The Baseball Zealot

DRUG TESTING MIGHT BE IN ORDER

San Diego catcher Miguel Olivo’s strange night began with the Colorado Rockies leading 4-0 over the Padres in the 7th inning of last night’s game. Olivo’s attempted pickoff of Cory Sullivan, who had walked to open the frame, skipped past firstbaseman Robert Fick, and went into the rightfield corner. Todd Helton walked and Matt Holliday hit a sacrifice fly to leftfielder Ryan Klesko. Klesko’s throw was up the firstbase line. Miguel fielded the throw, walked toward home, and flipped the ball to a bat boy near the Padres dugout rather than returning it to the pitcher. Helton was waved in from secondbase. The Padres lost the game 6-5, dropping their record to 68-69, which is the latest a division leader had a losing record.

Three Veterans

Three veteran major leaguers who at one point were all locks for the Hall, made the news recently. Barry Bonds It’s reported that Barry Bonds while he may report with the Giants sometime soon, it won’t be today. According to ESPN: Bonds, whose workout with the San Francisco Giants on Monday in Los Angeles included … Continue reading “Three Veterans”

Three veteran major leaguers who at one point were all locks for the Hall, made the news recently.

Barry Bonds

It’s reported that Barry Bonds while he may report with the Giants sometime soon, it won’t be today. According to ESPN:

Bonds, whose workout with the San Francisco Giants on Monday in Los Angeles included taking batting practice and testing his throwing arm, was re-evaluated Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Pedro Gomez reports. But Giants general manager Brian Sabean told ESPN’s Karl Ravech that Bonds will not be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Sabean told Ravech that Bonds will not suit up because Bonds has yet to be medically cleared to run the bases.

I’m going to have to take a *yawn* on this one. When I read the headline, Bonds Will Not Be Activated Tuesday, that tells me nothing new. I’m not getting too terribly excited about hearing that Bonds is not going to play.

Rafael Palmeiro

Palmeiro is being sent home to heal his ankle and knee problems and he is pondering his 2006 plans. Quoth the Oriole management:

”It is in his and the Orioles’ best interests for Palmeiro to stay off the knee as much as possible to allow it to heal completely,” the team said in statement. “At the same time, remaining with the team while unable to play has created an unnecessary distraction for both Palmeiro and the ballclub.”

Translation: “It is in the Orioles best interests that he stay as far away from Camden Yards and not come back. We don’t want him here.”

Ken Griffey Jr.

I truly felt bad when Junior got injured. He’s played his heart out this year. It’s my contention that despite what others might say, he is a legit HOF candidate. He’s had the misfortune of having a few injury-laden years in the autumn in his career which tends to downplay a player’s value (perhaps unfairly). I feel that this season was doing a lot to revive his candidacy among the skeptics.

Griffey and the Reds both say he’ll be back this season. I hope he will. And not just because he’s on my APBA team either.

Sum-Up of the Hall of Fame Weekend

The Baseball ThinkFactory has a good wrap-up of the goings on at the Hall of Fame weekend this past month. It’s a good read for those of us who wished we could have been there. For those too lazy to click, here are some juicy samples: ( Prior to the big weekend, the Hall of … Continue reading “Sum-Up of the Hall of Fame Weekend”

The Baseball ThinkFactory has a good wrap-up of the goings on at the Hall of Fame weekend this past month. It’s a good read for those of us who wished we could have been there.

For those too lazy to click, here are some juicy samples:

( Prior to the big weekend, the Hall of Fame pretty much guaranteed that there would be an induction in 2006 by announcing that a special election of Negro Leagues greats would take place over the winter. Knowing full well that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will post a goose egg in January (Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, and Jim Rice will all fall short of the 75 per cent needed for election), and with no Veterans Committee vote scheduled until 2007, Hall of Fame officials decided to stage the special election in February of ‘06. Several Negro Leaguers are considered strong candidates for Hall of Fame enshrinement, with catching great Biz Mackey considered the most likely to win election. With the exceptions of Buck O’Neil and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, most of the eligible Negro Leagues greats are deceased, increasing the likelihood that there will not be a living inductee in 2006… The Hall of Fame did excellent work in putting together a committee of qualified historians for the Negro Leagues election. The committee features most of the leading experts on black baseball, including SABR members Dick Clark and Larry Lester, and author Robert Peterson, who penned the hallmark book, Only The Ball Was White…

Amazingly, none of Wade Boggs’ former teammates in Boston, New York, or Tampa Bay bothered to attend the weekend festivities in Cooperstown this year. Although Boggs was never known for his warmth toward other players or the media, it boggles the mind that all of his retired teammates decided to become no-shows at the induction ceremony. Not surprisingly, Boggs didn’t mention a single teammate by name during his induction speech…

The weekend did not come and go without some controversy. Hall of Fame infielder Rod Carew was supposed to participate in a Monday morning roundtable with the Class of 2005, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg, but failed to show for the event, which was broadcast by ESPN on a tape-delayed basis. According to a Hall of Fame source, Carew was angered by a video shown during Sunday’s induction ceremony. The video, which was narrated by ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian, referred to the newly inducted Boggs as being like “Rod Carew, only better.” Not appreciating the negative comparison, Carew decided to make himself unavailable for the ESPN roundtable with Boggs and Sandberg…

Read the article though… it’s worth a look.

9/6 Linescore of the Day – David Dellucci

David Dellucci, Texas Rangers 2 for 5, HR, run, 5 rbis Batting leadoff didn’t prevent Dellucci from collecting five ribbies. He did this thanks to a grand slam in the second inning and a base knock in the fourth. Kudos to my fantasy league firstbaseman Mark Teixeira who in the same game, joined some select company. Along … Continue reading “9/6 Linescore of the Day – David Dellucci”

David Dellucci, Texas Rangers

2 for 5, HR, run, 5 rbis

Batting leadoff didn’t prevent Dellucci from collecting five ribbies. He did this thanks to a grand slam in the second inning and a base knock in the fourth.

Kudos to my fantasy league firstbaseman Mark Teixeira who in the same game, joined some select company. Along with Joe DiMaggio, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Matthews and Albert Pujols, Teixeira became the fifth major leaguer to collect 100 homers in first three seasons.

9/3 Linescore of the Day – Aaron Small

Aaron Small, New York Yankees 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (Win) Small, taking the place of the injured Mussina, did not disappoint the Yankee faithful. He breezed through the Oakland lineup pitching a five-hit game for his first career shutout. Small has been pitching off and on in … Continue reading “9/3 Linescore of the Day – Aaron Small”

Aaron Small, New York Yankees

9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (Win)

Small, taking the place of the injured Mussina, did not disappoint the Yankee faithful. He breezed through the Oakland lineup pitching a five-hit game for his first career shutout.

Small has been pitching off and on in the majors since 1994 but this year has made the most of his time since coming up with the Yanks. Since joining them in July, he’s 6-0 with a 2.42 ERA. With the Yankees’ staff in shambles, this is the kind of production they need from him.

Illini Alumni Baseball Game

Former University of Illinois baseball players will be back in town for the annual Alumni Game on Sunday, September 11. For those in the C-U area itchin’ for some good baseball, this should be a good game to go to. No word yet (that I could find) on the time of the game. The women’s … Continue reading “Illini Alumni Baseball Game”

The women’s softball Alumni game is on the same day at noon at Eichelberger Field. I hope they have the sense not to schedule the two games at the same time.

Vladdie hits big 3-0-0

‘Nuff said.

9/2 Linescores of the Day – Mark Teahen, Scott Hatteberg

Two LSOTD today, from two very different players. One rookie, one veteran. Mark Teahen, Kansas City Royals 4 for 5, 2 2B, run, 3 rbis Teahen came up to the majors with a lot of promise. I recall someone (maybe it was DonS) saying he was the real deal. So far, he hasn’t shown a … Continue reading “9/2 Linescores of the Day – Mark Teahen, Scott Hatteberg”

Two LSOTD today, from two very different players. One rookie, one veteran.

Mark Teahen, Kansas City Royals

4 for 5, 2 2B, run, 3 rbis

Teahen came up to the majors with a lot of promise. I recall someone (maybe it was DonS) saying he was the real deal. So far, he hasn’t shown a lot of offense, hitting .238 with 3 homeruns. He did his job last night though KC lost anyway 8-7 to the Rangers.

Scott Hatteberg, Oakland Athletics

3 for 5, 2B, HR, 2 runs, 4 rbis

This is Hatteberg’s 11th season in the bigs. That’s kinda hard to believe for a catcher-turned-firstbaseman with no real power and a batting average that over the years has hovered around .270-.290. In the last 4 years, he’s been the A’s full-time firstbaseman (with some time at DH). In those 4 years, he’s has had as many homeruns (49) as some have had in one season. Yet, the A’s find a reason to play him.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy. He’s scrappy and hits in the clutch.

But I probably wouldn’t pick him for my fantasy team.

HOF Refusing Bonds’ #700 ball

According to FoxSports, the Baseball Hall of Fame has been offered Barry Bonds’ 700th homerun ball. But they’re not taking it. The current owner is Sportsbook.com, an online gambling operation who bought the ball for $102,000. Though they would give the ball with no strings attached, the HOF isn’t interested according to HOF spokesperson Jeff … Continue reading “HOF Refusing Bonds’ #700 ball”

According to FoxSports, the Baseball Hall of Fame has been offered Barry Bonds’ 700th homerun ball.

But they’re not taking it.

The current owner is Sportsbook.com, an online gambling operation who bought the ball for $102,000. Though they would give the ball with no strings attached, the HOF isn’t interested according to HOF spokesperson Jeff Idelson,

”The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will never accept an artifact from any company whose business is promoting gambling,” Idelson said. “We have a responsibility to preserve the game’s history.

“We would not intentionally compromise its integrity when there are other ways to tell the history of this milestone,” he said.

Some might think “What’s the big deal? Take the ball.” But I understand the position the HOF is taking. If anyone thinks that Sportsbook.com won’t use this to their advantage is being naive. The HOF needs to maintain the integrity of the game (or at least maintain the facade of such) by not associating or assisting gambling organizations.

Shoot, if they did that, they would have to let Pete Rose in, wouldn’t they?

9/1 Linescore of the Day – Ervin Santana

Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8 1/3 IP, 0 runs, 6 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts Ervin Santana was brilliant as he mastered the Oakland A’s 3-0. The win brought the Angels into a 1st place tie with the Athletics. Santana a 22 year old righthander out of the Dominican Republic kept the … Continue reading “9/1 Linescore of the Day – Ervin Santana”

Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

8 1/3 IP, 0 runs, 6 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts

Ervin Santana was brilliant as he mastered the Oakland A’s 3-0. The win brought the Angels into a 1st place tie with the Athletics. Santana a 22 year old righthander out of the Dominican Republic kept the A’s hitters off balance mixing up his 96 MPH heater with changeups and a sharp breaking ball. He has poise beyond his years. DonS plays, “Black Magic Woman” everytime this kid takes the hill. Hey DonS, you’re going to wear that vinyl out!