Webb throws to hitters for first time (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 09 March 2011 11:07:29 PM. © MLB News Blog

Brandon Webb threw to hitters for the first time this spring training, throwing 62 pitches during batting practice for the Texas Rangers. After his 14-minute session Wednesday, Webb said he felt good, saying it wasn’t his best — or worst — pitching. The 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner hasn’t pitched in a major league [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/03/10/webb-throws-to-hitters-for-first-time-ap/

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The Career of Kila Ka'aihue at a Crossroads

post from Royals Review on 09 March 2011 11:01:34 PM. © Royals Review

Don't Look Back in Anger. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

It didn't have to be this way, but you could say that for many Royals-related pressure points, problems, and quandaries. If Kila Ka'aihue is going to have a Major League career of any length, he needs to hit well to begin this season. A terrible slump to start the season, or even an injury, pretty much kill his chances, as far as I can tell.

Since the Royals started mismanaging his career three or four years ago, Kila's life track has been pulled, by the magnets of industry conformity and blindness, towards that of all "AAAA" hitters who lack the magical tools which can only be seen by the initiated. Of course, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. See, we told you that guy would never have a career! An immediate specter here is Ryan Shealy, who was actually for a time much more hyped than Kila, and who even caught the eye of a just-trying-things-out Dayton Moore back in 2006. Four years later, I barely even knew Shealy was still alive in 2010, let alone still banging around AAA and even briefly appearing in a Red Sox uniform. To date, Shealy has amassed 598 PAs at the Major League level. It's no certainty that Kila will reach that total.

Kila kinda sorta got a looksie last season, hitting .217/.307/.394 in 206 PAs. As you can see, he still got his walks in, and for a Royal, a .307 OBP isn't really a disaster. St. Yuni, after all, posted a .288 OBP. Anyway, here's what the Royals see: a .217 batting average, 8 HRs, 25 RBIs and 39 strikeouts. We really need to pull a USS Mariner here, and write an open letter to the Royals pointing out that Kila produced at a 100-RBI rate that somehow gets read and acknowledged. It can't hurt.

As Matt/Devil Fingers wrote today at Fangraphs, the Royals need to get out of their own way and play Kila all year. If he fails, he fails. If he doesn't, then suddenly, you have a trade asset. Look, if we're going to dream about Melky's non-existent trade value, we might as well do the same with a pre-arb guy who might actually be attractive. Of course, the Royals have never done this really, even at the easiest position on the diamond to do so. Somehow, Jose Guillen or Ross Gload or Mike Jacobs or whomever always ends up sucking up all the DH/1B playing time. The perpetually annoying thing about this Royals Front Office is that they often simply refuse to let an inherited asset be an asset. If Kila was acquired in some D-market trade, we'd hear from Dayton and all the apologists about his upside and about how there was "nothing to lose" by playing him. (And don't even get us started on Alex Gordon.) For being masters, supposedly, of player development, the Royals haven't shown much skill in actually finishing off that process at the only level that truly matters.

In this environment, with a hyped raft of Dayton-guys with no obvious position (Myers, Hosmer, Moose) all coming up the line, it's now or never for Kila. PECOTA projected him to hit like an All-Star. That's not terribly likely, but then again, he's hit .285/.424/.521 in 1100 AAA PAs. Of course, whatever a Scouting Approved One did in 200 PAs at a lower level obviously means so much more, but results are results. As I've probably made abundantly clear, I don't think Kila has much of a future with the Royals, but that's been obvious since 2009 really. All he needs to do is hit. A slugging percentage upwards of .480 with non-horrific strikeout numbers should be enough to earn him another shot with another team. For those of us who find ourselves on the wrong side of life's divide, who saw our own opportunities wasted or our talents ignored, he's one worth rooting for.

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http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/3/9/2041167/royals-kila-kaaihue-at-a-crossroads

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My Book, Charlie Sheen and an Almost EPIC
Shoutout!!

post from BALLHAWK - MLBallhawk.com on 09 March 2011 10:03:25 PM. © BALLHAWK - MLBallhawk.com

Last week I got the crazy idea of sending one of my books to Charlie Sheen. I sent a copy of "Taking Home A Piece Of The Game" to Charlie at his "Sober Valley Lodge". As I tracked the book and it's travels online via USPS I got a bad feeling in my gut. It was out for delivery and then was back at the sorting facility in Santa Clarita.
I had sent the book to the address with Los Angeles as the city and not Beverly Hills. So I figured that in a couple of days the book would be returned to me and I would have to resend it. So I waited for the book to return but it never came back. Getting worried I went online to check USPS.com and see where it was and to my amazement it said DELIVERED on Sat. at 9:17am.
Ok so now I knew that my book had been delivered and the main reason I sent it was in an attempt to get an interview with Charlie for MyGameBalls.com. So I spent the next day and a half waiting for the phone to ring or for an email to pop into my gmail account. While I had my hopes set high I knew that more than likely nothing would come of it.
Then on USTREAM comes Sheen's Korner with the first night being live. On Ustream you can Tweet in and ask questions etc but it was so unorganized (Sorry Charlie) that it was unlikely that my questions of him getting the book would be read or even seen. If I got really lucky it would show up on his desk that first night but to no avail.
So on went the Charlie Sheen solo blast's and Torpedoes of Truth and no sign of my book or anything. Then came last nights FINAL EPISODE of Sheens Korner. Charlie went on his rant about the execs that fired him and everything else and at the 7:06 in the show (recorded on Ustream) Charlie lights up a cigarette and takes a drink of water. I looked at over and over and over again because there was something next to his printer that caught my eye. It was a book and it looked pretty damn close to my book.
I have looked at the photo (below) over and over again and still am not 100% positive that it is in fact my book but it looks a lot like it. Anyway, you can click on the picture to get a larger view and for those of you that have a copy of my book, you make the decision.
After a full night of no sleep wondering if that in fact was my book I decided to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. I sent an email to the guy with WYTV that produced the show and is a friend of Charlie's. So I simply told him that I was not as crazy as the email sounded but I had to know if therre was a chance that it was my book next to his printer.
This guy was really cool, we sent a few emails back and fourth and he has said that he will mention it and find out if #1 Charlie did get my book and #2 if that was it next to his printer.Ok, so you would think that this is the end of the story but it is not.
In the last email he sent me he added this, "look up roz wyman (my mom) if you are a baseball fan you will be impressed"
It turns out that his mom Roz Wyman was instrumental in getting the Dodgers to leave Brooklyn and head to LA!! That was very cool to find out! He then sent me a couple clips of his son interviewing some Major Leaguers and I returned my 1990 Levis commercial. So if nothing else I have made a friend with a guy that is as much of a baseball fan as I am. He also likely has just as many if not more stories about baseball!
So you might think this now is where the story ends but it doesn't end there either!
About 25 minutes after talking via email to this guy I was just goofing around on Twitter and I checked my @MLBallhawk mentions and saw this (see photo)
I was really excited about seeing this but evidently my eyes didn't catch the obvious at first. I wrote this story and the original ending was about a cool shoutout from a Warlock and how cool it was but AFTER FURTHER REVIEW look VERY CAREFULLY at the photo above ..... What's wrong with it?? .........DAMN TROLLS!!!

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http://ballhawk.mlblogs.com/archives/2011/03/my_book_charlie_sheen_and_an_e.html

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Pictures from Spring Training March 9

post from Atlanta Baseball Talk on 09 March 2011 09:59:55 PM. © Atlanta Baseball Talk

Pics following the horrendous scene with Coach Salazar at the March 9 game against the Cardinals.[...]

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http://www.atlantabaseballtalk.com/pictures-from-spring-training-march-9/

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Cabrera threatened 2 before arrest (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 09 March 2011 09:45:25 PM. © MLB News Blog

Media outlets are reporting police were summoned to a Fort Pierce restaurant before Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera’s DUI arrest last month because the first baseman allegedly threatened a manager and an off-duty fish and wildlife officer. The Florida state attorney’s office released a 911 audiotape, a police video and a 41-page report on Wednesday.

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Brewers Zack Greinke To Start Year On DL

post from The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on 09 March 2011 09:01:40 PM. © The Ghost of Moonlight Graham

The groundswell of excitement that has surrounded the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason kind of hit a snag on Tuesday. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Zack Greinke, who was acquired from the Kansas City Royals this offseason in an eight player trade, will start the season on the DL because of a cracked seventh rib [...]

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http://theghostofmoonlightgraham.com/2011/03/10/brewers-zack-greinke-to-start-yea
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Whos In The Hall Of Fame-Jud Wilson

post from Baseball Revisited on 09 March 2011 08:51:21 PM. © Baseball Revisited

Ernest Judson Wilson, ?Boojum? combined a huge upper body with bowlegs to be, according to Satchel Paige, one of the best pure hitters ever. His nickname Boojum was from the sound his line drives made when they smacked into the outfield walls. When the Eastern Colored League was formed in 1923, Jud Wilson was [...]

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http://dmbworldseriesreplay.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/whos-in-the-hall-of-fame-jud
-wilson/

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Cabrera had verbal run-in before arrest (AP)

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers is reporting that previously unreleased material from Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera’s DUI incident last month indicates he had a verbal run-in at a restaurant with a manager and an off-duty fish and wildlife officer shortly before his arrest. The State Attorney’s Office released the information Wednesday.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/03/10/cabrera-had-verbal-run-in-before-arrest-ap/

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Dodgers RHP Garland hurts left side (AP)

Already minus one pitcher, this was not what the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to see: Starter Jon Garland taking himself out early with pain in his left side. Garland left after one pitch to Josh Wilson with two outs in the second inning and will get examined, another setback for the Dodgers during their 9-4 [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/03/10/dodgers-rhp-garland-hurts-left-side-ap/

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Apple.TV To Get MLB.TV

post from 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog on 09 March 2011 07:04:14 PM. © 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Apple.TV will be getting MLB.TV presently, leading me to wonder where the cable companies will make their coin once this gets to an equivalent quality as HDTV.

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http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2011/03/appletv-to-get-mlbtv.html

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