Celebrating the 4th
July 4th, 2011 | by Ray Flowers |
In years past I have taken the 4th of July as a chance to move a bit away from the norm here at BaseballGuys.com. Last year I wrote about Competitive Eating and asked the question about whether or not it was a “sport”? Two years ago I wrote a piece entitled Freedom where I gave some information regarding the Declaration of Independence. Today I’ll follow my usual path and touch on a few topics that aren’t exactly germane to fantasy baseball while mixing in some relevant information.
There have been 46 ball players who were born on July 4th. Currently there is only one who is active – Sergio Santos who was born in Bellflower California in 1983. In that same year of 1983 Dave Righetti tossed a no-hitter against the Red Sox on the 4th. That outing was the Yankees first no-no since Don Larson’s perfect game in the World Series in 1956.
A history lesson. Though we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, the resolution was actually adopted on July 2nd. Furthermore, the Declaration wasn’t officially approved until July 9th when it was voted on at the New York Convention. The document was ordered to be “engrossed on parchment” for the means of it becoming an official document on July 19th. The actual signing ceremony was held on August 2nd, 1776 though, despite common perception, it took longer for all 56 delegates to affix their signature on the historic parchment. Moreover, some members of Congress never actually signed the document.
Lou Gehrig’s retirement speech, you know the one in which he said he was the “luckiest man on the face of the earth,” was given on July 4th, 1939. Gehrig died less than two years later of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, on June 2, 1941. He was 37 years old.
There are five places in the United States that have the name “America.” The largest is American Folk in Utah. It has a population of more than 26,000 people.
Jose Canseco hit his 30th homer on this date in 1999. He would hit only four more homers the rest of the way including just three over his final 115 at-bats before his season ended. All told he had 34 homers and had 95 RBI in just 113 games for the Rays. The effort marked Canseco as the first player in history to hit 30 homers with four different clubs (the others were the Athletics, Rangers and Blue Jays).
There’s a better than one in four chance that the hot dogs you eat, or ate, came from Iowa since there were over 19 million pigs located in the state in March, 2011. The odds are one in three that your baked beans came from North Dakota and if you’re eating corn on the cob there is a nearly 70 percent chance it came from California, Florida, Georgia, New York or Washington. For more fascinating info, click on this link.
July 4th, 1974 was Mike Marshall’s 14th straight appearance for the Dodgers. And you think guys are overworked nowadays? For the year Marshall pitched 208.1 innings… and didn’t make a single start. He won 15 games, lost 12, and racked up 21 saves to lead the NL. He also posted a 2.42 ERA and 1.19 WHIP on his way to appearing in 106 games, the highest single season total for any pitcher in the history of baseball.
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Birthdays, Competitive eating, Declaration of Independence, Jose Canseco, July 4, July 4th, Lou Gehrig, Mike Marshall, Sergio Santos
By Nick on Jul 4, 2011
I picked up Eric Thames but now I’m thinking I should have grabbed Travis Snider… any thoughts?
By Ray Flowers on Jul 4, 2011
Nick – You can read my thoughts on Thames here – http://baseballguys.com/2011/06/07/mailbag-june-7-2011/#comments All the way at the bottom.
I would take Snider over him. Snider is the one who’s most likely to be a full time player ROTW. Thames could easily fade behind Davis if the speedster gets going.
By Jim on Jul 4, 2011
Ray,
Who would you pick for AL only: Dirks, Ruggiano, Thames, C. Wells, or Reimold?
Thanks and happy 4th to you!
Jim
By Brett on Jul 4, 2011
Hey Ray. Just wanted to say you do a great job with this website taking the time to answer all questions. I respect your opinion more than any other fantasy expert. I really hope you make money through advertising because you do a very good job here. If I was not an unemployed college grad with more debt that Ill ever be able to pay off, I would make a donation to you. Hopefully someday because in all seriousness you do a great job
By Ray Flowers on Jul 4, 2011
Jim – Playing time is the key with all these guys. If they get it, great, if not, ugh.
Ruggiano is a solid choice, until DesJennings is up.
Dirks has three homers in five games, but he’s not that big a bat. The effort will get him more PT in the short term at least.
Thames probably best pickup right now. If he starts off hot you can parlay him into something else.
By Ray Flowers on Jul 4, 2011
Brett – Thanks so much for the kind words my friend. Advertising here barely pays for the hosting, but people have donated a few bucks which has been great. Think I’m gonna have to go to a pay model next year, but for now, I’m happy to be able to lend a hand to everyone when I have the time.
Thanks again.
By Ty on Jul 4, 2011
Hey Ray,
Due to some injuries i have an open spot on my roster and was thinking of adding a pitcher to help with depth. Do you think any of these guys are worth an add:
Jeff Karstens, Kevin Correia, RA Dickey or Jason Vargas?
I saw on your ROTW pitching article that you have Vargas ranked 73 and the rest here don’t even place. Has anything changed?
By Ray Flowers on Jul 4, 2011
Ty - Jeff Karstens, Kevin Correia, RA Dickey or Jason Vargas?
None of those guys are exciting.
Correia has 11 wins, amazingly, with a 4.5 K/9 and career low BABIP. That won’t continue.
Karstens ERA should at least be a run higher. Over his last 210 innings his Hr/9 is over 1.50, he doesn’t K anyone, and his LOB is 87% (not sustainable).
Dickey is solid. Unpredictable cause of knuckler, but six of last 10 appearances 1 or 0 ER.
Vargas would be my choice. Great home yard, slightly improving K rate. He’s also pitched pretty much the same over his last 48 starts.
By Ty on Jul 5, 2011
Thanks Ray, I’ll put an add in for him this week.
Vargas has looked good and Seattle seems to be building a decent looking team…slowly but surely.
By Matthew on Jul 5, 2011
Hey, Ray. Happy belated 4th!
When Brandon Belt comes off the DL, I’m going to have to drop someone. I have a very balanced lineup with a good deal of multi-position flexibility so I have been using a few bench spots to stash potential breakout players in 2012 (we can keep up to five players). Who do you feel projects to have the greatest risk in 2012 among Belt, Freddie Freeman, Dustin Ackley, and Mike Moustakas.
Also, do you see Mike Trout contributing in 2012? I am developing a man crush the more I follow his career.
Thank you!
By Ray Flowers on Jul 5, 2011
Matthew – Who do you feel projects to have the greatest risk in 2012 among Belt, Freddie Freeman, Dustin Ackley, and Mike Moustakas?
Honestly, it’s Belt. The Giants have Huff signed through next year, and that means Belt will likely have to play the outfield. He’s also looked lost, albeit in limited work, in the bigs this year. The injury certainly hasn’t helped either. All the others that you list seem like locks to be starting full time next year. Hell, they’re starting full time right now.
Trout = I don’t expect to see him until mid season. He’s got all the talent in the world, but he’s very young, doesn’t have that much professional seasoning, and it never hurts to wait a few months into a season with a youngster to avoid starting his arbitration clock.
By Matthew on Jul 5, 2011
Sorry for the duplicate message, Ray. Can you add Julio Teheran to that mix of guys I’m considering? If it’s not too much trouble, maybe you could rank all six in order of greatest potential for 2012?
Thank you!
By Ray Flowers on Jul 5, 2011
Matthew – It’s a total crapshoot trying to predict who will have most value in 2012 at this point, but my best guess.
Ackley
Moustakas
Freeman
Teheran
Belt
Trout
By Matthew on Jul 5, 2011
Thanks, Ray. Projecting 2012 is a crapshoot…which is why I asked “The Man”…an educated guess is all I could ask for.
Much appreciated!
By Joel on Jul 5, 2011
Ray:
would u, right now, in a 6×6 H2H league, trade Prince Fielder to get King Albert?
THANKS!
By Ray Flowers on Jul 5, 2011
Joel – With the way Pujols performed all year, and with his injury, I would not trade Fielder straight up for Pujols.