2009 MLB Season

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Paul Konerko hit career homerun #300.

 

[jaxvid]

Harry Kalas, the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies and a long-time narrator for NFL Films, passed today at age 73.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Kalas

Baseball announcing must be very healthy for a man. Doesn't it seem like those guys live looong lives. Many of them stay sharp for a long time. Ernie Harwell of the Tigers is still alive, in his nineties and I heard him the other day, sounded like he could step in and do a ballgame. George Kell, who just passed away, had a long career, Vin Scully, Harry Carey, etc.

 

[Solomon Kane]

RIP to the voice of the Phils, I'm glad he was able to see another WS victory before his death.


Red Sox, Rangers, and Pirates are looking good from a CF perspective.

 

[PhillyBirds]

Yankees' RF/1B Nick Swisher pitched one inning in relief against the Rays last night. He walked one, gave up one hit, and struck out Gabe Kapler before retiring the next two batters to end the inning. New York lost 15-5. Swisher was the first Yankee position player to pitch since Wade Boggs (who actually threw a knuckleball, and a pretty good one at that).

Nick Swisher pitching the 8th.

I'm also quite upset at the loss of Harry the K. The voice of the summer and spring, Phillies games will never be the same again.

Edited by: PhillyBirds

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Nick Swisher is off to a great start: .471/2 HRs/9 RBIs through 7 games.

Let's hope for an All-Star game appearance this year.

 

[j41181]

Nick Swisher is off to a great start: .471/2 HRs/9 RBIs through 7 games.

Let's hope for an All-Star game appearance this year.

Right on!

 

[Don Wassall]

Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler had one of the best hitting games in baseball history on Wednesday, becoming only the third player ever to hit for the cycle and have six hits. He also scored five runs. His historicperformance is only a minor story in the sports media news cycle.

Kinsler was on his way to an MVP type season last year before getting hurt late in theyear yet still toils in obscurity. He's a big-time star who hits for average, power, and steals a lot of bases.

 

[LabMan]

Kinsler's play has been mostly ignored,the same is true of Michael Young,Hank Blaylock,and most of the other White Ranger players.Josh Hamilton has been recognized,but mostly because of beating addiction problems.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

LabMan wrote:

"Josh Hamilton has been recognized, but mostly because of beating addiction problems."

You got that right. The affirmative action poster boys scattered throughout ESPN and other media outlets are praying for a relapse every day so they'll have a white star to trash.

 

[Freethinker]

Props to Kinsler.

You guys remember the days when second base was always a light hitting player. This generation of guys like Chase Utley, Dan Uggla, Ian Kisler, Dustin Pedrioa, Brian Roberts and Robinson Cano are truly fantastic hitters.

Aaron Hill is another good one not yet at the highest level but a very good hitter as well.Edited by: Freethinker

 

[Don Wassall]

A big thanksto PhillyBirds for writing the team by team demographic breakdown for both leagues this year.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Yes, great job, Phillybirds

 

[PhillyBirds]

Thanks, gentlemen.

Congratulations to the white-friendly Pittsburgh Pirates, who just completed a three-game sweep of the owners of MLB's best record, the Florida Marlins. Well played!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

good job, PhillyBirds! i don't follow baseball very much, and it's nice to have such a concise rundown to check out for those fews times a year when i choose to watch a game.

keep up the good work for CF!

 

[Don Wassall]

I watched some of the Red Sox-Yankees game last night, the highlight of which was Jacob Ellsbury stealing home, a real rarity. I also noticed that the Joe Morgan-Jon Miller announcing duo is as Caste-predictable as ever. Outstanding plays by white players were minimized (Miller even marveled that the crowd was so excited by Ellsbury's great play), whites were quick to be criticized (J.D. Drew was excoriated after making an out for supposedly "not concentrating hard enough" while he was at bat), and errors by blacks were excused (the Yankees 3B made two errors in one inning but neither was his fault according to Morgan).

 

[GWTJ]

I watched some of the Red Sox-Yankees game last night, the highlight of which was Jacob Ellsbury stealing home, a real rarity.  I also noticed that the Joe Morgan-Jon Miller announcing duo is as Caste-predictable as ever.  Outstanding plays by white players were minimized (Miller even marveled that the crowd was so excited by Ellsbury's great play), whites were quick to be criticized (J.D. Drew was excoriated after making an out for supposedly "not concentrating hard enough" while he was at bat), and errors by blacks were excused (the Yankees 3B made two errors in one inning but neither was his fault according to Morgan).

I watched the whole three game series. On Friday, Pedroia made two terrific diving plays up the middle to prevent Yankee runs. These were great plays made at crucial times in the game. Yet ESPN failed to show either one of them on Sportscenter. The MLB network showed one of them. The one where he robbed Jeter of a hit and an RBI.

The announcers on that Sunday night game really had me frustrated. There was a play where Ellisbury advanced from second to third on a groundout to third. The throw to Texiera was in the dirt but a short hop. Morgan blamed Texiera and the white announcer blamed the third baseman. Neither one was able to actually describe what happened on the play.

What happened on the play was that the third baseman drifted to his left to field the ground ball. He knew he was far enough off the bag that it was vulnerable. Replays even showed the shortstop hustling behind him to try and cover it. So when the third baseman threw to first he didn't follow through all the way as he was trying to get back to cover third as quickly as possible. His lack of follow through caused the throw to be weak and bounce to first.

Morgan was totally out of line for blaming Texiera but the white announcers seemed unable to explain why. Very frustrating.

I like the MLB network. The MLB network is much better for watching baseball and the highlights of games. They constantly have praise for white players. One example, a list was posted on the screen of the pitchers who were leading the league in strikeouts. Johan Santana was first and Matt Greinke was second. The announcer was raving about Greinke and ignoring Santana. It was good to hear.

 

[Vindicator]

Morgan was dismissive of Justin Pedroia's running ability, claiming he "wasn't a base stealer". I thought that this comment was overly "caste". According to MLB.com, Pedroia had 20 SB with only 1 CS in 2008! This put him in a tie for 15th place for stolen bases in the AL. With 506 players listed in the AL offensive stats, Pedroia is in the top 3% of base stealers. He's not as good as Ellsbury or Roberts in this category but clearly he's good.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Morgan was dismissive of Justin Pedroia's running ability, claiming he "wasn't a base stealer". I thought that this comment was overly "caste". According to MLB.com, Pedroia had 20 SB with only 1 CS in 2008! This put him in a tie for 15th place for stolen bases in the AL. With 506 players listed in the AL offensive stats, Pedroia is in the top 3% of base stealers. He's not as good as Ellsbury or Roberts in this category but clearly he's good.

I heard that, Vindicator, and I think Joe Morgan's flawed thinking was based on his assumption that only guys who steal at least 40-50 bases a year are "base stealers."

Considering the fact that Joe Morgan is an out-and-out racist, backed up by his butt-kissing fat arse sidekick, John Miller, the above is no surprise.

Morgan either trashes white players or, on rare occasions, "compliments" them with qualifications.

He must hate sharing the booth with Steve Phillips.

Joe Morgan sucks.

 

[green fire317]

i hate joe morgan, i remember one time he spent like ten minutes talking about gary sheffield.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

i hate joe morgan, i remember one time he spent like ten minutes talking about gary sheffield.

Joe Morgan tries to talk about Gary Sheffield every time he's on the air.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i watched a game between the Braves and the Cardinals, and there were so many talented white players it's hard to list them all.


in addition to Francouer in right field, the Braves have a gifted centerfielder who is just a baby, but he's already playing like a veteran with his glove! i think his name is Shaffer (sp?)


the Cardinals have an all-white outfield, but they also have a young white third baseman who is platooning with a negro. the white player is batting almost .500 this year and is a vacuum cleaner in the field! i don't know why he's not getting all the time he can handle. i don't recall his name, though.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

The Mets build a new stadium and dedicate the better part of it to Jackie Robinson.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09129/968906-63.stm

 

[Don Wassall]

Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman is realizing his immense talent this season. He's currently on a 29 game hitting streak and is batting .363/8/26 after a two homer game last night.


Zimmerman was drafted in the already legendary first round of 2005. Others from that first round besides Zimmerman who are already stars include Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki and Jay Bruce, and developing stars Alex Gordon, Mike Pelfrey and Chris Volstad,while others may still develop. Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Don Wassall]

Jayson Werth looks like this year's version of Ryan Ludwick, a former first round draft pick finally getting a chance to play regularly at the age of 30.


Werth is 6' 5" and has power, but is also a very accomplished base stealer, amazing for that height. He stole 4 bases last night, including the extremely rare trifecta of stealing second, third and then home in the same inning. For his career he is 47 of 53 in stolen bases. He's been ona real tear of late.

 

[white lightning]

Amazing Werth! What a tall base stealer. Although in sprinting I would say there is a slight trend going now towards taller guys. Maybe the stereotypes about tall guys being slow or average speed are a thing of the past.

Congrats to Randy Johnson on Win Number #298! All I can say is WOW! What a career. The one and only "Big Unit"!