Posts belonging to Category Griffin Phelps

–  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.

–       Another Yankees vs. Red Sox series got underway last night…yawn.  At least there was a little bit of tension after Francisco Cervelli’s (weak) celebration of his own homerun.  But other than that, what is the point of so many meaningless games for these two teams down the stretch Bud Selig?

–       How cool would it be to play for Joe Maddon?  The guy used to go to elementary school with Julius Caesar, supports awesome Rays fashion wear , and is a leading man in the case of using crunched numbers (to give his team the best chance of winning).  Is he baseball’s Phil Jackson?

–       Why does MLB not care about exciting pennant races?  Here’s a great article by Rob Neyer over at SB Nation.

–       I can’t seem to understand why so many people hate the Mets blue and black unis.  Not the “Los Mets” ones, these.  They seem to be fitting for a team who is getting beat day after day.

–       Matt LaPorta is being sent back down to the minors.  Is anyone surprised anymore?

–       How about Alex Gordon?  After being the 2^nd overall pick of his draft class, and not living up to people’s ridiculous hype, he has finally hit his stride as a ball player.  It is my personal opinion that maybe if the Royals had pulled their heads out and given him enough regular AB’s with the big club this probably would have happened sooner.  Just look at his Triple-A numbers.

–       I have become discouraged with youth baseball over the last couple seasons.  I am sick and tired of watching 11-year-old kids quit all other fall sports to play baseball year round.  I find it extremely frustrating and detrimental.  It not only limits a child’s athletic development, but it deprives them of experiencing different aspects of sport and what it offers.  This idea is probably best reserved for an entire article of its own and most likely will find its way to the Sombrero very soon.  Just wanted to vent my frustrations.

–       What a night for southpaws last night.  As predicted here yesterday, Wandy Rodriguez was masterful.  He struck out a career high 13 through seven-innings.  I’m glad the Astros kept him around, as he could be a solid No. 2 for years to come.

–       Did Cole Hamels forget that this was his first start back off the DL?  His breaker was Razor Ramon sharp last night.  It must be the most stress-free environment he has ever pitched in before, what with him being a No. 3 behind Doc and Cliff.

–       Another lefty, Clayton Kershaw looked brilliant (again) last night.  It’s hard to believe that this guy is only 23.  To put it in perspective, he is 6 months younger than my little sister (Big ups to my sister Blaire btw, who just recently became engaged and has the most beautiful 1 year old baby in the world) and is basically a veteran ace in his 4^th big league season.  NL Cy Young anybody?

–       Sticking with lefties, albeit from the NFL, how about Mike Vick?!  Only NFL player in history to sign two $100,000,000 contracts.  I know this is a baseball blog, but I just had to show some proppers to the fellow southpaw.

–       Mark Teixeira made it 8 straight seasons of 30 HR and 100 RBI last night.  Is he the greatest switch hitter of all-time?  Not yet, but definitely the best of my generation.  If he can keep this up I see no reason why he won’t be the greatest.

–       While watching highlights of Carlos Santana hitting another bomb last, I had to listen to the sports anchors discuss whether or not Santana should stay behind the dish or not.  First, I hate listening to almost every sports anchor talk about things of this nature.  Not all, just most.  Secondly, it made me think about what baseball is turning into.  I understand the logic behind moving a strong hitter to a position that promotes longevity.  Heck, I’m not even sure if I’m against such a move.  It is something to think about though.

–       It’s always nice to have guys from other clubs make pitches to get you on their team; especially when that team is the Texas Rangers and you are from Texas.  But, c’mon C.J. Wilson, how do you think those comments made David Murphy feel?

–       Rough one for Timmy Jim.  Those Cubbies made him look like a jail cell bottom last night.  It’s OK though, Lincecum…it happens to everybody.