Teixeira, Rangers: 4-6, 2 HR, 3 RBIs in a 14-1 rout of the Astros. Teixeira has been on fire lately with 6 homers, 20 RBIs, and a .349 average in his last 22 games.

Stat of the Day: Randy Johnson’s 5.2 inning, 10 strikeout game on Sunday was his first career double-digit strikeout game with fewer than 6 innings pitched, according to Elias Sports. Johnson has 28 strikeouts and is 2-0 in his last three starts.

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May 18 2006 MLB Power Rankings Roundup

Well, once again, the Red Sox and their .700 record are unanimously the best team in the land. Behind them, the Mets, Tigers and Brewers fight it out for the next couple of places. Not much changed in the power rankings this week. Even the biggest moves up and down were simply by a few slots. The Tigers and Angels moved up while the Twins and Indians were the big losers this week. Expect the Brewers to be knocked down a few slots in next weeks’ poll after losing half of their last 10 games.

Here are the major power rankings this week:

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox
2 Mets Mets Tigers Mets Mets Brewers
3 Braves Dodgers Mets Tigers Brewers Mets
4 Brewers Brewers Indians Brewers Braves Dodgers
5 Indians Indians Braves Braves Tigers Tigers
6 Tigers Braves Brewers Indians Dodgers Braves
7 Dodgers Tigers Dodgers Dodgers Indians Angels
8 Angels Angels Angels Angels Angels Indians
9 Padres A’s Padres Padres Padres A’s
10 D’backs Padres White Sox White Sox White Sox Giants
11-30 more more more more more more

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The Full Count: Carlos Lee earns his keep


1. Lee’s the Man: Many thought Carlos Lee was one of this offseason’s most overpaid players. Right now the Astros are looking like geniuses for signing him to a $100 million contract. He single-handedly led Houston to victory on Tuesday, going 4-4 with 2 homers and 4 of the Astros’ 6 runs. His second homer was a solo walkoff shot in the 10th inning that gave Houston a 6-5 win. Lee’s fifth straight multi-hit game has raised his average from .287 to .336. He is tied for the National League lead in RBIs with 37. Lee’s teammate in the Astros outfield, super-prospect Hunter Pence, has been great since he was called up two weeks ago. Pence went 3-3 with a homer yesterday and is hitting .310 with 14 RBIs in 15 games. The Astros have been playing well lately and at 19-19, they’re second in the NL Central.

2. The Big Unit is Back: After his best start of the season, Randy Johnson proved he could still dominate on any given night. Johnson only pitched six innings against the Rockies, but he shut them out and allowed just one hit. Johnson got his first victory of the season as the D-Backs won 3-0 in Colorado. The 43-year old also struck out a season-high nine. Jose Valverde closed the game for his 13th save, which is second in the NL.

3. Under the radar dominance: Everyone knows the Red Sox, Braves, and Brewers are all having great seasons, but the Dodgers have been a slightly quieter team. At 24-16, they have one of the best records in the majors, and they have a significant three-game lead in the highly competitive NL West. On Tuesday they beat the Cardinals 9-7, as their hitting continued to stay hot. The Dodgers lack a power bat, but they have the speedy duo of Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre, Jeff Kent is back to his old self, and Russell Martin has been the best-hitting catcher this year. Furcal had three RBIs on Tuesday in his third consecutive four-hit game. His 12-14 streak has raised his average from .228 to .297. Martin had two RBIs and leads all catchers in steals, hits, and runs.

Player of the Day: Carlos Lee, Astros: 4-4, 2 HR (9), 4 runs, 2 RBIs in a win over the Giants.

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Sports Father of the Year Candidate: Anonymous choking coach


OK folks, we have our second Sports Father of the Year story from Clarksville Tennessee. It always surprises us the crap that goes on during kids sports. Last year, we had the father who pulled a gun on a ref and one who fired two coaches from his team after they dared to play his son on offense.

This year our first candidate was a Chinese father who made his daughter prepare for 2018 Olympics by running her into the ground at the age of 8. Our second candidate is a peewee baseball assistant coach who tried to pull a Latrell Sprewell on another coach after an altercation.

According to Rafael Gonzalez, he called a time-out when the opposing head coach coach Bret Wyatt improperly stopped a ball that got past the second baseman (peewee coaches stand in the field) and was talking to him when the assistant coach of the other team cursed him and brushed his shoulder. Gonzalez spit his gum at him and he went nuts and started choking him. Both were ejected but no one can track down the assistant coach to file charges because nobody knows his name.

What? How is this possible? Does this Bret Wyatt guy not know the name of his assistant coaches? Was this just some random guy coming off the street to coach a bunch of kids? Are they letting Mr. Herbert coach now? Anyway, both coaches have been tossed from the league. We’ll keep you updated on any more insane fathers.

Links:
[Knoxnews]: 2 peewee coaches tossed after choking fight

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The Full Count: Dice-K Dominates


1. The Dice-K we were waiting for: After all the preseason hype and promising first start, Daisuke Matsuzaka was plagued by a streak of poor outings. But to start off a series between AL heavyweights (Red Sox vs. Tigers), Dice-K gave his best effort yet. He threw his first MLB complete game, gave up just one run, and threw a whopping 124 pitches in the Red Sox’s 7-1 win. The victory gave the Red Sox an 8.5 game division lead, their largest since 1995, and they have the best record in the league at 26-11. This four-game series at Fenway should be one of the more entertaining so far this year. The Tigers will send Justin Verlander to the mound on Tuesday to face AL ERA leader Tim Wakefield.

2. Nearly a no-hitter: The Braves-Nationals game featured a pitching matchup of 18-year vet John Smoltz and first-year starter Jason Bergmann. Surprisingly, it was Bergmann who delivered a gem: 8 innings, 2 hits, and 10 strikeouts. He no-hit the Braves until the 8th inning, when Brian McCann hit a solo homer. Smoltz wasn’t bad either, but the Braves couldn’t muster any offense in a 2-1 loss. The win extends a season-high four-game win streak for the 13-25 Nationals, and Bergmann’s start was the highlight of their season so far. Atlanta’s loss combined with a Mets win puts New York back in first.

3. All About the Pitchers: This season has been dominated by pitching, and yesterday continued that trend. Dice-K and Bergmann were great, as well as Greg Maddux, Dan Haren, Gil Meche, and Tom Gorzelanny. Maddux pitched a complete-game with one run allowed in the Padres’ 7-1 win over Cincinnati. Meche and Haren pitched a combined 15 scoreless innings in the Royals-A’s game, giving both pitchers an ERA under 2.00. The Royals won on a ninth-inning homerun by John Buck. The surprising Gorzelanny improved to 5-2 with a 2.36 ERA after seven shutout innings in a win over the Marlins. In other pitching news, the Angels’ Jered Weaver returned to form with a great start against the Rangers, which lowered his ERA from 4.26 to 3.62.

Player of the Day: JJ Hardy, Brewers: 2-5, HR, 3 RBIs in a 6-8 loss to the Phillies. This is more of a season-achievement award for Hardy, who now leads the National League with 12 homers and 37 RBIs. It is hard to even imagine a more surprising start than that of Hardy, who already has set his career high for homeruns.

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MLB Cost Index for May 14 2007


The MLB Cost Index is one measure of how well your GM did over the course of the offseason and during the season. The Index takes a look at the payrolls for each team and calculates a Cost per Win number. Pretty simple stuff right? But in the wide open world of baseball with no salary cap, it’s the best way we can think of to judge teams on a level (monetary) playing field.

We haven’t even added in the cost of Roger Clemens’ contract to the Yankees payroll number and they are already twice as inefficient as the next team above them. With a cost of $2.55M a win, they are double the ineptitude of the Kansas City Royals who pay $1.32M per win. Being compared to (and losing to Kansas City) in anything is not good.

There wasn’t much change in the rankings this week with the exception of the Cubs. Last week, we said they were making a move towards respectability but losing four out of six last week has dropped them back down to the 24 spot.

The complete Major League Baseball Cost Index after the jump.

Continue reading “MLB Cost Index for May 14 2007”

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The Full Count: Rally caps are working


1. Best team in the league?: Right now, the team with the best record in the majors is the Boston Red Sox, who are 25-11 after a huge comeback win over the Orioles on Sunday. The Sox were down 5-0 to Baltimore entering the ninth inning, but a combination of errors, walks, and timely hitting erased the deficit as Boston won 6-5. There were two crucial errors, the first on a dropped popup by catcher Ramon Hernandez, the second on a dropped throw at first by pitcher Chris Ray. The latter error allowed two runs to score and ended the game. The Orioles ruined a great start by Jeremy Guthrie, who went 8 and a third and did not give up an earned run. The Red Sox now have an 8-game division lead, the largest in the majors. They will face the Tigers, Braves and Yankees over the next week in a crucial series of games for them.

2. Another ninth-inning rally: The A’s found themselves down by 2 entering the ninth inning against the Indians. Like the Red Sox, they found the deficit to be no problem. They hit two homers in the ninth–the first a two-run shot by Milton Bradley that tied the game up. Then red-hot Jack Cust hit a three-run, game-ending homer. It was his 6th homer in only 7 games this season. Four of the five runs were charged to Joe Borowski, Cleveland’s struggling closer who now has a 9.00 ERA. However, prior to Sunday he hadn’t allowed a run since April 25, and Borowski’s 12 saves are among the best in the majors, so he likely won’t be relieved of his duties as of now. Both Cleveland and Oakland now are a game back in their respective divisions.

3. Mets shut down Milwaukee: The more experienced Mets took a series against the Brewers that matched two of the NL’s best teams. New York’s 2-1 series win was highlighted by a 9-1 win on Sunday. Oliver Perez pitched 8-plus innings with only one run and two hits allowed. The Mets stole four bases (including three by David Wright) and hit two homers in the rout. However, Atlanta still leads them by a half-game in the division, while the Brewers are up by 7 in the weak Central.

Co-Players of the Day: Torii Hunter, Twins: 3-5, 2 HR (8), 7 RBIs in a 16-4 rout of the Tigers.

Fred Lewis, Giants: 5-6, 4 RBIs, hit for the cycle in only his 16th career game.

Stat of the Day: Of the Twins’ 23 homers this season, 17 have come from either Torii Hunter or Justin Morneau. Only six different players on the team have gone deep all season.

Walk Off: The Brewers are easily the best team in the Central, and should run away with that division. However, I still don’t think they can beat some of the National League’s best teams. Right now they have only played 6 games against teams with a winning record, and they are 3-3 in those contests. Obviously that’s not enough evidence to judge a team on, but there will be after they play the Twins, Dodgers, Padres, and Braves in consecutive series in the coming weeks. If they emerge from those games with a winning record, then the Brewers will be legit contenders instead of a team that’s taking advantage of their weak division.

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MLB Power Rankings Roundup for May 9 2007

Last week, there was unanimous agreement that the Red Sox were the #1 team in the land. Well, this week, TSN just blew that up by picking the Brewers as their #1 team. The Brewers certainly have been on a tear but it’s hard to argue that they are playing better ball than the Red Sox. Other notable movers include the Tigers and the Cubs. Meanwhile, the D’backs and Yankees are falling in most rankings.

Here are the major power rankings this week:

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Brewers
2 Mets Brewers Indians Indians Mets Red Sox
3 Braves Tigers Mets Brewers Braves Mets
4 Brewers Mets Brewers Tigers Brewers Dodgers
5 Indians Braves Tigers Braves Indians Tigers
6 Tigers Indians Braves Mets Dodgers Cubs
7 Dodgers Dodgers Dodgers Dodgers Tigers Giants
8 D’backs Cubs Angels Padres Padres Braves
9 Twins A’s Twins Angels Angels Indians
10 Angels Angels Padres Twins Yankees D’backs
11-30 more more more more more more