Interesting Baseball News Items That Do Not Warrant Their Own Thread

[EvanJ]

Strange to see:

BAL 14 SEA 4
(W) Halama (L) Pineiro (S) Ray

14-4? Save?

1.1IP and a 9 run top of the ninth can do that.

That type of thing happened to Rivera and the Yankees in 2004 at Toronto (I think) when Tony Clark hit three home runs and was one batter short of getting a chance for another one.

[JWHIII]

The Cubs are so awful, it's pretty interesting. With a 5-4 lead in the ninth, they allow two runs to score on a sac fly.

[CoyoteYankee]

The Cubs are so awful, it's pretty interesting. With a 5-4 lead in the ninth, they allow two runs to score on a sac fly.

I was just "watching" that on Gameday. Zambrano has a good outing...6.2 IP, 2 ER and the Cubs are actually beating Hudson and then they go and have a 9th inning up by two runs that goes like this: Single, Single, Wild Pitch, Walk, Walk (1 run), Strikeout, Sac Fly with TWO errors (catching and throwing) on the 2nd baseman (2 runs), Fly Out.

Pathetic.

[somejerk]

This is interesting, and by interesting I mean stupid and dangerous.

Troy Glaus is playing shortstop for the Blue Jays tonight. He hasn't played it in 4 years and he was taken out of a game a few days ago with an ankle injury. He's not a particularly good defender at 3rd base and had 2 recent years filled with injuries.

Hillenbrand takes over at 3rd, I wonder if this is more a move to shop Hillie to another time.

If he's good at SS it is bad news for Sox and Yanks.

I wonder if this is similar to having Mientkiewicz and Youkilis playing games at 2nd.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

BOSTON - Carl Crawford's five-hit, five-run, four-stolen base performance in Toronto on Wednesday didn't just seem special.

It was.

No other player in at least 50 years has had as many hits, runs and stolen bases in a single game, according to Dave Smith of retrosheet.org. "That's awesome, that no one's ever done that before," Crawford said. "A lot of people called to tell me I had a good game. It felt good to watch the highlights on TV. I'll enjoy it for what it was."

Crawford tied Julio Lugo's team record with the five hits and became the first Ray to score five runs and steal four bases.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/26/Ra...urns_out.shtml

[Cuban Connection]

Twins involved in aother Triple play:

Top 8th: Seattle

- K. Johjima grounded into triple play first to third to first, R. Sexson scored, C. Everett out at home, A. Beltre out at second

[buckyjacobson]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_y...?gid=260527103

[ieddyi]

Another Steroid Scandal
Will the madness ever stop?

In this article, legendary bigot Pat Robertson asserts that as recently as 2003, he legpressed 2000 pounds. Never mind that the Florida State University football team record is only 1335 pounds -- Robertson's people insist the septuagenarian has done it. What's his secret? He's juicing.

The CBN Web site attributes Robertson's energy in part to "his age-defying protein shake." The site offers a recipe for the shake, which contains ingredients such as soy protein isolate, whey protein isolate, flaxseed oil and apple cider vinegar.

Emphasis mine.

Next we're going to hear that Robertson has not been drinking his age-defying protein shake, but rather administering three drops of it under his tongue every other day with an eye dropper.

What a sad day for sports, and for Jesus.

http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/

[swityak11]

Ha. Pat Robertson is nonstop entertainment.

[VanHalen5150]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PGAOJ413I5.DTL

Gotta feel bad for Dave Fleming, radio announcer for the SF Giants. Just as Bonds 715th home run was going over second base, his microphone died. The whole world missed his historic call.

[AMYanks]

This is interesting, and by interesting I mean stupid and dangerous.

Troy Glaus is playing shortstop for the Blue Jays tonight. He hasn't played it in 4 years and he was taken out of a game a few days ago with an ankle injury. He's not a particularly good defender at 3rd base and had 2 recent years filled with injuries.

Hillenbrand takes over at 3rd, I wonder if this is more a move to shop Hillie to another time.

If he's good at SS it is bad news for Sox and Yanks.

I wonder if this is similar to having Mientkiewicz and Youkilis playing games at 2nd.

Why the hell would you play him at SS? Stupidity.

[yankeebot]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PGAOJ413I5.DTL

Gotta feel bad for Dave Fleming, radio announcer for the SF Giants. Just as Bonds 715th home run was going over second base, his microphone died. The whole world missed his historic call.

There is some sort of poetic justice there.

"I think it's the last gasp of the curse of the Bambino,'' said Flemming, who didn't believe in the curse. "Now, I'm starting to re-think my whole world."

[yanksphan]

I was at the Padres/Cards game yesterday, and the HR's hit by Mark Bellhorn (438'), Josh Bard (434') and Albert Pujols (436') were the three longest ever to be hit out of Petco park.

Honestly I only remember watching Bellhorn's and having my jaw drop. Ball went for ever.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Honestly I only remember watching Bellhorn's and having my jaw drop. Ball went for ever.

Too many cold ones in the hot sun, Rob?

Things have been rough for Jacque Jones at Wrigley.

In Friday's game, Jones lost a ball in the sun during the seventh inning that ruined Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter. In the bottom of the inning, Jones was called out on strikes and a fan allegedly yelled, "The sun must have gotten in your eyes."

According to witnesses, the fan was berated by a finger-wagging woman wearing a replica of Jones' No. 11 jersey. It turns out the woman was Jones' mother, Linda Faulk, sitting two rows away. Jones admitted the incident happened but was reluctant to go into details.

"She took care of it," he said. "She took care of it how every parent should.

"You shouldn't have to listen to that when you come to games."

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....home-headlines

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Although Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy sits on MLB's labor committee, do not expect him to expound on the new contract being negotiated with the players' union later this year. Selig recently told all owners he was doubling the fine for speaking publicly about the talks from $1 million to $2 million.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06150/694229-63.stm

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Of the top 50 players in on-base percentage this season, just four - Boston's Kevin Youkilis (eighth at .435 entering yesterday), St. Louis' David Eckstein (26th at .402), Florida's Hanley Ramirez (31st at .396) and Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks (41st at .387) - are everyday leadoff hitters.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/14695492.htm

[SoCal Pinstriper]

ST. PETERSBURG - Devil Rays president Matt Silverman announced Tuesday the team will not change its name or uniform in time for the 2007 season, but he also indicated strongly that a change of some sort is inevitable by 2008.
"Any changes we do make to our uniform, our team name, our colors, our logo will be done and effective for the 2008 season," Silverman said. "There will be no changes for the 2007 season."
The team informed Major League Baseball in March that it was exploring the possibility of changes for 2007 and had until today to report back to the league if those changes would be implemented for '07.
Silverman said any change could be "subtle," which could mean a switch of emphasis in color scheme (more blue and less green, for instance) and the dropping of the term "Devil" from the front of the name.

http://www.tbo.com/sports/rays/MGBDNLIOUNE.html

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Given the choice of seeing his team host Bonds and the Giants or an NBA playoff game, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria chose the latter Monday, watching the Heat defeat the Pistons in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins...otes_0531.html

[Kudo]

Jason Kendall finally hit a homerun today. His first as an Oakland Athletic.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260531111

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Cubs manager Dusty Baker made a major decision this week on improving the infield.

No, it wasn't the addition of another second baseman. It was the lowering of the infield grass at Wrigley Field. Asked Wednesday about a rumor he had asked the grounds crew to shorten the length of the infield grass, Baker replied, "It's already been mowed."

Baker wouldn't say how much he asked to have it trimmed.

"We can't mow it much shorter because we don't want the grass to burn," he said. "We have more speed on the infield now, guys who use their legs like Juan [Pierre] and Freddie Bynum and Tony [Womack]. You saw in Florida how much quicker that surface was. It really helped the speed guys."

Wrigley has been known for having long infield grass, slowing ground balls to help slow-footed third basemen and shortstops, along with ground-ball pitchers like Rick Reuschel and Greg Maddux.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....home-headlines

[SoCal Pinstriper]

It's curious that Twins catcher Joe Mauer has been taking ground balls regularly at third base during batting practice. Mauer, 23, who is second behind Toronto's Alex Rios (.361) for the American League lead in batting (.359), at 6 feet 6 takes a beating playing regularly behind the plate with a tender knee. And it would make sense to have him and backup catcher Mike Redmond, who is hitting .404 during 14 games, in the lineup at the same time.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pionee...s/14711949.htm

[SoCal Pinstriper]

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A great-nephew of Mickey Mantle took the first step in his professional baseball career Wednesday by signing with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Blake King, a right-handed pitcher who led all junior college pitchers in strikeouts as a freshman, signed a minor-league contract in front of about 40 family members and friends.

"You're a St. Louis Cardinal," agent Rob Martin said before applause and cheers filled the room.

King, 19, said he planned to work on locating pitches and developing a change-up after the Cardinals assign him to their rookie ball affiliate in either State College, Pa., or Johnson City, Tenn.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...D?OpenDocument

[AustinTXHorn]

Juan Gonzalez is back...
...as a member of the Long Island Ducks.

Isn't this the same team that John Rocker came back with?

[In Mo I Trust]

http://www.local6.com/news/9308308/detail.html

Pretty funny

[ieddyi]

Rockies keep their iPods on the ball
Studying video compilations of at-bats is a high-tech hit
By Troy E. Renck
Denver Post Staff Writer

The boys of summer have a new toy of summer.

The Rockies have incorporated the iPod into their hitters' video work, a harbinger of the technological advances they believe will also help them track upcoming draft picks and future free agents.

"It's the wave of the future," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "I was blown away by it."

When Apple unveiled its video iPod in November, it had consumers in mind, not hitters. But with the ability to hold 150 hours of video and display it on a mobile screen, the iPod blends perfectly with baseball players' needs.

"It has everything right there for you. It's great, especially on the road," said Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday. "You can look at your swings when you were going good. And it only takes a couple of minutes."

The Rockies moved beyond iPod's music, its most common


clubhouse function, through creative intervention during spring training. It began when Rockies assistant video coordinator Brian Jones was downloading video of hitters' swings and burning a CD. In a sport where players wear sunglasses equipped with MP3 players, he figured there had to be a more practical application.

So Mike Hamilton, the team's video coordinator, purchased a video iPod - and he and Jones began tinkering. They were looking to integrate information more seamlessly with the sport's transient lifestyle. They showed the finished product to veteran Todd Helton, who loved it. Infielder Jamey Carroll became the first lab rat, turning his iPod into a video library of his swings.

"It allows you to have your at-bats at your disposal," Carroll said. "I like to see my hits and my outs to compare them and make adjustments."

The portable access has helped make it popular with the players. It's easy, no different than wheel-clicking on a favorite song or a movie. What is striking is the amount of information available and the ease of retrieving it.

Hamilton and Jones customize the downloads for players. They break it down by the players' hits from the previous week, then all of their past at-bats against the starting pitchers in the upcoming series. Each player also has his 2005 highlight reel included, some with background music. The video iPod can hold up to five seasons of at-bats.

"Sometimes you might get mentally tired or down, and then on demand you can look back at your old swings," said third baseman Garrett Atkins, one of a handful of Rockies who have purchased a video iPod in recent weeks for the sole purpose of baseball. "It's nice to have that reinforcement."



http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_3890032

[Jersey Yankee]

Debatable whether this deserves its own thread or not, but I like this feel-good story:


Bill Brady with his 8-year-old son, Jimmy, and their ticket stubs.
He said he bought about $25,000 worth of sports tickets last year.

Father and Son Find Ticket to Quality Time

Bill Brady will surf the high fees of the Internet this week for two more seats (best available, of course), these to an August game between the White Sox and the Blue Jays in Toronto.

In recent years, Brady, a 40-year-old fan from Schaumburg, Ill., has become a most loyal PayPal to scores of eBay ticket sellers and other electronic ticket vendors.

Last year alone, he said, he bought about $25,000 worth of sports tickets online, more than a quarter of his yearly salary, and attended more than 100 sports events, many with his 8-year-old son, Jimmy.

"Some guys like to spend their money on expensive clothes or fancy cars, others on big houses," Brady said. "But I'd rather live modestly, and spend my money on entertainment like sporting events or concerts."

By day the director of business services at a mental health institute in Schaumburg, by night the ticket master of the sports and entertainment universe, Brady said he spent an additional $5,000 on concert tickets last year.

[chisox]

Interesting and kind of sad story in today's Chicago Tribune about a player who got beaned in his first MLB at bat and hasn't made it back to the show yet.

Beanball puts career in tailspin
Downey: The first pitch thrown Adam Greenberg's way in his major-league debut struck the young Cub in the helmet. Now that he's been cut, the beaning might also signify the end of his career.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Tired of reading about drugs? Here is an entertaining piece about stealing signs.

Stories have circulated for decades about home teams having spies in scoreboards, stealing signs and relaying them with buzzers, lights and so on to batters or the bench.
"To me that's cheating," Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer said. "A runner steals a [catcher's] sign from second base, that's not cheating. That's just being on your toes."

http://www.tbo.com/sports/rays/MGBFL21U7OE.html

[Cuban Connection]

Here's a post from another board about the "youthful" Indians.

Casey Blake: 32
Travis Hafner: 29
Jason Michaels: 30
Ronnie Belliard: 31
Aaron Boone: 33
Ben Broussard: 29
Eduardo Perez: 36
Bob Wickman: 37
Rafael Betancourt: 31
Paul Byrd: 35
Jake Westbrook: 28
Guillermo Mota: 32
Jason Johnson: 32
Cliff Lee: 27
Victor Martinez: 27

[yanksphan]

Here's a post from another board about the "youthful" Indians.

Casey Blake: 32
Travis Hafner: 29
Jason Michaels: 30
Ronnie Belliard: 31
Aaron Boone: 33
Ben Broussard: 29
Eduardo Perez: 36
Bob Wickman: 37
Rafael Betancourt: 31
Paul Byrd: 35
Jake Westbrook: 28
Guillermo Mota: 32
Jason Johnson: 32
Cliff Lee: 27
Victor Martinez: 27

How old are the other 10 player? 26 and under I'd guess? Any other teams that contend with that many players under 26?

[VanHalen5150]

Joel Zumaya of the Detroit Tigers hit 102 mph on the radar gun today, according to Sportscenter

[AustinTXHorn]

Definitely doesn't deserve it's own thread, but Mark DeRosa has 20 doubles in 141 at bats. Mike Lowell and Gary Matthews Jr. are the league leaders with 24...both have 220 at bats. DeRosa is also hitting .355.

[38Special]

Here's a post from another board about the "youthful" Indians.

Casey Blake: 32
Travis Hafner: 29
Jason Michaels: 30
Ronnie Belliard: 31
Aaron Boone: 33
Ben Broussard: 29
Eduardo Perez: 36
Bob Wickman: 37
Rafael Betancourt: 31
Paul Byrd: 35
Jake Westbrook: 28
Guillermo Mota: 32
Jason Johnson: 32
Cliff Lee: 27
Victor Martinez: 27

so you post the ages of some of the older players and ignore the younger ones. that's pretty cool

[keg411]

Hey, I was right about Travis Hafner's age! Cool! (It was a guess after talking to someone last night who asked why the Yankees didn't a have a player like Hafner -- they thought Hafner was 23).

[HidekiIrabu]

Everyone that came to the Double-A corpus cristi game to watch Clemens pitch got free tacos because he got 10K's

[flymick24]

derek jeter went to the bathroom at least twice yesterday... as did the rest of the world

more on this later

[Cuban Connection]

so you post the ages of some of the older players and ignore the younger ones. that's pretty cool

Sorry, but it's laughable when ESPN refers to the young core of the Indians including Blake, Hafner, Martinez, and Lee.

Sizemore, Cabrera, and Peralta are young, but that's about it. They just got rid of Sauerbeck and Graves, Johnson is 32, Vazquez is 29, Laker is 36, Hollandsworth is 33, and Jason Davis is 26.

[38Special]

the young core of the indians is 4 all-star caliber offensive players (Martinez, Hafner, Sizemore, Peralta), and young pitching (Lee, Sabathia, Cabrera, Carmona/Sowers). That's nothing to laugh about

Juan Uribe, Joe Crede and Brian Anderson. Now thats a young group to boast about

[AnibalTheCannibal]

How is 27 years old not young? You're acting like half their team is in their mid thirties or something. Compare the ages of their team against others. They're young.

[26 and counting]

Reds vs. Brewers on ESPN right now. It's the top of the 11th inning, 0-0.

[26 and counting]

Reds vs. Brewers on ESPN right now. It's the top of the 11th inning, 0-0.

Adam Dunn wins it with a 3 run HR off of Danny Kolb in the bottom of the 11th. He probably hit it about 450 feet. That was a fun game to watch.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

Sorry, but it's laughable when ESPN refers to the young core of the Indians including Blake, Hafner, Martinez, and Lee.

I don't know what world you're living in, but other than Blake (who's obviously not part of any team's core anyway), those guys are all reasonably young.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

George Foster on Ken Griffey Jr.:

The five-time All-Star and 1977 National League MVP was asked if Griffey should move from center field to one of the corner outfield positions or first base.
"I would move him to first base," Foster said. "I was with Ken Sr. recently and I know he's discussed it with Junior, but it's an ego thing with him and he doesn't want to go to left or right. That would save his legs, but he's out to prove something; that he can win another Gold Glove in center.
"But there's lot of wear and tear involved with playing center or shortstop. They're demanding positions along with catcher. Junior's a player and he can play the angles and make the adjustment to either corner outfield or first base. As long as you have Junior at first, for instance, you don't need an offensive player in center. It would prolong Junior's career."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...14foster2.html

[SoCal Pinstriper]

PITTSBURGH — Rick Ankiel, pitching phenom reinvented as an outfielder, will miss the rest of the season after having knee surgery last month to correct an injury sustained in spring training.

Ankiel will not play until 2007, Cardinals officials confirmed Tuesday.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...B?OpenDocument

[SoCal Pinstriper]

The wrist injury epidemic extends to managers. AZ's Bob Melvin may face surgery.:

But Melvin has prepared himself for surgery on his left wrist. The sheath protecting a tendon in his forearm ripped this spring when he was participating in a charity golf tournament. Melvin, a scratch golfer, had been wearing a brace for most of the season.

Doctors thought the splint would help heal the problem naturally, but the tendon still "pops" in and out of place, Melvin said, so he's targeting the All-Star break to have a procedure done to tack the tendon back down to a bone.

"I would say it is probably 50-50 now," Melvin said of surgery.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...9dbnb0619.html

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Time to rethink how we develop, train, work, and rest pitchers?

The Pirates are the lone team in the National League to use only five starters all season, a run that will end tomorrow when Wells rejoins the rotation. The Seattle Mariners are the only team in the American League to have used five.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06170/699409-63.stm

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Good for Ned Yost!

TV intrusion
While viewers may enjoy the close-up and personal look they get on Brewers' telecasts from the variety of camera angles Fox Sports Net North provides, Yost stopped the network from getting up too close and too personal Saturday night with a hidden microphone near the dugout.
As a network technician was installing a camera on the railing at the home plate side of the Brewers' dugout, Yost broke off his regular pregame conversation with reporters to ask the technician if the camera also included a microphone.
When told a microphone was there, Yost proceeded to get it removed.
"That's tantamount to me being miked," said Yost, who doesn't like the recent addition of talking to managers in the dugout between innings of nationally televised games. "That's where (bench coach) Robin (Yount) and I discuss the game.
"They always say they won't turn it up, but somehow it always ends up being turned up."

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/spor...=88087&ntpid=1

[SoCal Pinstriper]

The helmet Steve Finley wore when he hit his 300th home run in Arizona on June 14 is on its way to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. He is only the sixth player in history to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...s/14859349.htm

[SoCal Pinstriper]

The Dodgers, unsure whether Bill Mueller will play again this season and unconvinced that Willy Aybar can play third base every day, told Cesar Izturis on Tuesday that he is their new third baseman.

"That's the only spot we've got," Izturis said. "I've got to take it."

Izturis, a Gold Glove shortstop, has not played third base in the majors or minors. The Dodgers activated him Tuesday, optioning Aybar to triple-A Las Vegas with an eye toward making him a utility man.

Manager Grady Little said Izturis would start at third Thursday, after a two-day crash course at the position. He did not play there during a 15-game minor league rehabilitation assignment.

"Is this perfect? No," General Manager Ned Colletti said. "This season's been far from perfect."

Little called Izturis last week in Las Vegas and asked him to play some third base.

"His initial reaction was, maybe it wasn't that good of an idea," Little said.

When Izturis returned to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, he met with Little and agreed to switch positions. When Mueller underwent knee surgery last month, the Dodgers expected him to return in one to two months and recalled Aybar in the interim.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...adlines-sports

[SecretChiSoxFan]

I knew the National League was bad this year, but what the AL Central did to the NL Central on Tuesday night (6/20) was vicious. The AL Central went 5-0 and won by a combined score of 50-20!!!

ESPN.COM listed the Mets as the #1 team in their Power Poll last week. Does anyone over there know baseball? No NL team should ever be listed in the top 5 this year, ever. The BEST team in the NL would likely finish 4th if they played in the AL Central, 3rd in a best case scenario and possibly even 5th.