Tag: MLB

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Almost Perfect — 27 up, 27 down


1. Surprise of the Year: Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox strugged enormously the second half of last year and wasn’t so great in his first two starts of 2007. But, in a surprising performance to say the least, he tossed a no-hitter against the Rangers, a good-hitting team. Buehrle went the distance ans was only one walk shy of perfection. He struck out 8 and picked off the only baserunner he allowed. The no-no was the 16th in White Sox history but their first since 1991. On the offensive side, Jim Thome hit two homers and Jermaine Dye had a grand slam to supply all of the White Sox’s 6 runs. Another major league pitcher, the Mets’ John Maine, went into the seventh inning with a no-hitter going as well. Maine and the Mets disposed of the Marlins, 9-2.

2. Worst team in the league: Many would be surprised to find that the worst team in the entire majors is the Philadelphia Phillies so far this year. They fell to 3-10 after a loss to the terrible Nationals in 13 innings on Wednesday. Nothing has gone well for the Phils this season. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, their two best offensive players, are hitting under .230. Brett Myers was so bad as a starting pitcher that they moved him to the bullpen. Absolutely nothing has gone right for the Phillies, except for Jimmy Rollins’ surprising power.

3. Star Power: Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds faced each other on Wednesday,. and they both showed why they are two of the game’s most feared hitters. Pujols, who has been struggling, hit his fourth homer of the season and increased his average 40 points via three hits. Bonds, meanwhile, hit a solo homer in the eighth to tie the game, which the Giants eventually won in 12 innings. The Bonds homer was his fourth of the year, and number 738 on his career. He’s had a fantastic start to the season, and ranks first in the NL in slugging and OPS.

Player of the Day: Mark Buehrle, White Sox: 9 innings, no-hitter, 8 strikeouts.

Walk Off: Ryan on Poor Man’s PTI had a great idea: the best snub ever for a sports editor on a major newspaper would be to bury the story to a blurb when Barry breaks Hank Aaron’s record (by now, it’s inevitable) next to some story about womens water polo or something. “And in other news, Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s Home Run Record.”

Categories
Philadelphia Phillies

Charlie Manuel threatens to kick Howard Eskin’s ass



Someone kick his ass

Things are going from bad to worse here in Philly as the Fightins dropped to 3-9 after losing 8-1 to the Mets. But the story of the night was when things got all John Chaney in the post-game press conference and beyond when Charlie Manuel offered to kick Howard Eskin’s ass.

(For those of you unfamiliar with Howard Eskin, consider yourself lucky, he’s the biggest douchebag in Philly sports. He’s a smug bastard with no redeeming qualities and we are convinced he’s only employed because of the sheer amount of idiots in the Philly area and the photos he has of various people in compromising positions. Just to give you an idea of the level of douchiness, Eskin makes Stephen A Smith look like a decent human being. If Howard was on fire, not only would you not piss on him to put it out, you’d make a beeline for the closest gas station.)

Anyway… according to reports, Eskin baited Charley into a confrontation by asking him why he never got angry and whether it would light a fire under the Phillies if he did.


Good-naturedly, Manuel said, “There are times and ways to do it. For me to just go in there and throw a fit — I can go in there and tear the whole [expletive] locker room up. I can come in here and throw over every chair. I don’t see where that’s going to do any good.

Eskin persisted with his questioning at which time Charley invited Howard Eskin to to his office (along with a Phillies PR person) where everyone could hear him screaming at Eskin from behind the closed door. The two then left the office and Charley said he would kick Eskin’s ass and Eskin responded by telling him to grow up.

If only this were on video. This incident might not or might not turn around an already dismal season but it’s good to see someone take Eskin to task for being the instigator that he is. On the flip side, Charlie Manual isn’t doing the job he’s supposed to do. A team as talented as the Phillies shouldn’t be playing such uninspired ball. They’re leading the league with an average of 9.8 left on base a game. And it’s not just the bottom of the lineup that’s responsible, it’s Utley and Howard too.

Our favorite Phillies blog, Beerleaguer, is doing a great job chronicling all this.

Links:
[Phillies.com]: Manuel confronts reporter after loss

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Manny Ramirez is off his rocker, tell us something we don’t know


Manny Ramirez is no ordinary outfielder. In fact, the only way that most people can appropriately describe the guy without saying he is a nut-job is by using the old reliable description of “that’s just Manny being Manny.” Well, David Ortiz didn’t find that depiction to be accurate, so in an interview with The New Yorker big Papi stepped up to the plate and delivered a home run of a quote in regards to his vision of his teammate.

As a crazy motherfucker.” Then he pointed at my notebook and said, “You can write it down just like that: `David Ortiz says Manny is a crazy motherfucker.’ That guy, he’s in his own world, on his own planet. Totally different human being than everyone else.

Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this; Jim Rome has been saying for years that Ramirez lives on “Planet Man-Ram.” But according to Ray Negron, Ramirez is actually a pretty stable guy.

They should be fair about this. I got to know Joe DiMaggio, and I was very close to Billy Martin, who knew everything about Joe DiMaggio. You know the difference? Manny’s probably a better hitter.” He went on, “I came up with the craziness of the Yankees in the seventies–the `Bronx Zoo,’ and Sparky Lyle and all of them sitting on cakes without clothes on. Manny was mild compared to what I had been used to.”

The reporter then reminded Negron that Ramirez too used to walk into the video room naked to study tapes of pitchers.

“Do you understand why I would see that as normal?” Negron said. “He wasn’t sitting on a birthday cake.

It’s pretty bad when the only way someone can find to describe you as “normal” is because you don’t sit on birthday cakes in the nude.

Links:

[The New Yorker]: Waiting for Manny

Categories
Texas Rangers

Odds and Ends: Six Degrees of Kenny Lofton


We stumbled upon this amazing stat today on InsideBayArea.com: 87% of active players have roomed with Lofton. How is that even possible? That’s gotta be a misprint right? He’d be like the Derek Jeter Justin Timberlake of baseball, hitting hotel rooms with everyone in sight. We think the writer was using one of them artistic license thingamajigs. Nonetheless, it’s pretty amazing the number of unis Lofton has donned over the years.

Kenny Lofton broke into the majors in 1991 with the Astros, spent 9 seasons with the Indians (with a stint in Atlanta to break up the monotony) and since then has played for a different team (or two) every season. 2002: White Sox, Giants. 2003: Cubs, Pirates. 2004: Yankees. 2005: Phillies. 2006: Dodgers. 2007: Rangers. Wow. What a baseball ho.

In other news:

[Portfolio.com]: Athlete stock exchange? It’s one way for college players like Kevin Durant to get paid.

[SignOnSanDiego]: Teenage matador who left Spain because they ban teenage matadors gets gored by bull in Mexico. Of course.

[Flash Warner]: In case you needed more evidence that Bode Miller is a bitch.

[Yay Sports]: Sure, Danny Ainge has made a mistake… or 5.

[The Hater Nation]: Damn, you’d think Tom Coughlin shtupped his wife or something. Give it a rest, Tiki.

And finally, a couple of youtube videos that prove that video blogging is a BAD BAD idea. First, a Cowboys fan calls out an Eagles blogger. And then an Eagles fan(?) compares Eagles fans and Cowboys fans to Shiite and Sunni muslims and asks, can’t we just get along?

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Go ahead and ask Barry (Zito)


1. 18 million dollar man: Barry Zito, who is making $18 million a year as part of his new contract with the Giants. In his first two starts he looked like a terrible investment, but on Monday he showed he could still be an ace. Zito shut down the Rockies lineup at Coors Field with a 6-inning, 3-hit, no-run performance. He got his first win of the season as the Giants dominated 8-0. San Francisco’s offense helped out too with two homeruns and a 4-5 performance from Omar Visquel. The Giants are still last in the NL West at 4-7.

2. Who wants the West?: The NL West division is up for grabs this week as its top two teams play: the LA Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Monday the Dodgers took a half-game lead in the division as they won 5-1. Brad Penny improved to 3-0 in seven solid innings. His ERA is 0.89 in three starts, and he’s pitching even better than last year, when he started the All Star game. Nomar Garciaparra led the offense with his first homerun of the year and two RBIs. Unfortunately this series is only a two-gamer, with the finale Tuesday that will decide who leads the division, at least for a day.

3. Beckett is Back: Josh Beckett was shaky last year, his first in the American League. But so far this season, he has regained his 2003 form, when he led the Marlins to a World Series. Beckett improved to 3-0 as his Red Sox topped the Angels 7-2 on Monday. He pitched 6 innings and allowed only one run, which kept his ERA at 1.50 in three starts. Also, the Red Sox’s David Ortiz has broken out of a start-of-the-season slump with three multi-hit games in a row, including two straight with a homerun. Manny Ramirez hasn’t hit a homer yet this season, though he did have two RBIs yesterday. The Sox lead their division by a half-game over the Blue Jays at 7-4.

Player of the Day: Pudge Rodriguez, Tigers: 2-5, grand slam, 6 RBIs in a 12-5 win over the Royals.

Walk Off: Two strong starts by a pitcher could be an anomaly. But three in a row to start the season could mean a breakout performance. There are four pitchers who struggled last year that will make the All Star game this year, at least based on what we’ve seen so far. Tim Hudson, Jake Peavy, Penny, and Beckett all seem to have shrugged off the difficulties that gave them 4.00+ ERAs last year. They are all great fantasy players who I would trade for if I needed pitching. Other pitchers who have surprised so far are Nate Robertson, Rich Hill, Ian Snell, and Chuck James. I think all of these pitchers will keep their ERA below 4.00, win at least 12-to-14 games, and be considered aces going into next year.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Pizza hurling Sox fan had extra aggression on his pie

Everyone has gone to the ballpark with the hopes of catching a prized souvenir to proudly show off to your friends for the rest of your days. Brookline Sole had similar intentions when he took in Monday’s game between the Red Sox and Angels at Fenway, but what he didn’t expect was that his dreams would end with a slice of pie to his face.

As J.D. Drew’s foul pop-up sailed into the stands, Sole saw his moment to shine but ended up in a minor collision with Angels’ outfielder Garret Anderson as the ball of his dreams bounced away. If that’s not bad enough, Sole had pissed off another fan, Matt Madore, a few rows back and he decided that this would be the perfect time to exact his revenge on Sole by hurling a large slice of cheese pizza at him. Madore’s buddy, Danny Kelly gave some insight into the hilarious incident that got his friend ejected from the game. Turns out Sole had been poking fun at the fellas for bringing a large pizza to the game.

They had been giving us (expletive) about it,” Madore said. “Next thing I know, there’s a fly ball to left field and it goes foul and my buddy says, `You want some pizza now?’ And he hits him right in the face. Hey, the guy wasn’t paying attention. When you’re in the stands you’ve got to be ready for anything – a foul ball, a flying slice of pizza, everything.

The announcers’ reactions during the recap of the fiasco are absolutely priceless, and luckily for us they keep it up for a good two minutes.

Links:

[BostonHerald.com]: Pepperoni with that? Flying pizza at Fens

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Dodgers doing it right


1. Honoring Jackie: 60 years to the day after Jackie Robinson first took the field for the Dodgers, the entire team wore his number 42 and many Hall of Famers were present at Dodger Stadium to honor him. After a pregame ceremony celebrating Robinson and his achievements, the Dodgers honored him on-field with an impressive win over the Padres. Three Dodgers had three hits as San Diego starter Chris Young lasted only two innings. Randy Wolf was the winning pitcher with a quality start that improved his record to 2-1. The Dodgers’ 9-3 victory broke a tie with the Padres for second in the NL West. Arizona still leads the division.

It’s a good thing the Dodgers moved to the west coast as more than 1/3 of the games were canceled due to heavy rains on the eastern seaboard.

2. Only one hit was needed: The White Sox must have been puzzled after allowing only one hit against the Indians but still losing 2-1. Sox starter Jose Contreras allowed two unearned runs in 5 one-hit innings to take a loss. The Indians took advantage of two errors in the win, and got some incredible pitching of their own. CC Sabathia, who was one of numerous non-Dodgers wearing #42, pitched 8 innings, allowed one run, and struck out ten. He’s 3-0 on the year with a 2.14 ERA. The Indians are now first in the division at 6-3.

3. Breaking out the Bats: Albert Pujols may be struggling this year, but at least he’s good on Sundays. The 2005 MVP hit his first homerun of the season on Sunday, April 8, which was his only homer until Sunday, April 15. Pujols led the Cardinals with 2 homers, 5 RBIs, and 2 runs as they crushed the Brewers 10-2. Chris Duncan and Preston Wilson helped out with four hits and three runs, respectively. Braden Looper pitched well to earn his second win of the year for the Cardinals, who are now tied with the Brewers for second in the division. Pujols is still hitting just .183 on the year, though.

Player of the Day: Kyle Lohse, Reds: 8 innings, no runs, 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Cubs.

Stat of the Day: Chris Young’s loss to the Dodgers ended his streak of 25 road starts without a loss. Young had been 9-0 with 16 no-decisions during the streak.

Walk Off: The Yankee aren’t in good position right now. Three of their best starters (Ming-Wang, Mussina, Pavano) are injured right now, leaving Andy Pettitte as their only starter with experience. However, Mariano Rivera blew a save to waste Pettitte’s excellent start on Sunday. Pettitte has a 1.50 ERA in four appearances but only one win. Without the pitching to carry their dynamic offense, I think this is the year the Red Sox will takeover the division from the Yanks.

Categories
NHL General

Odds and Ends: The NHL gets its very own Heidi game


If you’re a struggling network who is probably the NHL’s sole hope of getting popular again, you can’t afford to screw up the way Versus did. The finish of the instant classic 4 OT game between the Canucks and the Stars wasn’t seen in some markets because some affiliates inexplicably switched to an infomercial.


Versus has received reports that last night’s Dallas/Vancouver game was switched to an infomercial in the fourth overtime,” the network said in a statement. “We are obviously very disappointed to hear that some fans in a few select markets have reported that they did not see the end of this great game.

The game did run in its entirety on the Versus network feed, but based on the information we have received we are currently working with our affiliates in the affected markets to find out what caused the problem.

Sadly, we don’t even get Versus so we couldn’t even see the infomercial.

In other news…

[Mainichi Daily News]: Japanese fans tune in for Matsuzaka-Suzuki showdown

[Scatter O’ Light]: Reebok might want to fire some copyeditors

[Our Book of Scrap]: Has Major League Baseball Watered Down Jackie’s Honor?

[Sports By Brooks]: SHEFFIELD’S WIFE SEXED UP R. KELLY; FEDS SEIZED VIDEO

[Sports Review Magazine]: Larry David, New York Jets Consigliere?

[Steroid Nation]: The most famous player in NFL Europe

Categories
MLB General

It’s not just cigars, human Cubans are illegal as well


Don’t let the title, money and perks fool ya, being a sports agent is a tough job. They are constantly on the prowl in search of today’s top athletes and will travel the globe to find them. But Gustavo Dominguez might have missed the memo on exactly how to recruit such superstar potential from abroad.

Dominguez was found guilty of 21 federal charges that include conspiracy, smuggling, transporting and harboring after he illegally smuggled five Cuban baseball players into the country. Apparently, Dominguez figured that if he got the prospects to the United States, they would be indebted to him during their possible pro careers. But now, all that Dominguez has to look forward to is a jail cell because most of the charges have a maximum penalty of 10 years.

Dominguez claims that he is innocent and plans to appeal the verdict, but the evidence against him just might be too strong to overturn. Especially considering that there is a paper trail which shows Dominguez’s client, Cubs catcher Henry Blanco, made payments of $225,000 to a known drug trafficker. However, Dominguez claimed that he paid the money because he was threatened by the trafficker to pay for another illegally smuggled client.

I believed my family was under threat — those kids are my life,” Dominguez said Thursday while testifying in his own defense. “I don’t care what you say, I will pay whatever it takes to get that piece of cockroach away from me.

Hey, we don’t doubt that the guy is probably a “piece of cockroach” but Dominguez basically shot himself in the foot by not informing the police of the threat and also by inviting the dude over to his house for a birthday party in 2004.

This never would have happened if he would have learned the ropes from Jerry Maguire. While Drew Rosenhaus might be one of the most annoying men on the planet, at least he knows not to get caught up in a human trafficking ring.

Links:

[Miami Herald]: Sports agent guilty in Cuban ballplayer case
[Reuters]: U.S. sports agent convicted of smuggling Cubans

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Devil Rays do their best Bad News Bears

Crawford tagged out

1. This is Tampa Bay baseball: If you ever wanted to see an example of why the Devil Rays have always sucked, go back to their game last night. They get a good start from Casey Fossum of all people, they have a rally going and are tied 2-2 with the Twins, and then some stupid mistake occurs. This one was actually by their best player, Carl Crawford, who hit it to the outfield and motored toward third. However, his teammate got held up at third, and was then tagged out. But Crawford compounded his mistake by then heading back to second base, where he was tagged out for a double play. Tampa’s rally was killed, and then they lost in the ninth on a Justin Morneau solo homer. Is anyone actually surprised by this? But tune in Friday anyway for a fantastic pitching matchup: Santana vs. Kazmir.

2. Hammerin’ Hafner: The Indians’ Travis Hafner had a slow start to the season. However, it took him one game to regain his 2006 form. The Tribe was down 2-1 in the eighth inning when Hafner launched a deep three-run homerun, his first of the year. The homer came off the usually reliable Scot Shields of the Angels, who gave up his first runs of the year. 24-year-old starter Jeremy Sowers for the Indians had his second straight quality start, and Joe Borowski came on for his third save. Cleveland won their “home” series in Milwaukee and are 4-2 this season.

3. Three-way tie: I’ve already covered two wins by teams at the top of the AL Central. Why not go for a third? The Tigers won their third straight game yesterday in a pretty even contest with the Blue Jays. Detroit won with their usual formula: solid starting pitching (Mike Maroth had a quality start), overachieving hitting (Brandon Inge had 3 RBIs), and a great bullpen (Joel Zumaya had two shutout innings to close the game). The Tigers are now 6-3, tied with Minnesota and Cleveland for the AL Central lead. This team will be even better once Gary Sheffield actually does something. He snapped an 0-16 hitless streak yesterday and is just .125 on the year.

Player of the Day: Jason Bergmann, Nationals: 6 innings, one hit, no runs, 8 strikeouts in a surprising 2-0 win over Atlanta.

Stat of the Day: The starting pitchers in the Phillies-Mets game, Jamie Moyer (44) and Tom Glavine (41), are a combined 85 years of age. They are the oldest combined lefthanders ever to have faced each other and the second-oldest overall.