Spring Training 2008

[Fuzzy Dunlop 0]

Can I just say that I think the new MLB.com homepage is absolutely horrendous? Seriously.

[CanadianChris 0]

I don't see any difference in MLB.com from last year.

[Krankor 0]

I thought MLB.com was terrible 3 years ago and stopped going there.

 

I can't believe it would have gotten any worse.

[Guest tonyjaymzretro]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

At least good tickets are easy to find. I went to Camden last August, got lower level seats inexpensively, met Boog Powell and had a great time. I think the best thing is to look at the young players and embrace individual performances.

[Guest Beastalentier]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

hm..heh..theyll still be in third place, Im sure..hm..heh..glenn beck

[Guest tonyjaymzretro]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

At least good tickets are easy to find. I went to Camden last August, got lower level seats inexpensively, met Boog Powell and had a great time. I think the best thing is to look at the young players and embrace individual performances.

 

that is the best part...i've already got tickets for some red sox and yankee games, and theres never a shortage of cheap tickets for every other team

 

though why is it when the BoSox play at Camden, it ebcomes a BoSox home game?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

At least good tickets are easy to find. I went to Camden last August, got lower level seats inexpensively, met Boog Powell and had a great time. I think the best thing is to look at the young players and embrace individual performances.

 

that is the best part...i've already got tickets for some red sox and yankee games, and theres never a shortage of cheap tickets for every other team

 

though why is it when the BoSox play at Camden, it ebcomes a BoSox home game?

A couple of reasons. Their overall popularity, the shorter distance to Boston, and the fact that it is still easier to get into Camden Yards for a Red Sox game than into Fenway Park for any game.

 

The Phillies have the Red Sox as well this year. The Phillies are using a ticket lottery to sell single game tickets for the series. Going into a drawing for tickets against a team who has taken the last eight of nine games from the home team? Pass.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

In honor of the 1908 Cubs, I'm going to do a bit of a piece on the 1908 NL season. Anything special I should cover?

[CanadianChris 0]

Is there anything significant that happened besides Merkle's Boner?

[HarleyQuinn 0]

In honor of the 1908 Cubs, I'm going to do a bit of a piece on the 1908 NL season. Anything special I should cover?

 

The 1-2-3 finish of the Cubs/Giants/Pirates.

 

The NYG being the only NL team to post an ERA+ and OPS+ above 110.

 

The underappreciated Red Murray (St. Louis).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Is there anything significant that happened besides Merkle's Boner?

Nothing on that level, though I'm sure there are a couple good morsels I might dig up. Honus Wagner had an absolutely historic season.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

god this is going to be a tough season to be an Orioles fan....

hm..heh..theyll still be in third place, Im sure..hm..heh..glenn beck

What the flying hell does Glenn Beck have to do with the Orioles..seriously?

 

And I saw that Bedard is really struggling in ST (9.50 ERA, 7 HR in 3 starts)..it might be a worse time to be a Mariners fan if he bombs out completely and they gave up a good deal of the future of the team to win with him...

 

aww.

 

Im going to the Os/Yankees game up in Yankee Stadium on 5/21 and its Yankee Cap night, and Im taking a red sharpie marker and Im gonna put a no smoking symbol over the yankee logo to go with what hopefully is my Nick Markakis jersey that I asked my GF nicely for my birthday.

 

Lets all hope I make it out alive!

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Some interesting news regarding Eric Hinske. He's bounced around a bit since winning ROY in 2002.

 

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ra...ticle427627.ece

Hinske, 30, signed a minor-league contract last month and was thought be positioning himself to compete for a utility spot (having experience at both corner infield and outfield positions). Hinske, who started in leftfield and rightfield the past two games, has worked with coach George Hendrick all spring and hasn't "done anything bad" in his more than 30 innings in the outfield, Maddon said.

 

But when it comes to competing with fellow nonroster invitees John Rodriguez and Jon Weber, it's Hinske's left-handed bat that could make the difference.

 

Maddon said Hinske may not be the fastest of the three, but the manager indicated earlier this week that he would "probably in a sense be willing to accept something a little bit less defensively if we're going to get possibly a lot more offense."

 

And just for Marvin (and Tony)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...story?track=rss

 

Orioles manager Dave Trembley said yesterday that first baseman Kevin Millar will likely be his cleanup batter, hitting behind Nick Markakis and ahead of designated hitter Aubrey Huff. Barring any trades, Brian Roberts is expected to hit leadoff and Melvin Mora will be in the No. 2 hole.

 

"If I had to write out the lineup tomorrow, Millar would be the cleanup hitter to start the season," Trembley said. "That doesn't mean he'll stay there, but to start the season, that's what I'll probably do. I think he sees a lot of pitches. I think he always comes up with one very good at-bat during the game. He's a good two-strike hitter and he's a good two-out RBI guy. I'm going to sandwich him between two left-handed hitters."

 

"The guy I want to protect is Jones," Trembley said. "I could see Jones hitting up in the order against left-handed pitching and maybe down further against right-handed pitching. I think Ramon might be able to protect Jones somewhat. I still think Ramon is going to have a big year."

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Is there anything significant that happened besides Merkle's Boner?

Here's one. It was the lowest scoring "major" league in baseball history. 3.33 runs per game.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Merkle's Boner? Is that what it sounds like?

 

Help a football guy.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Merkle's Boner? Is that what it sounds like?

 

Help a football guy.

Absolutely. Give me a moment to check the details.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Here's the details. September 23, Cubs and Giants are fighting for the pennant. With the score tied 1-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants have first and third. Hitter Al Bridwell smashes a single, apparently scoring a run. Runner Fred Merkle on first turns towards the clubhouse after the hit, failing to touch second base. The Cubs find the ball in the postgame mob, and second baseman Johnny Evers touches second base to record the out. The game ends in a tie.

 

With the Giants and Cubs deadlocked at 98-55 at the end of the season, the game is replayed. The Cubs win the game, and the pennant, 4-2.

 

Let me add a small detail here. If you knew the Polo Grounds at all, the clubhouse was actually beyond center field. It was not through the dugout like we associate with modern ballpark. So Merkle would have made a slight turn towards the clubhouse, not a full turnaround. A minor detail, but it helps to visualize the play. The crowd mobbed the field after the apparent win, so it took the Cubs some effort to find the ball and some assert that it was not the actual game ball that Evers retrieved.

[CanadianChris 0]

Is there anything significant that happened besides Merkle's Boner?

Here's one. It was the lowest scoring "major" league in baseball history. 3.33 runs per game.

And people today say the game is boring.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

-ESPN.com reports the Tigers are set to sign Miguel Cabrera to an eight year extension. The deal would buy out six years of free agency.

 

-Jorge Cantu has apparently won the third base job in Florida. They placed Jose Castillo on waivers, and the Giants claimed Castillo. Castillo may have a shot now at the Giants' third base job.

 

-Sidney Ponson failed to make the Rangers' rotation.

[CanadianChris 0]

-Sidney Ponson failed to make the Rangers' rotation.

If ever there was a sure sign a guy should just retire already, that's it.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Another interesting article on Manny Acta.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8032202523.html

 

"In a nutshell," Tolman said, "it's: Don't give away outs."

 

That might sound simple enough, yet staggering to Acta is the number of managers and players and teams who don't adhere to that philosophy. Frank Robinson -- Acta's predecessor as Nationals manager, a Hall of Famer for whom Acta holds enormous respect -- all but ran the Nationals ragged in his two years in Washington. Robinson often talked about managing by feel, by what he had learned over 50 years in the game. Acta, too, has instincts. They do not, however, completely control his strategy.

 

"I'm not the biggest stolen base fan in the world," Acta said. So in his first season, he adjusted the Nationals' approach. The club went from attempting 185 steals in Robinson's final year to almost exactly half that (92) in Acta's first season. Zimmerman ran only five times, reaching safely four of them. And Washington's percentage rose from 66.5 percent in 2006 to 75 percent last year. The Nationals were caught 23 times -- fewest in baseball.

 

Like most managers, Acta said he took ideas from every manager with whom he has worked. But he is also an avid reader, both of inspirational books on leadership and of baseball. If he has a baseball bible, it just might be "Mind Game," the book on the 2004 Boston Red Sox produced by the staff of Baseball Prospectus, a group of some of the leading statistical analysts in the game.

 

"If it's been proven to me that a guy from first has a better chance to score if you let the guy swing the bat than a guy from second with one out [as would result from a sacrifice bunt] -- and there's a decent hitter at the plate -- then why keep doing it?" Acta said earlier this spring. Robinson would frequently bunt in early innings. Acta never does.

 

"I bunt the top two guys in the lineup, and I bunt the bottom two guys in the lineup," Acta said. "But the guys that are in the middle of the lineup are there to drive in runs. That's just my philosophy. That's what I do. I do believe in bunting guys from first and second to second and third. I do that -- but again, with what I consider are my bunting guys."

 

So when the season begins, and the Nationals find themselves with no outs and a runner on first, wait for a hard, low liner to be hit. If the liner is caught, and the runner has already stepped toward second, he could be an easy mark for a double play. But if he handles it as he was taught on a sunny morning in mid-March, he should be leaning back toward the base. The reward of advancing an extra base, in Acta's mind, is not worth the risk of being doubled up, killing a potential rally.

 

"We want to try to see if we're the only team that wouldn't do it once," Acta said. If the Nationals succeed, it will be a small achievement that fits into a larger philosophy, one that is being stamped on a team by its manager.

[Red Baron 0]

Reed Johnson was released by the Jays earlier today.

[devo 0]

I like Manny Acta a lot. Wish he was still a part of the Mets organization.

[Red Baron 0]

and to stick with the Jays, Scott Rolen broke his finger in practice.

[Guest Bullshiterica]

Rest assured he kept his head down and broke his finger the right way.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Jays have to be one of the unluckiest organizations in baseball the past few years. Fourth place is looking more and more likely.

[snuffbox 0]

Looks like Chris Capuano needs Tommy John surgey, again.

[Guest Bullshiterica]

Blessing in disguise. No wasted starts under the pretense of "he's just been unlucky until today." That frees up a rotation spot for Parra or Villanueva to start and not be horrible.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

So is the season opening Red Sox-A's game from Japan starting at 6 AM EST?