What a Week in Baseball!
Bryce Harper bashes himself in the face after going 0-5…
Justin Sellers dives into the stands….
And Brett Lawrie spikes his helmet into the home plate umpire:
Man, I love this game!
Brett Lawrie vs George Brett
George Brett was involved in one of the most controversial incidents in baseball called “the pine-tar incident.” It went down like this:
Even though George Brett didn’t exactly do what he said he was going to do while sitting in the dugout, he came very close. And with good reason!
Recently, Toronto Blue Jays, Brett Lawrie may have also created a monster called the “batting helmet incident.” After umpire Bill Miller called Lawrie out on a pitch up and away in the ninth inning of a one-run game against Tampa Bay, Lawrie — who was on his way to first base — turned to argue the call. Miller immediately ejected him, and Lawrie then spiked his helmet on the turf. It bounced up and hit Miller on the hip as Lawrie proceeded to berate him. Miller then tossed Blue Jays manager John Farrell after he came to his player’s aid.
All was said and done, right? Lawrie was expected to play in today’s game. He was even in the line-up. And then Major league baseball stepped in and threw a four-game suspension to Lawrie for his aggressive actions towards Miller. There has been no details that I know of towards any fines, but Lawrie is expected to sit the bench for the next four games. As far as Bill Miller’s controversial call? USA Today has the story on that. Chime in with your comments down below. I’d love to hear what you think about all of this.
What has Josh Hamilton Been Eating?!
Josh Hamilton is extremely hot right now! A few nights ago, the guy hit four home runs in one game! Of course, there’s been many players that have been down that road, so it’s not all that impressive. Well, it sort is. Right? What is he, the 16th player to accomplish that? Among so many that have played the game, I guess you got to give the man credit for that sort of thing.
What I’m mainly interested in is: what has Josh Hamilton been eating?! Man, the guy is unstoppable! I’m thinking he’s been eating more pasta than anything. Pasta has been known to give people energy and help with stamina, right? Maybe he’s been chowing down on bananas. Those have always helped me run fast for some reason. Or keep the cramping down or whatever. Or maybe he’s just been spending extra time in the batting cage. Whatever it is, maybe Major League baseball has a case to study his urine for anything, ahem, illegal. I’m not speculating, but ever since Ryan Braun went under the microscope because he was bashing in runs like a mad man last season, he got tested. Do you really think Josh Hamilton would go down that road though? What, with his past drug abuse and alcohol history? I think the man is clean as a whistle. But does it really matter that professional athletes use steroids or human growth substances? I really don’t care much about it anymore. I used to be an advocate of a clean game. Seriously, some dudes are better, faster, stronger. And in today’s world, it’s all about gaining that competitive edge. For some, they may need it to stay employed. Some are just natural.
For Josh? I think he’s just seeing the baseball really well right now. As the season progresses, will see where he stands, though. I like watching him hit. He has that natural swing and it’s just awesome.
Now Batting…Albert Pujols .198 BA
Yeah, you read that right, folks. Albert Pujols, for the first time in his career, is batting a very low, sub-par batting average of .198. I simply can’t believe it but I’ve been preaching to many nay-sayers for years that the Machine is not the best hitter in baseball, anytime. If I had to choose who the best hitter in baseball is, present day, I’d give that title to Ichiro or Jeter.
Albert Pujols has made $2 million dollars thus far to do what, bat .198, drive in 5 runs and hit zero home runs? I’d say that’s a huge case of under-producing. And if that were anyone else in the work place, they’d be finding themselves down at the unemployment office filing for unemployment. And yes, I realize that was a tad redundant, but hey. It’s the fricken truth, people.
I’m glad I’m not an Angels fan. I’m glad I’m not heading downtown to Angels stadium every day to watch an overpaid, out-dated, ego-inflated, money-sucking eyesore like Albert Pujols. Yeah, I go to Safeco Field and watch a bunch of young baseball players that are vastly under developed but at least they’re producing wins AND stats that anyone would be proud of.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “why does this guy hate Albert Pujols so much?” Maybe you aren’t asking yourself that but I’ve been asked why I don’t like him before. So here’s my story:
When I was in St. Louis in 2009 during their annual Winter Warmup shindig, Albert Pujols was slotted to sign autographs, meet the fans, shake hands and kiss babies. You know, the normal stuff fans like to see baseball players do. As I’m standing in line, I overhear this mother/son combo standing a few folks in front of me going on about how they’re going to meet Pujols, this and that. Intrigued, I tuned in a little more and found out from the mother that her son, who was with her, had saved up his entire summer allowance to come to Winter Warmup and meet Albert Pujols. And this trip for him wasn’t cheap. To the tune of $200 dollars, he bought a voucher (or maybe it was $100) to meet the Machine and get his autograph on anything he wanted! This kid was so pumped up about it, it wasn’t even funny!
As the line slowly dragged on through the upper level of the hotel, we all eventually made it into the showroom where all the baseball players were neatly placed behind tables. They were all diligently signing autographs, getting pictures with fans, shaking hands and meeting people. What a great day! When it came time to watch Albert Pujols in action, I watched in awe as he sat, with his head down, taking items from the ushers that accompanied him, signed them and handed them back. Without. Even. Looking. Up. Front. Under. His. Stupid. Affliction. Baseball. Cap.
I was floored. As I watched, the young boy that saved all his money from summer chores placed a baseball up on the table and it slowly rolled towards King Albert. He picked it up, signed it and rolled it back to the kid. I watched ( I couldn’t hear any dialogue due to the noise and distance) the young fan stand there for a few addition moments and then finally wander off back to his mother when Pujols failed to acknowledge him. Sad.
I was in line for Colby Rasmus, and if I remember correctly, it didn’t cost me any money to get his autograph. Colby was upbeat, jovial and simply out to please his fans. Albert? Not so much.
My personal opinion on celebrities with bad attitudes towards fans is simply uncalled for. No one forces these people to interact with the fans. It’s not something they’re forced to do. When they do take the time out of their lives to mingle with fans, they should at least try to pretend that they’re having fun. It’s the same deal at the stadiums. No one forces these guys to stop and sign autographs down the foul lines. And if they’re having a bad day and just don’t feel like it, they don’t have to. But don’t give attitude to fans. Fans need to check themselves too. You’re no exception.
Why Albert Pujols is NOT a Good Choice for Beat the Streak!
Haven’t you heard?! You can win $5.6 million dollars by signing up at MLB.com and playing the Beat the Streak game! What exactly is Beat the Streak? Well, it’s an interactive game where a player like you, selects a baseball player every day that you think will get a base hit during the game. If you pick 57 baseball players consecutively that get a hit each game, you will win $5.6 million dollars! Sounds pretty easy, right?
Well, I wish it were that easy. Some times your favorite player doesn’t always come through when you need them the most. Like Ichiro or Derek Jeter. Other players like Albert Pujols are just bad picks in general. Mainly because Pujols is a slugger. Not a player that consistently hits for base hits, right? But Pujols does have a life time BA of like, .328. So you’d think he’s an essential part of helping you beat the streak. Wrong! Not this season, kids!
I was up to a seven game hit streak, I picked Albert Pujols because some MLB beat writer on Twitter tweeted that King Albert himself said he’d be going deep tonight. Jump on that opportunity, right? Who would know best when player was going to swat a home run except the player himself, right? Sadly, my streak ended because Pujols did not go deep. I’ve set some new rules in place this year to keep myself out of those types of situations:
1) Never pick Albert Pujols
2) Never pick any St. Louis Cardinal
3) Try to stay away from home run hitters
4) Focus more on consistent hitters with decent batting averages
Beat the streak!
Thole gets Bourn at the plate! Out or Safe?!
I’m not Major League umpire, I’ll put that out there right now. We’ve all seen some calls that we were sure the player was either out or safe and the umpire called it the other way. Last year I thought all the umpires needed a refresher course on how to call balls and strikes. I’ve also heard rumor that some times pitchers like to invite umpires out for a game of golf or perhaps a nice steak dinner. But I’ve also heard that if a player is eating out and an umpire walks in, the player must immediately leave the establishment to prevent any kind of rumor that, that player is helping himself to special treatment. Get what I’m saying?
At recent Mariner games, and I’m sure at other Major League games as well, they play a game called “out or safe” on the jumbotron. It’s very entertaining and a lot better than the speed boat races or anything else, for that matter. Anyway. I wanted to include some of that in my upcoming blog entries because I think a lot of calls are blown. Not saying these umpires have that special ability to get every call right, because after all, they’re human. And I think instant replay is important to bring to the game because this is 2012. Not 1918 anymore. We have the technology to get calls right, and I think it should be taken advantage of. And it would benefit all players.
Anyway. So lets play, shall we! Here’s a recent screen shot of Michael Bourn trying to get under the tag of R.A Dickey from a heads up throw by Josh Thole:
Do you want to know what I think? I think Michael Bourn was clearly safe. His left foot touched the base well before the tag was applied but the umpire called him out. Of course, R.A Dickey sold it very well after the play and I think the umpire already had his mind made up whether he’d be out or safe. And that’s not some kind of conspiracy theory going on either. I just firmly believe that as the play unfolds, the umpire already has some kind of idea what call he’s going to make.
If you want to watch the entire play on MLB.com, just click this link! Leave your comment down below, whether you think Michael Bourn was safe or out! Thanks for playing!
What’s Happening in Miami?!
Twitter is absolutely blowing up! Or it was! Major League Baseball was giving away some awesome prizes like, iPads, PS3′s, Microsoft X-box’s and all these other cool subscriptions to MLBtv! Opening day for the 2012 MLB season is officially here and the Miami Marlins will be playing in their brand new stadium tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals. People have been tweeting all kinds of pictures like this…
…and this….
…a bobblehead museum?! Let’s go back to the first picture I posted for a moment, though. What the (expletive deleted) is THAT?! I posted this picture on my official Facebook page and got an array of hilarious responses. Here, take a look:
And here is the link to see all the responses. Some are really funny, like I mentioned before. Turns out, this monstrosity out in centerfield is 73 feet high and turns on when a home run is hit out there. A fountain shoots up and the marlin fish rotate around like a ferris wheel. Why not just put some seats out there and call it good? The stadium has 37,000 seats and there’s even a nightclub. Yes, a nightclub. I’m not sure what the details are on that and truthfully, I don’t care. I’ve never came to a stadium to go to a nightclub and drink overpriced beer. If that’s your thing? Have at it.
The bobblehead museum is sort of cool but weird at the same time, you know? I mean, a bobblehead museum? Wow. I’m at a loss for words on this one. I guess I’ll seriously have to book a trip out to Miami to see this new stadium. And I thought going to Japan was going to be weird enough!
Twitter on the Iphone giving you trouble?
Follow these simple steps:
1) Open up your settings application
2) Scroll down to “Twitter” under “General”
3) Touch “Twitter” which will open it up
4) Touch the account you’re having trouble with
5) Touch “delete account” (No, this will not delete your account. It will just remove it from your iphone)
6) Update contacts
7) Re-add your account
8) Update contacts again
That should fix it. If you have any questions or comments, hit me up. I’ll try to answer what I can.
Ubaldo Jimenez receives five game suspension, Jesus Montero gets thrown at.
To be quite honest with you, I had a difficult time headlining this blog entry. It should read something like “Montero takes one to the dome” or something to that effect, right? Man, what a scary moment for Jesus Montero, though, right? The newly acquired rookie of the Seattle Mariners has hit in the head by Colorado’s Edgmer Escalona yesterday by a changup pitch that really got away. Not like the pitch that Ubaldo Jimenez threw at Troy Tulowitzki, which I’m happy to report, Ubaldo received a five game suspension. And rightfully so! If you disagree with that decision, I’d like you to leave a comment below explaining your position. Even if you agree, you’re welcome to leave a comment. Here’s my take on the whole thing.
Jesus Montero is okay, if you were wondering. But he was extremely upset over the whole thing and in my opinion, I think he had every right to be a little upset. Escalona, after the wild pitch, tried to motion to Montero that he was sorry, though. I think that should be taken into consideration and hopefully that helps alleviate people jumping to conclusions about the whole incident. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. It’s baseball, you know. These things are bound to happen.
Ubaldo Jimenez still upset of how Rockies treated him, Tulowitzki gets plunked
Today, Rockies super-star, Troy Tulowitzki gets nailed in the elbow in the first inning by Ubaldo Jimenez. The two faced each other for the first time since Jimenez left the Rockies in a blockbuster five-player deal at the July 31 Trade Deadline last season. This spring, the right-hander has hinted at unfair treatment as he worked his way up Colorado’s system and noted that he felt a lack of respect from the Rockies with their unwillingness to lock him up with a lucrative long-term contract. So be it. Who pays for this? Tulo does. Jimenez claims initially that it was an organizational decision to plunk Tulo. Then Jimenez admits to all of the skeletons in the closet stewing that caused his pitch to “get away” from him. He also stated that Tulo is weak inside, and that’s where he was trying to get at him. At his weakest point and the baseball got away.
Tulowitzki stated that contract agreements between players and teams are pretty much up to the players on what they want to do. If they don’t like something, they don’t have to sign anything. Both Tulo and Carlos Gonzales signed big contract extensions and according to Tulo, they both worked hard for it.
Tulowitzki signed a seven-year, $134 million extension, and Gonzalez signed a seven-year, $80 million contract to avoid arbitration after a monster year in 2010. Jimenez signed for four years and $10 million before the 2009 season.
“He has come out and said there were some contract issues after CarGo and me got paid. It doesn’t make any sense to me. He had signed his deal and had years left on it. Why would we give him something new when we didn’t see anything out of him?” Tulowitzki explained.
animosity runs deep with Jimenez and the Rockies organization, apparently.
Wayne
