Last week, White Sox lefthander Mark Buehrle pitched only the eighteenth Perfect Game in the history of Major League Baseball. As is the case in every perfect game – he had a little help from his defense.
Particularly outfielder Dewayne Wise, who took away a Home Run with a laping catch in the top of the ninth to preserve the Shutout, the No-Hitter, and the Perfect Game and vault Buehrle’s name into conversations about whether he’ll be a Hall of Famer.
No doubt – a catch like that is deserving of a gift from the pitcher to his Perfect-Game-Saving fielder.
A big gift.
Well, here it is. Buehrle gave Wise (and his other teammates) a bottle of Crown Royal XR … with a personalized bag no less.
I like the idea. A perfect game is Extra Rare, so why not a bottle of Extra Rare booze?
But I would think that Dewayne Wise deserved bigger than a bottle of Canadian Whisky that you can get for $136 on the intarwebs – seems a little bit cheap as recognition for being the saver of an event that happens once every 17,000 games to me.
A $200 gift (I’m including the embroidery on the bag) seems cheap for such a contribution – especially considering Buehrle is in the midst of a $56 Million contract. I was thinking Buehrle would at least get him a cool ride – like Buehrle’s giant Ford F-650 Dominator truck.
You know, the booze could explain the White Sox’ 1-5 record and .214 batting average since the Perfect Game.
Yesterday, Johan Santana did his usual thing for the New York Mets. He left the game with a lead.
And unlike last season, the Mets’ bullpen didn’t blow it. Last year they blew at least six saves for Santana, who could have been 22-7 with those six saves. There’s a reason the Mets went out and got Francisco Rodriguez and JJ Putz.
So you can imagine that Santana was in a good mood after the game. So much so that he went through the dugout and gave every Mets teammate a handshake.
A secret handshake that was personalized for each different player. Fist pumps, chest bumps, hugs, forearm smashes, you name it.
Watch …
Sheesh. I have trouble remembering what day of the week it is.
That’s just cool. I liked the one with Carlos Delgado.
The “CC” in CC Sabathia used to stand for “Carsten Charles.” Or maybe “Captain Cheeseburger.”
The New York Yankees want to change it to “Cha-Ching”
This past Friday, the New York Yankees offered CC Sabathia a six-year, $140 Million contract to anchor their starting rotation and help bring a World Series Championship the Playoffs back to the Bronx. The offer is $40 million more than the five-year, $100 million offer he reportedly received from the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee. And it would be the largest pitching contract in the history of Major League Baseball, besting the $137 million Johan Santana received from the New York Mets last offseason.
No other team is going to exceed (or even match) the Yankees contract offer. The Brewers can’t do it. Sabathia’s preferred home-state Dodgers and Angels won’t do it either. They’ll be looking for a discount … and the Yankees’ monster offer might prevent the LA teams from even entering the bidding. The Yankees have basically made this into a pissing match … and they drank the most beer before the contest started.
But I think it would be a bad idea for Sabathia to sign with the Yankees …
Lincecum (18-5, 2.62 ERA, 265 K) was one of the few bright spots for the San Francisco Giants this season, who simply couldn’t score runs (a mere 3.95 R/G) and slogged to a 72-90 record.
He was also one of the most cost-effective players in all of Major League Baseball – Lincecum finished 2nd in wins, 2nd in ERA, and 1st in Strikeouts in the National League. That’s nice return on a guy who was paid *only* $405,000 this season.
As a result of his stellar season and bright future, Lincecum should be rewarded by the Giants. Immediately.
Why not give him his teammate Barry Zito’s contract? Zito sure as hell didn’t do anything to deserve the $14.5 MILLION he was paid in 2008.
Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. But don’t tell that to the New York Yankees.
Back in December, the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox were each trying to negotiate a trade with the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Johan Santana. At the time, Minnesota wanted two of the top three young players from either the Sox or Yanks.
For the Yankees, that basically meant CF Melky Cabrera and young pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. The Yanks seemed satisfied with their offer of Cabrera/Hughes and when the Tiwns wanted more … the Yanks wouldn’t add Kennedy to the mix.
Santana ended up being traded to the crosstown New York Mets.
For the Mets, Santana is 11-7 with 20 Quality Starts in 26 games with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP for the NL East-leading Mets. He should be 17-7, but the Mets’ bullpen has blown six saves for Santana (five coming in the ninth inning).
Considering that the Yankees haven’t tasted World Series Champagne since 2000 … they wouldn’t have gotten unfavorable results by not pulling the trigger … would they? The Yankees must be getting good results from the trio of players they refused to deal to the Twins for a two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, right?
Okay … I have no idea whether this is a set-up or publicity stunt …
On Wednesday, 8/6/08, some online sports video site called Mouthpiece Sports was doing some interviews outside Wrigley Field.
Some blue-painted idiot decided to dump a Gatorade tub full of water on the head of a lovely blonde reporter who was interviewing people.
That young lady’s reaction makes me think that it she was not expecting it – she looks flabbergasted and at a complete loss for words (except for the “WTF” she mouths). Her sound guy seems pretty stunned too. Nice how her camera guy just keeps recording. Part of me still wonders if it was a setup. Gatorade tubs full of water don’t just sit at Clark and Addison.
The young lady has been identified as Molly Dapier. She was doing dome freelance work for Mouthpiece Sports and it’s not a publicity stunt. Deadspin confirmed all this for us (as I have a day job).
Texas Rangers’ relief pitcher C.J. Wilson is headed to the Disabled List and possibly the DFA list. Supposedly for “bone spurs in his left elbow.”
Bullshit. It’s because Wilson’s not effective as a pitcher (recently removed from the closer’s role) and even worse – he’s disrespectful towards his manager and his team.
Last night, Wilson entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with the Rangers holding a six-run lead over the visiting New York Yankees.
Wilson threw 22 pitches … and was not impressive. He walked Bobby Abreu, hit Alex Rodriguez, struck out Xavier Nady, walked Robinson Cano, and then, with a 0-1 count, served up Richie Sexson’s 15th Career Grand Slam.
Jon Lieber’s not getting a lot of playing time this season with the Cubs … he’s only pitched 37.1 innings in 21 appearances (20 out of the bullpen for a 1.78 ERA and a 2-2 record – don’t ask about that one start).
But that doesn’t mean he’s not getting some pitching in at Wrigley Field. Check out this video of Lieber pitching to one of his sons (5-year old Justin Lieber) after a recent game.
Yep. Even five-year old lefthanded hitters can hit Lieber (for his career … lefties hit .310 against him while righties only hit .244). Kid hit four balls out of twelve pitches that I counted – .333 average.
To Lieber’s credit, he’s putting balls right in Justin’s wheelhouse. I think 7-year old Jared Lieber is shagging flies.
Jon might have a future as a Little League coach when his MLB career is over. Because his kids might have a future in baseball.
Last week, White Sox lefthander Mark Buehrle pitched only the eighteenth Perfect Game in the history of Major League Baseball. As is the case in every perfect game – he had a little help from his defense.
The “CC” in CC Sabathia used to stand for “Carsten Charles.” Or maybe “Captain Cheeseburger.”
First of all, a big congratulations goes out to 
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