July, 2006 | The Baseball Zealot

Busy weekend of APBA

Illowa APBA League. Yes, winning is fun but the people is what makes it important. The IAL is made up of some diverse people folks coming from different backgrounds and beliefs but somehow our love of baseball ties us together. Our diversity spreads to our team loyalty as well. Between the five us, I think … Continue reading “Busy weekend of APBA”

Illowa APBA League.

Yes, winning is fun but the people is what makes it important. The IAL is made up of some diverse people folks coming from different backgrounds and beliefs but somehow our love of baseball ties us together. Our diversity spreads to our team loyalty as well. Between the five us, I think we represented the Cubs, Angels, Cardinals, and Dodgers.

Enough of waxing philosophical. It was good to see DonS who drove into town Friday night. It was even better to see my Thunderchickens defeat his Marauders 6 games to 3. Pitching and timely hitting was the key.

Saturday we played two more nine game series. The commish and his son, Marc came barreling into town early enough for us to get a good start. Well, we didn’t do so hot against Marc’s. He informed me that he was resting Helton and was playing Russ Branyan. See, I drafted Branyan way back when and though he’s never been an MLB star, he’s still a fav of mine.

…except when he plays against me. Between him and the Jones’ “brothers” (Andruw and Chipper), they crushed us. All told the Upperdeckers hit 22 dingers in 9 games and won 5 games to 4.

Side note: while we were playing our games, we had the ESPN on in the background and they were showing last year’s Home Run derby (the one where Abreu won). I have to admit I’ve never watched a homerun derby. Never had the urge. Now I can see why. Yikes! Talk about homerun overload!! I felt like I was watching a video game or something. That spectacle was not the aspects of baseball that I enjoy. Guess I’ll just be skipping this year’s derby especially if I have to hear Berman’s homerun call ad nauseum… it’s hit, it’s back… back-back-back-back-back-back-back-back, gone!

The commish with his Bombers. He made the mistake of insulting of few of my players (Ray Durham is NOT a jerk) and they responded in kind. We took six of nine quite easily. I do admire his pitching staff. L. Hernandez, Marquis, Zambrano. Not so much for their pitching ability but they’re pretty much a 9th hitter in his lineup. No point in walking the 8th place hitter to get the pitcher when he can hit like they can.

Final results for the weekend: 16-11

That puts my Thunderchickens at 55-41 and in good shape for the homestretch.

DID KENNY GET TAKEN???

Seriously I’ve gotta get a life!!! When the White Sox
traded minor league lefthander Javier Lopez to the Red
Sox for righty reliever David Riske, today is what I
dreaded might happen. Ozzie Guillen brought Riske
into the game, thinking he could get batters out, but
he couldn’t. Javier Lopez was brought in to make Jim
Thome look silly with the bases loaded down by three
with nobody out, and he did. White Sox lose a tough
one. The Red Sox really needed a lefty reliever in
their pen, the White Sox already have Neal Cotts &
Matt Thornton, still it’s better to have a pitcher who
can get batters out no matter which way he throws.

Crede got heart

Glavine in pretty good company

With his win against Toronto on June 23, Tom Glavine has joined an elite group of pitchers. According to The Hardball Times, Glavine is now 100 games over .500 with a record of 286-186. At this point, there are only twenty pitchers who can claim that. Of those twenty, fourteen are in the Hall of … Continue reading “Glavine in pretty good company”

table courtesy of The Hardball Times
185	Christy Mathewson (373-188)
168	Roger Clemens (341-173)
165	Grover Alexander (373-208)
164	Cy Young (439-275; also 72-41 before 1893)
159	Lefty Grove (300-141)
137	Walter Johnson (416-279)
134	Eddie Plank (327-193)
130	Whitey Ford (236-106)
129	Greg Maddux (325-196)
129	Randy Johnson (271-142)
118	Warren Spahn (363-245)
117	Pedro Martinez (204-87)
116	Jim Palmer (268-152)
113	Kid Nichols (269-156; also 92-52 before 1893)
106	Tom Seaver (311-205)
104	Bob Feller (266-162)
103	Joe McGinnity (247-144)
103	Mike Mussina (233-130)
101	Juan Marichal (243-142)
100	Tom Glavine (286-186)

Of course, with the nature of this kind of record, Glavine could be easily taken off this list with a loss. He’s had a heckuva year but his last few starts have been iffy.

FIRST PITCH BY FOX

After watching baseball this past weekend on Cable at
my cottage in Wisconsin I’ve got a whole new meaning
for “throwing out the first pitch”. The lineups were
brought to me by Taco Bell and some other advertiser.
The pitcher’s scouting report was brought to me by
another sponsor. I learned how to prevent leakage and
not pee as often, also can shrink my prostrate. Turns
out a triple stacked beef burger from Burger King
should be my meal of choice. And Chevrolet might’ve
been better served waiting for the game to end before
announcing Aramis Ramirez as the Player of the Game.
They had a little egg on their face as Ramirez made
the last out of the game for the Cubbies, while the
REAL Player of the Game lives on the Southside of
town, a fellow by the name of A.J. Pierzynski!

WHITE SOX @ WRIGLEY FOR 3

Drove straight from the airport to Waupaca with one
thing on my mind, the Crosstown Classic between the
World Champion Chicago White Sox and the hapless
Chicago Cubs. Flipped on WGN at the cottage just as
the game started, the Sox were up 3-0 after 1/2 inning
of play, but the Cubs responded with two in the bottom
of the frame. Juan Uribe drove in three more runs,
after knocking in two in the first, to make it five
for the day. Jon Garland settled down after a shaky
first inning to hang on to a 6-2 win over Cub rookie
Sean Marshall.

The 2nd game was a nooner on FOX. CLou-less Piniella
was announcing the game for Fox. Lou stated Joe Crede
shortened his swing in the offseason and it was really
paying dividends this year, when in reality Crede’s
hot streak started in last year’s playoffs/World
Series and has carried into this season. There was a
popfly double that landed between the Cubs
thirdbaseman Aramis Ramirez and leftfielder Phil
Nevin, granted it was a play the shortstop is normally
involved in, but for the Jim Thome shift. Both
announcers said the ball fell between Ronny Cedeno &
Nevin, the director even showed a split screen of
Cedeno & Nevin. Then Fox chose Aramis Ramirez as the
Player of the Game, he ended up making the last out of
the game for the Cubbies. Ross Gload, Fox showed he
was 0-8 as a pinch hitter even though he was in the
game on a double switch, was the last batter that
stood between Ryan Dempster and the Cubs evening up
this series at a game apiece. But when Gload’s
dribbler eluded Dempster, then Dye walked, and up
stepped A.J. Pierzynski. The game was on the line,
but Fox insisted on bringing up how Michael Barrett
had apologized, just as A.J. Pie launched one out on
Sheffield Avenue for a three run home run. It turned
the game from a 6-5 loss to a 8-5 win, as Bobby Jenks
shutdown the Cubs in the bottom of the 9th.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday! Settled in to watch a pitching
battle between aces Mark Buehrle & Carlos Zambrano.
Felt really confident as the Sox tallied twice in the
first off tightly wound Zambrano, but the Cubbies
jumped all over Buehrle for seven in their half of the
first. Buehrle got a win earlier in the year when he
allowed seven first inning runs, but not today as the
Cubs belted him with four more and went on to win this
one 15-11. Cliff Politte allowed four runs in two
innings, as he’s looked horrible since coming off the
DL.

HOT DICE ON THREE RIVERS

by Tabletalk Teddy Started playing our series at a little after seven, it takes about 1/2 hour per game, and my alarm was set for four for a 7:15 AM flight home. The Chicago Champions were ten games up on .500, the Gamblers were eight up, going into this nine game set. Chicago took three … Continue reading “HOT DICE ON THREE RIVERS”

by Tabletalk Teddy

Started playing our series at a little after seven, it
takes about 1/2 hour per game, and my alarm was set
for four for a 7:15 AM flight home. The Chicago
Champions were ten games up on .500, the Gamblers were
eight up, going into this nine game set. Chicago took
three out of the first four, then the Gamblers kicked
the Champs to make it 3-2 Good Guys. Dontrelle
Willis, Gambler Ace, was starting for Three Rivers, so
I matched him with our best Mark Buehrle. Buehrle no
hit the Gamblers, then Brett Myers posted a shutout,
22 straight shutout innings, before the Gamblers won
game #8, but the Champs put away the series 6-3 with a
win over the overmatched Kirk Rueter in the series
finale.

Teddy Ballgame in Da Burgh

Flew into Pittsburgh for a three game set between the
Chicago White Sox & the Pittsburgh Pirates and a nine
game APBA series pitting the Chicago Champions against
the Three Rivers Gamblers. Before leaving the Chicago
Airport I called the Hilton to make sure there’d be no
problem with a LATE checkin. I paid for my stay via
Priceline and was assured everything was okay no
matter how late I got there. After the game was when
I expected to get there, but that turned into after a
few drinks, which turned into after Club Royale
closed. Felt like I was in a Seinfeld episode when I
got to the hotel at 2:00 AM, they had my reservation,
but no room. They cabbed me over to the Greentree
Radisson, where I slept like a baby, till I had to
rush down to the Hilton to make sure I had a room for
my 2nd night.

A cabbie pulled up, asked if I was Cho, I told him no,
the bellman told him Cho was a no go, and asked if he
could drive me to the Hilton. He asked, “How are you
gonna pay for the ride?” I told him I had a voucher.
He asked what’s it for? I told him a cabride to the
Hilton. He asked, “No, what company’s it for?” I
told him Yellow, which was the name on his cab. He
tells me, “Get in!” I say, “I need to sit in the
front cuz I wear longleg braces, can’t fit in the
back, and need help getting in”. He says I’ll mess up
his wires. I tell him to get the hell out of here and
I’ll report cab 504 didn’t wanna drive me. Turns out
his manager knows he’s a jerk and was glad I took the
time to report him.

I got to the Hilton at 11:00 AM, but my room wasn’t
ready yet. My room, how nice that sounds. She even
gave me a room number, 1910. I decided to head out to
grab a bite near the ballpark, have a few cold ones,
before heading in to see the 2nd game. After the
game, rather than going straight to the Hilton,
decided to have a couple post game beers, got to the
hotel at midnite. Voila, they put me in room 1910.

Getting back to the games…

Continue reading “Teddy Ballgame in Da Burgh”

7/5/06 Linescore of the Day: Dan Uggla

4 for 6, 2 2B, 4 runs, 4 rbis Irony at its best worst. The smallest crowd since the Nats came to Washington saw the highest scoring game to date. Unfortunately, for those that did show up, it was the Marlins that came up winners, 18-9. Dan Uggla, a new All-Star pick, was a good … Continue reading “7/5/06 Linescore of the Day: Dan Uggla”

4 for 6, 2 2B, 4 runs, 4 rbis

Irony at its ~~best~~ worst. The smallest crowd since the Nats came to Washington saw the highest scoring game to date. Unfortunately, for those that did show up, it was the Marlins that came up winners, 18-9.

Dan Uggla, a new All-Star pick, was a good reason for this scoring 4 and driving in 4 more.

7/4/06 Linescore of the Day: Travis Hafner

Making his case for the Final Vote 3 for 5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 runs, 4 rbis Hafner is probably one of best hitters left off the AL All-Star roster. And he’s doing his best to convince fans to vote for him in the Final Vote. His latest effort came at the expense of the … Continue reading “7/4/06 Linescore of the Day: Travis Hafner”

Making his case for the Final Vote

3 for 5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 runs, 4 rbis

Hafner is probably one of best hitters left off the AL All-Star roster. And he’s doing his best to convince fans to vote for him in the Final Vote.

His latest effort came at the expense of the Yankees when the Cleveland Indians won by the score of 19-1, its most lopsided home victory since 1950.

Special mention goes to teammate Victor Martinez who went 5 for 6.