I thought that it was time to do an update on the stats and to show how many games each pitcher has won since I started the blog back on June the 13th. After six weeks here is who has made the greatest impact:
1. Jamie Moyer 255 (+5)
2. Roy Halladay 142 (+1)
3. Mark Buehrle 133 (+5)
4. CC Sabathia 127 (+5)
5. Johan Santana 120 (+3)
6. Justin Verlander 57 (+4)
7. Felix Hernandez 50 (+5)
8. Jered Weaver 45 (+4)
8. Chad Billingsley 45 (+2)
10. Zach Greinke 44 (+2)
10. Cole Hamels 44 (+2)
12. Matt Cain 42 (+4)
13. John Lester 36 (+4)
14. Tim Lincecum 35 (+4)
On the downside: Halladay has been hurt but I know he will get back on track. Billingsley has had his numbers slowed down because of the bullpen. Greinke has been moving slowly along because of lack of run support, and Hamels just hasn't pitched too well.
On the positive: Beurhle has been on top of his game and threw the perfect game, Moyers has pitched well enough to win and of course threw the one hitter, CC has been helped by a great offense in NY, and Felix just keeps putting up W's because he is a dominant performer every single start.
Incidentally, the two pitchers with the most wins in the last 30 days are not on my list, they are: Randy Wells of the Cubs and Jorge DeLa Rosa of the Rockies as they have 5 victories each during the time frame.
I won't get a chance to blog much until next weekend as I am out of town with some teens from my youth group at SoulFest. I would expect that by the time I get back a couple of pitchers will have added a couple more W's to the stats, another one will have been traded in a blockbuster trade. and that Jamie Moyer will continue to show why he is a smooth throwing vet.
Until then, God Bless you and I look forward to blogging again next Sunday. Thanks for checking out this blog. Invite others to check it out too.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
I was thinking another "no hitter"
I heard an interesting fact while watching Matt Cain pitch last night. In 20% of his career starts, Cain has allowed less than 3 hits in his starts. Translated, when Matt is on, he is tough to get hits off of. Last night was no different.
I watched through the first four innings and Cain was shutting down the Rockies. He held them hitless. Then he got the next two outs and after 4 2/3 I thought a no hitter was a possibility. He ended up giving up a hit at that point, and allowed only 2 other hits on the night. His statistics went up again slightly as a result of another great outing.
Cain improved his record on the year to a lofty 12-2. His ERA is 2.27 and he has only given up 3 ER in his last 4 starts. For the first time in a long time he did struggle with his control walking four batters but he still pitched out of some jams. He has almost brought his career record to .500 with a record of 42-45.
Justin Verlander put together another stellar start on Friday. Verlander moved to 11-5 on the year and pitched his second shutout in his last three starts. A complete game is nothing new for Verlander and one with a shutout is not uncommon either. The 26 year old is now 57-39 in his career of 4 years. He did have a couple of starts five years ago so basically he is a four year pitcher. He is averaging approximately 15 wins a season which is a great way to start a career. His win totals have been 17, 18,11 in the previous three years.
Most of the pitchers I enjoy following have something in common. They get the ball back from the catcher and they go to work. They are hard workers and they are legitimate, non cheating hurlers. If any of them were ever found to be using steroids, my discussion of their career would cease. They do need to have an asterick beside their name indicating they have tainted numbers.
Along thee lines there is a great article written today on CBS Sports: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/11986162
You need to read it. It features quotes by Hank Aaron, regarding how players who were steroid users should be viewed and if they should be recognized by fellow Hall of Famers. I agree with Aaron that any record set by Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Clemens and others should have an asterick. Because they were and are cheaters. You will never see me write about the feats of steroid users in my blog.
I watched through the first four innings and Cain was shutting down the Rockies. He held them hitless. Then he got the next two outs and after 4 2/3 I thought a no hitter was a possibility. He ended up giving up a hit at that point, and allowed only 2 other hits on the night. His statistics went up again slightly as a result of another great outing.
Cain improved his record on the year to a lofty 12-2. His ERA is 2.27 and he has only given up 3 ER in his last 4 starts. For the first time in a long time he did struggle with his control walking four batters but he still pitched out of some jams. He has almost brought his career record to .500 with a record of 42-45.
Justin Verlander put together another stellar start on Friday. Verlander moved to 11-5 on the year and pitched his second shutout in his last three starts. A complete game is nothing new for Verlander and one with a shutout is not uncommon either. The 26 year old is now 57-39 in his career of 4 years. He did have a couple of starts five years ago so basically he is a four year pitcher. He is averaging approximately 15 wins a season which is a great way to start a career. His win totals have been 17, 18,11 in the previous three years.
Most of the pitchers I enjoy following have something in common. They get the ball back from the catcher and they go to work. They are hard workers and they are legitimate, non cheating hurlers. If any of them were ever found to be using steroids, my discussion of their career would cease. They do need to have an asterick beside their name indicating they have tainted numbers.
Along thee lines there is a great article written today on CBS Sports: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/11986162
You need to read it. It features quotes by Hank Aaron, regarding how players who were steroid users should be viewed and if they should be recognized by fellow Hall of Famers. I agree with Aaron that any record set by Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Clemens and others should have an asterick. Because they were and are cheaters. You will never see me write about the feats of steroid users in my blog.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Does a great minor league pitcher mean anything?
It was just a few years back, that the great phenom coming up through the majors in warp speed was a very young Cole Hamels. He made his march up through the Phillies system in four years which is not necessarily the fastest track to the bigs, but he sure was gaining momentum.
In those four years, he was nineteen when he started as a rookie, he had a record of 14-4 and struck out 276 batters in just 190+ innings. In his last 3 minor league starts he had an ERA of 0.39, striking out 36 batters in 23 innings. He was a can't miss prospect, and for the most part he has not disappointed.
This year he is just over .500 with a record of 6-5. His career #'s are 44-28, ERA of 3.64 and 614 K's in 653 IP. Hamels is now in his fourth season and many would consider Cole to be the staff ace.
The Yankees have produced some "can't miss" prospects over the last couple of years, but so far they have not worked out. Philip Hughes was one. In his four years of minor league ball he went 32-8, with a slightly better than 1 K/inning ratio. He was to be the franchise pitcher, and he still may be that, though right now he is hurling out of the bullpen.
In Hughes short career he has an unimpressive 9-9 record in 28 starts. He has been pitching well lately with 15 appearances over 22 innings and has not allowed a run. He also picked up his first career save last night.
One kid in the minors making some noise is Chris Tillman. This season with the Norfolk Tides, Tillman has a record of 8-6 an ERA under 3.00 and has better than a K/inning pitched. He is just
21 years old and is a prospect of the Orioles.
Another kid to watch is Deolis Guerra, a prospect with the Milwaukee Brewers. He is a 20 year old Venezuelan pitching in AA. This year he is 3-0 with 23 K's in 23 innings. Last night he pitched 7 innings of shutout ball and truck out 12. Will he be a big impact player, only time will tell, but he is certainly worth watching.
Could Tillman and Guerra be the next Cole Hamels or Philip Hughes only time will tell. All four are great prospects for their organizations. I guess if your a baseball GM, you had better hope your scouts are a great judge of talent.
In those four years, he was nineteen when he started as a rookie, he had a record of 14-4 and struck out 276 batters in just 190+ innings. In his last 3 minor league starts he had an ERA of 0.39, striking out 36 batters in 23 innings. He was a can't miss prospect, and for the most part he has not disappointed.
This year he is just over .500 with a record of 6-5. His career #'s are 44-28, ERA of 3.64 and 614 K's in 653 IP. Hamels is now in his fourth season and many would consider Cole to be the staff ace.
The Yankees have produced some "can't miss" prospects over the last couple of years, but so far they have not worked out. Philip Hughes was one. In his four years of minor league ball he went 32-8, with a slightly better than 1 K/inning ratio. He was to be the franchise pitcher, and he still may be that, though right now he is hurling out of the bullpen.
In Hughes short career he has an unimpressive 9-9 record in 28 starts. He has been pitching well lately with 15 appearances over 22 innings and has not allowed a run. He also picked up his first career save last night.
One kid in the minors making some noise is Chris Tillman. This season with the Norfolk Tides, Tillman has a record of 8-6 an ERA under 3.00 and has better than a K/inning pitched. He is just
21 years old and is a prospect of the Orioles.
Another kid to watch is Deolis Guerra, a prospect with the Milwaukee Brewers. He is a 20 year old Venezuelan pitching in AA. This year he is 3-0 with 23 K's in 23 innings. Last night he pitched 7 innings of shutout ball and truck out 12. Will he be a big impact player, only time will tell, but he is certainly worth watching.
Could Tillman and Guerra be the next Cole Hamels or Philip Hughes only time will tell. All four are great prospects for their organizations. I guess if your a baseball GM, you had better hope your scouts are a great judge of talent.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Felix wins #50, why is no one voting for him?
Felix vs. CC
We need to see a head to head battle.
We need to see a head to head battle.
Can we talk about a 23 year old pitcher who just picked up his 50th win? The man is now 11-3 on the season. He is a veteran pitcher, even though he is just a youngster. He is the ace of his staff, a dominant big league pitcher, he strikes out almost one batter per inning pitched and he is probably underpaid for what he brings to his club. So why is he so under appreciated?
Felix Hernandez is probably the best bet of any of the pitchers to reach 300 wins. Here is how my math works, now this will only apply if he can stay healthy, but stick with me here.
Felix can play till he is 38, that is 15 more years.
He will win 8 more times this year. That moves his to 58
The next 5 years from age 24-29 he wins 18/year. That moves him to 148.
The next five years from age 30-34 he wins 16/year. That moves him to 228.
The next four years from age 35-38 he wins 14/ year. That moves him to 284.
Then he would either need to pitch until he was 40 and pick up 16 more wins, or he could pick up one extra win for each of those years I talked about and that puts him right around the 300 mark. What do you think? Isn't this possible.
A good friend of mine has a sports talk radio show in Vermont. Last night he had the opportunity to interview Buster Olney from ESPN. I asked my friend Jeff, to ask Olney the question about if he thought there would be another 300 game winner and if so who would it be. Olney answered: "I think that if anybody does it again, it will be CC Sabathia. But among current pitchers .... hard to find anybody who you could envision sticking around that long..."
So I thought I would compare those same numbers with CC Sabathia who currently has 127 wins, so here is the same math:
CC is now 29 years old and he can play till he is 38, that is 9 more years.
He will win 8 more times this year. That moves his total to 135.
The next five years from age 30-34 he wins 16/year. That moves him to 215.
The next four years from age 35-38 he wins 14/ year. That moves him to 271.
So during the next 9 years CC will need to pick up another 3 wins/ season which would put him up to 297-300 wins or if he could pitch to 40 he would need to pick up an extra couple of years of 15 years.
For either of these pitchers they need to stay healthy. Buster Olney is the expert, so I am going to see if I can outsmart him. I doubt I can but I am gonna try. So here is my prediction, Felix Hernandez will be a 300 game winner.
Sadly if my math is right I will be 61 when it happens. I will be watching him win #300, sitting in a rocking chair, eating bran, and following his games on some new and crazy technology.
Oh and by the way, Chad Billingsley also won last night. He is 25 and has won 45 games, somebody else can do the math.
Mark Buehrle is perfect
WOW, WHAT AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE!!!
DWAYNE WISE, YOU MADE THE CATCH OF THE YEAR!!!
This blog is all about recognizing great pitchers, of the past, present and future. I was able to witness history this afternoon and that made my day. I missed the earlier no hitter this year by Jonathan Sanchez, but I didn't miss this one.
Mark Buehrle's performance today was phenomenal. His control was great. His defense never really had a tough out until Dwayne Wise made an incredible catch off the bat of Gabe Kapler. Kapler drilled a deep fly ball to left center and Wise sprinted back, climbed the wall, caught the ball and juggled it as he fell to the ground. he was inserted as a defensive replacement in the ninth and it proved to be the difference maker.
Wise made one out but Buerhle and his stellar pitching produced the other 26 outs with little effort. He picked up six K's along the way and showed why he is an elite pitcher in the big leagues. He moved to 11-3 on the season and picked up his 133rd career win.
One of the attributes Buehrle has is his relaxed style. Normally when a pitcher is throwing a no hitter all of the players on their team stay away from them in the dug out and they are not talked to. But not Mark, he was talking with others and laughing on the bench and keeping everyone else relaxed. I think that has to help him and his teammates. I thought as I watched him pitching, I wonder if other no hitters could be pitched if players were to be less superstitous and more at ease. I guess we will never know but maybe other in the same position will do the same.
In all the years of baseball history only 18 perfect games have been thrown. In this decade Buehrle joins Randy Johnson as the only other perfect game pitcher. In the 90's there were three perfect games: David Cone, David Wells and Dennis Martinez. In the 80's there were another four: Tom Browning, Len Barker, Kenny Rogers and Mike Witt(the latter two pitched them 2 months apart). The other nine all happened in the 60's or earlier by the following pitchers: Catfish Hunter (1968), Sandy Koufax(1965),Jim Bunning(1964), Don Larson(1956), Charlie Robertson(1922), Addie Joss(1908), Cy Young(1904),Monte Ward(1880), and five days earlier Lee Richmond(1880).
In baseball history there have been twenty six players who have thrown more than one no-hitter. Mark Buehrle became the 26th. Only Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young(three), Bob Feller (three), and Larry Corcoran (three) have pitched more than two.
I love this game because you never know what is gonna happen when you watch a game. It seems there is always something unique that takes place when you least expect it. I am glad I had the opportunity to see history.
BY the way Mark Buehrle is officially on my list of potential 300 win guys. You will see his name posted starting on Sunday.
Mark Buehrle's performance today was phenomenal. His control was great. His defense never really had a tough out until Dwayne Wise made an incredible catch off the bat of Gabe Kapler. Kapler drilled a deep fly ball to left center and Wise sprinted back, climbed the wall, caught the ball and juggled it as he fell to the ground. he was inserted as a defensive replacement in the ninth and it proved to be the difference maker.
Wise made one out but Buerhle and his stellar pitching produced the other 26 outs with little effort. He picked up six K's along the way and showed why he is an elite pitcher in the big leagues. He moved to 11-3 on the season and picked up his 133rd career win.
One of the attributes Buehrle has is his relaxed style. Normally when a pitcher is throwing a no hitter all of the players on their team stay away from them in the dug out and they are not talked to. But not Mark, he was talking with others and laughing on the bench and keeping everyone else relaxed. I think that has to help him and his teammates. I thought as I watched him pitching, I wonder if other no hitters could be pitched if players were to be less superstitous and more at ease. I guess we will never know but maybe other in the same position will do the same.
In all the years of baseball history only 18 perfect games have been thrown. In this decade Buehrle joins Randy Johnson as the only other perfect game pitcher. In the 90's there were three perfect games: David Cone, David Wells and Dennis Martinez. In the 80's there were another four: Tom Browning, Len Barker, Kenny Rogers and Mike Witt(the latter two pitched them 2 months apart). The other nine all happened in the 60's or earlier by the following pitchers: Catfish Hunter (1968), Sandy Koufax(1965),Jim Bunning(1964), Don Larson(1956), Charlie Robertson(1922), Addie Joss(1908), Cy Young(1904),Monte Ward(1880), and five days earlier Lee Richmond(1880).
In baseball history there have been twenty six players who have thrown more than one no-hitter. Mark Buehrle became the 26th. Only Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young(three), Bob Feller (three), and Larry Corcoran (three) have pitched more than two.
I love this game because you never know what is gonna happen when you watch a game. It seems there is always something unique that takes place when you least expect it. I am glad I had the opportunity to see history.
BY the way Mark Buehrle is officially on my list of potential 300 win guys. You will see his name posted starting on Sunday.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Three great starts by three young pitchers
As I looked forward to the games scheduled for last night, I thought that Josh Beckett would be the player to watch. He did pitch well but he was overshadowed last night by Tommy Hunter in the head to head match against the Rangers.
Hunter made just his eight career start and picked up his 2nd win of the season and the 2nd win of his short career. He just celebrated his 23rd birthday, so good for him. A few more good starts and maybe he will find a solid place in the Rangers rotation.
John Lannan of the lowly Washington Nationals picked up a complete game shutout win against the struggling Mets. It has to be discouraging for the Mets to have such a huge payroll yet be so unproductive. I sense that Jose Reyes being out of the line up has an adverse effect on the entire squad. All that being said Lannan was very impressive. The 24 year old lefty evened his record at 7-7 on the year and picked up win #18 in his career. If he played on a better club his record would be much more impressive. His ERA is in the mid 3's and he knows how to pitch.
Finally another great start was turned in by Blue Jays young gun Brett Cecil pitched seven innings of 7 hit shutout ball and struck out nine Indians before handing the ball over to the bullpen. Unfortunately the boys in the pen could not get three outs in the ninth and took a win away from Cecil. Brett remained at 3 wins on the season, but it should have been 4.
The Jays have some good young pitchers that have shown their stuff this year. Ricky Romero and Mark Rzepczynski have looked good as well. If the Jays could ever get the bats going and the bull pen doing there job, there would be some hope. I guess you could say that about all the teams.
Will any of these guys win even a 100 games? I am not sure but it sure is fun watching them pitch well now.
Hunter made just his eight career start and picked up his 2nd win of the season and the 2nd win of his short career. He just celebrated his 23rd birthday, so good for him. A few more good starts and maybe he will find a solid place in the Rangers rotation.
John Lannan of the lowly Washington Nationals picked up a complete game shutout win against the struggling Mets. It has to be discouraging for the Mets to have such a huge payroll yet be so unproductive. I sense that Jose Reyes being out of the line up has an adverse effect on the entire squad. All that being said Lannan was very impressive. The 24 year old lefty evened his record at 7-7 on the year and picked up win #18 in his career. If he played on a better club his record would be much more impressive. His ERA is in the mid 3's and he knows how to pitch.
Finally another great start was turned in by Blue Jays young gun Brett Cecil pitched seven innings of 7 hit shutout ball and struck out nine Indians before handing the ball over to the bullpen. Unfortunately the boys in the pen could not get three outs in the ninth and took a win away from Cecil. Brett remained at 3 wins on the season, but it should have been 4.
The Jays have some good young pitchers that have shown their stuff this year. Ricky Romero and Mark Rzepczynski have looked good as well. If the Jays could ever get the bats going and the bull pen doing there job, there would be some hope. I guess you could say that about all the teams.
Will any of these guys win even a 100 games? I am not sure but it sure is fun watching them pitch well now.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bert "be home" Blyeven
One of my favorite sports announcers of all time is Steve Berman. He is famous for giving people nicknames.
Some of my favorite ones are:
Tom "Cotton" Candiotti
Tim "Purple" Raines
Jerry "Rolls" Reuss
Mark "Amazing" Grace
Heath Slocumb "if you got em"
Tom Henke "Panky"
and finally Bert "Be Home" Blyleven
Last night I was watching the game between the Marlins and the Padres, not really the most exciting match up but I had a reason. I wanted to watch Tim Stauffer of the Padres. He was a first round pick of the Padres a few years back and he hails from Portland, Maine. He looked great for the second straight start. But when you play for the Padres, wins are pretty tough to come by.
He was opposed last night by Rick VandenHurk. He did pick up the win and pitched well. I was reminded as I watched him pitch, of how well he had pitched in the World Baseball Championship for The Netherlands. His squad played extremely well as they upset the Dominican Republic and almost knocked out team Puerto Rico. The pitching coach for Netherlands was Bert Blyleven, who was a great pitcher during his days.
Blyleven pitched 23 seasons for 5 different teams. He pitched for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels. He fell just short of the 300 win mark with 287 career wins. He also managed to lose 250 games. In 1973 he had his only 20 win season yet he managed to lose 17 games that season.
When a veteran pitching coach gets a hold of a young player he can make a huge difference. I think the same thing can be said about a veteran pitcher. Here are a couple of pitchers I think would make good pitching coaches either now or in the near future. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. There is a common denominator, they were all stars on their Braves team in the 90's, and they have pitched for a long time and had lots of playoff experience. I am sure they have seen it all, and experience is crucial.
I watched the Sunday night game on ESPN on Sunday night. Derek Holland was pitching for the Rangers and was struggling so he was pulled after 4 innings. You could tell he was dejected after seeing this happen. The next time they showed Holland in the dug out veteran Omar Vizquel came over and talked to the youngster. He was encouraging his teammate.
I also saw earlier in the week Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Sweeney take some of their young teammates aside. The announcers talked about how those two payers set the tone for the entire team by keeping them loose. Veteran players are such an asset to their teams. I believe that you can have a lot of talent on your team, but without a couple of solid experienced players on your squad, you won't be successful. SO let's applaud the veterans of MLB.
Here are a few of them I want to "Bermanize":
Jamie Moyer "or Less"
Matt "don't fall down the" Stairs
John "Light up another" Smoltz
and Mike "Lights" Cameron, "Action"
Have you got some good nicknames you can add? Be creative, you can post some of them in the comments section.
Some of my favorite ones are:
Tom "Cotton" Candiotti
Tim "Purple" Raines
Jerry "Rolls" Reuss
Mark "Amazing" Grace
Heath Slocumb "if you got em"
Tom Henke "Panky"
and finally Bert "Be Home" Blyleven
Last night I was watching the game between the Marlins and the Padres, not really the most exciting match up but I had a reason. I wanted to watch Tim Stauffer of the Padres. He was a first round pick of the Padres a few years back and he hails from Portland, Maine. He looked great for the second straight start. But when you play for the Padres, wins are pretty tough to come by.
He was opposed last night by Rick VandenHurk. He did pick up the win and pitched well. I was reminded as I watched him pitch, of how well he had pitched in the World Baseball Championship for The Netherlands. His squad played extremely well as they upset the Dominican Republic and almost knocked out team Puerto Rico. The pitching coach for Netherlands was Bert Blyleven, who was a great pitcher during his days.
Blyleven pitched 23 seasons for 5 different teams. He pitched for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels. He fell just short of the 300 win mark with 287 career wins. He also managed to lose 250 games. In 1973 he had his only 20 win season yet he managed to lose 17 games that season.
When a veteran pitching coach gets a hold of a young player he can make a huge difference. I think the same thing can be said about a veteran pitcher. Here are a couple of pitchers I think would make good pitching coaches either now or in the near future. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. There is a common denominator, they were all stars on their Braves team in the 90's, and they have pitched for a long time and had lots of playoff experience. I am sure they have seen it all, and experience is crucial.
I watched the Sunday night game on ESPN on Sunday night. Derek Holland was pitching for the Rangers and was struggling so he was pulled after 4 innings. You could tell he was dejected after seeing this happen. The next time they showed Holland in the dug out veteran Omar Vizquel came over and talked to the youngster. He was encouraging his teammate.
I also saw earlier in the week Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Sweeney take some of their young teammates aside. The announcers talked about how those two payers set the tone for the entire team by keeping them loose. Veteran players are such an asset to their teams. I believe that you can have a lot of talent on your team, but without a couple of solid experienced players on your squad, you won't be successful. SO let's applaud the veterans of MLB.
Here are a few of them I want to "Bermanize":
Jamie Moyer "or Less"
Matt "don't fall down the" Stairs
John "Light up another" Smoltz
and Mike "Lights" Cameron, "Action"
Have you got some good nicknames you can add? Be creative, you can post some of them in the comments section.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Head to head match #2
Sunday's match-up was between another two pitching studs, Roy Halladay with his 140 + wins against the always tough Jon Lester of the Red Sox. As bad as the Jays have played lateyly it would have seemed like advantage Lester. Both pitchers again were dealing and the final score reflected the caliber of pitching.
I believe that great pitching will prevail over great hitting. When you get two pitchers going against each other it seems that there games always go up another level. So, I expect great head to head pitching. I was not disappointed.
Halladay was in form yesterday. Amidst all the trade rumors, Doc was in the house and pitched another complete game, allowing just one run and striking out seven. If he is traded by the Jays, they had better get four or five players that can make an impact immediately and in the years to come.
My argument for not trading Halladay is this. The Jays have such a young pitching staff and they need a great leader. Halladay is that. Each team is always looking for an ace, Doc is that. Teams are looking for guys with a great work ethic he has that. The only downside is that Roy wants to play on a winner. the Jays are not that, but without Doc, they are even farther away from being a playoff team in the tough east.
If he is to be traded, they had better not trade him within their division. I have a feeling that if they do that will be losing even more games which will make it an impossible task to overtake the Sox and Yankees.
Back to the game, Lester also pitched well, but not as well as Doc. He only allowed three ER over 7 innings but Doc won game #142 of his career.
It was nice to see Matt Cain back at work from the line drive he took off the pitching elbow. The Giants just keep on winning as they defeated the Pirates 4-3. Cain went to 11-2 on the season picking up win #41 of his career. His numbers were similar to Doc's with 7 innings of 1 ER and 8 K's. The Giants staff is the best in the business right now.
Gotta give it up for Brett Anderson of the A's. The 21 year old upped his scoreless innings streak to 21 innings. He retired the first 20 batters he faced. He may become the dominant lefty in the game. Remember the name Brett Anderson.
JA Happ increased his season record to 7-0 and 8-1 on his career with another shutout performance. Somehow I think the impact of a Jamie Moyer has an effect on the Phillies pitching. Happ's ERA is well under 3 and he is quickly becoming a very dependable starter for the Phillies. Might the Phillies be repeat World Series winners?
I believe that great pitching will prevail over great hitting. When you get two pitchers going against each other it seems that there games always go up another level. So, I expect great head to head pitching. I was not disappointed.
Halladay was in form yesterday. Amidst all the trade rumors, Doc was in the house and pitched another complete game, allowing just one run and striking out seven. If he is traded by the Jays, they had better get four or five players that can make an impact immediately and in the years to come.
My argument for not trading Halladay is this. The Jays have such a young pitching staff and they need a great leader. Halladay is that. Each team is always looking for an ace, Doc is that. Teams are looking for guys with a great work ethic he has that. The only downside is that Roy wants to play on a winner. the Jays are not that, but without Doc, they are even farther away from being a playoff team in the tough east.
If he is to be traded, they had better not trade him within their division. I have a feeling that if they do that will be losing even more games which will make it an impossible task to overtake the Sox and Yankees.
Back to the game, Lester also pitched well, but not as well as Doc. He only allowed three ER over 7 innings but Doc won game #142 of his career.
It was nice to see Matt Cain back at work from the line drive he took off the pitching elbow. The Giants just keep on winning as they defeated the Pirates 4-3. Cain went to 11-2 on the season picking up win #41 of his career. His numbers were similar to Doc's with 7 innings of 1 ER and 8 K's. The Giants staff is the best in the business right now.
Gotta give it up for Brett Anderson of the A's. The 21 year old upped his scoreless innings streak to 21 innings. He retired the first 20 batters he faced. He may become the dominant lefty in the game. Remember the name Brett Anderson.
JA Happ increased his season record to 7-0 and 8-1 on his career with another shutout performance. Somehow I think the impact of a Jamie Moyer has an effect on the Phillies pitching. Happ's ERA is well under 3 and he is quickly becoming a very dependable starter for the Phillies. Might the Phillies be repeat World Series winners?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
New York, New York
Mets Win!!!
Yankees Win!!
But how did they do it?
The Mets played a great game against the Braves and were led by the dominant pitching of Johan Santana. Right now it seems like if the Mets can score two runs when he is pitching that they will win. His ERA just keeps dropping . Today he pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 5 hits while striking out 5. Those are the same numbers he threw in his last start. Back to back shutouts are pretty impressive. He improved his record to 11-7 on the year and now has 120 career wins.
After Santana made his exit in the Braves game, the Mets staff did give up one run. Chipper Jones delivered HR #418 of his career. I believe that Jones is one of the strongest leaders in his clubhouse. He has certainly been a constant in the Braves for close to 20 years.
The Yankees and the Tigers met this afternoon with the pitching match-up of CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. Neither pitcher disappointed. Verlander took the loss despite giving up just 2 ER over 7 innings, unfortunately one was a HR to A Rod, and K'ing 6. Sabathia was a little better as he threw 7 innings of shutout ball giving him career win 126. He gave up 5 hits and K'ed 4. Sabathia moved his record on the year to 9-6, while Verlander went to 10-5.
I had a feeling that the Yankees and Tigers game would be a gem. Two great teams were playing and on top of that two of the most spectacular pitchers were going head to head. I still say you can't beat great pitching. I think when pitchers of this quality go against each other that they tend to bring out the best in each other. I hope there will be more of these matchups in the next few weeks.
Mark Buehrle took his record to 10-3 on the season and picked up his 132nd career win. He is just 30 years old, so maybe he is another guy to add to the list of potential 300 win guys.I will keep watching him closely.
Is there any other pitchers I should consider adding, if so let me know and we can add them to the watching survey. I am sure there are some other candidates.
Zach Greinke had another great start and left after 7 innings with a lead. The bull pen took over and promptly gave up 3 runs to take another win away from Zach. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for starters to pitch so well, and then have the bull pens blow games they know they should win. That is why it is a team game and you have to rely on your teammates.
Yankees Win!!
But how did they do it?
The Mets played a great game against the Braves and were led by the dominant pitching of Johan Santana. Right now it seems like if the Mets can score two runs when he is pitching that they will win. His ERA just keeps dropping . Today he pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 5 hits while striking out 5. Those are the same numbers he threw in his last start. Back to back shutouts are pretty impressive. He improved his record to 11-7 on the year and now has 120 career wins.
After Santana made his exit in the Braves game, the Mets staff did give up one run. Chipper Jones delivered HR #418 of his career. I believe that Jones is one of the strongest leaders in his clubhouse. He has certainly been a constant in the Braves for close to 20 years.
The Yankees and the Tigers met this afternoon with the pitching match-up of CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. Neither pitcher disappointed. Verlander took the loss despite giving up just 2 ER over 7 innings, unfortunately one was a HR to A Rod, and K'ing 6. Sabathia was a little better as he threw 7 innings of shutout ball giving him career win 126. He gave up 5 hits and K'ed 4. Sabathia moved his record on the year to 9-6, while Verlander went to 10-5.
I had a feeling that the Yankees and Tigers game would be a gem. Two great teams were playing and on top of that two of the most spectacular pitchers were going head to head. I still say you can't beat great pitching. I think when pitchers of this quality go against each other that they tend to bring out the best in each other. I hope there will be more of these matchups in the next few weeks.
Mark Buehrle took his record to 10-3 on the season and picked up his 132nd career win. He is just 30 years old, so maybe he is another guy to add to the list of potential 300 win guys.I will keep watching him closely.
Is there any other pitchers I should consider adding, if so let me know and we can add them to the watching survey. I am sure there are some other candidates.
Zach Greinke had another great start and left after 7 innings with a lead. The bull pen took over and promptly gave up 3 runs to take another win away from Zach. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for starters to pitch so well, and then have the bull pens blow games they know they should win. That is why it is a team game and you have to rely on your teammates.
Who is Garrett Jones?
Last night one of my best friends got married. I was in the wedding party and after the ceremony and reception I headed home and turned on the television because i wanted to watch Tim Lincecum pitch. Lincecum put together another great game, although for a change he did not get the victory.
I don't often get to watch the Pirates play, but I was impressed with a couple of players in particular. Paul Maholm pitched a great game matching Lincecum pitch for pitch. Both pitchers left the game tied at 1-1. The game went 14 innings before being decided by a walk off home run. This one off the bat of Garrett Jones.
Jones hit his 2nd homerun of the game and his 7th of the season in only 48 at bats. My math tells me he is hitting a home run every seven at bats. That is impressive. So who is Garrett Jones? Jones is a 28 year old in his second season in the bigs. two years ago he played 31 games with the Twins where he hit 2 HR.
He has basically spent the last 5 years in AAA baseball, where hae has hit 90+ HR's. Maybe he is finally getting the opportunity to show off his talent. There are times when players are given an opportunity to show their stuff and fail, but Jones is not letting that happen.
His story reminds me of Yankees player Kevin Maas, who in 1990 made his debut as a 25 year old. He played just 79 games in his call up year and hit 21 HR. It seemed like he was hitting a HR in every game he played. He ended up with a five year career where he hit 65 HR's total. Hopefully for Jones his career will last longer and he can be productive for another 10 years.
A great performance was turned in last night by:
Albert Pujols, who once again hit 2 HR's in a game. He now needs just 347 more for 700. He will make it!!!
Jim Thome who had 2 HR and 7 RBI. He now has 557 and is just 43 away from 600.
Clay Buchholz who finally got a start in the majors again after throwing a no hitter two years ago. He defeated the Blue Jays and looked good doing it.
Felix Hernandez pitched another gem moving to 10-3 on the year. He now has 49 career wins.
I don't often get to watch the Pirates play, but I was impressed with a couple of players in particular. Paul Maholm pitched a great game matching Lincecum pitch for pitch. Both pitchers left the game tied at 1-1. The game went 14 innings before being decided by a walk off home run. This one off the bat of Garrett Jones.
Jones hit his 2nd homerun of the game and his 7th of the season in only 48 at bats. My math tells me he is hitting a home run every seven at bats. That is impressive. So who is Garrett Jones? Jones is a 28 year old in his second season in the bigs. two years ago he played 31 games with the Twins where he hit 2 HR.
He has basically spent the last 5 years in AAA baseball, where hae has hit 90+ HR's. Maybe he is finally getting the opportunity to show off his talent. There are times when players are given an opportunity to show their stuff and fail, but Jones is not letting that happen.
His story reminds me of Yankees player Kevin Maas, who in 1990 made his debut as a 25 year old. He played just 79 games in his call up year and hit 21 HR. It seemed like he was hitting a HR in every game he played. He ended up with a five year career where he hit 65 HR's total. Hopefully for Jones his career will last longer and he can be productive for another 10 years.
A great performance was turned in last night by:
Albert Pujols, who once again hit 2 HR's in a game. He now needs just 347 more for 700. He will make it!!!
Jim Thome who had 2 HR and 7 RBI. He now has 557 and is just 43 away from 600.
Clay Buchholz who finally got a start in the majors again after throwing a no hitter two years ago. He defeated the Blue Jays and looked good doing it.
Felix Hernandez pitched another gem moving to 10-3 on the year. He now has 49 career wins.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
One hitter by a 46 year old
Jamie Moyer pitches and wins. The bottom line is: that is what it is really all about. What amazes me most is that he is older than me by seven months. My shoulder hurts all the time, and here is a pitcher that just keeps going strong.
I was watching the game tonight between the Phillies and the Marlins. Moyer makes a pitch that is fouled off to the first base side and goes next to the stands where Ryan Howard makes a catch. Standing just 5 feet away from Howard as he makes the catch is Jamie Moyer. He hustled all the way over to the stands. I have never saw a pitcher do that. Did I mention he is 46 1/2 years old.
There is another stat that I am awed by. At the age of 32, Moyer had only won 59 games. Since he turned 32 he has now won 196 games. Who does that? Jamie Moyer!!!
I love to collect sports cards, and I especially like to collect high grade rookie cards of players. If I were to buy a high grade rookie card of someone like Tommy Hanson of the Braves I would have to pay between $40-$60 or Cole Hamels would be $65-$100. I went looking for Jamie Moyer graded cards and I only found one available and it was $3.99. The guy gets no respect but man he is impressive.
How impressive was Moyer tonight? He pitched seven solid innings and gave up just one hit. He struck out 4 and allowed one walk. He was throwing fastballs in the high 70's, when the top pitchers throw in the low to mid 90's. But he just wins. I have to say that Moyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite pitchers in baseball, not just present but in all my time watching baseball. He is an inspiration to me.
The next time he pitches, take a look. The man can flat out pitch. He just won #255, just 45 more to go. I hope he makes it. In the meantime, I am gonna buy one of those high grade Moyer Rookie Cards.
I was watching the game tonight between the Phillies and the Marlins. Moyer makes a pitch that is fouled off to the first base side and goes next to the stands where Ryan Howard makes a catch. Standing just 5 feet away from Howard as he makes the catch is Jamie Moyer. He hustled all the way over to the stands. I have never saw a pitcher do that. Did I mention he is 46 1/2 years old.
There is another stat that I am awed by. At the age of 32, Moyer had only won 59 games. Since he turned 32 he has now won 196 games. Who does that? Jamie Moyer!!!
I love to collect sports cards, and I especially like to collect high grade rookie cards of players. If I were to buy a high grade rookie card of someone like Tommy Hanson of the Braves I would have to pay between $40-$60 or Cole Hamels would be $65-$100. I went looking for Jamie Moyer graded cards and I only found one available and it was $3.99. The guy gets no respect but man he is impressive.
How impressive was Moyer tonight? He pitched seven solid innings and gave up just one hit. He struck out 4 and allowed one walk. He was throwing fastballs in the high 70's, when the top pitchers throw in the low to mid 90's. But he just wins. I have to say that Moyer is quickly becoming one of my favorite pitchers in baseball, not just present but in all my time watching baseball. He is an inspiration to me.
The next time he pitches, take a look. The man can flat out pitch. He just won #255, just 45 more to go. I hope he makes it. In the meantime, I am gonna buy one of those high grade Moyer Rookie Cards.
All Star Break is over, my predictions
Pitching was the name of the game in the All Star festivities. Of course in order for pitching to dominate you have got to have great defense. That we saw, with the best example being the catch by the speedy Carl Crawford.
Crawford is one of those players that has put up consistent numbers for many years but was a relative unknown for many people until last year when the Rays became a legitimate team for the first time. The Rays seemed to come from nowhere to be the best Al team and came close to winning the World Series. Here are the numbers Crawford has accumulated . In his eight seasons Carl has picked up 1220 hits, scored 617 runs and stolen 346 bases. He has done all this with a career batting average of .295. Crawford has stolen 50+ bases 4 times and is on pace for 75-80 this season which will be a career high. He is fourth in all time steals amongst active players.
Last year the Rays were the surprise team, so I thought I would make my predictions for the playoffs this year. So here are my picks for 2009:
AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Mariners
AL Wild Card: Angels
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Doddgers
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
NL ROY : Colby Rasmus
AL MVP: Jason Bay
AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett
AL ROY: Rick Porcello
What do you think?
It's gonna be a great second half, I am looking forward to it!!!
Crawford is one of those players that has put up consistent numbers for many years but was a relative unknown for many people until last year when the Rays became a legitimate team for the first time. The Rays seemed to come from nowhere to be the best Al team and came close to winning the World Series. Here are the numbers Crawford has accumulated . In his eight seasons Carl has picked up 1220 hits, scored 617 runs and stolen 346 bases. He has done all this with a career batting average of .295. Crawford has stolen 50+ bases 4 times and is on pace for 75-80 this season which will be a career high. He is fourth in all time steals amongst active players.
Last year the Rays were the surprise team, so I thought I would make my predictions for the playoffs this year. So here are my picks for 2009:
AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Mariners
AL Wild Card: Angels
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Doddgers
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
NL ROY : Colby Rasmus
AL MVP: Jason Bay
AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett
AL ROY: Rick Porcello
What do you think?
It's gonna be a great second half, I am looking forward to it!!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Beckett wins #100
Josh Beckett is just 29 and he has recorded his 100th win. He was overpowering today as he beat the Royals pitching a complete game 3 hitter. The announcers stated that this may be the best game he has pitched as a Red Sox hurler in the last couple of years. With 11 wins on the year, he will head into the All Star break tied for the major league lead in wins.
Tied with 11 wins at the break are Jason Marquis, Josh Beckett and his teammate Tim Wakefield, then there is the group with 10 wins: Johan Santana, Jered Weaver, Roy Halladay, Zach Greinke, Tim Lincecum, Kevin Slowey, Matt Cain and Justin Verlander.
Justin Verlander hit the mark of ten wins today with a great outing against Cleveland. He pitched 7 innings and K'd 8 as he hurled the shutout. His last start he struck out 11 and it looks like Verlander is headed for a 20 game season. The win for Verlander was #56.
I have to mention another guy who picked up win #101, the explosive Carlos Zambrano. The guy is 28 and has pitched a no hitter. He can help himself at the plate which he did with another homerun his 3rd of the year and his 18th career. That in itself is impressive. I would have him on my future list but I just do not think he can be healthy enough. If he gets to 150 by the end of the 2011 season I will have to rethink things.
It has been a great first half of the season. I am going to enjoy the All Star game and look forward to seeing lots of the guys on my top 13 list. So let me share the updated win totals as of All Star break:
As of July 12th, these are the #'s
1. Jamie Moyer 254
2. Roy Halladay 141
3. CC Sabathia 125
4. Johan Santana 119
5. Justin Verlander 56
6. Felix Hernandez 48
7. Jered Weaver 45
8. Zach Greinke 44
9. Chad Billingsley 44
10. Cole Hamels 43
11. Matt Cain 40
12. Tim Lincecum 35
13. John Lester 35
Tied with 11 wins at the break are Jason Marquis, Josh Beckett and his teammate Tim Wakefield, then there is the group with 10 wins: Johan Santana, Jered Weaver, Roy Halladay, Zach Greinke, Tim Lincecum, Kevin Slowey, Matt Cain and Justin Verlander.
Justin Verlander hit the mark of ten wins today with a great outing against Cleveland. He pitched 7 innings and K'd 8 as he hurled the shutout. His last start he struck out 11 and it looks like Verlander is headed for a 20 game season. The win for Verlander was #56.
I have to mention another guy who picked up win #101, the explosive Carlos Zambrano. The guy is 28 and has pitched a no hitter. He can help himself at the plate which he did with another homerun his 3rd of the year and his 18th career. That in itself is impressive. I would have him on my future list but I just do not think he can be healthy enough. If he gets to 150 by the end of the 2011 season I will have to rethink things.
It has been a great first half of the season. I am going to enjoy the All Star game and look forward to seeing lots of the guys on my top 13 list. So let me share the updated win totals as of All Star break:
As of July 12th, these are the #'s
1. Jamie Moyer 254
2. Roy Halladay 141
3. CC Sabathia 125
4. Johan Santana 119
5. Justin Verlander 56
6. Felix Hernandez 48
7. Jered Weaver 45
8. Zach Greinke 44
9. Chad Billingsley 44
10. Cole Hamels 43
11. Matt Cain 40
12. Tim Lincecum 35
13. John Lester 35
How good could the Angels be?
It was a tough start for Jered Weaver as he took on the Yankees but he got it together and helped the Yankees to another defeat. The Angels are such a great team both offensively and pitching wise. They could have ven been better if it were not for a pathetic drunk driver.
The saddest story of the first half of the season has to be the unnecessary death of Nick Adenhart. After pitching 6 scoreless innings against the Oakland A's on April the 8th, the future looked very bright. He was a top prospect for the Angels and was very close friends with Jered Weaver. The entire team has played so well this season despite working through the tragedy of Adenhart's untimely and traumatic death.
Weaver picked up his 10th win of the season despite his slow start. He pitched 6 innings striking out 9 and allowing just the three early runs. It must be nice to pitch in front of an offense that can generate some serious run production. This win takes Weaver into the all star break with a career record of 45-22. He is a winner and will be for a long time.
Johan Santana finally got some rare run support. In his last 10 starts he has pitched well in all but one, but it has been W-W-L-W-L-L-W-L-L-W, but maybe it should have read that he was 9-1 in his last 10 starts. Maybe he figured he had better pitch a shutout if he was going to guarantee a win. Thats what he did. Against the Reds he hurled 7 innings of shutout ball giving up 5 hits and picking up 5 K's.This win gives Johan, probably the best Venezuelan player in some time 119 career wins.
Matt Cain took the line drive off his elbow but the x ryas have come back negative so hopefully we will see Matt back in action after the all star break, too bad he won't be in the game because Matt Cain is indeed an all star.
The saddest story of the first half of the season has to be the unnecessary death of Nick Adenhart. After pitching 6 scoreless innings against the Oakland A's on April the 8th, the future looked very bright. He was a top prospect for the Angels and was very close friends with Jered Weaver. The entire team has played so well this season despite working through the tragedy of Adenhart's untimely and traumatic death.
Weaver picked up his 10th win of the season despite his slow start. He pitched 6 innings striking out 9 and allowing just the three early runs. It must be nice to pitch in front of an offense that can generate some serious run production. This win takes Weaver into the all star break with a career record of 45-22. He is a winner and will be for a long time.
Johan Santana finally got some rare run support. In his last 10 starts he has pitched well in all but one, but it has been W-W-L-W-L-L-W-L-L-W, but maybe it should have read that he was 9-1 in his last 10 starts. Maybe he figured he had better pitch a shutout if he was going to guarantee a win. Thats what he did. Against the Reds he hurled 7 innings of shutout ball giving up 5 hits and picking up 5 K's.This win gives Johan, probably the best Venezuelan player in some time 119 career wins.
Matt Cain took the line drive off his elbow but the x ryas have come back negative so hopefully we will see Matt back in action after the all star break, too bad he won't be in the game because Matt Cain is indeed an all star.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
I went to bed too early tonight
I was just nicely asleep when the phone rang to wake me up. It was the alarm company calling to tell me that the church I work at had an alarm going off inside and I needed to meet the police so they could check the building. I got dressed walked over to the church for the false alarm and made my way back home. I couldn't immediately get back to sleep so I watched the end of the Yankees game. It was then that I came to realize the 262nd no hitter in baseball history was tossed. I hate to miss history.
Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants almost threw a perfect game against the Padres. Only Pablo Sandoval's error in the 8th stood as the only blemish on the night for Sanchez. He almost lost the no hitter with one out in the ninth but center fielder Aaron Rowand made a great play against the wall. Then with two outs Sanchez struck out his 11th batter on the night for the complete game no hitter.
Since 2000 14 no hitters have been thrown.
I mentioned Jon Lester earlier as a no hit guy. He flirted with it last night again but in the end he pitched another 8 innings of shutout ball as the Red Sox defeated the KC Royals 1-0 behind Lesters dominant performance. He gave up 4 hits and sturck out 8 in win #35 of his career.
One final note, Albert Pujols now needs 349 more for 700 as he clubbed another HR for the Cards.
Wow, what a great night of baseball. I love this game!!
Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants almost threw a perfect game against the Padres. Only Pablo Sandoval's error in the 8th stood as the only blemish on the night for Sanchez. He almost lost the no hitter with one out in the ninth but center fielder Aaron Rowand made a great play against the wall. Then with two outs Sanchez struck out his 11th batter on the night for the complete game no hitter.
Since 2000 14 no hitters have been thrown.
- Hideo Nomo threw his second career no hitter in 2001 while with the Red Sox
- AJ Burnett did the trick with the Marlins in 2001, just about a month after Nomo
- Bud Smith pitched for the Cardinals in 2001
- Derek Lowe threw the gem for the Red Sox in 2002
- Kevin Millwood of the Phillies repeated Lowes performance one year later to the day on April 27,2003
- Six different pitchers combined for the Astros to no hit the Yankees in 2003, that is the most pitchers ever used in a no hitter
- Randy Johnson threw his second career no hitter, in fact it was a perfect game 14 years after his first no no in 1990. Johnson was pitching for the Diamondbacks at the time.
- Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins threw his against the Diamondbacks in 2006 after a two year drought from the rarity
- Mark Buehrle of the White Sox no hit the Texas Rangers, allowing one baserunner which he picked off at first base, that was in April 2007
- Justin Verlander the Tigers ace threw the first inter league no hitter of the decade against the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007
- Clay Buchholz of the mighty Red Sox threw a no hitter in just his second career start,in Sept 2007 against the Orioles
- Jon Lester of the Red Sox repeated Buchholz performance in May 2008 against the KC Royals
- Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs threw a no hitter against the Astros in the hurricane Ike aftermath. This game was pitched in a neutral site on September 14, 2008
- Johnathan Sanchez is the newest member of the club with his great game against the Padres.
I mentioned Jon Lester earlier as a no hit guy. He flirted with it last night again but in the end he pitched another 8 innings of shutout ball as the Red Sox defeated the KC Royals 1-0 behind Lesters dominant performance. He gave up 4 hits and sturck out 8 in win #35 of his career.
One final note, Albert Pujols now needs 349 more for 700 as he clubbed another HR for the Cards.
Wow, what a great night of baseball. I love this game!!
Big wins for three more future 300 game winners?
After two consecutive nights of the hitters taking the spotlight it is nice to be bale to write about good pitching. Three of my 300 game prospects moved a game closer to that destiny. I am realistic enough to believe that possibly only one of my top 13 will make it to the goal, which one I am not really sure, but I love to see them hanging some more W's beside their name.
Lets start by looking at the old man of the group, Jamie Moyer. Moyer still continues to plod along. He pitched just 5 innings and gave up 6 earned runs and allowed 8 hits, but this night he was a little bit better than his opponent, Micah Owings. As you know by now Owings is one of my favorite pitchers to watch. Moyer won his fourth consecutive start picking up win #254. At this pace he only needs 46 more starts to get to 300 if he can win them all. That will be impossible but as he keeps winning he moves up in the all time wins list.
King Felix has not lost a game in a long time going back to May 19th. Hernandez beat the Texas Rangers by pitching 3 hit ball over eight innings and picked up 7 strikeouts in the tilt. Offensive help was provided on this night from a player who I think is about to make a major breakthrough, Franklin Gutierrez. Franklin hit his tenth on the year to help the superstar pitched win #9 on the year and #48 of his career. This guy is good!!!
Finally, is the best pitcher in all of baseball right now. The guy dominates every start and against the Padres it was no different. Tim Lincecum won his fourth consecutive start and sixth of the last seven to reach win #10 on the year. His career stats are now 35-12. I believe that he will win the Cy Young this year and that he is going to win 20 this year. His pitching is so smooth, he gets the ball, throws strikes and gets outs. What more can you ask of a pitcher?
This will be Lincecum's last start before the All Star game. I know that Marquis has won 11 games and that other pitchers, like Haren and Cain and Billingsley could all be starters for the game, but if I am the manager I am picking Lincecum and Halladay to be the starters in the game. Who do you think should get the nod?
Lets start by looking at the old man of the group, Jamie Moyer. Moyer still continues to plod along. He pitched just 5 innings and gave up 6 earned runs and allowed 8 hits, but this night he was a little bit better than his opponent, Micah Owings. As you know by now Owings is one of my favorite pitchers to watch. Moyer won his fourth consecutive start picking up win #254. At this pace he only needs 46 more starts to get to 300 if he can win them all. That will be impossible but as he keeps winning he moves up in the all time wins list.
King Felix has not lost a game in a long time going back to May 19th. Hernandez beat the Texas Rangers by pitching 3 hit ball over eight innings and picked up 7 strikeouts in the tilt. Offensive help was provided on this night from a player who I think is about to make a major breakthrough, Franklin Gutierrez. Franklin hit his tenth on the year to help the superstar pitched win #9 on the year and #48 of his career. This guy is good!!!
Finally, is the best pitcher in all of baseball right now. The guy dominates every start and against the Padres it was no different. Tim Lincecum won his fourth consecutive start and sixth of the last seven to reach win #10 on the year. His career stats are now 35-12. I believe that he will win the Cy Young this year and that he is going to win 20 this year. His pitching is so smooth, he gets the ball, throws strikes and gets outs. What more can you ask of a pitcher?
This will be Lincecum's last start before the All Star game. I know that Marquis has won 11 games and that other pitchers, like Haren and Cain and Billingsley could all be starters for the game, but if I am the manager I am picking Lincecum and Halladay to be the starters in the game. Who do you think should get the nod?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Nice to see Mr. Jones playing well
The guy has won 10 straight gold gloves and has been a dominant hitter in the big leagues since he started his career back in 1996. He had huge power numbers for the Braves and was projected to be a 500 homerun guy. He left the Braves for the bright lights of L.A. expected to put up big numbers. His huge salary may have put too much pressure on him and to say Andruw Jones was a flop in Dodgertown would be an understatement.
In 12 seasons with the Braves Jones hit 368 HR's. In 2005 he hit 51 and in 2006 he hit another 41, he had a slight drop to 26 in 2007 and batted just .222 before heading west. Then came the disaster of 08'. Andruw hit just .158 with 3 Hr and 14 RBI in 75 games. Many said he was done. He could never be a productive big leaguer again.
Two night ago he and his new squad the Texas Rangers took on arch rival anaheim Angels and Andruw matched his homerun total for 2008 with 3 HR in just one game. He took his season HR total to 14 and his RBI total to 34. His batting average is amediocre .245 but things are looking up. Andruw Jones has not hit 385 HR's and maybe he can still hit the mark of 500 in his career since he is just 32.
I will be rooting for Andruw. I am a big fan of the underdog. I respect his tenacity to keep going when others doubted him and booed him. I am glad that the Rangers were willing to give Andruw a chance. Wouldn't it be ironic to see a Texas vs. Doders World Series this year? I doubt it will happen but if it does, I will be cheering on Andruw, Josh Hamilton(another guy that didn't quit)and his teammates. Just imagine a game seven, the game is tied in the ninth, the bases loaded and two outs, Jones at the plate and he hits a deep flyball... I don't know if it could happen but it is ok to dream.
Way to go Andruw, I hope you hit another 15 this year to reach 400!!!
In 12 seasons with the Braves Jones hit 368 HR's. In 2005 he hit 51 and in 2006 he hit another 41, he had a slight drop to 26 in 2007 and batted just .222 before heading west. Then came the disaster of 08'. Andruw hit just .158 with 3 Hr and 14 RBI in 75 games. Many said he was done. He could never be a productive big leaguer again.
Two night ago he and his new squad the Texas Rangers took on arch rival anaheim Angels and Andruw matched his homerun total for 2008 with 3 HR in just one game. He took his season HR total to 14 and his RBI total to 34. His batting average is amediocre .245 but things are looking up. Andruw Jones has not hit 385 HR's and maybe he can still hit the mark of 500 in his career since he is just 32.
I will be rooting for Andruw. I am a big fan of the underdog. I respect his tenacity to keep going when others doubted him and booed him. I am glad that the Rangers were willing to give Andruw a chance. Wouldn't it be ironic to see a Texas vs. Doders World Series this year? I doubt it will happen but if it does, I will be cheering on Andruw, Josh Hamilton(another guy that didn't quit)and his teammates. Just imagine a game seven, the game is tied in the ninth, the bases loaded and two outs, Jones at the plate and he hits a deep flyball... I don't know if it could happen but it is ok to dream.
Way to go Andruw, I hope you hit another 15 this year to reach 400!!!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
C.C. Sabathia wins #125
What an advantage it must be to pitch for the mighty Yankees. The best team in sports that money can buy. It is like the rest of baseball develops pitchers, they become good strong pitchers, they want lots of money and the Sox, Dodgers and Yankees get to fight over who wants to pay them the most money. Fortunately he who has the most money doesn't always win it all.
I have been thinking about the number of players the Yankees have developed themselves over the last few years, ones that have become bonafide starters. Philip Hughes was touted to be that guy, but it never happened, at least not yet. Joba Chamberlain is the only one I can think of that has made it through the system.
C.C. Sabathia of course comes with lots of respect and talent. He has won in Cleveland and a little bit in Milwaukee and now with the Yanks. He certainly started slow but he is providing solid pitching regularly for NY. This past Tuesday he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball to beat the Twins 10-2. When you can get that kind of run support I think you are going to pick up some victories. Make no mistake CC is one of the best pitchers in the bigs.
I have to recognize a great hitting night in addition to great pitching. White Sox slugger Paul Konerko hit three HR's off C.C.'s former team the Indians. He picked up 7 RBI on the night. Another 7 RBI night was put in by the Orioles Luke Scott, that makes 4 different players in the last few days with 7 RBI as Derek Lee and Shin Soo Choo also accomplishing the feat. I guess 7 is the lucky number.
I have been thinking about the number of players the Yankees have developed themselves over the last few years, ones that have become bonafide starters. Philip Hughes was touted to be that guy, but it never happened, at least not yet. Joba Chamberlain is the only one I can think of that has made it through the system.
C.C. Sabathia of course comes with lots of respect and talent. He has won in Cleveland and a little bit in Milwaukee and now with the Yanks. He certainly started slow but he is providing solid pitching regularly for NY. This past Tuesday he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball to beat the Twins 10-2. When you can get that kind of run support I think you are going to pick up some victories. Make no mistake CC is one of the best pitchers in the bigs.
I have to recognize a great hitting night in addition to great pitching. White Sox slugger Paul Konerko hit three HR's off C.C.'s former team the Indians. He picked up 7 RBI on the night. Another 7 RBI night was put in by the Orioles Luke Scott, that makes 4 different players in the last few days with 7 RBI as Derek Lee and Shin Soo Choo also accomplishing the feat. I guess 7 is the lucky number.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Finally back on track..at least with the Wins
It is a rare to see elite pitchers go three or four starts without them putting a W beside their win totals, so I am glad the streak is over. One won the game with the help of a grand slam and the other won the game with his team hanging 10 runs on the opposition in the first inning.
Matt Cain was battling Sean West and the Marlins for a few innings before a grand slam by Pablo Sandoval put Cain ahead for good. It doesn't take a big lead to make Cain seem untouchable, and the Sandoval slam sealed the deal. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of 5 hit ball and allowed one run. He picked up win #10 on the year and #40 of his career. I still say if the Giants can somehow make it into the post season the one two punch of Cain and Lincecum could be unbeatable.
Cole Hamels pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball for just his fifth win of the year. He couldn't have had much to complain about when it comes to run support. Following homeruns by Shane Victorino, Greg Dobbs and Chase Utley, Cole went back to the mound in the second inning with a 10 run lead. The Phillies ended up putting up 22 runs on the board as they kicked the Reds around inning after inning. Hamels had not won in his last 5 starts which covered close to a month.
Why do I keep Hamels on the list of top 13 potential 300 game winners? It is because he still has the talent to win a lot of games. There is something still not quite right with Hamels. His ERA is up almost 2 runs/games this year, but I am hoping last night might put him back in the right groove, so to speak. He did win #43 in just his 100th career start. I hope to see Hamels pile up some wins over the rest of the year and see if he can get to the 53-55 game win total by the end of the year.
Great pitching performance last night was turned in by 21 year old Brett Anderson who pitched a complete game 2 hit, 9 K shutout performance against the powerful Red Sox squad. In his last 14 + innings he has allowed only 1 run.
Game of the night was a 1-0 win by the Rockies over the Nationals. Jason Marquis picked up win 11 on the year with an 8 hit shutout, while Craig Stammen was the hardluck loser despite pitching 7 innings of 5 hit ball and allowed just a first inning run. Marquis is now the MLB leader in wins and won at least 11 games for the sixth straight year. Impressive as the 31 year old picked up career win #90.
Overall it was a great night of pitching, except for Johnny Cueto. He was the unfortunate hurler that go beat up by the Phillies offense.
Matt Cain was battling Sean West and the Marlins for a few innings before a grand slam by Pablo Sandoval put Cain ahead for good. It doesn't take a big lead to make Cain seem untouchable, and the Sandoval slam sealed the deal. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of 5 hit ball and allowed one run. He picked up win #10 on the year and #40 of his career. I still say if the Giants can somehow make it into the post season the one two punch of Cain and Lincecum could be unbeatable.
Cole Hamels pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball for just his fifth win of the year. He couldn't have had much to complain about when it comes to run support. Following homeruns by Shane Victorino, Greg Dobbs and Chase Utley, Cole went back to the mound in the second inning with a 10 run lead. The Phillies ended up putting up 22 runs on the board as they kicked the Reds around inning after inning. Hamels had not won in his last 5 starts which covered close to a month.
Why do I keep Hamels on the list of top 13 potential 300 game winners? It is because he still has the talent to win a lot of games. There is something still not quite right with Hamels. His ERA is up almost 2 runs/games this year, but I am hoping last night might put him back in the right groove, so to speak. He did win #43 in just his 100th career start. I hope to see Hamels pile up some wins over the rest of the year and see if he can get to the 53-55 game win total by the end of the year.
Great pitching performance last night was turned in by 21 year old Brett Anderson who pitched a complete game 2 hit, 9 K shutout performance against the powerful Red Sox squad. In his last 14 + innings he has allowed only 1 run.
Game of the night was a 1-0 win by the Rockies over the Nationals. Jason Marquis picked up win 11 on the year with an 8 hit shutout, while Craig Stammen was the hardluck loser despite pitching 7 innings of 5 hit ball and allowed just a first inning run. Marquis is now the MLB leader in wins and won at least 11 games for the sixth straight year. Impressive as the 31 year old picked up career win #90.
Overall it was a great night of pitching, except for Johnny Cueto. He was the unfortunate hurler that go beat up by the Phillies offense.
Monday, July 6, 2009
How to explain what happened
Chad Billingsley pitched an amazing game. As he entered the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead and pitching a two hitter to that point, I was fairly confident of another win.
He started off by giving up a HR to Chase Headley to make it 6-2 and the next batter he faced was Tony Gwynn, Jr. not Sr. Gwynn doubles and Billingsley is removed from the game to bring in Jonathan Broxton. Broxton is 6 and 0 with 20 saves. The guy is a sure lock if there ever was sucha thing in sports. But is sports you can expect the unexpected.
Broxton proceeds to self destruct. He makes 38 pitches, gives up two hits, one of which drove in Gwynn, so Billingsley gets charged with 3 ER on the night, and also walks 3 guys. Suddenly the 6-1 lead against the anemic Padres has become a 6-6 tie heading into extra innings. Now the Dodgers eventually did win in the 13th but a sure win for Billingsley certainly got away.
Billingsley contributed at the plate on the night too. His first at bat he doubled and in his second at bat he hit career HR #1 and raised his batting average for his career to an unimpressive .128. It would have been a great day for Chad. He could have had a complete game 2 hitter and picked up two himself. Sadly this game will just be another game in his career.
Why are sports so exciting to watch? Because you never know what is gonna happen. Sometimes it is for good and sometimes, not so much, just ask the Dodger ace.
He started off by giving up a HR to Chase Headley to make it 6-2 and the next batter he faced was Tony Gwynn, Jr. not Sr. Gwynn doubles and Billingsley is removed from the game to bring in Jonathan Broxton. Broxton is 6 and 0 with 20 saves. The guy is a sure lock if there ever was sucha thing in sports. But is sports you can expect the unexpected.
Broxton proceeds to self destruct. He makes 38 pitches, gives up two hits, one of which drove in Gwynn, so Billingsley gets charged with 3 ER on the night, and also walks 3 guys. Suddenly the 6-1 lead against the anemic Padres has become a 6-6 tie heading into extra innings. Now the Dodgers eventually did win in the 13th but a sure win for Billingsley certainly got away.
Billingsley contributed at the plate on the night too. His first at bat he doubled and in his second at bat he hit career HR #1 and raised his batting average for his career to an unimpressive .128. It would have been a great day for Chad. He could have had a complete game 2 hitter and picked up two himself. Sadly this game will just be another game in his career.
Why are sports so exciting to watch? Because you never know what is gonna happen. Sometimes it is for good and sometimes, not so much, just ask the Dodger ace.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Updated win totals
As of July 4th, these are the #'s
1. Jamie Moyer 253
2. Roy Halladay 141
3. CC Sabathia 124
4. Johan Santana 118
5. Justin Verlander 54
6. Felix Hernandez 47
7. Chad Billingsley 44
8. Zach Greinke 44
9. Jered Weaver 43
10. Cole Hamels 42
11. Matt Cain 39
12. Tim Lincecum 34
13. John Lester 34
1. Jamie Moyer 253
2. Roy Halladay 141
3. CC Sabathia 124
4. Johan Santana 118
5. Justin Verlander 54
6. Felix Hernandez 47
7. Chad Billingsley 44
8. Zach Greinke 44
9. Jered Weaver 43
10. Cole Hamels 42
11. Matt Cain 39
12. Tim Lincecum 34
13. John Lester 34
Time to add a new name or two
I have talked a lot lately about savvy pitchers who just go out there and win games. Once again I find myself talking about Jamie Moyer and Tim Lincecum. They are two different ypes of pitchers but lately when they take the mound they just WIN.
Moyer faced the Mets yesterday afternoon and pitched 6 1/3 innings of 5 hit ball. He only struckout one batter and allowed just one run for win #253. With the win Moyer moved into a tie for 43rd place all time in wins. He is just one of 46 pitchers all time to reach the 250 win mark. He tied Carl Hubbell with this win. His next win will move him into a tie for 4ist with Tiger great Jack Morris.
Lincecum wins in a more dominant way than Moyer, but a win is a win. Yesterday in Tim's start against the Astro's, he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball with 9 K's. He extended his shutout inning streak to 22 innings. He is now 9-2 on the year and picked up win #34, his career record is now 34-12, which is almost a .750 win percentage. In the game against the Stro's, he was lifted after the seventh inning, though he could have pitched longer. I guess they are saving his arm or maybe they felt like "putting in the mercy rule". Back to back Cy Young's are indeed a possibility.
I have to recognize my favorite hitting pitcher who hit his 3rd tater of the year. Micah Owings picked up his 6th win of the season as well. Career numbers are 20 wins, 8 hr and 29 RBI. Gotta love a pitcher than can help himself out with the stick.
I have decided to add Mr. Moyer and Mr. Lester to my new list of possible 300 winners and I am about ready to drop one, if he doesn't get going the second half of the season. I won't tell you who that is, anybody want to speculate.
Next post will show the 13 biggest prospects in my opinion for 300 win.
Moyer faced the Mets yesterday afternoon and pitched 6 1/3 innings of 5 hit ball. He only struckout one batter and allowed just one run for win #253. With the win Moyer moved into a tie for 43rd place all time in wins. He is just one of 46 pitchers all time to reach the 250 win mark. He tied Carl Hubbell with this win. His next win will move him into a tie for 4ist with Tiger great Jack Morris.
Lincecum wins in a more dominant way than Moyer, but a win is a win. Yesterday in Tim's start against the Astro's, he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit ball with 9 K's. He extended his shutout inning streak to 22 innings. He is now 9-2 on the year and picked up win #34, his career record is now 34-12, which is almost a .750 win percentage. In the game against the Stro's, he was lifted after the seventh inning, though he could have pitched longer. I guess they are saving his arm or maybe they felt like "putting in the mercy rule". Back to back Cy Young's are indeed a possibility.
I have to recognize my favorite hitting pitcher who hit his 3rd tater of the year. Micah Owings picked up his 6th win of the season as well. Career numbers are 20 wins, 8 hr and 29 RBI. Gotta love a pitcher than can help himself out with the stick.
I have decided to add Mr. Moyer and Mr. Lester to my new list of possible 300 winners and I am about ready to drop one, if he doesn't get going the second half of the season. I won't tell you who that is, anybody want to speculate.
Next post will show the 13 biggest prospects in my opinion for 300 win.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
I just knew he was gonna do that...
You gotta feel sorry for Homer Bailey of the Reds. He pitched by far his best game as a big leaguer. He has struggled mightily as he has tried to be a consistent major league pitcher. He went 4-2 two years ago, last year he was 0-6 and this year he was 1-0, but he has never shown his ability to dominate. Last night he did that.
Against a very potent Cardinals offence, they have Pujols, Ludwick, Rasmus, Ankiel and Duncan to name a few, he was great. He pitched 7 1/3 of 3 hit ball and left with a shutout in tact. He did have one out and two on when Dusty Baker pulled him and opted for David Weathers. At that point Bailey led 3-0. Thats when it started to go bad and up came Mr. Grand Slam, Albert Pujols.
Pujols entered last nights game with 3 grand slams on the year and 9 in his career. The count went to 2 balls, 1 strike and I knew what was about to happen. I knew that Bailey was not going to get the win. I knew the Cards would be leading 4-3. I just knew. Why? Because Albert Pujols rarely is unsuccessful when the pressure is clearly on the pitcher.
I wonder if the thought ever went through Baker's mind to just intentionally walk Pujols and allow the one run to score? It wouldn't make sense but... the score would have still been a 3-1 lead. Hindsight is 20-20, but my guess is Baker had a feeling too.
Sure enough Pujols did hit another grand slam, the 4th time this year. He has reached the halfway to 700 mark as the third youngest ever. He is only behind A Roid, and Griffey Jr. I think there are lots of HR's left in his bat and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him hit 20 slams.
This night marked the return of Manny. Thankfully he went a solid 0 for 3. Welcome back cheater!
Against a very potent Cardinals offence, they have Pujols, Ludwick, Rasmus, Ankiel and Duncan to name a few, he was great. He pitched 7 1/3 of 3 hit ball and left with a shutout in tact. He did have one out and two on when Dusty Baker pulled him and opted for David Weathers. At that point Bailey led 3-0. Thats when it started to go bad and up came Mr. Grand Slam, Albert Pujols.
Pujols entered last nights game with 3 grand slams on the year and 9 in his career. The count went to 2 balls, 1 strike and I knew what was about to happen. I knew that Bailey was not going to get the win. I knew the Cards would be leading 4-3. I just knew. Why? Because Albert Pujols rarely is unsuccessful when the pressure is clearly on the pitcher.
I wonder if the thought ever went through Baker's mind to just intentionally walk Pujols and allow the one run to score? It wouldn't make sense but... the score would have still been a 3-1 lead. Hindsight is 20-20, but my guess is Baker had a feeling too.
Sure enough Pujols did hit another grand slam, the 4th time this year. He has reached the halfway to 700 mark as the third youngest ever. He is only behind A Roid, and Griffey Jr. I think there are lots of HR's left in his bat and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him hit 20 slams.
This night marked the return of Manny. Thankfully he went a solid 0 for 3. Welcome back cheater!
Friday, July 3, 2009
RBI's and Slams
"Hey Chicago wadda ya say, the Cubs are gonna win today" Well they will win a lot more if they keep having big nights from Derrek Lee. He has been a hot hitter lately, though last night was a career night for the Cubs clean up hitter. Lee now has fairly impressive career numbers which include: 1609 hits, 876 RBI and 272 HR.
Lee went deep twice, once for 3 run HR, and then later he had a grand slam. In fact he had an opportunity to drive in even more runs and maybe could have challenged the record book for most RBI in a single game. The record is 12 and is held by Jim Bottomly in 1924 and most recently by Mark "Switch hittin" Whitten in 1993.
Over the long history of the big leagues there have been 17 players hit for over 10 RBI in a game with the most recent being held by Garret Anderson who drove in 10 in 2007 while playing for the Angels. Anderson has just continued to hit year after year. In his 16 year career Anderson has racked up 2424 hits and is a lock for 2500, maybe even this year. He has hit 277 HR and should be able to reach 300 HR if he can stay healthy.
Here is a trivia question, which player holds the record for most RBI in an inning? Hint: he is still active and play for the Mets...
Lee went deep twice, once for 3 run HR, and then later he had a grand slam. In fact he had an opportunity to drive in even more runs and maybe could have challenged the record book for most RBI in a single game. The record is 12 and is held by Jim Bottomly in 1924 and most recently by Mark "Switch hittin" Whitten in 1993.
Over the long history of the big leagues there have been 17 players hit for over 10 RBI in a game with the most recent being held by Garret Anderson who drove in 10 in 2007 while playing for the Angels. Anderson has just continued to hit year after year. In his 16 year career Anderson has racked up 2424 hits and is a lock for 2500, maybe even this year. He has hit 277 HR and should be able to reach 300 HR if he can stay healthy.
Here is a trivia question, which player holds the record for most RBI in an inning? Hint: he is still active and play for the Mets...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Every time he hits another one I...
Smile!!!!!!!!!
The guy is in his late 30's and he is now into the double figures once again for Home Runs with 10. He has now hit a very legitimate 621 for his career, I am of course talking about the sweet swinging, Ken Griffey Jr. I think he has been one of the classiest players in baseball over the last 20 years.
He reminds me of one of thee classiest guys Bernie Carbo.
One of my favorite players growing up and watching baseball was Bernie Carbo. I grew up a Red Sox fan and remember listening to my beloved Sox on the radio many nights. I can recall hearing the announcers calling the game and looking forward to Bernie coming to the plate.
Bernie hit just 98 HR during his career, but every time he came to bat for the Sox, I thought he would hit another one just for me. I was 11 years old in 1974 when Bernie hit 12 HR and the next year in 1975 he hit another 15.
In the 1975 World Series against the mighty Reds, Carbo went 3 for 7 with a double and 2 HR along with 4 RBI. The Sox fell a bit short that year, but the first favorite player in my life was so clutch.
Bernie Carbo has a website you can check out at berniecarbo.com and in their he talks about his passion for life, baseball and God. These are the same things that I value. I am sure that he is a great role model for many people. I hope someday that I can meet my boyhood hero!!!
So whether it is Bernie Carbo or Ken Griffey, there is just something about baseball and heroes that make me smile.
Who were or are your favorite players and for what reasons?
The guy is in his late 30's and he is now into the double figures once again for Home Runs with 10. He has now hit a very legitimate 621 for his career, I am of course talking about the sweet swinging, Ken Griffey Jr. I think he has been one of the classiest players in baseball over the last 20 years.
He reminds me of one of thee classiest guys Bernie Carbo.
One of my favorite players growing up and watching baseball was Bernie Carbo. I grew up a Red Sox fan and remember listening to my beloved Sox on the radio many nights. I can recall hearing the announcers calling the game and looking forward to Bernie coming to the plate.
Bernie hit just 98 HR during his career, but every time he came to bat for the Sox, I thought he would hit another one just for me. I was 11 years old in 1974 when Bernie hit 12 HR and the next year in 1975 he hit another 15.
In the 1975 World Series against the mighty Reds, Carbo went 3 for 7 with a double and 2 HR along with 4 RBI. The Sox fell a bit short that year, but the first favorite player in my life was so clutch.
Bernie Carbo has a website you can check out at berniecarbo.com and in their he talks about his passion for life, baseball and God. These are the same things that I value. I am sure that he is a great role model for many people. I hope someday that I can meet my boyhood hero!!!
So whether it is Bernie Carbo or Ken Griffey, there is just something about baseball and heroes that make me smile.
Who were or are your favorite players and for what reasons?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Losing the battle, winning the war
We all love a good story, especially one where the giant gets taken down by the underdog. I can remember very clearly the 1980 Olympics when team USA and a bunch of amateurs took on the mighty Soviet Red Army hockey team for the gold. As Mike Euruzione scored a goal to put the US in the lead late in the game, there was hope that something amazing could take place. In the last few seconds, I can still here the voice of Al Michaels as he declared "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!!!"
Baseball has had it's times of David taking out Goliath. If we remember last year in the playoffs the upstart Rays knock off the powerful Red Sox in seven games. It happens, thats why I love sports so much. On any given night anything can happen. In baseball, every at bat counts and a game can switch quickly on one misplay or one bad pitch.
I was looking forward to a great game last night, one that featured a 300 game winner in Randy Johnson and in my opinion the future all time home run hitter in Albert Pujols. The game did not disappoint at all. Johnson lost the battles against Pujols, but Johnson got the win.
The Big Unit only pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up just 4 hits and 3 runs to pick up win #303. Two of the hits were homeruns hit by Albert. All three runs he gave up came off the HR's by Albert. Other than his AB's with Pujols he pitched well enough to get the W. I believe there are many games pitchers win by being good enough not necessarily because they were on. Johnson is now just two wins away from moving up the ladder and catching Tom Glavine.
Pujols is now at 349 HR's. He will be halfway to 700 on his next homerun and he is 29 years old. He has to be the most feared hitter in all of baseball. To watch him hit is a treat. He hits for power and he hits for average. He has over 1600 hits, over 1000 RBI, has a career batting average of .334, and amazingly has only struck out 538 times in 4843 at bats. That means he strikes out 1 time in every 9 at bats.
Let me compare those numbers with a couple of other active sluggers, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Ryan Howard. Sheffield has struck out 1156 times in 9122 AB's that is a ratio of 1 to 7.8 which is still good. Giambi has K'd 1368 times in 6570 a ratio of 1 in 4.8, and Howard has taken a seat via the strikeout 784 times in 2365 AB's which is a ratio of 1 in every 3 plate appearances.
All that being said, my conclusion is this: Albert Pujols is the best active hitter in the bigs. Given time and health he will be considered among the best of all time and maybe the best. We have an opportunity to see greatness, along the lines of Gretzky, Jordan, Marino and Tiger. What do you think?
Baseball has had it's times of David taking out Goliath. If we remember last year in the playoffs the upstart Rays knock off the powerful Red Sox in seven games. It happens, thats why I love sports so much. On any given night anything can happen. In baseball, every at bat counts and a game can switch quickly on one misplay or one bad pitch.
I was looking forward to a great game last night, one that featured a 300 game winner in Randy Johnson and in my opinion the future all time home run hitter in Albert Pujols. The game did not disappoint at all. Johnson lost the battles against Pujols, but Johnson got the win.
The Big Unit only pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up just 4 hits and 3 runs to pick up win #303. Two of the hits were homeruns hit by Albert. All three runs he gave up came off the HR's by Albert. Other than his AB's with Pujols he pitched well enough to get the W. I believe there are many games pitchers win by being good enough not necessarily because they were on. Johnson is now just two wins away from moving up the ladder and catching Tom Glavine.
Pujols is now at 349 HR's. He will be halfway to 700 on his next homerun and he is 29 years old. He has to be the most feared hitter in all of baseball. To watch him hit is a treat. He hits for power and he hits for average. He has over 1600 hits, over 1000 RBI, has a career batting average of .334, and amazingly has only struck out 538 times in 4843 at bats. That means he strikes out 1 time in every 9 at bats.
Let me compare those numbers with a couple of other active sluggers, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Ryan Howard. Sheffield has struck out 1156 times in 9122 AB's that is a ratio of 1 to 7.8 which is still good. Giambi has K'd 1368 times in 6570 a ratio of 1 in 4.8, and Howard has taken a seat via the strikeout 784 times in 2365 AB's which is a ratio of 1 in every 3 plate appearances.
All that being said, my conclusion is this: Albert Pujols is the best active hitter in the bigs. Given time and health he will be considered among the best of all time and maybe the best. We have an opportunity to see greatness, along the lines of Gretzky, Jordan, Marino and Tiger. What do you think?
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