Baseball Notebook
Bonds Hits 12th Homer
720th of Career
Barry Bonds hits 12th homer in 87th game of season for Giants
yesterday. He needs 36 more homers this season to pass up Hank Aaron.
However, as most Bond's homers they come in a losing cause as Dodgers
win the game.
ESPN.com projects him to hit 25 homers this season so adding the 13
more he is projected to have by end of season he would have 733 homers
still 23 homers short of 756 which would pass Hank Aaron in career
homers.
Assuming he is not sent to jail for perjury or tax evasion he would
have to stay healthy the rest of this season and next season to pass
Aaron and to probably DH in the American League.
By the end of this winter Bonds should be in a courtroom somewhere and
whatever happens in the courtroom may more likely determine if he
breaks Aaron's record than what he does on the field.
Lackey Pitches Best Game of Season
According to ESPN Game Ratings Score
John Lackey received a 95 for his performance last night in the win
over the A's. Lackey pitched a complete game 1 hitter while striking
out 10.
The previous high score was 91 for a game Scott Kazmir pitched. C.C.
Sabathia received a 88 yesterday for defeating the Orioles giving him
the 4th best game score in AL plus he also is tied for 6th for his
game against the Pirates in May.
A's Lose Yesterday
Could Still Be 5 Ahead
Of Angels With Win Today
Despite their loss to John Lackey yesterday the A's can move back to 5
games ahead of Angels with a win today. Jered Weaver 5-0 will face Joe
Blanton 8-7 in the contest.
At the end of the day the A's will be either 5 ahead or 3 ahead
depending on whether they win. These are the games they have to win to
stay in first place when they directly decide their own fate and not
depend on another team to help them out.
Red Sox, Yankees
Both Win Yesterday
With the Yankees winning 1-0 and the Red Sox winning behind David
Ortiz hitting his 30th homer and driving in his 84th run of season.
Jon Lester's record went to 4-0 with the victory and his ERA is now
3.06. Lester has beaten some good teams including the White Sox
yesterday and the Mets two of the best teams in baseball.
The Yankees remain 3 games behind the Red Sox while the Blue Jays fall
to 6 behind with their loss to the Royals win their 4th straight and
are 14-6 in their last 20 games.
Breaking News on Lima: Lima was demoted to minors after the game
yesterday so don't know if it will be Lima Time again this year or
not. Mets may win NL East after all with Lima out of rotation.
Mets Wish it Wasn't
Lima Time Again
Jose Lima surfaces again after being demoted to minors and pitches a
typical Jose Lima game giving up 7 runs in 3 innings as his ERA
balloons to 9.87.
In 17 innings in his 4 starts he has given up 22 runs and 25 hits. He
even gave up a grandslam to Dontrelle Willis yesterday.
If the Mets are depending on Lima to win baseball games they are in
for an unpleasant surprise and with him in the rotation the Braves may
yet win another NL East division title as they will be assured of
gaining a game on the Mets anyday he pitches if the Braves can win
their game that day.
Unfortunately for Braves they couldn't do that and stayed at 12 and a
half back. The Reds made sure the Braves didn't come back this time
scoring enough runs that the Braves couldn't overcome the deficit like
they did on Thursday night.
Breaking Lima News: Mets decided Friday was enough Lima Time for
awhile and sent him back for reassignment.
Brewers Back
To .500 Again
The question of the day for the Brewers is will they go over .500
again today or fall back under .500. They seem to have a proclivity
for hanging around the .500 mark but still are only 3 and a half games
behind Cardinals.
Great story about players who made the Non-All Star team.
Insider: It's time to 'salute' our anti-heroes
Scott Miller July 6, 2006
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Think you've got problems? When life gives you ivy, you're turning it
into poison?
Well, then, you're the Chicago Cubs.
Ha. That was a joke.
That's Rule No. 1 when it comes time to choose the annual
Anti-All-Star team each July. Jokes are good. Sometimes they even keep
the designated hitter from trying to run you over with his car. (Oh,
how we wish Albert Belle was still eligible for this team).
Rule No. 2 is hire an accountant who will ram expense reports right
through, because the team budget is outrageous. You try running a club
like this without a full staff of licensed therapists, psychologists,
trainers, lawyers, bailiffs, computer analysts and video game
coordinators.
See, while the real All-Stars get all the love and attention, in the
spirit of today's all-inclusive society, we make sure to take a few
minutes at midseason to acknowledge the efforts of the rest, too.
Like today's Little League teams that award trophies to every single
player, up to and including the fat kid who skips practice, spends
more time picking daisies than fielding fly balls in the outfield and
hogs the postgame pizza and Popsicles.
Our Anti-All-Star team encompasses everything that the little ol' game
in Pittsburgh next week does not: poor play, humorous play, antisocial
behavior, rap sheets, handcuffs and, yes, salad tongs.
Sometimes it's those with the biggest challenges who need the most
love.
So while the guy we had in mind as first-base coach is out fetching
bug repellant for our reliever who is hiding in the bushes, we present
our all-new, all-weather, all-season 2006 Anti-All-Star team:
Catcher: Michael Barrett, Chicago Cubs
Let's be honest. Lots of people around the game would love to slug
A.J. Pierzynski. But that doesn't mean they do it.
Barrett did. It cost him a richly deserved 10-game suspension, not to
mention the indignity of watching himself look like an over-sugared
12-year-old on highlight shows for years to come.
It would have been one thing if Pierzynski had made like Pete Rose and
attempted to knock Barrett from here to Pluto. He didn't. Pierzynski
slid, Barrett moved over to apply the tag, there was contact, they
both got up, Pierzynski doubled back to collect a piece of equipment
and -- pop! -- an episode of Batman broke out.
While Barrett is our guy for sheer brazenness, he had plenty of
competition. San Diego's Josh Bard also was strongly considered for
attempting to catch a knuckleball without a license in Boston earlier
this summer. Bard was charged with 10 passed balls in Tim Wakefield's
first five starts, but made a strong comeback by playing well as part
of the Padres' three-man catching team this summer (Bard, Mike Piazza
and Rob Bowen). In fact, Bard is hitting .378 with five homers and 19
RBI.
Also under consideration was Washington's Matt LeCroy, for making
manager Frank Robinson cry earlier this season. That came following a
game in which Houston stole seven bases and LeCroy was charged with
two throwing errors. Pass the tissues, we're just getting started.
First base: Richie Sexson, Seattle
A bitter disappointment since signing with the Mariners before the
2005 season, Sexson swats the occasional home run and grabs an RBI
here and there, but in between, oh, is it painful to watch. The guy
was batting .225 at midweek. Which isn't nearly the eyesore that his
.296 on-base percentage is. The good news is, he's only making $11.5
million this year -- a dirt-cheap salary considering the $14 million
the Mariners will owe him in each of the next two seasons.
Who's idea again was it to sign this guy?
If, for some reason, you disagree with this selection -- and unless
you're a relative of Sexson, that's awfully difficult to see -- our
runner-up is Phil Nevin of the Chicago Cubs, who's probably about to
be traded for the third time in 12 months. From San Diego to Texas to
the Chicago Cubs and beyond, it's like every one of the 30 teams is
attempting to put the cleats to his rear end.
Second base: Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee
Let's make this clear: We love the Brewers' young talent overall, and
we truly believe that Weeks' stay on our team will be brief and that
one day he will be a real All Star.
But for now, kid, you've gotta catch the ball!
His 21 errors at midweek not only were a major-league high at his
position, but a high at any position. The only other NL second baseman
with double digits in errors was Pittsburgh's Jose Castillo, with 11.
Then there's Atlanta's Marcus Giles, who is slumming along with a .246
batting average and a .340 on-base percentage. Ouch. That's part of
the problem in Atlanta, not part of the solution.
Third base: Tony Batista, free agent
In a wide-ranging search to add power to its lineup, Minnesota gambled
last winter that Batista would be a boon.
Instead, from Day 1 in spring training, Batista quickly became the
Round Mound of Gospel Sound.
The Twins cringed when they took one look at his doughy body this
spring. You would think that a guy who had been out of the majors for
a year would report in good shape. Instead, Batista looked as if he
spent more time at Krispy Kreme than at the gym.
Add that to the fact that he appeared more interested in converting
pagans in the Twins clubhouse than in changing fastballs into home
runs, it was a bad mix. (Not that there's anything wrong with
attempting to convert pagans, but perhaps it works better when things
are going OK with your day job.)
Batista was hitting .236 with only five homers in 50 games when the
Twins shipped him out.
Also considered was Seattle's Adrian Beltre, who has only seven homers
and 35 RBI while batting .259 -- and being paid roughly $11 million
(with another $24 million owed him over the next two seasons).
Shortstop: Clint Barmes, Colorado
The talk of baseball during the first part of 2005, things haven't
been the same for Barmes since he tripped on the stairs while carrying
venison and broke his shoulder.
While the Rockies have several young players who are doing yeoman's
work keeping them in contention in a tepid NL West, Barmes -- a
terrific kid from Larry Bird's alma mater, Indiana State -- isn't one
of them. He's batting just .209 with a .248 on-base percentage, and
that's only part of the story.
Barmes' on-base percentage at home in Coors Field, somehow is only
.289.
The guy is making Washington shortstop Cristian Guzman look like he
has a pulse (and Guzman is out for the year following spring shoulder
surgery).
He keeps this up; he's got a future in Coors ... as the full-time
humidor attendant.
Left field: Barry Bonds, San Francisco
Big Helmet is a big liability in the outfield, not nearly the plate
presence he once was and, when he's not hitting homers in bunches as
he once did, an all-around downer of a guy to have on your team. Which
is why we welcome him to this team with open arms (though we need an
airplane seat belt extension-type of device for those arms if we wanna
wrap them around that noggin of his).
Usually, Big Helmet is packing for the real All-Star Game at this time
of year. And while there are those who argue he deserves to be there
this year as a sort of lifetime award despite his appalling .246
batting average and miniscule 11 homers, there's no way that argument
holds water.
The Sullen of Swat (he's so big he gets two nicknames) has soiled the
game with his behavior this season, and the last place he deserves to
be is in Pittsburgh. If Greg Anderson, his personal "trainer," is
going back to the big house for his blind loyalty in refusing to
testify to a federal grand jury regarding whether Bonds perjured
himself, Bonds can cool his heels on our team while the Feds continue
to look at him.
Center field: Juan Pierre, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs sent pitchers Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto to
Florida for Pierre last December.
So far this season, Pierre, lugging around a dismal .314 on-base
percentage, has one homer and 12 RBI in 352 at-bats.
Nolasco has one homer and two RBI in 19 at-bats.
Give the pitcher Pierre's 352 at-bats at his current rate of one homer
every 19 at-bats, and Nolasco would have 19 long balls by now.
Right field: Rondell White, Minnesota
We're cheating a bit here because, technically, White was signed as a
designated hitter. But he has played five games in the outfield this
season, which qualifies him for our right field spot -- and, besides,
we've got a special treat already lined up as the DH.
So ... White, signed to DH -- and, at the very least, provide some pop
for a traditionally homer-challenged Twins team -- has, in 54 games
and 184 at-bats ... exactly 0 home runs.
That's, uh, zero.
Z-E-R-O.
Designated hitter: Carl Everett, Seattle.
Everett is on record as saying he does not believe that dinosaurs once
roamed the earth, nor does he believe that man actually landed on the
moon.
Apparently he doesn't believe that he's batting only .161 against
left-handers (and only .158 with runners in scoring position) this
season, either.
He was lifted for a pinch-hitter, newcomer Eduardo Perez, in the ninth
inning of Tuesday's 14-6 loss to the Angels ... and then charged into
manager Mike Hargrove's office following the game and engaged the
skipper in a shouting match (those within hearing range, and that
included most of the 206 area code, say Everett was doing most of the
shouting).
So what happens on Wednesday? Everett gets ejected, and you should
have seen the moment when Hargrove was out on the field defending him
to the umpires. No way was Hargrove getting ejected, too.
We think the skipper would have rather been marooned on a desert
island with hungry cannibals than spend the rest of Wednesday's game
alone in the clubhouse with Everett while the rest of the Mariners
were out in the dugout.
Starting pitcher: Brett Myers, Philadelphia
This one was a no-brainer.
There are not many iron-clad rules for our club, but one of them is
this: Anytime a guy is charged with assaulting his wife in the middle
of a city street (Boston in this case), and police have witnesses
saying he punched his wife in the face and pulled her hair, there's a
pretty good chance he'll be named to our team.
Myers' actions are the most despicable of the season, yet he still
started for the Phillies, in Boston, two days later.
Why?
"Because he's our best pitcher," Philadelphia GM Pat Gillick lamely
explained at the time.
Soon after that start, Myers went on a personal leave that is expected
to last through the All-Star break.
The entire situation was a disgrace for Myers and Gillick in
particular, and for the Phillies in general.
Meanwhile, here's the competitive list of starting pitchers edged out
by Myers:
* Russ Ortiz, Baltimore. The Diamondbacks wanted him gone so much that
they released him while knowing they would have to eat the remaining
$24 million on his contract. Now that's desperation.
* Esteban Loaiza, Oakland. Hasn't pitched well (3-5, 6.39 ERA) after
A's general manager Billy Beane broke the piggy bank and awarded him a
three-year, $21 million deal, but he sure can drive. When police
finally caught up to him last month and arrested him on drunken
driving charges, they clocked him traveling in his Ferrari at more
than 100 mph.
* Oliver Perez, Pittsburgh. He's gone from would-be staff ace to
Triple-A stiff, in a heartbeat.
* Runelvys Hernandez, Kansas City. Counted on to be a mainstay in
Kansas City's rotation this year, Hernandez reported to spring
training 40 pounds overweight in the estimation of the club, and had
to open the season in the minors. Try mixing in a few salads,
Runelvys.
Closer: Jason Grimsley, suspended.
You'd be a free agent, too, if you decided that Human Growth Hormone
was a good way to go, then decided to cooperate with the Feds when
they caught you taking delivery, then decided to stop cooperating
after you named names, then watched the whole thing blow up in your
face when it became public. Grimsley couldn't get out of the
Diamondbacks clubhouse soon enough after that, asking for his release.
That the Diamondbacks gladly paid Ortiz $24 million to go away but are
disputing what's left of the $800,000 they owe Grimsley tells
everything you need to know about the bitterness here.
While Grimsley is the obvious Anti-All Star closer, don't think
several others didn't make a bid for the team, too. Among them:
* Matt Wise, Milwaukee. He's not only an Anti-All Star, but an
Anti-Runelvys Hernandez, too. Proving that mixing in a salad is not
always as healthy as it sounds, Wise missed a few days last month when
he sliced the middle finger of his pitching hand on aluminum salad
tongs during a postgame spread. This after teammate Jeff Cirillo
sprained his ankle jumping up and down in frustration after one of his
batted balls went foul. "At least his was game-related," Wise
grumbled. "I was going after a freaking salad."
* Scott Sauerbeck, Oakland. There's a reason he's with the Athletics.
It's because he moved himself right out of Cleveland with his behavior
following a game earlier this season in which he and a woman were
taken into custody after fleeing Sauerbeck's vehicle and were found
hiding in the bushes around 4 a.m. Oh, and Sauerbeck is married, and
the woman wasn't his wife. The undercover (and under branches) couple
was caught when the owner of the house reported hearing voices
outside. Hey Destiny, shhhh! I don't think that's a drunk coming to
pee on this bush, I think it's the cops!
* Brian Shackelford, Cincinnati. After pitching in the 13th inning of
Wednesday night's four-hour, 19-minute Reds-Brewers game, was arrested
on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault at Milwaukee's Miller
Park. The arrest came just about the time the Cincinnati team bus was
leaving the stadium for the charter flight to Atlanta. Oops.
Manager: Joe Mikulik, Class A Asheville
So this is a bit of a stretch, but Mikulik's June 25 meltdown was so
good, so delicious, so enchanting that, in our book, it earned him an
immediate promotion to the majors.
Among other things too numerous to list, Mikulik's tantrum included a
dive -- or was it belly flop? -- into second base. It was the talk of
major league clubhouses and dugouts for days, though in a
don't-try-this-at-home sort of way. When asked if he ever considered
diving into a base while arguing, Padres manager Bruce Bochy grinned
wide and shook his head no. "I'd get hurt," he said.
If Mikulik isn't available, we know someone who likely will have some
time on his hands one day soon,
No comments:
Post a Comment