July 2011
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Dodger Employee Paychecks Bounce →
findtheswagger:
Whoops.
While the Major League players and coaches can view the ownership situation as an unpleasant distraction, it’s important to remember that Dodgers employees will have their futures cast into doubt when, not if, Frank McCourt loses control of the team.
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Cause and Effect
Though the Athletics gave the Marlins their first one-run victory after fourteen consecutive losses, they can at least go home happy knowing that they raised $29,000 for juvenile diabetes.
Strangely enough though, they raised the money during their annual Root Beer Float day.
Now, I love the creamy concoction that is ice cream mixed with root beer, and I hate juvenile diabetes, but...
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When Pitcher Batting Goes Wrong: A Gif Story
hardenthefuckup-:
So on Wednesday, Mark Buehrle is taking an at-bat against Ubaldo Jimenez. All ready with a homer to his name, Buehrle decides to add “first career double” to his list of achievements:
Until he gets picked off immediately afterward:
At least he can laugh about it?
And AJ can harass him about it:
The Next Great American Novel will be a Gif Story.
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LeBron James is Not Good at Baseball
LeBron James, who for all his strength still could not win a championship, has become the most reviled athlete despite, you know, never having a DUI or domestic abuse charge on his record. (Though his The Decision special was still bush league.)
With that said, let’s remind everyone that this professional basketball player is a bad baseball player. From John Fay of the Cincinnati...
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High Pitch Counts
With three games in the books today, managers have proven to be reluctant to go to their bullpens, seeing plenty of pitchers go deep into ball games.
Jon Lester threw 120 pitches in 7 innings of 2 hit ball against the Phillies in the Red Sox 5-2 victory.
Justin Verlander also tossed the baseball 120 times in his outing (7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 6 K) against the Mets, finally stopping an...
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Eric Byrnes Does to Harold Reynolds What Baseball...
Video, complete with celebratory “Whoo!”, is available for your viewing pleasure here.
(via Baseball Nation)
June 2011
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Charlie Sheen on baseball: not THAT crazy
This one flew under my radar yesterday, and maybe it did for you, too. Chris Nashawaty over at Sports Illustrated has the interview we’ve all been waiting for: Chuck Sheen on baseball, Major League, and taking steroids.
“It was all ego, vanity. I think it led to my arm problems because it doesn’t enhance the strength of the tendons and ligaments, it just makes the muscles...
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My Favorite Tweet
Courtesy of Jack Moore at NotGraphs comes the greatest tweet you’ll ever see:
If you’d prefer to refer to your July 4th plans as “Doing homework for Zaun 101,” that’s fine with me.
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Tommy Byrne's Control Problems
After wondering who had walked the most players in a single game, I came upon Tommy Byrne’s frightening game from August 22, 1951. Byrne, a pitcher who was traded from the Yankees to the Browns earlier in the season, went 12.2 innings and walked 16 batters against the Red Sox before losing 3-1. While Byrne was never known for his control, leading the league in walks three times and hit...
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San Diahgo
These days, if you’re a Padres fan, at least you’re not a Dodgers fan. It took 82 games, but San Diego was finally able to grab their first series sweep of the season and pulled out of last place in the NL West (apparently my favorite division today). They’ve won seven out of their last ten, and while I don’t think anyone’s expecting a surge, it’s always nice to...
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(Photo by Keith Allison)
Had to get to this one now…
John Lackey hasn’t done himself any favors since signing a fat contract with the Red Sox, especially this year with his 7.06 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. But he might just have made up some ground. With Josh Reddick on first base and his team down 1 - 0, Lackey found himself down 0 - 2 to Philadelphia’s Vance Worley with two outs in...
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They're D'Baaack*
Hardball Talk pointed me to the news that the Diamondbacks are willing to add payroll if that’s what it takes to win. I love announcements like this one because I love money. More importantly, they’re good examples of the fact the despite the soaring payrolls of a few teams, baseball remains a competitive sport. Articles that cede control over the playoffs as the domain of the Yankees,...
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Adam Dunn is Not A Thinker
Dunn, currently embroiled in the worst slump of his career and is posting a .193 OPS versus lefthanded pitchers, has turned to a sports therapist in hopes of getting him back on track.
While talking to Doug Padilla of ESPN, Dunn introduced his real problem: his brain’s too big.
“I’m not giving up, I promise you. I just need to go back to basics and quit thinking. It’s not me. I’m...
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Cardinals Release Ryan Franklin
(Photo by tlindenbaum)
The move caused goatee securities to drop 13%. It was a baseball decision a long time in the making as the Cardinals showed an immense amount of patience and understanding in allowing Franklin to pitch 27.2 innings while posting an 8.46 ERA.
It’s possible that Franklin has been the recipient of some unfortunate luck, but far more likely is that this is just the...
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“It’ll be good offensively, but damn, I’ve gotta play second, first...”
– Dustin Pedroia on the likelihood that Adrian Gonzalez would play right field while David Ortiz would get the start at first base.
(via BBTF)
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Baseball Bloggers Alliance Announces Their 2011...
It’s a beautiful list voted on by even more beautiful people. My ballot can be found here. Below is the release:
Outfielders Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers led their respective leagues in balloting for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game as conducted by members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and announced today. Bautista, who has an...
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Wily Mo!
No matter how many times Wily Mo does something worthy of a post, I doubt I’ll ever title it differently than Wily Mo! Sure, it may make cataloguing things more difficult later, but I’m merely titling these posts with what I say when I view a box score that features Mr. Pena
In a 4-4 game against the Indians last night, Wily Mo hit a two-out, two-run home run to win the game 6-4....
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Watchprobationaryperiod:
On Tuesday’s Scott Van Pelt Show, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria stated that his hands would be bare/un-gloved* tonight when the Tampa Bay Rays faced the Cincinnati Reds. Despite an 0-for on Monday, Longoria reaffirmed on the show his confidence in going gloveless, which was a slump-buster on Sunday when he went 8-for-14 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI in his first...
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Doc Gooden's Bathroom Habits
Going on Celebrity Rehab is a guarantee that you’ll be embarrassed, but I’m going to guess Doc didn’t sign up for this.
Courtesy of Jeremy Jackson while on the Howard Stern Show:
“He poops a lot, that guy. I had to share a room with him. It was a very stinky room.”
And there you have it, the blog post I’ve been waiting my entire life to write....
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I Don't Want to Claim That I'm a Psychic...But...
I kind of Nostradamused the end of the Rockies game. With Ty Wigginton at the plate and Troy Tulowitzki at first base in the bottom of the 13th
Sure enough, Ty Wigginton drove in Tulowitzki with a ball that landed here:
If that’s not a hit worthy of the term “steak”, nothing is.
I don’t think Ozzie’s going to be very happy.
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12.71 Seconds
Unlike most pitchers who hit triples, CJ Wilson’s was just a solid piece of fundamental batmanship. It wasn’t a pop fly that was lost in the lights, or a bloop single that was turned into extra bases by some atrocious defense, it was just a hard struck liner to the gap that found its way to Houston’s grassy knoll.
Wilson didn’t even seem to break a sweat while running to...
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Mark Teixeira Keeps Pace with Jose Bautista For...
Teixeira, who hit his 24th in the Yankees 12-2 win against the Brewers, also has the third lowest BABIP among qualified batters. Considering that information and the Yankees short porch, it’s not unreasonable to expect Teixeira to only improve the rest of the season.
The Yankees also have the slim chance of having two forty home run hitters come the end of the season with Curtis Granderson...
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RA Dickey's Not One For Self Promotion
After getting the not-so-hard fought win the Mets 14-3 victory over the Tigers, RA Dickey told the gathering of reporters at his locker:
“What you guys are doing here is a little bit ridiculous. If I’m even mentioned in an article, I’m going to boycott.”
It was a nice little night for the Mets offense with Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran hitting grand slams in back-to-back innings. They were the...
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Robot Lee Throws Third Consecutive Shutout Against...
This must be a tired sight for Phillies fans: Cliff Lee pitches, goes nine innings, shuts out the opposition, hugs all around. I mean, sports are all about unexpected drama and exciting comebacks, not rote and routine domination. How can this be fun to watch?
Considering how few walks Lee hands out, I think we really need to begin discussing the possibilities that Lee is simply a robot sent from...
dylvez asked: If Jose Bautista were traded to the Pirates, started wearing stirrup socks and tweeting like Ozzie Guillen, would you be physically able to leave the house?
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The Social Network
Can I eat lunch with the cool kids now?
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Jim Leyland Explains How to Reverse a Decision
In the seventh inning of the Blue Jays and Tigers game, first base umpire Ed Rapuano originally called Andy Dirks safe at first after a bunt attempt, but soon changed course after a conference with home plate umpire, Alfonso Marquez. This lead Jim Leyland to exit the dugout and hold a passionate debate with the umpiring crew to come to a deeper understanding of each other. During their...
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Baseball Journeys
You won’t find many places discussing Adam Everett’s DFA or Bobby Scales’ new contract with the Nippon Ham Fighers. For the most part, those that are deserving of Major League jobs have them, and the difference between being the 26th best player and the 40th best player in an organization often doesn’t mean much to a Major League Club’s success.
But I love glovemen,...
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WatchI may be a fairly traditional when it comes to baseball, but I also cannot deny the appeal of backflips being added to the pitching motion. It also doesn’t hurt that the Cirque de Soleil’s outfit could easily be updated into some pretty amazing stirrup socks.
This video is a glimpse into the future.
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Maybe Frank McCourt Should File For Bankruptcy...
After declaring for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (leading to a great personalized jersey), the Dodgers took all of their money woes out on the Twins, scoring 15 runs on 24 hits while the Twins were kept in check. And by kept in check, I mean shutout.
The Dodger attack was lead by four-hit games from Matt Kemp, Tony Gwynn Jr, and Trent Oeltjen with Kemp, Oeltjen, and Casey Blake adding home runs. Every...
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WatchCall it luck, a mistake, or just the influential power of Sam Fuld, but it appears that MLB will no longer force you to wait 24 hours before embedding their highlights.
Of course, by the time I click “Create Post” perhaps they will have realized the mistake and this post will already be out of date.
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Major League Baseball's Response to The Dodgers...
The Commissioner’s Office has spent the better part of one year working with Mr. McCourt and his representatives on the financial situation of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which was caused by Mr. McCourt’s excessive debt and his diversion of club assets for his own personal needs. We have consistently communicated to Mr. McCourt that any potential solution to his problems that contemplates...
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Nick Jonas: Teen Heartthrob and Home Run Charm
Six home runs, spread across three players, with each hitting two apiece, were knocked out in the Cubs 7-3 victory against the Rockies.
Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez each hit two for the Cubs while Carlos Gonzalez supplied two of his own for the Rockies. That many home runs spread across such a small group of players is an odd combination and not one I remember seeing. While one could blame the...
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Orel Hershiser On 'The Baseball Boogie'
I love “The Baseball Boogie.” I think it’s one of the highlights of 20th century America and I would be happy to include it in any time capsule sent into outer space for aliens to learn about our society. In fact, I even chose it as the greatest baseball anthem of all-time. I stand for what I believe in.
Today, Hershiser gave a little previously unknown info on The Boogie in an...
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Jimmy Rollins Tries, Fails, to Break Guiness World...
(Photo by NickSixers)
Earlier today, the 170 lb Jimmy Rollins attempted to break the Guinness World Record for distance of a batted ball, taking aim at the 576 ft mark currently on the books and attributed to Babe Ruth. It’s an odd choice of player to to attack the record, but since Jimmy Rollins works with Red Bull and they were the ones sponsoring the event, that’s just how...
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Up Close and Extremely Personal With Casper Wells
(Photo by Lakeland Local)
Casper Wells, the well-named Major League thespian, recently had a sit down with Patrick Cain of NotGraphs and let us, the unwashed public, into the deepest and darkest corners of his psyche.
My two favorite answers:
“3. What turns you on?
What turns me?! Hitting baseballs solid.
4. What turns you off?
Umm, these are all pertaining to baseball, just so you...
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Dodgers File For Bankruptcy →
Because my financial knowledge stops at “Money good. No money bad,” I’ll just link directly to Craig Calcaterra. He was a lawyer for some time, so he at least has an idea of what’s up.
This is just another sad moment in a series of them for the once proud Los Angeles Dodgers. I wonder what Tommy Lasorda has to say about all of this?
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Answer Session
I’ve received plenty of wonderful messages over the past few weeks and thought it would be a nice way to catch up by answering a few publicly. Perhaps we can do this every few weeks. As always, I can be contacted in the comments, on the Ask page, or via email.
Here we go:
Sspalmateer writes:
“You should try using Google Translate with ESPN Deportes articles. They offer such...
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Livan Hernandez and the Power of Magic
(Photo by Adam Fagen)
Livan Hernandez, professional junkballer and probable criminal, had his full array of slow and slower pitches working yesterday in the Nationals 2-1 win against the White Sox. Hernandez went 6.2 innings and struck out nine White Sox batters to get his fifth win of the season and move his career record to 171-171.
With Adam Dunn’s assistance, who struck out three...
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The South Florida Experience
Only the Marlins, with a record of 3-21 in June and playing a “home” game in a state and stadium that is not their own, could lose a ballgame in the tenth inning on a wild pitch during an intentional walk.
With Dustin Ackley standing on third and Carlos Peguero at the plate, Steven Cishek threw an intentional ball well beyond the reach of John Buck, allowing Dustin Ackley to race...