Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player: Matt Garza

Matt Garza

Every Tuesday Sports Grind Entertainment presents you with the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player of the Week. This week the recipient of this prestigious honor goes to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza for throwing a no-hitter and the first in the franchise history which simply is BLAZIN.

The Tampa Bay Rays Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in franchise history and the fifth in the major leagues this season, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Monday night. The Tigers were no-hit for the first time since Randy Johnson shut them down at Seattle on June 2, 1990.

The right-hander Garza (11-5) faced the minimum 27 batters in his 106th career start and only allowed only a second-inning walk to Tigers Brennan Boesch. The Rays have been on the other side of most no-hitters it seems as of late as they where involed in two just this season.

It’s only the third time in major league history that a team has been involved in three no-hitters during one season. The 1917 St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox were involved in three and all against each other. It’s also the first time in 37 years that two no-hitters have occurred in the same AL ballpark in one season.

Congratulations Matt Garza you are this weeks Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player.

Jul 27, 2010 | Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player | Comments Off

Randy Johnson Retires From Major League Baseball

No, THANK YOU

Am I a Randy Johnson stan? Yes. Is Randy Johnson a Hall of Famer? Yes. Will Randy Johnson be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot? Yes. Again Am I a Randy Johnson stan? Yes.

Now that those questions are out of the way, it’s time to say goodbye to an extraordinary 22 year Major League Baseball career. The Big Unit finished with 303 wins on his career, good enough for 22nd all-time, 5 Cy Young Awards with another 3 in which he finished 2nd place and 1 3rd place finish, he struckout 4,875 batters to put him second all-time behind Nolan Ryan and first among left-handers, 10 time All-Star, 2 time 20 game winner, a World Series champion, and to not to be forgotten is that he pitched a no-hitter and a perfect game.

You can call those the major accomplishments but here’s just a few more to add to the resume a 2001 World Series co-MVP, earning four ERA crowns, nine strikeout titles, and the ability to boast having beaten every single big league team at least once.

Johnson’s career began in Montreal with the Expos and included stops in Seattle, Houston (where he was the CC Sabitha before there was a CC Sabaitha going 10-1 after being traded down the strecth to push the Astros into the playoffs), Arizona, New York and finally San Francisco. Johnson overcame wildness early in his career to become a dominant starter that included a 10-year stretch between 1993 and 2002.  During that span, he struck out 2,928 batters in 2,188 innings to go with a 2.73 ERA and 175 wins.

Thank you Randy Johnson for the memories and allowing me to say I witnessed perhaps the most dominant left handed pitcher of all time.

Jan 06, 2010 | MLB | Comments Off

19 More MLB Players Opt For 2010 Free Agency Before Deadline

On the last day to file for Major League Baseball free agency sum 19 players got their names in right before the deadline to make themselves eligible to pursue Article XX B (2) of the Basic Agreement. Bringing  the total to 171 out of the 183 eligible with 8 players having their options picked up by there current team.

Est. 1869

Nov 20, 2009 | MLB | Comments Off

San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum Wins National League Cy Young Award

"The Freak"

Tim Lincecum the right-handed stoner of the of the San Francisco Giants repeated as the National League Cy Young Award winner, besting St. Louis right-handers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright in the vote conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

“The Freak” became the first pitcher ever to win the Cy Young in his first two full seasons in the big leagues and the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson who won four in a row for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1999-2002. Lincecum (15-7, 2.48 ERA, 261 strikeouts) received 11 first-place votes and 100 points. Carpenter (17-4, 2.24 ERA, 144 strikeouts) finished second with nine first-place votes and 94 points, followed by Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA, 212 strikeouts), who had 12 first-place votes and 90 points.

The six-point margin between Lincecum and Carpenter equaled the third-closest NL Cy Young election since the ballot was expanded from one to three pitchers in 1970. The closest vote occurred in 1987, when the Phillies’ Steve Bedrosian beat the Cubs’ Rick Sutcliffe, 57-55.

Although “The Freak” was fourth in wins he clearly improved overall. The 25-year-old trimmed his ERA by 0.14. Opponents hit .206 off him this season, compared to .221 in 2008. After walking 84 in 227 innings a year ago, he improved to 68 walks in 225 1/3 innings this season as well as leading the NL in strikeouts for the second year in a row, the first Giant to do so since Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson (1907-08). Lincecum also ranked second in ERA and tied teammate Matt Cain for the league lead with four complete games.

“The Freak’s” season was highlighted by four complete games, two shutouts and eight double-digit strikeout performances, due in large part to that ridiculous curve-ball and near unhittable changeup and a mid-90s fastball isn’t too bad either.  July 27 also highlighted his season by striking out 15 against Pittsburgh.

Lincecum topped Wainwright and Carpenter in several other statistical categories, including opponents’ batting average, strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Nov 19, 2009 | MLB | Comments Off

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.

Nov 17, 2009 | MLB | Comments Off