Starting pitchers key to Cards start (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 19 April 2010 04:34:27 PM. © MLB News Blog

A lineup anchored by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday generates the buzz with the St. Louis Cardinals. Since the start of the season, though, the rotation has generated plenty of wins. Adam Wainwright’s four-hitter against the New York Mets on Sunday night was the latest in a string of standout efforts, finishing a fourth series [...]

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2010 NL West Predictions

post from Texts From Left Field on 19 April 2010 04:19:06 PM. © Texts From Left Field

1) DodgersEveryone’s happy in Mannywood – for one more year. Then they’re going to fall off, hard.2) RockiesReally like the Rockies, and they have the potential to be a contender for the wildcard slot. I just don’t know if they can stick it out al lyear. It’ll be a long road.3) DiamondbacksIf Brandon Webb was [...]

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Blog Archive

post from The Baseball Life on 19 April 2010 04:17:00 PM. © The Baseball Life

I've had this blog/site for over a year now and I love looking back at my older entries, not only to see how I've grown as a writer, but to relive the moments that have defined my Baseball Life. Every article I write is written because there is something of value within it that I want to share with the baseball world.

When I visit stadiums and I'm on the flight home writing about it, I'm hoping that my words will be enough to push someone else to do the same. My hope is that others will read my experience and go out and live it themselves. Like when I meet a player and tell the funny and enlightening stories from these guys- all I want is for you to approach that player the next time you come across them at a game and have an experience of your own to share with others. Baseball is a beautiful game, full of people who celebrate together over a common love. So why not share my experiences in hopes that one day I can come across someone else who can say, "Tommy Lasorda told me that story, too!" Or even, "Ian Snell was so funny when I met him, too!"

The reason I have branched out so much with baseball is because I have provide myself with opportunity and I have taken advantage of life, and I turn it into a Baseball Life. Basically, I try not to waste a single moment. I go to every game possible, even if it means rushing from Wrigley Field down I-290 to make it into work without a minute to spare. Never stop moving. Never stop living. Isn't this the reason RedBull was invented?

Memories are everything to me, and I live everyday with the mentality that what I do today should be something worth remembering forever. One day when I'm really, really old and I'm laying on my death bed, I'm certain that the memories racing through my mind behind my closed eyes will be of those from the many sunny afternoons at Wrigley, my frist time walking into PNC and heckling Ian Snell, witnessing Buehrle's no hitter live at The Cell, road trips to St Louis to see the Cubs take on the Cards, starting Cub chants in the bleachers of PetCo Park, watching highlight reels of legends on the Dodger Stadium jumbotron, spending countless rainy nights within the dome of Miller Park, waiting out rain delays for hours on end... the list won't ever end. I'm greatful for each and every moment baseball has given me over the years. And here are some of my favorites that I have written over the past 13 months:

My Very First Blog Entry - Why I started this blog!
Peter Gammons - One of my baseball idols
The World Baseball Classic - My experience interacting with the Korean baseball fans!
Doug Deeds - Prospect Watch for the Cubs (from March 2009)
2009 Marlins - Ever wonder how I could like the Marlins? (Especially since I'm a Cubs fan...)
The Glory of Their Times - A book review about the early days of baseball
Science of Pitching (Stephen Strausburg) - Great info for anyone who wants to know the forces behind a pitch.
My first trip to PNC! - One of the greatest trips of my life
Pat Venditte - I wrote about him before ESPN had a feature about him! Video included.
Jose Canseco- I have some hard words for him, but after his twitter rant today I don't take them back. I did back Manny in this piece, but try to skip past that part, haha.
Elvis Andrus - My fan fest for him started back in 2009
The Greatest Day of My Life, 2004 World Series - no explanation needed.
6 games to start the season - Want to see how I live? Read this, lol
Jackie Robinson Day 2009 - My experience from the game/thoughts
Rick Reilly - Sports Writing that changes lives... What inspires my writing!
Fan Etiquette- One of the funner articles I wrote, feel free to comment with your opinions!
Cubs vs Cards weekend 2009 - good times
Cubs vs Cards, fan rivarly - good article attached from a fellow blogger
Moneyball - The Movie... in the process?
Statistics!!! - My secret love... not really that secret, I suppose.
Walk Up Songs - So much fun writing this one and finding out player's songs!
Sox vs Mariners matchup - A game preview before an early 2009 game

All of the above are from March and April 2009
Click here for May 2009 which includes articles about Bobby Scales and the first time I got to meet Tommy Lasorda!

PS. Kruk just owned Soriano on Baseball Tonight..

TBL,
-S

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http://www.thebaseballlife.com/2010/04/blog-archive.html

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2010 NL Central Predictions

post from Texts From Left Field on 19 April 2010 04:13:22 PM. © Texts From Left Field

The central doesn’t make sense to me because they have six teams. Anyways.1) CardinalsThey have too much and everyone doesn’t have enough of anything.2) BrewersReally like the Braun/Fielder combo, and I think Rickie Weeks is an underrated second baseman. They might make the wildcard if the NL East doesn’t compete for it.3) CubsThe Cubbies are [...]

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http://textsfromleftfield.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/2010-nl-central-predictions/

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Granderson Fitting In Nicely With Yanks

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 19 April 2010 04:04:58 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

From Bryan Hoch:

There is no magic formula for putting on the Yankees pinstripes and fitting in immediately, making people forget that there was an adjustment period at all. A select few can do it; many star-caliber players have struggled with the task.

Curtis Granderson appears on track to be one of the lucky ones who adjust seamlessly to life in the Yankees fishbowl. While the sample sizes are tiny, he has hit the ground running in his new digs, seeming to find a way to make everything click from minute one.

"I understand my role here and I'm happy with wherever they happen to put me in the lineup, defensively and whatever they call on me to do," Granderson said. "I understand that I don't have to go out there and hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases. I can just go out there and play."

...

"It's always a good thing to go ahead and get hits anytime, whether it be early or late," Granderson said. "The fact that they happened to come early, you just hope you can continue it. There's going to be some ups and downs, but for the most part, as a team, we're playing well. If we play well, I'm going to be happy."

...

"I'm just trying to play baseball and learn a lot from these guys here, the coaching staff here, and just go out there to keep it fun," Granderson said. "If you continue to keep playing, that's the big thing. I'm not trying to do too much.

"It's not a rebuilding team here. We're not trying to go from last to first or anything like that. I just come in as another small piece to the puzzle and try to continue to keep this team winning."

The Captain also chimed in with this about the Grandy Man:

"Curtis is a good guy," said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. "I played with him in the World Baseball Classic [last year] so I got a chance to get to know him a little bit. Outside of the fact that he's a good player, he's a good person, so he fit in perfectly. And he's done that so far."

I've been very impressed with Granderson over the first 11 games, both on and off the field. Not only has he hit, but he's been fantastic in centerfield as well, and he's saying all the right things to the media. Listening to the guy speak makes it seem like he was made for Pinstripes.

He also started his Yankees career in about the best way possible with a home run in his first at bat against the Red Sox in Fenway, and then ended that series with another home run off Papelbon which led to a Yankees win. Hoch is right, there's no magic formula to fitting in in the Bronx, but when you do something like that the rest is going to be pretty easy.

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in-nicely-with-yanks.html

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Stat of the Day: Besides the Jo-Jo Reyes disaster
in San Diego, the Braves' bullpen has allowed...

post from Talking Chop on 19 April 2010 04:04:46 PM. © Talking Chop

Stat of the Day: Besides the Jo-Jo Reyes disaster in San Diego, the Braves' bullpen has allowed eight runs and struck out 46 batters versus 9 walks in 37 2/3 innings.
That's pretty impressive.

H/T: Peter Hjort (PWHjort)

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/4/19/1431074/stat-of-the-day-besides-the-jo-jo

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Thats One Way to Lower Your ERA

post from Ducksnorts on 19 April 2010 03:52:29 PM. © Ducksnorts

I mentioned that in Friday night’s victory over Arizona, third baseman Chase Headley committed two errors but was charged with only one. The U-T’s Tim Sullivan informs us that official scorer Bill Zavestoski later reversed course.According to[...]

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Andre Dawson 2005 Playoff Tools Of The Trade
BLUE!!!

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 19 April 2010 03:22:29 PM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

Andre Dawson 2005 Playoff ‘Tools Of The Trade’ – BLUE!!!I hit a bit of a snag while trying to collect all of the 2004 ‘Tools of the Trade’ cards featuring ‘The Hawk’. In summary, it was a matter of availability and finances.So what does a loyal player collector do? Why, jump right into the next [...]

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Know Your Foe #5: Nationals host Rockies inside
the beltway

More photos » Cliff Owen - AP

Jason Marquis left yesterday's game without recording an out.

Browse more photos »

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (6-6, 4th NL East, 2 GB)

Monday-Thursday: 3-game series @ Nationals Park

Rockies' 2009 Record against Nationals: 6-0

It was a clean sweep for the Rockies last year against the Nationals. New Nationals pitcher Jason Marquis picked up two of the wins, while Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Jason Hammel also picked up wins. That luminary of our bullpen in 2009, Alan Embree, had the other win in relief of Jason Hammel in his first start against the Nats.

Nationals' Recent Results: 1-2 series loss to Philadelphia Phillies; 2-1 series victory over Milwaukee Brewers.

Marquis magic couldn't help the Nationals in yesterday's afternoon game. Have you checked out Marquis' line from the first inning? He left the game without ever recording an out. The Brewers hit three singles to start the contest, the third single pushing the first run across the plate. This was followed by an HBP, a run-scoring walk, and a run-scoring HBP. Gregg Zaun hit an RBI single to remove Marquis from the game. Miguel Batists entered the game, allowed his three inherited runners to score, and surrendered a grand slam before recording the lat two outs of the inning.

Expected Pitching Matchups

Monday, 19 April 2010 @ 5:05 pm MT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Aaron Cook0-122000011.111872595.561.41

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Craig Stammen0-02200006.116111111115.632.68

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 @ 5:05 pm MT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Jorge De La Rosa1-122000013.095406142.771.15

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Scott Olsen0-01100005.25441356.351.41

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 @ 5:05 pm MT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Jason Hammel0-12200008.214111106511.422.31

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - John Lannan1-133000015.22010102975.741.85

Thursday, 22 April 2010 @ 2:35 pm MT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Ubaldo Jimenez3-033110021.01533010201.291.19

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2010 - Livan Hernandez2-022110016.09000540.00.88

Expected Lineup
PlayerPosAVGOBPSLGOPSISOBABIPwOBANyjer MorganCF0.2200.3600.3900.7500.1710.2310.349Willie HarrisRF0.1500.3460.3500.6960.2000.1540.326Ryan Zimmerman3B0.3100.3550.5860.9410.2760.4440.403Adam Dunn1B0.1620.3670.2700.6380.1080.1850.307Josh WillinghamLF0.3590.5000.6921.1920.3330.3550.510Cristian Guzman2B0.3100.3260.4050.7300.0950.3820.327Ivan RodriguezC0.4440.4870.6391.1260.1940.4710.495Ian DesmondSS0.2730.3510.4850.8360.2120.3480.362

Bench
PlayerPosAVGOBPSLGOPSISOBABIPwOBAJustin MaxwellOF0.1430.3640.5710.9350.4290.0000.379Alberto Gonzalez3B0.3130.3890.3750.7640.0630.3330.349Adam Kennedy1B/2B0.2810.3330.3750.7080.0940.3100.328Jason MarquisP0.2000.2000.4000.6000.2000.2500.253Willy TaverasOF0.2000.2380.3000.5380.1000.2670.250Wil NievesC0.2500.2500.2500.5000.0000.2730.225Mike Morse1B/OF0.1670.1670.1670.3330.0000.3330.150

Closer: Matt Capps