Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

Lisa Neeld was on hand at Thursday’s Mahoning Valley Scrappers game to throw out the first pitch.  Neeld has been in Playboy publications more than once and is currently promoting her barbecue sauce.  I got Neeld to agree to answer some questions about the sport of baseball to test her knowledge.  Kudos to Lisa for being a good sport, and here are the results.

1. What is a double play? It’s where you get two outs at the same time, right?
2. How does a relief pitcher qualify to earn a save? Um, wow, I don’t know, he just stands on the mound and looks cute?
3. How many pitches should a good starting pitcher throw? 15.
4. What is a good batting average foe a baseball player? Three Hundred.
5. Who is the manager of the Cleveland Indians?  Manny Actin.
6. Who is the greatest home run hitter to play the game of baseball? Babe Ruth, I love the Babe.
7. What is it called when an outfielder throws the ball home and the catcher tags the runner out? An out?
8. If a man is on first and tries to steal second but gets caught, what is it called? An unlucky play.
9. Here are three types of pitches: A knucleball, a slider, and a curveball, name another:   A fastball?

Thanks again, Lisa, you could have missed them all and nobody would have noticed, but you did well!

The Ohio State fans showed respect when Bo Schembechler passed, Michigan fans reciprocated when Woody Hayes left. Baseball fans either love or hate the Yankees, there is no middle ground.  With that inference in place, I bid farewell to George Steinbrenner, a guy who did anything he could to win at any cost.  I am on the other side of the Yankee fence, hate the way they can buy championships by fielding an all-star team, and would rather hear vuvuzela’s humming at a soccer game than watch the Yankees win a World Series again.

Steinbrenner single-handedly revolutionized free agency in baseball.  If he liked a player, the player was soon a Yankee, and a rich Yankee at that.  Several members of my own family are Yankees fans, as well as friends, who don’t root for the Knicks, Jets, or Rangers – just the Yankees.  Just like Lebron James, Steinbrenner left Cleveland to pursue his dreams.  I can go on and on and on, but I won’t… not this time.

The admirable quality that has my respect are the suddenly popular stories of the countless charitable acts that Steinbrenner did. Maybe I misread him as a person while he was here.  To make a mockery of a sport by purchasing everybody is one thing, but to make sure a down and out player was financially taken care of years after he retired, well that is just goodwill that he hid, and he has my respect in that regard.

One thing is certain, baseball will not be the same without him.  I can’t wait to watch his son, who admittedly knows little about baseball, spend millions of dollars for the wrong guys.  Enjoy what “The Boss” has left you, Yankee fans.  Soon, you will return to mediocrity, by George.

Rest in peace, George Steinbrenner.

Asdrubal Cabrera has started his path back to the Cleveland Indians.  Cabrera is playing two rehab games with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers before moving on to Akron to finish the transition back to the majors.  Cabrera is anxious to return to the big team, but understands the process and expectations placed upon him before he can be re-promoted.

Cabrera talked about how the arm feels and his physical status.  “I feel really good right now.  I feel like I am getting stronger and have been improving.  I don’t know exactly how many more games I have to play when I go to Akron, but I think it is more than two.” Indians Coach Manny Acta said he wanted Cabrera to have 30 at-bats before a call-up.  If the timetable of four at-bats per game holds true, Cabrera would be set to be recalled on Wednesday, July 21.

“It’s been hard for me to watch the games on television and the team [Indians] have not been doing very well, so I am anxious to get back in there”, said Cabrera.  “I want to get the rehab done as soon as I can so I can get back.  That is the first extended injury of my career and it happens when you play this game hard.”

Cabrera who was escorted to Niles, Ohio by family talked about their presence through a hard time.  “That was my dad, my wife, and my son.  My dad is my number one fan and my family has been very supportive through this.  They have followed me wherever I have gone.”

The AL All-Star SS is back, and he looks primed to aid a flailing franchise back to respectability.  In Monday’s Scrapper game, Cabrera was 1-3 with a 2-run double in his third and final at-bat of the evening.

Asdrubal Cabrera is set to do a rehab stint with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Cabrera will be in the lineup for the Scrappers on Monday and Tuesday.  Indians Manager Manny Acta said he would like Cabrera to get about 30 or so at-bats before he rejoins the Indians.  After Tuesday, Cabrera will finish his rehab assignment in Akron with the AA Aeros.

Cabrera injured his arm and was placed on the 60-day DL on May 18.  Cabrera is currently with the Indians in Tampa and has been taking batting practice.  The rehab starts with the Scrappers will be his first live game-action in the rehab process.  If all goes well, the Indians should activate him right after the All-Star Break.

They are usually advertised weeks ahead of time, held in the early Summer months, and involve two parties, a buyer and a seller.  I can only be talking about a garage sale Major League Baseball team selling its star players by the deadline to insure a “profit” while rebuilding.  Some of this year’s advertised garage sales are already listed.

The Houston Astros will peddle Roy Oswalt (above) to either the New York Mets or Chicago Cubs by the end of June.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oswalt doesn’t get any run support in Houston, but neither does John Santana as a Met.  Same song, different band.  The Astros may also peddle Lance Berkman and possibly, red-hot Hunter Pence.

Pittsburgh is an annual stop on the garage sale circuit.  Unfortunately, all of the stuff in the shed is pretty much useless to families with bigger gardens.  I don’t see a Pirate going anywhere unless Paul Maholm stays hot.  They have no big salaries to dump right now and what a perfect way to lure the fans into thinking they are seriously rebuilding for next season instead of trying to make money.

Cleveland made out the last few years by selling.  They have some players that might be on the move.  Grady Sizemore, hurt and all, is a prime target to go.  Really, Cleveland has nothing to play for so anyone on the field has a “For Sale” sign on their back right now.  The only Indian who should be safe is Carlos Santana (above) who is absolutely destroying the minor leagues as the Indians future catcher.

This may come as a surprise to some, but I see the Seattle Mariners playing yard sale games this year.  The plan was to bring Cliff Lee in, use a decent offense and a solid staff to win the division.  Lee only has three starts and guys Like Rowland-Smith couldn’t hold things up in his abscence.  Cliff Lee will be headed South to either the Angels or Padres by July when the Mariners realize that they can’t get there this season.  Ichiro may get dumped as well, I am sure the Dodgers would love to have him.

Sigh.  Rather than list the best teams in baseball for 2010, I have opted to expose the five worst.  Unfortunately when any game is played, there is a winner and there also must be a loser.  Some teams have made a habit of losing, others have found new ways to embark on the shame of a wasted season.  Without hesitation, here is my list of the five teams who stink for the year 2010.

1. Washington Nationals.  They are off to a respectable start, but don’t expect that to last too long.  Ivan Rodriguez and Adam Dunn both need to oil their leg joints before they can run.  The pitching staff is horrid and will only be semi-horrid when cheap-o management decides to bring Stephen Strasburg into the mix.  Too many no-names, too many washed-up veterans, and too many guys who never reached their potential elsewhere.  The Nationals will finish with the worst record in baseball this season.
2. Houston Astros.  The slow start only magnifies the problems this team has in 2010.  Lance Berkman is back, but has nobody to help him on offense, assuming he can even get it going.  Berkman looks like he wants to compete against Kobiyashi on Memorial Day to see who can eat more hot dogs in New York.  Roy Oswalt is the ace of a staff filled with inconsistencies from the bullpen to the rotation.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates.  I wish this team did not fall into the “worst teams in baseball” category every year.  Shamefully, it has been 17 years that they have been below the Mendoza Line and this year will be no different.  Pirate fans beware, this team is so low on the talent scale that management may try to deceive you into thinking that they are actually trying to build something in the Steel City.  Don’t be fooled, the inventory of players other teams want is so low, you can count them on one hand.
4. Chicago White Sox.  Ozzie Guillen has run out of ways to motivate, so the White Sox brought in some new players for him to dazzle with his unique approach.  Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones are way beyond their prime and will not be contributing in July or beyond.  I guarantee you both go on the DL at some point.  This team being on this list is debatable, but cash your check in October when all the votes are in.
5. Cleveland Indians.  Travis Hafner has been a disappointment over the past few seasons.  Don’t look for him to join Kerry Wood at the Cleveland Clinic soon.  Too many babies on this team.  Russell Branyan?  What is next, Richie Sexson or Doug Jones?   The Indians have gone the Pirates route in the past couple of years trading their marketable talent for money.  The attendance at Progressive Field ranks among the worst in baseball so far this season.  This is the same stadium that sold out four seasons in a row, now it has regressed to a reminder of old Municipal Stadium where you could buy a ticket by the flagpole in right and be in the third row by the end of the second inning.  The fans have spoken.

Honorable Mention:  Florida Marlins.  Hanley Ramirez is the only player on this team who is worth a hill of beans.  Their farm system has produced absolutely nothing, people talk about the Miami Dolphins and Heat all year, and Bobby Bowden is more recognizable by a 21-year old walking through a Florida mall than any member on the team, including Ramirez.  This team needs a complete overhaul or perhaps a new approach.  Maybe Florida could do their Spring Training in Canada to drum up excitement when the actual season starts.  Just a thought.

Way back, even before the days that the great Honus Wagner donned a Pirates uniform, someone envisioned baseball in Pittsburgh’s future and started a team.  Despite the fact that Pittsburgh has not had a winning season in 17 years, they managed to sink to yet a new record-low getting clobbered 20-0 by Milwaukee.  The loss was the worst in franchise history.

Gone are the Spring training games that Pittsburgh did all they could to win in hopes of dazzling the locals into buying season tickets.  The flowers are not even really growing in Pennsylvania yet, but the weeds at PNC Park were sprouting in abundance Thursday.

This game was brutal on so many fronts that expose the Pirates as a misled, uncompetitive bunch, yet again.  Management knows what’s up, they only have two bobblehead nights this season.  The Brewers bullied Pirate pitching as they banged out 25 hits.  It’s what Prince Fielder needed to get going as he hit his first long ball of the season.  It allowed Jim Edmonds to believe he still has it.  It turned Randy Wolf’s start into an early Christmas present.  Pirate starter Daniel McCutchen was quoted after the game as saying, “I felt like I was throwing batting practice out there.”  Good luck finding a job as a batting practice pitcher in your future Daniel.

Oddly enough, the pitied Pirate fan can vouch that it could have been 100-0, it is still only one loss and that the Pirates are 7-8 and still on pace to go .500.  The rest of the civilized world can scratch a team out of the playoff hunt now.  The season is over, don’t even think about going .400.

The next question would be, when does the auction start?  You know that players will be moved, probably before the All-Star Break this time.  More problems, the cupboard is just about empty and nobody will be beating the door down for Lastings Milledge or Joel Hanrahan.  Pittsburgh needs to spend a little to get somewhere, the soil can not be turned over so many times and still yield a marketable product.

For now, get your weed whackers out, because PNC Park will be full of them this year.

Ah… A new season, finally.  Major League Baseball couldn’t start soon enough.  Fantasy owners are chirping about who the sleepers are, fans are purchasing tickets to enjoy a game on a Spring day, and it all starts next week.  Before you laugh at these five predictions, remember who picked the Saints to win the Super Bowl last August, and who picked Butler to beat Syracuse three weeks ago.

The following five items are heavily debated baseball topics for the upcoming year.  Having heard both sides of a few arguments over the past few months, Paneech.com presents the five things you can forget about in the 2010 MLB season.

• The Cleveland Indians will contend.  Forget it.  Cleveland has chosen to go the same route as the Pittsburgh Pirates, profit at the end of the year.  The bullpen was supposed to be the strength of this year’s team, but Kerry Wood is only getting exercise when riding his bike to the Cleveland Clinic.  No closer.  Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner are both injury prone as well.  Hafner (looking good as always at Spring Training) blows a gasket every May and misses a couple of months.  The rotation is trash.  Mark Redman is the starting catcher even though he couldn’t start anywhere else in recent years.  Finally, Manny Acta, the new manager, has done next to nothing to merit his title, yet he will be shoved down our throats as a savior (ala Mike Holmgren) all season long.  Brace yourselves Tribe fans, it is gonna be a long year.

• The New York Yankees will repeat as champions.  Wrong, they will not.  By spending billions of dollars over the past ten years and walking away with a single championship, the Yankees have regressed.  George’s fat wallet is still on auto pilot, but the level of expectation can’t be matched regardless of what they accomplish during the regular season.  Andy Pettitte should have retired, AJ Burnett is an every other year pitcher with a DL history for blisters.  Can’t Big George afford Bactine and some Band-Aids?  The Yankees will have a potent offense, they always do, especially with the Fisher Price right field poke for a home run at the new stadium.  Pitching will doom the Yankees and expect most of the heat to fall on Joba Chamberlain, a ‘work in progress’ to be a permanent fixture in the starting rotation.

• Toronto should go about .500.  The Blue Jays will be lucky to go .300 this season.  The starting rotation is a mess.  Roy Halladay was it.  Guys that were expected to step up are hurt and the Jays are gonna be hurling a bunch of nobody’s all year long.  Bring back Dennis Lamp, Dave Stieb, Jim Clancy, and Luis Leal, hell…  let Jesse Barfield pitch too, they would all be better than the watermelon lobbing staff that the Canadians will present this season.

• Tim Lincecum will have an off year because of his fat contract signing.  Look for Little Timmy to duplicate last year and then some.  He missed four starts last season and still approached a few records.  The Cy Young will stay by the bay and the Giants, who have other good pitchers, and a prospect named Madison Bumgarner who will make a difference by seasons end, can contend if and only if they get some offense.  Barry Bonds is gone (for now, anyway) and the Giants and Lincecum might be drowning in champagne  this October.

• The Chicago Cubs will suck.  I see the Cubs winning the division this year.  Alfonso Soriano is going to fly back with a season enjoyed by few.  The Cubs are one of the best balanced teams on paper and have a respectable leader in Lou Piniella who knows how to construct winning teams.  The rotation is pretty solid and the position players can hit.  If Aramis Ramirez can stay healthy and Soriano can return to form, beware National League, no one can touch this team.  Expect Zambrano and Lilly to have good numbers and a high amount of quality starts.

With 2010 being an Olympic year, the wait may have seemed a bit bridged.  Unfortunately, the novelty of watching curling is quickly growing old.  Baseball is right around the corner, some teams have their full rosters in camp already, and it couldn’t come any sooner.

Unfortunately, I still have a bitter taste in my mouth dating back to last season.  The New York Yankees finally made good on some of their high-dollar investments and cashed in on baseball’s biggest prize.  The Yankees bullying little teams that cry poverty doesn’t bother me like it used to.

Take Pittsburgh for example.  The Pirates have not won a thing, or even had a winning season in sixteen years, longest run of that style in history.  Management for the Pirates would dupe people into thinking that poor small market teams couldn’t afford to pay their players, hence pinstripes.  I don’t buy it anymore.

Based on profit percentage, Pittsburgh has been in the Top-10 teams for showing a profit about half of their sixteen years of futility.  Beautiful ballpark, horrible management.  Unfortunately, horrible management is eating at the finest steakhouses they can find.  Defy me.  Put a winning product out there.  You want to sell season tickets?  Assemble a team for a whole season.  I would have sued last year if I owned a Pittsburgh Pirates season ticket package.  Trade half the team for money and a few prospects, give me half my money back.

Cleveland seems to be catching on with the “greedy owner” theory.  They dumped everyone… do they even have a catcher in camp?  Big free agent signing of Russell Branyan?  Wow.  Things have changed in Cleveland, at least philosophically.

Fantasy baseball is by far the best of all fantasy sports.  As a baseball fantasy owner, you have daily work to see who is starting, who is benched, and hustling to meet the first-pitch deadlines.  Football is good too, but anyone can wake up hungover on a Sunday morning and see that Tony Gonzalez has a bye, so he should not be in the starting lineup.  Total daily involvement as a fantasy sport has kept baseball afloat through a dark period, now the sport needs to strengthen up (no hidden meaning there).

The itch is here.  Play Ball!

Everyone had a pretty good idea that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were on something in 1998.  What a fun year it was to watch the Cubs play against the Cardinals toward the end of the season.  The McGwire & Sosa show captivated baseball fans from coast-to-coast.  Home runs a-plenty and drama galore.  The stage couldn’t get any bigger, and neither could the players.

There has to be some good reason why McGwire has finally came forward and admitted that he used steroids “off and on” throughout his career.  Below are three of the main causes for the admission of guilt.

1. Now the St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach, McGwire could well have been pressured by upper management and/or Tony LaRussa to come clean.  McGwire should not be the focal point as a coach who cheated as a player.  Unfortunately, the media would attack him at every chance until some sort of confession would be issued.
2. He thinks it may enhance his Hall of Fame chances.  Sorry Mark.  Pull out your encyclopedia and look up Pete Rose.  Rose admitted guilt beyond reasonable time and is still being penalized for his accomplishments as a player.  Even if you can get the Cardinals 1-9 hitters to each knock at least 30 HR’s next season, it won’t matter, because you won’t go in as a coach either.  The 30 + percent you have been averaging in vote support will slide to about 20% next year.
3. The devil made him do it.  Bud Selig may have told McGwire that if he wanted back in the game, he better fess up.  A prearranged agreement between Selig and McGwire would not surprise me one bit. 

How dare anyone question the honesty of Jose Canseco?  As far as this blog is concerned, give Henry Aaron his crown back and start a new record book full of drug-abusing prima donnas, and that includes football and basketball.  Wasn’t it obvious that McGwire’s face got fatter as he got more muscular?  Isn’t it obvious that Barry Bonds’ body has done a complete metamorphisis that Olympic athletes could not achieve cleanly?  Can’t wait to see that PSA of McGwire talking about steroid abuse.