It's been a little while since Tom Glavine enjoyed a victory in an Atlanta Braves uniform.
The 42-year-old veteran lefty pitched 5.2 solid innings to earn his first win for Atlanta in six years with an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. He surrendered 4 earned runs on four hits, fanning four and walking two.
Meanwhile, Chipper Jones (3 more!) Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson teed off on Brett Myers, each hitting solo shots while Brian McCann drove in three runs of support for Glavine, who hadn’t won a game with the Braves since beating who else, but the Phils on Sept. 19, 2002, just before his five-year hiatus in New York City.
[AP] | [Braves Nation] | [Talking Chop]
5.15.2008
Brought to You by the Letter W
Hope to See Big Z and Jimmy Duke It Out
It didn't take Jim Edmonds long to find himself a new home. Five days, to be exact.
The Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract with the 37-year-old outfielder Wednesday, after he was dumped by the San Diego Padres. He'll have to earn his playing time however, as center fielder Reed Johnson has been doing alright, batting .256 with a homer and 17 RBIs.
Too bad for youngster Felix Pie, who is now headed to the AAA Iowa Cubs to work out his batting kinks after striking out 23 times in 66 at bats and batting only .222.
Heading into his new uni, Edmonds -- an eight-time Gold Glove winner and four-time All-Star -- is batting a shoddy .178 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs on the season.
So, is Carlos Zambrano pissed? Cause, he is so not above punching his own teammates in the face, repeatedly.
Anyway, this move totally confuses me. Does Jim Edmonds have anything left in his old-ass tank? I guess... he is a left-handed hitter. Yay optimism!
[AP] | [Rumors and Rants] | [Hardball] | [Bleacher Report] | [Ivy Envy]
5.14.2008
Manny Being Manny Being Awesome
The absolutely ridiculous chain of events you are about to see went down during the Boston Red Sox 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday afternoon.
On the hunt for career homer #500, Manny Ramirez remains undistracted. He flashed some leather at Camden to rob former teammate Kevin Millar of a home run, before high-fiving a fan on his way down, planting, and nailing cutoff man Dustin Pedroia, who relayed to Kevin Youkilis at first to get Aubrey Huff for an inning-ending double play.
Bad. Ass.
[MLB] | [Awful Announcing] | [The Joy of Sox] | [Center Field] | [SOX & Dawgs]
Return of Shawn Estes
Thanks in part to Khalil Greene's three-run bomb, a wild pitch by Chicago Cubs' righty Jason Marquis, and a double by Jody Gerut, San Diego Padres lefty Shawn Estes is officially a 100-game winner.
He started all of one game in 2006 before sitting out last season to recover from Tommy John surgery, earning his first win since 2005 in the 4-3 victory Tuesday. He's been gone so long, we didn't even have a tag for him.
The 35-year-old Estes, who is now 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA, pitched 5.1 innings before handing the ball to the Pads' bullpen, who shut it down with 3.2 hitless innings of relief.
Way to go, buddy!
[MLB.com] | [The Big Picture] | [Trapped in LA]
Blah Blah Steroids
It would appear that The Man means business regarding this whole Barry Bonds fiasco, after federal prosecutors revealed a new and improved, unsealed indictment against The Home Run King.
Bonds' lead attorney, Allen Ruby, stands by his client however, saying that nothing has changed with the case."Barry Bonds is innocent," Ruby claimed after the former San Francisco Giants star was charged, this time with 14 counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice.
Barry was originally charged with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction. Prosecutors more than tripled the perjury counts -- even though no new lies were alleged -- by the order of Judge Susan Illston back in February because multiple [alleged] fibs were crammed together into single charges.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
[AP] | [Mudville] | [Deadspin] | [Law Bites]
5.13.2008
Can I Get a Fist Pump?
Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage apparently took issue with some of Joba Chamberlain's on-field antics during a Hall of Fame tour Monday, saying he felt there was "no place in the game" for things like fist-pumping after a strikeout.
The New York Yankees' rookie right-hander is an animated kid, and tends to get pretty fired up about making outs. But is he totally out of line? I mean, has Goose ever seen Jose Valverde pitch? Holy smokes.
The two sides relayed opinions over the phone Tuesday, but accomplished little more than to agree to disagree."Everybody has their own opinion," Chamberlain said. "It is what it is. I am not going to change."
Of course, you don't want to over-use the fist pump. It has its place and tends to lose effect if you're going to bust one out every time you fan somebody. So, when is it okay to show emotion on the field?
[NY Times] | [Fire Jay Mariotti] | [Schtick's Schtick]
Molina #3 Flips Out
St. Louis Cardinals backstop Yadier Molina was more than a little unhappy with home plate umpire Paul Schrieber Monday.
Catching the fifth inning of the 8-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the little Molina was tossed for arguing balls and strikes on the Corey Hart at bat, leading him to relocate his gear to a frumpy pile at Blue's feet.
Cards skipper Tony La Russa, despite being surrounded by Molina's discarded equipment while defending his player and getting himself ejected, denies knowing his catcher took it off until he left the field.
I hear eye sight is the first to go, then one day, you're wandering the streets in your bathrobe.
[MLB.com] | [Knox Harrington] | [Bare Baseball]
The Tampa Bay Rays are Serious
Remember when the Tampa Bay Rays defense was like a circus act and their lineup was kind of a joke? Like... two years ago?
Well, don't let the sun-shiny logo fool you. They are straight us business now.
Coming off a weekend sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, the Rays pounded the New York Yankees 7-1 Monday night for their fifth consecutive win, inching within a half-game of the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox. This last victory was a bit sweeter, as they defeated evil nemesis Andy Pettitte, who allowed five runs on eight hits over just four innings of work after a previous record of 8-1 at Tropicana Field.
This trade with the Twins? Looking pretty good for Tampa right now. Matt Garza is 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA over three straight quality starts since returning from the disabled list at the end of April, while Jason Bartlett has improved their defense and contributed some key hits, raising his average to .248.
Speaking of defense, Akinori Iwamura continues to shine up the middle, as the only starting second baseman in the AL without an error. He is also riding a team-best 10-game hitting streak coming into Tuesday's game against Yankees' ace Chien-Ming Wang, who is 7-4 lifetime against the Rays with a 3.53 ERA in 12 starts.
Our baseball-betting tip of the day: watch out for the 21-13 Rays, who are five games over .500 for the first time in the franchise's 11-year history. Just sayin'.
[TSN] | [The Heater] | [Rays Index] | [Rays Homeplate]
5.12.2008
Snag, Bag and Tag
During the second game of the double-header between the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, Asdrubal Cabrera experienced something most big leaguers never get to.
A rare, unassisted triple play. Seriously? There aren't many things in the world more badass that that.
Just a bit more awesome than Cliff Lee's near-non-existent ERA.
[Examiner Ohio]
Ned Yost Springs into Action!
Eric Gagne has been sucking at his job dating back to last season, when he refused to save a game for the Boston Red Sox after being traded there by the Texas Rangers.
Somehow, he landed a free agent contract off the hot stove with the Milwaukee Brewers last winter, and has since managed to blow five games in 14 chances, including three of his last six. As expected this weekend, the struggling righty was yanked from the closer's spot after his comments in Saturday's edition of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
"I don't deserve that ninth inning right now. It's very simple," he said. "It's embarrassing."Is there some sort of mental issue here? Does this guy have more problems than just sucking at baseball?
Gagne, who at one time was actually the best reliever in baseball and now has a 1-2 record with a 6.89 ERA, has allowed 18 hits, walked 11, and surrendered 12 earned runs over just 15 innings this season.
Manager Ned Yost, who is also struggling to keep his job at this juncture, said it was a simple mechanics issue for Gagne, which is easily fixed. Yost went on to say the load will be stacked on the shoulders of the entire bullpen for now, with quite possibly as many as three pitchers handling the ninth, if need be.
Those three would likely be Salomon Torres, who has 29 career saves, David Riske with 20 and Guillermo Mota with 19.
On a lighter note, if you were ever wondering who the best shortstop in the history of the world is, look no further than The Grand National Championships, who are also fed up with this Eric Gagne business.
[Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel] | [Brewers Blog] | [Red Sox Monster]
5.11.2008
Francona vs. Big Papi: Who you got?
It's a classic story. Manager does interview. Player clowns around in the background. Manager threatens to kick player's ass. Even better when the manager is Terry Francona and the player is David Ortiz.
The magic happens at the end of the interview.
I seriously think Francona could take him.
Pink Bats are Tough
According to komen.org, an estimated 182,460 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2008 alone. Chances are, you or someone you know has been, or will be affected by the disease. Major League Baseball is trying to make a difference for the third year in a row.
What began two years ago as an expression of charity has become a solid tradition, as baseball will once again celebrate Mother's Day by wielding pink bats.
Partnering with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the signed bats will eventually be auctioned off on MLB.com with all proceeds going to fight breast cancer.
Players will again wear pink wristbands and necklaces, along with pink ribbons on their unis. Pink ribbon logos will adorn the bases and home plates (also to be auctioned) and even the dugout lineup cards will be pink.
Furthermore, our buddies over at Home Run Derby will generously pledge $10 to the cure for each home run hit today. Awesome.
Moms are pretty great. You know, without them, we wouldn't even be around.
Here are a few lovely photos of some of our favorite baseball players' wives and mothers, whom without they'd be totally lost.
This heart-warming story is sure to have you calling your mother to say thanks and I love ya, and this one is always worth another chuckle.
Also, if you're wondering what it's like to be a female sports blogger, check out an interview I was honored to be a part of, alongside a woman with actual journalistic credentials, at Baseball Digest Daily.
It's About Damn Time
After five failed attempts, San Diego Padres veteran Greg Maddux has finally earned his 350th victory.
Just the ninth pitcher in big league history to reach the mark, the future Hall of Famer improved to 350-217 over 23 big league seasons. This is just one more milestone to accompany his four NL Cy Young Awards, a World Series ring and a record 17 Gold Glove Awards.
Maddux (3-3, 3.60 ERA) pitched six solid innings against the Colorado Rockies for a 3-2 victory, retiring his first seven batters and finishing with no earned runs on 3 hits and a strikeout."It was kind of cool," said the 42-year-old righty. "I don’t want to make it out to be nothing, but it is May and we haven’t been playing that good... We need to start winning as a team and hopefully tonight is the start of things to come."
Yeah, just kind of cool. If "kind of cool" means fricking amazing.
Spankin' new catcher Luke Carlin, who made his big league debut Saturday just a day after his contract was purchased from the AAA Portland Beavers, said he’ll never forget catching both Maddux and old school closer Trevor Hoffman during his first day on the job."I was happy for him," Maddux said. "Your first day in the big leagues, trust me, is a lot more special than things you do later in your career."
Sadly, it was just the fifth win in 23 games for the 13-24 Padres, who own the crappiest record in baseball.
[Union Tribune] | [SD Friars] | [Tireball] | [Ducksnorts]
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