Who would have thought…..

There are several of these this season so far. I think the biggest one is who would have thought the Baltimore Orioles would be this good?

Heading into tonight’s play, the Orioles are atop the AL East with a 27-15 record which is the best in the American League. Not only are they in first but the whole division seems to be turned upside down with the Yankees and Red Sox in 4th and 5th place.

There seems to be a surprise in just about every division.

AL Central

Who would have thought the Detroit Tigers would be under .500 and trailing not only the Cleveland Indians but the Chicago White Sox?

AL West

I think everyone though the Rangers would be at the top of the division, but who would have though the Angels would be bringing up the rear? They are 8 games out of first and 6 games under .500 already this season. Albert Pujols just hasn’t hit yet but they could easily turn it around. Maybe.

NL East

I think we thought the Washington Nationals would be good, but this good? They are trailing the Braves by a half game and have played really well this season. Perhaps the bigger surprise is the fall of the Phillies. So far they are in last place 5 games out and a game under  .500 but they have had a lot of big injuries.

NL Central

Not any huge surprises here. Cincinnati and St. Louis are tied for first, but Pittsburgh and Houston are next in the standings which might be the biggest surprise.

NL West

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball. Not sure anyone saw that coming with all the off the field issues they have had. They are hot of late (8-2 in last 10) and are almost unbeatable at home going 19-4.

I think the Orioles are the biggest surprise so far. I hope they can keep it up. It’s nice to see teams that haven’t won in a few years return to the top of the league. It’s time for some new blood in the playoffs.

What do you think is the biggest surprise so far?

Who Would Have Thought….. is a post from: The Baseball Journeyman

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I have seen baseball in a lot of places, and have seen good and bad fans. However, the bad ones seem to stand out more than the good. I can understand fans that don’t like another team and/or player for that matter. I have a lot of teams I can’t root for. But the one thing I can’t stand is an ignorant fan.

I’ve seen lots of them, and I don’t think I am the most knowledgeable fan out there. But I have seen a few things in the past few days that has reminded me there are good knowledgeable fans out there.

First of all, Josh Hamilton had an amazing night in Baltimore. He did what only 15 other players before him had done which was hit 4 home runs in a single game. It’s an amazing feat. The thing that stood out the most, even more so than Hamilton’s historic night, was the fan’s reaction in Baltimore. Despite a player tearing up their team with long ball after long ball, the fans recognized the greatness in the feat and gave Hamilton a standing ovation. It was a thing of beauty.

Secondly, what happened next was a little more expected. Chipper Jones is making the rounds one last time having announced his retirement after the season. Each place he goes he is honored in one way or another. However, before the start of the first game Friday night another number 10 was honored as former Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa’s number was retired.

Then as Chipper came to bat in the first inning, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. This isn’t a former Cardinals great making one last trip. It’s a player who has been a foe for many years, yet the fans in St. Louis still acknowledged the fact that this was his last trip through. This wouldn’t be the case for just any player, but they see the Hall of Fame worthiness of Chipper and what he has done for baseball in Atlanta. Some say that the Cardinals’ fans are the best in the game. To me this only reinforced that idea.

My hats off to the fans of Baltimore and St. Louis. It is nice to see there are some great fans out there when all too often all we hear about is the booing of fans.

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The Good Side of Baseball Fans is a post from: The Baseball Journeyman

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What country won its first international baseball game against a country that no longer exist and the first player to get a hit in international play was born in another country?

Ireland

I have always been fascinated with baseball played in countries other than the USA. Sure it’s the same game, but at the same time it’s not. Awhile back I came across a documentary on baseball in Ireland, and I had to see it.

The Emerald Diamond is a beautiful film. It chronicles the emergence of the Irish National Baseball Team on the European baseball scene. It is an interesting story told by film maker John Fitzgerald.

Up until 1995 there was no Irish National Baseball Team. It basically formed out of the desire of a few softball players who wanted something a little more. They continued the hope and formed a team that would eventually play internationally in 1996.

The European B Pool Championships were being held in England in 1996, so the boys in green got ready and made the trip.

Most of the players on the team had very little or no experience playing baseball growing up. For the most part they were far outmatched by their European counterparts, but they never quit.

After a successful trip to England, for a developing team at least, they received some help from an Irish-American. Peter O’Malley at the time was the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers but was a player in helping develop baseball globally. He helped build the  O’Malley baseball fields in Corcaigh Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin, Ireland which is considered the home of Irish Baseball. It also happened to be the first baseball field in Ireland.

The team continued to play in the European Championships gradually doing a little better each time as they gained more experience. However, it was when the team raised funds and took off on a trip to the USA that things really seemed to turn around.

In 2001, the Irish National Team and an all-star youth team took a two-week trip to the east coast of the States to play exhibition games. They learned a lot on this trip and it eventually helped them improve in the long run. Both the youth team and the National Team quickly learned from seeing other teams practice and play. They also received some help from coaches in the States that they met in the games. It was a great learning experience that helped propel the team to further heights.

However, the highlight of the trip had to be playing an exhibition game at Fenway Park.

Throughout the film you see the want and desire on every players face as they go through a learning curve. But that desire to compete and improve never leaves. It’s an infectious thing that no matter how bad the loss might have been would always creep back into the minds of the players and coaches.

That’s the beauty of the film. It’s great seeing the improvement of the team, and they really did improve but I don’t want to give everything away (you’ll have to watch the film). But the real beauty if seeing the growth of the game on every level. Not only did the adult program expand and improve, but so did the youth programs and that is really where the growth of the game will come from. The first adults to play the game will get old, but if the kids find a love in the game you will have baseball forever.

It’s a great film. Head on over to IrishBaseballMovie.com to read more about it and don’t forget to pick up a copy. You might be surprised how quickly the team went from nothing to winning games internationally.

I have to give this a 5 glove rating. It’s definitely one you’ll want to own.

Stay tuned for more reviews coming soon….

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Movie Review: The Emerald Diamond is a post from: The Baseball Journeyman

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May 2, 1939 – Lou Gehrig ends his consecutive-game streak at 2,130 when he voluntarily benches himself. His replacement is Babe Dahlgren who hits a home run as the Yankees rout Detroit 22-2.

His record would stand for 56 years until Cal Ripken Jr. would surpass it in 1995.

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April 30, 1946 – With rumors circling that Bob Feller had lost his fastball after spending four years in the Navy, Feller hurls his second no-hitter. Feller helped the Tribe defeat the New York Yankees 1-0. The long run came on Frankie Hayes’ home run in the ninth inning.

Feller would finish the year 26-15 with a 2.18 ERA.

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April 28, 1998 – Rangers right fielder Juan Gonzalez sets the all-time Major League record for RBI in April when he crushes a two-run home run in a 7-2 win against Minnesota. The home run gave Gonzalez 35 RBI setting the record.

Gonzalez would go on to drive in 157 in 1998, a career high. He would finish with 434 career home runs and drive in 1,404 runs.

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April 27, 1983 – Nolan Ryan strikes out Brad Mills to become baseball’s all-time leader in strike outs with 3,509 moving ahead of Walter Johnson. Ryan and the Astros would win 4-2 over the Expos.

Nolan would go on to strike out 5,714 batters over his career. He is the only one with more than 5,000 and he is 839 strikeouts ahead of his nearest competitor, Randy Johnson.

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April 26, 1990 – The Texas Rangers defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0 behind Nolan Ryan’s record tying 12th one-hitter. Ryan tied Bob Feller’s mark by striking out 16 and allowing only Ron Kittle’s check-swing single to right field in the second inning. He was 43 years old at the time.

Ryan is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven and he also threw eighteen two-hitters. Ryan would finish the year with a 13-9 record and a 3.44 ERA.

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As you might expect, I love watching baseball. I grew up watching the Atlanta Braves on TBS most nights during the summer. When I got older I moved to the Dallas area and started watching the Texas Rangers about as often. However, when I moved to South Korea there wasn’t anyway to keep up with the nightly games on local TV.

I could watch the KBO (Korean professional baseball), but I work nights and miss most of the games except on weekends. Luckily for me there is MLB.tv.

I don’t know what I would do without it. My first 2 years here I tried to do without it which was just plain stupid looking back. I would catch the occasional game online. But I mostly watched highlights and just the postseason. Occasionally I would buy a month of MLB.tv and watch games. This year I decided to go with the whole year package.

And I couldn’t be happier. I work afternoons and nights here which makes it perfect for watching games back home. A 7pm game on the east coast comes on here at 8am. So my day consists of getting up in the morning, making breakfast, and turning on baseball. It’s great.

Right now it is 11am locally and I am watching the Rangers/Yankees game as Yu Darvish is pitching a shutout in the 7th inning. Here in a few minutes I’ll turn on the Braves game and watch it until I have to go to work at 1:30. It’s a great life.

Not only can I watch any game I want any day of the week, but I can choose the home or away broadcast. Normally I would watch the broadcast of my favorite team, the Braves or Rangers. But today I am watching the Braves and the Dodgers and its a cardinal sin of baseball not to listen to Vin Scully.

If you travel or live overseas, you have to make it a priority to check out MLB.tv. It is the greatest thing for me living in Korea since here there are no blackouts.

Now back to the games.

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Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was honored today before the start of the Texas Rangers game with the New York Yankees as he announced his retirement from baseball, and this baseball fan couldn’t be happier.

Pudge will go down as one of the all-time Rangers greats, and easily the greatest catcher of our era. He played 21 seasons breaking into the major leagues at the age of 19. He was a 14-time All-Star and a 13-time Gold Glove winner, including 10 in a row.

He set the standard for catchers defensively during his time. Over the course of his career he had a caught stealing percentage of 46%. That is 15% higher than the league average over the same time period. He led the league 9 times and had 7 seasons where his percentage was over 50%, including 1 season at 60%. He was simply the best defensive catcher I’ve ever seen.

During the 90′s fans go so much pleasure out of seeing him throw a runner out or even better pick a runner off first base. His throws were not only hard but very precise which was what made him so good.

Don’t let his defense fool you though. Most catchers who are great defensively aren’t as good offensively. This wasn’t the case for Pudge. When he first came up to the Majors he was strictly a defensive call up. However, that soon changed as he continued to better himself at the dish culminating in his 1999 MVP season.

In his MVP season, Rodriguez hit .332, 35 home runs, 113 RBI, slugged .558, stole 25 bases, won a gold glove, a silver slugger, and was an all-star. It was quite the year for Pudge. And he would have had a better year in 2000, but he was sidelined late in the year with a broken hand.

In his career he hit 311 home runs, drove in 1332 runs, hit .296, and had an OPS of .798. Not bad for a defensive catcher.

He’ll always have a place in the hearts of Rangers fans. He was a huge part of the Rangers 3 AL West Titles in the 1990s, and he is a sure fire Hall of Famer.

Thanks for the memories Pudge. You will be missed.

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