Home Run Derby

Let’s head to St. Louis for our next Jersey of the Week, where this Cardinal fan felt the need to (pre-emptively) tweak the nose of Chicago Cub fans everywhere with his choice of clothing …

… by reminding them of a long futility streak and a recent Cubbie scapegoat.

100 YEARS AND COUNTING

Ouch.  Well played.

Mind you, there’s a couple things we have to nitpick about the jersey …

First, he’s a little ahead of himself here.  The Cubs won their last World Series on October 14, 1908.  So it’s not TECHNICALLY 100 Years yet - but I think he’s trying to make a statement by betting that the Cubs won’t win it this season … or next.   

But we give the guy credit - he’s got stones to put down $250 for an authentic jersey that could be 100% obsolete in just a few months.  Plus he’s risking a beatdown, what with the new breed of Cub fan out there.

Next, he called out Steve Bartman … who DID NOT cause the Cubs to blow Game Six AND Seven of the 2003 NLCS.  He should really have “BAKER” written across the back.

Last, my biggest gripe about this guy - he’s got the Jersey tucked in. 

Don’t tuck in a baseball jersey unless you’re on the field, jackass!  It’s a blatant violation of rule #8 of JSF’s Baseball Jersey Wearing 101 - something I thought they handed out to anyone purchasing a Cardinals jersey of any kind.

100 Years and Counting Jersey Rating

• Cleverness: 7
• Originality: 10
• Understandability: 10

If you see a great baseball jersey that everyone else needs to see … let us know at the HRD JotW tip line !!

The Presidents bum rushed the Padre in the Mascot Battle between Church and State … so it’s time for another Mascot Bracket Showdown.

We’re headed back to the aviary (the Feather Division) for a second round showdown between two feathered NL Central mascots who like biting female fans (and who doesn’t?)

#1 - Pirate Parrot (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs #5 Fredbird (St. Louis Cardinals)

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May 4, 2008, St Louis, Missouri

Busch Stadium - the Cardinals of St. Louis host the Cubs of Chicago

Naturally, when these two rivals meet, their diametrically opposed fan-bases will compete in ludicrous displays of alcohol-fueled machismo to show whose fans and … by extension … whose TEAM is better.

What better throwdown than a Blindfolded Jalapeno-Eating contest between a Cub fan and a Cardinal fan?  A furious display of capsaicin ingestion will settle the score even before the rubber match on the field below.

You know this can’t end well for the Cub fan … let’s watch him get Punk’d. Cue the video …

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We all know that Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray (the Patron Saint of Home Run Derby) was a famous pitchman for beer, primarily Budweiser and Falstaff. 

And a while back we learned he was a hater of Cracker Jacks.

But did you know he shilled for Mexican Food too?

From 1980, here’s Harry Caray in a television commercial for La Preferida, a Chicago-based manufacturer of fine Mexican Foods like chorizo, salsa, jalapenos, taco shells, and beans.

Don’t talk with your mouth full, Harry.  And nice jacket.

Of course, this begs the question …

If you were a taco and you were starving …
would you eat yourself? 

I know I would.

  It’s hard to believe that we are just about a quarter of the way done with our 30 in 30 feature.  Thank you to all that have participated to date, either by commenting, linking or participating in our roundtables.  Day 7 moves our attention to the NL Central.  And no, Cardinal fans, God did not create the Cardinals on the seventh day. Give Sky’s Redbird preview a looksie as well.

Last year, the Cardinals hit 141 roundtrippers.  With the news that Albert Pujols will try to play with at torn elbow ligament, which will require reconstructive surgery, that number will be sure to go down this year as he accounted for 23% of the team’s Home Runs last year.

Let’s face it … when you lose one of the five best position players in baseball, your team is going to struggle and the Cards are going to have a tough time competing.  The only thing they have going for them is that they compete in the NL Central, quite possibly the worst division in baseball from top to bottom.  There is a Cubs joke in there somewhere, but I can’t quite get my finger on it.  Please feel free to leave one in the comments section.

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Every season since 1997, Major League Baseball has had Interleague Play. 

But since the AL and NL have a different number of teams, there’s always a bit of a necessary imbalance when it comes to scheduling.  Add to that the doubling up of games between the geographic rivalries … and you get a Grade A Mess.   There’s always  potential for some contending team to be at a competitive disadvantage to another team in its division … because of the resulting imbalance in strength of schedules. 

Players and managers and owners gripe about it …

What’s not fun is when they’re all contenders and your competition doesn’t have to play the same competition you do.  If you play the top teams in the AL and everybody else doesn’t, it’s pretty unfair.
Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves OF (2007)

The unbalanced schedule is not good for baseball … Some teams are getting a so-called lesser opponent, and other teams are playing powerhouses. 
Art Howe, former Oakland A’s Manager (1999)

I believe in my heart that last year the reason why we didn’t win the division is we didn’t play very well in the Interleague games and the Diamondbacks did.
Dusty Baker, former SF Giants Manager (2003)

I used to be for it, but I’m not for it anymore. It’s too easy for discrepancies
George Steinbrenner, NY Yankees Owner (2003)

Let’s see who gets the shaft this season … based upon 2007 MLB Won-Loss records.  We’ll start in the National League Central …

I think we’re going to hear a lot of bitching this season about the Cubs’ feeble 2008 Interleague schedule. 

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SUPER TUESDAY UPDATE - CLICK HERE

The 2008 Presidential Primary elections are less than a month away. And everybody needs a guide to the candidates.

Before I get started, I want to say that Home Run Derby will not endorse a candidate for President of the United States. We are a shoddy little baseball website and will not pretend to be a political one.

With that in mind, we’re not above giving you the facts about some of the candidates … when it comes to their baseball allegiances.

We profiled the Democrats yesterday, so here come the Republicans.

Rudy Giuliani - New York Yankees

The former Mayor of New York City is a diehard Yankee fan through and through and was often labelled the Bronx Bombers’ “First Fan.”

Even his recent comments about cheering for the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series really don’t even scratch his pinstripes.

Giuliani owns a bunch of Yankees World Series Championship rings. There’s some debate as to whether he should have them at all.

He maintains he paid for them.

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The Cardinals have signed shortstop Cezar Izturis.  Albert Pujols and the Cardinals better watch their poo-holes. 

The Cardinals’ dugout is no longer safe for Albert Pujols and other Cardinal sluggers after they hit any game-winning home runs.  Why?  Because as we know - Izturis will have something really special waiting for them back in the dugout. 

Just like he did for Aramis Ramirez after a game-winning walk-off two-run Home Run on June 29, 2007 … when Izturis jammed his forearm into Ramirez’ taint.  Here’s the video.

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In 2008, the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals are going to do something that no baseball team has done since 1991.

They’re going to break out the Powder Blue Uniforms. Mind you - they’ll be only occasionally be used as home alternate uniforms, but that’s a feat in and of itself. I don’t think anyone’s ever worn the powder blue in their home stadium before.

The Royals will be wearing blue shirts (with white pants) while the Blue Jays will go completely retro and bust out the baby blue from head to toe. The Jays will also bring back their old logo, a pullover jersey, and their old two-color cap. I have one of those hats. I love it.

There’s no word yet as to how often the Royals and Jays will do this in 2008, but the vibe is that they’ll do it enough that they petitioned MLB to add the uniforms to their regular cache of kits.

The St. Louis Cardinals have worn powder blue throwbacks in road games twice (2005 vs Tampa Bay and 2007 vs Milwaukee).

Considering that we’ve hardly seen powder blue for the last sixteen seasons (and the fact that no one under the age of 21 likely has any memory of powder blue baseball) let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the teams that dared … to wear blue.

Prepare yourselves for a trip when the blue wasn’t just in the azure sky over the field. And watch out for lots of polyester pullovers and stirrups.

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