Articles from September 2010

Let’s just say that Adam LaRoche has had better games than Friday night’s contest against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The strikeout-prone first baseman, who has cooled off after a productive month of August, notched four strikeouts in four atbats in Friday’s loss.

As if wearing the golden sombrero wasn’t humiliating in itself, LaRoche looked utterly bewildered in his three at-bats against Kershaw.  However, it was his third and final at-bat against the young lefthander that truly epitomized the extent of LaRoche’s struggles at the plate.

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This week, I once again joined Clint as co-host on “The Baseball Show.”  Clint is the head editor of Diamond Hoggers Baseball Blog (and my alter-ego). Follow Diamond Hoggers on Twitter here, and bookmark the site.

Clint and I discuss:
-Does instant replay belong in baseball?
-Top 5 fond memories from the MLB Postseason
-Postseason Awards which we’ll be voting for shortly for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance

It has been an extremely long season for Matt Kemp and an even longer season for his fantasy owners.  Coming off All-Star caliber seasons in both 2008 and 2009, Kemp was regarded as a top 5 fantasy outfielder and top 10 overall player headed into the 2010 season.  According to ESPN, Kemp’s average draft position this season was 8.8, and the only other outfielder with a higher average draft position was the Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun(4.9).

Needless to say, Kemp has been a major disappointment in 2010, falling well short of the career highs–runs, hits, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, OPS–that he established in 2009.  With the season almost over, Kemp’s fantasy owners will be forced to reflect on their decision to draft him in the top 10, when players like Carl Crawford and Josh Hamilton were still available.

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The first time the Rays and Yankees played this season was April 9th at Tropicana Field. Both had taken two of three in their first series and were eager to keep the early season momentum rolling. This game was significant for two reasons. First, I was watching it from the right field bleachers and it happened to be my birthday. It was the first Major League game I’d been to in a while and there is no better way I could have brought in my new year. The second, arguably greater, significance behind this April matchup is that with less than a dozen games left to play these two teams still find themselves separated by only a half game for the American League East crown.

This Thursday the squads finished their last regular season head-to-head series. Tampa Bay won in a 10-3 blowout and Carl Crawford had three hits while four other Rays had multi-hit performances. This split the series 2-2 and cut the Yankees’ lead to under a game. More importantly, it also gave Tampa Bay a 10-8 season series lead in what is the first tiebreaker should they end the regular season in a tie. These two teams have been sitting atop the AL East all season long and both are going to make it to the playoffs, but this edge would give the Rays home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Continue Reading ‘Longo’s Little Guys Battle Jeter’s Bronx Bullies’>>

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes: Dan Haren and Adrian Grenier