Tag: MLB

Categories
Los Angeles Dodgers

August 10 in Sports History: Have you see my baseball?


In 1995: One of the worst ideas for a promotion (right behind Disco Demolition Night and 10-Cent Beer Night) took place at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers thought it would be a good idea to hand out free baseballs to all fans, but didn’t follow one of the golden rules of promotions:

“Don’t give away anything the fans can throw on the field and possibly kill someone”

The Dodgers failed to listen, and fans repeatedly tossed hundreds of baseballs onto the playing field after disagreeing with a few umpiring calls and Dodger ejections during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. After the third time the umpires stopped play, crew chief Jim Quick felt he had no choice but to forfeit the game to the Cardinals in the ninth inning, 2-1. The Dodgers protested, but the N.L. upheld the forfeit the following day. Another umpire blamed L.A. manager Tommy Lasorda for inciting the crowd, saying, “Lasorda instigated the whole damn thing by waving his fat little arms out there.” link

Categories
MLB General

Federal Judge: Greedy MLB can suck it


A federal judge yesterday ruled that baseball player names and stats were part of the public domain and that fantasy sports games operators could use them free of charge. MLB and the MLB Players Association tried to argue that players’ indentities and statistics were part of their intellectual property and they were entitled to licensing fees. CBC Distribution and Marketing was turned down for a licensing deal and filed suit against the league. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Ann L. Medler found for CBC.


The undisputed facts establish that the names and playing records of (MLB) players as used in CBC’s fantasy games are not copyrightable and, therefore, federal copyright law does not pre-empt the players’ claimed right of publicity,” wrote Medler in her 49-page ruling issued in St. Louis. Even if players have a claimed right of publicity, she added, “the First Amendment takes precedence over such a right.

Chalk this one up for the little guys. This is just another example of a greedy corporate entity trying to squeeze more money out of smaller businesses which would eventually be passed on to the consumer. We like our information free, thank you very much.

Links:
[USA Today]: Fantasy leagues can use baseball stats

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Cardinals open a can of whoop ass


1. One team show: The St. Louis Cardinals showed yesterday that they aren’t ready to give up their stranglehold over the NL Central division. Playing on the road against the second place team, the Reds, St. Louis blew them across the Ohio River. They won 13-1, knocking out Reds starter Elizardo Ramirez in two innings. Ramirez allowed 7 runs, while St. Louis starter Jeff Weaver had his best start since joining the team. Weaver had an 8.68 ERA coming into the game but held Cincy to one run. The Cardinals offense gave him all the support he could get. Scott Rolen went 3-3 with a homer, while Pujols added three runs and two RBIs. The rout extended the Cardinals lead to 4.5 games, and their overall winning streak to 3 games after an eight-game losing streak crumpled the team.

2. One man show: For some reason, the Giants’ Jason Schmidt just knows how to defeat the Diamondbacks. After getting the win last night over Arizona, he is now undefeated in his last 15 starts against the team. The streak dates back to 2003. Last night Schmidt improved to 9-7 while hitting his first homer of the season. That was one of 5 dingers on the night for San Fran, including two by Pedro Feliz and one by newly acquired Shea Hillenbrand. The loss for Arizona coupled with a Dodgers win knocked them back to third place in the NL West, while the Giants are still in last. It’s worth noting that LA has won 10 straight games while the rest of the division is on snooze control.

3. Make it double digits: Somehow, someway, the Tigers just keep finding a way to win. The team even could beat Francisco Liriano of the Twins. Liriano had allowed two earned runs or less in 11 of his 13 starts on the season, but the Tigers got to him and knocked him out in four innings, his shortest start of the year. In all fairness, “Fan”-cisco was hurt. He missed his last scheduled start due to forearm soreness, and he said that he wasn’t feeling well by the second inning. Either way, Detroit ousted their divisional rivals 9-3, while the White Sox lost again. Chicago is now 10 games off their divisional rivals’ blistering pace.

4. Road-sick: Who has the worst home record in the majors, you might ask? Is it the Royals? Nope. The Pirates? Na. The Cubs? Wrong again. It’s the Braves, whose struggles at home have highlighted their downfall from divisional power. They are 22-29 at Turner Field after losing there last night to the Phillies. The Royals (23 wins) and Cubs (25) are both slightly better than Atlanta at home winning. The Braves are now tied for 9th in the NL Wild Card standings, and after a hot end-of-July run they have stumbled back to their June struggles. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has looked very good as of late. They have won 7 of their last 10, and last night Ryan Howard hit his 39th homer and 101st RBI. Both lead the National League and are just off David Ortiz’s major-league best pace.

5. Comeback Nominees: The nominees for the MLB Comeback Player of the Year award were announced yesterday. The finalists ranged from the highly publicized to a few unheralded players. For the American League, Jim Thome, Corey Patterson, Magglio Ordonez, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas, and perennial All Star Rafael Soriano were the nominees. Thome, who has 34 homers, 85 RBIs, and a .304 average, appears to be the far-and-away favorite. The National League finalists include Carlos Beltran, Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Estrada, Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen, and Joe Borowski. This one’s a little tougher. Beltran has blown everyone away with 33 homers and 97 RBIs, but Nomar had been among the batting average leaders the entire season. Don’t count out All Star selections Rolen and Renteria either. Our choice would be Beltran right now.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Can Big Papi break the non-steroided HR record?


1. 40 down, 61 in sight?: David Ortiz continued his tear yesterday, hitting another homerun. It was his 40th on the season, as he became the first player of the season to reach that milestone. This is important as his homerun pace is now 59, meaning Big Papi is within reaching distance of 62. He might become the first player since 2001 and the first non-cheater ever to reach that mark. Ortiz continued his dominance at Tropicana Field, with his sixth homer there on the year and 13th since 2003. Ortiz now has at least 40 homers and 100 RBIs in three consecutive seasons, and is the only player besides Pujols to have a streak like that going. Oh by the way, the Red Sox lost to the Devil Rays in 10 innings.

2. Back to normal: The St. Louis Cardinals’ recent 8-game losing streak might have been an aberration. The team has looked fine in their last two games, both wins over the Brewers. Yesterday’s 7-1 victory included three hits by Albert Pujols and a homerun by Scott Rolen. Those players, both hitting over .315, are pivotal to the Cardinals success. Jim Edmonds, who has rounded out their 3-4-5 trio the past few seasons, has stumbled this year with a .263 average and only 16 homeruns (low for him). Thankfully, Juan Encarnacion has played better than expected with 62 RBIs. Anyway, the Cards will need all of their hitters to be in top shape for their next series. They play the Reds in a four game set. Right now St. Louis is up by 3.5 over the Reds, but they’ll play seven games over the next two weeks so that could change quickly.

3. Star pitcher out? No problem!: For most teams, the absence of a 14-win ace like Justin Verlander might result in a beatdown. Not the Tigers. They won 1-0 despite Verlander being out with an injury. That was due in large part to Wilfredo Ledezma, a spot starter who was able to shut down the Tribe. He barely outpitched CC Sabathia, who allowed just one unearned run in 7 innings. The strong Cleveland offense got on base easily enough but stranded 20 runners. I guess that’s why they’re 27.5 games back of the Tigers in the division.

4. Maine attraction: Who is John Maine, you might ask? He just has the longest scoreless innings streak in baseball. The rookie pitched his third start in a row–including a July 21st complete game–without allowing a run. Maine, who has been back and forth from AAA to the majors this season, proved another example of why the Mets are the best team in the National League. Even when a player is injured, they have the ability to fill in for him. And just like the Tigers, who do much of the same thing (see above), they have the largest divisional lead (13 games) in their league.

5. On and off: In an anticlimactic move that ended a complex situation, the Braves took Andruw Jones off waivers yesterday. Jones, who seemed perfectly happy with the team, was playing great, and helping the offense tremendously from the cleanup role, was inexplicably placed on waivers last week. One team claimed him, which gave the Braves two days to work out a trade with the team. But stop right there. Why would a competitive team trade probably their best offensive and defensive player? Jones led the majors in homers and RBIs last year and has 26 and 95 this year. Either way, the trade never worked out, the team who claimed him was never revealed, and now Andruw can stay with the team.

Categories
MLB General

August 7th in Sports History: Baseball Strikes Again



Hit #3000

In 1985: The two-day baseball strike–the seventh work stoppage since 1972– ended as the owners and Players Association signed a five year agreement. The main reasons for the strike were disagreements over player pensions, arbitration rules and mistrust of the owners over financial records. Commissioner Peter Ueberoth announced that the season would resume the next day. The owners would exact revenge, however. After the 1985 season, the owners colluded to not sign a single free agent player, thus keeping salaries down. They were found guilty and forced to pay over $280 million in damages to the players.

In 1999: Wade Boggs of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays became the 22nd player to reach 3,000 career hits in a game at Tropicana Field. Coming into the game three shy of the milestone, he singled twice and homered. Ironically for Boggs — a reknowned singles and doubles hitter — he was the first player to homer on his 3000th hit, and he kissed home plate as he crossed it. True to fashion, though, the Devil Rays lost to the Indians 15-10.

and in 2004: Greg Maddux of the Chicago Cubs won his 300th career game with an 8-4 victory in San Francisco over the Giants. Maddux became the 22nd and most recent pitcher to join the 300 win club.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: It’s some sort of no hitter… right?



6 no-hit innings

1. You can’t hit me: What a tumultuous year Greg Maddux has had. After going 5-0 in April, Maddux lost 11 of his next 16 decisions. Then, he was traded to the Dodgers last week. Maybe that will start another upswing, as last night in his LA debut Maddux was almost perfect. He allowed no hits in 6 innings against the Reds but was taken out after only 72 pitches due to a rain delay. He won his 10th game of the season and 328th of his career as the Dodgers blanked the Reds 3-0. Takashi Saito recorded his 11th consecutive save chance of the year, and Los Angeles in now on a roll. The team has won 6 in a row and they are now three games back of San Diego for the division lead.

2. Let there be losing: The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds still have control of the Central division and Wild Card leads. But neither team has really helped their stock lately. After last night’s 8-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Cardinals have lost seven in a row. Chase Utley of the Phillies recorded three hits to extend his hit streak to 35, while Cole Hamels struck out 12 in the best start of his young career. St. Louis is still up by 3.5 due to the Reds’ five-game losing streak (see above). Milwaukee and Houston have hardly gained any ground either, with .500 play in their last 10 games. Some could even make a case now that the Central division is worse than the West.

3. Where was this?: Mark Teixeira puzzled fantasy owners and Rangers fans alike with his muddling 9 homerun, 49 RBI first half. But in the second half, he has shown the power that gave him 43 homers last year. Tex has equaled his first-half homerun total already with 9 since the break. He has a 1.15 OPS in that time, shaming his first-half .797. last night he hit probably his most important homer of the season, a 12th inning shot that lifted the Rangers 7-6 over the Angels. The win put Texas just a half game back of the Angels for second place in the division, and there are still three games left to play in this series.

4. Welcome to the Club: After Toronto took 3 of 4 from the Yankees in July, New York was ready to roll the next time these two teams met. They just swept a series from the Jays, showcasing their new acquisitions in the process. Yesterday Cory Lidle won his first start in a Yankees uniform, Bobby Abreu went 3-5, and Craig Wilson hit two RBI. The Yanks have now won 8 of their last 9 to take first place from the stunned Boston Red Sox. They will have an easy series next as they face the pitiful Orioles, though after that they play the White Sox and Angels.

5. The Next Best Thing: After losing team captain and leader Jason Varitek, the Red Sox will get help at catcher. The team is close to a deal with the Orioles for Javy Lopez. Lopez is upset because of his lack of playing time, and is only hitting .265 with 31 RBI. The catcher was an All Star in a record-breaking 2003 season in which he hit 43 homeruns. Now he is in the final year of a contract signed with Baltimore after that season, and he is not happy. Lopez will be traded with cash for a player to be named. The O’s are fine at catcher with near-All Star Ramon Hernandez.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Chase streak at 34


1. One Crazy Night: If you like great pitching matchups or low-scoring contests, then the Phillies-Cardinals game last night was not for you. The Cardinals came into the game with five consecutive losses, and they needed a win against the weak Phillies at home. But unfortunately, Jeff Weaver was pitching for them. Weaver has maintained a consistent 6+ ERA all season, and last night was no different. He allowed 7 runs to the Phils, including a lead-off homer to Jimmy Rollins. After the 5th inning the Phillies were up 8-2, but the Cards stormed back to knock Brett Myers out of the game. Suddenly the Phillies lead had disappeared and the Cardinals had made it an 8-7 game. But then Philadelphia put the game away with a 5-run eighth, including a hit by Chase Utley to extend his hitting streak to 34. the hit was initially ruled an error, but it didn’t matter anyway because Chase added a single in the ninth. The final tally was 16-8, with St. Louis losing yet another game. They are still 3.5 up on the second place Reds, who have lost four in a row themselves.

2. Here we go: It’s August now, which means it’s time for another run by the Houston Astros. They won their 3rd game out of 4 last night to put themselves within 7.5 of the division leading Cardinals. Brandon Backe had one of his better starts as the team bested San Diego 7-1. Despite playing without stud first baseman Lance Berkman, the Astros were able to put some runs on the board. Craig Biggio, who amazingly is still playing, hit two homers to bring his season total to 13. For the Padres, this is their fifth loss in their last six games. They still have held onto the division lead, but who knows what will happen in the West.

3. Pitching beats pitching: When the Angels and the A’s get together, you know you’re in for a low-scoring contest. Both teams have won with great pitching despite awful hitting. A series between the teams has now wrapped up, and the A’s won this important divisional battle. Last night (amazingly) Esteban Loaiza did not get shelled! He won the game, only his fourth win of the year. Just imagine where the A’s would be without Loaiza, who is allowing a .322 batting average to opposing hitters. But he came up big in a big game last night, and Oakland now has a 1.5 game lead over their Anaheim rivals.

4. Bad Decision: The Indians traded away aging closer Bob Wickman in part because they wanted to see what youngster Fausto Carmona could do. Well now they’ve seen, and they would probably like that trade back. Carmona has allowed 9 runs in his last 3 appearances, losing each time out. He gave up another Boston Red Sox ninth-inning win yesterday, with Mark Loretta doubling to win the game. The Red Sox and the Yankees both won yesterday, and they are still virtually tied for the AL East lead. The Yankees have crushed Toronto to basically put them out of the race.

5. Ailing pitchers: A variety of pitchers are out with a variety of injuries, and Full Count is here to give you the scoop. Kris Benson, who has been mediocre in his first year with the Orioles, will likely be headed for the 15-day DL. But Chan Ho Park is in much bigger trouble. He will need a blood transfusion to treat intestinal bleeding that has plagued the Padres starter lately. Don’t expect him to pitch for a few weeks. Francisco Liriano won’t be put on the DL, though he missed his start last night with an elbow issue. But–ready to be shocked?–there is some good news for one pitcher. Kerry Wood, who has been injured nearly his entire life, has opted to forego surgery on his shoulder. But it’s still unlikely that he will pitch the rest of the year.

Categories
MLB General

August 3 in Sports History: Satchel Paige makes his MLB debut


In 1948: After years of pitching in the Negro Leagues, Leroy “Satchel” Paige makes his first Major League start for the Cleveland Indians at the age of 42 (nobody was ever sure of his exact age, however). Paige pitched seven innings in a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Browns. It seemed that the legend of Paige was just as great as the pitcher himself, as Joe DiMaggio once called him “the fastest and best pitcher I‘ve ever seen,” (according to Paige’s official website). Although there were very few official records in the Negro Leagues, it was believed that Paige once threw 64 straight shutout innings (Orel Hershiser holds the ML record with 59), won 21 consecutive games (Carl Hubbell had 24) and once had a 31-4 season. Paige pitched in the majors until he was 59 years old. He helped the Indians win the World Series in 1948 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

In 1949: The NBA as it is known today is formed in a merger between the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL). The league then had 17 teams, including the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Fort Wayne (now Detroit) Pistons, Minneapolis (Los Angeles) Lakers and Syracuse Nationals (who became the Philadelphia 76ers). The Lakers won the first championship in the new league.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Guillen hits for the cycle


1. The kind of Cycling we care about: Who needs the Tour de France when you can see cycling in baseball? That’s right, for the first time this season a player hit for the cycle. It was Carlos Guillen, the Tigers’ underrated shortstop. Guillen finished 4-5 with a single, double, triple, and homerun. On July 23rd he finished a homer short of the feat. Now Guillen is hitting .306 with 13 homers, 64 RBIs, and 15 steals. That makes that he is one of the top all-around shortstops in the game, and he carried the Tigers to a 10-4 victory over the Devil Rays yesterday. Justin Verlander got his 14th win, giving him the major-league lead. Verlander is now 14-4, giving him a 21-win pace. He has led the Tigers to a 71-35 record, matching last season’s win total and the best in baseball by 8 games.

2. Expect the expected: This shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the Yankees and Red Sox are where they usually are–deadlocked. The teams are tied for first place after a Yankee win yesterday while Boston was off. In Bobby Abreu’s debut with the team, he went 0-3 but they still defeated the Blue Jays 5-1. Toronto, after tying New York a few weeks ago, has stumbled and is 6.5 back now. AJ Burnett lost again yesterday and is now 2-5 with an ERA of 4.84. For those who care, the next Yankees/Red Sox series is an enormous 5-game set starting August 18th.

3. Different Directions: The NL West is crazy, has been crazy, and will be crazy for the foreseeable future. Remember when the Giants were in second place? Now they have dropped 9 straight and have free-falled to last. The Dodgers, a few weeks removed from the cellar, are in third after a four game win streak. Last night they downed the Reds 10-4 using a lineup that included the just-traded-for Julio Lugo and Wilson Betemit. As for the rest of the division, San Diego and Arizona are still clinging to the first and second spots while the Rockies are average as usual.

4. Reversal of fortunes: The Astros have been plagued over the last two seasons with 1-0 losses, usually with Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte on the mound. But yesterday, they finally won a 1-0 game of their own. Pettitte pitched wonderfully in the win while the bullpen allowed just one baserunner. The bad luck went to Jake Peavy of the Padres, who fell to an eye-opening 5-11 after losing. Though Peavy was the Padres’ ace in 2004 and 2005 with sub-3 ERA seasons, this year he hasn’t gotten on track. He has a 4.81 ERA despite striking out more batters than ever. Strange.

5. Who wants scoring?: Apparently the Rockies don’t. According to Brewers infielder Jeff Cirillo, the team is using water-logged balls to decrease scoring at Coors Field. Once the best hitters’ park in the majors with 15 runs scored per game, now only 9 combined runs per game are scored at the park. Cirillo said he compared a ball from Milwaukee with a ball used at Coors yesterday. The one from Denver was apparently puffy, heavy, and water-logged. That’s in part because they use a humidor to prevent balls drying out due to the altitude. But are they over-using the device? Just hear this: Coors Field has hosted the most shutouts in the majors this season with eleven. Last night’s 1-0 game was the third of its’ kind at the park this year.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Big Papi does it again


1. Mr. Walk off: David Ortiz has now easily established himself as one of the greatest clutch hitters of all time. Ortiz, just two days removed from a 4-5, 4 RBI performance complete with a game-winning single, hit a walk off three-run homer in the ninth to defeat Cleveland. His 4 RBIs gave him a whopping 105 for the year, bringing his pace to 164. The last player to drive in that many runs in a season was Ortiz’s teammate Manny Ramirez, who had 165 ribbies in 1999. Papi hit two homers on the day to once again bring back his major league lead (Ryan Howard had tied him at 35). Though Ortiz is 30 and only has 214 career homers, he will elevate himself to the level of the all-time great power hitters if he can keep this pace up.

2. Hey, it’s another rookie pitcher!: The American League class of rookie pitchers has dominated the headlines. Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, Jonathan Papelbon, and Justin Verlander have all performed above any level expected for a rookie. But one of the best rooks comes from the National League. He’s Josh Johnson, Florida’s youngster who has a 2.52 ERA. That is good for the NL lead, which means each league’s ERA leader is a rookie and it’s the end of July. That, needless to say, is the first time that’s ever happened. Johnson received plenty of run support and won his 9th game of the season yesterday against the Phillies. He allowed just one run and five hits, with one of the hits coming against the Phillies’ Chase Utley. That extends Utley’s hit streak to a whopping 32, the best since Jimmy Rollins’ 38 game streak that ended this April.

3. Almost perfect: The Twins just wrapped up their 61st win of the season, putting them eight games back of the Tigers (who lost). They absolutely ripped through the Texas Rangers, shutting them down 15-2. The Twins’ performance was almost perfect, as they collected 18 hits, with seven starters having multi-hit games. Carlos Silva, though he has been incompetent so far this year, pitched well to earn his seventh victory. His ERA stands at 6.49, and he is the weakest link of the Twins’ otherwise solid rotation. The stunned Rangers have suddenly moved into last place in the AL West.

4. Powerhouse: What got into the Arizona Diamondbacks last night? They pounded the Chicago Cubs for 15 runs, 10 extra base hits, and 6 homers in a rout. They were one of three teams (see above) that scored 15 runs last night, a rare occurrence for sure. Secondbaseman Orlando Hudson had a career effort, with 2 homers and 6 RBIs. Arizona moved to a game back of the Padres in the NL West, and they now stand at 54-51. Brandon Webb didn’t have his best stuff but rode his offense to his 12th victory of the year. The Diamondbacks are used to wild games like this; they have scored and allowed the most runs in their division.

5. More trading: Some of the trades that went down yesterday were revealed after FC was written. The Dodgers were probably the biggest winners, acquiring shortstop Julio Lugo from the Devil Rays and legend Greg Maddux from the Cubs. LA is Maddux’s third team, and will probably be his last. Meanwhile, the Mets got reliever Roberto Hernandez and Olivier “Remember 2004?” Perez from the Pirates. They dealed outfielder Xaiver Nady for those two pitchers. Those were likely the biggest two trades of the eight that went down yesterday, but the biggest news is who didn’t get moved. Alfonso Soriano and Miguel Tejada were rumored like crazy for a trade but will stand pat.