Baseball 2013

[derspiess]

Not only was that Bailey's second no hitter, no one else has thrown one since Bailey pitched his first.

Yeah, as they keep repeating on the radio here. You'd think the Reds just won the damned Series, the way everyone here is celebrating.

[dps]

Not only was that Bailey's second no hitter, no one else has thrown one since Bailey pitched his first.

Yeah, as they keep repeating on the radio here. You'd think the Reds just won the damned Series, the way everyone here is celebrating.

It's not like it would be less of an accomplishment if 4 other guys had thrown no-hitters since September.

[jimmy olsen]

Great gift! 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/twins-mariano-rivera-rocking-chair-made-broken-bats-040853093.html

Twins give Mariano Rivera rocking chair made of broken bats
By David Brown | Big League Stew – Wed, Jul 3, 2013 12:08 AM EDT

The Minnesota Twins perfected the practice of giving a meaningful, personalized gift to a star player on a retirement tour with Mariano Rivera in town Tuesday.

The Twins even named the rocking chair made of broken bats they gave to Rivera before playing the New York Yankees at Target Field: The Chair of Broken Dreams, they called it.

A brainchild of manager Ron Gardenhire, the chair is comprised of some of the actual bats broken by Rivera cut fastballs in games against the Twins. Sluggers such as Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau — even Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett — donated wood to the project. Now that's how you treat the all-time saves leader. (Although they probably could have built him a dinette set, if they wanted to.)

That's Glen Perkins (right) and Justin Morneau with Gardenhire on the mic and Rivera on the left.

The Twins also donated $10,000 to Rivera's charitable foundation, which surely made him happy, but perhaps not as happy as when he saw the chair:

Via MLB.com, Gardenhire explained his feelings for Rivera, who has 34 saves against the Twins of the 635 total in his career — including one Tuesday night that capped New York's 7-3 victory:

    "He's kind of done it all the right way," Gardenhire said of Rivera. "When you talk about respect of the game, he'll be right up there at the top. He's a player you respect, and the way he's gone about it. A classy individual."

Rivera, who has said he is retiring at the end of the season, has been given some neat gifts along his farewell tour:

    A surfboard and a bottle of wine in Oakland by the Athletics, a photo collage of himself along with a jar of Tiger Stadium dirt in Detroit, and a gold record of "Enter Sandman" by the Indians in Cleveland.

All thoughtful, and many unique. But if anybody tops the Twinkies and their rocking chair of broken bats, it'll be an upset.

[CountDeMoney]

That's pretty damned cool.

[MadBurgerMaker]

So the Cubs seem...not very good.  I mean, sure, it's only 5-2 in the bottom of the 6th, but it feels like the Pirates should be beating them by a fair bit more.

Jeff Samarzjijzjjzjiida or whatever the former Domer WRs name is was having some control issues and was walking a lot of guys, but hey, he made it out of the 6th despite walking two and all that.  He's not in anymore, of course.

[fhdz]

So the Cubs seem...not very good.  I mean, sure, it's only 5-2 in the bottom of the 6th, but it feels like the Pirates should be beating them by a fair bit more.

The Cubs are not at all good this year.

Jeff Samarzjijzjjzjiida or whatever the former Domer WRs name is was having some control issues and was walking a lot of guys.

That's irregular for him; he's usually quite good. His teammates just can't seem to manufacture the runs or play good defense.

[MadBurgerMaker]

That's irregular for him; he's usually quite good. His teammates just can't seem to manufacture the runs or play good defense.

The announcers were saying that too.  To be fair, some of the pitches that weren't called strikes seemed pretty....borderline...to me, could have gone either way, etcetcetc, although I'm just a dude sitting on the couch.  The score should actually be 4-2, but there was a bad call at first in the 5th inning that allowed a run to score.

[fhdz]

That's irregular for him; he's usually quite good. His teammates just can't seem to manufacture the runs or play good defense.

The announcers were saying that too.  To be fair, some of the pitches that weren't called strikes seemed pretty....borderline...to me, could have gone either way, etcetcetc, although I'm just a dude sitting on the couch.  The score should actually be 4-2, but there was a bad call at first in the 5th inning that allowed a run to score.

Especially now that Marmol's gone, whatever weaknesses the Cubs have (and they are myriad) they don't really include the pitching staff.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Hm.  Watched the O's closer totally blow the save vs. the Yankees, so that sucks, but hey the Rangers are up 10-4 over the Astros in the bottom of the 7th.  Maybe they won't blow this LIKE THEY DID THE LEAD IN THE AL WEST   

Let's go Buffalo Bills Rangers!

As a side note, I think now I like the blue/white uniforms of all types more than the red/whites.  Maybe.  I find all their uniform combos to be pretty solid, except for the font with those little notches or whatever all over the place.

[CountDeMoney]

Hm.  Watched the O's closer totally blow the save vs. the Yankees, so that sucks,

Yeah, he's having quite the Nuke LaLoosh season.  AL lead in saves, AL lead in blown saves, AL lead in mascots hit in the head.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Yeah, he's having quite the Nuke LaLoosh season.  AL lead in saves, AL lead in blown saves, AL lead in mascots hit in the head.

Now I want to watch Bull Durham again.  Have there been any good baseball movies made recently?

E:  I mean aside from 42.  I hear that one is solid, but gotta wait till it comes out on disc.  Moneyball was cool too, but I saw that one a while ago.

[Valmy]

E:  I mean aside from 42.  I hear that one is solid, but gotta wait till it comes out on disc.  Moneyball was cool too, but I saw that one a while ago.

Oh well that was the one to see.  Harrison Ford was pretty awesome as Branch Rickey.  I thought it was really good.

[Syt]

http://throughthefencebaseball.com/mlb-all-star-game-snubs/34967

MLB All-Star Game snubs upset first-place Braves; change voting process?

I love baseball and breathe it in every day. But I intentionally missed the MLB All-Star Game selection progam. I already knew who the All-Stars were going to be.

Every year, the players selected are players you see promoted every day on ESPN, MLB, FOX Sports, etc., and stats don't really matter. The players who get in aren't always the most deserving players, but not every deserving player can make the team because there aren't enough spots. What upsets me every single year, without fail, is when a few players are voted in over more deserving players.

In my opinion, the MLB All-Star Game voting process is broken, and Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson echoes my opinion on the snubbed Braves players:

"A lot of times, the better players are even left off the All-Star ballot altogether. And as players, we might have the opportunity to play in the World Series, I think we should determine which starting nine we put out there (in the All-Star game). Our livelihood and our season and our chances to win a World Championship (are affected by) that game."

More on that later.

First and foremost, I'm a Braves fan. Many of you will move on to another article and discredit everything I'm saying here, but the Braves were hit hard this year with MLB All-Star Game snubs.

Not much has been made of the Braves this year — not much press, not much of anything. A quiet, first-place team. Yes, first place. If the Braves end up losing the lead this year, most would not even believe the Braves held a lead because, as mentioned, no one is really covering them.

Still, the Braves are a first-place team, and they have been the whole year. The MLB All-Star Game is a representation of a great first half by the players representing it. The Braves have had a great first half. So, why do they have only one All-Star selection? And it's Craig Kimbrel, who just earned his third straight All-Star selection. Kimbrel is deserving and has 23 saves with a 1.72 ERA, but only one player from Atlanta? How can a team only have one selection and be in first place for the whole season so far? Only one player worthy? Perhaps they have a balanced team that is just well-rounded. ... Yeah.

So, let's run through the team.

Catcher - Brian McCann – .293 batting average, .378 OBP, .535 SLG, 10 home runs, 28 RBI.

First Base – Freddie Freeman – .307/.384/.466, nine home runs, 56 RBI.

Second Base - Dan Uggla – .204/.323/.420, 16 home runs, 39 RBI.

Third Base - Chris Johnson – .333/.376/.477, five home runs, 28 RBI.

Shortstop - Andrelton Simmons – .251/.287/.357, seven home runs, 29 RBI.

Outfield - Justin Upton – .247/.352/.444, 15 home runs, 39 RBI.

Outfield - B.J. Upton – .176/.271/.307, eight home runs, 19 RBI.

Outfield - Jason Heyward – .228/.325/.375, seven home runs, 20 RBI.

Starting Pitcher - Tim Hudson, 5-7, 4.03 ERA.

Starting Pitcher - Kris Medlen, 6-7, 3.11 ERA.

Starting Pitcher - Julio Teheran, 6-4, 3.23 ERA.

Starting Pitcher - Paul Maholm, 9-7, 3.81 ERA.

Starting Pitcher - Mike Minor, 8-4, 3.15 ERA.

Who do you think deserves to be on the All-Star team? Kimbrel is a lock. McCann and Freeman have put up stellar numbers, but not better than the reserves on the NL All-Star team. Although, Freeman does have an incredibly high RISP average, but more on him later. Who else? Justin Upton looked like an All-Star and even led the votes at one time. Now, he didn't even make the reserves. The pitching has been great, and with the exception of Minor, none were All-Star worthy. Perhaps this team does just play great together with some timely hitting and pitching.

Freeman, a final vote contender, said this when asked about competing with Yasiel Puig for the final spot: "Good luck with that, huh? He's already on the lead ESPN ticker."

Uggla mentioned this to the AJC about the chances of Freeman beating Puig:

"Nobody has a chance. He's been getting covered since he broke in. And he should be getting covered; he's an exciting story. But should he make the All-Star team? No, not this year. But he's going to make it. Which sucks for Freddie and other (final vote) guys, because they've been doing it the whole year."

He's exactly right. Why isn't ESPN and MLB running campaigns for the other guys? As Hudson said, this shouldn't be a popularity contest. It's about who performs better and is most deserving to be there. For the first place Braves, the All-Star game means a lot. It effects the World Series and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Courtesy of the AJC again, here is what Uggla, a three-time former All-Star who was voted to start in the game last summer, said about the issue:

"If they wanted to start making it matter, they should let the players vote and get the right guys in. But they made it a fans' game. The fans are going to vote in who they want in. Which is fine. They just need to change that to where this game doesn't matter. It needs to be fun."

Should MLB change the voting process, or should it make the All-Star Game just a "fun" game with no strings attached?

[CountDeMoney]

People had it up to here with the Braves in the 90s.  Fuck 'em.

[derspiess]

People had it up to here with the Braves in the 90s.  Fuck 'em.

Yep, with a rusty spoon.

I'm generally pleased with the All-Star selections.