Baseball links posted by Erick Pacheco

http://sports.spinidea.com/2009/06/25/boston-red-sox-at-atlanta-braves-2/

http://sports.spinidea.com/2009/06/25/chicago-cubs-at-chicago-white-sox-2/ 

  http://watchlivebaseballonline.blogspot.com 

www.stream2watch.com 

  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mundanetv cubs then giants Phillies/Jays  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/teddybear82pw- teddybear Cards/Twins  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sticktv2pw-  sticktv.net  http://sports.spinidea.com/2009/06/25/boston-red-sox-...

Calling All Fans posted by Todd Kaufmann

Have we officially jumped off the bandwagon or are there still some of us Padre fans left believing this could be turned around?

Brian Giles finally hits his first home run, albeit after 95 at bats, yet the right fielder is still only hitting .158.  Can we finally call Portland and call up Will Venable or Chad Huffman or, heck, I'll take the hot hitting Kyle Blanks who hasn't even played one competetive game in the outfield yet.  But he'd give more of an output than Giles has thus far.

I'm also done with the Padres' bullpen, or lack thereof.  I'm curious why Bud Black continues to go with Luke Gregerson, Edwin Moreno and Edward Mujica, not to mention Duaner Sanchez, when Heath Bell hasn't pitched since Apr. 28th?  Lest we forget, Bell was the Padres' premier set up man the past few seasons, he can still hold a lead with the best of them.

I'm not sure how much of a ray of sunshine this is to any of us fans, but the Padres do have Cha Seung Baek, Walter Silva and Mike Adams due back before the middle of June.  Baek and Silva should be back towards the middle of May, Adams will probably make his return some time after the All-Star break.

This is going to be a long season if they can't stop this free fall.  The only way things get better is if the front office makes some big changes and makes them sooner rather than later.  If they think this ship is going to right itself, they have another thing coming.

All-Star balloting reminds me of the Iowa Caucus posted by David

Someone at MLB must have read my blog post from 5/9/08 and decided that All-Star voting needed to start even earlier this season just to see my reaction.  Keep in mind that the 2009 season began later than the 2008 season.

The one good thing about early voting is that maybe the fans will show some support for Evan Longoria over the injured Alex Rodriguez and vote the reigning Rookie of the Year starting third baseman for the American League.

Longoria is hitting .415 and has already hit five home runs and seven doubles – good for a slugging percentage of .830.

How ‘bout that?

How about the Cleveland Indians?  On Tuesday against the Royals the Tribe infield turned six double-plays.  Still not impressed?  How about when I tell you they did it in SIX CONSECUTIVE INNINGS (3rd-8th)?

How about Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko?  In the second inning of a game against the Tigers on April 13th, the White Sox teammates hit back-to-back home runs – the 300th of each slugger’s career.

How about the Pirates, Mariners, and Padres?  Though the season is still young, these teams hold records of 9-6, 10-6, and 9-6, respectively, after finishing with three of the four worst records in baseball in 2008.  Pittsburgh actually was the least bad, losing 95 games – good for a .414 winning percentage.  San Diego barely avoided 100 losses, finishing at 63-99 and a .389 winning percentage.  Seattle took the cake with a .377 winning percentage, losing 101 games despite wining their last three contests.  As awful as they were last year, this trio is off to a great start in 2009 and will hope to build on their early success over the next several months.

Giants are 0-for SoCal posted by Tom Ontis

Southern California has not been nice to the Giants as we go into the second week of the season, dropping all five games that they have played against the Padres and the Dodgers.  They were swept by the Padres and have lost the first two of three to the Dodgers.  Giants now stand at 2-6, the exact same record as the first eight games in the past two seasons.  And we know how both of those turned out.  They have averaged just four runs per game, that average being raised by two sort of outbursts of 10 runs and eight runs.  They have just five home runs, two each by Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand and one by Randy Winn on Opening Day.  Yikes.  Pablo Sandoval is swinging at everything, even balls way out of the strike-zone, but at least he 'D' has tightened up.  Eugenio Velez has appeared twice: Once each in center-field and left-field.  Me thinx they are showcasing him...So, what do they need to do?  Relax, it's only been eight games.  Reduce the K's (nearly 30 in two games,) and quit chasing so many bad balls...None of this is new for the Giants.  I have been following the team for more than 40 years, the decade of the 70's being the worst...One more at Chavez Ravine, then home to the Diamonbacks and Padres.  Good readin', good rootin' and see ya at the ballpark.Continue reading "Giants are 0-for SoCal"

The Sports Don's 2009 NL West Preview posted by Christian Mielcarek

The National League West is not a division too many people are getting overly excited about entering the 2009 season. The return of Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles has made the Dodgers the division’s lone true contender for the World Series. Arizona will go as far as its pitching takes it, which could be far, but other than that, there’s not a whole lot to pontificate upon. Yet, somehow, I still managed to write 1,383 words.

To read The Sports Don’s AL East preview, click here, for his AL Central preview, click here, and for his AL West preview, click here.

1.  LOS ANGELES DODGERS (84-78, first place and lost in NLCS in 2008)

The star of the self-titled epic “Mannywood” has returned making the Dodgers one of the most feared lineups in the NL even if Ramirez doesn’t put up the redonkulous numbers he did while in Los Angeles. Should Manny produce at the pace he did after being acquired at the deadline, his year-end totals for ’09 will look something like this: 52 homeruns, 162 RBI, 42 doubles, 107 walks, a .396 batting average and a .489 on-base percentage. That, ladies and gentlemen, would be the greatest season for any hitter all-time.

The Dodger lineup is frightfully deep starting with Rafael Furcal (.357 AVG with five HR, 16 RBI and eight stolen bases in only 36 games last season) at the top of the order all the way down to either Andre Ethier (20, 77, .305) or Casey Blake (21 and 81 between Cleveland and LA). If Matt Kemp and James Loney continue to develop, there isn’t an easy out to be found until the pitcher's spot. The Dodger staff doesn’t offer a true ace, but every scout is in love with Chad Billingsley. Hiroki Kuroda pitched well in his first year in the majors, particularly in the second half when he had a 3.48 ERA, and will pitch in the second spot in the rotation ahead of Clayton Kershaw, who is probably another year or two away from reaching his full potential. The bullpen could present problems, especially if Jonathan Broxton is inconsistent stepping in for the departed Takashi Saito. He signed with Boston, he’s not dead. Reliever Cory Wade was superb from September on allowing four runs on 11 hits and two walks in 21 1/3 innings.

Attention MLB Players - Don't worry about getting hurt in WBC - Life is Dangerous posted by Brian Herritt

I am now a fan of the World Baseball Classic. I just finished watching Team USA beat Team Canada. The game was better than I expected. It seems a bit more personal this time around for Team USA. I was impressed by the emotion and desire to win that players showed.  I was impressed with how the players felt the need to represent not only this country, but this countrys past time.  Then it donned on me. For the last few weeks I have heard players "think, debate, ponder" whether or not they would play in the Classic. The reason for not playing? Most say its fear of getting injured. So I did some researched. What I found is professional baseball players have found several ways to hurt themselves while their not on the diamond. Here are a few of my favorites.

Breaking your wrist washing your truck. Yep, true story that happened to Jeff Kent. Broke his left wrist washing his own truck in a self service car wash in Arizona.  Brett Barberie let his love for hot and spicy food cost him a few days at work. Seems Barberie rubbed his eye with chili peppers on his hand and was unable to see for a few days. Adam Eaton, formerly of my beloved San Diego Padres made the "wise decision" to open the plastic wrapper of a DVD with a paring knife. He didn't realize the stupidity until he accidentally lunged the paring knife into his stomach. 

There are so many to choose from. Sammy Sosa is my personal all time favorite. Sosa who was in a exciting home run race and is well known for how hard he swings the bat. Well Sosa straigned his back muscles while sneezing! Yes, sir Mr. Sosa was sidelined because he sneezed too hard. John Smoltz took a close second with his imitation of Molly Maids and burning himself while ironing. I commend Smoltz and Kent for taking care of their own domestic duties, but come on don't get hurt doing it.

Cardinals extend lead over Padres

St Louis Cardinals beat San Diego Padres 6-2 to move 2-0 ahead in the National League Division Series. [read full article]

From BBC Sport