Home Run Derby

While doing research for our recent pictorial of Lego Baseball Stadia … I came across La Grande Dame of all Lego Ballpark Models - a three foot tall, fully functional model of the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park.  Made almost entirely of Lego bricks and parts.

It deserved its own post.

Wow.  That’s freaking Miller Park.  Just for reference …

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A while back, Home Run Derby brought you videos of some baseball stadiums being blown up and such. 

That was cool, wasn’t it?

Well, now that a new baseball season is upon us … it’s time to do the opposite and show some well constructed Baseball Stadiums and Ballparks.  But instead of ballparks which are made of bricks or steel - let’s look at some venues which were built with some of my favorite bricks. 

Lego Bricks.  I used to build a lot with Lego … but never quite like this.

Why did the police car in the foreground drive past the three drunkards passed out on the grass?  And where’s the pitcher’s mound?

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We here at Home Run Derby are big fans of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Racing Sausages (sponsored by Klement’s – we’re big fans of them too … Yum!)

• We seeded the Sausages #1 in our MLB Mascot Brackets (Round Two starts up next week)
• We exposed all the Sausage rip-offs around MLB
• We showed you the Sausages without their heads

But we had no idea they were so talented.  Because they can ski. 

Back on March 2, 2008, the Sausages were part of Wilmot Mountain’s Annual Winter Carnival.

Home Run Derby is proud to bring you your first look at video of the Famous Racing Sausages … On Skis … 

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Unlike a lot of fantasy baseball contests, which had you pick your roster before the Red Sox and A’s travelled to Japan to kick off the season …

… Homerderby.com’s 2008 Home Run Derby Contest is still accepting entries.  And we’ll keep on taking entries until noon on Monday, March 31st.  Because we start on Opening Day.  And that’s on Monday, March 31st.

For a mere $25, you get a chance to participate in a great contest with guaranteed minimum prizes of $2,500 to the winners.  Unlike many Home Run Derby contests, standings will be updated weekly (if not daily) and there will be six months of interactive dialogue about who’s in the lead via our weekly recaps.

How to play?  Simple.  After reading the Official Rules, simply select 15 players from the 2008 Player Groups and submit your entry via our online entry form.  Then pay up.

Cash prizes are awarded to the top three finishers in the first half, second half and the full season standings.  Plus, there will be other prize opportunities along the way.

I guarantee you’ll have fun whether you win or not

So today is Easter, and it’s only the second time in the past nine years (2005) that Easter hasn’t fallen during the baseball season. 

Sure, Spring Training games are going on … but that just doesn’t count. 

Let’s check in with the Easter Bunny and see if he (or she) has a favorite MLB Team … turns out he’s partial to a lot of MLB Clubs.

Here he’s spending quality tme at Busch Stadium with some Cardinals fan named Scott …

Billy the Marlin of the Florida Marlins is one of the Bunny’s closest friends … (more…)

I took a lot of heat from Nats fans for my preview where I predicted they would be 2008’s Worst Team in Baseball.   Through the season, I will be taking a look at the Nationals to see how they track against my preview (partially at the behest of the commenters who want to make sure I am held accountable when if the Nats outperform). 

One of the key premises of my prediction surrounded that state of the starting pitching:

“The team hit a measlely 123 Home Runs last year, but more telling is their fundamental lack of pitching.  No starter had more than 7 wins last year (Matt Chico), and the leader in games won was reliever Jon Rauch (Kenny Williams’ favorite player) with a seismic 8 wins.”

Lets visit a couple of comments on the starting pitching assertion I made.

Charlie from March 10th:

“I think their pitching is no doubt a problem, but if Hill and Patterson can stay healthy, they are both better than 4/5 pitchers. Health has been their problems, not ability.”

Thorne from March 14th:

“if Hill & Patterson stay healthy they could be “average”…” 

Why do I bring this up? 

Well today, the Nationals cut John Patterson, their 2007 Opening Day Starter. 

Meaning the likely starting five are now: Jason Bergmann, Shawn Hill, Matt Chico, Tim Redding and Odalis Perez

UGGGH!  I want to say it again.  Even with a decent bullpen, it is very difficult to win more than 70 games when your team is down 3 or 4 runs by the end of the fifth inning.  I have to say I am feeling pretty good about my predictions today. 

Good Luck Nats fans, it’s gonna be a long season.

So I read the other day that the Japanese professional baseball leagues are going to try to shorten their games this season.  They’ll do it by making teams switch from fielding to hitting in no more than 2 minutes and 15 seconds as well as limit the time between pitches to 15 seconds when no one is on base. 

Why? 

To help fight Global Warming. 

As part of the fight against global warming, Japanese professional baseball has come up with a plan to shorten its games and reduce carbon dioxide emissions at stadiums.  Teams will aim to cut playing time by six percent, or 12 minutes …

Why six percent?  Well, that’s what Japan pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2010 under the Kyoto Protocol.  And it sounds as if Japan needs all the help it can get in meeting that goal … which is why Japanese baseball is making this gesture.  According to the article, baseball games result in the emission of …

… a huge amount of carbon dioxides to be discharged through the use of energy to move players and spectators, supply electricity for lighting and other purposes.

They forgot to mention all the gas emissions caused by the mass consumption of nachos, sausages, peanuts, and beer consumed at baseball games. 

Do they eat that kind of food at baseball games in Japan? 

Mind you … if shortening the length of baseball games is a quick fix to help in the fight against global warming, I have a simple solution …

Stop Steve Trachsel from pitching anymore.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Trachsel is often referred to as “The Human Rain Delay” because he takes so much time between pitches.  Don’t believe me?  I present evidence …

Slowest Worker Ever
Slow Hand Trachsel
Human Rain Delay

Trachsel has been known to visualize every pitch before he throws it.  This can really slow a ballgame down.  In the 1998 Wild Card tiebreaker game between the Cubs and Giants, Trachsel pitched 6 1/3 of the most deliberate innings ever.  He pitched great (1 hit with 6 K and 6 BB) and the Cubs made the playoffs …  but wow, did that game take forever.  Three hours and 40 minutes for a 8.5 inning game.

And now, Trachsel has a starting gig and has assumed a mentor’s role in Baltimore, where he’s teaching the art of pitching to the young hurlers on the Orioles.   Hey Trachsel – this season’s already going to be a long one for O’s fans … don’t make it any longer.  Steve Trachsel’s slow speed makes for good concession sales, but he’s apparently bad for the environment (if the Japanese are to be believed.)

I guess we’ll never see Trachsel pitch in Japan.  Or be seen in the same room as Al Gore.

Think you’re good at picking Home Run hitters? 

Play homerderby.com’s Home Run Derby Contest and find out … and compete for $2,500 in prizes while you’re at it. 

See the Official Rules for details.

 As a tribute to Richie Rich and his other great baseball love, the Toronto Blue Jays, I decided to go old shool on the logo.  I am sure Richie has his vintage Blue Jays cap somewhere.  I remember sitting with him in the outfield of New Comiskey (as it was called at the time of our outing) watching the Palehose and the Blue Birds lock up in a battle of two quality teams. 

It was 1993 and the Blue Jays were the defending champions and the Sox were contending in the AL West and looked like world beaters.  Funny thing is I don’t remember the game too well (unlike my Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS recollection) but I remember Richie’s damn hat (it was the blue road cap, and matching road jersey).

But before I go any farther, please rise and remove your caps as we sing the Canadian National Anthem (and no I am not Canadian).

I had to use a Hockey clip to get the full effect, and no, the tone deaf guy featured prominently in the audio is not me (although I am pretty damn tone deaf).  But enought about the anthem and on to the Blue Jays.

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 OK, I have taken some time off,  so I am going to fire through about five or six teams in the next couple days to catch-up.  Next up is the last of the light power-hitting teams, the Seattle Mariners.  I base that last comment on their team Home Run total of 153 dingers last year.  The Mariners are at the point of the team Home Run List that is somewhat of a demarcation line because the next lowest total belongs to the Toronto Blue Jays at 165. 

Of course none of this is meant as a slight to the Mariners – whom I think will be the surprise of the majors this year.  If you read our Angels preview, I already said that Mariners will best the Angels by 8 games this year on their way to the AL West crown.  I guess I am a sucker for pitching (kind of ironic given the focus of this site) and the starting five headed by Eric Bedard and Felix Hernandez is the best in the AL West and they are backed up by one the best closers in the game today … Mr Soul Patch, JJ Putz.

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