| 1 |  |
Last Week: 7 |
After 60
years behind the microphone calling Dodgers games, Vin Scully was finally inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame on
Tuesday, which begs the question: How was he not inducted already? Given that Scully was named Sportscaster of the 20th Century nine years ago, I'd say this
honor is just a smidge overdue. Heck, he probably deserved it back when this story was written about him. |
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| 2 |  |
Last Week: 1 |
If Cubs fans are
looking for any omens that this might be their year, Tuesday night offered plenty of evidence. Two of the most traumatizing events in Cubs history were
re-enacted during their game against the Reds, but neither Bartman Part II nor a not-so-friendly feline could keep the Cubs from winning 9-7. We assume the
fan that got in the way of a foul pop down the left-field line is doing fine, and so was the cat that scampered onto the field in the fourth inning, although
he did manage to bite several Cubs employees before he was taken to a local shelter. |
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| 3 |  |
Last Week: 2 |
If these
rankings were done on Monday, the Marlins would have been the only choice for the top spot, but a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh is raising concerns that
their 11-1 start was a fluke. A bigger concern might be Ricky Nolasco, who is 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA and said his performance against the Pirates was
"embarrassing" and "not acceptable." |
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| 4 |  |
Last Week: 5 |
Home plate
umpire Kerwin Danley suffered a frightening moment Tuesday night in Toronto when the barrel of Ranger Hank Blalock's bat snapped off and hit
him in the facemask. Danley had a brief hospital stay and appears to be fine. He can thank his hockey-style mask for protecting him, and for that, he should
probably thank former Jays catcher Charlie O'Brien, who pioneered the look during his 15-year career. |
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| 5 |  |
Last Week: 14 |
Told you not to worry. The Red Sox have followed their 2-6
start with seven straight wins to get back in contention in the AL East. Their winning streak comes at a perfect time, as the team is launching a series of commercials designed
to help boost ticket sales and retain corporate sponsors. |
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| 6 |  |
Last Week: 3 |
The
All-Star Game will be in St. Louis this year, and it was announced this week that for the first time fans will have a say in who will participate in the Home
Run Derby. Except the players they vote for are not guaranteed to appear in the Derby and are not forced to participate either. So really, the fans have no
say whatsoever. Great change, MLB! Besides, as long as Albert Pujols is there, will the fans care about who else shows up? |
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| 7 |  |
Last Week: 8 |
For all the love surrounding Ken Griffey Jr.'s
return to Seattle, at some point he is going to have to start hitting like his old self if he wants to stay in the lineup. Through Tuesday he had just two
RBIs, both coming on solo home runs, and was batting .184. Perhaps manager Don Wakamatsu just doesn't want to be fined by the team's kangaroo court,
over which Judge Junior, or as he dubbed himself, Judge Mo'
Money, presides. |
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| 8 |  |
Last Week: 9 |
Maybe it's
because everything else is so expensive in their new ballpark, but the Yankees seem awfully intent on giving away souvenir baseballs this year. There have
already been 26 home runs at the new Yankee Stadium, a record for the first six games in a new ballpark. Among the beneficiaries has been Derek Jeter,
who has already hit two home runs in the Bronx, something that took him until July 21 to do last season. |
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| 9 |  |
Last Week: 15 |
With a 0.00 ERA
and a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities, Heath Bell is doing quite the Trevor Hoffman impersonation on the mound, even if off he's already
drawn more controversy in three weeks as closer than his predecessor did in 15 years. Bell told the San Diego Union-Tribune, "I truly believe ESPN
only cares about promoting the Red Sox and Yankees and Mets and nobody else." If history's taught us anything it's that the best way to get more coverage on
ESPN is to complain about not getting enough coverage on ESPN. Right, NHL fans? |
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| 10 |  |
Last Week: 24 |
The Pirates
are off to their best start in seven years, and even if that one finished in predictably disappointing fashion (72-89), some players already think this
year's club is different. "I feel like we took advantage of every mistake they made," said Adam LaRoche, whose four-hit day highlighted Wednesday's
win over Florida. "I think that proves that we're a pretty good team and that it's not just a fluke. You come in and play the best team in baseball and sweep
them -- that's saying something." They can say even more by taking advantage of a favorable schedule over the next couple weeks that starts with a road trip
to San Diego and Milwaukee. |
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| 11 |  |
Last Week: 17 |
The White
Sox are a long way from winning the World Series, but they already got one of the rewards of a championship season: a visit to the White House. Several
players visited noted Sox fan and President Barack
Obama on Monday after taking three of four from the Rays in Tampa. Looks like a couple of the guys decided to take a casual
approach to their visit to meet the Commander-in-Chief. Note to White Sox: if you go back in the fall, try to dress like you did the last time you won a World Series. |
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| 12 |  |
Last Week: 16 |
Miguel
Cabrera is off to a blazing start, batting .451 with a .500 on-base percentage and .725 slugging percentage, so naturally there were rumors that he was
about to be traded. GM Dave Dombrowski told the Detroit News that any such speculation is "completely absurd" and added "There's nothing that
can happen this year that would make us think about trading Miguel Cabrera." So that's a no, then? |
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| 13 |  |
Last Week: 19 |
Joakim
Soria got an unexpected eight-day vacation when he didn't pitch in six straight games before closing out a 2-0 win over the Indians on Wednesday. Manager
Trey Hillman had said he would be willing to go to Soria in the eighth inning this season, but that hasn't happened yet. He has made five appearances
and pitched exactly five innings. |
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| 14 |  |
Last Week: 4 |
Losing two of
three to the Nationals -- it was very nearly three-of-three but for a 1-0, ninth-inning win on Wednesday -- is a sure ticket for a slide down the rankings.
Meanwhile, catcher Brian McCann may have found a way to fix his .189 batting average: new contact lenses to help fix the blurred vision in his left
eye that had been affecting him all season. |
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| 15 |  |
Last Week: 11 |
Daniel Murphy
played just four games in left field in the minor leagues, which might offer some explanation as to why he's turning every fly ball hit his way into an
adventure that has too often been a misadventure for the Mets. Murphy cost the Mets a game for the second time this year with a crucial defensive miscue, and
manager Jerry Manuel said later "I'm a little concerned." Change "a little concerned" to "&$^@-ing furious" and you probably have a good approximation
of how Mets fans feel about it. |
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| 16 |  |
Last Week: 21 |
Scott
Baker has given up seven home runs in eight innings pitched this season, but this is not exactly a new problem for him. He gave up 17 in 16 games in 2007
and 20 in 28 games in 2008. |
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| 17 |  |
Last Week: 23 |
Reds outfielder
Chris Dickerson is a co-founder of the environmental website WePlayGreen.com, and he's quoted on the site's homepage saying, "This isn't the result of
an overnight epiphany of self guilt as to where I am in my life and what good I have done for the world as of late, but I feel like this should be a general
concern for all of us. If I can help kickstart this movement on a small scale, I am optimistic that these concerns can be turned into everyday public
action." Dickerson put his money where his mouth was by ordering a special green glove to wear on Earth Day on Wednesday. He didn't get much use out of it,
only playing one inning in the Reds' 3-0 win. |
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| 18 |  |
Last Week: 10 |
Jimmy
Rollins is batting just .173, his lowest average since he was at .169 following a similarly wretched start in 2004. Phillies fans should take note that
Rollins snapped out of that funk and hit .302 the rest of the season. |
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| 19 |  |
Last Week: 6 |
Lots of managers
tell their players to try harder. Rays skipper Joe Maddon gave his club some patently maverick advice this week to break them out of their slump by
telling them to "try easier," as Evan Longoria told the Tampa Tribune. It didn't work. The Rays then went out that night and lost for the sixth
time in their last seven games. |
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| 20 |  |
Last Week: 18 |
Anyone thinking
this Rangers team might be able to flip its all-offense-no-pitching script from seasons past didn't take long to get an answer. The club ranks first in the
American League in home runs and slugging percentage and 11th in ERA with a ghastly 6.18 and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (6.34). |
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| 21 |  |
Last Week: 20 |
Josh
Outman of the A's has been drawing some attention lately for his old school style. The Yankees broadcasters were particularly taken with his
stirrups-over-socks look during Wednesday's 14-inning marathon in the Bronx. Outman's reason -- a nod to Barry Zito -- is almost as interesting as his
fashion sense. "He was one of my favorite pitchers growing up and I liked the way he wore his socks," the 24-year-old Outman told MLB.com of the 30-year-old
Giants pitcher. |
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| 22 |  |
Last Week: 26 |
The Indians
demolished the Yankees twice in the debut series at the new Yankee Stadium, including a 22-4 blowout on Saturday, but that wasn't even the worst Bronx
beatdown the Tribe has administered in recent years. On August 31, 2004 they blanked the Yanks 22-0. The only two Indians to play in both games, Victor
Martinez and Travis Hafner, were a big part of both blowouts. They went a combined 4-for-8 with two home runs, six RBIs and five runs scored in
'04 and 5-for-13 with five RBIs, four runs scored an a home run in '09. |
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| 23 |  |
Last Week: 13 |
The Orioles'
pitching has been abysmal, allowing 110 runs (91 of them earned) in their first 15 games, an average of over seven per game. The next wave of Orioles
pitchers has already arrived: Rookie Brad Bergesen made his major league debut against the White Sox, allowing just three runs (one earned) in 5.2
innings to get the win on Tuesday night. |
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| 24 |  |
Last Week: 12 |
The last
Angels team that started 5-8 went on to win the franchise's first and only World Series title. This year's version will need to get some stability in its
pitching rotation for a repeat performance, and the news that Kelvim Escobar will have his return date pushed back isn't going to help. The pitching
situation has become so desperate in fact that the Angels will be asking a 30-year-old minor leaguer with an 11.74 ERA this season and an 8.53 ERA in all of
three career starts to take the mound for them on Thursday night (Matt Palmer). |
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| 25 |  |
Last Week: 22 |
For the second
time in his career, Manny Corpas is taking over in midseason from an All-Star closer. In 2007, he supplanted Brian Fuentes and helped take the
Rockies to their first-ever World Series. This year he got the promotion to replace Huston Street, who had been brought over from Oakland to close
after Fuentes signed with the Angels as a free agent in the offseason. Street has been so, um, rocky, that he has been demoted all the way down to middle
relief. |
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| 26 |  |
Last Week: 27 |
It
was 102 degrees in Arizona before their game with the Rockies on Tuesday. 102. In April. Seriously, that's just not right. I wonder what Chris
Dickerson would have to say about that? |
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| 27 |  |
Last Week: 28 |
Could
Barry Zito be getting a personal catcher? The San
Francisco Chronicle noted how much better Zito has been lately with Pablo Sandoval behind the plate rather than Bengie Molina. And that
was before he pitched seven shutout innings in a no-decision on Wednesday. Molina was reportedly not happy about having to step aside during Zito's starts
last year, but he made his presence felt Wednesday, driving in the winning run with a pinch-hit double in the 10th inning. |
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| 28 |  |
Last Week: 29 |
It's never a good
sign when the biggest news your team makes is about who is in the stands watching, rather than on the field playing. Roger Clemens attended Wednesday
night's Astros game and, miraculously, did not announce he was unretiring. Instead he got to watch another way-past-his prime player, Ivan Rodriguez,
deliver the game-winning hit. |
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| 29 |  |
Last Week: 25 |
A big reason
why the Brewers' offense has been so stagnant: entering Wednesday night's game against the Phillies, they had the two worst hitters in baseball in their
lineup. J.J. Hardy's .125 batting average was officially the lowest because Jason Kendall (.118) didn't have enough at bats to qualify.
Speaking of Kendall, you know you aren't hitting when you go 1-for-4 and your average jumps 14 points. |
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| 30 |  |
Last Week: 30 |
I know
everyone's already repeatedly poked fun at it, but you can't feature two misspelled jerseys -- for three innings, on your two best-known players, no less --
and not have the incident immortalized in the PRs. Besides, that wasn't the first time this year that the Nats' 'O' has gone missing (hi-yo!). The club ranks
12th in HRs and slugging in the National League. |
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