Brandon Lyon Signs With The Houston Astros
$15 Overpaid Milli Man
The Houston Astros have signed reliever Brandon Lyon a three-year contract worth $15 million. Lyon will get $4.25 million next year, $5.25 million in 2011 and $5.5 million in 2012.
He was 6-5 with three saves and a 2.86 ERA last season for Detroit. Overall, he is 27-34 with a 54 saves and a 4.20 ERA in eight major league seasons. Lyon had a career-best 26 saves for Arizona in 2008 and has continued to disappoint me ever since.
Yankees, Tigers, Diamondbacks Complete Three-Way Trade
Winners All Around
I gotta admit I have been neglecting my responsibilities when it comes to offering Sports Grind Entertainment feelings about all the moves happening at the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. Instead I’ve just been siting on my fat ass and watching as fan and enjoying that Christmas always comes early for this O.G. baseball fan. So I’ll start off by tossing the ball around the diamond with the blockbuster trade that going the hot stove burning.
The three team deal had the New York Yankees receiving All-Star center fielder Curtis Granderson. The Arizona Diamondbacks received right-hander Edwin Jackson and right-hander Ian Kennedy. The Detroit Tigers acquired the most players in getting lefty reliever Phil Coke and prospect Austin Jackson and right-hander Max Scherzer and left-hander Daniel Schlereth.
I’ll go by win-loss record in breaking down each team involvement, so first up is the World Series champion Yankees (103-59) who acquired Grandson. He’s a web gem in the outfield who’s only 28 and adds another left handed bat to an already dangerous lineup. Granderson hit .249 with 30 home runs, 71 RBIs and 20 steals. But to acquire Grandson the Yankees gave up Kennedy who has been hit with the injury bug but is fairly young and has only pitched 59 innings in big leagues. Coke is also another young arm sent packing, he was the Yankees primary left-handed reliever for 2009. The Yankees dug into their farm system and sent their best prospect rated by Baseball America Austin Jackson away.
My prospective is that this move signals that they are unlikely to re-sign both Johnny Damon and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and might have bailed on too much youth but these are the Yankees so you can almost guarantee they will always be movers and shakers if they see an area of weakness in the future.
The Tigers (86-77) are next up to bat and keep in mind that this ball club forced a one game playoff with the Minnesota Twins. Detroit received a young left-handed Coke to help out an already strong pitching staff and Austin Jackson to eventually take over for Grandson. They reeled in a strikeout machine in Scherzer who is a number two starter on most clubs but could be pushed as far down as fourth with the Tigers, he struck out 174 batters in 170 1/3 innings. Detroit also received Schlereth, the son of former NFL lineman Mark Schlereth, who has a mid-90s fastball and could be the Tigers future closer or slot in to be the setup man.
The Tigers did give up a web gem outfielder in Grandson but where able to shed his $23 million contract over the next three years and the arbitration-eligible Edwin Jackson. In return received a plethora of young talent on the mound and a possible replacement for the center field spot.
Coming in last in this trade as well as the National League West is the Diamondbacks (70-92). Arizona received All-Star Edwin Jackson who is World Series tested and fails to the number three starter behind aces Dan Haren, Brandon Webb. and replacing the young arm of Scherzer with Kennedy. Edwin Jackson finished the season with a record of 13-9 with a 3.62 ERA and 191 strikeouts in 214 innings, his best ever in MLB.
The Diamondbacks might have given up two young arms but a huge reason why the team fail to the lows they did last year was the season ending injury to Webb after one start and the lack of run production. While the bats haven’t been address yet, the pitching staff didn’t take a nosedive.
Yankees: Winners/Tigers: Winners/Diamondbacks: Winners
Placido Polanco Signs With The Philadelphia Phillies
Back At Home
The Philadelphia Phillies and Placido Polanco have reached a three year deal worth 18 million dollars, and holds an option for a fourth season.
The Phillies can now move the “Flyin Hawaiian” Shane Victorino down in the lineup to more of a run producing spot by moving Polanco into the top of the order as well as providing a solid defensive glove at third base after declining to keep Pedro Feliz.
Polanco is a .303 career hitter and hit .285 with 31 doubles, 10 homers and 72 RBIs last season in a spacious ballpark in Detriot which is a far cry from the hitters Citizens Bank. He spent about 3 seasons in Philadelphia in the trade that sent Scott Rolen to St. Louis in 2002. He hit .297 with 38 homers and 160 RBIs in parts of four seasons in Philadelphia. Once Chase Utley become the regular second baseman, Polanco’s role was reduced. He was traded to Detroit in June 2005 for reliever Ugueth Urbina and infielder Ramon Martinez.
Polanco gets a $500,00 signing bonus, $5 million next season, $5.25 million in 2011 and $6.25 million in 2012. The deal includes a $5.5 million mutual option for 2013 with a $1 million buyout.
The NL champions also agreed to a $750,000, one-year contract with infielder Juan Castro, who hit .277 with one home run and nine RBIs in 57 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. The 37-year-old Castro replaces utilityman Eric Bruntlett, who became a free agent.
Castro’s contract includes a $700,000 salary next year, and the deal has a $750,000 club option for 2011 with a $50,000 buyout.
They both join a potent lineup that features five All-Stars: Utley, Victorino, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez and former MVP Jimmy Rollins.
Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer Wins American League Most Valuable Player Award
MVP
Joe Mauer catcher of the Minnesota Twins has been named the American League Most Valuable Player in a near unanimous vote,receiving 27 of the 28 first-place votes to easily beat out the Yankees’ duo of Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Mauer also joined an elite group of players when he won his third American League batting title this season.
The 26-year-old Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.
Mauer became the fifth player in Twins history to win the MVP Award. He joined teammate Justin Morneau, who took home the honor in 2006, as well as Zoilo Versalles (1965) Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977).
He also became just the second catcher in the past 33 years to be named MVP. Texas Rangers Ivan Rodriguez (1999) is the only backstop besides Mauer to take home the honor since Yankees catcher Thurman Munson won it in 1976. The last catcher to win National League MVP honors was Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench in 1972.
Mauer put together the best season of his already impressive young career in 2009. He batted .365 to earn his second straight AL batting title. It was his third batting title in four seasons, making the 26-year-old the only catcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat. He is the 10th player in AL history with three or more batting titles.
In addition to leading the league in batting average, Mauer also was the leader in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), giving him what some stat gurus have deemed the modern Triple Crown. The last AL player to lead in all three of those categories was George Brett of the Royals in 1980. Mauer set career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (96). And it was that unexpected power surge that was the biggest change for Mauer in 2009, as he more than doubled his previous high in homers (13 in 2006).
This award season had already been kind to Mauer. He was named the AL’s Outstanding Player in the Player’s Choice Awards as well as being named the top player in the AL by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He also earned his third Silver Slugger Award and his second straight Gold Glove.
Check back to read about Albert Pujols’ NL MVP award, which will be announced Tuesday.
Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Mike Scioscia Wins American League Manager Of The Year
34 Would Be Proud
Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anhiem had to endure the most emotionally season of his 10 seasons as leader of the Angels and that culminated in him selected as the 2009 American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
It was Scioscia’s second Manager of the Year award. He was named by the BBWAA in 2002, when the Angels claimed their first World Series title under his direction after entering the postseason as a Wild Card. Scioscia, who is the first manager in Major League history to pilot six postseason teams in his first 10 seasons, received 15 of a possible 28 first-place votes for 106 points.
The Twins’ Ron Gardenhire finished second with six first-place votes and 72 points. Joe Girardi of the Yankees (four first-place votes) was third, followed by the Mariners’ Don Wakamatsu (two), the Rangers’ Ron Washington (one) and the Tigers’ Jim Leyland.
Coping with the death of young pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car wreck on April 9, Scioscia and the Angels emerged from early struggles — they were 29-29 on June 11 — to take flight en route to a third consecutive AL West title, their fifth in six seasons.
In the AL Division Series, the Angels swept their October nemesis, Boston, in three games before falling in six games in the AL Championship Series to the Yankees, who went on to subdue the Phillies in the World Series.
With 97 wins, the Angels continued a run of excellence under Scioscia, whose teams have won 900 regular-season games in 10 seasons. His 567 victories over the past six seasons represent a Major League best — one more than Joe Torre has achieved with the Yankees and Dodgers and two more than Terry Francona with the Red Sox.
Kansas City Royals Zack Grienke Wins American League Cy Young Award
Diamond Stud
Zack Greinke is the definition of a Diamond Stud and he proved it again by winning the American League Cy Young Award and he did it in a landslide.
The Royals’ right-hander received a rousing 25 of 28 first-place votes and had 134 total points in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting. Runner-up Felix Hernandez of the Mariners had 80 points, with two first-place votes.
Greinke emerged from the shadow of a social anxiety disorder that took him away from the game for two months in 2006. He worked his way back to the Royals with a tour in the Minors that year and spent most of 2007 laboring in the KC bullpen. Back full force in 2008, he made 32 starts with a 13-10, 3.47 season that set the stage for this thunderous year.
But the 2009 season on the mound belong to Greinke, who posted a 16-8 record which was modest total for a Cy Young winner but no one could match his Major League-best ERA of 2.16. He was one of the most dominating pitchers of 2009 in either league especially being on a team that hardly backed him with run support and a bullpen that blew four of his leads.
Greinke becomes the third Cy Young winner in club history. Bret Saberhagen won in 1985 and 1989; David Cone won in 1994. Cone was the only other starter to win the AL award with as few as 16 wins, and he did it in a strike-shortened season. Brandon Webb (2006) was the last starter to win the National League award with so few.
Among other accomplishments, Greinke struck out 15 batters and threw a one-hitter in back-to-back outings in August as he headed toward a strong finish. He was 6-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his final 11 starts.
Greinke’s has three devastating pitches in a changeup (which was the best in 2009), a sizzling fastball and killer slider. Greinke’s 242 strikeouts, second in the AL to Jason Verlander’s 269, included the club-record 15 on Aug. 25 against the Indians. Then, in his next start at Seattle, came a one-hitter flawed only by a second-inning single. Greinke mowed down the last 22 Mariners he faced. That made him just the fourth pitcher in history to follow a 15-strikeout game with a one-hitter, matching Pedro Martinez (1999), Randy Johnson (1998) and Vida Blue (1971).
His ability to command his pitches, moving the ball in and out, up and down with pinpoint accuracy, and to vary his speeds is phenomenal.
Twins Game Means More Than The Tonight Show
Forget about your jobs, it’s postseason baseball
MLB Can Only Draw 73,418,529 Fans In Recession
Est. 1869
The book can now be completely closed on Major League Baseball 2009 regular season attendance. Baseball completed the season with a total attendance of 73,418,529, down 6.58 percent from a total of 78,591,116 in 2008. The total attendance figure will rank as the fifth highest in MLB history. In another measure of attendance, ballparks saw an average of 30,338 down 6.77 percent from the 32,543 in average attendance last season.
Game 163 at the Metrodome between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins was the largest attended game in the facility’s history with 54,088 in attendance.
The Los Angeles Dodgers led the Major Leagues in attendance with 3,761,669 for an average of 46,440. The reigning World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox, set all-time club records, drawing 3,600,693 and 3,062,699, respectively. For the first time since 2004 the Yankees will have attendance below 4 million.
Nine clubs drew more than three million fans (Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers) and last year, nine clubs drew more than three million, with two (the Yankees and Mets) drawing over 4 million. The two New York franchises accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total decline in attendance this year.
Twins Win Reminds Us All What Is Great About Baseball
Go-Go-Gomez
Did you witness last night’s 12 inning heart attack inducing game 163 between the Twins and the Tigers? If you missed it, are you really a sports fan? After playing through 162 games of July heat, April showers, Seattle to New York, New York to Florida, Florida to Detroit, double headers, day games, night games, it was the ultimate win or go home game.
So if you missed the tiebreaker game, are you really a sports fan or do you false advertise?
If you where a witness, you didn’t see a crime, you saw that Metrodome magic. It took 163 games to finally decided an American League Central Champion. This was the second year in a row that the Twins have had to force the tiebreaker 163 game to decide the division, playing and losing to the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in 2008, and they weren’t going down without a fight this time. The Minnesota Twins, who were seven games back in early September, battled until the very end, going 17-4 down the stretch to take down the Tigers 6-5 in the tie-breaker game.
The game was filled with back and forth drama, until finally in the 12th, Alexi Casilla got a base hit that allowed Carlos “Go-Go” Gomez to slide across home with the game winning run. This ensures that the Metrodome will still be hosting baseball past the ‘Final Game’.
“That is as good a baseball game as I’ve ever been involved as far as courage from both teams,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “We came through at the end. But after 10 innings I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen anything like this.’ It was just back and forth, neither team giving up.”
“This game is going to live forever,” Gardenhire said. “People are going to talk about it forever. I know it was just Game 163, but people are going to talk about this game. There was a lot of stuff that happened in it.”
Joe Mauer finished last night as the American League batting champion, this marks the 3rd time in his career to achieve the accomplishment (unheard of from the catcher position), first in on base percentage, slugging. As previously stated Mauer is your AL MVP.
Well played champs. Well played.
162 Games Was Just Not Enough, Tigers To Get Metro Doomed
Twins Win
One year after losing a 1-0 heart-breaker to the Chicago White Sox in a one-game playoff, the Minnesota Twins will host the Detroit Tigers Tuesday in a tiebreaker for the American League Central title. The winner will head to the playoffs.
This marks the second year in a row that the Twins have needed a 163rd game to end their season, a first for baseball.
Just a month ago, the Twins were seven games behind the Tigers in the division race. A week ago, they were three down with four to play. And after winning 16 of their last 20, over 50,000 Metrodome seats sold out within minutes of going on sale Sunday for the tiebreaker.
Meanwhile, the Tigers, who will look to rookie Rick Porcello (14-9, 3.50 ERA), lost 15 of their last 26 games to let Minnesota’s foot back in the door.
The Twins will put righty Scott Baker (15-9, 3.32 ERA) on the hill, two days after using almost their entire rotation to complete the sweep of the Kansas City Royals.
The game is being played in Minnesota because the Twins won the season series 11-7, including seven wins in nine games at the Metrodome.
Between Sunday evening and Monday after noon there was 320,000 ticket request for this tiebreaker game. If it’s anything like the 1987 World Series the Tigers will be making doctor appointments for the ears on Wednesday.
Postseason Baseball is here and I couldn’t be happier.
PICK: Minnesota Twins
SGE Baseball Awards
The Best In 09
Oh it’s postseason time in baseball and that means it’s time to hand out some awards on the baseball diamond here at Sports Grind Entertainment.
Starting off with the senior circuit, the National League MVP couldn’t have been any easier. Don’t get it twisted that since Albert Pujols plays for the only professional sports origination in all of sports that I truly care about, that this vote wasn’t hands down his. Yes, if the race was close and I went with Pujols I could understand your concern but the 2009 season produce no one within a mile.
- NL MVP Award: The Cardinals first baseman leads his league in on-base percentage and slugging percentage plus homers, runs scored, total bases, grand slams and extra-base hits. He’s second in batting average with men in scoring position. Third overall in batting average and in RBI’s. Crazy as it sounds Pujols lead the Cardinals in stolen bases. Pujols also has an NL-record 184 assists from first base.
- NL Cy Young Award: There was a three-way choice between San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum and St. Louis teammates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. They’re 1-2-3 in ERA and 1-2-4 in wins.
- Carpenter has been the most brilliant and dominant, but he’s not in the top 10 in the NL in innings pitched because of early-season health issues. Lincecum has the lowest OPS allowed, but he plays in a great pitcher’s park. Wainwright leads the league the league in wins.
- Carpenter still took the ball against the other team aces so he gets it by a hair over Wainwright.
- NL Rookie of the Year: Was loaded with fresh new propest that made a mark in the 2009 season, with Philadelphia’s J.A. Happ, Atlanta’s Tommy Hanson, Randy Wells of the Cubs, Milwaukee’s Casey McGehee, Florida’s Chris Coghlan, Colorado’s Dexter Fowler and Pittsburgh’s Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen.
- As far as position player Coghlan (229 total bases, 82 runs scored and .319 average) is as good of a choice as any but it came down to the two pitchers that came to show earlier and never fell off all season. Happ (12-4, 2.85 ERA) vs. Hanson (11-4, 2.89 ERA).
- While Hanson is a terrific prospect, Happ threw 164 innings and the Phillies would have been in big trouble without him.
- NL Manager of the Year: There are a few good candidates. Fredi Gonzalez kept the Marlins in contention for 25 weeks. Tony La Russa had little in his lineup other than Pujols for the first three months. Charlie Manuel got the Phillies back on top, as did Joe Torre with the Dodgers.
- But this award is a no brainier for Colorado Jim Tracy, they have gone 74-41 since he took over for Clint Hurdle. That’s the equivalent of a 104-win season.
- AL Cy Young Award: When the Cy Young is discussed many see a losing team and figure there is no way a pitcher from such team would win the award over someone on a contending team, but that’s not what the Cy Young is about. On any squad the best pitcher is not responsible on how well or bad the team plays on his days off.
- And that makes Kansas City’s Zack Greinke is the best pitcher in the AL. Period. He lead the league with a 2.16 ERA on a bad defensive team. He had 6 complete games, 3 shutouts and was second in strikeouts with 242. Greinke had a 15 strikout performance and on his next outing threw a one hitter. He was the best pitcher in both leagues. Period.
- Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia are great. And if Greinke wasn’t around, it would be a three-way debate. But this year, that debate is about second place.
- AL MVP Award: Joe Mauer leads the American League in batting, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. And he’s a catcher. Mauer leads the AL in batting average at home, on the road, against right-handers and in night games. He is second in average with runners in scoring position, third in average in day games and fourth in average vs. lefties.
- If Mauer was playing in New York, he’d be everywhere. He would be on every billboard, every magazine cover.
- Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Kendry Morales had very nice years. Very nice.
- Considering the lack of protection in his lineup as compared to the others in the debate, it Mauer as the choice. Also since the only protection he had in teamamte and former MVP Justin Morneau is sidelined for the year. That forced Mauer to put the team on his back as they got back into contention of the AL Central Divison to force a one game playoff with the Detriot Tigers.
- AL Rookie of the Year: What a great season for rookie talent, in both leagues. The White Sox third baseman Gordon Beckham, who has hit well. Baltimore outfielder Nolan Reimold who leads Beckham in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and homers. Texas’ Elvis Andrus, meanwhile, has played all season excelling at shortstop with acceptable production at the plate for a 20-year-old.
- Comparing position players against pitchers is comparing apples to oranges. Oakland’s Andrew Bailey with his .168 opponents’ average, Detroit’s Rick Porcello, Toronto’s Ricky Romero.
- Tough call, but Porcello is 20, and he made 30 starts while pitching in a pennant race to the finish and he went 14-9 with a 4.04 ERA.
- AL Manager of the Year: Great job by Ron Washington to help make the Rangers relevant. But Mike Scioscia didn’t just guide the Angels to another division title. He kept the team from falling apart through a rough first few months, not only because of a rash of pitching injuries but also because of the death of Nick Adenhart. Managing a team is about managing people, and Scioscia did a great job this year. Joe Girardi managed his team to 103 wins and probably wont get a sniff at the award is tough but that how things play out sometimes.
San Antonio’s Jeff Manship Earns 1st Big League Win
Congratulations
I’ve been eagerly waiting to write this post since September 1st when it was announced that San Antonio’s own Jeff Manship, a Reagan High School graduate, would get his first Major League Baseball start for the Minnesota Twins. The wait was well worth it as the win came at a well timed moment for the Twins as they closed the gab between the American League Central leading Detroit Tigers to one game, with two games remaining for both clubs.
Delmon Young helped Manship out in the Twins 10-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals with a grand slam and 5 RBIs. Manship (1-1) was tagged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings, but like four of his last six starts he’s pitched better than the box score reflects. Manship never gave up any huge hits, mostly singles that moved runners around in the newly named Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The announced crowd of 40,223 in attendence saw Manship strike out four.
Congragulations 49.
YOU AIN’T CHEATIN, YOU AIN’T TRYIN PART 2
You know what? I’m gonna tell everybody around here… when it comes to playin’ pool, Joe Mauer likes to cheat.
Mauer your future AL MVP.
Vikings Face Scheduling Conflict
October 5th Spoiler?
Since the Minnesota Twins have deiced to get back into the American League Central Division playoff race over the weekend, this could pose a very big scheduling conflict with the Metrodome’s other tenants the Minnesota Vikings. This may be premature, but with the Twins losing its star first baseman for the season and the Twins taking two of three games against Central division leading Detroit Tigers,it might not be.
Monday night games always have an extra excitement in NFL cities and when a certain quarterback plays his former team the level of excitement takes on a whole new level. That would be the case for Viking fans on October 5th as they have a home game scheduled against their rival the Green Bay Packers. However, the Twins may also need the Metrodome if they tie for the American League Central title, the Twins could be hosting a tiebreaker that night.
Major League Baseball says the Twins have priority over the use of the stadium that night, even if as it stands right now that the last day of their season is October 4th, and they also say the NFL knows what’s going on.
“The NFL is fully aware of it,” MLB executive Katy Feeney said. “That’s one of the reasons they schedule those as intradivision games, so they can flip [home sites] if they need to.”
The Twins are currently three games behind the Tigers in the AL Central race, but if it continues to stay close the NFL and Major League Baseball will need to resolve the scheduling issues in advance.
***UPDATE***
Due to the series being split 2-2 and producing no clear cut division front runner, MLB said they realizes the strain it would put on the NFL having to wait till the last series of the season and will play it’s game on Tuesday. If was hoping the series would help avoid such decision.
When You Are Baseball, That’s How You Exit
Only death knocking can pull you away.
Ernie Harwell Diagnosed With Incurable Cancer
"He took his cut, and now he takes his seat."
It’s no secret the state of Michigan has been hit extremely hard this year. Everything from the problems with the automakers, Detroit Lions going 0-16. When the state tried to rally behind the universities that bare it’s name, they saw the Michigan State basketball team get man-handled in its own backyard during the championship game and the University of Michigan football team lose to its three rivals as well as finishing the season 3-9.
But some really sad news came from Detroit today as legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his bile duct. The 91-year old Harwell has declined surgery or treatment and the cancer will likely be terminal for the Hall of Famer. Harwell called baseball games for Tiger fans for 42 years. Harwell and Tigers baseball goes hand in hand and it’s hard to listen to Tigers games today and not reminisce Harwell’s soft-spoken southern accent calling the game. Fans probably know Harwell best for his catchy home run call, “that one is looooooooong gone,” and his creativity in naming off random Michigan cities as hometowns for fans who grabbed foul balls.
“He stood there like the house by the side of the road,” he might say of a batter taking a called third strike.
Harwell knows what his diagnosis means and he is taking it in admirable stride:
“We don’t know how long this lasts. It could be a year, it could be much less than a year, much less than a half a year. Who knows? Whatever’s in store, I’m ready for a new adventure. That’s the way I look at it.”
“I’d like to thank them for their loyalty and support over the years. And their affection, which I don’t know whether I deserve or not, but I accept it. And also, to let them know that when I heard the news, that I had this cancer, that I had a feeling of security and serenity…but I also had a feeling of acceptance because of my belief in Jesus and the Lord,” speaking about his many admirers across America said Harwell.
To me, the list of great baseball announcers is a short one of Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell and the late Harry Kalas and Jack Buck. Thanks you the memories. I can’t help but admire how he conducts himself, even to the very end.
“The Eddie Gaedel Story” Tonight on MLB Network
No. 1/8
MLB Network will air tonight MLB Network Remembers: The Eddie Gaedel Story, narrated by Bob Costas about 3’7” 65-lb Eddie Gaedel’s at-bat stunt between the St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers for an MLB game in St. Louis in 1951. After Browns owner Bill Veeck concocted the idea, St. Louis manager Zach Taylor sent Gaedel, to the plate to pinch hit for Frank Saucier. When Gaedel had hinted to Veeck that he might be tempted to swing at a pitch, the owner promised to bring a rifle to the game and shoot him if he tried. Immediately,umpire Ed Hurley called for Browns manager Taylor, in which he showed a copy of Gaedel’s contract, as well as a copy of the Browns’ active roster, which had room for Gaedel’s addition.Tigers pitcher Bob Cain delivered four consecutive balls. Gaedel took his base (stopping twice during his trot to bow to the crowd) and was replaced by pinch-runner Jim Delsing. The 18,369 fans gave Gaedel a standing ovation.
The contract had been filed late in the day on Friday, August 17. Veeck knew the league office would approve the contract upon receipt, and that it would not be scrutinized until Monday, August 20. As a result of Gaedel’s appearance, all contracts must now be approved by the Commissioner of Baseball before a player can appear in a game. Gaedel finished his major league career with an on-base percentage of 1.000. His total earnings as a pro athlete were $100, however, he was able to parlay his baseball fame into more than $17,000 by appearing on several television shows. His “1/8″ jersey is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The piece will first air between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. CST and re-air throughout the night on MLB Tonight.
Moving Day
Trade Deadline '09
Today marked the end of the non waiver trade deadline and it went off with a bang as several clubs made moves to help for now and the future. The biggest had to be the Red Sox picking up a five tool player in Indians catcher Victor Martinez. Cleveland adds young pitching but it does not measure up to giving up Martinez. All’s not good with the Red Sox though as this does create a log jam at several keys positions, which Terry Francona will have to work it out.
The White Sox decided to ring San Diego Padres phone once again for former Cy-Young winner Jake Peavy and this time he took them up there offer. The Padres could lose close to a 100 games this year and the following year does not present itself any better. Its a win for both sides, Padres get pitching to take a look at and the White Sox get an arm for this playoff push.
The Seattle Mariners might have thrown in the white flag by trading 8 game winner Jarrod Washburn to the Detroit Tigers for two young left handed pitchers. The Tigers add pitching trying to hold onto the lead in a tight American League Central Division race.
Staying in the same division the Minnesota Twins add an all-star shortstop Orlando Cabrera to give them a shortstop with some pop and lose nothing in the field with his glove. The Athletics pick up infielder Tyler Ladendorf whom the A’s wanted to draft in the 2008 draft but Minnesota beat them to the punch.
The Washington Nationals traded first baseman Nick Johnson to the Florida Marlins for a minor league pitcher. This deal only makes sense in the Nationals favor to stock pile minor league depth at the pitching spot. The Marlins got a decent glove at first with Johnson but he brings no power to the plate.
Finally the head scratcher trade of the day was Cincinnati Reds trading for third baseman Scott Rolen of the Toronto Blue Jays. Rolen is having a bounce back and productive year, its just the Reds all of sudden got older and gave up two pitchers and third baseman Edwin Encarnacion for him. Encarnacion sure wasn’t the answer but only one can assume general manager Walt Jocketty reunited with Rolen so he could bring some professionalism into that locker room.
In all each club had their reason for making moves as the bottom of standings teams looked toward the future and teams in contention did everything they could to help their clubs make one final push. Outside of the one team that holds the World Series trophy at the end of October will we know if this season trades had any factor on this ‘09 season. But we will have to wait for the future to tell us if there was any Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trades.
