September, 2005 | The Baseball Zealot

9/20 Linescore of the Day – Joe Crede

Joe Crede, Chicago White Sox 2 for 5, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 1 VERY BIG game!!! Joe Crede gives credence to the old adage, swing hard in case you hit it. Crede came up as an all hit, no glove thirdbaseman. But since then his glove has improved, while his bat has pretty … Continue reading “9/20 Linescore of the Day – Joe Crede”

Joe Crede, Chicago White Sox

2 for 5, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 1 VERY BIG game!!!

Joe Crede gives credence to the old adage, swing hard in case you hit it. Crede came up as an all hit, no glove thirdbaseman. But since then his glove has improved, while his bat has pretty much gone south (and not in a good way). With the White Sox going down faster than Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, Joe came up with some very timely hitting. Crede hit a two run shot in the 3rd to tie the score at two, and then turned a 1-0 David Riske fastball around and sent his walkoff home run 422 feet into the leftfield stands. GO SOX GO!!!

No Minor Loss- Joe Bauman

Joe Bauman passed away today. Fans will know that this name belongs to the minor league home run record holder who banged 72 dingers in 1954 for the Roswell Rockets of the Longhorn League. He was 83. Bauman won the Triple Crown that year. Along with his 72 homers, he batted .400 with 224 rbis. … Continue reading “No Minor Loss- Joe Bauman”

Joe Bauman passed away today. Fans will know that this name belongs to the minor league home run record holder who banged 72 dingers in 1954 for the Roswell Rockets of the Longhorn League. He was 83.

Bauman won the Triple Crown that year. Along with his 72 homers, he batted .400 with 224 rbis. He also led the league with 150 walks.

Here are some of his career stats:

Games	1019
Batting Average	.337
Homeruns	337
RBIs	1057

9/19 Linescore of the Day – Travis Hafner

Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians 3 for 3, 2 2B, HR, 2 runs, 3 rbis …and two walks. Hafner was all business against the Sox who lost to the Tribe 7-5. No wonder Teddy Ballgame has taken to going to Cub games. Hafner’s stats are looking similar to last year (.305/.576/.410 to .311/.583/.410). Keep that up … Continue reading “9/19 Linescore of the Day – Travis Hafner”

Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians

3 for 3, 2 2B, HR, 2 runs, 3 rbis

…and two walks. Hafner was all business against the Sox who lost to the Tribe 7-5. No wonder Teddy Ballgame has taken to going to Cub games.

Hafner’s stats are looking similar to last year (.305/.576/.410 to .311/.583/.410). Keep that up and folks might start noticin’.

2005 NICK & TEDD’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

Went to Wrigley Field to see the Cubbies battle the Cincinnati Reds Monday night 9/12. While most everybody’s minds seemed to be focused on football with the NFL season opening the day before, Nick & I were getting set for our annual baseball trip. Both of us were dressed in our Cubby blue, which is kinda funny seeing Nick’s a Yankee fan and I’m a White Sox supporter. But on this night I was pulling for Greg Maddux. Maddux needed to win out to get 15 wins this year to keep his streak of 15 win seasons going. We got to our seats in time to see the Reds taking batting practice. Wily Mo Pena was launching ball after ball out onto Waveland Avenue during BP. Nobody must’ve put much into the BP session as Pena was batting 8th in the order. Javier Valentin hit a solo shot off Maddux and then Pena followed it with one of his own to give the Reds a 2-1 lead. Valentin was batting .600 off Greg lifetime, while Wily Mo had a .400 lifetime mark against the former Cy Young Winner. Sure enough Pena added a three run bomb in the top of the 9th to seal the deal, making it 5-1, before the Cubs scored a run in the bottom of the frame to make the final 5-2. It looks like Dusty Baker will juggle his pitching rotation to get Maddux another start in his quest for 15 wins. GO GREG GO!!!

Cubs’ bragging rights… such as they are

Yes, the Cardinals are the division leaders. Yes, they are going to the playoffs. But the Cubs can hold one thing over their rivals’ heads. After the Cubs’ 7-4 win today, they have a 10-6 season series record over the Cards. It’s not much but when you’re a Cub fan, you take what you can get. Chris “Cy Young … Continue reading “Cubs’ bragging rights… such as they are”

Chris “Cy Young Candidate” Carpenter was in for only four innings today. Four very ineffective innings. Four innings, four hits, four runs, four earned runs. I see a pattern here.

And what was up with Chris’ little spat with Dusty? Neither the broadcasters or the media knew what exactly what was going on with the “discussion” between the two of them. Or maybe they’re not tellin’.

Near as I could tell, Dusty was trying to get under Carpenter’s skin and it finally got to him.

It’s in the Cards

The Cards have wrapped it up. I don’t need to read it on the news to know that. It’s pretty evident here in east central Illinois where 49% of the baseball fans are Cardinal wonks and are wearing their red and white (yes, 49% are Cub fans, the other 2% might be Sox fans). That’s hard to … Continue reading “It’s in the Cards”

That’s hard to explain to my Chicago baseball friends. Downstate fans of baseball root for the Cubs or the Cardinals. Period. It wasn’t until 10-15 years ago did local news stations start listing Sox scores. I think they only do it for the U of I students from Chicago.

Anyways, congrats to the Cardinals. As a representive of the NL Central and of my geographic region, they will be the team I will be rooting for in the playoffs.

Which confuses some of my friends who are Cub fans from Chicago to no end.

9/17 Linescore of the Day – Paul Maholm

Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K (Win) I seem to like to go back to former LSOTDs but hey, if they deserve it, I’ll put them up. Maholm again shut down his opponent, in this case the Reds. The difference here is he added some … Continue reading “9/17 Linescore of the Day – Paul Maholm”

Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates

8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K (Win)

I seem to like to go back to former LSOTDs but hey, if they deserve it, I’ll put them up. Maholm again shut down his opponent, in this case the Reds. The difference here is he added some K flavor to his stats, striking out 8.

Maybe Pirate fan CaptainWill can shed more light on this but it seems to me that between Maholm and Zack Duke, the Pirates have two young arms for the coming season.

Do-Gooders

I just found out Luis Gonzalez has won the 2005 Branch Rickey Award for community service. Luis is on my Twin City Thunderchickens APBA team. So it’s always nice to hear that a player of mine is good for something more than just playing ball. I won’t go into detail what all he did to … Continue reading “Do-Gooders”

I won’t go into detail what all he did to deserve the award. You can read the ESPN article yourself. I did get a kick out of the name of his foundation, Kids Go Gonzo for School.

This makes me 2 for 2. My APBA firstbasemen Albert Pujols was nominated for the Roberto Clemente award. I must know how to pick the do-gooders. Well, I had Kevin Brown for the 2004 season. But note I traded him after one year. Must not have done enough community service or something.

Bud Selig will present Gonzo with the award later in November.

9/14 Linescore of the Day – Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens, Houston Astros 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (Win) Rocket allowed only 1 run in six and a third innings. That’s not news. He’s been pitching like that all season. What was different was that he did it hours after his mother passed away. Bess Clemens passed away … Continue reading “9/14 Linescore of the Day – Roger Clemens”

Roger Clemens, Houston Astros

6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (Win)

Rocket allowed only 1 run in six and a third innings. That’s not news. He’s been pitching like that all season. What was different was that he did it hours after his mother passed away. Bess Clemens passed away that morning.

Even more unusual, the Astros actually gave Clemens some support. Not much. But some. Clemens left with a 3-1 lead. True to their nature all year, the Astro offense ironically waited till Clemens left the game before their offense exploded for 7 more runs.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth (they did give him the lead, after all), but geez how hard would it be for once, to give the Rocket some substantial run support? While he’s pitching?

Scioscia’s managing woes

Lately, it seems the only teams the Angels can beat are the Devil Rays and the Sox. Matt Welch from mattwelch.com holds Mike Scioscia’s decisions to stick with unproductive veterans in the lineup partially responsible. Two examples: Steve Finley and Darin Erstad: The other week, Angels manager Mike Scioscia could stand his team’s crappy offense no … Continue reading “Scioscia’s managing woes”

The other week, Angels manager Mike Scioscia could stand his team’s crappy offense no more, with the A’s threatening to run away with the division, so he finally removed the execrable Steve Finley from the starting lineup. The team eventually rallied a bit, regained ground from the A’s, and even finally scored some runs during a three-game sweep of the playoff-bound Chicago White Sox. Finley got back in the lineup and had a couple of hits. Scioscia, forgetting the poison that was choking him three weeks ago, put the spike back into his own neck, reinsterting Finley into the everyday lineup.

Meanwhile he stood behind another recent curious move: batting Darin Erstad — who has not slugged higher than .400 once in the last five years — fifth in the order, just behind reigning MVP Vladimir Guerrero. Erstad, Scioscia’s favorite player, is a hard-nosed gamer, brilliant defender at three positions … and consistently one of the worst-hitting first basemen in all of baseball.

I’ve always liked Erstad but have come to realize he doesn’t produce like he used to and well, the stats don’t lie. As for Finley, this year has been a wash for him. Hitting .218 with 10 homers this year, one wonders if his age (he turned 40 this year) is catching up to him.

But the bigger question here is whether Scioscia is mismanaging by playing favorites with his veterans. I’m not one to go ’round second-guessing managers especially ones who have had post-season success but Welch’s article is food for thought.

Hat tip to Baseball Musings for the link, btw.

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