Other Baseball

Partially torn UCL. Damn shame. Pitchers and injuries ...

MLB Past and Future Payrolls via fan graphs Super neat tool that allows you to sift through the different years (from 1998) and teams. Given how much we argue about payroll around here, it might be for fun for some.

According to the article, starting next year managers will have a challenge system for video replay similar to what the NFL does. Note particularly that, on disputed plays, the final call will be made be an official in the league offices and not the crew on the field, similar to what the NHL does right now. The only thing off-limits is balls & strikes. MLB expands instant replay in 2014 to include manager video challenges - ESPN http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/08/15/mlb-instant-replay-manager-challenges-on-hold/2659555/ Personally, I think eventually balls & strikes too will be subject to more electronic scrutiny. Welcome to the 21st century,…

I was looking over the schedule and tomorrow, the Royals kick off a five (!) game series in Detroit over four days. This could be a make-or-break series for both teams and could factor heavily into who wins the AL Central. Some of the more interesting baseball of the year thus far, for sure. The Royals are red-hot while the Tigers have stumbled a bit in recent days.

Last night he hits a potential walk-off home run that was ruled foul (controversial as it looked like it may have grazed the foul pole). Tonight another potential walk-off and Grossman leaps and robs him of a home run.

Eno Sarris interviewed Kyle Lohse on fangraphs: Kyle Lohse: Teaching an Old Curve New Grips | FanGraphs Baseball Evidently Lohse learned to throw what he calls a Vulcan in St Louis. Basically a split fingered 4 seem circle change, looks like. Also ditched the 4 seemer like Frankie.

During the last homestand the Twins played an Astros team that featured Jason Castro in their lineup. Somewhere about the 4th inning, I looked up at the scoreboard and realized "Castro the Astro" had his team's name embedded in his last name. While he probably would have chosen to be named Jason Gray or Jason Nathan if it meant playing for a contender like the Rays or the Nats instead of the cellar-dweller Astros - it still was rather cool to have your team's name in your last name. I tried to think of other players and teams where this might have happened. Here' a couple: Butch Metzger was a Met Gary Redus was a Red Any others you can think of?

Y! SPORTS

One of my favorite pitchers of the past 10+ years suffered a horrific injury covering first base tonight. There's videos on youtube, but you don't want to watch it. I wish him well in his recovery and hopefully this isn't the end of his career.

"This is an investment in our fans and an investment in our brand, to do what we can do to mitigate a trying summer," said Schlesinger, noting that this is the first initiative under the team's Fans First campaign. The team announced Monday that each fan who shows up with a ticket to any of the team's 12 home games in August will receive a $10 voucher that will be good for food, beverages, tickets or merchandise. "We were finalizing something like this to give back to our loyal fans just as news of Ryan's suspension hit," said the team's chief operating officer, Rick Schlesinger. "Mark decided he wanted to make a dramatic impact that would cost more money." M…

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee, WI Journal Sentinel, Ryan Braun has been suspended for the remainder of the season for his part in Biogenesis scandal. Mr. Braun will not appeal. MLB suspends Ryan Braun for remainder of season - JSOnline My take: Good. I do not see how he washes the egg off of his face on this one. Mr. Braun - No Hall of Fame for You! (if he would have even made it in the first place)

Former Twins prospect Brock Peterson was just called up by the St Louis Cardinals. Peterson, 29, is batting .306 for Memphis, leads the Pacific Coast League with 22 home runs and has 66 RBI in 93 games. Good luck to him.

I really can't stand the Fox Baseball broadcasting team. Tim McCarver has a terrible habit of making inane observations, usually involving words that rhyme. "Wouldn't it have been great if Fidel Castro had tried out for the Astros? Get it.....Castro/Astros?" Anyway, last night during the AS game he recited the lyrics to "Enter Sandman", Mariano Rivera's walk-on music. Must see TV. Y! SPORTS

Then Telly interviews Gomez.

Mets, LaTroy Hawkins: How Has LaTroy Hawkins Hung On So Long? - WSJ.com

I love the way this kid plays the game. I think there should be more like him. He goes all out all the time and he seems to enjoy it. I agree with Schoenfield in regards to Puig. here' what he had to say: Yasiel Puig's arrogance not a bad thing - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

Former Mets' pitcher Kris Benson escaped gun-wielding 'ninja' wife after she asked for a lighter, 911 call reveals - NYPOST.com It’s just that “we have been married for 15 years, and he can’t keep it in his pants. He can’t stop ****ing my friends, in my house. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love him.”

http://25.media.tumblr.com/374cb75666f90ce71061b495aab5db79/tumblr_mpllbluKzy1ro5xweo1_400.gif The play is just incredible! Somehow he continues to go under-recognized. If I was starting a team from scratch, and I was to pick one player under 2 years of experience to start that team with, I might have trouble picking anyone but perhaps Mike Trout over him (and yes, that means I would take him over media darling Bryce Harper.

Y! SPORTS (not Telly)

Rhetorical question as he has under 100 AB, but his numbers offensively are superior to Puig and that's the "big" debate going around baseball right now. Puig does have more PA but it's still under 130. I hate to agree with Papelbon on anything but Puig making the all-star team this season would be a joke.

One of my goals in life is to go to every MLB baseball stadium at least once. I try to knock off at least one trip per year (sometimes several stadiums in one trip). Here are my favorite stadiums in order: 1. Fenway Park- I love history and I love atmosphere and this one is superb for both. Also the surrounding area has tons of bars within a stone's throw of Fenway. If you haven't you should definitely check out the bar in centerfield that's field level and mere feet away from the warning track. There's a time limit for the prime seating but oddly enough no cover. 2. Oriole Park @ Camden Yards- the first retro stadium is all that it's cracked up to be. A lot of g…

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/st-louis-cardinals-draw-christian-cross-pitcher-mound-173805257.html It looks like the St. Louis Cardinals grounds crew has been decorating the mound with some religious symbolism from time to time. I guess I don't personally have a problem with this. The author goes to great lengths to suggest a lack of tolerance for several other religions. I guess I didn't realize there were so many baseball fans of other faiths. Thoughts?

....is having a fantastic season, including a 21 game hit streak. Good for him, he was always a player I enjoyed on the Twins and appreciated how he approached his craft. Let's hope he keeps up all the success he's having.

So while both my parents grew up in Minnesota (hence was I raised a good Twins fan) I actually live in Switzerland. So lately I've decided to check into the local baseball scene and see what's going on. Baseball here is not really well known (up until recently the baseball federations home page featured a "what is baseball?" video) but there are enough Americans and South Americans to have a league. The Bern Cardinals have a wins average of .857 so I guess they are the top dogs. Their star being Perigo Mejias with 20 RBI and and .676 AVG. Their pitcher Lawson has an ERA of 1.54 (Switzerland is apparently the land of dream stats) well so that's some of what is going on i…

So, 5+ weeks into the season, one can make the case that the AL Central is the best division in the American League. Taking out divisional games and only considering results against teams in the other two divisions (and ignoring interleague games because of the unbalanced scheduling) you have as follows, through Thursday 5/8: AL Central 41-31 .569 AL East 42-35 .545 AL West 25-42 .373 I expected the AL West to be the doormats, and they are, but I didn't expect the Central to be topping the East. Just an observation.

Just hit a walkoff homer off Andrew Bailey. Let's just say that I'll be glad once he's suspended 100 games. There's not a damn thing he's doing right now that's natural.

Since all homers are considered equal in this stat with a 13 multiplier why not change that to a 7 with no one on, an 11 with one man on a 15 with 2 men on and a 19 for grand slams. It would punish pitchers who perform badly in pressure situations and reward those who mostly give up Hr's in garbage situations.

The All-Star game is the most important game of the year (Home-field advantage!), so obviously careful attention must be paid when filling out our ballots. We must avoid voting for sentimental favorites or just voting for all the Twins on the ballot in early May. I'll start with my ballot for the AL, and post the NL later. 1B – This one is easy. First-basemen are supposed to hit bombs; Chris Davis hits bombs. Chris Davis, BAL 2B – I think Cano is probably a lock to be the starting second baseman for the AL team, and he is deserving. There is probably going to be a lot of debate though over whether he or Pedroia should be the starter. Pedroia would also be deser…

ESPN posted a 10 question quiz on baseball rules. This was tougher than I thought. It just shows how crazy the rules of baseball are. Baseball Quiz

True story: when I was walking across the street by my house this weekend some money fell out of my pocket. A woman rolled down her window and told me that I had just dropped it. When I looked into her car to thank her I noticed that both she and her passenger were wearing Twins shirts…you gotta love baseball fans. That got me thinking about good deeds involving baseball- anyone else have any positive stories to share about baseball fans, players, front office, etc?