Home Run Derby

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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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.

2007 was a banner year for Milestone Home Runs in Baseball.

• The 300 Home Run Club got a new member .
• Three players joined the 500 Home Run Club, the most ever in a single season.
• The 600 Home Run Club got a new member for only the fifth time in MLB History.
• And the all-time MLB Home Run record was surpassed. It had stood at 755 Home Runs for more than 31 years.

Let’s take a quick look back at those milestone dingers from the 2007 season … with video, of course …

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Okay, this post is in complete homage to something one of Jayson Stark’s readers found. 
But that awesome blog is via ESPN subscription only, so I’ll share with you.

The Red Sox have a number of four-game ticket packages called “Sox Pax“ for the 2008 season.  You get to see four different opponents at Fenway Park thoughout the year (okay not anymore, they’re all sold out).  Two of those packages, the Boomer Pack and the Brew Crew Pack feature either Friday or Saturday games against the Tigers, Angels, Brewers, and Yankees.

“Brew Crew” Pack makes sense with Milwaukee on the schedule but I’m not sure of why the other one is called the “Boomer” pack.  Maybe the Red Sox know something about David Wells’ 2008 plans that I don’t.  Mind you, Wells has played for the Red Sox, Tigers, and Yankees during his career.

But I think the Red Sox wanted to call those packages something else …

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SUPER TUESDAY UPDATE – CLICK HERE

The 2008 Presidential Primary elections are less than a month away. And everybody needs a guide to the candidates.

Before I get started, I want to say that Home Run Derby will not endorse a candidate for President of the United States. We are a shoddy little baseball website and will not pretend to be a political one.

With that in mind, we’re not above giving you the facts about some of the candidates … when it comes to their baseball allegiances.

We profiled the Democrats yesterday, so here come the Republicans.

Rudy Giuliani – New York Yankees

The former Mayor of New York City is a diehard Yankee fan through and through and was often labelled the Bronx Bombers’ “First Fan.”

Even his recent comments about cheering for the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series really don’t even scratch his pinstripes.

Giuliani owns a bunch of Yankees World Series Championship rings. There’s some debate as to whether he should have them at all.

He maintains he paid for them.

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SUPER TUESDAY UPDATE – CLICK HERE

The 2008 Presidential Primary elections are less than a month away. And everybody needs a guide to the candidates.

Before I get started, I want to say that Home Run Derby will not endorse a candidate for President of the United States. We are a shoddy little baseball website and will not pretend to be a political one.

With that in mind, we’re not above giving you the facts about some of the candidates … when it comes to their baseball allegiances.

First up … The Democrats.  The Republicans are over here.

Hillary Clinton – Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees

New York Senator Hillary Clinton grew up in Northwest suburban Chicago, which would justify her claims that she was a Cub fan as a youth (there are many pics of her wearing a Cub hat).

But in 1999, when there was talk of her as a candidate for New York Senator in the 2000 elections, Hillary claimed “I’ve always been a Yankee fan.” Her justification was that she needed an American League team to cheer for as well. And the Yankees were the best in the AL.

Mind you, she had never mentioned it before prepping for her Senate run.

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Yesterday’s Mitchell Report named Glenallen Hill as one of Kirk Radomski’s clients (page 183-5).  

Apparently Hill purchased Human Growth Hormone from Radomski and it is implied that he was taking it prior to their meeting in 2000.

Who’s shocked at this one?

When Hill played with the Cubs, the man’s arms and lats were so thick he simply couldn’t put his arms straight down at his sides.  

Because of this, the Wrigley Bleacherites called him “Frankenstein.” 

And they would mimic the Frankenstein arm motion after every Home Run hit by Hill.

But here’s the real evidence.  It’s believed that only one player has ever hit a ball on the roof of a building across the street from Wrigley Field.

That player … is Glenallen Hill.  Cue the video.

Yes, folks, Chip Caray was that annoying long before you ever heard him call playoff games on TBS.

Hit Tracker estimated that the blast would have travelled 500 feet if the building wasn’t there.

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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The Yankees have taken their stand with A-Rod.  No way they will deal with him now that he has opted out of his contract, costing the Yanks their $21MM subsidy ($7MM/year) from the Texas Rangers.

Yesterday, however, the Yankees picked up the 2008 contract option on Bobby Abreu at the low, low price of $16MM.  This, of course, begs a question.

If Bobby Abreu is worth $16MM/season to the Yankees, is $30 million a season for A-Rod unreasonable?

I say no.  Take a look at the numbers.

The data clearly shows, as most would expect, that A-Rod had a much better season than Abreu. I didn’t necessarily think that A-Rod would slug 200 points better than Bobby, but is that necessarily worth extra $14MM a season?

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