The Miami Marlins have named former Major League catcher Mike Redmond as their new manager.
Redmond played with the Florida Marlins, Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians from 1998-2010, where he batted .287 in 764 career games. However, he did not have much power as he only had 13 career home runs.
This is an interesting move by the Marlins because Redmond spent the last two seasons managing in the Toronto Blue Jays A system, last year in Dunedin. Redmond also has never even had a managerial interview at the Major League level before.
Redmond will replace the controversial Ozzie Guillen, who managed the Marlins to a 69-93 record and dead last in the National League East.
In the second no-hitter in a week, Jered Weaver delivered magic last night in Anaheim.
Weaver struck out nine and walked one as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-0. Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners on April 21 in a 4-0 win. Minnesota now has not recorded a hit in their last 15 innings.
The win comes at a time when the underachieving Angels are trying to salvage their season. After the Angels swept the Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays won two of three against Texas, the Angels are seven games back of the Rangers in the American League West.
Speaking of the Blue Jays, they were able to do something the Twins couldn’t do yesterday, and that was hit the baseball. Yunel Escobar had three hits, while Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson each delivered home runs in Toronto’s 11-5 win over Texas.
The Blue Jays are now three games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League West and will start a four game series tonight in Anaheim starting tonight.
The San Diego Padres have acquired Carlos Quentin from the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers.
Quentin, who will play left field, will try to improve a Padres’ offense that scored a National League low 593 runs in 2011. Just don’t expect the Padres to improve that much.
The reason is that Quentin’s offensive numbers have gone south since 2008 when he .288 with 36 home runs and 100 runs batted in. Since then his only best average was last year at .254. His power numbers have remained respectable in the 20-25 home run range, but expect those to drop in the pitching-friendly ball park in San Diego.
In other baseball news, the Toronto Blue Jays have signed pitchers Darren Oliver from the Texas Rangers and Aaron Laffey from the New York Yankees. Even though Oliver had an earned run average of 2.29, he is 41 years old. Laffey, meanwhile was signed to a minor-league contract and may not make the opening day roster unless he has an outstanding spring training.
In other moves the last couple of weeks, the Colorado Rockies have signed outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a three year deal worth $30 million. Cuddyer hit .284 with 20 home runs and 70 runs batted in during 2011 in Minnesota.
Also, the Oakland Athletics traded starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (16-12, 197 K, 3.12 ERA) to the Washington Nationals and closer Andrew Bailey (24 SV, 3.24 ERA) to the Boston Red Sox.
It is nice to see the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Communications are heavily pursuing a free agent. Unfortunately though it is the wrong player on the market.
A week ago it seemed the Blue Jays were going all out in their attempt to sign Prince Fielder from the Milwaukee Brewers. Prince would have been solid and don’t forget, his daddy Cecil played for the Blue Jays. Prince Fielder would have been a great fit at first base, where he batted .299 and was second in the National League in home runs (38), and runs batted in (120) in 2011.
So why are the Blue Jays going after a 25 year-old unproven commodity from Japan? Yu Darvish might be stellar. He did go 18-6 with 276 strikeouts and an earned run average of 1.44 last year, but there are a few key things to consider. 1) Darvish is 34 years of age, so much of a window of an opportunity is there for him where he could be a dominant pitcher? 2) Unlike Fielder, Darvish would only be playing once every five days. Should a huge amount of money (neighborhood of $50 million) be spent on Darvish? 3) How good could Darvish really be? The last time a Japanese pitcher made this kind of hype by coming to the Major Leagues was Daisuke Matsuzaka, and he simply hasn’t developed into what Boston hoped. His career earned run average is 4.25, and is WHIP is a poor 1.40, despite having an overall record of 49-30.
Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos says there is some risk here, and he’s probably right. Fielder at this time may just be the better option if the team is willing to spend millions on an offseason free agent commodity.
In other free agent signings, the Minnesota Twins have signed left fielder Josh Willingham to a three year contract worth $21 million. Last year, Willingham batted .246, with 29 home runs and 98 runs batted in for the Oakland Athletics.
Also, the Colorado Rockies have signed right fielder Michael Cuddyer to a three year deal worth $30 million from the Twins. Last year, Cuddyer hit .284 with 20 home runs and 70 runs barred in.
For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers has won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the American League.
Verlander led the American League in wins (24), earned run average (2.4), strikeouts (250), game starts (34), innings pitched (251) and walks and hits per innings pitched (whip) (0.92).
Verlander becomes the first Detroit Tiger since Willie Hernandez in 1984 to win the Cy Young Award and the third Tiger in baseball history as Denny McLain won in 1968 and 1969.
Verlander’s 24 wins was the most for an American League Cy Young winner since Bob Welch of the Oakland Athletics had 27 wins in 1990.
Other career highlights for Verlander this season was throwing his second career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on May 7, in a 9-0 Detroit win. On June 25, Verlander threw a career high 14 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also became the first pitcher in the American League to lead the league in wins, strikeouts and earned run average since Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins in 2006.
Verlander was also a major reason why the Detroit Tigers won the American League Central and advanced to the American League Championship Series.
World Series Trophy (Matthew Sheppard, Wikimedia Commons)
Tonight is literally one of the greatest nights in sports. It’s Game 7. Winner takes all. For some reason, Game 7 of the World Series and Stanley Cup means more than Game 7 of the NBA Finals. But tonight either the St. Louis Cardinals or Texas Rangers will come away with a Championship.
I thought it would be a good time to take a look back in Major League Baseball online archives and look back at the previous game sevens in World Series history.
1909– Pittsburgh Pirates def. Detroit Tigers– Honus Wagner collected six stolen bases and six runs batted in during the Series. Pirates’ starting pitcher Babe Adams won three of the World Series Games, including game seven, where he threw a six hitter as Pittsburgh won 8-0. The Pirates won the 1909 World Series despite poor defense. They committed 12 errors in seven games.
1924–Washington Senators def. New York Giants–The Giants played in a record fourth consecutive World Series. In game seven, and the score 3-3 in the 12th inning, Giants third baseman Freddie Lidstrom had the ball go over his head and allowed Muddy Ruel to score the winning run. Washington won 4-3.
1925–Pittsburgh Pirates def. Washington Senators–In their first World Series win since 1909, the Pirates outslugged the Senators 9-7 in the deciding game. Played in pouring rain, this Game 7 was considered by many as the worst conditions ever for any World Series game. According to www.baseballlibrary.com, there are rumors that Kiki Cuyler’s game winning two run double in the eighth inning was foul, but the umpires couldn’t see it properly because of the heavy fog. Cuyler would later be inducted into Cooperstown in 1968. The Pirates also were the first team in baseball history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series.
A significant milestone in Major League Baseball was achieved on Monday night.
Minnesota Twins’ designated hitter Jim Thome became the eighth player in Major League Baseball history to collect his 600th home run.
Thome actually hit two home runs in a 9-6 Minnesota win in Detroit. He hit his 599th career home run in the sixth inning off of Tigers’ starter Rich Porcello and then his 600th home run in the seventh inning off of reliever Daniel Schlereth. His home run in the sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie and his three run home run in the seventh inning put the Twins up 9-5.
Thome also had five runs batted in during the game and raised his batting average to .254.
It is interesting that Thome’s home run milestone wasn’t given as much hype as Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit earlier in the season, even though Jeter became the 28th player to accomplish his offensive achievement, compared to Thome being the eighth. I have three explanations:
1) The New York Yankees simply get more press and are in a larger baseball market than the Minnesota Twins.
2) It was difficult to promote Thome’s milestone in the making because he wasn’t playing everyday, and at the age of 40, wasn’t getting as many at bats.
3) A significant amount of Jeter’s at bats are meaningful than Thome’s because the Yankees are in a playoff chase, while the Twins are not.
For the first time in 27 years, one pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has thrown a no-hitter.
On Wednesday, Ervin Santana pitched a no-hitter in a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Also for the first time since the late Daryl Kile threw a no-hitter for the Houston Astros on September 8, 1993, a pitcher threw a no-hitter by giving up a run.
The Indians’ lone run in the first inning was unearned. Centerfielder Ezequiel Carrera reached on first base after a fielding error by Angels’ shortstop Erick Aybar. Carrera then stole second, advanced to third base on a groundout, and got home on a Santana wild pitch.
Santana also had ten strikeouts and a walk.
The Indians were terrible offensively and defensively. They had five errors in the contest.
Santana’s no-hitter was the third in Major League Baseball this year. Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins no-hit the Chicago White Sox on May 3rd and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays on May 7th.
Santana is the sixth Angel to throw a no-hitter joining Bo Belinsky, Clyde Wright, Nolan Ryan, Mike Witt and Mark Langston.
Ryan threw four of his record seven no-hitters with the Angels. Even though Langston only contributed to a no-hitter in 1990, he is not officially credited with one. Ironically, it was Mike Witt who came in to throw the final two innings of Langston’s 1990 no-no and threw the last single pitcher no-hitter in Angels’ history in 1984.
Remember back when the Edmonton Trappers were an MLB affiliate, and players like Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Johan Santana rolled through town on occasion?
Well, another big name from that era is at Telus Field all weekend!
Jose Canseco, a man once destined for Cooperstown, is now almost 47 years old and playing for and managing the North American Baseball League’s Yuma Scorpions alongside his brother Ozzie. He certainly had the numbers to back up a Hall of Fame claim, but his literary work, namely “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big,” derailed any hope of that ever becoming a reality. Back in 2005, no one believed him. Nowadays though, no one looks at players from that era the same way.
On Thursday night at Telus Field, Canseco says blacklisted or not, he feels like he made a difference to the game he loves. (more…)
According to the Associated Press, the most famous Minnesota Twin in franchise history, passed away today at the age of 74.
Harmon Killebrew, who had 573 home runs (11th all-time), and 1,584 runs batted in over a 21 year career with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals died of esophageal cancer.
In 1969, Killebrew won the American League Most Valuable Player Award after setting Twins’ team records for most home runs in a season (49), runs batted in (140) and walks (145).
Killebrew is also known for hitting the longest home run in the history of Met Stadium in Minnesota (where the Twins play) not New York, (home of the Mets). He accomplished that feat on June 3, 1967 when he hit a home run that went 500 feet.
A first baseman, third baseman and left fielder, Killebrew was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1984.
Another week has come and gone in the world of sports, which has given us plenty of material for another episode of “15 Minutes of Fame!”
This week, Geoff Driscoll & I discuss another crushing defeat for the Washington Capitals in the NHL playoffs and what it might mean for that team in terms of personnel changes, as well as what the Philadelphia Flyers needs to address during the offseason and the latest in the Phoenix Coyotes saga.
In the GABBYs: MLB no-hitters, rock solid goalies, NBA awards and soccer theatrics!
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Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers has thrown the second no-hitter of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.
This afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Verlander gave up no hits in a throwing a complete game victory for the Detroit Tigers in a 9-0 win. On Tuesday, Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
It was the second no-hitter for Verlander in his career. On June 12, 2007, Verlander threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 Tigers win over the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the first no-hitter at Comerica Park.
Nine runs was the most the winning team has scored in a no-hitter since September 1, 2007 when the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 10-0. Clay Buchholz, who ironically started for the Red Sox today pitched four years ago.
It is the fourth time the Blue Jays have been no hit in franchise history. The other pitchers to have accomplished the feat are Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians, Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics and Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers.
The Vancouver Canucks are only one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Final.
Tomorrow night at Rogers Arena, the Canucks will try to advance to the third round for the first time since advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994.
The Canucks currently lead the Nashville Predators 3-1, and I hope Sully and Force do their best to generate excitement throughout the entire arena.
Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins has had quite the baseball career so far.
In his rookie season of 2006, he had an outstanding year, going 12-3 with an earned run average of 2.16. The performance made the Twins franchise decide that Johan Santana could be expendable, and allowed their former ace to go to the New York Mets.
Since then however Liriano has had a rocky road, never really living up to expectations. He went through Tommy John surgery, missing all of 2007 and posted an earned run average over five in 2009.
This year heading into last night, Liriano had an earned run average of 9.13. He had 18 walks in 23.2 innings of work. He had already this year given up seven runs in three innings in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays and seven runs in five innings in a loss to the Kansas City Royals.
There were simply no signs toward his sensationalism he performed on the mound in Chicago against the White Sox last night. That is why baseball is a funny game. You just simply never know what you’re going to get from anyone at anytime.
The Miami Marlins have named former Major League catcher Mike Redmond as their new manager.
Remember back when the Edmonton Trappers were an MLB affiliate, and players like Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Johan Santana rolled through town on occasion?
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