It’s not like we don’t enjoy pointing out each other’s bonehead statements (we do), but I take particular joy in pointing out that Richie was much too quick to to lump Mark into the “not so great after the fat contract” category.
Yes, Buehrle was mediocre at best through May 8th when Richie penned his observation, even his next three starts after Richie’s post fell into that Mediocre blah. But come the beginning of June, things have changed and Mark is earning his paycheck.
Since June 1, Mark has had 10 starts, 9 of them quality starts. He failed to go 7 innings only twice and pitched 8 innings 4 straight games. He gave up more than 3 ER once.
His June stats: 6 Starts, 4-0, 1.60 ERA, 45 IP (out of 54 total innings for those 6 games, the bullpen thanks you Mark), 1.02 WHIP. His July stats:2-2, 2.63 ERA, 27.1 IP (out of 36 possible), 1.17 WHIP
So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Richie
FYI…Nick the Greek is headed to our Northern Neighbors for a two week vacation with very little access to the internet. So I will disappear again for a while.
Lost amidst all the hoopla regarding the MLB Home Run Derby lately, let’s not forget that we run a little contest here.
And we have a champion to announce. Not Justin Morneau … he won the real Home Run Derby even though Erin Andrews was more interested in Josh Hamilton.
BELICHOKE is your HomerDerby.com 2008 First Half Champion. Belichoke finished the First Half of the 2008 Season with 289 Home Runs and led the last nine weeks of the First Half. He only had two players with less than 15 Home Runs and eight with more than 20. And this was with two of his Group A Picks on the DL for the past month. The Home Run Derby Hall Of Fame has been updated.
We had to break out the rule book for second place. Because THE JOBA RULES and SUCK IT tied for the second-most HR with 282. We actually had to use the tiebreaker of AB/HR Ratio to settle the score. That’s the first time we’ve had to use that. Joba wins the Second Place kitty on the basis of a lower AB/HR ratio (17.73 to 18.53).
Suck It nearly knocked Joba down, gaining 10 Home Runs on Joba over the last week, but his 226 extra AB did him in. He still gets the 3rd Place Money. And he joins his brother in the HRD HOF - but he almost didn’t …
… because the leaderboard almost got shook the Hell up by the surging TEAM MINVAN (281 HR), who led the Deby for the second week in a row and the third time in five weeks. One more Home Run and Minivan’s 4th Place finish would have become a Second Place victory … breaking a three way tie with an astounding 17.07 AB/HR ratio.
So the First Half of the Derby is complete. But it’s not over. Because we’re already into the 2nd Half and everyone has new life.
Belichoke will look to be complete the first HRD Sweep in three years. But it won’t be easy … as the past two years, the First Half Champ has not won either the Second Half or Full Season Crown. And last year, the First Half Champ didn’t finish in the top three in either the Second Half or Full Season Standings.
Everyone in the Derby has a shot at the Second Half Crown, as we start at zero. Even last-place Go Yanks! can win the Second Half Title. Then again, maybe not.
I know the Twins are a good team, but anyone who thinks they have a shot at the AL Central is insane, and it has nothing to do with four of their starting pitchers never pitching 200 innings in a season (Blackburn, Baker, Perkins, Slowey - Hell, Baker is the only one with 100 IP in the Bigs prior to this season).
Nope, like most things in this country, you can blame the Republicans.
Starting August 21st, they go on the road for 15 straight in 16 days (LA, Oak, Sea, Tor) because of the GOP convention (Sept 1-4), then get to come home for 6 games (Det, KC) before heading out for another 10 games on the road in 10 days (Bal, Cle, TB). That is 25 road games in a span of 33 days with only two days off with six days at home.
So blame the Republicans, Twins fans.
Unless you are up 5-6 games by August 21st, chances of holding the division will be poor. This team (like most) is below .500 on the road.
Somehow I missed this in Home Run Derby’s Top MLB Promotions of 2008. I think it was because I excluded bobbleheads from the list.
But Friday Night (July 18) was Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night in San Francisco. Who’s Crazy Crab? Well, The Crab was a mascot the San Francisco Giants paraded out in 1984 as an anti-mascot to rival the recent influx of mascots into Major League Baseball.
Why an “anti-mascot” instead of a regular mascot? Well, then-Giants exec Pat Gallagher explains …
Our fans were too hip, too sophisticated and way too baseball oriented to put up with anything as stupid as a mascot.
And you wonder why San Francisco gets portayed as the Smug Capital of the World? It’s beacuse it’s true.
The fans would boo the Crab (when they weren’t throwing things at it), the players would abuse it with rosin bags and bats, and the Crab would give it right back on talk radio and taunt fans and management, even after it was retired in 1985 - barely a season after it had debuted.
But over the last decade, The Crab has seen a surge in popularity among fans.
Everybody remember that old SNL feature back in the 90’s, Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey. My favorite went something like…”I think it would be funny that if you were skydiving and your parachute didn’t open that you pretend that you were swimming.”
Anyway, since it seems like I don’t have the time to be too creative or lengthy in my posts, I figure I could at least put a thought or two down for people to ponder.
Okay, I really shouldn’t have even titled this a Jersey of the Weekpost. I was looking for a good All-Star related jersey and simply couldn’t find one.
But it needed to be shared. And since JotW is Home Run Derby’s showcase for baseball fans’ creativity in Jersey and T-Shirt art … I thought it belonged.
Check out the hair on this Beer Vendor at the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.
Awesome.
That’s the famous Yankee Stadium frieze (in a modified 2008 All-Star Game Logo) and two stars with a 13 and a 2 inside of them for Yankee All-Stars Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, respectively. I’d guess there’s another star somewhere on that cranium with a 42 in it for Mariano Rivera.
All-Star Yankee Hair Rating
Cleverness: 10
Originality: 10
Understandability: 8
I wonder how much time that took. Does SuperCuts do that kind of work?
Nick the Greek is taking sometime away from his new job to take a look at an old hobby. Life gets busy sometimes, but that doesn’t mean we should take some time for baseball, right? We are at the halfway point of the season (well technically a little more than halfway), and before I blink, the rest of the season might be over and I will have missed my chance to say so many things.
Anyway, Home Run Derby got some fan mail the other day, and it basically beckoned me to return. HRD reader Ted writes:
“Hey guys, how about an update about your prediction that the Nationals would be the worst team in baseball. It’s the All-Star break and guess what? They are the worst! Let their fans know it.”
Well, Ted…ask and you shall receive. Not that this shocks anyone, well except the delusional Nats Fans that were pissed by my prediction of them being the worst team in baseball, but the Washington Nationals are exactly that. THE. WORST. TEAM. IN. BASEBALL. Before going to the stats, let’s review the Greek’s preseason prediction for the Washington Nationals.
Reader’s Digest Version of my predictions: The line-up stinks; the pitching sucks; the team will win 65 games; Elijah Dukes will outperform Home Run expectations, Austin Kearns will underperform them and my personal favorite, the team will go 0-18 vs the Mets.
Well starting at the end, the have 4 wins against the Mets so far with 9 more games to play. So much for bold predictions. Austin Kearns? 4 HR in in 185 ABs. Check. Elijah Dukes? not much better 6 HR in 172 ABs. Injuries kept out the entire month of April and he is now again on the DL. Missed that one.
Now to the meat and potatoes. 65 Wins. At 36-60, the Nationals are on a torrid pace for 61 wins. Ugh. 61 Wins. While the MLB record of futility is safe, there is a real chance this team won’t win 60 games.
So during the opening pomp and circumstance before last night’s All-Star Game, the Living Hall of Famers at each position were in Yankee Stadium to greet the starting 2008 All-Stars as they were introduced to the crowd.
It was a great moment to see living legends from the Hall of Fame out there on the same field with the 2008 All-Stars.
But there was one glaring omission.
And it was at second base.
As Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia came out during the introductions, they got to meet Hall of Fame Second Basemen Rod Carew, Bill Mazeroski, and Ryne Sandberg.
But not Joe Morgan.
Did Morgan develop another flareup of the dreaded disese Ryne-itis (also known as Sandberg Syndrome) wherein those afflicted can’t be anywhere near the man who broke Morgan’s HR record for Second Basemen? As you’ll recall, Joe Morgan was conspiculously absent at Sandberg’s Hall of Fame induction in 2005.
It’s not like Joe didn’t know how to get to Yankee Stadium … he was in the building the night before when he announced the 2008 Home Run Derby.
No, I think this is just another case of Joe Morgan not wanting to share ANY stage with Ryne Sandberg.
It’s a shame when the Vice-Chairman of the Baseball Hall of Fame doesn’t show up for events like this if Sandberg is there.
It perpetuates the belief that Morgan’s putting himself before the game for personal reasons … even if that’s not the reason.
Update: We have learned Joe Morgan was a participant in the All-Star Parade before the Game, so it’s not as if he left New York after the Home Run Derby.
Parade Hat Tip - the not awful Awful Announcing, who agrees with HRD that Joe Morgan is ducking Sandberg.
Tonight’s All-Star Game (the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium) is sure to be packed with great moments. Yoou’ll probably be able to choke on the Yankkee Stadium Tributes
Here’s a look back at some of the best Home Runs in All-Star Game History.
The First - Babe Ruth
July 6, 1933 - Comiskey Park, Chicago IL
The First All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 world’s Fair in Chicago. In a game chock full of future Hall of Famers, there was only one player who should have (and did) hit the first ever All-Star Home Run. The Bambino, Babe Ruth.
In the 3rd inning, Cardinals SP Bill Hallahan likely grooved a pitch that ended up as a two-run shot for the Babe. Why’d I say he grooved it? Here’s Hallahan about the game …
“We wanted to see the Babe. Sure, he was old and had a big waistline, but that didn’t make any difference. We were on the same field as Babe Ruth.” - Wild Bill Hallahan
And Why Not? It was an exhibition. It’s not like Home-Field in the World Series depended on the Game.
BELICHOKE is your HomerDerby.com 2008 First Half Champion. Belichoke finished the First Half of the 2008 Season with 289 Home Runs and led the last nine weeks of the First Half. He only had two players with less than 15 Home Runs and eight with more than 20. And this was with two of his Group A Picks on the DL for the past month. The 
Somehow I missed this in Home Run Derby’s 
The fans would boo the Crab (when they weren’t throwing things at it), the players would abuse it with rosin bags and bats, and the Crab would give it right back on talk radio and taunt fans and management, even after it was retired in 1985 - barely a season after it had debuted. 
Okay, I really shouldn’t have even titled this a 
So during the opening pomp and circumstance before last night’s All-Star Game, the Living Hall of Famers at each position were in Yankee Stadium to greet the starting 2008 All-Stars as they were introduced to the crowd.
The First - Babe Ruth
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