Hack Wilson's not going to drive in 190 runs on this Birthday Team.

C: Whitey Ritterson
1B: Dale Alexander
2B/Manager: Jack Barry
3B: Joe Crede
SS: Granny Hamner
LF: Hack Wilson
CF: Amos Otis
RF: Ron Northey

SP: Virgil Trucks
SP/Pitching Coach: Sal Maglie
SP: Mike Scott
SP: Ray Caldwell
SP: Francisco Cordova
RP: Scott Strickland

Utility Guys: Geoff Blum, Curt Wilkerson
Not a Danish Nazi: Fritz Clausen
Novelist: Bernard Malamud

...or even 191 runs.

magelb: Laynce Nix is now tied for the team lead in extra-base hits with Freddy Galvis and Carlos Ruiz. #2012Phillies from Twitter / magelb

From the Better-Late-Than-Never Department- (Conrado Marrero, birthday yesterday)

Oldest former major leaguer turns 101 in Cuba

Marrero, who was known in his major league days as Connie, speaks with pride about the five years he spent with the Senators, and he raises his voice in excitement when he recalls going against pitchers like Allie Reynolds of the Yankees or Early Wynn, who in those days played for mighty Cleveland.

Beating the Yankees, he says, was the sweetest feeling in the world.

"They were strong," he said. "They were the best. Each batter was a struggle."

Marrero had less good things to say about his own team, the lowly Senators, who he called "lazy" and error prone. Still, he said it was a thrill to suit up every day.

Mr. Marrero, welcome (finally!) to a Washington team that's not lazy and error prone.

What's going on w/ the site? I had to log back in (after not logging out) and the Hot Topics list is not appearing on the newsblog page (only on the home page)

What's going on w/ the site? I had to log back in (after not logging out) and the Hot Topics list is not appearing on the newsblog page (only on the home page)

Still a few bugs in the system.

That's a good pitching staff, and some good position players. Nice OF. One of the better birthday teams.

What happened to Francisco Cordova? Injury or did the league just figure him out?

Check out Ray Caldwell. He's a scary lookin' dude, coulda been a henchman in films noir.

Ron Northey was traded for Harry The Hat Walker twice.

Check out Ray Caldwell. He's a scary lookin' dude, coulda been a henchman in films noir.

He was tough for sure - he's the guy who got hit by lightning while pitching and still finished the game.

Incidentally, Javy Guerra got hit in the jaw by a Brian McCann liner last night and stayed in the game, too.

Random link that is mostly about other American culture stuff, but includes a U.S. map of baseball blackout rules:

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/04/invisible-borders-define-american-culture/1839/#.T5ljsNWohnE

<a href="http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/04/25/12/Twins-Parmelee-hit-in-head-by-93-mph-pit/landing_twins.html?blockID=717098&feedID=3793>Chris Parmelee got hit</a> in the head by a 93 mph pitch last night from the Red Sox' Justin Thomas and did not stay in the game. Great photo at the link.

In related news, apparently the Red Sox have a pitcher named "

Okay, I can't edit that post for some reason. Try again.

Chris Parmelee got hit in the head by a 93 mph pitch last night from the Red Sox' Justin Thomas and did not stay in the game. Great photo at the link.

In related news, apparently the Red Sox have a pitcher named "Justin Thomas", and the Twins have a first baseman named "Chris Parmelee".

It was a scary beaning - but Parmalee at least was able to walk off.

apparently the Red Sox have a pitcher named "Justin Thomas"

Who SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!!!!!! He has faced 25 batters this year and 13 have reached and frankly I think it's good luck that keeps it that low. Watching him pitch is like watching the winner of "random guy in section 17 gets to pitch" day pitch.

Ozzie Guillen just hung Heath Bell out to dry - had him throw 46 pitches in a 0.2 inning outing.

I understand that managers don't like to take their closers out of the ballgame, but c'mon. The guy was obviously fatigued, obviously didn't have his stuff and couldn't find the strike zone, and Ozzie's now fried his closer until Sunday.

Heck, I don't really care - I dislike the Marlins and can't stand Guillen. It was just cringeworthy to listen to.

Dmitri Young: rookie card collector

Ozzie Guillen just hung Heath Bell out to dry - had him throw 46 pitches in a 0.2 inning outing.

Five day games today, and three of 'em turned around in the ninth inning. And the Tigers made a run at making it four.

Ozzie Guillen just hung Heath Bell out to dry - had him throw 46 pitches in a 0.2 inning outing.

Five day games today, and three of 'em turned around in the ninth inning. And the Tigers made a run at making it four. (EDIT: And now I see that the Indians had the tying run on in their ninth, so that's all five games with good ninth-inning drama.)

That was Bell's longest outing (in terms of pitches thrown) since he threw 61 pitches on September 26, 2006, back when he was a fringy mop-up guy.

One more Heath Bell-related stat, then I'll cut it out: Bell has issued 7 walks in 5.2 IP this year. He walked 21 batters all of last season.

three of 'em turned around in the ninth inning

With their 9th-inning collapse, the Angels fall nine games behind the Rangers. I myself have been warning the whole world that it's still April and the Rangers aren't shoo-ins, but that's insane.

Five day games today, and three of 'em turned around in the ninth inning.

Yeah, the Game-of-the-Day-pickin'-machine may explode tomorrow afternoon.

Speaking of...

Game of the day (last year): Padres 5, Braves 3 (13). This one got started early, with Jason Heyward homering in the top of the first and the Padres stranding two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning. San Diego put runners at second and third with none away to start the second, but Will Venable's RBI groundout was all the production they managed, merely tying the score. With two outs in the third, however, Ryan Ludwick gave them their first lead, going deep against Derek Lowe. Atlanta reclaimed the lead in the fifth on RBI singles from Alex Gonzalez and Lowe himself, and the Pads left yet another pair of runners in the sixth before closing the gap on a Nick Hundley double an inning later. From that point on, however, neither team had a runner reach scoring position until Chipper Jones doubled leading off the Braves' half of the 12th, and pinch runner Brandon Hicks promptly defused that rally by getting thrown out at third on a fielder's choice; the Braves would end the inning with two runners on but no runs in. San Diego put the game away on Ludwick's second home run of the day, a 2-run job with one out in the 13th.

Game of the day, and then some (yesterday): A's 5, White Sox 4 (14). Unlike last year's entry, this game was scoreless for quite some time. The White Sox put runners on second and third with one out in the second, the A's had men at the corners with two away in the fifth, and the Sox put a runner at third with one down in the sixth, but no runs crossed the plate until Oakland's half of the sixth, when Jemile Weeks's single, Josh Reddick's double, and Yoenis Cespedes's single combined to score a pair. Chicago cut the margin in half in the seventh when Kosuke Fukudome doubled in a run; he took third on the throw to the plate, and then was caught stealing home (!!) to end the threat. The Sox put another runner in scoring position on a walk and a wild pitch in the eighth, but the next three hitters failed to advance Eduardo Escobar from there. And then, leading off the top of the ninth, Paul Konerko homered to tie the game. (Bonus points: it was #400 for his career.) Cespedes made it to second on a walk-balk combo in the bottom of the inning, but Kurt Suzuki's strikeout sent the game into extras.

Chicago assembled the first rally in the additional frames, with AJ Pierzynski singling and taking third on an error in the 11th, but a strikeout left him there. They tried again in the 13th, as Adam Dunn led off with a double and Paul Konerko was intentionally passed, but both men were replaced by pinch runners, and both pinch runners were thrown out on the bases - the first getting picked off, the second trying to score from first on a double. Undeterred by their own comedic ridiculousness, the Sox finally came through in the top of the 14th. Dayan Viciedo reached on an error and moved to second on a sac bunt; a walk and a flyout later, Alexei Ramirez doubled home both baserunners, giving the Palehose their first lead of the day.

As tends to be the case, the bottom of the 14th came next. With one out, Reddick singled, and Cespedes promptly homered to re-tie the game. Seth Smith, Kurt Suzuki, and Kila Ka'aihue followed that up with consecutive singles, the third of which drove in the game-ending run.

The two games here make a fairly interesting comparison. The scores and lengths are similar, but the system grades one of them as "merely" excellent, while the other is a borderline classic. The difference is mostly in the timing of the runs. Braves-Padres had the lead change hands several times, but had no scoring from the 7th to the 13th, while Sox-A's had all of its runs score in the 6th or later, and (most importantly) a comeback in extras. The (eminently sensible) rule is that the later something happens in the (close) game, the more exciting it is. A very close game in which everything happens late? That's how you get the game of the year so far (and without even giving any bonus points for milestone game-tying homers and ill-fated pinch running).