Home Run Derby

When an MLB franchise selects a player with the #1 overall pick in the Amateur Draft, the team is expecting to have that player make a significant contribution to the team for years to come.

In unrelated news, earlier this season, the Padres released Matt Bush, the #1 Pick in the 2004 MLB Draft … before he ever played a game in the Major Leagues.  I hope no one actually bought a Matt Bush Padres Jersey.

Bush was a High School Shortstop from the San Diego Area who the Pads selected over the likes of Jered Weaver and Stephen Drew.   Bush’s career batting average in the minors is a robust .219 (in nothing higher than Class A ball) … so let’s just go and call him a bust.  The Padres have.

This got me to thinking … who else has flopped after being picked first in the MLB Draft? 

Brien Taylor, P – 1991 (New York Yankees)

Under advisement by Scott Boras, Taylor held out until the Yankees caved and gave him an unprecedented $1.55 Million signing bonus.  

Mind you, after his first two seasons in the minors … he looked like he might be worth it.  In Class A in 1992, he had 187 K’s in 161 innings and in 1993 went 13-7 with 150 K’s in AA Albany.

But in December 1993, he separated his shoulder and tore his labrum in a fight in a trailer park – does anything good ever happen in a trailer park?  Dr. Frank Jobe described the injury as one of the worst shoulder injuries he’d ever seen. 

Taylor never posted an ERA under 6 the rest of his minor league career and never sniffed the Majors.

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Yesterday afternoon during the Yankees-Blue Jays game, there were two Canucks sitting behind Home Plate dressed as Umpires.

And they were making calls and everything. 

Take a look at the video as they help ring up Johnny Damon to end the fifth inning.

I like it. 

I think we need somebody doing this at every ballgame to keep the real umps honest.  And if you’re paying for those seats, you should be able to wear whatever you want.

Hat Tip: HHR

This afternoon, for the first time since 1981, the Philadelphia Phillies presented their players and staff with some Bling.

Specifically, World Series Championship Bling. 

And there it is.  That puppy is loaded with diamonds.  Holy crap.

A World Series Ring is what every player dreams of (or should be dreaming of) – even moreso than hot girlfriends, tricked out car stereos, and gobs of money.

… so let’s take a look back at the last eight World Series Championship Rings. 

2007 – Boston Red Sox

For their seventh World Championship, the Red Sox immortalized their hosiery, with a pair of ruby Sox. 

Once again, I have to hand it to the jeweler who designed the red Sox’ bling, because the red on blue is just cool.

Jostens did the honors again, with 42 diamonds for a total weight of 2.33 carats and four special-cut rubies with a weight of 2.14 carats.  That bad boy appraised for about $20,000 when it was handed out in April 2008.

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Keeping with the theme instilled by Alfonso Soriano’s massive car stereo, we’re do some more car-related posts here at Home Run Derby.

Check this out … could this be Derek Jeter’s ride, parked outside a train station in New Jersey?

Uh … I’m guessing that’s a big “No.” 

First of all, I don’t belive the Captain lives in Jersey.  Even if he did, he probably wouldn’t be caught dead driving that car … or taking the train for that matter.  And besides, Jetes doesn’t need to advertise – hot chicks just seem to find him.

But wow.  That’s an impressive piece of rolling Jeter-fanboy worship.  I bet that guy (or girl) walks around wearing a “What Would Jeter Do” t-shirt.

It’s got everything except a personalized license plate that says LV JETES.   Yankee Pinstripes, Yankees logo, interlocking NY logo, baseball stitching, MLB logos, Jeter’s #2, and check out the signature on the trunk.

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Did Queer Eye for the Straight Guy do a makeover for Roger Clemens lately?

Seven-time Cy Young winner and Mitchell Report namee Roger Clemens showed up at a Houston Rockets game last night.  Wearing a hat I wouldn’t put on a dog. 

Seriously – a pastel green and blue argyle baseball cap?  Who the heck makes that anyway? 
And what man would even consider wearing it? 

I mean, besides Roger Clemens, obviously.   I wonder if there’s an Erasure song (or five) on Clemens’ iPod.

Mind you, some Baseball teams think you’ll wear Argyle caps. 

This one from the New York Yankees is actually pretty sharp. 

Keeping the Bombers’ color scheme works really well on that cap. 
The same cannot be said for the following monstrosities …
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Get used to it, Alex Rodriguez … because that’s what you’re going to be hearing at MLB Ballparks this year, whenever you step up to bat.  It’s gonna be deafening.

And Home Run Derby will be calling Rodriguez “A-ROID” from now on.

Because Sports Illustrated has itself a little bit of a bombshell this morning … namely that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

There are 103 more players that tested positive for PED’s in 2003 whose names haven’t been released.  So this could be the story that keeps on giving.

As a result, Home Run Derby has asterisk’ed Rodriguez’s 2001-3 AL Andre Dawson Awards, given to the Most Outstanding player on a last place team.

And it’s a damn shame the Yankees don’t put player names on the back of their jerseys, because it means I can’t personalize one with “A-ROID” with the #13 on the back.

About a year ago, Home Run Derby showed you a bunch of replica baseball stadia made of Lego.

There was PNC Park, Camden Yards, Cititzens Bank Park, Yankee Stadium, and even a motorized Miller Park made of Lego.

Well, now someone made some Lego minifigs to play in them. There’s a wee bit of an East Coast Bias here …

Let’s head to Boston, where we find Kevin Youkilis …

Where’s his new wife?

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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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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 … 

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