Posts belonging to Category Changeups and Screwballs

–  Nyjer Morgan is exciting.  His defensive prowess in the outfield is absolutely fun to watch.  He brings a competitive nature to the game that should be lost on no man.  However, with that said, I wish Albert Pujols would have continued past the mound and cold-clocked Morgan right in his jaw last night.  C’mon Nyjer, there was no reason to get all butt-hurt over that AB last night.

–  It would appear that that Ian Kinsler just can’t help but lay lumber right now. (7 HR’s in his last 7 games.) I am proud to call him a fellow Central Arizona College Alum…ride Vaqueros, ride!

–  Is there anyone out there that can overtake Ben Revere’s over-the-shoulder masterpiece for play of the year?  Of course not.  So I ask you, which catch is better?  That one- or this one?

–  What is up with fans reaching over into the field of play on homeruns? I get it on foul balls, but really people? Don’t screw up a ball in fair territory folks.  It just makes you look bad.

–  Speaking of balls leaving the yard…heads up, pal!

–  A.J. Burnett sure is working hard to make his case for sticking in the Yanks starting rotation with amazing efforts like this.

–  If the criteria for voting on the MVP are so vague, why not just give the award to the player who accumulates the highest WAR at season’s end?  Are wins not the most valued outcome in all of baseball?

–  Did you know that Jeff “Frenchy” Francoeur is tied (with Ben “The Zorilla” Zobrist) for the most doubles in the AL?  Me neither.  To put the cherry on top of an excellently resurgent season, Frenchy turned back the clock to the first year of playing baseball on 90’ bases with this play.

–  As a former student of the University of Nevada, I saw my fair share of drugged out women of the night.  Watching CJ Wilson last night brought back memories.  His cutter and curve were as nasty as the workers of Reno’s 4^th street corners.

–  Speaking of the Rangers, who put firecrackers inside David Murphy?  Homeboy is blowing up right now; making the Rangers say “Nelson who?”

–  I really have to wonder what is in those cigs that Jim Leyland smokes.  Detroit has pulled away from the rest of the division by going 15-4 since August 19^th.

–  Erik Bedard has been scratched from his next start…well of course he has, he is Erik Bedard.

–  Jordan Pacheco made it onto Baseball Tonight last night as part of the Rockies highlight.  Big ups to the kid who is a fellow New Mexican.  He was part of the La Cueva High School (Abq, NM) Bears baseball team that held the national record for consecutive wins.

–  Did anybody else realize that since June 18^th, the Vanimal, Vance Worley, has made 14 starts, and the Phillies have won every single one of them?  I hadn’t realized that either.  Impressive.

–  And I don’t care who you are, watching Stephen Strasburg pitch last night was fantastic.  And to think it was a mere 12 months and 3 days since he was cut on.  Mind-blowing to think about.

I hope everyone enjoyed his or her holiday weekend as much as I did.  Lots of exciting things happening over Labor Day weekend, so let’s jump right in.

– I finally caved and joined Twitter.  Follow me @sp_flips to get up to date info and nonsense.

– So much for having a bunch of exciting finishes across multiple divisions this year.  With the Giants, Indians, White Sox, and Cardinals failing to gain any ground whatsoever; it appears as if the only exciting race might be the AL West.  Unless the Rays can somehow make a run for the wildcard in the AL East, that is.

– George who?  Kottaras? What a special night it was for the back-up catcher.  Hitting for the cycle is rare enough, but how rare is it to see a back up catcher do it?  I am not completely sure, just sure enough to say that you probably won’t see it happen again in your lifetime.

– Seeing old Charlie Manuel play a game under protest took me back to my youth summer league days.  Did he have to put up a $100 cash like my coaches did?  Or do you think the front office covered it for him?

– Congrats to Adrian Beltre– now the youngest 3B to ever amass 2,000 hits.  Just imagine what could be if he knew how to stay healthy?  Wow.

– Watching Josh Beckett go down was rough.  Not only does he play on my fantasy squad, but he also proliferated the notion that pitchers are not athletes.  Just watch this and tell me where/how he hurt himself. (FF to the 21-second mark.)

– How about Javier Vazquez?  Dude has been looking like it’s 2009 again.  Make sure nobody steals his Delorean.

– I can only imagine the silence in the Jays front office boxes as Brett Lawrie did this.

– Have a great day everybody, and remember…there are only 4 days left in this workweek.

–       Stephen Strasburg’s final rehab start has come and gone.  He again looked supreme in comparison to the hitters he faced.  He even appears to have more of a mental edge after recovering from Tommy John.  Watching the way he carried himself, and the mound presence he exuded, gave me goose bumps.  MLB hitters be wary.  Strasburg is about to eat your soul.

–       Had a conversation with a friend last night and discussed what it was like to face Matthew Moore as a senior in high school.  My friend faced him twice that year and said he went from being “…Unreal the first time I faced him…to absolutely unhittable the next time I faced him.”  I can’t wait to see how Moore does with the Rays.

–       Tim Lincecum has finally reached stardom- sort of.  He has his own t-shirt.  The sillohette is pretty good, including the fantastic job they did with his hair.  However, $38 for a t-shirt is stupid.

–       Anybody who says the power/speed guy is history has no idea what they are talking about.  The 20/20 guy is alive and well in major league baseball.  There are currently seven players who have already reached this mark with more than 15 others who are a mere five HR’s or SB’s shy of reaching the milestone.

–       It’s no wonder the White Sox are struggling the way they are.  They are rostering three of the most detrimental players in the game.  Adam Dunn, Alex Rios, and Juan Pierre have all posted negative fWAR’s so far this season.  Adam Dunn at -2.6, Rios at -1.2, and Pierre at -0.1.   Good luck getting that extension Ozzie Guillen.

–       Goodbye Carlos Zambrano.  The Cubs have said he will not pitch again this season- yet they will still pay him.  Sounds like a cushy job.  Until you realize that we won’t be seeing anything like this again this season.

–       Why do people get their panties in such a bunch over sign stealing?  Last night Josh Beckett had some choice words for the Yankees Brett Gardner last night after he caught him supposedly relaying signs to Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira probably had some words of his own for Gardner too after striking out that at-bat.

–       The San Francisco Giants are hosting a Star Wars night later this month.  Instead of bobble-heads they are giving away replicas of Brian Wilson encased in carbonite-awesome!

–       Mike Trout is boom-titties! (That one’s for you Lucey.)  Not only did he become the 9^th youngest player to ever have a two-homer game, the kid was hitting balls that were not even close to the strike zone.  We had him ranked as our No. 2 prospect and he is proving to everyone that he is well deserving of such a dubious honor.

–       In 13 professional innings this summer, Sonny Gray has allowed only 1 run.  The kid is sick nasty.  If you get a chance, watch him pitch and notice how fast the guy moves down the mound.  Surreal speed there, which allows such a small guy to have such devastating stuff.  Can’t wait to see how quick he makes it up with the big club.

–       Watching Francisco Cervelli’s first at-bat last night was pure comedy.  Beckett broke him off back-to-back hammers on the inside part of the plate and made him look like one of those sucky kids in little league who have never seen a curveball before.  Cervelli even gave a look at Beckett after the second curveball that said everything.