Arizona Diamondbacks Blogs

While it should come as no surprise that a professional baseball player holds the state of Georgia's high school home run record, it may come as a shock that the record-holder is not a slugging outfielder like Jason Heyward, Mike Cameron, Jeff Francoeur, Nick Markakis, or J.D. Drew.  It isn’t a catcher with pop like Buster Posey or Brian McCann.  It isn’t even “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas or “The Georgia Peach” himself, Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.  In fact, the record-holder isn’t a position player at all: it’s Diamondbacks pitcher Micah Owings.

Continue reading "Who ever said pitchers can’t hit?"

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a bit of hole at first base after Adam LaRoche left via free agency, but it may not be for long.

Diamondbacks fans, fantasy players and MLB spread betting experts are quietly wondering whether there is a sleeper fill-in waiting in the wings.

Continue reading "Miranda Ready To Breakout For D-Backs?"

You know, baseball is a funny game.  The Chicago White Sox have rescued their own season by winning games, and are a season high 14 games over .500 at 58-44.  Now, the front office wants to get into the act.

Continue reading "Sox Obtain Jackson in Trade; Stymied ..."

With the Dog Days of August about to begin, now is the time for teams to decide whether they are buyers or sellers – that is, whether they should mortgage their future and go for it this year or trade away their veterans for up-and-coming prospects.  “Going for it” says to a team’s fans that the organization thinks it has a legitimate chance to win it all, but a more conservative approach can send just as strong a message.  While a middle-of-the-pack team may have to acknowledge that this isn’t the year, going out and building for the future – as long as it is not the distant future – can usually be taken to mean that the front office is willing to sacrifice an outside shot at the playoffs in order to increase its chances of winning in the long term.  Buyer or seller, every GM will be busy until tomorrow’s trade deadline.

Continue reading "Buyer or Seller?"

Could "The Panda" be snapping out of his slump? Pablo Sandoval was hitting bullets all over the place Friday night as the Giants finally offered some run support behind Matt Cain in a

Continue reading ""Where Have You Been Pablo Sandoval?""

 Hey, we all wanted another bat, right?   I like Aubrey Huff, but I certainly like the 2008 Aubrey Huff better than the 2009 version. I was lucky enough to go to the old Yankee Stadium in July of '08, and saw the Yanks beat the Orioles on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon. Aubrey Huff was smack in the middle of a potent Baltimore Line-up with Brian Roberts at the top, Adam Jones second, Nick Markakis batting third, followed by Huff in the clean-up slot, and Melvin Mora hitting fifth. Huff was batting over .300 at the time, and drove in his 72nd RBI in that game (in July!) -- I remember, because I just looked it up; July 30th, 2008. He went on to finish the season with 108 RBI's, 32 homers, 48 doubles, 182 hits, 96 runs, a .360 on-base percentage in 598 at-bats and 154 games played. Sounds pretty awesome, right? Well, last year was not so good. His average dipped to .241, with 15 home runs and 85 RBI's in time split between Baltimore and Detroit; following a mid-season trade. He had far fewer at-bats though (430), and only 109 hits, so I think it's a matter if consistency and playing everyday for Huff to be successful. I would say probably

Continue reading ""Is Aubrey Huff the Final Piece to ..."

Big news from the Big Unit: 46-year-old Randy Johnson announced his retirement, concluding his career with a record of 303-166, a 3.29 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  His five Cy Young Awards – one with the Mariners and four in a row with the Diamondbacks – rank him behind only Roger Clemens, and his 4,875 career strikeouts are second only to Nolan Ryan.  He was a 10-time All-Star, starting the Midsummer Classic four times – twice for each league. Johnson made history in 2004 when he became the oldest player – at 40 – to throw a perfect game.

Continue reading "The Big Unit hangs ‘em up"

While researching ballplayers of the nineties, I discovered that in 1993, Jeff King of the Pirates drove in 98 runs while hitting only nine home runs and slugging just .406.  I then wondered if any player has ever driven in 100 runs with fewer than 10 homers or with a slugging percentage under .400.  Upon further investigation, I found that in 1996 – the year he turned 40 during the Dog Days of August – Paul Molitor hit just nine homers but accumulated 113 RBI’s while playing for the Twins.  Thanks to his American League-leading 225 hits and batting two hitters behind leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch in the midst of his best season (.448 OBP), Molitor led the Twins in both hitting (.341) and Runs Batted In.  I have yet to find a player with a season of 100+ RBI’s despite a slugging percentage under .400 (Molitor’s was a healthy .468), but I will continue searching.

Continue reading "Run production and slugging: not ..."

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I've been absent for a few days.  There really wasn't that much to report or discuss.  However, that has changed in the last 24 or so hours as the annual Winter Meetings are underway.  First, the Twins offered pitcher Carl Pavano arbitration as I said earlier and as of last night he has accepted this offer which essentially means he will be in the Twins rotation in 2010.  To make room for Pavano on the 40 man roster, the Twins designated pitcher Boof Bonser for assignment or release which means he will either be released by the Twins and be with another club for this coming season or he will start the season in the minors. 

Continue reading "Action starting to heat up in free ..."

Hey Everyone,

The National League Cy Young Award winner was announced today and it is Tim Lincecum of the San Fransisco Giants for the second year in a row.  He becomes the first repeat winner since Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, who ironically was a teammate of Lincecum's this past season.

Continue reading "Lincecum wins NL Cy Young Award, ..."

Last week I saw Andy Pettitte throw six and two-thirds innings of perfect baseball at against the Orioles at Camden Yards.  With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Adam Jones hit a ground ball to third.  Alex Rodriguez was getting the night off, and his replacement at the hot corner, Jerry Hairston, booted it.  Having grown up an Orioles fan and somewhere along the way developing into a Yankee-hater, one might think I would have been rooting for the Birds to end Pettitte’s bid for perfection; however, this was not so.  As a fan of the game, I wanted to witness history.  Sure; I would have preferred seeing an Oriole pitcher throw a perfecto (though even a shutout by one of this year’s starters would have been historic), but I can’t expect miracles.

Continue reading "Nobody’s perfect"

  This is a team the Giants should sweep!  San Francisco sends Joe Martinez (3-1) to the mound against some guy for the D-Backs who IS NOT named Webb, Haren, or Davis, and that's good.  But even against an under-manned and injury-riddled Diamondbacks squad, The Giants have relied upon 8th-inning, three-run home runs to pull out victories both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Bengie Molina's pinch-hit three-run blast off Chad Qualls last night could be one of the highlights of the year to date. Watching Molina limp around the bases (quad strain) instantly reminded me of Kirk Gibson's game-winner off Eck in game one of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium - I was waiting for the under-handed fist-pump as Bengie rounded second base.  Of course the stakes weren't quite as high on a Tuesday night in August as they would be in October, but nonetheless; these games actually mean something.  The Dodgers beat the Rockies today, which means a win tonight could close the gap in the wild card race to just two games heading into the weekend showdown.

Continue reading ""Giants Go for the Sweep Over Arizona""

  News on the injury front is not good.  The Giants reportedly will be without their regular numbers two-, three-, and four-hitters tonight against Danny Haren and the Diamondbacks.  Freddy Sanchez is still out with a bad shoulder and will likely go on the disabled list.  Pablo Sandoval, who left Monday's game in Denver with a tight calf is expected to miss a couple of games, and Bengie Molina is dinged with an apparent quad injury.  This on top of a mentally draining weekend against the Rockies.  We will really find out what this team is made of in a must-win, bounce-back scenario.  Arizona is a struggling team, and may be just the right remedy for the Giants in between scheduled clashes with Colorado.   

Continue reading ""Sandoval, Molina, and Sanchez All ..."

  Matt Cain must play the role of stopper for the Giants against Arizona tonight.  Not only that; he has got to go DEEP into the game, eat up some innings, and give a bewildered bullpen a break.  What can one say about Monday night's 14-inning nightmare?  There are still 37 games remaining on the schedule starting TONIGHT against the D-Backs (for three games), and then - guess who's coming to town for the weekend for three more games? - the Colorado Rockies.  Is it just me, or are the Rocks becoming almost as annoying as the Dodgers? 

Continue reading ""The Giants Have Got to Bounce Back ..."

Okay. I understand that players go through slumps at the plate, but you can no longer consider what Chris Young is doing at the plate a "slump". He is now under the "just not very good with a bat in his hands" category. Sure, he's probably the best defending outfielder the Arizona Diamondbacks have right now, but hovering around .200 at the dish is unacceptable, especially now that we're at the end of July, and more importantly, at the price he's being paid. Yes, he had a good 2007 campaign, but he was new to the League, and pitchers just didn't know what not to throw him. Now that the word is out, he hasn't adjusted properly.

Continue reading "Slump or Chump?"

Hazel Mae interviewed Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports the other night on MLB Network’s show Quick Pitch. Mae brought out the point that the Yankees needed to improve their bullpen. Ken mentioned that the Yankees are all set with Brian Bruney and that they expect improvement in their bullpen upon his return. He also brought out some possibilities considering that Brian has been on the DL twice this season. Here are his picks along with my personal reaction to each pick:

Continue reading "Rosenthal’s Picks to Improve Yankees ..."

What is going on with all these position players pitching in big-league games this year?  Usually a phenomenon that, as I recall, occurs once or twice a season, in 2009 there have already been five such instances.  Nick Swisher (Yankees), Cody Ross (Marlins), Jonathan Van Every (Red Sox), Josh Wilson (Diamondbacks), and Paul Janish (Reds) have taken the hill with their teams down late in the game.

Continue reading "Put me in, Coach! I’m ready to…pitch?"

The Arizona Diamondbacks are 6-11, with 14 of those contests coming in their home ballpark. The team is near the bottom in every major offensive category (last in on-base-percentage) and also ranks near the bottom in many bullpen statistics.  Brandon Webb has been shut down for another 3 weeks and now Stephen Drew - one of their more consistent players - is on the 15-day DL.  Haren is 1-3 and most of their position players are batting in the low .200s or worse.  Although it is easy to dismiss the start of the season to it being only 17 games (still 144 to go), most fans still look back to May 1, 2009 when the Diamondbacks were 20-8.  Since then, the team has played 151 games - going 68-83.  Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing good defense, pitching well, and hitting the ball - leading the NL West by 6.5 games over Arizona already.

Continue reading "Time to Panic?"

The Giants, who were not supposed to-have any offense, is proving some experts wrong, at least for the first three games: They have scored 19 runs.  Any team who averages 6 runs per game will win

Continue reading "Giants down Brewers, freak accident ..."

The National League West is not a division too many people are getting overly excited about entering the 2009 season. The return of Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles has made the Dodgers the division’s lone true contender for the World Series. Arizona will go as far as its pitching takes it, which could be far, but other than that, there’s not a whole lot to pontificate upon. Yet, somehow, I still managed to write 1,383 words.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's 2009 NL West Preview"

What's different here? Well, Tampa opted to start David Price in AAA. But he'll be back, don't worry...

5-(Tie) Anaheim Angels: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, and Dustin Moseley. Wild card: Kelvim Escobar

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Starting Rotations"

Curt Schilling Should be a Hall of Famer 

Dominant pitching ace and living hemorrhoid Curt Schilling retired Monday after 20 decorated seasons playing Major League Baseball.

Schilling, 42, who was awarded the 2001 World Series co-MVP with former Arizona Diamondbacks teammate Randy Johnson and is only the second person in history to have twice won or shared

Continue reading "Curt Schilling is a Hall of Famer, ..."

Kansas High School Basketball Coach Hypnotized Team 

A high school board in Kansas voted last month to ban hypnotism sessions after their Class 1A boys basketball coach employed the therapy to increase focus and concentration among members of his team.

Continue reading "High School Basketball Coach Uses ..."

The Houston Astros have traditionally featured some pretty nasty closers.  Last season, the latest installment came in the form of Jose Valverde.  Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Valverde started the season slowly, but converted 17 of his final 18 save opportunities in August and September with an 0.76 ERA.  He finished with 44 saves, giving him 91 saves in the last two seasons.  So the question is: Where does Valverde rank on the list of Astros closers?  Here is how I would rank them:

Continue reading "How Good is Astros Closer Jose Valverde?"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

Arizona has just traded for Adam Dunn, reports Baseball Digest Daily, bolstering their outfield to offset injuries to Eric Byrnes and Justin Upton, as well as to counteract the Dodgers' recent acquisition of Manny Ramirez. That Dunn passed through waivers is both an indication of his big salary for the year, as well as his undervalued status among GMs.

Continue reading "Arizona Dunn-Backs"

I decided to nominate the five best teams that I have seen perform since the 1995 season.

There are a few caveats in regard to the list that I comprised.

For one, I focused my list strictly on professional sports teams who participate in the NFL, NBA or MLB.

Continue reading "The 5 Best Teams Since 1995"

    Sure enough, just after I wrote about how I’d like to see Jerry Manuel try to stretch Aaron Heilman for some more two-inning relief appearances, Heilman blew a tie game in his second inning of work on Friday night.  After getting through the seventh inning cleanly, Heilman loaded the bases in the eighth and gave up a game-winning grand slam to pinch hitter Mark Loretta.  To add insult to injury (literally, considering the ailing arms of John Maine and Billy Wagner), Heilman was tagged with the loss again on Saturday in another collapse of sorts from the Mets’ bullpen.  This one was a group effort though, with Scott Schoenweis and Billy Wagner contributing to the blown 4-1 lead.  After yet another solid, but insufficiently long, outing from Johan Santana, Schoenweis allowed a solo home run to Kaz Matsui, who has killed the Mets, hitting .438 against his former team over the last three years.  Wagner then gave up a bizzare two-run single to Geoff Blum with the bases loaded in the ninth to blow the save, as both runners crashed into one another and Ramon Castro all at once at the plate.  Then, in the tenth, Heilman put the first two runners on base before handing the ball over to Pedro Feliciano.  Feliciano actually did not pitch poorly, striking out the first batter he faced and then allowing the game-ending sacrifice fly on a weakly hit liner by Darin Erstad.  Fernando Tatis made an excellent catch on Erstad’s sinking flare, but was unable to throw Lance Berkman out at the plate.

Continue reading "Shaky Pen Gets Mets Swept By 'Stros"

As reported in the stalwart Sports Xchange, the Braves are making moves to their roster that may suggest a possible trade is imminent. First baseman Mark Teixeira is the big name that's been bandied about in baseball, and (except for Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday, who will either go close to the deadline or not at all) is the Last Man Standing as far as frontline trade candidates go.

Continue reading "Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop"

A funny thing happened to the Giants and their fans at At&T Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:  Not only did they sweep the series against the Nationals, Matt Cain pitched a four hit sh

Continue reading "A funny thing happened...!"

This weekend, I was invited to a mini-high school reunion/get-together in south Florida. One of my best buddies and future subject of tennis elbow surgery, Mario A, invited me down a day early for a Florida Marlins game. (Mario and I once played tennis alongside the Swedish national team featuring Mats Wilander and a young Stefan Edberg, bombarding them with newly released, over-sized tennis ballsa�� but that's a story for another time). As it's unlike me to refuse a free ticket to a sporting event of any kind, I cordially accepted his invitation and off we went to Dolphin Stadium to see Florida take on the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

Continue reading "The Lost Art of the Complete Game ..."

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

I just couldn’t pass up the chance to chronicle the final game that will matter in Yankee Stadium’s history. New York’s starting rotation is so poor that there’s no way they can make a deep run in the postseason this year, leaving the All-Star game as the last highlight (I hope).

Continue reading "All-Star mayhem in The Bronx"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

    Mike Pelfrey pitched another gem Sunday night, throwing eight shutout innings in the Mets' 7-0 victory over the Rockies, and won his sixth straight start.  New York cruised through their six-game homestand, outscoring the Giants and Rockies 31-4 with four shutouts to boot.  They now stand just a half game behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East.

Continue reading "Big Pelf and the Mets Take Nine Into ..."

Before Wednesday’s game the Dodgers sent rookie pitcher Clayton Kershaw to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Hiroki Kuroda, who was coming off the disabled list. While Kershaw has been inconsistent throughout his first major-league stint, Kuroda has been even more so in his first season in the America. Kuroda has had brilliant games, such as his start in May against the Astros, and some horrific outings, such as his last start before the injury, when he gave up six runs in less than three innings in San Diego.

Continue reading "All 4-1 and Kuroda for All: Righty ..."

                After coughing up a five-run lead and heading for extra innings, you’d think the Dodger offense would just roll over and die, and drop their fifth straight game to Houston.

Continue reading "Kent's 11th-Hour Homer Gives Dodgers ..."

21st century MLB is all about the setup man...ya know, the pitcher who gets you through the 7th and 8th innings to your star closer in the 9th. With Julian Tavares gone, Mike Timlin on the DL, & Okijima still burnt out from the 2007 season, the Sox enter the 2nd part of the 2008 season with a huge hole in their bullpen.

Continue reading "THe Setup man...where is he???"

                Although baseball has a long and cherished history, the thrill of going to a baseball game is the chance of seeing something unique and unexpected.  Last night the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium saw the Dodgers win despite recording no hits, and broadcaster Vin Scully claims that in his fifty-plus years calling baseball games he’s never seen such an occurrence (though with the way his memory is aging these days, he might’ve years and years ago). However, seeing such unusual history only takes on meaning when contrasted with the everyday normality that is the slog of a six-month baseball season. The extraordinary only becomes noticed when compared to the ordinary.

Continue reading "Dodgers Wallop Three Singles Off ..."

So there I was, lounging on the couch with my dog, half-way paying attention to Kevin Cash's eighth-inning at-bat Wednesday night. Half-way paying attention, you see, because Cash's last 40 or so trips to the plate have resulted in something of a similar outcome - ugliness. Obviously nobody is expecting a 40-40 season from a back-up catcher, and he continues to do what he was brought here to do - catch Wake - but his swing hasn't exactly been drawing comparisons to Griffey, Jr. of late.

Continue reading "Catching A Break"

Randy Johnson vs. Tim Wakefield

The last time these two pitchers faced off was Sept. 11, 2005 at Yankee Stadium.

Kevin Youkilis was in the game with a black eye like I’ve never seen before. And my favorite, David Ortiz, is chomping at the

Continue reading "Red Sox vs Arizona Diamondbacks"

This is getting serious.

The Twins have swept two consecutive interleague series at home, finishing off the Diamondbacks after squishing the Nats. The team is third behind the Yankees and Athletics in interleague wins with 115 to those two teams' 119.

Continue reading "Twins, on a roll, beat Arizona for sixth straight"

A bullpen is all about trust, both for the team and for the fans.  A manager needs to be able to trust a reliever to put the game away, and the fan needs to trust that the reliever won’t cause more headaches with a late-inning meltdown.  An Indians fan spending the ninth inning with Joe Borowski is going skydiving without knowing whether you grabbed a parachute or a parakeet until it’s too late; a Yankees fan spending the ninth inning with Mariano Rivera is awaiting the everyday beauty of watching a simple yet majestic sunset.

Continue reading "Fantastic Four Help Dodgers Avert Cleveland Sweep"

Interleague play has been good to many American League teams over the years, but perhaps none more so than the Twins.

Two years ago, the Twins' rise started with interleague play, and perhaps history is repeating itself.

Continue reading "Twins win fifth in row"

The Twins extended their winning streak to four today with a 7-2 win over Arizona and drew closer to the White Sox, who were beaten by the Cubs.

Minnesota scored six runs in the third inning and rode a good performance by Scott Baker, whose ERA improved to 3.47. The young Twins pitchers have done well at home -- now they need to show they can do the same on the road.

Continue reading "Twins unrattled by Diamondbacks' visit"

You can’t say there are many teams the Dodgers have enjoyed playing this season.  The team is inconsistent to the point that consecutive wins are hard to come by, and winning streaks , other than an eight-game stretch B.F.I. (Before Furcal’s Injury), are few and far between.

Continue reading "Win Some, Lose Some: Dodgers Win ..."

We're starting to see the shape of this year's baseball season a bit more clearly.

Some teams are really good. The Red Sox, White Sox and Angels, perhaps the Rays.

The jury's still out on the A's, who might be able to contend. (Or not.) It's hard to know what to think about the Yankees. They were even worse last year but came back. You can't write them off too quickly -- they have such a huge payroll that they could go out and buy a pitcher.

Continue reading "Pretenders, Contenders"

Facing the second batter in last night's game against the Giants, Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens at #2 on the all-time strikeouts list. With the third batter, he gained sole possession of the second spot, a place he should hold for a very, very long time.

Continue reading "The Big Unit Climbs Over Clemens"

The sox can tie Tampa for the lead in the AL East tonight as Beckett takes the mound, going for his 6th win. Ortiz is on the 15 DL with a torn ECU tendon-- known as the extensor carpi ulnaris to us science geeks. Theo & Francona are in agreement that surgery wont be necessary; we'll wait and see if the Vader-like cast will do the trick. JD Drew was the offensive star of last night's win, going 2 for 3 along with Coco Crisp's off the wall tie breaking double.  Dice-K's replacement Justin Masterson allowed four runs on six hits in six innings-- he's 2-0 with a The Rays are 0-4 at Fenway Park this season; 65-88 since their inaugural season 10 years ago. They'll return for a final 3 game series in September following tomorrow nights game.

Continue reading "Beckett goes for #6!!!"

Who has the best bullpen in baseball this year. Is it the Red Sox with Papelbon and Okajima? Is it the Reds with Cordero, Weathers and Bray? Here is a breakdown of the top pens in the big leagues.

Continue reading "The Best Bullpen In Baseball"

Randy Winn had a lot to say about the outcome of tonight's game against the Western Division leading Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix...He clubbed two solo homers to left field, bot

Continue reading "Giants sweep the Diamondbacks; Big ..."

Monkey off the back?...The Giants may have gotten the monkey off their backs with an 11-3 blowout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday evening...Ask anyone, that is what I have been saying that they needed for weeks now...Jonathan Sanchez went 6 innings, gave up just 6 hits and walked 3...His record now stands at 3-3...Should it surprise you that BENGIE MOLINA had another good night on the road.  With three more hits tonight, he is batting around .667 in his last 7 games.  His BA is up into the .320's...He is going to miss the road...Let's not forget the contributions of Ray-Ray Durham with a solo homer and a three run triple.  He is now hitting in the solid .280's.  Since Velez was sent down last week, Ray-Ray has become the fulltime second sacker again.  He provides a lot of leadership too...Emmanuel Burris at short, giving Omar Vizquel the night off.  Since his hot start when he returned two weeks ago, his bat has turned against him...The Giants are planning to honor Omar with some kind of ceremony Friday evening against the Padres.  They aren't saying what though...One more tomorrow night against the D'backs and the 'Big Unit' and then home for three against the Padres beginning Friday evening...Good reading and Good Rootin'!  May 28th, 2008! 

Continue reading "BLOWOUT!!!!!"

TIM LINCECUM and BENGIE MOLINA pretty much had their respective ways with the Western Division leading Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday evening in Phoenix...LINCECUM went 7 1/3 innings, striking out 7, while giving up six hits and walking 3 Diamondbacks.  LINCECUM is proving to be the Giants stopper, as he won for the fifth time after a Giants loss.  His record is now 7-1 ("Your kingdom for a balk...")...Each strikeout by LINCECUM gets fans $1 off their bleacher seats next time he pitches.  So, 7 K's, seven bucks off the normal $27 dollar ticket... Meanwhile, back in MOLINA-land, Bengie,coming off being named National League Player of the week with an average of .652 (15 for 23,) smacked another home-run to put the Giants ahead for good.  It was his fifth of the year.  His other hit was a plain, ordinary single...JOSE CASTILLO has been showing some pop recently and his defense has improved markedly, slugged a solo shot to deep center...BRIAN WILSON had an unusual 1-2-3 inning.  Though his ERA is over 5.00, much of it has come on three bad games early in the season and in early May...Two more with the 'Backs and home to face cellar-dwelling San Diego May 30 to June 1st...Good reading and Good Rootin'!  May 27th, 2008.

Continue reading "Lincecum and Molina again!"

Continue reading "Dump the Designated Hitter Rule ..."

Extra, extra, Barry Zito (1-8) gets his first win of season...Yes, the 125 year record is safe...No Giant up to now has begun the season with an 0-9 record as Barry Zito finally got his first win

Continue reading "Barry Zito gets 1st Win!!!!!"

The Cubs-D'backs weekend series reminded me of a blog I wrote on the Arizona Republic website. I got really upset with the alleged D'backs fans who were ragging on the Cubs and Cub nation.

Continue reading "NLDS flashback..."

 I can't believe we SWEPT the Diamondbacks!When the Cubs' 10-game homestand began on Friday, I was super nervous about what the standings would look like today. Especially since they had a losing

Continue reading "Sweep Redemption!"

May 12, 2008 – Padres Bloggers: I’m still behind so this is my one-stop effort to get Padres release information up-to-date. Obviously they are off to a rough start and going into today have the worst record in baseball at 14-24 (.368).

Continue reading "San Diego Padres Updates"

After another game where stranding base-runners has become a common theme, what Lou Piniella had the right words to sum up the Cubs recent slide, "Like I told my guys after the ballgame, make the other team beat you, don't just give it to them," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "You play like that and you're going to lose quite a few of them, or most of them. Anyway, it's over with. Done."

Continue reading "Cubs lose 5-3 after having bases-loaded with 1 out"

A weekend visit to Philadelphia saw the Giants winning a one run decision, while dropping two others.  Both of the losses came in the Phillies last at bat, including a walk off two run homer by

Continue reading "Giants Drop 2 to Phillies"

With the demotion of Rich Hill to Iowa, Sean Gallagher has returned to the North Side and with his return, I don't see any reason not to just put it in the starting rotation. He pitched well last season out of the bullpen and in the starting rotation. Just leave Lieber and Marshall in their current roles and let it ride I figure. Hill will probably be back within a couple weeks and Scott Eyre will be returning soon. This is a good opportunity to show and see what Gallagher has if he is going to be a part of this rotation soon or trade bait for July.

Continue reading "Why not give Gallagher a start?"

Only last season Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was being mentioned as an elite major league player. Those thoughts seem like a distant  memory as he ended the opening month batting .250, while posting a .307 OBP. More disturbingly he has been caught stealing in half his attempts. Reyes has six stolen bases on the year and has been caught three times. Chalk this up to bad luck, or facing good pitchers for a short time, but if his percentage doesn't improve significantly one of Reyes' best weapons will be compromised. 

Continue reading "Reyes supplies fuel for Mets club"

Opening an important series in Arizona tonight the Mets face a formiddable challenge against the National league's best club tot his point. The Diamondbacks boast the best starting rotation in the National League-with Micah Owings, Brandon Webb and Dan Haren posting a combined 14-1 record on the season. In comparison, Mets starters have been solidly mediocre. 

Continue reading "Mets treading water heading into desert"

Well the Yanks just dropped their 2nd straight to the Tigers.  This puts all of the pressure onto Ian Kennedy to pitch well tomorrow and avoid being swept.

 

Overall, Pettitte pitched okay, gave up a 2 run-home run to Marcus Thames in the 5th and struggled again in the 6th. 

Continue reading "Yankees VS Tigers gm. 2 of 3 POST GAME THOUGHTS"

Jose Contreras has officially had himself a quality start. A great start if I may say so. The key really is the 0 walks in 7 innings of work. There wasn't a whole lot of offense in support but Jimmy's 3 run shot in the first sufficed. End of a 'slump' for Thome? We'll see. I'm not so sure. I'm thinking that what I've been reading about moving him out of the 3 hole for awhile to take the pressure off is probably a good plan. Also, Bobby Jenks remains untouched on the season. Just thought that deserved a mention.

Continue reading "It's official"

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/03/arizona_pitcher_doug_davis_has.

He got biopsy results this week that resulted ina cancer diagnosis. From AP-

PHOENIX - Diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Doug Davis decided he wanted to keep pitching until his April 10 operation.

Continue reading "Arizona Pitcher Doug Davis has cancer"

March 17, 2008 -- Yesterday's Spring Training game between the San Diego Padres & Colorado Rockies was canceled due to rain.

Today, the Padres are at the Arizona Diamondbacks in Tucson (Tucson Electric Park), game time 1:05 p.m. Today Shawn Estes starts after yesterday's cancelation; the game is over and the Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 8-4. Shawn Estes took the loss. Padres pitchers gave up 19 hits. Jody Gerut homered for the Padres.

Continue reading "San Diego Padres this week"

Over the next several weeks I will preview the upcoming Major League Baseball season on division at a time by addressing the key issue each team faces this summer. I’ll wrap it up with my post season picks and predictions for award winners. First up is the National League West.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Preview Part One: National League West"

Someone forgot to tell the NL West they were supposed to be the worst division in baseball last year.  Out of nowhere this division became arguably the best division in the league and had one of the most fantastic finishes in recent memory.  That play-in game was a game I will be talking about for years and I will never forget the Rockies historic run to the World Series.  This year promises to be another great race in this division.

Continue reading "Part III: NL West"

March 7, 2008 - The San Diego Padres won their Spring Training game today. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3. Scott Hairston homered and Michael Gardner got the win.

The Padres play @ Texas Rangers tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. Pacific.

Continue reading "Padres Friday wrap up ... beat the ..."

March 7, 2008 -- The San Diego Padres host the Arizona Diamondbacks today at 12:05 p.m. PST. Doug Davis throws for the Diamondbacks while new Dad Chris Young is set for the Padres. It is Young's second start of the 2008 Spring Training schedule.

Continue reading "Padres hosting division rival Diamondbacks ..."

With pitchers and catchers finally reporting to spring training, it marks the start of the 2008 season where anything is can happen.  It is a season where even the Tampa Bay Rays can contend for fourth place.  It is a season where the impossible turns into the possible.  Just listen to Ryan Dempster of the Chicago Cubs make a bold prediction, “I think we are going to win the World Series. I really do.”  Great, just what a Cubs fans need to hear, another prediction. 

Continue reading "Is this the year of Dreams? Think ..."

The Oakland A's and Arizona Diamondbacks finalized a deal on Friday that sent Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks for six prospects, all ranging in talent and success in the minor leagues.  This comes as particularly disheartening news because it was revealed this week that the Cleveland Indians were one of the teams looking to deal for the A's ace.  Additionally, it seemed that the Tribe was beginning to gain the inside track, as they were able to offer top-line prospects and players with major league experience.

Continue reading "No Dice on Haren in Tribe Uniform"