Month: December 2007

2007 Baseball Search Trends

I don’t know why but I enjoy looking at Google’s search trends.  I guess it’s the geek in me.  But it does give us a sense of what we find interesting or important as a online society.  Sometimes, the Hot Trends page kinda scares me. 

Anyways, I did a simple search on the term "baseball" for the year 2007.  This was what I got:

baseball trend 2007

 

The result was pretty predictable.  There was a slight bump in April at the beginning of the year when fans are gearing up for the season.  The spike in early July can certainly be attributed to the All-Star game.  Folks, are trying to find the All-Star ballot is my guess. 

There is a small hill around post-season time but not as much as I would have thought. 

Then I did a comparison between "White Sox" (in blue) and "Cubs" (in red) again for the year 2007. 

cubs-sox trends 07

 

With the year the Cubs had (and quite frankly, the year the Sox had, too), it’s no surprise that online folks were searching for the Cubs.  It doesn’t hurt that the Cubs can be seen nationwide on WGN either, I suppose. 

You can see the big spike at the close of the season when the Cubs clinched the playoff spot (and right before they blew it against the Dbacks).  Yet, except for that, the Sox pretty much go toe to toe with them in the Google News searches for the year. 

I don’t consider this a scientific study by any means but it is a scratch on surface.  If you’re interested in playing around with Google Trends, have at it.  It gives you a lot more information like regional data as well as attempting to match spikes with news events. 

Do the Cubs have any shot at Fukudome?

fukudome-782665

Kosuke Fukudome may be the best move the Cubs make this off-season… if they can pull it off. 

First things first.  The pronunciation of his name.  American males are having a field day with this one.  I remember the year when Chien-Ming Wang came up.  At fantasy draft time, most of the guys were having a good ol’ time mispronouncing Wang’s name in all kinds of sophomoric ways.  Now, I work with Chinese people (a few of them actually named Wang) so the humor was lost on me.  I know, I need to lighten up. 

Anyway, near as I can tell Fukudome’s name is pronounced Koh-soo-kay Foo-koh-doh-may.    It’s possible that the "u" in Kosuke is silent like in Daisuke.  If anyone knows please chime in. 

As for Fuk’s chances for playing for the Cubs, it’s still actually up in the air as to whether he’ll even play in the U.S.  As of 12/7, he is still entertaining an offer to play for the Yomiuri Giants.  He is expected to make a decision next Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Of course even then, the battle isn’t over.  The Cubs will have to take on the other MLB teams vying for the rights to Fukudome.  Most prevalent is the San Diego Padres who have expressed a big interest in him. 

The cost for Fukudome?  All told it looks like it would come to around $75 million for 5 years.  The question is "Would he be worth it?"  I heard someone say that Fuk hits "as good as Ichiro with power".  Now, that’s more than likely overly simplistic as well as overly optimistic but it does give you the value of this potential Japanese import. 

With Jacque Jones’ departure from right field, Fukudome left handed bat fits the Cubs like a glove.  Right now, it’s just a waiting game.

Correction:  As I wondered, the correct pronunciation of his first name is Koh-skay.  Thanks Bleed Cubbie Blue!

Dream World?

kennyw

Interesting Quote of the Day:

‘‘All this has done is put the Tigers in a better position to contend with us.”

White Sox GM Kenny Williams reacting to the Tigers’ blockbuster deal that netted them Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis

Ok, putting a good face on it is one thing but ignoring reality… that’s another. Comments like this give the outward impression that management isn’t taking the opposition seriously.

Sox fans?

Tune in to hear the Zealot

I’ll be switching hats on Friday night. This time I’ll be the one interviewed. I’ll be a guest of Eric Loy on his radio show, DWS Sportsnite on Newstalk 1400 WDWS-AM based in Champaign, Illinois.

As far as I can tell, WDWS doesn’t stream their broadcast but those of you who live in the Champaign-Urbana area can catch me at 6:10pm Friday night.

The topic will be baseball (duh!) and despite the nasty, snowy weather out there right now, there’s actually a lot to cover right now between the Winter Meetings, Hall of Fame selections, Frick ballot, Hot Stove, Illini baseball…. I could go on forever.

Update: It was an enjoyable show. We discussed hot stove issues for three “local” teams (Cubs, Cardinals, Sox). Eric Loy knows his stuff and was so courteous to plug my blog twice.

Thanks to WDWS and Eric for the opportunity!

2007 Rule V Draft

Tim Lahey
I am always intrigued by the Rule V Draft. It is where minor league ballplayers get the opportunity to make it to the big leagues. Major league clubs choose Rule V selectees for $50,000, players chosen must stay on the major league roster for the full season, or offered back to their original club for $25,000. I don’t think these numbers have changed in some time. These prices seem to be throwback prices in today’s multi million dollar industry.

Tim Lahey was the first player taken in this year’s Rule V Draft. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Minnesota Twins organization, and sold to the Chicago Cubs. The Twins converted Lahey to relief pitcher after selecting the Princeton catcher in the 20th round. Last year Tim appeared in 50 games in Double A, posting an 8-4 record, with a 3.45 ERA.

Next up the Pittsburgh Pirates selected former Minnesota Twin farm hand Evan Meek from the Tampa Bay Rays. Evan Meek is a righthand specialist reliever who struckout 69 batters over 67 innings at Double A, and then enjoyed success in the AFL.

Randor Bierd in in 6’4″ relief pither out of Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. He was with the Detroit Tigers before being chosen by the Baltimore Orioles. Bierd has electric stuff, striking out 245 batters in a little over 239 innings pitched throughout his minor league career. Randor enjoyed success last season as a relief pitcher, being converted from a starter.

The Chicago White Sox might have lost a good one in Fernando Hernandez. Hernandez was selected by the Oakland A’s. Fernando allowed no runs in 12 appearances in the AFL, after striking out 84 men in just over 85 innings in Double A in 2007.

Something clicked last season for 23 year old former first round pick Matt Whitney who blasted 32 home runs in high A. The Cleveland Indians lost this slugger to the Washinton Nationals. Injuries have delayed his progress to the show, but he can make an impact if he can stay healthy.

Former Cleveland Indians farm hand Brian Barton was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals. The speedy outfielder has posted numbers throughout his minor league career, a .316 average, and a very impressive .416 OBP.

These are some of the players chosen in this year’s Rule V Draft. You’d be wrong if you thought, nobody ever makes it as a Rule V selection. Just last year Josh Hamilton & Joakim Soria were taken, Dan Uggla a couple of year’s back, and once upon a time Johan Santana was chosen by the Minnesota Twins from the Houston Astros.

Cubs Blogger appeals to Fukodome

Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue, posted an open letter to Kosuke Fukdome. He did it in Fuk’s native language, (Japanese) with the help of Google Translate and it didn’t turn out half bad:

Many of my readers, myself included, want to sign the contract for you PUREKABUSUMASU. You just need Cubs – a left-handed hitting right fielder who plays good defense, who is often on base by drawing walks and hitting both well…

You can see the the letter in whole (both the Japanese and English versions) at Bleed Cubbie Blue.

With the loss of Jacque Jones, I hope this helps.

Everything is Rosy around here

rose

I don’t want too much time to pass before I congratulate the University of Illinois football team on being chosen to play at the Rose Bowl. 

I’ll admit it, I’m not a huge college football fan.  I jokingly tell my friends who know about my interests in baseball that the only reason I follow Illinois football is to make sure that wide receiver Kyle Hudson who ALSO plays centerfield for the Illinois baseball team doesn’t get hurt.  That said, you can’t work and live in this town without having some attachment to the team. 

The day after the announcement was made, there was quite a hub-hub around the U of I campus.  There was a lot of talk about "are you getting tickets?" and the like.  There was even a photo of linebacker J Leman, who hails from Champaign by the way, in the local paper with a rose in his hair.

The last time the Illini went to the Rose Bowl, I was in college.  We sorta got crushed by UCLA 45-9 that time. 

I think we’ll do much better this time. 

Go Illini!!

Ford Frick Award ballot: King, Morgan and Nuxhall chosen by fans

jnuxhall

Like an episode of “Survivor”. all the others were kicked off the island and three remain. The fans voted for Bill King, Joe Morgan and Joe Nuxhall to join seven others to be on the final ballot of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.

Those three will be accompanying Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee, Dave Niehaus and Dave Van Horne who were selected by a research committee from the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum.

They are all legitimate winners but the voting wasn’t close. The sympathy vote for Joe Nuxhall who passed away in November gave him 82, 304 votes to King’s 7,659 and Morgan’s 6,065.

Ironically, he had my vote before he passed.

Those who want a bio snippet of each of the ten broadcasters up for the Frick Award can go the Baseball Hall of Fame website which gives some details.

The announcement of the 2008 winner of the Frick award will take place on February 19.

08 class missing Marvin Miller

“I congratulate the Hall of Fame for electing five new members. I am particularly pleased that former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is among those who have received this great honor. Bowie was a close friend and a respected leader who served as Commissioner during an important period in history, amid a time of change.”

– MLB Commissioner Bud Selig

I wish I could share Bud’s enthusiam for Bowie Kuhn’s induction but I can’t. Especially when they didn’t have the foresight to elect Marvin Miller.

Shawn from Squawking Baseball puts it best in his article, The Hall of Fame has Issues when he says that “Kuhn, on the other hand, simply did his best to avoid failure.”

I’m quite disappointed that Miller didn’t make it in and that’s compounded by the fact that Kuhn did.