Trade Deadline Day: Are We Safe Now?

I'm sorry I disappeared from this blog for so long. I have a genuine baseball-themed reason for that, which will be the subject of an upcoming post soon enough.

They Call Him Mr. Stubbs

Since the end of the All-Star Break, the Cincinnati Reds are on a tear closing down, if not beating, the Pittsburgh Pirates for the lead in the National League Central (Carpet) Division. The player with a huge hand in the Reds' Resurgence is the National League's newest co-player of the week Drew Stubbs (Wait, what?). Consider what Stubbs accomplished in his last ten games, including the opener in their series at home against the Padres: Twelve hits, four homeruns, eleven RBIs, eleven runs scored, and a 300 BA. What is more perplexing to me is the title of "Co-Player of the Week" for Cincinnati's clutch outfielder. Who made this indecisive move, Bud? -_- (head shake) Crown the man, and stand on the decision! Indecision removes the luster from a worthy title such as that, otherwise it's not too far off of "Everybody Gets A Trophy Day" where every game ends in a tie, and everything you do in the context of the game is meaningless.

Deadline Deals

Former Mariners great Ichiro Suzuki addresses the media
following his surprise trade to the New York Yankees

Ichiro to the Yankees

Most Twitter folk missed this one LOL, but the Yankees' psuedo farm team sends another of its stars to New York for minor leaguers and loads of cash only the Yankees could provide. Ever so humble and polite, Ichiro Suzuki was solemn yet respectful to the Mariners and Yankees for making this deal.

Dempster Deep in the Heart of Texas

At the death, the Chicago Cubs traded one of its popular faces to Texas: Canadian Ryan Dempster will pitch for the Rangers for the remainder of the 2012 season. One can assume Cubs general manager Theo Epstein will spare no expense in making the team in his image; proof that no one is safe!

Notable Changes

Former Marlins and Phillies stars respectively Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino are now officially members of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. What?

Quick Pitch!

Greinke Tossed

Y U NO LET ME PLAY? Zac Greinke (right) pleads his case for umpire Sam Holbrook
moments after being ejected for dissent.

Milwaukee starting pitcher Zac Greinke lost his cool, and then his place on the mound after being ejected in the first inning against the Houston Astros. On the play in question, Astros second baseman hit a grounder to Brewers first baseman Corey Hart, and Greinke ran over to first base to field the subsequent throw from Hart. Altuve reached safely, however, and that allowed teammate Jordan Schafer to score from third base for the game's first run. Umpire Sam Holbrook called Altuve safe, and in frustration Greinke fired the baseball into the ground; Holbrook saw Greinke's reaction as dissent, and ejected the pitcher from the game. Greinke was apologetic, but the damage was done. Brewers manager Ron Roenicke argued the call, and threw in some choice words for Holbrook, who proceeded to eject Roenicke as well (I never liked him anyway).

Both of the Milwaukee Brewers' broadcasters sided with Greinke and Roenicke, but under the rules open dissent is grounds for ejection (See Brett Lawrie from 2012, Yadier Molina from 2011). Both broadcasters agreed the umpire made the right call, but to lambaste him for ejecting Greinke is cynical. I expect MLB to come down on them like they did White Sox fan/broadcaster Ken Harrelson earlier this season. Taking your frustration out on a baseball isn't the smartest thing to do either. Milwaukee went on to lose to Houston 6-3, yet the difference in the game was losing Greinke, who the scorers credited with the loss, in the first inning after throwing only four pitches. What are your thoughts?

GET ALL OF IT! Yankees left fielder Andruw Jones circles the bases
for one of his two homeruns in the first game of the double bill against
the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, which they won 6-1.

Double Sized Treat ^_^

The hometown Boston Red Sox and their rivals, the visiting New York Yankees, treated both sets of fans to a rare double bill at Fenway Park this afternoon. The Yankees won the first game 6-1 thanks to a stand-out performance from Andruw Jones. After belting two homeruns on consecutive pitches, Jones assisted on a double play by snaring a fly ball from left field and doubling up Bosox baserunner David Ortiz at first base, with Yankee first baseman Mike Teixeira making a key, yet artsy, grab on the relay.

Pedro Ciriaco (right) receives congratulations after
plating another run during Boston's 9-5 comeback victory against
the New York Yankees.

Fans of the Rebel Alliance, er, Red Sox can take heart as Boston won the second game of the double header thanks to a pair of minor league call ups from Pawtucket ^_^ Mauro Gomez and Pedro Ciriaco combined for seven hits, four runs, and five RBIs in front of a less than stellar Yankee defense, which gave up four errors in the . Ciriaco also flashed the leather from shortstop (not too shabby); if we see more of those kinds of plays from him, we might see more of Pedro in the big leagues.

Jury on Jays: Midseason Analysis

Ricky Romero pitched a stellar six innings ^_^ Yet, Jays lose 2-0 T_T

My Toronto Blue Jays lost to White Sox 2-0 in Chicago, and spoiled a rare gem from lefty Ricky Romero. With one game left in the series before the All-Star Break, the Jays look to finish the first half of the season with an even .500 record with 43 wins. This is shades below what most fans in Toronto expected from their ball club; slugger Jose Bautista is returning to form, after his slow start, and hit a league-leading twenty-seven homeruns. One of the major disappointments about the 2012 campaign is decline and fall of Adam Lind in the No.4 spot; he returned from triple-A Las Vegas to find his form that was good to him in 2009, the year in which he won the Silver Slugger Award. We'll see if it did any good after the Break.

Blue Jays pitching is also in dire straits. Rife with injuries, what is left of the starting rotation reminds me of the  infamous story of the Oakland Athletics of early 1980s (See Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders). Pitchers like Ricky Romero, Brendan Morrow, and Brett Cecil has stellar campaigns, yet suffered from an inconsistent bullpen that could not close the door (namely Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, both are now toiling with the New York Mets).

The All-Star Break will signal the beginning and ending of winning and losing streaks with the inactivity of regular season play, and this could the change of fortune Toronto needs to get back to winning ways in time for the pennant, er, playoff race.

ANNIVERSARY of 100 POSTS!

Happy Anniversary!

Ninety-Nine posts previous to this, I began a baseball blog to share my love and passion for all things baseball at home, aboard, and on the major league level. Who could imagine HITS AND ERRORS, as I named it then, and MAJOR LEAGUE GOOFBALL, which is its current name, would survive this long? Thank you to all my faithful readers who supported this blog since its inception; if you are new to this blog, thanks go to you as well for stopping by. Hopefully, I will hearing from you very soon.

Reds Appreciation Day!

On a more serious note, one of my friends is feeling down in the dumps. There isn't a lot I can do in this situation, however I do know this friend loves the Cincinnati Reds ^_^ By love, I mean she REALLY loves the Cincinnati Reds (Headgear + Jackets + T-shirts + season tickets (?) = IN LOVE). Johnny Cueto doing things in style against the Minnesota Twins as the Reds shut them down, and shut them out 6-0.

To my friend, I hope you feel better soon ^_^ As long as they don't get in the way of my Toronto Blue Jays, go REDS!

Before I go...

Thome (25) wins another for the Phils, about to receive
an MLB modern-era record thirteenth celebratory beatdown at home plate

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies' star batter, and all-around good guy Jim Thome, whose walk-off homerun at home against the Tampa Bay Rays also ties him with Sammy Sosa for seventh place in the all-time career home runs list (609), but he is also number one all-time among batters in the modern era (1900-present) with career walk-off home runs (13). Not only is baseball the most recorded, categorized, and statistical team sport, but it also records stuff hardly anyone thinks of o_O LOL ^_^ 

Clemens: The Saga Continues?

Acquitted of all charges, "Rocket"
Roger Clemens speaks to the media
Tuesday (Maine News Daily).

After being cleared of perjury charges on Tuesday, former baseball star and suspected performance-enhancing drug user Roger Clemens stepped into the Washington streets with family in tow a free man. According to Canadian sports radio hosts Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt that afternoon, Clemens was found "not guilty" of committing perjury to a grand jury about taking performance enhancing drugs, yet he was not found "not guilty" of taking performance enhancing drugs by his former trainer Brian McNamee.

When the Boston Red Sox said goodbye to the "Rocket" in the mid 90s, many thought the game past him by. However, with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997, Roger Clemens responded to his critics by leading the American League in wins, lowest ERA, and strikeouts: The first real "Triple Crown" winner of the Cy Young Award that year. It was during that time in Toronto McNamee claimed Clemens used steroids to return to his old 80s form, when he fanned an MLB record twenty Mariner batters for the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park in 1986.

McNamee's reputation and character came into question when poor medical procedures and testimony from his former wife at that time came into light, thus throwing the Clemens case into limbo. With no credible leg for the prosecution to stand on, the judge could only acquit Clemens of all six perjury charges.

What this does for Roger Clemens in the future is uncertain. His chances of getting into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame are slim, but he won 354 games, threw 4672 strikeouts over his career with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros (Don't forget a pair of World Series championships with the Yankees in 1999 and 2000).

There is one other statistic that you will not find in any record book: When Roger Clemens flirted with retirement, he returned to Fenway Park for the last time, and left the game with another quality start and a standing ovation from the Fenway Faithful of Boston. FOX broadcasters stopped the game, and even held an on-field interview with Clemens, even broadcasting it over the speakers in the stadium. The most notable and odd thing about the interview is that Clemens was wearing a New York Yankees jersey at the time.

If you get in, Mr. Clemens, which team will you sport on your hat?

I can count on one hand the number of Yankees players honoured with standing ovations by Red Sox fans.

I don't think Clemens would make the Hall-of-Fame on the first ballot, or even in his first year of eligibility. I believe fans already moved past the witch hunt, and want to return to watching baseball games instead of sitting through baseball players testifying to grand juries, which is sad because entertainment and "safety" became more important than the values we cling to as individuals. Clemens like other players suspected of taking HGH, steroids, and other performance enhancing drugs might get into the Hall-of-Fame, but will it be under clouds of indifference and politics, or under blue skies?

Dazed & Confuzzled

My favourite Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista launched his nineteenth homerun yesterday in a loss against the surging Washington Nationals at the Rogers Center. Bautista found his groove again, but at a cost the Blue Jays dropped five of their last six games since the start of this latest chapter of inter-league baseball, which I like to call "Give the Yankees easy games to win so they can make the playoffs again" baseball. Bautista sits third in the major league homerun race with nineteen HR, two behind White Sox clean up hitter Adam Dunn, and three behind the leader, Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton (According to MLB Stats, as of June 14th, 2012).

As a Blue Jays fan, I'm disappointed with this offensive slump, and with both starting pitchers Brendan Morrow and Kyle Drabek out of the lineup for fifteen days, and potentially six starts between them, our chances to build off the success of late 2010 and 2011 are beginning to slim down.

GIANTS' Matt Cain celebrates after throwing the
22nd perfect game in modern MLB history

Speaking of inter-league wackiness, how long would it take for the Major League Baseball to switch to an all-designated hitter format for both American and National leagues? I suppose when, after a very close pennant race, the losing team will complain the winning team had the luxury of using a DH in their inter-league contest while they had to suffer with their pitcher swinging and missing in the penultimate last game of the season for both teams. When the Houston Astros announced they were leaving the National League, I said professional baseball would become all-DH by the start of next season, and if not then by the start of the 2014 campaign when they realize inter-league cost one team a chance at the postseason because they did not have the luxury of inserting a designated hitter in their 162nd game lineup card.

Before I forget, I would like to congratulate San Francisco Giants' star pitcher Matt Cain, who became only the 22nd pitcher in the modern era of Major League Baseball to throw a perfect game. He tossed fourteen strikeouts against the Houston Astros last night in San Francisco to preserve a 10-0 victory, and a spot in history as the first Giant in the 130-year history of the franchise to retire all 27 batters he faced in one game ^_^ Well done, Matt Cain! Now, if only I could buy cream coloured baseball pants to wear during for city ball? For more on this game, click here to go to MLB beat writer Chris Haft's account of this historic game.

I AM NOT DEAD & I STILL LIKE BASEBALL!

There are two camps on the issue of my existence: Team "HE'S DEAD", and Team "HE HATES BASEBALL". Fortunately for both camps, any participants of said clubs are wrong for becoming members in these "illustrious?" fraternities.

Tuesday Spring League

Phil named his infield glove "Justine"! Oh yeah, Jays' pitcher Kyle Drabek (4) joins
fellow starting pitcher Brendan Morrow on the disabled list.

I had a game last Tuesday, and it turned into an epic contest at that. It was our last regular season game, and we were playing the same team we lost to at the beginning of our campaign. As an added bonus, one of my teammates handed me my infield baseball glove that I lost a couple of weeks before. Unfortunately, due to a momentary lack of poise, everyone on my team knows that "Justine" is the name of my glove -_- Sigh...

So, we played our game, and for whatever reason I played the first half of the contest at second base (Travis, stop laughing)! If there is one thing you must know about me, it is that I never play second base. I can be the shortstop, first baseman, third baseman, left fielder, center fielder, catcher, pitcher, and after what happened last year with my knee maybe right fielder, but never a second baseman. There are too many bad memories of games past where I lined up at to the left of second base, and...sigh, I can't talk about it! T_T

Anyway, we are losing the game 20-12 at the top of the seventh (last) inning, and by the fourth inning I'm back at shortstop. The second baseman experiment was a success, given the fact our opponents hit to my side once to that time, but the patient was near death o_O Most of us felt we were better than this, and that included me. Whatever the result, though, I wanted to finish the game with pride in performance, and with some respect. I was due up to bat first, and from the plate I noticed the right-fielder, who played shallow the whole game, stood too close to the action. I usually swing at the first pitch, so when it hung on the outside part of the plate I cranked it over right field for a homerun. Yes, the score was 20-13, but the homerun then didn't mean too much in the giant scheme of things; I didn't want to let the team down.

Something happened after that home run, because three batters, three hits, two homeruns, and three runs scored later we were back in the ball game. Everyone started hitting, at first into right field where the weakest link stood, and then all over the place! For all the hard work, tough running, and good hitting, we had two outs, runners on first and second, and the score was 20-19. Guess who is up to bat? o_O No, not me?! Are you serious?

It's a moment you dream about, but never expect. Why?

You live for moments like these playing in the backyard sandlot with your friends as a kid, however I doubt anyone really expects to live out that dream. In my experience with similar situations playing Division B rep ball at eleven years old, I never wanted to be the kid others counted on to extend an inning or win a game. I didn't believe I was adequate enough. Even now, I feel inadequate being thrust into those situations in baseball, and in life. "There is no life like a life under the bus" is a saying I adopted this year; it is during those moments of defeat that you find out what life is, who you are, what defines you, and why in that place of defeat you can find peace and joy whatsoever the result. That is where you start living, and where you seize opportunities, like the first pitch I faced.

I didn't hit it that well, and it flew towards left field where the best fielders on the opposition stood. At that moment, the wind picked up the ball, and the fielders went from standing still, to jittery, and then turning right around as the ball flew over their heads! As I rounded the bases with hands pointing to the sky, we retook the lead after clawing back from eight runs down; I stopped on third with what turned out to be the game-winning hit: A triple to deep left field ^_^ I thought the game was over; we won! Unfortunately, according to my teammate and third base coach Don, we were the away team, and there was another half inning left to play o_O Long story short, Misfits 23 (Us), Ball Breakers 20 (Them).

I still can't believe we won, or what happened that night. I heard and witnessed many baseball horror stories about similar reversals of fortune, yet to come out on the positive end was a tremendous blessing, and one we shall remember with great appreciation and thankfulness ^_^

So, that was my week ^_^ How was yours? LOL

What is it about: DIVISION RIVALRIES

Diamondbacks' outfielder Chris Young reacts
after nearly being plucked by a pitch in a game versus San Diego

Since the dust settled from the Players Strike of '94, Major League Baseball aligned to a six-division baseball league with three divisions in both the American and National Leagues. Membership in each division is static save for a few instances of teams with no chance of postseason play jumping from the Yankees-Red Sox duopoly of the American League to the free-for-all National League (The ultimate exception is the Houston Astros, but I think it's all about the money).

As the saying goes, "Familiarity breeds contempt", so when division rivals such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox match up the eyes of the baseball world turn in their direction, in particular during weekend series culminating in Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. The same could be true in other divisions as well, which is why genuine scenes of goodwill across battle lines are popping up all over the major leagues to quell the fires of rivalry and bad blood. Errant pitches, like the one thrown at Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young in yesterday's game against the Padres, almost led to a benches clearing melee. Once year-round inter-league baseball rears its ugly head next season, there will not be so much time dedicated to fuelling the fires of season-long rivalries and the mixed signals of every wild pitch thrown during division matchups.

Rangers owner and former Angels great Nolan Ryan, honoured
by the  Los Angeles Angels prior to yesterday's contest,
throws the first pitch prior to the Angels-Rangers matchup

Historical rivalries such as Yankees-Red Sox, Giants-Dodgers, Brewers-NL Central, or Jim Leyland-Umpires are the most difficult to find fans mingling and getting along in the stands. Google and YouTube searches provide loads of examples of wacky behaviour of players on the field, and rival fans sitting in the wrong section of the visiting stadium off the field. I remember when Roger Clemens announced his (first) retirement from baseball as a New York Yankee. In his last game in Boston against the rival Red Sox, Clemens left the field for the last time to a standing ovation, and was even interviewed on the field while wearing YANKEES gear! So it is possible, if only for a moment, for historical rivalries to take a back seat, even if for a moment.

So then, what makes up a good rivalry? What ingredients do you need to start a rivalry between the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners, for example (the Astros will play in the American League West Division starting in 2013...I know, I'm upset about it, too)?