Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[Machado]

[JakeYonkel]

Why's that funny?

[Machado]

Why's that funny?

C'mon now, anybody can see the humor with the incident.

The celebrations themselves were a "big show" for years. Maybe now those will come to an end.

Sooner or later someone was going to get hurt during the celebrations at home plate. I'm just glad this did not happen to ARod or The Yankees in '09 because that story would have been discussed here heavily, at the expense of ARod and The Yankees.

Zito was quoted as saying that with spikes, home plate is like walking on ice.

Now that someone has finally suffered an injury during a walk-off celebration, next is an incident where a player/fan is struck by a shattered bat in the neck, leg, eye, arm, etc....

[Machado]

Halladay throws a perfect game. He's got to be loving the NL.

From ESPN.COM;
Many baseball fans would have loved to have had a ticket to see Roy Halladay throw a perfect game against the Marlins on Saturday. Starting today, the Marlins will give collectors a chance to do just that- after the fact. The Marlins plan to sell unused tickets to the game at face value, both online and through the Marlins' box office.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Halladay throws a perfect game. He's got to be loving the NL.

From ESPN.COM;
Many baseball fans would have loved to have had a ticket to see Roy Halladay throw a perfect game against the Marlins on Saturday. Starting today, the Marlins will give collectors a chance to do just that- after the fact. The Marlins plan to sell unused tickets to the game at face value, both online and through the Marlins' box office.

I'm trying to unload mine...mine's season ticket holders tix, and they have, of all people, Cameron Maybin on the ticket. Folks have sold their regular bland tickets to Philly phans for $50-$100!

[Machado]

Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Monday that Kendry Morales' broken leg is still too swollen for surgery and he hopes to have a definitive answer in the next week or so.

The star first baseman broke his left leg after hitting a game-ending grand slam in the 10th inning of the Angels' 5-1 victory against Seattle on Saturday.

Morales landed awkwardly when he jumped on home plate and twisted his left ankle. He lay on the ground for at least 10 minutes and waved his arms to the cheering fans as he was carted away. Morales was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The Angels will have a hard time replacing Morales' production: He led the team in home runs (11), RBIs (39) and batting average (.290). Morales finished fifth in MVP voting last November and was in the process of replicating, or improving on, most of his numbers.

But Los Angeles was told there's a chance Morales could return by the end of the season.

Team orthopedist Lewis Yocum said once surgery is performed Morales could begin putting weight on his leg within 4-6 weeks. After that, he would need to strengthen the leg and get into baseball activities, but the team is holding out hope that he could return in September.

[johnk5150]

Pirates are 7-1 v the Cubs this season.

[Machado]

ESPN.com news services
That fact Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley is going to be fired is inevitable; the only question is when, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Juan Samuel, the Orioles third base coach, is expected to be named the interim manager when a move is made, the source said.

His standing is in question series to series, and Baltimore has gotten wrecked in Yankee Stadium repeatedly this week. The O's have lost eight straight.

The Baltimore Sun reported the Orioles are expected to dismiss Trembley prior to Friday's series opener against the Boston Red Sox.

The club declined comment to multiple media sources. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail did not join the team on the trip to New York.

[JakeYonkel]

I love when managers take the fall for being dealt a shitty team. What the fuck do you want Trembley to do? He's got no pitching staff. It's horrible outside of the promise of Brian Matusz.

His starting shortstop is Cesar Izturis, Brian Roberts is out, their big "splash" this offseason was Garrett F'ing Atkins, and an over-the-hill, roid-free Miguel Tejada at third.

Really, what manager is going to be keeping that team in the hunt? Angelos should fire himself.

[johnk5150]

This is where I reiterate the Cubs are gay.

[wickedsensation]

This is where I reiterate the Cubs are gay.

^
This.

When will they do the right thing and fire Hendry?

[Machado]

Good article from NY Times regarding MLB draft and how unpredictable the draft can be:

June 5, 2010
Five Players Who Outranked Jeter, if Only Briefly
By TYLER KEPNER
The first pick of the 1992 draft sits alone at his desk in the visiting manager’s office at Waterfront Park in Trenton, four hours before an Eastern League game. His fills out charts as a laptop hums. The groundskeeper stops by with a weather report: storm clouds are coming. Of course.

The Erie Seawolves, the Class AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, lost the night before on a game-ending homer by the Trenton Thunder. It was the Seawolves’ eighth consecutive defeat, and their second such losing streak before Memorial Day. It wears a bit on their first-year manager, Phil Nevin.

“Nothing’s easy about losing eight games in a row,” he said. “That’s part of development, though. They need to learn how to handle streaks like this.”

Nevin, 39, has gray hair, and he looks thicker than he used to. In a black cutoff shirt with a web of tattoos on his left shoulder, he will not be mistaken for an avuncular manager like Bobby Cox. But he has learned a lot since June 1, 1992, when the Houston Astros took Nevin first over all out of Cal State-Fullerton. He made about $40 million as a player, but he roams the Eastern League because he still loves the game.

The draft was Nevin’s introduction to professional ball, as it will be for hundreds of others when this year’s draft begins Monday. As the first pick, Nevin was sure to be scrutinized against the rest of his class. And five picks later the Yankees took a high school shortstop from Kalamazoo, Mich., named Derek Jeter. The others chosen before Jeter were, in order, pitcher Paul Shuey, by the Cleveland Indians; pitcher B. J. Wallace, by the Montreal Expos; outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds, by the Baltimore Orioles; and outfielder Chad Mottola, by the Cincinnati Reds. Not one of those teams has since won a World Series.

Jeter has won five while becoming the captain of the Yankees and their career hits leader. For many years, he was a peer of Nevin’s in the majors; they both played in the 2001 All-Star Game. For Nevin, their connection has nothing to do with the draft.

“I saw him a month ago in a restaurant in Baltimore,” Nevin said. “We were there playing Bowie, and they were there playing the Orioles. We didn’t sit and have dinner, but as soon as we saw each other, we sat and talked for a while. We were never teammates, but we’re baseball friends.”

Drafted as a third baseman, Nevin played only 18 games for the Astros, who traded him to Detroit in 1995. For most of the next season, while Jeter was winning the rookie of the year award, Nevin was learning to play catcher in Class AA.

He bounced to five other teams, retiring with a .270 average and 208 home runs. He made one playoff appearance, for the Minnesota Twins in 2006. It was the final game of his career.

“Every time I’m approached about the draft, they talk to me like I was a flop because I wasn’t as successful as Derek Jeter,” Nevin said. “But I’d hardly call my career a flop. I’m very proud of what I was able to do. I had a heck of a lot of fun and did a lot of good things in my life because of baseball. The draft just meant I got to go play.”

So did Shuey, Wallace, Hammonds and Mottola. All are retired as players, while Jeter rolls on.

Gone Fishing

A cellphone rings in Wake Forest, N.C., and Paul Shuey answers. He is helping his 3-year-old daughter, Kate, catch minnows. It is the Little League version of Shuey’s new vocation.

“I’m doing some pitching lessons here and there, not a whole lot,” he said. “The main thing I’m doing is a lot of fishing, trying to work my way into professional bass fishing. Other than that, just trying to be a good dad.”

Shuey, a 39-year-old father of three, never became the Rob Dibble clone the Indians envisioned when they drafted him out of the University of North Carolina. He was better as a setup man than a closer, and logged eight and a half seasons with Cleveland. Shuey collected only 23 saves in the majors, but he pitched in 476 games over 11 seasons.

His last, with Baltimore in 2007, meant the most. Shuey had lost three seasons to injury, and though his arm was sound, he struggled to reach 90 miles per hour. Pitching with a metal hip can do that to you.

“And as soon as I got it going, even without as much velocity, my back went out,” Shuey said.

Over 25 games that summer, Shuey’s earned run average was 9.82. But he proved he could make it back, and fishing is his new outlet for competition. He takes part in local tournaments, practicing often to move up the ranks, trying to make the big leagues again.

“I’m still what I would call Double A for fishing,” he said.

Out of Touch

Dan Duquette, the Expos’ general manager in 1992, said he thought his team had drafted B. J. Wallace after Jeter, not before. In fact, Montreal picked Wallace, a left-hander from Mississippi State, third over all, a rare misstep for an organization once rich in homegrown talent.

“Ouch,” Duquette said in an e-mail message.

As usual for Montreal, money was a factor. In 1991, the Yankees signed the top overall pick, the high school pitcher Brien Taylor, for $1.55 million. That record bonus started the trend of teams’ emphasizing a player’s willingness to sign.

Jeter, who had a University of Michigan scholarship as leverage, got $800,000 from the Yankees. For a quarter-million less, the Expos got Wallace, who soon struck out 14 batters in a game at the Barcelona Olympics.

“He had days of brilliance, days when he would just dominate hitters,” said Ron Polk, a former Bulldogs coach. “We were very proud of him. Unfortunately, he had some arm injuries in professional baseball.”

Wallace, now 39, pitched a year and a half in the Expos’ system, going 12-11 with a 3.64 E.R.A. and advancing to Class AA. He pitched only 15 more games after rotator cuff surgery, and was out of baseball for good by 1997.

Polk still sends Wallace a birthday card but has not heard back in years, and the cellphone number he has for Wallace no longer works. Wallace’s parents did not return a phone call.

In 2002, Wallace told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had bought and sold a seafood distribution business in Alabama, and was going back to college to finish his degree. Polk said Wallace asked about enrolling at Mississippi State but never did.

Finding Meaning

Jeffrey Hammonds was the first player from the 1992 draft to reach the majors. He did it the next June 25, for the Orioles against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Hammonds knew the game was being televised back home to Scotch Plains, N.J., and when he singled in his first at-bat, he met his childhood idol, Don Mattingly, at first base.

“What took you so long?” said Mattingly, who told Hammonds to tip his helmet to the crowd.

“I just wanted to look at Don and say, ‘Can I get something signed?’ ” Hammonds said. “That’s a memory that will never be duplicated.”

Hammonds was a star outfielder at Stanford who signed with the Orioles for $975,000, the biggest bonus of the draft class. His career was similar to Nevin’s: a .272 hitter for six teams over 13 seasons, Hammonds was an All-Star once, in 2000, and earned more than $30 million.

Now 39, Hammonds is a father of three living near Weston, Fla. His grandfather lived to be 101, he said proudly, and awoke every day determined to do something meaningful. Hammonds says his challenge is to do the same. He would like to help prospects or perhaps become active in the players’ union, and he is interested in working for a digital media company.

“It’s easy to contribute with money and say you’re part of something,” Hammonds said. “I really want to learn it.”

The only regret of his career, Hammonds said, is that he was not more thankful for all he had. Hammonds said he listened too much to his detractors, to the whispers that he was satisfied being a good player without the drive to be great. He laughs at the label now.

“I believe God has a plan for me, and I can still achieve that greatness,” Hammonds said. “Not to say that there’s anything wrong with being good at the major league level. If that’s my knock, woe is me, huh?”

Career Minor Leaguer

Chad Mottola did not succeed at the major league level. A slugger from the University of Central Florida, Mottola played 59 games in the majors and 1,801 in the minors. He is the hitting coach for the Las Vegas 51s, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class AAA affiliate.

“The last couple of years, I found myself in Triple A coaching more than playing,” Mottola said. “I guess it was almost a natural progression. I enjoy it a lot more than I anticipated. Coming in, I didn’t have any experience, but I had life experience. I’d gone from prospect to suspect to a guy just hanging on. I know what everybody’s going through.”

Mottola, 38, signed the day of the draft for $400,000 and bought his parents a house. He was ready to play, he said, and knew nothing about haggling. He showed decent power in the minors but played only 35 games for the Reds.

By the time he resurfaced in the majors, with Toronto in 2000, Mottola was 28, too old to be a real prospect. It was the height of the steroid era.

“The only thing I regret is not taking steroids, as bad as it sounds,” he said. “I’m not mad at them. I’m more mad at the system that allowed it to happen. Maybe if I had done it, I’d be living the way they’re living. But I know the way I played, and I’m not bitter at all.”

A Scout With Foresight

Doug Melvin, the general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, was startled last month to hear a question about the Jeter draft. Five minutes earlier, Melvin had been debating with his scouts the merits of high school players, citing Jeter as an example. In 1992, Melvin was assistant general manager of the Orioles, who took Hammonds.

“In ’92, Baltimore had a pretty good shortstop,” Melvin said. “That comes into play, too — we had four more years of Cal Ripken as shortstop. It can get really dicey.”

Melvin missed Jeter, but he hired the scout who signed him, Dick Groch, as Milwaukee’s pro scouting director. Groch remembers that the Yankees liked the players picked before Jeter, but not enough to consider drafting them. When a club official raised the possibility of Jeter’s scholarship in a meeting, it was Groch who said: “He’s not going to Michigan. He’s going to Cooperstown.” In a draft full of misses, those were the prescient words.

“When you say Cooperstown, what you mean is there’s no comparison,” Groch said. “You’re saying: ‘Who’s better than Derek Jeter in the United States? You tell me.’ ”

Five teams thought they had the answer. Five teams were wrong. And five former players, scattered across the country, can always say they were drafted ahead of Jeter, before the world knew the Yankees’ secret.

[johnk5150]

And the Cubs select a kid that no one at mlbtv knew wtf he was with their first pick.

[killeverything]

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

Rare and Near Perfection - What are the Odds?

June 4, 2010

Prior to this season, in 134 seasons of Major League Baseball dating back to 1876, only 18 perfect games had been thrown. That’s one every seven or eight seasons. This year, we’ve had three in less than a month (though only two count).

Dallas Braden was on top of the pitching world with his perfect game on May 9. Not to be outdone, Roy Halladay matched his feat going 27-up, 27-down on May 29. Two days ago, on June 2nd, Armando Galarraga retired the first 26 batters followed by the umpire gaffe on the final play to deny him the official perfecto.

What are the odds of so many perfect games in such a short period of time?

With the advent of the 162-game schedule and gradual expansion from 16 to 30 teams, there is a greater chance of a perfect game happening in the modern era than there was previously; however, the odds still remain quite low.

The odds that a perfect game occurs in a season: 4-to-1

For two or three perfect games, the odds start getting quite remote:

The odds that there are two perfect games in a season: 43-to-1
The odds that there are three perfect games in a season: 580-to-1

But we had all two (three?) in a month. The odds on three perfect games in a month are astronomical at 16,033-to-1. Maybe Jim Joyce was thinking this subconsciously when he made the bogus safe call in Galarraga’s game.

The odds that there are two perfect games in a month during a season: 212-to-1
The odds that there are three perfect games in a month during a season: 16,033-to-1

You’ve seen history, folks.

[Machado]

The odds of Bud Selig doing the right thing for the game, the player and the umpire.....................you do the math.

Fucking moron is the biggest douche alive today.

Imagine all the goodwill Bud could have won by doing the right thing and changing the call?

Bud will be known as the Steroids Era commish, the commish who was in power when an all-star game in his home park(Milwaukee)ended in a tie and now the commish who failed to overturn a simple call that was clearly the right thing to do.

[Heenan Snuka]

The odds of Bud Selig doing the right thing for the game, the player and the umpire.....................you do the math.

Fucking moron is the biggest douche alive today.

Imagine all the goodwill Bud could have won by doing the right thing and changing the call?

Bud will be known as the Steroids Era commish, the commish who was in power when an all-star game in his home park(Milwaukee)ended in a tie and now the commish who failed to overturn a simple call that was clearly the right thing to do.

Bud didnt take steroids and installed testing

Bud was a spectator at a tie game, like 40,000 other fans were

Bud wanted to change it but didn't want to set precedent for future ridiculous requests, because of the stupidity of most people today...he has an old-school common sense that most people don't get.

[WOLF]

Holy fuck! Strasburg has 14 Ks through 7 innings in his debut. The kid IS for real.

[JakeYonkel]

Well, one game is one game, and it's against the PIRATES... but damn.

[SkyDog112046]

The odds of Bud Selig doing the right thing for the game, the player and the umpire.....................you do the math.

The odds of Selig doing the right thing... The odds are greater that someone would hit Mega Millions one night, Powerball the next, and then get struck by lightning on the way to cash in the tickets the next day...under a blue moon...on a 0 degree day in the middle of July.

[johnk5150]

Sigh. Brewers 3, Cubs 2. Walkoff 2 run single from McGhee who was claimed off waivers from the Cubs.

Bravo Jim Hendry!

Go Blackhawks.

[Machado]

Buster Olney reported that the Baseball HOF has requested, "an item" from the Nats rookie pitcher.

For the love!

Its 1 game

1 win

Suddenly this kid is the next phenom that will have the weight of the world on his shoulders because ESPN devoted so many hrs to his debut before and after the game.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Buster Olney reported that the Baseball HOF has requested, "an item" from the Nats rookie pitcher.

For the love!

Its 1 game

1 win

Suddenly this kid is the next phenom that will have the weight of the world on his shoulders because ESPN devoted so many hrs to his debut before and after the game.

I know it's like beating the same drum, but if Strasburg was a Yankee, you would have posted ten times by now about his greatness and his place in the hallowed history of the pinstripes.

[Machado]

Buster Olney reported that the Baseball HOF has requested, "an item" from the Nats rookie pitcher.

For the love!

Its 1 game

1 win

Suddenly this kid is the next phenom that will have the weight of the world on his shoulders because ESPN devoted so many hrs to his debut before and after the game.

I know it's like beating the same drum, but if Strasburg was a Yankee, you would have posted ten times by now about his greatness and his place in the hallowed history of the pinstripes.

I would not at all.
Hyping up a player before he gets drafted is all a bunch of hot air.
Hyping up a player before he takes the mound in the Majors is great for ESPN/Talk Shows, but c'mon. Those TV networks need to stop being so lazy as journalists already.

[johnk5150]

Aramis Ramirez placed on the DL with a severe case of bad.

[SkyDog112046]

Buster Olney reported that the Baseball HOF has requested, "an item" from the Nats rookie pitcher.

For the love!

Its 1 game

1 win

Suddenly this kid is the next phenom that will have the weight of the world on his shoulders because ESPN devoted so many hrs to his debut before and after the game.

I know it's like beating the same drum, but if Strasburg was a Yankee, you would have cast a bust of him and snuck it into Cooperstown.

Fixed it for ya.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

NY Post reporting Mariners expecting the Yankees to have interest in Cliff Lee.

[JakeYonkel]

NY Post reporting Mariners expecting the Yankees to have interest in Cliff Lee.

I read that earlier. Biggest non-story ever.

Translation: if we can drum up the idea that the Yankees are in on him, maybe another team will overpay for him at the trade deadline.

[Funnelhead]

Joe Maddon for President 2012. He would have already fixed the problem in the Gulf.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Son of a fucking bitch.

We just got the seating/pricing info for the 2012 season in the new ballpark.

Fuck me sideways with a sycthe.

I expected a price increase, but 322 FUCKING PERCENT??!?!?!?!?!?!?! For basically the same fucking seats that we have now?! We have to cough up 30% by July 6, when we go down to the new office by the ballpark and pick our seats, then 20% in April 2011, then the remaining 50% in January, 2012. So much for Christmas, I guess. 2012 will probably be our last as full season ticket holders...they're pricing Joe Blow right out!

We're in sticker shock right now.


Oh yeah...welcome to the Big Leagues, Mike Stanton!

[Machado]

Does the blame go to the S.I. cover or does
the blame go to the player himself?

Since the perfect game and gracing the cover of S.I. in early May,
braden has not won a game.

6 starts since the perfect game.
a's have lost all 6 games
braden has received the losing decision in 4 of those games.