It was pretty much a perfect baseball day for me.  The University of Illinois beat the University of Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks 4-2 behind the phenomal pitching of Aaron Martin (read my recap of the game over at illinoisbaseballreport.com <– shameless plug). 

Then to cap it off, the Cubs beat the pants off the White Sox.  With a score like, 13-0, it didn’t even seem like the Sox had a chance. HoHoKam was filled to a record 13,010 fans to see that drubbing. 

More importantly, Aaron Heilman gave a good showing allowing one hit in two innings and striking out four.  I wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect of the Heilman trade but I know others who think differently.  I know two innings a season does not make but first impressions can go a long a way. 

Corey Koskie

In other Cub news, I see they signed veteran Corey Koskie to a minor league contract.  The contract stipulated he will get a chance in Spring Training but if he doesn’t make it in the bigs, he’ll get shipped to the Triple-A team.

To me, it seems that Koskie’s been around forever but checking out his stats, he’s only been in the majors for nine years (really eight, he was up for a small cup of coffee in 1998).  And he’s only 35.  His career derailed when he suffered a concussion after falling when chasing a pop fly.  Post concussion syndrome put any thought of baseball out of mind for a while. 

Now he’s back.  A hard nosed thirdbaseman with a little bit of pop and who knows how to take a walk.  Let’s see how far he can go.

Related posts

• Cubs looking at “Heart Attack” Jonny? (0)
• Piniella has management support (0)
• Read the transcript of BBWAA interview with Andre Dawson (0)

Posted in: College Baseball, Cubs by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

 “I gave up my apartment because I was going to go,” he said, smiling. “Yes, now I have no place to live. I’m homeless.”

-Adrian Beltre, who was told by the Mariners to not attend the WBC.

Related posts

• Milton is Now a Mariner (2)
• Monty Hall: Let’s Make a Deal (0)
• Throw Another Log on that Old Hot Stove (0)

Posted in: Humor by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

It’s early, but it might be time. The 19 year old Cuban thirdbaseman Dayan Viciedo singled in his first at bat of the spring. The 5′11″ 245 pound Viciedo signed a four year $10 million dollar deal over the winter with the White Sox. Although his contract is more than double that of fellow countryman SS Alexei Ramirez, he might be this year’s bargain basement baby. Dayan said, he felt relaxed, no pressure at all. With Joe Crede signing with the Minnesota Twins, thirdbase is wide open for Wilson Betemit, Josh Fields, & Dayan Viciedo, and Brent Morel & Jon Gilmore, waiting in the wings.

In fact the wide open positions have plenty of competition. For example secondbase will feature Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, Brent Lillibridge, or last year’s first round draft choice out of Georgia, Gordon Beckham.

And finally the rotation. Former AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon and Playoff & World Series hero Jose Contreras are ahead of schedule and look ready to start the season in the rotation when the team breaks camp, joining Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks. If anyone falters, Jeff Marquez, who came over from the Yankees in the Nick Swisher trade, and Aaron Poreda the big lefthander out of the University of San Francisco are looking to prove what they can do.

Saw in yesterday’s White Sox/Rockies box score where Eric Young, Jr. played secondbase for Colorado. The kid, just like his old man, can fly, and will steal alot of bases in the big leagues, no matter what position he ends up playing.

Related posts

• Wildcat Lacrosse team edges ‘05 White Sox for “Team of the Decade” in online poll (0)
• 2009 MiLBY awards announced (0)
• Cubs-Contreras rumors (0)

Posted in: Spring Training by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue got a great photo of Micah Hoffpauir’s grand slam at HoHoKam on the first day of spring training. 

Related posts

• Cubs looking at “Heart Attack” Jonny? (0)
• Piniella has management support (0)
• Read the transcript of BBWAA interview with Andre Dawson (0)

Posted in: Cubs by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Alyssa Milano is cashing in on her peripheral connection to baseball releasing a book she has written on the game we love.  Apparently she loves it too… at least a few of players that play it.

The book, “Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic,”, details Milano’s “lifelong obsession with baseball, revealing what the game has meant to her” etc etc.

Joe Torre has given his tacit approval by writing the foreword.  The least he could have done is let her write the foreword for his.  Fair is fair. 

And no, I’m not going to link to it.  If you really want it, you can google it.

Related posts

• Selig’s on-field committee: Where are the players and the umps? (0)
• 2009 Player of the Year: Albert Pujols (0)
• Phor What it’s Werth, Phillies Return to World Series (0)

Posted in: Books by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Every year it’s the same but more.  Earlier and earlier, injuries are taking their toll on the players.  Reading the baseball news is like a who’s who in the injury report.  Santana, Wood, Bonderman, the list goes on…

Now we hear Boof Bonser is out for 2009. 

Milton Bradley barely made it out of the dugout in the first game before coming out because of tightness in his quad.  (To add insult to injury, Mark DeRosa is off to a good start, with a homerun under his belt).

Granted, some of these are not serious and for the most part precautionary moves to prevent something that would impact their teams down the road.  That said, playing these kind of games this early in the (pre-) season doesn’t bode well for any (ok, most) teams who have to deal with this.

Query:  How much does steroids (or maybe, the withdrawal of steroids) have to do with increase of injuries in the MLB right now?

Related posts

• Fireworks spark Encarnacion injury (0)
• Milton is Now a Mariner (2)
• Q&A on the 03 drug test ruling (0)

Posted in: Injuries by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

I knew it was coming, but I guess it caught me off guard, yesterday my White Sox played their first game of the spring in the desert against the LA Angels of Anaheim. The results don’t mean a thing, neither do the stats, the players are just getting their work in, but the fans are in the stands, rooting for their team. DonS, I’m not just saying this because your Halos crunched my Pale Hose.

I featured a picture of Angels SS Brandon Wood as a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Wood was 0-2 in his two plate appearances, but he nailed it, hitting the ball on the screws, in both ABs. Jermaine Dye made a very solid catch, crashing into the wall in RF, taking an extra basehit away from Brandon his first time up. Then Jerry Owens leaped into the fence in leftcenter, once again robbing Wood. I know this stuff also happens in the regular season, but it’s even more misleading in preseason because of the limited amount of games played. This is much more of a good sign for Wood, rather than a failure.

White Sox non-roster minor league pitcher Brad Salmon allowed six runs in 2/3 of an inning pitched. With a spring ERA of 81.00, his chance of making it back to the big leagues have taken a major step backward.

Still, I must admit, I checkout the boxscores, looking for any info I might gather, but more important than that, it’s baseball!

Posted in: Spring Training by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Apparently, this was a Jeopardy question a couple days back.  I missed it, it was brought to my attention by a colleague and I just had to look it up.  I’m glad I did because it’s a great story and probably something I should have known.

A piece of Cubs history I was not familiar with as it was before my time, I learned the Cubs for more than 30 years (1921-1951) spent their spring training at Catalina Island. 

Springtrainingmagazine.com has an excellent article on the subject of Cubs’ history of spring training at Catalina Island.  It was actually first published in 1997 with contributions from those who actually live on Catalina Island. 

When the Cubs first stepped off the steamer onto the Avalon wharf in 1921, they were struck by the rugged beauty of the place. Over the years they got to know it intimately, because Cubs managers liked to use the rough terrain and mountain trails for conditioning. The island is home to mountain goats, and winter-softened Cubbies often suffered long workouts hiking along goat paths. Third baseman Randy Jackson complained of shin splints, and Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett anguished, “I hope they’ve got banked turns in the National League infields, because one of my legs is shorter than the other from trying to navigate those damn hills.”

The Cubs left Catalina Island in 1952 after several years of bad weather including snow in 1951.  Philip K Wrigley had contacts in Arizona and moved to Mesa where they are today.

Related posts

• Cubs looking at “Heart Attack” Jonny? (0)
• Piniella has management support (0)
• Read the transcript of BBWAA interview with Andre Dawson (0)

Posted in: Cubs by The Baseball Zealot
1 Comment »

I’m curious what Sox think of this.

Not so much that Crede won’t be with Chicago any more.  I think that song was written a few months ago.  But now he’ll be playing for their arch-rivals Minnesota Twins. 

Comments from the South side?

Oh, from the article (emphasis mine):

Crede, who provided stellar defense and was a clutch hitter during his tenure with the Sox…

I’ve heard from more than one Sox fan that Crede’s defense had been lacking in 2008 at least in comparison to his past years.  Perhaps that’s true?  Or maybe that was due to his injury??

For what it’s worth, Crede does say he’s almost back to 100%.

Related posts

• Hot Stove Talk (0)
• Cubs looking at “Heart Attack” Jonny? (0)
• Wildcat Lacrosse team edges ‘05 White Sox for “Team of the Decade” in online poll (0)

Posted in: Hot Stove by The Baseball Zealot
1 Comment »

Sixteen years ago in 1993 I won it all in a fantasy baseball league, my team was called WTLNXTYR, and there was no waiting till next year. Tommy Greene was a 26 year old righthander with nasty stuff for the Philadelphia Phillies. Wilson Alvarez was a 23 year old lefty with the Chicago White Sox. These two hurlers were instrumental to my team’s success.

Now, after all this time, I’m back again, looking to catch lightning in a bottle. CLuke & Rob T are long time members and will be out there opposing me, along with some other very good competition, Rob T’s son Tim is also in the league. Tim is top a notch GM. I think Rob T has won twice, Tim once, and CLuke has won three times. So I’ll have my work cut out for me.

The way fantasy baseball works is like this… There’s an auction where you bid on players, building your team, you need two catchers, one firstbaseman, one thirdbaseman, one first/thirdbaseman, one secondbaseman, one shortstop, one secondbaseman/shortstop, five outfielders, two utility players, five starting pitchers, and five relief pitchers. You compete for five offensive categories and five pitching categories with the other teams in the league. The higher you are in each category, the more points your team gets, the team with the most points, wins.

This isn’t just about bragging rights, this is about hard, cold, cash! Each owner puts up $200, with more money being potted for player moves & trades throughout the year, and something like the top five teams get a piece of the pot.

Posted in: Fantasy Baseball by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »