Home Run Derby

And MLB is finally starting to announce the Junior Circuit’s contestants for the 2009 Home Run Derby in St. Louis.  Took them long enough.  The National League contestants were announced four days ago.

Here are your American League 2009 Home Run Derby Contestants … the AL is certainly lacking in star power compared to the quartet of 1st Basemen the NL is rolling out there.

JOE MAUER – Minnesota Twins, C
15 HR, 15.3 AB/HR, .389 AVG, 1.112 OPS, 47 RBI

Perhaps since Justin Morneau (the other half of the M&M boys from Minnesota) isn’t going to defend his 2008 Home Run Derby title …  Mauer might try to do it.

Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire thinks Mauer will win the Derby …

“Joe, in the home run hitting contest? He’d probably win it,” Gardenhire said. “You know it and I know it — just to let people know he can hit home runs. Nothing would surprise me that Joe does.”

My guess is that Mauer has the highest batting average of a player to compete in the MLB Home Run Derby.

BRANDON INGE – Detroit Tigers , 3B

Brandon Inge barely made it to the All-Star Game (he was the winner of the AL’s Last Man Vote) … but less than 24 hours after finding out he was an All-Star, it was announced he’d participate in the Home Run Derby too.

NELSON CRUZ – Texas Rangers OF

Replacing the injured Torii Hunter on Friday morning, Cruz is the latest first time Home Run Derby participant for the AL. 

CARLOS PENA – Tampa Bay Rays 1B

Considering that the NL had four first basemen, I guess the AL needed one too. 

Pena replaced Dustin Pedroia on the Al Squad, and I wonder if it was because NO ONE else fro the AL would play in the Derby.

Make sure you check out the Wives and Girlfriends of the Home Run Derby Contestants !!

We’re having a Home Run Derby Contest just for the 2009 MLB Home Run Derby!! 

Free Entry !!! $250 to the winner!! 

Details right here

The MLB Home Run Derby is right around the corner (literally – it’s on Monday).

Some of MLB’s top sluggers will be hitting lots of Home Runs in the Derby … but we thought it would be fun to take a peek at who these guys will be hitting “Home Runs” with AFTER the Derby.  Namely, their Wives and Girlfriends (WAGs).

Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge.

Without further delay … the WAGs of the 2009 Home Run Derby …

 AMERICAN LEAGUE HOME RUN DERBY WAGs

Yes, I know that MLB still hasn’t officially announced who’s playing for the AL in the 2009 Home Run Derby … so we’ll just roll with the rumored players and update this when they tell us who’s in.

Shani Inge
wife of Detroit Tigers 3B Brandon Inge

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The MLB Home Run Derby is right around the corner (literally – it’s on Monday).

Some of MLB’s top sluggers will be hitting lots of Home Runs in the Derby … but we thought it would be fun to take a peek at who these guys will be hitting “Home Runs” with AFTER the Derby.  Namely, their Wives and Girlfriends (WAGs).

Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge.

Without further delay … the WAGs of the 2009 Home Run Derby …

 NATIONAL LEAGUE HOME RUN DERBY WAGs

Deidre (Dee Dee) Pujols
wife of St. Louis Cardinals 1B, Albert Pujols

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In our last MLB Mascot Bracket showdown, Miwaukee’s Racing Sausages fried up Pittsburgh’s Racing Pierogies …

Let’s head to the Mammal Division for our next fight …

#2 Stomper (Oakland A’s) vs #3 T.C. Bear (Minnesota Twins)

Remember – your vote decides who moves on … Let’s get to it.

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So a couple days ago, Home Run Derby showed you a time lapse video of a guy making a portrait of Cal Ripken Jr out of thumbtacks.

Admit it, you were impressed. We were, so we reached out to the artist.  

His name is Dustin Barkley – and he’s a man of many talents.  

Home Run Derby:  Let me speak for lots of people when I say … that is simply awesome. 
Dustin Barkley:  Glad you liked my Cal Ripken.  It has been a lot of fun to see people appreciate it.

HRD: How long did it take you?  How much did it cost? (more…)

Well with the temperature at Home Run Derby headquarters currently at -7 degrees (wind chill of -29) and not expected to rise above zero for the next 27 hours … I was trying to stay warm by thinking about baseball.

Crack of the Bat, lush green grass, hot August sun, an ice cold beer, and a Kosher dog with grilled onions doused with the Stadium Mustard my brother in law sent me (hey Mike, I need more) and another ice cold beer.  That warmed me up for a while …

And then I accidentally clicked on Wrigley Field’s Webcam and saw this disturbing sight …

Singing at the Winter Classic may be all done, but it’s still winter at Wrigley.  And I got to wondering what the other MLB playgrounds look like in the snow and cold.   Let’s find out.

Staying at Wrigley, it looks like Harry Caray and Ernie Banks are keeping a quiet and chilly sentry along Addison Street.

Anyone else afraid of how cold it will be when if the Cubs do ever win the World Series? I hope I’m retired and living in Green Valley, Arizona by then.

Heading South, as in the South Side of Chicago … when last we saw US Cellular Field, it was in the midst of a “Blackout.” Now it’s in the middle of a “White-Out.”
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I love Wii Baseball.
Now if only I had a Wii.

But I’ll tell you who has a Wii. The Family of Minnesota Twins legend Tony Oliva.

Let’s watch as Tony O (the 1964 AL Rookie of the Year) plays his grandson in a game of baseball on the Wii.

Place your bets …

I was kinda expecting Tony O to launch the controller into the TV set like this kid did last Christmas.

You can just tell that kid was talking smack to his gramps before they started that game … how he was gonna open a can of whoopass on Grandpa and his Eight Consecutive All-Star appearances … and then grandpa unloaded on him with a Double and a Home Run, much to the delight of everyone else in the room.

I love the look on the grandson’s face after Tony O hit the bomb and started laughing it up. He knew he just got pwn3d in Wii by a 70 year old man.

Which is inexcusable even if your gramps is a is a borderline Hall of Famer.

Good to see that a 70 year old can still kick some ass.

The Chicago White Sox just won the 2008 AL Central Division crown by defeating the Minnesota Twins in a tiebreaking play-in game. 

The game was a thrilling 1-0 pitchers’ duel at US Cellular Field in Chicago, as White Sox pitcher John Danks gave up one less 460-foot longball than Minnesota’s Nick Blackburn did.

Allow me to introduce you to the MVP of the 2008 Chicago White Sox … you might think it’s Carlos Quentin, Alexei Ramirez, AJ Pierzynski, or Jim Thome (who homered tonight for the game’s only run) - but it’s not.

It’s the metal slug of currency that was used in the coin flip on September 12th to determine who would host a tiebreaking play-in game between the Twins and White Sox.

That thing should be attached to whatever banner the White Sox unfurl next year.  Because it’s what got them into the posteseason.

Since the White Sox won the coin flip … they got to host the 163rd game of the season.  And between these two otherwise equally matched teams this season … that pretty much meant the ballgame and the AL Central title. 

This season, the Twins and Sox both had equal records at home (good – .654) and on the road (bad – 432).  That disparity played out between the two clubs - neither could win at the other’s ballpark …

• The White Sox were 1-8 in Minnesota
• The Twins were 2-7 in Chicago

Make that 2-8.  Some things working against the Twins: 

• The 56 degree game temperature might have made a difference for the Twins, who play half their games in the always 72 degree climes of the indoor Metrodome. 
• The Twins speed on the basepaths might have been muddled a bit by the soft ground at US Cellular, where it rained for 3+ hours only 30 hours prior to tonight’s game. 
• Ground balls hit by the Twins wouldn’t ricochet off the US Cellular grass like they did off the concrete – I mean FieldTurf – at the Metrodome.

Because of this, you’re going to hear some people (Minnesotans) say that Home Field Advantage (HFA) for a 163rd game shouldn’t be decided by a 50/50 draw like the flip of a coin.  And they might be right – HFA could easily be determined by a number of more relevant tiebreakers, like Head-to-Head record (Minn wins 10-8) or Division record (tied 43-29).  But that’s not baseball’s way.

Now the White Sox move on to play the Tampa Bay Rays … who play in a Dome.  The White Sox crapped the bed this season in Domes … here’s some scary 2008 Dome stats for the ChiSox

• 5-17 Record
• .233 AVG, .295 OBA, .369 SLG
• 3.97 ERA

The White Sox party might be short lived.  Then again … they’ve got a lucky coin.

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?  

Not as such …
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