July 2009

Lefty Love

Yesterday
was not the shining moment of my baseball-fan career: I was shopping with my
grandma for most of the All-Star game. 
A friend periodically updated me with the score, but other than that I
was pretty much in the dark until I picked it up in the 8th inning.  However, thanks to Twitter (more on
Twitter in my next post; I am amazed at how MLB put it to such good use during
the All-Star festivities), I found a link to this fantastic video of President
Obama’s first pitch.  This is for all of my fellow lefties.

http://publish.vx.roo.com/nypost/viral/flashembed/

The Worst of 162

Happy 4th of July
to all!  Seems like the perfect day
to enjoy freedom, hot dogs, fireworks and baseball.  As this blog is titled “The Best of 162,” I find it
necessary to reverse my position for today and share what I believe to be
“The Worst of 162″:  Those hideous
red “stars and stripes” caps that all the players are wearing this weekend.  




uggla red cap.jpg

low red cap.jpg


These probably aren’t so bad
if worn with matching colors, but they clash with the majority of teams’
uniforms.  We’ve had the Mariners
vs. Red Sox series on TV at my house for much of this weekend, and the red,
white, and blue looks so terrible with the blue and green that I almost want to
look away.  Just look at those pictures of the Marlins’ Dan Uggla and the Mariners’ Mark Lowe.  Ridiculous.  If it’s a team like the
Cardinals or the Angels, it probably isn’t too bad, but I can’t get over it.  I’m all for being patriotic, but
perhaps a nice American flag patch on the sleeve could suffice.    

 

But while those caps
symbolize the worst of baseball this weekend, I do know someone who symbolizes the
best: Albert Pujols, of course.  Even though I just spent a bunch of time talking about him in my last post, he is worthy of more praise.  Albert hit his fourth grand slam of the season last night!  He was named the National League player
of the month for the second time this season!  Do you think it would be a wise idea to blow some of my birthday money on a Pujols shrine for my room?

 

Last but not least, today
marks the 70th anniversary of one of the greatest moments in
baseball history.  I don’t really
get too emotional over things, but Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech gets me
every time.  On July 4, 2009,
Gehrig delivered his famous speech in between games of a doubleheader at Yankee
Stadium.  There have been hundreds
of inspiring stories or touching memories over the years in baseball, but to
me, Lou Gehrig’s speech is the best.  Do you have a similar memory that reminds you of the “best” of baseball?

 

We really have been given a
lot to live for.  Enjoy the 4th!


Photo credits: 

Dan Uggla: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_632289.html

Mark Lowe: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/

Trade Talk

Fun
fact: I share a birthday with the Sony Walkman.  Who knew?  It
was introduced today in 1979. 
Today begins my last year of teenager-ness.  And while I share a birthday with some pretty famous people
(Princess Diana, Carl Lewis, Dan Aykroyd, Missy Elliott, Pamela Anderson), I
really wish I shared a birthday with this guy:

 

PUJOLS.jpg

 

 

I
try not to talk about Albert Pujols too much, but I could easily use up most of
my blog posts analyzing and discussing his greatness.  I will spare you that, but I do want to congratulate Albert
on becoming the first player in Major League history to have 9 straight
30-homer seasons to begin his career. 
Wow.  If you could see a picture
of me right now, my mouth would be hanging open in awe.  Thanks to SportsCenter’s twitter feed
for providing me with that bit of information.

 

Another
big news item: the Pittsburgh Pirates’ trades.  The Pirates sent outfielder Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean
Burnett to the Nationals and received outfielder Lastings Milledge and RHP Joel
Hanrahan from the Nats.  They also
sent Eric Hinske to the Yankees in exchange for Class A players Casey Ericson
and Eric Fryer.  It always hurts to
see favorite players traded away, but this Pittsburgh scenario really seems to
have upset people, specifically Pittsburgh fans.  Everyone was shocked when Nate McLouth was traded to the
Braves in early June.  Now, the
Pirates just seem to be unloading more players as part of a massive rebuilding
effort.

 

So
I ask: what makes a trade a “good” trade? 
I may not be a front office expert, but when a rising Pirates star like
Andrew McCutchen says the trades made him want to cry, shouldn’t that raise a
red flag?  At what point do front
office execs sacrifice some talent in the future in order to maintain morale
and talent on the field right now? 
With players like McCutchen and longtime Pirate Jack Wilson questioning
the deals, can the Pirates really afford their rebuild?

 

Also,
do you think there will be any other notable trades in the next few weeks?  The trade deadline is now just a month
away, so I’m interested to see what teams make deals and what teams stay put.   

 

Final
disclaimer: Just because it’s my birthday does not mean you have to say happy
birthday to me.  I forgot to put my
own mother’s birthday card in the mail on time this year, so I deserve nothing.

 

Pirates
news:

http://bucsbits.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/two_trades_a_final_wrap.html


Albert picture:

http://www.albertpujolsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/albert-pujols-homerun-diamondbacks.jpg

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