benaikey

It’s been a busy week for Major League Baseball, and a busy week for myself as well. I haven’t been able to blog as much since classes started back up, so to make up for it, here are my thoughts on a few of baseball’s top stories.

First of all, the last men voted in to the All-Star game – the fans got it right for once. Shane “The Flyin’ Hawiian” Victorino and Brandon Inge were voted in by the fans to claim the final spots in the NL and AL All-Star teams, respectively. They couldn’t have been more right. Victorino is hitting an impressive .314, and he leads the Phillies in runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, and stolen bases. He’s the glue holding them together offensively. Victorino has also committed just one error in 82 games played, and leads his team in innings fielded with 735.1. Currently, the Phillies lead the NL East by 3 games over the Marlins. Inge leads the Tigers with 19 home runs and 54 RBIs. Not only that, his spectacular plays in the field (frequently seen on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight) are helping his Tigers stay atop the AL Central, holding a 3.5 game lead over the White Sox. All things considered, these guys should have been voted All-Stars in the first place, and with this second chance system, the fans got it right. Well done.

Moving right along, the Mets sent Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur. I have to say I’m highly disappointed in the Braves for this move. He may not be hitting very well this year, but Francoeur is not only a spectacular fielder (a career .982 fielding percentage, including a perfect 1.000 this year) and has one of the strongest arms I’ve ever seen, but he’s one of the leaders on this team. Aside from Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, he’s who you think of when you think of Atlanta today. He also stays healthy, which is more than I can say for his replacement, Ryan Church. Church only played 90 games last year, while Francoeur played 155. That’s a pretty big difference. Church may have a higher batting average this year, but has fewer hits, runs, home runs, and RBIs. Also, he’s six years older than Francoeur. You expect to get better by getting older and trading for a guy with only one year more major league experience than the guy you just shipped off? I just can’t wrap my head around this one. I take back part of what I said last week about the Mets – they robbed Atlanta blind on this move. I can understand if Atlanta had received a draft pick or a minor league prospect or two, but as a straight up man-for-man trade, I just don’t get it.

Last night, Jonathan Sanchez became the most unlikely pitcher in the Giants rotation to throw a no-hitter, the franchise’s first in 33 years. I would easily have expected Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, or Randy Johnson to do it. Maybe even Barry Zito, even though he hasn’t been that good since signing with the Giants. I’m not here to sell Sanchez short. What he did was incredible, but he owes a lot to that brilliant catch made by Aaron Rowand, as he robbed what was nearly a home run. It may be what he needs to turn his season, possibly even his career, around. He’s only 3-8 this year and 16-26 career, but throwing a no-hitter gives a pitcher a boost of confidence like nothing else can. I’m happy for him, and here’s to hoping he only gets better.

The Angels have taken a rather large hit, losing both Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter to the disabled list. Vlad the Impaler has been banged up all year, and has played in just over half of his team’s games. The loss of his big bat seriously damages their ability to hit the long ball. Speaking of home runs, guess who’s leading the team in that statistic so far? That’s right, Torii Hunter. He’s hit 17 this year, along with a team-best 65 RBIs and 159 total bases. Both hitters are batting near .300 (Vlad slightly below, Torii slightly above), so these are devastating losses. The Angels are only a half game behind the surprising Rangers, and the remaining players (in particular Figgins, Morales, Abreu, and Rivera) need to pick up the pace if they don’t want to fall too far behind. It’s only the 15 day DL, but factor in rehab starts and it may be early August before these guys return.

Lastly, it just wouldn’t be an article about baseball without mentioning Manny Ramirez. Are the fans honestly going to forget he just did 50 games for juicing and accept him with open arms yet again? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He does play for the Dodgers, and that Hollywood lifestyle produces enough phonies and frauds to begin with. He’s still the same old selfish, lazy fielding clean-up hitter the Red Sox got sick of and dealt for Jason Bay (who could easily become the new captain of the Red Sox once Varitek retires – but that’s another article for another time) and I don’t see him ever changing. He runs his mouth, he doesn’t put his full effort into the game (shown clearly by his choice to take steroids instead of working hard alongside his teammates), and to be perfectly honest, Juan Pierre was playing better while he was gone. The Dodgers were in first place when he was suspended, and they didn’t miss a step once they lost him. Pierre is faster, a better fielder, and while he may not hit as hard, puts so much more effort into his job it’s insulting to start an egomaniac like Manny over such a hard worker like Pierre. I don’t blame Joe Torre. He’s only the manager, and he has to do what’s best for ticket sales – win. If you’re going to play this overpaid loudmouth, rotate Pierre in and out of the whole outfield when other guys need to take days off. Don’t punish the guy for working hard: reward it. Show your team hard work pays off and you’ll yield results like your early days as Yankees manager.

So those are my thoughts about baseball for now. In a few days, I’ll post my second-half predictions. Stay tuned.

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