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Marco Scutaro: The Best 2012 Trade Deadline Deal And NLCS MVP
Wednesday, October.24/2012
The Post Season almost ended for Marco Scutaro in Game #2 in St. Louis as Matt Holliday slid late to break up a double play. Scutaro stayed in that game and collected a key hit before being pulled as a precautionary move. He would come back and play from games 3-7. —Photo Courtesy of giants.com
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
I am pleased to always write about a player that has appeared one of my #UnheraldedAwarenessWeeks on Twitter. For those that don’t know what that is, every week I pick a retired player and a current player to talk about and share info, stats, stories and funny anecdotes about. Marco Scutaro was one of those players in September. My buddy Patrick (who hosts a PODCAST I do MLB Expert Interviews on called ‘The Big Ticket Show‘) was the first one to say this signing was good. I did remember that Scutaro was able to plate a 100 runs for the Jays in 2009 despite only playing in 144 games and also provided solid offense out of the Shortstop Position. He was hitting in low .300’s at the time of the trade on July.27 to the San Francisco Giants from the Rockies. I wasn’t as sold on the guy heading to AT &T Park to play half of his games at home. I quickly came on board when he started tearing it up in his 1st week as a Giant. Boy did I ever turn out to be wrong with him batting in San Francisco too, where he hit .352 in 33 games at AT &T Park in 2012. That is an incredible average for what is one of the toughest parks on player averages in the Major Leagues!
With his 3rd organization since Jan.21 of this year, Scutaro has provided the necessary spark to the Giants lineup that was voided with losing Melky Cabrera. At 37 years old, he should be able to garner one more multi-year contract
Scutaro ended up being the best trade deadline acquisition in the Major Leagues this year. Not only did he hit .339 in the second half, he also hit .402 in the month of September and the last 3 games of the regular season in October. After going 0-12 in the 1st 3 games against Cincinnati in the NLDS, Scutaro has put a 9 game hitting streak together-and he had 6 multi-hit games in the NLCS en-route to being named the NLCS MVP. He has pivotal game changing hits in Game #2 (where he also got run into by a hard and controversial slide by Matt Holiday before leaving) and in Games 6 and 7. Scutaro tied and LCS record by recording 14 hits in 28 AB for a .500 Average. while scoring 7 runs. The man has also contributed solid defense at second base, a position the Giants have struggled to fill since Jeff Kent left almost a decade ago. Read the rest of this entry
The Coors Field Effect: Part 3 of A 3 Article Series
Wednesday, September.19/2012
Even with playing teams in the NL West with Parks like Petco, Dodger Stadium and AT &T Park, a Rockies player gets 81 games of AB versus 27 against the other 3 California parks or a 75-25 % split. The Rockies continue to lead the MLB for Home Averages year in and year out-even with the Humidor Room taking effect.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Both myself (and Lead Baseball Columnist and Founder) Jonathan Hacohen think alike on some points as writers will often do when working for the same website. Jonathan wrote a brilliant piece on the ballooned numbers that a player in Colorado receives as a byproduct of playing at Coors Field. My head started spinning and swirling and I knew it to be true from my memory bank. My Part 2 column, dissected the Coors Field Effect on some previous players, plus what has transpired in the last decade since the Humidor Room has been implemented. You must read the 1st 2 parts of this series to fully understand what I am going to tell you here.
For Part 1 of the Article Series: Carlos Gonzalez on the Trade Block? Buyer Beware! click here
For Part 2 of the Article Series: The Humidor Effect at Coors Field-One Decade in click here
The numbers don’t lie in either of the first two parts to this series- with the Rockies having led the league in 19 out of the 20 Years for Home Batting Average overall in the MLB and every year in the NL since they have existed. This includes heavy hitting AL clubs, with hitter friendly parks such as: Yankee Stadium (Old or New), Citizens Bank Ball Park or Fenway Park. What people also fail to realize is that the Pitchers also account for about 140-150 AB at home per year. So really there is no way a Colorado team should have a higher BA than a team from the AL if that is the case? Wrong. The Batting averages for positional players from 1993-2002 in Colorado ranged from an average of .325-.345 every year. May I point out they also led the Major Leagues in overall batting average every year for this span in the Pre-Humidor days too!
A Todd Helton Walk-off Shot at Coors:
It Is The 5 Year Anniversary Of His Re-Debut As A Hitter: What Is Next For Rick Ankiel?
Thursday August.09, 2012
At Age 20 (and starting out the year at age 19), Ankiel finished 2nd in ROY voting, 7th in strikeouts and ERA, 2nd in K’s/Per 9 IP and Hits/Per 9 IP in 2000. He threw 94-97 MPH as a Young Pitcher, however a mental block and injuries plagued him to the point where he changed into a permanent Outfielder in 2005.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- Playing the game of baseball is predicated on failure. Most of us that have played the game, realize how hard it is to hit a flying object with a piece of wood or metal. The majority of players, that are in the Major Leagues, have honed their skills from the time they were just starting grade school. Generally it takes a hell of a lot of repetition to become good at something. As an aspiring baseball player in my teens, I can remember swinging the baseball over 200 times a day in trying to perfect my swing. I had practice drills that would emphasize on weight transference, foot work and eye-hand coordination. So I imagine a lot of today’s current players did the same when they were a kid. Today marks the 5 year anniversary from one of the greatest stories ever produced on the field by a Major League Player.
The Cardinals Drafted Rick Ankiel in the 2nd round of the 1997 Amateur Draft. Ankiel had great pitching mechanics and made his dream come true on Aug.23 1999 (at the Age of 19), by making his pitching debut with the St. Louis Cardinals against the Montreal Expos He sported a 0-1 record in 5 starts to end the year with an impressive 39 Strikeouts in 33 innings, while posting a respectable 3.27 ERA. Ankiel was a budding prospect with a chance to become a perennial ALL-Star. In his Rookie year during the 2000 season, he finished with a record of 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA-and was 7th in the league with 194 Strikeouts.
This season was good enough to finish 2nd in Rookie of the Year Balloting. The Cardinals needed him to pitch in Game #1 of the NLDS because he and Daryl Kile were the only ones left on the roster as 3 starters from the regular season had become injured. To further put pressure on this young kid, his mentor for the game of baseball, his father, had been incarcerated in jail at the time as he was making it to the Major Leagues and it ate at him not having him there live to see him play. Still, Tony La Russa had complete faith in the kid to start in pivotal games at such a young age because of his electric arm.
It proved to be a costly mistake as Ankiel started to mentally fracture by the 3rd inning of that very game and ended up walking 4 batters and throwing a record 5 wild pitches in one inning-while giving up 4 runs. Ankiel never recovered from leaving the mound on that day. Against everyone’s better judgement, La Russa sent out Ankiel again to start in Game #2 of the NLCS versus the Braves. His first pitch of the game sailed over Timo Perez of the New York Mets. 5 wild pitches later and La Russa mercifully pulled him from the game. If you can believe it, La Russa brought out Ankiel to face four more hitters in Game #5 of the Series. This time he walked 2 more hitters and threw 2 more wild pitches. The Mets wiped out the depleted Cardinals pitching staff in that 5th game. If you ask La Russa, these decisions all haunt him more than any other thing that he has ever done as a manager.
Here is a great highlight reel showing off Ankiel’s best moments as a National in 2011.
A Busch Stadium Book Excerpt from ‘The Fastest Thirty Ballgames’
Friday, Aug.03/2012
Game#25 Day#24
Busch Stadium
St. Louis, MO
Aug.01/2008
I never thought anything was going to equal the previous day. We had arrived back at my brother’s house to spend a quality morning with my nieces and nephew—and Trent’s wife Kristy before returning to the road. It was a quick trip from Philadelphia to St. Louis. It was going to cost us a fortune to all take the shuttle into the Hilton at $17 each-so I got us on the next transportation shuttle bus, and then negotiated a deal with Budget to give me an extra few hours head start on the 24 hour time line airport rule—so I would not have to return after the St. Louis game to pick up the Mini-SUV, which had been the original plan.
Budget was awesome to let me have this deal early. I am a Fast Break member with them-and have/had spent a lot of money with them. We got a Mitsubishi SUV. My brothers thought it was a little small, but for a $65.00 rental that started out in St. Louis and ended up the next day in Minnesota-it was a great deal. Yes we had a five-hour drive from St. Louis to Chicago tomorrow, but we were all tough guys. I once again told them-“welcome to my world.”
That day in St. Louis was myopic. My brother Trent knew a guy at head office St. Louis, and that gentlemen made a few calls and arranged for my dad and I too receive ‘Field Passes’-and to be interviewed by Fox-Sports Midwest. I was almost in disbelief of that option, but it was now going to happen later that day. This experience was even better because none of us had been to new Busch Stadium-so all of us were there for the first time. Overall it was my 29th stadium so I only had “The Ballpark In Arlington” for stadiums left to complete my active 30. Much like Coors, Safeco and AT&T Park, the red-brick around the whole Stadium at Busch Stadium is top-notch. Read the rest of this entry
Chuck Booth’s Game and Streak Updates for MLB Parks 6-10
Follow me-@chuckbooth3024 on twitter
Follow my streak all the through to the bitter end. Schedule is this link:
https://mlbreports.com/gwr-tracker/ or at my official website for all updates!
Tuesday April 17, 2012
Chuck Booth and Lori Martini are interviewed by Sports NY
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- “In what technically is Park #1 on Day #1 of the streak after a retro-active option I capitalized on, this game is the 6th write-up. So let us go back to April.5th First. I watched the New York Mets Season Opener with Lori Martini and we were both interviewed by Sports Net New York and were featured on Mets Weekly Episode 2 on SNY.tv . This episode aired on Sunday April.15th. After the incredible adrenaline rush of being on camera for an extended interview, the Mets won the season opener on a well-pitched effort by Johan Santana of the Mets. Directly after the game, Lori and I were taken to Don Peppe’s in Queens by her friend Mike. This place serves great Italian platters and was featured on the hit TV Series “Entourage.” A nice meal with some great new friends then saw me make the trip to Boston. I had to take a Greyhound Bus to Boston(for only $15) because that airport was the only one in the radius that Southwest could fly to Phoenix in time for the opener.”
An Interview With AT and T ‘Expert’ Tike Narry
Friday, April.13/2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- I will have the chance to meet Tike for the Season Opener for the San Francisco Giants. Tike knows his stuff around the bay area and it today’s featured expert for AT&T Park.
CB: “Welcome to the MLB Reports Expert Interview For AT&T Park Tike. Please tell us about yourself and then give us a bit of background information on your life as a baseball Fan?”
TN: “I’m 39 years old, and attended my first baseball game at age 10. I have been a Giants fan my whole life, and have been a Season Ticketholder at AT&T Park since its opening in 2000. I have attended 679 games Major League, regular-season games entering 2012, with a goal of reaching 1,000 by my 50th birthday, and have attended games in 32 different MLB parks (23 current).”
CB: “As one of the ballpark experts who seen virtually every park, how do you rank AT&T Park versus the rest of the home venues?”
TN: “The only park that can come close to matching the setting of AT&T is PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It is spectacular, on the waterfront in China Basin in San Francisco, with a view across to the East Bay. Seats from right field can see the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and there are very few seats with a bad sight-line in the park. My only complaint about AT&T, and it’s a minor quibble, is the width of the concourses, but that’s to be expected when building a park on just 13 acres.” Read the rest of this entry
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