MLB Musings

Ervin Santana was very efficient in his complete-game victory (9IP, 7H, 1ER, 6K). It was his 3rd complete game in his last 4 starts. His ERA is now 3.10.

Jose Bautista went hitless (0-for-3) again. The slugger has just a .205/.356/.342 slash line in the past 31 days.

Justin Masterson pitched well again (7.2IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K) but earned a no-decision. He now has a 2.69 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He continues to exhibit a stellar GB% (55.3%).

CC Sabathia gave up 5 solo homers in 8 IP to Evan Longoria, Johnny Damon, Casey Kotchman, Kelly Shoppach, and Elliot Johnson. In his previous 173 innings pitched, only 8 left the park.

David Price pitched well (8IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 4K) against the Yankees and evened his record to 10-10.

Pablo Sandoval accounted for the Giants lone run with a solo homer, his 14th HR of the year. He has surely righted the ship from last year's dismal performance when he was grossly out of shape. He currently owns a .314/.355/.526 slash line in 2011.

Ricky Nolasco (8IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K) picked up his 9th win. Though his dominance (6.60 K/9) and control (2.10 BB/9) have fallen off from last years numbers (8.39 K/9; 1.88 BB/9), he has kept the ball inside the ballpark (.76 HR/9). However, his .324 BABIP and 71.2% strand rate show that his success is not due to luck. Nolasco has a good skill set.

Cole Hamels was not very sharp tonight (5IP, 6H, 3ER, 4BB, 5K). His record fell to a respectable 13-7. He also has a fine 2.62 ERA. He claimed after the game that he was dealing with a dead arm. It showed; he averaged only 89 mph on his fast ball.

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 32 games going 3-for-3 including 2 solo shots off Carlos Zambrano. He probably is hoping that August does not end in which he is batting a ridiculous .400/.405/.700 with a .300 ISO.

Freddie Freeman continues to make a case for ROY honors belting his 16th homer and going 2-for-4, 2R, 1RBI. He has thus far put up a .296/.363/.420 slash line in his inaugural major league season.

Jose Costanza (1-for-3, 2R, 2RBI's) remains white-hot and is keeping Jason Heyward languishing on the bench.

Nick Hundley doubled and homered (his 4th) in his first game back from his second stint on the DL. He ended the night 3-3, 1R, 1BB, 1RBI.

Matt Latos (7IP, 4H,2R, 2ER, 1BB, 5K) rendered a quality start but unfortunately came away with a no-decision. Josh Spence blew the game by giving up a 3-run homer to Jay Bruce with 2 outs in the 8th inning. The game-winning blast was Bruce's 24th dinger of the season to go along with 73 RBI's.

Wilson Betemit, batting in the 9th spot, went 3-for4, 1HR, 1R, 2RBI. He now is batting .296/.354/.435.

JJ Hardy continued his resurgence going 2-for-4, scoring twice, and knocking in 2 runs. He hit his 23rd homer of the year.

Talking about resurgence, Melky Cabrera went 2-for-5, 1HR, 1R, 3RBI, 1SB. He now has 15 homers, 16SB, and 70 RBI's on the year.

Tyler Flowers, forced into the game after A.J. Pierzynski injured his hand, had a rough night. The once promising prospect continues to flounder with the bat, and now with the glove. He was 0-2 at the plate and was the victim of 5 SB's.

Zack Greinke remains dominant after the All-Star break. Tonight he allowed 6 hits, 2ER, and 1BB, while fanning 9 batters. He has allowed 2 or fewer runs in his last 7 starts. In his last 114.2 IP, he has a phenomenal 143/26 K/BB ratio.

Justin Upton (2-for-3, 1R, 1RBI) hit his 24th HR. He now has 73 RBI's on the campaign.

Ian Kennedy handled the Mets (7.0IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 5K) while improving his record to 15-3.
His ERA is now 3.12.

David Ortiz maintained his torrid power surge smashing his 24th HR and driving in his 79th RBI. He is now batting .299/.386/.560 for the year. Will Boston give him a long-term deal?

Brandon McCarthy (3.1IP, 8H, 7R, 5ER, 0K) was not only knocked around by the Texas line-up, he was forced from the game when he was struck on the right knee by a line-drive off the bat of Endy Chavez. The good news is he was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Matt Kemp, in the bottom of the 10th inning, drove in Casey Blake with an RBI single to right field to account for the only run in the Dodger's 1-0 win over Houston.

MLB Musings

Cubs 4 Reds 3

Tony Campana became the first Cub to ever hit an inside-the-park homer at Wrigley Field, driving in two runs as Chicago downed Cincinnati 3-2. The rookie outfielder made a brilliant catch in center field and also added a double and a single. Ryan Dempster picked up the win for the Cubs despite walking six batters. He held the Reds to two runs on four hits in six innings.
Mike Leake took the loss for Cincinnati giving up three runs on six hits in six innings. Ramon Hernandez hit a homer, his 11th of the year, for the Reds. Cincinnati has now lost three of their last four games following a three-game sweep of the Giants.

Fantasy Fodder:
Cincinnati
Drew Stubbs 0-for-5, 3K's
Yonder Alonzo 2-for-4, 1R
Jose Arredondo Zero IP, 1ER, 1H, 2BB's

Chicago
Starlin Castro 3-for-4, 2R's,
Tony Campana 3-for-5, 1st HR, 2 RBI's, 1R
Kerry Wood 1IP, 1ER, 2H's, 3K's

Notes:
Chris Heisey strained his left oblique during batting practice and was held out of the line-up. He did come in as pinch-runner later in the game.
After starting the season 25-17, the defending NL Central champion Reds are just 29-41.
Joey Votto's 9 game hitting streak came to an end. He did walk twice.

What's Up? My Fantasy Hockey Season Revisited

Wow. I was really looking forward to the 2010-11 NHL season. Being the upbeat, carefree fellow I am, I have never felt so much unbridled enthusiasm going into my ultra, high-mega stakes fantasy league. After all, how could I not have the utmost optimism after heeding the advice of gurus such as Barry Melrose and the rest of the sagacious ESPN staff.

Forget about the caveats of the Fantasy Hockey Scouts stressing the high risks of drafting Marc Savard, Sheldon Souray, Sergei Gonchar, and Matthew Lombardi, or their major concerns about the Florida Panthers Shawn Matthias and Rostislav Olesz. And why their worries about selecting Michael Leighton as a number one goalie? No, armed and ready to go with the profound wisdom of the omnipotent ESPN pundits, I insouciantly, but confidently, select not only one, but all of the above in the first ten rounds of my draft. Drafting Zach Parise and Mark Streit not only further cements my lock on a league championship, it also secures a huge return on investment on the ten thousand dollars I put up to enter my team.........

Only two weeks into the season, my wife started to question me about my irascibility and the physical ailments she had never seen before. She demanded that I find the root cause of these problems and resolve them immediately.

It took little time to realize that Streit's season ending injury was the cause of my dyspepsia. When Parise was lost for the year after playing only 12 games, the problem was only further exacerbated. Knowing that Leighton and Souray were unlikely to see the ice at all this season precipitated a serious wave of migraine headaches. The other failed draft choices have certainly contributed to my recent bouts of tremors, irritability, and anxiety. I am now desperately seeking for an elixir to ameliorate these symptoms

With my marriage on the rocks and addled with these debilitating maladies, I contemplate my physician’s recommendation to prescribe an antidepressant. But being afraid of any potential side effects, I have decided to take a more holistic approach. I follow producer and song writer Linda Perry’s cue:

And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed, just to get it all out

What’s in my head, but I’m feeling a little peculiar

And so I wake in the morning and I

Step outside and I take a deep breath and get real high

And I scream from the top of my lungs, what’s going on?

Let's hope I don't wake the neighbors.

Trevor Bayne- Wins Daytona 500

Prior to this race season, I was a very casual observer of NASCAR. That changed on Christmas Eve when our venerable master of The Awesome Race Fans blog, Vinny, twittered race fans about his newly created forum. Fortunately, I saw the message and followed his Twitter link to this site. As you can see, the forum has a section designated for individual drivers (which Vinny just recently expanded) where readers can keep apprised of the latest news and make comment. Listed is Trevor Bayne and the remark that Vinny so appropriately left, "up and coming driver."

Well everybody he’s arrived. I posted his post-race comments after the Nationwide DriveforCOPD 300 yesterday, and remarked how impressed I was with him. The youngster exudes confidence without being arrogant. I think we are looking at a potential superstar in the making. He is the type of driver that will undoubtedly inject the excitement that NASCAR so dearly needs.

My congratulations to Trevor Bayne and the Woods Brother team. Kudos.

Another Hockey Link - February 13, 2011

TSN - Cullen: Forsberg's Return Presents Rare Opportunity - by Scott Cullen

After weeks of anticipation, primarily from the media, Peter Forsberg officially signed a one-year/$1 million dollar contract with the Colorado Avalanche. He had been practicing with the team since late January, and thus he was close to game shape at the time of his signing. But his season debut was delayed because of immigration issues; he had to leave the United States to obtain his work visa. Finally, Forsberg took to the ice on Friday in Columbus, his first NHL action since the 2007-08 season.

So what does this all mean to us, the owners and general managers of our all-important fantasy hockey teams? Scott acknowledges Foppa's chronic foot and ankle problems. He acknowledges that the future hall-of-famer has not played in more than 60 games since the 2002-03 season (quickly...who won the Stanley Cup back then? No googling, please!). But he also acknowledges that Peter Mueller's concussion and Tomas Fleischmann's season-ending blood-clotting ailment have left the Avalanche thin at forward. With David Jones and Kevin Porter now forced to skate in top six roles, certainly, according to Scott, a questionable Forsberg is an "upgrade" over both.

But unfortunately, Scott falls short in his assumptions, which are little more than blind leaps of faith. For instance, Scott asserts, " If we accept that injury is always going to be a major risk that could undermine [his] effort, it's worth at least taking a moment to assume that Forsberg can remain relatively healthy and maybe play 25 of Colorado's remaining 30 games." Huh? Granted, Foppa skated in 23 games for Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik in Sweden last year. But in the past four years he has played in a total of only 52 regular season games. To blithely assume that he will now be able to play in 25 of 30 remaining NHL games is well.......

Let's take a brief walk down memory lane, thanks to Rotowire, to determine Forsberg's durability:

March 8, 2008 - Forsberg missed Sunday's game with a groin injury sustained in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Dallas, and is listed as day-to-day.
March 10, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) isn't expected to be sidelined for too long but may not be ready to play on Tuesday.
March 11, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) will likely test his groin out at the morning skate before deciding on his status for Tuesday night, and later that day, Forsberg (groin) will not play on Tuesday and remains day-to-day.
March 13, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) will not play on Tuesday and remains day-to-day, and later that day, Forsberg (groin) will not play Thursday night.
March 14, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) was able to practice on Friday. That's the good news, the bad being that he's still doubtful for the Avs' tilt against the Devils on Saturday.
March 16, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) was unable to play on Saturday but did manage to skate before the game.
March 20, 2008 - Forsberg (groin) didn't practice on Wednesday and is listed as probable for Thursday's game, and later that day, Forsberg (groin) did not play Thursday night against Calgary.
March 22, 2008 -Forsberg (groin) practiced on Friday but is still listed as questionable for Saturday, and later Forsberg (groin) did not play Saturday in the loss to Edmonton.

Scroll through Rotowire's last few years of Fosberg's playing history, and you will find its lietmotif to be that he was able to practice, but he did not play. Unless Foppa's at 100-percent, do not expect to see him at game time. It is enough of a headache to roster a player like this in a daily league. In a weekly league, it is downright untenable.

Scott asks, "So, while it's asking a lot for Forsberg to return and become an impact player in the NHL again, isn't it at least possible that a player who averaged 1.25 points per game in the first 706 games of his NHL career has enough skill and savvy that he can make up for the lost production of Tomas Fleischmann?" First of all, Fleischmann had 21 points (8 goals and 13 assists) in 22 games with Colorado before his season ended. Forsberg has zero points and is minus-four in his first two games back. So yes, while it's possible, it won't be easy. Second, other than his truncated 2007-08 season where he had 14 points (1 goal and 13 assists) in 9 regular season games, Foppa has not averaged a point-per-game since the 2005-06 season.

Scott concludes his article with this:

"For fantasy owners, it's so unusual to have access to a player with point-per-game potential on the waiver wire at this point in the season that Forsberg's upside is well worth using top waiver priority or a significant portion of your remaining waiver budget. The cynic will note that he's more even more [sic] valuable if your league has an IR spot that you can stash him if his foot problems return."

Even if an IR spot was available, I would not roster Forsberg at this time for the aforementioned reasons. Scott, please, I ask you, if you were in a weekly money league (we at FHS, of course, would never advocate such a thing) would you truly use a significant portion of your remaining FAAB on Forsberg? If so, please sign me up for your league next year.

2011 Budweiser Shootout

Last night's Budweiser Shootout offered its elements of excitement: A controversial finish resulting in Denny Hamlin's disqualification; multiple minor wrecks; high speeds. But what about the competitive racing itself. Except for the four-car pack at the end the race, we saw 75 laps of what is being described as Noah's Arc 2x2 racing. Is this what we will be watching for the entirety of the Daytona 500? Should NASCAR make changes prior to next Sunday's race?
Vinny describes last night's shootout as "it was like we were racing in the Bermuda Triangle or something." Matt Weaver over at NASCAR Ranting and Raving feels "The two-car sets completely eliminate the white-knuckle visual of pack racing while the promise of 205 mph delivered nothing in regards to competition. The Shootout amounted to Merry-Go-Round lead swapping until the last lap."

We at Awesome Race Fans and The Rambling Fink would like to know your reaction to the Shootout and what it means to this week's upcoming Daytona 500.

Danica Looking to Improve

Both Danica Patrick's IndyCar and NASCAR contracts expire at the end of the 2011 season. However, she will not set any deadline to determine which circuit she will pursue in 2012. She is only focused on her performance on the track. Last season she finished in the top 20 only once in the 13 Nationwide races she ran. It occurred in her last race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway where she placed 19th, and the only race where she finished on the lead lap. It was also here where she became only the second woman in Nationwide Series' history to lead a lap. But Danica feels she gained invaluable experience in handling stock cars, and is only looking to improve and finally pay dividends for her JR Motorsports team.

Bob Pockrass writes a great piece about Danica's upcoming season in SceneDaily.com. You can read it at http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/nationwideseries/Danica_Patrick_worried_about_improvement_on_the_track_not_2012_contract.html.