Category Archives: Baseball

The early voting for the AL All-Stars is… surprisingly good, actually.

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It’s a yearly thing: the early returns for voting in the All-Star Game comes out, and I start to think that maybe this “democracy” thing has run it’s course, as people vote for their favorite players, instead of people who, y’know, actually deserve to be in there and are having good seasons.

So imagine my surprise when the earliest returns on voting for the American League were released today. I mean, look at it. Here’s a rough version of what I thought while look at it:

Oh, boy, early ASG voting. This should be good, let’s see how stupid the people of the internet are these days….

Hmmmm. Joe Mauer and then Matt Wieters at catcher. Nothing to complain about there, although Wieters isn’t doing so great at the plate this year so far.

Okay, Chris Davis is first at 1B. Good. I was a little worried he’d go under the radar of casual fans.

Robinson Cano at 2B. Again, probably the right choice, although I’m a little surprised that Dustin Pedroia, who at least as far as hitting for average is concerned is doing better than Cano, is such a distant third. Also surprised that Brian Roberts cracked the top five, since he’s only played three games this season.

Third Base. Miguel Cabrera, as he should be, is in the lead, and is the top vote-getter. Anyone who would argue otherwise is dumb. It’s a shame that Manny Machado has come up to the majors as a 3B… he’ll probably be a backup until Cabrera either starts a decline (And even then, Evan Longoria -who also would be an extremely worthy selection- might block him) or Machado moves over to SS.

Hang on, how is Derek Jeter in the top five of the shortstop voting? Oh, right, because he’s Derek Jeter. Elvis Andrus‘ spot on top is extremely suspect, and probably the only big headscratcher of the bunch. I’d go with Jhonny Peralta here, by the way.

Mike Trout is the leading outfielder, with Adam Jones and Torii Hunter rounding it out and Nelson Cruz, Jose Bautista and Nick Markakis looking in. Trout cannot be argued with, and the other two leaders aren’t bad selections either, but I feel like Bautista would be a better choice than them. Maybe. There are so many good OF that it’s hard to really complain about anything.

DH is David Ortiz. Good, that is the correct answer. Well, him or Mark Trumbo.

Presumably the NL’s early voting results come out tomorrow, so I’ll have my thoughts on them too.

MVP of Yesterday: Domonic Brown

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Domonic Brown is having a breakout year, to the point where some have begun to call him “Dominant Brown”. And yesterday was a good example of why, as he went 3-3 with a HR and 4 RBI, as well as a walk in the Phillies’ win over the Brewers.

MVP Standings, as always, under the jump:

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The last time Jeremy Bonderman pitched…

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Jeremy Bonderman pitched for the Mariners today. The last time he pitched in the big leagues (when he was with the Tigers), it was October 1, 2010.

How long ago was that? Well…

  • 975 days have passed.
  • Five of the nine Tigers who were in the lineup that game are no longer with the team in 2013.
  • Seven of the nine Orioles who were in the lineup that game facing Bonderman are no longer with the Orioles (only Nick Markakis and Adam Jones remain).
  • The number one movie that weekend was The Social Network. The number one movie this weekend was Fast & Furious 6. The Social Network was nominated for best picture, Fast & Furious 6… won’t be.
  • The number one song that weekend was Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are. Wait, that song is that old? Wow, I guess it’s true what they say about time starting to move faster the older you get.
  • Bryce Harper had not yet made his professional debut. Neither had Matt Harvey. Manny Machado had played only nine total professional games. Kevin Gausman, who started for the Orioles today, had yet to start his first game at LSU.
  • LeBron James had yet to play his first game with the Miami Heat.
  • Edwin Rodriguez was manager of the Marlins. Since then, there have been four other managers, interim managers, or acting managers of the Marlins (Brandon Hyde, Jack McKeon, Ozzie Guillen, and Mike Redmond).

In short: It’s been awhile.

MVP of Yesterday (June 1, 2013): Adam Wainwright

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Adam Wainwright had a complete game victory yesterday in one of the Cardinals two victories over the Giants. It’s Wainwright’s third MVP of the year, tying him with Bryce Harper for second and putting him ahead of all other pitchers.

Standings after the jump:

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Random Video of the Undetermined Amount of Time: “There’s a Pooch on the Field!”

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A dog runs on the field at a NCAA tournament game, cuteness ensues.

The Curse of Steve McCatty’s Playgirl Shoot (Humor)

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On May 21, our friend Michael Clair over at Old Time Family Baseball wrote an article over at Baseball Prospectus in which he did tongue-in-cheek scouting reports of ballplayers who did Playgirl shoots in the 1980s. While he didn’t provide a scouting report on him, among the players who Clair exposed (pun intended) was Steve McCatty, who is now the pitching coach for the Washington Nationals.

Upon seeing the image, the Nationals did what any team would do when such a photo is brought back to light: use it as a team-wide gag/inspirational t-shirt.

However, since that fateful day, the Nationals fortunes have fallen. They are a mere .500 since Michael Clair’s article went up*, have fallen another game back in the NL East standings, and would have fallen back even more if not for the fact that the Braves were almost as averagely mediocre as the Nationals were.

Oh, and Stephen Strasburg left last night’s game with an injury. And Bryce Harper may be headed to the DL.

So, did the Steve McCatty Playgirl shoot curse the Nationals? I don’t know. But, then again, it’s no less ridiculous than Colonel Sanders cursing a Japanese team…

*Yes, I do know that the Nationals were on a 4-game losing streak before the article went up. Now be quiet and let me tell the story.

MVP of Yesterday (May 31, 2013): Jonathon Lucroy

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Jonathan Lucroy went 5-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI in the Brewers’ 8-5 victory over the Phillies yesterday, which makes him the MVP of Yesterday.

MVP standings, as always, after the jump:

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Random Tweet: Verlander for Home Run Derby?

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In the new feature Random Tweet, a seemingly-random-but-actually-picked-out-purposefully tweet will be featured:

The Home Run Derby voting has begun. While it is non-binding and more serves as a way to suggest who MLB should ask first, it is still kind of neat to see. However, amongst the usual names of traditional sluggers and batting practice greats, one man dares to break the mold, and is running a write-in campaign. That man is Justin Verlander, who is a career 0-33 at the plate. Against tradition, against history, against all common sense, Verlander calls for all fans to vote for him.

If this is the end of Josh Beckett, his tale is a tragedy

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Over the past few years, Josh Beckett‘s life has been a dark comedy. There were the fights with the media, the failure to live up to his contracts, and the whole thing with the fact he was one of the Red Sox who apparently were having chicken and beer over games of Call of Duty while the 2011 Red Sox burned.

But now, it looks like it will instead be a full-on tragedy, as the Los Angeles Times reports that Beckett has been feeling numbness in his pitching hand, something that could well end his career.

And that stinks. Because, while Beckett’s career has been in free-fall this decade, at his peak he was one of the best pitchers in the game, and, what’s more, he was awesome in the post-season.

In fact, it’s the post-season where, if this is the end, we will probably most remember Beckett. His first appearance on the national stage came in 2003, when he was the World Series MVP with the Marlins, finishing off the Yankees on short rest with a complete game shutout in Game 6.

That is more than can be said for many pitchers, but in 2007, he did it again, going 4-0 in his starts for the Red Sox, including winning the MVP of the ALCS, where he had a absurdly low ERA 1.93 ERA… which was actually higher than his ERA in the other two series he pitched in (although, admittedly, those series were sweeps where he only had one start).

Of course, after that, his career took a downturn. His postseason performances did a downturn first, with him going 1-1 with no ERA below 5.40 in the three series he’s pitched since 2007.  While he was a regular season All-Star in 2008 and 2011*, he was no longer the above-all ace he once was. Since 2011, in fact, he is 7-19 with a 4.76 ERA in the regular season.

But, perhaps if this is the end, we should try to remember where he was best: the World Series. In his three starts (so admittedly a small sample size) and 23.1 innings pitched in the Fall Classic, Josh Beckett went 2-1 with a 1.16 ERA.

And that’s impressive.

*Before the ASG in 2011, Beckett was 8-3 with a 2.27 ERA, but the second half saw him be a just-okay 5-4 with a 3.73 ERA.

MVP of Yesterday (May 30, 2013): Travis Wood

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Okay, so maybe Travis Wood of the Cubs wasn’t the MVP of Yesterday… but are you going to argue with a guy who went 6 innings on the mound AND had two hits… ONE OF THEM A GRAND SLAM!?!?

Thought not. Still, honorable mentions to: Nick Franklin, Jacoby Ellsbury, Howie Kendrick, Freddy Garcia and Michael Wacha.

MVP standings, as always, below the jump:

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