March 2012
Vote for the next shirt giveaway
I’ll be unveiling the next shirt that I’m giving away sometime later today, but I wanted to give my readers the chance to influence my decision.
Vote which shirt you’d like to see given away next. You can choose from the following:
CUBS – 1
BREWERS – 0
TWINS – 4
PIRATES – 9
ROCKIES (2XL only) – 0
Pirates it is! Let me select a shirt and I’ll post it soon!
David Wright Shirt Winner Competition
It’s time to give away another MLB item. I’ve been constantly giving stuff away as we countdown to Opening Day.
I’ve given away a Matt Wieters shirt to Joey Orr,
a Brandon Phillips shirt to Matt Jackson,
a Dustin Pedroia shirt to Stephen D,
a Phillies shirt to Connor,
a Dodgers shirt to Matt Jackson,
a Ryan Zimmerman shirt to Big Brown Fox
a Nick Markakis shirt to NYBisons,
a CC Sabathia shirt to TeenRedsFan
a 2012 Pirates Wall Calendar to Philadelphia45
a Brewers shirt to NYBisons
and now THIS DAVID WRIGHT shirt to ???
I’ve taken all of the commenters and retweeters and put them into three groups.
Group 1 (East):
| Nick B | D’backs |
| NYBisons | Cubs |
| BigBrownFox | Pirates |
| Zac | Padres |
| Matt J | Rockies |
| TeenRedsFan | Cardinals |
| Philadelphia45 | Mariners |
| Paul E | Dodgers |
| Stephen D | White Sox |
| Jim Snicker | Royals |
| TxRangersFan | Brewers |
| Kim | Twins |
| JoeyOrr | Angels |
| Warren | Astros |
| Kim | Marlins |
| Nick B | Mets |
| Hedgy24 | Rays |
| NYBisons | Yankees |
| Jbooher | Phillies |
| Griffin | Tigers |
| TeenRedsFan | Red Sox |
| Stephen | A’s |
| Danny | Indians |
| Philadelphia45 | Reds |
| Paul E | Nationals |
| NYBisons | Blue Jays |
| Howie | Braves |
| Matt J | Orioles |
| BigBrownFox | Rangers |
| Kim | Giants |
Group 2 (Central):
| NYBisons | Rockies |
| Nick B | Royals |
| Griffin | Dodgers |
| Philadelphia45 | Astros |
| Stephen | Mariners |
| Mth83vt | Marlins |
| Jbooher | Angels |
| Matt J | Mets |
| NYBisons | Cardinals |
| Nick B | Rangers |
| Philadelphia45 | Rays |
| Paul E | Giants |
| Kim | Orioles |
| Nick B | Phillies |
| Philadelphia45 | Diamondbacks |
| Kim | Braves |
| Big Glove Bob | White Sox |
| NYBisons | Yankees |
| Stephen | Tigers |
| TeenRedsFan | Blue Jays |
| Nick B | Pirates |
| Stephen | Nationals |
| DmTroyer | Twins |
| Paul E | Indians |
| TeenRedsFan | Brewers |
| NYBisons | A’s |
| Kim | Padres |
| Howie | Red Sox |
| Matt J | Reds |
| BigBrownFox | Cubs |
Group 3 (West):
| Robbie | Padres |
| Philadelphia45 | Royals |
| TeenRedsFan | Astros |
| NYBisons | Cubs |
| Kim | Reds |
| Mateo F | Athletics |
| Jbooher | Yankees |
| Brandon N | Twins |
| Danny | Rays |
| Nick B | Tigers |
| TeenRedsFan | Indians |
| Kim | Brewers |
| NYBisons | Giants |
| Philadelphia45 | Rockies |
| Nick B | Red Sox |
| Paul E | Orioles |
| Stephen | Dodgers |
| Mateo F | Pirates |
| Warren | Blue Jays |
| Peter S | Mets |
| Craig | Mariners |
| NYBisons | Phillies |
| Aaron Howie | Rangers |
| NYBisons | Braves |
| Warren | Diamondbacks |
| Mateo F | White Sox |
| NYBisons | Angels |
| Mateo F | Cardinals |
| Mateo F | Nationals |
| Warren | Marlins |
There are 30 teams in each group.
Rather than picking names out of a hat, I am going to be picking MLB Teams. This will assign each blog reader a team. Here’s the selection video:
I will then simulate the 2012 season three times on my Playstation3 video game: MLB The Show 2012. The team that wins each group’s world series will advance their team to the final round.
After three seasons have been simulated, there will be three finalists. Each finalist will then be assigned a division. One finalist will get all EAST teams, another will get all CENTRAL teams, and another will be represented by all WEST teams.
I will simulate the 2012 season one final time and we will have our winner!
Here’s the results:
Video of Group 1′s season with winner:
Congratulations! You’re a finalist and will be represented in the final video by NL and AL East teams.
Video of Group 2′s season with winner:
Congratulations! You’ll be represented by the NL and AL Central teams in the championship!
Video of Group 3′s season with winner:
Congratulations! You’ll be represented by the NL and AL West teams in the championship!
Championship round:
Group 1 winner (represented by Eastern Teams), Group 2 winner (represented by Central Teams), Group 3 winner (represented by Western teams):
To the winner:
I need your email address so I can contact you for your address. Congrats!
There’s only 11 more days until Opening Day!
Check back tomorrow to vote for the next shirt and tomorrow afternoon/evening for the next giveaway!
Marlins Park Tour
Not too long ago, the Marlins opened up their park to their season ticket holders to take a lot around and familiarize themselves with the brand new stadium. I went digging around various websites recently to show you what the new park looks like.
Here’s your sneak peak:
A view from the seats to the right side of home plate, facing left field:
Another view from roughly the same angle:
From farther back:
And looking slightly to the left:
So what are we looking at out there? If you look closely, left field is awful for BP. There are 2.5 sections of seating with maybe nine rows. The rows look like they could be a bit steep, like right field in PNC Park and Cincinnati.
There are bullpens there too that will swallow up most of the home runs hit in batting practice.
Then there’s also a huge sculpture in left center field.
I’m not really sure how I feel about that sculpture. At first I thought it looked pretty hideous, but I thought the Marlins new uniforms looked awful, but they are starting to grow on me. Maybe in time the oddly placed piece of art will find a home in my heart.
What do you think of it? Personally, I would’ve rather them put more seats out there.
Here’s another angle of the Marlins Park sculpture in left center field. No matter how many angles I look at, I still just don’t really care for it.
Anyhow, here’s a side view of the sculpture. Take a look at those steps leading down behind it. Where do they go? Why isn’t anyone on them? Are they closed to the public? That is prime real estate for a home run ball. If I was a Marlins ballhawk, I’d probably just hang down there all game and gobble up game home runs.
Those steps have to be open to the public! Look how many of them there are! It’s wide enough that it looks like it was built for public use.
I tried to find pictures to see where the steps went to, but couldn’t. Check this out:
That’s right ballhawks. RAILINGS. Oh man, LF is going to be awful for batting practice.
Since we’re talking about left field, here’s a view of home plate from left:
That picture kind of sucks, so here’s a better one:
Let’s move over to center field:
Here’s a dead on view of center field:
And here’s the batting eye, looking toward right field.
Notice right field also has those dreadful railings. That’s not the only problem. There’s also an overhang, and it looks like it covers nearly the entire lower level of right field. Getting home runs balls during BP there will be limited, a la Citi Field right field.
You can see the outfield set up from this photo:
Here’s the main seating area in foul territory. It reminds me of PNC Park with the cross aisle running around the field several rows behind the dugout:
The press box behind home plate:
A look in from near the left field foul pole:
And the right field foul pole:
A view from third base looking out towards right field:
Have you heard about the live aquariums behind the plate?
Should be pretty cool for anyone sitting down close:
A batting practice shot:
And finally, here’s a shot of the scoreboard:
Let’s head out to the concourse:
They look rather crowded, and this was just at fan fest. If there’s one thing I hate its a crowded concourse. There’s nothing worse at a baseball game than tiptoeing through a crowd.
Parts of the concourse look pretty snazzy thought:
Here’s a crowd waiting to get in outside:
It will likely look like that before every game, as the Marlins, using poor judgement, are only opening the park 90 minutes early before the games. STUUUUUUPID!
Finally, the exterior of the building:
Another area outside of the park:
And finally, an aerial of the new Marlins Park:
And there you have it!
What do you all think? I think the park is nice looking, but I wouldn’t rank it in the top 5 of all of the baseball parks based off of the pictures, maybe not even in the top 10.
I think its going to be h*ll for batting practice, given the layout of the outfield and the late gate opening times.
What’s everyone else think? Anyone planning on going there this year?
There’s only 11 more days until Opening Day, and you could win this David Wright shirt tomorrow!
Brewers shirt 24 hour contest
I’ve got a Brewers shirt that I sold to someone awhile back. However, they returned it to me, telling me that it had a hole in it. He obviously cut the shirt with scissors accidentally, but blamed it on me, even though I inspect all shirts before I send them out. I would’ve noticed the hole – plus, it’s quite obvious that it was cut with a blade – scissors, letter opener, etc.
I gave the guy his money back, but am stuck with a shirt that I can’t resell. So I figured I would give it away to another lucky reader. It could come in handy for a ballhawk. I really don’t need any more Brewers shirts. I literally have four different shirts now for Milwaukee.
Here’s the front:
The logo:
The price tag:
The hole:
Can you sew? Do you know someone that does? It should be an easy fix:
To win, it’s simple:
Get the most points. You earn points by answer questions correctly. I’ll ask trivia questions. I won’t post them all at once though – that way you’ll have to keep checking back, and it will give other readers a chance.
Since most people check my blogs at different times of the day, I decided that it’s only fair to leave the contest open for at least 12 hours. Throughout the next 12-24 hours, I’ll post quick questions from my phone and compile standings from time to time.
Whoever answers correctly first wins. You must comment on this blog to enter. When you answer a question, you MUST put the question number with your answer.
For example: 11. What is the baseball team located in Pittsburgh? You MUST answer:
11. Pittsburgh Pirates
If you don’t put the question number, then people’s responses will get all jumbled and make it harder for me to sort through to find who’s first.
You may think you’ve answered first, but maybe not – because sometimes I have to approve new commenters’ comments. So, a new commenter may answer a question at 5:13pm, and you answer one at 5:14pm – the blog will show you as the first commenter until I approve the other person’s comment. At that time, the blog will show the comments in the correct order – with the new commenter winning the question if correct.
Sound confusing? Hopefully not. You may want to look at the comments so you don’t waste your time with duplicate answers because whoever is first obviously would get the point.
Here’s your questions: (One guess per question)
1) If you want to enter Miller Park early to watch batting practice, what gate must you enter?
TGIFriday’s Front Row Entrance – Philadelphia45
2) Who hit the first Brewers home run at Miller Park?
Jeromy Burnitz – Robbie
3) How high is the roof at Miller Park above the playing field at its highest peak?
330 Feet- Philadelphia45
4) Random stat – How many baseballs would it take to completely fill up Miller Park?
4,655,926,995 – Robbie
5) What’s the Brewers’ mascot named?
Bernie (The Brewer) – Robbie
6) What player has the most hits in Brewers’ history?
Robin Young – Robbie
7) In 2009-2010 what two different ways did the Brewers mark their batting practice balls?
A) Dashes – TeenRedsFan
B) Random Phrases such as “Sweet P” “Black Hawk Down” “Best Catch Ever” “Remetee.com” etc -TeenRedsFan
8) Who was the first Brewer to hit for the cycle at home?
Chad Moeller – Robbie
9) What team did the Brewers beat by overcoming a nine run deficit – the biggest comeback in team history?
Reds- Robbie
10) How did I snag my first ever ball at Miller Park?
Glove Trick from Friday’s deck – NYBisons
11) What former Pirate pitcher did Robin Yount get his 3000th hit against?
Jose Mesa- NYBisons
12) What Brewer$ infielder led the league in at-bats (629) and plate appearances (709) in his All Star year while hitting 15 dingers and hitting .283?
Don Money.
13) What year did the Brewers lead the NL in home runs with 231?
2007- NYBisons
14) What Brewers slugger won the Home Run Derby in 2009?
Prince Fielder – NYBisons
15) What is my career high in balls snagged in a game involving the Brewers?
12 baseballs (twice) – TeenRedsFan
16) The 1987 Brewers Team was known as “Team __?”
Streak-NYBisons
17) Speaking of 1987, how long was Paul Molitor’s hit streak in that year?
39 Games – NYBisons
18) I’ve caught foul balls during games off the bats of three different Brewers. Who are those 3 Brewers?
Carlos Gomez, Jonathan Lucroy, Rickie Weeks – TeenRedsFan
19) What 1989 Movie featured the Brewers home ballpark county stadium?
Major League- TeenRedsFan
20) Before becoming the Milwaukee Brewers, the franchise was what team?
Seattle Pilots – TeenRedsFan
21) In the 1970 season, what starting pitcher with at least 15 starts or more posted the lowest ERA, and why is he infamous in baseball history?
Al Downing – gave up Aaron’s 715th.
22) In 2001 the Brewers had high hopes moving into Miller Park. What was their record through the first 10 games of that season?
4-6, NYBisons
23) Name that Brewer:
Lou Collier
24) How many total bathrooms (men+women’s) are there in Miller Park?
66 total (33 men, 33 women) – JBooher
25) Who is this Brewer? He played for them in 2007.
Grant Balfour-NYBisons
26) What Brewers player took exception to being hit by the Pirates’ Jeff Karstens in 2009, which created a year long feud between the two teams?
Ryan Braun-NYBisons
27) What Pittsburgh Pirate was arrested, suspended 3 games and fined for hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers mascot sausages with a baseball bat?
Randall Simon-NYBisons
28) Name that Brewer (1990s):
Fernando Vina – JBooher
29) Name that Brewer (1980s):
Ray Searage (now the Pirates pitching coach)
30) Name that Brewer (1970s):
George Scott-NYBisons
31) Name that Brewer (2000s)
Brady Clark-Brandon
32) Name that Brewer (2010s)
Yuniesky Betancourt-Jbooher
33) What is the Miller Park record for balls snagged in a single game and what ballhawk did it?
Happy Youngster with 18 – NYBisons
34) What is the All Star game played at Miller Park infamous for?
Game ended in a tie -JBooher
35) What slugger had his career high of 45 homers twice – both as a Brewer?
Richie Sexson – NYBisons
36) What Mexican born Brewers All Star won 20 games in his All Star year with the Brewers while posting an ERA of 2.79 and hurling 15 complete games?
Teddy Higuera – NYBisons
37) Who was the tallest Brewer to play for the club in 2011 and how tall was he?
Kameron Loe – TeenRedsFan 6’9″
38) What former Brewers pitcher was born in Homestead PA? – (the site of the violent steel mill strike in 1892, and my place of employment).
Curt Leskanic – TeenRedsFan
39) What former Brewers star had the middle name Celester?
Cecil Cooper-NYBisons
40) Get out those old baseball cards. Who is this guy?
Jim Aducci
10 Name that Brewer Questions:
41) 
Greg Vaughn
42)
Jim Abbott
43)
Damian Miller – Brandon
44) 
Jeff Cirillo-Brandon
45)
Russell Branyan-Brandon
46)
Derrick Turnbow-Brandon
47)
Ray Durham- Brandon
48)
JJHardy-TeenRedsFan
49)
Luis Cruz
50)
Chris Dickerson-TeenRedsFan
That’s it. I’ll officially close the contest around 4PM by posting a comment telling everyone the contest is over!
Updated Standings: (it’s pretty close!)
NYBisons 12
TeenRedsFan 10
Robbie 6
Brandon 5
JBooher 4
Philadelphia45 2
The winner is NYBISONS! Congratulations!
Comment your email so I can get your address again.
There’s only 13 more days until Opening Day, and you have until Sunday to win this David Wright shirt.
Chipper Jones to retire
Yesterday, Chipper Jones announced that the 2012 season would be his last. Jones has been somewhat of a polarizing figure in his career. Atlanta Braves fans love him, while fans of NL East teams, particularly the Mets, seem to hate him.
Well fans, you’ll have one more chance to boo or cheer Chipper Jones this season. Jones will have a farewell tour in the fact that fans will know that this is the last time that they will ever see him play. If the Braves don’t make the playoffs, (which they may not since the NL East is much improved) your last chance to see Chipper Jones will be at PNC Park on October 3rd.
Personally, I like it better when a player of Jones’ caliber lets the baseball world know that this will be it. This way, fans can watch them play one more time. Jones was special in the fact that he played his entire career for one team – a feat that is becoming more rare as the years pass.
Is Jones a first ballot Hall of Famer? Let’s look at his numbers.
He hit 454 home runs, 2615 hits, .304 batting average, .533 slugging, .935 OPS, won an MVP award, 7 All Star appearances. I’d say he is. He’s had a great career.
How’d you feel about Chipper Jones? Like him? Hate him? Indifferent?
I used to hate him because I hated his wry smile and his sunflower seed stuffed cheek. However, after watching him play and watching him hit in batting practice I grew to appreciate him.
I think I’ll be posting more today – maybe another mini contest for a shirt. Check back soon.
Pump Gas at BP, Get Free Baseball Tickets
The Indians are teaming up with BP to offer a special ticket offer to BP customers. Customers who buy 10 gallons of gas can receive a coupon with a code that can be entered on a website:
After registering, the codes can be entered and saved:
Once you get five codes, you get two free tickets in the Upper Deck or Mezzanine Sections of Progressive Field (face value $12/$20 per ticket depending on section.)
This is a great offer that hopefully some of you who are planning on heading to some Indians games can take advantage of.
I plan to hit up BP and get gas on my trips to Cleveland – and I’ll take my gas cans so I can get 30 gallons of gas at 3 different BPs to get the tickets faster. I have a bunch of gas cans because I can get up to 30 gallons of free gas from GetGo after earning fuel perks from the local supermarket, Giant Eagle.
If I have to buy the gas anyway since I’m driving to Cleveland, I might as well get baseball tickets for doing so. Right?
Also, last season, BP and the Indians gave away free tshirts to the first 100 fans attending batting practice.
Hopefully they continue that practice.
They also stamped Indians baseballs with BP logos. Those fans snagging those balls were able to take them to guest relations and redeem them for a $10 gas card.
I never redeemed any of mine, because I didn’t want them putting a big X on my ball, but thinking more about it, with the price of gas the way it is, I’d probably get the gas cards this year.
I wish all teams rewarded fans for attending games early like the Indians do. My first Indians game may be Saturday April 7th. I’m not sure if I’ll go – I need to see if the gate opening times will be an hour and a half or two and a half hours, since the game is at 1:05.
Can you believe there’s only 14 more days until Opening Day? You also have until Sunday to win this David Wright shirt. And I still haven’t picked a winner of the Calendar yet, but will soon…
2012 Pittsburgh Pirates Calendar Contest : 20?
I was working on a blog entry, but I am not going to be able to get it done before midnight, so I’m instead going to put it off until another day and off up a quick contest for a Pittsburgh Pirates 2012 Wall Calendar.
The Calendar will run you $9.99 on ebay, but you can get it free by winning this contest.
The month by month breakdown:
Each day features the Pirates game that day, as well as the promotional item. Truly awesome. Mine is hanging directly to the right of my computer screen.
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
The last time I did a similar contest, NYBisons won a Nick Markakis shirt.
To win, it’s simple:
Get the most points. You earn points by answer questions correctly. I’ll ask 20 Pirates questions. I won’t post them all at once though – that way you’ll have to keep checking back, and it will give other readers who aren’t up at 11:55PM a chance to answer questions tomorrow as they are posted.
Since most people check my blogs at different times of the day, I decided that it’s only fair to leave the contest open for at least 12 hours. Throughout the next 12-24 hours, I’ll post quick questions from my phone and compile standings from time to time.
Whoever answers correctly first wins. You must comment on this blog to enter. When you answer a question, you MUST put the question number with your answer.
For example: 11. What is the baseball team located in Pittsburgh? You MUST answer: 11. Pittsburgh Pirates
If you don’t put the question number, then people’s responses will get all jumbled and make it harder for me to sort through to find who’s first.
You may think you’ve answered first, but maybe not – because sometimes I have to approve new commenters’ comments. So, a new commenter may answer a question at 5:13pm, and you answer one at 5:14pm – the blog will show you as the first commenter until I approve the other person’s comment. At that time, the blog will show the comments in the correct order – with the new commenter winning the question if correct.
Sound confusing? Hopefully not. You may want to look at the comments so you don’t waste your time with duplicate answers because whoever is first obviously would get the point. Check the Markakis shirt blog to see how that went down.
Here’s your questions:
1) This Pittsburgh Pirate graced the cover of Sports Illustrated on March 20, 1978.
Clint Hurdle – NY Bisons
2) The players involved in this trade thought it was an April Fools Day joke, as they were called into the managers office on April 1st to hear that they had been traded. What Pirates player, who had been an All Star in the previous three years, was traded on April Fools Day?
Tony Pena- NY Bisons
3) What animated video plays on the PNC Park scoreboard prior to the Pirates’ lineup being announced?
Pirate ship video firing upon and sinking other teams’ ships – NY Bisons
4) Where in PNC Park is the ‘Jolly Roger’ raised after a home win?
Behind CF, above cameras by bullpen. Philadelphia 45
5) PNC Park features five statues of Pittsburgh Pirates Players. Only one is on the inside of PNC Park (doesn’t include Negro League players) – who is that statue dedicated to? Hint: Left Field.
Ralph Kiner’s hands – NY Bisons
6) On last year’s Pirates calendar, given away at Piratefest, what was the featured photo for the month of December 2011?
Pirate Parrot in a Christmas suit – Philadelphia45
7) Which Pirates manager once stole a base while managing a game but wasn’t on the team’s active 25 man roster?
Lloyd McClendon -NYBisons
8) Former ballhawk Andrew McDonald interfered with a batted ball on the right field wall in 2009. The ball was originally ruled a home run before the umpiring crew listened to John Russell’s appeal, got together, and reversed the call to be a ground rule double. The play led to instant replay being instituted 2 months later. Who hit the ball? Mark Reynolds, NYBisons
9) What are the names of the FIVE pierogies that race at PNC Park? Jalapeño Hannah, Cheese Chester, Sauerkraut Saul, Potato Pete and Oliver Onion. Philadelphia 45
10) What are the lyrics to the cheesy hot dog song that played prior to the shooting of hot dogs at PNC Park? Hint- Finish the final lyric: It’s time to catch some hot dogs…
and catch yourself some meat – Philadelphia45
11) What is the name of the PNC Park ballpark host?
Joe Klimchak – NY Bisons
12) If a fan answers the trivia question correct in the 5th inning they win a jacket or they can trade it for what?
A surprise in a treasure chest – Philadelphia45
13) What is the last row of the upper deck at pnc park? (letters)
Y. Philadelphia45
14) Former owner Kevin McClatchy once switched his seat directly behind Home plate with a fab in the upper deck during a game. Why did he switch seats?
A fan held up a sign “Hey McClatchy, want to switch seats?” -Philadelphia45
15) The Pirates give all fans a free program as they enter the gates. What is the name of that publication?
First Pitch – Philadelphia45
16) The restaurant now known as the Hall of Fame Club used to be what restaurant?
Outback Steakhouse – NY Bisons
17) The Pirates track their home runs on a sign on the right field wall in foul territory. What is the phrase on the sign?
Bucco Blasts – Philadelphia45
18) What PNC park food stand sells hot dogs, popcorn, and small drinks for $1?
Bucaroos. Philadelphia45
19) Who was the last Pirate to be voted in to start an All Star game?
Jason Bay 2006 -NYBisons
20) This Pirate player, nicknamed “Boy,” was my brother’s favorite player.
Jose “Chico” Lind. -Philadelphia45
It’s NYBisons 9
Philadelphia45 11
Congratulations to Philadelphia45 on the hard fought victory! (Check your email)
There’s only 15 more days until Opening Day, and you have until Sunday to win the David Wright shirt.
2012 Milestone Homeruns + First day of Spring
Have any of you ever been on a home run chase before? Where you’ve attended a game just for the chance of catching a player’s milestone home run?
I attended 3 games in Cleveland in 2010 in pursuit of Alex Rodriguez’s 600th home run and a possible $250,000 payday. I had it played perfectly too. The first two games, I waited alone down in Heritage Park in dead center field. I couldn’t see the game, but it the ball landed in the trees or flew into the monument sections, I’d have a good 20 second before anyone else could get down there to corral it.
Like most home run chases, it ended in disappointment, A-Rod failed to hit #600 in Cleveland. I also was in on Albert Pujols when he was at #399 at PNC Park, and Derrek Lee & Alfonso Soriano when they were both stuck on #299 at PNC Park.
If you caught a milestone ball what would you do? Would you give it back, no questions asked like this guy did? Or would you sell it, like this fan did?
Personally, I’d sell it. To give it back to the player would be nice and all, but to a regular fan, it’s like hitting the lottery.
So, here is a look at players who are approaching milestone home runs in 2012:
In parentheses are the home runs still needed to reach the milestone.
650 Home runs – Alex Rodriguez (21)
450 Home runs – Albert Pujols (5), Vlad Guerrero (1)
400 Home runs – David Ortiz (22), Adam Dunn (35), Paul Konerko (4)
300 Home runs – Ryan Howard (14), Miguel Cabrera (23)
250 Home runs – Derek Jeter (10)
200 Home runs – Jose Bautista (44), Curtis Granderson (33), David Wright (17), Nick Swisher (15), Justin Morneau (15), Chase Utley (12), Travis Hafner (11), Dan Uggla (10), Adrian Gonzalez (5)
Looking over my master schedule, I could possibly have a shot a Miguel Cabrera’s 300th if he gets out to a hot start near the end of May in Cleveland. If Adam Dunn rebounds, I could have a shot at his 400th at the end of the season, also in Clevelnad. If Justin Morneau can recover from his concussion symtoms, he could be around 14 homers when the Twins visit PNC Park in June.
Will any of you alter your plans this summer for a particular chance at a milestone?
In other non-baseball news, its the first day of spring.
It was 80 degrees in PA, so Amy, Olivia and I headed out to Linn Run state park near Ligonier PA. Olivia was loving the water at this area known as flat rock, which is a giant flat rock over which a rushing stream flows. It’s a natural water slide – but I didn’t swim. I just held Olivia as she kicked in the water.
We were having a blast.
Olivia couldn’t get enough of the water.
Anyway, the wonderful day then took a turn for the worst. Three college aged girls came and joined us at the rock.
There really wasn’t anyone else around. Moments later, two random guys walked up the trail and stopped at the rock too. Our tranquility had been ruined. The girls kicked off their sandals and waded onto the flat rock, just to get their feet wet.
We were about to leave, when one of the girls slipped on the slippery rock and face planted hard onto the unforgiving rock and got washed downstream a bit. Her friends thought it was funny at first. However, her face was split open and it was gushing blood.
It was ridiculous. And gruesome. Blood was running down her arms. Amy offered a diaper to keep on it to absorb the blood, but was turned down, as the girl decided to remove an article of her clothing to use as a compress. She couldn’t walk because she was losing so much blood. The walk back to the parking lot was at least a half mile. Craziness. Thankfully the two random guys carried her back.
I didn’t think it was right to take a picture of it, but there was blood everywhere. After we got back to our car and left, I did snap a photo of the ambulance that came.
Just thought I’d share about my first day of spring. Sheesh.
There’s only 16 more days until Opening Day, and you can win this DAVID WRIGHT shirt on Sunday – the more you comment and read, the better your chances are! And, I’m thinking about doing another one of those 24 hour contests soon…
David Wright Jersey Shirt Giveaway
I’m giving away MLB Stuff every week on this blog to reward my readers.
I’ve given away a Matt Wieters shirt to Joey Orr,
a Brandon Phillips shirt to Matt Jackson,
a Dustin Pedroia shirt to Stephen D,
a Phillies shirt to Connor,
a Dodgers shirt to Matt Jackson,
a Ryan Zimmerman shirt to Big Brown Fox
a Nick Markakis shirt to NYBisons,
and this CC Sabathia shirt to Teen Reds Fan.
This week, I gave readers a chance to pick this shirt, and then the player.
They picked a Mets shirt:
And the player is David Wright:
Here’s the full front of the shirt:
And with tags:
I believe I have this shirt available in a small, medium, large and XL.
Here’s how you win the shirt:
I post blog entries every day. All you have to do is leave a comment or retweet my blog link on twitter.
So, again, to enter:
1) Leave a comment.
You can enter up to seven times per week simply by leaving a comment. Non-pertinent, spam, or inappropriate comments will not be accepted. If you comment multiple times on the same blog entry, it still counts as one entry. For example, if you commented on three different blog posts from this week, you’d have three entries. If you’d comment three times on the same blog posting, it would could as one.
2) Retweet (RT) my posts on Twitter
You can find me on twitter under 333greystreet. Simply retweet my daily posts of my blog link and I’ll count that as an entry. My blog is connected to my twitter so that I automatically tweet once I post a new entry. Each day, I’ll search who’s retweeted me and enter those users into a hat along with the commenters. By the way, you do not need to retweet my every tweet, only the tweets that announce a new blog post and url. For example, if I tweeted, ‘I’m going to bed,’ and you retweeted it, it wouldn’t count as an entry, only RT with blog links count.
At the end of the week on Sunday, I’ll have Olivia, Amy or myself choose a name from a hat and announce the winner.
So, what’s everyone think of the Mets’ chances in 2012. In my NL East preview, I buried the Mets in last place and predicted them to lose 100 games. By the way, Spring Training isn’t really a good indicator of how a team will do in the regular season due to the amount of minor league players involved, players just getting their work in, regardless if they’re struggling, etc… but the Mets are 3-11 this spring – worst in the MLB.
As far as David Wright in 2012, things aren’t getting underway well for him. He has a torn abdominal muscle and may not be ready for opening day. Hopefully for Wright, he can recover without surgery. Ryan Zimmerman had surgery for a torn abdominal muscle last year and missed half of the season.
How do you think the Mets will fare in 2012? How about David Wright? Will the moved in fences at Citi Field help him? He hit 30 homers in 2007 and 33 in 2008 – while only hitting 14 last year and posting a career worst .771 OPS and .254 average.
On another note, there’s only 17 more days until Opening Day. And it’s been in the 70′s for about a week here in PA with highs forecast at about 80 for the next three days. Olivia and I are loving this. We can sit on our deck at 7:30 PM and enjoy the birds singing and the sunset behind us.
There’s just one thing missing – baseball games. Soon we’ll be listening to the crack of the bat. Almost there…
Vote for next shirt! Mets?
We just gave away the CC Sabathia shirt in the previous entry.
I’ve narrowed it down to the following teams for next week’s giveaway, that will be revealed sometime tomorrow afternoon/early evening.
Commenters were asked to choose from these teams by posting a comment (the comment also counts as an entry in next Sunday’s drawing):
The results were
CUBS=1
CARDINALS=1
BREWERS=3
TWINS=1
METS=6
It looks like the Mets win.
Now, should I give away a David Wright shirt, a Jason Bay shirt, a Johan Santana shirt, or a Classic Print (black shirt/orange letter L,XL) shirt?
Let me know what you think and I’ll decide and post pics for the next contest after dinner.
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