Home Run Derby

The Nintendo Wii is the video game du jour.  People spent hours waiting in line for them.

I kinda wanted to buy a Wii to have around HRD HQ.  I could see myself spending hours in front of one of these things playing baseball, tennis, golf, Zelda, etc. 

You can even buy sports-themed accessories instead of the little controllers you get with the console. 

Like a Wii Baseball Bat.  Great idea, right? 

Wrong.

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It’s Limbo week here at HRD. 

You know Limbo Week - the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day when the office is void of management (yay) and the other people who need to use their vacation days before they lose them.

If you’re one of the few who are working this week and need something to do … well I suppose you could watch the Chicago Cubs television announcers, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly, do a little rocking out at their Len and Bob Bash back in January 2007. 

Here’s Len and Bob at last year’s bash, performing two songs.  Len Kasper is on the mic and Bob Brenly is on guitar (sporting the backwards white baseball cap).

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So last week, the North Side of Chicago got an early Christmas present (or a late Hanukkah gift) when Kosuke Fukudome was introduced at a press conference after he signed his four-year, $48 Million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Contrary to prior speculation (and another wrong prediction by yours truly), Kosuke Fukudome will be wearing FUKUDOME on his jersey.

The Wrigley Bleachers will never be the same.  Or just moreso anyway. 

There’s lots of video out there of Fukudome hitting home runs and throwing tantrums after getting called out on strikes. But what we haven’t seen is any evidence about how he plays defense.  Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus mentioned it the other day.

Well, that was enough of a challenge for HRD.  And … here’s a little bit of Fukudome’s defense …

That would make the highlight reel of every nightly sports segment in America.

It’s been reported that the White Sox offered more money to Fukudome than the Cubs did, but he chose the Cubs because they guaranteed that he would play right field.

The White Sox should have let him play whatever field he wanted.

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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It was Alyssa Milano’s 35th Birthday yesterday!

And Home Run Derby’s present to Alysa was a First Round Win in Busted Coverage’s Best Sports Blog Tournament !!

Alyssa’s going to celebrate Home Run Derby’s first round victory (408-287) by getting a little bit closer to wearing her birthday suit …

… just as we promised …

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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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Well, the fine upstanding blog Busted Coverage has gone out and put together a 2007 Best Sports Blog Tournament with what they consider to be the top 64 Sports Blogs.

It’s no surprise that FanHouse, Deadspin, Awful Announcing, and The Big Lead are your top seeds. These guys bring it every day. They deserve the honors.

Now, for some reason (namely a decent BallHype rating) Home Run Derby has been included in this tournament. HRD is the #8 seed in the West Region, versus the blog known as You Been Blinded.

We are humbled.
We are honored.
We want to win.

So in a shameless beg for your vote … we’re gonna give this a go …
“Major League” style.

Remember in the movie “Major League” when the Cleveland Indians’ manager (Lou Brown) brought out the cardboard cutout of the owner (Rachel Phelps) and said “every time we win, we pull off a section” ?

Well, for every win Home Run Derby gets in the 2007 Best Sports Blog Tournament …

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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.