November, 2007 | The Baseball Zealot

Wrigley’s re-sodding project nearing completion

A couple days ago, I was able to walk up to Illinois Field, home of the University of Illinois baseball team, and observe the progress they are making installing artificial turf. But Illinois Field isn’t the only park getting a makeover. Wrigley Field is being re-sodded and Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue got a chance to view … Continue reading “Wrigley’s re-sodding project nearing completion”

According to Al, the re-sodding of the Friendly Confines is almost finished. He went by to sneak a peek and a kindly security guard practically invited him in so he could snap some photos. Kudos to the security guard by the way, for exercising good judgment.

The sodding project is being carried out by White Sox groundskeeper Roger Bossard, aka “the Sodfather”. He is the expert in the field (no pun intended).

There is some luck following Bossard. Five of the last seven World Champions have won it all in parks that been the work of the Sodfather (Boston twice, Arizona, St. Louis, and of course the Sox). The big question is does he want that luck to continue? According to an interview on ChicagoSports.com, well, not really.

“I can’t say I want the Cubs to do it next year, obviously being a Sox person,” Bossard said. “Let’s just say I hope the Cubs are in it next year, playing us.”

There’s an interesting video accompanying the article with footage of the re-sodding.

The project will come to an end on Saturday actually ahead of schedule.

NL Cy Young: A no brainer

No surprise here. Jake Peavy won the NL Cy Young. And almost as much expected, it was unanimous. But what might be a little unusual (but certainly warranted) was that Arizona’s Brandon Webb almost got second place with an almost unanimous vote. He got 31 of 32 second place votes. That essentially left seven pitchers to … Continue reading “NL Cy Young: A no brainer”

No surprise here. Jake Peavy won the NL Cy Young. And almost as much expected, it was unanimous.

But what might be a little unusual (but certainly warranted) was that Arizona’s Brandon Webb almost got second place with an almost unanimous vote. He got 31 of 32 second place votes. That essentially left seven pitchers to divvy up the third place vote with Aaron Harang getting the last second place vote. Ironically though, it was Brad Penny who received the most votes of the remaining seven, not Harang.

Carrie Muskat, the Cubs.com beat reporter, reported that Zambrano came in fifth in the Cy Young. Unfortunately, fifth place meant he only got 3 votes.

One last note… The Hardball Times notes that Webb actually had more pitching win shares than Peavy did in 2007.

Four sign letters of intent to play for Illini

Asst. Coach Eric Snider plays an important part in Illinois’ recruiting process It was announced yesterday that four prep stars signed letters of intent to play for the University of Illinois baseball team. No doubt it was a long process and Coach Dan Hartleb and his staff have been working hard to this end. Assistant Coaches Eric Snider … Continue reading “Four sign letters of intent to play for Illini”

eric snider

Asst. Coach Eric Snider plays an important part in Illinois’ recruiting process

It was announced yesterday that four prep stars signed letters of intent to play for the University of Illinois baseball team.

No doubt it was a long process and Coach Dan Hartleb and his staff have been working hard to this end. Assistant Coaches Eric Snider and Ken Westray (who even spent some time in the Phillies organization in player development) are a crack team when it comes to recruitment.

“I am extremely excited about the entire signing class because I feel like we have brought in four outstanding athletes,” Hartleb said. “All four have played at a high level in their careers and have been involved in championship programs. The group includes some of the top baseball players and athletes in the state of Illinois, and they will be able to contribute early in their collegiate careers. They also will have the opportunity to help make us a championship program during their careers.”

Here are the players they got:

Adam Davis, C, Driscoll Catholic HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.
Corey Kimes, LHP, Ottawa HS , Ottawa, Ill.
Josh Parr, SS, Illinois Valley Central HS, Chillicothe, Ill.
Bryan Roberts, RHP, Benet Academy, Lisle, Ill.

Kimes is a lefty, Roberts is a righty. I found a scouting report on Kimes at Perfect Game USA, FWIW. The word on him is that he is a big kid that really brings it (fast ball velocity upwards of 86mph). More than that, he knows how to work the hitters. He can also play first and the outfield.

You can read bios of all four players at the Fighting Illini website.

Skipper Lou doesn’t care so much for the instant replay idea

lou pin

Lou Piniella has an opinion on the instant replay to help the umpires out on the fair/foul balls and the fly balls on the fence. In an interview with WGN’s David Kaplan, he said he would support whatever decision was made but personally he thinks it “wouldn’t be good for the game”even saying that the possible implications of the rule would be “silly”.

GMs mandate helmets for coaches

At the GM meetings this week, it was decided that the wearing of helmets by first and third base coaches will be enforced. This is in response to the death of AA coach Mike Coolbaugh who was hit by a line drive on July 22 this year. The exact details of what they will be … Continue reading “GMs mandate helmets for coaches”

helmet

The exact details of what they will be wearing has not been ironed out.

Ron Kremer of the Herald News agrees with the ruling. He makes his argument in his article entitled Baseball Gets With It:

The decision came four months after ex-major leaguer Mike Coolbaugh died. He was struck in the neck by a batted ball while coaching at first base during a minor league game. He was not wearing a helmet.

…except (as Kremer notes in the sentence before) Coolbaugh was hit in the neck and that helmet probably wouldn’t have saved his life.

As for the issue itself, I’m not much for mandates in isolated situations like these. If the coaches want to wear the protective devices, I’m all for it. Joe Garagiola Jr, senior vice president for baseball operations, says that there was a “sentiment that as concept, this was a good idea.” Hopefully, this sentiment extends to those who will be wearing the helmets.

Chien-Ming whaa?

As Baseball Musings mentioned, MLB.com reporter Tom Singer seems a little surprised that Chien-Ming Wang really wasn’t in the mix in the Cy Young competition. His article’s (written yesterday before vote result was announced) sub-headline read Competition appears to be between Beckett and Sabathia. Like it wasn’t obvious. Singer goes on to say: because Beckett and Wang were … Continue reading “Chien-Ming whaa?”

As Baseball Musings mentioned, MLB.com reporter Tom Singer seems a little surprised that Chien-Ming Wang really wasn’t in the mix in the Cy Young competition. His article’s (written yesterday before vote result was announced) sub-headline read Competition appears to be between Beckett and Sabathia.

Like it wasn’t obvious.

Singer goes on to say:

because Beckett and Wang were the respective leaders of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Their season-long excellence on the road to 20 wins — a destination only Beckett reached — figured to be hard to ignore.

Then another undisputed staff ace, the Indians’ C.C. Sabathia, drove a wedge into that battle, emerging by the end of the season as Beckett’s main challenger.

Wang didn’t receive a single vote.

Enough with the Fat jokes, ok?

Ok, Tim Brown from Yahoo Sports, we get it. C.C. Sabathia is a tad on the heavy side. I count at least eight direct references to C.C’s weight in Brown’s article about the new Cy Young winner. And a few more subtle ones, too. Probably drinks Slim Fast for lunch.

Ok, Tim Brown from Yahoo Sports, we get it. C.C. Sabathia is a tad on the heavy side.

I count at least eight direct references to C.C’s weight in Brown’s article about the new Cy Young winner. And a few more subtle ones, too.

Probably drinks Slim Fast for lunch.

Photos of Illinois Field’s turf installation

After work today, I thought I’d bop on over to Illinois Field and see how the installation of the Field Turf was going. My place of work is only a couple blocks away so it’s convenient enough. So when work was done, I trekked over the cemetery that separates me from Illinois Field. I was in a hurry since dark approaches so much earlier these days and if I wanted any decent pictures, I wanted some of the sunlight left.

Well, they are obviously getting some work done. What was once an outfield now resembles a gravel pit. There is no grass to be seen anywhere in the park.

I had been told by University of Illinois team staffers that the field (particularly the outfield) was in pretty bad shape and they’re looking forward to the turf, aka Field Turf ™.

I have some more photos of the turf installation at the Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery.

By the way Cub fans, Wrigley Field is going under its own construction this winter. Bleed Cubbie Blue has the photos.

Cubs trade Jones and yet more rumors

The speculation can come to a stop now. Jacque Jones is no longer a Cub. Jones was traded to Detroit for Omar Infante and some cash. Infante is arb-eligible (he got 1.3 mil last year). I dunno. It was fashionable to be down on Jones last year and earlier this year but I’ve secretly liked … Continue reading “Cubs trade Jones and yet more rumors”

The speculation can come to a stop now. Jacque Jones is no longer a Cub.

Jones was traded to Detroit for Omar Infante and some cash. Infante is arb-eligible (he got 1.3 mil last year).

I dunno. It was fashionable to be down on Jones last year and earlier this year but I’ve secretly liked the guy. No one can deny he really came through in the second half of this season.

“It gives us another guy who’s tremendously versatile,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry told reporters on Monday evening.

In other words, a utility man.

The trade of Jones will make room for Felix Pie and that’s why the trade was made, I’m sure.

Don’t know what to make of this rumor but The Herald News says that Hendry is trying to package Rich Hill and Carlos Marmol together for the Rays’ outfielder Carl Crawford. Again, I don’t know what to think. Hill and Marmol are two of my favorite Cub pitchers and for once, it’s nice not to have to worry about Northside pitching.

Baseball World Cup underway

Yes, it’s true… there is no off-season. The Arizona Fall League will be concluding its season next week. But before you think that you’ll be getting a break in actual baseball news, here comes the Baseball World Cup held in Taipei, Republic of China. Team USA is doing ok by themselves so far in the … Continue reading “Baseball World Cup underway”

USA Baseball

Yes, it’s true… there is no off-season.

The Arizona Fall League will be concluding its season next week. But before you think that you’ll be getting a break in actual baseball news, here comes the Baseball World Cup held in Taipei, Republic of China.

Team USA is doing ok by themselves so far in the “Road to Beijing”. They’ve won every game save a 6-2 loss to Italy. Every other game has been won convincingly (including today’s 12-1 drubbing of Spain, thanks to Andy LaRoche’s two homers).

Here are the results/schedule.

Davey Johnson, who is on the 2008 ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame, fortunately has something to keep his mind off it. He’s the manager of Team USA. Cub fans will note that OF Tyler Colvin is on the roster.

One more thing of interest… former University of Illinois alum and current Cub minor leaguer, Chris Robinson is starting catcher for Team Canada. Unfortunately for Chris, Team Canada has taken a few tough losses though they crushed Thailand 18-0.

Earlier this year, Robbie was nice enough to grant us at Baseball Zealot Radio an interview while he was at spring training.

One last link… you can get some pretty good on-the spot coverage of the Baseball World Cup at the Countdown to the Olympics blog.

Update: LaRoche keeps it comin’. He goes 3 for 3 with 3 rbis in a Team USA win against South Africa.