The Baseball Zealot

Went to Dunedin to watch the Blue Jays host the Buccos on Wednesday. Roy Halladay was on the hill for the Jays, opposed by Paul Maholm for Pittsburgh. I bought great tickets ahead of time, don’t know what I was thinking, as it wasn’t a sellout, I paid $8.00 in service charges, Mom ducked out till the 7th inning, and we both left after 9 innings. Enough sun!

Our seats were near homeplate along the thirdbase line, right in the sun! Didn’t wear sunscreen, except on my nose, don’t know what I was thinking. By the time Mom arrived in the 7th, I was fried, welcome Mr. Tomato!

Andrew McCutchen bounced a double down the thirdbase line, but Doc left him stranded there. Travis Snider ripped two singles, both line shots. Michael Barrett bounced into a doubleplay, midseason form. Matt Capps & B.J. Ryan looked sharp in their one innings stints, while Jeff Karstens was shaky two runs in two innings. Aaron Hill doubled and looked stellar in the field, concussion is behind him.

Craig Monroe took a 9th inning meatball over the leftfield wall to tie the game at 2, another reason to hate Craig Monroe! I was cooked after regulation, headed to the convertible. Only three games in the Sunshine State, off to the Cactus League Monday, no PC, will recap when I return to the Windy City.

Posted in: Spring Training by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo allowed solo homers to Geoff Jenkins & Ryan Howard. The law firm of Hanigan, Alonso, & Valaika went yard for Cincinnati (a 2-run, a solo, & a granny).

Phillies SS Jason Donald played 3B, after playing 2B on Saturday, and all this kid did was hit, three base knocks on Monday, raising his average to .320 on the Spring. Jason has an heir about him, will be a star, soon fans in Philadelphia will be wearing Donald jerseys. He looks like he belongs in the bigs.

Was looking forward to watching Jay Bruce, but was disappointed as he looked to be going through the motions.

Cole Hamels didn’t look as impressive as Bronson Arroyo. Chris Coste got the biggest ovation from the crowd when he took over behind the plate. Former star running back Eric Dickerson’s cousin Chris was hungry when he came into the game. Dickerson showed energy lining a basehit & stealing a base, looks to have a starting outfield job.

Posted in: Spring Training by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Arrived in Florida Friday night, didn’t know the Phillies were playing the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Enjoyed flaming cheese in Tarpon Springs instead, getting ready for the Tigers at the Phighting Phils in Clearwater on Saturday. 80 degrees every day, kinda tough to take, not really.

John Mayberry, Sr. walked by where we were standing behind home plate, still looks great, like he could still play today, looks quicker than his playing days. JM2 was penciled into RF for Philadelphia. He took a 2-0 Edwin Jackson far over the Frenchy’s sign in LF in the first inning with two aboard staking the Phillies to a three to nothing lead.

Tigers secondbaseman Scott Sizemore caught a Jamie Moyer third inning pitch on the sweet spot and carried it over the centerfield fence. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed with Sizemore in the Arizona Fall League, but this poke was quite a feat.

Then this Howie guy or Howard Ryan or Ryan Howard hit a three run bomb, I’ll go out on a limb and say, this kid’s gonna be pretty good.

Clete Thomas of Detroit, batting lefty off lefty Scott Eyre, knocked one out over the rightfield wall in the 8th.

J.A. Haap made a strong showing, striking out seven, allowing two hits, over three innings. Haap should fill in for J.C. Romero till his suspension is over, then sliding into the rotation. I thought cloning wasn’t allowed, but J.A.’s a Cole Hamels look-a-like.

Posted in: Spring Training by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Tedd Mallasch (aka Teddy Ballgame) is down in Florida and enjoying some Grapefruit League action.  He called up to give us an update on what’s happening down there.

If you haven’t already, read some of Teddy’s articles he written from Florida.  He’s posted to the blog pretty much daily since he went down there.

As always, it was a pleasure to talk to Teddy.  Hopefully, it won’t be the last time as he is headed to Arizona to see some Cactus League games later this month.

Enjoy!

Download Episode 41	Listen to the show via iTunes!
Listen to other Baseball Zealot Radio episodes	BZR Podcast Feed

Posted in: Baseball Podcasts, Baseball Zealot Radio, Spring Training by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »