Turn Back the Clock: First Base

We all know who the best first baseman in baseball is. He is the same man that is not only the best hitter in baseball, he is the man who provided a normal career arc will end up as one of the top-10 hitters who has ever played the game. This man was my choice to be the top first baseman in fantasy baseball in 2009, a fact that was presented in the 2009 Fanball Annual Guide that was on newsstands prior to the start of the 2009 season. In retrospect, how did my preseason top-10 list turn out?

To read previous positional reviews click on the following link:

CATCHERS

FIRST BASE

1. Albert Pujols

2. Miguel Cabrera

3. Ryan Howard

4. Mark Teixeira

5. Lance Berkman

6. Justin Morneau

7. Prince Fielder

8. Adrian Gonzalez

9. Derrek Lee

10. Joey Votto

Pujols was the best fantasy weapon in the game in 2009, a fact that was simply stated in How Good is Albert Pujols?

Cabrera is destined to post spectacular numbers while never quite getting his due since he plays the same position as Mr. Pujols. Cabrera has hit at least .292 with 26 homers and 103 RBI in each of the past six seasons and, you guessed it, he and Mr. Pujols are the only two men who can make that claim.

All Howard did was hit 45 homers, the third highest mark in baseball, while tying for the major league lead with 141 RBI. Amazingly, Howard has hit at least 45 homers with 136 RBI each of the past four seasons, and only Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) and Babe Ruth (1926-31) can match or better that run.

Mark Teixeira finished second in the AL MVP vote with yet another tremendous season (.292-39-122-103). Teixeira is one of only four switch-hitters in baseball history who have had at least four seasons of .290-30-100: Chipper Jones (five times), Lance Berkman (four) and Eddie Murray (four).

Berkman struggled out of the gate but finished strong, though 2009 was his worst all-around effort (.274-25-80) since 2005, the last time he was held to fewer than 530 at-bats. Still had a .399 OBP and a .907 OPS, but clearly he was “off” for a good deal of the year.

Morneau managed to sock 30 homers with 100 RBI despite being limited to his lowest at-bat total (508) since 2005 as he missed the last three weeks of the season with a back injury. Hard to call a fourth straight 100-RBI season a disappointment, and he has now alternated great with good seasons the past four years.

Fielder tied with Howard for the major league lead with 141 RBI as he blasted 46 dingers on the year. Fielder also finished a mere percentage point from his first .300 season. He also continued to display a keen eye at the plate as he was fourth in baseball with 110 walks and seventh with a .412 OBP.

If only he could get out of San Diego, something that might happen if the Padres decide to deal their slugger for a boatload of prospects. Gonzalez feel one RBI short of a third straight 100 RBI season but he socked a career best 40 homers despite hitting only 12 in 80 home games. Could produce astounding numbers in a better park with some lineup production.

Lee hit .189 with one homer in April. Those that remained steadfast were rewarded as Lee considerably picked up the pace over the course of the season on his way to hitting .306 with 35 homers and 111 RBI. The RBI were a career best, and the homers the second best mark of his career to his total of 46 from 2005.

Votto missed time with injury and depression over the loss of his father, in between all he did was rip the cover off the ball to the tune of a .322 average and 25 homers in a mere 469 at-bats. As a result he was one of only six big leaguers who hit at least .320 with 25 homers: Pujols, Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, Joe Mauer and Robinson Cano.

By Ray Flowers

2009 AL All-Star Team

With the baseball regular season wrapped up, I thought I would spend a few minutes detailing for you the 2009 Fantasy All-Star Team for the American League. It’s certainly not an easy call naming just a handful of guys, I’m sure some of you will disagree with some of my choices, but here is my best effort to give you the names of the best guys the Junior Circuit had to offer.

CATCHER: Joe Mauer

Duh. When you lead the league in average (.365), OBP (.444) and SLG (.587) there is nothing this guy didn’t do in 2009.

FIRST BASE: Mark Teixeira

This was a really close race between Tex and Miguel Cabrera, but the Yankees’ slugger pulled just slightly ahead.

Teixeira: .292/.383/.565 with 39 homers, 122 RBI and 103 runs
Cabrera: .324/.396/.547 with 34 homers, 103 RBI and 96 runs

SECOND BASE:Ben Zobrist

While it pains me to pass on Robinson Cano (.320-25-85-103-5) and Aaron Hill (.289-36-108-103-6), I’m going to go with Zobrist who played 91 games at second base. Zobrist hit a strong .297, flashed a lot of power (27 homers, 91 RBI) and stole more bases than the other two combined (17).

THIRD BASE:Evan Longoria

He led the position with 33 homers and 113 RBI while coming in second in runs (100). Despite all that he hit 20 homers with only 58 RBI over his last 106 games. Chone Figgins was a hell of a backup option (.298-5-54-114-42).

SHORTSTOP:Derek Jeter

The Yankees’ captain led his position in average (.334) and runs (107) while at the same time hitting 18 homers with 66 RBI and 30 steals making this a rather easy call. Jason Bartlett might have caught him if he had stayed healthy for more than 137 games (.320-14-66-90-30).

OUTFIELD:Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Bobby Abreu

Ellsbury led baseball with 70 steals. Crawford managed to swipe 60 bags while hitting 15 homers and, knocking in 96 runs – all the while hitting .305. Abreu batted .293 with 103 RBI, 96 runs and 30 steals of his own. Tough to leave off Jason Bay (.267-36-119-103-13) and Adam Lind (.305-35-114-93-1), but their all-around games left them just on the outside.

STARTING PITCHER:Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez

I already broke down this battle in a previous piece titled The AL Cy Young Race .

RELIEF PITCHER:Joe Nathan

I’m skipping over the league leader in saves (Brian Fuentes had 48) as well as the man who is widely regarded as the best closer of all-time (Mariano Rivera) to go with the Twins’ hurler. Why? Nathan had 47 saves, a 2.10 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and 89 Ks on the year while limiting batters to a .171 BAA, that’s why.

By Ray Flowes

World Series Preview

Which team will emerge victorious in the 2009 World Series between the Phillies and the Yankees? In what follows I’ll give my thoughts on who it looks like will win this battle of two potent offenses.

OFFENSE

Phillies: The fourth highest scoring team in the regular season (820 runs), the Phils also hit 224 home runs, tied for second overall with the Rangers.

The Phils boast four 30-homer bats in Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley. Howard and Ibanez are traditional slugger types whereas Werth (20 steals) and Utley (23 steals) bring a 20/20 game to the party. The Phillies also boast two solid table setters in Jimmy Rollins (100 runs, 31 steals) and Shane Victorino (102 runs, 25 steals). There is no finer group of six offensive weapons in the game in one lineup.

Yankees: The highest scoring team in the regular season (915), the Yankees also led baseball with 244 home runs.

Like the Phillies, the Yankees boast a powerful lineup with two 30-100 guys in Mart Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Nick Swisher also went deep 29 times with 82 RBI while Hideki Matsui (28-90), Robinson Cano (25-85),Johnny Damon (24-82) and Jorge Posada (22-81) are all also members of the 20-HR, 80-RBI club. And to think, I didn’t even mention their most important player yet in Derek Jeter.

ADVANTAGE: Yankees
Both of these teams can bash, and both yards are clearly made for offensive explosions. Given the depth of both lineups this is almost a toss up, but I’ll go with the Yankees who figure to have an advantage when using the DH in the Yankees’ home park for up to four games.

PITCHING

Phillies: Finished eighth in ERA (4.16), 8th in WHIP (1.3520) and tied for 12th in K (1,153) during the regular season.

Cliff Lee is amazing, and Brad Lidge has apparently figured things out at the back end of games. Pedro Martinez has also dialed back the calendar some seven or eight years. Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ can start or relieve at this point, but the key to this unit is twofold. (1) Can Cole Hamels recapture last year’s success? (2) Will that bullpen be able to get leads from the starters into the hands of Mr. Lidge, and will he be able to convert if they do?

Yankees: Finished 12th in ERA (4.26), 7th in WHIP (1.3517) and 4th in K (1,260) during the regular season.

The Yankees didn’t give CC Sabathia the keys to Fort Knox to waste away on the bench, so it looks like he might be asked to go in Games 1, 4 and 7. Andy Pettitte continues to come through in big games, and A.J. Burnett might be erratic, but the man has no-hit stuff every time he takes the mound. There are no concerns here about the bullpen as Mariano Rivera is the all-time playoff reliever, and with Joba Chamberlain on hand to help Phil Hughes to get the ball to Mariano, things are looking pretty good.

ADVANTAGE: Yankees
The bullpen will likely be the difference here, and as long as the Yanks can get Hughes back on track, they have the advantage.

BENCH

Phillies: There is little depth here for the Phillies who were lucky enough to have pretty much every offensive weapon suit up for at least 130 games during the regular season. Matt Stairs will likely be called on to try and hit a ball to the moon, and Greg Dobbs and Ben Francisco are also on hand for some added depth.

Yankees: When the game moves to Philadelphia, the Yankees will have a huge advantage with Hideki Matsui, an everyday slugger, able to pinch hit at a moments notice. That gives them the advantage on the road, and at home they will also be in the same position rolling Matsui as DH with the Phillies likely using someone like Dobbs, Stairs or Francisco. That’s not a favorable matchup.

ADVANTAGE: Yankees

INTANGIBLES

Phillies: 5th in fielding percentage (.987).
Manager Charlie Manuel has a World Series Championship under his belt from last season, but the guy just scares the hell out of me with the use of his pitching staff.

Yankees: 16th in field percentage (.985).
Manager Joe Girardi will look to emulate his former manager, Joe Torre, and return the Yankees to the realm of World Champions.

ADVANTAGE: Yankees

RAY’s PICK: Yankees in Six
I almost want to puke. In fact, I might if I was picking the Dodgers here. Still, the Yankees are my second most hated club, cue the vomit bags, and given that their player’s salary is something like the GNP of a few countries in the world, it’s hard to like the Evil Empire. However, it looks like they will win their first World Series since 2000 and their 27th overall championship.

By Ray Flowers

The Ideal First Round

We are still months away from the 2010 major league season, shoot, we aren’t even to the World Series yet, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not knee deep in baseball data right now as we are beginning to put together out first 2010 Baseball Magazine (it should be out in time to stuff your holiday stocking). Given that, combined with our recent purchase of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship which uses 15 team leagues, I thought I would run through my ideal first round for 2010. It won’t be the last time I do this leading up to the actual draft weekend, but sitting here today this is how I see things playing out.

1- Hanley Ramirez
How is this for a three year average from a shortstop: .325-29-85-117-38. His steal total is dipping (51, 35 and 27), but the average has been over .330 two of the past three years and he knocked in 106 runs batting third this season.

2- Albert Pujols
I know, I know. How could he not be #1? At this point I’m putting him #2 because of his most recent elbow operation and the slight concern I have about that. You can read my thoughts on the matter at Is Perception Reality?

3- Alex Rodriguez
Showing, once again, what he can do when the stars align. If we add in the eight playoff games he has played this year he has produced a .293-35-111-88-15 line in just 132 games this season.

4- Ryan Braun
Strikes out too much without drawing walks (his 0.35 BB/K mark for his career is well below the 0.50 major league average), but he has managed to hit .308 in his three seasons. Doesn’t have the speed of Kemp (though he had 20 steals in ’09), but of the two this is the guy would could hit 40 homers with 120 RBI and a .330 batting average.

5- Matt Kemp
I don’t like the large K totals (153 and 139 the past two years), but how can I argue with a guy who in his second full season hit .297-26-101-97-34? 30/30 is the next step.

6- Miguel Cabrera
The best right handed power hitter in the AL who hasn’t been linked to performance enhancing drugs, Cabrera has hit at least .320 in four of five seasons while also knocked in at least 112 runs five times in six years.

7- Chase Utley
Shrugged off the hip surgery to produce spectacularly. He went 20/20 for the first time (31 homers, 23 steals), scored 100-runs for the fourth straight year and has now gone at least .280-22-93-93 in each of the past five seasons.

8- Ian Kinsler
How many players went 30/30 this past season? One, and he plays second base for the Rangers (he had 31 homers and 31 steals). Even though he hit only .253 he still scored 101 runs with 86 RBI.

9- Tim Lincecum
The best pitcher in the game. Period.

10- Ryan Howard
Wildly deficient in steals (10 career) and average (only once over .280 the past four years), but with 4-straight 45 homer, 135 RBI seasons who cares?

11- Jacoby Ellsbury
Major league steals leader (70) doesn’t have the power of Crawford, but he has more steal upside, has scored at least 94 runs each of the past two years, and upped his average .021 points in just his second full season (.301).

12- Carl Crawford
Even with a late season fade he still set a career best with 60 steals, his fifth 50+ steal season in seven years, while scoring 96 runs, hitting 15 bombs, and batting .305.

13- Mark Teixeira
I don’t think he takes the next step to outright greatness, but in that park, and with that lineup around him, he is as close as a guy can be to a completely lock to hit 30 homers with 100 RBI and a batting average of .280+ (6-straight years).

14- Roy Halladay
Yes Zack Greinke was better last season, but at the same time Halladay has been the most consistently excellent pitcher in the game the past four years. There is also the growing specter of Halladay being dealt, and that would likely help him in the “W” category much more than Greinke will be aided pitching for the Royals.

15- Mark Reynolds
Reynolds was the only man who hit 40 homers while knocking in 100 runs and stealing 20 bases. Reynolds set a major league record with 223 Ks, so I still worry about his ability to match his .260 mark from last season, and honestly, I would never take him this high, though some might even put him higher on the list so I added him, grudgingly, to the list.

By Ray Flowers

Is Perception Reality?

Anecdotal evidence is unreliable when trying to paint a picture of something as the human mind tends to overemphasize what it has just witnessed paying little attention to things like context and history. Nowhere is this more apparent then when it comes to players being derided for playoff failures even though we are often talking about something like 5-10 games. With that …

Here is my daily Alex Rodriguez check up. After hitting .455 with two homers and six RBI in the ALDS, he has gone on to hit .375 with three homers and five RBI in the ALCS. He has been so hot that Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia even paid him the ultimate sign of respect by walking him intentionally with the bases empty. I’ve said it before too many times to count, but remember context and sample size people. Remember back three weeks ago when A-Rod was the biggest playoff choker ever? Now he has been hot for two weeks and all of a sudden everyone thinks he is the greatest thing since the invention of porn. Look at things this way. In his regular season career A-Rod has produced a .305/.390/.576 line, and with his recent hot streak his playoff numbers are nearly identical at .299/.388/.563. It all evens out folks, though sometimes the road is a bit bumpy.

Want to talk about a playoff choker? Well then, how about we look at Mark Teixeira who is 2-for-21 of late in the playoffs. I’m just kidding. Remember the value of sample size (give me 21 at-bats and I can make Babe Ruth look pitiful and Omar Vizquel look like a legend). However, the case of Chone Figgins is worth examining. Figgins has hit .291 during his regular season career of more than 3,500 at-bats, but come playoff time he has barely hit his weight at .174, though again we are talking about just 115 at-bats. Still, he has looked atrocious this post-season going just 2-for-34, good for a .059 average. We are talking about a handful of at-bats of course, but in his last seven playoffs series Figgins has hit under .150 five times. That’s ugly.

One of the major reasons that Scott Kazmir was brought to the Angels was because of his career-long success against he Bronx Bombers which can be seen in his 2.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 8.83 K/9 mark over 87.2 innings covering 15 appearances. So much for history as he went out and laid an egg against the Yankees allowing six hits, four walks and four runs in just four innings of work in the ALCS. As a result, his two post-season outings this season have resulted in an 8.10 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. I don’t think that is what the Angels had in mind when they traded for him. It’s just two starts – sample size people – but the two pathetic outings certainly leave a bad taste in Kazmir’s mouth after he had so much success down the stretch when he posted a 1.73 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in six starts with the team from Southern California.

One of the worst calls in playoff baseball history occurred yesterday. It hardly mattered as the Yankees crushed the Angels, but it was still galling in it’s ineptitude. You can watch the terrible call by clicking on the link where a full description of what went wrong is explained. Dreadful.

INJURY NEWS

Albert Pujols’ elbow surgery went well as a few bone chips (apparently five) were removed from his right wing, and Pujols’ should be fully prepared to play once spring training roles around. Still, the continued issues with Pujols’ right elbow are really starting to concern me. Nothing destroys a fantasy teams chance of winning a title like having your first round draft pick crap out (ask Jose Reyes owners), and with each “minor” procedure on Pujols’ elbow I grow more concerned. We all know he will eventually need Tommy John surgery given the partially torn elbow ligament he is dealing with, and just because he has been able to play through it without further exacerbating the problem the past few years is no guarantee that he will be able to do so in 2010. Honestly I’d have to do some serious number crunching before I could suggest passing on Pujols if you had the #1 spot in your draft, but a guy like Hanley Ramirez is starting to look awfully appealing despite the reduction in steals he posted in 2009 (just 27 after being over 35 each of the previous three years, though who really cares when you hit .342, score 101 runs, knock in 106 and play shortstop?).

By Ray Flowers

Playoff Baseball: ALCS

I covered the NLCS in my last column, so as not to draw the ire of those that follow the AL game, today’s piece is dedicated completely to Game 3 of the ALCS.

Base Running

I know that Andy Pettitte has a great move to first, but what in the hell were the Angels doing in Game 3 of the ALCS? I know they love to run and pride themselves on being aggressive on the base paths, but situations like Torii Hunter getting picked off with Vlad Guerrero at the dish is simply inexcusable. Period.

Speaking of inexcusable, what the hell was Bobby Abreu thinking on that double in the eighth inning? All the talk will be about how Derek Jeter made some spectacular play to cut off the throw from the outfield to nab Abreu as he rounded second, but the truth is that the play had little to do with Jeter who caught the throw from the outfield and then threw the ball to second. The real play was made by first baseman Mar Teixeira who followed Abreu down to second from his first base position (Robinson Cano was in the outfield as the cutoff man, while Jeter was functioning as the second cutoff man leaving no one left to cover second base). So give kudos to Teixeira while at the same time deriding Abreu who had about a two percent chance of making third on the hit and should have just stayed at second base. This was another prime example of the Angels running themselves out of an inning.

Why I Dislike the AL

Am I the only one who detests the American League game? Something about the DH has always stuck in my craw – just don’t like it. The game was meant to be a 9-on-9 affair, not a 10-on-10 effort. If you want that go join your local beer league.

Clutch Hitting

So much for Alex Rodriguez being a chocker in the playoffs. Now it’s all anyone can do to avoid falling all over themselves to voice the view that he is all of a sudden clutch. I said it before the playoffs began, and I’ll say it again: I know it’s where reputations are made, but don’t overestimate anecdotal evidence in the playoffs. Also, don’t make the mistake of taking a tiny group of games and thinking that you can extrapolate out some reasonably accurate assessment of a player’s ability to produce in the clutch. A-Rod entered these playoffs, with 147 career post-season at-bats, hardly enough work to think you can accurate describe A-Rod as a “chocker.” Remember back when Barry Bonds was awful in the playoffs only to go out and put a whopping on the Angels in the 2002 World Series (four homers, six RBI, .471 average and a .700 OBP in 30 plate appearances)? As with A-Rod, that’s simply too small a sample size to draw any reasonable conclusions. However, when you turn to Derek Jeter we are talking about well over 500 at-bats – he has appeared in 129 post-season games (a record) with more hits (161) than anyone ever – that is more than enough to draw some conclusions. Not surprisingly, Jeter comes through as you would expect with a batting line (.309/.378/.480) that is a near identical match for his work in the regular season (.317/.388/.459). That man is the definition of clutch.

Oh, and it’s only eight games, but Ryan Howard has an RBI in 8-straight post-season contests, an all-time record (tied with Lou Gehrig). Still, it’s just eight games.

Why I Dislike the AL Part II

Speaking of disliking the AL game, is it me or can you time these games with a sundial? Besides having less in-game strategy as clubs sit back and wait for the long ball, somehow the games always seen to take at least four hours. I found myself drooling down my chin a couple of times and once I almost smashed my head full on into my keyboard before I caught myself during Game 3.

Why I Dislike the AL Part III

The Yankees are in the AL. Oh, and Tim McCarver is announcing the series.

By Ray Flowers

The AL MVP Race

Yesterday I touched on the NL MVP Race, and with things not nearly as clear cut over the AL, I thought it would be beneficial to present my thoughts for the top-10 players in the Junior Circuit for your perusal.

Like yesterday, I want to let you know that I won’t be listing any pitchers here, they already have their own season ending trophy.

NL Cy Young

AL Cy Young

10 – Bobby Abreu
Got no respect at all on the free agent market so he was forced to take a 1-year deal with the Angels. No one in Southern California is complaining now as Abreu hit .293-15-103-96-30 in a terrific all-around campaign that was his seventh straight year that he has scored at least 96 runs, while knocking in 100 and stealing 22 or more bases.

9 – Evan Longoria
The Rays fell on hard time in 2009 but second year third baseman Evan Longoria wasn’t to blame as he led AL third basemen in homers (33) and RBI (113) while finishing second in runs with 100 (Chone Figgins had 114). Still, it was a bit of a disappointing effort for Longoria since he had 13 homers and 55 RBI in his first 51 games this season.

8 – Adam Lind
Who saw this coming? Dude was flat out stud-like hitting .305 with 35 homers and 114 RBI. Lind also scored 93 times and produced a .932 OPS even if no one noticed because he plays for the Blue Jays.

7 – Kendry Morales
The best power hitter on the best team in the AL West, Morales came out of relative obscurity to blast his way to a .306-34-108 line as he remained a steady power bat despite injuries to Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter.

6 – Jason Bay
May not get the publicity of some of the other guys on this list but he was second in the league with 119 RBI as he also scored 103 times while going deep 36 times. Add into the mix a .921 OPS and you have a guy who will break the bank in free agency this offseason.

5 – Ichiro Suzuki
Once again led the league in hits with 225 as he hit .350 (actually .352) for the fourth time. Did lose his 8-year run of .300 with 100 runs and 200 hits though as the terrible offense around him plated him only 88 times despite the fact that he posted an OBP of .386, eight points above his career mark. Still he had a marvelous season doing what he does best – and he did it better than anyone else yet again.

4 – Miguel Cabrera
Was an embarrassment late in the year – you can read all about it in Around the Horn – but he still posted tremendous numbers over the course of the season as he used 198 hits to bat .324 with a .396 OBP and a .942 OPS as he slugged 34 homers, drove in 103 runs and scored 96 times for the Tigers.

3 – Mark Teixeira
It helps that he is a Yankee, but he also tied for the AL lead in homers with 39 (Carlos Pena) and led the league with 122 RBI. When you add on to that a .292 average and a .948 OPS you have yourself one hell of a season in his first year in pinstripes.

2 – Derek Jeter
Jeter scored his customary 100-runs with 107, and he was third in the league with a .334 batting average while producing 212 hits, 18 homers, 66 RBI and 30 steals. He also played much better defense than you may have thought

1 – Joe Mauer
When you set an all-time single season record for batting average by a catcher (.365), a mark that leads the league, and you also pace the circuit in OBP (.444), SLG (.587) and OPS (1.031), it’s an easy call for MVP even if you missed a month of the season with a bad back.

By Ray Flowers

A Wacky Friday

Today is an odd day. We have a story that, honestly, I couldn’t make up because it is so odd. I also want to touch on a city who I no longer have respect for, and it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which one I’m referring to either. I’ll also touch on a ball player who reached a milestone, highlight a waiver-wire deal, and discuss a guy who went on the DL after a week of saying he didn’t need to go on the DL. But really, this entry is more about those first two stories than anything else.

Bizarre story of the day: Adrian Beltre had to be placed on the DL due to an injury that he suffered in the most unwelcomed of places – and no I don’t mean his wallet. Beltre took a baseball of his, er, well, I don’t want to write what you all want me to write so I will be mature and say his testicle. Lucky for him he will not need surgery, but the larger question is, how can a man who plays third base in professional baseball not wear a protective cup? I wore a cup, literally, from my first season of organized baseball when I was seven years old, and I gotta tell you, it saved my life – twice – including one time where I swore that I not only would never have kids but that I would be unable ever to urinate for myself ever again. Thank goodness my parents made me where a cup when I was a kid. It was never comfortable, and on those hot days it would certainly work up quite the rash on the old inner thighs, but that is a hell of a lot better than the alternative as Mr. Beltre is now experiencing. Let’s see how stupid he is when he returns from the injury — will he be sans cup or will this brush with danger change his mind?

Reason 8,764 why you cannot trust teams when it comes to reporting on the health of their players. Nelson Cruz was placed on the DL today, retroactive to August 4th, with that sore ankle of his. The Rangers have said all along that he wouldn’t be placed on the DL and that he was day-to-day. Uh huh. At least they did activate Ian Kinsler as planned.

The Red Sox added Alex Gonzalez to help them out at shortstop with his solid glove work in exchange for Kristopher Negron in a waiver-wire deal. Apparently the Sox didn’t notice that Gonzalez is hitting all of .210 with three home runs in 243 ABs this season. Hell, Nick Green was hitting .233 with six home runs in 257 ABs. This signing pretty much assures us that Jed Lowrie won’t be a factor the rest of the way, even when his wrist heals enough for him to be activated from the DL.

It’s still early on this Friday with a whole host of games yet to be played, but I find it hard to believe that anyone at the dish will have a better outing and Derrek Lee who had three hits, including two doubles, on his way to knocking in seven runs before he was removed in the Cubs’17-3 route over the Pirates. Lee is now hitting .290 with 23 home runs and 81 RBI. Other than his injury filled 2006 campaign (175 ABs), Lee has socked at least 20 homers with 80 or more RBI in his last seven healthy seasons. For those of you keeping track, there are only two first baseman in the game that can match that run of seven of eight season since 2002 with 20/80 and they are Carlos Delgado and Mark Teixeira. Why no mention of the almighty, Albert Pujols? Don’t forget he started his big league career playing the outfield and third base.

Oh, and before I go… do I have this right?

The city of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, apparently doesn’t have one iota of compassion for our brethren on this planet, i.e. animals. How can I make that claim? Name another city in the country where a convicted dog murderer and a man who believes that cock fighting is perfectly fine are set to be parts of two professional teams. The Eagles signed Mike Vick to help aid the team in their quest for a Super Bowl victory while the Phillies signed Pedro Martinez to help their quest to return to the World Series. I’m all for teams trying to improve themselves, but at the same time, sometimes enough is enough. I’m not saying that people don’t deserve second chances in life, but at the same time Philly, when you are mercilessly protested by groups like P.E.T.A (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) you have no one to blame but yourselves. Really, could you have done a better of job putting a bull’s-eye on your backs?

By Ray Flowers