It’s Kentucky Derby day! And it’s the 142nd anniversary of Fort Wayne’s 2-0 victory over Cleveland in the first MLB game EVER (when going by the B-Ref definition of Major Leagues). Wonder if the Kekionga faithful had any idea what it would one day become….
Anyway, full slate of games. Nobody cares about your fantasy team. Baseball is weird. LaTroy Hawkins is a Timelord and/or has the Philosopher’s Stone in his possession.
The larger point of course is that Jesus Montero probably isn’t a catcher at all, and thus it doesn’t matter if his bat may compare well with Wilson Ramos’ or even Miguel Montero’s. Catchers generate so much value because of their scarcity; this makes Montero’s 123 wRC+ elite. But give the same hitting stats to a 1B, and he’s barely above average (Paul Goldschmidt’s 123 and position got him 2.8 WAR last year). Add in the base-running penalty because, well, you know, ...
Millar made his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Mut & Merloni on Friday, and one of the topics discussed was the recent allegations against Clay Buchholz. Toronto broadcasters Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris accused Buchholz of doctoring the baseball during his start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, which prompted Dennis Eckersley to defend the Red Sox pitcher before and after Thursday’s game. Millar wasn’t shy about stating whose corner he’s in.
Mitch Williams appeared on 94.1 WIP this morning and ripped into Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee, saying the Phillies need a new man for the job.
He said Roy Halladay‘s problems were a simple mechanical fix that Dubee simply could not find. He mentioned an encounter he had with Dubee in Spring Training, when Dubee yelled at him for trying to talk to his pitchers, although he claimed that did not make his criticism this morning personal. ...
The plunder of 600 stolen bases was laid out around Juan Pierre’s locker late Thursday night.
The lineup card from the Miami Marlins’ 7-2 loss to the Phillies was displayed with the uprooted base where Pierre attained the milestone.
The head-scratcher was the pyramid of Hawaiian Punch cans surrounded by Honey Buns. That was the result of the Marlins posing the question to Pierre’s wife Liz: What do you get a man who has stolen 600 bases?
Actual headline: “The Truth About Clay Buchholz.” Said truth? That not only was he doctoring the ball last night, he’s been doctoring it all season long…and that the start of this behavior mysteriously coincides with his sudden effectiveness as a starter.
Thanks to accusations from Toronto broadcasters and former pitchers Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris, Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz has reignited an ageless debate about what constitutes “cheating” in baseball. [...]
When I was a kid, Barry Bonds’ dad Bobby was still playing. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Giants, but after that he was traded roughly every two minutes. The answer usually had something to do with how his team couldn’t abide all his strikeouts. He averaged 154 per 162 games played and set the single-season record of 189, since obliterated by Mark Reynolds, Adam Dunn, and five others. He also had tremendous power and speed and ...
Jack Morris, a former World Series hero and a current Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster, said Thursday that he watched video after Wednesday night’s game between the Jays and Red Sox and came away convinced Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz was throwing a spitball.
More from ESPN.com
Jack Morris says Clay Buchholz is throwing a spitball. Whether he is or not, it’s just part of the game, David Schoenfield writes. Blog
Morris said he didn’t notice it during Wednesday’s telecast.
Irvin Cobb, the humorous writer, is responsible for the latest wheeze against the poor, brow-beaten Yankees. At the close of yesterday’s game Cobb approached Frank Chance and asked:
“Would you mind if I gave your players a little treat?”
“Not at all, it might cheer them up,” replied Chance, who until then had counted Cobb as one of his friends.
“Then call them all over here,” said Cobb, “and I’ll show them third base.”
3. Carlos Gomez, CF, Brewers: Season Stats: .367/.418/.644, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 4 SB
Prior to 2012, Gomez’s career-high in home runs was eight, and his .250/.305/.463 line last year represented career-highs in all three categories, so he is set up for a larger fall than most here. Still, one has to recognize how valuable he has been so far this season. After all, the reason Gomez didn’t wash out of the majors ...
By 1998, Johnson was gone, replaced by skipper Ray Miller. Gillick, although still on duty, was barely heard from as he waited out his time to get out of Baltimore. Alomar, for his part, was a shell of his old self. Embittered by a fine that Johnson had levied against him at the All-Star Break in ‘97—incidentally, it was Johnson’s fine that ultimately cost him his job—Alomar went through the motions for much ...
Cubs have a day game against the Reds at 2:20, and the rest of MLB plays at night, with the final game starting at 10:15 and featuring the timeless matchup of Dodgers vs. Giants.
A-Rod is an 0 for 27 streak away from falling below .300 for his career.
A-Rod has been cleared to begin baseball activities, making the announcement himself on his Facebook page Wednesday night.
“Just met with my surgeon Dr. Kelly in South Florida and got cleared to move to baseball activities in Tampa,” A-Rod wrote beneath a photo of him training in a gym. “Really excited to be getting closer to being back on the field.”
General manager Brian Cashman said A-Rod would report to Tampa on ...
Peavy smiles and says: “I try not to yell; I try not to swear. But at 7 o’clock every night, I turn into someone different. I’m out there trying to focus. I’m competing. I can’t control myself. But I have three little boys. I want them to be able to watch their daddy pitch without hearing all the yelling.
Dunn smiles and says: “I make fun of Jake. I mock him. I can’t even make the sound he makes when he’s out there; it will hurt my throat. We do an over/under on when he’s going to first yell at ...
Major League Baseball has fined umpire Tom Hallion and Tampa Bay Rays pitchers David Price, Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore for their involvement in an incident during this past Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.com.
Price, Hellickson and Moore each have been fined $1,000, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The financial details of Hallion’s fine is unclear.
Our guess is that legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda isn’t into that whole “Gangnam Style” thing.
Check out the expression on the 85-year-old Lasorda’s face when PSY popped out Tuesday night to entertain the crowd at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. The hall of fame manager does not seem impressed. The video is here.
The previously highest paid player in franchise history was Carmelo Martinez, who made $490,000 back in 1989.
Chase Headley said he “didn‘t know how to respond” Wednesday afternoon after learning that the Padres are planning to offer their star third baseman a multi-year contract that would make him the highest-paid player in franchise history.
“To be honest, this is not something we’ve discussed,” Headley said at Wrigley Field.
I don’t know if Jay Bruce regrets the tweet he sent out after the game Tuesday night. Reds media relations director Rob Butcher declined to ask Bruce if he’d speak to me, from St. Louis early Wednesday. I’m guessing Bruce isn’t happy with himself. He’s not a confrontational guy. He’s very pleasant, almost all the time. It was out of character for him to tweet this:
I appreciate all the tweets, good and bad, actually. You guys are what ...
On this day in 1926, Democratic and Republican members of Congress adjourned to the old Griffith Stadium for their annual baseball game — a tradition dating back to 1909. Ticket sales supported the Congressional Wives’ Club.
In advance of the contest, The Washington Post wrote: “Public encouragement and applause may work wonders in developing Walter Johnsons and Babe Ruths from the raw material of Congress. To many Americans the baseball bat is mightier than the tongue; and in any event ...
I glanced at the screen as the game went to commercial and noticed that the Phillies had one hit. One ####### hit. Against Trevor Bauer, who I never heard of until yesterday.
You know who else noticed that the Phillies offense had one ####### hit through five? The pitcher, Cliff Lee: [Matt Gelb on Sulia]
“They pretty much pounded us both games, there’s no way around it,” Lee said. “They crushed us both games. It was never really close, ...
It’s too early in the season to make any hardcore declarations about what Harper is and isn’t doing—these things take time, you know—but we can get some ideas about possible developments from what is there. For one, Harper to this point has cut his strikeout ratio down to 15 percent, or a little less than what he produced in the high minors, rather than last year’s 20 percent of the time. It’s how he was hitting .344 entering action on Wednesday night, despite a batting average on balls in play ...
While self-censorship can be a beautiful thing…but unfortunato, it’s about Prime Minister Pete Nash.
Known in his rapper days as Prime Minister Pete Nice, Peter Nash is known today as the epitome of what is primarily wrong with the Internet and blogs. He is also known for his propensity for losing lawsuits, accusing others of fraud while defrauding others himself and, perhaps worst of all, for forcing his father to give up the prestigious academic role he had for nearly half a century in a ...
This is it, the biggest month of the year for soccer. Some key games/dates:
May 2nd: Europa League semifinals—Benfica v Fenerbahce and Chelsea v Basel
May 4th: Final day of the season in England’s second division. Wolves look done but Barnsley will attempt to escape the drop. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City will try to snatch the last play off spot from Bolton while Hull needs a win to secure automatic promotion or risk losing it to Watford.
This should be acted out in full Rick Santelli sub-human meltdown fashion.
One thing I like about listening to Jim Palmer on the Orioles’ telecasts is he’s not afraid to beat a topic to death if he feels strongly about it. For instance, take the so-called “quality start.”
Take it. Please, take it. Pretty please.
Take it and bury it along with every other irrelevant statistic you can imagine. You think the game-winning RBI was meaningless? That little number was a sabermetric gem compared ...
Dartmouth lost a shutout victory over Maine because the fire whistle blew. Three infield errors allowed a run, and the errors were caused by the aforesaid whistle.
Bennett, Loudon, and Donahue, Green infielders, are members of the undergraduate fire department. When they heard the whistle announce that the “Fire Fiend” had invaded Hanover they wanted to rush away and help pull the hose cart.
Coach Woods refused to allow them to leave, but their attention was given ...
Curt Flood, a career .293 hitter but never known for his power, slugged two home runs against Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax. Both were historic.
The first was a leadoff shot that sparked a rare feat. The second was significant because it was the last home run hit against Koufax.
On April 26, 2013, Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran, the first two batters in the Cardinals’ order, hit consecutive home runs in the first inning against the Pirates’ ...
Yes, Buchholz is blowing everyone’s mind. He has quietly taken over the league lead in wins (6-0). He has pitched seven or more innings in six straight starts and gotten into the eighth on three occasions.
There are some good starts around baseball. Lots of good, young pitchers. Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore is 5-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 0.88 WHP. The Mets’ Matt Harvey is 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA. Madison Bumgarner is 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA for the Giants. Detroit’s ...
