Josh Womack Has Crazy Bat Skills

This bat trick is bat shit crazy.

How Dusty Got His Groove Back

Meet Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker. You remember Baker, don’t you? He was the man who was unceremoniously run out of Chicago for ruining the Cubs? He was the man who was replaced by a bigger and better savior Lou Piniella? He was the man who went into hiding in Cincinnati?

Now Dusty Baker is the man who is about 20 games away from bringing a division title to the Cincinnati Reds for the first time in over a decade. So what happened to Dusty? How did he become a good manager again? How did he figure out how to get his teams to win?

The fact is Dusty hasn’t changed at all. He’s still laid back. He still uses “dude” all the time. He is still conversational with wristbands on and a toothpick in his mouth. He is still the same guy who won Manager of The Year honors 3 different times, including with the Cubs. Dusty Baker is still a good manager.

So what went wrong in Chicago? Why was Dusty ousted? Dusty was the victim of what everyone manager in baseball is the victim of at some point or another: expectations. Dusty in Chicago was let go not because they didn’t win, but rather because they were expected to win and they didn’t.

While GM’s are judged on progress and players on potential, managers are judged solely on results and it’s the reason why when they fall to meet expectations, they are forced to be held accountable for it when it is least often their fault.

Look at Dusty’s tenure in Chicago. In 2003 he takes them within 6 outs of their first World Series appearance since 1945, a feat Lou Piniella would never come close to replicating. By 2006 he was struggling to bring the Cubs to a 66-96 record. What was the difference in that time? Two names: Prior and Wood. He had these studs in 2003 but by 2006 they were non factors. Take the top two aces of a pitching staff and see just how much the record changes.

Let us not forget that the 2003 Cubs also had a prolific hitter in Sammy Sosa who shriveled up and faded fast in the coming years and by 2006 was not even a plaque on the stadium walls. Those the most productive hitter of his generation and see how much the record changes.

But this is what we do in sports, we hire managers to fire them. They get praised when things go right and vilified when they don’t. Dusty’s laid back demeanor was a “calming influence” in 2003 and by 2006 it was that Dusty didn’t care. The thing that changed was the players, the thing that always changes and always matters. It’s the reason why Jack Mackeon was a genius in 2003 but was never that smart again.

Certainly that doesn’t mean managers don’t matter. Some managers are better than others. Managers like Mike Scioscia seem to get the most out of their players and keep a team competitive. Managers like Joe Torre aren’t the best strategists but are great at managing egos. But remember: that same Joe Torre that will be enshrined in Cooperstown someday for his 4 rings is the same Joe Torre that got fired from Kansas City for not being what they hoped he’d be. And I do personally think Dusty is better suited for situations where he has less pressure. San Francisco and Cincinnati had no expectations when he got there and the Cubs had slightly more than those teams.

But don’t ever let the job Baker is doing surprise anyone. The fact is he has always been a good manager he just needed players to give him a hand. Trust me…it’s a theme in baseball.

MLB Divisional and Wildcard Standings

AL EAST
NY Yankees
82 50 .618 -
Tampa Bay
81 51 .618 1

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota
75 56 .573 -
Chicago Sox
72 60 .538 3.5

AL WEST
Texas
74 58 .565 -
Oakland
65 66 .500 8.5

NL EAST
Atlanta
77 55 .580 -
Philadelphia
74 58 .562 3.0

NL CENTRAL
Cincinnati
77 55 .580 -
St. Louis
69 61 .535 7

NL WEST
San Diego
76 55 .589 -
San Francisco
73 60 .550 4
Colorado
69 62 .527 7

WILD CARD STANDINGS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay*
81 50 .618 -

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia
74 58 .561 -
San Francisco
73 60 .549 1.5
St. Louis
69 61 .531 4.0
Colorado
69 62 .527 4.5
LA Dodgers
68 65 .511 6.5

MLB Power Rankings August 30th

The baseball season is winding down but the playoff races are heating up. The Rays have caught the Yankees atop the AL East after taking two from the Red Sox. The NL Wild Card Race is up for grabs as the Phillies, Giants, Cardinals and Rockies are separated by only 4.5 games.

As September creeps upon us this week, there is plenty of baseball to be played with five of the six divisions still with interesting races. (the Rangers are a lock to win the AL West, sitting 7.5 games in front of the lowly A’s) The way I see it, there are 14 teams with a shot at the playoffs, slim as some of them may be. I’m looking at you, Red Sox and Dodgers.

So, here is how I see things as we close out August. (Teams 15-30 are just for fun.)

1. New York Yankees (80-50) – The Yankees are 15-2 in CC Sabathia’s last 17 starts. Andy Pettitte and his 11-2 record and 2.88 ERA should return from the DL in mid-September.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (80-50) – Series wins over the Angels and Red Sox have catapulted the Rays into a tie with the Yankees for best record in all of baseball. Closer Rafael Soriano has converted a league-leading 39 of 41 save opportunities and will be a huge asset down the stretch.

3. Texas Rangers (73-57) – Took three of four games from the Twins last week and have a 7.5 game lead in the AL West. Josh Hamilton is batting .383 since the All-Star break.

4. Cincinnati Reds (75-55) – Gave up 38 runs in a three game series to the Giants last week but they currently lead the NL averaging 5 runs a game. Their 5 game lead over the Cardinals looks pretty solid.

5. San Diego Padres (76-53) – Their 38-27 road record is best in the NL. Second year pitcher Mat Latos has been a nice surprise (13-5, 2.29 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 150 K).

6. Minnesota Twins (75-56) – If Justin Morneau comes back, the Twins should have be able to hold off the White Sox in the AL Central. Delmon Young is having a career year with 16 HR, 91 RBI and .308 AVG.

7. Philadelphia Phillies (73-57) – Swept three from the Padres after losing four to the Astros. Starter Roy Oswalt, who is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA since coming to the Phillies, will be key for holding onto their Wild Card lead.

8. Atlanta Braves (75-55) – The Braves were swept by the Rockies last week but still hold a two game lead over Philadelphia in the NL East. Tim Hudson is making a strong push as a contender for the Cy Young (6-1, 2.13 ERA since the All-Star break).

9. San Francisco Giants (72-59) – The Giants are 1.5 games back in the wild card and play their division rivals, the Rockies and Dodgers this week. They have a chance to gain some ground if Tim Lincecum can get out of the August funk he has been in (0-5, 7.82 ERA, 1.82 WHIP).

10. Boston Red Sox (74-57) – The Sox sit 6.5 games behind the Yankees and Rays but have 9 games left against them. Victor Martinez was 8-13 with 4 R and 3 RBI in the series against the Rays this weekend. The Sox will need everyone to step up if they want to make the playoffs.

11. St. Louis Cardinals (69-59) – When Albert Pujols (35 HR, 95 RBI, .320 AVG) is on your team, anything is possible. Adam Wainwright has a shot at the pitching triple crown (T1 in wins, 4th in ERA, 5th in K’s).

12. Chicago White Sox (70-60) – They just got Manny Ramirez who has 29 career post-season HRs but their bullpen may prevent them from even making the playoffs. Can Manager Ozzie Guillen whip this team into shape like he did in ’05?

13. Colorado Rockies (68-61) – Ubaldo Jimenez is pitching out of his mind this year but has come back down to earth a little lately. If he can keep up his pace, you know they will have plenty of offense up in the thin air of Denver.

14. Los Angeles Dodgers (67-64) – No more Manny and his September heroics. They are 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL Wild Card. If SS Rafael Furcal can return from injury soon, it could give them a shot.

15. Toronto Blue Jays (68-62) – Jose Batista is really good (42 HR, 99 RBI). It’s too bad that the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox are also in the NL East. Better luck next year.

16. Detroit Tigers (65-66) – Miguel Cabrera is glad he got out of Florida and he’s having an insane year. I hope he didn’t sell his house down there because Detroit winters are long and cold when your team doesn’t win.

17. Oakland Athletics (65-64) – The A’s are one game above .500 and one of their pitcher’s threw a perfect game. That’s about all you can say because the Rangers have the division pretty much wrapped up.

18. Florida Marlins (65-64) – The Marlins can look forward watching LeBron James playing for the Heat. I just hope they aren’t scared by crowds of more than 5,000 people. I know they aren’t used to that.

19. New York Mets (65-65) – Start spreading the news, 2010 has been a big disappointment.

20. Los Angeles Angels (63-68) – They were just swept by the Orioles and scored 1 run in the three game series. C Mike Napoli leads the team in HRs with 21. Mike who?

21. Milwaukee Brewers (62-68) – Wisconsin is a great place to fish so maybe their entire pitching staff needs to put down the fishing poles and learn how to throw a curveball. They have a combined 4.91 ERA.

22. Kansas City Royals (55-75) – If they keep up the pace they are at, they won’t finish in last place in the NL Central for the third consecutive year (they finished in last place from 04-07). Yay, Royals!

23. Houston Astros (59-71) – They’ve won 6 of their last 8 games, which is good. They no longer have Roy Oswalt (see Phillies above), which is bad. Rookie 3B Chris Johnson is batting .329 with 6 HR, 36 RBI in 64 games. (I thought I would end on a good note since their season won’t.)

24. Chicago Cubs (55-76) – They swept the Washington Nationals last week but are still only 9-18 in August. Now’s a good time to take a look at the young guys and see if any of them want a job next year. There will be plenty of spots to fill.

25. Washington Nationals (56-75) – Adam Dunn is still on the team but would be a lot more valuable somewhere else. Look for this young team to unload anyone with value if they can get something in return.

26. Seattle Mariners (51-79) – They beat the Red Sox once and the Twins once last week. Good job guys, keep it up and you’ll be in the big leagues soon. Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan lead the team with 10 HR.

27. Cleveland Indians (53-77) – See New York Mets and add the loss of LeBron James. It’s going to be a long winter in Cleveland for everyone.

28. Arizona Diamondbacks (52-79) – The Diamondbacks have a lot of young talent led by 3B Mark Reynolds (29 HR, 76 RBI) and Chris Young (22 HR, 78 RBI) but they have a lot of learning to do. At least they have nice weather.

29. Baltimore Orioles (48-83) – Their starting pitchers have a combined 28-64 record. They just swept the Angels, so…well…there’s that.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (43-87) – The Pirates have not finished better than 4th place in the NL Central since 1999. They are on pace to lose 109 games this year. I’ll just stop the bleeding right there.

Breaking News: Manny Ramirez to the White Sox

It looks like Manny Ramirez is headed to the Chicago White Sox. ESPN is reporting that the Dodgers outfielder is going to the Sox on a straight waiver claim which means that for now there is no trade being worked and Manny is simply being picked up by the White Sox. The teams can make a trade for him later but right now a trade is not expected.

Ramirez has spent most of the year on the DL but is going to Chicago in hopes of giving the Sox the offensive boost they need. The Sox went with a smaller lineup and went away from a traditional DH but have had varying results. As the race between the Sox and the Twins seems to get more one-sided in the Twins favor, the Sox are hoping Manny can get back some of the plate prowess so that the Sox can catch the Twins with just about 5 weeks left in the season.

Manny is owed 4 million through this year and is a free agent after this season.

5 Reasons Why Frank Thomas is A First Ballot Hall of Famer

The White Sox did the right thing Sunday and honored the greatest hitter in White Sox history Frank Thomas. Frank Thomas was everything the modern superstar was: selfish, controversial, and larger than life. But Thomas was also something else: the best pure hitter of his generation and a first ballot hall of famer. I’ll explain why.

1. He was clean – This is debatable I’m sure but the fact of the matter is there has never been so much as a whisper about Thomas doping. Canseco, who played with the White Sox for a season, and has been responsible for outing so many people in baseball never accused Thomas of using which should speak volumes. Thomas was always a big kid and his numbers never suggested he was juicing. He once went from 24 to 41 homeruns but his RBI’s only went up 13 in that time. His numbers did what they should have done: they leveled out and stayed consistent until old age and injury caught up with him. Playing in the Steroids era is enough to make everyone take a bigger and closer look.

2. 30/100/100/100 – That’s 30 home runs, 100 runs, 100 RBI and 100 walks. Frank Thomas did it 7 times in his career. Ted Williams did it 6 times. 9 times he hit 30 and drove in 100. Mickey Mantle did it twice. Thomas had 10 season where he hit over .300, the same amount of times Willie Mays did it.

3. .419 On Base Percentage – This is remarkable. His on base percentage ranks 21st all time, 20th if you disregard Barry Bonds inflated numbers. He also ranks 18th on the all time home run list but if you take out the players who were juicing, Thomas would rank 12th. He ranks 22nd on the all-time list in RBI but could rank as high as 18 had it not been for juicing. He’s 10th in walks and he ranks 71st on the all time list for runs scored, not a bad place for a slow moving first baseman.

4. Top 50 War – In his career Frank Thomas was worth 75 more wins than your average replacement. That’s good enough for 42nd all time. He’s 39th all time in total bases ahead of Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente. He ranks 24 all time in slugging percentage. And he ranks 15 all time in on-base plus slugging. His career numbers compare to that of Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle, two no doubt about it hall of famers.

5. Forget the Field – There is no need to concern yourself with the fact that Frank didn’t field his position. We measure greatness by awards so is it important the he play the position or play it well. Assuming Manny Ramirez had been clean would his hall candidacy be more legit than Thomas because he was a defensive liability but at least he played? Most guys who can hit are barely asked to play their position. Sure, Gold Gloves help. Junior has 10, Torii Hunter has 9, Maddux has over 12 but when it comes down to it you shouldn’t have to have one to get in. If the DH isn’t a real position than it should be eliminated but you shouldn’t ask someone to do it and then not acknowledge how great they were at it.

Best Rain Delay Ever!!!!

They don’t do rain delay’s like this in the majors.

Superman Leap at Home Plate…Amazing!!!!!!!!!

What a leap to get home!!!!!!!!! Watch this!

Breaking News: Strasburg to Have Tommy John Surgery

Several Media Outlets today are reporting that Washington Nationals pitching prodigy Stephen Strasburg will undergo Tommy John surgery. The phenom was shut down last week with a strain in his forearm. After a battery of tests it was determined that Strasburg is going to need surgery.

Strasburg was 5-3 with a 2.91 in 68 innings for the Nationals. He was a tremendous boost to attendance both at home and on the road and was signed to a big contract with hopes he would become the Nationals ace for years to come. This is a sad for the Nationals and for baseball.

It is expected that the surgery will be soon but the world won’t get a chance to see Strasburg until 2012. While many pitchers have come back from Tommy John surgery the fear is that he won’t be the dominant pitcher he once was. But only time will tell for that. The Dugout Doctors has more on the Strasburg Situation

Is Strasburg the Next Mark Prior?

I don’t particularly remember the first time I heard it. It could have been right before the draft or right before his professional debut or right before his call to the big leagues. I only remember people talking about how similar Stephen Strasburg and Mark Prior were.

For those of you who don’t remember, Prior was a super-hyped prospect heading into the 2001 draft. He was the winner of the Dick Howser trophy while pitching at USC. Although Prior was considered the best prospect in the draft, he fell to the Cubs at number two because the Twins were uncertain if they would be able to sign him.

After dominating in the minors during the early months of the 2002 season, Prior made his way to Chicago where he quickly showed why so much praise was heaped upon him. Although his record was just 6-6, Prior posted a tidy 3.32 ERA and struck out 11.3 batters per nine innings.

In 2003, Prior dominated the league. He notched a 2.43 ERA and continued to strike batters out at a prolific rate. He finished third in the Cy Young race but also suffered the first injury of his MLB career. Even though Prior showed so much promise, it appears that 2003 was the beginning of the end for him.

Prior missed the first couple months of 2004 with an injured Achilles tendon. Then he missed time again in 2005 he missed time after being struck by a ball of the bat of Brad Hawpe. Prior then made only nine starts in 2006, and hasn’t pitched in the majors since.

There are many similarities between Prior and Strasburg. The pair of star pitchers are from San Diego, CA and share similar builds (Prior is an inch taller and listed at five pounds heavier). Both won the Dick Howser trophy during their final collegiate season and were in the majors less than a year after signing.

The most startling similarity however, may be what White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper calls “upside-down arm action.” Also called an “upside down W” because of the way the arms are angled while a pitch is being delivered, the arm action makes Strasburg (like Prior before him) more prone to injuries.

I’m not saying that Strasburg is a certain bet to become the next Mark Prior. While there are many similarities, there are also differences. Strasburg’s delivery isn’t quite as bad as Prior’s, and if you look back, some of Prior’s injury’s (collision with Marcus Giles, struck by batted ball) can be blamed more on luck than his pitching mechanics.

With two trips to the DL already in his rookie season, it’s hard to tell if Strasburg will ever live up to the tremendous hype placed upon him. One thing is for sure: Strasburg is a special talent. With two injuries already and a delivery that hints more might be coming, be sure to catch him while you can.

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