Diamond Hoggers

2009-11-19T16:32:00.003-04:00

Tim Lincecum wins second consecutive Cy Young Award. A little Mary Jane didn't stop the phenom ace of the San Francisco Giants from winning his second consecutive Cy Young Award, edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright narrowly. [Mercury News]

Had a dream last night

2009-11-19T11:16:00.002-04:00

So last night I had this glorious dream. It was the best dream a man can have. Yes pervs, I was more disappointed waking up from this dream than a dream of any female from my youth or past.

I had this dream that the Reds were in the World Series, and I cannot remember who against. They had just won a tight ballgame 7-5 or so to take a 3 to 1 series advantage over their AL opponent.

Adam Dunn (who had been re-acquired) slugged the home run that made the difference. Jay Bruce had homered as well. The Reds were heading back to Great American Ball Park for game 5 and I was about to go and scalp a ticket for whatever the price was.

Then I woke up. I hope this isn't as close as I ever get to this, but I have my doubts.

The Offseason Dreams of Matt Stairs

2009-11-18T13:30:00.003-04:00

Well, fuck. Now that we done lost the World Series to them damn Yankees of up north, I figured I'd travel home to my homeland and live with the rest of the Nordiques of my kind. My baseball career's aboot over with and I figure I can find work as a trapper, a rancher, or maybe a trailsmen somewhere well hidden in some wooded area beyond the border. I've carved oot a pretty good career. 17 seasons and 11 teams later I've got a .264 average and 3 stolen bases to show for it. I think I might fit well as a lumberjack too. The timber is fresh up in New Brunswick. Fuck being a substitute teacher.

But I've decided I like Philadelphia. This is a city where anything is possible. Even if they doon't know who I am, I like the fans. I like the cheesesteaks. I like the colored folk. I like Ben Franklin. The women don't mind if you have stretch marks on your underbelly covered up my multi-colored thick hair. I'm not going anywhere.

I fully intend to open up a car wash like old Lenny Dykstra did. It's gonna be big. We're going to have all kinds of deals. Stop by Matty Stairs Wash & Dry and get the Grand Slam special. That's right, $9.99 and a quick spin later not only will your car feel great; but you'll feel like you just smelled one of Charlie Manuel's clubhouse shits! See, at Matty Stairs Wash & Dry we focus on bringing all the authenticism of an MLB Clubhouse!

It's going to be big. (stares off into the distance of abandon car wash business)

For an extra $2, you can wear a game worn Matt Stairs helmet through the car wash as you wash up your Jaguar. For $15.99 you get the MVP! Wear the helmet of Matty Stairs, get your Jaguar washed, and an officially autographed picture of me in nothing but my Montreal Expos uniform from my rookie year banging a French Canadian transvestite hooker with Delino Deshields and Marquis Grissom!

Throw in an extra five bucks on any package, and I'll shave off some of my beard and give it to you. To hell with game worn gloves and bats. I'm giving you a piece of a former Major Leaguer's DNA. Where the hell else in America can you get that?

We'll feature specials like the dugout wax special and the pinch hit vaccum detail!

At the end of my career, I was lucky to even pinch hit or get in a game. But that didn't stop me from knocking 259 big flies out of the park did it? Well being a beastly, bulging, furry man isn't going to stop me from opening one of these beauties in every city in America.

Beats the hell out of cooking hasbrowns at the Le Blu' Cafe like my brother.

DH Video Select: When it Was A Game

2009-11-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

As we did a lot last offseason, we bring you the first installment of Diamond Hoggers Video Select to help entertain you and get you through the offseason. Fair warning though, you will not always be brought baseball content within this space. It could be anything amusing, weird, funny. Anything submitted to us that strikes our fancy.

Today, we bring you baseball though. If you read this blog you probably have seen When It Was a Game. If you haven't seen it, you need to see it. It's basically old classic footage of the game before it got tainted with agents, ~~cleat chasers~~, Selig, Barry Bonds, the Designated Hitter, and all the other evils that exist in present day baseball. Watch parts of it here.

We have to admit, when that glory music comes pumping in at the beginning and ends of the film; it really hits us at our core. It's beautiful. We could shed a tear. I want to leave work, go buy this shit on DVD somewhere and watch it while laying around the house in my underwear. Then I wanna go play catch with my pops. It's that kind of film.

Cy Greinke

2009-11-18T10:48:00.003-04:00

Zach Greinke's 2009 campaign started out pretty unbelievably, and it ends with an American League Cy Young Award.

Greinke went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA, throwing 6 complete games, 3 shutouts, and striking out 242 hitters in just over 229 innings pitched. He allowed only 51 walks.

Basically, this guy makes the Kansas City Royals watchable. And you know something else? If they add another quality arm or two and a couple guys who can produce runs at a reasonable salary, Kansas City isn't that far away from being a contender. When you can trot out a Greinke every 5th day, anyone you build around him in the rotation that is decent can make you a decent ballclub fast.

As Sam Mellinger points out in his article linked above, the guy is already the most loved sports figure in Kansas City. At 25 years old with his first CY under his belt, he could have a long and wonderful career laid out ahead of him. He will be fun to watch.

It's also a great story because of all the adversity that Greinke went through in beating anxiety. This isn't a kid it's been all roses for from the beginning. He's had to battle for it. We like that in a guy. Greinke winning the Cy Young Award for the Royals, that's good for baseball.

2009-11-16T11:52:00.001-04:00

Is Grady Sizemore the next Cleveland Indian to be shipped out? "I fully expect the Indians to go to battle this season with Sizemore in center field. However, if the blow-it-up-and-rebuild mode continues through 2010, those No. 24 jerseys that are oh so popular in the confines of Progressive Field may be hitting a clearance rack in the not-so distant future." [Waiting for Next Year]

Reds are 'looking to deal'

2009-11-13T17:46:00.003-04:00

There's a lot out there about the Reds dealing some veterans in the offseason. MLB Trade Rumors makes some sense of it:

SI.com's Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the Cincinnati Reds might field offers for Brandon Phillips, Francisco Cordero, and Bronson Arroyo.

We've heard plenty of speculation that the trade market will be more vibrant this offseason than the free agent market, with so few big names available through free agency. Phillips and Cordero would each match up well with the best free agents available at their respective positions, and even Arroyo posted a 3.84 ERA in 220.1 IP this season. Teams may be more inclined to inquire about their price tags than to dish out long-term contracts to similar or lesser free agents.

The Reds once again finished below .500 last year in the NL Central, and are looking up at the Cardinals, Cubs, and Brewers, who all seem more likely than Cincinnati to add an impact talent this winter. The Reds are not a large-market team; their 2009 payroll sat at $73MM, and we heard earlier this week that it'll be even smaller in 2010. It makes sense that they would explore the return on a few of their bigger contracts and attempt to rebuild around players like Jay Bruce, Edinson Volquez, and Joey Votto (or top first base prospect Yonder Alonso).

Cordero, Arroyo, and Harang are guys I would try to move. They're not going to help the Reds make a significant playoff push; by the time we're ready to compete these guys will either be too aged and ineffective or ready for their contract to expire.

Now Phillips, I don't trade. At least not in this offseason. Let him come back at an age in which he should be at his prime and see if he can have a career season. We don't have many run producing hitters that are right handed. I don't care what kind of stud you think Todd Frazier will end up becoming. Phillips is valuable still to the Reds. You're not going to recover a bonafide, sure-fire MLB talent in a trade for Phillips. He's not a malcontent or anything. So keep him around. We had enough trouble scoring last year and they're kicking around the idea of bringing back Johnny Gomes. Unless you're desperate for right handed hitting pop, you're not talking about bringing back Johnny Gomes.

The three pitchers above, I deal yesterday for prospects. I don't care what Arroyo's second half ERA was and I don't care how many innings he and Harang can eat together. 'Innings eaters' is just another way of saying that the guys are worthless in every other way. Now we won't go as far as saying these two guys are worthless, but the days of them being 1-2 in this rotation should be over since we have Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto waiting to take those roles.

Plus, we like the idea of freeing up all that money to lock up the Votto's, the Bruce's and the other young studs who arrive on the scene in Cincinnati the next couple years.

Ken Griffey Jr. back for at least one more season in the sun

2009-11-12T13:16:00.002-04:00

Baseball fans (most of them) can breathe easy. Ken Griffey Jr. is coming back for at least one more season of baseball and he's going to be wearing a Seattle Mariners uniform.

Griffey agreed yesterday to a one year offer to stay a Mariner.

Not everyone is happy about the move. Especially some who follow the Mariners close like the writers at U.S.S. Mariner:

So, unless the M’s decide to go with 11 pitchers next year, this probably ends the Ryan Langerhans era in Seattle. The M’s have essentially traded in about half a win worth of value (the difference between Langerhans/Griffey in on-field value as a reserve) for the expectation of better team chemistry.

We wouldn’t have made this move. That should be obvious by now. It won’t destroy the franchise, but it’s an inefficient use of resources, and exposes the team to some real problems if Gutierrez gets hurt. The M’s just became a little less likely to win in 2010.

As Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times writes, how could Griffey be coming back for any other reason than him loving the game? This is good for baseball, and although it's not of the magnitude of a franchise saver; the casual baseball fan enjoys looking for Griffey's name in the out of town box score. People who are around my age probably grew up loving Kenny Griff. The nostalgia brought back in seeing him in his old Seattle uniform for one more season is a good thing.

And maybe, just maybe he'll ride off into the sunset with a 30 home run season and an average above .270 for the year. We hope he does. It just wouldn't be right to see him end his career limping into retirement with a .218 average. We know one thing: we wouldn't bet against Junior doing something special over his final season.

Bill James thinks highly of some 2010 Cincinnati Reds

2009-11-12T13:11:00.003-04:00

You can usually take Bill James' predictions with a grain of salt. But as long as he's giving you good marks, there should be no reason for concern. If James can forsee a big season on the horizon, then it's as likely to happen as any other prognosticator.

And James sees a big year in 2010 for a few Cincinnati Reds:

–Joey Votto: .311, 27 HR, 90 RBI, 947 OPS

–Todd Frazier: .278, 17 HR, 69 RBI, 807 OPS

–Jay Bruce: .274, 38 HR, 95 RBI, 877 OPS

Don't really care about the power numbers for Bruce. Would like to see the average over .270 and the OPS rise above 900 and the rest will take care of itself. That's another very solid year for Votto but we actually think he could top that in a full season of work. If Todd Frazier can do that as a rookie, he'll get ROY votes and make the Reds possibly think about moving Brandon Phillips to shortstop or perhaps trading him for the shortstop of the future.

Interesting indeed. Why can't it be the 2010 season now?

So the Reds are gonna slash payroll on us again?

2009-11-11T11:11:00.004-04:00

Yesterday's news brought the pleasant surprise that the Cincinnati Reds are again looking to slash payroll. And you know that we're not going to be happy about this. Why? Because we remember when Bob Castellini took the role of the village idiot and declared that 'the losing stops NOW!'

Lagging attendance figures are to blame for the Reds' financial cutbacks. Price and Fletcher noted that attendance at the Great American Ballpark dropped by more than 15 percent from 2008 to 2009. General manager Walt Jocketty was quoted in the piece as saying, "We're going to probably have less to spend this year than we have in the past...It just depends on how [ticket] sales go this offseason."

If Cincinnati does make a deal, the likeliest candidates to be moved are second baseman Brandon Phillips (owed just under $7MM in 2010), and pitchers Aaron Harang ($12.5MM) and Bronson Arroyo ($12.25MM). Phillips, with his .452 slugging percentage over the last four seasons, is the most attractive candidate to other clubs given his power from the second base position and reasonable contract. Harang and Arroyo are both coming off decent years themselves, but Price and Fletcher speculate that their bigger contract numbers would require the Reds to absorb a chunk of their salaries if traded.

One star player who looks to be staying in Cincinnati is closer Francisco Cordero, who Price and Fletcher say the club "would prefer to keep" despite the $25MM he's owed through 2011. A very intriguing trade chip could be young slugger Joey Votto, if the Reds wanted to make room for star prospect Yonder Alonso at first base. Another team could be convinced to take on a bad contract if it meant getting Votto, who isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season.

I wouldn't trade Votto. There's no guaruntee that Alonso is going to be the complete hitter that Votto is. I wouldn't keep Cordero. Why would you prefer to keep him? You can find someone to do that job just as well in our own bullpen for a tenth of the price. There's a lot of teams around the league who would sniff out Cordero if they knew he was available.

We're going to rip the Reds all offseason on this. You want ticket sales? Spend some money up front and create some excitement instead of trotting out the same old shit for once.

Tim Lincecum cited for marijuana possesion

2009-11-06T10:12:00.003-04:00

This offseason has started with a bang. The 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was found to have 3.3 grams of pot on him in a traffic stop on October 30th. This isn't a huge shocker really as Lincecum just seems (forgive us) to be a guy in MLB that would have a higher probability of liking to fire up some green. Doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Just throwing that out there.

We like Lincecum. We've talked to him before, sort of; and there's a better then even chance that he was high when he was talking to us (it was very late at night). And if he was, so what.

At the same time, Lincecum is probably popular with a ton of little kids who follow baseball. That's the part that stings just a little. You want our young stars in this league to keep a clean slate. Lincecum does seem like the kind of guy who won't screw up again. So we'll have to keep an eye on the next few years if he picks up a hooka habit. That's a dead giveaway to an ex-pothead.

Tim, just start chewing tobacco dude. It's legal, and not nearly as frowned upon.

*Cue up the pot smokers in the comments section telling us that chewing is deadly, and pot is not. Disclaimer: we know.

Diamond Hoggers Field Trip: Redsfest 2009

2009-11-06T10:04:00.002-04:00

We were supposed to attend Redsfest last December but we became deathly ill and couldn't make it. This year, we give our guarantee that we'll be at Redsfest 2009.

The Redsfest 2009 feature list has leaked its way out. Here's a few of the attractions:

Over 50 current and former Reds players are expected to attend including Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Bronson Arroyo, Dusty Baker and 2010 Reds Hall of Fame inductees Chris Sabo and Pedro Borbon.

A special 20th anniversary tribute to the 1990 World Series Champions will include Sabo, Joe Oliver, Eric Davis, Ron Oester, Hal Morris, skipper Lou Piniella and many more.

A celebrity Wiffleball home run contest will be held on Friday evening featuring former Reds players, upcoming prospects and media personalities. The home run contest will kick off the weekend of programming on the 10,000 square foot Gorilla Glue Field of Dreams, that will also include the Chipotle Wiffleball Tournament finals.

New this year, fans 16 and younger can compete for a chance to face off against Reds first baseman Joey Votto in Sony PlayStation’s “Fan Versus Votto” contest. One lucky fan will get to appear on-stage with Votto on Saturday afternoon and compete in a home run contest on a Sony PlayStation. Kids can register for the contest starting Saturday at 11 a.m.

Another new feature will be a Goodyear area that highlights the Reds new spring training home in Arizona. Travel and tourism reps will be on-site to discuss what the city has to offer Reds fans. Tickets for 2010 Spring Training will be on sale.

A chance to meet Lou Piniella? Jay Bruce? We're there dude, on that alone.

Stay tuned, this December we'll have a flurry of posts from Redsfest.

In Case You're Wondering About Hideki Matsui's Signature

2009-11-05T17:19:00.002-04:00

While most other baseball blogs are talking about Joe Girardi helping a motorist on his way home from his World Series win on this day after, we're talking about the Most Valuable Player of the World Series' autograph.

Last night laying in bed, we started thinking about how now would be a bad time to go out and buy a signed ball of Matsui's. But we wondered if it had the Japanese scribe on it. We've got our answer.

He won't be a Yankee probably even for another game, he might not even log another game in Major League Baseball. But Hideki Matsui has carved his name in the history books, and he does it in plain English! C'mon, admit that you were curious about it.

2009-11-05T16:32:00.002-04:00

Where do the 2009 Yankees rank? According to the Times, this was the 12th best Yankees championship team of all time. I'd have probably ranked them a little big higher at least in the top ten. Then again, I never saw any of the Yankees teams before the 1996 Yankees (who were ranked 26 of 27). [NY Times Baseball Blog]

The Sun Sets on Another MLB Season

2009-11-05T10:43:00.003-04:00

You know, we weren't thinking about the Yankees victory speeches or anything else as the final outs got away from us last night. You heard us, they got away from us. We were thinking about now we have to go a little more then five months of life without our favorite sport. The curtain falls on another year of MLB. Now we get to speculate on a bunch of moves that our team won't make, and watch other teams better themselves and get ready to make a run for a title.

Keep it locked on Diamond Hoggers all offseason long. If you're a die hard, you've come to the right place. We'll countdown together until next Opening Day when we will report live from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. In the meantime, we've got some good stuff planned for our readers and we'll definitely deliver. We're going innovative. It's going to be a big show.

And we'll be missing watching baseball whether it's meaningful or not. Just having a game on the television in the summer is a comforting thing.

Yankees win 27 in Heaven, World Champions in Six Games

2009-11-05T10:18:00.005-04:00

[Box Score]

Not to blow our own horn here, but as we predicted all the way back before the first game of the regular season was played, and before the World Series started; the New York Yankees became World Champions. We even called it in six games.

Hideki Matsui made sure that there was no chance of the Phillies forcing a game seven, as he drove in six runs and fell only a triple short of hitting for the cycle. He became the first Japanese born MVP in World Series history and Pedro Martinez became the fourth Cy Young award winner to lose a clinching game in the World Series.

So there you have it. The 2009 Yankees live on forever in baseball and sports immortality. The thing we'll remember most about these Yankees is that they finally got smart and acquired young stars to play for this team instead of aging veterans. Their depth was exceptional and they were so talented that really if you know baseball this is no surprise that they won it all. There was no other team on paper or if you watched them play over the course of a few games that could stack up to them.

And not only now does Alex Rodriguez have Kate Hudson, he's got a World Series ring. It's not exactly like the lasting image of Micheal Jordan hugging the NBA Finals trophy, but it's baseball history for sure to see the shot above.

We wouldn't be real surprised to see the Yankees make another run at this thing next year with basically the same cast of characters. In all likelihood this was the last title they win while George Steinbrenner is alive. Steinbrenner must not be in good shape, as he wasn't in the house last night to see his team get the win.

Another season is in the books, and the Yankees have risen yet another title banner in their first year of their new home. A sweet time to be a fan of the Bombers.

[Sports Illustrated] [Jayson Stark] [MLB.com] [Baseball Prospectus] [Hardball Times]

[Ken Rosenthal] [Deadspin]

Yankee Fan: Are you ready for a title?

2009-11-04T10:24:00.002-04:00

There will be no Phillies comeback. Tonight is the night, Yankees fans. On this evening, the New York Yankees will win their 27th World Championship that has eluded them for what probably seems like eternity.

You didn't want that title celebrating at Citizens Bank Ballpark, did you? No. You want that shit to be celebrated in the Bronx in front of your hometown fans. You want it with the old soldier Andy Pettitte on the mound, winning his 18th postseason game and riding off into the sunset. You want Girardi making his rounds around the outfield warning track in a cart shaking hands with your fans. You want it with Big George and Little Hank in the ballpark that they own watching from the deepest darkest areas of the owners box.

And tonight is going to be that night. We're not sure how, we're not sure even why; but the New York Yankees will go out and win tonight. We've said all along, Yankees in six. As the game goes late, it will probably be close. There will be some doubters who mentally prepare for a game seven. But that is when the inevitable will happen. The Yankees will get some magic from those ghosts that helped them win the first 26 titles. Something late will happen that has a little twist of magic to it. And the Yankees will end the 2009 MLB season with a victory.

Yankees fans, prepare for your title celebration. Tonight's the night. The shoe fits.

Brad Lidge is a Shotgun in the Mouth

2009-11-02T11:30:00.003-04:00

Just want to point out that Brad Lidge is the same man we always thought he was. Another big game, another meltdown. If it weren't for 2008's anomaly, Lidge would be known as the Donnie Moore of the 2000's era. Even with his perfect 2008 season, he's really still just a shitshow.

Before a 2008 Fantasy Baseball draft, when Lidge got picked we said it: "Well, that's a shotgun in the mouth". It really stuck. When you look at what Lidge did last night, giving up three runs in the 9th inning on his home mound before his team has a chance to win the game in the bottom frame and even the series, well you get the picture.

He's done in Philadelphia. Done. When A-Rod roped that double, he threw that straight ball right down the dick to him. No one makes more mistake pitches into the hot zone at big moments then Brad Lidge.

Somewhere, Byung-Hung Kim is smiling.

A-Rod, Yankees take 2-1 Series lead over Phillies

2009-11-01T12:41:00.002-04:00

[Box Score]

[AP]

New York won a big game last night, and those who watched it would agree it was Alex Rodriguez's historic home run that could be looked at as a turning point in this series. Everyone know the recap. Let's give you a take.

The Yankees shouldn't start CC Sabathia tonight. This game is on the national stage with the NFL taking the night off and giving way to the World Series for this one Sunday and one Sunday only. The Yankees should start Chad Gaudin and take their chances with the kid. Give Sabathia his extra rest and let him go a deciding game 5 if it's 2-2. Now, they're skipping Gaudin unless they win tonight and everyone gets squeezed on the rest. That's all fine and dandy as long as they get the win tonight. If they don't, it opens up room for the Phillies to catapault and win this series. It could be a free fall if they don't win tonight.

As far as World Series game 3 goes, Cole Hamels got shelled. Andy Pettitte got that 17th postseason victory. The guy is a horse, dependable as they come. Not going without notice is Jayson Werth hit two bombs and now has seven in the postseason. He's swinging the bat pretty well--there we said it.

Look for offense to be the theme these next two games in Philly. These teams were taking good swings last night which is the opposite of what we saw the first two games. Have a great Sunday.

2009-10-30T09:44:00.002-04:00

Pujols wants to remain a Cardinal for life. Breathe easy Cardinals fans. Although he's putting it in God's hands, Pujols actually mentions in a quote about remaining a Cardinal for life. We have a feeling that move to hire McGwire as the hitting coach was a move Pujols liked a lot. [STL Today]

Yankees Survive Pedro Martinez, Win Game Two

2009-10-30T09:09:00.002-04:00

[Box Score]

[Blogging the Bombers]

One thing was noticeable last night until Mark Texeira and Hideki Matsui homered: the Yankee Stadium crowd was dead. They felt darkness creeping in, and the malevolent figure was Pedro Martinez.

Pedro Martinez was very, very good last night. A.J. Burnett was just stronger. If the Yankees would have lost, you'd have had second-guessers writing for every paper on the east coast for sitting Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada against the right handed Martinez for a couple of righty reserves.

But Burnett wouldn't yet the Yankees slip. What I saw for seven innings last night was a guy who was unhittable. Ryan Howard wanted to complain about the balls and strikes calls (he struck out four times) but the bottom line is the Yankees pitched him perfectly in every at-bat. They made that a trend to most Philly batters. Beyond that, if Alex Rodriguez makes that play at third base in the 2nd inning, the Yankees don't give up a run last night. It's a testament of how badly Joe Girardi wanted that game that he turned to Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning to get the two inning save. Rivera is now 10 for 11 in World Series saves opportunities. That is amazing in itself.

A.J. Burnett and Mark Texeira possibly saved the Yankees series hopes. The odds of the Yankees going to Philadelphia and winning more then a game would have been slim trailing 2-0. Now they really only have to win one of three, although we think they're going to get 2 of 3 before returning home to win the thing.

This game fit the profile that we think the rest of the series will follow. Tight game until late, a few big swings win it.

Jay-Z, Pedro, Big Tex homers, Burnett, and Game Two Hoopla

2009-10-29T23:50:00.000-04:00

A look at game two's unique moments in case you weren't watching baseball's grandest stage:

A lot was made of the Jay-Z performance that took place before game two. And in case you missed it, yes he played Empire State of Mind.

The Prince of New York steps in for one more go around against Pedro to lead off the game for the Yankees.

Our buddy that we watched the game with remarked that Joe Girardi 'looks like an AIDS patient'. He sure doesn't show much emotion. He's finally in the World Series win column. And they were thinking about shitcanning this guy at any point? Shame on them.

Raul Ibanez made the play of the game most likely (unless you want to count the double play turned by the Yankees in the 8th inning with Utley at the plate).

Mark sent a 'Tex message' into the bullpen in left center to tie the game at 1. This woke up the Yankee crowd that was a non-factor until that point.

She like Matsui.

This is a baseball blog, but it's also a dipping blog. And when it comes to dipping, A.J. fuckin' Burnett must absolutely sleep with a dip in. Burnett was dominant tonight. This is the guy we pictured for most of the year for the Yankees, and why we picked him to win the Cy Young. Bottom line is he saved the series and is probably going to end up being the Yankees win this series if he's anything close to what he was tonight in his next start, which he pretty much guaranteed himself.

Pedro getting the last laugh but not really. The Yankee fans were on edge about this guy all night and he pretty much delivered. He had no business going back out there in the 7th though to surrender another run with 99 pitches logged. Another Charlie Manuel-esque call.

World Series Game One Screen-Shottage

2009-10-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

We're trying something new here on the blog. We found out how to screen grab. We're pretty excited about it. We'll do this for all the World Series games and we'll find some of the best moments captured in HD. Next season, for whatever games we watch you'll get this special treat as well. So now for the selections from game one:

Still the ugliest player in baseball, bar-none. Jayson Werth ladies and gentleman.

Cliff Lee, clear the mechanism. It's going to be a special night for you son.

Lee zones in on his next victim. Hard to believe that Lee's effort last night is statistically being compared to when Bob Gibson struck out 17 hitters and beat Denny Mcclain and the Tigers in game one of the 1968 World Series.

Let us not forget, this was Alex Rodriguez's first World Series game of his career. He went 0-4 with 3 K's. He's still hitting .389 this postseason and Yankee fans better stay up on A-Rod because it's obvious they're going to need him to slay leftie pitching to win it.

Charlie Manuel is a rooster. And roosters crow.

Utley circling the bases on the first of his two homers. "Boo me? Fuck you. Again."

It's not the MLB Postseason without Buck & Mccarver. People really seem to hate Tim Mccarver. We don't get it. Timmy is much less an asshole then Joe Buck. People will argue that Buck is actually good at what he does. Nah.

RE: New York Paranoid about Pedro

2009-10-29T13:32:00.002-04:00

Being a lifetime 8-4, 2.95 ERA pitcher in 16 career starts in the Bronx will make you a villain. SI's Tom Verducci writes more on the subject.

Jay Bruce will be better in 2010--according to statistics!

2009-10-29T11:47:00.005-04:00

There's a lot to pick apart from this post over at Fangraphs.com.

Basically, there are several major reasons that Jay Bruce will have a nice 2010 season. And although it may be the postseason, we're Reds fans. This shit is just as important as what the Yankees and Phillies do. Actually, it's more important. This is the franchise we're talking about.

Cincy’s franchise player had a .373 BABIP in the minor leagues, and a .298 major league mark in 2008. In 2009, his BABIP dropped off a cliff (.222). That was the lowest BABIP among batters taking 350+ trips to the plate.

[snip]

Jay Bruce has all the ingredients to be a superstar. In a “disappointing” year, he showed top-shelf power, improved strike-zone discipline and better contact ability. Fantasy owners aren’t going to get another chance to acquire The Boss with anything less than a premium draft pick. If at all possible, nab Bruce now, before he becomes a perennial first-rounder.

Great to see press like this for our boy, especially from a reputable site that does it's statistical homework like Fangraphs.

Believe in Jay Bruce [Fangraphs.com]