Getting Warmed Up

On a Monday with everyone is jazzed up about the Home Run Derby that will start in mere minutes, here are some of my thoughts as I try to stay focused enough to write something worthy of reading before I put on my “fan” cap to watch the event.

What’s wrong with rookie contracts? Take this example to heart. Tim Lincecum, you know the guy who won the Cy Young last season and the guy who is starting the All-Star game for the NL after an even better first half this year (10-2, 2.33 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 149 Ks in 127.2 IP), will make $650,000 this season, this a year after he made barely $400,000 during his Cy Young season. So, what in the world is Stephen Strasberg thinking when he and his representation have floated the idea that they are looking for a deal that potentially could reach $50 million before he has thrown a single major league pitch? Sheer folly. That doesn’t mean that Strasburg won’t get $15-20 million though, which just goes to show you that potential, beyond production, still holds sway. For those of you interested in learning more about the 100-mph throwing Strasburg, click on the link to MLB Draft Thoughts who was drafted first overall by the Nationals in the June Entry Draft.

I touched on it the other day in It’s Surreal, but here is yet another reason to be concerned about the direction of the NFL. The Chargers’ Antonio Cromartie admitted that it was hard for him to focus last season because of the off field distractions he faced. What were those distractions? “Last year my head wasn’t in there,” Cromartie said. “I was dealing with my kids and their moms. It had my mind somewhere else.” Apparently the DB has seven children with five women in five different states. There is nothing illegal about doing that, it’s not like he is out dealing drugs like Travis Henry, but I just can’t get my head around why it’s so hard for so many of these professional athletes to practice safe sex? Maybe they should have paid more attention to sex ed in school and less to how much weight they could bench press.

Here are some random thoughts.

Harold Reynolds loves his job. That guys was hoping all around during early BP at the All-Star game on Monday with a huge smile on his face. He may not always seem to be the brightest guy in the world, but he brings passion to his job.

Speaking of the MLB broadcasting teams, Joe Magrane is a bore whereas Al Leiter brings all kinds of passion an insight.

Alex Gordon should be back with the Royals on Friday after missing three months due to hip surgery. Don’t know what to expect from him exactly, but he started off his minor league rehab stint hitting well with a .364 mark through 11 games. No matter what happens I feel confident in stating that I believe he will do better than he did at the start of the season when he hit .095 with a .507 OPS in 21 ABs.

Don’t know how many of you saw it, but minor leaguer James McOwen just lost his minor league hitting streak at 45-consecutive games. “I’m pretty happy with the way the last month and a half has gone. There’re no regrets and, hopefully, I’ll start another one tomorrow.” McOwen, a Single-A outfielder for the Mariners, is batting .347 on the season with 53 RBI in 73 games thanks to the streak that saw him hit a rather amazing .398 over the course of 181 ABs. McOwen did set a California League record, the previous mark was 35 games, but his streak of 45 games was actually just the 8th longest streak in minor league history. Two men, Joe Wilhoit in 1919 and Joe DiMaggio in 1933, both had streaks of over 60 games – Wilhoit went 69 games while Joe D. posted a 61 game streak while playing for the San Francisco Seals. Isn’t it amazing to think that DiMaggio had two hitting streaks of over 55 games?

By Ray Flowers