Archive for May, 2010

Bob Breitbard and the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park

I was very happy to know Mr. B. and was honored that he liked my baseball card pictures enough to want some of them to hang in his museum.  We sat together and talked about the Padres pieces (he was friends with Tony Gwynn, too) and he loved talking about the Red Sox jersey that [...]

The 411 on Baseball Prospectus’ Top 20 Prospects: #’s 1-10

Image by SD Dirk via Flickr The following list of players are from Baseball Prospectus’ top 101 prospects that have already joined the MLB club: ranked # 34 – Wade Davis SP with the Rays,  # 37 – Starlin Castro SS with the Cubs, # 49 – Austin Jackson OF with the Tigers, # 57 [...]

New Stadium: The Corn Crib, Normal, IL (Frontier League)

This press release (and pictures) were provided by Jonathan Cole of Pendulum Studio Summary: The Corn Crib is located approximately two hours southwest of Chicago in Normal, IL on a 22-acre portion of the Heartland Community College campus.  The Normal Cornbelters, a Frontier League professional baseball team, and the Heartland Community college Athletic program consisting [...]

Top 5 Fantasy Surprises So Far in 2010: Pitchers

*These stats are as of 5/26/2010. The stats next to their names are W-L/SO/ERA/WHIP. These pitchers are the biggest surprises of the season so far… 5. Tyler Clippard, RP of the Washington Nationals 7-3/33/2.12/1.15 with 10 holds For a bullpen guy to have a 7-3 record so quickly into the season is unusual at best. [...]

Baseball News, Tweets & More

Image by mikeleeorg via Flickr Tuesday Afternoon Edition First, for those of you who like this segment of the site, please let your voice be heard or else this will probably be one of the last posts of this kind. @ MLB_Monster: Brian McNamee arrives at courthouse to testify before grand jury in Roger Clemens [...]

Nyjer Morgan’s Temper Tantrum Causes a HR

With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the 4th, with a man on third base and in our nation’s capital, Nats CF Nyjer Morgan‘s temper got the best of him when he miss played an Adam Jones (Orioles CF) hit up against the CF wall. Nyjer Morgan’s temper tantrum allowed Jones to get [...]

Fantasy Baseball Insiders: Buy Or Sell? Pitchers Edition

Image by John McNab via Flickr Nearly seven weeks have passed since the 2010 fantasy baseball season began, and now is the time to start making crucial decisions about your team. With young guns such as David Price and Francisco Liriano living up to recent hype, it’s not always easy to tell which of these hurlers has enough [...]

DRSEA INFORMER: Volume III, Issue 8

High Noon In Santo Domingo – Remember those great Westerns where the townspeople bring in a hired gun – even pinning a badge to his chest – to clean up their lawless society? Sandy Alderson, baseball’s new sheriff in the Dominican Republic, has taken recent steps to address the corruption that has undermined the integrity [...]

Top 5 Fantasy Surprises So Far in 2010: Hitters

*These stats are as of 5/20/2010. The stats next to their names are R/HR/RBI/SB/BA. These players are the biggest offensive surprises of the season so far… 5. Paul Konerko 1B of the Chicago White Sox is hitting 21/14/30/0/.262 Image by Getty Images via @daylife Konerko is leading the all of baseball with his 14 HRs [...]

The Braves’ Improbable Comeback

A pinch hit, walk-off grand-slam capped a 7 run 9th inning for the Braves as they beat the Reds 10 – 9. How improbable was the Braves 6 run comeback Thursday night?  Lance Nix of the Reds couldn’t believe it. Brooks Conrad – who hit the home run – couldn’t believe it.  Besides it being [...]

The Giants So Far in May And More…

Well it is now the middle of May, and the baseball season is starting to pick up steam. I am still trying to figure out this Giants team. They are now 1-6 against the Padres, thanks to last night’s win against them, 7-6, in 12 innings, and they are 6-0 against the Astros. Now, I [...]

Hit a HR With These Five Kid-Friendly Baseball Films

Cover of The Sandlot Teaching kids about baseball can help mold lifelong fans of the game and it’s a wonderful experience to share with them. The allure of the game is fresh in their eyes and kids cheer with uninhibited enthusiasm, something I adore to see come from my six-year-old niece after I mention how [...]

My Recent Appearance on Pro Rumors TV

As some of you already know, I was asked over the weekend to be a guest on the up & coming webcast, Pro Rumors TV with hosts Allan and Ted (a Yankees fan). This was my second time on the show with them. The first time I just called in not knowing this was a [...]

What Can the Astros Expect in a Trade?

Okay, so the two guys who are likely to be moved are obviously Berkman and Oswalt. Oswalt has the highest trade value, since he’s been whining over the last month or so, and is more motivated to apparently get out of dodge. Citizen Spruce asked the following question: All right, Constable, a question for you: [...]

Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Inbox: Week 7 Spot-Starters: Mike Leake, Ben Sheets, Derek Holland or Jhoulys Chacin?

Continuing our mailbox segment properly titled Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Inbox, our Insider will answer a question posed by one of our loyal readers.

This week’s question: Looking ahead to week seven, who is the best option among the following starting pitchers? Mike Leake, (who I currently own) Ben Sheets, Derek Holland or Jhoulys Chacin?

Listen to Me Tonight on Pro Rumors TV

At the last minute (ok, it was really yesterday morning) I was asked to fill in as a  guest on Pro Rumors TV tonight at 7:30pm PST (10:30pm EST). To listen to us live, please go to www.prorumors.com We’ll be talking Red Sox/Yankees & the AL East and if we get past that, anything is [...]

The Eclectic Flavors of BallPark Food in Japan

Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some squid legs and takoyaki. When we see the Carp, we’ll have okonomiyaki. Squid legs? Tako what? What about peanuts and Cracker Jack? We’re talking baseball, but Japanese baseball, and the food at ballparks in Japan is a force to be [...]

A Red Sox April to Forget: 2010

Their Record: Broken Down Overall: 11-13 1-Run Games: 6-4 2-Run Games: 3-4 3-Run Games: 1-2 4+Run Games: 1-3 Shutouts: 1-2 Their Injuries The injuries to outfielders Jacoby “The Human Spark Plug” Ellsbury (see post about his Charity Wine, Zinfindellsbury) and Mike Cameron have hurt both defensively and offensively despite the fill-in work of McDonald and [...]

AL East – Who are the Pretenders and Contenders

Right now we are just about six weeks into the 2010 Major League Baseball Season, and the AL East is looking like the strongest of the American League. With both the Rays and Yankees off to fast starts, it is looking like a two team race. As the cool days of Spring move into the [...]

2010 Red Sox Charity Wines Launch Party

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch party of Zinfandellsbury (a Red Zinfandel from Ellsbury) and Chardon-K (a Chardonnay from Beckett) which are charity wines from Longball Cellars. If you are not familiar with the Red Sox charity wines the players do not profit a single dime; rather, 100% of their [...]

What People Are Saying About Braden’s Perfect Mother’s Day

A Memorable Mother’s Day 2010 As a reminder, Dallas Braden did this against the major league’s hottest team, the Tampa Bay Rays who hold the best record in all of baseball at this point in the season! Here’s what former A’s teammate Dana Eveland had to say about his friend’s perfect game, “I got to [...]

What’s Wrong With Josh Beckett?

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett got rocked—again—Friday night, allowing nine earned runs in 5 1/3 innings to the Yankees, marking the third time he’s given up seven earned runs or more in a start this season.

From The HOVG: Talkin’ Baseball with Gary Carter

Editor’s Note: This interview is being republished here with the permission of Shawn Anderson at the hall of Very Good. At 15-13 on May 7, this is the latest in a season that the Washington Nationals have been above .500 since their inaugural season in 2005 when they were 17-13 on the same date. By [...]

Some Thoughts on the Brewers’ April

Well, we’ve got one month of play under our belts, time to check in on how the Brewers did. What Went Right: The list in this area is smaller than I would like it to be. As always, the Brewers have shown they have the potential to pile up runs at will (as evidenced by [...]

A Review of Hawk’s Nest Publishing’s Red Sox Coloring & Activity Book

Once I connected with the artist behind these books (on the Red Sox and other MLB teams), Peg Connery-Boyd, on LinkedIn I asked to do a review of them here on Baseball Reflections not only did she say YES, but when she found out I had a few kids (six to be exact) she sent [...]

2010 Projections: Why You Should Buy Low on Phillies’ Pitcher Cole Hamels

After Tuesday night’s gem against St. Louis, Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels lowered his season ERA to a less than desirable 4.42. His stellar 44/12 K/BB ratio and 2.79 BB/9, however, suggests more success is on the horizon…

A Woeful April for the Dodgers in 2010

The Dodgers will have a lot of questions to answer at the end of the 2010 season. Among them are: What to do with the pitching staff; whether some of the guys in the bullpen are the guys they want; whether age (Casey Blake) and lack of power (James Loney) are the answers at the [...]

The SF Giants’ April of 2010

Well, the month of April is done. I love the beginning of baseball season, it is full with so much hope, that is unless your team is sadly foundering. In that case, it is the beginning of a very long season with very little hope other than for a high draft pick. However, with baseball [...]

Guest Appearance on BBA Baseball Talk on Blog Talk Radio

Image via CrunchBase When: Tuesday, May 4th. at 10:30pm EST Where: online at Blog Talk Radio Duration: 1 hour The writers of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance have taken to the airwaves since Tuesday, February 16th (usually at 11 pm EST). The show is called BBA Baseball Talk and it can be found at Blog Talk Radio.  This [...]

Prospect Report: Does Texas Rangers’ Justin Smoak Have Fantasy Value in 2010?

In one of the most anticipated roster moves of 2010, the Texas Rangers promoted highly-touted prospect Justin Smoak last Friday. In 10 games since being called up, the switch-hitting first baseman is 5-for-30 with five runs, one HR and four RBI. He does, however, have eight walks…