Not Posting for Long Periods of Time

I once again apologize blog fans, but I feel as though I have let you down by not posting for some time. I'm trying to get pack to posting at least 3-4 times again, and hopefully that will happen. Last Tuesday I attended my very first Brewers game at Miller Park in Milwaukee, and it was quite a show. The Brewers faced the Tampa Bay Rays in interleague play and it was an amazing experience. I sat two rows from the field and was able to see the game like I've never seen one before. Zack Greinke took the mound for the Brew Crew, and fanned down 10 throughout the game (6 swinging, 4 looking). What was Kansas City thinking when they let him go?!?!?! But in that game, I was able to get an autograph from both Casey McGehee and Corey Hart. Not only that but in the first inning, Even Longoria grounded out to Casey McGehee to Rickie Weeks. Weeks then proceeded to throw the ball into the crowd and I was fortunate enough to catch it. My very first game ball. A ball that has touched the hands of Zack Greinke, Casey McGehee, and Rickie Weeks. Wow. Other than that, the roof and the back of the stadium closed due to severe storms in Milwaukee, which the roof closed in less than 10 minutes.

But enough of my own personal experience, baseball is taking shape as we near the All-Star break. The Phillies are now 20 games over .500! And as a Phillies fan, I still feel as though they could be playing better. Not one player is batting over .300 with disappoints me. Shane Victorino is closest with a .291 average, but even that isn't that great. It used to be that the Phillies wouldn't bat for average, but would hit 30 homers, and now that's not even the case. The Phils need to stop relying on their pitching, although it is amazing, and realize that pitching only gets you so far. In wrapping up, please continue to read, and go Phillies!

Why MLB.TV is awesome/sucks

Hey blog fans, I wanted to take some time to talk to you about MLB.TV and what it's all about. I recently moved to a different location where I am unable to watch the Phillies. So if I want to know anything about their games, and get more than the highlights, I watch MLB Gameday, and listen to the audio. I looked into MLB.TV and saw that it had some blackout restrictions but thought, "What the Hell? I love baseball enough that I'll watch all the games." And that statement is true, I was able to watch a Phillies game by moving my computer's proxy around, but that does not always work. At the same time, I have not missed one Texas Rangers' game, or any games that I just find to be interesting. I follow my fantasy players around, and even hooked MLB.TV to my PS3 to watch it from my Tv. Anyway, if you are interested or want to know more, please feel free to comment below with any questions. It's always interesting to hear the other side of the commentating booth. With the Phillies, you always have a somewhat bias towards the Phillies and when the Phillies are on ESPN or FOX, there is always a bias against the Phillies. (Especially with one Joe Buck). I really do enjoy MLB.TV, and if you are a big enough baseball fan, and have the money, I would suggest that you purchase it because I enjoy it. EVEN THOUGH I STILL DON'T REALLY GET TO WATCH THE PHILLIES! But if you like the Texas Rangers, the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers, the LA Dodgers, or even the New York Yankees, get it, I highly suggest it.

Where Have You Been?

"Guess who's back, back again, Taylor's back, tell a friend." First and foremost, I apologize for not posting since April 26th, 2011, but finals, work, and other activities took over my life and I was unable to keep up with blogging. A lot has happened since Jered Weaver became 6-0, but I do not believe I cannot sum it all up in one blog. What should I blog about after being away for over a month? I'm not quite sure, so I'm going to blog about the one thing I know I always can talk about: The Phillies. The Phillies right now have the best record in the National League with a record of 34-22. And to look at the past week the past three series, they have played the Reds, the Mets, and the Nationals. Those series included a 19-inning stretch, which you probably know that Wilson Valdez got the win for. His hat was later sent to the Hall of Fame. I saw on Facebook the status of: "Jo-Jo Reyes 0-28, Wilson Valdez 1-0." Very amusing. The Phils have somewhat disappointed me because I was expecting this spectacular performance from both the offense and the defense. We all knew that Chase Utley's return would take awhile, and now that he is back for the most part, the Phillies are closer to what I call the "2010 Opening Day Lineup." That lineup goes as follows: Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth (Now Francisco/Brown), Ibanez, Victorino, Ruiz, Halladay. With Ruiz being shaky, Utley not playing everyday and Victorino now on the DL, the Phillies lineup fluctuates from the A-Team (minus Mr. T) and the B-Team. Any day I see Michael Martinez, Pete Orr, and Sardinha all playing, I say, "Oh it's one of those days." And by the way, do the Phillies REALLY need Michael Martinez that badly? Do they not want the Nationals to get him that badly that they have to keep his crappy bat on the roster? Right now, the Phillies are in a good position in the National League, and can maintain their spot atop the NL East. On a better note, I was happy to see Vance Worley return to the Phillies lineup, and was heartbroken to see him go. His outing against the Mets can be summed up by poor fielding by the Phillies as well as some questionable calls by the THREE umpires.

Jered Weaver: 6-0

Jered Weaver recorded his 6th consecutive win last night for the Angels. Weaver threw nine shutout innings with 7 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 10. He nows leads the majors in wins (6), strikeouts (49), and ERA (0.99). Boo-yah! The Angels are 13-10, and Jered Weaver has 6 of them? But with a record of 6-0, Jered Weaver is among 3 others who have started the season 6-0, the last being Brandon Webb in 2008 with the Diamondbacks, and Randy Johnson has gone 6-0 twice. This win came as a surprise to me because Weaver is 1-11 against the A's and is known to struggle against them. Plus this was Weavers second complete game in his last two starts, and Weaver now has six in his entire career. Not to mention Weaver has an ERA of 0.99, which he owes much of his 6 wins to, because the Angels average just under 4 runs per game. With this kind of start, what record will Weaver have at the end of the 2011 season? Where will Weaver finish in the AL Cy Young voting? Where will his team finish in the AL West? I would imagine that the Angels can finish near the top, if not at the top of the AL West due to the lack of teams and competition. The only other real threat in the AL West are the Texas Rangers. Regardless of what the team does, I find it to be an amazing feat to do, to start of perfect through 6 strong starts. Weaver not only leads in wins but has the pitching Triple Crown in wins, k's, and ERA, something very hard to maintain with so many aces in the majors. I wish Jered Weaver luck in the rest of the 2011 season and hope that he can continue and go to 7-0.

MLB Takes Control of the Dodgers

This Picture is a New Favorite

I know this story is about 2 days late, but I wanted to make sure that I got all the details that I would like to write about it. The whole idea of Major League Baseball having to take control over the Dodgers because of a messy divorce seems like a good idea, because the once prosperous club has been on the decline since Jamie McCourt filed for divorce in October 2009. In all honesty, I'm not sure what could come from this, there have been many rumors of relocation, or new ownership. No one is quite sure what is going to happen in this situation, but as of right now, the Dodgers are 10-10, making them third in the NL West. There is a reason that they are able to be in this position now, and that is that they had to borrow approximately $30 million in the off season to be able to make their payroll. This situation is very similar to what the Mets are going through, but they borrowed $25 million from MLB. Mets owner Fred Wilpon has something that the McCourt's do not, and that is a close personal friendship with Bud Selig. The only good thing that really can come from this whole ordeal is that the Dodgers ball club is not affected by this in any way. I really don't think that anyone would want the LA Dodgers to change location, because they have become an important part to the community. Yes the fans show up in the 3rd inning and leave in the 7th, but that is one of the key things that the Dodgers are all about. And don't forget, if they Dodgers leave Dodger Stadium, the announcers will not be able to talk about the large amounts of foul territory that are/were in Dodger Stadium. What will they talk about!?!? I wish the LA Dodgers luck in this very difficult situation and hope for the best for the organization.

The Official Message from Bud Selig is as follows:

“Pursuant to my authority as Commissioner, I informed Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt today that I will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Club.  I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball. My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership.  I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days.   

“The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future.”

Phils Lose in Extra Innings

First and foremost, I find it to be very funny/interesting that MLB.com has game wrap ups for both teams in the game that was played. One article always has an uplifting and happy tone, while the other seems to be somewhat sad and ready for the next game. This is exactly what the Brewers/Phillies recaps are like, the Brewers have the victorious tone of how they overcame and won, while the Phillies recap expresses their disappointment of losing. But that's exactly how the fans, and the players feel about last night's game. The Phillies had scattered a total of 9 singles throughout the game, which leaves fans asking, "Where are the homeruns from 2008?" Charlie Manuel doesn't know, nor do the players. The 9th inning for the Phils was very exciting, tying the game to force the game into extra innings, or "Free Baseball" as the announcers like to call it. But after pretty standard 10th and 11th innings, the 12th inning can be wrapped up in one sentence, written by Todd Zolecki. "Five batters, one single, one wild pitch, one hit batter, one intentional walk and two sacrifice flies later, the Brewers had a three-run lead." That's exactly what happened. Excuses were made about Kendrick's poor performance, like he hasn't pitched in 10 days. I'm sorry Kyle, but pitching is your job. I understand that you can walk a batter, but on four pitches? Or what about the awful throw to first? You're telling me that 10 days off causes you to wildly throw to first? Fundamentals are fundamentals, regardless of how many days you've had off. It seems as though losing the first game of every series is what the Phillies are doing, but as long as they win the next two, that's fine by me. I will be at the game tonight watching Roy Halladay and former Phillie Randy Wolf pitch. Be sure to look for me along the first base line. Lastly, I wish the Phillies luck in the rest of the series against the Brewers.

CC Sabathia, Winless in 4 Starts

The Yankees "workhorse" CC Sabathia is winless in four starts. The biggest question is why? CC, a Cy Young winner, stats are as follows: 0-1, 4 games started, 25 innings pitched, 25 hits, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 23 SO, and an ERA of 2.52. Pretty good numbers overall, not not necessarily for the Yanks #1 starter. So what has gotten into CC? I really think that he is pulled at the right time, and the Yankees score at the wrong time. Look at Opening Day, CC pitched 6 strong innings, giving up 3 runs, but the game was tied when he was lifted from the mound. The Yankees then scored in the 7th, giving Joba Chamberlain the win. Sabathia's next start against the Twins was once again a let down. CC pitched 7 shut-out innings, only allowing 2 hits and 1 walk. The Yankees were winning 4 nothing at the bottom of the 7th, but Rafael Soriano gave up 4 runs in the top of the 8th, giving CC a no-decision. Last Sunday, Sabathia received his first loss of the season, after giving up 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. Sabathia was in a pitching duel with Josh Beckett, but was out-pitched. Last night, Sabathia was pulled after 6 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts in his weakest outing. I honestly think that CC has bad timing as well as an offense that likes to produce in the later innings. CC has proved himself time after time and in four starts has only given up 7 runs, which is pretty impressive. Other than R2C2 +J, CC Sabathia is my favorite pitcher, not to mention he's an amazing left-handed pitcher. I wish CC luck in getting his first win, eating more Captain Crunch, and another Cy Young.