Kinsler scratched from Rangers lineup (Yahoo!
Sports)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Second baseman Ian Kinsler has been scratched from the Texas Rangers’ lineup and replaced by heralded prospect Jurickson Profar.

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Yankees Granderson sits with hamstring injury
(Yahoo! Sports)

NEW YORK (AP) — Curtis Granderson is being held out of the New York Yankees’ lineup for the finale of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles because of tendinitis in his right hamstring.

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Sherman: Mets Should Trade David Wright and R.A.
Dickey

According to NY Post columnist Joel Sherman, the Mets should trade David Wright and R.A. Dickey in the offseason for prospects. He contends that they need a full-blown rebuilding mode to become competitive again. As terrible as it sounds, it may be the smartest and most painful way for the Mets to move forward. We [...]

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Five to Collect: Kris Medlen

It’s hard to say what makes someone a favorite, but Kris Medlen has been a favorite of Braves fans from almost the moment he was called up. Is it his size? He’s hardly diminutive, but on a team with man-hulks such as Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, he does look small. It makes him seem like an underdog, and everyone loves an underdog. Is it that ridiculous straight billed cap? It’s an absurd look, but on a goof like Medlen, it’s oddly endearing. Of course, it might just be that goofiness. You can take one look at a picture of the guy and you just know you’re looking at a character. (If you need proof of his goofiness, track down the tweets exchanged between him and Peter Moylan during their trip down to Orlando for spring training.)

Of course, one of the reasons we’re all fans of Medlen’s is that he’s really, really good. It’s been mentioned often on television as of late, but Medlen played shortstop in addition to pitching at Santa Ana College. When the Braves drafted him in 2006, they saw him as a reliever and for his first two seasons, that’s the role he played. He started the 2008 season in AA and for the first time, was asked to start. He made 17 starts that year in addition to 19 appearances as a reliever. He was good but ran into a little bad luck. Coming out of spring training in 2009, he was sent to AAA as a starter and dominated from the start. In late May, the Braves needed a starter. The decision was made to leave the "real prospect" Tommy Hanson at AAA for a bit longer, and Kris Medlen was promoted to the majors after only six AAA starts.

Like a lot of young players, he struggled at times and spent the majority of the season in the bullpen. It was obvious form the start though that the kid was a battler. He doesn’t have a lot of give in him. It’s an attitude that reminds a lot of us of not just Greg Maddux, but also Tom Glavine. He would again split the 2010 season between the rotation and the bullpen, and was pitching well when he went down with a shoulder injury. He required Tommy John surgery and was out until the very end of the 2011 season when he made his comeback with two excellent appearances at the end of the season. There’s little doubt that the Braves could have used Medlen throughout the 2011 season. Is there anyone who doesn’t believe that the Braves bullpen would have been stronger during the September collapse if Medlen had been around not just to pitch, but to have taken some of the heavy load away from Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel?

There is a perception among many Braves fans that Medlen’s talents are somewhat unappreciated. There’s the belief that he should have been in the rotation form day one this year. I was one of those people who agreed with the decision to start him in the bullpen this season. He was one of the few guys who could enter a close game and pitch several innings. You need guys like that in your bullpen and I thought we needed that to keep the workload lighter for the bullpen’s big three. I was wrong. We all were. It’s clear now that Medlen should have been a cog in the starting rotation on the first day of the season. He has been nothing short of great from his first start. Right now, he’s our number one starter, and I don’t think anyone can dispute that.

Of course, it might be working in the Braves and Medlen’s favor that he started the year in the bullpen. If he had been in the rotation all year, he would have already started more games than in any single season at any point of his career. This is his first full year back from surgery, so perhaps, he’ll be strong throughout the stretch drive. We know he’ll battle. We know he’ll give it his all every time out. How can you not look forward to every start he has remaining?

Collecting Medlen cards right now isn’t a particularly difficult task. He has no relics and no autographs issued by a major manufacturer. I hope Topps is paying attention to his season and rectifies this next year. Right now, you can still pick up the parallel versions of many of his cards fairly affordably. Make no mistake though, if he keeps pitching like this, the price of his cards will go up. We’ll look at five of his best cards after the break.

2011 Topps Gold #392

His 2011 Topps base card represents the best of Topps photography and is sort of the perfect card to introduce someone to Kris Medlen. You have the dual nature of his appearance as you can see the old school way he wears his socks high and yet, he also wears the straight bill cap. The photo is a great action shot, but it is also taken close enough that you can still see the kids face. The icing on the cake is the photographer capturing the ball in air. I’m always a sucker for pictures of pitchers with the thrown ball looking suspended in the air. A great Topps base card. You can pick the base version of the card up for around a quarter, the black parallel for ten dollars and the other parallels for just under a buck each.

2009 Topps Heritage #625

The 1960 Rookie Star subset featured a few classic players. Among the players included were Jim Kaat, Frank Howard and all-time Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski. Kris Medlen is one of the Braves chosen to appear on the same design in Topps homage to the 1960 set, 2009 Topps Heritage. The card was released in the second series of the Heritage set which wasn’t released until December of the year. Topps also produced a Chrome version of this card that can be found for a couple of bucks on eBay. (You can also find Kenshin Kawakami on the same design if that floats your boat.)

2010 Topps Update Black Parallel #71

You always want at least one card from a pitcher that shows his arm contorted at a seemingly impossible angle. If you wonder just how a pitcher can tear up his shoulder, take a look at this picture. I’m certain I can’t turn my arm that way while throwing a baseball. With Kris Medlen’s parallels still going cheap, you might as well pick up the black parallel of this card. It’s serial numbered to 59 copies and can be found for around five bucks on eBay.

2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic #154

I don’t know if it’s just the angle, but it sure looks like you can tell Med Dog’s grip. As I’ve stated many times here, I much prefer cards with a real background in the photograph, but this card works for me. Medlen looks to pop off the surface of the card. The styling is simple and includes team colors, which almost makes up for the lack of a team logo. This is one of the nicer designs from the Authentic product and it makes me miss Upper Deck.

2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Draft Picks Refractor #58

That smile is undeniable. Medlen’s first card shows us a young man who loves to play the game baseball and is clearly having fun. It’s aways nice when a player’s first card shows him in the home white uniforms as well. The only unfortunate thing about this card is that there isn’t a signed version available. The card books for around a dollar with the refractor going for little more.

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Rod Carew 2012 Topps Archives 1968 Topps Design
w/All-Star Rookie Trophy!!!

Rod Carew 2012 Topps Archives – 1968 Topps Design w/All-Star Rookie Trophy!!! I had picked up one of these 2012 Archives of Rod Carew in a pack of Archives when the product was released a few months ago.  I quickly … Continue reading →

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ps-design-wall-star-rookie-trophy/

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Do Something, Even if it is Wrong!

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Sunday Rockpile: Rockies doing their version of
the Cha-Cha over National League of late...

The evolution of the Rockies "four" man rotation:

June 20: Alex White, Jeff Francis, Christian Friedrich, Josh Outman

June 24: Alex White, Jeff Francis, Christian Friedrich, Edwar Cabrera, Josh Outman

June 29: Jeff Francis, Christian Friedrich, Drew Pomeranz, Josh Outman

July 3: Jeff Francis, Jeremy Guthrie, Christian Friedrich, Drew Pomeranz

July 21: Jeff Francis, Christian Friedrich, Jonathan Sanchez, Edwar Cabrera

July 25: Jeff Francis, Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich, Jonathan Sanchez

July 31: Jeff Francis, Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Jonathan Sanchez

*August 4: Jeff Francis, Tyler Chatwood, Drew Pomeranz, Alex White

August 13: Jeff Francis, Tyler Chatwood, Guillermo Moscoso, Alex White

August 17: Jeff Francis, Tyler Chatwood, Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Jhoulys Chacin

ERA's as Rockies starters

Pitchers in italics above who are no longer a part of the rotation:

• Christian Friedrich 6.17
• Jeremy Guthrie 6.66
• Josh Outman 8.89
• Jonathan Sanchez 9.53
• Guillermo Moscoso 10.80
• Edwar Cabrera 11.12

vs. those that are:

• Tyler Chatwood 3.42
• Jhoulys Chacin 4.85
• Drew Pomeranz 5.13
• Jeff Francis 5.44
• Alex White 5.58

So the basic points this morning would be 1) that Tyler Chatwood really needs to be part of this rotation next season, and 2) the reason the Rockies vomited monkey chunks earlier in the four man rotation experiment was that they had some really, really vomit worthy pitchers in the rotation at the time. But like the day after a night spent at a toilet spewing bad seafood, we're feeling marginally better about things this morning.

I have a star by August 4th as I'd point to that date, the morning after Jonathan Sanchez, and the beginning of the first cycle that would include Chatwood as the day the Rockies rotation got better. The pitching staff has had a 4.16 ERA since excising themselves of Sanchez, with only the one blip of Moscosoitis since to show that they were ever sick in the first place. For comparison, between June 20 and August 3, the Rockies team ERA was 5.56. In fact, since the Rockies adjusted to a five man "four man rotation" on the 17th of August by adding Chacin, the ERA is even better at 3.25. I really don't know if that's saying anything more than having the one two punch of Chatwood and Chacin has given the team a solid pitching top for the rotation, with Pomeranz, Francis and White being the stable floor.

Unfortunately, the talk from the press has been to move Chatwood to the pen as one of the team's piggyback pitchers next season, but I think that would be a mistake. Let Pomeranz, White and Juan Nicasio duke it out for the last four man slot, but right now, I would think Chatwood's solid performance in a starting role to date should give him a leg up those three for next year's staff.

Denver Post links:

Troy Renck writes that the Rockies need to be up front with position players about the four man - I'm not sure that they haven't been. This has been a pretty public switch as far as I can tell.

Bill Geivett has a complicated role in a complicated organization.

Patrick Saunders writes that Michael Cuddyer is staying positive.

Jason Giambi wants to play with the Newark Bears next season.

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9/2 News, Links, Discussion: Braves-Phillies,
Offensive Struggles, Starts for Ross

Game 3 vs. Phillies The Braves lost again, this time 5-1 as Cliff Lee pitched seven shutout innings and Tim Hudson gave up all five runs in five innings. With Saturday’s loss, the Braves are guaranteed a series loss to the Phillies, making it five straight series they have either lost or split. Over the [...]

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Sunday Reading

The life of a ballgirl… who knew it was this interesting.  Sharon Annie Heilbrunn shares ten[...]

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http://blog.lovemyteam.com/2012/09/02/sunday-reading-8/

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Chunky Necklace Turquoise

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Multi-strand pearl necklaces were traditionally simple and understated. There is definitely a must have on the chunky necklace turquoise for example. Bring your food and glow necklaces, glow cups, glow rings, glow balls, glow sticky badges, glow bracelets, glow straws, glow ice cubes and so on. For a look at your fantastic looks before the chunky necklace turquoise in the chunky necklace turquoise and elegance, but it does not come with the chunky necklace turquoise can only be destiny.

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