Blown Perfection

Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga. Photo courtesy customauthenticjerseys.com.

Last night, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was on the brink of the 3rd perfect game this season, but his bid was derailed by one Jim Joyce. A perfect game is one of the rarest feats in baseball, and this season there have already been two (Oakland's Dallas Braden against Tampa on May 9 and Philadelphia's Roy Halladay against Florida on May 29). Last night, with two out in the bottom of the 9th, one batter away from the perfecto, Galarraga pitched to Jason Donald and made the out at 1st, but umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe, spoiling the perfect game. Video replays clearly showed Galarraga had Donald out at 1st.

There has been a lot of debate as to whether or not instant replay should be used in baseball. Currently, it is only selectively used on home run calls but it should be expanded to safe/out calls on the basepaths. With expanded instant replay, calls like the one last night will happen less and umpires like Joyce won't have to deal with the public backlash like he and his wife have today (he's behind home plate in today's Tigers-Indians game).

Video: Kownacki Goes Superman

A crazy good baseball play by Fordham University's Brian Kownacki to lead Fordham's comeback against Iona. (video courtesy The Sporting Blog).

Randy Johnson Hangs it Up

Photo courtesy of the Idaho Statesman/AP.

After 22 seasons, ace pitcher Randy Johnson has decided to retire. He is second on the all-time strikeout list (4,875), has a career record of 303-166, a World Series ring, two no-hitters, a perfect game, and ten-time All-Star.

But what many may remember him for is his personality. His shaggy hair, his height on the mound, his tenacity to go after hitters. His fastball and slider pitches were absolutely devastating to hitters' psyche. I doubt we'll see a pitcher of his dominance again soon or ever. He played for Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona, NY Yankees, and San Francisco, but his most memorable moments occurred in a Diamondbacks uniform (the 2001 World Series and his perfect game in 2004).

Down to the Wire

Photo courtesy of Baseball1027.wordpress.com.

The baseball playoffs are just about set. Here are the American League seedings if the playoffs started today:

1) NY Yankees vs. 4) either Detroit Tigers or Minnesota Twins
2) LA Angels vs. 3) Boston Red Sox

Yankees have home-field throughout the playoffs including the World Series, assuming they go that far. Angels have home-field against the Red Sox. The Tigers are only two games up on the Twins with 3 games remaining, so it'll come down to the final weekend in that division.

Here are the National League seedings if the playoffs started today:

1) LA Dodgers vs. 4) St. Louis Cardinals
2) Philadelphia Phillies vs. 3) Colorado Rockies

The Dodgers have lost 4 straight, have not clinched the NL West division, and are only two games up on Colorado. They play each other in LA beginning tomorrow, and all the Dodgers need to do is win one game to clinch the division. The Rockies have to sweep in order to clinch the division. Home-field is still up for grabs between LA and Philly.

Showdown Weekend

The Colorado Rockies' Yorvit Torrealba and the San Francisco Giants' Travis Ishikawa face-off again in a 3-game series starting tonight. Photo courtesy of NachoPhoto.com

It's going to be a huge weekend in baseball...

Texas Rangers @ Tampa Bay Rays
San Francisco Giants @ Colorado Rockies
Florida Marlins @ Atlanta Braves
Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox

Prior to tonight's games, the AL wild card standings are very tight. The Red Sox lead, but the Rangers are a game back. Tampa is 4 games back of Boston. The Texas-Tampa series this weekend could make a huge impact on the wild card race. If Tampa sweeps, then, it'll be an even tighter race. If Texas sweeps, Tampa's season is pretty close to done.

Going into tonight's series, there was a 4-team race for the NL wild card. Colorado is in front and two games up on next-place San Francisco. They face off this weekend in a series that is crucial for San Fran. Both Atlanta and Florida are tied, 4 games back of Colorado, 2 behind Frisco. They play a three game series in Florida starting tonight. If that series is a sweep for either Atlanta or Florida, the loser's season is pretty much finished. Also, the Chicago Cubs are 6 games back, but they play the Dodgers in LA this weekend. It's not looking good for the fans in Wrigleyville.

Oh yeah, and the Red Sox and Yankees play this weekend. Sunday night will be a great duel (Sabathia vs. Beckett) and it's on Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8ET/5PT).

Enjoy a great baseball weekend!

Fenway South - Camden Yards Part 1

When I went to the Washington DC area to visit family earlier this summer, I took a daytrip to Baltimore, primarily to visit Camden Yards. The Red Sox were in town (Jon Lester started) and while my seats were in the upper deck (after all, my view is from the reserved seats), they were easily some of the best seats in the house. Here are photos of the park:


This is the main entry plaza, just beyond the scoreboard in center. The Orioles' retired numbers are here, most notably, Cal Ripken's #8.


The Eutaw Street concourse along right field. This is where the fans hang out inside Camden. The building on the right used to be the B&O Railroad's main office, but now serves as the team office building. There's a pretty good pub on the bottom floor. Also on this concourse is Boog's Barbeque, considered some of the best non-hot dog ballpark food in baseball.


This area is between the Eutaw concourse and the right field wall (it acts as an overlook of sorts.) There are a ton of flagpoles here, corresponding to the current baseball standings. Many a home run ball lands in this spot.


Pickles Pub, just across the street from Camden. Pickles is the Orioles equivalent to Boston's Cask n' Flagon. One of the great things with the East Coast clubs is that they are better meshed with the community. In LA, the ballparks are surrounded by parking lots and the game is like an event. You pay your ticket, you go, you see the game, you leave. On the East Coast, it's an experience. You might stop by the neighborhood bar for Happy Hour before the game and most fans take public transit to the ballpark, so many fans end up talking about the game with each other on the ride home. Some Western cities like Phoenix, Denver, and San Diego are making attempts at recreating the neighborhood vibe of the East Coast parks, but it still isn't as prevalent.


The front entrance to Camden.


The view from my seats. I think it was Section 332, but I forget. Seats went for $35-40 on StubHub (thanks M.H. for the tip)

Part 2 of my Camden photos will come next week.

A Week of Beaning

Image courtesy of Masslive.com. Kevin Youkilis, left, of the Boston Red Sox is about to throw Detroit Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello to the ground after getting beaned by a pitch Tuesday night.

Last week, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder was hit, or "beaned", by Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Guillermo Mota. Fielder didn't take exception at the time of the hit, but tried to enter the Dodgers locker room after the game and let off a profanity-laced tirade (video below along with a follow-up interview with LA sports anchor Jim Hill):





Both videos courtesy of KCAL 9 / KCBS 2 via YouTube.

What Fielder did was stupid on multiple levels. No one tries to enter the opposing teams' locker room to pick a fight. That would be the baseball equivalent to a schoolyard bully saying, "Meet me at 3:00 on the playground." Nothing good can come of it. In the second video, Fielder totally dodges Hill's questioning and makes it sound like it was no big deal and nothing happened. He also used canned answers that didn't seem very relevant to the interview. This doesn't help Fielder's image and if he does another interview like this, he'll need a better PR agent. As I wrote in a post last year, retaliatory and brushback pitches are part of baseball. Last year, a manager admitted he orders pitchers to hit opposing batters as a form of retaliation.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, Fenway Park. After a game on Monday that had lots of players getting beaned, the Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis finally had enough after another beaning.

I generally like Youkilis, he's a well rounded baseball player with lots of talent. For whatever reason, he is the batter that opposing pitchers usually choose to hit in regards to retaliatory pitches (he has more hit by pitches than any other Red Sox batter this year.) On one hand, had Porcello not tried to hit Victor Martinez, the batter before Youkilis, the brawl may have been avoided. On the other hand, I do not condone charging the mound, much less throwing your helmet. Youkilis will surely be suspended multiple games, which does not help the Red Sox in their current state of affairs.

What's most disturbing is hearing the fans at Fenway cheer on the brawl. I don't go to baseball games to see a brawl. For that, there's wrestling, boxing, and hockey. Beaning is becoming a problem in baseball, especially if managers are ordering hits. While the "eye for an eye" principle is understandable, it doesn't justify drilling someone with a 90+ mph fastball.

UPDATE (8/13/09): MLB.com claimed a copyright violation to the YouTube video of Youkilis charging the mound I linked to. The best place to view the footage at this point is here. Also, MLB announced that both Youk and Porcello received 5-game suspensions for the brawl.

Big Papi Fallout

Photo courtesy of ESPN.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that both Manny Ramirez, currently with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and David Ortiz, currently with the Boston Red Sox, tested positive for steroids in a 2003 test, when both players were members of the Red Sox. To put it mildly, the news has caused shockwaves throughout New England and the baseball world at large.

This story has so many angles. First, it's not a surprise that Manny Ramirez's name showed up on the list. He served a 50-game suspension earlier this season for failing a steroid test. His name was already tarnished in the eyes of many baseball fans. His Hall of Fame career will have the taint of steroid use that may have lasted his whole career from his start in Cleveland in the 1990's to Boston to LA.

The main angle, and the one that's the shocker, is David Ortiz. Ortiz is one of the most outspoken players in regards to banning steroid use in baseball. Prior to spring training this year, Ortiz said:


"You test positive, you gonna be out. Serious and period. I would suggest that everybody get tests, not random, everybody. You go team-by-team, you test everybody 3-4 times a year, and that's about it...bang 'em for a whole year. I know that if I test positive by using any kind of, um, substance, I know that I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans, and everybody. And I don't want to be facing that situation."

To see the video of these comments, click here.


Photo courtesy of Soxblog.mlblogs.com.

For someone to be so outspoken on steroids, then to be on a list of players that tested positive, something doesn't seem right. David Ortiz, known to Red Sox fans as "Big Papi", is known to be a fun, outgoing member of the Sox clubhouse and a standout member of the community. The two things that don't fit are the steroid use and his stat line from 2000-2009. If he were to be subject to his own recommendation for steroid users, he'd be banned from the game for a year.

There's other conflicting information floating around. Nomar Garciaparra, a former Red Sox player currently playing with the Oakland Athletics, said Thursday that players that wanted testing would ask that they be counted as "positive" in order that a drug testing program would be put in place. Shortly after these comments, many baseball sources denied this. Another thing that hasn't been sorted out is that if players were on the list, the player's association was to contact the player and give them the bad news. Ortiz claims he found out through the NY Times article released today.

The third angle, and perhaps the most mysterious, is how the information came out. The initial news story, broken by the NY Times' Michael Schmidt and David Waldstein, has the headline, "Ortiz and Ramirez Are Said to Be on 2003 Doping List". The main sources for the report are lawyers involved with litigation regarding the list. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the actual list of players is under a court seal. Problem is, divulging information that is under federal court seal is a crime.

There's a host of journalism questions here. First, why did the lawyers willingly break the law by leaking names to the Times? Surely, they would have known the ramifications beforehand. Second, should the Times have taken the sources' information, knowing the law would be broken? Third, will the Times be facing legal issues for publishing the details? On a related note, I find it interesting that the NY Times, through its ownership of the Boston Globe newspaper, has a minorty ownership stake in the Red Sox.

For more on this story, you can read the NY Times article here. For ESPN's take on the story, including a great video with investigative reporter T.J. Quinn, go here. For Curt Schilling's opinion, click here.

I'll be adding my own personal thoughts as a Red Sox fan in the coming days. There's lots of debate going on and it'll require a second post to gather my thoughts together and write them up. It's been a sad day to be a resident of Red Sox Nation.

A Reminder of a Giant Mistake

Picture courtesy of StlToday.com/Associated Press.

Randy Johnson won his 300th career game Thursday as the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 5-1. I've always liked Randy, especially after his performance in the 2001 World Series, but seeing him in a Giants uniform reminds me of all the junk after the Series. Randy is a reminder of what happens when team ownership gets stingy...at a bad time.

Randy came up through the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals) farm system, then was traded to the Seattle Mariners where he made a reputation for being a nasty pitcher to face. He was traded again, this time to Houston, then signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to the 1999 season. He won the Series MVP in 2001, multiple NL Cy Young Awards, and was at his most dominant in this period. After the D-Backs' disastrous 2004 season, Randy was traded to the New York Yankees, where his two seasons were deemed a flop. He returned to Arizona for the 2007 season, and helped stabilize the rotation. When he became a free agent after the '08 season, the Diamondbacks ownership had decided on not bringing many players back. They let second baseman/defensive whiz Orlando Hudson go to the Dodgers, outfielder/power hitter Adam Dunn go to the Nationals, and after a lot of back and forth, Randy signed with San Francisco.

When Randy first signed with Arizona in 1999, the owner was Jerry Colangelo, who was bent on assembling a championship roster as fast as possible. After the world championship in 2001, the D-Backs were loaded with aging players and lots of deferred money on contracts. These contracts helped lead to the ousting of Colangelo as majority owner in 2004. He was replaced by Ken Kendrick, who has since made a reputation of being one of the worst owners in regards to penny-pinching.

The fans in Arizona still like Randy, even though he left for a division rival, but a growing number of fans are getting irritated by the management. The D-Backs went from the NLCS in 2007 to a current 4th place standing in their division (looking up at both San Fran and the LA Dodgers). While some of the decline involves injuries to key players, the losses of Hudson, Dunn, and Johnson are just too big to overcome. It was unlikely for all three to come back, especially given the economic climate, but for none to return was a terrible mistake. Now, as Randy Johnson has won his 300th game, it only serves as a reminder that if it weren't for a stingy ownership, Arizona fans could have seen him achieve the accomplishment in a Diamondbacks uniform.


On a separate note, if you'd like to see the news broadcasts from the class I took this past semester, just go to CougarNews.com. Among other things, I did the sports anchoring for the March 18th and May 6th shows. It was a challenging but very rewarding class.

Slimy Agents?

Image courtesy of the BBC.

A controversy reached boiling point this week when the agents for Los Angeles Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal, shown above, were presented with a contract offer by the Atlanta Braves for Furcal, but he resigned with the Dodgers a day later at terms nearly identical to the Braves' offer. The Braves front office is furious about it and making their displeasure known in the press. They have advised Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer, the agents involved, to remove the Braves from their clients' wish list of teams, effectively ending any business dealings between Tellem, Kinzer, and the Braves.


Image courtesy of daylife.com/The Associated Press/Lenny Ignelzi.

Supposedly, the Braves agreed to a contract offer with Furcal via Kinzer, shown above, and Tellem for a three-year deal and an option for a fourth. The Braves were told Furcal would sleep on it, but Kinzer reportedly took the offer to the Dodgers and negotiated a similar deal. The Braves contend that they had a deal and that once Furcal would sleep on it, he'd sign with Atlanta (he played there from 2000-2005.) The agents argue that a deal was never in place and that what they did was above board. If Atlanta follows through on their threat to not sign any players from Tellem and Kinzer's agency, there could be potential problems regarding baseball's collective bargaining agreement (or CBA).


Image courtesy of New York Magazine/Getty Images.

Kinzer and Tellem aren't the first agents to anger baseball teams. Scott Boras, shown above, is the biggest agent in baseball and has a colorful reputation in the sport. Some have called him a variety of names including "The Prince of Darkness" and he is known for getting his players top dollar, even if they aren't worth the amount. For example, when Johnny Damon went from the Boston Red Sox to their archrival New York Yankees a few years ago, he received a contract in the $50 million range, which most observers at the time said Damon was being overvalued. In other words, it's believed by most baseball observers that whoever offers the most money to a Boras client automatically wins the bidding. And while Boras has gotten teams into bidding wars, he's never done anything quite like what Kinzer and Tellem have done to Atlanta. The fact that Boras gets his players top dollar is good for him, that's what he's hired to do. What Kinzer and Tellem did only reinforces the stereotype that agents can be schmucks (if you haven't seen the animated film Bolt, the stereotypical agent makes multiple appearances, each time getting worse) only interested in money, book deals, etc. that the get a cut in.

Hot Stove Getting Warmer

Even in the current economy, you can always count on baseball teams to spend like crazed Christmas shoppers this time of year. Despite the fact that baseball is in its offseason, this is when the free agency period and player movement begin. Some of the major trades and deals so far:


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Slugger Matt Holliday, pictured above, was traded to Oakland from Colorado for relief pitcher Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and pitcher Greg Smith. While Holliday is now the main hitter in the A's offense, I don't think he'll be the 35-homer guy that he was with the Rockies. Due to the thin air in Colorado, the balls go higher and farther, whereas Oakland is right next to San Francisco Bay, where the dense marine air takes the flight out of balls. Conversely, the pitchers sent to the Rockies have to hope that they don't get lit up every night. In other words, this deal was a good one for the clubs, but a bad one for the players' individual careers.


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who previously played for the Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers, signed with the New York Yankees for seven years, $161 million. Sabathia is a good starting pitcher, but he's not $161 million good. His yearly salary will be $23 million, the second highest on the team, even more than sure Hall-of-Famer and Yankee icon Derek Jeter ($21 million). Sabathia has a playoff ERA over 5.00 but a 21-8 record against AL East teams excluding the Yankees (Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay). Also, C.C. had reservations about playing in New York and, to paraphrase ESPN.com columnist Buster Olney, only greatness will be expected of him from the New York fans. Even if he fails though, he has an opt-out clause in his contract after the 2011 season.


Image courtesy of the CBC.

The Yankees also signed Toronto pitcher A.J. Burnett to a five-year $82.5 million deal. That's $16.5 million a year for a pitcher who's career average is 3.81, not great but not terrible. He has an injury history, but he was dominant against the Red Sox last year, going 5-0. Getting Burnett from a division rival was a bonus for the Yankees, but he's a high risk-high payoff player.

Swedish Foolishness in Beijing

Picture courtesy of The Telegraph (UK).

Earlier today, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian won the bronze medal in the 84 kg competition in Beijing. In appreciation of winning the bronze, he threw it on the floor of the gym, walked out, and announced he was quitting the sport. He later said, "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." During his semifinal bout with eventual gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, he had to be restrained by his teammates when the judges determined Minguzzi the winner. After the medals ceremony, he announced "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure.”

Abrahamian's lust for a gold medal consumed him. Most people would be okay with a silver or bronze and while they'd prefer the gold, they usually take it with grace and return four years later for another try at the gold. But not this Swede. He wanted the gold so bad that he convinced himself he had won it,even before the competition was over. He thought the gold medal was rightfully his. A preacher named C.J. Mahaney once spoke a sermon about conflicts and cravings, essentially saying that conflicts result when we crave something and we don't get what we want. Abrahamian is a perfect example of this craving.

As of this writing, the United States team leads all other countries with 15 bronze medals at these Games. Think they're going to give up their medals? While we all want the athletes to win gold medals, the silver and bronze are also worth having. After all, by having one of the three medals, you're considered one of the top three athletes in the sport. But Abrahamian isn't the only athlete with this behavior.

If we hold Abrahamian in disdain, shouldn't we hold major league managers like Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen who quarrel with umpires and throw tantrums in the same contempt? What about players who commit flagrant fouls on the opposing team in basketball and football? One can speculate as to how these players' pride swells up. Perhaps they grew up in an insulated environment (i.e. baseball games with no kept score) or were told from childhood they were destined for greatness (as some speculate the Chinese have done with their athletes). The world may, and rightfully so, hold utter disregard for Abrahamian, but he isn't the only one that considers everything but the gold, "a failure".

Ballpark Winter Blues: Petco Park

It's the middle of January and while the NFL Playoffs and the NBA regular season are ongoing, sometimes, the baseball season just can't come fast enough. Last year, I began a countdown of my favorite ballparks and didn't get to the top two. So, while 3/4 of the country is buried in snow, here's the number two park: Petco Park in San Diego, CA. Due to a surplus of pictures, I'll be posting a part 2 with comments on the ballpark and game. All photos were taken by me on April 30th, 2006.

Walking to the ballpark from the transportation hub in downtown San Diego:


The main stairway leading up to home plate and the field level concourse:


The view of the field from the field level concourse:


The view of the seating bowl from the left field nosebleeds. If you look closely, two sections in the upper deck are full of Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton. They're in the two sections on the left:


A zoomed-in view of the playing field:


The main scoreboard: