In the spirit of the All-Star game fast-approaching, and the July 1 deadline for ballots, here are my votes for both teams:
American League
C - Victor Martinez
1B - Miguel Cabrera
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Evan Longoria
OF - Josh Hamilton
OF - Magglio Ordonez
OF - Alex Rios
DH - Vladimir Guerrero
National League
C - Brian McCann
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Martin Prado
SS - Hanley Ramirez
3B - Scott Rolen
OF - Andre Ethier
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Matt Holliday
The National League was a lot more difficult to determine. I agonized over my decision to vote for Prado at second base over Chase Utley, and my vote for Matt Holliday in the outfield instead of Corey Hart. Otherwise, the picks were pretty obvious from a numbers/statistics standpoint. We'll see how close my votes resemble America's general consensus in the coming days.
June 27, 2010
June 24, 2010
Streaky and Slumping
It's been two weeks since my last post, and the Dodgers are 4-9 in that span, including being losers of six straight. In fact, the club has only managed two wins since their sweep of St. Louis two weeks ago. Last night, they were embarrassed by poor fielding and baserunning, mistakes that have really plagued them all year long. They wrap up a "road" series with the Angels tonight before meeting the Yankees this weekend and traveling to San Francisco Monday. With an offense that's scuffling and a pitching staff that looks like it may not hold out much longer, the Dodgers will be hard-pressed to turn things around before the All-Star break. They find themselves four games behind the division-leading Padres, who refuse to lose, and are in danger of slipping further down in the division with the Rockies starting to heat up.
It's safe to say at this point that the Dodgers look aloof. It's like they couldn't handle the honor of being the National League's best team two weeks ago, and so they just decided they were going to start losing again. Streaky teams face very difficult challenges in getting to the postseason. Streaky is a label the Dodgers can't afford. It's June. Everyone else in the division means business, hence why the Dodgers are in fourth place right now. Consistency is the name of the game this time of year, and the Dodgers are anything but consistent. That has to change if the Dodgers' fortunes are to be reversed.
It's safe to say at this point that the Dodgers look aloof. It's like they couldn't handle the honor of being the National League's best team two weeks ago, and so they just decided they were going to start losing again. Streaky teams face very difficult challenges in getting to the postseason. Streaky is a label the Dodgers can't afford. It's June. Everyone else in the division means business, hence why the Dodgers are in fourth place right now. Consistency is the name of the game this time of year, and the Dodgers are anything but consistent. That has to change if the Dodgers' fortunes are to be reversed.
June 8, 2010
Simply Stras-some
Stephen Strasburg struck out fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates en route to his first career major league victory in his overwhelmingly impressive debut tonight in Washington. You can officially consider him a phenom.
Bob Costas put it perfectly tonight when he said that it is rare for players to perform in a way that exceeds the hype surrounding them, and that Strasburg did that tonight. Boy, did he ever exceed the hype. And that's saying something, because the hype surrounding this guy prior to tonight was nearly unfathomable. Yet he had John Smoltz in awe, the sellout crowd at Nationals Park ooing and awwing, and baseball fans everywhere stunned. I could care less about the Nationals, but I will watch them just to see this guy pitch. Minus the two-run home run he surrendered to Delwyn Young, he was dominant, and if this is a sign of things to come, he is going to be one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen. You can make any argument you want against him - it was the Pirates, who don't have a strong lineup; he was pitching at home; he still gave up two runs...whatever the argument may be, it isn't strong enough to overcome all the positive and remarkable things Strasburg did on the hill tonight. He had command of all his pitches. He was aggressive in the strike zone. He got through seven innings and still stayed within his target pitch count. Oh, and he struck out 14 hitters. Certainly, a real masterpiece turned in by Strasburg tonight.
So where does that leave the Nationals? A day after they selected slugger Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, their future looks bright in the wake of Strasburg's first major league start. Will they become relevant? Can they put enough pieces together to make a run at the surprisingly competitive NL East? The rest of the National League better watch out, because Strasburg's lurking, and after tonight, there's no doubt that he's relevant.
Bob Costas put it perfectly tonight when he said that it is rare for players to perform in a way that exceeds the hype surrounding them, and that Strasburg did that tonight. Boy, did he ever exceed the hype. And that's saying something, because the hype surrounding this guy prior to tonight was nearly unfathomable. Yet he had John Smoltz in awe, the sellout crowd at Nationals Park ooing and awwing, and baseball fans everywhere stunned. I could care less about the Nationals, but I will watch them just to see this guy pitch. Minus the two-run home run he surrendered to Delwyn Young, he was dominant, and if this is a sign of things to come, he is going to be one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen. You can make any argument you want against him - it was the Pirates, who don't have a strong lineup; he was pitching at home; he still gave up two runs...whatever the argument may be, it isn't strong enough to overcome all the positive and remarkable things Strasburg did on the hill tonight. He had command of all his pitches. He was aggressive in the strike zone. He got through seven innings and still stayed within his target pitch count. Oh, and he struck out 14 hitters. Certainly, a real masterpiece turned in by Strasburg tonight.
So where does that leave the Nationals? A day after they selected slugger Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, their future looks bright in the wake of Strasburg's first major league start. Will they become relevant? Can they put enough pieces together to make a run at the surprisingly competitive NL East? The rest of the National League better watch out, because Strasburg's lurking, and after tonight, there's no doubt that he's relevant.
June 4, 2010
Selig Not Blowing This Call
Jim Joyce had every right to be emotional yesterday as he took the field following his blown call the night before that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga a perfect game. It was great to see Galaragga and other Tigers players supporting Joyce and comforting him before yesterday's game in a perfect demonstration of class and sportsmanship. Umpires blow calls - it's part of the game. It's part of what makes baseball great. And that's why Bud Selig's decision to not overturn the call is the correct one.
The human element is a sacred aspect of the game of baseball, deeply rooted in the traditions of the sport. No other sport relies on the human element so heavily, which is what makes baseball unique among the many sports we enjoy watching and participating in. If Wednesday night's call is overturned, that decision would destroy the credibility of umpires, and thus the human element. It would be an act of rewriting history. Selig can't go back to every blown call and reverse them just because they were missed. Blown calls happen. They are part of the game. This one just happened to be at the most inopportune time possible. Nevertheless, Selig's decision should stand in the name of tradition and consistency.
I'll deploy the same argument to challenge the notion of further instant replay being brought into baseball. It would make me sick to see a day where calls like Joyce's were determined by technology. It's bad enough we have the technology in place for home run balls down the foul lines. But imagine if it gets to the point where we have technology ruling balls and strikes? I shudder to think about it. The game won't be human anymore if instant replay is allowed to pervade that deeply into the heart of baseball.
Even though Jim Joyce's call Wednesday was the wrong one, Bud Selig's call yesterday was the right one. A blown call by Selig would set an unwelcome precedent for future in-game calls to be reversed at the will of the Commissioner or whoever else is in charge of overseeing them, and would open the doors for instant replay to invade the game of baseball. If Selig hopes to retain his dignity and integrity as Commissioner, he will continue to uphold this decision, lest he ruin baseball's own dignity and integrity.
The human element is a sacred aspect of the game of baseball, deeply rooted in the traditions of the sport. No other sport relies on the human element so heavily, which is what makes baseball unique among the many sports we enjoy watching and participating in. If Wednesday night's call is overturned, that decision would destroy the credibility of umpires, and thus the human element. It would be an act of rewriting history. Selig can't go back to every blown call and reverse them just because they were missed. Blown calls happen. They are part of the game. This one just happened to be at the most inopportune time possible. Nevertheless, Selig's decision should stand in the name of tradition and consistency.
I'll deploy the same argument to challenge the notion of further instant replay being brought into baseball. It would make me sick to see a day where calls like Joyce's were determined by technology. It's bad enough we have the technology in place for home run balls down the foul lines. But imagine if it gets to the point where we have technology ruling balls and strikes? I shudder to think about it. The game won't be human anymore if instant replay is allowed to pervade that deeply into the heart of baseball.
Even though Jim Joyce's call Wednesday was the wrong one, Bud Selig's call yesterday was the right one. A blown call by Selig would set an unwelcome precedent for future in-game calls to be reversed at the will of the Commissioner or whoever else is in charge of overseeing them, and would open the doors for instant replay to invade the game of baseball. If Selig hopes to retain his dignity and integrity as Commissioner, he will continue to uphold this decision, lest he ruin baseball's own dignity and integrity.
June 1, 2010
Willis to Arizona
The Diamondbacks made a deal today to acquire left-handed starter Dontrelle Willis from Detroit in a move they hope will shore up some of their pitching woes.
Last place in the NL West, the Diamondbacks are hurting for pitching, particularly in their bullpen, which has been atrocious this season. Even ace Dan Haren has struggled through the first two months, although he looked very sharp tonight against the Dodgers. Willis gives them their only left-handed arm in the starting rotation, but expectations certainly should not be high. Since Willis' career year in 2003, he has been nothing to write home about. And he's making $12 million this year. The Tigers are picking up a lot of that salary, but there's no way Willis is worth that much. He's not even worth half that much. Still, it can't get much worse for the Diamondbacks, and the upside of Willis was probably enough to trigger a deal, especially when all the Tigers wanted was Billy Buckner. We'll see how he works out in the desert.
Tonight, any positive energy from that trade died with Matt Kemp's walk-off home run in the 10th to pull the Dodgers within one game of San Diego at the expense of the Diamondbacks. It's just a shame that the Dodgers couldn't score any runs for John Ely again though. That guy deserves to have five wins by now. An early game tomorrow wraps up the series before the Dodgers get the red-hot Atlanta Braves this weekend.
Last place in the NL West, the Diamondbacks are hurting for pitching, particularly in their bullpen, which has been atrocious this season. Even ace Dan Haren has struggled through the first two months, although he looked very sharp tonight against the Dodgers. Willis gives them their only left-handed arm in the starting rotation, but expectations certainly should not be high. Since Willis' career year in 2003, he has been nothing to write home about. And he's making $12 million this year. The Tigers are picking up a lot of that salary, but there's no way Willis is worth that much. He's not even worth half that much. Still, it can't get much worse for the Diamondbacks, and the upside of Willis was probably enough to trigger a deal, especially when all the Tigers wanted was Billy Buckner. We'll see how he works out in the desert.
Tonight, any positive energy from that trade died with Matt Kemp's walk-off home run in the 10th to pull the Dodgers within one game of San Diego at the expense of the Diamondbacks. It's just a shame that the Dodgers couldn't score any runs for John Ely again though. That guy deserves to have five wins by now. An early game tomorrow wraps up the series before the Dodgers get the red-hot Atlanta Braves this weekend.
Memorial Madness
We saw some crazy things happen over the weekend in the world of baseball, a few of which are worth mentioning here:
1. Roy Halladay's perfect game. Two perfect games in a month? Unheard of. And he only needed 105 pitches to do it. Florida then won 1-0 the next day.
2. Stellar pitching performances from Matt Cain, Ricky Romero, Carlos Silva, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Cain flirted with a perfect game on the same day Halladay threw his, and almost went the distance. Romero did go the distance, and was fabulous against the Orioles. Silva struck out 11 in seven innings, and Jimenez, who has already been the subject of this blog, now boasts an ERA of 0.78 after tonight. He threw a complete game shutout to beat Tim Lincecum, striking out nine and extending his scoreless inning streak to 26. At 10-1, he's Cy Young material, easy.
3. The Padres scored 18 runs in PETCO Park tonight. That's a record. And they're still in first place by two games, with the NL's best record.
4. Speaking of first place teams, we can now include the Atlanta Braves in that discussion. Besides the Dodgers, who won 20 games this month, the Braves have been baseball's hottest team. Now they are shocking the surprisingly competitive NL East going into June. That division is going to make headlines the rest of the way, guaranteed.
5. To include my Dodgers in the madness - they won on a balk tonight, following a major baserunning blunder by James Loney that almost cost them the game. How many games do you see end in balks? It was the fifth win the Dodgers have pulled out in their last at-bat. That magic from 2009 is still in the air.
Two months down, four to go!
1. Roy Halladay's perfect game. Two perfect games in a month? Unheard of. And he only needed 105 pitches to do it. Florida then won 1-0 the next day.
2. Stellar pitching performances from Matt Cain, Ricky Romero, Carlos Silva, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Cain flirted with a perfect game on the same day Halladay threw his, and almost went the distance. Romero did go the distance, and was fabulous against the Orioles. Silva struck out 11 in seven innings, and Jimenez, who has already been the subject of this blog, now boasts an ERA of 0.78 after tonight. He threw a complete game shutout to beat Tim Lincecum, striking out nine and extending his scoreless inning streak to 26. At 10-1, he's Cy Young material, easy.
3. The Padres scored 18 runs in PETCO Park tonight. That's a record. And they're still in first place by two games, with the NL's best record.
4. Speaking of first place teams, we can now include the Atlanta Braves in that discussion. Besides the Dodgers, who won 20 games this month, the Braves have been baseball's hottest team. Now they are shocking the surprisingly competitive NL East going into June. That division is going to make headlines the rest of the way, guaranteed.
5. To include my Dodgers in the madness - they won on a balk tonight, following a major baserunning blunder by James Loney that almost cost them the game. How many games do you see end in balks? It was the fifth win the Dodgers have pulled out in their last at-bat. That magic from 2009 is still in the air.
Two months down, four to go!
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