A few weeks ago young cortes from CityofChamps (smug little SOB) and myself made a fun little bet. If the Mets have more wins than the Marlins I take over his blog for a day and if the Marlins have more wins than the Mets he gets to write as many posts as he sees fit here at MLJ. Hef, of course, does not like this bet. Hef, you see, is all about control. And as we all know, Hef’s people already control the media, Hollywood, the banking system, the legal system and the hot dog business so him wanting control over my bet with cortes was to be expected. I had to dazzle Hef with a power point presentation and then explain that cortes was a good egg and perhaps a minority. Hef said, “We already have Clown, I filled the quota.” My response to that was as a self respecting Irishman I could never welsh on a bet, unless there was something more in it for me. Hef claimed he had nothing more for me and that I should just keep my silly bet but I better win. So with Hef’s blessing I give you this week’s analysis of the bet. Read the rest of this entry »

This isn’t the first time I’ve stolen an idea from Joe Poz, and it probably won’t be the last, but here goes. The basic premise is if a new Hall of Fame were started, which five players would comprise the first class. Here are your choices:

So here’s the idea: You have five votes (I hope … we’ll see if the technology is up to it) — though obviously you can only vote for each player once. So PLEASE use all five of your votes. We’re going to see how well the readership here can handle technology.

OK, here are the nominees with the briefest comment so not to influence anybody.

Hank Aaron: Hit 755 home runs and, people forget, is still all-time RBI leader.

Barry Bonds: Home run leader; seems like there’s something else about him I can’t recall.

Ty Cobb: Spike sharpener hit .366 for his career.

Joe DiMaggio: Hit in 56 straight and left flowers at Marilyn’s grave in perpetuity.

Lou Gehrig: Luckiest man on the face of the earth no matter what Bob Feller says.

Josh Gibson: Only stories remain, but many will say he was the greatest hitter of them all.

Jackie Robinson: “I’m looking for a ballplayer with enough guts not to fight back.”

Walter Johnson: 417 wins, 2.17 ERA, 12-time strikeout champ, all-time gentleman.

Greg Maddux: Has won 350 games, and inspired the Maddux Lament: “Damn, he had nothing, we should have hit him.”

Mickey Mantle: Fans will forever talk about how good Mantle COULD have been. Three MVPs and 172 OPS+ say he was pretty good.

Willie Mays: “Could beat you every way that you could be beaten.” — Buck O’Neil.

Babe Ruth: Career 2.28 ERA and threw 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series. Could also hit.

Honus Wagner: Flying Dutchman led league in hitting eight times and, in his career, led league multiple times on-base, slugging, OPS, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, stolen bases, OPS+, runs created, extra-base hits, hit-by pitch and class.

Ted Williams: When asked as manager if he would let his players get away with some of the stuff he got away with, Ted Williams replied: “If they could hit like Ted Williams I would.”

Cy Young: Never won a Cy Young, but did win 511 games. Read the rest of this entry »

No surprise, but the AL is a lot better than the NL. Why? Well you’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow for that one. Unlike Hef, I’m sad to see interleague play go, mainly because the Twins dominated the NL. But, it will be fun to watch some divisional rivalries continue, including a big series in the AL East between the Red Sox and Yankees Rays(!). What took place on Sunday? Let’s see…. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a pretty good chance Indians pitchers will have nightmares tonight about Adam Dunn, who homered today in the final game between the Reds-Indians in 2008. In the six games versus Cleveland this year, Dunn hit .300/.462/1.050. For the non-math majors (Hef), that is an OPS of 1.512. He had 5 homers and 10 RBI, and he (surprisingly) made two great defensive plays in left field today. So Cleveland, I ask you: How does Dunn’s ass taste?

Cleveland went 1-5 versus the Reds. Their record is 37-45. If they had instead went 5-1 versus their inferior-National League in-state neighbors, their record would be 41-41, right in the thick of the Central Division title hunt. Smoke on that.

Pic h/t: Red Hot Mama

JC Romero gave the Phils all of Philly a scare last night during their 8-6 win. He walked in a run in the 8th and seemed destined to walk in another one. That is until Jared Saltalamacchia waved at 3 change ups to end the inning. Hence, that K received the Rico Defensive Player of the Game honors. I love the enthusiasm JC brings to this team that has several player who barely crack a smile. But check out Salty after the whiff. I haven’t seen anyone break a bat over their knee in quite a while. Pretty impressive stuff.

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I would call him a Jerk, but I think that would be too kind. The other day I posted a story of how Astros GM Ed Wade and pitcher Shawn Chacon got into an altercation in the clubhouse. Chacon has since been released and at a press conference, Wade basically said, “He started it”. He had never shown he had a Napoleon Complex and seemed to be on the straight and narrow during is tenure with the Phils. Boy was I wrong.

Randy Miller of the Bucks County Courier Times is a breath of fresh air in Philly. He’s like the Peter Gammons of the Philly area. Yet he writes for a small suburban paper and blogs on phillyBurbs.com. Says Randy Miler…

In 2005, Wade made a false accusation of me that led to a closed-door meeting, and Wade became so angry that he picked up a chair in Charlie Manuel’s office and threw it high off a wall, breaking two legs.

Wow, I had no idea Wade could be a bad ass. It seems that was not an isolated incident. Randy Miller called into SportsRadio 610WIP on Friday and I happened to be listening while on my lunch break. To paraphrase Randy, Wade had a big ego ever since he started working with the Phillies as an intern in the PR department. He would walk around the office stating, “I like this guy and that guy”, referring to players in the minors of the Phils and other teams. Big wigs would then claim, “So the kid thinks he knows baseball”, even though he had the athletic ability of Less Nessman. Often times he would walk around the clubhouse screaming at players in front of his peers. I can’t help but think he is the reason players like Scott Rolen and Curt Schilling didn’t want to play here.

Most everyone I know has a fantasy baseball team. Hell, if you are reading this site I am going to say there is a 99% chance you have one. If you clicked on to this post I am going for 99.9%. I have one and I must say I am really, really good at it. Now understand something, I am not a stats guru like some people on this website. I am not even a fantasy nut. I am an informed baseball fan who knows what would constitute a good to great team though. It is pretty easy actually. I have never finished below 5th in 12 team leagues. My teams are always competitive and I have won a few league titles in my day. So here is my list of things to help you achieve fantasy awesomeness and be the coolest guy (or gal) you know. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have any idea how good Grady Sizemore is?

MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA…we suck.

I’M A FUCKING SOLDIER.

It’s said that all good things must come to an end. That was certainly the case last night when Fresno State became the lowest seeded team to win a national championship in any sport. Below is my all -CWS team, along with my early projections for who will be in Omaha next season.

C- Jason Castro, Stanford- Hit .333 in Omaha, but beyond that, Castro showed off some good power and proved he was a great defensive catcher, at least an equal to Buster Posey, and maybe even better. Castro showed off good footwork behind the plate and a strong, accurate arm Read the rest of this entry »

I am a guitar player, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m really fucking good. I studied jazz guitar performance in college which explains why I’m, a.) now working in the completely polar opposite field, and b.) a massive pothead. In school I was obsessed; I would routinely practice, not play, but intensely practice for 6 to 10 hours per day and it was sweet. I also didn’t sleep, like ever. It was pimp.

So what does all this have to do with baseball? Funny you should ask, dickhead, if you weren’t such a cock, I would’ve told you already. It has very little to do with baseball actually, in fact, it only relates to one thing…the wood baseball bats are made out of.

See, guitars are made of wood, and different woods sound different than other woods. For example, a spurce-topped (most common wood used for the tops) acoustic guitar with a maple back and sides will sound much crispier and brighter in the higher sonic ranges than a spruce-topped acoustic with rosewood back and sides, which will sound richer with thick mids and basses. I know wood (I know I’m going to hear some sophomoric jokes about that), I know how to shape and bend wood to make a guitar, and which woods to choose to create the sound I want.

Now, onto the baseball stuff.

Maple bats became popular in the early 1990’s when former Indian, Joe Carter started using them because he was able to get around quicker. However, it wasn’t until Big Ol’ Barry Bonds jimmy-jacked 73 home runs that it really became widely used. Maple bats are expensive, the process and quality of the wood drive up the price when compared to ash, as well as hickory, the other most commonly used wood for bats. But that is of little concern to MLB’ers, as roughly 55% of players now use this style bat.

So there’s been a little hullabaloo about the problems arising due to maple bats and their penchant for shattering easily and potentially harming decent, baseball-lovin’ ‘mericans. See, normally a heavier wood than ash due to moisture content, the technologies of wood firing have brought about the advent of advanced kilns which will suck the moisture out of the slab of wood, while maintaining it’s density and enhancing durability (until it shatters that is). Because of this technique, and the naturally shorter grain pattern of maple when compared to ash, maple bats don’t just break, they explode, breaking off into sharp pieces of wood shrapnel flying through the air at high velocity while ash bats simply split down their long grains and spiral away slowly. Read the rest of this entry »