ALL STAR TIME

It's almost here guys! Who's your pitching staff for each league? Who's gonna start? Let's hear it!!!

Nicknames: You Pick 'Em

I read an article here about how nicknames are not as prominent any more. Oh sure, we have The Big Unit, Godzilla, Pudge, Big Papi, The Rocket, The Big Hurt, etc...... But there is a need for more. So, Who's your favorite player that does not have one and what would you propose it to be?

Mine is: Ken Griffey Jr. "Dee Ell"

Friday's Baseball Category

Inspired by the World Cup of Football (Soccer) going on in Germany right now, I was just wondering if you could...

If Baseball had a true World Cup (like soccer, not the dreadful WBC), which three nations would have the best "Baseball Hooligans" and why?

Have at it, boyz...

The Mighty Have Fallen

The year was 1993...the final year of only 2 divisions in each league. The San Francisco Giants had been saved in late 1992 from a move to what is now Tropicana Field by an ownership group led by Peter Magowan, CEO of Safeway. That same group also signed a 28 year old outfielder to a record $42 million, 7 year contract - they had brought Barry Bonds home to San Francisco. Dusty Baker, who had never managed, and had been a hitting instructor under outgoing manager Roger Craig, was named the new manager.

With a lineup that included Will Clark batting 3rd, Matt Williams batting 4th, and Bonds batting 5th, the team turned around quickly from a bottom-feeding-almost Tampa Bay Giants to a division leading club that battled for the division title against the mighty Atlanta Braves, with a rotation of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery and John Smoltz. The Giants held a several game lead over the Braves in late July; however, a deadline deal with San Diego netted the Braves outfielder Fred McGriff, who proved to be the offensive catalyst in the final 2 months for Atlanta.

Philadelphia's Phillies secured a sizable lead in the NL East in September, and had comfortably won the divison by the 3rd week of the month, leaving the Giants and Braves to battle it out for the final playoff spot, both teams on track to exceed 95 wins that season. The prognosticators from the talking heads on sportstalk radio and ESPN expected that the NL West winner would need to exceed 100 wins to win the division.

That is precisely what happened. Going into the final week of the season, the Giants faced the Rockies at home while the Braves faced the Astros. It was a see-saw battle down to the final weekend, with the Giants facing a 4 game set at Chavez Ravine and the Braves facing a 4 game set against the Rockies...at home.

The Giants did well - taking 3 of 4 from the Dodgers, losing the critical final game of the season behind rookie pitcher Salomon Torres.

The Braves did VERY well - finishing with a SEASON sweep, going 10-0, against the Rockies.

The Giants won 103 games...the Braves won 104 games.

::

Now, 13 years later, the run of the Braves appears to have come to an end. They have lost 10 straight games, 13 games under .500, and are in last place in the NL East, 15.5 games behind the Mets. There aren't many reasons for the Tomahawk chop (stolen from the Florida Seminoles) to exist in Atlanta these days.

It's been a remarkable run. It's amazing that for all their success, they only have 1 World Series title, in 1995, in the strike shortened season against the Cleveland Indians.

Personally, I've never liked the Braves (especially after the emotional 1993 pennant chase). I like their announcers (Skip Caray and Don Sutton) even less - worse homers than Mike Krukow of the Giants announcing team. I've always respected the talent, but so much of their success was driven on the backs of their pitching staff - and more to the point, Leo Mazzone, their longtime pitching coach, who has resurrected many a pitching castaway's career (Russ Ortiz and John Burkett come to mind). Now it's Roger McDowell handling the staff...ouch.

So RIP to the Braves.

Someone in England Likes Baseball??

I've noticed on the map that there have been a ton of hits from someone in England. I didn't know there were any baseball fans on that side of the pond! We are glad to have you!!! Anyway, I have been waiting to use this picture of my favorite footballer Wayne Rooney in a post. Oh yeah, sorry if we call football soccer.

Thought I'd Share

I was finally able to pull down this pic off my phone - this was from the game I attended with my son 2 weeks ago when Barry hit # 716.

Not that any of the Dodger fans would care...

Living La Vida Loca in the O.C., Baby!

At least if I'm going to be from DOWN THERE, I get to stay near Disneyland and root for the Anaheim Angels of Anaheim. Unlike certain friends of mine, whose name I can no longer mention out of loyalty to the greatest team in baseball - the San Francisco Giants.

It'd be fun to hack this site and change all the answers to obscure California towns like Weed, Volcano, and Mill Valley.

Orange County

You're rich, pretty, and living a charmed life. (Or you seriously wish you were.) From Disneyland to Laguna Beach, you're all about living the California dream life. Just make sure to marry rich - so you don't have to work for it!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

Now I Know Why They are the World Champs!

Oh the smell of hotdogs roasting on an open metal thing that moves them back and forth........ My family and I watched the White Sox complete a three game sweep of the Reds yesterday. I have to say, the Sox are for real! Those guys are monsters not only in size but also in pitching, fielding, and obviously coaching. I had never seen Jermaine(?) Dye in person and I have to say, he is large! The Reds are there usual sucky team with a few good personalities and one big ego in center field that hasn't gone on the DL yet.

One of the highlights came in about the third inning when Harang plunked Dye. What made this a highlight was the fact that we all saw and heard Dye get hit in the side and we saw him react by spinning away from the plate. The cool thing was, as he started to walk toward first base, he reached under his arm, grabbed the ball, and slung it toward the dugout!!! Tough guy........

The other highlight for me came in the singing of "Take me out to the ballpark", when I witnessed a "Sneak Attack" occur. When we got to the part where you say "Root, root, root for the (insert team name here "Reds Team")", the crowd around me overwhelmingly screamed "WHITE SOX"! That was really funny.

Anyway, it was a great day at the park (what day isn't) because it was slightly overcast and there was a nice breeze. As you can see in the above pic (crappy cell phone pic), we were right in the alley so we had pretty good seats. The Reds suck and I have always rooted for whomever they are playing and I'm teaching my son to do the same as seen in this photo. As usual, the Reds were by far way to outmatched in this series. It's a good thing that the Royals are rolling into Cincy next. That may be one AL team they will have a chance to beat. Look for the Sox to be in it at the end of this season.



Oh yeah, Hey Andy, that is no doubt Safeco field in the banner.

iPods and Baseball

The iPod. Walk around most cities and you'll see a large number of folks with the ever-present white cord and earbuds. And now, in a major league clubhouse near you, the iPod...with video of opposing catchers and pitchers.

Check it out here.

No, no, no, no, nooooooo!!!

You Belong in Los Angeles

Whether you'll admit it or not, a huge part of you likes being in the spotlight. And you may just have enough star quality to make it big in LA! Even if you don't become famous, you still belong in a place where you can get a year round tan.

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

This is so very wrong for me.

Andy, I'm Moving In.

'Nuff said:

You Belong in San Francisco

You crave an eclectic, urban environment. You're half California, half NYC. You're open minded, tolerant, and secretly think you're the best. People may dismiss you as a hippie, but you're also progressive, interesting, and rich!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

Cheers.

R. Sherman

Where Would I Live in California?

Why hasn't anyone posted lately? Since it's Friday, I wanted to do a funny one. I know it's a baseball blog but since I've met you guys from California, I wanted to see where I would best fit in out there. So I took this test:

You Belong in San Diego

Laid back and friendly, you were meant to live most of your life on the beach. You usually think everything is "all good"... except when the weather dips under 60F. You stay classy - especially when you're in Tijuana!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

San Diego Here I Come!

# 716

It was another Monday evening in cool, overcast San Francisco. As my son and I trudged out of the parking lot beneath a condo complex across the street, the aroma of pizza wafted, calling us over. At $4 for two slices of cheese pizza, it was substantially cheaper than most food items in the ballpark - so we purchased four slices and walked briskly to the ballpark, 10 minutes ahead of the first pitch.

We sat in our regular seats in Lower Box 106 on the first base side, 30 rows from the field. The lackluster Marlins were the opponent, Noah Lowry against the Fish's Brian Moehler, who departed the game after the 4th inning with an ERA that had ballooned to 7.17 after giving up 8 earned runs. As the game progressed and realizing that it was a school night, we weren't going to stay very long, so this time I took my son to the Fan Lot behind the centerfield bleachers, taking him up to the slides in the Coke bottle; examining the Build-A-Bear workshop (he is only 5 years old); and allowing him to play in the miniature AT&T Park, as he hit a wiffle ball for a screaming line drive off the left field wall.

We casually made our way back along the Arcade along the RF outfield wall, bordering the Bay, when we stopped behind the seats and stood with other patrons to watch the Giants load the bases in the 4th and then watching Lance Niekro deliver a bases clearing triple ahead of Bonds.

With light bulbs flashing Bonds took a mighty swing...and POW! The ball landed behind the centerfield wall.

716 flashed on the scoreboard.

It was a good night as the Giants went on to a 14-2 win.

Which they then followed up with losing 3 out of 4 to the previously 6-25 on-the-road Pirates, who are now 9-26 on the road.

::

On a side note, what are your thoughts on Jason Grimsley, HGH and Bonds? It proves one HUGE thing for me...there have been many, many more players who have been juiced these past several years. I for one, am thankful that there will be more investigation into other players, particularly pitchers.

Technology

In 1982 I got my first set of golf clubs. They were a set of top of the line Walter Hagen Ultras like the pros played with. I played all the time in the 1980's and some in the early 90's but I pretty much put them up until 2002 when I played in a church scramble. The guys they teamed me up with in that scramble laughed at my clubs and acted as though they had never seen real woods before. I felt like I had on polyester green liesure suit and a fedora, I really felt out of place. But why? Well, first of all, everyone had these new metal drivers with alloy shafts and space age irons. Not to mention the golf shoes that had rubber spikes. My shoes still had metal. WHat happened? I felt like I had been put in a time machine and transported from 1989 to 2002 because of technology.

I think baseball is no different by the way the players use new technology gloves, spikes, armor, but most of all training and physical therapy. Athletes today are given the greatest amount of training to get the greatest amount of performance out of them for the greatest amount of time! Contrast someone like A-Rod with Lou Gehrig and think about how many more opportuinities to strengthen and train that ARod was afforded.

With all of the technology out there, the great thing about baseball is that it's still one man and one WOODEN bat against a little ball. That's also STILL my golf game: Me with a wooden driver against a little ball. I did buy a new pair of golf shoes with the new fangled rubber spikes only after my old pair dry rotted and fell apart on the 17th hole.

What Is "Modern?"

Interesting column by ESPN's Jayson Stark here.

How would you divide baseball's eras?

Cheers.

R. Sherman

Beisbol sans Pujols

This is a terrible day for baseball. In this era of steroid testing and rumors about who's on the juice or isn't, it has been refreshing to see this young slugger put on an offensive explosion to lead the majors with 25 HR so far. Granted, I have had him as my starting 1B on my fantasy team, so I do have a personal stake in this...but I digress...

Baseball needs this young superstar power hitter - especially on this team, the Cardinals, with its storied history. Baseball doesn't need any more tantrums from George Steinbrenner, it doesn't need any more whining from New England, and it doesn't need anymore BALCO talk from San Francisco. What baseball needs is the ongoing offensive juggernaut known as Albert Pujols to keep driving in runs, to keep his batting average over .300, to continue to hit HR, to continue his assault on an .800 slugging percentage (currently at .751).

Alas, he is on the 15 day DL with an injury that could keep him sidelined for up to 6 weeks. Today is a dark day for baseball indeed.

Friday's Baseball Category

Its as easy as singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

Name three ways baseball needs to change in order to attract NASCAR fans to baseball.

Gentlemen... start your engines...

The World's Pastime

No, I don't mean soccer.

I mean baseball, which is steadily gaining popularity in Europe. Witness the EMBLOS' home town team the Regensburg Legionaires. At the moment, they are first in the southern division of the German league and are favorites to repeat as German Champions for fifth consecutive year.

For fun, surf around the international pages of this site. The award for "best mascot" goes to the the team from Vienna, Austria.

Cheers.

R. Sherman

I Am Proud

I hope I don't end up jinxing him by posting this: If Brandon Webb goes on to win 4 of his next 5, he will be the starting pitcher for the NL in the All-Star Game! I know you guys are not D'Back fans, but I wish you all had the opportunity to know this kid. He is a humble guy that doesn't like the spotlight and he is the most down to earth athlete I have ever been around.

Growing up, he was just a little blonde headed kid that played with my cousin. I used to take them to my folk's pool when I was in high school and I never dreamed he would grow up to pitch at UK let alone in the majors. Then it turned out that when I met my wife (Ashland's Cheerleading Coach at the time), Brandon's future wife cheered for her and had grown up around her. He's an awesome guy, she's an awesome girl, and I couldn't be any more proud.

Go Brandon, win them all! First stop All-Stars, Second stop Cy Young!