Home Run Derby

A quick race around the world of the baseball blogosphere.

• Bugs and Cranks thinks that the newly goatee-less Kevin Youkilis looks like Sergeant Slaughter. They’re right.
• The 2008 Texas Rangers season is four and a half months away, but people are already sounding gloomy about the schedule.
• Chuck over at Ivy Chat and Andy at Desipio are kinda happy about Jacque Jones leaving the North Side.
• The Fanatnicks are happy about the Twins acquiring Craig Monroe.
• There is proof that the AL Cy Young votes were cast before the playoffs began. Some Sawx fans are not amused.

So the Tampa Bay Devil Rays dropped the Devil from their name and are now just the Tampa Bay Rays. 

That got me wondering if there have been any players named Ray to play for the (Devil) Rays in their ten forgettable years of existence (645 Wins, 972 Losses, nine last-place finishes) in the Major Leagues.

Short answer:  No.  Nobody named Ray has ever played for Tampa Bay. 

Part of that’s because there have been slim pickin’s for Rays in Major League Baseball for the past decade. 

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Twenty Years Ago (in 1987) Andre Dawson was named the Most Valuable Player of the National League.

Before the 1987 season, Dawson (a free agent) had made it clear that he wanted to play for the Cubs because they played day baseball and had natural grass at Wrigley Field.  The Cubs didn’t seem interested (because they had Brian Dayett slated to play RF) so Dawson basically forced the Cubs to sign him when he handed them a signed blank contract right before Spring Training which the Cubs filled in the numbers at a base of $500,000 with $250,000 in incentives.

A quick look at his stats from that season (.287 Avg, .568 Slg, 49 HR, 137 RBI) say that he was worthy of the honor. 

But the most fun fact about that MVP season is that Dawson was the first player in Major League Baseball history to win a league MVP award while playing for a last place team (the Cubs finished a staggering 18.5 games behind the Cardinals).  In 2003, Alex Rodriguez became the second man to accomplish this feat (with the Texas Rangers).

Ironically, the Cardinals had two MVP candidates in 1987 (Ozzie Smith and Jack Clark) Dawson’s great season (and his gesture to play for whatever the Cubs wanted to pay him) and the split of the St. Louis vote for NL MVP left Smith and Clark #2 and #3 in the MVP voting. 

So, in honor of that special season, Home Run Derby presents the Andre Dawson Awards - given to the Most “Valuable” Player on a last place team in each League.   Because these guys deserve an award for having fabulous seasons while their teammates couldn’t do anything to support them.

The 2007 AL and NL Andre’s go to ….

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In 1987, Andre Dawson became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to win a league MVP award while playing for a last place team.

In honor of that acheivement and the fact that it’s hard to soar with the eagles when you’re surrounded by turkeys … Home Run Derby has compiled a list of players who performed among the best in their league while their teams unfortunately held them down.

And here they are

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Outside the home office of Home Run Derby, it’s gotten really freaking cold.  So let’s warm it up a bit …

Home Run Derby is proud to present the return of Porristas Mexicana de Beisbol !  Mexican Baseball Cheerleaders !

We held a vote back in May to ask our readers which Mexican League baseball team (in the Liga Mexicana) had the best Porristas or Edecanes.   The Potros (Broncos) de Tijuana won that vote - so let’s check out more of their Porristas and Edecanes. 

We’ve mentioned before that the Potros outsource their cheerleading to whatever company wants to pay for the exposure.  By my count there’s at least six different cheerleading uniforms dancing around Estadio Calimax in Tijuana.

Talk about your logo creep.

Here’s pics of another of the Potros’ porrista sponsors … and video. (more…)

Outside the home office of Home Run Derby, it’s gotten really freaking cold.  So let’s warm it up a bit …

Home Run Derby is proud to present the return of Porristas Mexicana de Beisbol !  Mexican Baseball Cheerleaders !

We held a vote back in May to ask our readers which Mexican League baseball team (in the Liga Mexicana) had the best Porristas or Edecanes.   The Potros (Broncos) de Tijuana won that vote - so let’s check out more of their Porristas and Edecanes. 

We’ve mentioned before that the Potros outsource their cheerleading to whatever company wants to pay for the exposure.  By my count there’s at least six different cheerleading uniforms dancing around Estadio Calimax in Tijuana.

Talk about your logo creep.

Here’s pics of one of the Potros’ porrista sponsors … and some video. (more…)

David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks and I are engaging in a well intentioned, respectful debate on Barry Bonds, Home Run ball #756 (and its asterisk) and a call to boycott the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

David got the ball rolling with his call for the boycott, which led to my post saying we should boycott Barry Bonds.   After David read my post, he authored another post clarifying his position, stating the real issue here is about injustice.

Well, I thought I could address David’s writing with a simple comment attached to his post, but alas, I have more to say.  

Here is the comment I posted earlier today at Bugs and Cranks …

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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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First and foremost, Home Run Derby thinks Bugs & Cranks is one outstanding blog, written by excellent writers and passionate fans. 

So it is with the utmost respect that I say I must summarily disagree with their call to boycott the Baseball Hall of Fame and anything related to Marc Ecko (the fashion mogul who bought Barry Bonds’ record 756th Home Run ball that he will brand with an asterisk and send to the Hall of Fame).  

David Chalk begins the uprising with a call to boycott the Hall of Fame.  I am not sure I really understand this one.  The Hall of Fame isn’t complicit in the branding of the ball.  They are merely the recipient of a piece of history - baseball history.  And like it or not, the controversy over Bonds and his steroid use (please note the word “alleged” is purposely missing) is a part - no make that a huge part - of the history of the game, this era, and the career Home Run record that Bonds holds (please note that I am not one of the Bonds haters that refuses to acknowledge his record). 

The Hall of Fame, or more appropriately called the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, is in the business of recording the history of the game of Baseball.  Not just the statistics - but the history.  Barry Bonds will forever be known as the man who broke baseball’s most hallowed record with the help of steroids.  That is his history.

And here is the part that of David’s case that I really disagree with:

“This is The United States Of America.  Baseball is the National Pastime of The United States Of America.  If a man declares his innocence, he is considered innocent until he is proven guilty.  We cannot give that precious right away because someone paid money at an auction, or because other people voted on the Internet.”

People in this country have to stop associating the right of presumed innocence afforded to our citizens in a court of law with the nonexistent “right” that extends to arena of public opinion.  Just because Barry Bonds professes his innocence and he has not been convicted of anything doesn’t mean that I have to suspend common sense and buy into his legitimacy. 

The circumstantial evidence is pretty damning. 

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