BBTF 2014 Softball Game

Time again for Softball!

Rockies Owner: ‘Maybe Denver Doesn’t Deserve A Franchise’

This guy needs to mellow out.  Anyone know a good way to do that in Colorado?

[A] season ticket holder… sent an email to the Rockies fan feedback line July 5t, writing, “The Monforts have no business owning a baseball team and their missteps in hiring ‘the good old boys’ for front office and management positions is solid evidence of their ineptitude. They have ruined pro baseball in this region while generating millions of dollars in profit.’ ”

... the next day, July 6 at 6:47 p.m., ...

Calcaterra: The first Derek Jeter Publishing title is available for pre-order

Last fall we learned that Derek Jeter was starting his own publishing business in a partnership with Simon & Schuster. The first book is coming out in September. You can pre-order it now. It’s called “The Contract” and it’s for middle school readers. This is the description:

As a young boy, Derek Jeter dreams of begin [sic] the shortstop for the New York Yankees. He even imagines himself in the World Series. So when Derek is chosen for the Little League Tigers, he hopes to play ...

Sale, Rizzo Win 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote

I assume Keuchel got 0.0 votes.

The creative campaigns are over. Twitter voting ended in a furious rally. And at the end of the four-day online voting program, it is Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs who were chosen by fans as the winners of the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Experian. Sale and Rizzo earned the final two AL and NL All-Star Team roster spots through online voting on MLB.com, the individual Club sites and Twitter, where ...

Oz: Thumb injuries to Yadier Molina, Brandon Phillips shake up NL Central

I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of ThD. That’s Doctor of Thumbology.

The news wasn’t good for the St. Louis Cardinals and their cornerstone catcher Yadier Molina. Molina has a torn ligament in his thumb and will miss 8-12 weeks after surgery, according to Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak.

Nor was it good for the division rival Cincinnati Reds, who confirmed Thursday that their star second baseman Brandon Phillips also needs thumb surgery to repair a ligament. The Reds say ...

The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball

“The word on the street is that the screwball is hard on the arm,” says Don Cooper, Chicago’s pitching coach. “But listen, there’s no documentation on that. Maybe that’s why a lot of people don’t throw it, but I believe no pitch is any more dangerous than any other if you have a good delivery. If you have a bad delivery, every pitch is freakin’ dangerous.”

Among baseball lifers, though, Cooper’s is decidedly a minority opinion. Lurid stories about the pitch are commonplace. ...

Bradford: The A.J. Pierzynski problem was worse than anybody could have imagined

Maybe he was sending the pitcher a Yo?

A microcosm of Pierzynski’s approach was mentioned by more than one of the backstop’s former teammates, who revealed his propensity to spend a significant amount of time looking at his phone while at his locker during games. In one instance, after a particularly rough outing in which the starting pitcher had been pulled early in the game, Pierzynski could be found staring at his phone while the pitcher gave off the appearance of being an emotional wreck ...

Blue Jays lose Adam Lind following loss to Angels

The list of the Blue Jays’ walking wounded grew, in a literal sense, on Wednesday when it was learned after Toronto’s 8-7 loss to the Angels that DH Adam Lind is suffering from a non-displaced fracture of the bone in his right foot that connects to the big toe. He injured the foot in Baltimore on June 14 but did not have an MRI done until Tuesday in California.

“My mom wanted me to get an MRI, which I hadn’t had yet,” Lind said. “It wasn’t getting any better, so I asked for an ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-10-2014

Washington Times, July 10, 1914:

The Boston American League team today purchased of the Baltimore International team Pitcher Ruth, Catcher Egan, and Shore, paying in the vicinity of $30,000 for the three men.

President Lannin, in making the announcement, would not state the exact amount, other than it was in excess of the $25,000 offer he made for Ruth, Shore, and Derrick when the Boston club was in Washington last week.

Worth every penny.

Tim Brown: Borrowing a few of Albert Pujols’ bats has helped Angels’ Erick Aybar stand out

If one gauges a man by his OPS or WAR, Aybar leads qualified AL shortstops in both. Same with, love them or not, RBIs. He doesn’t walk much, but hardly strikes out either. It doesn’t take long to find a defensive metric that says Aybar is the best in the league, or very nearly the best, at that, too.

This is, however, Derek Jeter’s year, and warranted. And, apparently, Alexei Ramirez’s, too, by player vote. And it’s Aybar’s to kill a little time on the twirling teacups, which makes him smile ...

OMNICHATTER 7-10-2014

The “Do Jedi stat-heads have light-SABRs?” OMNICHATTER

CBS Sports: Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka to have MRI on pitching arm

Yankees rookie ace Masahiro Tanaka is heading back to New York to undergo an MRI on his pitching arm, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. As King notes, Tanaka is coming off his worst start of this, his first season in the U.S. major league…Needless to say, if Tanaka’s reported MRI turns up anything significant, then it will be a grave blow to a Yankees team that’s already dealing with a number of injuries in the rotation

Gee, ya think?

Red Sox part ways with A.J. Pierzynski

Cold Pierogi?

The Red Sox decided to move on from A.J. Pierzynski on Wednesday when they designated the catcher for assignment. The team called up prospect Christian Vazquez from Pawtucket to take his place.

Tom Veryzer, shortstop for Tigers and Indians, dies at 61

Former Tigers and Indians shortstop Tom Veryzer, who played in the big leages for 12 years, died Thursday at the age of 61, according to The Oakland Press.

Veryzer was drafted by the Tigers with the No. 11 overall pick in the 1971 MLB Draft and was the team’s starting shortstop from 1975 to 1977. Detroit traded him to the Indians that offseason to make room for Alan Trammell. He played for Cleveland until 1981 before ending his career with stints with the Mets (1982) and Cubs (1983-84).

He ...

San Francisco Giants considering ban on culturally insensitive attire

The proposed policy, which is still in the working stages, could potentially say that fans who wear culturally insensitive attire to games or use culturally insensitive language could be asked to stop by Giants security or potentially be asked to leave the stadium.

Staci Slaughter, Giants senior vice president, communications, and senior advisor to the CEO, said the Giants have policies about obscene language and offensive signs.

“We are considering expanding the policy to be more explicit ...

Jake Peavy could be traded, but Red Sox aren’t giving up on season yet

Boston wouldn’t mind using talented rookie Rubby De La Rosa in the rotation, and Peavy is currently blocking his path. Additionally, Peavy, a loser of seven straight (though much of that is due to a lack of support) may frankly be better suited to go back to the NL at this stage of his career.

Give up?  When were they ever trying?

Rockies owner Dick Monfort to angry Rockies fan: “don’t come!”

  “I pretty much just filled out the survey and kinda wrote a little bit about how it’s frustrating to spend the money and go see [Rockies] teams that are constantly struggling all the time,” said Ferguson.

  Two days later, he found out his comments did not go unnoticed. Ferguson received a reply in his inbox simply stating, “If product and experience that bad don’t come!”… signed owner, chairman and CEO of the Colorado Rockies Dick Monfort.

The customer is always… ...Read More...

Taiwan Provides What Might Be The Most Awkward First Pitch In Baseball History

Possibly NSFW?

Yoga “goddess” Yan shows off her flexible talents before the game between the Lamigo Monkeys and Brother Elephants and quickly devolves it into one big strip tease. I feel it deserves recognition as the oddest because you never really know what’s coming or where she is going with her routine. At first I thought she was going to throw the ball backwards, but by the end I was expecting it to shoot out of her like a cannon. The worst part is how she totally woofs the pitch ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-9-2014

Pittsburgh Press, July 9, 1914:

Ossie E. Schreckengost, aged 39, better known as “Schreck,” former battery mate of “Rube” Waddell, died here today of a complication of diseases. Although ill for the past two years, his condition was not considered serious until yesterday, when he collapsed in a cafe.
...
He caught for the Mackmen 10 years.

Waddell passed away in April 1914, just three months before his batterymate. Seems odd that a pitcher and catcher who worked together so frequently would die ...

OMNICHATTER 7-9-2014

The Omnichatter will not give you a final vote hashtag. Because it’s the OMNICHATTER!

OT: Monthly NBA Thread- July 2014

I estimate only 10-12 Primates care about the NBA, but with our own thread, we won’t detract from what this site is really about: German aggression and Israeli aggression of entirely different types.

McCann’s old hitting coach: ‘He’ll never be comfortable’ on Yankees

“New York is not Brian,” Pendleton said before the Braves fell to the Mets 4-3 in 11 innings. “That’s my opinion. I knew if he chose New York, there would be more than he expected or knew about. He’ll never be comfortable with that.”

TP is always making friends.  McCann hit .230/.300/.399 in ‘12 and is hitting .230/.289/.379 now.  He’s fat, has a lot of miles on him, and is on the wrong side of 30.  What did you expect.  Enjoy the part of the contract where he is still able to ...

MLB Network Just Finished Most Watched Quarter Ever

It’s funny – despite all of our lamenting about MLB’s decline in casual fan viewership, the diehards are still tuning in at levels we haven’t seen before. Maybe that’s the best course of action for the major networks – don’t worry about appealing to the casual fan. Just try to make the diehard fans happy, and the rest will eventually start to come. Isn’t that what NBC did with the Premier League? Isn’t that what ESPN is doing with the World Cup? There aren’t any stupid ...

Billy Beane on the Future of Sports: A Tech-Driven Revolution

Having advanced performance data at even the most junior levels will make it less likely that players get filtered out based on 60-yard-dash times or radar-gun readings, and more likely that they advance on the merits of practiced skills. The ability to “paint the corners” of the strike zone, to swing only at pitches within that zone, and to manage the subtle footwork required of a difficult fielding play is accessible to any player willing to commit to the “10,000 Hour Rule” (the ...

Robothal - Ian Desmond: Should He Stay or Should He Go

The Nats are actively seeking to add a young shortstop, one who could inherit the position if Ian Desmond departs as a free agent after 2015, major league sources say.

Desmond, 28, rejected the Nationals’ offer of a lengthy extension last offseason, settling instead for a two-year, $17.5 million contract that will expire after next season.

Drama after Billy Butler’s drop in Royals lineup isn’t what anyone wanted

The last thing this eight-years-in-the-Processing Royals season needs is drama, but here it is anyway. One of the team’s highest-paid and longest-tenured players feels singled out and is going passive-aggressive to make his point and subtly call out a teammate.

Ego and self-interest are on both sides of this, team and player each having legitimate beef. Billy Butler justifiably sees himself as the club’s most established hitter, and wonders why he’s been occasionally benched and now ...

David Ortiz is furious about his failed PED test coming up again.

For whatever reason, David Ortiz hates it when you bring up the fact that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. The latest target of his ire: MLB Network hosts who declared he has received a “free pass” for his transgression.

ESPN: Prince Fielder in the Body Issue

You don’t have to look like an Under Armour mannequin to be an athlete. A lot of people probably think I’m not athletic or don’t even try to work out or whatever, but I do. Just because you’re big doesn’t mean you can’t be an athlete. And just because you work out doesn’t mean you’re going to have a 12-pack. I work out to make sure I can do my job to the best of my ability. Other than that, I’m not going up there trying to be a fitness model.

Prince is looking pretty good.

Doc Daugherty: Joey Votto DL - Adam Dunn ?

Wrong for Each Other! Doc Pompous strikes again!

As The Club preps for a doubleheader that could set longevity records, The Morning Man says J. Votto will go on the DL today. The wonder is how much he will be missed.

The last time I suggested, “Not as much as you’d think,’’ I took the predictable bashing from the OBP crowd and the Walk Freaks. So be it. The fact is, losing Votto is not the blow it used to be, because Votto isn’t the hitter he used to be. That likely owes to the chronic ...

HardballTalk: The Angels are now the only expansion team to have a .500 record

...but despite all of that expansion history, no expansion team sat at .500 or above as play began last night. With their win over the Blue Jays last night, the Angels are now even at 4,272 wins and 4,272 losses.

Now, they aren’t the first expansion team to break .500. As Dbacks’ Vice President Josh Rawitch noted on Twitter last night, Arizona was 652-644 between 1998 and 2005, getting over the .500 hump and staying there for a time after their first couple of seasons. Such early success ...