Month: September 2006

9/8/06: Linescore of the Day – Ryan Howard

Rookie Marlin lefty Scott Olsen was outdueling greybread southpaw Jamie Moyer 1-0, until Ryan Howard. Howard took Olsen yard with Shane Victorino aboard in the sixth to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Then Ryan added a solo eighth inning blast to give Philadelphia an insurance run. The Phillies needed every run Howard provided them, … Continue reading “9/8/06: Linescore of the Day – Ryan Howard”

Rookie Marlin lefty Scott Olsen was outdueling greybread southpaw Jamie Moyer 1-0, until Ryan Howard. Howard took Olsen yard with Shane Victorino aboard in the sixth to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Then Ryan added a solo eighth inning blast to give Philadelphia an insurance run. The Phillies needed every run Howard provided them, as the Fish scored a meaningless 9th inning run, losing 3-2. Last year Ryan had limited success against lefthanders, not so this season. Both Florida & Philadelphia are still battling for the NL Wild Card into the playoffs.

Ryan Howard is on a pace to hit 62 home runs, which in my book would be a new single season home run record eclipsing Roger Maris’ 61 home run mark, set in 1961, by one. Whether or not HGH and/or steroids were illegal or banned at the time when MLB players set new homer marks is not important, neither is whether they were caught. They were cheaters and I choose not to acknowledge their accomplishments. What do you think?

Ryan Howard 3 for 4, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs

NL MVP talk

Possible MVP winner?? Somewhere on the MLB website (I can’t find it now) is a poll they’ve been running for while. Quite simply, who would you choose for NL MVP? 1) Albert Pujols 2) Ryan Howard 3) Carlos Beltran 4) or Other Just curious, if you couldn’t choose options 1-3 (who knows, maybe you wouldn’t … Continue reading “NL MVP talk”


Possible MVP winner??

Somewhere on the MLB website (I can’t find it now) is a poll they’ve been running for while. Quite simply, who would you choose for NL MVP?

1) Albert Pujols
2) Ryan Howard
3) Carlos Beltran
4) or Other

Just curious, if you couldn’t choose options 1-3 (who knows, maybe you wouldn’t anyway), who would you choose? I’ve heard the name Jose Reyes bandied about. It would never happen but I understand the sentiment.

As for my real choice, I gotta go with Phat Albert. No knock on Howard who is having a hell of a year. Beltran too, who is leading the Mets to a fantastic season.

But I’m looking at this way: without Pujols, the St Louis Cardinals would not be where they are right now in the NL Central. The Cardinals minus Albert would have been given a run for their money by the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. That to me makes him valuable.

Beltran is valuable, yes. But without him, what NL East team would have challenged the Mets without him?

Howard is continuing to make his case for a MVP award and maybe I should hold off before deciding since he’s on a tear right now. He’s on course to hit 62 homers right now and there’s a large fan base who believe that should be recognized as the single season HR record due to steroid suspicions.

Looking purely at stats, Pujols outperforms Howard. Pujols also has a better average, OBP, and slugging percentage. Howard of course edges Pujols in homers and rbis but the tables are turned in the runs category.

One stat I heard brought up the other day. Ryan Howard 156 strikeouts, Pujols 40. That sounds trivial but I don’t think it is.

That all said, if things stay the course, I’m sticking with Pujols for my choice.

First Inning: A good resource for minor league analysis

I just ran across First Inning, which bills itself as having “Insights on baseball player development”. Essentially, it is a resource on current minor league players. It has bios, career stats, game logs and brief summaries on all minor leaguers. You can search on a player’s name or browse by team. Those who take the … Continue reading “First Inning: A good resource for minor league analysis”

I just ran across First Inning, which bills itself as having “Insights on baseball player development”. Essentially, it is a resource on current minor league players. It has bios, career stats, game logs and brief summaries on all minor leaguers.

You can search on a player’s name or browse by team. Those who take the trouble to register (it’s free) will be able to track any minor leaguer they be interested in.

Check it out.

MLB Product Placement once again

Looks like we can vote for the Hank Aaron award brought to you by Century 21. Of course, you are treated to a video ad for the real estate company while you vote. Does anyone know if these votes are binding? That would be a shame. Most people (myself included) don’t know what all the … Continue reading “MLB Product Placement once again”

Looks like we can vote for the Hank Aaron award brought to you by Century 21. Of course, you are treated to a video ad for the real estate company while you vote.

Does anyone know if these votes are binding? That would be a shame. Most people (myself included) don’t know what all the nominees have done for their communities so it would just end up to be a popularity contest.

Albert Pujols is the nominee for the Cardinals. That’s no surprise considering everything he has done via the Pujols Family Foundation.

Ryan Dempster is the Chicago Cubs nominee. That’s appropriate. He’s been so charitable towards so many NL teams this year.

Theriot gets Hot on MLB Radio

Maybe in an attempt to show that MLB Radio doesn’t ALWAYS focus on East coast teams, Stayin’ Hot with Seth and Bone interviewed Cub rookie Ryan Theriot yesterday. You can hear the interview here. Baton Rouge native Theriot struck a chord with co-host Darryl Hamilton who is also from Louisiana. While I’m on the topic, … Continue reading “Theriot gets Hot on MLB Radio”

Maybe in an attempt to show that MLB Radio doesn’t ALWAYS focus on East coast teams, Stayin’ Hot with Seth and Bone interviewed Cub rookie Ryan Theriot yesterday.

You can hear the interview here.

Baton Rouge native Theriot struck a chord with co-host Darryl Hamilton who is also from Louisiana.

While I’m on the topic, I gotta say Darryl “Hambone” Hamilton lends some fresh air to the MLB Radio staff. He’s laid back and adds a bit of hipness that they sorely need. I’m leery of most ex-jocks who make the transition to the broadcasting/analyst role (Joe Morgan has done ok) but Bone is smart, funny and topical.

9/6/06 Linescore of the Day: Anibal Sanchez

9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (Win) As if the Marlins don’t have enough storylines this year, rookie Anibal Sanchez thought he’d add one more. In his 14th game in the majors, Sanchez pitched a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks winning 2-0. It was the fourth in team history and … Continue reading “9/6/06 Linescore of the Day: Anibal Sanchez”

9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (Win)

As if the Marlins don’t have enough storylines this year, rookie Anibal Sanchez thought he’d add one more.

In his 14th game in the majors, Sanchez pitched a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks winning 2-0. It was the fourth in team history and the first in the majors since Randy Johnson’s perfect game in 2004.

The Marlins have been on a roller coaster ride this year going from 20 games back to wild card contention. The amazing thing to me is that throughout all this, they’ve done it with Dontrelle Willis having a sub-par year. It’s not that the D-train hasn”t done well… he has a decent 3.93 ERA. The lack of run support is responsible for his 9-11 record.

Despite all that, Joe Girardi’s young squad has exceeded expectations thanks in part to Girardi himself. Though you won’t hear Fish owner Jeffrey Loria admit to that.

That’s ok. If Girardi needs a home after this season, I know a certain Chicago baseball team that would love to have him.

Pappas interviewed on Cubscast tomorrow

Cub fans, On the 34th anniversary of his no-hitter in 1972 (the last by a Cub), Milt Pappas will be interviewed by the folks at Cubscast for a special Saturday edition of the Cubs-oriented podcast. I’ll be out of town but will anxious to download that show as soon as I get back. Update: I … Continue reading “Pappas interviewed on Cubscast tomorrow”

Cub fans,
On the 34th anniversary of his no-hitter in 1972 (the last by a Cub), Milt Pappas will be interviewed by the folks at Cubscast for a special Saturday edition of the Cubs-oriented podcast.

I’ll be out of town but will anxious to download that show as soon as I get back.

Update: I just listened to the Cubscast interview with Milt Pappas. It is well worth the listen. The direct link to the download is here.

When you can tell it’s college football time

This was the scene outside the building I work at this afternoon. The Fighting Illini Marching Band (complete with flag girls and cheerleaders) has been practicing out there for there for the last two weeks.

They have improved greatly since they started, I can tell you. Just in time for the home game tomorrow.

In related news, Illinois avoided ESPN’s bottom 10 list.

Just barely. They did make the Waiting List.