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.

What's a Walk Off Worth....

A Crazy day in baseball yesterday with a host of Walk Off's, an extra inning rally and... one for the ages. California teams were in the spotlight with late game heroics by 4 of the 5 Cali teams. In and of itself, that's pretty amazing.

Let's kick it off in San Diego where the "O Dog", stroked a Walk Off single that lifted the Padres over Cincinnati 3-2. Orlando Hudson's scrappy style of play and mindset was just what the Pads needed at the dish in the bottom of the 9th. San Diego had posted a single run in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the game and were desperately trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Reds.

Enter Orlando. He ripped a bases loaded, opposite field missile into left field to notch a much needed win for San Diego. I loved his statement when asked about his game winning single - "I just wanted to have a Quality At Bat". Beautiful. You certainly did "O Dog". Watch it Here!

The Oakland A's were just as impressive, if not more so, in their late game heroics vs. the White Sox. Down by 3 in the 9th the A's put together a terrific rally that tied the game and sent it into extra innings for the third game in a row. Having every game in a 3 game series go "extra" had not happened to the A's in over 23 years! Incredible stuff.

More Mindset stuff for you hitters out there. . . with two out in the 9th Cliff Pennington came to the plate with ducks on the pond. What was he thinking when he was facing a fireballing pitcher? "With Thornton on the mound throwing 97 miles an hour," Pennington said, "I was just looking for a fastball I could hit."

He got it. First Pitch too! Tie game. The game winners came in the 10th when Oakland posted 3 more runs to walk away with a series win against Chicago. Not exactly a Walk Off.. but pretty cool, just the same.

In Anaheim it was another extra inning tilt AND a Walk Off win! The Angels' billion dollar baby (jus kiddin'),Vernon Wells, earned a few of his dollars by delivering a base knock in the 12th that clinched the win over the Indians. A huge hit for Vernon's confidence as he was mired in 0 for 16 slump when he stepped in the box. His single off the shortstop started the rally. Wells eventually scored the winning run on a Sac Fly by Jeff Mathis with the bases juiced. I'll bet the Rally Monkey was going bonkers in Anaheim ; )

The Fans in Atlanta got to see something pretty special on Wednesday. Yes, their team got dumped by the Marlins and there were plenty of long faces in the crowd. That is until the 9th inning when Braves super hero Chipper Jones came to the dish.

Chipper launched a deep drive that cleared the center field wall for a Solo Home Run. Yea, yea.. so what you say? Well, that Home Run gave Chipper 1,500 RBIs for his career! In the History of baseball there is only one other switch hitter to have amassed 2,500+ hits and notched 1,500+ RBIs (Eddie Murray). That put a smile on the face of alot of Atlanta fans last night. Check it out by Clicking Here

Yesterday's Hitter honors has to go to our scrappy little throwback dude in Detroit. . . Brandon Inge. The Tigers have a couple of these guys I really like, but last night it was all Brandon. He tied the game in the 6th inning with a Sacrifice Fly. Great hitters do what has to be done to get that run home in close games and Brandon is a great hitter.

Not exactly satisfied with his 6th inning success, Brandon came to the plate in the 9th inning with one out and the game still knotted at 2-2. He had to be looking for something with a little 'wrinkle' to it because... on the very first pitch (one with some wrinkle) he Belted a Blast to deep Left Field. It was one of those - Crack! It's Gone! kind of shots. A real No Doubter that gave Detroit it's 2nd straight Walk Off win vs. the Rangers. Watch Yesterday's Hitter by clicking Here!

Here we Go Again!

Its a brand new season but the song seems to remain the same. It's been a Walk Off beginning (or should I say ending) so far for the 2011 season. Without question these are the types of games that keep you coming back for more.

And... since we're all about the Hitter in this blog - who could ask for anything more?!

Speaking of More... what about J P Arencibia's debut as the Opening Day catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays? Although he has shown some promise at the plate, nobody could have predicted what he did to the Twins on Friday Night. From the #9 hole in the batting order, J P launched two Home Runs and crushed a triple off the center field wall. Three hits and 5 RBIs to open his season. My bet is the Jays move him up in the order pretty quickly.

The Walk Off in Philly was probably the coolest game of the day. The Phils were down by 2 in the bottom of the 9th and I'm sure they didn't expect anything like what they saw unfold. With one out the Phillies turned to their spark plug, Jimmy Rollins. He delivered a single. Ryan Howard followed with another. Ben Francisco then stepped up and provided a major boost to the aura when he singled in Rollins to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Oh, but those Phightin's weren't quite done yet. Wilson Valdez, in place of the clutch hitting Chase Utley, racked another single to score the big man and tie the game. It set the stage for the youngster - John Mayberry, Jr.

I watched Mayberry as a member of the USA National team years ago. He had the spark then... and the blood line as well... and he had it on Friday! The Tall Cool One stepped in as a Pinch Hitter and smoked a single to right field for the Game Winner!

Cool Stuff.. and a Cool beginning for the season. Dontcha Think?