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MLB Reports Monthly Power Rankings: June 2012
Monday June.4, 2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-We are going to bring you monthly power rankings every month of the season. There will be a few notes written for each team. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts. The Texas Rangers are the top ranked team yet once again, although teams are certainly gaining on the them in the last week. Look out for Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees to make their move towards the top this month.
June Power Rankings-Last Month Rank in Parenthesis
1. Texas-32-22 (1) The Rangers rode Josh Hamilton in the month of May-who enters today on pace for about 60 HRs and 170 RBI while hitting .354. Nelson Cruz is starting to heat up and the duo of Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler are steady as as ever. Yu Darvish is 7-3 en route to the leading the group amongst Rookie of The Year Contention. Joe Nathan is looking like his old self again out of the pen with an ERA under 2.
2. LA Dodgers 33-21 (5) Even with Matt Kemp out of the lineup again, the Dodgers are winning ball games with solid contributions from Andre Ethier and A.J Ellis on offense. The pitching staff has been anchored by Clayton Kershaw and a fast 7-1 start by Chris Capuano. Ted Lilly was 5-1 before a stint on the DL. It is too bad because Lilly is 125-104 since 2004.
3. Tampa Bay 31-23 (2) Hideki Matsui homered in two of his first 3 games back with the Rays. The team has had steady pitching to stay in contention. Carlos Pena has really struggled in the last month and will need to pick it up. Luke Scott with 35 RBI has good production numbers in spite of his .225 AVG. Fernando Rodney has converted 17 out of 18 saves to pace the club.
4. Cincinnati 30-23 (12) Joey Votto has hit .404 in the last 30 days and maybe the best all-around hitter in the National League right now. Jay Bruce has 12 HRs and 34 RBI and is living up to his all-star potential. Aroldis Chapman has 27 Strikeouts in just over 14 innings and has yet to yield a run while opponents are hitting a paltry .043 against him.
5. NY Yankees 29-24 (6) The Bronx Bombers have 6 players with 8 HRs or more, which is a good thing because with the exception of Derek Jeter, a lot of them are hitting under their career averages. The return of Andy Pettitte has helped the rotation with the loss of Micheal Pineda. Phil Hughes threw a complete game over the weekend and CC Sabathia is on pace for another 20 win season. Read the rest of this entry
An Interview With Progressive Field Expert Anthony Salter
Wednesday April.11/2012
- Anthony Salter on the far left with his grandma
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- I first met Anthony and his family on July.24/2008 at PNC Park. A nice usher at the Pirates game talked to me for a while before telling everyone he knew that I was chasing a world record. I hung out with the 4 Salter Boys for the rest of the game. We remained in contact and they were there for me the next year when I broke the World Record in Detroit. This family has brought me good luck in my trips. Anthony and his family are the featured experts on today’s Progressive Field Article.
CB: “Welcome to the MLB Reports Progressive Field Interview Anthony. Please tell us about yourself and then give us some information on your life as a baseball fan?”
AS: “My name is Anthony Salter. I am 18 years old and I live in Flat Rock, MI, suburb of Detroit. I currently attend Wayne State University in Downtown Detroit. I grew up loving sports, both playing and watching them. I played all sports when I was younger, including baseball. Today, baseball is the one sport that I still play organizationally, as I am a member of a local recreation softball league. Growing up in Detroit, I have always loved the Tigers. They will always be my favorite team. Hopefully they will win the pennant this year with the addition of Prince Fielder.”
CB: “You are from Detroit, so tell us what the Indians will have to do in order to compete versus the Tigers this year?”
AS: “The Indians have made some minor improvements in the off-season but are still not ready to compete with the Tigers. Even bounce back years from Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Shin Shoo Choo and Ubaldo Jimenez wouldn’t be enough to catch the Tigers.”
CB: “Everybody loves the movie Major League. How many times does the park make reference to this movie throughout the game?”
AS: “Major League is a classic baseball movie that pretty much all baseball fans have seen. However, out of all the Indian games I have been to, I have never seen them reference Major League throughout the game. It’s kind of surprising since the film features the Indians, and it was filmed in Cleveland too. Who knows though, maybe I am just too young and they stopped featuring it recently, or I was too young to pay attention. (I’m always focused on the game).”
DB: “Is it hard to navigate to the ballpark from the main highways?”
AS: “Not at all. Coming from Detroit, I come right down interstate 90, and get off at Ontario Street, and the park is right there. The ballpark is located right at the intersection of interstate 90 and 71, making it super convenient to get to from just about anywhere.”
CB: “What advice would you give for somebody experiencing Progressive Field for the very first time?”
AS: “I would just purchase some cheap upper deck seats to get in. The park is pretty cool, but the view of Downtown Cleveland is great from an upper deck seat. I would also plan on getting there early to explore the park, they have some pretty interesting things going on for the kids down there. There is also a section up in the nosebleeds which sells hot dogs for 1$. That is unreal for a major league ballpark, take advantage.”
DB: “What is your favorite method of transportation to Progressive Field?
AS: “Car, its and easy drive from Detroit.”
DB: “What is the food like at Progressive Field? What is your favorite ballpark food there?”
AS: “I always favor the chicken fingers. I don’t mind the hotdogs either. Really I don’t think it rates well versus the other parks.”
- The Salters
CB: “What is your favorite all time game that you have been in attendance for at Progressive Field?”
AS: “My favorite game that I have been to at Progressive Field was vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. It was in 2008, Cliff Lee’s last season on the club. I had the honor to see Lee pitch, and he shut out the Jays, and was outstanding. That was the year he recorded a career high 22 wins, and it was just memorable to witness a part of it.”
*** A big thank you goes out to our Progressive Field Expert Anthony Salter for participating in the expert article Series. To read more about the Salters journey with Booth to the baseball parks click here ***
***Thank you to our Lead Baseball Writer- Chuck Booth for preparing today’s feature on MLB reports. To learn more about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames” and Chuck Booth, you can follow Chuck on Twitter (@ChuckBooth3024) and you can also follow Chuck’s website for his Guinness Book of World Record Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 days click here or on the 30 MLB Parks in 23 days GWR tracker at the Reports click here. To Purchase or read about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book, ” please click here ***
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