If you are watching the Cubs game Friday, pay special attention to who’s throwing the first pitch out.  He’s quite a guy.

Wild Bill Holden, the Cub fan who has walked from Arizona to Illinois in order to raise money for juvenile diabetes research, will reach Wrigley Field tomorrow.  In the meanwhile, he has raised $155,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from his Walk-the Walk campaign.

Wild Bill will throw out the first pitch and lead the crowd it Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch at the Cubs game against the Nationals Friday.   It’s all well and good to have actors and politicians do this on a daily basis.  On Friday, there will be a true hero filling this role.

Here’s a link to a good (and recent) article about Wild Bill in the Herald News.  It’s very good.  Check it out.

Knock ‘em dead, Bill. 

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Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs

6 IP, 2 H, 1 run, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR

Kerry didn’t get the win but in his first start since being on the DL, he proved he didn’t have any problem pitching.  Now if the Cubs could get him some run support.

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On Tuesday, the Yankees blew their lead to the Orioles on a Brian Roberts’ walk-off homerun.  If you read ESPN’s article, you would have to read at least 3 paragraphs down before any mention of Rafael Palmeiro’s two record achievements that game. 

Such has been the career of Palmeiro the most unheralded player in this era.

Tuesday, Raffy’s 563 career homerun tied him with Reggie Jackson for 9th on the all-time list.  In addition, his two rbis passed Frank Robinson and he is now 15th all-time.  He now has 1813 rbis.

His stats are quite handsome yet how many people outside of us baseball fanatics know who he is?  He has remained pretty much unknown throughout his career.  Unless he is recognized from his Viagra ads.  And I won’t even go there.

But think of it.  He is only 37 homeruns away from the very coveted mark of 600.  As it is now, he has more homeruns than notable sluggers Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle and will most likely pass Harmon Killebrew this year (he needs 10 more).  He has more rbis than the aforementioned FRobbie, Cal Ripken, and Reggie Jackson.

As with most record holders, Raffy has done what he has done by virtue of his consistent play.  With the exception of the strike year 1994 and 1995 (143 games), he has played no less than 152 games every year since 1988.  Year in, year out, he has put out solid seasons yet never led the league in homers, slugging, or rbis.  In addition, he not won any MVP awards.  Yet, because of his consistent play, he leads all active players in hits, doubles, games and at-bats.  He was also second in total bases and third in homeruns.

Kudos to Rafael Palmeiro, the quiet superstar.

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Morgan Ensberg, Houston Astros

1 for 4, HR, run, 5 rbis

This falls in the unusual LSOTD category.  Ensberg managed this by hitting a grand slam and a sac fly.  Not to diminish his performance because the grand salami is hard to come by but in addition to his 5 rbis, he also had 6 LOB.  Too bad for Houston as they lost to Colorado 6-5.

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 This was passed on to me by a friend re: Derrek Lee:

 Picked this up from a Baseball Prospectus article:

It is worth noting, however, that Lee has been the most efficient hitter
in the majors in 2005 when it comes to capitalizing on his RBI
opportunities. He ranks just 79th in the total number of base runners
that have been on base during his plate appearances, yet he’s third
behind Lee and Manny Ramirez with 64 RBI; not
even Ted Williams was able to drive in so many runs with so few opportunities. Lee’s
performance in this regard is completely unprecedented and has never
been sustained for an entire season.

Imagine what Lee’s RBI totals would be if Patterson and Perez did a
better job getting on base?

 

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Last month, I wrote about Katie Brownell, the Little League girl who threw a perfect game and struck out every batter she faced.  It turns out she hasn’t escaped the attention of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Hall plans to commemorate the event on July 7 and the jersey she wore during her perfect game will be on display.  The jersey will eventually be part of either the Women in Baseball exhibit or Youth Baseball exhibit.

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Julio Franco, Atlanta Braves

1 for 1, HR, run, 4 rbis

Julio Franco made the most of one AB, hitting a grand slam.  Two years ago, he hit a grand slam at age 44 when he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam. 

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It seems for now that Mark Teixeira is leading in the polls for AL All-Star firstbaseman.  About time.  Teixeira has overtaken Tino “.227 BA” Martinez. 

Not only does MT have 20 homers and 58 rbis, he also sports a .363 OBP.

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Of the 409 homeruns Manny Ramirez has hit in his career, 19 of them have been hit with the bases loaded.  According to Baseball Musings, this puts him close enough to be a threat to Lou Gehrig’s record of 23 career grand slams.

If he can stay healthy, something that the Iron Horse wasn’t afforded, this is definitely a possibility.

Check out Baseball Musings’ nifty year-by-year chart.

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6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0, ER, 3 BB, 0 K

Prior was ready to come back, that was pretty evident.

Prior retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced.  Not wanting to push their luck, the Cubs coaching staff decided to pull him after six innings which in this case might have been the prudent thing to do.  New addition Jerome Williams, pitched two scoreless innings after giving up a walk.  I like Williams.  Once he decides that he’ll get his stuff together, he’ll be a good addition to the Cubs staff.

Prior seemed tickled pink by Burnitz’ baserunning.  Burnitz got on first via a Konerko error, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly.  What year is this? 1908?  Quoth Prior:

 ”I think what made it even a better ballgame was the way Burnitz ran the bases in that inning,” Prior said. “That insurance run was key.”

My Cub fan buddy TDChitown was at the Cell for the game.  I talked to him this morning and I could practically hear him beaming.  Prior was back healthy and strong, the Cubs took two of three from the Sox, things were looking up in Wrigleyville.  He said the Cell was a great place to see a Sox/Cubs game save for the drunk Sox fans who wouldn’t stop whining about how “bad” the Cubs were.  Seems kinda ironic since Prior was pitching a one-hitter against them.

The Cubs are more than ready to have Prior back.  Not only that, Kerry Wood is scheduled to be back on Wednesday.  Whether or not this translates to a possible run on the first place Cardinals remains to be seen. 

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