HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE?
Since the basis of this more detailed report is the end of the first month of the season, let’s go even further by stating the following…………..
We’ve played ---
1 month out of 6.
4 scoring periods out of 26.
441 MLB games played out of 2,430, which is thru Friday and includes one in a suspended status.
Or, if you’re more of a percentage type of guy….. 18% of the season is now in the books with 82% still on tap. Lots of balls and strikes to come.
THE RACE:
Since it’s the day of the big race, let’s take a look at the NPL race through the first month. One of the closest that I can recall. The biggest gap between two positions at this moment is 77 points between 3rd and 4th. But only 74 points separate 4th thru 10th. On Derby Day in 2007 we had the Rock Cats in first as they are this year. However, the lead back then was 123 over 2nd place instead of 32 as it is currently. The Pittsburgh O’s seem to have the biggest one year difference. Today, 2nd place with 2,169 points, 32 back. Last year 10th place, 1,932 points and 426 out. Yep, a new season for the Pittsburgh O’s.
AROUND THE HORN:
Starting from the top……..
ROCK CATS:
Yes, the Cats are once again out of the gate fast (sorry, another horse racing reference). They’ve been a good balanced team and again have exceptional starting pitching. Right now #2 in pitching wins, but ironically the RC’s are 1 of only 2 teams who do not have a Complete Game registered yet. Carlos Quentin was a big waiver wire pick-up and Chipper Jones has been fantastic, leading all MLB hitters with a Ted Williams like .417. He leads all of MLB in Singles hit with 31 but still maintains a lofty .689 slugging percentage. The only negative with Chipper is that he gets nicked up and misses a few more games than you would like. One of the few low points for the Raven is 5th round draft choice Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo now out injured until mid-season it is reported, but he never seemed to recover from the disappointment of not being drafted by the Bulldogs. Before the injury he was experiencing a bigger sophomore slump than Friday Night Lights, as he was batting just .152 on the season. But the other shortstop Rafael Furcal is making up for Tulo. Check out his numbers! The Rock Cats continue to purr.
PITTSBURGH O’s:
The O’s seem to have it all working in 2008. The #1 team in Team Pitching points and #1 in the WINS category with 26, and this included a terribly slow start by CC Sabathia who now seems to be out of his funk. Another thing to watch for is #1 draft choice Ryan Howard. He is off to his usual slow start, but it will be a boost when he starts slugging like he can again. Speaking of 1st basemen……. What a smart move by Larry to dump Adam LaRoche for the start of Period #2. Since the move, Kevin Youkilis has outscored the lethargic LaRoche by 40 points, 67 to 27. (Can you tell I’m not a fan of the 1st baseman of YOUR BUCCOS, as Jim Colony likes to say!!) Anyway – back to the O’s…… Last night the Big O had his group of 5 starters all pitching on the same night AGAIN!! Result – the biggest one day scoring total thus far in ’08. Thanks to Tim Hudson’s CG-ShO, a 163 point splash was made. The Pitt-O’s also have the 2nd best one day total in 2008 with 147 points scored on April 11. Final note on O’s pitching. Larry may have wished we would have looked at that Quality Start stat for scoring. He leads the NPL with 34 and that is double the team with the low number in that category (Bulldogs).
KOOPERSTOWN KIDS:
I guess I’m in this spot for the most part due to the hitting. After a slow start, the team is now #1 in overall team hitting points. I’m still trying to figure these guys out. For example – catcher Geovany Soto. Last weekend he had a stretch in which he struck out in 8 consecutive At-Bats. But the guy is still hitting .333 with 5 HR, 21 RBI and 108 points in 96 at bats! The two Tigers (Cabrera & Ordonez) are now the top two hitters for me as I expected they would be. As some of you may know, the Tigers are a special team to me in 2008. MOASP baby!! And on the pitching side, a tough pitcher to figure is Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers. 5 games started, only one quality start, a 5.20 ERA and a 1-4 record. Shouldn’t this guy be cut by now?? But….. 40 K’s in only 27 IP. Chad has me hanging with those kinds of numbers. And finally, I’m still wondering if Evan Longoria can do it? Maybe the guy needs a good baseball nickname? Evan Longoria doesn’t sound like a ballplayer. That sounds more like some kid who got expelled from boarding school for trying to steal the SAT!!
69’ERS:
Good, very good hitting ball club here. Led by the Chase Utley factor. The #2 overall draft pick is looking like an MVP. Can he be the 3rd different Phillie in 3 years to do it? Chase is the top NPL hitter with 162 points and he’s MLB’s top slugger at a .771 percentage. MLB HR leader and in the league leaders all over the stat sheet. But what is the Chase Utley factor? Well, like Aaron Rowand and Vernon Wells, he has some good charm going for who ever owns him. Going back to his entrance into the majors…. In 2005, on the Kids for 1st place. 2006- 4th as an Owl. 2007 – Championship with the Big Train. Chase brings good mojo to his NPL teams. Another up and coming star is 10th round draft pick Josh Hamilton. Hitting .311 with 6 HR – 32 RBI, which is the Ribbie leader in MLB. Jim Leyland had a recent quote in which he compared Hamilton to a young Larry Walker. Nice…. You no doubt remember it was a young Larry Walker who carried the Lockhorns to an NPL title back in 1997. Don’t you?
VULCANS:
The rookie Vulcs are hanging tough, right in the thick of this race. Rich has the #2 team in total pitching points led by 12th round choice Ben Sheets (4-0, .164 ERA) and Brad Penny is off to another great 1st half – 5 Wins this first month. A rejuvenated Derrek Lee leads the offense (.355 BA) and Michael Bourn is giving this team an Identity as a running squad, as they now lead the NPL in swiped bags. As of this date, the Vulcans have more points than the Owls, and I believe Rich would want that fact to be noted. And in cutting a pitcher this past Wednesday, Rich’s specific comment was…. “The Francisco Liriano experiment is over.”
Hey – we’re at Half Time of this report…….. Let me ask a question…….. How about that Roger Clemens – Mindy McCready scandal, huh? You have the ace pitcher of the Boston Red Sox staff having an affair with a 15 year old county singer. How bizarre is that?? So here’s my question….. That was a long time ago, but what would be today’s equivalent of that same scenario? Think about it. It would then have to be Josh Beckett having an affair with Hannah Montana!! Unless you prefer to sub in Dice-K, but that even seems weirder because he’s a Jap. And I wonder if Chris Hanson and the NBC Dateline crew will be paying the Rocket a visit?? Yikes!!
Okay, back to the NPL teams…….
OWLS:
The way the season started for the Owls I was going to be forced to pull out the historical records to research what team had the most DL moves made for one year, but it appears that trend has slowed now and the Birds are back in flight. John may be the owner of the best pick-up thus far. Cliff Lee of the Indians has been nothing short of sensational. John got him after his 1-0 start, but on the year, Lee is 5-0 with a miniscule 0.96 ERA. In 37 IP, 32 K’s with ONLY 2 Walks. The X man was another nice claim and left the Owls with the tough dilemma of which outfielder to cut when Cuddyer returned and it was hard to let Ellsbury go, but take a look at the others, they are all solid. These Owls are changing some positions too. It may be a bonus when Carlos Guillen gets his 3rd base eligibility but it is reported that John Smoltz may be a closer when he returns. JF can keep him in the Owls rotation if that would make sense, but with K-Rod and Putz there, the bullpen is loaded. By the way, John says that he’s only a one swing of the bat – Home Run away from passing the Vulcans!!
the BIG TRAIN:
The Train is running out some heavy hitters in this early season. Bob owns the #2, 5 and 7 batters in NPL hitting points. That’s the N-Dog, Berkman and Han-Ram. Seems like when talking about the Train, it always comes back to McLouth. But why not? What a start he has had. How much longer until Lanny gives him another goofy nickname? How about the Blond Bomber? This week an article on MLB.com compared McL to Lenny Dykstra in his prime. I hope that’s an on the field comparison only. Wasn’t Dykstra a real A-Hole off the field??
Joe Nathan finally gave up an earned run. His ERA has soared up to 0.82. And boy do these Big Train guys like to go for the stolen base. They are #2 in the league with 42 steals, but they also lead the NPL in caught stealing with 25, which are 10 more than the next highest total. “Run Big Train Run” may be the motto of this 2008 club. And oh by the way……. Bob is hoping there is no substance to that Josh Beckett – Hannah Montana thing I mentioned!!
Lets’s break here again at this time…….. Since former Pirate player and current road games only analyst John Wehner is a Bob Sproule favorite, let’s tell his recent story….
As I mentioned, he was talking to Greg Brown on the broadcast during the late stages of a blow out game while in New York. Wehner wanted everyone to know about his day off in the Big Apple. He reported that he took in the Regis & Kelly show in the morning. He thought about introducing himself to Regis, but then let it go…… In the evening he was at the Penguins – Rangers playoff game. He said Mike Lange saw him and told him… “Johnny, you’re our lucky charm.” But when talking about how the hockey game unfolded, Wehner then said…… “Then Malkin scored a power play goal to give the Bucs a 4-3 lead.” The BUCS??? Gee, I thought it was the PENS playing hockey.
Okay, back to the NPL……..
BULLDOGS:
The Dogs are not alarmed if they’re not at the top half of the standings. They traditionally start slow, come on strong, and they also don’t care how old Miguel Tejada is. If you have a shortstop who hits .350 it’s all good. What a bullpen for Tony and Ed. Papelbon and Mo Rivera both with 8 saves and Paps ERA is 1.93 while Rivera is a perfect 0.00. T&E didn’t get the big name Santana at SP, but their guy Ervin is 5-0 to start the year. Pirate backstop Ryan Doumit a nice pick-up, hitting .365 since acquired with 63 points in 52 At Bats. And during the pick-ups on Wednesday, Bull D’s co-owner Eddie Dubis had a statement for H-Bombs owner John Big Daddy Schoming. Ed said they didn’t need the H-Bombs “endorsement” of their waiver claims from his War Room and if there is any baseball knowledge to spread, it would be the Dogs telling Mr. Schoming what is what with baseball opinions of players. Eddie then finished this up by stating……. “I’m Ed Dubis and I approve this message.”
LOCKHORNS:
With the history of the Lockhorns, I don’t expect they will be down for long. And in October we may look back at the Max Scherzer pick-up as a turning point. Harv’s other newbie Wladimir Balentien pronounces his first name with a “V” instead of a “W” and he therefore sounds like a power forward for the Russian National Hockey League. The Horns pitching have the leagues best ERA at 3.31 and the Joe Saunders for David Bush move was another excellent one that took place in this league. He’s 4-0 for Harv’s Horns.
H-BOMBS:
The Bombers got off to a fast start and have had some recent struggles, but in reality, as mentioned above, they are only 74 points out of 4th place. Big D is keeping an eye on his DROP moves, as he already has 8 tallied thus far. Overall #1 A-Rod just went on the DL and #1 starter Roy Halladay has 4 CG’s in a row, although a couple have been with the L instead of the W. J-Schom has got great production out of ex-Lockhorn closer Brandon Lyon as he racked up 4 saves in slightly more than one week. Big Daddy said two things are known……. The H-Bombs will come on strong and Eddie will pay!!!!!!!
YOU-TUBE:
We also have the NBA playoffs going on, and this 2 minute clip is perhaps one of the best all-time arena team introductions ever. It's the Chicago Stadium intro of the Jordan-Pippen era Chicago Bulls starting with the "Running of the Bulls" on the jumbo-tron to PA announcer the great Ray Clay introducing the players under spotlight to the famous Bulls intro music.
