–  I am finally sold on Ian Kennedy.  Dude has won more games this year than he has in his entire big league career.  And after watching him strike out six in a row in the 7^th and 8^th innings last night, I just can’t ignore the impression it left upon me.  He is no Cy Young winner this year, in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a strong argument for him.

–  With the Brew Crew signing Ryan Braun to the deal they did, the writing is basically on the wall for Prince Fielder to read.  And he has.  The thing of it is, I’m not sure the market for a $100 million first baseman is what people believe it to be.  Look at all the usual big spenders, and see that they all have their own pricey 1B’s already.  I’m just saying that the market for Fielder is much smaller than people might realize.

–  Is Brad Pitt not the most Ironic actor to portray Billy Beane in the upcoming movie Moneyball?  Seriously, you can’t help but chuckle at that.

–  Here is some neat trivia for you- Do you know who holds the highest era for a single season?  That’s right, it is Roy Halladay, who posted an atrocious 10.64 era for the 2000 season.  Now pick your chin up off the ground and continue reading. (Author’s note: Now Brian Matusz is the owner of this prestigious award; he is sporting an era of 10.68-congrats to you sir.)

–  What kind of baseball blogger would I be if I didn’t have a mention of Mariano Rivera and his record 602 saves in here?  I am still mesmerized by the fact that he has gotten every last one of those in pinstripes.

–  How about those St. Louis Cardinals?  They might actually pull off their own comeback and rip the wild card spot right out of the Braves hands.  After writing about the lack of tight races, the game of baseball is making me eat my words.

–  If you had to take one of these starting pitchers and run them out on the bump, whom would you rather have: John Lackey or A.J. Burnett?  Me, I’d rather let the mascot go out there and see what he can do…in his costume, too.

–  Congrats to Tim Wakefield on his 200^th win.  Dude is 45 (2^nd oldest pitcher to ever record 200 wins btw) and throws a flippin’ knuckleball.  That tells you a lot about the guy.

–  Was J.P. Howell actually crying in the dugout after giving up that dinger to Matt Weiters?  I wonder what Jimmy Dugan would have said to him.

–  Does anybody else think that Charlie Furbush might have been a beaver trapper in some previous life?  And was Doug Fister a former Gonzo style actor?  Where does Seattle find these names?

–  I am not sure which one of these home runs got out of the yard faster, but I would have been getting out of the way of both Ryan Braun’s walk-off and Josh Hamilton’s laser. (Unless I had a glove of course…but I am no longer 7-years-old and when I go to games my hands hold beer.)

–  Speaking of homeruns, I am unsure of which homerun swing is more fun to watch…that of a fat kid named Prince, or the swing of a miniature named Dustin?  Either way, I love watching these two guys take hacks.

–  I loved watching Gerardo Parra drop trou (short for trousers you morons) and squeeze out a Clevland Steamer all over a Hong-Chih Kuo’s fastball after getting buzzed.  And I appreciated not only his massive pimping of that homerun, but that he looked at Kuo and grabbed his nuts after the up and in pitch…classic.

–  Troy Patton got the 1^st win of his big league career last night.  Congrats buddy.  I was fortunate enough to be teammates with Troy at the 2003 Tournament of Stars and watched him mow through hitters like a riding lawnmower.  Congrats Troy, it’s about time you got that W.

–  Does Rick Ankiel ever look back on his past and think, “Why did I ever waste time trying to pitch?”  Probably not, but I think that after watching him throw out yet another runner last night.

–  And to close out this edition of Changeups and Screwballs, the way he has done 600 times for the Yankees, is Mariano Rivera.  He’s closed out every last game with one team, and one pitch.  Congrats, Mariano.

Top 2: Miguel Olivo struck out swinging against C.C. Sabathia

Top 5: Olivo struck out swinging against Sabathia

Top 7: Olivo struck out swinging against Sabathia

Top 9: Olivo struck out swinging against Mariano Rivera

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: Olivo notched his second sombrero out of the cleanup spot on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the Mariners were the victims of Sabathia’s best start of the season. How good was it? The big man was perfect through 6 1/3 innings and at one point struck out seven consecutive hitters – he had 14 over seven innings.  The Yankees’ staff went on to fan 18 Mariners.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 78

AL EAST
1 – Boston Red Sox
2 – Tampa Bay Rays (Wild Card)
3 – New York Yankees
4 – Toronto Blue Jays
5 – Baltimore Orioles

AL CENTRAL
1 – Chicago White Sox
2 – Minnesota Twins
3 – Detroit Tigers
4 – Kansas City Royals
5 – Cleveland Indians

AL WEST
1 – Texas Rangers
2 – Oakland Athletics
3 – Los Angeles Angels
4 – Seattle Mariners

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When Dad and I woke up for the final day of the Four Ballparks, Four Cities, Four Days trip, we realized immediately that we had some serious ground to cover.  Although we could walk to Ballpark #3 from our Los Angeles Hilton, it was located a full 375 miles from Ballpark #4—Chase Field in beautiful downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

So off we went into the desert, our trusty Toyota Corolla pointed directly toward The City that Sleeps at 7PM.  I wasn’t sure what to expect in the six-hour drive, save for a colleague’s admonition from before I left the office—make sure your air conditioning works.  At first I wasn’t sure how seriously I needed to take this on a beautiful 80-degree day in Los Angeles.  However, as we drove deeper into the desert, the temperature steadily climbed into the 90’s before finally cracking the triple digits.  Before we crossed the Arizona state line, the Corolla’s thermometer read 105, which (not coincidentally I am certain) represented a higher number than the populations of several towns we passed along the way.

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