For everyone in the USA out there, I hope you’re having a happy 4th of July! 

Remember the old adage about freedom….

Rights, use ‘em or lose ‘em.

Anyway, have a good one!

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Nick Swisher ripped a three run one out 2nd inning shot to right off Kevin Slowey to put Gavin Floyd & the White Sox up 3-1, they never looked back.

In the bottom of the 3rd A.J. Pierzynski singled, Carlos Quentin doubled, Paul Konerko doubled home two, Jim Thome struckout, Jermaine Dye knocked in Konerko with a single, Dye stole 2nd (joining Konerko & Thome with one steal), Swisher swished, Joe Crede doubled & scored on base hit by Alexei Ramirez, Orlando Cabrera singled, and that brought up Pierzynski for his second 3rd inning at bat, he flied out to end the five run inning.

Dye & Swisher hit back-to-back doubles to open the 5th, Crede grounded a single to center to score Swisher, a line drive over the rightfield fence by Ramirez made it 12-1. Meanwhile Floyd had it on cruise control, striking out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs. Boone Logan & Esteban Loaiza pitched the final two innings, scoreless, final 12-2.

The highlight of the day, after waiting out a hour & a half rain delay, and besides the Good Guys 12-2 win, was getting a ball autographed by Minnie (should be in the Hall of Fame) Minoso, Nancy Faust, and a couple of players from the Negro Leagues, what a thrill!

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Michelle Gallien is the daughter of one of my good friends Doreen. This past fall Michelle was in China representing the USA at the Special Olympics. Today Michelle will be honored before the Red Sox game at Fenway Park and she will throw out the first pitch. You can read all about Michelle’s trip to China by clicking here.

Michelle leads a life kind of like Forrest Gump, she’s always doing incredible things, despite her disability. She holds down two jobs, is a black belt in karate, watches the daily news without fail, and is always looking for someone to help along the way. She has gone on several cruises with her mother and after her trip to China, she went on a vacation to Mexico. I’m so very excited to see the Red Sox taking the time to recognize Michelle Gallien. Michelle’s the best! Throw Michelle Throw!!!

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What’s not to like about Tyler Ladendorf? The Minnesota Twins selected Ladendorf, 60th overall, out of Howard College in Texas batted .542 to lead the nation in hitting. Before coming to Howard, Tyler honed his baseball skills at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, IL. The 5′11″ 190 pound shortstop has excellent bat speed, but has an unorthodox approach to hitting may hinder his future development. That said, he looks to be just the type of player who will fit in pefectly into the Minnesota Twins system. The Twins once had a pretty good player out of Chicago by the name of Kirby Puckett. From what I’ve seen of Tyler, his game reminds me of Barry Larkin. Another pretty good hitting Chicago guy is Curtis Granderson. Puckett, Larkin, & Granderson - if Tyler’s anything like these three guys, the Twins got a steal in Ladendorf. Even though I’m a Sox fan, I’ll be rooting for Tyler Ladendorf.

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I’ve been a fan of Alex Rodriguez since he played Class-A ball for the Appleton Foxes. Went to Appleton to see the kid play there, it was Alex Rodriguez poster night, and even got him to sign a baseball card, which is still on my desk. That was way back in 1994, Alex was the first player chosen in the draft, and this 18 year old kid was performing well on the field. Rodriguez batted .319 in his brief 65 game stay in the Midwest League, hitting 14 home runs there, before playing 17 games in Double A, 32 games in Triple A, and before the season was through 17 games in Seattle with the Mariners. But on this night I got to see what all the fuss was about, in person. He could do it all. It was obvious Alex would be a star. This skinny 6′3″ youngster had power, speed, and could pick it at shortstop.

The awards Alex Rodriguez has won since showing up on the scene are too numerous to mention. He was named the AL MVP in 2003, 2005, & 2007. In 1996, 2002, & 2007 he was named the ML Player of the Year. The AL Hank Aaron Award was bestowed on him in 2001, 2002, 2003, & 2007. He has won nine Silver Slugger Awards (7 at SS, 2 at 3B). In 2002 & 2003 he won Gold Gloves for his play at SS. In 1996 he led the AL with a .358 batting average. He’s led the league in home runs five times, total bases four times, RBIs twice, runs scored five times, and slugging percentage three times. Eleven times Rodriguez made the AL All Star team.

His statistics speak for themselves. In 1,941 games played A-Rod has hit 526 homers, knocked in 1,552 runs, scored 1,524 times, 407 doubles, an onbase percentage of .389, 271 stolen bases, while batting .306. It’s no wonder he is the highest paid player in the history of the game, no doubt, he is the best!

It should come as no surprise that when I had the chance to get Alex to play for my Illowa APBA franchise I jumped at it. The Northside Hitmen drafted Rodriguez as a rookie, but after years of me badgering him, CLuke FINALLY relented, and traded him to me in exchange for Miguel Cabrera. In APBA A-Rod’s been a winner, playing with the Hitmen, with the likes of Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, & Roberto Alomar, championships didn’t elude him.

There is more to it, than this is a game played with cardboard players & dice, rather than real players made of flesh & bone. There is the matter of money. When you tie up that much money in one resource, there just isn’t enough to go around for the rest of the ballclub, even if you are George Steinbrenner, and you own the New York Yankees. Rodriguez’ teams have finished in first place five different times, but never a championship.

Will he ever win one? That is the question being asked here. I’d have to say, no. Just too much money invested in one ballplayer. But that doesn’t it mean it can’t happen or that I won’t be rooting him on. Even though I’m a White Sox fan through and through, I’ll always be a fan of Alex Rodriguez.

Oh yeah, and that poster I received in 1994, is still hanging on my bedroom wall, after all these years.

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It happened right here in Chicago at Wrigley Field, the San Diego Padres called up 29 year old Edgar Gonzalez. This all happened over the Mother’s Day weekend, Adrian Gonzalez’ older brother was called up to join the Padres. Edgar was hitting .293 with 4 homers in 82 at bats this year in Triple-A when the call came. Both brothers are extremely happy as you can tell in this story you can read here.

Both brothers played at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, CA and both are now with their hometown San Diego Padres, but in between their careers were TOTALLY different! Both were drafted in the 2000 Amateur Draft, Adrian by the Florida Marlins with the first pick in the draft, while older brother Edgar was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 30th round (886th player chosen).

How did these guys drafted by Sunshine State teams make it across the country to San Diego?

Adrian was traded in 2003 by the Fish to the Texas Rangers in exchange for reliever Uegeth Urbina. As luck would have it Texas had a pretty good firstbaseman at the time, in Mark Teixeira. So the Rangers sent him packing along with pitcher Chris Young and outfielder Termel Sledge in exchange for pitcher Adam Eaton and reliever Akinori Otsuka in 2006. It didn’t take the Rangers long to see the error of their ways as Young moved into San Diego’s rotation and Adrian developed into a superstar, while both Eaton & Otsuka developed arm problems. In three years with the Padres Gonzalez has posted the following numbers; 2006: 38 2B’s, 24 HR’s, 82 RBI’s, .304, 2007: 46 2B’s, 30 HR’s, 100 RBI’s, .282, and only 52 games played thus far in 2008: 13 2B’s, 14 HR’s, 43 RBI’s, .282.

The Texas Rangers selected brother Edgar from the Devil Rays in 2003 in the Rule V Minor League Draft. Then he was again selected in the Rule V Minor League Draft in 2004 only this time by the Montreal Expos. Then in November, 2007 he signed a Minor League contract with the San Diego Padres. Edgar is not the hitter, nor the prospect, that his younger brother Adrian is. Still he was one of the last cuts in spring training. The elder Gonzalez has nearly a .300 batting average in his nine years in the minors. Edgar, here’s to a long stay in the big leagues!

Brothers, reunited, playing in the majors for their hometown team, what every boy dreams about!

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Analysis of Baseball
by May Swenson

It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
and the mitt.
Ball hits
bat, or it
hits mitt.
Bat doesn’t
hit ball, bat
meets it.
Ball bounces
off bat, flies
air, or thuds
ground (dud)
or it
fits mitt.

Bat waits
for ball
to mate.
Ball hates
to take bat’s
bait. Ball
flirts, bat’s
late, don’t
keep the date.
Ball goes in
(thwack) to mitt,
and goes out
(thwack) back
to mitt.

Ball fits
mitt, but
not all
the time.
Sometimes
ball gets hit
(pow) when bat
meets it,
and sails
to a place
where mitt
has to quit
in disgrace.
That’s about
the bases
loaded,
about 40,000
fans exploded.

It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
the mitt,
the bases
and the fans.
It’s done
on a diamond,
and for fun.
It’s about
home, and it’s
about run.

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This is a game I’d had every intention on attending. I’ve been asking everybody at US Cellular Field, “When’s the Public League Championship game going to be?” Nobody could tell me, I guess I should have asked Caramel Corn Mike, I’m sure he was out there behind home plate selling his caramel corn, only feet from where I’d have been standing, had I only known.

The game was May 27th at US Cellular Field, the same day as the NCAA Division III Championship was taking place in Appleton, WI. But I was in Chicago, having returned from Waupaca, WI the day before. I’ve always had strong ties to the Chicago Public League, having represented Spalding High School, back in the day, on the chess team.

This contest featured Whitney Young trying to repeat as champs versus Lake View. My girlfriend when I was in 7th grade lived next door to Lake View at Irving Park & Ashland, on the northside. Young is a magnet school on the southside, you have to be really smart to go there.

Lake View scored in the first inning when Deion Geiger singled home Carlos Ruiz with the first run of the ballgame. The lead held up until the top of the 5th when Young’s Jack Cinoman reached on an error. Valmer Jordan laid down a bunt, the pitcher field it, but his throw caromed into centerfield, sending the runners to 2nd & 3rd. A fake squeeze play was called, the pitcher balked in a run, moments later a wild pitch plated another.

Joe Frahm kept the Lake View hitters off balance all day with a steady diet of offspeed stuff was the winner for Young over tough luck loser, Geiger. Final score Whitney Young 2, Lake View 1.

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The Trinity College Bantams capped off a perfect regular season by winning the NCAA Division III Championship over Johns Hopkins 5-4 on May 27th. This game was played in Appleton, WI. My summer cottage is about 45 minutes away in Waupaca, WI.

I became interested in the NCAA Division III Championship because my cousin’s son, Kevin Kaminski, was playing for a very good Division III baseball team Carthage College. I shouldn’t say Kevin actually played for Carthage College, he sat the bench. Last year Kevin redshirted as Carthage made it to Appleton. This year he was promised playing time by head coach Augie Schmidt, but then was cut from the team as tournament play began, after wasting his time on the bench all year. As luck would have it, Carthage was eliminated from tournament play on May 16th losing to St. Scholastica, after losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater 24-3 on the 15th. So Kevin didn’t miss out on a championship, although he did work hard for the privlege of riding the pines. A couple of years ago Kaminski proved his worth as the regular secondbaseman for Harper Junior College, hitting well over .400.

But this story isn’t about Kevin Kaminski, Carthage College, or unkept promises. It’s all about Division III Championship Baseball.

In the bottom of the 8th inning trailing by a run, Trinity pinch-hitter Matt Stafford tied the game with an RBI base knock, coming through with two outs and two strikes. Johns Hopkins again put the pressure back on Trinity, when Matt Benchener hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th for a 4-3 lead. Trinity who had lost to Johns Hopkins the previous day to ruin their perfect season, was now just three outs away from losing the championship as well.

Trinity’s Kent Graham got things started in the bottom of the 9th with a one out single up the middle. Then James Wood got a hit & run single through the rightside, sending Graham to 3rd. Chandler Barnard, who had five hits on the day, was given an intentional walk. Matt Sullivan then drew a 3-2 bases loaded walk to tie the game. Then Guy Goglietino, Jr., who’d come into the game as a defensive replacement at 3B, fouled off seven pitches before receiving the game winning ball four.

Who says walks can’t be exciting? Congrats to Trinity College! Maybe next year I’ll have to make it to this exciting baseball tournament in Appleton, WI, rather than just reporting on it from afar.

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What a ballgame! After five innings the score was tied at eight. There was a 1 1/2 hour rain delay. The highest paid baseball player in the game ARod came up in the top of the 11th, with the bases loaded, and nobody out.

The infield was in when Rodriguez hit a screamer to second, just inches off the ground. Brian Roberts made a miraculous play on what turned out to be a grounder, scrambled to his feet, and fired home, in time for the out. Then the O’s catcher threw to third to double up Derek Jeter. Hideki Matsui singled in the two out go ahead run, 9-8.

But Alex Cintron drove in the game winner in the bottom of the 11th after the Birds had tied the score. Final score Baltimore 10, Yankees 9.

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