Thank you Pudge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two weeks ago, the greatest catcher of all-time announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was simply phenomenal behind the plate for 21 years as a member of the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.  Over the course of his career, Pudge tallied 311 Home Runs while hitting .296, the 1999 AL MVP award, the 2003 NLCS MVP award, 7 Silver Slugger awards, 13 Gold Gloves, 14 All Star Game bids and a World Series title in 2003 with the Marlins.

Two things that made Pudge stand out were the fact he was a threat on the basepaths, (Something unheard of for most catchers), and he threw out an unheard of 46% of base stealers. He was a triple threat with his offense, defense and base running. Pudge could change the game in so many factors with his play, that managers would gameplan against him. Managers knew they couldn’t run their guys on straight steals, or there would be a quick out on the board. When hitting Pudge not only hit for a good average but also had pop in his bat, a great combination for ANY player.

A surefire Hall of Famer, Rodriguez could still suit up and contribute to a team if signed tomorrow. It was great to watch Pudge play, and it will be a great moment once he’s enshrined into Coooperstown. Thank you for 21 magnificent seasons Pudge!

Lowly Indians experience surge in ticket sales thanks to Strasburg

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5267868

After striking out an amazing 14 batters Tuesday night in his debut (With 0 walks!), Stephen Strasburg more than lived up to the hype. Well now he’s helping another lowly team. The offensively challenged Cleveland Indians have experienced a surge in ticket sales for Sundays for Sunday’s matchup. Only having an Opening Day sellout to their credit, the Indians are excited for the matchup because the ticket sales are big for them and baseball. The Strasburg hype is amazing and the kid is living up and surpassing all expectations so far. I doubt he’ll strike out another 14 hitters but I think another 8 could be in line for the right hander and possibly another Washington victory.

Darren

Player profile: Livan Hernandez

Every time Spring Training rolls around many of us baseball fans look to see the list of the classic “Non-roster invitees” who are competing for a slot on a Major League roster. Well in 2010 there was a well known name on that list, right hander Livan Hernandez. Hernandez has pitched in the bigs since 1996 after defecting from his native Cuba. The half-brother of Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, has done alot in his career, including win a World Series (1997 w/ the Florida Marlins), lead the league in innings pitched (3 times), pitched in four postseasons as well as the 2005 All-Star game. With all that being said, Livan was a “NRI” this year with the Washington Nationals, one of his many former teams, and ended up making the squad after posting solid numbers in the Spring. After the Nationals sent phenom Stephen Strasburg to AA and looked at their remaining options, they realized Livan was their #1 option and officially put on the 25 man roster. It only added to one of baseballs unique resumes…

After debuting in 1996, Livan was a vital part of the Florida Marlins World Championship team in 1997, winning 9 regular season games and 4 postseason games, including two in the World Series. Livan has posted some fine seasons over the years but whats unique about it is that he’s a journetman. Having pitched for the (are you ready?) Marlins, Giants, Mets, Rockies, Expos/Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Twins, Hernandez has bounced around often in his career but one thing that hasn’t; his productivity. Wherever he’s pitched Livan has had “workhorse” as his calltag. Never one to shy away from throwing 120 pitches, Livan has racked up nine season in which he’s tossed over 200 innings in a season, typically unheard of in today’s game. Livan in that same span has won a respectable 160 games and completed 48 of them.

After a couple subpar seasons, Livan is having a career “resurgance” in Washington once again. Through five starts Livan is 4-1 with an ERA at a microscopic 0.99 and a WHIP of 1.018. Now we know those numbers won’t hold up over the course of the season, but it is very nice to see one of the good and hardworking guys in the sport post fantastic numbers, especially for a pitch-to-contact type pitcher in his mid-30′s. With Washington currently hovering over .500, Livan might just help keep them there for a duration that NOBODY would have predicted. I would love to see Livan July 13th in Anaheim pitching for the National League in the All-Star game, and at this pace, he just may be there.

Darren

Analyzing Roy Halladays 1st Phillies start

http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=300405120

Yesterday marked the first time in Roy Halladay’s 13 year career that the 32 year old right-hander started a home game in the United States. By God was it a good one at that. Halladay had spent his entire career up in Toronto as we all know, and after an offseason trade brought him to the Philadelphia Phillies, many believed the Phillies would reach their third straight World Series and Halladay would be the favorite to win his second Cy Young. Halladay showed everyone that he’s prepared to do so by simply baffling the Washington Nationals hitters for seven innnings of classic Roy Halladay ball. His pitching line read: 7IP 6H 1ER 2BB 9SO and 88 pitches (59 strikes,67%). Need I say more? Halladay has consistently won on bad teams, averaging 13.4 wins per year over the last dozen years. Now on a championship-caliber squad, Halladay should be able to win 20,21,22 games and possibly even more in 2010. The odd stat in the sheet was that Halladay, a career American League pitcher, had made contact in 3 of 4 at bats and even drove in a run with an infield single. Halladay pitched like a true ace and I can’t wait for his next 33-34 (Plus playoffs) starts this year.

Darren

Strasburg sent to Double-A

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2010/news/story?id=5012625

The Washington Nationals sent their future ace Stephen Strasburg to Double-A Harrisburg after 3 Spring Training starts. Washingtons best pitcher in Spring Training, Strasburg was sent down and told to work on slowing down his delivery from the stretch. 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, Strasburg struck out twelve in nine innings and looked fantastic in a preview of whats to come for the next decade. I’ve said he was the real deal and every person I have talked to about him has said he is as well. The Nationals know he’s “that guy” and want to make sure he’s Major League-ready before unleashing him on the National League. Washington is doing the right thing here and should be applauded. Keep your eyes out for the Nats as I believe they could possibly contend for a playoff spot as soon as 2011.

Darren

Manny Acta hired as Indians manager

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4593663

Manny Acta is a good hire by the Indians. Despite not having a good record, Acta is well-liked and should help the Indians turn it around.

Darren

Adam Dunn reaches milestone

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4306162

5th fastest to 300 HR’s all-time. Adam Dunn is one of the best power hitters in the game (despite his usual sub .250 avg), and is exciting to watch when he makes contact. I think he sticks around for a few more years and ends up with around 500 for his career. Congrats Adam Dunn.

Darren

Stephen Strasburg-The buzz

As most people know, Stephen Strasburg was drafted #1 overall by the Washington Nationals. Straburg, a pitcher at San Diego St, has been givin the label of “The best college pitcher in NCAA history.” Many compare his buzz to that of Mark Prior when he came out of college back in 2001. Many baseball fans remember Prior getting the biggest bonus in history ($10.5 million), and remember the long list of injuries he’s suffered over his career. The Nationals have til August 17th to sign Strasburg and more than likely will break the Cubs record by offering anywhere from $20 million on up to $50 million. Is he worth it?

Many view Strasburg as a talented,young,hard-throwing righty with so much upside that he might not even need to pitch in the minor leagues. I was able to get in contact with a major league scout (who asked to be anonimous), what he thought about Strasburg. “He has all the tools to be successful at the Major League level now. He has great control, great focus and I wouldnt be suprised to see him win a Cy Young at an early age.” Could we see another Roger Clemens type career from Strasburg? (Minus the PEDs alligations) From what ive seen from him I wouldnt be all that suprised to see him win a couple Cy Young awards.

The buzz around San Diego St. in regards to baseball and Stephen Strasburg is at an all-time high. First you have a Hall Of Famer in coach Tony Gwynn, you have a team that made it into the NCAA playoffs, and you have the #1 pick in the MLB draft at your school. I asked Larry Gibbs, a sophomore defensive lineman for the football team, what he thought of the Strasburg situation at school. “Its crazy! You can’t go anywhere without someone talking about him or baseball. He’s very talented and the publicity for him is well deserved. He’s a beast and will do well at the next level.” In my opinion when scouts,major league general managers, national media outlets, and athletes from other sports are all endorsing you, you have TALENT.

You may ask, “Has he peformed well enough to have all this buzz?” or “Is he really worth all that money?” In short the answer is he has pitched outstanding in his college career and he is worth a record signing bonus. He has done everything from striking out 23 in a game (vs Utah),to tossing a no-hitter (vs Air Force), to going 13-1 with and ERA of 1.32 and a K/BB ratio of 195/19. If I were the Nationals i’d offer up around $20-25 million and get him signed ASAP. Washington needs a player of his magnitude because things arent going very well for them at the moment (last in the NL East,20GB). The impact this man will have on the team and the MLB will be beneficial for all parties involved an many fans,myself included, will be tuning in every 5th day to a Nationals game to see what he does in the Big Leagues.

 

Darren

MLB Notebook – 06/08/09

• Shame on the Atlanta Braves for how they handled the Tom Glavine situation.  If you had planned on releasing the guy a lot earlier, why didn’t you do so?  And if you really cared about putting your team in the best position to win, why wasn’t Tommy Hanson on your opening day roster?  Congratulations Frank Wren, you are a moron.  
• In the best interest of the Red Sox, David Ortiz might as well start tanking now and stop faking like he’s going to come back and be productive.  This way, the Red Sox can go out and acquire Nick Johnson, who with Youk, would give starting pitchers havoc by taking all their pitches at the plate.  In the postseason, pitch selection is what it is all about and a move like this would pay dividends later.  Papi is probably 36 like everyone says he is and he is experiencig what hitters not on juice do at the end of their careers, the sudden and tragic downfall.  
• The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to amaze people throughout baseball cycles.  Trading Nate McLouth is one thing, but not shopping him around is another.  The Pirates got an okay package for him, but trying to hide the notion that the trade was not done for financial reasons is a lie.  If you were trying to get the best package of players for him, you would have called other teams.  The Braves were pretty much it and with the draft around the corner and your GM saying Nate’s money is going to be put back into player development, it is more apparent that it was done to save bucks.  Let’s go Pirates in 2050!
• Congratulations to Randy Johnson for winning #300, will not be done again in my lifetime.  

        Brad

 

-One team in particular that has been driving me nuts this season is the Washington Nationals. Another closer switch?! Man this is getting ridiculous. Joel Hanrahan wins the job,loses it, wins in back, and loses it to Mike Macdougal!! (yes that Mike Macdougal) Its June 8th and they have 15 wins, nobody on that staff can seem to get anyone out, Dunn,Zimmerman & Guzman seem to be the only ones that can hit and come tomorrow im 99.8% sure they will be drafting Stephen Strasburg and will probably pay him $50 million. Can this team have anything else go wrong? Now dont get me wrong, despite the record, they DO have alot of talent. Dukes,Dunn,Zimmerman (Ryan and Jordan),Guzman, Milledge (despite his’09 struggles), Flores & Olsen (outside of their DL stints). I hope Washington can win some ballgames and stop disgracing themselves night in and night out. They have a great looking stadium and cannot fill in seats, they have a manager who will probably get fired when its not his fault, and they are becoming the Detroit Lions of baseball.

-As many fans know, Jason Bay will be a FA at the end of the season. As a Boston fan I hope/think Boston will pay him what he’s worth and keeps him. He’ll be 31 September 20th but he still is a top tier outfielder and he enjoys playing in Boston. I feel like he is worth a 5 year/$75 million deal and I think he fits in the lineup very well. We shall see what happens but I think come April 2010 we will see Jason Bay penciled in Boston’s opening day lineup batting 5th…

- Roy Halladay won his 10th game yesterday and man I must repeat what I said last week…Roy Halladay will be the Cy Young winner in 2009. Alot of people were saying watch out in his next start (after throwing 133 pitches vs the Angels last week) and what does he do? Complete game, 97 pitch shutout. Roy is the best in the league and hopefully Toronto can hang on and make the playoffs so he can pitch in meaningful October games.

Darren