My First Baseball Game

Inspired by a somewhat recent post at the great Padres blog Ducksnorts, I'd like to write about the first baseball game I remember attending. I remember it mainly because I remember Tony Gwynn nearing 2,000 hits for his career, and there was an outside chance he'd reach that milestone at the game I was at. He needed four to make it. The game was August 6, 1993, and I was five years old. A doubleheader was scheduled, but it was unlikely we'd be able to stay for both games, so we wanted a vintage Gwynn, 4-4 performance in the early game so we could witness history.

Baseball-Reference's box score tells me the game started at 5:06 PM. That seems to match my memory of an evening-ish start; it certainly wasn't a day-night doubleheader. The first game ran a little over three hours, meaning the night game wasn't starting until almost 9. Almost 9 was a little late-ish for 5 year old Ben (er, carl), so the first game of the double-header was all he would see.

My main memories of the game are only of a lot of cheering. I can recall some sense of the Padres' best pitcher throwing for them that night. That was the case, as Andy Benes toed the rubber for the Friars that night. For a long time I would have guessed that Andy Ashby was the starter, so some part of the starting pitcher's identity (namely, his first name) stayed with me. Benes posted a 109 ERA+ in 230 IP that year, good numbers undoubtedly, yet probably not up to the ace level hoped for when the Padres took him with the first overall pick of the 1988 draft.

I think I can remember Tony Gwynn having a good game. The box score certainly confirms this: he was 3-3 on the day with two intentional walks, leaving him one shy of his historic hit at the end of the first game. In the bottom of the first he singled home the first run of the game. Baseball-reference's description of the play has it as a line drive single to short left-center field. It came on the second pitch of the at bat; it was probably one of Gwynn's masterpieces, taking an unhittable pitch on the outside corner and flicking it the other way. He singled again in the third, this time on a line drive to right. He worked the pitcher for five pitches, before getting a good pitch and turning on it to smack it to right (or so I imagine from the box score description). His hit helped fuel a 3 run outburst, putting the Padres up 4-0. He came up again in the fourth with runners on second and third, but the Rockies made the wise decision to intentionally walk him, possibly denying me the opportunity to witness his 2,000 hit later in the game. In the sixth he singled again, knocking the second pitch up middle on the ground. This put runners on first and second with no outs, yet the Padres failed to capitalize, ending the inning up 4-1.

In the top of the seventh, Benes ran into some trouble, giving up a leadoff homer, loading the bases, and giving up one run while recording only one out. In from the bullpen trotted a young, unproven reliever with two career saves to his name, unaccompanied by any peeling bells. Yes, Trevor Hoffman would look to preserve the narrow 4-3 lead in the seventh inning. He struck out his first batter faced, presumably relying upon his fastball in the 90s, his change-up undeveloped until the next year. He induced a groundout from the next batter to end the threat and maintain the lead, and Hoffman was well on the way to the first of 522 saves as a Padre.

The bottom of the seventh brought Gwynn to the plate at 1,999 hits. I can vaguely remember the cheering for Gwynn as he approached the plate for this at bat, followed quickly by disappointment as Gwynn accepted another intentional free pass. If only Don Baylor, the Rockies' manager at the time, has opted to pitch to Tony. If only the previous batter hadn't bunted into a double play, turning runners on first and second into a single runner at second with two outs. If he had just popped out, maybe I could have seen the milestone hit. But it was not to be. Hoffman notched his first save by retiring the Rockies in the 8th and 9th, the lone blemish against him a two out single. The Padres went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th, and Tony would have to wait for later that night to reach his milestone.

In the later game, Gwynn went hitless in his first three plate appearances before singling through the middle in the sixth. It was his mom's 58th birthday, and it was exactly six years before his 3,000 hit in Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

So that's what happened in the first trip to the ballpark I made that I can remember. With such an auspicious beginning, how could I possibly resist becoming a huge baseball fan?

Fantasy Baseball Part III

Well, the baseball season is knocking on the figurative door, spring training games next week, and then it's all a downhill slope on the road to the flatlands of the regular season. And yes, I just used two metaphors in the same sentence. Since we are so close to the start of spring training games and my favorite time of year, fantasy baseball season, I'm going to continue my series of rankings. Last time around, I posted Second Base and Shortstops, and now I'm going to post Third Base, Outfielders, and Designated Hitters. Since this is another relatively long post; I'm once again going to have to omit my tribute to Philadelphia sports and the University of Pittsburgh. Sorry, guys. So without any further ado, here's my continuing fantasy baseball rankings. 

Third Basemen

1. Alex Rodriguez NYY
2. David Wright NYM
3. Miguel Cabrera DET
4. Ryan J. Braun MIL
5. Garrett Atkins COL
6. Aramis Ramirez CHI
7. Chipper Jones ATL
8. Ryan Zimmerman WAS
9. Chone Figgins LAA
10. Alex Gordon KC
11. Adrian Beltre SEA
12. Mike Lowell BOS
13. Josh Fields CHW
14. Hank Blalock TEX
15. Kevin Kouzmanoff SD
16. Mark Reynolds ARI
17. Eric Chavez OAK
18. Troy Glaus STL
19. Edwin Encarnacion CIN
20. Casey Blake CLE
21. Scott Rolen TOR
22. Evan Longoria TB
23. Jose Bautista PIT
24. Melvin Mora BAL
25. Andy LaRoche LAD

Outfielders

1. Matt Holliday COL
2. Grady Sizemore CLE
3. Vladimir Guerrero LAA
4. Carlos Beltran NYM
5. Alfonso Soriano CHI
6. Carl Crawford TB
7. Alex Rios TOR
8. Manny Ramirez BOS
9. Ichiro Suzuki SEA
10. Nick Markakis BAL
11. Carlos Lee HOU
12. Curtis Granderson DET
13. Magglio Ordonez DET
14. Adam Dunn CIN
15. Chris B. Young ARI
16. Hunter Pence HOU
17. Torri Hunter LAA
18. Vernon Wells TOR
19. Eric Byrnes ARI
20. Jeff Francouer ATL
21. Brad Hawpe COL
22. Delmon Young TB
23. Bobby Abreu NYY
24. Corey Hart MIL
25. Hideki Matsui NYY
26. Andruw Jones LAD
27. Jason Bay PIT
28. Aaron Rowand SF
29. Shane Victorino PHI
30. Matt Kemp LAD
31. Ken Griffey CIN
32. Johnny Damon NYY
33. Juan Pierre LAD
34. Jeremy Hermida FLA
35. Jermaine Dye CHW
36. Raul Ibanez SEA
37. Pat Burrell PHI
38. Josh Willingham FLA
39. Josh Hamilton TEX
40. Rocco Baldelli TB
41. Kosuke Fukodome CHI
42. Willy Tavares HOU
43. Jose Guillen KC
44. Michael Cuddyer MIN
45. Jacoby Ellsbury BOS
46. J.D. Drew BOS
47. Cameron Maybin FLA
48. Chris Duncan STL
49. Mark Teahen KC
50. Justin Upton ARI
51. Andre Ethier LAD
52. Melky Cabrera NYY
53. Bill Hall MIL
54. Xavier Nady PIT
55. Michael Bourn PHI
56. Austin Kearns WAS
57. Luke Scott BAL
58. Adam Jones BAL
59. Travis Buck OAK
60. Randy Winn SF
61. David DeJesus KC
62. Gary Matthews LAA
63. Rick Ankiel STL
64. Lastings Milledge WAS
65. Milton Bradley TEX
66. Carlos Quentin CHW
67. Felix Pie CHI
68. Adam Lind TOR
69. Corey Patterson BAL
70. Mike Cameron MIL
71. Ryan Church NYM
72. Brian Giles SD
73. Juan Rivera LAA
74. Coco Crisp BOS
75. Garrett Anderson LAA

Designated Hitters

1. David Ortiz BOS
2. Travis Hafner CLE
3. Jim Thome CHW
4. Gary Sheffield DET
5. Jason Giambi NYY
6. Billy Butler KC
7. Frank Thomas TOR
8. Shelley Duncan NYY

Well there ya have it. Enjoy. And get ready for baseball!

Dodgermania

In the vein of the my good friend Carl's recent post on the chances of his beloved Padres, I'm going to take this opportunity to examine my beloved Dodgers chances in the upcoming baseball season. I'm going to break it down first by position for the men in blue and then we'll go from there...

Catcher: Russell Martin last year proved that his rookie season was no fluke, going .293/.374/.469 with 19 HR's, 87 RBI's, 87 Runs, and 21 SB's. There's no reason to expect a downturn from those numbers, and in fact with some more rest, he might be able to improve on some, as he did falter somewhat down the stretch as the workload caught up with him. Martin should have a lock on the catcher position for the Dodgers for the next 5-8 years. 

First Base: What started out as position of weakness for the Dodgers eventually became a position of strength with the advent of James Loney as the full time starter. In 344 at bats Loney went .331/.381/.538 with an OPS+ of 131. Now obviously that's not a full season, but in his major league career he has 446 at bats and has gone .321/.372/.543 with a career OPS+ of 130. Combine that with 19 career home runs and 85 RBI's and again it looks like the Dodgers have the position locked up for the next 5-8 years as well. 

Second Base: Jeff Kent currently holds down the spot, and while he is clearly on the decline, his numbers last year give hope for another relatively productive season, most likely his last with the Dodgers. In 494 at bats last year he went .302/.375/.500 for an OPS+ of 121, above average production in those categories to go along with 20 home runs and 79 rbi's. While his defense is very shaky to say the least, his offensive production is such that he continues to be valuable to the team. The Dodgers seem to believe Tony Abreu is the mid-term solution to 2B after Kent is finished, although he seems like a lower-echelon prospect as his career minor league OPS is .781, despite a .916 audition in triple-A last season. Seems to me the best long term solution is to go after a second baseman in free agency, or pursue one in the draft. 

Third Base: Third base is somewhat of a question mark for the Dodgers, though mainly through their own stupidity. We'll see what Joe Torre has in store for the hot corner, but if he was as smart as say, a 20 year old blogger from Carlsbad, he'd start Andy LaRoche over Nomar Garciaparra, and give the Dodgers another high upside, high OPS player in the lineup. LaRoche in '05 went a combined .305/.374/.553 for a .927 OPS with 30 HRs and 94 RBIs. In '06 he went .315/.410/.514 for a .924 OPS and in '07 in only 265 at bats in triple-A he went .309/.399/.589 for a .988 OPS and 18 HR's and 48 RBIs. In 265 at bats! Clearly he has infinitely more upside than the oft-injured Garciaparra. As a Dodgers fan, I can only hope they realize this and make LaRoche the full time starter, give him a chance, and see if he becomes the next Miguel Cabrera. 

Shortstop: Rafael Furcal had a down year last year as he was bothered by injuries for a significant portion of the season. As he'll play the entire season at 30, there's no reason to expect a complete deterioration, however, I would not expect him to return to 15 HR's and 37 steals. Something in between last season and 2006 seems most likely, with 10-12 HR's and 25-30 steals, adequate production for a player in the last year of his contract. The Dodgers have Chin-Lung Hu, who after being a below average hitter and above average defender added some power to his statistics, hitting 14 hr's and having a .507 slugging percentage in the minor leagues, which gives hope for a chance at being a productive major leaguer. If Furcal again succumbs to injuries, Hu would seem to be the replacement, as of now there is no young up and coming shortstop on the free agent market for 2009, which leads me to believe the Dodgers will either re-sign Furcal or give Hu a chance. Of course, this all depends on what happens next year, and there is always the possibility of trades. 

Left Field: Last year, Left Field was patrolled mainly by Luis Gonzalez, who has since moved on to warmer pastures in Florida. With the signing of Andruw Jones, this would conceivably push Juan Pierre into the position, however rumor has it he is not assured of the starting job, and will have to compete mainly with Andre Ethier. Pierre is always a defensive liability, and makes a tremendous amount of outs at the plate. Ethier does not seem to have 30 HR power which will make him a decent starter, his career OPS+ is 108, and he plays pretty good defense as well. Starting Pierre is clearly not the right move, as his only real value is in stealing bases, which could make him more suited to come off the bench in the late innings than to eat up at bats. 

Center Field: The Dodgers signed Andruw Jones in the offseason to provide some much needed power in the middle of the lineup and to bring his best in class defense to Chavez Ravine. While the signing has been greeted with mixed reviews, I am generally in favor of the deal as it's only a two year commitment, and Jones is a massive upgrade over Pierre. However, he will need to get his batting average up towards .260-.270 and keep his homers to 35+ to really be a force for the Dodgers. 

Right Field: It appears Matt Kemp is going to be the full-time starter in right field for the Dodgers, and he showed flashes of brilliance last year which leads many Dodgers fans to believe he could be a great outfielder in the years to come. While his .342 average last year was definitely inflated, it's not out of the realm of reason to expect him to hit between .285-.300 with 20-25 home runs and 10-15 steals. Obviously, the team would love for him to exceed those expectations seeing as he was perceived to be a component in the Dodgers offers for the big name available players during the offseason; none of which the Dodgers actually pulled the trigger on. 

Starting Pitching: After being forced to start Mark Hendrickson and Brett Tomko for extended periods of time last year, the Dodgers decided to bring more depth to the rotation, and they added Hiroki Kuroda and Estaban Loiaza to the mix for this season. The rotation will likely pan out to be Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, and Jason Schmidt. If Schmidt does make a healthy return from his lost season last year, the rotation could be relatively formidable, as Penny was very good last year, and Billingsley showed he has fantastic potential, with 141 K's in 147 innings, and a 138 ERA+. At the very least, it appears the Dodgers prospectively have a very solid 1-5 rotation, with more help on the way soon in the form of James McDonald, he of the 168 K's in 134 innings, with a 3.07 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Not to be forgotten is former top prospect Scott Elbert, and phenom Clayton Kershaw. Those three, along with Billingsley will hopefully form the rotation for years to come, with Chris Withrow much farther away but with seemingly high potential. 

Relief Pitching: The Dodgers return Everyday Scott Proctor, Rudy Seanez, Jonathon Broxton, Takashi Saito, Joe Beimel, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Yhency Brazoban, which would give them a solid bullpen, not mind-boggling, but definitely solid enough to compete. Jonathon Meloan, another top prospect could beat out someone for a spot, and hopefully prove to be a great young commodity. 

In summary, the Dodgers lineup will *hopefully* stack up like this:

1. Rafael Furcal SS
2. Russell Martin C
3. Andruw Jones CF
4. Jeff Kent 2B
5. James Loney 1B
6. Matt Kemp RF
7. Andre Ethier LF
8. Andy LaRoche 3B

That, along with the solid rotation, would seem to give them a very good chance at competing for the division title. None of those players is a "weak link," most have some stolen base ability, and all, save Furcal and to a lesser extent, Ethier, have power or power potential. 

Joe Torre was brought in to be the manager, and he certainly can't be worse than Grady Little, which gives me more hope for the upcoming season.  I see the Dodgers winning between 85-91 games this year, which would appear to put them squarely in contention for the NL West, and a date with the winner of the NL Central. 

Ian Miller is an aspiring Journalist, frequent contributor to Hot Ham Water, and generally enjoys long walks on the beach and drinking hot chocolate. 

A Brief Paws

I want to take a timeout from my predictions to address Weathers, Padres post. First let me commend my youthful friend on his prose and stats. Weathers is one erudite engineering student. The rare combination of English and Math SAT scores, that evokes this type of post. HOWEVER my niceness ends RIGHT HERE! The Padres have over achieved for years. That is a testament to the most crooked park in Baseball. Babe Ruth would have hit 16 HR'S at Petco Galaxy, and 40 on the road. One cannot use stats to justify the mystifying performance, that has been Padres Baseball. Weathers quotes chapter and verse. I use heart.... My heart tells me the run is over. The Padres will not be in contention this year... More later in my predictions.

As promised a vocabulary word: Delusional


Weathers is _______ regarding the Padres chances in 2008.

A Case for the Padres

Baseball creeps nearer. Pitchers and catchers report in less than a week. We are inundated by stories of ballplayers in the best shape of their lives, who have magically dropped twenty pounds, and who are working on a new pitch. (Thanks to Roto Authority for tracking these important spring training cliches.)

The NL West looks to this unbiased observer to be home to the best division race in baseball next year. Sure, the top two teams in the AL Central are better, but now that the Twins have finished their Santana action, and despite the White Sox's best delusions of contention, that is a two team race. The AL East features the always intriguing and never stale Yankees-Red Sox titanic, monumental, historic, epic, intense, and fierce rivalry that everyone in the countries loves to follow 24/7 (see, ESPN, I can totally do this, hire me). The NL East is full of offensive firepower and possibly the greatest troika of shortstops ever assembled in one division (not to mention a probable 7 first round fantasy draft picks), and the injection of Johan Santana into it certainly made it more compelling. (increased the compellingness? Hmm, I don't think that's a word.) But the NL East also has a clear cut favorite now (the Mets) and contains two really bad teams. The NL West is wide open, with four teams with a legitimate shot at a division title and four teams with a legitimate shot at finishing fourth. Sure, the Giants are terrible, but even they have the incredible 1-2 punch of Cain and Lincecum to fear when facing them.

But wait, you say, the Padres are a terrible franchise with the worst fans in all of pro sports that rely on fluke performances from AAAA players every year. This is the year their luck finally runs out, and there's no possible way they could finish ahead of the much higher salaried Dodgers for the fourth straight year. Well, this post is designed to allay your fears and present the compelling case that the Padres have this chance to win the division. The Padres can win the division, and in fact have a solid shot at it. Here's why/how:

1. Starting from a high base: Last season the Padres won 89 games against 74 losses. Based on their runs scored/runs allowed, their expected record was ... 89-74. So unlike a certain major rival, they were not extremely lucky to have the record they had at the end of the season. The Diamondbacks were outscored on the season and expected to have a 79-83 record. The Dodgers finished at 82-80, right in line with their expected win-loss record. The Padres, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks all return most of their rosters from last year, so the advantage there is to the Padres. Sure, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers made a couple of upgrades, but they needed the upgrade to reach the level of the Padres.

2. The outfield is not as bad as is commonly perceived: Brian Giles continues to be phenomenally underrated in his decline phase. He posted a 109 OPS+ weighted toward OBP (more valuable than weighted toward slugging) despite playing on a bum knee for most of the final months of the season. A healthier year from him will improve his stats further. Right field is not a problem. Center field is manned by the injury prone Jim Edmonds. Edmonds likely is not washed up with the bat. Two years ago, he posted a 110 OPS+ despite battling injuries. Last year he fell to an 88 OPS+, but now he claims to be healthier than he has been since his 137 OPS+ year in 2005 and seems like a good bet for a bounceback. He's still only going to play 130 games in a best case scenario, but if he plays those and hits enough for a 110 OPS+, he probably approximately replicates Mike Cameron's value from last year. Scott Hairston and Jeff DaVanon are actually solid fallback options, as both seem to have the defensive skill to play a slightly below average center and hit at the positional average. Callix Crabbe has the speed and OBP chops to be a solid offensive and defensive fill in as well. Left field is a bit of a mystery, but keep in mind Jose Cruz and Termel Sledge were the left fielders for the first half of the year last year. It's a low target to exceed. One of Hairston or Headley seems like a good bet for solid production; ZIPS likes Chase Headley, PECOTA likes Scott Hairston. Either way works for me.

Conclusion: the Padres outfield is not a blackhole and should probably match or exceed the production from last year.

3. All the key players from last year are young: The Padres's best players last year were Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Josh Bard, Milton Bradley, and Heath Bell. All of them except Bradley return this year, in the prime of their careers, all solid best to improve on or match last year's output. Kouzmanoff in particular could greatly exceed his production from last year if his line from May 1 onward (after his adjustment to the majors) of .303/.355/.504 is carried over to this year.

Based on this, I think the Padres have a solid chance at winning the division this year. I have no idea who will take it. It should be another close, exciting race between the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres, and Rockies. Pecota's simulation of the season from its projections has the D-Backs and Dodgers tied at the top with 86 wins, with the Padres at 83 and the Rockies at 82. This is with Pecota being pessimistic on Greg Maddux (130 IP forecast), Chris Young (150 IP with a 3.73 ERA compared to 173 IP, 3.12 ERA this year), Jim Edmonds, Randy Wolf, and Mark Prior (very limited playing time/production due to injuries). If the Padres get a couple of breaks with those players staying healthy and productive, they'll have a very good chance to win the division. It should be a great race.

Baseball American League Central

So for all you centrists (this is an election year) let me give you my vote for the American League Central standings.

No one, I REPEAT, NO ONE, WILL BEAT THE TIGERS....

Tigers 97-65

Cleveland 91-71

White Sox 76-86

Kansas City 70-92

The Twins 67-95

OK, why is it that the Tigers cannot be tamed? Messrs: Miguel, Maglio,Granderson Guillen, Chef, Renteria, Polanco, Jacque and Pudge. Add in Verlander, Bonderman, Willis, The Gambler, and the mid season comeback of Zumaya and you get big time victory. Sprinkle the frosting with Bazardo. Any team with a guy named Bazardo cannot possible lose.


Next The Tribe; This is one talented team in it's own right. Victor, Hafner, Sizemore, Garko,and Jhonny can bring some real heavy Smoke Signals. However any team that plans on starting Dellucci cannot win. They have solid arms in Fausto and CC, but Westbrook, Byrd and Laffey just do not excite. Plus their closer is 200 years old. This time The Tribe fall short.

The drop off is precipitous to the White Sox. The darlings of 2005 have fallen on hard times recently and the fall will continue. They have a few bright spots in Quentin, Konerko, Swisher and Richar. However these guys just do not match up with the fangs of The Tigers and the power of The Tribe. Plus the Sox arms are um.....mediocre at best. Vazquez, Buehrle and Gavin Floyd are not very good.

As with TB in the East KC here in the Central is the exciting young team. Gordon, Butler, Buck, along with veterans, Gristleponick and Guillen will bring some good offensive results to KC. The pitching is remarkable good. Better then The White Sox. Messrs: Meche, Bannister and Greinke are a very good Trio. They also have Soria. Has anyone seen this kid? His motion, ball movement and demeanor remind me of Mariano Rivera. I like KC to improve, making noise in the Central.

Finally The Twinkies. Oh how they have fallen. Giving away Santana for some basic prospects and not much more will aid in their poor showing in 2008. I do like Gomez, I think he is a poor man's Carlos Beltran. However, he is 2-3 years away from making a major impact. Morneau and Mauer are great players. Also the Garza deal netted Delmon Young, who is very talented. But after these few guys there is not much more to talk about. I know, I know Cuddyer. Now don't be funny, he will have a pedestrian year at best. The pitching......has more Swiss Flags then Zürich. For those that do not understand the metaphor, the Swiss Flag is a Red Cross. The sign on the CBS Sportsline Fantasy website for an injured player, is a Red Cross. Liriano could be really good or really bad, Livan Hernandez...bad, then a gaggle of prospects that may or may not pan out. Throw all into the pan shake and stir and last place is the final product.


More on the American League West later.

Today vocabulary word is: precipitous


The Grand Canyon has a ________ change in terrain.

Baseball

All of my peeps know I am a Baseball lover. The season is drawing near, and I for one could not be happier. I have had enough of pads, helmets and face guards. Give me a good dose of leather pills, vaulting off sweet smelling, massive Hickory clubs. With that intro I am almost ready to release my predictions for the upcoming season. First I want to take a deep breath and confirm everyones fears.....The Yanks will be competitive. The Bosox will be in there. Finally, watch the Tigers, their bite is really worse then their roar.

American League East:

1 - Red Sox 95-57

2 - Yankess 94-58

3 - The Rays yes Rays not Jays 84-78

4 - The Jays 76-86

5 - The Orioles 66-96

Comments:

Yes the Chowds win again. Bolstered by tremendous pitching, solid defense and good hitting the bean town boys squeak out a win. The Yankees are finally looking to youth as a way to better their team. The Steinbrenner group refused to trade away their future for veterans that may or may not put them over the top. The Yanks have got a good mix, but in the end they still have too many questionable older players. Can Posada and Jeter keep playing at this level? Can A-Rod duplicate one of(perhaps the )greatest offensive seasons in history? Will their young pitching get them to the big dance. My answer is they fall just short.

My surprise pick of the year is the Rays....yep you herd it first here friends. The most exciting team in the AL. The Rays have this great lineup, young, quickly improving pitching and enough veteran presence to keep them in control.

Look at this line up: Iwamura, Crawford, Pena, B.J. Upton, Baldelli, Gomes, Longoria, Navarro, Bartlett.

Pitching: Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Jackson, Sonnenstein, Hammel, Niemann, Davis.... Need I say more. Tampa has 3 great arms, Two improving with flashes of brilliance arms and at least 3 close to ready AAA arms. Their Bullpen has holes, but if they are really in it they actually could make a move to improve. They won't win the division, but I like them as last years Brewers.

The Blue Jays......Yawn....Rios, Wells and the rest will make a good showing in 2008. That is their limit. The goal in the last bastion of Baseball north of the border, is to be competitive, but lets not REALLY TRY TO WIN.

Finally The Orioles.....UMM... I was generous giving them less then 100 losses. The Birds have Markakis, Roberts (MAYBE), and a group of suspects and prospects. The Cal Ripkenite's will have to wait 2-3 years before they reach 80 wins.


Since your brains are limited (like mine) I will tackle the other divisions in later posts.


Todays Vocabulary word is: pusillanimous

Hint:

The_________GM refused to pull the trigger on the right deal for Santana.

Fantasy Baseball Part II

Before I get to the main focus of my post, I'd like to saw a few words on last weekend's Super Bowl...

Let me first stand up and say: "I was wrong." Eli, you proved all the doubters wrong, and though I still don't believe you are an elite quarterback, you definitely did not hurt your team as I thought you would. Congratulations. Relatedly, congratulations to the Giants and the city of New York for taking down the Boston empire. I can't believe we actually had to worry about a Boston empire, but with the Red Sox already winning the World Series and the Celtics the clear frontrunner in the Eastern conference of the NBA, there was a very real possibility of Boston teams holding all three major sports championships at once. As insufferable as they have been recently, giving Boston fans another Super Bowl, and a possible Holy Trinity of sports dominance was simply unacceptable. So thank you, Eli and Usi, although your reign at the top will be short lived as Norval and the Chargers will win Super Bowl XLIII. You heard it here first. 

Now as the football season is completed, it's time for us to look forward to the baseball season! I know all of you are tremendously excited about that, as am I. Later on, I'll be making my predictions for the upcoming season, but as of now I'd like to continue to share with you all my positional fantasy baseball rankings. Last time around, if you'll remember, I posted Catchers and First Base. In this edition, I'm going to post Second Base and Shortstops, and as always, don't hesitate to express extreme hatred or supreme love. Also keep in mind these are subject to change as spring training moves along. 

Second Basemen

1. Chase Utley PHI
2. Brandon Phillips CIN
3. B.J. Upton TB
4. Robinson Cano NYY
5. Brian Roberts BAL
6. Ian Kinsler TEX
7. Dan Uggla FLA
8. Kelly Johnson ATL
9. Howie Kendrick LAA
10. Rickie Weeks MIL
11. Jeff Kent LAD
12. Orlando Hudson ARI
13. Placido Polanco DET
14. Aaron Hill TOR
15. Dustin Pedroia BOS
16. Tadahito Iguchi SD
17. Freddy Sanchez PIT
18. Kaz Matsui HOU
19. Felipe Lopez WAS
20. Ty Wiggington HOU
21. Alexi Casilla MIN
22. Ryan Theriot CHI
23. Asdrubal Cabrera CLE
24. Jose Lopez SEA
25. Luis Castillo NYM

Shortstops

1. Hanley Ramirez FLA
2. Jose Reyes NYM
3. Jimmy Rollins PHI
4. Troy Tulowitzki COL
5. Derek Jeter NYY
6. Carlos Guillen DET
7. Michael Young TEX
8. J.J. Hardy MIL
9. Miguel Tejada HOU
10. Rafael Furcal LAD
11. Orlando Cabrera CHW
12. Stephen Drew ARI
13. Edgar Renteria DET
14. Jhonny Peralta CLE
15. Khalil Greene SD
16. Yunel Escobar ATL
17. Julio Lugo BOS
18. Bobby Crosby OAK
19. Jason Bartlett TB
20. Yuniesky Betancourt SEA
21. Brendan Harris MIN
22. Alex Gonzalez CIN
23. David Eckstein TOR
24. Jack Wilson PIT
25. Juan Uribe CHW

Well there ya have it...always more to come on Hot Ham Water! Today's Eagles tribute is to Lincoln Financial Field. What a great name, huh? And in such a beautiful area of Philadelphia too. Great great stadium, with an even more amazing team playing in it. Way to be guys. 

Next time: a college basketball update. 

Ian Miller is an aspiring Journalist, frequent contributor to Hot Ham Water, and generally enjoys long walks on the beach and drinking hot chocolate. 

The Mind Of "Sage" Miller

Everyone expects me to spout off some incredible wisdom regarding tomorrow's Stupor-bowl. Well you can just keep right on waiting. This Sage is speechless regarding the outcome of tomorrow's game. I know this, The Chowder Heads need to be put down a notch or two. After all The Sox waited 1,000 years to win. Now they have won twice in the space of 4 years. I can tell you that makes them a little to puffed up for my taste. I say we get together and have a Boston Clam Bake. The next best(WORST)thing to an arrogant Yankees fan, is a puffed up, Lobster Eating, Sam Adams chugging, lost in the malaise that is Boston driving, Big Dig crumbling, Sox/Pats fan. Bring back the curse of the Bambino and the 6-10 Pats of old. Maybe not permanently but for a few years. I will be mildly rooting for The Giants. That being said enjoy the game,enjoy the ads, but most of all enjoy Tom Petty.

Today's Vocabulary word is: http://www.slanguage.com/boston.html

Instead of a word we are going with a veritable dictionary of words.

Here are a couple of clips:

Bellicheat: Coach of our video-stealing New England Patriots

Pete Sir: Most say pizza