This Week in Baseball 6/30 - 7/6

[Hawk 34 0]

Which of these players will skip the game this year?

[Bored 0]

Here's a breakdown of who was selected by the players and then the five players that were selected by the managers just so no one thinks Terry Francona picked Varitek himself.

 

The players elected these reserves: catcher Russell Martin of the Dodgers, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres, second baseman Dan Uggla of the Marlins, third baseman Aramis Ramirez, shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Astros, and outfielders Holliday, Nate McLouth of the Pirates and Ryan Ludwick of the Cardinals.

 

Hurdle selected shortstop Cristian Guzman of the Nationals, catcher Brian McCann of the Braves, first baseman Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, plus pitchers Zambrano, Dan Haren of the D-backs and Billy Wagner of the Mets.

 

The NL pitching staff is as follows: Zambrano and Haren are joined by fellow starters Dempster, Brandon Webb of the D-backs, Edinson Volquez of the Reds, Tim Lincecum of the Giants and Ben Sheets of the Brewers. Wagner is joined by Wood, relievers Brad Lidge of the Phillies and Brian Wilson of the Giants.

 

he players selected these reserves: Bradley; catcher Varitek and outfielder Drew; first baseman Justin Morneau of the Twins; second baseman Ian Kinsler and shortstop Michael Young of the Rangers; third baseman Joe Crede and outfielder Carlos Quentin of the White Sox and outfielder Grady Sizemore of the Indians.

 

Francona added infielder Carlos Guillen of the Tigers, catcher Dioner Navarro of the Rays and pitchers George Sherrill of the Orioles, Justin Duchscherer of the A's and Joe Nathan of the Twins.

 

The AL pitching staff is as follows: Duchscherer is joined by fellow starters Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays, Cliff Lee of the Indians, Scott Kazmir of the Rays, and Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana of the Angels. Sherrill and Nathan are joined by fellow relievers Rivera, Papelbon, Frankie Rodriguez of the Angels and Joakim Soria of the Royals.

[Bored 0]

Final Vote Ballots

 

American League

 

Jason Giambi

Evan Longoria

Brian Roberts

Jose Guillen

Jermaine Dye

 

National League

 

David Wright

Pat Burrell

Carlos Lee

Corey Hart

Aaron Rowand

[Brett Favre 0]

Damn, I hope Giambi makes it. And it sucks that Mussina didn't make it.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

C'mon, Pat Burrell.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Os are gonna lose on Sunday again down 6-3.

 

13 straight sundays...ARGHH

 

Bright side..I get to spam the 32 player vote for Brian Roberts!

[Guest !!!]

Are you gonna get ALL HYPED UP ON ROCKSTARS first?

 

Why do you give a shit that the Orioles lose on Sundays often? That's tantamount to excessive hand-wringing over how they play on overcast afternoons in states where the governor is a Republican. I'd worry more about how many times a pitcher is losing.

[Guest Smues]

I really hope in the next television deal that MLB puts in some kind of stip where you can't just show sox and yankees every time.

Actually there are limits to how many times each network can show a particular team.

 

-FOX can select the same team 9 times.

-TBS can select the same team 13 times.

-ESPN can select the same team 5 times on Sunday Night Baseball.

 

5 for ESPN seems like an ok number, and 9 for FOX works since they have 2-3 games a week, but 13 for TBS when they just have one game a week is a joke. Why bother giving TBS a limit? If they wanted to they could show 13 weeks of one team then finish the season with 1 other team. It isn't like they are doing that, but it just seems pointless to tell TBS they have a limit on how many times they can show a team, then put the limit at around half of their total games.

[Dandy 0]

Are you gonna get ALL HYPED UP ON ROCKSTARS first?

 

Why do you give a shit that the Orioles lose on Sundays often? That's tantamount to excessive hand-wringing over how they play on overcast afternoons in states where the governor is a Republican. I'd worry more about how many times a pitcher is losing.

Duh, because if they won all those games they would be in first place!

[JHawk 0]

Here's a stat for Marvin.

 

The Orioles have never won when they score less than the other team.

 

Seriously, who cares? My team's playing like shit too, and it ain't just on Sundays.

 

Same with the Os

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Are you gonna get ALL HYPED UP ON ROCKSTARS first?

 

Why do you give a shit that the Orioles lose on Sundays often? That's tantamount to excessive hand-wringing over how they play on overcast afternoons in states where the governor is a Republican. I'd worry more about how many times a pitcher is losing.

 

Its not.

 

The Os announce crew mentioned that the Orioles dont go through the full pregame routine (batting practice and infield practice) on Sunday like they do the rest of the week. they should blame it on Dave Trembley since he should have them out there on Sundays by now. Its not some wacky coincidence that should be shrugged off as nothing, he needs to have the team go through the full pregame routine on Sundays. The Os have a winning record every other day of the week but Wednesday (5-8) so theres no reason for them to play so poorly on Sunday, other than they arent taking pregame practice.

 

For Fun though, the D-rays have a losing record on Sundays(I forget the graphic) and the Blue Jays have a winning record (10-2).

[geniusMoment 0]

I disagree, those aren't at all fun.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Os were down 11-5 in the 8th but then Rupe came in for Texas and proceded to give up 3 runs on a Markakis HR to make it 11-8.

 

Too bad the Os gave up 5 fucking runs in the top of the 8th. ugh

 

 

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Straight Edge CJ Wilson gives up 2 solo HRs in the 9th to make it 11-10 Texas.

He might need to go hit the bottle after the game if he keeps it up...or not.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

For those complaining about the Yankees/Sox games, those games like it or not get the best ratings. Other teams' attendance figures CLEARLY increase when those teams play road games in their stadiums. Should you really expect differently?

 

Good All-Star teams for the most part. I think the player voting is very flawed. They vote the same way the fans do, but if the choices agree then the league just takes the players second place finisher for the team. So if the players were to vote Mauer 85%, Varitek 10%, Varitek would get a selection that way.

 

I'm happy there were no middle relievers selected this season.

 

I'll have thoughts on the Brad Lidge contract extension later.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Frustrating to see the Phils in a rain delay while it's bright and sunny up here, and Lehigh Valley is kicking off now.

[geniusMoment 0]

4:54PM EST: Jon Heyman weighs in on the impending Sabathia deal, stating that the Indians have been trying to pry top shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar away from the Brewers as well. Heyman re-affirms that the Brewers would like a deal complete as soon as possible, in order to get two starts from Sabathia - one Tuesday and one Sunday - before the All-Star Break.

 

No mention of the unconfirmed report of the deal being completed from Heyman just yet.

 

4:15PM EST: CastroTurf, an Indians blog at the MLB Blogs Network, takes Rosenthal's rumor one step further, citing a "Major League source," that says a trade with the Brewers and Indians for C.C. Sabathia has been "completed." If correct, the trade is indeed centered around Double-A outfielder Matt LaPorta, though the other two prospects are not yet named.

 

Further updates as soon as they are available

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I think it's silly to be stressing out about a team when they play in the same division as clearly superior squads such as Boston and Tampa Bay.

 

And you know, with the D-Backs doing all they can to make it a race in the NL West, the Giants are within striking distance. Their lineup is pathetic, but their starting pitching in a short series would be scary.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Sabathia for LaPorta and co. makes a LOT of sense for everyone involved.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

May I state as well that Ricky Bottalico is one of the worst commentators I've listened to in quite some time.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I think it's silly to be stressing out about a team when they play in the same division as clearly superior squads such as Boston and Tampa Bay.

Id bet a small sum of money that says that Tampa doesn't finish in first or second in the AL East at the end of the year.

 

Oh, and the Os are 4-5 vs the "clearly superior" Red Sox. They get to face them this weekend in Boston which should actually be a good series.

 

The Os are only 3-8 vs the Rays isn't good though but they have never played well vs TB. They dont play TB again til the last 3 games of August either.

[Bored 0]

For those complaining about the Yankees/Sox games, those games like it or not get the best ratings. Other teams' attendance figures CLEARLY increase when those teams play road games in their stadiums. Should you really expect differently?

This argument always rings hollow to me. While it is true the Yankees and Red Sox are the two biggest draws in baseball, it becomes kind of a self fulfilling prophecy when MLB does such a terrible job of promoting the other teams with the exception of the Cubs and maybe a few others. When MLB and their television partners continue to tell you that these are the only teams that matter, you then build an audience that more and more will believe this and will choose not to tune in to national telecasts when those teams are not featured.

 

Personally I couldn't give a shit about t.v. ratings in sports and always makes me laugh when the average fan takes a vested interest in the ratings as if it some how will impact their life. It's not like the major sports are a network sitcom where if your favorite show doesn't get enough ratings they will be canceled. The only t.v. ratings I care about are the Bored Ratings, as in what I end up choosing to watch, and the Yankees and Red Sox rank near the bottom of those ratings.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I don't want to see it either. But to expect the leagues to enact a rule when it would benefit none of the partners? Won't happen.

 

Possible solution, erase the unbalanced schedule. This would place the Yankees and Red Sox against other opponents more often, at least giving the other team some exposure.

[Bored 0]

Absolutely agree 100% on that. The unbalanced schedule has played a huge part in the overexposure of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. It's also led to a lot less exposure for west coast teams nationally since they make so fewer trips to the east coast now. With ESPN's current weekday coverage where they only show games at 7:00 or 8:00 PM EST, you rarely get to see a west coast team in these games.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

For anyone interested in Mets/Phillies, it will finally resume in about ten minutes.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Back to back games with Buck/McCarver, and now Miller/Morgan. Ladeefuckinda.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This is overmanagement that annoys me. Burrell walked to load the bases in a 1-0 game, and there's a pinch-runner. Burrell is not the potential tying or go-ahead run. He is likely to be more useful as a hitter than as a runner.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Back to back games with Buck/McCarver, and now Miller/Morgan. Ladeefuckinda.

Morgan is annoying at times, but Jon Miller is top notch. Much better than Michael Kay.

 

If ESPN Radio is an option, see if Dan Schulman is calling the game.

[Brett Favre 0]

Michael Kay things he's a color commentator or knows what each team should be doing and gets pissed when they don't. STFU Kay.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

ESPN.com says the Sabathia deal is all but official.