Posts filed under 'Baseball'
Takashi Saito, the Dodgers closer, complained of tightness in his right elbow during the game on Saturday against the Marlins in the 9th. After an MRI on Monday, it has been revealed that he is suffering from a sprained elbow ligament, and will need to spend six weeks in rehab to avoid surgery. The good news is that Saito will not need a surgery unless something goes wrong in rehab. Fans with tickets for the Dodgers games do not need to be worried however as Jonathan Broxton is slated to replace Saito.
July 17th, 2008
The two run double by Church and Maine’s amazing pitching helped the New York Mets to get the better off the Nationals in a baseball game last Tuesday night. John Maine’s first pitch that struck Lopez on his right leg was the talk in Shea Stadium. It seemed as if the pitch carried a serious message to the Nats that the Mets did not like their behavior in the previous game. The Mets, by winning this Tuesday night duel, have registered a win in the seventh game between these two National League East teams. The effort of Church, who hit a solo home run and made four runs, during the night, was the highlight of the game.
May 16th, 2008
Berkman showed his batting skills last Wednesday night as he hit a three run shot a very long distance at the Petco Park to register a 9-6 win for the Houston Astros against the Padres. It was a humiliating game for the Padres pitcher Hoffman as it was his pitching ball that got the treatment from Berkman. The dugout of Astros was thrilled with joy when they saw the at-bat shot of Berkman travel a long distance and this shot signaled the first home run of the season for Berkman.
Astros hitter Berkman was very happy about his performance against the Padres and said that he really enjoyed every moment of this close baseball game. Astros manager Cecil Cooper said that his batters heaved a lot of hefty blows in this game and was satisfied with the commitment shown by the hitters. The Astros are pretty happy to register their first win of the new season and would look to build on this momentum set by its hitters for the rest of the season.
April 4th, 2008
There is a lot of mental strength and passion for the game of baseball in D-Backs’ lefty pitcher Doug Davis. He has insisted that he wanted to start the games against the Reds on April 3 and also against the Dodgers on April 8 before heading to the operation theater on April 10 to remove the mass, as he has been diagnosed to be suffering from thyroid cancer. Dr. Bob Evani who will be performing the medical procedure on Davis said that it will take about four to six weeks for Doug Davis to start pitching again after the surgery.
Davis said that he was worried when he received a call from his team’s physician Roger McCoy informing him about the symptoms of thyroid cancer in him. He said that it did not come as a big surprise to him and was determined to fight it away. David is pretty optimistic about the whole thing and feels that he will be up and ready soon for the season ahead.
March 31st, 2008
Andy Gonzalez who played as a rookie in seven positions for the White Sox last year had already been used in as many positions as possible in the spring training by the Cleveland Indians. Eric wedge, the team manager of Cleveland said that Gonzalez is made to play in all positions by the team except for centerfielder and pitcher or catcher position.
Andy is sharing second place in the number of homers with Andy Marte in the team and first place taken by Grady Sizemore with five homers. Gonzalez was able to make only two homers last year so, he made some changes in his stance to get more this year. Gonzalez, who is 26 always keeps four gloves in his travelling bag and says that he uses the same for the third and short positions and uses different ones at first, second and for the out field positions.
March 24th, 2008
The Oakland Athletics players were in their pre-game batting practice session last Sunday, practicing for their forthcoming game against the Rangers, when they had a surprise visitor in the form of former manager Ken Macha walking through the back gate of the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Bobby Crosby, the A’s hitter, who was getting ready to take his batting practice session said that he was shocked and surprised to see Macha coming onto the field, a man who was fired by the A’s when they were beaten very badly by the Tigers in the American League Championship Series in 2006.
Macha said that there were some surprised looks on the faces of few players and after the shock sank in, Macha was surrounded by a few A’s players and that gave him some comfort. Macha said that he felt even more comfortable when he went to the other side of the field, where the Rangers were practicing, as he had met another former A’s manager, Art Howe. Macha, who is now a part time commentator for the Red Sox said that he was enjoying his TV stint, but feels that he has still got something left in him to deliver as a manager and hence has started talking to a lot of people and letting them know that he is ready to take up the job of a manager.
March 19th, 2008
The Veteran Player of Houston Astros, McLemore is not included in the starting mix of players for rotation. He was replaced with another candidate, Moehler. McLemore will be now in the bullpen competing with Stephen Randolph and Wesley Wright, a pick from rule 5 draft. McLemore was sent to the pen because he was having problems in control during this spring and other rotation players were giving better performance than him. In this spring season, he allowed 11 walks, which is a team high and issued seven runs in seven innings. Cecil Cooper, the manger of Houston Astros said that other players were more useful in the role of rotators and hence were selected instead of McLemore.
McLemore has been practicing meticulously with Dewey Robinson, the pitching coach and he has advised the lefty to play without thinking about the perfectness too much. It will be difficult for McLemore if he doesn’t make it to the 25 member roster before the end of this spring training. He will be left without any options and will be sent to the Minor Leagues. He is the third player to be removed from the running this year by Astros, the other two being Fernando Nieve and Felipe Paulino.
March 17th, 2008
D-backs are yet to finalize their roster as some of their players are victims of injury. The infielder Chad Tracy is suffering from knee injury and Miguel Montero the catcher is having a broken index finger on his right hand. These two players are yet to play in the spring training. Tracy was on blood thinning medication till today and is expected to be back in the game on March 18th as a pinch–hit or in DH role. Montero was away from baseball for a short period and his position in the team can be decided after the report of his CT scan comes out.
The team will have to look for other players if any one of them or both are not in a position to play the first game of the season at Cincinnati on March 31st. The absence of these players may open the entry for Trot Nixon, Robby Hammock, Alex Romero and Emilio Bonifacio. Hammock will be preferred by the Manager Melvin as he is a flexible player and can be used as corner in infield as well as outfield or as a catcher. Nixon is another favorite with Melvin and the manager has added Bonifacio and Romero to the chart as he doesn’t want to take chances.
March 14th, 2008
The playing rules committee of the Major League baseball has made certain changes in playing rules for the betterment of the game. The new rules will come into effect from this season. Many experimental adoptions of rules are made in the Minor League also with effect from 2008 season. There are no major changes in the method of play. The playing rule committee has the right to vote for amending baseball rules officially according to rule 25(c) of the Major League. The committee mainly addressed certain areas which needed clarification of the present rules as well as some new rules to be practiced at the professional level.
The main changes that need mentioning are the experimental rules to be used in New-York –Penn- Minor League and the North West Minor League. A new amendment to the Rule 8.04 regulates the time that a pitcher can use for pitching. The time taken by a pitcher to pitch the ball will increase from 12 seconds to 15 seconds, regardless whether the batsman is ready. If the batsman is out of the box, the automatic strike is given according to the set rules 6.02 (c) and (d). Another rule will regulate the visits of team members like managers, coaches and infielders to the mound. Only three visits are allowed for a team.
March 10th, 2008
Mike Stodolka, who was a first–round pitcher in the year 2000, has been molded into the first baseman of the Kansas City Royals in 2008. He was selected as the best defensive opening baseman in the Texas League in 2007. He has evolved exceptionally well through these years and is in love with the game. At present, Mike Stodolka is in the Major League camp of Royals in Arizona. He is enjoying the position in Royals, as he is accorded with the privileges the seasoned stars in the team are receiving. He has been taken as a substitute in four matches and was able to make two hits, with a double.
He has been selected as the first baseman only three years ago. This left handed player had a good play for six seasons but was later faced with shoulder injury. In 2003, he underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow. But things didn’t improve for him and he was in severe pain. The Royals signed him for a sum of $2.5 million based on his pitching record of 10-0 and 111 strikeouts in 52 innings. The director of player development, J.J Picollo of Royals is pleased with the good swing Mike is able to produce while hitting and that is the reason he is in the camp now.
March 7th, 2008
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