Posts Tagged ‘Mendoza Line’
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Tribe’s Hitting Woes ContinueMay 7th, 2008
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I say, “Let’s play two.”
Then, maybe the Indians will actually put some runs on the board.
I’m talking about Sunday’s 2-0 debacle against the Royals, who concluded a two game sweep of the Indians. During the series, the Indians managed only 8 hits, and scored as many runs as they committed errors (2).
I was given free tickets along the third base line Sunday, and I still feel ripped off. Don’t get me wrong; the seats were amazing, the weather was a perfect mix of cool breeze and scorching sun, and if it weren’t for the guy sitting behind me, I’d have caught a foul ball.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t there for the seats, the weather, the foul balls, or even the hot dogs; I was there to watch baseball. And when the Indians came to bat in the bottom of the first, I looked up at the scoreboard and here’s what I noticed: .222, .215, .229, .209, and .198. That’s the Tribe’s 5-6-7-8-9 hitters, all in a row, all awful, and taking up a majority of the lineup. I felt like I was staring at the back of Mario Mendoza’s baseball card. Read more
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Keys to the Nats’ RisingMay 5th, 2008
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Will this team break out? We know they can and it just might be on the brink of doing so.
In less than two weeks, the Washington Nationals have climbed out of MLB’s basement by playing .727 ball. Their record through Saturday afternoon has them looking down on five teams and tied with a sixth. They are only five games below .500.
The Nats are 8-3 in their past 11 games, during which they captured series against three solid teams, and they’ll try to clinch another series Sunday afternoon.
Through Saturday afternoon, they have won two of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right handed pitcher Tim Redding leads the charge Sunday in game four at Nationals Park against Ian Snell, also a righthander. Should the Nats lose, they’ll at least emerge with a series tie.
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From Cy Cy Sabathia to Sigh, Sigh, Sabathia.April 17th, 2008
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I was hoping it didn’t have to come to this. I avoided writing about him as long as I could. But after tonight’s game against the Detroit Tigers, I have no choice: (warning: understatement alert!) CC Sabathia is struggling. See, one bad start is a mere blip. Two consecutive poor starts is an aberration. Three might be a pattern. But four? Uh, oh.
First, I’m gonna get the homer in me out of the way: I love the big man. He had me at “17-5″ as a rookie in 2001. I’ve never seen his weight as a problem (it’s not like he’s 300 lbs and 6′2″; he’s 6′7″ for crying out loud!), I always said he’d be a true number one ace (a lot of people in Cleveland disagreed), and I love his attitude, demeanor, and off-field character. If there’s a pitcher you want to pay $20 million a year for, it’s CC Sabathia. Okay, glad I got that out of the way. Read more
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Jackie Robinson #42April 15th, 2008
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On this day in 1947 Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson will be remembered throughout Major League Baseball for his ground-breaking career. Many players and some entire teams will pay tribute to Robinson by wearing the number 42 for one day. Robinson’s number 42 is the only number to be retired for all of Major League baseball. It is a tribute to the magnificence of Robinson’s career that his jersey hangs from the rafters of every Major League stadium.
I had the good fortune of going to Dodgers stadium last season on the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier; it was perhaps the coolest ballpark experience I have ever had.
Number 42 changed the very nature of professional sports in this country. Sixty-one years ago, Branch Rickey took a chance and brought in Jackie Robinson to play second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. This move change race relations in this country while establishing the Dodgers’ dynasty of the 1950s. Robinson not only paved the way for countless others, he was also one heck of a second basemen.
Robinson’s greatness is sometimes downplayed– even forgotten– by history. Although Robinson never played for the Dodgers in Los Angeles, he was a star athlete at UCLA before enjoying a baseball career that would lead him to Brooklyn. Some major on-the-field accomplishments for No. 42 include winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1947 before going on to be named the Most Valuable Player of baseball in 1949. Robinson led the league in batting in 1949, hitting .342. He also led the league in stolen bases twice, 1947 (29) and 1949 (37).
Robinson played for the Dodgers from 1947 to 1956. He led his team to the 1955 World Series championship, the Dodgers also won six pennants during his career. In his time with the Dodgers he posted certain numbers that have remained as benchmarks in the franchise. They include being 7th in the history of the Dodgers in runs scored with 947, 9th in batting average at .311, and 10th in extra base hits with 464. Perhaps most astounding of all, the second basemen stole home 19 times, an arguably untouchable record.
When he was 43, Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame. What makes the Dodger legend even more impressive is the fact that he did not break into the show until he was 28. We can only imagine if he had spent his early 20s playing for the Dodgers how many more titles they could have won. Present Dodgers know all too well how much the Jackie Robinson legacy means to baseball. Outfielder Juan Pierre even keeps a picture of Robinson stealing home in his locker for inspiration.
Hat’s off to you, number 42.
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Struggles Real For Ortiz This TimeApril 14th, 2008
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Last season was a strange one for David Ortiz, the seemingly superhuman designated hitter that has been breaking opposing pitchers into cold sweats since dawning the Boston “B” five years ago.
Strange because, for much of the 2007 campaign, adjectives such as “struggling” or “slumping” were often found in the columns of sportswriters and on the airwaves of local sports radio when describing the fear-inducing slugger.
The tendency to employ these misleading descriptors stemmed from the aftereffects of a 2006 season in which Ortiz swatted a league-leading 54 home runs. And so, as the man they call Big Papi put up far fewer big flies during the first half of last year, impatient fans, spurred on by impulsive media members, grew concerned over an apparent disappearing power stroke.
However, Ortiz, whose drop off in production, at least on the superficial level, likely related to a bothersome right knee that required off-season arthroscopic surgery, still produced elite numbers as he “struggled” on his way to a season full of career-highs, which included personal bests in batting average (.332), on-base percentage (.445 to lead the league), and Adjusted OPS+ (171).