An alarming lack of middle infield depth on today's Birthday Team. The starting second baseman and shortstop combined for a total of three career hits.

Luckily, we've got a minor leaguer who can play both positions.

C: Mike Stanley
1B/Manager: Joe Kuhel
2B: Bill Webb
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Barney White
LF: Carlos Delgado
CF: Don Demeter
RF: Michael Tucker

SP: Dick Drago
SP: Clay Kirby
SP: Bob Shirley
SP: Aaron Sele
SP: Paul Maholm
RP: Alejandro Pena

Former minor leaguer with a fantastic name: Rusty Puffinbarger
Beneficiary of nepotism: Jonathan Schuerholz

Billy Hamilton has decided that stealing 1-2 bases every game just isn't enough. Going back to the last game before the High-A all-star game, he's averaged 3 steals per game (15 in his last 5 games). He's now 90 for 107 on the season in 70 games played.

Pretty solid b-day team if we can live with Delgado in the OF. Even with the two zeroes, there's about 120 WAR in the lineup. That rotation isn't going to scare anybody but when the #5 starter is a genuine #4-#5 starter with 1200 innings and counting, you're doing pretty good. And Pena was pretty good.

I assume somebody's done a "best birthday teams" check and we don't want anybody to spoil the fun anyway. But I wouldn't mind a "best team of the week/month" or something.

ALLEGED LEAGUE ADMITS IT’S DEAD

Finally, the National accepts reality.

Game of the day (6/23/11): Nationals 1, Mariners 0. Only 5 games on this day, the fewest of 2011 to date, so we have to "settle" for this one.

Washington's Jason Marquis worked a 1-2-3 first on three groundouts. Seattle's Michael Pineda allowed a one-out double to Jayson Werth. Werth then took third on a wild pitch, only to be thrown out trying to score on Ryan Zimmerman's flyout. Justin Smoak walked to lead off the top of the second and didn't advance; Dustin Ackley did the same in the fourth, but was erased when Smoak hit into a double play.

In the bottom of the fourth, Roger Bernadina led off with a double, and Werth walked behind him. One out later, Michael Morse singled to load the bases, but Pineda struck out both Danny Espinosa and Pudge Rodriguez to extinguish the rally. Both fifth innings went 1-2-3, and Marquis struck out the first batter in the sixth. That brought Pineda to the plate; naturally, he singled, breaking up the no-hitter. Ichiro singled as well, but a pair of groundouts ended the inning without any scoring.

Seattle mounted a nearly identical rally in the seventh, this one featuring a single and a walk that also put two on with one out, followed by a pair of outs to leave the runners at the corners. Washington also put two on in the bottom of the inning, thanks largely to an error by Smoak, and also stranded them. Marquis worked a perfect eighth, and Mariner reliever David Pauley (entering after Pineda was pulled for a pinch hitter who did less with the bat than Pineda himself earlier in the game) issued only a two-out walk in the bottom of the inning. The Nats put in Tyler Clippard to pitch the ninth; Smoak doubled with one out and was lifted for pinch runner Chone Figgins, but Clippard made the baserunner's speed irrelevant by striking out the next two hitters.

Chris Ray came in for the home half of the ninth, and quickly gave up singles to Morse and Espinosa, the second on a bunt. Brian Bixler pinch ran for Morse at this point, which was probably for the best, because Pudge laid down a sac bunt, the Mariners went for the lead runner, and they didn't get him, loading the bases with nobody out. Jerry Hairston grounded into a force at home for the first out, but Laynce Nix lifted a flyball of sufficient depth to bring home Espinosa with the game-winning run.

Walkoffs are good. Runners left in scoring position throughout the day are good. But the best part of this game is something my system doesn't pick up - a prospective no-hitter being broken up by the opposing pitcher. This seems like the kind of thing that could only happen to Jason Marquis, but I'll guess it actually happens more often than one might expect.

Game of the day (6/23/12): White Sox 8, Brewers 6. Dylan Axelrod and Randy Wolf were both perfect in the first inning. This was not especially trendsetting.

Aramis Ramirez led off the top of the second with a single for the Brewers. After Axelrod struck out the next two hitters, George Kottaras doubled, and Ramirez scored on an error by left fielder Dayan Viciedo. The Sox came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to singles by Paul Konerko and Alexis Rios, a sac bunt by AJ Pierzynski, and two more singles by Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez. The rally was purely station-to-station, with no runners going first-to-third or second-to-home on any of the hits.

Having had the lead handed back to him, Axelrod promptly hit Norichika Aoki with a pitch. Aoki stole second, moved to third on a grounder, and scored on Ryan Braun's 2-out single to tie the game. After another pair of perfect half-innings, Pierzynski singled with one out in the fourth. That brought up Viciedo, who completed his penance for the earlier run-scoring error by hitting a tiebreaking 2-run homer.

Milwaukee made two quick outs in the fifth before Aoki singled and stole second again, which allowed him to come home on Nyjer Morgan's single and cut the deficit to one. In the sixth, Aramis Ramirez led off with a hit, moved to second on a one-out passed ball, and saw Rickie Weeks get hit by a pitch behind him. That resulted in Axelrod's removal from the game, replaced by Will Ohman, who appears to have been picked to face Kottaras. Naturally, Kottaras was pulled for backup catcher Martin Maldonado, who singled in the tying run and moved to second on what I assume was a throw to third. Ohman was promptly yanked for Nate Jones, who gave up a tiebreaking hit to Cody Ransom and a sac fly to Carlos Gomez. The Brewers would go on to load the bases for Braun, who filed out to end the inning; still, it's three runs and a lead change.

It wasn't enough. Wolf gave up a hit and a steal to Rios. One out later, he was removed in favor of Kameron Loe, who allowed an RBI single to Viciedo and a game-tying double by Orlando Hudson. Milwaukee put two runners on in the seventh without scoring; the same could not be said of the Sox in the bottom of the inning. Gordon Beckham led off with a single and stole second. One out later, Konerko was intentionally walked, and Rios followed that with a tiebreaking RBI single. The next two hitters struck out to leave the remaining pair of runners on, but the lead was restored.

Naturally, the Brewers didn't go quietly. Aoki singled and stole second with one out. After Morgan fanned for the second out, Braun was intentionally passed. Addison Reed entered the game to face Aramis Ramirez, and during the at bat, Aoki and Braun pulled a double steal. Ramirez walked behind them, and Corey Hart hit into a force to end the inning. Chicago added an insurance run in the eighth when Ramirez (Alexei, not Aramis) singled, moved up on a pair of outs, and came home on a hit by Beckham, and Reed worked a perfect ninth to end the game.

So this game had a few lead changes (and/or ties made and broken). It also had a total of four steals from Norichika Aoki; if he'd had one more, he'd have doubled his season total, which would have been kind of cool.

OK, the computer has eaten this one once; let's try it again.

Game of the day (yesterday): White Sox 1, Brewers 0 (10). Jose Quintana and Michael Fiers were both perfect in the first inning. This was absolutely trendsetting.

Quintana allowed a two-out single to Rickie Weeks in the second, and moved him up on a balk; Fiers walked AJ Pierzynski with two away in the bottom of the inning. The bottom of the third saw singles by Orlando Hudson and Gordon Beckham before both runners were left on, and Aramis Ramirez put himself in scoring position with a two-out double in the fourth before Corey Hart left him there.

Nobody else would move past first base until the sixth, when Fiers allowed a single to Beckham, who then stole second and moved to third on a flyout before Paul Konerko whiffed to leave him 90 feet away. (Much praise to the Brewers for not intentionally walking the other team's best hitter with two outs, a runner on, and first base open.) Hart led off with a double in the seventh, but the next three hitters all failed to advance him, and the next two half innings featured no runners at all.

Then came the bottom of the eighth. Alexei Ramirez led off with a single, and was forced at second on an attempted sac bunt by Hudson. That became remarkably important when Alejandro de Aza followed up with what would otherwise have been a run-scoring double. As it was, Hudson stopped at third. Francisco Rodriguez entered for Fiers, and K-Rod lived up to his nickname by fanning both Beckham and Adam Dunn.

This rally seems to have inspired both offenses. Milwaukee put together a pair of singles in the ninth before a pinch runner ended the inning by getting caught stealing third. Konerko led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, and was pulled for pinch runner Brent Lillibridge, who was promptly doubled off on Alexis Rios's lineout. Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo then singled, and Ramirez (Alexei) walked to load the bases before Jose Veras induced Hudson to pop up, thus completing the unusual feat of allowing four baserunners and no runs in an inning.

The Brewers earned a pair of walks from Brian Bruney in the top of the tenth, but left both runners on. Manny Parra entered for the bottom of the inning, and de Aza led off with his second double of the day. Dunn walked behind him with one out, and the Sox were then forced to use Eduardo Escobar as a pinch hitter, since Konerko was out of the game. Of course, Escobar connected with the second pitch he saw and singled in the winning run.

Quite a series the Brewers and Sox just finished. It featured not one, but two 1-0, 10 inning games, sandwiched around a contest that included 14 runs and four blown leads. It helps move the Brewers into the #2 spot for overall excitement this year, behind only the Nats (Milwaukee's total score is higher, but they've played 2 more games so Washington has a higher average).

Milwaukee put together a pair of singles in the ninth before a pinch runner ended the inning by getting caught stealing third.

This understates the case (although I assume you're just going by the linescore). Nyjer Morgan was the pinch-runner, and he was on second with two out and a 3-1 count on the hitter. Morgan apparently thought it was 3-2, because he was off with the pitch, and when it was a strike, he just kind of sauntered down toward third base. The Sox third baseman tagged him about ten feet from third in kind of a bear hug.

This was after Morgan failed to go first-to-third on a single to right with one out. Harvey's head must have been a-splodin'.

nyjer morgan tried to steal 3rd base with 2 outs and the batter with a 3-1 count in a 0-0 game

if i was the manager i would have beaten him to death with my shoe in the dugout.

for the record if you read any article about the brewers season that does not point the finger at the bullpen you can dismiss the writer as a moron.

the brewers offense sans fielder has held up ok.

the starters have done ok

the defense could be better but is not awful

the brewers season is being sabotaged by a bullpen that is wall to wall inept. ron has been pushing his starters to go deeper into games but even given 3-6 outs this bunch still ruins the day no matter the lead.

tom

um, yes. yes it was.

How did Axelrod look? I'm rooting for that guy.

Wow. That is some seriously bad base running. I may have to dig up video.

Game of the day (last year): Nationals 9, White Sox 5 (14). Edwin Jackson (I forgot he started last year in Chicago) worked a 1-2-3 first. Jordan Zimmermann did not, walking leadoff man Juan Pierre and giving up a hit to Brent Morel to put runners on the corners with nobody out. He then coaxed a groundout from Alexei Ramirez, a lineout from Paul Konerko, and the inevitable strikeout from Adam Dunn to keep the game scoreless. Jackson allowed a Michael Morse double in the second but no runs; Zimmermann gave up singles to AJ Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham but once again kept the Sox off the scoreboard.

The teams both kept threatening and coming up short. Jerry Hairston led off the third with a single for the Nats. Morse and Danny Espinosa walked and singled to reach first and third with two out in the fourth. Alexis Rios singled with one out in the bottom of the inning before getting doubled up by Pierzynski. Hairston led off with another single in the fifth, stole second, and moved to third on a sac bunt; Jayson Werth then grounded to short, and Hairston was thrown out at home. Werth stole second but was left there on a strikeout. The teams put a runner on in both halves of the sixth, one in the top of the seventh and two in the bottom.

At that point, both starters had pitched around a few problems to post excellent lines overall. The game was then turned over to the bullpens, and that's when things became really interesting.

Roger Bernadina led off with a bunt single against Chris Sale. He stole second with one out, and moved to third on a grounder, bringing Morse to the plate. Not content to merely drive in the game's first run, Morse homered, knocking in the second as well. The Sox managed a two-out single in the eighth but did not score. In the ninth, Wilson Ramos led off with a walk for the Nats, moved to second on a sac bunt, and scored on a hit by Ian Desmond, who was thrown out trying for second on the play. Werth doubled, which likely would have scored Desmond if he'd still been on base, and Bernadina grounded out to end the inning.

You wouldn't bet on the lost chance for a fourth run being important... and you'd lose that bet. Pierzynski and Brent Lillibridge hit back-to-back one out singles, and the Sox brought in pinch hitter Mark Teahen to face Washington closer Drew Storen. Teahen launched the third pitch he saw over the left-center field wall for a game-tying home run, sending the game to extras.

The Sox didn't celebrate for long, as Laynce Nix, Washington's second batter of the tenth inning, hit a solo homer to put his team ahead 4-3. A hit batter and a single put a pair of insurance runs on the corners, but Sergio Santos rallied to leave them there. Todd Coffey came in for the bottom of the inning. With one out, he walked Konerko, who was removed for pinch runner Omar Vizquel. Dunn then doubled; you'd figure any pinch runner could score from first on a ball hit hard enough to allow Adam Dunn to reach second, but Vizquel held up at third. Rios was then intentionally walked to load the bases, at which point Coffey uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Vizquel to scamper home from third with the tying run. The Nats the put Pierzynski on intentionally, and Coffey rewarded them by striking out Lillibridge and getting Teahen to foul out and extend the game into the eleventh.

Jesse Crain and Ryan Mattheus both worked around two-out hits in the eleventh. Crain stayed in for the twelfth and gave up a leadoff hit to Nix. Morse and Espinosa both whiffed, but Ramos singled, moving Nix to third, and Brian Bixler, who'd entered as a defensive replacement earlier in the game, doubled, scoring Nix and putting Ramos at third. Desmond flied out, and the Nats once again left an extra run on third. Tyler Clippard pitched the bottom of the twelfth for Washington, and after he retired Dunn and Rios, Pierzynski lifted an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall to tie the game yet again.

Matt Thornton pitched the thirteenth for the Sox, working around a one-out single/error combo to maintain the 5-5 tie. Collin Balester worked a 1-2-3 bottom half, sending Thornton back out for another frame. The Sox lefty retired the first two Nats of the inning before Bixler reached on an infield single and stole second. Desmond then grounded to short for what could have been the third out, but Ramirez's throwing error allowed him to reach second and Bixler to score the go-ahead run. After an intentional walk to Werth, the Nats finally learned the lesson of piling on, scoring one more on a hit by Bernadina and two on a double by Ryan Zimmerman. Now staked to a 9-5 lead, Balester allowed a pair of one-out singles before ending the game on a Rios double play ball.

Seven scoreless innings, followed by seven innings that were anything but scoreless. The Sox rallied to tie the game in the ninth, tenth, and twelfth innings before losing in the fourteenth. The two starting pitchers combined for .898 WPA; the two bullpens, for -1.805. That, my friends, is an exceptional baseball game. In fact, it grades out as the single best game of 2011 so far.

Nyjer Morgan was the pinch-runner, and he was on second with two out and a 3-1 count on the hitter. Morgan apparently thought it was 3-2, because he was off with the pitch, and when it was a strike, he just kind of sauntered down toward third base. The Sox third baseman tagged him about ten feet from third in kind of a bear hug.

Wow. That's... that's impressive.

It was arguably not the worst baserunning mistake of the day. In the ninth inning of the Rockies-Rangers game, the Rangers led 4-2 but the Rockies had Eric Young Jr. on second and Marco Scutaro on first, with one out. A pitch squirted away from Rangers catcher Mike Napoli, and Scutaro lit out for second, but had failed to ascertain whether it was available to be occupied. But Young was just standing there near the bag, taking his leadoff, not moving.

Scutaro eventually turned back toward first and got himself into a pickle, while Young took third. Finally, Scutaro slid into second, and the throw came in high to the second baseman - miraculously, Scutaro slid in under the tag and the umpire signaled safe. Whereupon Scutaro stood up and headed back to the dugout, assuming he was out, and was immediately tagged by the second baseman.

So that's not one but two incredibly boneheaded moves by Scutaro on one play. Still, Young has to be considered somewhat at fault here. His run didn't mean very much, but if he had advanced on the passed ball, the Rockies would have had the tying run in scoring position with one out. And really, the only reason he is on a major league roster in the first place is because he is fast. He has got to take third on that play.

that play by nyjer morgan is not new to him

he lost an rbi a while back because he hit the ball and watched the play over his shoulder versus running hard to first base allowing the fielder to make the play, throw to the catcher and the catcher throw to first to end the inning. if morgan had run at all during the play he would have been safe

i have to be restrained about morgan because in threads past my complaints about the player are interpreted that harvey doesn't like african-americans who are perceived as uppity or some similar bs

suffice to say i don't like players who yap all the time and then don't back it up. morgan plays good defense....sometimes. morgan runs hard.....sometimes. everything with this guy is a sometimes event. mayhe will and maybe he won't. i don't like his approach. i don't like him antagonizing the other team. and i don't appreciate being termed a get off my lawn/subtle racist for voicing issue witha guy who has such shoddy playing habits

The Orioles released Miguel Tejada, marking the second time in two days I have made note of someone cut loose from the Rochester roster.

Does he have a Hall of Fame case? I am surprised to realize that in addition to the MVP, he hit 30 homers four different times, led the league in RBIs his first year in Baltimore... He probably would have been the best shortstop of the 1960s or 1970s.

Does he have a Hall of Fame case?

Excluding the Mitchell Report allegations, I'd have to say probably not. He finishes with 42.3 (BBRef) WAR, which puts him in the Tony Fernandez/Nomar neighborhood.

That seems about right to me - IMO he's a guy who was an excellent player for 6-7 years, who deserves to have people look back on his career and say "man, that guy could play", but who isn't a Hall of Famer.

tejada is kind of a modern day vern stephens

HW's is better but the guy who sprang to my mind was Boudreau who is in the HoF. They have identical oWAR but b-r loves Boudreau's defense (+118) and not Tejada's (-49) so Boudreau ends up around 58 WAR. In addition to those mentioned, Fregosi is kinda similar too. Or he's a healthy Dickie Thon.

Tejada might have an outside shot if he'd won a couple GG and maybe added some postseason heroics. Mainly though it's bad timing -- sharing a position with Jeter, AROD and Nomar is no way to make a name for yourself.

sharing a position with Jeter, AROD and Nomar is no way to make a name for yourself.

Future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel begs to differ.


(I don't think it should happen, but it easily could.)

ALLEGED LEAGUE ADMITS IT’S DEAD

Aw, man. I was rooting for them to make a comeback!

Adventures in PBP errors: According to Fangraphs, the Cardinals have just come from behind to take the lead in the tenth inning. This would not be all that unusual except for the fact that they are the road team.

WE Graph

And now they fixed the graph. That's no fun.