Monthly Archives: June 2012
“Just A Minor Perspective: Through the Eyes of a Minor League Rookie” – By Eric Pettis: Guest MLB Blog
Saturday June 30th, 2012
“JUST A MINOR PERSPECTIVE: THROUGH THE EYES OF A MINOR LEAGUE ROOKIE” – BY ERIC PETTIS
MLB reports: We are very fortunate today to have Phillies minor league pitcher and published author, Eric Pettis, join us today on MLB reports. The 24-year old Pettis has already accomplished much in his young career. After getting drafted in the 35th round of the 2010 draft, Eric played for 3 minor league teams between the 2010 and 2011 seasons. A career 2.84 over 47 games shows that this kid has skills. To top it off, he is a writer as well! Eric published in spring training his book, titled “Just A Minor Perspective.” In it, Eric describes the game through his eyes. What it is like to be a minor league rookie. But Eric did not wait until the tail-end of his career to tell the story. Eric jumped right in, while he is still plugging away in the trenches.
Eric joined us for a Guest MLB Blog that he prepared. In it you will learn about who Eric is and the published work that he wrote. A bright young man with a great future ahead of him, we were absolutely thrilled to be able to bring you a sneak peek into a published baseball book through the eyes of its author. Not to worry, the MLB reports Book Review is coming. First you will hear from the author himself, and from there read our take on the book. There are also many ways that you can Eric directly. This man is a social media machine! There is the blog (EricPettis.com) to start off. Eric is also very active on Twitter (@EricPettis) and on Facebook (facebook.com/JustAMinorPerspective). Drop him a line, ask your questions…and be sure to tell Eric that MLB reports sent ya!
But before we get to Eric’s Guest Blog, here is what Amazon had to say about “Just A Minor Perspective”:
Book Description
Publication Date: March 25, 2012
The minor leagues are largely misunderstood, more well-known for the players who have skipped through their ranks than the ones who reside in them. They’re a mysterious land of hotels, bus rides, and clubhouses. Upon being drafted out of UC Irvine by the Phillies, right-handed pitcher Eric Pettis didn’t quite know what he was getting himself into. Just A Minor Perspective allows readers to jump into Eric’s mind and experience the journey along with him. The narrative resembles stream-of-consciousness as he describes the good, the bad, and the ugly of the minor leagues as it hits him square in the face for the first time.From his first day in Philadelphia… Read the rest of this entry
The New York Yankees Are Back Folks!
Friday June 29th, 2012
John Burns: As July approaches, the New York Yankees have one of the best records in baseball with a record of 46-29.
One of the main reasons for the great play of New York has been the long ball, which the Yankees lead all of baseball with a team total of 118 homers. Curtis Granderson (21 HR), Robinson Cano (18 HR), Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez (13 HR each) have shown the most power for NY this season so far, but really the majority of the lineup has been fairly steady al year for this team. Read the rest of this entry
The Demise of the Montreal Expos Franchise: Part 3 of the Expos Article Series
Friday June.29/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Team’s Payroll going into in 2013 and 5. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) To follow all of the updates, be sure to check my author page with a list of all archived articles here.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on Twitter)- The Montreal Expos were a model franchise from 1979-1994. They only finished under .500 in 3 seasons out of 15 in this stretch of time. The club simply drafted better than any other Major League team. Long before the Oakland Athletics and Billy Beane came up with MoneyBall, or the Minnesota Twins, Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays showed us that you can have good runs with your baseball teams on a shoe string budget, the Expos wrote the book on it. The Expos were forced to trade away their best talent when they came up for free agency or lose them outright. There was no way the team could ever re-sign the players. It wasn’t even in question. The province of Quebec said good-bye to Hall of Famers: Pedro Martinez, Vlad Guerrero, Tim Raines and Andre Dawson in the prime of their careers with nothing back in return as Free Agents.
Gary Carter was the 1st great player to be traded by the club after the 1984 season. Other great players like Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and John Wetteland were jettisoned out the door as part of a 1995 Firesale after the strike/lockout because the team could not pay them after a massive loss in revenue at the end of the 1994 season. With the clock ticking on the Expos brass (financially as soon as the lockout was lifted) the ownership could not pay the bills! It is a sad commentary on this franchise that the two big work stoppages in 1981 and 1994 stifled this franchise-perhaps the most out of any team in the MLB. It all ended up costing the Expos the team and/or a chance to build a brand new ballpark in the downtown core to ever revitalize the interest of the avid baseball enthusiasts in Montreal. This fan base had suffered enough and they made the baseball club pay for it at the turnstiles. They had suffered 7 losing seasons at Jarry Park, a 2 billion dollar scam gone wrong in what was Olympic Stadium, a park that was supposed to be a modern-aged retractable roof that never materialized at all and Quebec was left with the bill. I don’t blame the fans for walking away from the game after the 1994 strike. They had supported the team through many of trials an tribulations-only to be disappointed time and time again by the economics of baseball.
There is a lot more of this article past the video clip, just click on: READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY
For Part 1 of the Article Series, The Expos Hitters: click here
For Part 2 of the Article Series, The Expos Pitchers: click here
For Part 4 of the Article Series, The Washington Nationals Franchise 2005-2012: click here
For Part 5 of the Article Series, The Nats Best 25 Man Roster 2005-2012 click here
A nice tribute video to the club!
Carlos Gonzalez on the Trade Block? Buyer Beware! Part 1 of 3 On Coors Field Effect
Wednesday June 27th, 2012
Jonathan Hacohen: With the mid-season classic almost upon us, trade talks are also starting to heat up. It seems that every year, that the trade climate rises as the temperature outside increases. This year is no different. What we do have though is a unique situation this year. With more teams in contention than ever before, we may find fewer sellers by the trade deadline. The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31st, while the waiver deadline is August 31st. While some “unmovable contracts” could shift in August, the real deadline according to most analysts comes up at the end of the next month. Kevin Youkilis has already moved, shifting from Boston to Chicago (AL). Now the million dollar question is: who’s next? A name that I have heard thrown around the last couple of days is Colorado Rockies “superstar” outfielder, Carlos Gonzalez. With the Rockies so far deep in the NL West basement, some speculation is that a CarGo type player could be moved to bring in some fresh prospects and restart the process. The Rockies have denied that such a move will happen, which should the end the discussion there. Or does it? I am here to tell you that many teams will still be sniffing around the Rockies for offensive help. If they even think about trading for CarGo, I am here to tell them: think again. You may not be purchasing the goods that you are expecting to receive.
For Part 2 of the Article Series: The Humidor Effect at Coors Field-One Decade in click here
For Part 3 of the Article Series: The Coors Field Effect 2012- Part 3 of A 3 Article Series click here
Roy Oswalt Working Back to True Form
Wednesday June 27, 2012
Bryan Sheehan (MLB Writer): Fourteen months ago, Roy Oswalt took a leave from the Philadelphia Phillies to be with his family after a series of tornadoes ripped through Mississippi. He left the team, where he was one of the showcased “Four Aces,” with a 3-1 record and a 3.33 ERA and returned with a sore back. He spent a short time on the disabled list, but returned to start in eight more games before once again landing on the DL with “lower back inflammation.” It is unclear whether his back troubles arose during his leave of absence, but Oswalt continued to pitch because he didn’t “want to be labeled a quitter.” Ultimately, his injury became too much, and during his latter stint on the DL there was doubt that he’d ever pitch again. He did return, though, and finished the year with a 9-10 record and 3.69 ERA. After his team faltered (or imploded, depending on how you look at it) in the playoffs, Oswalt declared free agency; his career was not over after all.
At age 34, Oswalt has appeared in eight playoff series, one World Series and three NLCS. When he hit the market last offseason, Oswalt made it clear that he wanted to play for a winner. More specifically, he wanted to play for a team that would have a great chance of winning it all. Like Roger Clemens in 2006 and 2007, Oswalt told teams that he would continue to stay in shape but wait until midseason to sign with the team that he thought would do the best in the postseason. On May 29th, Oswalt picked the 31-19 Texas Rangers and began his road back to the MLB.
Montreal Expos Drafting Record Part 2: The Pitchers
Wednesday June.27/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Team’s Payroll going into in 2013 and 5. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) To follow all of the updates, be sure to check my author page with a list of all archived articles here.
Drafted in 1985 by the Montreal Expos, Randy Johnson was erratic in his early days. After trading away Mark Langston to acquire the young fireballer, the Mariners worked him into the rotation and he developed into a Hall of Famer.
Chuck Booth (Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- When looking back at some of the pitchers that the Montreal Expos have had in their organization, you don’t have go down the list very far to find Randy Johnson. He is the ‘crown jewel’ of the draft history record for the club. It is unfortunate the ‘The Big Unit’ was traded to the Seattle Mariners with Brian Holman and Gene Harris to the Mariners for rental player Mark Langston and a player to be named later. To be fair to the Montreal Expos, they were in serious contention for the pennant in 1989 and were trying to chase down the Chicago Cubs. Langston was one of the top Left Handed Aces in the Majors and he was available. Johnson was completely wild in the Minor Leagues and the Expos had a lot of veteran pitchers like Dennis Martinez and Bryn Smith that were on the back end of their careers. The time to try and win was now and they could not wait for Johnson to come around. The Expos did not succeed in capturing the pennant and Langston moved onto the California Angels as a free agent while Johnson blossomed into the premier left handed pitcher in his generation. Speaking of Martinez and Smith, they won 100 and 81 games respectively for the club. While they were not drafted by the Expos, they are 2nd and 3rd on the all-time win list.
Along with Smith and Dennis Martinez (who threw a perfect game as an Expo in 1991 and note: Bill Stoneman also threw two no-hitters for the franchise), you have to factor in the career of Pedro Martinez as an Expo for guys that were great pitchers during their prime. Pedro was acquired prior to the 1994 season from the Dodgers in exchange for the Expos departed ALL-Star second baseman Delino DeShields. Martinez went 11-5 in the strike shortened year and formed an impressive 1-2 ace combination with Ken Hill. Pedro went onto a 55-33 record and a 3.06 ERA for his 4 year Expos career. Pedro’s best year with the club was 1997 where he was the NL CY Young with a 17-8 record and a 1.90 ERA. Martinez finished the year with 305 strikeouts and a ridiculous 13 complete games. Pedro ended up signing with the Boston Red Sox before the 1998 season and he ultimately won a World Series with the Beantowners in 2004. In his post game celebration, Martinez mentioned the Expos franchise and their fans. Pedro shared his triumph as a testament to them. It was talent like this that Expos could never afford to resign and would lose outright- or have to trade for prospects based on their economic viability. I will get more into this in Part 3 of the Article Series on Friday.
For Part 1 of the Article Series, The Hitters: click here
For Part 3 of the Article Series, The Demise: click here
For Part 4 of the Article Series, The Washington Nationals Franchise 2005-2012: click here
For Part 5 of the Article Series, The Nats Best 25 Man Roster 2005-2012 click here
Kevin Youkilis to the White Sox: What Happened in Boston?
Wednesday June 27th, 2012
Bernie Olshansky: The end of the road in Boston has finally been reached for third baseman Kevin Youkilis. But why? He was so productive a few years ago and he could have continued to contribute to the Red Sox lineup. Unfortunately for Youk, he simply got passed up.
At the start of this year, Youkilis was all set to start at third and have a productive season. To his dismay, he has been a little bit banged up this year, giving rising star Will Middlebrooks an opportunity to shine. And shine he did, as Middlebrooks hit a grand slam as his first Major League home run and immediately contributed to the struggling Red Sox lineup, with Jacoby Ellsbury out and Adrian Gonzalez not himself. Middlebrooks did everything he could to win himself a lineup spot as he squeezed out Youkilis. Read the rest of this entry
What’s Wrong with the Colorado Rockies?
Wednesday June 27, 2012
John Burns: As July quickly approaches, the Colorado Rockies have been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball this season.
With a 28-45 record, the Rockies are already 14 games back from the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. So it’s obvious that the Rockies are ready to put this season behind them already, right? Well many would say yes, but if the Rockies can acquire some pitchers at the deadline, this team could still make a run. Read the rest of this entry
Morganna Roberts: Delivering the Kiss of Greatness – The Legend of the Kissing Bandit
Monday June 25th, 2012
Robert Whitmer (Baseball Writer):
There have been times in entertainment history when a kiss has not necessarily been a good thing. In The Godfather II, Al Pacino gives the kiss of death to Fredo after he “breaks his heart.” In the music video for “Father Figure” by George Michael, he proceeds to be slapped by the famous fashion designer after she gets upset the lowly taxi driver for trying to kiss her. Then if you are a religious person of the Christian faith, then you would believe that an innocent kiss on the cheek from Judas is the sign that set Jesus apart from the disciples for arrest and trial by the Romans. It is this event in history that gives the kiss on the cheek a bad rap. Kissing can be a good thing though. For the most part, none of you would be reading this article if kissing hadn’t happened (I’m not going any further to keep this a PG write-up). We all know that infamous Time magazine photo of the couple kissing in the streets celebrating the end of World War 2. Finally, who could ever forget the band KISS? Yes that group that sang Dr. Love and many other good songs. I bring them up solely for their name, but also to show that kissing is everywhere. You can’t turn on the TV right now and not find kissing on it. Movies are made 100% about kissing. If you search the word “kiss” on IMDB it brings up 4,172 movies that have that word in them somehow and we aren’t talking the script. When you bring up “kissing” and “baseball” you think of one person. If you put those two words in the search box on Google the first two results are about Morganna Roberts: The kissing bandit. Read the rest of this entry
Top 10 Stat of the Week ( Career HRs With One Team )
Sunday June.24/2012
‘Hammering’ Hank passed the legendary Babe Ruth as the ALL-Time HR leader in 1974. Some still feel that he is the ALL-Time HR leader with the admitted steroid use from Leader Barry Bonds. –Photo courtesy of goldenagebaseballcards
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Seemingly gone are the days where most of the MLB players stick with one team for their whole careers. As of right now there are not too many superstars that have spent their entire careers with one organization. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are 1st ballot Hall of Famers. Chipper Jones should make the BBHOF. Todd Helton is close to retiring but I am not sure the voters will see him worthy. There are some promising chances that Ryan Braun and David Wright might play their entire careers with their current clubs, however with Braun’s PED fiasco last year I just don’t see him entering Cooperstown. Wright must re-sign with the ownership hemorrhaging, this will prove hard for the Wilpons funds thanks to Bernie Madoff. When it comes to starting pitching, the list is shrunken that much further. Justin Verlander is the active win leader with a player only having played for one team. He has 114 wins with the Tigers, anybody above him on the active ALL-Time Wins list has pitched for multiple teams already. The next active leader for one team pitched for is Ervin Santana with 91 wins for the Angels franchise. Felix Hernandez has 90 wins for the Mariners. Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels and Matt Cain have played their entire careers for the same team so far and have CY Young titles amongst them, but have a long way to go in establishing Hall of Fame Careers.
That brings me to my next stat. There are 9 players in history who have hit 500 HRs or more for one team. All of them are in the Hall of Fame except for Barry Bonds (who becomes eligible next year.) I am not sure the writers will cast a vote for him because of his steroid use. When I got the idea for this article, it came to be because I was amazed that Paul Konerko has hit over 400 HRs with the Chicago White Sox. Again at age 36, Konerko has a look at 500 HRs with the Chicago team. Right now he can end the season with about 410-420 HRs. Provided he can play 3-4 years more and have productive seasons, he may reach the milestone. Chipper Jones is the only other active MLB Player to have 400 HRs with one team. Larry is slowing down though and will most likely retire after this year. Read the rest of this entry
Seattle Mariners and Ace Felix Hernandez: What to Do With King Felix?
Sunday June 24th, 2012
Bernie Olshansky: As the Mariners continue to grind away at the bottom of the American League West, many wonder: should they trade Felix Hernandez? With Felix, the Mariners have one of the best starting pitchers in the league, as he’s already pitched in eight seasons by the age of 26. 2010 was his best season, when he won his first Cy Young even though the Mariners struggled and were below .500. Felix has yet to enter his prime and is most likely at the height of his trade value. If the Mariners want to get the most possible out of this ace, they would have to act now. But would the Mariners even dare to trade such a prize? Read the rest of this entry
Ask the Reports: ATR Answers Your Baseball Questions – June 23rd, 2012
Saturday June 23rd, 2012
Let’s get to your top questions of the week:
JH: Before we get to your questions, a quick thought for this weekend. There are many reports flying fast and furious that a Kevin Youkilis trade is likely to go down very soon. The 33-year old Youkilis has sat out 5 of the Red Sox last 9 games (counting today), and the last 3 games in a row. He had 4 hits and 2 walks in his last 3 games played, not shabby numbers at all. If the Greek God of Walk’s time has come to an end in Beantown, he is going out in a sad way. After his team experienced one of the worst (if not THE worst) September collapses in MLB history last year, the Red Sox are currently tied with the Blue Jays for last place in the AL East (only 5.5 games back). It would have been nice for Youk to leave as a hero, rather than as a goat. Too many critics have pointed to his declining numbers as a primary reason behind the Red Sox recent failures. Yes, Kevin Youkilis is not in his prime and is entering a declining stage of his career. But if he is guilty of one thing, it is an association with a ballclub that is somewhat in disarray and definitely in transition. New manager, new GM, a cast of players on the disabled list- the Red Sox are barely the club that they were at this time last year. Sure, Kevin Youkilis needs to get healthy and re-establish himself. But this is a man who still had a .975 OPS as recently as 2010. Kevin Youkilis is far from done as a MLB player. But his time in Boston appears to be over.
So where is Youk heading? At the time being, the names most being thrown out are the White Sox, Pirates, Braves and Dodgers. If I’m the Red Sox, I move him to the National League and preferably the West Coast. I want to see Youk as little as possible and have the media cover him as little as possible. Hiding him in the NL West, where he has to play most of his night games late- would be a bonus for the Red Sox. If I had to present the teams most in need of Youk and with the best bargaining chips, I would present to you the Rays and Blue Jays. They have the pitching prospects and lineup spots that crave a bat like Youk’s. But would the Red Sox trade in their division? Not on your life. There is no way that the Red Sox brass needs a rejuvenated Youk coming into Fenway in September and working towards eliminating his former team from the playoffs. So if I’m a betting man, I would say the Dodgers and maybe the Giants are most sniffing around Kevin Youkilis.
The Red Sox I will go on record as saying are making a big mistake. They are selling low on one of the game’s best and most consistent players. A grinder. A warrior. He can play gold glove D at two positions (first and third). He can hit for average and power. And of course, he walks. He walks a ton in fact. One of their best assets and the Red Sox are selling him at his lowest. I have been arguing for days that the Red Sox are not this dumb. They can’t be. Youk is not going anywhere. He is the heart and soul of the team. But then Youk sits. And he sits and sits. The team actually came out and said that Middlebrooks would play while he is hot and that Youk “would be sitting for a while”. Everything to me smells like a trade is brewing. At this point, it better be. YoukGate is going to become too much of a distraction for the team to bear. Already, whispers are starting that Big Papi is not happy and had enough of the circus. With how many stories are flying around this team, the Red Sox have only themselves to blame for this Youkilis situation. If Kevin Youkilis is traded, the Red Sox lose a leader and a star player with likely not enough value coming back. If Youkilis stays, the distractions continue. The Red Sox owe Kevin Youkilis to do the right thing. Firmly play him or trade him. But don’t complain when you don’t like the results. That is my two cents on YoukGate.
Now that we have that behind us, on to your questions! Read the rest of this entry
The Montreal Expos Draft And Signing Record Was Outstanding: Part 1-Hitters
Friday June.22/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Team’s Payroll going into in 2013 and 5. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) To follow all of the updates, be sure to check my author page with a list of all archived articles here.
Andre Dawson and Tim Raines were perennial ALL-Stars and always had the Montreal Expos in contention every year they played for the Canadian Club.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-I recently saw a bunch of old Montreal Expos had a celebration dinner to honor the late Gary Carter at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This brought me back to when I was a little kid watching the Expos on the French Channel in Canada. I followed this team before any other in MLB. I was a catcher in little league because of Gary Carter. My friends and I all would ask for Montreal Expos hats and jerseys for Christmas. I would later move on to like the Yankees when Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson joined the club, but I always liked the Expos in the National League as my team. They were a consistent club from 1979-1995. They drafted extremely well and were above .500 for pretty much the entire time. At the end of this article today be sure to watch the documentary from youtube on the Expos Franchise that the Reports has linked for you.
It was unfortunate they had the 2 billion dollar monstrosity of what was Olympic Stadium as their home venue. It was a mistake from the beginning to build a baseball park so far away from the downtown core. The 1994 strike killed the franchises hopes to make their 1st World Series appearance. The team was leading the NL East with a 74-40 record and featured the outfield of Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom and Moises Alou. They had traded away their ALL-Star second basemen Delino DeShields prior to that year for some pitcher named Pedro Martinez. The economics of baseball were starting to catch up on the baseball club. When the lockout was lifted in 1995, gone were Walker, Grissom and great pitchers Ken Hill and John Wetteland. It began a constant cycle of Montreal grooming awesome talent, only to trade the players away before they had to pay them big money. The one constant of the team was an incredible draft record from 1985-2004. Today is part 1 of a 3 part article series in which we will look at the history of the Montreal Expos. I have listed 30 hitters drafted by the Expos Scouting Staff that went onto nice baseball careers. Next week I will look at the pitchers and the third week I will cover the dissection of the proud franchise before the move to Washington. Read the rest of this entry
Why the Washington Nationals Will Make the Playoffs in 2012
Thursday June 21st, 2012
Bernie Olshansky: The last time the city of Washington D.C. saw a World Series trophy was in 1924. That was the work of the Washington Senators with the help of Walter “Big Train” Johnson. Although this year’s version of the team doesn’t have a veteran baseball legend, they do have a couple budding superstars. First is Stephen Strasburg. The first-overall pick of the 2009 draft, Strasburg made an enormous impact in his first career start and most of the 2010 season, but ended up on Dr. Lewis Yocum’s table towards the end, and missed most of the 2011 season. Thankfully for the Nationals, Strasburg is back and better than ever, posting an 8-1 record and a 2.45 ERA (before Wednesday’s win versus Tampa Bay: 7IP 5H 2ER 10K and got the win). Unfortunately for the Nationals, Strasburg is on an innings limit this year to protect his young and fragile arm, so he probably won’t be available to start games come September and October.
Thankfully for the Nationals, they have a very deep pitching staff. Strasburg is backed up by Gio Gonzalez, who the Nationals traded for this winter, Jordan Zimmermann, and also newly acquired Edwin Jackson. Gonzalez has finally come into his own after having some pretty decent seasons in Oakland. He has almost identical numbers to Strasburg with an 8-3 record with a 2.52 ERA. With numbers like these at his young age, a Cy Young or two may be in his future. Gonzalez has no innings limit, so he will most definitely be the anchor to the rotation down the stretch. An option for the Nationals if they have a comfortable lead in their division (which is weak as of now… I’ll cover that later), would be to move Strasburg to the bullpen in late August or early September and have him in the rotation for the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry
What a “Ri-Dickey-lous” Story
Thursday June 21st, 2012
John Burns: One of the better stories in all of baseball this season has been the dominance of R.A. Dickey.
The 37 year-old pitcher has been one of the top pitchers in baseball this season with a MLB best 11 wins with a 2.00 ERA. Dickey has had success in his career with the Mets posting an ERA of 2.84 and 3.28 in 2010 and 2011. But Dickey has been more than just successful this season- he has been dominant.
Dickey has been considered as a “late bloomer” in his career. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 1996 MLB draft. The Rangers discovered a missing ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow joint which caused major concerns for Texas. The Rangers still gave Dickey a chance; he debuted in 2001 and played through 2006 with Texas. In 2005, Dickey started to concentrate on throwing a knuckleball to extend his career. Read the rest of this entry
“Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick” – By Paul Dickson: Baseball Book Review
Wednesday June 20th, 2012
“BILL VEECK: BASEBALL’S GREATEST MAVERICK” – BY PAUL DICKSON
(Walker & Company: 2012)
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: In the continuation search of the best baseball books in the market, I stumbled upon something new and exciting. Paul Dickson’s biography titled: Bill Veeck – Baseball’s Greatest Maverick. New and exciting you ask? How could a book on Bill Veeck be new and exciting? For several reasons my friends. Firstly, believe it or not, this is the first major biography on Veeck. Without having read about the man before, I only knew some of the stories and legends that I caught through third-hand stories and the occasional magazine write-ups. I would have expected there to be 100′s of books on this baseball pioneer. But Paul Dickson’s edition is the first major one.
Considering that I read a baseball encyclopedia by my bedside as a child, I expected to have a fairly decent amount of baseball knowledge. But I was absolutely blown away by the contributions and importance of Bill Veeck to the game of baseball. I gained a great deal of new and important baseball knowledge from reading Baseball’s Greatest Maverick. Before reading this book, I thought that I “knew baseball”. When I was finished, I realized how much I have to learn about the game. How much the game has evolved and changed over the years. Baseball as we know it today may not be in its current state if not for Bill Veeck. He was one of the greatest, if not THE biggest pioneers the sport has ever seen. There had never been another Bill Veeck before he became a part of the game. And unfortunately, there may never be another Bill Veeck again. Considering what the man has meant to the sport, I could not believe that it has taken until now for a true Bill Veeck biography to be available to the public. Paul Dickson, like his subject, became the writing pioneer in bringing the story and legend of Bill Veeck to the masses. Considering how much was on the line for Dickson to be able to deliver Bill Veeck’s story in a single book, I was left in awe and appreciation when I completed the book. Dickson took on a big challenge and he came through with flying colors. Read the rest of this entry
Paul Konerko is Playing Like An MVP in 2012
Wednesday June.20/2012
Paul Konerko is having his best season ever so far, can he keep his White Sox in contention all year and challenge for the batting title? Photo courtesy of beyonderstv.com
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Paul Konerko is a professional hitter. One day he will have his number retired from the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field. Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers 13th overall in the Amateur 1994 Draft, the 6 foot 2 slugger had lofty expectations by the time he made the Major Leagues. For the Albuquerque Isotopes in 1997, he hit .323 with 37 HRs and 127 RBI. The Dodgers ended up trading Konerko to Cincinnati for Jeff Shaw in 1998. The Reds then turned around and traded the man from Rhode Island to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Cameron.
Paul Konerko in his early days with the LA Dodgers, the team decided to trade him because they already had Eric Karros. Photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com
There may be no more underrated player in the MLB over the last 14 years. All that Konerko has done is hit 402 HRs with the Chicago White Sox in that span and plated 1270 RBI. He currently sits 2nd all time in both categories on the club for the all time list, trailing only Frank Thomas . At age 36, Konerko seems to become better at the plate each year. He has hit .300 and clubbed 30 HRs and 100 RBI in both 2010 and 2011. If he keeps up this years pace, he will do it again, but this time he may challenge for an average title and possibly an AL MVP.
Paul Konerko enters today’s action with an AL Best .357 AVG and a .431 OBP-in leading the team to a 35-33 start, which trails the Cleveland Indians by just a half game. The team had started off slow before Konerko went absolutely beserk in May and had raised his average to .399 at one point during his torrid streak. To date this year, he has hit 13 HRs and added 38 RBI. In my opinion, he will be selected to his 6th all-time ALL-star game in Kansas City next month when they unveil the roster. Now Konerko still has a chance to catch Prince Fielder with the fan voting with only being a few hundred thousand votes behind the Tigers 1st baseman.
Adam Dunn: 2012 American League Comeback Player of the Year?
Tuesday June 19, 2012
John Burns: What a comeback season it has been for Adam Dunn so far, as he leads all of baseball with 23 homers… and it’s not even July yet.
Dunn experienced a miserable 2011 campaign in his first season in Chicago, as he hit a career low .159 and was not showing his usual power numbers. After signing a 4-year, $56 Million deal with the White Sox in 2010, the expectations were huge for the slugger. 2011 was a season to forget for Dunn. After he underwent an appendectomy in April, Dunn’s productivity declined rapidly. Dunn broke the White Sox record for most strikeouts in a season by a hitter with 177 strikeouts in only 415 at-bats. Dunn’s 2011 campaign was by far the worst of his career. Read the rest of this entry
Reggie Jackson: The Man, The Myth, But Really a Legend?
Monday June 18th, 2012
Robert Whitmer (Baseball Writer):
There are moments in time that stick in out head. Moments that will define people for the rest of their days. Most people have the birth of their children, their wedding day, or the first day on their first job. We don’t need camcorders (for readers my age and older) or cell phones (for my younger readers who don’t know what a camcorder is) to record these images because they will be etched in our heads by our own accord. We have these moments on the baseball field as well. Most remember Jason Kendall for the horrific ankle injury that happened while trying to beat a throw. You know the one where the bottom of his foot is upwards instead of downwards. Babe Ruth was an outstanding player and the first power hitter of the game. He is remembered for supposedly calling where his home run was going to land and backing it up by hitting it there. Unless you watched him on a regular basis, you remember the great Willie Mays for that over-the-shoulder catch, the spin, and the throw while falling down to clear it from the outfield. If you’re a Red Sox fan, you remember Curt Schilling, as great as he was, for that bloody sock in the World Series. Often times, if we look beyond these moments, we see careers that should define the player but often do not. You don’t have to be a legend to have moments that define you. Sometimes it’s the moments that we don’t forget, that make you a legend. Reggie Jackson had his moment that defined him as a player, but is that all that we should remember him for? Read the rest of this entry
Stat of the Week: Will Extra Base Hits Help Punch Tickets to BBHOF?
Monday June.18/2012
Alex Rodriguez leads the list of active players and is already 10th All-time for XBH. If Rodriguez can hit 308 XBH before he retires, he will pass Hank Aaron for 1st overall. –Photo courtesy of nytimes.com
Chuck Booth (Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Extra base hits kind of go hand in hand with slugging percentage to an extent. I have often used this category every season as a gauge on how good a player does. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances why a player hits more doubles and triples rather than home runs but they are all considered extra base hits. Adrian Beltre is a perfect example of this. During his Seattle Mariner days, he would blast about 15-20 baseballs off the fences at Safeco Field every year (for a double or triple) that would have been an HR if he did not play in such a pitcher friendly park. This list represents great careers. If a player can reach the magic 1000 extra base hits, they will be hard to ignore for consideration towards Cooperstown. I have omitted Manny Ramirez from an active player. It is my firm belief that the man served a 50 game suspension for a team like Oakland, only to quit on them and maybe land on another club. If he is able to catch on with another job with a club, I will gladly put his name back as #2 player on this active list.
TOP 10 as of June.17/2012
Player Extra Base Hits Leaders Active (Rank All-Time)
1. Alex Rodriguez NYY 1169 (10)
2. Jim Thome PHI 1079 (20)
3. Chipper Jones ATL 1026 (26)
4. Vladimir Guerrero (FA) 972 (39)
5. Todd Helton COL 956 (45)
6. Albert Pujols LAA 941 (50)
7. Bobby Abreu LAD 908 (60)
8. David Ortiz BOS 886 (64)
9. Johnny Damon CLE 859 (73)
10. Scott Rolen CIN 857 (75)
I fully think that Vladimir Guerrero will sign with someone soon. At 972 extra base hits, he is 28 extra base hits away from that 1000 marker. If a team signs him in the next few weeks, he may have a chance to get there before the end of the season. Below is a 5 minute highlight package of his career thus far. There is not many Expos highlights, you can always search Youtube for more.
