Random Thoughts & Ponderings: Baseball Style

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

And now deep thoughts, by Jack Handy. Just kidding, but I d0 want to touch on a lot of different topics today. The baseball season is now two months old. This is the time for major league team and fantasy owners to take stock of his/her team and plan accordingly for the rest of the season. If you're the Red Sox, you need to get another bat to replace David Ortiz. If you're my last place fantasy team, then you need to try and trade Hanley Ramirez and pick up a good bat and starting pitcher in return. I have 4 fantasy baseball teams this year. I am in 1st, 2nd & 3rd in my other three leagues, but dead last (15th in a 15 team league) in the league that I care the most about.

I would love to see Jake Peavy in a Dodgers uniform, but the odds of that happening are zero. First, the Padres would need to be willing to trade him within the division. Second, Peavy would actually have to agree to the trade. I think the 2nd obstacle would be easier to bypass. Why wouldn't Peavy like to stay in Southern California and play in a pennant race? Could they Dodgers look into Roy Oswalt like the White Sox did? Sure, but from what I've heard on the radio and read in a few articles the Astros want a truck load of prospects. That seems like too steep of a price for me.

Here's one for you Chad. Won't it be nice to see Jonathon Papelbon closing for the Yankees in a few years? Papelbon has pretty much stated he wants to set the new benchmark for highest paid closer when he reaches free agency in a few years. There is now way the Red Sox will pay him that much money to keep him in Fenway. In my opinion, the closer position is the easiest to replace, and Daniel Bard sure looks good already. He's the closer in waiting for the Sox, so you shouldn't fret too much over the imminent departure of Jonathon Papelbon.

Thank god Manny Ramirez has dropped to 5th in voting for the All Star Game in the outfield. If, for some reason, the fans vote him to start in the All Star game it would be the perfect time to remove that right from baseball fans. I have always been against fan voting, even though I vote myself, and think the MLB should adopt a process similar to the NFL. I'd rather see coaches, GM's and players deciding 100% of the players to the game, but I know that would never happen. It would be PR suicide for the MLB. At least if that happened the right players would be voted into the game.

My boss, Barry, brought up an interesting question yesterday. Why does the College Baseball World Series have to be in Omaha every year? Good question. The Final Four, Frozen Four and NCAA College Football Championship change sites each year. I think it would help grow the sport of College Baseball to move it around each year. I know people will let me know about the tradition, but who REALLY cares? Congrats to Boston College for a great baseball season. Winning 34 games and making it to the tournament is an amazing achievement. They've done far better in the ACC than I ever thought they would. Congrats to Texas for most likely ending the career of Austin Woods. No pitcher should throw 169 pitches in one outing. It was an amazing outing though. 12 1/3 of no hit innings.

Well, that's about it for now. I have a million other things I'd like to touch on, but should keep that for the next time.

Division 1 Conference Tournaments Underway

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

I apologize for my lack of writing the past three weeks. I have been absolutely swamped with my baseball season. Now that the season is over --  for us anyway -- I am back and with full force through the College World Series.

Conference tournaments are underway across the nation.

Now, I know the Atlantic 10, Big East, Conference USA, the MVC and the Mountain West are mid-major to major conferences in other sports, but in baseball that’s just not the case. I will go through the first two days of action from the big conferences. You should be able to figure them out from the posting.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Day 1 (Wednesday, May 20)

Florida State 7, Boston College 2
Miami 8, Georgia Tech 6
North Carolina 8, Duke 3

Day 2 (Thursday, May 21)

*Boston College 7, Georgia Tech 3
Florida State 4, Miami 2
Virginia 6, Clemson 5

Day 3 (Friday, May 22)

*Miami vs. Boston College, noon
*Clemson vs. Duke, 4 p.m.
North Carolina vs. Virginia, 8 p.m.

Day 4 (Saturday, May 23)

Florida State vs. Georgia Tech, noon
North Carolina vs. Clemson, 4 p.m.
Virginia vs. Duke, 8 p.m.

Championship Game (Sunday, May 24)

1 p.m.

* = Elimination game

Outlook: There’s too much parody in the league this year. I mean, Boston College beating Georgia Tech, get real. Still, look for a Florida State-UNC final with the team with the rested arms getting the win.

Big XII

Day 1 (Wednesday, May 20)

Kansas State 5, Kansas 4
Baylor 14, Texas 9
Missouri 5, Texas A&M 2
Oklahoma 5, Texas Tech 2

Day 2 (Thursday, May 21)

Texas 9, Kansas 3
Kansas State 9, Baylor 4

Day 3 (Friday, May 22)

Missouri vs. Texas Tech, 4 p.m.
Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M, 8:30 p.m.

Day 4 (Saturday, May 23)

Kansas vs. Baylor, 10 a.m.
Texas vs. Kansas State, 1:30 p.m.
Oklahoma vs. Missouri, 5 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech, 8:30 p.m.

Championship Game (Sunday, May 24)

1 p.m.

Outlook: Whoever wins the Texas-Kansas State game will be in the title game against either Oklahoma or Baylor.

Big West

UC-Irvine wins the title. There’s no postseason tournament.

Pac-10

All that’s listed on the Web site is the following: Champion determined by three-game round-robin play.

As of right now, Arizona State (42-11, 19-5) is atop the conference. Washington State (28-23, 16-8), UCLA (26-27, 14-10), Oregon State (33-16, 13-11) and Washington (25-27, 13-11) finish off the Top 5.

Outlook: Arizona State is the clear-cut favorite. They’ve dominated all year long both in and out of conference. Look for the Sun Devils to be the Pac-10 champs. Although, you can never count out Oregon State.

North Carolina — A True No. 1

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

With two teams in the top 5, and a total of six in the top 25 (according to my poll), no conference is better than the ACC.

I’ll start at the top of the conference, and when I mean the top, I am referring to North Carolina (32-10, 13-7).

The Tar Heels swept the Miami Hurricanes (26-13, 11-10) this past weekend in convincing fashion. It started Friday night, when junior All-American Alex White threw a complete-game, one-hitter against the Canes. He hurled 121 pitches, 80 of them for strikes — meaning two out of every three pitches were strikes.

White improved to 6-1 with a 3.14 ERA. He has 72 strikeouts and has walked just 23 batters.

The other two weekend starters have been solid, too. Despite struggling early on Saturday against Miami, senior Adam Warren settled down and kept the Heels in the game long enough to be able to tie the game and then win it, 4-3, in the 10th.

Warren is 4-2 with a 3.33 ERA. He has 52 Ks and he too has walked 23 batters.

Though his ERA is 5.86, Sunday starter Matt Harvey improved to 5-1. He has given up the same amount of long balls as White (7), but the homers off of him have come with other runners on. Harvey has allowed a total of 32 runs, 28 of them earned in just 43 innings.

His high ERA may come back to haunt him in the postseason, however. Harvey has been able to regroup after giving up innings of 2-or-more runs to settle into a groove before imploding again, but that is a formula for disaster in the postseason where teams are known to play at their highest level. Keep one thing in mind, though — Harvey is just a sophomore.

North Carolina has never been a pitchers-only program, and it shows with this year’s offensive numbers.

Junior Kyle Seager has been the true leader in the lineup. The Tar Heels second baseman is hitting .404 with 2 homers and 37 RBIs. He’s stolen a team-leading nine bases, and his on-base percentage is second on the team at .487.

At the top of the lineup, center fielder Ben Bunting, just a sophomore, has been phenomenal at setting the table for UNC. He’s hitting .330, and has walked more times than he has struck out, 22-14.

Two major things in this lineup are freshman shortstop Levi Michael and redshirt junior outfielder Mike Cavasinni.

Michael graduated North Davidson High School (Welcome, N.C.) in December, enrolled at UNC in January and has been the starting shortstop for all 42 games. He’s made a seamless transition into the college game, hitting .294 and hitting 10 homers while driving in 38 runs. Michael’s home run and RBI totals are second on the team.

Meanwhile, Cavasinni is just looking to complete a full season. Last season he took a medical red shirt part way through because he bunted a ball off his face which shattered his orbital bone. Coach Mike Fox said just before the Miami series that he’s seeing the ball better and better as the season has progressed so he expects his average (currently at .248) to rise closer to or over .300.

If the season were to end today, UNC would have the No. 3 seed in the ACC. (Georgia Tech, who is also in the Coastal Division, at 27-8-1 and 13-5-1 would be the No. 1 seed and Florida State, atop the Atlantic Division at 26-12 and 12-7, would be the No. 2 seed) and would face sixth-seeded Miami in the first round.

An aside: Because the ACC has two divisions — Atlantic and Coastal — the top teams from each division get the top two seeds and the rest are seeded based on winning percentage with eight teams making the conference tournament.

As of right now, even though they’re a No. 3 seed, UNC is the favorite in this tournament. Of course, the tournament is still a month away and anything can happen.

Eagles Perched High In ACC Standings

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Is Boston College legit? That’s the question I cannot believe I am asking myself.

As of April 11, the Eagles are 22-11 overall and sit atop the Atlantic Division of the ACC with a 9-6 record.

Read the latter part of that sentence again.

Earlier this season, BC took 2 of 3 from Florida State in Tallahassee. Those weren’t one-run games, either. The Eagles pounded Seminole pitching to win the last two games of the series, 14-6 and 12-5, respectively.

St. John’s High product Garret Smith (pictured), a sophomore, has been a two-year starter for BC. The 6-foot, 207-pound shortstop went a combined 3 for 9 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Eagles in the April 11 doubleheader against Wake Forest (a 23-2 and 4-2 BC sweep). Smith’s hitting .298 with a homer and 28 RBIs. He has also scored 24 times. Defensively, he’s just as solid with a .954 fielding percentage (he’s committed seven errors in 33 games).

JB MacDonald has been stellar in the starting rotation. He’s 4-3 with a 2.70 ERA. MacDonald has allowed just 21 runs – 17 of them earned – in 56-2/3 innings. He has 46 strikeouts to just 20 walks.

In Game 1 against Wake Forest on April 11, MacDonald threw a complete game, allowing two runs on just three hits. He struck out four and walked just one.

While it’s still early – conference tournaments don’t start until the end of May for Division 1 – the Eagles have proven that grit and determination can certainly lead to a team hanging tough with the elite of the conference.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the May 1-3 series against Miami (Fla.) when the Hurricanes come to Chestnut Hill. Right now, the Eagles are better on the road (14-6) than they are at home (5-3), however you can chalk that up to the fact that they play many of their early games down south due to the New England weather.

So, to answer my question: Yes. For now, anyway. There's still plenty of baseball to be played, but it's certainly fun to see a team up north sitting atop the standings of the ACC.

Curt Schilling: Hall of Fame or not?

By Jim Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Curt Schilling was a very good major league pitcher. He was even better in the post season, as you can see from his numbers: 11-2, 2.23 ERA and 4 complete games. Tremendous, amazing and big game pitcher are all ways to describe Curt Schilling's playoff career. If there was a Hall of Fame for the playoffs, then Curt Schilling would be a unanimous, first ballot Hall of Famer. There is just one problem. There is no playoff hall of fame. You need to take into account a player's entire career, including regular and post season.


Schilling's career numbers are very good. His 216-146 record, 3.46 ERA, 3,116 strikeouts are all impressive. If you take a closer look at his 162 game average, a 14-9 record, 3.46 ERA and 210 strikeouts don't exactly shout Hall of Famer. Yes, his 3,116 strikeouts put him 20th overall, but how many of those came against an opposing pitcher. I'm a huge National League fan, so I am not trying to bag on the NL, but some concessions need to be made when someone plays 13 1/2 years in the NL.

www.baseball-reference.com is one of my favorite websites. I often go there for stats that aren't burned into my brain. If you look at Curt's page, which the link above will take you directly to, there is a list of comparable pitchers. That list is below.

1. Kevin Brown
2. Bob Welch
3. Orel Hershiser
4. Freddie Fitzsimmons
5. Milt Pappas
   
6. Don Drysdale
   
7. Dazzy Vance
   
8. Jim Perry
9. Catfish Hunter
   

Only three of that list are hall of famers (Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter, Dazzy Vance). While John Smoltz will be a hall of famer, he's also a far superior pitcher in my estimation. The rest really shouldn't even be in the discussion.

I appreciate all he's done in the game considering the era he's played in. He's had to go up against the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire, Sammy Sosa, etc. That is not an easy thing to do. Is he one of the best playoff competitors of all time? Yes, but Reggie Jackson also had a great regular season career. Kirk Gibson didn't make the Hall of Fame for his World Series home run, and neither did Joe Carter.

Living in the Boston area, many people may say that I am just writing this to make a splash. While I might not be a Red Sox fan, I am also not a Red Sox Hater or Yankees fan. To be perfectly honest, I like Curt Schilling. I may not agree with some of his personal views, but enjoy listening to him speak on the radio. I just happen to be very conservative when it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I am the person who thinks Cal Ripken shouldn't be in there either, but that is a discussion for another time.

Proud to be an American

By Chad Garner
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff



I'm sick and tired about hearing how there's nothing good about the World Baseball Classic (WBC). If you watched the United States baseball team rally for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun Puerto Rico, 6-5, Tuesday night, you're probably thinking twice about bashing the WBC.

It's hard not to be patriotic, especially when you see the American flag and the red, white and blue color scheme being worn on a baseball diamond and in the stands. When David Wright drove in the game-winning runs with a two-run single down the right-field line and the American dugout erupted onto the field, the cameras quickly cut to Wright who was being attacked by Derek Jeter and Kevin Youkilis at the head of the pack.

They all had an ear-to-ear smile after that great comeback. The loser was eliminated from the WBC, and the winner earned a trip into the semifinal round. 

But for these multi-million dollar ballplayers to show that much emotion and passion for the win, but more importantly their country, this is why the WBC was created.

You can talk all you want about the negatives -- injury concerns, flawed format, lack of reps and too much down time (that's Chipper Jones' latest excuse), poor talent level on some teams, etc. -- but something has got to be said for representing your country and trying to develop and showcase our game to the entire world.

The Americans accomplished that Tuesday night.

Yes, I'm proud to be an American!!! Go USA!!!