September 2009 Archives

The Cleveland Indians have fired Eric Wedge.
Wedge is the first former Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Baron to land a managing job in the Major Leagues.
The Red Barons are, of course, the Southpaw's hometown team.
At least they were until the Yankees stole them.
A.J. Hinch, another former Red Baron, is the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

No, Scott Feldman is not doing his Curt Schilling impersonation. However, he's had a long season. But when he reflects on his 3.90 ERA and 17 wins, he'll feel much better.
This doubleheader was tighter than John Madden in a London phone booth.
The Great Fold of 09 continues in Baltimore.
Two teams are one win away.

Roma Downey and Clarence are headed to the playoffs.
It's time to hit the panic button.

Two teams might not win this year, but could next season.
The Phillies end the weekend on a good note.

The Hammer whacks another. Hank Aaron holds so many spots in the record book, but his impact in the game has never been truly respected.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of posts on the 10 most underrated players in Major League Baseball history. Some might are players who never stood in the spotlight of stardom. Others are players whose whole careers were never fully appreciated because of one achievement or controversy.
He walked toward the batter's box, swinging two heavy sticks with his strong his right arm.
The wooden bats didn't just cut rhythmically through the thick Atlanta night. They swung back behind his head and through racial hatred that continued to sting a southern city and state, then whip in front of him beating back Jim Crow's dying grip on a region. And, finally, the bats reach the top of their arc and ran across the scars of a country that is moving in the right direction.
His left hand holds his protective batting helmet near his Braves blue belt that not only fit him, but the time, 1974. He twists to spit at the ground. It lands in an area that was once toiled on by slaves.
He takes his final steps toward the plate, through the fog created from so many memories and accomplishments amassed over a long career. To be sure, this is not the Hank Aaron of 1955. That was a lean young man with a ferocious swing that attacked the ball with the force of a howitzer.
This was also not the Hank Aaron of 1964, whose seasoned eye, quick stroke and sharp mind caused teammate Ernie Johnson to marvel, "Hank Aaron is simply smarter than all pitchers. ... (h)e puts all pitchers to sleep."
This is the Hank Aaron of 1974. With the end of the 1973 campaign, he'd had his last great season. His talents are waning.
This is the Hank Aaron with the slight paunch.
Yes that's right. Gods can have a pot belly.
And, yes, they can be underrated.

We don't know what happened here. We just know it was bad. But that's been the case all season long for the Kansas City Royals who are not named Zack Greinke.
The Nats can get better. Really they can.
Who's going to close for the Phillies?

Bobby Cox makes an announcement.
Are teams going to find out they payed too much?
A quick rundown of the playoff races.

There might not be any memorable pennant races, but the first weekend of October should have plenty of excitement for baseball fans.
You can catch some great movies on AMC during the last weekend of the season.
Check out AMC.com for their schedule of movies.

On Friday, Oct. 2
8 p.m. Field of Dreams
Saturday Oct. 3
10:30 p.m. For Love of the Game
2:30 p.m. Field of Dreams
5 p.m. For Love of the Game
8 p.m. Major League
10:30 p.m. The Rookie
Sunday, Oct. 3
Major League 1:30 a.m.
The Rookie 2 p.m.

Zack Greinke continues to deal.
The Yankees are in.
And the Nats are one loss away.

Who was the first catcher to lead his league in triples?
A. Tim McCarver
B. Mickey Cochrane
C. BJ Surhoff
D. Craig Biggio
E. Pudge Rodriguez

The AL gets tighter than John Madden in spandex.
Houston folds like Tony Romo.
And why all the NFL references? Because The Southpaw finally found a way to knock Brett Favre in a baseball blog.

Joe Mauer's sweet swing has put him atop the American League MVP race.
For this year's American League MVP awar, there are several players to consider:

Joe Mauer leads the American League in on-base percentage, slugging and batting average. He's a good defensive catcher and he should finish the season with 30 home runs, 90 runs batted in and 90 runs scored.

Mark Teixeira's defense has been an anchor for the New York Yankees infield. Just look at the drops in errors for the pinstriped infielders. Plus, the switch hitter leads the league with 118 runs batted in, has bashed 37 homers and has a .292 batting average.

Speaking of improved Yankee defense, even we here at the southpaw have to admit Derek Jeter wasn't a defensive liability for the first time in years. Jeter doesn't lead the league in any categories, but he does have 100 runs scored, 200 hits and 26 stolen bases.

Bobby Abreu was picked off the free agent scrap heap seemingly minutes before the season started. For $5 mil, he's been the biggest bargain in baseball. He should finish the season with 30 stolen bases, a .290 average and 100 runs batted in. He's completely solidified the Angels' offense.

Miguel Cabrera lead the American League in home runs and total bases in 2008. But he seemed to be in a slump all season. This season has seen his OPS climb 70 points, he's scored more runs and he's paced the Tigers to a division title one year after a fifth-place finish.

Early in the season it looked like Jason Bay was Boston's MVP, however Kevin Youkilis has been the Red Sox most consistent player. He's proven that last season wasn't a fluke and he's picked up the slack from the slumping David Ortiz.

Now, for the MVP candidate people still don't know about: Kendry Morales. Sure, he's got a fun name, but he's much more than that. He's the reason the Angels let Teixeira go. He's fourth in slugging, has 30 home runs, is closing in on 100 runs driven in and has a good shot to finish the season with a .300 average and a .900 OPS.

We'll close out with the closer: Mariano Rivera. Yeah, having three Yankees on this list and no Rangers is sad. But the Yankees have had starting and relief pitching troubles. However, Big Mo has been his normal filthy self. Check that. He's been better. His innings continue to drop, but he's getting into more games and he has a 1.97 ERA.

Now is your chance to tell the Southpaw who deserves the award. All you have to do is click on the jump and vote.

Oh, how we love Placido Polanco.
Oh, how we loathe Milton Bradley.

There have been three players in Major League history with four straight seasons of 40 homers and 120 runs batted in.
Who are they?

The Onion makes us laugh at the Yankees.
Zack Grienke is really good and finishing strongly.
Oh and aren't the Phillies glad they didn't sign Soriano?

Seattle Mariners' Mike Carp samples the ice cream he was hit with as Jen Mueller with Fox Sports Northwest interviews him in the dugout after the 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox of a baseball game in Seattle on Wednesday.
Honoring a legend.
The pennant races are closing in.
Henceforth, Matt Wieters shall be known as the Lord of Baltimore.

The Southpaw just found this video on the Phillies Web site.
It's an old interview with Harry Kalas and John Marzano, both of whom were taken from Phillies fans too soon.
While Marzano never made it to The Bigs with the Phillies, he had a serviceable career in the American League and played a season with the Phillies Triple-A team, which played their games in the Southpaw's hometown of Moosic.
Marzano was involved in a player' clinic I once attended. It was a lot of fun and very educational.
Anyway, Marzano grew up a Phillies fan and had a short career as a broadcaster before he passed away. Here is Marzano getting to hear Harry Kalas call a mythical home run.
The best thing about the video is that you can see Marzano is sincerely enthused.
Anyway it's worth the look.

On this date in 1914 the New York Yankees hired Roger Peckinpaugh as their new manager.
What's destinctive about that, you ask.
Mr. Peckinpaugh was 23 years old. Yep, he was younger than Cole Hamels.
Also on that date in history, Joe Paterno had his runningback go straight up the middle.

Phillies fans know heartbreak.
There was Black Friday. There was Joe Carter. There was the Marlins shooting past them in 2003.
There was Brad Lidge's 2009 season.
Now, this poor guy has to deal with just as bad.
First, he catches a foul ball, making an amazing play.
Then he hands the ball to who we must assume to be his daughter.
And what happens next must have come in slow motion for him. We're talking NFL Films slow motion.

That's right, the MLB schedule for the 2010 season has been set.
Check the jump for the highlights.

Who was the last starting pitcher to win two games in one World Series?

Tim Lincecum looks like he belongs in a pre-teen boy band. Don't tell that to the 11 batters he whiffed Monday.

The National League Cy Young race moves in The Freak's direction.
Mariano Rivera has 40 saves in a season for the first time since 2005. Amazingly, 11 pitchers have reached the 40 save barrier at least once in a season since then. Who are they?
You want magic numbers. We've got magic numbers.

That's right, you can get tickets to some O's games for $1.
Tonight, Baltimore plays the Rays.
The defending American League Chamions. That's worth a buck.

No. 23 could be returning to helm Chicago's ball club. No, not that No. 23. We're talking about the one with class.
The playoff races are coming to a close.

Who was the first National League infielder to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season?

The Florida Marlins could real in a big catch - The Philadelphia Phillies.
The Fish are biting.
The Angels are primed and ready.
And The Southpaw doesn't lie

The Onion has a hysterical take on Chase Utley's intensity.
Here's the brief:
PHILADELPHIA--After Monday night's game against the Florida Marlins, several of Chase Utley's Phillies teammates told reporters that the All-Star second baseman might be growing "obsessed" with stretching properly and singing in key during the seventh-inning stretch. "He insists that if you don't stretch every major muscle group at that exact moment in time, you risk pulling something," said shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who claimed Utley often forces the entire team to re-sing "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" if they don't perform the song in correct four-part harmony the first time. "Give me a break, man. I don't always feel like eating Cracker Jacks in the middle of a game." Rollins added that he was looking forward to Thursday's game, when he plans to finally inform Utley that the "noise meter" on the Citizens Bank Park JumboTron is not real.

Comparing the Iron Horse and The Captain.
Being amazed by Ichiro.
And it's the ninth inning, do you know where your closer is?

On Oct. 4, 1925, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-5, to close out the season. It was far from a memorable game or campaign for either organization.
The Fuzzies finished in seventh place while the Redbirds ended the season slightly better, in the fourth slot. So neither ballclub factored in the pennant race that went to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It wouldn't be until the next spring that the importance of that game would be known.
The winning pitcher for St. Louis on that autumn day was McSherrystown's own Bill Sherdel.
Much like that day, it's hard to find out much else of importance about that contest.
The time of game, according to baseball-reference.com, was 1 hour, 34 minutes. So we know Roy Halladay would be impressed. We also know Tony Kaufman took the loss, dropping his record to 13-13.
He's far from a baseball immortal.
While Sherdel is not a name that comes readily to the mind of most baseball fans, he's an immortal for baseball enthusiasts from York and Adams counties. He owns 165 Major League wins, 21 of which came in 1928.
Sherdel's season-ending win also helped him capture the league lead in winning percentage (.714) for the 1925 season.
But it's not the winning percentage that's worth noting.
That game was the last game played at what was then known as Cubs Park.
In February of the next year, Cubs owner decided to change the name of the ballpark and name it after himself. His name, of course, was Wrigley Field.
No it wasn't; it was William Wrigley Jr.
Just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Chuck Norris is scared.
Ten stories to watch.
The trouble with Chris Carpenter's career.

A six man rotation. You've got to be kidding? Or stupid.
Seriously, somebody better buy me this shirt for Christmas.

Eighty-two years ago today, Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched two complete game shutouts in a double-header. If there are two complete games tonight, The Southpaw will wear a Mets shirt over the weekend.
The Braves and Twins playoff hopes just dimmed. No, actually, the lights were turned off.

Booting ground balls will help you finish in last place. The Washington Nationals can tell you all about that.
Which team in each league has gone the longest without finishing in last place?

Tim Hudson had perfect form in his return to The Bigs. It would be good for baseball if the proud owner of 147 wins could return to his old self.

The Phillies have aces wild, which is better than Wild Aces.
Rereading the Scott Kazmir trade.

Of the region's four teams - Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington - two have winning records when playing at home.
The World Champions have a 34-30 record at Citizens Bank Park.
Which other Mid-Atlantic team has a winning home record.

The Dodgers make some moves.
The Braves make a move.
Ryan Howard's in a groove.