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!

Sox it to 'Em

Can anybody figure out baseball teams? Off season trades often load up the most impressive group of players throughout the history of baseball, only to see that team sputter on the playing field. Crazy game.

This year is no different with the paper lineup of the Red Sox. Prior to the season nearly every baseball expert was handing over the AL East and even the World Series to Boston before they placed a single win in the W column. 11 games later, they have a total of 2 W's and sit on the bottom in their Division. Crazy.

Yesterday, it was Red Sox castoff Johnny Damon that poked and pried another "L" out of Boston. Johnny was far from spectacular, but you really don't need to be spectacular to take down the Sox so far this year. Johnny was definitely steady, racking up two hits and two RBIs, which were enough to log a 3-2 win in Boston. Crazy Game.

Another fella that tormented his prior team was Jayson Werth. The Nationals are a really good looking bunch. They have hustlers, hitters and hard nosed managing... and they play the game right. Off to a 5-5 start, most folks might think that's mediocre. Well, look to the last few years before you decided 5-5 isn't very good.

Jayson Werth put up some wonderful numbers over the years for the Phillies, but this time he poked holes in them. Jayson's day was indicative of how he led the charge for the Phightin's in the past. Start the rally, inspire the team.. and away they go. Locked in a 1-1 tie, Werth ripped a double to lead off the 4th inning and sparked a 3 run rally the Nats never gave up. Just for the heck of it he added a Solo Shot in the next inning. Bang.

Back over in the AL, the Tigers vs. Rangers game was a classic. You know, one of those games you might emulate with your brother in the backyard whiffle ball contest. Your team is down 1-0, then tie it 1-1... only to go down 2-1.. oh, tied 2-2. And back and forth you go all the way to the 9th inning where ya find it tied again at 4-4.

The stuff of legends as the bottom of the 9th rally starts to unfold. A single gets it going and the next thing you know it's bases loaded.. two outs.. score is tied in the bottom of the 9th with THE team slugger at the dish (you in the back yard) - Miguel Cabrera in real life. You guessed it.. the Slugger comes through with a single and the walk off win is complete. Now, go have a Kool Aid! You deserve it! :-)

Ramp that backyard thing up just a touch and you'll find Yesterday's Hitter... Alexei Ramirez!

His first impact on the game looked like he might just put it away in the 2nd inning. Alexei smoked a 3 run HR to put the White Sox up 4-1, a lead they usually hold on to. Not this time.. the A's would slowly scratch back. They got back one run, then another to make it 4-3.. and uh, oh. .they actually surged ahead 5-4 in the 6th. Not so good for the Sox.. unless you're bidding for the YH honors ; )

Fast forward to the 10th inning and it's all locked in a 5-5 tie for the Slugger (in the backyard).. this time the Slugger is none other than our 2nd inning star - Alexei Ramirez. What does he do? ShaBang! It's a deep fly ball.. way back.. very high.. and over the backyard fence she goes! Alexei's second HR of the game was the game winner. Cool. Let's go for that Kool Aid!

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