Still Americas Pastime

Be sure to watch the Tournament of the Roses Parade (better known as the Rose Parade) airing at 11am EST, 8am PST.  Why?  Because MLB will be represented with a float.  That’s right at college football’s most famous parade, baseball will be making an appearance. 

Personally, I think this is a great idea.  The float is being sponsored by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the city of Anaheim.  This is the first in a series of events that will co-sponsored by Anaheim and MLB that will build up to the All-Star game which is being held in Angels Stadium this upcoming season.

The float is supposed to be a replica of Angels Stadium, with a baseball player, and of course, roses will be included on the float.

Here’s why I like this idea.  Because it is a special way for the city of Anaheim to celebrate hosting the Major League All-Star Game on July 13th, 2010.  I would not be as excited or enthusiastic if there wasn’t that connection.  While I want everyone to come to love baseball as much as I do, without the geographic connection, it would seem like baseball was poaching on college football’s territory.  But since the Rose Parade existed before the Rose Bowl, and the parade is a local way of celebrating the New Year as much as a celebration of college football, I can’t wait to see what it looks like.

Yunieski Maya pitched for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.   Last September he defected from Cuba.  Recently he threw for scouts in the Dominican Republic.Maya performed well in his limited World Baseball Classic experience.  Over 7.1 innings he posted a 1.23 ERA, struck out 4 and walked 2.

He didn’t exactly light up the radar gun, not really exceeding 92 mph.  Still, there are plenty of pitchers in the majors who throw in the low 90s.  He also is reported to have thrown six different types of pitches.  This versatility will definitely help offset his lower velocity.

The next step for Maya is to be designated as a Free Agent by MLB, a move that is expected to be completed by next week.  Then any team would be able to sign him.

As someone who pitched in the WBC, I think Maya has a good chance to compete for an immediate Major League roster spot.  Still, there is a chance he could be signed to a Minor League deal and then appear later on in the season.  With the lack of any big name free agent pitchers left, it will be interesting to watch and see if someone will take a chance on Maya.

Well, it finally happened.  Roy Halladay left the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland A’s completed a 9-player trade yesterday.  The highlights were Halladay going to the Phillies and Cliff Lee going to the Seattle Mariners.

Roy Halladay won the 2003 AL Cy Young award.  He posted an impressive 22-7 record, a 3.25 ERA, 204 Ks, 9 complete games, and 2 of them shutouts over 266 innings. 

He led the majors in wins (22), games started (36), complete games (9), innings pitched (266.0), strikeout/walk ratio (6.38), and batters faced (1071).   He also led the AL, but not the MLB in shutouts (2). 

The 22 wins, 36 games started, 9 complete games, 266.0 innings pitched, 1071 batters faced, and 1.1 walks per nine innings were all career bests.

Cliff Lee won the AL Cy Young award in 2008.   He recorded 22 wins and only 3 losses, 170 strikeouts, pitched 4 complete games, 2 shutouts, and posted a 2.54 ERA over 223.1 innings. (more…)

Don’t worry, my almost month long absence does not mean that nothing has happened in the baseball world since the end of the World Series.  It had everything to do with the onslaught of the end of the semester in grad school (something I’m still facing, but I can’t stay away any longer).

The two big targets so far this offseason are former Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim John Lackey (11-8, 3.83 ERA last year) and current Toronto Blue Jay Roy Halladay.

John Lackey is considered the top pitching free agent this year.  While he likely won’t command anything near C.C. Sabathia’s contract from the Yankees last offseason, he’s no slouch either and he’s likely on multiple radars.

Roy Halladay is still a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, but after a deluge of trade rumors hit around the Trade Deadline last season, the fact that Halladay may waive his no-trade clause for the right $ or team has a few team interested.

The annual Winter Meetings for the GMs starts this Monday in Indy.  Expect the free agent market and trade rumors to pick up then.

On a more personal note, the Braves have revamped their bullpen, bringing in Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito.  Wagner has the opportunity to be the first Braves closer to comfort fans since Smoltz went back to the starting rotation.  Rafael Soriano, who spent a large part of last year in that role is still considering his arbitration offer.  If he accepts, the Braves (excepting injuries and someone forgetting how to pitch) will have a truly solid bullpen for the first time in awhile.

As the offseason starts to get busy, there’s plenty of other sports to follow.  The NBA, NHL, and NCAA basketball season are underway.  The Bowl games for College football are soon to be decided.  And the University of Akron Zips Men’s Soccer team won again today to advance to the Semifinals in the College Cup.

P.S.  For those of you that can’t wait for baseball, the Atlanta Braves official website says there are only 75 days until pitchers and catcher report. 

The Division Series are now over.  When the Phillies came back to beat the Rockies, the fields were set for the Championship Series.

The Phillies and the Dodgers will meet this Thursday in Los Angeles.  In a rematch of last year’s NLCS, the Dodgers will hope to redeem themselves.  The Dodgers won the season series 4-3, so it should be a good series.

The Angels and the Yankees will face off on Friday in New York.  Both teams have exorcised the ghosts of last year, when the Angels were swept in the ALDS by the Red Sox and the Yankees didn’t even make the postseason.  The teams split the season series 5-5, so it looks like both Championship Series will be good matchups.

One further story to watch, the Angels and Dodgers have never meet in a World Series.  And so you could have an all-Los Angeles series…providing that you agree that Anaheim and Orange County are part of L.A…like the owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim does.

Pitching and defense win championships.

You hear it all the time.  Or at least people who watch or listen to baseball games hear it all the time.  Well tonight, as the playoffs got underway, the Phillies used a premier pitching performance to try to repeat as World Series Champs.

The first game of the MLB playoffs was played between the Colorado Rockies and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Cliff Lee, who came to the Phillies in a deal just before the July 31st trade deadline, pitched a complete game masterpiece.

Over the nine innings, Lee only gave up six hits and didn’t walk a batter.  The one run he did give up was in the ninth with two outs, after the Phillies already had a comfortable five run lead.  Not content to only pitch nine innings of 1-run ball, Lee also stole a base, becoming the first Phillies pitcher to do so in the postseason.

Two other Division Series started today.  Right now (9:16 EDT) the Yankees have what seems to be a comfortable 7-2 lead over the Twins in the eighth, who are likely still recovering from last night’s 12 inning affair.

Later tonight, two of baseball’s best hitters will square off as Albert Pujols and the Cardinals take on Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The final matchup gets underway tomorrow as the Boston Red Sox travel to Los Angeles to take on the Angels

Here’s the standings as of 9:00pm 9/29/09.  

* denotes Division Winner

^ denotes Wild Card Winner

American League East

1. *New York Yankees (103-59)
2. ^Boston Red Sox (95-67)
3. Tampa Bay Rays (84-78)
4. Toronto Blue Jays (75-87)
5. Baltimore Orioles (64-98)

American League Central

1. *Minnesota Twins (87-76)
2. Detriot Tigers (86-77)
3. Chicago White Sox (79-83)
4. Cleveland Indians (65-97)
5. Kansas City Royals (65-97)

American League West

1. *Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (97-65)
2. Texas Rangers (87-75)
3. Seattle Mariners (85-77)
4. Oakland Athletics (75-87)

National League East

1. *Philadelphia Phillies (93-69)
2. Florida Marlins (87-75)
3. Atlanta Braves (86-76)
4. New York Mets (70-92)
5. Washington Nationals (59-103) E

National League Central

1. *St. Louis Cardinals (91-71)
2. Chicago Cubs (83-78)
3. Milwaukee Brewers (80-82)
4. Cincinnati Reds (78-84)
5. Houston Astros (74-88) 
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-99)

National League West

1. *Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67)
2. ^Colorado Rockies (92-70)
3. San Francisco Giants (88-74)
4. San Diego Padres (75-87)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (70-92)

(more…)

Here’s the standings as of 9:00pm 9/29/09.  

Teams that have an “E” instead of a number of games back have been mathematically eliminated from the division. 

* denotes Division Winner

American League East

1. *New York Yankees (101-56) 0 GB
2. Boston Red Sox (91-65) E
3. Tampa Bay Rays (80-76) E
4. Toronto Blue Jays (73-84) E
5. Baltimore Orioles (60-96) E

American League Central

1. Detroit Tigers (83-73) 0 GB
2. Minnesota Twins (82-74) 1 GB
3. Chicago White Sox (76-81) E
4. Cleveland Indians (64-92) E
5. Kansas City Royals (64-93) E 

American League West

1. *Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (92-64) 0 GB
2. Texas Rangers (85-71) E
3. Seattle Mariners (80-76) E
4. Oakland Athletics (75-81) E

American League Wild Card

1. Boston Red Sox (91-65) 0 GB
2. Texas Rangers (85-71) 6 GB

National League East

1. Philadelphia Phillies (90-66) 0 GB
2. Atlanta Braves (86-70) 4 GB
3. Florida Marlins (83-74) E
4. New York Mets (67-90) E
5. Washington Nationals (53-103) E

National League Central

1. *St. Louis Cardinals (90-66) 0 GB
2. Chicago Cubs (81-74) E
3. Milwaukee Brewers (77-79) E
4. Cincinnati Reds (74-82) E
5. Houston Astros (73-83) E 
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (59-96) E

National League West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (93-64) 0 GB
2. Colorado Rockies (88-68) 4.5 GB
3. San Francisco Giants (83-73) E
4. San Diego Padres (72-85) E
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (68-88) E

National League Wild Card

1. Colorado Rockies (88-68) 0 GB
2. Atlanta Braves (86-70) 2 GB
3. San Francisco Giants (83-73) 5 GB 
4. Florida Marlins (83-74) 5.5 GB
5. Chicago Cubs (81-74) 6.5 GB

(more…)

No, I’m not talking about the Olympics or the World Baseball Classic (WBC).  The US defeated Cuba today 10-5 to win their 2nd consecutive Gold Medal and 4th overall Gold in the World Cup.

Although at it’s unveiling the WBC was called by some as “the Baseball World Cup”, this speaks more to the obscurity of the Baseball World Cup than the ignorance of the speakers. 

The World Cup has historically gotten little press coverage, probably because it occurs during the regular MLB season, and no Major League players participate.  The US does have some minor league players on its team.

The World Cup has been around since 1938, although it has grown since then (the first Baseball World Cup had two teams, with the United Kingdom team beating the American team).

Not only did the US win their 2nd consecutive Gold Medal, but they faced a familiar foe.  The Cubans lost to the US in the finals last year as well.  In face the two teams have met 8 times in the finals, with the Cubans winning the first 6.

Even after only earning the Silver Medal, the Cuba remains far and away the best performing team in the Baseball World Cup.  In total medal they lead the 2nd place US 30-15.  Also they are severely outpacing the world in Gold Medals, leading (again, with the US in 2nd) 25-4.  In 2007 when the US won their first of these consecutive titles, the Cuban team had won the previous 9 World Cup Gold Medals.

Here’s the standings as of 9:38pm 9/22/09.  Teams that have an “E” instead of a number of games back have been mathematically eliminated from the division. 

American League East

1. New York Yankees (95-56) 0 GB
2. Boston Red Sox (89-60) 5 GB
3. Tampa Bay Rays (77-73) E
4. Toronto Blue Jays (67-83) E
5. Baltimore Orioles (60-90) E

American League Central

1. Detroit Tigers (79-70) 0 GB
2. Minnesota Twins (77-73) 2.5 GB
3. Chicago White Sox (73-78) 7 GB
4. Kansas City Royals (62-88) E
5. Cleveland Indians (61-88) E 

American League West

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (90-60) 0 GB
2. Texas Rangers (82-67) 7.5 GB
3. Seattle Mariners (78-72) 12 GB
4. Oakland Athletics (71-79) E

American League Wild Card

1. Boston Red Sox (89-60) 0 GB
2. Texas Rangers (82-67) 7 GB
3. Seattle Mariners (78-72) 11.5 GB
4. Tampa Bay Rays (77-73) 12.5 GB
5. Minnesota Twins (77-73) 12.5 GB 

National League East

1. Philadelphia Phillies (88-61) 0 GB
2. Atlanta Braves (80-70) 8.5 GB
3. Florida Marlins (80-71) 9 GB
4. New York Mets (65-86) E
5. Washington Nationals (51-98) E

National League Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals (88-63) 0 GB
2. Chicago Cubs (77-72) 10 GB
3. Milwaukee Brewers (74-76) E
4. Houston Astros (70-80) E 
5. Cincinnati Reds (69-81) E
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (56-92) E

National League West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (90-60) 0 GB
2. Colorado Rockies (85-65) 5 GB
3. San Francisco Giants (81-69) 9 GB
4. San Diego Padres (69-82) E
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (65-86) E

National League Wild Card

1. Colorado Rockies (85-65) 0 GB
2. San Francisco Giants (81-69) 4 GB
3. Atlanta Braves (80-70) 5 GB 
4. Florida Marlins (80-71) 5.5 GB
5. Chicago Cubs (77-72) 7.5 GB

(more…)