Random Collection of #MLB thoughts re: April 26 in the MLB

Toronto Blue Jay Brandon Morrow gave up no hits on Saturday versus the Boston Red Sox.  Morrow did however give up EIGHT walks in 2 and 2/3 innings.  To make matters worse, Blue Jay reliever Chad Jenkins (making his 1st appearance of 2014) gave up homeruns to the first two batters he faced.  At the end of the 3rd inning the Boston Red Sox line read 6 runs on 2 hits. EEP!


So did Ryan Braun take out Jean Segura OR did Segura aimlessly wander into his bat? http://m.mlb.com/video/v32407589/chcmil-segura-leaves-the-game-with-an-injury/?partnerId=as_mlb_20140427_22756654  OBVIOUSLY, if Braun always does his bat stretching at the top step of the dugout (as the announcer states in the clip), then it's on Segura for not paying attention.  Agree or disagree? 


Chicago White Sox Adam Dunn, the king of all or nothing at the plate, is batting .265 in 68 AB.  Dunn is 35 and is part of a three headed monster which features the future in Jose Abreu and the past in Paul Konerko.  Indulging in a game of wannabe GM, the only team that might even be remotely interested in an aging power hitter would be the Milwaukee Brewers who are platooning 37 year old Lyle Overbay and 33 year old Mark Reynolds (if ever there was an Adam Dunn clone it's Reynolds - - minus the height).  Wouldn't you love to see Dunn's bat in Miller Park?


The Minnesota Twins beat Detroit Tigers Saturday.  If the Twins win again on Sunday against the Tigers, that would put them in a tie for first place in the AL Central.  On March 27th if you would have told me on April 27th the Twins would be playing for a share of first place, I would have sent you to live these folks.


Continuing with my look at All Star balloting, here's the three separate submissions in respect to second baseman. 

1. American League - Howie Kendrick, Ben Zobrist, Robinson Cano
2. National League - - Anthony Rendon, Chase Utley, DJ LeMahieu

Random Collection of MLB Thoughts re April 25

Which 6-5 game ending was more exciting?  The walk off grand slam by Jose Abreu lifting the Chicago White Sox over the Tampa Bays 9-6 OR the bases loaded, one out, great defensive solo doubleplay by Justin Smoak to preserve a 6-5 win for the Seattle Mariners over the Texas Rangers?


The Anaheim Angels did something Friday night they did not do all of 2013.  In 2013, the Angels had 11 games where they scored 10+ runs, all of which featured at least one Mike Trout hit.  Trout went 0-4 versus the Yankees while his Angels went on to win 13-1.


The last two big name pitchers to sign during the off-season are having very different starts to their 2014 seasons.  On March 12th, the Atlanta Braves signed Ervin Santana to one year deal.  After a win Friday night versus Cincinnati, Santana improved to 3-0 on the season with a 1.95 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.  On Feb 18th, the Baltimore Orioles signed Ubaldo Jimenez to a four year deal.  After a loss Friday night versus Kansas City, Jimenez is now 0-4 on the season with a 6.59 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP.


The MLB has opened up its All Star Voting ballots.  I figured it would be fun to fill out 3 ballots completely differently and share my votes one position at a time.  Starting with first base, my American League selections are:

1. Miggy Cabrera - - the letters MVP gloss over numbers that may not currently lead the league
2. Albert Pujols - - power resurgence has been fun to watch
3. Jose Abreu - - batting average is starting to come around, his aptitude for multi HR games also

National League Selections are:

1. Paul Goldschmidt - - without him the Arizona Diamondbacks would be completely lost
2. Joey Votto - - the problem with on-line ballot voting is that it allows for "ballot box stuffing", being Canadian, Mr. Votto always gets my first.
3. Justin Morneau - - see "Joey Votto", at least this season Morneau is "earning" the vote  

Random Collection of Thoughts re: April 15 in MLB



"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives" ~Jackie Robinson.

Brett Lawrie of the Toronto Blue Jays hit a grand slam Tuesday versus the Minnesota Twins.  Why is that noteworthy?  The runners on base were all WALKED!  I'm trying to work in a joke about some of the Blue Jay players wearing balaclavas on a night the temperature hovered around 0 degrees Celsius to defend the Twins relief pitcher but I just can't defend back-to-back-to-back walks.


On Monday night during the 8th inning of their game, the Colorado Rockies walked the bases loaded then made two throwing errors to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  On Tuesday night, the Rockies gave up a leadoff single then with two outs walked the bases loaded.  Are the Rockies in the business of giving away wins to the San Diego Padres?  As Buzz Lightyear would say, "NOT TODAY!".  The Rockies held on to win 3-2.


My apologies to the Milwaukee Brewers and specifically relief pitcher Jim Henderson.  In his first appearance since praising him for his good start to 2014, the St. Louis Cardinals would put three up on the board against him.  Makes me nervous to praise Oakland A's relief pitcher Jim Johnson on his second straight win and his 3rd straight solid outing after losing his closer title.


The 10 homerun suspended game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds was played out Tuesday night and won by a RBI single in the 7th from the Pirates catcher Russell Martin.  Well that was anticlimactic!!  The Reds would win the scheduled regular Tuesday night game to even the series.  Going into Wednesday's matinee at Pittsburgh, if the Reds were to lose that would be 5 straight series to start the season which they dropped 2-1 which equals T-R-O-U-B-L-E.


You know the cliché "mama said there would be days like this" Boston Red Sox rookie shortstop Xander Bogaerts had one of those Tuesday night.  0-4 at the plate with a hat-trick in strikeouts and the game ending throwing error giving the Chicago White Sox the win.  The Red Sox fall to 5-9 to start 2014 which is a stark contrast to the 10-4 start they had in 2013. 

One Series From Every Division to Look Forward to This Weekend

AL EAST - - Red Sox vs Yankees


The Yankees took the 1st game of the four game series on Thursday.  If the Red Sox were not World Series champs, the nod for AL East series of the weekend would have went to the Blue Jays vs Orioles.  I can't imagine the Red Sox not making the playoffs in 2014 but this weekend could start rubbing the sticks together to start that fire.


AL CENTRAL - - Indians vs White Sox


Remember to the 2012 Baltimore's Orioles and their improbable playoff berth?  That's exactly how I feek about the Cleveland's run to the playoffs last season.  Much like the O's failed to make consecutive post season appearances, the same fate awaits the Tribe. My bold prediction is that the White Sox that will challenge them for 3rd place in the division.  The series began Thursday night with the Sox breaking a 14 game losing streak against the Tribe...a sign of things to come!


AL WEST - - A's vs Mariners


"To the man, you've gotta beat the man" Ric Flair The Mariners lost 2 of 3 in Oakland to the A's and (pardon the exaggerated tone in April) can ill-afford to do the same during this weekend's series at Safeco Field.


NL EAST - - Nationals vs Braves


The sexy pick last season to win the AL East was the Nationals.  The sexy pick to possibly knock the Braves out of first place in 2014 is again the Nationals.  The Nats lost 2 of 3 against the Braves in Washington.  Sure it's their only two losses of the season but feasting on teams like the Miami Marlins and New York Mets only makes you pretenders not contenders.


NL CENTRAL - - Cubs vs Cardinals


The argument here is simple, the Cubs hold the power in the NL Central to decide who wins the division.  The Cardinals play their first three of 19 games versus the Cubbies after seeing the Pittsburgh Pirates took 4 of 6 from Chicago.  If Chicago finds a way to take two games this weekend...who am I kidding!


NL WEST - - Tigers vs Padres


This may not be an inter-divisional game but this series has me wondering, how do the Tigers not sweep the Padres?  Porcello, Verlander, Scherzer pitching in the cavernous Petco Park against a team that has scored only 20 runs in 9 games this season.  If the Padres find a way to take 2 of 3, Royals fans should cry if they don't take 2 of 3 from Twins and make up a game on the Tigers "the easy way".

Random Collection of Thoughts re: April 8 in MLB

The San Francisco Giants won their game this afternoon.  Professional reporters will tell you it was in part because of a good outing from Tim Hudson and other valid baseball reasons.  I'm telling you they won from the good karma they promoted when they brought back "Batkid" to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.  If you do not know the story of "Batkid", please re-new your faith in humanity by clicking this link


How does Cincinnati Red Joey Votto break out of an 0-13 slump?  He wears a Mountie uniform on the show "Intentional Talk".  Votto was hit by a pitch in his first at bat and hit singles in the 3rd and 5th inning.


The New York Yankees won their home opener then got shellacked today in game two of the series.  Game 3 versus Baltimore features Masahiro Tanaka's 2nd MLB start.  For those fans who want to believe the Yankees will finish higher in the AL East than the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday's game is about as "must win" as the series opener celebrating the home kickoff of Derek Jeter's farewell tour.


The Miami Marlins impressively built a 5-2 record versus two clubs that finished 2013 with 74 wins and 76 wins respectively.  Their first game of 2014 versus an opponent with a winning record from 2013, a 5-0 loss to the Washington Nationals.  If the Marlins get swept by the Nationals during these three games in Washington then again next week in the re-match series in Miami, all playoff prognostications for the Fish should read, "nope, not happening".


Going into this three game series in Colorado, the Chicago White Sox had a 5-1 lifetime record at Coors Field.  The Sox got hammered on Monday but Tuesday night put enough air miles on the baseball to almost fly around the world.  SIX HOMERUNS including Jose Abreu's first two in the Majors.

MLB Nuggets - - PED Penalty Question, World Series Nifty Realization, Tigers Find, Twins Lost, Harper Mad,

The following is the reported new penalties being worked on for players using performance enhancing drugs (PED's).  A first time offense would be 100 games instead of 50 unless it was "unintentional".  A second time offense would be 162 games instead of 100, again unless it was "unintentional".  Third time is a lifetime ban which is also the current penalty. 


Here's what I find interesting, the MLB (much like the NFL) gives itself the power to be judge, jury & executioner.  Therefore they decide if the players use of PED's was "unintentional" or not.  So if a star player gets caught with a PED in their system but no major firm or pharmacy or scandal is linked to the sale of steroids to said star player, does it automatically just become "unintentional"?


Did you know that since the turn of the 2000's the New York Yankees and St Louis Cardinals are tied with 4 World Series appearances while the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants are tied with 3 World Series appearances.  Here's a nifty realization, the 2005 World Series featured the two teams who finished as the bottom two teams in the American League last season, the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros.


A sneaky good signing was recently made by the Detroit Tigers.  The Tigers signed JD Martinez, cast away by the Houston Astros, to a minor league deal.  Martinez big league career started strong midway 2011 but like many hitters, pitchers learn their faults therefore learning how to get them out.  A fresh start in the Tigers organization should bring him back to the .274 batting average that had fans projecting so much good fortune for Mr. Martinez.


Have to feel sorry for the Minnesota Twins.  The Twins entered training camp with arguably the first and second overall prospects in baseball in tow.  Neither Byron Buxton nor Miguel Sano were expected to get much Major League play in 2014 but to have one suffer a wrist injury threatening the start of his season AND the other one to undergo Tommy John surgery ended his season, that's just terrible luck.


Need a friendly reminder that these exhibition games are not completely meaningless?  Bryce Harper got himself worked up enough that he got ejected from a spring training game.

MLB Tidbits & Gems

April 21, 2012 Philip Humber threw a Perfect Game for the Chicago White Sox.  22 months later, Humber is simply trying to win a job with the Oakland A's. 




Opening Day 2013, Justin Sellers was the starting shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  10 months later, he has been designated for assignment.  You probably thought your job was thankless!



Watching from the comforts of my couch in Edmonton, opinions of players are in many ways shaped and formed by how the media portrays the player.  I always got the feeling, even from his hometown commentators, that Barry Bonds was not the easiest person to like.  "Barry Bonds is scheduled to return to the organization in March, this newspaper has learned, serving as a special instructor for the Giants' hitters" See more at: http://www.prosportsdaily.com/articles/barry-bonds-will-be-spring-training-giants-instructor-291765.html#sthash.27PyflVr.dpuf Interesting!!




Staying with "media perception", Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds has released a two minute video "explaining" himself to the fans - - http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2893069007001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAACEa2yvk~,I3kckfVxEjenAeITDjThxucAtVSXPuHP&bctid=3237865925001&sf23115708=1&sf23117768=1
Thanks to Bill Baer of Hardballtalk!




Going to Barry Bonds' former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder Travis Snider has been cleared to throw again after injuring a finger on his left hand while cutting sweet potatoes.  I can't make this stuff up!