TSDMike | June 22, 2009

I rarely read Rick Reilly’s columns on ESPN.com. I’ve always found his pieces to be highly critical items of little substance whose sole position was to imply a morally superior position when his is often anything but. But, I don’t bitch about him. I refrain from bashing Mr. Reilly even though I find it quite pretentious that you can’t find one of his articles online without a tidbit about the 11 Sportswriter of the Year accolades he’s won invariably floating around the page in a conspicuously impossible-to-ignore spot.

But, after checking out his latest article, I have to make an exception. In short, Reilly’s latest digital version of Charmin substitute absolutely rips the softball coach of a Minnesota women’s softball coach for winning a game on the technicality of an obscure (and likely widely uninforced) rule.

Category: Other/General Commentary, Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Tags: Baseball, coaching, integrity, Jean Musgjerd, jennie finch, kids, pony league, teenagers, winning, womens softball

TSDMike | June 16, 2009

After landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated a couple of weeks ago, baseball’s LeBron is once again turning heads and raising eyebrows with news that he is foregoing his final TWO years of high school to take the H.S. diploma equivalency exam – resulting in him being awarded a GED (in the words of Chris Rock, a “Good Enough Diploma”). It was also reported that he intends to attend community college in the fall. All of this is suited to one purpose – to make him eligible for the 2010 amateur draft.

As a likely high first round pick right now, the move makes sense in the respect that he’s not going to really improve his stock much by playing high school ball for two more years. He’s got the body of a 21 year old, and power that’s possibly never before been seen at the high school level. The video of his moon shots at Tropicana Field is impressive to say the least.

But, was this the right move?

Category: MLB, Other/General Commentary | Comments Off
Tags: amateur draft, Baseball, bryce harper, drew henson, ESPN, high school baseball, home runs, hype, scrutiny, teenage boy, turning pro early

TSDMike | May 28, 2009

• With the Cubs leading the Pirates 2-1 in the seventh, Zambrano threw a wild pitch that got past catcher Geovany Soto(notes) and caused Pittsburgh’s Nyjer Morgan(notes) to break for home. Zambrano covered the plate, but Morgan snuck his left hand in to tie the score and umpire Mark Carlson called him safe. It was a great call, actually, but Zambrano disagreed and went berserk…

Category: MLB | Comments Off
Tags: Baseball, carlos zambrano, chicago cubs, ejection, humor, umpire

TSDMike | May 8, 2009

I almost didn’t write about this.

It seemed redundant. Didn’t we just go through this? Aren’t we still going through this? The Alex Rodriguez debacle has even totally played out yet and now we’re pounded with this: Manny Ramirez tests positive for steroids and receives the automatic 50 game suspension.

The sad thing is that I still haven’t decided how I feel about the A-rod thing. He juiced for a couple of seasons, had some inflated numbers while playing for a last place team, then quit taking performance enhancing drugs. His power numbers declined, but other than that, he’s still a helluva baseball player.

Man-Ram falls into the same category. Did steroids made him a better player? Do steroids make anyone a better player? I actually don’t think that they do. Steroids enhance performance. The key word is enhance. The ability to perform has to be there first.

Category: MLB | 4 Comments »
Tags: alex rodriguez, Baseball, baseball stats, commentary, home runs, major league baseball, manny ramirez, mark mcgwire, MLB, sammy sosa, steroids, strikeouts

TSDMike | April 29, 2009

The last line of Rob Deer’s Wikipedia Entry really struck me funny:

Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Source: si.cnn.com

Robert George Deer (born September 29, 1960 in Orange, California) is a former U.S. baseball player. He attended Canyon High School in Anaheim and Fresno City College, and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 4th round of the 1978 amateur draft.

Deer is famous for hitting the game-tying home run on Easter Sunday in 1987,[1] to give the Milwaukee Brewers their 12th straight win to start the season.[2] The home run was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[3][4] He also carries the dubious honor of having the lowest official batting average while still qualifying for the batting title when he batted .179 in 1991. He is the only player since 1910 to have a batting average less than .220 in at least 400 at-bats in at least four seasons.

A notorious free swinger, Deer held the American League record for strikeouts in a season (186 strikeouts in 1987) until being passed by Jack Cust in 2008, and had at least 140 strikeouts on seven occasions.[5]

Deer currently serves as a roving hitting instructor for the San Diego Padres minor league system.

Category: MLB | 5 Comments »
Tags: Baseball, milwaukee brewers, MLB, rob deer, strikeouts, wikipedia

TSDMike | April 22, 2009

Gary Sheffield’s 500th home run of his career also happened to be the first one with his new team, the New York Mets. This is apparently the first time this coincidence has occurred. What’s so noteworthy about this?

Category: MLB, Other/General Commentary | Comments Off
Tags: 500 home run club, 500th home run, Baseball, commentary, gary sheffield, major league baseball, mark mcgwire, new york mets, obscure data, sammy sosa, sportscenter, stats