Team USA will advance to the medal round after a 4-2 win over Chinese Taipai. Dexter Fowler had three hits including a double and a triple.
With the US win, Canada has dropped out of medal contention despite their 4-0 win over the Netherlands.
Month: August 2008
WHITE sox pound WASHburn
There was some talk the White Sox were interested in picking up Jarrod Washburn from the Seattle Mariners, but GM Kenny Williams said this would not be happening. Even though Chicago has been hard pressed to find a fifth starting pitcher since Jose Contreras suffered a season ending injury, Williams didn’t panic, he left Washburn in Seattle. On Monday night I witnessed firsthand why Kenny wasn’t buying Jarrod.
Even though the Mariners lineup resembled a minor league lineup, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Mark Buehrle, thanks in large part to a mixup between the shortstop and secondbaseman on a potential doubleplay grounder to Buehrle that would have ended the inning (Mark threw the ball to Alexei Ramirez who was standing behind the bag, Orlando Cabrera should have been the target).
The Sox tied the ballgame up in the bottom of the 2nd when Jermaine Dye doubled, Paul Konerko singled him home, and Nick Swisher sent a line shot into first row of the leftfield stands, scoring Konerko.
Seattle took a brief one run lead in the top of the 5th, but Chicago came storming back in the bottom of the frame. Ramirez lined out, but then Juan Uribe walked, Cabrera golfed a two run drive to left, A. J. Pierzynski singled, a wild pitch sent A.J. to 2nd, Pierzynski went to 3rd on Carlos Quinten’s base hit, Dye’s double to the rightfield gap plated two, Miguel Batista replaced Washburn & wild pitched Dye to 3rd, then Batista intentionally walked Jim Thome, Konerko was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Swisher singled home one, Ramirez (batting for the 2nd time in the inning) singled home a run, FINALLY the Mariners got the last two outs of the inning, 9-4 Chicago.
Seattle’s Cuban SS Yuniesky Betancourt ripped a solo sixth inning homer to make it 9-5, but then Chicago’s Cuban SS Alexei Ramirez one upped his fellow countryman by belting a 7th inning three run blast off Jake Woods, putting the game on ice. Shouts of MVP engulfed the Cell as Quinten belted his MLB leading 35th homer in the 8th to make the final 13-5 Good Guys.
GM Kenny Williams signed Alexei Ramirez for $1,000,000 per year for four years, which is quite a bargain considering how well he’s played at secondbase (a new position for him), that he can be moved to his natural position of SS next year if Chicago chooses not to re-sign Orlando Cabrera, and that his best position just might be centerfield. Williams was also smart enough not to trade for Washburn or Justin Duchscherer who just went down last night with an injured hip, the same injury that kept him out last year. The GM of the Pale Hose also acquired Nick Swisher for Gio Gonzalez, whom the Sox bombed on Sunday, and picked up the 2008 AL MVP Carlos Quinten for minor league slugger Chris Carter. So I’m not so eager to question Kenny about the Ken Griffey, Jr. deal, time will tell.
Rob & Vicki Taylor were sitting in Dick & Bea’s seats, Steve was hanging with Teddy Ballgame, Chicago Bob bought me a beer (thanks Chicago Bob), and Phil stopped by to say hello. But the most interesting fan hanging around the plate was a 23 year old Korean baseball fan, studying English in America, while working on his degree in Chemical Engineering. His name is Sungkwon Kim, he’s only been in Chicago for a couple of months, but has been in this country long enough to catch ballgames in Oakland & San Francisco, see the Grand Canyon, and visit Las Vegas. Next week he’s going to Toronto to see a Blue Jays game and check out Niagara Falls. He has a great knowledge of American baseball. His favorite baseball player is Korean Chan Ho Park, his favorite White Sox player is Bobby Jenks. You can see a photo of him and your truly at www.whitesox.com/fanfoto gallery 63 (the scoreboard is smoking in the background after OC’s homer. The White Sox also gave him a certificate with his name & the date of the game, signifying his first baseball game at US Cellular Field. It was a Friends of Kevin Smith night and half price Monday, which meant a fullhouse, and an electric crowd.
I received a letter from Taka. Taka is the Japanese baseball fan Nick & I met in Kansas City in 2006 while watching the Yankees play the Royals. He’s going to be in Chicago to see the Cubs play the Phillies at Wrigley Field August 30th & 31st, wanted me to get him a ticket, meet him under the Wrigley Field sign at 1:00 PM, and go to the game with him & Nick. You might remember Taka, we were on the elevator with Alex Rodriguez. Taka told ARod, “I see you in Tokyodome”, Alex replied, “Yeah, I was there”, then Taka touched Rodriguez’s bicep, to which ARod responded sternly, “Don’t touch”. Not to be deterred, Taka is back for another dose of American baseball. I’d love to meetup with my friend from Japan, but I’ll be in Waupaca for the Labor Day weekend. I’m trying to get Japanese baseball fan Erick Robertson from Simyard fame to meet Taka on Saturday and another Cub fan to hang with Taka on Sunday. I didn’t explain to Taka that I’ll never go to Wrigley, I don’t know how “A bunch of buttholes” would translate into Japanese.
RIP Dottie Collins, 84 member of the AAGPBL
National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Dottie Collins, star pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, passed away from a stroke Tuesday in Fort Wayne Ind.
Not only was she one of the biggest names in the women’s baseball league and one of the best players, she did a lot to keep the memory of the league alive.
According to Richard Goldstein in the NYT, she was quite a hurler:
She pitched underhand, sidearm and overhand; she threw curveballs, fastballs and changeups; and in the summer of 1948, she pitched until she was four months pregnant. She won more than 20 games in each of her first four seasons. She threw 17 shutouts and had a league-leading 293 strikeouts in 1945 for the Fort Wayne Daisies, when the women’s game resembled fast-pitch softball.
She also had a lot to do with the Women in Baseball exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Without her, it wouldn’t have happened.
more fireworks during Olympic baseball
US Olympic baseball players are dropping like flies. Three days after Jayson Nix, a Rockies prospect was hit in the head by a bunted ball that was thrown high and inside, Team USA suffered another injury.
USA’s Matt LaPorta was taken to the hospital after been hit in the head by the Chinese pitcher. This came after LaPorta bowled over Chinese catcher Wang Wei forcing Wang out of the game with an injured shoulder.
Chen Kun, the reliever that hit LaPorta, and Chinese pitching coach Steve Ontiveros were both ejected.
"We do not throw to hit people," (Chinese field manager Jim) Lefebvre said. "We do not teach that in China or in the U.S."
Maybe it’s not "taught". Jim, but it happens.
US did manage to win 9-1 over China. They are 3-2 in the Olympics and are still in medal contention.
APBA is on MySpace
Go figure.. APBA has a MySpace page now. And it’s a 57 year old male… and its zodiac sign is Aries.
Well, at least under heroes they put "Dick Seitz" (may he rest in peace).
Anyway, take a look and if you are a MySpace user, maybe you can befriend the tabletop game.
Vintage Base Ball: Voles vs Ground Squirrels- Battle of the Rodents
Today my family went to see the local vintage base ball team, the Vermilion Voles, take on friendly rivals Rock Springs Ground Squirrels at beautiful Kennekuk Park outside Danville, Illinois. It seems lately, it’s hard to find a parking spot at their ball field. That’s a pleasant inconvenience because I know people are coming out to watch the Voles.
When we got there midway through the first game, the Voles were unfortunately down 9-3. They did mount a rally in the seventh and last inning and put three aces across the plate to make it interesting but lost 9-6.
We thought we might get a chance to see a Voles win in game 2 when they broke a 4-4 tie in the 6th frame and made it 5-4. Alas, the Rock Springs Ground Squirrels scored a run to tie it in the last inning. Playing in extras, Rock Springs won it in the bottom of the 8th on a single ace.
For a hurler, Rock Springs had a member of the fairer gender.
Lately, Voles captain Jim Knoblauch who normally is the arbiter for the games, has taken to putting on a uniform and doing his part for the Voles.
A Rock Springs player crosses home plate and scores an ace.
Rita “Hustle” Hostetler may not be the best hitter on the Voles team but she’s probably the friendliest (even to the opposition).
Jim “Weed Eater” Knoblach knocks a two-base hit late in the second game.
Tally-keeper Ed “Hambone” Hamilton proves his versatility by singing “A Hurler’s Lament” between games to entertain the crowd.
A little girl asks the Voles players for their autographs. Don’t let it go to your heads, guys!
Finally, much thanks to Robert Hous who acted as arbiter for today’s games and did a great job!
Many more photos at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery. More info about the Vermilion Voles at their web site.
If you’re interested in seeing some vintage base ball and you are in the east central Illinois area, come to Uncle Joe’s Base Ball Jamboree next weekend.
USA beats the Canucks
Team USA came from a 4-0 deficit to beat Canada Saturday. With the score 4-3 in the bottom of 7th, Terry Tiffee was the hero of the game with two doubles and two key rbis.
A tough luck loss for former Illini catcher Chris Robinson who is playing for Team Canada. He was 3 for 4 but with no runs or rbis.
It’s been a rough journey for Canada so far this Olympics. They are 1-3 and all three losses have been one-run losses. Despite their record, they have scored seven more runs than their opponents.
Team USA, however really needed this win. Going into this game with a 1-2 record, this gives them some hope.
Nix nixed
On some rather unfortunate news, Rockies prospect Jayson Nix is out for the rest of 2008 Olympic games due to a 1 1/2 inch gash above his left eyebrow. The injury is from a high and inside pitch/botched bunt in the game against Cuba.
Nix was expected to be recalled by the Rockies September 1. No word on whether this will affect his availability.
Team USA Softball does the job with pitching, offense
When Finch is in there, just forget it. Osterman, too.
While we’re at it, it’s not just the pitching that keeps the US Softball team winning. Their offense has had a large part in their now 18 game Olympic winning streak and complete dominance in the circuit. Finch pitched a shutout Saturday while Jessica Mendoza homered twice inducing the mercy rule versus Chinese Taipei.
Ostmerman has struck out 21 in two wins.
‘Samurai Umpire’: a documentary in the works
Todd, our resident umpire, passed on an email about an upcoming documentary that’s being filmed this season. Entitled ‘Samurai Umpires in the USA’, the filmmaker, Takayuki Tanaka, is following the actions of the six Japanese umpires that are in the US professional baseball system right now. All six are in the minors right now but of course, have aspirations to make it to the bigs someday.
The six Japanese umpires currently in the US minor league baseball system:
- Taro Hamano (Northwest League)
- Takeshi Hirabayashi (Southern League)
- Masaki Nonaka (California League)
- Atsushi Yoshioka (Arizona League)
- Yuta Niide (Pioneer League)
- Koyu Inoue (South Atlantic League)
‘Samurai Umpires’ will be a full-length feature film Most of the footage we’ll see will have been shot from July 2008 to end of the minor league season.
It looks like it won’t be a high budget film and perhaps not the most “polished” product. For me, that’s a good thing. We’ll get to see some raw footage rather than over-edited, perhaps contrived scenes. That would be great.
Good luck to Mr Tanaka and I’m looking forward to seeing ‘Samurai Umpires’ when it comes out (target date is sometime next spring).
Here are a few news articles about the upcoming documentary “Samurai Umpires in the USA”:
Instant Replay on its way??
Bud Selig is expected to make a decision soon regarding instant replay.
It doesn’t take much to read between the lines to know that his mind is already made up. He just needs the numbers and PR to back him up.
Selig was once a staunch opponent of replay, but a spate of missed home run calls this season has changed his stance.
This is faulty reasoning and bad logic. If instant replay is a bad idea, then don’t let a few bad calls in one season change your opinion.
And as I’ve said before, you certainly shouldn’t implement this mid-season. MLB claims that teams don’t need to vote on this because this isn’t a "rule change" but it’s pretty dang close.
Paula Duffy from the Examiner has an interesting idea. Start the experiment just before the 2008 playoffs. I guess I would prefer that to doing it mid-season.