July, 2008 | The Baseball Zealot

Funnyman Joe Buck

Turns out Joe Buck was only joking. He’s such a kidder, that Joe.

For those that missed it, Buck made comments on an ESPN Radio interview that he barely watches any sports (he prefers the “Bachelorette”). He went on to complain about the length of the game of the baseball ad nauseam.

I don’t what’s worse. What Buck said originally, his lame excuse (he says that he was “joking about his TV habits” , or the a—kissing interviewer during the radio interview. God, who listens to that guy??

A swing and a miss for Joe.

Historical precedent for the C.C. Sabathia deal

(editor’s note: this article is submitted by Tom Wilson, an old APBA buddy from years ago. Let us know if you like it. He may be writing more for The Baseball Zealot in the future. -tbz)

In the summer of 1987 The Detroit Tigers were in a pennant race. Like most modern era teams, pitching was the backbone of the club, and the priority in the player aquisition market. On August 12th, 1987, the Tigers traded a little known pitching prospect to the Atlanta Braves for proven veteran starter Doyle Alexander.

The Tigers were not disappointed with their trade. Doyle Alexander went 9-0 in 11 starts with a 1.53 E.R.A for the team. While Detroit lost 4 games to 1 to Minnesota in The American League Championship Series, in the old 2 division league format, their season was not considered a failure.

The Atlanta Braves were not disappointed in the trade either. In 1987 they were not close to a division championship. In giving up Alexander they were looking for youth and toward the future. In 21 year old John Smoltz, they received both. Through 20 seasons, 13 division championships, 4 pennants, and 1 world series championship, John Smoltz has been the leader of the Braves.

On Sunday, July 6th, 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers pulled the trigger on a similar “win now” trade.

The Brewers, currently four and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs, aquired last years American League Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians. The trade marked the first time in a decade that a reigning pitching mvp was traded (Roger Clemens 1998).

In return for Sabathia, The Indians received young pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson. Eventually, the Indians hope these two young arms will help the club contend if not at least climb out of the basement of the American League Central.

In addition to the pitchers, the Indians also received OF\1B Matt Laporta. At least in my mind this is the aquisition that brings up the possibility of the 1987 Tigers-Braves trade comparison.

Laporta is the SEC all time home run leader, the single season home run leader, he hit .323 for the Florida Gators. While his speed and defense would be catagorized as average,his quick bat has made up for his defenses and has had his college and minor coaches declare him “professional ready”

Laporta, Milwaukees 2007 1st rd (7th overall pick) was hitting .288 with 20 home runs with AA Huntsville at the time of the trade.

Only time will tell if this trade can be compared with the 1987 deal. But upon first look both teams have seemed to address needs and thought this through.

EI League: Chambana takes on the Royal Giants

For the second Sunday in a row, I took in a Chambana doubleheader at McKinley Field. Here are the photos I took.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Bruce and Leo whose sons were the pitcher and catcher respectively for the first game. Aside from the good company, that had its advantages as they had the inside scoop on everything.

Matt Miller did give up five runs in his start but all things considered didn’t pitch as bad as the stats indicate. He did get the loss when the Royal Giants clobbered Chambana 8-3. Ironically, Chambana outhit Royal 12 hits to 9 but couldn’t capitalize.

Chambana got their revenge in Game 2 with a come from behind 4-2 victory. Unfortunately, all the Chambana took place AFTER I left. I’m a jinx, I’m starting to think.

I did get a chance to chat with Matt Wilke (left), catcher for Chambana. He’s as polite as they come and he not only did he manage to get hit in the first game, he hit the ball hard when he didn’t. He’s posing with his father Leo in the above photo. I don’t know anyone who knows more about the physical game of baseball than Leo. It’s learning experience to listen to him predict a pitch or critique a pitch selection.

Love those Green & Yellows!

Matt Miller on the mound

A subplot during the second game was this foul ball stuck in the backstop. With the dearth of available baseballs, the ump kiddingly said that the game might not be able to continue until it was brought down.

It was still up there when I left.

As I said, more photos in the Photo Gallery. Check them out!

EI League action Sunday

Tomorrow, Chambana will take on the Royal Giants at McKinley Field, home of the Champaign Central High School baseball team. Game time is at 1pm. Both teams are in the Eastern Illinois Baseball League.

I showed up to McKinley Field last week to see Chambana play Effingham. I had a good time but had to leave before Chambana scored their first run halfway through the second game. Maybe I’ll see a little more offense from the home team this time.

Rays’ getting defensive?

Just one reason for the Tampa Bay Rays upturn this year… their much improved defense according to Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus.

The Rays have gone from having one of the worst defenses in baseball history to one of the best. In fact their Defensive Efficiency Rating of .720 ranks second in baseball, just a couple ticks behind the Oakland A’s. This degree of improvement is literally without precedent. The Rays have improved their DER by 58 points this year, which is the largest year-over-year improvement that we’ve ever tracked.

The 2008 Marlins are #9 on the list as most improved.

A belated welcome to Jim Edmonds

R.J. Anderson from Beyond the Box Score lists his lineup of players over 35 who are playing well. Guess who he has down at center field??

Jim Edmonds of the Chicago Cubs.

Ok, Cub fans, be honest. How many of you winced when heard that the Cubs were picking up Diamond Jim in mid-May? Or were you like me and figured that the price was right and there wasn’t much risk in the pickup. Many against the deal were Cardinal-haters who were letting that get in the way of logic.

Edmonds has generally been a power-type hitter who isn’t afraid to take a walk. Generally speaking, those qualities don’t tend to deteriorate as much with age compared to a speed guy who hits for average.

Edmonds’ stats for the total season are nothing to write home about. If you throw out his stats from San Diego and only look at his numbers since he came to the Cubs on May 15, he pretty much typifies his career stats.

Jim Edmonds	With Cubs 2008	Career
Batting average	.283	.286
OBP	.379	.377
Slugging Pct	.566	.527

Jim Edmonds throughout his career has been an excellent defensive centerfielder. Granted, any outfielder will lose a step or two with age and Edmonds is no exception. That said, he’s holding his own and actually doing alright.

And for those Cardinal-haters who need an excuse to accept Jim Edmonds, apparently he and LaRussa are duking it out in the press about Edmonds’ comments about being happy to be a Cubs.

Welcome to the Cubs, Jim!

Media coverage on Illini Johnson

The Rochester Post-Bulletin has a nice writeup on Illini catcher Aaron Johnson who is spending his summer playing for the Rochester Honkers.

Haha, I love this bit:

“Aaron likes to complain, not in a bad way, but in a loud way,” Honkers manager Jason Plourde said with a grin.

“If the movie’s not right on the bus, for example, he’ll be the one grumbling, ‘God I hate this movie!'”

Reportedly, it’s his defense that is wowing everyone up north. For a catcher, that’s good news.

Cubs fans from our 4th of July parade

Cubs fans had a presence in yesterday’s parade in Champaign-Urbana. If I’m not mistaken, this would be the same group who marched in last year’s parade.