WANTED

every time i go to an omaha royals game it seems like i am assaulted by the mascots.  usually herman the nut.  he is definitely a nut.  it all started when the royals were playing a game against the colorado springs sky sox.  me and my brothers ventured over to the sky sox bullpen where we like to sit sometimes hoping some foul balls will come our way (and they have before).  i like to listen to the bullpen conversations and this one happened to be the funniest, most hysterical bullpen convo i have ever heard. out there were pitchers josh towers, juan morillo (he kept glaring at me like he was out to get me or something) and a few other guys plus bullpen catcher humberto cota.  now these guys are down right hilarious.  sure what they talk about is inappropriate but if you were there you would not be able to stop laughing.

                              Towers                   Morillo                    Cota

so i started laughing and all that but then something hit me.  i turned around and saw herman the nut run away down a tunnel with a squirt gun.  i felt my back and it was soaking wet.  arrrrrrggh im gonna get him some day i thought to myself.  he still squirts me every time i go to a royals game, but i still havent gotten him back.

all right everybody.  heres my brain teaser.  it will twist your brain for days until you find out.  if nobody guesses it i will tell you in a week.  so here it is.

You are trapped inside a concrete cube.  There are no doors, windows or any other openings.  The only thing you have are three matches.  How do you get out?

Heres what i think will happen in 2009 awards and postseason + some other things

National League:

MVP:  Hanley Ramirez

Cy Young:  Brandon Webb

ROY:  Kenshin Kawakami

Pennant Winner:  New York Mets

Surprise Team:  Washington Nationals

Breakout Player:  Kosuke Fukudome

Comeback Player:  Pedro Martinez

American League:

MVP:  Michael Young

Cy Young:  Daisuke Matsuzaka

ROY:  Matt Wieters

Pennant Winner:  Boston Red Sox

Surprise Team:  Kansas City Royals

Breakout Player:  Alex Gordon

Comeback Player:  Takashi Saito

if you read my previous post you might have noticed that i have a ball covered in minor leaguers autographs

i thought i would tell you who are on it.

aaron guiel OF Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Japan)

jared price C Chicago White Sox

royce huffman 3B Chicago White Sox

lou montanez OF Baltimore Orioles

corry myers Iowa Cubs Bullpen Catcher (im not so sure on this one)

josh rupe P Texas Rangers

michael restovich OF Chicago White Sox

kerry robinson OF Retired

andres blanco SS Chicago Cubs

and one unidentified player

so i was at an iowa cubs game vs the omaha royals at rosenblatt.  i brought my baseball covered in minor leaguers autographs, intending for felix pie to sign it.  i had been waiting in front of the cubs dugout for 25 minutes maybe when felix came out.  another guy next to me called out to him and politely asked "felix, will you sign please?"  and felix said "after the game."  so disappointed i went back to my seat and watched the game.  so felix's first at bat is walk so he trots down to first base.  then he tries to steal 2nd base but was tagged out and had to leave the game because he got injured.  wow felix, if you had just signed my ball before the game everything would have been groovy.  but no.

hi everybody.  ive had some requests to write about probably one of the most fun baseball games ive ever been to.  ok so me and some buddies got tickets to an omaha royals game this past summer.  so we went to the game, of course and found our seats, got a hot dog and a drink.  then i noticed that some people were sitting in the outfield seats.  at rosenblatt stadium, they never ever open up the outfield seats, except during the college world series.  so we decided to go sit there.  so we went over and sat in the front row of the rightfield bleachers.  they were giving out some free baseball cards that day and one of my friends dropped them on the warning track!  we were so scared, but we didnt leave.  so when the 4th inning came around, we wanted to figure out who was playing rightfield.  that was when we started the unofficial damon hollins fan club.  so you know how they play some pretty sweet music between innings right?  we were dancing around in the outfield like maniacs hoping we would get seen on the local sports stations.  we didnt.  then around the 7th inning some security guards came and kick us out.  so we went and found another one of our buddies and sat with him behind the royals dugout.  he said he saw us dancing ou there.  royals dh brian buchannan came in to pitch and almost nailed 90 mph!  i almost caught 2 foul balls and one of them hit off the press box and grazed the tip of my finger.  i was so mad.  but i started cracking some jokes and that made it all better.  after the game they started shooting off fireworks behind the stadium, where we just happened to be at the time.  so we sprinted up to where the players come out to their cars.  i got autographs from yasuhiko yabuta, josh phelps and a bunch of other guys.  the buddy who we found after we got kicked out bought the damon hollins game used jersey from that day too.

So to keep the College World Series in Omaha, we would have to build a whole new stadium.  I think this would be a cool idea, and the pictures/renderings look really cool.  I am very attached to Rosenblatt Stadium.  It is the only sports venue that I know inside and out.  I know where you can get any type of food.  You need a root beer float?  I can tell you where it is.  Need a 14" hotdog?  I can get you one.  Need a steak?  I can find you one.

I am going to be so sad to see The Blatt get torn down.

I have some pictures of the new stadium, which broke ground a few days ago.

Looks pretty sweet, right?  There's only one problem.  With the Royals moving out to La Vista (an Omaha suburb) we have nobody to inhabit the new stadium for the rest of the year.  So were really gonna spend several hundred million bucks on a brand new stadium that will be used for 2 weeks out of the year.  There are rumors that Creighton University may play games there, but they only get 400 people at their games anyways.

Good news is that we get another new stadium for the future La Vista Royals that will actually have a team in it.

There are more rumors that with the Cubs sale to the Ricketts family, who are from Omaha, may move the Iowa Cubs to Omaha.  I was excited to hear this at first, but then I learned that the Iowa Cubs actually have their own owners, so they aren't owned by the Ricketts.

I have heard that we may get a AA team, too.  Although this is also unlikely, it is more likely than a AAA team.

The rumor that seems most likely to me is that we may form a new team for the American Association, an Independent League.  If this is the best option for my city, I will certainly take it, although I doubt anybody would want to go see an American Association game.

Pie had so much potential as the Cubs future centerfielder.  He has blazing speed and a plus arm in the outfield, but he can't hit.  Honestly, I am glad to see him go.  It made me so mad watching him play.  It seemed like he would strike out or ground to 2nd every single at bat.  I think the Cubs' new ownership and the Felix Pie trade for Garrett Olson will almost guarantee Jake Peavy going to the Cubs.

my top choices would have to be:

                    Centerfield                                           Sultans of Swing

Centerfield, by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Sultans of Swing, by the Dire Straits, are my two favorite baseball related songs.  They both have good lyrics and catchy melodies.

What are your top baseball songs suitable for a baseball video game?

all of my posts have been about baseball, the obvious sponsor of this website, but there are so many more things in my life than just baseball.  music is something that i am basically addicted to.  i want to talk about an artist that i recently discovered i really like listening to.  i always thought that country is kind of a strange music genre, but i like taylor swifts take on country.  she brings in a sort of rock beat but also the obvious country sounds too (banjo, etc.)  some of the songs i like most by her are our song and love story.  in my freshman english class, we have been reading the tragedy of romeo and juliet.  love story basically tells the story in a short summary, so i like that song.

two of my grandparents are cancer survivors.  i discovered a not so well known song (im actually listening to it right now) by simple plan called save you.  it is a really powerful song.  if you, a family member or anyone you know has cancer or had cancer, this is a song that you can really relate to.

heres a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fP9fBb8wjY

i think my favorite Take Me Out to the Ballgame memory was when Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne sang at Wrigley Field a couple years ago.

they sucked.  maybe thats why i remember it so well

some others i remember pretty well are Fall Out Boy also at Wrigley Field and Taylor Swift and the Backstreet Boys during the 2008 World Series.  (actually they might have just sang the National Anthem.  who knows??)

i think that the closer spot is the most overrated position in the game.  but i thought it would be fun to arrange all the closers around the league.

NL East

NYM: Francisco Rodriguez  Other possibilities: JJ Putz, Billy Wagner

ATL: Rafael Soriano  (this position isnt set) Other possibilities: Blaine Boyer

PHI: Brad Lidge  Other possibilities:  Why would you need other possibilites?

WAS: Chad Cordero (although he hasnt resigned, there are signs that he may) Other possibilities: Joel Hanrahan

FLA: Matt Lindstrom (this spot in Florida is mostly up in the air)  Other possibilities: Taylor Tankersley, Leo Nunez, Burke Badenhop

i actually decided that i will dedicate most of my blog from now on to some of my favorite mlb players.  i will also discuss other topics too.

some of the players i want to focus on are:

ken kadokura (obviously)

kenshin kawakami

kosuke fukudome

david price

josh hamilton

damon hollins

takashi saito

joba chamberlain

bj upton

i was wondering since i seem to like kadokura i might just make this his official (it would be unofficial) fansite.

hey ken, what do you think about that?

i thought so.

in case you didnt believe that the sweet japanese dude from a couple posts really is a new cubs pitcher heres a good picture.

that looks like the same guy doesnt it.  sorry that its a little fuzzy it was kinda small to begin with.

heres the original picture i showed you.

you can compare all you want.  its the same guy.

i tend to think that the mlb draft doesnt produce the biggest stars in the earlier rounds like the nba and nfl always do.  the draft has never been a real big deal to me.  weve seen players like rich harden go number 510 and albert pujols at 402.  so i thought that it doesnt really matter too much as long as you pick up some players, right?  not really.  lets take a look at some of the number 1 picks from the last 9 years.

1999: Josh Hamilton

once considered a 5 tool player, Hamilton was out of baseball for several years but has made a remarkable comeback and is now one of the most dominant and feared hitters in the game.

2000: Adrian Gonzalez

8 years after being drafted gonzalez has become one of the most powerful bats in mlb and just earned a gold glove this year.

2001: Joe Mauer

had a down year last year, but Mauer is still one of the better catchers in the majors, usually hitting over .300.

2002: Bryan Bullington

the ball state grad has bounced around baseball since being drafted.  drafted by pittsburgh ahead of bj upton, prince fielder, nick swisher, cole hamels and scott kazmir, bullington has been plagued by injuries and has pitched only 18.3 innings to date.  he is now in the toronto organization.

2003: Delmon Young

delmon is one of top young players in the game.  his bat has been compared to albert belle and his arm to raul mondesi or jesse barfield.

2004: Matt Bush

bush was drafted as a shortstop and was highly touted as the best propect in baseball.  but he underperformed once he reached pro ball, hitting .192 his first year and .225 his second.  the padres recognized bush's rather strong arm and transferred him to a pitcher, where he will start this next season.  he was drafted before jered weaver, stephen drew, justin verlander and homer bailey.

2005: Justin Upton

upton was also drafted as a shortstop and then converted, but in upton's case, to the outfield.  the decision proved to be a good one as upton has put up strong numbers since being called up.

2006: Luke Hochevar

there was controvesy again whether hochevar should have been picked first ahead of evan longoria and tim lincecum.  he was called up last year and showed that he can keep the ball in the park, giving up only 5 home runs from June 14 on.

2007: David Price

we saw price at the end of the year and he shined in tampa's run at the world series saving the crucial game 7 of the alcs.  he will probably be a back of the rotation starter next year.  he has definitely shown signs of greatness on the biggest stages.

2008: Tim Beckham

what is there to come from the shortstop beckham?  we will soon find out.

i recently found some renderings of a possible new stadium for the rays.

i think i looks really cool.  but what do you think?

ya his name is ken kadokura.  hes a pitcher and just signed with the Cubs.  as you may know i like japanese players and the cubs.  so im pretty happy.  he seems like a kind of guy who could help loosen up a clubhouse even though he probably cant communicate with the guys very well.  however the cubs think that kosuke fukudome could use some people he can talk to.  i think that kadokura will help a lot if he makes the team.

the cubs also signed so taguchi.  he might be here to help for the same reason.  there was also some news about signing ken takahashi.  i think ive written about him a bit and i think that getting a couple japanese players will really jumpstart fukudomes offensive game.

possible lineup for cubs:

1 alfonso soriano

2 mike fontenot

3 derrek lee

4 aramis ramirez

5 milton bradley

6 geovany soto

7 kosuke fukudome

8 ryan theriot

thats how i see the batting order going

i think 5-7 spots could be switched around depending on who has the hot stick

starting rotation could look like this:

carlos zambrano

rich harden

ryan dempster

ted lilly

___________ this could be any of the following:

sean marshall

jake peavy

garrett olson (im very interested to see how he will do with the cubs.  if the cubs do end up getting peavy then olson is likely to be part of the trade though)

rich hill

angel guzman

bullpen candidates

jeff samardzija

carlos marmol (closer probably)

kevin gregg (i would actually want him to be closer more than marmol)

ken kadokura

ken takahashi

mike stanton

jose ascanio

michael wuertz

neal cotts

chad gaudin

luis viscaino

i think that every one of these guys has a chance of making the bullpen (assuming takahashi does end up signing with the cubs.)

bench candidates

catchers:

koyie hill

jake fox

paul bako

henry blanco

infielders:

ronny cedeno

aaron miles

micah hoffpauir

casey mcgehee

outfielders:

reed johnson

joey gathright

so taguchi

sam fuld

brad snyder

as you may already know i like japanese baseball players.  they tend to be some of my favorites

so im happy to see some of my boys sign with some MLB teams

if you dont know who im talking about, whats wrong with you?

                                                     Kenshin Kawakami

Fresh off of a 9-5 season with a 2.30 era, Kawakami signed a new contract with the Atlanta Braves.  I think it is better that he's in the National League because he is homer prone, but he can hit for a pitcher (see link below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBcLCirMa4Q

sorry guys (and girls) its been a while since i did anything with my blog

so happy 2009!!

but anyway im pretty upset with some of the cubs moves this offseason

i think that kevin gregg has the potential to be a good closer for the cubs, but he hasnt really been as consistant as other guys in the game

aaron miles is nice as a switch hitter and 2nd baseman, but he cant fill in for what derosa left

speaking of mark derosa, the cubs were boneheads to trade him for 3 no name pitchers (the only reason i saw them doing this is bc one of them played for usa in the olympics)

i think luis viscaino might help the cubs bullpen, although his era wasnt very good last year.  he also was caught dui around the postseason.  its a shame we lost marquis and now have to watch sean marshall pitch every 5th day

some lesser known names weve picked up include david patton and brad snyder.  if i recall correctly, patton was a prospect from the astros and snyder a prospect from cleveland

then of course the most recent signing of our new right fielder milton bradley.  at first i wasnt so sure about bradley, but after watching the press conference i knew for sure that bradley would be giving his all out there every day

ive figured that the cubs are never going to get brian roberts or jake peavy, so although we would love to have them, im sorry cubs nation