Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

It’s like somebody keeps trying to poke the Pittsburgh Pirates mascot logo’s other eye out.  Problem is that it is happening from within – sabotage, conspiracy, and greed.  Meet the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Major League Baseball should impose fines to Pirate management and ownership for not even trying to win.  This team is only 7.5 games out of first place right now, but they keep making moves to eat away at what they are paying out.

About a month ago, Nate McLouth was peddled to Atlanta.  Sure, Charlie Morton might end up being OK someday, I grasp that logic.  McLouth was a proven commodity who they did not want to pay, so they moved him.  Same with Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek, Nyjer Morgan, and on and on and on… 

This pattern sickens me.  The LaRoche trade yesterday confirms what so many have known for so long.  Pittsburgh’s baseball franchise doesn’t care a lick about trying to win.  They take good players and feed the rest of baseball with the talent they grow.  They (management) then whine about how they cannot afford to pay these guys because attendance is so poor.  I’m sick of that story too.  Keep bodies on the field and you might put bodies in seats.

I am serious, this practice needs to be reviewed by the powers that be.  If I were a season ticket holder for this team, I would be calling my lawyer to find out how to recoup my wasted money.  There was absolutely no intent to win in the past 18 seasons.  Pittsburgh is simply a flea market for the rest of baseball.  Trading your All-Star outfielder (McLouth) before the break when you are 5 games out of first place is ridiculous.

I am all for sending the Pirates management elsewhere.  Let’s trade them to New York or Boston so they can display their Lemonade Tycoon mentality on a bigger stage.  Bring someone in to own and run the team that wants to win.  Sign Roy Halladay, make a damn run.  Do something to prove to people you care about their interests an inkling.

Maybe it’s because of the Penguins and Steelers successes that Pirates management feels they can be lax and just get through another harvest without trying to win.  Yeah, that’s it… the public already feels good about Pittsburgh sports, so screw this Pirates winning thing, lets keep dumping players and the Steelers will open training camp and people can root for a team trying to win again.

Nothing against the players, because they are trying their hardest to still win games.  If Garrett Jones, Ryan Doumit and Andrew McCutchon keep performing the way they have been, they too may get an “E” ticket out to a winner.  Can’t keep guys with stats like that. 

Lastings Milledge sucks.  The Mets found that out firsthand last season.  He couldn’t even crack the lineup in Washington.  Pittsburgh basically gave the Nationals Nyjer Morgan, who has been on fire ever since, for Milledge and Joel Hanrahan.  Mark my words, Milledge will be cut by years end.  Then again, it is Pittsburgh.  They may try to put him in the pen with the two teenage Indians who won the reality show (more cheap contracts).  Maybe next year, my 88 year-old grandmother can hit cleanup when they run out of people.

If you do not want to even attempt winning, sell the team, not all of the players.

Garrett Jones has been on a tear lately.  In fact, he was long overdue to contribute as major leaguer.  Those wacky Pirates front office people will make you think they traded Nate McLouth to get Jones into the lineup.  Don’t buy it.  Had that been the case they would have never asked for Lastings Milledge when they peddled Nyjer Morgan off to the Nationals.  Either way, Jones has had an opportunity to get some AB’s with the Pirates and has more than made the most of his chances.

The 6’4″, 245 lb. outfielder turned 28 on June 21.  Kind of old for a rookie prospect.  Through Sunday, Jones was batting .286 with 7 HR and 9 RBI.  What’s impressive about those numbers is that he has only had 56 at-bats so far.  Fourteen games and homer in every-other-game.  Pretty impressive.

Jones was seemingly a lifetime member of the Minnesota Twins farm system.  He racked up over 1,000 minor league games while in that system.  The Pirates could not let Jones sit in Indianapolis too long as he was tearing the cover off of the ball.

Jones’ emergence as a powerhitter has me scared of what the front office must be thinking.  Either they are going to play out his hot run and send him back to Indy, or they are going to trade Milledge or Moss because there isn’t room for him in the outfield.  My prediction would be the earlier.  Jones will be sent back down once he cools off.

The run that Garrett Jones has been on lately has been fun to watch.  His two homers against San Francisco were the only two runs the Pirates needed for a win, and that was in 14 innings.  More impressively, one of the homers was off of Tim Lincecum and the other was a 14th inning game-winning shot. 

In what can only be described as a weird thought, Joel Hanrahan could have been the first player in major-league baseball history to win and lose the same game. If Hanrahan had been traded to Houston instead of Pittsburgh, the oddest scenario ever could have been played out.

 The Astros and Nationals have to finish a suspended game tomorrow. The game is tied 10-10 after ten and a half innings.  Joel Hanrahan pitched the top of the 11th for Washington without giving up a run.  He is in line to get the win if Washington could scratch out a run in the bottom half.  The game was then suspended before Washington got to bat.

Here is where it gets tricky…  Had Houston acquired Hanrahan instead of Pittsburgh and put him on the mound in the bottom of the 11th and Hanrahan gives up a run.  He would have been the winning pitcher for Washington and the losing pitcher for Houston.

However, it will not happen as Pittsburgh continues to run a flea market for the rest of MLB.

Just saying though, how weird would that have been?

Mark Shapiro is the Cleveland Indians general manager.  Eric Wedge must be his buddy.  Shapiro declared Sunday before the Oakland A’s – Indians game that Wedge would remain at the controls for the rest of the season.  I am not sure I understand why.

By firing Wedge and getting a new manager in place now, the Indians can realistically look to next year optimistically.  By waiting until the end of the year to do the obvious thing – firing Wedge, you are stalling that true rebuilding process. 

When the Indians traded Mark DeRosa last week, it signified the white flag.  We surrender.  I fear many core players are going to be traded for prospects over the next couple of weeks.  Not if, but when, Victor Martinez gets sent somewhere, I will go completely over the edge with this team.  True, the Indians are loaded at catcher at every level of their farm system.  Carlos Santana in Akron, could be called up by the end of the year.  But lets face it, trading DeRosa for Ryan Franklin, a 12-pack of St. Louis grown Budweiser, and a couple of pictures of a clydesdale aren’t going to do much in the present or the future for Cleveland.

Wedge needed to go last month.  I have been adamant about firing him since the “ultimate motivator” watched quietly as his team raced out to an 0-7 start this season.  The team needed a spark and he failed to provide one.  It is his job to win.  With the talent pool Cleveland had going into 2009, there is no excuse for the shoddy product being displayed every other game by the lake.

If Mark Shapiro thinks for one minute that Eric Wedge is going to better prepare this year’s team for a run next season, than the powers that be should really consider Shapiro’s future with the team.  If you are going to paint the house, paint the whole house, not just the front.

I’m not sure anyone involved has a clue.  Maybe we should just promote the entire Single-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers team to Cleveland for a three-game series, what would it hurt at this point? 

In the first of three games against Williamsport, situational hitting was not kind to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  The Scrappers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Crosscutters.  Both teams got excellent pitching as each staff struck out 12 opposing batters.

Williamsport scored quickly as Leandro Castro walked and stole second.  Castro would come in to score on a  Jeremy Barnes RBI double off of Scrappers starter Brett Brach.  Brach was stingy only giving up two more hits and no more runs through five innings.

Mahoning Valley got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by John Allman (pictured above), his first in 2009, to tie the contest at 1-1.  “I just got a pitch out over the plate and was able to drive it that way,” said Allman after the game.

Adam Buschini untied the score in the top of the sixth with a blast to deep left field, giving the Crosscutters the lead for good at 2-1.

The Scrappers fell to 8-5 on the season with the loss.  Thursday, the first “Buck Night” of the year, is sure to draw a bigger crowd than the rain-influenced number of 1300 on Wednesday. 

Coach Travis Fryman was happy with the pitching the Scrappers have been getting, ” Really all three guys threw extremely well.  When you throw the ball hard like (Austin) Adams, you will give up a home run from time to time.  We missed scoring opportunities, which usually ends up being the difference in a one-run game.”

Manny Ramirez is getting his timing back quickly in Albuquerque and is supposed to rejoin the Dodgers Friday.  In his four rehab games between High-A Inland Empire and AAA Albuquerque, Ramirez is 3-8 with a home run. 

In Manny’s first rehab game, I got nervous because he went 0-2 against Manny Parra, a recent demotion in Milwaukee.  Seems like everyone is hitting Parra these days, even in the minors. 

My fear that Ramirez may need more time to get ready were squashed by a homer on Sunday and being 1-1 as of this writing on Monday.  I guess after being off for four weeks, his timing would take a couple of games to get back to speed. 

Who loses in LA?  I think Juan Pierre may be the odd man out despite his stellar fill-in work as a starter in Manny’s abscence.  Andre Ethier is having too good of a year (14 HR’s, 50 RBI)  to bench,  and Matt Kemp is batting .310, so AB’s may become scarce for Pierre after Thursday night.

Adding Manny’s big stick back into the equation is going to make the Dodgers an offensive juggernaut for the rest of 2009 and well into the playoffs.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers won the first game in Williamsport against the State College Spikes, 5-4, on Sunday.  The win puts the Scrappers at 7-3.  There are two more games to be played against the Spikes before the Scrappers come home to host the Williamsport Crosscutters on Wednesday.

Jordan Henry started the game with a double for the Scrappers. He would later score on a Greg Folgia RBI single.  Folgia would also score on an RBI groundout from Jason Smit.

The Spikes responded with three runs off of Scrapper starter Marty Popham in the bottom of the first to hold a 3-2 lead.  After both teams scored a run in the sixth to knot the contest at four runs apiece, Mahoning Valley scored in the top of the 7th inning to tae a 5-4 lead.  The go-ahead run was a result of a Smit double who later scored on a Chun Chen clutch RBI single.

Kaimi Mead worked a scoreless two innings to record his first save for the Scrappers.

In a move that can only signify forfeiture of a season, the Indians traded away Mark DeRosa to St. Louis for a player to be named later.  Anytime a player is traded away to a contender for a player to be named later, it usually signifies the team getting the player later doesn’t need him yet because they quit.

Coming off of the heels of a 7-3 loss to the Reds Saturday night, the trade was announced immediately after the game.  Personally, I am suprised this move came before the firing of Eric Wedge.  See if the team can make a move with new any leadership.

DeRosa is batting .270 with 13 HR and 50 RBI in 278 at-bats.  He will be a good fit for St. Louis, probably seeing a bulk of the action at third base. 

So-long Mark, it was nice to have you here for a little while.  You are a versatile player who does what it takes to win. 

For Cleveland, failed closer Chris Perez and a “player to be named later” are coming.  Maybe DeRosa will outhit Albert Pujols and he will be the player we get in return..  haha fat chance.

Way to go… Go Pirates.

Eric Wedge relied on one of his battered bullpen converts to perhaps save his job.  Speculation that Wedge will be canned soon barring a miracle turnaround took a backseat to one of the Indians best all-around showings this season as the Tribe rolled past Cincinnati, 9-2. 

Cleveland scored all 9 runs between the 3rd and 6th innings.  Ryan Garko and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland in the rout.  Grady Sizemore opened the Cleveland offensive outburst with an RBI double in the third. 

Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers pitched into the eighth inning and was constantly ahead of hitters throughout the game. 

Jensen Lewis did his best to keep the Cleveland bullpen in a funk by walking the first two hitters he faced to open the ninth inning.  Tony Sipp was called upon and promptly struck out the side to end the game.

For Wedge, at least in my opinion, another bullet was dodged in saving his job.  The end is near.

On a beautiful night for baseball, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers saw their undefeated streak end at five games.  The Scrappers had chances but could not get a big hit when they needed one, ultimately losing to the State College Spikes, 2-1.

State College took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Pat Irvine RBI single.  With only one out and the bases loaded, Scrapper starter Anthony Ryan escaped without further damage.  Jose Hernandez hit a sac fly for the Spikes in the 3rd inning driving home Tony Sanchez.

Mahoning Valley answered with a Jason Smit RBI single driving in Kyle Bellows who doubled to open the inning.  With men on first and third, the Scrappers could only push their lone run across the plate as Tyler Cox struck out Kyle Smith and Rafael Vera looking to end the inning.

Scrappers Coach Travis Fryman knew the streak couldn’t last forever, “They made some great plays on defense and didn’t beat themselves.  We just couldn’t get a timely hit when we needed one all night.”

State College showacsed the Pirates #1 Draft Pick, Tony Sanchez, behind the plate.  Watching Sanchez throw a ball to second when the pitcher is done warming up is a treat.  Sanchez’s ball tails left to right a bit.  He blocked pitches in the dirt all night and moves with catlike quickness from his stance.

The Scrappers return home on July 1 to face Williamsport.  First pitch is set for 7:00 at Cafaro Field.