Home Run Derby

For a little while there, it looked like The Master Batters and Empire of Dirt were going to take the Derby and run away from the pack with it. But one week later, only one of them stands atop the leaderboard and one of them is struggling to keep up.

The Master Batters lead all comers with 128 HR, while a resurgent Triple Crown (125 HR) has vaulted into 2nd Place. A newcomer to the leaderboard, The Great Hambino, holds 3rd Place with 124 HR.

Best Week this week was 22 Home Runs by Bash Brothers.

All but five teams in the Derby have surpassed the century mark. I think four more teams will cross 100 Home Runs this week and leave the last place Komodos in their wake.

David Ortiz’ and Barry Bonds’ weekly Home Run streaks came to an end. They started the season hitting at least one HR every week for six weeks. No one else came close.

Stud of the Week: David Wright (4 HR) - Instead of recapping David Wright’s four-homer week, I’ll let him tell us what he thought of it:

Hey Nick the Greek - Will you shut your pie-hole on Gyros Thursday now? I hope Richie Rich disallows all of my Home Runs on your Sorry 300 Spartans squad. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another photo shoot.

Okay maybe that really wasn’t the Great Wright Hope, but you know he reads Home Run Derby and is thinking it.

Hot Sluggers:

• Aramis Ramirez (3 HR) - Some of them weren’t meaningless either
• Jermaine Dye (3 HR) - Tied for the Group A lead with Big Papi
• Mark Teixeira (3 HR) - Been a while since he’s been here
• Pat Burrell (3 HR) - 5 HR the past two weeks
• Brad Hawpe (3 HR) - Can now go back to obsc…  there goes another one
• Derrek Lee (1 HR) - 1 AB, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 Total Bases Last Week. Don’t see that very often.

Cold Sluggers:

• Miguel Tejada - Might not be a Home Run hitter anymore
• Raul Ibanez - I think I mentioned 2006 being a Fluke
• Scott Rolen - Not on the DL, but he might as well be

Injury Report

• Jim Thome (ribs) came off the DL. Good News for the ChiSox.
• Joe Crede (back) left Sunday’s Game and is questionable. Bad news for the ChiSox.
• Derrek Lee (neck) is questionablefor the San Diego series
• Mike Piazza (shoulder) is on the DL
• Ryan Howard (quad) is on the DL until later this week.
• Raul Ibanez (back) slept funny and is now questionable. You won’t miss his lack of HR

Do not forward this to George Steinbrenner.  Brian Cashman has been trying to hide it from him all Spring. 

My Dad always used to tell me that there’s a big difference between activity and accomplishment. And that the hardest working people weren’t always the highest paid. And something about Money not buying Wins.

As a lifelong Cub Fan, I’ve seen his theories proven every summer at Wrigley Field and across Baseball in general.  Teams with the best players (and often the most expensive players) get trumped by some team with less than half the experience (and payroll).

Are lower payroll clubs hungrier?  You bet.  Those players are playing like crazy so they can be on one of those dream teams Steinbrenner rolls out - and get the contract that goes along with it.  It’s true again so far this season.  A quick look at the stats will show you things like this comparison …

Like the Yankees, the Red Sox also spent a ton of cash in the AL East this season.  But the Red Sox are running away with a 10.5 game division lead while the Yankees are struggling to compete with three AL East teams whose combined payrolls ($199 million) they almost outspent by themselves. 

The AL Central is being led by the lowest paid team in the Division.  The NL Central has a slew of overpaid ballclubs.  The NL West has an underacheiver in the Giants.  Only the NL East and AL west are really hashed out by salary.

And for more Salary Goodness … Check this out … A guy named Ben Fry, who happens to have a Doctorate from MIT, has created a sweet little gadget which tracks MLB Team Payrolls vs their Win-Loss Records.  It’s even done in a visual format - allowing even those Baseball Fans with no math skills to see which teams are performing at, above, or below their payroll in comparison to the rest of the League. 

Check it out - it’s really cool.

I strongly dislike White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski. However - he plays heads up baseball with passion and intelligence and always seems to succeed, so I’d probably like (not love) him on my team.

On Friday, during AJP’s regular stint on Mike North’s morning show on WSCR AM670, Pierzynski was asked if he was disappointed about not starting the opener of weekend tilt against their crosstown rival Chicago Cubs after having sat the day before …

“Of course, I’m disappointed. You’re kidding, right? … How come no one asks me if I need a rest?”

I like that. I like a player who wants to play every day. Even if he’s a catcher and his knees are at risk.

But don’t challenge Ozzie Guillen - the most thin-skinned Senor Machismo that MLB has ever known. Ozzie decided to call in to North’s show about it to complain about North questioning his lineup decisions … and immediately started dropping F-Bombs on live radio. Take a listen yourself.

This makes for Great Radio, but is Ozzie Guillen really that sensitive towards someone wondering why the starting catcher wouldn’t play in one of the bigger rivalry games of the season? This wasn’t a known Sox hater like Jay Mariotti asking the questions either. It was Mike North - a known White Sox cheerleader on the Sox’ radio flagship.

Of course, Pierzynski played on Saturday and Sunday and capped off the weekend by hitting a Grand Slam on Sunday. Which is why AJP should have been playing on Friday.