Looking for a positive in MLB’s interleague fiasco? I must admit that I like the way Jim Palmer colors a game. In fact, the O’s stable of announcers on MASN are sound as Buck Martinez is much more preferred in the booth than on Team USA's bench and Gary Thorne is a familiar voice. If only John Lowenstein could still get some run, I might be convinced to watch an occasional AL-Only tilt.



That's the most Lowenstein I could find... silky! Somehow despite being distracted by that late 80's graphics package, I noticed that Fred McGriff's .301 BA was the only plus-300 average posted by either team. And Balmer slotted their top hitter (Billy Ripken -resisting linking to the card - with a .28couple) in the 9-hole.

Labels: baseball, tv

New ballpark, young bat at the hot corner, dedicated cable network, Meat Hook... the Nats have really been making strides in becoming a traditional MLB franchise. But what happens when top color-man Don Sutton's voice dries up? They back him up with DL players LoDuca and Cordero... what? Meat Hook's just glad he was already rehabbing with the Senators when that nasty flu bug ripped through the grounds-crew. Sorry Nats fans, your squad's still makeshift!

Labels: baseball

Remember how exciting "bread sticks, bread sticks" was at Sovereign Bank Stadium last summer? Well, every World Series base-runner (or at least those without a base-runner in front of them) brings with him the potential to steal you a taco, just as the opposing #2 hitter had the potential to wiff you free pizza crust against the Revs.

These really are the only numbers worth considering heading into Rox/Sox best-of-7:

Rockies
Willy Taveras - 33 SB
Kazuo Matsui - 32 SB
Matt Holliday - 11 SB

Red Sox
Julio Lugo - 33 SB
Coco Crisp - 28 SB
Jacoby Ellsbury - 9 SB

So who's going to be this year's W.S. hero? Yo quiero Taco Bell!

Labels: baseball

The current state of the Little League World Series has deservedly faced plenty of criticism the last few years on the web, but this brief paragraph hits the nail on the head as well as any (from Deadspin):

I've always found ESPN's obsession with the Little League World Series pretty self serving. They are, after all, making money off the backs of 12-year-olds. I have nothing against Little League -- I once coached it -- but I have no clue as to why anyone other than coaches or parents would want to watch it. It's actually pretty boring; the umpiring is usually terrible and the parents are nuts. And the best players are mostly the ones who've hit puberty first, and watching a six-foot teenager hit popups that go for home runs over a 200-foot fence isn't my idea of compelling viewing.

But I'm not entirely anti-Little League. The Nintendo game was pretty awesome. With an unmatched combination of speed and power, my Mexico team couldn't be beat:

Labels: baseball

An '07 resolution has been to enter more contests. While the strategy really just subjects you to an immense amount of losing, MJ was lucky enough to net a gift card from the Insurance Company earlier this month. So I guess it's my turn to carry my weight in all of this. Here's the mission:

Contest - Actober.com
The Immortal Postseason Moment - Hrbek's tag
The Cast - ??

Might as well turn yesterday's heartache into today's low-budget comedy. I'm seeing spaghetti and meatballs, the obligatory exaggerated tag turned pile-driver and a "language edited for tv" (think Boyz N The Hood on USA) spoof of the exchange between our hapless hero Gant and the married-to-the-mob ump. I need a Hrbek, a Gant, an Ump and a Corrales. Where're my thespians? Or should I just do a jib-jab?

Labels: baseball, ideas, Things I'll never do

I posted this originally on my fantasy baseball league's message board but wanted to include it on Blah, Blah for posterity. Whether Jason Jenning’s mound mastery leads to the Stros tumble to the bowels of the senior circuit or just really screwed up a decent fantasy week for the Magnificent Maracas, I’ll forever be reminded of my Jennings-induced anxiety.


OK, so the slaughtering Jason Jennings took yesterday apparently isn't all that rare. In fact, according to JJ's flaming Y! note, some dude allowed 11 1st inning runs just last year for the KC Royals.

You know what? I hope this Jennings thing is a sign that the Astros are soon to be the new Royals... 20 years of ineptness, nary an all-star, laughing stock of the league.

I can't think of another MLB franchise I'd rather see suffer through pathetic season after pathetic season than Houston. They put a hill in center field for crying out loud! And every time I see them on TV, there's dumpy old "this is working out well for them" Babs Bush perched just over the batter's shoulder. And George senior popping peanuts, chirping with his oil cronies... get 'em off my screen! When this godforsaken franchise burns like Enron remember... Jason Jennings lit the fire!!!

Labels: baseball, rants

So maybe the Buccos inauspicious start to yesterday’s tilt with the Phils is hardly throwing 10-foot pitch-outs, but I can’t pass up a chance to chip away at TK’s high-horse and toss around a FloodWord.

With NFL preseason action right around the corner, I thought I’d flip on the Pirates/Phillies contest yesterday to start off one last MLB doubleheader (the Braves/D-backs match-up was slated for a 4:30 start.) The following series of unfortunate events promptly ended the cable-box’s afternoon:

Top 1: Pirates 2B Freddy Sanchez was caught straying too far from bag 1 and thrown out by Phillies C Carlos Ruiz to end the inning.

Bottom 1: New Phillies 2B Iguchi pulled a ball down the right field line. What might have been a close play at 2nd turned into an easy 2-bagger for Iguchi as Pirates RF Xavier Nady failed to cut off the ball prior to it getting to the wall.

Bottom 1: Following his single to center, J-Roll advanced to 2nd as Pitt CF Nate McClouth airmailed the cut-off man with a throw going all the way to the plate, even though Iguchi stopped at 3rd and wasn’t really a threat to score on the play.

Bottom 1: Iguchi scored on a wild pitch (passed ball in my opinion).

Bottom 1: Power button.

Don't get me wrong, this nonsense doesn't push me to hate the game. I still checked in to the Braves blow-out win over Zona later that evening. I just think I've learned my lesson with P-Burgh. I think it's time to fax Jim Tracy a blueprint of the clubhouse, highlighting the door in Bucco gold.

Labels: baseball

Todd, Travis and I embarked on our biennial journey to PNC Park for a Pirates game last month. It's always fun to dig into our collective 80's baseball memory during the car ride, no matter how many inaccuracies we find later on baseball-reference.com.

Once again the guys were kind enough to settle on a Pirates/Braves tilt and this year the Braves actually pulled out a W for me. Chuck James took a no-no into the 6th and Scott Thorman highlighted the offensive attack with a shot over that short-porch in right. Chipper Jones led the team in signatures as he began an untimely stint on the DL.

The Bucs first of many mistakes was benching Ronny Paulino on Ronny Paulino bobblehead night. Their 2nd mistake was rolling out the Ace of Diamonds to make what would be his second-to-last start of the season (career?). Base-running mistakes, fielding errors and the general hilarity of Jason Bay navigating left ensued.

I slapped some of my photos from the game behind the artwork of the 1985 Topps baseball card design because, well, I can get bored. Interestingly enough, when researching the dimensions of baseball cards, I discovered a shout-out to York, PA on Wikipedia's baseball cards entry... something about York Caramel producing cards in 1927. Point #1: Not a bad year to have a Yankees team set, eh? Point #2: York... it's a baseball town!

Labels: baseball, research, road-trips

Next time you're at Ruby Tuesday's - the Galleria Mall edition - be sure to request the Ken Howell table, if only because there is one.

MJ surprised me by stopping by The Institute on my birthday and treating me to lunch at Ruby's. As we perused the menu, started feeding Mallory, and began discussing the spectacular plans she had in store for the rest of the weekend, I became distracted by the wall decor next to our table. The Tommy Greene autographed 8x10 I reluctantly accepted since he threw a no-hitter for the Phils in the early 90's. But that other photo, I couldn't even remember the guy's name. Ken Harvey I kept thinking, but realized he was a more recent player. I recognized him as a late 80's Philly arm... Ken Holland maybe? Ken Dixon?

The first order of business upon returning to the office was a trip to baseball-reference.com where Ken Howell appeared on the '89 Phillies page. Not a bad season either - he led all Phightin' starters in wins, ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched, and set a team record for wild pitches in a game with five... numbers undoubtedly making the famous Ken Howell worthy of wall space at Ruby Tuesday's... 18 years later.

Labels: baseball, MJ wants to be on my blog more

April 20, 1976... One of my favorite stats of this day has always been that it marked the date Mike Schmidt hit career home run number 100. Schmidt's home run prowess early in that '76 season has become newsworthy of late, associated with Alex Rodriguez's season opening fireworks display. Schmidtty's 11 bombs in his first 12 games that year made him the fastest in history to 10 in a season, withstanding even A-Rod's impressive run. Thanks to BaseballReference.com, we can take a closer look at Schmidt's early '76 efforts...

That magical #100 was launched in Pittsburgh off Pirates southpaw John Candelaria in the 4th inning, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead in a game they would win 5-1. Schmidt batted in the 6-hole that day and his was the game's only big fly. Proof that the Phils have always driven their fans mad, catcher Bob Boone followed the homerun with a double, advanced to 3rd on a sac bunt, then was thrown out by the Candy Man in an attempt to steal home! Bob Boone averaged 2 steals per season throughout his career, and 2.5 caught stealings per season. (How long until I can read "CS: B Boone (2, Home by J Candelaria/M Sanguillen)" on BaseballReference.com and have it linked to a press clipping further explaining such an incomprehensible act?)

The game that seems to have cemented Michael Jack Schmidt into the record books as the fastest to 10 home runs in a season was the Phillies 5th game of the '76 season, a wild 18-16 win at Wrigley Field. Schmidt connected 4 times off Cubs pitching, accounting for 4 runs, 5 hits, and 8 rbi in total. The Phillies scored 14 of their 18 after the 7th inning. Father of Nick Swisher, Steve, singled in 2 runs for the Cubbies in the bottom of the 9th off father of Tim McGraw, Tug, to send the game to extra innings.

Despite the fast start, ol' #20 only tallied 38 home runs in that 1976 campaign. An extended homerless drought between May 21 and June 9 coupled with a stretch of only 1 long-ball between August 20 and September 12 prevented Schmidt from breaking the team record of 43 homeruns in a season, set by Chuck Klein in 1929. 3 years later, Schmidt would break that record with 45 dingers, then break his own record the following year with 48. In 2006, league MVP Ryan Howard outslugged the hall-of-famer by 10. Nevertheless, Mike Schmidt finished 3rd in NL MVP voting in 1976, was an all-star, a gold-glover, and led the senior circuit in total bases and home runs.

BaseballReference.com makes one more relevant connection especially interesting to me. Mike Schmidt was 26 years old in 1976 and the one career in the entire history of baseball most closely resembling Schmidtty's through age 26 was Ron Gant's. Their runs, hits, doubles, triples, batting averages and slugging percentages were very close. Schmidt had more homers, Gant countered with more steals. Not sure if Mike had a dirt bike though.


Amazing... after writing all of this and wondering who in the world would ever find it interesting, my friend Chris (of Yuck fame) just emailed me to let me know his wife gave birth to their first child earlier this morning, a boy. Seeing how Lukas has no choice but to be a huge Philly fan like his pops, maybe the post has an audience after all.

Labels: baseball

While John Kerry goes to bat for cable subscribing baseball fans and the MLB tries to take their Extra Innings exclusively to DirecTV, I've done a little research to get a feel for the ball-and-stick coverage we're "stuck" with. For those Comcast subscribers in the South Central PA area the news is actually pretty good, especially for the senior circuit fans. We can expect to see the following:

• 162 Orioles games on MASN/MASN2
• 161 Nationals games on MASN/MASN2
• 118 Pirates games on FSN
• 70 Braves games on TBS
• 70 Cubs games on WGN
• 46 Phillies games on UPN

These numbers do not consider blackouts (I'm sure there will be a few). This also does not consider ESPN/ESPN2 Yankees/Red Sox or WGN White Sox telecasts.

Download the spreadsheet I compiled for the bulleted teams/networks above by clicking here.

Labels: baseball, tv

I received a postcard last week announcing the addition of MASN2 to my channel lineup in order to make all Orioles and Nationals baseball games available on cable this season. The card got tossed before the details sank in, and I wanted to clarify things since I often get direct mail from Comcast and Verizon that promote things that do not apply to me.

After my inside connection (Flood) dropped the ball, I thought I'd use one of them web-forms Comcast provides on their web site (since the actual information isn't included on their web site) figuring my chances of receiving an actual response were slim. I was wrong:

Dear Brett,

Thank you for contacting Comcast Cable.

MASN has launched two channels ? MASN and MASN 2. The second channel, MASN 2 was created to ensure that fans of the Orioles and Nationals could see their favorite team play, even when they were both playing the same day at about the same time. These are being launched on your channel line-up on March 29, 2007.

- The Orioles and Nationals each play 162 games, often at the same time.
- To accommodate and ensure fans can see their favorite team, MASN has scheduled more than 200 games on its main channel, MASN.
- An additional 100+ games will appear on MASN 2

MASN is a 24 x 7 sports network, and airs on channel 62 at all times in your area.

MASN 2 is an ?overflow? channel for Nationals/Orioles games that overlap and, as such, will have only occasional, live pre-game, game, and post-game programming.

TV Guide Channel and MASN 2 will now share channel space at channel 8 in your area. What this means is that when there is an overlapping game, pre-game shows, the game and post-game programming will air on channel 8 where TV Guide Channel normally appears. At all other times, this channel will deliver TV Guide Channel programming.

Digital customers who want 24 x 7 access to TV Guide Channel need not worry ? TV Guide Channel is available in its entirety with 100% TV Guide Channel programming at all times on channel 100 for TV Guide.

* Note: The interactive program guide will display ?MASN 2? on the analog TV Guide Channel and ?TV Guide? on channel 100, the full time TV Guide Channel digital channel.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Shawn
Comcast Customer Care Specialist

Thorough. And I received this response in less than an hour after submitting the form.

Labels: baseball, props

Possible marketing slogans for the 2007 Magnificent Maracas:

• No runs, no ribs, no ERRORS!
• Just Nook it
• We're the Magnificent with the sensational style
• Our manager has no idea what he's doing... but neither did Don Muraco's!
  
• What a tangled web of ties we'll weave

Basically, I've got a few burners and reserves on offense, maximizing my odds of winning the SB and E categories. On the mound I've got the 2 best closers in the senior circuit and a stable of veteran starters with a few young guns sprinkled in. My dream is to play to a 5-5 tie every week and let the chips fall where they may in the post-season. My reality is that I'll average 4 wins per week and miss the playoffs by 8 to 10 games.

Labels: baseball

Thanks to this new tool on www.baseball-reference.com, we know for sure that:

Mets Reliever Alejandro Pena struck out Geronimo Pena swinging on 3 pitches in the bottom of the 8th inning in a tie ball game with 1 on and 1 down at Busch Stadium on June 1st, 1991.

and

Ron Gant was a .273 hitter in 11 plate appearances against Nolan Ryan, launching his 1st career homerun and later his 1st career go-ahead homerun off the Ryan Express. Of course, Will Clark touched up Ryan 6 times in his career, more than any other batter, and also recorded his 1st career shot off Nolan, a blast in the top-half of the 1st inning of the Giants' 1986 season.

Sick. Browse at your own risk.

Labels: baseball

Since I was mostly asleep for the last two innings, I’ll remember the Endy Chavez catch as the 2006 baseball season’s final moment. What a catch it was… conjuring up memories of Otis Nixon scaling to rob Andy Van Slyke. Also, after being billed as the worst pitcher to ever grip a baseball, it was nice to see Oliver Perez pitch well. But alas, I’ve grown tired of watching teams I couldn’t care less about, so I’m turning my attention to...

Next week: Blah, Blah, Blog’s NBA Countdown Week will tip off with a tape-delayed blog of the String Bean Basketball League III Draft.

Labels: baseball

• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 1: The first thing I noticed about these ’06 MLB playoffs was the sun in San Diego. Some of the Padres/Cards NL Divisional Round games started in either the 11:00 or 12:00 hours, earlier than regular season day games in SD. This created shadows entirely new to the hitters causing them to struggle, according to the game announcers. The Padres offense struggles enough as it is, why change the game conditions during their most important games of the season?
  
  
• Zzzzzz: Is it me, or has this been the least compelling group of playoff teams in recent memory? The Dodgers, Mets, Cardinals… all the AL teams except the Yankees. Everyone’s rooting for the Tigers, but I’m not sure “because they usually are terrible” is a good enough reason to get excited.
  
  
• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 2: Again to the Padres/Cards NLDS… Prior to the game, a talking head actually said something to the effect of: “Jake Peavy’s pitching tonight, he’s their ace. If he can get them 6 solid innings, the Padres will have a shot.” This is a common theme during these playoffs, starting pitchers only being expected to pitch 5 or 6 innings. In fact, the Mets are hoping for 4 solid from Oliver Perez in tonight’s game 7. And to think Orel Hershiser had to analyze some of these performances.
  
  
• Psycho: Steve Lyons getting canned may have been the most interesting postseason storyline to date. In my opinion, he was just partaking in that silly “we’re buddies so we rib each other” thing that sportscasters do. The cool thing about reading the Steve “Psycho” Lyons articles was that it reminded me of my favorite skateboard: “Psychotic."
  
  
• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 3: With Detroit already advancing to the World Series, and the New York Mets favorites to do so tonight, we’re looking at the season’s most important baseball being played in the Northeast in October, maybe even November. This is absurd. How can teams play approx. 90% of their season’s schedule under certain weather conditions, then play the championship in entirely different weather conditions.
  
  
• Willie and Tony Brought Me Back: Despite all these gripes, I’m unfortunately still plugged in thanks to managerial decisions over the last two NLCS games. First, LaRussa pinch hit LHPH Chris Duncan (a sandwich pick!) vs. the Mets LHRP Feliciano late in game 5 and the rookie smacked a homerun to pad the Cardinals lead. Then, last night Willie Randolph inserted RHRP Guillermo Mota into the game to face LHPH Chris Duncan and the rook bounced into an inning ending double-play, giving Mota the elusive Hold. These decisions are unconventional and should possibly be considered “What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 4, ” however I found the moves refreshing. I guess it’s as close to “expect the unexpected” that predictable baseball has to offer.

Labels: baseball, rants

That includes David Wells. The San Diego Padres pitcher missed a start last night with Chris Rock's favorite disease. Catch episode 15 of Everybody Hates Chris for an excellent Gout infomercial. Also, DVR the season premier of Chris this Sunday. Attn The CW: That 7:00 start-time is, well, risky.

As for the Padres, their win without Boomer Wells helped to create what is becoming a 3-race final week in the NL. St. Louis' Central lead is down to 2.5 over the surging Houston Astros, San Diego holds a 2 game lead over LA in the West, and those Dodgers are even with the Phils for the Wild-Card berth. Remember, should a West division team win the WC, they'll face the Metropolitans in the post-season's first round. Should the Phils fight to win the 4th seed, they will not square off against the Mets since they're in the same division. I'm rooting for Mets/Padres, Cardinals/Phillies match-ups.

Labels: baseball, tv

Time for some more TWIB Notes as the NL Wild Card race is heating up...

Braves continue to roll after 7-2 road trip
That's good enough for the 3rd best road-trip record posted during their 15-year run. What got me going the last few nights while the ATL was disposing of the Phizzlin' Phils were the E-A-G-L-E-S chants overheard from the Phillie crowd. That's why they're the best (or at least funniest) fans in sports.

Redlegs make strange deals, continue impressive Wild Card run
I'm not sure dealing young, highly productive bats for off and on middle relievers is a good idea, but Cincy hasn't lost a step on the field. Relief pitchers' confidence and effectiveness seems to come and go so quickly, while "No, Not That" Felipe Lopez and Austin "Boom-Boom" Kearns really helped make that Reds lineup holeless. Acquiring Eddie Guardado looks like a great move though, as he has yet to blow a save.

But what about Sutcliffe?
Harold Reynolds is out at ESPN, but what about Rick Sutcliffe? Sure Sut is jolly and happy to be calling games for the "Evil Empire*", but inaccuracies like "I think Vasquez needs to come clean with management about his injury" and "When you open up the newspaper tomorrow and look at the transactions, you'll see the Braves have made two - Marcus Giles to the DL and Jorge Sosa released" surely cannot be nullified by the occasional "Chuck James has all the makings of a quality starting pitcher - you'll soon see him in that rotation."

Actually, Rick Sutcliffe's untruthiness serves as "such a blessin'**" to those of us "eyeball deep***" in fantasy football research. Take it all with a grain of salt I guess because these heads can't talk that much and still say something.

* Kreider-ism
** Bender-ism
*** DebEllis-ism?

Labels: baseball

You will not be able to stay home brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
The Revolution will not be televised.

The votes are in and York's long-awaited minor league (not really) baseball team has been tagged Revolution (Flood's choice). I'm not sure York city or county could be known for "a sudden, radical, or complete change", but apparently there's some kind of connection. Other Revolutions:

New England Revolution
Greensboro Revolution

I have to admit that some of the material on the team's web site gets me a little excited about this club. The stadium location is really kind of cool - replacing an area historically known as The Swamp with a multi-million dollar baseball stadium is positive change. Maybe revolutionary. And the renderings of what the stadium will look like are impressive, complete with Brooks Robinson statue.

The Revolution will not be televised.
Will not be televised.
Will not be televised.
Will not be televised.
There will be no reruns brothers because the Revolution is live.

Labels: baseball, Revolution

I know exactly how Allen Heckard feels.

It's not easy having to share your identity with famous sports stars. The double-takes as you're walking down the street. The autograph requests. Kids wanting to see if you can catch up with their heater. It's all in a days work when you look just like Jackie Brandt.

Just like Jackie, I weigh 170 lbs., bat right, throw right, and was born in April. But c'mon people, JB's 5'11", clearly an inch shorter than me!

And to think folks say I am somehow bringing on all of this attention myself. Like I'm the only guy who walks around muttering things like "When I played, we didn't care that we only got paid $100 a week... we just loved the game" while sporting a vintage '58 Giants twill cap. Purely coincidental.

Now, thanks to Mr. Heckard's courage, I'm looking you up Jackie Brandt. You figure my age and you multiply that times the number of people under 40 who heard of you and divide that by how many times you led the league in triples and then I turn around and I figure I'm suing you for $248.11.

Labels: baseball, rants