Home Run Derby

Baseball fans of all allegiances flocked to Camden Yards on Wednesday hoping to see Manny Ramirez make history by hitting two home runs to reach the 500 home run milestone.

He did make history in one sense, but not in a manner anybody expected.  He did so by turning late Orioles PA Announcer Rex Barney’s famous saying “Give that fan a contract” into “Give that fan an assist.”

Manny turned what could be seen as the first 7-10-4-3 double play in baseball history in the bottom of the fourth inning by high-fiving a fan between making a running catch on a Kevin Millar fly ball and firing the ball into cut-off man Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia then relayed the ball to first-baseman Kevin Youkilis to complete one of the funniest successful plays you will ever see.

I say “successful” because it’s hard to top Jose Canseco’s Zidane-esque home run helper with the Rangers, Jack Cust’s ‘03 home stretch stumble with the Orioles, or Ruben Rivera running the bases for the Giants like a squirrel crossing a busy street (unfortunately I couldn’t find a picture or video of the last play).

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Extra inning walk-off Home Runs rock. 

Yesterday, Mark Ellis provided some tenth-inning fireworks in Oakland as the A’s completed a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.  With the score tied, Ellis - who had entered the game riding a .024 average in May - tagged the left field foul pole for the win.  The A’s moved to 22-14, tied for the most wins in MLB.

What the heck happened to the Orioles anyway?  On April 29th they were 15-11 and led the AL East by percentage points.  Since then they’ve gone 1-7, falling to 16-18 and 5 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East cellar.  Things move pretty fast - heck Cub fans are wondering if Brian Roberts is available again.

Yes, I know … someone will say that I should have given the HRoD to the Twins’ Carlos Gomez, who hit for the cycle yesterday against the White Sox - and I would have if his Home Run completed the cycle or really factored into a close game instead of the blowout that it was.  HRoD’s are better if there’s some drama attached to them.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ryan Howard untied a 2-2 ballgame with one swing and the Phillies went on to beat the visiting San Diego Padres. 

The win put the Phillies in sole possession of first place in the NL East.

Around the League:

Brewers 4  Cubs 3

The “Kerry Wood as closer” experiment might be just about over for the Chicago Cubs. 

Wood blew a 3-1 ninth inning lead and his third save in seven opportunities and visiting Milwaukee beat the Cubs 4-3 - wasting another great start by Carlos Zambrano.  Wood now has an ERA of 18.00 against the Brewers in three games at Wrigley. 

You get the sense that it’s only a matter of time until Carlos Marmol is the closer for the Northsiders.

Rays 4  Orioles 2

They’re on the cusp of history in Tampa Bay … as the AL East-leading Rays beat the  Orioles and moved to four games over .500 for only the third time in their 10+ year history. 

The Rays have never been five games over .500.

Maybe there was something to dropping the Devil.

Tigers 8  Yankees 4

The Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the the Yankees in New York.

Don’t look now, but since the Tigers started 0-7, they’ve gone on a 14-8 run.  And they’re now in a three-way tie for second place in the AL Central, only 1 1/2 games behind the  Chicago White Sox. 

So I read the other day that the Japanese professional baseball leagues are going to try to shorten their games this season.  They’ll do it by making teams switch from fielding to hitting in no more than 2 minutes and 15 seconds as well as limit the time between pitches to 15 seconds when no one is on base. 

Why? 

To help fight Global Warming. 

As part of the fight against global warming, Japanese professional baseball has come up with a plan to shorten its games and reduce carbon dioxide emissions at stadiums.  Teams will aim to cut playing time by six percent, or 12 minutes …

Why six percent?  Well, that’s what Japan pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2010 under the Kyoto Protocol.  And it sounds as if Japan needs all the help it can get in meeting that goal … which is why Japanese baseball is making this gesture.  According to the article, baseball games result in the emission of …

… a huge amount of carbon dioxides to be discharged through the use of energy to move players and spectators, supply electricity for lighting and other purposes.

They forgot to mention all the gas emissions caused by the mass consumption of nachos, sausages, peanuts, and beer consumed at baseball games. 

Do they eat that kind of food at baseball games in Japan? 

Mind you … if shortening the length of baseball games is a quick fix to help in the fight against global warming, I have a simple solution …

Stop Steve Trachsel from pitching anymore.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Trachsel is often referred to as “The Human Rain Delay” because he takes so much time between pitches.  Don’t believe me?  I present evidence …

Slowest Worker Ever
Slow Hand Trachsel
Human Rain Delay

Trachsel has been known to visualize every pitch before he throws it.  This can really slow a ballgame down.  In the 1998 Wild Card tiebreaker game between the Cubs and Giants, Trachsel pitched 6 1/3 of the most deliberate innings ever.  He pitched great (1 hit with 6 K and 6 BB) and the Cubs made the playoffs …  but wow, did that game take forever.  Three hours and 40 minutes for a 8.5 inning game.

And now, Trachsel has a starting gig and has assumed a mentor’s role in Baltimore, where he’s teaching the art of pitching to the young hurlers on the Orioles.   Hey Trachsel - this season’s already going to be a long one for O’s fans … don’t make it any longer.  Steve Trachsel’s slow speed makes for good concession sales, but he’s apparently bad for the environment (if the Japanese are to be believed.)

I guess we’ll never see Trachsel pitch in Japan.  Or be seen in the same room as Al Gore.

Think you’re good at picking Home Run hitters? 

Play homerderby.com’s Home Run Derby Contest and find out … and compete for $2,500 in prizes while you’re at it. 

See the Official Rules for details.

Remember when you used to get a stick of gum in a pack of baseball cards?  That oblong piece of stale bubblegum hasn’t been seen since 1991 … and I’ve always felt that something was missing from my baseball cards ever since.  Maybe we should replace it with something …

I know!!  A Bottle of Wine!!  It tastes better than gum, and it’ll just get better with age.  Not to mention the side effects you can’t get from gum.

In 2007, a trio of Red Sox players unveiled wines which would benefit some of their favorite charities.  There were wines for …

Manny Ramirez: ”Manny Being Merlot” (CHARLEE Homes for Children)
Tim Wakefield: “CaberKnuckle” Cabernet (Pitching in for Kids)
Curt Schilling: “Schilling Schardonnay” (Curt’s Pitch for ALS)

The response was so good, that there’s a lot more players on wine bottles in 2008.  Something called Longball Cellars is at it again with wines produced by Selby Winery, but now there’s 21 baseball players (past and present) on wines which go for about $12 or $13 a bottle, all available in Spring 2008.  100% of the proceeds go to a charity of the player’s choice. 

The art on some of these bottles rivals the baseball cards my dad has in his collection from the fifties. 

Let’s see whose face you could be drinking, and who they’re supporting. 

You can believe that the Red Sox are back on the bottle with new “Championship Edition” bottles …

David Ortiz: “Vintage Papi” (The David Ortiz Children’s Fund)
Jason Varitek: “Captain’s Cabernet” (Pitching in for Kids)
Kevin Youkilis: “SauivignYoouuk Blanc” (Kevin Youkilis’ Hits for Kids)

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 Before I get to today’s topic, I would like to encourage people to go back to look at our Nationals preview.  Clearly my “worst team in baseball” labelling has riled up some Nats fan, not to mention my o-fer vs the Mets prediction.   I bring it up, because today’s team in the spotlight, the Baltimore Orioles, will challenge the Nats for the title of “worst team in baeball.”

Before I get too far, I would like take this time to remind eveyone to visit my partner in this feature, SkyKing162.  We take very different approaches to this exercise, but quite often end up with similar answers (except for Rick Ankiel)…Go Figure!  I am sure as we get to more of the upper echelon teams, we will see some striking desparities.

Now to the Orioles. On paper, they have a slightly better team than the Nats, mainly because the have some legitimate starting pitching in Jeremy Guthrie, Daniel Cabrera and Adam Loewen.  That not to say we have the makings of  a dominant staff, but at least a respectable one.  Of course, Cabrera will have to stop walking a hitter every other inning to start to reach his potential.  He’s teetering on the bust label now.

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The Interleague Inequity Series is winding down …

And since Nick just previewed the Angels, let’s head out West.  As in the American League West.

There are two likely contenders in the AL West (Angels and Mariners) and two likely also-rans (A’s and Rangers) … even before a singl;e pitch has been thrown.  Seattle and California will be locked in a tight battle all season … so a easy Interleague schedule for one of them could easily tip the scales in one team’s favor.

The MLB Schedule makers didn’t absolutely screw one contender over another one like they did in the NL Central.   But the Angels have a right to complain …

2008 AL West Interleague

A quick glance shows you that the AL West is playing the NL East.  All four teams in the Division have Interleague Rivals, so each team misses at least one team from the NL East.

And among the Contenders … the Angels drew the short straw.  They get back-to-back series against the Phillies and the NY Mets, missing only the lowly Florida Marlins.  They also get six games against the crosstown Dodgers, who will likely be better than their 2007 record. 

Meanwhile, the Mariners also miss a NL East team.  But they don’t miss an also-ran like the Marlins or Nationals.  No, the M’s miss the defending NL East Champion Phillies.  The Mariners do get the honor of facing the pitching-rich San Diego Padres for six games.  Someone needs to explain to mean why this is considered a rivalry?  San Diego?  Seattle? 

Meanwhile, rebuilding Texas and Oakland get sextets against two lousy teams.  And get to get whomped by the Mets and Phillies and Braves.

Josh Beckett is the latest face of a World Series Champion to grace the bright orange box that supplies my breakfast almost every morning.  Which means that they actually put a World Series MVP on the cover of a Wheaties Box.

Too bad it’s about four years late.

You see, Josh Beckett isn’t the World Series MVP for the 2007 Champion Boston Red Sox.

He was the World Series MVP for the 2003 Champion Florida Marlins.

The past four seasons (2004-2007), General Mills has put a member of the World Series Champion on the cover of the Wheaties box.

And the past four seasons, it hasn’t been the World Series MVP.

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Sluggerrr is well on his way to the second round, so let’s head to the Feather Division for a new matchup …

#3 The Bird (Baltimore Orioles) vs. #6 B.J. Birdy (Toronto Blue Jays)

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