Looks Like... Homers

A quick peek at the AL West and we are reminded of how long the season is. Texas' sprint out of the gate has turned into a slow trot and a 1 1/2 game deficit to the steady eddie LA Angels. The White Sox were the Rangers' best friend in last night's tilt when they snuck past the Angels after falling behind by 3 runs.

Adam Dunn put the big bop on the ball and racked up 4 hits including a Home Run to fuel the Sox rally.

Nearly the same story exists over in the NL West where those Falling Rockies were caught on Wednesday behind the 5th straight W of the San Francisco Giants.

Ironically, the Giants also rallied from a 3 run deficit to sneak past the D'Backs. Andres Torres provided the spark with a couple of timely knocks including a go ahead RBI double to bring SF even in the standings with Colorado.

Speaking of go ahead doubles that won games.. Hunter Pence.. c'mon.. this guy is en fuego in Houston. Not only did he extend the longest active hitting streak in the NL (15) with an early hit, he one-upped it with a clutch Walk Off double into the right field corner that scored his not so fleet footed catcher from first base without a throw.

Pence has raised his average to .307 during the streak and now sits 2nd in the Majors with 31 RBIs, one behind Lance Berkman and Ryan Howard. Nice.

Check out Adam Jones over in Baltimore. This guy is a spark plug and fun to watch. The O's are hanging in there in the East and won a tight one yesterday behind Adam's antics. His 4 for 4 day included his first triple of the season and led the O's to a 6-4 win over Seattle. Jones is hitting a solid .286 on the year.

Remember my post about the kid KC was bringing up for his MLB debut, Eric Hosmer? Well, after getting his toes in the water with a couple of games. . the kid was in THE spotlight last night when KC visited Yankee Stadium. Ok, not only was every friend and family member present to watch the "event".. the kid was penciled in as the no. 3 hitter in the lineup! Are you serious?

So, what does he do... ? Not much, just belted out the first HR of his career (and what a swing), scored what looked like the game winner in the 10th (until NY tied it), then.. just for giggles.. he won the YH with a sac fly in the 11th that scored the winning run from 3rd. Nice job of hitting Eric!

Nomar No Mas!

Hold on there Buckaroo! Take a look at the NL Central standings and you may be just a tad surprised at where the Bucs are sitting. Yep, you read that right... Pittsburgh is over .500 this late in May! Last time that happened was nearly 7 years ago. Now, we won't go into the "how" in this particular instance because that's a mighty touchy subject to the Dodgers and.. the Umpires.. and, probably MLB at this time. But, suffice it to say the Bucs won a close game in the late innings with a nifty little hit and run that scored the winning run from first base. That's baseball. Well done Bucs!

Slide on over to the AL Central and you may be just as surprised to see where the ChiSox are sitting... uh, ya... nearly in the cellar and 8 games under .500 for the year. Yikes. But, hey.. it's early ; )

Part of the reason is the offense only has one player hitting over .300 on the year. Yesterday it was Carlos Quentin trying to up his average a few points by stroking out 3 hits, including a HR and 5 RBIs to lead the Sox over the Angels in a shutout. Another few games like that and Carlos might be able to sneak back to .300 on the year. He does have 23 RBIs to rank near the top of the league.

Detroit is sitting directly on that .500 mark at 18-18 thanks to V-Mart, Victor Martinez who is doing his best to fit in with the Tigers. Victor had a big 3 hit day to up his average to .293 on the season. He posted an HR and 3 RBI outing to help Detroit's run away win over the Blue Jays. The Tigers are 3 games back in the Central and trail both KC and those 22-11 Indians.

All in all though, not alot of fireworks in Monday's league action. So, let's look back to 1934 and see if something special happened at the plate. Hmm.. yup, You might recognize the name Lou Gehrig.

Well, he had himself quite a day 77 years ago. Lou was ailing and tired after 5 innings and took himself out of the game. But, by that time.. he had already smoked 2 Home Runs and rapped out two doubles that gave him 7 RBIs as the Yankees pasted the White Sox. Yea, I'd be tired too. Way to go Lou but.. ya ain't getting the YH.

Because... a dozen years ago a fella named Nomar Garciaparra had himself one heck of a day. Nomar racked up 10 RBIs on the strength of two Grand Slams and a two run HR. Wow! No Mas! No Mas!

Hang Five!

Kind of a quirky thing happened yesterday in the American League games when every single tilt featured at least one of the teams scoring 5 runs. Some of those were winners and some of those were losers. But.. each and every game had a team scoring 5. Kinda funky huh. Imagine if that would have happened on Cinco de Mayo ; )

Kudos to Andre Ethier who somehow shook off his disappointment of losing the hit streak on Saturday by blasting a Home Run in the LA Dodgers win over the Mets. His two hits helped him maintain an incredibly lofty .371 batting average, good for third in the League. I know Andre deflects any personal accomplishments in favor of a team win, but at some point ya gotta acccept your props.

Ok, back to the number 5. How about the Pirates getting some late fireworks to knock off Houston 5-4. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom half of the 8th inning it was up to Ryan Doumit with a couple of ducks on the pond. A hit would have gotten them a touch closer but Ryan went one better and simply pounded the ball over the wall for a 3 run bomb. All Houston could do was look up at that darn 5 on the board.

Oh Captain, My Captain! Anybody ever see the Robin Williams movie Dead Poets' Society when the students stand on their desks in honor of "the Captain"? Well, the Yankees were standing on the top step of the dugout in Arlington and they may as well have been chanting "Oh Captain, My Captain" to Derek Jeter. All he did is smoke the ball his first four times at the plate to erase a 4-0 Texas lead. The Clipper Captain homered twice and drove in 3 as the Yankees bombed Texas with '5' Home Runs! Thats weird huh?

Gabby Sanchez had a terrific game yesterday as the Marlins put a rompin on tthe Nats 8-0. The Fish are just two games behind the Phightins in the NL East and part of the reason is guys like Sanchez picking up the massive slack in the line left by their multi billion dollar flop - Hanley Ramirez. Gabby powered out a huge Home Run and knocked in 3 Ribs with his 4 for 4 day at the dish. Just for the heck of it, he scored 3 times as well. Nice Gabby.. but, ya gotta have some kinda 5 to take down the YH on a Big 5 kinda day like Mother's Day. Gimme 5 dude!

So, let's hand it to the White Sox hitter that sparked a rally in the 10th inning of a 2-2 tie. Yup, Paul Konerko notched his '5th' hit of the day and started a 3 run rally that ultimately hung up the last 5 of the day in the quirky Mother's Day AL tilts. I know, his 5 hits didn't really accomplish much all day when it comes to production.. except that last hit did carry with it the eventual winning run. I only wish Paul was wearing number 5 on his back ; )

and then there were none..

Look at those San Francisco Bay teams playin walk off games like they're the norm. San Fran's 2nd Walk Off winner in as many nights has them sneaking up on the Rockies in the NL West. The Giants' little utility man extraordinaire (Mike Fontenot) lofted a deeep sac fly in the bottom of the 9th to score Aaron Rowand and send the Rocks falling to their third loss in a row. They're hanging on to a two game lead in the West.

Across the Bay... (and a few thousand miles more ; ).. in KC, the A's were in a Walk Off battle of their own, Again! Problem is, they were in Kansas City and falling victim to a resurgent Royals team that is learning how to win games late. In a near copycat of events, the Royals got a runner on 3rd with less than two outs in the bottom of the 9th and waited for someone to be the hero. Mike Aviles stepped up and said "I'll be that guy!" while lofting a sweet little sacrifice fly to score the Walk Off win and give KC another boost of confidence in 2011. The Royals are a real threat in the Central.

Meanwhile in Arlington, the Rangers and the Yankees were going at each other tooth and nail. Texas jumped out to a fast start. Michael Young helped by carding a Home Run in the 1st off NY's new "old thing" Bartolo Colon. Then, they jumped on him again in the 2nd putting up 4 more on the speed of Julio Borbon's two run triple.

But, the Yanks arent' the Yanks for nothin and by the bottom of the 6th it was all back to square in a 5-5 tie. Which is when we get to see something I love a player to show off.. versatility at the plate.

Fresh off his triple earlier in the game, Julio laid down a beautiful bunt to squeeze the air out of New York and give the Rangers that much needed W at home.

I guess you already know Andre Ethier's 30 game hit streak came to a screeching halt last night in New York. The heat of that city's media is just hard to fathom. The very humble Andre had a tough time talking about his accomplishments while his team slid further and further into a hole in the NL West. That didn't really mesh too well for a succesful outcome.

You wonder how Joltin Joe did it back in 1941. Well, lets see.. yes, Joe DiMaggio was a humble guy, but in a very different way. Yes, alot of media in New York even in 1941.. but.. c'mon. Just a slight difference in today's app driven society. Couple that with the fact that nearly every game he faced one.. possibly two pitchers for the entire game.

Oh, and the Yankees were kicking some serious behind at the time. Ya, Joe.. you had the right ingredients thats for certain. We're gonna hand you the YH.

Can I get a Big 3 0!?

Aside from the energy the Indians are bringing to the game this year there's another cool story that's gaining a little mo. That would be the attention a hitting streak brings to a team and a player. Enter Andre Ethier who is captivating the Dodger faithful with his run at the Dodger history books. Andre is in the Big Apple this weekend and he'll have a heavy dose of media attention if he happens to reach 30 on Friday night. That number 30 is pretty elite when it comes to hit streaks. Hit em where they ain't, Andre!

But, forget it. The Indians are just a blast to watch play. Scrappy comes to mind. "Hard nosed", "won't quit" and "Charlie Hustle" do too.

Oh, and winners would work when describing the Tribe who have reeled off an impressive string of last chance, come from behind thrillers. Ya gotta love it. Unless you're Kansas City. The Royals are playing great ball ... only to look up and see themselves 4 1/2 behind the Red Hot Indians.

Speaking of the Royals, they're calling up a heralded prospect in Eric Hosmer today. Eric was the first round pick for KC in 2008. He's a hard hitting First Baseman that's virtually owned every stop he's made enroute to the Majors. This season's Triple A numbers? .. A cool .439 with 3 Bombs and 15 RBIs. Good Luck Eric.

How about Chris Young in Arizona. The D'Backs were plodding along without a run for nearly 9 innings, getting their behinds handed to em by Colorado. Well, not really that bad.. but, 2 to zip in the 9th is kinda gettin your behind handed to ya. Well, in the 9th the Rattlers struck.

After a Gerardo Parra Home Run knocked the nil off the board, Chris Young stepped up and absolutely drilled the ball. His HR tied the game and the D'Backs were shakin their rattles in the rubber match. Two innings later Chris belted another shot to deeeeeep Center Field.

It was such a laser that it boinked off the wall an inch below the HR mark. Bummer. But, no worry.. Justin Upton capped the walk off with a two out Texas leaguer to score Chris from 2nd. Cool game.. watch the highlights Here!

With all the hoopla that surrounded Lance Berkman last year in his rear view mirror, Sir Lance (Homers Alot) is on a tear in the NL. This guy is just a monster at the plate this year - 32 RBIs leads the Majors. His 10 HRs has him 2nd.. Runs.. 2nd.. Average (.392).. 2nd. And to think he called Houston in the off season looking for a place to play and was turned down.. oops.

He was at it again yesterday on his way to our YH. Lance racked up 4 RBIs in a 6-3 win over the Marlins. It wasn't really just a 4 RBI day for Lance, it was more how it happened. It was more, "go ahead and mess with me". Which is kinda what the Marlins thought they were doing when they brought in our LH buddy Mike Dunn to turn Lance around. The plan was to make him swing from the right side in a 3-3 tie with two on in the 8th. Sorry.. shouldn't have messed with Sir Lance. He's too hot. We love ya Mike, but that tater you gave Berkman was too sweet to pass up. Lance belted it. No, I mean.. he Belted It! Watch it Here!

Congrats to Lance for his YH.

Zack Attack!

What in the world is going on with the Cleveland Indians? Is there anything that can slow them down lately? What a refreshing and satisfying beginning for the Cleveland faithful in 2011. These guys are finding ways to win.. but even cooler.. they're doing it with a bit of flair and excitement. Just exactly what you want to create a fervor in your Tribe.

After perfecting the Walk Off at their own ball park, the Indians decided to see what it was like to quiet down the other team's fan base with a late inning rally away from home. The Oakland fans became the victims when Orlando Cabrera (fresh off his Saturday walk off single) delivered again. This time it was from off the bench as a late game managerial maneuver. The O Man singled in the go ahead run in the 9th and the Tribe danced around on enemy territory in celebration of their 7th in a row!

In complete contrast, The Rays are trying to climb out of the AL East craziness after a horrid beginning to their year. But, things are kinda lookin UPton as they've pulled within two games of the Yankees with a walk off gem of their own. Thanks to BJ Upton who seemingly continues to confound everybody with his sporadic stats vs. his potential. Check out his game winning bomb by clicking Here!

Since we're lauding over the AL .. .what about KC's rise this year. Clearly overshadowed in the Central by the remarkable '11 of the Indians, they have definitely looked highly competitive so far this year in Kansas City. Last year, they knocked the ball all over the park and a couple of additions and/or position changes seem to have helped out the synergy on this team. Jeff Francouer is one of those key components that has helped push this team toward the top.

Jeff did everything but pitch to help Kansas City to it's fourth win in a row.. this time in Walk Off style when he lauched a sac fly to right that scored Alex Gordon in the 10th. Francouer had Homered earlier in the game and made a terrific catch as well. Well done Frenchy!

And what's going on with the streak in LA? No, not the winning streak. This team seems to take one step forward and two steps back in the win column everytime you look up. The "streak" is a personal one and a great story for baseball as we get to relive those magical baseball years when names like Joltin' Joe DiMaggio and the boys of summer ruled the radio waves. Andre Ethier delivered a sinking liner that barely eluded the acrobatic leap of rookie second baseman Darwin Barney and fell safely into right field to extend Andre's hit streak to 29 games!

That single pulled Andre within two games of the longest hitting streak in Dodgers history (Willie Davis had 31 in 1969) and into a tie with one of the coolest names in baseball and our YH - Zack Wheat.

Yup, Zack Wheat had himself a 29 game hitting streak way back in 1916. He was no slouch with the stick guys.. here's a look at how Zack stacked up at the dish. He played for 19 years and racked up nearly 3,000 hits while posting a .317 career average. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1959. Pretty Slick Zack.

It's America's Game!

USA! USA! USA!

How fitting that those chants rose during America's game being played by the NY Mets. Baseball fans, Americans... celebrated the end of a decade long hunt for a man responsible for so much hurt. Finally.. he'd been tagged out.

It really didn't matter that the Phillies would eventually lose to the NY Mets in 14 innings. It only mattered that the fans standing and chanting were Americans feeling a sense of closure... together. It was stirring.

What it really says is "the game" is just that.. a game.

The American fans didn't really care that it was a knock down drag out baseball game in front of them. It took a back seat. It didn't really matter that Cleveland had won again in their last at bat. Or, that Andre Ethier had extended his incredible heat streak to 27.. It didn't even matter that Paulino would end the game in Philly with his 5th hit of the day in the 14th.

What mattered to them was American Pride.. so fitting that it occurred during America's Game. More so, as I said earlier, that it came during the NY Mets game. Do you remember the NY Mets game after 9/11 when Piazza thrilled the country? Yea, that's what I'm saying here. You don't remember? Watch it... Here!

Well, I know it's short.. anti-climactic even.. but, ya really can't even compare anything that happened yesterday to that moment.. so my YH is none other than the healing man of baseball.. Mike Piazza.

Rhymes with Cant Miss!

C'mon... how can you not smile for Sir Lance (Homers) Alot!? I read that he was a bit nervous going back into Houston after all those years as an Astro. Maybe nervous for the Astro pitching staff since he has more HR's there than any other player in history.

Nervous.. Smervous.. Lance Berk'd 'em with 4 hits, a couple of Dingers, 5 RBIs and raised his batting avg. to a robust .410 to lead the Cards over the Astros. That first HR was a missile shot too.. Watch it Here!

HooRay for Nick Swisher! I love watching this guy, he's fun to watch no matter what is going on. Yesterday he finally got that monkey off his back by belting his very first HR of the year against Chicago. Thats the longest streak of Nick's career to start a season without a bomb. He did alright last night by wrapping out 3 Hits, scoring 3, knocking in 4 and slowly but surely edging his average upward. The Yanks romped on the ChiSox.

Worth mentioning is the little guy in Toronto, Corey Patterson. Ya it's true.. it wasn't much.. just a tiny little bunt. But, that's not the point. It's "when" the bunt came and the fact that the day before he showed he could go yard. This is called "situational hitting" and why a guy like Corey can make his mark in the Show. What did he do? Ya gotta click here to check it out.. it's kinda cool and brought a W to the jays.

What rhymes with "Can't Miss"? ... ah... Ben Zobrist! Are you kidding me? What a day! 8 RBIs in the first game of the doubleheader and 2 more in the Night Cap.. 10 Ribbies for the Utility man. How about this for a day's work: 7 hits, two HRs, three doubles and oh yea, those 10 Ribs. And just for the sake of conversation.. has anybody noticed how the AL East is getting back to normal. It's a funny game, dontcha think?

Extra Extras!

One of the cool things about baseball is there's no real "clock" on the game. It's nine innings. That could be a lightning quick 9... or it could drag out over 3hrs or so. But, no matter the length.. there is no shortage of drama. It's built in to the game. If there's no clear winner by the 8th inning or so, every runner becomes a high tension thriller. Will he reach scoring position? Who will knock him in? It's fun to watch.. obviously.

Well, yesterday was a bit more of the same.. and a little extra to boot. Extra innings galore. Now, the cool thing about Extras is the hero roles could come from anywhere in the lineup. Lots of heroes yesterday. Take Cliff Pennington who led off the A's 10th with a stinging triple and then buzzed home on an infield chopper to beat the Angels 2-1. That's one way to do it.

Or, you could go the more conventional route like the red hot Andre Ethier did for the Dodgers. After LA fell behind 4-0 early in the game Andre and the boys rallied to a 4-4 tie. Chances for both teams failed to end the game in 9, so.... extras = ) And, what does Andre do to cap off a day in which he set the record for most consecutive April games with a hit (24).. what else? Hit a game winning Home Run in the 10th inning. Cool stuff.

Then you have the guy who's been sitting on the bench watching the game all day. It gets late... manager's make their trickly little moves, next thing you know he's got a bat in his hands and asked to make a difference. That's what Daniel Murphy did for the Mets in Washington. He delivered in spades when he belted a game tying blast in the 8th inning. Then, just for the heck of it he wrapped out a two run double in the 9th inning to ice it.

I know, it's kind of anti-climactic when you're the visiting team and score that winner in the top half of the frame. No where near as cool as the Home team walk off winners. But, still... it's fun to watch. Drew Stubbs completes the streak of visiting teams that stole their games late as the Reds snuck past Milwaukee 7-6 on the strength of his 10th inning lead off bomb. And it was a rocket.. .watch it Here.

But, crazy enough.. my YH goes to an old timer who did something pretty miraculous on this date in 1982. Philadelphia's Pete Rose went 5 for 5 to tie Max Carey for the NL Record, doing it for the 9th time in his career! Rose led the Phils to a 6 run 9th inning and they stomped the Dodgers 9-3 in LA. Congrats to the Hit King.

Deja Vu all over again...

Ya really gotta wonder how these Managers keep committing the same Tommy LaSorda mistake. You know, the one guy that can beat you is coming to the plate..ala Jack Clark in a playoff tilt with the then LaSorda managed Dodgers. . First base is open.. walk the dude! No. ? Bang! Home Run.. you lose!

The Cardinals just did that a couple of days ago, didn't they? Was anybody paying attention? Now, it was the Braves turn. Don't get me wrong.. the player (whoever that may be)still has to get the hit. But, why would you let him? That's my point. Why would you let "that guy" have the chance?

Well, they did. And... "that guy" (Matt Kemp) did. And... the Dodgers won it in 12 innings of greatly entertaining baseball. But, I gotta give the YH to another fella in the throwback Brooklyn Bums uni - Mr. Casey Blake.

Now, Casey had himself a game. Blake had 3 hits and 2 of those were incredibly special and very impactful. First, he blasted a Solo Home Run in the 7th that snapped a 1-1 pitcher's duel. Then, with LA surprisingly down by a run in the bottom of the 9th.. Casey at the Bat smoked a game tying, two out single into left field to set the stage for the incredible heroics in the 12th inning.

Yea, it's a crazy game.. watch it Here!

Squeezin The Splendid Splinter

I wonder how many people realize it's been neary 3/4 of a century since Ted Williams broke into the Big Leagues. Yup. Believe it or not today marks the Anniversary in which one of the most heralded hitters in baseball played in his very first MLB game. Cool huh?

Oh, how did he do... you ask? He smacked the dog snot out of the ball! Ted cracked a 400 foot.... double.. in the cavernous Yankee Stadium. But, the Red Sox went on to lose to the New York Yankees, 2-0. Ted would go on to figure in a heckuva lot more of those Yankee/Red Sox tilts over the next 20+ years.

He'd also go on to belt another 500+ doubles in that time. Funny that a guy with this kind of POP was nick named after a Splinter. Yea, he was lanky.. but he could coil and uncoil with the best of them. Here's something I think is incredible about Ted - He led the AL in Slugging Percentage in '41 and '42 .. went off to war for 3 years, came right back and led the AL again for the next 4 years running. From MLB to the US Marines to MLB and never missed a beat. Crazy.

Ok, enough history... let's look at Yesterday's Hitter.

No, he's not a lanky dude that can belt the ball a hundred miles. Nope, not a war veteran either. He is a scrappy second baseman that never fails to surprise me. John McDonald isn't even the starting 2B for the Blue Jays, but that doesn't keep him from contributing when they need him.

They needed him on Tuesday when the Jays were in a dog fight against those pesky Yanks. McDonald came into the game as a runner for Aaron Hill only to be thrust into the spotlight in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Jays were rallying against the greatest closer of all-time and had runners on the corners and down by a run. What's a scrappy little dude do against Mo Rivera when the game is on the line? Squeeze 'em!

Check it out Here!