The Shoes

Just because I'm a sports blogger doesn't mean that I have to give up my womanly eye for fashion in exchange for the hobby I love.

As many of you married men know, women love shoes! While I pride myself as being the exception to this rule, I found this pair to be quite unique:



No, that's not a joke. Those are shoes that are designed like baseball gloves! They were inspired by Bo Jackson's famous Nikes from the late '80s.

They're a little pricey, selling for $109, but there's no questioning the unique aspects of it. It's not every day that you come across a set of shoes that are based on baseball gloves.

You can buy them here. If I ever get the money, I'd buy myself a pair too.

Have a good weekend everyone!
Tamtam

Welcome Back Brad

POLL QUESTION OF THE DAY


Will Brad Lidge return to premiere form?

When Old Gets Old?

When does old get old? Many players thrive into their late 30's and even early 40's nowadays. Modern training programs, PEDS vitamins, and rehab procedures have players living out their playing days just a tad longer. Trevor Hoffman and Jamie Moyer are two shining examples.

Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader (594 of 'em) in Major League history. Last year at the tender age of 41, Hoffman amassed 37 saves with a sparkling 1.83 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Naturally the Brewers re-upped him thinking they had it made in the shade come the 9th inning in save situations. Boy were they wrong. What a difference a year makes. Hoffman, now 42, has been a complete disaster this season with a 13.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, and 4 blown saves. Yikes! He's a future Hall-of-Famer and catapulting himself off the cliff into the abyss of the ocean was not predictable, so Milwaukee is not at fault for thinking they had a sure-thing for a closer. Can Hoffman rebound? Will the Brew Crew give him the opportunity? Stay tuned...

Jamie Moyer, or better known as Grand Pappy, was coming off a magical 2008 World Series championship season with the Phillies. He was 45, yet Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. inked him to a foolish 2 year deal. However, it wasn't met with extreme criticism because Phans were still on a high from winning it all and Moyer did post 16 wins and a 3.71 ERA that season after all. Moyer began to finally show his age last season, being demoted to the bullpen and barely escaping a 5+ ERA (4.94). This offseason the MLB elder statesmen had numerous surgeries and looks even worse (5.25 ERA). When will the Phils pull the life support plug on this geriatric hurler?

The Mets are in first??????

Some things in life go together. A horse and carriage. Apple pie and milk. Ham and Cheese. Baseball and peanuts. But NOT Mets and first place. Yes ladies and gentlemen it happened yesterday. The Mets were in a doubleheader with the pathetic Dodgers where Citi Field looked like a ghost town for the first game. Unfortunately for Phillies fans, the Mets took both games and with the Phillies losing last night the Mets took over first place. So how did this happen???? First off it barely happened with pitching. Oliver Perez looked horrible yesterday. It took him 75 pitches to get 10 outs. The bright spot for the Mets were Jason Bay and David Wright. Jason Bay followed up his first homer as a Met in game one with a first-inning triple and a spectacular diving catch in the second inning to steal a hit from Jamey Carroll.
David Wright also had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk and 4 RBI. His bases-clearing triple in the sixth cemented the win. Summary: The Mets caught the Dodgers at just the right time in the season. Los Angeles is currently without Manny Ramirez, Vicente Padilla, Cory Wade, and Jeff Weaver, didn’t have Rafael Furcal due to a tight hamstring, and for all intents and purposes didn’t have Ronald Belisario nor Hong Chih Kuo available. James Loney exacerbated the situation by getting ejected in the fourth inning. I am sure the outcome of the series will be very different come later in the season.
On the other hand, The team that was in first is horrible as of late. They can't even use their ace to get a win. For some reason the Phillies head to San Fransisco and their bats go cold, their pitching becomes sloppy as well as their baserunning. Jamie Moyer again gave up several runs in a short outing and Howard and Utley get thrown out trying to leg out a two-bagger. And to top it all off, the Phillies face Lincecum today. Prediction Giants 7 Phillies 1. Lincecum throws a complete game and Hamels goes three innings while giving up five runs.

Reasons to Dislike Ryan Howard's New Contract

David Ortiz, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Scott Rolen, Cecil Fielder, Jim Thome...all big men that did not age well. Why? Because in general players trend downward after 32 years old, especially large body type players like Ryan Howard.

Now the Phillies will have 2 players making roughly $40M dollars (Howard/Halladay) which will hinder the team in allocating money to other positions of need. Ryan Howard is a tremendous talent, one of the best pure power hitters the game has seen in awhile and I love having him on this team. 40+ homerun season for the next few years can be expected. After that though his bat will slow, his mobility in the field will lessen, and his value will drop...certainly not worth the $23M or so he'll be making.

This is just not a good deal. As many baseball analysis are saying- "The new worst deal in baseball." Ouch!

I don't think it's the worst deal ever, but I do think it's bad. Howard is an elite class of sluggers right now and probably remains there for 2-3 more seasons. After that though, his average will dip lower than it already is, his power will decrease, and rbis won't come as easily.

Also, this Howard deal was unnecessary. Why lock him up now? It's not like they got a discount. Pujols, Fielder, and others were set to become free agent 1st basemen the same year as Howard. The Yankees can't sign all of them, nor would they because of Teixeira. Just like the Jamie Moyer deal, they (Ruben Amaro Jr. & the Phillies brass) bid against themselves. Just seems foolish.

Let's take a look at what Philadelphia will be spending money on as the 2012 season dawns. Roy Halladay is signed for $20MM. Howard, too, is signed for $20MM. Chase Utley is signed for $15.3MM. Joe Blanton is signed for $10.5MM, Shane Victorino for $9.5MM, Placido Polanco for $6.4MM, Carlos Ruiz for $3.7MM, and almost certainly, Brad Lidge will be given a $1.5MM buyout. That's $87MM going to seven players to play and one player to not play.
~Major League Trade Rumors

Wow, that's a lot of holes to fill, 15 roster spots.

This contract means that, over the first 10 seasons of his career, Howard will earn approximately $190.5 million. No player -- not A-Rod, not Mauer, not Derek Jeter, not Albert Pujols -- has equaled that number, in this or any other era.
~Jayson Stark

So the Phillies think Ryan Howard is the best player, because they're certainly rewarding him like he is.

Howard is awesome, but he plays a position deep with talen in the Majors, one that can be easily plugged.

Sure a Paul Konerko or Lance Berkman aren't as productive as Howard, but could have been signed for far less years and money without a huge drop off in production. Take a look around the Majors at 1st basemen and you'll find plenty of talent.

Good to Great 1st basemen: Konerko, Berkman, Pujols, Fielder, Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, Teixeira, Dunn, Butler, Youkilis, Morales, Morneau, Derek Lee, Pena, Cantu. Are they all as good as Howard? No, but some aren't that far off and they come a lot cheaper.

Also, Howard isn't anywhere close to improving against lefties, in fact every season he gets worse (including this year so far). He kills righties enough to keep his OPS high though. But really, he'll never come close to that magical 1.000+ OPS again like he had in '06. He has tremendous power and a knack for collecting rbi...great!!! However, he plays a position deep with talent in the Majors and it's not like the Phils couldn't have let him walk after 2011 and signed a lesser first basemen that was still very good and allocate the money for other pressing needs around the diamond.

Bats and the Pelfrey

Who would have thought that the same guy who picked up a 6.15 ERA during spring training has started the season looking like a veteran ace? So far, the Mets have found an unlikely star in the pitching of 26-year-old Mike Pelfrey. The 6'7" 230lb righty has successfully clenched 4 wins in 4 starts, and has also picked up a save. In 26 innings, the last 24 have been scoreless, slicing his ERA to 0.69, and his WHIP to 1.19. If he can maintain this average through April, it will put him in the company of former Mets pitchers like Nolan Ryan (who closed April with a .069 in 1970), and Frank Viola (.086 in 1991). With 4 wins and an ERA below 1.00, he stands among contempraries like Roy Halladay (Phillies: 4-0, 0.82) and Ubaldo Jimenez (Rockies: 4-0, 0.95). Pelfrey receives well-earned credit for the Mets three game sweep of the hot mess that used to be the Braves. The series concluded with a torrent truncated 1-0 victory for the Mets.

His last four seasons in the majors Pelfrey has seen his ERA hover around the 5.00 mark (with the exception of 3.72 in 2003), and spring training did not foretell anything different. He struggled yesterday, needing 106 pitches to retire 23 batters in five innings. Hopefully, this was merely a sign of fatigue and not a foreshadowing of business as usual. The Mets seem to have hit their stride, and Pelfrey is proving to be an unforeseen asset to their rotation.


Dispatch - Bats in the Belfry

Hardball Wars: A-Rod vs. Braden

Alex Rodriguez might be a punk-ass bitch. Dallas Braden might be a bit sensitive. Mix them together and you've got a caustic concoction. Thursday night A-Rod trotted across the mound and stepped on the rubber as he crossed over it after a foul ball. Braden proceeded to become outraged by a complete lack of respect for baseball etiquette.

The War of Words:

He should probably take a note from his captain over there and realize you don't cross the pitcher's mound in between an inning or during the game. I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind, being someone of such status. I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound. He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore.
~Dallas Braden

"He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career. I thought it was pretty funny actually.
~Alex Rodriguez

Gotta side with Braden on this one. The pitcher's mound is for the pitcher. What would A-Rod have done if Braden decided to take a stroll through the batter's box? A-Rod's cockiness in his response to Braden shows he's just a high-priced asshole. I hope he finds it funny when Braden plants one in his earhole next time the two of them face each other, because I know I will.
__________________________________________

Open Your Eyes!
*Baseball Musings thinks the wake-up call to Big Papi worked.

*Bootlegger Sports says the Pittsburgh Steelers are apparently interested in losing and cockblocking.

*No Guts, No Glory has story on NBA coach Stan Van Gundy not buying into Michael Jordan being the greatest of all-time. He's obviously retarded.

*Sportress of Blogitude sheds light on Lawrence Taylor's draft night back in 1981. I knew he liked the nose candy, but 41 Coors Light...damn, that's like 3 regular beers. Oh wait, that's not very impressive at all, it would just make you have to piss a lot.

*We Should Be GMs attempts to dispel the "unlucky" excuse for Cole Hamels shittiness.


Social Distortion- Bad Luck

Jumper

Sorry I'm late in posting, folks!

I found this incredible video of a college baseball game. Check out what happens at 0:21 min. into the video!



Makes Wesley Snipes on the run from the IRS look like a game of leapfrog.

Have a good weekend!
tamtam

who am i??

must get both correct.

Stat of the week

Milwaukee Brewers
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
R Weeks 2B 7 4 3 1 0 1 22 .339 .473 .610
C Gomez CF 5 3 2 0 2 1 23 .262 .311 .452
R Braun LF 4 3 3 5 1 0 26 .417 .478 .733
J Gerut LF 1 0 0 1 1 1 10 .182 .250 .545
P Fielder 1B 4 1 2 3 1 1 21 .246 .377 .351
C Vargas P 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .000 .000 .000
M Parra P 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1.000 1.000 1.000
T Hoffman P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
C McGehee 3B 4 0 1 1 0 1 16 .368 .424 .684
C Counsell 3B 3 2 2 2 0 0 5 .250 .318 .450
J Edmonds RF-1B 6 2 4 3 0 1 27 .341 .431 .568
G Kottaras C 4 1 2 2 1 0 26 .250 .353 .583
A Escobar SS 6 1 2 1 0 0 21 .300 .352 .480
R Wolf P 3 2 2 0 0 0 11 .400 .400 .400

Totals 52 20 25 20 6 8 228
a-tripled to deep center for R Wolf in the 7th
BATTING
2B: J Edmonds 2 (7, O Dotel, D McCutchen); C Gomez (3, D McCutchen); R Weeks 2 (5, J Hanrahan, D Carrasco); R Braun (4, D Carrasco); G Kottaras (1, J Hanrahan)
3B: J Inglett (2, J Hanrahan)
HR: P Fielder (1, 2nd inning off D McCutchen 0 on, 0 Out); R Braun (5, 3rd inning off D McCutchen 2 on, 1 Out); G Kottaras (1, 5th inning off D Carrasco 0 on, 0 Out); J Edmonds (1, 7th inning off J Hanrahan 2 on, 1 Out)
RBI: P Fielder 3 (7), R Braun 5 (20), C McGehee (14), G Kottaras 2 (5), R Weeks (12), C Counsell 2 (6), J Edmonds 3 (5), A Escobar (6), J Gerut (4), M Parra (1)
SF: G Kottaras
2-out RBI: P Fielder 2, C McGehee, R Braun 2, J Gerut, M Parra
Brewers RISP: 10-21 (C Gomez 0-2, P Fielder 1-3, C McGehee 1-1, J Edmonds 1-2, R Weeks 1-1, A Escobar 1-3, R Braun 3-3, G Kottaras 0-2, C Counsell 1-2, M Parra 1-1, J Inglett 0-1)
Team LOB: 12

If you had anyone from the brewers yesterday on your fantasy team you made out well. For me, I had Braun, which was nice. The stats show astounding figures. First, Weeks only saw 22 pitches during his 7 at bats. That's an average of a little over 3 pitchers per at bats. Talk about a leadoff man looking green light every pitch. The other good news is that Jim Edmonds went 4-6 and brought himself back into the league with this game. Also, Randy Wolf went 2-3. The only downside at looking at the stats from this game is that the Brewers left 12 men on base. Something to work on for next game.

Cause for Concern

Even though we have only been into the season for less than a month, there is already cause for concern among many Major League teams who are struggling severely or just having difficulty in certain situations. As many people have put it before "You can't win a World Series in April but you can surely lose one."

Philadelphia Phillies

Speaking of the pen....THEY SUCK!!!! Two years ago the bullpen was stellar and had no downfalls. This season they are generally going by committee and don't have their shit together. Figgy has shown some quality appearances and so has Durbin, but beyond that they are in trouble. Madson can't seem to get his shit together with hitting his spots or taking command of his change up and the highly priced Baez is not what he used to be. I feel that even when Lidge comes back the bullpen will still be in trouble. Dubee needs to get his act together and figure out a way to save the games in the end rather than blowing them and wasting quality starts by the starting pitchers.

Chicago Cubs
Talk about a team in trouble. This team is destined to not win another World Series for the next 100 years. I understand that Zambrano is having a horrible year with a 1-2 record and an era of over 7.00. But in the reality of things the Cubs had to make room for Lilly. Wells is coming off a stellar rookie season and is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts. Dempster has been solid, compiling a 1-0 record and 3.15 ERA. The Cubs didn't want four lefties in the 'pen, which eliminated Gorzelanny. They didn't want to test Silva's right shoulder, either, in a relief role. The veteran was 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two starts heading into Wednesday's game against the New York Mets. This team is going to be in trouble for years to come and I see them ending up in third place in a division that is always won by the Cardinals year after year.

Baltimore Orioles
The problems keep mounting for the Orioles. They just got swept by the Mariners and are off to the worst start in many years. The Orioles dropped to 2-14 after the Seattle Mariners completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore on Wednesday night. It's the worst start for the franchise since setting a major league record dropping their first 21 games in 1988. They are last in the American League in runs scored and on-base percentage, 11th in ERA and 12th in batting average. The Orioles have scored just three runs with nine hits in their first two games in Seattle and are hitting .150 with runners in scoring position. Injuries aren't helping, either. Second baseman Brian Roberts, outfielder Felix Pie and left-handed pitcher Michael Gonzalez are all on the disabled list. Miguel Tejada was out of the starting lineup for a fourth straight game with a sore hamstring on Wednesday night. Pie was transferred to the 60-day DL on Wednesday. But the problem doesn't come from injuries. It comes form basic skills of fielding and batting according the Manager Trembley. He held a closed door meeting yesterday and from what I read he really ripped the players apart.

Cleveland Indians
With a 7-4 victory yesterday over the Chicago White Sox the Tribe is now 6-6 for the 2010 season. This isn't great but it is a lot better than the 2-6 start about a week ago.
In the first 12 games their offense has just 85 hits in 388 at bats and have scored just 45 runs. I don't think many of us thought they would struggle as much as they have. Some of the hitting stats for some of the players are down right embarrassing. This is what I mean:
Jhonny Peralta- 5-37 .135 doubles-2, HR-1, RBI-4
Matt LaPorta- 8-37 .216 Doubles-2, HR-0, RBI-1
Michael Brantley- 5-32 .156 Doubles-1, HR-0, RBI-3
Lou Marson- 2-22 .091 Doubles-0, HR-0, RBI-0
Luis Valbuena- 6-32 .188 Doubles-0, HR-2, RBI-6
Travis Hafner- 9-39 .231 Doubles-1, HR-1, RBI-3
Grady Sizemore- 9-39 .231 Doubles-3, Triples-2, HR-0, RBI-5
Mike Redmond- 3-18 .167 Doubles-1, HR-0, RBI-1
Asdrubal Cabrera- 14-51 .275 Doubles-2, HR-1, RBI-3
Shin Soo Choo- 14-40 .350 Doubles-3, HR-4, RBI-12
Austin Kearns- 6-18 .333 Doubles-2, HR-0, RBI-1
Andy Marte- 1-8 .125 Doubles-0, HR-0, RBI-1
Mark Grudzielanek- 3-15 .200 Doubles-0, HR-0, RBI-2
Besides Choo and Cabrera the offense isn't doing very much at all. Shin Soo Choo has also walked 11 times and has 3 stolen bases. Strikeouts are also a little high with Sizemore with 12, Hafner with 11, Choo with 10, Peralta, Brantley, Cabrera, and Valbuena all have 9, and Matt LaPorta has 8.

Gay Porn & Baseball

A little over a year ago More Hardball had some fun with the infamous crotch grabbing of MLB players. We collected photo evidence and posted it on the blog. Little did we know that a gay porn site would link it and have it become one of our most popular posts ever. Gotta loves the gays, gotta love gratuitous crotchticular activity.


The Queers- Don't Back Down

Early Season Surprises

The 2010 MLB season is only 2 weeks old, but there are already a handful of surprises. Some good and some bad. Lets take a look...

The Good:
*Franklin Gutierrez, Scott Podsednik, and Placiod Polanco lead the MLB with 21 hits apiece. Where the hell is Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki?

*Pudge Rodriguez is batting a NL-leading .444 with 7 doubles. I would love to see this surefire Hall of Famer collect 3000 hits.

*Jose Guillen and Vernon Wells have become accustomed to garnering fans' angst, but now it's admiration with Guillen popping 5 and Wells 6 homeruns in the early going.

*Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, and Matt Garza have pitched 24 innings apiece, for an average of 8 ip per start.

*Tim Lincecum- 3 w, 24 k. 0.90 ERA...yeah, he's good.

*Jon Rauch, all 6 foot 11 inches of him, has taken on tall order of filling in for Joe Nathan as the Twins closer and is a perfect 6-6 in save opportunities.

*Livan Hernandez and JA Happ have made 2 starts apiece and nary an earned run allowed.

*The Rays, Yankees, Twins, and A's all have 9 wins.

*The Pirates (7-5) and Blue Jays (7-6) are above .500. For how long? I bet each finishes with a losing April.

The Bad:
*Jason Bay leads the Majors with 18 k's. The Mets can't get anything right.

*Hitless Wonder- Taylor Teagarden (0-18). He's a Texas Ranger, I thought they all hit?

*Matt Kemp has been caught stealing 3 times. You think between he and Rhianna's money he wouldn't have to turn to thievery.

*Nick Blackburn and Billy Tallet have allowed 6 homeruns each. TNT, they're dynamite!

*Unsightly ERAs- Jason Marquis 20.52, Kyle Kendrick 17.47, Craig Stammen 15.63, Daniel McCutchen 14.73, Chad Morton 13.50. The ghost of Cy Young would do better.

*The Red Sox are 4-8. Panic in Beantown?

Woes of the O's

The Orioles are seeing some dark times. Currently ranked last in the entire Major League, and claiming only two wins in 13 games, there is little cheer in Charm City. After 9 straight losses, the only ray of light came with yesterday's win against the Athletics. Hopefully, this will give them the confidence they need to take on Seatle for the next three days. The team has not seen post season play since 1997, and dispirited fans already see no hope for this season. In the last 12 years, the Orioles have seen their once proud organization become the punchline of the American League. Those who follow the team place most of the blame on the love child of Emperor Palpatine and Rodney Dangerfield, Cockmaster of the Board, Peter Angelos.

Angelos deserves this blame mainly because he cannot leave managing the team to the managers. He blocks trades and goes through managers like an incontinent octogenarian goes through Depends. Since Angelos fired Davey Johnson in 1997, the team has not finished above .500. Recently, it was rumored that Angelos turned down assistance from Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. An article released from FoxSports stated that Ripken wanted to rejoin the franchise in an administrating/coaching capacity, but Angelos rejected the proposal arguing that he didn't want Ripken to get credit if the team improved. Angelos is rabidly denying such a meeting with Ripken even occurred. Since Angelos is not known to be forthcoming with the truth, fans are left in a frustrating limbo, and are awaiting someone, i.e. Andy MacPhail, to either confirm or deny the story. This, along with the Orioles' dismal record and disastrous start has many fans lamenting the loss of yet another season.

Better Days @ Yahoo! Video

Citizen King - Better Days

The Powerful & The Powerless

The Texas Rangers Nelson Cruz has hit 7 homeruns through the first 11 games of the season. Most of you know this, but this is in case you're a Baltimore Orioles fan and only follow their AL East travails. The man is powerful. He's also batting .342, and 10 of his 13 hits have gone for extra bases...that's muscle my friends. This power surge should not come as a big surprise, as he clubbed 33 homeruns last season, and has hit 62 in his brief career, barely spanning 1000 at bats.

As powerful as Cruz is, Reggie Willits is not. The speedy whiteboy outfielder of the Los Angeles Angels has 669 career at bats with nary a homerun. In fact, he only has 29 extra base hits. Good thing he's fast, or he'd have absolutely no value.


Snap!- The Power

Picture of the Day

Check out this strange sighting at Yankee Stadium, during Nick Johnson's at-bat:















Whoever says we're alone in this universe should expect a visit from a flying saucer sometime very soon...

Have a nice weekend!
tamtam

The Battle of Bad: O's & Stros

Who's the baddest team in the land? Kansas City Royals? No, Jose Guillen and his blot clots are bursting with power. Washington Nationals? Nah, they have an 8 million dollar utility infielder...that's just superfluous. Baltimore Orioles? Yes. Houston Astros? Double yes.

Those hard to find black and orange birds are off to a 1-10 start. Not far behind in the futility race is the Asshats Asstros Astros at 1-9. Lets compare the level of shittiness, shall we...

Run Differential- O's (-28), Stros (-31)
Batting Average- O's .227, Stros .217
OPS- O's .684, Stros .525
BB:K- O's 33:73, Stros 8:64
Homeruns- O's 7, Stros 2
ERA- O's 4.76, Stros 5.07
WHIP- O's 1.43, Stros 1.59

Seems that the only thing keeping Houston from sucking more than Baltimore is the fact that they've played 1 fewer game. This will be an interesting battle to follow all season long, so stay tuned for updates.
__________________________________________

Does this shit come in braille?
*Major League Jerk makes their NBA playoff predictions.

*Bootlegger Sports reports on Orangutan kickboxing in Thailand.

*Sportress of Blogitude thinks A-Rod has one of the more punchable faces in MLB.

*We Should Be GMs takes a closer look at the enemy Florida Marlins.


Soko- Shitty Day

Baseball Buffet: Zambrano, Adams, Santos, and Dos Rodriguez

Zapped Zambrano:
At 4-5 Chicago Cubs fans aren't exactly pleased. Add in the fact that their "ace" Carlos Zambrano is sporting a grotesque 9.45 ERA and 2.03 WHIP in 3 starts with 3 errors and 3 wild pitches and you have a bunch of groans from the Cubbie faithful. Really, how the hell does a pitcher lead the Majors in errors?

A-bombed Adams:
Last year San Diego Padre Mike Adams had one of the best seasons for a reliever, that went relatively unnoticed (0.73 ERA). Well, just yesterday he gave up as many earned runs (3) in 1 inning as he did all last season in 37 innings.

Super Santos:
The 26 year old righthanded rookie reliever Sergio Santos of the Chicago White Sox is off to a nice start in his MLB career- 4 games, 4 ip, 7 k, 0.00 ERA. What's so super about him though? He was a shortstop in the minors for 7 seasons before switching to pitching last year with horrible results (8.16 ERA in 26 minor league games), yet here he is dominating MLB batters. That's super!

Dos Rodriguez?
Francisco Rodriguez is the closer for the New York Mets, he hasn't pitched for the Los Angeles Angels since 2008. So why the hell was he listed in the Angels box score last night? Well, there's another Francisco Rodriguez in town. Dos hombres.

F*ck Orlando Hudson!

Major League Baseball is racist, at least according to the gospel of Orlando Hudson. His preposterous statement was made due to the fact that Gary Sheffield and Jermaine Dye remain free agents. Guess that makes Jarrod Washburn and Braden Looper honary black men then too, because they're unemployed. Seriously though, O-Dog needs to shut the f*ck up! Two black players past their primes go un-signed and now MLB is facing racism accusations by a punk-ass middle infielder. Whatever! Sheffield is old, injury-prone, and is an asshole everywhere he goes. Dye is still productive, but he passed on 3 offers from clubs claiming it wasn't enough money. That's not prejudice, that's one player being a douchebag and the other letting his pride get in the way. This shit pisses me off. What if Chase Utley threw a shit-fit because his white homies like Washburn and Looper weren't signed and called the MLB racist? Yeah, bet he wouldn't be able to skate so easily because he's white. F*ck Orlando Hudson. Get your shit straight bro! And while you're at it, go do a remix with Kayne on how "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

The Dugout: Tampa Bay Rays Horrible Stadium 2010

Happy Tuesday everyone! I thought we all could use a laugh today.

The Dugout: Tampa Bay Rays Horrible Stadium 2010

Have a nice day!
tamtam

Stiff Back....Phillies Fans Stiffed

According to San Francisco Tribune, on Friday, Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf went to bed feeling fine and woke up a stiff ass mess. He said the bed was too soft and when he woke up and tried to put on his shoes he had stiffness in his back. The Pirates quickly acted and called up Brian Burres from the minors and flew him to San Fransisco for the start on Monday. However, the same results ensued and the Pirates lost 9-3. Personally, I have been to some of the ritzy hotels that the players stay at (Westin in Chicago, Westin in St. Louis) and they all are superb. Nothing like 1000 count sheets to get you in the baseball mood. My only conclusion from this is that maybe Ohlendorf was sleeping on a Pirates bat because they surely sucked this past weekend and after winning the first game are quickly in the cellar and it's not even May yet.

In other news, The Phillies again won another game yesterday and are now 6-1. Cole Hamels still has not thrilled me and to be honest he has only faced Washington this year. I am worried, along with Moyer, on how they will do against Atlanta or even the Mets. Cole needs to take his time and feel more confident in his change-up and use it in better situations.

One thing strange and disheartening to many Phillies fans was that there was no "That Balls Outta Here" call when a homerun was hit from the Phillies. If you listened closely to the game yesterday you heard someone complain right next to the broadcasters about the absence of Harry. I found out after the game through WIP-610 that someone from the station was going to call the Phillies reprentative and find out what was going on. Come on, seriously, what is baseball without peanuts, Beer without being drunk, and Phillies baseball without Harry.

Houston, We've Had a Problem

The Houston Astros close their opening week at the bottom of the entire MLB standings - even the Orioles have one win. With no wins to their credit, the Astros are facing the mighty Cardinals for the next three games, and it appears that pulling out a win against them will be next to impossible. This could potentially bring their losing streak to a dismal 9 game deficit, eight behind current division leader, the Cardinals.

So what is wrong with the Astros? Part of the problem is pitching. So far, all errors committed have been made by the pitching staff. Yesterday, the Astros did see Oswalt pitch competently, shutting down the Phillies offense after the second inning. But this show of force was not enough against Halladay, currently tied with Lincecum as National League strikeout leader. After yesterday's game, the staff is 0 and 6, with an ERA of 6.00, a 1.72 whip, and batters are hitting an average of .326 against them. In 54 innings, they have struck out 39 batters, but allowed 37 runs (36 of those earned runs), they have also walked 23 batters and allowed 70 hits, with 7 home runs. In the series against the Cardinals, Mills has decided to start with with Wandy Rodriguez, who does not have the same command of the ball as Oswalt. Rodriguez will certainly struggle against sluggers like Pujols. There isn't much to work with in the bullpen either, with Lindstrom and Lyon performing below expectations.

On offense, the Astros just can't seem to get any big hits. Jeff Keppinger is doing well, and getting plenty of play. He, Bourne, and Feliz have each had 7 hits, and Pence has hit one of the team's 2 homeruns. But that's it. Matsui and Manzella need more at bats, hopefully this will be something Mills will allow in the coming weeks. Overall, the Astros just do not seem to have much power, though there is a lot of potential.

What is the outlook for the Astros? It is too early to write them off, after all, they are nowhere near '88 Orioles territory. They will likely not be winning any division titles this year, but they have no business at the bottom either. They have potential for another middle of the pack finish, provided they can shake themselves out of their current slump. Granted, they have started out against the division's best, but if their sloppy play continues, so will their abysmal start to the season.


Beck - Loser

Red Sox Babies

Here's a story too good to be fake!

At the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the esteemed city of Boston, a revolutionary new program has been born (literally).

For every child born at BIDMC, they will be automatically baptized as Red Sox Babies!

From the hospital's own website:

Families of every baby delivered at BIDMC will receive a baby cap and a canvas bag donned with the BIDMC and the Red Sox logos. In addition, your newborn will receive a certificate for a free tour for four of Fenway Park redeemable upon their fifth birthday. This exciting program keeps adding more and more tiny fans to Red Sox Nation. Help to keep the spirit alive and have a Red Sox baby at BIDMC!

While it is a creative marketing move, woe be to displaced Yankee fans! Or anyone who is not a Red Sox fan but happen to live in the Boston vicinity...

Your thoughts, parents? Would you want your children automatically baptized into whatever local baseball team fanbase?

tamtam

Just how bad are the Nationals?

If you've been in hiding with Bin Laden for the past decade and decided to finally surface and wash your stank ass, then you need to know that the Washington Nationals suck. If you've been living a normal life, even if in Siberia, then you damn well better already know that tidbit of information.

Just how bad are the Nationals? Well, their pitching staff is sporting a ghastly 7.97 ERA, "good" enough for worst in baseball. It gets worse, they've walked 27 batter in 35 innings while only striking out 18. That's Steve Blass (1973- 88.2 ip, 84 bb, 27 k, 12 hit batters, and 9 wild pitches) and Rick Ankiel, pitching version (2000 postseason- 4 ip, 11 bb, and 9 wild pitches) bad!

Sex and Baseball

Now there are 2 things you don't normally see in the same sentence, but while cruising the blogosphere for potential stories on this fine evening, I came across this tawdry tale of sex and baseball.

In Chicago, our local newspaper is the Chicago Tribune (or "Trib" as we like to abbreviate it). Well in the Trib, we have a columnist named John Kass who's sharp wit and culinary skills have won him renown throughout the city (no really-his most famous recipe is Beer Can Chicken, easy to make on the grill!). How this ties into today's topic is a story by my favorite local columnist involving sex, the Sox, and opening day 2010.

This sordid tale begins when a father takes his son to US Cellular field, and during the game, the little tyke has to pay a visit to the little boy's room. Well, that's when father and son saw something more memorable than Mark Buehrle's amazing play.

What did they see?

Read it here. We are a PG-13 site, and I will spare you the grimy details.

What a way to end the week.

Have a good weekend everyone!

tamtam

Whats my number

Number of miles between Citizens Bank Park and Petco Park minus the number of BB Milton Thompson had in 1992 plus the number of wins the Minnesota twins had in their 1993 season as of July 10th minus the number of innings pitched for Mike Scott and Craig Swan combined in 1982 plus the number of games back the Washington Senators were when the season ended in 1967 minus the number of letters altogether in the first and last name of the American and National league managers of the year in 1984. Whats my number.

Promotional Outlook

This baseball season has some unique promotions going on. From the skateboards being offered by San Fransisco to the snuggies by the Angels.

Skateboard Night
May 30th-SF Giants
The Giants are giving away skateboard decks to the first 7,500 kids 14 and under and it seems like a natural fit for a team that's based in California and lead by a Cy Young winner that looks like he came straight from the skate park. But look! The Reds will also be giving away decks to teeny Tony Hawks on the same night.
Lawyers Appreciation Night
May 13th-Florida Marlins
For some reason the Marlins feel that because they had to raise payroll they are forced to have people in suits and ties to show up and watch the Marlins while it is mid 80's with sunny weather and beautiful beaches. The promotion is offering half price tickets for people who bring clients. So you are playing about $250 an hour for a lawyer and you only get half price. That blows.
Garden Gnome Figurine Night
May 22nd-Arizona Diamondbacks
First off, who the hell has a garden in Arizona where the weather is always around 100 and the air is so thick? I would understand if they gave away Upton umbrellas or Shilling sprinklers, but garden gnomes. Are they supposed to ward away the evil spirits of the LA Dodgers? I think not.
Justin Verlander "K Counter" Bobblehead
April 30th-Detriot Tigers
First off this giveaway is awesome. Imagine sitting at home and rotating that thing every time he strikes someone out. I think this toy will branch out into the Howard counter or the Bobby Cox ejection machine (imagine Cox sitting in a recliner and you just pushing a button to throw him out) I give major props for this invention.
Snuggie Night
April 6th-LA Angels
Each fan in attendance was given a Matsui blanket, also known as a snuggie. That night during the game each fan put on their snuggie and wore it for five minutes, thus setting the World Record.
Other notable promotions:
April 11, Orioles: Plush Chick-Fil-A cows
April 17, A's: Roy Steele bobblehead. This has to be a first -- a bobblehead of a public-address announcer. Steele has done the PA for the A's since they moved to Oakland in 1968.
April 24, Reds: Ballpark turf grower. "Grow your own pot of Great American Ball Park turf." Tim Lincecum doesn't need it, thank you.

May 23, Pirates: Pierogy wind-up racers.
Oct. 1, Reds: Scout night campout. Boy and girl scouts and their families can camp out on the field after the game. And when they wake up, it will be Hispanic Heritage Day.