When corresponding with readers since I first became a contributor on this site last November, I was surprised how much people loved The Rundown and I thought I'd mention it today so that new visitors could take advantage of this daily feature, sent directly to your inbox every morning. Match that with Joe Hamrahi's Short Stops that highlights the best performances in the previous day's games and the Daily Roundups (where I scan the net for great articles and also offer player and team analysis) and you've got yourself covered for the day...until the next...
Also, please take the time to visit 'Seamheads', which just recently completed its integration to Baseball Digest Daily to mostly provide writing on the history of the game, but will also feature other great articles on the national pastime.
This is all part of our desire to be a one-stop site for baseball fan and offer a middle ground between heavy statistical analysis and great writing by a hard working group of dedicated writers.
Let's just call it...the baseball digest daily way...
My senseless workload these past few days (that even shortened my stay under the bright and regenerating Florida sun) has affected my productivity here at BDD and I'll be cranking it up in the next few days with the return of the Daily Roundups, The Nerd Zone, The Baseball Research Project and other random posts about Spring Training and the upcoming season. I'll be getting up to speed on what I missed and sharing it with you. Is that a good deal? Cool.
- Just received my latest edition of ESPN Magazine. They have a nice cover featuring the Upton brothers (Justin and B.J.) and the quote "You'd be crazy not to draft us."
Indeed.
The two athletes made their major league debut at the age of 19 years old and appeared in almost the same number of at-bats in that first year:
Justin (140 AB): .221/.283/.364, 8 doubles, 3 triples and 2 home runs, 11 RBIs, 11 walks, 37 strikeouts and 2 stolen bases.
B.J. (159 AB): .258/.324/.409, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 12 RBIs, 15 walks, 46 strikeouts and 4 stolen bases.
- Jerry Crasnick wrote a good piece on KC Royal third baseman Alex Gordon.
On Hall of Famer singing his praise:
Frank White, an eight-time Gold Glove award winner in Kansas City, was managing Double-A Wichita when Gordon hit .325 and tore up the Texas League in 2006. White is a few pounds heavier and a little grayer than he was in his prime, but he looks as if he could still turn two with a flair.
"You always hesitate to use the word 'great' too freely, so I'll just say Alex is going to be a good major league player early, and I think he has a chance to be a great player late," White said.
Brett's seal of approval has even more heft. At 54, he still has that tanned, athletic, terminally charismatic demeanor that screams Hall of Famer the moment he walks into the room.
"I wish I had the ability he had," Brett said of Gordon. "He runs better than I did, he's better defensively and he has more power than I had at that stage of my career. I think he has a chance to be a very, very, very special player. A very special player."
On his mechanics at the plate:
But success is rarely as easy as it appears. The aluminum bat helped mask Gordon's mechanical flaws in college, and his quick hands and strength allowed him to sail through Double-A ball without pitchers' detecting any weaknesses.
It wasn't until February 2007 that reality made an appearance. Hitting coach Mike Barnett watched Gordon in the batting cage and noticed that his hands were too low, his stride direction was poor -- toward third base rather than the pitcher -- and he generated almost no weight shift. Gordon also leaned so far back in his stance that he was essentially swinging "uphill."
I LOVE this line by manager Trey Hillman on the rising star: "This young man is still learning the league and learning pitchers," Hillman said. "Let's not go backwards negatively. Let's go forward positively."
Look at this shot of Zach Schreiber
(Bill Richardson/BDD)
(Bill Richardson/BDD)
- Have you seen the pitching line for SF Giants starter Noah Lowry?
2.1 IP, 2 H, 6 ER, 12 BB, 1 K and a 23.14 ERA.
On the other hand of that spectrum, you have a guy like Jon Danks, starter for the Chicago White Sox, who has pitched five innings and given up only three hits, one earned run and struck out 6.
- The new rule that requires base coaches to sport a helmet while they are on the field is drawing mixed reactions.
- Do you think Roger Clemens has suffered enough?
Representative Anthony Weiner, a candidate for New York mayor in 2009, said the FBI is too busy with more important crimes to spend time trying to determine if the ex-Yankees pitcher lied to Congress about taking performance-enhancing substances.
"Roger Clemens has been shamed. I think the public record is replete with examples of how he did not likely tell the truth. What is the public benefit of continuing with an FBI investigation?" Weiner said.
Weiner also suggested his fellow lawmakers had gone far enough with inquiries into steroids use by professional athletes and should let professional sports league handle the matter.
"The real incentive to clean up this mess is not a governmental one," said Weiner, a Mets fan whose district includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn.
- I met with David Sabino, a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated, when I attended a Tigers-Jays game in Dunedin. Great guy and really knows his stuff. You can follow part his work here.
2.1 IP, 2 H, 6 ER, 12 BB, 1 K and a 23.14 ERA.
On the other hand of that spectrum, you have a guy like Jon Danks, starter for the Chicago White Sox, who has pitched five innings and given up only three hits, one earned run and struck out 6.
- The new rule that requires base coaches to sport a helmet while they are on the field is drawing mixed reactions.
- Do you think Roger Clemens has suffered enough?
Representative Anthony Weiner, a candidate for New York mayor in 2009, said the FBI is too busy with more important crimes to spend time trying to determine if the ex-Yankees pitcher lied to Congress about taking performance-enhancing substances.
"Roger Clemens has been shamed. I think the public record is replete with examples of how he did not likely tell the truth. What is the public benefit of continuing with an FBI investigation?" Weiner said.
Weiner also suggested his fellow lawmakers had gone far enough with inquiries into steroids use by professional athletes and should let professional sports league handle the matter.
"The real incentive to clean up this mess is not a governmental one," said Weiner, a Mets fan whose district includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn.
- I met with David Sabino, a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated, when I attended a Tigers-Jays game in Dunedin. Great guy and really knows his stuff. You can follow part his work here.