Before I get to the Birthday Team, I feel the need to mention that today is Pop Lloyd's birthday and I still haven't figured out whether I should include Negro Leagues players on the Birthday Teams. Lloyd, of course, would (should?) be the shortstop and best player on the roster.

C: Erik Pappas
1B: Joe Hague
2B: Jimmy Brown
3B: Fred Hartman
SS/Manager: Fred Haney
LF: Tony Phillips
CF: 1940s Bobby Estalella
RF: Jacque Jones

SP: Russ Ford
SP: Connie Marrero
SP: Lew Krausse Jr.
SP: Roy Parmelee
SP: Bob Johnson
RP: Ken Tatum

Fun Names: Snipe Conley, Belve Bean
Aerospace Engineer: Brian Barton
Indians Scrubs of the 20-Aughts: Mike Rouse, Kazuhito Tadano


Funny story about Tony Phillips...when he was in the Tigers organization ('94?), Phillips was in Toledo for the annual Tigers-Mud Hens preseason exhibition game. A local radio guy I know walked up to him on the field and said, "Hey, Skeeter! How's it going?" Phillips just completely snapped: "DO I LOOK LIKE SKEETER BARNES TO YOU? DO I LOOK LIKE SKEETER BARNES, MOTHERF*****?!?"

Thing is, he sort of does. Maybe not exactly the same, but enough that you wouldn't think twice if you saw them on the street and someone told you they were twin brothers.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the greatest game Steve Carlton ever pitched. 'Twas a one-hitter where the leadoff guy got the hit. Carlton fanned 14 and walked one. The game also marked the MLB debut of Garry Maddox, a rather unlikely fact given that Maddox didn't debut as a Phillie.

I'm sure everyone here is hanging on to every pitch of the Rockies-Pirates game already, but... if you're not, James McDonald has a no-hitter through six. Pirates, of course, haven't scored either.

Eh, never mind. Tulowitzki just got an infield single in the top of the seventh.

ToddZolecki: Today's lineup @ AZ: Pierre LF, Polanco 3B, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Nix 1B, Orr 2B, Ruiz C, Galvis SS, Hamels P.
from Todd Zolecki (ToddZolecki) on Twitter

Coming in to today's game, 8 out of the 14 AL teams were in first place.

The 19,669 at UGA vs GT at Turner Field last night outdrew 7 MLB games.

i'm gonna say that it is not a whole lot of fun to see your team get 2 baserunners thrown out at homeplate in the first 2 innings.

Coming in to today's game, 8 out of the 14 AL teams were in first place.

I hope we get to the point where 13 out of 14 AL teams have a winning record and the Royals are 4-158.

And have dropped to 9th overall in the FanGraphs Power Rating.

I hope we get to the point where 13 out of 14 AL teams have a winning record and the Royals are 4-158.

You really think they'll win another game?

Meanwhile, Bruce Jenkins offers the dumbest possible "solution" to the Giants' roster "problem."
27-man rosters. Never mind that the Giants are carrying 12 pitchers, and four first basemen.

But wait, there's more! The article also mentions that rosters go up to 26 for "scheduled doubleheaders"? Whaaaa?

Pirates and Rockies are both carrying 26 players for today's doubleheader. Apparently, it's a new rule that someone sneaked into the rulebook this off-season.

Is it strange that Tyler Colvin is used at 1st base as a defensive replacement? I see that he played 1st in a handful of games last year, but he doesn't seem to have played many games there in the minors.

Ryan Cook relieved Jarrod Parker at just about the same time as Craig Breslow relieved Trevor Cahill. Then Brad Ziegler relieved Breslow...but Brandon Allen was nowhere to be found.

Game of the day (yesterday): Cubs 3, Cardinals 2 (10). Two good games in a row from these two teams, this one grading out better due to an extra lead change and an extra inning. The Cubs took the lead in the first on a double, sac bunt, and sac fly; they got at least one runner in scoring position each of the next 4 innings, including second and third with one out in the fourth, but failed to extend their lead. The Cardinals put a runner on third in the fifth and two on in the seventh, but didn't score until Matt Holliday's 2-run homer in the eighth. They loaded the bases in the ninth against Michael Bowden but stranded all three runners, and Bryan LaHair took advantage of the opportunity in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a game-tying homer. Chicago put the winning run at third later in the inning, but couldn't bring it home until the tenth, when Alfonso Soriano singled in Tony Campana (after an intentional walk to LaHair, which speaks volumes about the Cubs' lineup).

Entering play on Monday, the Cubs and Cardinals ranked as the two least-dramatic teams of the year to date. After consecutive exciting games, the Cubs have moved solidly into the bottom of the pack, but the Cards are still bringing up the rear, now tied with the Angels.

Random side note: Mariners 7, Tigers 4 was not a spectacular game by any means, but it was a good one (73rd percentile so far this season). I'm not set up to check this, but I'd guess it's easily the best game in which one of the teams (the Tigers, obviously) never had a win expectancy of over 50%.

Game of the day (last year): Braves 9, Giants 6 (10). This one was pretty tame in the early going - Chipper Jones started things off for the Braves with a 2-run ground-rule double in the top of the first, and the Giants didn't get their first runner on against Brandon Beachy until there were two outs in the fourth. Unfortunately, that runner immediately scored on Buster Posey's game-tying home run. Atlanta recaptured the lead in the seventh as Jason Heyward launched a 3-run shot, but the Giants responded quickly in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with three singles, then scoring one on a walk to Miguel Tejada, another on a groundout by Nate Schierholtz, and two more on an Aaron Rowand double to take their first lead of the day. That lead lasted all of one Atlanta batter, as Dan Uggla evened things back up with a home run in the top of the eighth. Neither team threatened seriously again in regulation, but the Braves changed that quickly in the tenth, with their first three runners reaching base. After a strikeout and a forceout brought Brian Wilson within one batter of escaping, Nate McLouth singled in two tiebreaking runs, and Brian McCann tacked on a spare. Jonny Venters allowed only a two-out single in the bottom of the inning, sealing things for the Braves.

As always, thanks, Eric.

I'll be interested to see where today's Oakland-ChiSox game ranks. Apart from some baserunning chaos by the Sox in the top of the 13th (?), this has been about the least exciting long game I've ever watched.

That was pretty exciting.

Spoke way too soon.

THETHPEDETH!

I'll be interested to see where today's Oakland-ChiSox game ranks. Apart from some baserunning chaos by the Sox in the top of the 13th (?), this has been about the least exciting long game I've ever watched.

Not a fan of game-tying homers in the 9th?

Using WPA numbers from Fangraphs rather than B-R (they don't always agree, and I use B-R for the final run because they have postseason data back to 1903, rather than 2002), through 13 innings, it was already guaranteed to be at least the 4th-best game of the year. The 14th puts it at #1, by a wide enough margin that I'm confident it'll hold up through the switch of data sources.

I flipped it on in the 10th. Missed the ninth inning excitement.

I flipped it on in the 10th. Missed the ninth inning excitement.

Fair enough. The first 3 extra innings only had one RISP between them, and that on a single and two-base error with 2 outs. Then the 13th inning was good, and of course the 14th was golden.

Austin Jackson is hitting .261/.363/.478. Could he have totally changed as a hitter? Do Ks and BBs stabilize quickly for hitters too?

Funny batting stance.

I hope we get to the point where 13 out of 14 AL teams have a winning record and the Royals are 4-158.

You really think they'll win another game?

At the moment, I'm leaning toward yes. If any team could blow a lead after the game is over, though...