Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
If you were a Minnesota Gopher fan, you have to be pretty happy right today. In the bottom of the 9th, eighth place hitter and secondbaseman Joe Maciej hit a walk-off two-run homerun to beat Ohio State 4-3. That sets the stage for the tournament championship game tomorrow. It will be a rematch between the … Continue reading “Big Ten Tournament Championship Game Set”
If you were a Minnesota Gopher fan, you have to be pretty happy right today. In the bottom of the 9th, eighth place hitter and secondbaseman Joe Maciej hit a walk-off two-run homerun to beat Ohio State 4-3.
That sets the stage for the tournament championship game tomorrow. It will be a rematch between the same teams.
Big Ten Tournament Central web page
Update: Here is the Game recap
Ok, USA Today’s teaser headline was “Prior injured, Cubs win”. Geez, that’s a tough price to pay for a “W”. They’ve X-rayed his elbow and the results are negative. Which I guess means he doesn’t have an elbow. Seriously, he’s lucky not to have a fracture. Especially, since Brad Hawpe’s batted ball ricocheted hard enough … Continue reading “Prior hurt”
Ok, USA Today’s teaser headline was “Prior injured, Cubs win”. Geez, that’s a tough price to pay for a “W”.
They’ve X-rayed his elbow and the results are negative. Which I guess means he doesn’t have an elbow.
Seriously, he’s lucky not to have a fracture. Especially, since Brad Hawpe’s batted ball ricocheted hard enough for Aramis Ramirez for him to catch it for the out.
Nice play, btw, Aramis.
As usual, we won’t know the extent till later. And knowing Cubs management, probably not then either.
If Cubs fans are looking for some good news, they can take heart that the Cubs have won 4 of their last 6 games.
With Wood and now possibly Prior gone, we’ll see what happens now.
Update: Though X-rays were negative, an MRI showed a slight fracture in Prior’s elbow.
Purdue eliminated Illinois from the Big Ten Tournament today defeating them in a hard fought extra inning contest 4-3. Starter Jimmy Conroy kept the Illini in it for most of the game. One can hardly fault starting pitcher Jimmy Conroy who pitched a heck of a game. He pitched a 10 inning complete game allowing … Continue reading “Big 10 Tournament Over for Illinois”
Purdue eliminated Illinois from the Big Ten Tournament today defeating them in a hard fought extra inning contest 4-3.
Starter Jimmy Conroy kept the Illini in it for most of the game.
One can hardly fault starting pitcher Jimmy Conroy who pitched a heck of a game. He pitched a 10 inning complete game allowing only 3 earned runs.
Shawn Roof hurrying to his post at the hot corner.
Shawn Roof did his best, too. He went 3-4 with an rbi. For the tournament, Roof was 6 for 7.
A word about Shawn Roof. His bio informs us that he was named “Mr Hustle” by his high school in Paducah, KY. If you watch him during the game, you can see why. When the inning is over, he runs out to his position at third base. Then when his team is up, he runs back to the dugout. He does nothing at half-pace.
Chris Robinson heading to third on a run-scoring triple. Coach Itch Jones is in the foreground.
I enjoyed watching Robbie play thoughout the spring. It seemed he could do everything. He’s a good hitter (.353 with 8 HR), has great instincts behind the plate and a great arm.
And they don’t give out Big Ten Sportman awards for being a jerk.
So that’s it for the Illini in the tournament. With them and Iowa eliminated that leaves #3 Purdue as the only team left seeded in the top half of the bracket.
Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR A strong two hitter for Jake PV, his first career shutout. Coming in second was teammate Dave Roberts who hit like Brian. Dave was 4 for 5 with 4 rbis and 2 doubles.
Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
A strong two hitter for Jake PV, his first career shutout.
Coming in second was teammate Dave Roberts who hit like Brian. Dave was 4 for 5 with 4 rbis and 2 doubles.
Since my article about the multitudes of good players on the disabled list only a couple days ago, it looks like others are going to join them. Erik Bedard is sidelined for an indefinite period, Javy Lopez is out and expected to have surgery, and Kevin Millwood has been placed on the 15-day DL. That … Continue reading “This DL thing… it seems to be catching.”
Since my article about the multitudes of good players on the disabled list only a couple days ago, it looks like others are going to join them.
Erik Bedard is sidelined for an indefinite period, Javy Lopez is out and expected to have surgery, and Kevin Millwood has been placed on the 15-day DL.
That and it’s been reported that both Schilling’s and Halladay’s expected returns have been pushed back.
Joe Blanton, Oakland Athletics 1/3 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 HR Blanton is now 0-5 with a 6.55 ERA. I was going to start out with the obligatory “he didn’t have his stuff this game” but maybe he just doesn’t have his stuff this season. Don’t look at … Continue reading “5/25 Linescore of the Day”
Joe Blanton, Oakland Athletics
1/3 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
Blanton is now 0-5 with a 6.55 ERA. I was going to start out with the obligatory “he didn’t have his stuff this game” but maybe he just doesn’t have his stuff this season.
Don’t look at his BB/K ratio to justify him either. It’s 20/13.
Didn’t make it to the Illini game yesterday. Elected instead to take my 5-year daughter out on a date. It was a close call but she’s a real sweet talker sometime. Got back in time to listen to most of it on the radio… if only I could stay awake. It wasn’t that the game … Continue reading “Illinois Loses to Minnesota in first game of Big Ten Tournament”
Didn’t make it to the Illini game yesterday. Elected instead to take my 5-year daughter out on a date. It was a close call but she’s a real sweet talker sometime.
Got back in time to listen to most of it on the radio… if only I could stay awake. It wasn’t that the game was boring, it’s just been a long week. I remember waking up briefly and hearing that the Illini were up 6-2 and falling back in blissful slumber thinking that the good guys had things well in hand.
I had forgotten one of reasons I like the game of baseball so much:
Almost anything can happen and usually does.
And when we’re talking about college baseball, that rule is especially true. Unfortunately, the Illini fell to the Gophers 11-8. The good news is that the Illini have started to score runs which they didn’t against Iowa last weekend.
Next up, it’s now or never. Later this afternoon, they play the winner of the Purdue/Michigan game which is just getting on its way right now.
And I’ll be there
Updated Big Ten Tournament Bracket
Followup:
I forgot to mention that Michigan eliminated Iowa from the tourney by defeating them 8-6 yesterday. Much as I dislike Michigan, I can’t help feel a little relieved. We had a tough time with Iowa last weekend.
One more thing… for those who want to listen or follow the Illinois game via Gamecast, go to the Big Ten Tournament Central web page.
MLB.com has an article about former catchers who are now managers. According to the article, twelve of the thirty current managers in the majors have caught at least some games at the pro level. The prevailing premise is that catchers work closer with the managers and get a better sense of the game. Of course, … Continue reading “Catchers as Managers- a historical look”
MLB.com has an article about former catchers who are now managers. According to the article, twelve of the thirty current managers in the majors have caught at least some games at the pro level.
The prevailing premise is that catchers work closer with the managers and get a better sense of the game. Of course, there is obligatory comments from a few of the former catchers/now-managers who say this is probably not true.
That got me thinking. I know that Connie Mack was a catcher before he reached his calling as the Master Tactitician. Al Lopez, too. So before I knew it I started making a mental list of historically great managers who might have been catchers in their playing days. I did a quick lookup and came up with a list of inactive managers in the top 75 in wins whose primary position was catcher.
| Manager | Games Caught | Record as Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Connie Mack | 609 | 3582-3814 |
| Al Lopez | 1925 | 840-650 |
| Wilbert Robinson | 1316 | 1375-1341 |
| Birdie Tebbetts | 1108 | 748-705 |
| Johnny Oates | 533 | 797-746 |
| Buck Rodgers | 895 | 784-774 |
| Steve O’Neill | 1532 | 1040-832 |
| Paul Richards | 486 | 923-901 |
| Lee Fohl | 5 | 713-792 |
This does not include Lou Boudreau (a University of Illinois alumni, BTW) who played 3 games at catcher. Lee Fohl managed Cleveland, St Louis and Boston in the teens and early twenties. He got as high as second place only once but still managed to win 713 games.
I don’t if this shows that mlb.com’s theory can be extended to the historical realm or not. It does seem that this is more of a recent phenomenon.
Twenty-one year-old Atlanta lefty Kyle Davies is beginning to make people stand up and take notice. In his first career start, he threw five scoreless innings. Then today he continued where he left off. He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts against the Mets, this time at Turner Field for the benefit of … Continue reading “Kyle Davies Redux”
Twenty-one year-old Atlanta lefty Kyle Davies is beginning to make people stand up and take notice. In his first career start, he threw five scoreless innings. Then today he continued where he left off.
He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts against the Mets, this time at Turner Field for the benefit of the home town fans.
Reed Johnson, Toronto Blue Jays 2 for 5, 2 HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis Reed Johnson tripled his homerun total today. Also, kudos to Tuesday’s LSOTD Carlos Lee who turned it around and went 2 for 4 with 4 rbis.
Reed Johnson, Toronto Blue Jays
2 for 5, 2 HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis
Reed Johnson tripled his homerun total today.
Also, kudos to Tuesday’s LSOTD Carlos Lee who turned it around and went 2 for 4 with 4 rbis.