The Major League Baseball Post

[wildkycat]

i don't know...i've never read/heard anything...

it would make sense though, our trio of backstops aren't exactly very good (trying to be nice.) i'll be glad when David Ross get's back, he needsto up his average, but he's got great power and throws guys out. Javy Valentin's a nice backup and great pinch hitter to have....and Paul Bakois...Paul Bako.

didn't Laird hit two bombs the other night?

but like i said, i haven't seen or heard anything about that and i read a Reds beat writer's blog daily and he's always talking about all thatstuff.

 

[wildkycat]

for those who've seen him...does Cueto remind you of Pedro Martinez (with a little more velocity)?? or is it just me?

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat


for those who've seen him...does Cueto remind you of Pedro Martinez (with a little more velocity)?? or is it just me?

Yea he really does. He is really dominant and has good control. The slider is nice and he pitches some heat. Reminds me a bit of Liriano with all thestrikeouts and hard slider.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Cueto = Fantasy Steal of the Year?

Cats in my league didn't even have this dude on their radar.

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

Cueto = Fantasy Steal of the Year?

Cats in my league didn't even have this dude on their radar.

Yea i snachted him up. He didn't even get the win last night and almost had as much Bedard.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Tim Linccecum+Dic-

 

[wildkycat]

No. 42 available for one special day

Players, coaches to don digits in honor of Jackie Robinson

NEW YORK -- The Mets are hosting Tuesday night's 61st anniversary celebration of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier against the Nationals at Shea Stadium, which is beginning its final season.

And aptly, both teams have decided that each of the 25 players in uniform, plus all on-field personnel that evening, will wear Robinson's legendary No. 42, which was retired throughout professional baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of Robinson playing his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson's old club, now hailing from Los Angeles, will also all again honor the Hall of Famer who paved the way for African-Americans to star in the Major Leagues when he took the field at first base on April 15, 1947. The Astros, Cardinals, Pirates and Rays will also join them. Tampa Bay was the first squad to announce its intention to do it this season.

"Last year, I was fortunate enough to wear No. 42," said Mets manager Willie Randolph, a native of Brooklyn, who was given the honor of wearing the hallowed digits when baseball celebrated the 60th anniversary of Robinson's big day. "But [general manager] Omar [Minaya] and I were talking the other day, and this year, we felt it would be tremendous if the entire team could wear the number and feel the same sense of pride that I felt last year."

Since Selig proclaimed last week that, for the second consecutive year, any big league player can wear Robinson's retired jersey in action on Tuesday, the acceptances have come in fast and furious. The big day is also being celebrated at the other 14 ballparks that are staging games.

"All players have the option; it's entirely up to them," Selig said. "Candidly, I hope they all do it."

Orlando Hudson did so last year, along with Diamondbacks teammates Chris Young and Eric Byrnes. All three say they will wear it again. And as the returns come in, it is clear that each of the 30 teams is taking a different approach. The Brewers, who were big on the unity thing last year, have designated one player this time around: first baseman Prince Fielder.

"It's pretty cool," said Fielder, whose name was picked out of a hat. "What [Robinson] did, what he had to go through, I couldn't have done it. You guys know my temper. I'm glad he was able to do it for me, so I didn't have to deal with that."

Many other teams have opened it up to two or three uniformed personnel, or more. Six Twins will don the No. 42, including Craig Monroe, Delmon Young, Denard Span, Livan Hernandez, Matt Guerrier and first-base coach Jerry White.

From the Reds camp, right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. and manager Dusty Baker confirmed their allegiance. From the Indians, center fielder Grady Sizemore and left-hander C.C. Sabathia said they were both again proud to do it. Among the Mariners, outfielder Charlton Jimerson said wearing a baseball jersey with the No. 42 on his back would be a special thrill.

"It would be an honor, it really would," Jimerson said.

Center fielder Joey Gathright, right fielder Jose Guillen and first-year manager Trey Hillman will make up the Royals' contingent.

"For me, Jackie Robinson is the first black man I ever heard speak proper English and seem well-educated, so he did a lot for me," Gathright said. "He let me know there was a lot more out there in the world than just living in Mississippi in the woods.

"He brought baseball to me, was able to speak as a black man to me -- a lot of things. It was the way he was, and I respected him a lot."

From the Yankees, LaTroy Hawkins and Robinson Cano will wear it, while Mariano Rivera is the last of the players who don the No. 42 on a day-to-day basis. Rivera was grandfathered in with a few players when Selig retired the number 11 years ago.

"It's hard to imagine what he went through," Rivera said about Robinson. "He couldn't fight back, but he would take it back on the field and play hard. The field was his territory. He played his game and fought his battles so people like me could have a job in the big leagues."

Cano, who regularly wears No. 24 in honor of Robinson, will simply reverse the digits on Tuesday.

"If it wasn't for him, we couldn't be here," Cano said.

From the Padres, Tony Clark and Scott Hairston will wear it. From the Giants, second baseman Ray Durham will be the lone representative. From the Cubs, Daryle Ward and Derrek Lee are on board for the second consecutive season.

"Anything you can do to bring awareness to what [Robinson] did and pay your respects to what he did is definitely a good thing," Lee said.

From the Marlins, it will be Bo Porter, Florida's third-base/outfield coach. From the Orioles, it's 22-year-old center fielder Adam Jones. The Astros have asked center fielder Michael Bourn to represent them. On the Phillies, shortstop Jimmy Rollins was bestowed the honor. From the Braves, it's veteran center fielder Mark Kotsay.

"Obviously, it means a great deal to represent something that Major League Baseball has made into a tradition," Kotsay said. "You pay your respects to the fact that this man and many others went through those racially motivated trials and tribulations."

Robinson was simply issued No. 42 by then-equipment manager John Griffin upon his arrival in Brooklyn prior to the 1947 season. Robinson wasn't the first or the last player to wear the famous jersey for the Dodgers. In 1939, George Jeffcoat did so when he pitched in only one game. And long after Robinson retired in 1956, it was issued again to pitcher Ray Lamb. But Lamb was so uncomfortable wearing the number that, in 1969, he gave it up when the season ended. Lamb remained with the Dodgers for only one more season.

After that, it was never worn again by a Dodger and was retired by the club just before Robinson passed away in 1972, a decade after he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

The idea of "unretiring" Robinson's number last year was Griffey's brainchild. He personally petitioned the Commissioner for the opportunity, so it was a no-brainer that he'd be doing it again this time around.

"You know what number I'll be wearing," Griffey said.

Baker -- one of four African-American managers in baseball, including Randolph, Ron Washington of the Rangers and Cecil Cooper of the Astros -- was out of uniform last season, and he wasn't able to participate. But there's no doubt about this year.

"That'd be cool -- it's appropriate and necessary," said Baker, a native of Sacramento, Calif., where he makes his offseason home. "I have Jackie all over my house. I have a special Jackie Robinson wall in my memorabilia room."

Like last year, the Dodgers, in their 50th season since moving west from Brooklyn, along with the Pirates and Cardinals, have decided that they will be wearing No. 42. All three are among the National League's original eight teams, and they were obviously in existence during Robinson's 10-year career.

"If it wasn't for him, I might not be in this locker room," Pirates center fielder Nyjer Morgan said about Robinson. "He's the one who paved the way for African-Americans to get into baseball, and it's just an honor even to wear that number. It would be an honor to wear No. 42."



and i'll ask again, Dodger fans, worried about Andruw Jones yet?

 

[N41D]

Andruw has struck out 14 times in 40 ABs?

1 extra-base hit in 12 games? Wow...

 

[atljunkie]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Andruw has struck out 14 times in 40 ABs?

1 extra-base hit in 12 games? Wow...

yea dude is 4-40.

 

[wildkycat]

Dodgers' Jones isn't feeling weight of the world


Dodgers' $36.2-million free-agent signee is homer-less and, with a .105 average, isn't hitting even half his weight. But he doesn't appear worried, or even bothered.

April 13, 2008

Talked to the Dodgers' Andruw Jones before Saturday night's game, and he whiffed again.

I wanted to know if the tubbo thought he could maybe hit his weight at some point this season.

He said he's not fat and doing just fine, apparently envisioning himself as some sort of supermodel and weighing in with a .105 batting average.

He said he's 240 pounds, and I said no way, and so he said, "Do you want me to go weigh myself?"

I said, "Yes, I do," and he said the scale was off limits to the media because as you know the Dodgers get their jollies making most areas around here off limits to people.

"Let's go," I said while leading him to the scale, and he checked in at 248 pounds. "My shoes are on," he said, sounding more like my wife than the Dodgers' center fielder.

I suggested a diet contest benefiting Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA since I would like to drop a ton before a special event in June, but Jones wanted no part of it.

"You're hilarious," he said. "I don't have to prove really nothing."

I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years.

General Manager Ned Colletti said Jones' best weight is somewhere between 235 and 240. Colletti also said Jason Schmidt would help the Dodgers.

Manager Joe Torre, a former tubbo who dropped 20 pounds as a player and then went on to hit .325 and .363, said he could talk until blue in the face, but if Jones isn't buying it, it's not going to make a difference.

The Dodgers, though, have paid Torre to make a difference.

Jones said it doesn't matter what Torre thinks, and I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years.

"That's their problem whatever they think; I have no problem with my weight," the tubbo said.

Maybe it's a problem and maybe it's not, I said, but when you come to a team, struggle and look like a player who just didn't care enough to be in shape when the season begins, it upsets fans.

"That's part of life," he said. "Good players get booed. Look at A-Rod."

The tubbo should ever look that good in a uniform.

The fans in Dodger Stadium, catching the tubbo's act for only the fourth time at home in a Dodgers uniform, booed Jones on Friday night after another wretched performance.

They even booed him in pregame introductions Saturday night, and with runners on first and third in the first, he struck out -- the fans letting him have it again.

In the third, with runners on first and second, he walked, a Dodgers highlight so far this season.

"I don't have to tell fans nothing," he said, and he certainly knows how to sell those Andruw Jones jerseys. "If they want to support me, fine; if they don't want to support me, that's their choice. I can't worry about what other people say. They're not God.

"You get paid for what you do."


Well then, you seem to be terribly overpaid at the current time, I said.

Jones hit .222 last season, and the Dodgers gave him $36.2 million. What would they have paid him had he hit his weight?

"It's not the first time in my life I've struggled," said Jones, who struck out 51 times in the Braves' first 41 games last season.

I told him I had to admit he was improving, striking out 11 times in the first 10 games -- at that pace striking out only 45 times in 41 games.

"I'm not going to hit 27 home runs in April," he said.

"How about one?" I suggested.

Jones had four hits and the same slugging percentage as Juan Pierre before Saturday's game, then went 0 for 3 and struck out again. The extra weight and the smirk that always seems plastered across his face, while charming, make it seem at times that he just doesn't care.

"Do I have to be sad all the time?" he said. "My mom is still living, my dad is still living, and my mom thinks I'm fine and that's what matters.

"If I didn't care then why have I played more games than any other active player since 1997?" he said, maybe for the first time showing a little life. "We'll see when the season is over in September or August."

I had no idea the Dodgers' season might be over as early as August, but the way he's swinging the bat, it makes sense.



from T.J. Simers of the LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers13apr13,1,6365046.column?page=1

what a jerk.

 

[N41D]

"I'm not going to hit 27 home runs in April," he said.

"How about one?" I suggested.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

That is all. Just came across this. I know it has nothing to do w/ current MLB +%*$...But, Oh well.

@ that fat *!%# Druw Jones...

 

[wildkycat]

[table][tr][td]

Ken Griffey Jr. watches home run No. 595 head toward the bleachers in left-center field. (Paul Beaty/AP)
[/td] [td]
Griffey nears milestone blast, connects for long ball No. 595
Ken Griffey Jr. moved to within five home runs of 600 in his career Tuesday night with a second-inning shot at Wrigley Field. The long ball off of Ryan Dempster was Griffey's eighth at the Friendly Confines. Full story >

• Career stats | All-time home run leaders
• HRs by pitcher: Alphabetical | Total | HRs by date
• Buy tickets and see the milestone chase in person

Personifying game's best
There are few players in the baseball history who match Junior's total package, writes MLB.com's Jim Molony. Full story >
[/td] [/tr][/table]

Griffey personifies baseball's best

Injuries curtailed numbers but image remains untarnished

• Game always first for humble Griffey
• Pay it forward: Junior a mentor to Prince
• Griffey's career statistics

Sure, you can look back on the seven-plus seasons Ken Griffey Jr. has spent in Cincinnati and call it a disappointment.

After all, when the Reds sent Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer to Seattle for Griffey on Feb. 10, 2000, it was a red-letter day in the Queen City of the West. The '99 Reds had won 96 games and finished just 1 1/2 games out of first place in the National League Central Division, and adding the then 30-year-old center fielder in the prime of his career was widely viewed as the piece that would put Cincinnati in the playoff picture for years to come.

Unfortunately for Griffey and Cincinnati, the expectations following the prodigal son's return to Ohio -- his father Ken Griffey Sr. was a starter on the Big Red Machine of the 1970s -- proved to be far greater than the reality.

The Reds won 85 games in 2000 while Griffey hit 40 homers and made the All-Star team in what to date has been the high-water mark of his Cincinnati tenure. The Reds haven't had a winning record since then and Griffey, now 37, has been limited to fewer than 112 games per season in five of the last six years because of injuries.

As disappointing as his run with the Reds has been, as he closes in on 600 career home runs, Griffey deserves to be applauded for what he has accomplished during his entire career, not just in Cincinnati, and for what he's meant for baseball and could mean in the years ahead.

In an era in which some of his contemporaries' achievements have been tainted by steroid rumors or other unsavory associations, Griffey's image is as unsullied today as it was when he was selected as the first overall pick of the 1987 First-Year Player Daft.

Think about that a moment.

We're talking about a 13-time All-Star, a nine-time Gold Glove winner and a seven-time Silver Slugger. He's been a Most Valuable Player (with Seattle in '97), an All-Star Game MVP, led the league in home runs four times and driven in 100 or more runs eight times. A career .290 hitter, Griffey has hit .300 or better eight times.

This is a guy who has already amassed Hall of Fame-caliber numbers, and there hasn't been a hint of impropriety along the way.

This is one of the greatest players the game has seen and a guy who stays out of trouble and yet he somehow gets less recognition today than others who have accomplished less on the diamond.

The biggest criticism anyone can level at Griffey, outside the disappointing run with the Reds, is that he's been injury prone. He missed 260 games during 2001-2004.

While it's true he's been hurt a lot since he turned 30, he was usually injured as a result of playing the game hard. Other times involved accidents that could have happened to anybody, like slipping in the shower. At worst, Griffey is guilty of having tough luck.

Ask a few of his former managers, guys like Lou Piniella and Jerry Narron, and you get nothing but praise for Griffey and the way he plays the game. The consensus is Griffey is a gamer, a guy who plays the game the right way.

"He's always had incredible talent," Piniella said. "And he makes it look so easy, but he doesn't take [his skill] for granted."

It is a skill that has taken him to a plateau only five others -- Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa -- have reached. Unlike the two most recent members of the 600 homer club, Griffey joins without the cloud of controversy.

You might have seen Griffey's name on the disabled list several times, but not on a court docket.

You haven't seen Griffey's name associated with corked bats, grand jury testimony or unfortunate off-the-field incidents.

Others exercise the kind of poor judgment that provides tabloid fodder. Not Griffey.

Maybe it's because he has spent his career playing for teams not located in the biggest media markets, but Griffey gets considerably less attention than the new home run king, Bonds, and the player some observers believe will break Bonds' record one day, Alex Rodriguez.

And yet you wonder whether Griffey, if he is able to stay healthy and keep playing into his 40s, will end up on the career home run chart. He's averaged 31 each of the last two seasons and should top that number this season. If Griffey hangs around until he's 42 or 43 and maintains that average, he would wind up with around 750 home runs.

Six hundred, 700 or 800, with Griffey, his place in history shouldn't be measured solely by how many. How he got here, in an era in which integrity isn't as common as it once was, is nearly as impressive.

 

[wildkycat]

Hawkins gives up No. 21 for No. 22

Yanks reliever criticized for wearing O'Neill's number

ST. PETERSBURG -- Tired of receiving flak for wearing a number last used by Paul O'Neill, the Yankees' LaTroy Hawkins has decided to surrender his No. 21 before the club opens a two-game series against the Red Sox on Wednesday.

The right-hander declined comment after the Yankees' 5-3 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, but Yankees director of media relations Jason Zillo confirmed the change. Hawkins' decision was first reported by CBSSports.com.

Hawkins wore No. 22 with the Yankees during Spring Training, but switched to No. 21 when infielder Morgan Ensberg decided he no longer wanted to wear it. Ensberg was randomly assigned the number upon reporting to camp as a non-roster invitee and later revealed that he received numerous vulgar comments from Yankees fans during the Grapefruit League campaign.

Hawkins eagerly accepted No. 21 as a tribute to Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente but quickly learned that a pinstriped No. 21 has other meanings for Yankees fans. Unaware he was donning a number that had not been worn since O'Neill retired following the 2001 World Series, Hawkins was booed when introduced on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. Fans chanted "Paul O'Neill" during one of his appearances in the Bronx.

According to CBSSports.com, Hawkins made the decision after discussions with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and other Yankees veterans, who told Hawkins that the number is not worth the headache it's causing.

"I figure if it's important enough for Jeter and Mariano and some other veterans to ask me about it, it's not worth it to keep wearing the number," Hawkins told the Web site.

Hawkins will wear No. 22, last worn by Roger Clemens, when the Yankees take the field on Wednesday. He had said that he would be interested in wearing No. 42 on Tuesday as a tribute to Jackie Robinson, but declined to change his number for the game against the Rays. Hawkins, who is African-American, wore No. 42 last year for the Rockies, the lone player wearing that number for Colorado.

Paul O'Neill?? are you @++%++* kidding me?


Brandon Webb is filthy.

and i just read this about the Ortiz jersey/Yankee stadium ordeal:

Hank Steinbrenner had a classic statement about Gino Castignoli, the worker who buried the jersey: "I hope his coworkers kick the s*** out of him." I'll go out on an extreme limb here, and say that these shenanigans might have gotten under Hank's skin a little.

Hank dismissed the ordeal as "a bunch of bull****." Oh really? They had multiple workers drilling for five hours, in order to find something that was completely insignificant? Nice try, Hank.

stay classy Hank.

 

[N41D]

I swear to God, if the Mavericks exit in the first round, I'm going to kill myself before football season gets back...

22 errors on the season. Given away 2 of the 3 games in Boston so far.

This team would be well above .500 if they could field worth a damn...

Frustrating to watch.

 

[13rownie]

speaking of which the phils defense is horrible

but chutley for mvp

 

[wildkycat]

Chase Utley has 9 homers and has went yard in each of his last 5 games.

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Chase Utley has 9 homers and has went yard in each of his last 5 games.

9

wildKYcat- You think you'll be able to catch Griffey at home for the record?

 

[kiddin like jason]

Manny needs to take it easy and only hit three jacks over the next three weeks so he'll be sitting on 499 headed into the series against the Tigers inDetroit.

 

[sendnikes]

Let's go Mariners. Maybe we will pick up Frank Thomas at league minimum? Makes our already bad fielding that much worse though.

 

[N41D]

Makes our already bad fielding that much worse though.
He'd be at DH... Frank would be a big upgrade from Jose Vidro at that spot...

 

[bkmac]

Chase Utley could have been MVP last year if he wasn't injured for quite some time.

It's way too early to even think of it, but imagine he wins N.L. MVP this season? Rollins last year, and Howard the year before that. 3 Phillies in a row

 

[arog27]

Cubs Move to 13-6 with Win over NY.
After scoring 13 runs in two straight wins, it looked as if Aramis Ramirez's
two-run homer would be just enough to edge the Mets. But the Cubs erupted f
or five runs in the eighth inning, capped by Felix Pie's three-run blast,
to erase any doubt. Carlos Zambrano shined through seven.

 

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by SCuse7

wildKYcat- You think you'll be able to catch Griffey at home for the record?

well, we got a 7 game homestand (4 games vs. the Marlins, 3 with the Indians) from May 12th-18th. hopefully he gets it then.

Manny needs to take it easy and only hit three jacks over the next three weeks so he'll be sitting on 499 headed into the series against the Tigers in Detroit.

you going to that series?

 

[kiddin like jason]

If he happened to not get to 500 by then, I'd surely try to.