Tag: jim edmonds

Diamond Jim is back

Centerfielder Jim Edmonds is making a comeback.  After an ill-fated 2009 when his wife died of a cocaine overdose and he spent most of the rest of it recuperating from that, Edmonds is back in baseball.

The Milwaukee Brewers are taking a flier on Edmonds hoping he can help the team.  A good move in my opinion if only because they’re getting him on the cheap.

The Gold Glove centre-fielder, making a comeback after taking the 2009 season off, had his minor league contract purchased Thursday, giving the 39-year-old a spot on the 40-man roster.

The move put US$850,000 in Edmonds’ pocket, with the ability to make up to $1.75 million in bonuses.

Edmonds belts two, Blanco puts the icing on the cake against Cards

A few friends from work went up to Chicago to catch the Cub-Cardinal game today.  Thanks to Rich, who is a gracious Cardinal fan by the way, who sent me some photos of the game.

Before the game, a member of the US Navy Seals Leap frog team parachuted into Wrigley Field:

navysealsatwrigley

I only listened to the game but from my vantage point, I don’t think they could have chosen a better game to see.  A pitcher’s duel with a tie game with both starters (Looper and Lilly) allowing two runs each after seven runs.  Rich had told me earlier that he was concerned about the Cardinals bullpen but all things considered they didn’t do ALL bad.  That is, till Franklin got to the 11th.

wrigleyvscards

The stories of the game from a Cub perspective?

Of course, the bases loaded walk-off single from unlikely suspect Henry Blanco.  To be fair, Blanco is hitting .300 in limited play. 

Jim Edmonds was 0-7 against his former team, the Cardinals.  He seemed to have made up for lost time today with two solo shots and was literally all the Cubs offense for the first 10 innings.  And he seemed to be having fun:

Edmonds appeared to enjoy his first homer Friday, pausing at the plate momentarily to watch it take off before rounding the bases.

Maybe more surprising, the Cubs handing the ball to Bob Howry with a tie ball game.  Bob Howry and his 5+ ERA.  But Howry got the job done, pitching a perfect 11th with 2 strikeouts to get the win. 

One down, two to go. 

Go Cubs!

Welcome to the NL, Mr Harden!

Glad to have you onboard the World Series Express.  Cubs win 8-7 against the Giants.  Three points I’d like to make. 

1.  There are three numbers that sum up Harden’s first appearance for the Cubs. 

0

Zero runs given up.  He did spread out five hits and three walks but none reached home plate.  Awesome job. 

10

Ten strikeouts, an impressive performance. 

5 1/3

The number of innings pitched.  Harden’s pitch count was still 96.  That’s the important one.  Piniella knows not to stretch him

2.  Carlos Marmol.  Our trusty righty from the pen blew up and allowed five runs to almost lose the game (and certainly take the well-deserved win from Harden).  Do I fault Marmol?  Not necessarily.  Piniella needs to use him less, plain and simple.  Pick and choose the spots where he best suited, Lou.    He’s getting worn out. 

3.  My last point… Jim Edmonds hit his 10 homer of the year.   I only bring this up because the day I did a writeup on Edmonds, I got a text message from DonS that simply said, “He’s still a punk”.  It took me a half a minute for me to actually get who he was referring. 

The linescore for Diamond Jim today:  2 for 4, 2B, HR, 2 runs and 4 rbis. 

My kinda “punk.  DonS was actually referring to A-Rod in his text message. 

Update:  Looks like the some of the guys they got did pretty well, too.

A belated welcome to Jim Edmonds

R.J. Anderson from Beyond the Box Score lists his lineup of players over 35 who are playing well.  Guess who he has down at center field??

Jim Edmonds of the Chicago Cubs. 

Ok, Cub fans, be honest.  How many of you winced when heard that the Cubs were picking up Diamond Jim in mid-May?  Or were you like me and figured that the price was right and there wasn’t much risk in the pickup.  Many against the deal were Cardinal-haters who were letting that get in the way of logic. 

Edmonds has generally been a power-type hitter who isn’t afraid to take a walk.  Generally speaking, those qualities don’t tend to deteriorate as much with age compared to a speed guy who hits for average. 

Edmonds’ stats for the total season are nothing to write home about.  If you throw out his stats from San Diego and only look at his numbers since he came to the Cubs on May 15, he pretty much typifies his career stats.

 

Jim Edmonds With Cubs 2008 Career
Batting average .283 .286
OBP .379 .377
Slugging Pct .566 .527

 

Jim Edmonds throughout his career has been an excellent defensive centerfielder.  Granted, any outfielder will lose a step or two with age and Edmonds is no exception.  That said, he’s holding his own and actually doing alright. 

And for those Cardinal-haters who need an excuse to accept Jim Edmonds, apparently he and LaRussa are duking it out in the press about Edmonds’ comments about being happy to be a Cubs. 

Welcome to the Cubs, Jim!