All Entries Tagged With: "Central"
A last look at the Brewers ‘09: A first look at what’s next
September General Overview:
September Record 13-15
Season Record 77-81 (with 4 games to go)
The Brewers came into September clearly outside of playoff contention. However, they did have a couple opportunities to impact the Wild Card chase as they had a couple of the front-runners on the schedule in September. In their first chance, they lost 2 of [...]
Royals Are Laughingstocks Once More
When Dayton Moore was hired as general manager and David Glass decided it was okay to spend a little money, most of us were sure that the Royals were on the road back to respectability.
Bolstered by a better than it really was September, the Royals won more games in 2008 than they had since 2003 [...]
The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
On the morning of August 1, the St. Louis Cardinals awoke to find themselves clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central. While there had been a boost of energy and enthusiasm following the deal for Matt Holliday and, to a lesser extent, Julio Lugo, the Cards still had their hands full with the [...]
As the Cubs Roll Into August…
July turns to August and finds the Chicago Cubs still in the NL Central hunt. Nevertheless, they didn’t look like a contending team as the trading deadline neared, making a nominal move for minimal help which may actually hurt the team this season.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
In a month in which Roy Halladay’s [...]
McClendon Not the Problem with Tigers Offense
In case you missed it, Kurt Menshing over at Mack Avenue Tigers examined the thought that many (myself included) have had that Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon should be fired.
When you take a peek at the poor offensive statistics that the Tigers have posted as a team this year, it would easy to have the [...]
A Starry July in St. Louis
A lot of All-Stars came to St. Louis this month for a visit. Then the Cards made sure some came to stay.
The early part of the month was dominated, in Cardinal talk, by the MLB All-Star Game, which was held in Busch Stadium on July 14. All the hype, all the hoopla, all the surrounding [...]
Reflections on the Brewers at the Trade Deadline
The Milwaukee Brewers are in a precarious situation. A team that was built from the inside with three-fourths of an infield (Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy), a pair of slugging corner outfielders (Ryan Braun, Corey Hart) and an ace in the making (Yovani Gallardo), is now being looked at as thin when it comes [...]
Cubs Reflections on Being in First Place
Despite all my nay-saying and doom-daying, the Chicago Cubs woke up on July 27th and found themselves in first place in the NL Central. Outside of any performance by the Cubs, here are five reasons which this has happened:
5. The St. Louis Cardinals have no hitting. A month into the season, the Cardinals looked [...]
A Royal Thirty Days of Stink
There were once high hopes for the Kansas City Royals, but no longer. While the problems plaguing the Royals began even as they raced out of the 2009 starting gate to an 18-11 record and three game Central Division lead, the last thirty days provide a perfect illustration of the state of this franchise.
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Yesterday, Buehrle Was Perfect!
Image via Wikipedia
Mark Buehrle led the White Sox to victory in grand fashion today, by tossing a perfect game, and his second career no-hitter. His first came on April 18th, 2007, also at U.S. Comiscular Field. This is only the 18th perfect game in MLB history, Randy Johnson being the last to do so in [...]
Astros Attendance By the Numbers
Image via Wikipedia
So we briefly touched on this a while back at Astros County, but I thought…off day and all, we can revisit it a little more closely (editor’s note: this was written during the All Star Break). This is the issue of attendance among MLB teams, specifically the Astros, from 2008 to 2009. And [...]
Tigers Still looking for Bats
Image by mwlguide via Flickr
As the All-Star break draws near, many teams around the league are looking for upgrades. Your Motor City Kitties are no exception. The Tigers need for a another bat has been well chronicled, and many names have been tossed around the blogosphere. Unfortunately, the Tigers failed to pounce on the one [...]
The Cardinals, On The Run and the Number 6
In Cardinal Nation, we know that six is a serious number. The local On The Run Mobile gas stations have had a promotion the past few years that, if the Cardinals scored six runs or more in a game, the next day fountain drinks, coffee, etc. was only a quarter at their stores. This year, [...]
The Pendulum Continues To Swing in St. Louis
Joe Morgan would have put the Cardinals on his bad list in June, because they’ve been pretty inconsistent during the month. A pitching staff that is lit up against the Rockies early in the month settles down to some better pitched games, with hiccups along the way. An offense maligned as inept is able to [...]
Royals Showcase Textbook Bad Baseball
When I last reported on the Royals, the team was sitting just one game out of first place in the American League Central with a respectable 20-18 record. Sure, Kansas City had dropped seven of their last nine games to get to that mark, but all was still well in the land of blue. [...]
Why The Trade Deadline May Be Disappointing For Tigers Fans
With just about six weeks remaining until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline the Detroit Tigers find themselves in first place in the AL Central, albeit with some gaping holes in their roster. Through ineffectiveness or injury the Tigers are struggling to fill the bottom two spots in the starting rotation, are platooning various youngsters in the outfield [...]
Ryan Hanigan: From Rollins College to the Cincinnati Reds
When the Rollins College baseball team hosted the Cincinnati Reds for a spring training exhibition in 2001, no one could have anticipated that one of the Tars would some day be living the big-league dream as a key member of the Reds. But fast-forward ahead eight years and sure enough in 2009 former Rollins standout [...]
Detroit Tigers June Splits
Every season is a different season, however there are trends in baseball. So today we’ll take a look at the career split stats for the current group of Detroit Tigers for the month of June and see at least on some level, what we might expect.
Let’s start with the hitters. As you would expect Magglio [...]
Reds at 50 (well, 48)
The Reds sit at 26-22 on the last day of May, just 2.5 games out of first place. This should be a familiar record for the Reds this season. With their brand of strong starting pitching, team speed, and improved defense, this team will be between three and seven games over .500 for most of [...]
The Cubs Are Slumping and on the DL
Over the course of a 162 game season, even the best teams have slumps. Particularly in this era of relatively balanced competition even the perennial division winners – teams like the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Angels – run into rough stretches. But the 2009 Chicago Cubs are currently enduring a slump that even [...]
The Cardinals Flip Flop in May
I don’t watch horror or suspense movies. I’m not big on being scared or losing control of bodily functions. So I can’t say that this season for St. Louis has been like one of those movies from personal experience, but knowing the general formula for a movie of that type, the analogy seems to fit.
Image [...]
Dontrelle Willis Needed This!
He needed to step onto that mound at Comerica Park and feel the evening sun shine upon him, the clouds in retreat, the swirling winds at bay. He needed to kick his right leg high into the air and bring his left arm across his body in perfect plane as the baseball left his fingertips [...]
The Royals Become Relevant
Unless you are a Kansas City Royals fan or a really, really huge baseball fan in general, chances are you have not given the Royals much thought since about 1994. Even during the 2003 campaign, when Kansas City won sixteen of their first nineteen games and hung in the race until late August, they were [...]
Indians After Two Months = Disappointing
While the Cleveland Indians are currently on a winning streak at the time of this writing, it is the first time in nearly a month that they have won at least two games in a row. Even though there were no huge expectations coming into this season like there were in 2008 when many, including [...]
White Sox Reflections 1 ½ Months In
I’ll let Paul Konerko and Ozzie Guillen sum up the White Sox season (15-18) through the halfway point in May.
“We stink.” – Guillen
“We’re just not good right now, that’s it.” – Konerko
That pretty much sums it up, but let’s take a look at why the Sox are struggling so much.
Offense
The offense has struggled mightily [...]
Brewers Solid Through 32 Games
At 18-14, and having won 16 of their last 21 games, the Milwaukee Brewers are quickly making their fans forget about their 3-8 start and have them thinking more about a return trip to the post-season.
While it shouldn’t be overlooked that this team is 11-12 against teams above .500 and is 5-0 against Pittsburgh, the [...]
Why I’m high on this Tigers team
Before the season, I wrote that these Tigers would be a bit of a mystery. We didn’t know what to expect. Unlike the “experts,” I didn’t expect the worst. But other than that, I had no idea what we’d see out of the 2009 Detroit Tigers. Well — and knowing full well the dangers in [...]
The White Sox at Week 2
We are 2 weeks into the season and I find the White Sox right where I expected them: hanging around and in the mix. Power bats are getting them their runs, and their pitching staff has done a good job. In the AL, only Seattle has allowed less runs than the Sox.
For the Sox on [...]
The Cardinals: Two Weeks in April
While it’s not been the Dickensonian “best of times, worst of times” for the St. Louis Cardinals so far this season, 2009 has already had plenty of high points and low points in the first two weeks. The Cardinals sit in a virtual tie for first with the hated Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, [...]
Reds Looking for Results in 2009
After spending the last few years rebuilding their minor league system, the Cincinnati Reds are ready to reap some of the rewards for their efforts in 2009.
Though Cincinnati has not posted a winning record since the 2000 season, there is a renewed sense of optimism in 2009 that the decade of disappointment may finally be [...]
