Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
MRI results on Derrek Lee’s shoulder have come back negative. I can faintly hear a collective sigh of relief coming from the Cub Nation. Just to be sure, I think Lee will be taking it a bit easy for a few days. Todd Walker is spelling Lee at first for the time being. And the … Continue reading “Good news on DLee’s Shoulder?”
MRI results on Derrek Lee’s shoulder have come back negative. I can faintly hear a collective sigh of relief coming from the Cub Nation.
Just to be sure, I think Lee will be taking it a bit easy for a few days. Todd Walker is spelling Lee at first for the time being. And the Cubs can lose just as easy without Lee until he comes back. What, it’s been a week since we’ve won?
If it takes Lee the All-Star break to heal up, so be it. Let’s get him back healthy and not string him along.
Antonio Perez, Los Angeles Dodgers 3 for 5, HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis LA batted Perez 5th in the order and I guess they knew what they were doing. At least today, he made them look smart. Speaking of Dodger middle infielders, has anyone noticed rookie shortstop Oscar Robles lately? For the last week, he has … Continue reading “7/6 Linescore of the Day”
Antonio Perez, Los Angeles Dodgers
3 for 5, HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis
LA batted Perez 5th in the order and I guess they knew what they were doing. At least today, he made them look smart.
Speaking of Dodger middle infielders, has anyone noticed rookie shortstop Oscar Robles lately? For the last week, he has hit .469 (15 for 32). He currently sports a .333 average and LA is playing him every day now.
It didn’t help that Scott Rolen was voted NL starting thirdbaseman. No offense to Scotty who I have immense respect but when you miss as many weeks as he he did, he get no All-Star votes from me. This is what you get when thousands of uninformed, too-loyal fans vote on the Internet.
Morgan Ensberg has been a catalyst for the Astros all season. By all season, I mean he has played all 82 games so far. That’s just the start. At .971, Ensberg has the highest OPS of any non-All-Star. Actually, D Lee, Pujols and Abreu are the only ones who have a higher mark. Among NL thirdbasemen, Ensberg leads in homers, rbis, and runs. If that’s not enough for you, he also leads in walks.
The Astros are two runs away from last place in runs scored. I’m no Bill James but to me, that makes his run production that much more critical. Without his 61 rbis and 50 runs, the Astros would be in a dire place and definitely not in second place. Manager Phil Garner would be the first to agree according to an article in the Houston Chronicle:
What he refused to tell anyone is that he played with a bonfire in his right elbow. Until this spring when he told manager Phil Garner, he offered no alibis, accepted the criticism without complaint, and did the best he could with what he had.
“That shows me something,” Garner said. “That shows you he’s pretty tough. Even last year when he was hurt, he got some big hits down the stretch for us. When (Lance) Berkman and (Jeff) Kent were pitched around, he drove in some huge runs.”
Ensberg has been the Astros’ most valuable offensive player this season. With no Carlos Beltran or Kent, with Jeff Bagwell injured and Berkman missing the opening month, the Astros have been desperate for power.
They’re still the lowest-scoring offense in the National League, but without Ensberg’s 22 home runs and 60 RBIs, they’d be buried.
“We’d be in last place,” Garner said.
With all that said, Morgan Ensberg gets my vote for Most Deserving NL Player left off the All-Star roster.
Bobby Crosby, Oakland A’s 4 for 6, HR, 2 runs, 4 rbis Since coming off the DL, Crosby has been hitting the ball well. He has a .341 BA in 127 at-bats with 5 homers. He made the difference this 10-7 Oakland victory over Toronto.
Bobby Crosby, Oakland A’s
4 for 6, HR, 2 runs, 4 rbis
Since coming off the DL, Crosby has been hitting the ball well. He has a .341 BA in 127 at-bats with 5 homers. He made the difference this 10-7 Oakland victory over Toronto.
Tired of over-paid baseball players and billionaire owners making the scene in today’s baseball world? Not into slugfests that baseball games have become as of late? Looking for baseball of a different old-fashioned quality? Maybe Vintage Base Ball is what you’re looking for. According to the Vintage Base Ball Association web site, Vintage Base Ball … Continue reading “Vintage Base Ball”
Tired of over-paid baseball players and billionaire owners making the scene in today’s baseball world? Not into slugfests that baseball games have become as of late? Looking for baseball of a different old-fashioned quality?
Maybe Vintage Base Ball is what you’re looking for. According to the Vintage Base Ball Association web site, Vintage Base Ball is defined as such:
Vintage Base Ball is base ball (yes, it was two words originally) played by the rules and customs of any earlier period. Ballists wear old-style uniforms, either the early long trouser and shield shirt, or a later style lace shirt and knickers, and recreate the game based on rules and research of the various periods of the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The activity of vintage base ball can be seen at open-air museums, re-enactments and city parks and is played on both open grass fields and modern baseball diamonds. Some groups consider vintage base ball to be a new sport, but at its core, vintage base ball is a reflection of how baseball existed at an earlier time.
The Vintage Base Ball Association has member teams in 18 states as well as Ontario. Most clubs have adopted the rules of a certain time period. For example, a club may play by the rules and customs that were in effect in 1858.
But what are the rules?
Using the example of 1858, here is a link to an established set of rules used back in that year by the National Association of Base Ball Players. What I think it pretty telling and what says a lot about the game of baseball is that, to be honest, with a few obvious exceptions, the rules of baseball have not really changed in 149 years.
The Vermilion Voles
Those in the East Central Illinois area can enjoy the Vermilion Voles, a vintage base ball club based in Danville. I took the liberty of emailing the team’s contact person Jim Knoblauch. He was kind enough to respond and was very helpful with my questions. Turns out he works in the building next to mine. Small world…
Jim says that the demographic makeup of the Vermilion Voles runs the gamut. Their team has teenagers, men in their 60’s and everything in between. Officially becoming a team in 2002, they get most of their players by word of mouth.
The Vermilion Voles use the 1858 set of rules. As for differences compared to today’s game, Jim says:
The 1858 rules involve a number of variations of today’s rules. Most
notably, players do not wear gloves (they hadn’t been invented yet).
Strikers (batters) can be called dead (out) if the ball is caught on
the first bounce or in the air. It’s a slow pitch game. The ball
has crossed seams instead of today’s figure eight seams.
He encourages anyone interested to attend a game. Their schedule is posted at the Voles’ web site. There’s a game this weekend. Check them out!
Derrek Lee has left Tuesday’s game in second inning with an aggravated shoulder. Instead of doing my best Chicken Little and crying that the sky is falling, I’m taking a wait and see approach. It’s hard to tell what to make of this. As usual, there’s not a lot of information. I’m not an optimist … Continue reading “Derrek Lee’s Departure from Tuesday’s game”
Derrek Lee has left Tuesday’s game in second inning with an aggravated shoulder.
Instead of doing my best Chicken Little and crying that the sky is falling, I’m taking a wait and see approach. It’s hard to tell what to make of this. As usual, there’s not a lot of information. I’m not an optimist but at the same time I don’t believe in making things out to be worse than what they could be especially since we simply don’t have any info.
That said, the Cubs simply don’t need this. Lee has played all 82 games at first base this year so if it is something serious, the Cubs will have some re-arranging to do to take care of this. That of course, says nothing of replacing the best hitter in the NL for the first half of this season.
Cub fans can only hope this is a day-to-day injury that will take care of itself over the All-Star break.
This Pirate fan never caught a souvenir ball all his life. Not a foul ball nor a homer. Until June 22, that is. Within 15 minutes, he caught three foul balls in a game against the Nats. One off Jason Bay and two off Jack Wilson. Read the story at the Pittburgh Post-Gazette.
This Pirate fan never caught a souvenir ball all his life. Not a foul ball nor a homer.
Until June 22, that is.
Within 15 minutes, he caught three foul balls in a game against the Nats. One off Jason Bay and two off Jack Wilson.
Read the story at the Pittburgh Post-Gazette.
Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians 4 for 5, 2 HR, 3 runs, 5 rbis Hafner, one of the better AL players not chosen for a spot on the an All-Star roster, showed why he should’ve been considered. He was responsible for 6 of the 9 runs Cleveland scored.
Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians
4 for 5, 2 HR, 3 runs, 5 rbis
Hafner, one of the better AL players not chosen for a spot on the an All-Star roster, showed why he should’ve been considered. He was responsible for 6 of the 9 runs Cleveland scored.
Here is the NL All-Star roster. Derrek Lee won. That’s old news, I know but it bears repeating. Even as a Cub fan, I don’t necessarily relish in it even though it was the right decision. Albert Pujols is one of my favorite players (a cynic would say that’s because he’s on my APBA team but … Continue reading “Thoughts on the NL All-Star picks”
Here is the NL All-Star roster.
Derrek Lee won. That’s old news, I know but it bears repeating. Even as a Cub fan, I don’t necessarily relish in it even though it was the right decision. Albert Pujols is one of my favorite players (a cynic would say that’s because he’s on my APBA team but I think it’s more than that). Albert is having a hellva year.
That said, the right person was chosen. Lee was the best choice hands down whether you base it on stats or contribution to team.
The starting lineup as a whole for the NL seems a lot weaker (and a lot less deserving, IMHO) than the AL’s. Where the AL starters seem to be chosen on merit, the NL’s appear to be picked on name recognition and team loyalty (giving the advantage to the big market clubs).
I’m not sure there was much that was to be done about catcher. There were others probably better than Piazza but none that realistically could get voted in ahead of him. David Eckstein is a scrappy shortstop who would fit better in the 1950’s. Scott Rolen, who was injured for a good part of this year, simply got in on previous experience and name recognition. Carlos Beltran is a centerfielder who had a lot of potential and probably still does but this year hasn’t lived up to potential.
The good news is that the managers and players did their best to choose some deserving players as reserves. Luis Castillo has a good OBP (.434), Felipe Lopez is having a fantastic year, and outfieders Andruw Jones and Carlos Lee are having All-Star caliber years. And then there’s Pujols, of course. Don’t forget to put them early, Coach!
The pitching selections seem solid. Fortunately, the players looked past Clemens’ low win total (they knew his 6-3 record wasn’t his fault, he has a 1.41 ERA). I would love to have any of the pitchers on the NL squad on my team. Brian Fuentes is the only one I don’t know a whole lot about but his stats look pretty decent considering he pitches half the time in Colorado.
Go NL!
Felipe Lopez, Cincinnati Reds 4 for 5, 3B, HR, 3 runs, 2 rbis Leadoff man Lopez was a double short of the cycle.
Felipe Lopez, Cincinnati Reds
4 for 5, 3B, HR, 3 runs, 2 rbis
Leadoff man Lopez was a double short of the cycle.