Thursday, August 28, 2008

Upheaval in Philly

The season is still in it's infancy, but trouble is already abrewin' in Philadelphia.

After moving to a new stadium, oddly enough the manager had no idea his team was utilizing a DH this year. That left fans wondering if the GM had been clued in on this while assembling his squad for the season as line-ups were hurriedly scraped together.

Also, apparently chairs were thrown and tables dumped after a lackluster 5-7 road trip. 2 sweeps left the finicky and fanatical Philly fans puzzled and angry. Word from the front office is no player is safe and all are available. "Heads will roll" was overheard coming from the top brass.

The MSL season is off and running and will be as entertaining as ever so stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cards Win Home Opener








The first game played for April 3rd was the Yanks-Cardinals contest. St. Louis scored 11 runs and notched 15 hits in a 11-6 win over Roger Clemens and the Yankees. Melvin Mora got three hits for the Redbirds.



Strat-O-Matic Report








BOXSCORE: 2004 New York Yankees At 2004 St. Louis Cardinals 4/3/2004



Yankees AB R H RBI AVG Cardinals AB R H RBI AVG

A.Kearns RF 2 0 1 1 .500 E.Renteria SS 4 0 1 1 .250

R.Clayton SS 5 0 2 2 .400 J.Drew RF 5 2 2 3 .400

J.Lopez C 4 0 0 0 .000 M.Mora 3B 3 1 3 11.000

R.Klesko 1B 4 1 2 0 .500 J.Edmonds CF 3 1 2 1 .667

J.Uribe 2B 5 1 1 2 .200 P.Konerko 1B 4 1 0 0 .000

S.Stewart LF 5 1 1 0 .200 J.Burnitz LF 4 3 2 3 .500

B.Williams CF 3 0 0 0 .000 P.Polanco 2B 4 0 3 0 .750

C.Tracy 3B 4 2 3 0 .750 J.Estrada C 4 2 2 2 .500

R.Clemens P 2 1 1 0 .500 O.Perez P 3 1 0 0 .000

C.Hammond P 0 0 0 0 ---- C.Cordero P 0 0 0 0 ----

J.Tavarez P 0 0 0 0 ----

J.Parrish P 1 0 0 0 .000

K.Foulke P 0 0 0 0 ----

A-T.Long PH 1 0 0 1 .000

H.Ramirez P 0 0 0 0 ----

-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---

Totals 36 6 11 6 Totals 34 11 15 11



A-Pinch Hit For Foulke In 8th Inning



Yankees......... 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 - 6 11 1

Cardinals....... 1 1 1 0 0 3 2 3 - 11 15 1



Yankees (0-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

R.Clemens LOSS(0-1) 4 1/3 6 3 3 3 3 1 6.23

C.Hammond 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 18.00

J.Tavarez 0 1/3 3 1 1 0 1 0 27.00

J.Parrish 0 1/3 2 2 2 0 0 0 54.00

K.Foulke 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

H.Ramirez 1 2 3 3 2 0 1 27.00

Totals 8 15 11 11 7 5 2



Cardinals (1-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

O.Perez WIN(1-0) 7 8 4 4 4 7 1 5.14

C.Cordero 2 3 2 2 1 2 0 9.00

Totals 9 11 6 6 5 9 1



ATTENDANCE- 46,214 DATE- Wednesday, April 3rd 2004 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Randy Marsh, Marty Foster, Ron Kulpa, Mike Van Vleet

T- 3:44

LEFT ON BASE- Yankees: 9 Cardinals: 9

DOUBLE PLAYS- Yankees: 2 Cardinals: 0

ERRORS- J.Lopez, P.Konerko

DOUBLES- R.Klesko-2(2nd), C.Tracy(1st), M.Mora(1st), J.Estrada(1st)

TRIPLES- J.Drew(1st), J.Edmonds(1st)

HOME RUNS- J.Uribe(1st), J.Drew(1st), J.Burnitz(1st)

STOLEN BASES- M.Mora(1st), J.Edmonds(1st)

CAUGHT STEALING- R.Clayton, J.Uribe, B.Williams

SACRIFICE HITS- P.Polanco, O.Perez

SACRIFICE FLIES- E.Renteria

WALKS- A.Kearns-3, J.Lopez, R.Klesko, M.Mora-2, J.Edmonds-2, P.Konerko,

J.Burnitz, J.Estrada

HIT BY PITCH- B.Williams

STRIKE OUTS- R.Clayton, J.Lopez-2, R.Klesko, J.Uribe-2, S.Stewart, R.Clemens,

J.Parrish, E.Renteria, J.Drew, P.Konerko, J.Burnitz, P.Polanco

GIDP- P.Konerko

PASSED BALLS- J.Estrada



The St. Louis Cardinals had very little trouble at Bank One Ballpark downing

the New York Yankees. The score was 11 to 6.



J.D. Drew made sure the St. Louis fans enjoyed themselves. He smashed a

bases-empty 'big-fly' (his 1st of the season) in the 1st inning and tripled

bringing in two baserunners in the 6th inning. St. Louis had many

opportunities throughout the game and scored in 6 separate innings.



Odalis Perez(1-0) was the winner allowing 4 runs in 7 innings. Roger

Clemens(0-1) was the losing pitcher. He surrendered 6 hits and 3 walks in 4

and 1/3 innings.











Friday, August 22, 2008

2004 Season Preview

The big question going into this season is, will Arizona win it's 3rd straight title and make it 4 in 5 years? Or will another team be able to win the World Series and end the D-Back's run?
Here is a look at some teams that I think will have a chance at going all the way to the World Series this year.
Florida Marlins

Led by a potent lineup of Mike Lowell, Derek Lee, Adam Dunn, Victor Martinez, Eric Byrnes and last but not least Vladimir Guerrero, this offense should be lighting up the scoreboard every night. The pitching isn't too bad either with Jake Peavy, Jon Garland and A.J. Burnett in their starting rotation. They should be the favorites to win the Brock division this year.


Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers finished 2nd last year with a 80-82 record but Adrian Beltre looks primed for a breakout season to lead his team into October. He has a good supporting cast with Shawn Green and Gary Sheffield to back him up in the lineup. They also have a rising star in Chase Utley who will have many years ahead of him at 2nd base. The starting rotation is led by Olympic gold medalist Ben Sheets and lefty Oliver Perez.
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota finished with the same record as the Dodgers but finished in 4th place in the tough Aaron Division last year but things seem to be looking up in the twin cities this year. David Ortiz' .316 average and 43 homeruns from last year could be topped this year as he will in the middle of a strong lineup. Carlos Lee and Hideki Matsui will be able to provide protection for Big Papi as they both could hit over 30 homeruns this season. The Twins also have maybe the best starter in the league, Johan Santana to pitch every 5th day.

Montreal Expos
Montreal could have 8 players hitting more than 20 homeruns this season, led by Todd Helton, who is a lock to hit over .300 also. Their defense is superb with gold glovers from Helton at 1st, Brett Boone at 2nd, Orlando Carbera at short and Scott Rolen at 3rd. The pitching staff will definitly be able to stop rallies from relying on the defense behind them. Their bullpen is anchored by Francisco Cordero, who saved 36 games for them last year.

Philadelphia Phillies
After an upset loss in the 1st round to Anaheim last year Philadelphia moved into Yankee Stadium and look to put the past behind them in 2004. It does help that you have the batting champion from last year, Albert Pujols (.381 and 56 HR's), to lead the charge, and of course Miguel Tejada at short and Eric Chavez at 3rd base. The pitching staff should be helped by not playing in the thin air of Coors Field as Freddy Garcia, Jeff Suppan and Brad Penny look to lead the rotation.

St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals who come off a World Series loss to Arizona look to be just fine with Jim Edmonds, J.D. Drew and Jeremy Burnitz in the outfield. The infield isn't too bad either with Paul Konerko at 1st, Placido Polonco at 2nd, Edgar Renteria at short and Vinny Castilla at 3rd. Their pitching staff has a good blend of righties and lefties, led by Jake Westbrook, Woody Williams and Odalis Perez. The only problem is that they play in maybe the deepest division, Aaron, along with the Phillies and the Twins.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Round 1 Recap








Round 1 of the 2004 draft was very friendly to hitters, as Matt Holliday was drafted by Montreal with the 1st overall pick.
Holliday showed he's ready to be an impact player as he had 12 homeruns and 72 rbi's for the Tulsa Drillers last year.
With the 2nd pick, David Wright went to the Chicago White Sox. Wright and Jose Reyes (2nd pick in 2003) will be cornerstones for Chicago's infield for years to come.
Kansas City, with the 3rd pick of the draft, solidified their catchers position with Joe Mauer. Mauer seems destined to be a .300 hitter and solid defender in upcoming years.
Seattle chose the first pitcher in the draft, Scott Kazmir, with the 4th pick. Atlanta drafted center fielder Grady Sizemore and then slugging first baseman Ryan Howard was selected by Toronto with the 6th pick.
The other pitchers selected were: Chris Young (Oakland), Justin Duchscherer (Houston), Zach Grienke (San Francisco), Erik Bedard (Florida), Chad Cordero (St. Louis) and Dave Bush (Arizona).