Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Drew Bledsoe's middle name is McQueen. How did I not know that? I hope it is because his parents were big Steve McQueen fans and not because of a family name thing... Jeff Passan points out that Josh Hamilton is ranked 121st out of 151 players who qualify with his anemic .686 OPS and he still has 4-years and almost $100 million left on his contract. I wonder if Nick Cafardo still thinks the Red Sox should have signed Hamilton... I went to a gang rumble and a Chuckie Cheese birthday party broke out... I was only kidding a while back when I said A-Rod is acting this way because he's building the groundwork for an insanity defense but now I'm not so sure it's a joke... Very cool - guy bikes to all 30 MLB parks for charity... Do gangs even have rumbles anymore? Is that like a 1950's thing and it is all drive-by's now?... I'm not offended by the Washington Redskins name but I hope the people who are also demand that the NAACP change the name of their organization... Interesting update on what Daniel Radcliffe has been up to...

Player Comparison

An interesting player comparison occurred to me over the weekend.

Player A - 8 HR / 40 RBI / .299 BA / .867 OPS
Player B - 8 HR / 18 RBI / .212 BA / .650 OPS

What makes the comparison interesting is that Player A is struggling for a MLB roster spot Daniel Nava (who is making just $505,000 in 2013) and Player B is mega-star Josh Hamilton (who signed a mega contract that will pay him an average of $24.6 million per season for the next 5-years).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - Bob Einstein episode

Official Trailer for animated Graham Chapman biopic A Liar's Autobiography. I'm a sucker for anything Monty Python related.

The certainly has been a lot of turn-over in the Red Sox roster since opening day.

Excellent shot-by-shot review of the chase scene in The Dark Knight. That scene has always bugged me - now I know why.

The free agent market for Josh Hamilton may not be as big as he thinks. I wouldn't be surprised if Texas was the only real bidder.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Some day soon Josh Hamilton's life will be immortalized by a Country and Western song. There may even be a whole CD of ballads about Hamilton... Would the Mets do a Johan Santana for Clay Buchholz swap? The Mets would get a young pitcher under control for years and also shed a tremendous amount of cash. The Red Sox would get an ace under contract for at least this season and next... Donald Trump should legally add an "O" to the end of his name to make his "brand" more appealing to Europeans. Besides I just like the idea of calling him Donald Trumpo... In June of 2006 - Barack Obama was a 30-1 shot to win the 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination. That would have been a good bet... Stunt Custard would be a good name for a band (or a fantasy football name)... Curt Schilling should have put it on the Underhill's bill... Airport taco should be slang for something - or it could be a good fantasy football name...

AL All-Star Team

Here's my picks for who is most deserving to be named to the AL All-Star Team:

C - Joe Mauer Twins - .331 BA
1st - Kevin Youkilis Red Sox - .919 OPS and Gold Glove defense
2nd - Ian Kinsler Rangers - leads AL 2nd basemen in most offensive categories
SS - Michael Young Rangers - best of thin pickings in AL
3rd - Alex Rodriguez Yankees - any question?
OF - Josh Hamilton Rangers - 76 RBI
OF - Milton Bradley Rangers - leads the AL in OPS
OF - JD Drew Red Sox - .318 BA and 1.017 OPS
DH - Manny Ramirez Red Sox
SP - Cliff Lee Indians - 10-1 with a 2.45 ERA

Reserves - Justin Morneau Twins, Dioner Navarro Rays, Brian Roberts Orioles, Orlando Cabrerra White Sox, Joe Crede White Sox, Carlos Quentin White Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury Red Sox, BJ Upton Rays, Roy Halladay Blue Jays, Justin Duchscherer A's, Joe Saunders Angels, Mariano Rivera Yankees, Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox, Joakim Soria Royals

Toughest Omissions: Grady Sizemore Indians - deep outfield costs Sizemore a spot mostly because he's up against better known names or spots need to be used for sole representatives for some teams; Johnny Damon Yankees - ditto for Damon; Scott Kazmir Rays - very deserving but time on DL hurt him.

Miscellaneous thoughts.

Manny and Big Papi will probably get the nod at OF and DH in the voting and you know MLB wants Ortiz in there for the "call the shot" promotion they have spent so much money on. I just hope that their inclusion doesn't keep Drew from being on the team. He's more worthy than either Manny or Big Papi this season... Derek Jeter will probably get the start at short which may cost Orlando Cabrera a spot on the team... I don't think Ichiro has earned a berth this season but he's probably going to be voted as starter or picked as the only Mariner representative. That spells doom for Jacoby Ellsbury's chances... Dustin Pedroia will probably get the start at 2nd and with Brian Roberts potentially the sole Orioles representative - that means that Ian Kinsler could get left off the team even though he's the most deserving to start. Of course Nick Markakis could be the Orioles rep and that would put Kinsler on.. Kinsler being left off the team would be bad but my guess is that the biggest screw job will be the omission of either Milton Bradley or JD Drew... If you notice - I have representatives from every team except the Tigers. Who really is deserving from Detroit? Anyone? If you pick Magglio Ordonez then you are dealing with bumping another deserving player from an already crowded outfield. A pitcher? Todd Jones may be the only choice there and who do you bump for him? Jonathan Papelbon? Could this be a year without a Tiger?

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Sidney Ponson with 8 strong innings? Just 6 hits and one earned run? This has to be a tease... I was wrong about Josh Hamilton setting a record for RBI in April. He doesn't even have the team record. Hamilton ended up with 32 RBI in April but Juan Gonzalez owns the big-league and Rangers record with 35 RBI in April... On this day in 1939 Lou Gehrig takes himself out of the line-up for the good of the team. His record of 2,130 consecutive games played is considered unbreakable until Cal Ripken comes along... With all the news about Roger Clemens having "relationships" with all sorts of women - I have to wonder if Wade Boggs was talking about Roger when he had threatened to release his Delta Force secret videos of married players cheating on their wives on the road way back in the day...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I can't believe the Red Sox lost 5 straight before last night's 1-0 win over the Blue Jays. They won't use it as an excuse but the flu really knocked that team flat for the past week.... The record for RBI in April is 31 set by Joe Carter in 1994. Josh Hamilton of the Rangers has a shot of tying or breaking that mark if he has a big game tonight against the Royals. Hamilton has 28 RBI so far in April with that one game left to go... Today is Phil Garner's 59th birthday. Garner makes me wonder about a three-strikes and you're out unwritten rule for managers. Do managers get three chances to win it all before getting tossed on the scrap heap? Of course some guys are so bad that they only get one or two strikes (like Kevin Kennedy) but I think guys with any talent at all for managing seem to get three shots - like Garner and like Dusty Baker who I'm guessing won't get another shot if he doesn't succeed with Cincinnati... Geovany Soto and Jacoby Ellsbury are the early leaders for NL and AL Rookies of the Year... Go figure. The AL has the DH but the NL still has the higher overall slugging percentage - .404 for the NL to .397 for the AL... People always knock Mike Mussina for the fact that he never had a 20-win season. The same is true of Kenny Rogers who just won his 212th game - to tie Chief Bender for 85th place on the all-time wins list. Chief Bender is in the Hall of Fame in part because he had two 20-win seasons but also because he had a great winning percentage (.625) but also because he was a money pitcher in the playoffs. Bender had a 2.44 ERA in 10 post season starts and helped the Philadelphia A's win 3 World Series. Kenny Rogers, on the other hand, is a guy who always seemed to come up smallest when the pressure was on. That's one of the reasons he couldn't hack it with the Yankees. If Kenny Rogers gets one vote for the Hall of Fame when he's done - it will be one vote too many...

Top 5 - NL ROY Candidates

Here are who I see as the top 5 candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year Award:

1. Ryan Braun Brewers
2. Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
3. Hunter Pence Astros
4. Tim Lincecum Giants
5. Josh Hamilton Reds

I have to think that Braun's number will be too sexy for voters to ignore (25 HR and a .331 batting average) but keep in mind that Tulowitzki actually leads Braun in Win Shares (17 to 16) for those sabermetrically inclined.