Thursday, April 30, 2009

Volquez Dazzles; Van Who?

Edison Volquez put an end to the Reds losing streak to Houston and wowed the fans on Wednesday. After allowing a double to Miguel Tejada in the first inning, Volquez pitched a no-hitter through the next seven. The bats produced 3 runs on 8 hits and Francisco Cordero closed it out in the ninth. The Reds improve to 11-10 on the season and end an 11-game losing streak to the Astros.

John Van Every, playing rightfield for JD Drew, propels Boston to a win over the Cleveland Indians. Van Every got his first Major League RBI in the eighth as part of a 3-run inning that tied the game. Then he put his glove to work. With the bases loaded, he makes a great tun-saving inning-ending catch on the run to squash the Tribe's rally. To top of his night, in the top of the tenth, Van Every hits his first Major League homerun to lift the Sox past the scrappy Indians and take the series 2-1.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

My Childhood All-Time Reds Team ('82-'94)

I know everyone has a list of all-time this and all-time that and who really cares. I have found that they are great conversation starters and who doesn't like to argue why their guys is better than yours. I was a Reds fan before I was a Red Sox fan, so here is my childhood All-Time Reds Team (approx. 1982-1994):

Outfield: Eric Davis (no question, also my first favorite player), Paul O'Neil and since I am just doing outfield and not breaking it down into LF, CF, and RF my final choice is Dave Parker. On the infield I chose Hal Morris at first, Ron Oester at second, Barry Larkin at shortstop, Chris Sabo at third and Joe Oliver catching. Honorable mention goes to Dave Concepcion for the middle infield position, Nick Esasky for the corner infield position and of course Bo Diaz at catcher.

Now the pitching rotation: Number one starter is Tom Browning with Jose Rijo a close second. Third outright goes to Mario Soto. Fourth and fifth were tough but strictly going with more games played, I chose Norm Charlton fourth and Ted Powers fifth. The closer of course is the wild thing, Rob Dibble. I have to mention John Franco but wasn't sure whether to list him as a starter or a closer, so he gets his own spot. That's one team I would not have wanted to face in their prime.

Batting Order:
Ron Oester
Barry Larkin
Eric Davis
Dave Parker
Paul O'Neil
Hal Morris
Chris Sabo
Joe Oliver

Monday, April 27, 2009

Get Out Your Brooms!

What a weekend in Boston as the Red Sox sweep the 'Junkees'. Friday night's game took 11 innings before the Sox put away the Yanks. Jason Bay's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth gave Boston a stay of execution and "Yoooooouuuuuuuk!" sent the fans home happy with a walk off solo shot in the bottom of the 11th. Saturday's game didn't look so good early on. In a game where pitching was expected to rule, neither starter had anything. With almost identical boxscores, both pitcher lasted only 5 innings giving up 8 earned and 2 homeruns. After falling behind 6-0 in the fourth, Tek cranked a grand slam to bring the game back to within reach. Mike Lowell took over from there with a 3-run homer and a 3 RBI double to lead the Sox to a 16-11 victory. Sunday gave the Sox the chance for the sweep. In one of the greatest plays of the year so far, Jacoby Ellsbury steals home in the fifth and puts an exclamation mark on the series. The Sox extend their winning streak to 10 and head to Cleveland for a 3 game series against the struggling Tribe. I Love Baseball!!!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Let's Go Streaking!

After a less than stellar start to the season the Sox have caught fire. After sweeping Baltimore last week, the Red Sox have taken both games in a two game series with the Twins and are currently on a seven game winning streak. And the best part, the timing couldn't be any better as the Sox host the Bums from the Bronx in the first NY-Boston series of the season. Sweeping the "junkees" or even taking 2 and winning the series would do alot for the psychy of Red Sox Nation.

The Sox have scored 46 runs in the last six games and 6 Sox are batting over .300. Throw out Brad Penny's performance, and the Sox starting pitchers have allowed only 5 runs in 5 games. According to my math, the sox are outscoring their opponents 7.66 to 1. Not too shabby.

P.S. Yankees Suck!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Baseball This Week 4/12-4/19

Reds Beat:
The Reds got on a bit of a streak this week going 5-2 and running their record to 6-5 overall for 3rd in the division and only 1 game back of the leaders. They started the week with a win over the Pirates then took 2 of three from the Brewers and finished the week taking 2 of 3 from the Astros. Jay Bruce missed the last two games with an injured hand but hopes to return soon. Bruce got injured after being hit by a pitch on Monday.

Red Sox Report:
The Sox struggled out west to start the week but came back home to take the first 3 games of a 4 game series against the O's. Masterson will take the mound this morning in the Patriot game to try for the sweep. This will be Boston's first series win of the season. Jon Lester threw 7 shutout innings in yesterday's win of the O's and news came down that Beckett's suspension has been reduced to 5 games. Does that really make a difference? Either way he will still miss one start.

Stat of the week: Once again we turn to the Yankees as they got a royal beat down by the lowly Indians on Saturday. The tribe rang up 14 runs in the second inning and went on to win 22-4.

Surprise of the Season:
The Florida Marlins have only lost 1 game and have an overall record of 11-1

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Some May Call Me A Traditionalist

I've been called a traditionalist and even an old-timer but I think of myself as a preservationist. I think traditions of the sport should be preserve while also preserving the game itself. I understand the fact that money drives everything these days, but at what cost? In this era of stadium naming rights and "this segment brought to you by...", I was quite pleased when the powers that be rejected the idea of advertisements on uniforms and bases. Having players running around looking like NASCAR drivers with their medley of patches all over their uniforms would have ruined the integrity of the game. Playing games at Great American Ball Park or Chase Field is fine, but keep the intrusions off the field.


However, the mighty dollar has taken it too far in some situations. For example, when ESPN changes opening day that has been traditionally started by having the Cincinnati Reds play the first game just to make an extra buck, that's unacceptable. Is ESPN hurting so much that they need that first game? While I'm on the subject, what happened to being able to watch a game on regular television? Exposure to the game has been all but eliminated in the inner city and poorer parts of the country where many people don't have cable. How can that be healthy for the sport? The Great American Pasttime has been taken away from America.


I do like the alternate jerseys though. I think this is a good way to bring in revenue while letting the fans feel like they are involved. Adding some color over the traditional grey or white uniforms is a nice touch.


The All-Star Game: Really, it isn't important enough to multi-million dollar players to play 1 exhibition game for the fans and try to win the game that we have to make it determine home field advantage for the World Series. That's ridiculous. So the representative for the last place Pirates helps decide whether the National League penant winner will get home field advantage. So the guy that's shelling out a hundred bucks to come see one of your games and pay your exhorbent salary isn't worth putting on your best performance in an All-Star game. Even though this same guy also voted you into the All-Star game. Joe Dimaggio once said he played his hardest everyday because that might be the day a kid sees him play for the first time and the kid deserves it. What happened to those days?

Robinson Honored; Kinsler Goes 6-6, Hits For Cycle

Every Major League team honored Jackie Robinson on Wednesday April 15, 2009. 62 years ago Robinson became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. His courage was honored with his number 42 being worn throughout the league. For more on this story go to
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090414&content_id=4268752&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Ian Kinsler went 6 for 6 and hit for the cycle making him the first to do so since 1890. Kinsler had 5 runs and 4 rbi in the Rangers romp of the visiting Orioles 19-6.

Tim Wakefield threw a gem in Boston's 8-2 win over the A's. Wakefield pitched a complete game allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 4. The bullpen got a much needed night of rest after Tuesday night's 12 inning loss to the A's. Mike Lowell and JD Drew both went yard in the win. Dice-K was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain.

Mika Owings made his debut for the Reds and looked a bit rusty, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. The Reds did however take the series 2-1 and now head to Houston for a 4 game stay.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Beckett Receives and Appeals 6 Game Suspension

Josh Beckett was handed a six game suspension and an undisclosed fine for 'throwing at the head' of Bobby Abreu during Sunday's game in LA. Beckett immediately appealed the suspension allowing him to make his next scheduled start on Saturday. The incident occured after Abreu took exception to the time Beckett was taking on the mound and asked for and was permitted time as Beckett began his windup. Personally, I think the granting of time to batters is getting out of control. If the umpiring crew had felt that Beckett intentionally threw at Abreu, he would have been ejected from the game; however, that was not the case.

For more on this story, read Ian Browne's article at
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090414&content_id=4266542&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The First Week of the Season is in the Books




The 2009 major league baseball season got off to a rocky start for our teams. The Reds and the Red Sox have struggled out of the gate but don't run up the white flag yet. There is plenty of baseball left to play. Even a bad start can't dampen my spirits this time of year. BASEBALL IS BACK!



Red Sox Report:




Toronto 5-1
Baltimore 4-1
New York 3-2
Boston 2-3
Tampa Bay 2-3


Your eyes are not deceiving you. The Red Sox dropped the first series to the Rays 1-2 then went out west to LA and dropped another to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Josh Beckett pitched a gem in his first outing giving up only 1 run and striking out 10 through 7 innings. Okijima gave up a couple of runs to make the game closer than it should have been then Papelbon slammed the door shut.


Out in LA, the mmod was somber after the Angels lost their new young pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car accident hours after pitching a great game. Dice-K was a little rocky and Papelbon tried to blow the game by givimg up a leadoff solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth and loading the bases before recording his 2nd save of the season.


Reds Beat:
The Reds again got off to a slow start. Unfortunately on a cold day in Cincinnati, they had the priviledge of matching up with one of baseballs best pitchers in Johan Santana. Aaron Harang only gave up 1 run through 7 innings but the bats of the redlegs were silenced by the arm of Santana. Wednesday the bats heated up but the pitching let the team down. Seven runs on 9 hits weren't enough to overcome the 4 runs given up by Volquez in just 4 1/3 innings and the 4 given up by Lincoln in just 1 inning of work. Bronson Arroyo wasn't great on Thursday but the bats helped him get the win. Votto's 3 run shot in the 3rd propelled the Reds to their first win of the season. Saturday the Reds started thier second series of the season with a loss to the Pirates. These aren't your father's Pirates.


Cleveland Indians:
The Indians can't buy a win. They were swept by the Rangers in the opening series and then lost the first two to the Blue Jays. The games weren't even close. Cliff Lee gave up 7 runs in 5 innings on opening day while the bats fell silent only getting 5 hits and stranding 9 base runners. Game 2 wasn't any better. Although they managed 7 hits, they left 23 runners on as Carmona gave up 6 runs in 5 innings. The bats showed up for game three getting 8 runs on 11 hits but the pitching still wasn't there. Pavano never recorded an out in the second inning and was rung up for 9 runs on 6 hits including 2 HRs. So in 5 games, the Tribe left 81 runners on base while the pitching staff gave up 46 earned runs. That could make for a long season.





Stat of the Week: For the first time since 1987, the bums from the Bronx recorded 0 strikeouts by their hurlers in the first 2 games of the season.