Category: MLB General

mlb-general

MLB Midseason Report

Believe it or not, we’re already halfway through the Major League Baseball season. Not only does that mean that it’s time for the worst All-Star venue in the history of sports, but it’s time for my annual mid-season awards (which, if it was a televised show, would most likely be ten times as exciting as the MLB All-Star game).

This is when I give you my thoughts on who, based on their first-half performances, should and will win the major awards…and a few awards of my own. Also, I will give you the All-Stars we SHOULD be seeing in Pittsburgh, not the ones the fans voted for because they saw them in a magazine once.

Drum roll please…

Tags all star game, mlb awards

MLB General

Home-Field Disadvantage

Place your votes and punch your ballots. Right into sheer lunacy.

I’m guilty. I just max-voted for A.J. Pierzynski on MLB.com.

25 times, I clicked on the circle next to his name and hit the “Vote Now!” button at the bottom of the page. You can also count 13 votes for Nomar Garciaparra and 12 for Billy Wagner on the National League side of my online ballots.

After all, I’m a baseball fan, and the All-Star game is my chance to point and click my way to the definition of fanatical support for my hometown team and favorite players across both leagues.

Tags all star game, MLB, pregame analysis

MLB General

Dance to the Music – Teams Edition

Post author By Matt Wells
Post date July 2, 2006
3 Comments on Dance to the Music – Teams Edition

by Matt Wells

Recently, I wrote an article giving songs to some of the starting pitchers of today’s game. Josh Towers, the now-demoted Oliver Perez, and the now-promoted Jered Weaver were just some of the names who were in sync with the songs I chose from my playlist.

So, we got relievers who enter the game to their choice of music. We got some starters who had some songs hand-picked for them by me. What about the teams? (This time, I’ll go outside my playlist for a few of the songs.)

The Yankees have a song (“Here Come the Yan-kees”). The Mets have a song (“Meet the Mets”). What about some of the other teams? What songs can I give them? Read on….

Tags braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, marlins, MLB, ny mets, ny yankees, pirates, rockies, sf giants, tigers, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB General

Brave New World

If Bobby Cox and John Smoltz have anything to say to each other after 17 years with the Atlanta Braves, it’s probably something like, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

MLB General

Echoes in the Dark by Matt Waters

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 30, 2006
No Comments on Echoes in the Dark by Matt Waters

There exists a thin line between purity and putridity, and in stepping over it we merely reveal our humanity, a practice par for the course in a world that often confuses greatness and excess.

Tags steroids

MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for June 29th- 2006

Post author By Garrett Rudolph
Post date June 30, 2006
3 Comments on MLB Power Rankings for June 29th- 2006

With the US Open, Stanley Cup, NBA Playoffs and Draft, and College World Series in the rearview mirror, and the World Cup finals nearing, Major League Baseball can have the undivided attention of sports fans… that is, until NFL training camp starts.

Whether you see the baseball season as half over or still having half to play, we are at the half-way point, which means it’s time to hand out some mid-season awards and recognitions. Meaningless, of course, but fun, nonetheless.

Tags mlb power rankings

MLB General

Dance to the Music – Starting Pitchers Edition

Post author By Matt Wells
Post date June 28, 2006
2 Comments on Dance to the Music – Starting Pitchers Edition

by Matt Wells

We all know that some baseball pitchers have songs they love to enter the game to. Mariano Rivera, and now cross-town rival Billy Wagner, come in to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Trevor Hoffman comes into AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells.” I’m sure there are other relievers in the game today that, though it is not publicized as much, enter the game to their own brand of classic rock.

But, what about the less-publicized pitchers? What about the starting pitchers, for that matter? What songs do they enter the game to?

MLB General

Midseason "Moneyball" All-Stars – American League

Post author By BostonMac
Post date June 27, 2006
4 Comments on Midseason "Moneyball" All-Stars – American League

By Ryan McGowan

Like my colleague Trevor Freeman, Michael Lewis’ Moneyball is one of my favorite books. For any baseball fan, the inside story of Billy Beane’s quest to change traditional thinking and manage a baseball team based entirely on analyzing statistics and turning the conventional wisdom upside down is a fascinating read. Looking at the 2006 season up to this point, I have chosen a 25-man American League All-Star team that accomplishes the major goals of any team driven by a Moneyball philosophy.

In no particular order, these goals are:

1. Find players who get on base (high on-base percentage, or OBP) and hit for some power (the combination of the two produces a high on-base plus slugging, or OPS, the golden statistic of Moneyball).
2. Pay no attention to fielding statistics.
3. Spend as little money as possible.

Tags all-stars, billy beane, MLB, moneyball, payroll

MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for June 22nd- 2006

Post author By Garrett Rudolph
Post date June 22, 2006
1 Comment on MLB Power Rankings for June 22nd- 2006

With all the commotion of the seven-game NHL championship series, the thrilling NBA playoffs, US Open, and the largest sporting event in the entire world, The World Cup all going on at the same time, is anybody actually watching baseball?

MLB General

Who’s Going to the Hall?– Pitchers

Post author By Garrett Rudolph
Post date June 21, 2006
6 Comments on Who’s Going to the Hall?– Pitchers

In an offensive era, where records and milestones are continuously coming into question, few eyebrows are raised suspiciously toward the achievements of pitchers. So, where the top offensive player of this generation stands on shaky ground with regards to his future Hall of Fame induction, the top two pitchers– Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux– are already booking hotel reservations for Cooperstown and scheduling tee-times at the Leatherstocking Golf Course.

For the next eight top pitchers… they’ll have to read this article before they start making flight plans. Who’s Going to the Hall, and Who’s Watching the Ceremony on Baseball Tonight, by Garrett Rudolph.