MLB
Cubs Sign Jim Hendry to 4-Year Extension
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 | MLB, Sports | 1 Comment
The Chicago Cubs gave Jim Hendry a 4-year contract extension on Monday, October 20, 2008, which will keep Hendry in Chicago through the 2012 season. Jim Hendry has been the General Manager of the Chicago Cubs since July 2002. The Chicago Cubs have had 4 winning seasons in his 6 seasons as General Manager, including 3 NL Central Division titles in 2003, 2007 and 2008. The Cubs had the most victories in the National League in 2008, with 97. That regular season success, however, has not translated into post-season success. The Chicago Cubs have been swept out of the post-season the last 2 years by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, but in 2003, the Cubs came within 5 outs of advancing to the World Series for the first time in over 50 years before losing to the Florida Marlins in Game 7 of the NLCS. Hendry knows he has work to do with the pending free agency of 2 important pitchers – Kerry Wood and Ryan Dempster – the need for a dependable lead-off man who can set the table for the middle of the lineup, and holes to fill in Center Field and Right Field. Hendry has developed a good nucleus of executives, player development personnel and scouts during his 6 years, and he is confident that he will be able to find the winning combination to secure that first Cubs World Series Championship in more than 100 years.
Update: Our 2009 Cubs tickets are now on sale. Here
Rays take game 2
Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | Sports | 1 Comment
In what was arguably a must win game for the Rays the bull pens shined and Tampa pulled out a 11th inning victory. Not what we expected from Beckett and Kazmir but a 9 – 8 win that showed 7 home runs and 4 lead changes. This was another classic between these 2 teams who just went 14 innings 1month ago where Tampa Bay had a walk off in the 14th, their 11 and major league leading of the season. Both starting pitchers struggled in this game but both bull pens reached deep and after the 6th it was a pitcher’s duel until the end. Evan Longoria found his bat after going 2 for his last 16, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youklis shined in this one for a total of 3 home runs between them. One thing is for sure that this will be a hard fought series no matter who wins. Sunday is a travel day while the teams head to Boston to resume Game 3 on Monday. Game time is scheduled for 4 pm est. On the mound will be Lester for the Red Sox, who is quickly being vaulted into the Ace spotlight and going for Tampa will be Garza. This will be another dual from the mound as both pitchers have sub 3.5 ERAs.
Bengie Homered . . . But Unlike Lassie, He Never Came Home
Monday, September 29th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
Baseball is a strange game in which nuance and factual oddness sometimes make fun of its rules. Such was the case on Friday, September 26, 2008, when San Francisco Giants slugger Bengie Molina launched what seemed like a sixth-inning home run off of Dodger right handed pitcher Scott Proctor. Usually the hard part of hitting a home run ends when the ball leaves the bat, but not this time.
Molina’s right field drive was initially ruled a single because the ball appeared to hit the brick portion of AT&T Park’s right field arcade and not the metal portion, which under AT&T Park ground rules would be classified as a home run. Eventually instant replay confirmed that Molina’s hit was in fact a home run but by the time the corrective ruling was made Molina had already retired to the dugout, replaced by pinch runner Emmanuel Burriss.
So there went Burriss, rounding the bases on a home run trot that he didn’t earn, as Molina sat in the dugout watching another man eat three scoops of slugging ice cream (second base, third base and home) that he did not pay for . . . The box score shows Molina with a Home Run but not a run scored and two RBI, despite the fact that he wasn’t in the game when either run was scored.
Isn’t baseball great!
Perhaps one day soon we will witness MLB’s first triple play in which no defensive player touches the ball. This outcome, by the way, is possible. I will share it if none of our thousands of Site visitors posts the answer by October 1.
MLB Update Saturday
Saturday, September 27th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
- Rays win moves them into the playoffs.
- Red Sox loss move them to the Wild Card
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Tiebreaker Scenarios
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| AL Central | |
| Twins at White Sox | |
| NL East | |
| Mets at Phillies | |
| NL Wild Card | |
| Brewers at Phillies | |
| Brewers at Mets | |
MLB update
Friday, September 26th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
- Red Sox win puts them two games behind the Rays keeps title hopes alive.
- White Sox blow their lead and vault the Twins into first place by a half game.
- Mets win moved them within one game of the Phillies battle starts for the NL east.
Here is what we have for tiebreaker scenarios
| AL Central | |
| Twins at White Sox | |
| NL East | |
| Mets at Phillies | |
| NL Wild Card | |
| Brewers at Phillies | |
| Brewers at Astros | |
| Brewers at Mets | |
| Astros at Mets | |
Zambrano No Hits Astros
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano threw his first career no-hitter on Sunday, September 14th in a 5-0 win over the Houston Astros. After a 12-day layoff to heal a sore shoulder plagued with tenditis, Zambrano needed only 110 pitches to win his 14th game of the season and become the 1st Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 36 years. Zambrano allowed only 2 base runners – Michael Bourn reached on a walk in the 4th inning and Hunter Pence was hit by a Zambrano pitch in the 5th inning – and he struck out 10 Astros batters. Alfonso Soriano homered to lead off the game in the 1st inning and the Cubs added 4 runs in the 3rd inning on a 2-RBI double by Derek Lee, an RBI single by Aramis Ramirez and an RBI double by Geovany Soto. The game generated much controversy – the 3-game series was supposed to be played in Houston, but because Hurricane Ike was supposed to crash through the Gulf Coast and Houston, Texas throughout the weekend, MLB was forced to re-schedule 2 of the 3 games in a venue where weather would not play a role. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig seletced Miller Park – home of the Milwaukee Brewers – depsite the fact that the stadium was only 90 miles from Chicago. Astros players and fans as well as baseball critics felt that this gave the Chicago Cubs an unfair “home field” advantage as Cubs fans generally travel well for games played at Miller Park. The Chicago Cubs ended up sweeping the Astros in Milwaukee 7-1 the next day. Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and the Cubs ended up holding the Astros to only 1 total hit in the 7-1 loss. Jim Edmonds, Geovany Soto and Derek Lee all homered for the Cubs.
Cubs Sweep Brewers in Milwaukee – 5-Game Lead!
Thursday, August 7th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
Rich Harden pitched the Chicago Cubs to a 4-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, July 31st, with a solid 7 inning effort in which he struck out 9 batters. Jim Edmonds homered twice, including a grand slam in the 5th inning that broke the game open giving the Cubs a 5-0 lead. Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome also homered for the Cubs. The Cubs defeated the Brewers 6-4 on Monday, July 28th behind a solid effort from Ted Lilly and clutch hitting from Derek Lee; 7-1 on Tuesday, July 29th behind a strong pitching performance from Cubs Ace Carlos Zambrano; and 7-2 on Wednesday, July 30th behind a strong pitching performance from Ryan Dempster. It was a pivotal series for the Chicago Cubs who had struggled mightily after the All-Star break. While the Cubs had lost 4 of the first 10 games played after the All-Star Break, the Brewers had won 8 of their first 10 games played after the All-Star Break, cutting the Cubs lead in the division to only 1 game. The 4-game sweep definitely gives the Cubs some breathing room heading into the final 2 months of the season.
Cubs’ Pitchers Shine in 2008 All-Star Game
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
The city of Chicago sent 9 players to the 2008 All-Star and the performances of the Cubs’ pitchers did not disappoint. Cubs Ace Carlos Zambrano pitched the 3rd and 4th innings and did not allow a run. Zambrano only gave up 1 hit and struck out one batter. Ryan Dempster pitched a perfect 9th inning striking out all 3 batters he faced. Dempster’s dominating performance helped send the 2008 All-Star Game into extra innings. Carlos Marmol preserved the tie for the National League in the 13th inning with another dominating performance by a Cubs pitcher. Marmol did not allow a hit or a run and he struck out 2 of the 4 batters he faced. Only one hitter reached against Marmol – on a fielding error by Florida marlins 2nd baseman Dan Uggla – that was Uggla’s 3rd error of the game. Carlos Marmol replaced Cubs closer Kerry Wood on the National League squad since Wood is battling a blister on his finger.
The hitters from Chicago fared much worse than the pitchers. The only Cubs or White Sox player to reach base in the 2008 All-Star Game was Cubs 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez reached base with a walk in his only at-bat of the game. Cubs Catcher Geovani Soto was 0-2 with a strikeout; Cubs Right Fielder Kosuke Fukudome was 0-2 with a strikeout; White Sox Left Fielder Carlos Quentin was 0-4 with a strikeout (he also left 4 runners on base); and White Sox 3rd baseman Joe Crede was 0-1in his only at-bat.
The American League won the 2008 All-Star Game 4-3 when Michael Young drove in Justin Mourneau on a sacrifice fly with 1 out in the bottom of the 15th inning. The American League representative in the World Series will now have home field advantage during the World Series.
AL wins all-star game in the 15th
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments
American League won the all star game for the 12th year. This is the longest winning streak for the all-star game in MLB history. Final score 4-3
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