Home Run Derby

There are a few things we like to track here at Home Run Derby.  Sometimes we focus on all that is good in baseball, like 3 Home Run nights and Milestone Home Runs.  Sometimes we are not so nice, as is the case with Golden Sombreros. 

Now I would never call Richie “selective” in his postings about said events given we both have day jobs, but I find it a little puzzling that Geovany Soto’s weekend has not graced this page as of yet.  He isn’t a blatant homer for the Cubs, given he called out Aramis Ramirez’s lack of defense.

Soto didn’t just have a Golden Sombrero on Saturday.  No, No, he has a Platinum Sombrero (5 at bats, 5 strikeouts) and he did it in a nine inning game.  

To put it in perspective, that feat has only been matched 47 times in the history of the game.  It does seem to be occuring more frequently with quite a few current players on the list (Jim Thome, Andruw Jones, Adam Dunn, Scott Rolen, Richie Sexson, Preston Wilson). 

Dick Allen is the only player to achieve the Platinum Sombrero twice in his career (1964, 1970).

So we can agree that the Platinum Sombrero is pretty damn embarassing, but it gets worse for Soto.  He actually achieved this feat against the Worst Team in Baseball, the Washington Nationals.  Let’s make it even more embarassing.  Four different pitchers on that vaunted staff, each struck out Soto during that game (Matt Chico, 1st and 3rd; Joel Hanrahan, 5th; Chad Codero, 7th; Jesus Colome, 9th).  FYI, the Nationals are the 14th ranked pitching staff in the NL.

But wait, there’s more.  Soto, actually almost had a Golden Sombrero on Friday night, when he went 0-3, 3K, 1BB.  So in his last 8 at bats, Soto has 8 strikeouts (all against the Nationals - Odalis Perez got him all three times on Friday).  His only saving grace is the one walk he got in his last plate appearance on Friday Night.  But not let’s give him too much credit.  He didn’t even earn that walk - because it was intentional to load the bases to set up a potential inning ending double play.

Update:  I see ESPN’s Rob Neyer has a post up about this. First of all, I am flattered that he highlighted the post on his blog.  Second, just a quick retort to this paragraph from Rob.

“Like I said, this is all good fun, and I enjoy talking about the Sombrero as much as anybody. I still remember where I was the night Sam Horn struck out six times. But I’m thinking we should probably take this moment to mention something I noticed this morning: Soto’s having an awesome season. “

Rob is absolutely right.  Soto is having an outstanding season so far.  The purpose of the post was to highlight the feat (albeit at Geovanny’s expense), not his season.  He would get a lovely expose on this blog if he had hit three Home Runs in a game as well.  It was the Sombrero that mattered.  Awesome season or not, 8 straight strikeout is really hard to do.  

I am also reminded of something Neyer points out all the time.  It’s not really that Soto is having an awesome season as much as he is having an awesome April, his last two starts nonwithstanding.  But 22 games is an awfully small sample size, don’t you think Rob?  

In honor of your feat Geovany, here are some famous Sombreros for you.  Now Richie, I think we need an El Guapo post.

The Golden Sombrero
Four At-Bats, Four Strikeouts.

It’s a badge a hitter doesn’t want. 

And it rarely happens to the best hitters in the league.   And it should NEVER happen to a three-time MVP who happens to be the highest paid player in the history of the game.

But it did last night.

Against the Kansas City Royals, Alex Rodriguez struck out looking three times against Brian Bannister (!) and flailed away against Ramon Ramirez.  Watch for yourself.

Travis Buck, Matt Holliday, and Chris Young (D-Backs) have all worn the Golden Sombrero this season.

Wow.  A lot has changed since late last Thursday night when Rick Ankiel went 4 for 4 with two Home Runs and had seven RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Everything was going great for the Cardinals, who were 17-9 in their last 26 games (since Ankiel’s 2007 debut) and were now only one game out of first place in the NL Central.  Thanks in no small part to Rick Ankiel. 

Ankiel was the feel-good story of the MLB season for a Cardinals team that desperately needed one after the drunk driving arrest of their manager and the death (from drunk driving) of one of their pitchers.  Not to mention the fact that the team had played poorly throughout the first half of the season.

But then on Friday, the news broke that Ankiel had recieved a one-year supply of Human Growth Hormone from that Florida pharmacy that’s at the center of an an illegal prescription drug distribution. 

Comparisons to “The Natural” were immediately put on hold.

In the four games since the revelation that he received the HGH, Ankiel has gone 1 for 14 with no walks.  And yesterday against the Cards’ division rival Chicago Cubs, batted 0 for 4 with four strikeouts.

That’s Right.  The dreaded Golden Sombrero.

Here’s video which includes three of Ankiel’s four strikeouts yesterday.  It might not work in FireFox, so try Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Ankiel looks lost at the plate. 

A few years back, Ankiel was an up and coming pitcher who suddenly couldn’t throw over the plate any longer.  It had gotten in his head that he couldn’t do it anymore.

Is it about to happen again to Ankiel? 

AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

We here at Home Run Derby love the big hit - especially the Home Run. That should be obvious by now.

However, we love to see another distinction that happens less often in baseball … The Golden Sombrero. When a batter doesn’t strike out once, or twice, or even three times in a game, but has the worst of nights - striking out four times. It’s like a hat trick in hockey … but it’s four times, so you need a bigger hat.

Atlanta Braves CF Andruw Jones went and did that one better (or worse) Sunday vs the Red Sox, going 0-5 with five strikeouts. That’s also known as the Platinum Sombrero or the Olympic Rings - five big donuts.

The Platinum Sombrero only happens about once or twice a season. Andruw Jones’ is the first since Alex Rios did it last July 29.

In case you’re wondering, striking out six times in a game is called either a Horn or a Titanium Sombrero.  It’s only been accomplished eight times in MLB and has never been done in a nine inning game.  Geoff Jenkins of the Brewers was the last player to hit a Horn back in a 17-inning game in June, 2004.

No one has ever been struck out seven times in a game.  Unless you count the last time I played college softball.