Let there be light

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first night game to be played at Wrigley Field, making them the last franchise to install lights into their stadium. The Cubs celebrated this fact by playing a day game for the third game in a row.

Can you tell the difference

One is from MLB.com, one is from ESPN.com and both are from this year.

Can you find the difference?















[Ed. note: Curls]

Jeff Karstens perfect through 6

But the bigger stat is this: 69 pitches through 6 frames, 6-9 ground outs-fly outs.

Yeah, I'm back to being 13 years old.

Good starts in new homes

Interesting note after the big Manny-to-LA trade of last week: Every single offensive player involved has homered with their new clubs.

Jason Bay is off to an auspicious start, with a line of .364/.533/.818, and 2 runs in each of his three games played.

Manny has been even hotter, batting .615 with 2 homers and multiple hits in every game.

And then there are Andy LaRoche and Brandon Moss, who have stepped up from their Triple A roles with the Dodgers and Red Sox respectively to be directly injected into teh 5th and 6th spots of the Pirates offense. Together, they've combined for a .375 OBP, .526 SLG and 2 HR.

High fives all around.

Living a Lie: Off the Deep End

Living a Lie will be a weekly installment delving into the annals of the world of fantasy sports and will hopefully run until the end of the baseball season.

This is the first and last "Living a Lie" installment in July, as I was kind of stumped on material.

This installment will be about positional depth. Entering the season, second base was regarded as one of the thinnest fantasy positions there was. It was this fact that propelled Chase Utley (along with simply being great) to his Mike Piazza-esque first round ADP.

But as we near the 100-game mark, the position has proven to be much deeper than expected. Ian Kinsler, leading off in a remarkably potent Texas line-up, is currently the second ranked player in the League by Yahoo! rankings. Rounding out the top 50, other than Kinsler (2) and Utley (5), we have Brandon Phillips (16 HR, 22 SB), Dan Uggla (26 HR), and Dustin Pedroia (.314 AVG, 73 runs). In a 12-team league, that's 5 players performing like they deserve to picked in the first 4 rounds of a fantasy draft.

Moving further along, BJ Upton and Brian Roberts have provided a whole lot of speed (59 SB between them). Robinson Cano, Alexei Ramirez and Howie Kendrick seem to be putting together great fantasy second halves that will rival any of the aforementioned two-baggers. So that's already ten very solid options and I haven't even mentioned Ryan Theriot, Chone Figgins, Jeff Baker, Jose Lopez, Mike Aviles, Placido Polanco, Yunel Escobar, Orlando Hudson, and anyone else that I may have missed.

That is certainly enough talent to fill out a league.

Eephus is a funny word

Randy Johnson broke out the rarely seen "Eephus" pitch last week against the Giants, a floater that was so slow that it failed to register on the radar gun. (Video)

According to the NY Times baseball blog, though this pitch was unintentional, Johnson actually threw an Eephus pitch intentionally in 2005 once.

Johnson has mostly hidden his sense of humor since spring training. Yesterday’s game, however, was such a laugher that Johnson even smiled after lobbing an Eephus pitch to Sal Fasano in the third inning. Johnson let it go when he noticed catcher John Flaherty was confused about where to set his target.

I'm sure that hilarity ensued.

[Bats]

Wilpon admits he is a screwup

The owner of the Mets had something interesting to say yesterday, namely that he screwed up in his method of firing Randolph at night. Next up admitting he should never have fired Randolph in the first place?

More than just an exorcism

So I was randomly thinking about the Rays today (very random because they haven't played a game in almost a week) when I realized that another motivation behind their name change during the offseason might have been that they were tired of their players having "TBD" as their listed team.

Noooooooooooooooo

Despite our efforts being heeded, we still have to settle for... ugh, Justin Morneau and Evan Longoria.

Aching hamstring leads Ichiro to pass on Derby [The Seattle Times]

Big News for Big Sexy

Big news everyone, your favorite Big Sexy Star Richie has fallen out of favor with his team. Big sexy has been released, so is he now little sexy? Or rather big black hole?

Chime in, and let us know what Sexson should be called.

Someone agrees with us!

Bugs and Cranks has started a petition to include Ichiro in the Home Run Derby. As you might remember, I asked for this a week and a half ago, but I didn't get the spike associated with being included in St. Andrew's Net [edit: And Morning Constitutional].

More on that post, it tentatively looks like I got my wish with the Ryans Braun and Howard, though I am basing this on the fact that they are among the listed participants on the Home Run Derby Wikipedia page, which also includes Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Cairo, and somewhat more reasonable but still unlikely Magglio Ordonez. Wikipedia also doesn't care that though only there are only eight participants in a home run derby, they've listed 10 people.


Upon doing further research, I have learned that 6 participants (Sizemore, Hamilton, Uggla, Utley, and Braun) have confirmed, while the last two spots are up for grabs. Please let one of them be Ichiro?

Best sentences I've read in a while

Unlike working in the sports internet industry, where being effeminate and soft is expected, when you’re a pro ballplayer, you must maintain a perception of badass, over-the-top masculinity, lest anyone think you’re -- god forbid! -- gay. There are, however, two simple ways to kill this perception: 1) Use lotion to moisturize during a game, 2) Grab said lotion out of your Hello Kitty backpack.

[The Sporting Blog]

Twins Taste the Japenese Sushi (Live Blogging the Monday Night National Game)

Derby aspirations

Today, Alex Rodriguez said that he was not going to participate in this year's Home Run Derby, claiming that the event would mess with his swing.

In honor of this decision, I'm going to list the 8 players I would most like to see in this year's festivities, but probably won't be present. (Note the death of the royal "we." Leitch is gone, so I guess I shouldn't use that anymore).

American League

Ichiro: This guy has possibly the sweetest swing in baseball, and I've surprisingly never seen him play in person, but rumor has it he does nothing but hit bombs in BP. He put on an offensive show during the World Baseball Classic, so we know he has some untapped power in him. Who knows, maybe participating will rejuvenate his meager .293 batting average.

Bobby Abreu: He's probably not going to make the All-Star team, but that doesn't necessarily disqualify him for the Home Run Derby. This is the first year that he has really put together a good season since he last participated, so why pass up the opportunity to ruin his swing another time for the sake of nothing more than our entertainment?

Marcus Thames: This guy does nothing but hit jacks, as he was second to JD Drew in June with 10 home runs despite only having 19 hits in the month. I'm curious as to what he'd do if he didn't have to worry about things like moving the runner along and working the count.

Jack Cust: The truest Three Outcomes guy in the biz, this guy knows how to take a pitch. Believe me he'll know which pitch to send into the stands if you give him the chance. Let's not forget how he came into the league last year also, hitting 6 home runs in his first 7 major league games.

National League

Ryan Braun: Who am I kidding, if he isn't in the Derby, something is wrong. I saw him at Fenway for the first time earlier this year and the ball just exploded off his bat. I haven't seen a swing like that since Manny.

Alfonso Soriano: For no other reason that it would mean that he is healthy again and ready to be activated on my fantasy team.

Cody Ross: See Marcus Thames

Ryan Howard: Yes, he's definitely there, but what I really want to see is if he whiffs at a 70 mph BP fastball.

Clearly, I don't really care about the National League.

Live Blogging the nationally televised game.

Live Blog- Phillies vs Bosox June 16

Or can the phillies score 20 on colon, and how funny will his swings be?

7:46- philles up 3-0 with rollins and shane on base in the 2nd, on pace for 20 runs so far

Curt Schilling doesn't think soccer is a sport

I'm not a big fan of 38 pitches, but Schill does have a way with words, and mustered together a great post giving us a very casual fan's inside look into the NBA Finals.

One note, though. Here is his closing paragraph:

"Anyway, what a rush and a total enjoyment to be a part of. Celtic fans were damn impressive. Oh and one more thing. I think it’s fantastic that there seems to be this mutual support thing going on here in NE. You fans are being treated to your third World Championship appearance since last October and that’s awesome. But at each one there seems to be a crossover, Celts and Sox at the Super Bowl, Pats, Bruins and Celts at the World Series, and last night Sox and Pats all over the place. Cool stuff."

Correction: New England has actually enjoyed four championship appearances since last October, if you count the Revs losing to the Dynamo for the many-eth time in a row (granted, MLS Championship != World Championship as much as the other sports). I guess no Celts, Sox, or Pats were on site for that one.

Wishful Thinking

Saw this note today on Yahoo!

"May 30 Nick Peicoro, of The Arizona Republic, reports Arizona Diamondbacks OF Eric Byrnes (hamstrings) said on The Arizona Republic's Dan Bickley's radio show Friday, May 30, that he has tears in each of his hamstrings. However, Byrnes is hopeful he can return from the disabled list in around two weeks."

I guess "hopeful" is right.

The Deal is Real

Photo by Flickr user mwlguide used under a Creative Commons license.

Jay Bruce followed up his stellar debut with a relatively pedestrian, but still impressive 1/3 performance, with a double, a stolen base, and 2 walks.

The only real knock against him in the minors was a miserable K/BB rate of 47/15, but so far in his two games in the majors, he's drawn 4 walks while striking out nonce (yes, I used that word).

All I can say is that I'm glad he's on my fantasy team. For now (expect a follow up post soon).

Dusty likes them young

Photo by Flickr user Scott Ableman used under a Creative Commons license.

By now, you've undoubtedly heard every baseball blogger out there opine about The Deal's glorious debut.

3/3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.

You probably couldn't ask for more from someone who had his first legal alcoholic drink (I assume) 6 weeks ago.

So let's recap on the state of the Red's youngsters...

Jay Bruce: Heralded for the better part of the season as the second coming. Did nothing to disprove those claims yesterday.

Joey Votto: Owner of 10 man-jacks, good for second on the team, including 3 in one fateful game.

Edinson Volquez: Current MLB ERA leader at 1.31, on pace to shatter the all-time record for ERA+. Has given up more than 1 run in an outing exactly once (May 18 vs. Cleveland he gave up 2). Has struck out at least as many batters as innings pitched in all but 3 outings, leading to a ridiculous 11 K/9.

Johnny Cueto: Had possibly the most auspicious debut of the bunch, giving up 1 hit in 7 innings while striking out 10. Briefly made Reds fans forget about Homer Bailey.

So those are 4 rookies making a big splash for the Reds, and all I keep hearing about is how Dusty Baker is rookie-phobic.

Now, I admit I haven't followed the MLB very closely for long enough to know the historical merit of such statements, but I don't know if I believe it this year.

He definitely wasn't shy in giving Votto, Volquez, and Cueto prominent roles at the beginning of the season, once they showed that they earned it. The holdup for Bruce had nothing to do with Baker, and as soon as he was called up, Dusty put him directly into the 2-spot, which definitely does not show a lack of confidence in the kid.

He certainly didn't hold back Kerry Wood or Mark Prior in their rookie seasons, either.

Now, maybe these are circumstances in which the young kids are simply too good to hold back anymore, but I also think that possibly we don't cut ole' Dusty enough slack. Yes, during his 10-year stint in San Francisco, he developed exactly one everyday player (Rich Aurilia), but maybe that is a testament to the weakness of their farm system, not his managerial preferences.

One thing is for sure though. In a couple years, these Reds will be something to look out for.

Fantasy Dominance

I just realized that with all the awards having been announced, my fantasy team basically swept the NL.

Take a look at this:

I had the top three vote getters for NL MVP in Jimmy Rollins, Matt Holliday, and Prince Fielder.

I had the NL Rookie of the Year in Ryan Braun.

And I had the NL Cy Young in Jake Peavy.

It's almost needless to say that I won the league (especially considering the rest of my team included such role players as Grady Sizemore, Manny Ramirez, Paul Konerko, Brian Roberts, Carlos Zambrano, Erik Bedard, AJ Burnett, Barry Zito, etc.)