The Feasting Begins

Most casual baseball fans can't wrap their minds around how the games they remember seeing in the World Series can be so drastically different in April. What they remember seeing is high tension games where runs and hits are a premium. What they see now is an onslaught of offense.

It's really pretty simple if you give it some thought. First off, the pitching in Post Season typically consists of your #1 and #2 guy... sometimes your #3 starter.. but not too often. Add in the fact that these Aces have been dealing the entire season and truly on their mark with most every pitch in their arsenal. You end up with a 1-0 game that every hit seems magnified in.

Fast Forward to early April and you get past those Aces.. and into the PHAT (Pretty Hittable And Tempting) pitchers in the rotation. What do you get? Drubbings like we saw yesterday. Guys racing around the bags like a merry go round ; )

The hitters have had enough at-bats to get their eyes and timing adjusted to live game situations.. the pitches are nice and tasty... the hits keep coming. Take Russell Martin for example. He had two 3 hit games all of last season. He racked up 3 hits yesterday in the Yankees loss to Detroit. That game could actually serve as a micro-cosm of my point. Jorge Posada blasted 2 Home Runs! Mark Teixeira hit a Home Run for the 3rd straight game. Flip over to the other box score and you get Miguel Cabrera going Yard ... twice!

Not to mention my favorite Tiger.. Brennan Boesch. He ripped off a 4 for 4 day with a Home Run.. scored 4 and knocked in 4! You get the picture? Heck, Nick Swisher had 3 hits in that game as well. There were 26 total hits in all.

Look at the Royals and Angels - 33 hits! Another 26 hits in the Reds vs Brewers contest. 25 more in the Cubs vs Pirates game. Crazy huh?

Speaking of the Reds and Brewers game. The Reds picked up a sweep behind the hitting show put on by my pick as Yesterday's Hitter! Click over to BeABetterHitter to see who it is!

Early Milestones

One of the greatest hitters of our time etched his name in Seattle Mariner lore (again!) with one trademark swing. Ichiro Suzuki set the all-time hit mark at 2,248 Seattle hits, topping the previous mark by Edgar Martinez. Quite a feat when you consider it happened on the 10th Anniversary of his debut. Think about it.. that means Ichiro has "averaged" over 2,000 hits per season! That's a purty darn good average, huh?

Speaking of milestones, how about Big Papi? The Big Boston Bopper became the all-time Major League leader in RBIs as a Designated Hitter when he crushed a two run bomb in Texas. Who did he pass? None other than the Mariners' Edgar Martinez. Speaks volumes for the talent of the unheralded hitter from Seattle, doesn't it?

And since we're in Texas.. How about Ian Kinsler setting an all-time MLB mark of his own? Yup, the scrappy second baseman ripped a lead off Home Run for the second straight game! Nobody has ever done that to start the season. Pretty cool. I love this guy... he's a gamer. Not even a classic "jam job" bothers this dude.

Alright, enough of the blustering. Let's get down to business and figure out who had the most important game at the dish. Lots of contenders for sure.

Mark Teixeira. Wow. Have yourself a couple of games will ya? Usually the slowest guy in the Majors out of the gate, Mark is smoking it for the Yankees. He belted his 2nd 3Run Homer in as many games. His co-hort in slugging, Alex Rodriguez, crushed his first dinger of the season. But, he is red hot at the plate with a sizzling .600 Batting Average. Just what the AL East needs to see... Not!

High Averages are everywhere in the White Sox box score. They are smoking the ball up and down the lineup. Led by Beckham's and Quentin's .625 and followed by Dunn and Konerko at .429! It's safe to say that the Indians pitching staff hasn't fooled anybody in that batter's box as of yet. Not surprised are yaOver in the Senior circuit.. how about the revamped Padres putting on a show in St. Lou? King Albert has no answer for the whipping the Cards have taken in the first two tilts of the year. They were tilts too. No contest in either one. It may not be the same lineup in San Diego but they sure have found a chemistry there. The team can Hit! The NL West should be one of the more intriguing races in baseball this year.

The Mets are another team that has a bit of a turnover in the box score. They do boast the solid hitting of David Wright in the middle of that order. He's proven. He's steady. And, sure seems like he's ready for 2011. David led the Mets to a comeback win over the Marlins with three hits, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. His 10th inning single was the winner and helped all of New York sigh in relief : )

But, the kid that "gets" it this time is .. Chris Getz! Click over to BeABetterHitter.com to see what he did

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?

Upsetting the Cargo

Just as the hype was building on the possibility of having a Triple Crown winner in the NL for the first time in... forever (it seems), along comes the kid from Venezuela to upset the cart. The scary thing is he has an outside chance of taking the Crown himself! Yes, Carlos Gonzalez is that good!

So good in fact that he has the Rockies on another late season charge up the ranks of the NL West and fighting for a playoff shot. He's strong, fast and powerful at the plate and reminds me a little of Willie Mays in that he can do it all on the baseball field. The prototypical Center Fielder.



Can he possibly take the Triple Crown away from St. Louis icon Albert Pujols and Cincinatti's surprising Joey Votto? Well, he has easily eclipsed those two in batting average. He's been on an absolute tear at the plate since the end of August, hitting .500 in that span with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs. Those ribbies gave him the NL lead with 100. .. .

CarGo's issue is the same as Votto's. Will he catch Prince Albert in the HR Department where he trails by 4 as of this writing? One hope is that he is in Colorado and the ball does fly out of the park there with regular ease.




As much as I like the kid. As much as I hope he can pull it off. I have to say that in my heart, I don't think he can do it. He has 32 HRs and 100 RBIs with a .340 average in 125 games this year - incredibly impressive numbers for the soon to be 25yr old. I'm sure he will be filling his trophy case with a ton of metal over the years, I just don't think one of them will be the Triple Crown in 2010.