I picked a great time to start a sports blog… I’m going to be in Paris for some time… When something sporty and french happens I will post.
holla
On to the NL –
1b – Albert Pujols – No reason to even talk about it. I mean, Fielder is having a wonderful season… but still. Pujols has 9 SB as well!
2b – Chase Utley – You can’t even name another 2b that would deserve to be an All-Star.
3b – David Wright - Do you get the feeling that the NL is going to get spanked in this game? Wright is good… but hasn’t been living up to expectations this year… with a ton of strikeouts.
ss – Hanley Ramirez – Why is Jimmy Rollins leading in ss votes? Tejada is also someone who should be higher on this list. Hanley is clutch and will be for many years.
c – Brian McCann – Remember when he couldn’t see? Guess that didn’t matter… because he is still doing far better than anyone else. + .400 on base percentage. Not bad.
of – Raul Ibanez – Really to bad he is hurt… he is putting together a monster season. Lets hope it’s nothing serious.
of – Ryan Braun – I love this kid… I have him in my fantasy league and wouldn’t trade him for anyone. Clutch and good at all aspects of the game (with the move to the OF).
of – Carlos Beltran – Maybe I don’t like the Mets… but this doesn’t sit well with me. But he is having a good first half. It was a coin flip for me between Beltran and Kemp. Kemp has too many strikeouts.
sp – Dan Haren – Gets the slight edge over Lincecum. His run support is horrible which is the reason for his 5-4 record. I love his WHIP 0.81.
rp – Jonathan Broxton – Not the most popular choice… but this kid is a horse with a huge strikeout total. K-Rod has a great ERA… but its just about the only category that he has over Broxton.
This has to be doctored … My brain can’t even imagine how this is possible. Anyone got anything on this??
AAA outfielder Josh Womack demonstrates his crazy bat skills at Long Beach Armada 2009 Training Camp. Womack’s ability to swing the bat around and catch it again are only surpassed the his sharp wit. After he realized camp had stopped down to watch him, pitcher Jose Lima yelled out “nice pants!” to which Womack replies “Nice face.” ZING! Should be a great season.
Joe Posnanski for cnnsi – Inside Baseball has a wonderful article explaining how he feels when he sees home runs hit now-a-days. I used to think it was just me getting older that took the “oh wow” feeling out of watching a ball go over the fence… but maybe he is on to something.
He talks a good deal about Sosa and his drug use and how he hit more HR in the span of eight years than Ruth, Mantle … hell… everyone. He also talks about some other wonderful stats…
“1. Joe Sewell: In his long career, he struck out 114 times. That’s his WHOLE CAREER. His walk-to-strikeout ratio is 842-114, and in 1925, when he had 699 plate appearances, he struck out four times.
2. Ted Kluszewski: Since 1950, there have been only three seasons where a player hit 40-plus homers while striking out fewer than 40 times. Those three seasons were all by Big Klu. As an aside to an aside, he was famed for his big arms — he would walk around with rolled up sleeves — and when he was the hitting coach for the Big Red Machine, he would walk up to people, flex his arm and ask the riddle: “Do you know what this is?” The answer: “A Polish joke stopper.”
3. Nolan Ryan: From 1971 through 1981, Ryan led the league in strikeouts seven times. He led the league in fewest hits per nine innings seven times. But he led the league in WALKS eight times and his record was only 176-148.
4. Gaylord Perry: From 1969 through 1975, he threw 300-plus innings every year but one. The amazing part isn’t that he threw the spitball. The amazing part is that his arm stayed attached.
5. Stan Musial: His stats page is just a symphony of numbers — the man led the league in every single thing except homers and stolen bases. In his most famous year, 1948, he finished second in home runs and led the league in hits, doubles, triples, runs, RBIs, total bases, extra base hits, runs created, OPS+, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, an amazing achievement. But here’s something just as amazing: He led the league in EVERY ONE OF THOSE CATEGORIES at least one other time in his career.”
Everyone did steroids. Everyone. It only makes sense… well anyone who was any good. Anyone I loved to watch growing up…
The steroids thing has been beat to death… the only reason I’m talking about it is because of the new Sammy Sosa info that came out today. Arrggg… I try and think about the players I liked growing up and with everyone of them, in the back of my mind, I think they may have. I hate that. Even players like Tony Fernandez … couldn’t have… right? Wait… he did have that year he hit close to .400 for most of the year… and wait… wasn’t he close to 40? Shit!
Okay… so here are players I loved watching as a kid that I’m pretty sure never touched the drug.
Tom Henke – This guy was huge… and looked like my math teacher. 6′5 205 pounds = no steroids
Cal Ripken, Jr – He would have fallen apart. We have seen the evidence of what steroids will do to your body. One of the best players ever.
Tony Pena – I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t even really care. I didn’t care that he couldn’t hit his weight. I just liked the way he caught… he would get in to the craziest positions. I was easy to please.
Ivan Calderon – Wow… this guy was terrible. I just liked his name… when we would play ball in the backyard I would say his name out loud and laugh. I was a fat slow kid.
Ernie Whitt – I swear this guy would serve beer to the crowd between innings… not to mention he looked like that uncle that everyone has.
Chris Sabo – total fringe player on this list… he didn’t come up to the majors until he was 26 and only lasted a few years… with a peak season at 30. I don’t think he was a user. The goggles … classic!
I’m sure there are more… but honestly… take a look back at your favorite teams. There always seems to be one guy on the team with them… or that one fluke year. So sad.
Running down who I think should start in this years All-Star Game…. starting with the American League.
1b – Justin Morneau – This guy has very quietly put up amazing numbers. How is he third in votes? Oh that is right… every time you turn on the TV you are bombarded by ESPN with Yankee and Red Sox coverage. Sad… this guy is putting up better numbers than just about anyone.
2b – Aaron Hill – What? What about Kinsler? Get over it… Hill plays up north and you don’t even really know who he is. This kid is a stud and has put up better numbers than any 2b in the AL. Again, overlooked because of the big teams (see Cano, Pedroia)
3b – Evan Longoria – Easy one. So great to see a kid that is great at the plate and equally as good in the field.
ss – Jeter - This was a tough choice. I really wanted either Marco Scutaro or Jason Bartlett but when I looked at all the info… Jeter came out ahead. I’m not happy with Jeter’s double total (12) but when you think about everything he does… you gotta vote for him.
c – Joe Mauer – Finally! All of his tools are coming together. Please stay healthy for the rest of the season! Why you would vote for anyone else at this position is beyond me.
of – Jason Bay – Can you imagine if Boston kept Manny? I’m a big fan of Jason Bay.
of – Carl Crawford – 36 stolen bases… and he can hit… you rarely see that anymore.
of – Tori Hunter – He is on pace to hit 40hr 130rbi and steal 30… while hitting .310. I know he won’t… but great first half.
Starting Pitcher – Roy Halladay – Yep, bad choice… Grenkie should start, I will give you that one. But I feel like Roy deserves it more. Year after year he puts up great numbers and every year it seems like one kid gets off to a better start. If Halladay played in Boston or Chicago… he would be the second coming of Cy Young. But he plays in a dome in another country. His stuff is filthy and has been for years… He gets my vote.
RP – Joe Nathan – I love the way he just goes out and does his job. No fist pumping… no yelling… just great pitching. The other guys can learn from him. Just because you pitch for one inning at the end of the game doesn’t mean you are a rock star ::cough:: Palpelbon ::cough::
I think we can all agree that Super Bowl rings have gotten a bit out of control.
The Steelers unveiled their Superbowl rings… and they are huge. Some Facts:
• Each ring weighs 3.7 ounces.
• Each ring contains 63 diamonds that equal 3.61 carats
• The face features six big diamonds, one for each Steelers Super Bowl win
• Seven smaller diamonds at the top represent the Steelers’ seven conference championships
• Seven more at the bottom represent the Steelers 14 divisional titles
63 Diamonds! These rings will look ridiculous on anyone that isn’t a gigantic human… luckily most football players are just that. What about the kicker… 5′10″ maybe 5″11″ with a ring that weights three pounds? They need a height and weight requirement for these things…
This will never get old…
Now … why stop there. This can only really be fully taken in if you read the transcript.
Brian: Hello everyone, well the Ball State softball team continued to play this weekend, and….they were hoping to continue off of their straight 3 out of 4 losses, and so we’ll take a look and see how that happened. They started off good, but then eventually, but the Ball State women’s bah women’s team shot down and ended up doing poorly. Oh no. And ok… we’re going to continue on now. In the latest Cardinals will play an Iowa tournament, starting this Friday. Before the Ball State baseball team kicks of its conference season this wier- this weekend, the Cards will battle an instate rival Indiana tomorrow. Tomorrow’s game will be the…meeting …between the two beating both …first…..(exhale)………………………………………………………………………….
Hoosiers are on the 4 on, on the year, and they have won 6 of its last seven games tomorrow will be the game 3 at 3pm. Which – switching to Ball States men’s tennis, it seems last, week player on, it seems every week they have a player……..(exhale)….
Matt Lawrence is the latest Cardinals tennis player to win the award. Lamar won all this, all the singles and doubles matches last week. So far, the Cardinals have had a player honored on the week, on the weekly awards, 7 out of the 9, 7 out of the 9 weeks. The Cards will play at Boise State Invite this weekend. The Indiana, Indiana Pacers are looking for a measure of da rev-revenge tonight, against the New Jersey Nets, and to strengthen their playoff hopes. the nets won the last Sundays match-up 94 to 85 which let the pacers one game behind the Chicago in the seventh series spot. Let’s check out the highlights…………Steven Jackson’s Steven…………….Reggie Millers looking good, he shoots a three, and its good………………Later he gets the rebound, passes it to the man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite. The final scores ended up with the Pacers 63 to the Nets 61. The Associated Press of the All-American first team in college baseball Andrew Bogut was the leading vote, getting receiving 60 first place votes. Bogut who is an Australian native received very little attention in the presentation-in the preseason, but averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds a game for Utah. The other 4 players joining Bogut on the AP team are senior forward Wayne Summers and Kansas of Kansas and Heckim Warreck of Syracuse, junior guard JJ Reddick of Duke, and sophomore, and sophomore guard Chris Paul of Wake Forrest rebounded out the list….Let’s check out some of the scores tonight……………… was announced today at Utah seven foot sophomore center
News Anchor: Ok, great. Thanks a lot for that look into sports, Brian.
Brian: Yeah.
News Anchor: And when we come back, we’ll have one final look at weather. Stay tuned.
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I also came across this wrap-up video about all the success and fame Brian has received in the aftermath of “Boom goes the Dynamite.”
Best use of the saying during an awards show where about 8 people in the audience understood what the hell just happened.
The Vikings are going to send a trainer and a coach TO Brett Farve. He doesn’t have to get off his rich ass… no no… the one team he shouldn’t play for is coming to him. They are coming to see how things are going since his arthroscopic surgery two weeks ago to repair a partially torn biceps tendon in his right arm.
What do you think Brett is trying to prove? Sure, I get the whole “still got the fire to play” thing, but come on… He would have been one of the best ever if he hung up his helmet when he was done in Green Bay. One of the good guys that gutted it out with one team and embodied everything that was old school NFL. Now it really seems like he is just trying to piss people off… going to the Jets was one thing… but the Vikings? He wanted to go there all along… just to piss off the Green Bay head office.
But the kicker is … no one cares. I do get the taste of vomit in my mouth when I hear his name but for the most part the drama is gone… he is an old man that threw two TDs and nine interceptions in his last five games. I’ve been to Green Bay… and I can see those 457 people being pissed… but other than that, I don’t think anyone cares. He sure as hell won’t lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl win. He has tarnished his biography on ESPN classic. It will always end with “And then he came out of retirement 2 times to lead his team to …. failure.” Please stay home…
Yes! Your team just drafted a wicked high school player! YES!! Wait, what? He may never play … ever? He might be the best he will ever be… right now? What is that? You can’t trade him (Thanks Pete Incaviglia)?
Holy epic fail MLB. I give them a shiny blue ribbon for trying… but guys… it just doesn’t matter. This isn’t the NFL or the NBA, these kids, for the most part, are years away from playing… if at all. Sure, some players make the jump very quickly… but very few… and certainly not enough for me to really care or get excited. The best player drafted could end up being a bust and the guy drafted in the 16th round could be your next all-star. And once they are drafted… they are shipped to middle America to learn how to party and play with a hangover. It’s not like they are drafted and the next summer find themselves sitting next to Roy Halladay in the bullpen learning the ropes….
Problems…
1. The money… Why am I going to pay you? You have done absolutely nothing. You threw some no hitters in college? Great! Now I would like you to meet Mr. Albert Pujols. Unlike the NFL or the NBA where these kids can have a dramatic impact to the team and the teams financial outcome, baseball draftees are unseen, barley talked about, and nothing more than a coin in a wishing well. MLB needs to put these kids and their agents in their place. Put a cap on the whole thing. You get drafted first? Congrats… you get a million. Second? $750K… and so on. WHAT!?! So little money… I know… shorten the time the teams “own” the players. If they pan out and live up to the hype… the team will have to pay up. But if you end up snorting more balls than you end up hitting… you can go home and live with mom and dad with the $250K signing bonus you got for being great in high school/college.
2. Metal Bats… They don’t even play with the same equipment. This would be like college basketball playing with 8 foot rims. Honestly… it’s not even the same game.
3. No trades… what good are draft pics if you can’t trade them? What do you think the nationals would have gotten this year? Someone that would have helped them in the more immediate future… hell maybe two or three guys. You let the teams trade picks and suddenly more teams trade during the season… the bad teams have more than one way to get better and the rich teams over pay for crap shoots.
With all that being said… I actually hope the kids do great. Not to mention Stephen Strasburg… I hope he is as good as they say. But I still don’t think he is worth $50 million of guaranteed money.
