A-Rod Hits 25th HR, Crunch Time for Selig and Giambi
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by user Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook
Crunch Time For Giambi and Selig
Latest reports from mlb.com say that baseball commissioner Allan Huber "Bud" Selig is leaning toward suspending Jason Giambi if he fails to cooperate with the Mitchell Investigation. He is reportedly wanting Giambi to decide by Tuesday.
It is not like Giambi was revealing anything we didn't already know when he mentioned "using the stuff". Jose Canseco had already told us more about him using steroids than Giambi has told anyone. So now as soon as next week we could see how this all plays out.
The Mitchell investigation has turned out to be a mishandled discombobulated mess that is going nowhere unless Congress becomes involved. I am sure the union will fight Selig all the way to the bitter end on this one. Can't see Giambi cooperating with the Mitchell investigation since he doesn't want to turn players on his team and others against him.
If there is a suspension it will be interesting to see how long the suspension will be. So all we can do is wait to see what course of action Selig will take. It is just like Selig to hire a committee to investigate steroids in baseball that has no power to force players to testify or to acquire documents that may incriminate them.
Around the Bases
Alex Rodriguez is hitting again as he clubbed his 25th home run of the 2007 season. More importantly for Yankees fans the team won their 8th in a row moving within 8 1/2 games of the Red Sox. With the Yankees coming from 13 or 14 games behind in August of 1978 to go to the World Series it wouldn't surprise me to see the Yankees atop the AL East at end of season.
Curt Schilling 6-3 didn't come close to pitching a no-hitter against the Rockies who humiliated the Red Sox 12-2. Red Sox are 4-6 in last ten games while Yankees have been 9-1....Brewers defeated the Tigers 3-2 a day after being no-hit by Justin Verlander. This was a game the Brewers had to win since both the Cubs and Cardinals won their games yesterday so they maintained their 5 1/2 game lead over both teams....Jake Peavy 8-1 struck out eight enroute to a 9-0 victory over the Devil Rays. Edwin Jackson 0-8 took the loss giving up five runs and five hits while only getting one batter out before being lifted for a reliever. Don't the Devil Rays have a pitcher in minors that can pitch better than Jackson? When a pitcher is allowing other teams to score eight runs a game it is time to take him out of the rotation.
The world must be coming to an end...Jason Kendall hit his first home run in 619 at bats and only his second in his last 1363 at bats. It was his fourth extra base hit this season in 210 at bats. The win moved the A's to within a game of the third place Mariners. Both the A's and Mariners have won 8 of their last 10 games but Angels have been 7-3 in that span so they are not picking up much ground. Joe Blanton 6-4 took the win for the A's.
Tim Lincecum 2-1 was bombed yesterday for 7 runs and 7 hits in less than 4 innings as Blue Jays took a 7-4 win over the Giants. His ERA stands at 5.25. In May he gave up 14 runs and 22 hits in 33 innings and had a 3.24 ERA in May. In June he has pitched 14 innings giving up 16 runs and 18 hits and has a 9.82 ERA for the month....When a pitcher makes 83 pitches in 4 innings it is not a good sign and it wasn't last night for Robinson Tejada 5-7 who took the loss against the Pirates who clobbered the Rangers 8-1. With a major league worst 5.53 ERA it makes you wonder when the Rangers are going to address the pitching problem they have ignored all these years.
Brad Penny 8-1 defeated the reeling Mets 9-1....John Lackey 10-4 became the first ten game winner in major this season defeating the Reds 6-3....On May 12th the Braves were 24-12 but since then they have been 11-19 and spiraling downward and yesterday the Phillies caught up with them with both teams 2 games behind the Mets. Mets are looking very beatable and may not be that good of a test for Roger Clemens tomorrow. Phillies on the other hand were 4-11 on the 20th of April but since then have been 27-20 and have won 9 of their last 12 games. If Mets and Braves lose today the idle Phillies would take sole possession of second place in NL East and move to within a game and a half of the first place Mets.
3000 Hits Watch: Craig Biggio 2984
Stats Corner
Hitting
Magglio Ordonez leads majors in hitting with .364 average and Jorge Posada is next with a .354 average. Matt Holliday hitting .352 is only other player hitting over .350....Alex Rodriguez is leading in home runs with 25 with Prince Fielder next with 23....Rodriguez also leads in RBI's with 66 with Vladimir Guerrero in second with 58.....Holliday leads in hits with 93 and Ichiro Suzuki is next with 90. Suzuki has a nine game hitting streak.
Rodriguez leads in total bases with 160 and Fielder is second with 156....Barry Bonds leads in walks with 64 walks in 59 games and Travis Hafner is second with 55....Adam Dunn has struck out 87 times in 64 games and with half season mark about 15 games away he could have 100 strikeouts by then. Dan Uggla is far behind Dunn with 69 for second place....Jose Reyes leads in stolen bases with 32 with Hanley Ramirez and Brian Roberts next with 22....Rodriguez leads in slugging percentage with a .675 percentage. Ordonez is next with a .657 mark....Ordonez leads in extra base hits with 43 while his teammate Curtis Granderson is next with 41 so both have a chance to have 100 extra base hits this season.
Pitching
John Lackey leads in wins with 10 with three pitchers having 9 wins. Three more have posted 8 wins this season. Josh Beckett tries for his tenth win today and Dontrelle Willis tries for his eighth win....Kip Wells tries to extend his major league leading loss total to 11 today....Johan Santana faces Tim Hudson today and if he loses his record will go to 6-7....Cole Hamels still leads in strikeouts with 104 with Erik Bedard and Jake Peavy next with 103....Dan Haren leads in ERA with a 1.58 mark with Jake Peavy next with 1.82....Hamels and Ervin Santana lead in home runs allowed with 16.
In Minor League News
Alexandria Aces Win Independent Baseball Game Yesterday morning at 10:35 AM the Alexandria Aces of the United League Baseball(...sounds wrong but that is name of league) won an 8-3 victory over the Edinburg Coyotes. Aces led the game from start to finish hitting three home runs. Home runs down the line in left and right field have to travel only 315 feet. Dead centerfield home runs are hit 385 feet and the Coyotes hit one over the centerfield wall.
As an enticement to get kids out for the game free water slide rides were available and they probably played a big part in why 1404 people attended the morning game in the middle of the week. Just don't ask these kids who was winning the game because they probably couldn't tell you. When foul balls were hit out of the ballpark a sound effect of breaking glass would sound and the announcer would say Specialty Glass the name of a company that replaces auto glass.
Our mascot Alex the Ace dressed as a airplane pilot from World War I walked through the stands shaking hands with the kids. With the independent league being a notch below the minor league baseball it was not surprising to see our third baseman drop a very high popup. These players are almost all players who have been released from major league organizations and none of these players has played in majors and it is very doubtful that any of them will reach the majors.
With general admission tickets costing only $4.50 for adults it is very reasonable considering how much the same seats would cost at a major league game but of course there is a huge dropoff in quality but no dropoff in desire as these players take baseball as seriously as their major league counterparts.
These players are not in it for the money because there is not much money to be had. They either live with a local family during the offseason or pool their income to rent pay their rent. They travel by bus into deep in the heart of Texas on their longest road trips. Buddy Biancalana the former major leaguer manages one of the teams in the league. Last year former major league player Trey Beamon played for the Aces.
The park was built in 1933 but doesn't look like a 72 year old park. The fans and players enjoy a great camaraderie since there are no ego driven superstars here. With free parking and affordable concession prices this is a great way to enjoy baseball for those who don't want to pay $3 and up for a cold drink or hot dog.
When an opposing player strikes out the announcer says "Thanks for playing" and then says while announcing the next batter "Our next contestant is........." Sometimes when a visiting player strikes out you will hear a voice saying "Wipeout" from the song of the same name.
Having first visited this park in 1955 for my first game this park is a reminder of my childhood and now 52 years later I can still go to the same ballpark and hear the best sound in sports...the sound of a bat hitting a ball and see players who play for not for the money but for the love of the game.
