The Baseball Thread

Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement. (and left the building)

22 seasons, 13 all star games, 630 home runs.

zero scandals...

I'm sad to see him leave the game. he was a true gentleman and possessed one of baseball's sweetest swings.


"“To play with him is a treasure I will keep deep in my heart,” Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki said through an interpreter. “I have played 19 years in professional baseball and I can say he was one of my best teammates and my best friend.”



I'm wearing my hat backwards today...

each and every one of them legit.

he did the right thing, calling it now.
no sense in going thru the motions for the next 4 months...

He was a fantastic player, wonderful. Proud to be a baseball fan.

Adding my kudos.
Who can forget that gorgeous swing?
I lived with a Reds fan for a couple of years and we watched every game just about. Griffey never complained or acted up. He was a consummate ball player, like his dad.

the back to back homer thing with his dad was pretty special.

I was watching that one live...(not seated in the stadium mind you.)

PSSST!

Strasburg strikes out 14 and walks nada in debut.
Phenom? or fluke?

too early to make the call, but the kid did show poise under intense scrutiny...

What I saw

What a great performance. Can you imagine the pressure? His future-hall-of-fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez said that he looks unbelievable.

94 pitches ... 14 K... zero walks. that was one less K than the record for rookies for first starts.

On the other hand, let's see where he is in say about 10 starts, after some of the top teams and hitters face him. From the looks so far, he looks like one of the top 5 pitchers in the majors.

The 21-year-old right-hander allowed four hits, two earned runs and didn’t walk a batter, piling up the most strikeouts in a big league debut since J.R. Richard fanned 15 for Houston in 1971.

... AND he fanned the last 7 batters before (wisely) being lifted in the 7th. His fast ball and curve had plenty of movement at the plate.

As long as they keep his still-growing 21-yr-old body fresh by keeping his outings near 100 pitches. That way he's less likely to catch 'Kerry Wood' disease, a malady Riggleman knows all too well from his days managing Cubbies. Fortunately, Strasburg has almost-ideal pitching mechanics, whereas Wood (also a 21-yr-old) slung the ball across his body. FWIW, Wood, after his rookie year, and the amazing feat of striking out 20 Houston Astros, needed Tommy John surgery to repair his arm.

Good observation; about Wood

tell you what... that guy can flat out play the game.
he's willingly been at every position this year except 1st, 3rd & catcher.
yeah, he's made a few errors... but he's also made some incredibly heads-up plays.
now he gets to fill in @ 2nd base for the next 6 weeks.
i'd be shocked if he was still hitting .237 when pedey returns...

Can't find an image of it, but last night the Tampa Bay bullpen was making their logo in the dirt. One was filled with I think small rocks, then the next was filled with unchewed pieces of bubble gum.

I think, next time, the bullpens should engage in a jousting match, with rakes as weapons.

Sure, he's great defensively. His transition from 3rd to center in '08 was almost seamless. But he already has about 50 Ks this year--in 150 at bats or so. The guy whiffs a ton. And his average has steadily declined over the last four years. .230 sounds about right. Good to have on the bench, to put in late in games, maybe, but not as a regular contributor.

I heard the Sawx acquired B Hall because they needed more breeze late in the heat of summer.

he's a whiffer...

man. how slow must Jason Giambi be.

he drew a walk and was then lifted for a pinch runner. A starting pitcher...

how embarrassing is that...?

(at least they dint put a catcher in for him)

giambi may be slow, but my better half tells me he's been taking at-bats away from 'Puppy' Helton...

i've been voting all day for the "34th and final roster spots" for each league.
unlike the regular voting (25 limit per day), you can apparently vote as many times as you wish.

the nominees --

AL: Paul Konerko, Nick Swisher, Kevin Youkilis [ ✔ ], Delmon Young and Michael Young

NL: Heath Bell, Carlos Gonzalez, Joey Votto [ ✔ ], Billy Wagner and Ryan Zimmerman

(voting ends thursday @ 4pm ET)

I agree with Votto.

and I think Jared Weaver deserves a spot more than any of those AL guys...

how about Johan the man Santana.

threw a complete game shutout, and he hit an insurance homer for hisself as a bonus.

shazamm.

he's like the new Zambrano, without the beating up teammates crap...

I heard Youk injured himself stepping into the batter's box today, so he might have to take his turn on the DL and miss the game.