Baseball Between Us

Adam Dunne has lots of fans and he fans a lot.

The Chicago White Sox slugger has 142 strikeouts to lead the Majors.

But he’s also tied for most home runs with Josh Hamilton at 28.

Josh Hamilton tied for tops in homers

By contrast Hamilton has 85 strikeouts.

But the stigma against strikeouts is not what it used to be. FanGraphs.com charted K’s this year and found that nearly 20% of all at-bats result in a whiff. By contrast, the previous high was 18.6%, recorded last year.

FanGraphs says strikeouts are on the rise by one-third compared to 20 years ago. Here are some possible explanations:

• No steroids = lower bat speed
• More pitchers throwing Cutters
• Fastballs have more zip (from 89.9 mph in 2002 to 91.5 mph today)
• Bigger strike zone
• More strikeout specialists (Verlander, Hernandez and Strasburg etc.)

Fans seem to like it though. Attendance is up 8% compared to last year.

Pop Quiz: Who’s the hottest team in baseball right now?

Hint: It’s not the Yankees. Nor the White Sox or the Tigers.

It’s actually the Oakland Athletics, who have won 9 out of the last 10 games, including a sweep of the Twins in Minnesota.

Target Field, Home of the Minnesota Twins

Yes I know the Atlanta Braves have won 7 in a row, but they are 8-2 over the last 10 games, which means they are playing great baseball — but not as good as the A’s, who have a .900 winning percentage in the last 10 games: MLB Standings

And for the A’s hit 4 homers in back-to-back games for the first time since September 2001.

Oakland 9, Minnesota 4

In this game, Jonny Gomes went deep in the 4-run 2nd inning for the A’s, along with Yoenis Cespedes  and Chris Carter (former River Cat). Then Seth Smith hit one out in the 6th inning to give the A’s a 9-4 victory.

Oakland is now 3 games over .500 for the first time since June 2010 — and the A’s are very much in the hunt for a wild card slot. Let’s hope the good times last in Oakland.

Andrew McCutchen has done it again. The Pirates center fielder took an 0-2 pitch deep over the fence for his 20th home run on Saturday, to lead Pittsburgh to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. McCutchen clears the deck

The two-run jack tied the game for the Pirates, who went on to defeat the Brewers 6-4 and remain tied for the lead in the National League Central with the Cincinnati Reds.

McCutchen is now hitting .366 to lead the the Major Leagues, along with a 1.060 On Base Plus Slugging percentage:    McCutchen is #1 A

And yet because he plays in Pittsburgh for a team that hasn’t had a winning record since 1992, McCutchen is still a relative unknown outside of Pennsylvania. In fact in 2012, he may be the best player no one’s ever heard of ??????.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen is greeted by his teammates at the dugout after he hit a two-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers’ Marco Estrada during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 14, 2012, in Milwaukee.

I know it’s only the All-Star break, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about candidates for Rookie of the Year (ROY). In the American League, the top ROY prospect thus far is Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Trout is only 20, but he’s got the sixth highest batting average in Major League Baseball and is hitting .341. MLB Leaders

And the lightning-quick Trout has Mickey Mantle-like speed with 26 stolen bases, second best in the Bigs. Trout also has some pop in his bat, with 40 Runs Batted In and 12 home runs: Trout Homers Again . But perhaps most impressive is the fact the Angels have the best win-loss record in baseball since Trout joined the club on April 28.

In the National League, 19-year-old Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals is the crowd favorite with 25 Runs Batted In, 8 homers and a .282 batting average. He’s also got 27 walks and 10 stolen bases – but he may not be the Rookie of the Year.

It could be Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs:

Rizzo Rocks

Rizzo has only played in 12 Major League games this year, but he’s hitting .354 with 4 home runs in just 48 at bats:

Rizzo Rifles One Out

No one could have predicted it, but suddenly the Pittsburgh Pirates have become the hottest team in baseball. The Bucs have won four in a row and eight of their last ten games to lead the National League Central Division with a .561 winning percentage.

The Pirates are in first place thanks in large part to their All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who at this writing, was leading the Major Leagues in hitting with a .356 batting average. His OPS (On Base plus Slugging percentage) is off the charts at 1.014.  McCutchen has power (16 home runs), productivity (54 RBI) and speed (14 stolen bases) and is one of the premier stars of the game.

It’s early yet, but if the Pirates keep winning, they may break their streak of 20 losing years in a row. That’s right, the Pirates haven’t had a winning season since 1992 – the longest span of losing seasons in all four major professional sports (baseball, football, basketball and hockey).

Hopefully this season the Pirates are bringing in the fans to PNC Park, which is the 2nd most beautiful baseball stadium in the Majors in my humble opinion.

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

The architects have crafted the stadium for intimacy – no seat is more than 88 feet above the field.

On the waterfront

And best of all you can take a water taxi to get to the ballpark, which is conveniently located right on the Allegheny River.

Allegheny River

Or you can walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, which is open just for pedestrians on game days. The bright gold paint and engineering style reminds me a lot of Tower Bridge in Sacramento.

Roberto Clemente Bridge

The bridge is named after one the Pirates’ most beloved players. Roberto Clemente was Pittsburgh’s legendary right fielder, who played his entire 17 year career with the Pirates. Clemente finished with 3,000 career hits and a .317 lifetime batting average, while winning two World Series championships (in 1960 and 1971).

Clemente died in a plane crash in 1972 on a mercy mission over Nicaragua, where he was trying to provide relief for earthquake victims. His body was never recovered but he left a lasting mark on the city of Pittsburgh and the game of baseball for his tremendous accomplishments both on and off the field.

In addition to his humanitarian work, Roberto Clemente was also the first Latin American player to win a World Series as a starter (1960), earn a league Most Valuable Player award (1966) and win a World Series MVP award (1971), when he guided the Pirates to a World Championship.

It’s unfair to compare Clemente to any modern player, but one can’t help but wonder if Andrew McCutcheon can lead the Pirates to greatness once again.

Buster Posey, Josh Hamilton, Derek Jeter and other popular fan faves have been selected as All-Stars and will be heading to Kansas City for the 2012 All-Star game. Josh Hamilton led all players with 11,073,744 votes, surpassing last year’s record of 7.4 million for Jose Bautista. While Hamilton is a solid choice (25 home runs, 73 runs batted in, plus  .314 batting average), other deserving players were not selected to start: All Star Lineup

??The biggest omission is Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies catcher who is hitting .356 with 11 home runs and and an on base percentage of 1.000. But instead, fans voted in the more popular Buster Posey, who is hitting .303 with 10 homers and an OBP of .851.

Are you kidding me? Buster’s numbers don’t even come close to the Philadelphia backstop, but somehow he was selected by the fans to start. I’m not saying Buster Posey is a bad choice, just that Carlos Ruiz is far and away a better choice.

The other big mistake is the selection of San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval at third base. The Panda Bear may be cuddly, but he’s hitting .300 with just 6 homers and 25 RBI. He’s no match for David Wright of the Mets who is baseball’s second-best hitter with a .354 batting average. Plus, Wright has 9 homers and 50 runs batted in (double what Sandoval has), yet somehow fans overlooked that.

And how do you ignore Rookie of the Year candidate Mike Trout of the L.A. Angels, who just hit his 9th home run today: Trout Lands Big Fish

The kid is only 20-years old but he’s hitting .339 (6th best in MLB), with 22 stolen bases (tied for 3rd), but yet he has to sit on the bench behind Curtis Granderson, who is hitting only .246 with 6 stolen bases. Yes Granderson has 23 home runs and 46 RBI, but he also has 91 strikeouts, compared to Trout’s 52. Trout also has a better on base percentage (.938 vs. 857) so you’d have to say that overall, Trout is having a much better year and arguably deserves to start over Granderson.

And Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates had to walk the plank for a player who’s injured. McCutchen is  batting .346 with 15 homers, 51 RBI and .993 OBP. But somehow fans favored Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, who hasn’t played in more than a month due to injuries and won’t even be healthy enough to play in the All-Star game.

Another slight? The selection of Mike Napoli of the Rangers as the American League catcher over Joe Mauer of the Twins. Mauer is batting .324 with and OBP of .859. By contrast, Napoli is hitting just .235 with a .773 on base percentage. And Napoli strikes out more than twice as much as Mauer (82 vs. 38).

In theory, giving fans the right to vote in the All-Star started brings democracy to the game and allows the best players to be recognized. In practice, fans don’t really do their homework and end up selecting popular players who recently played in the World Series over players who are more deserving.

If you’re a Cubs fan, it’s bad enough that your team has the worst record in baseball:
MLB Standings

At 26-49 this season, Chicago fans are used to losing. Not just this year, but nearly every year. In fact they haven’t won a World Series since 1908, when Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House. But hey, anyone can have a bad century.

But now the Cubs have hit rock bottom with this Decal Disaster.

Check it out for yourself here:

Decal Disaster

That’s right, Cubs pitcher Travis Woods came up to bat against the Mets Monday night when he experienced a wardrobe malfunction. Turns out the Cubs logo on his helmet got drunk and fell down to form a “U” instead of a “C”.  This team is so bad, the players can’t hit, pitch or even dress themselves. Theo Epstein better find a magic wand to break this streak of bad luck.

But it’s worth noting that Travis Woods actually won the game he pitched with the “U” on his batting helmet. Woods threw 7 scoreless innings as Chicago beat New York 6-1. Maybe the Cubbies are on to something.

The hottest home run hitter in Major League Baseball right now is not Josh Hamilton. It’s not Adam Dunn. It’s Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays, who just hit his league-leading 24th home run Monday night against the Boston Red Sox. Take a look at this 2-run blast over the Green Monster:

Bautista Hits 2-Run Blast

What’s amazing is that Bautista has now hit 12 homers in the month of June to surpass all other sluggers.

Bautista Ranks #1

Right now he’s on track to hit about 50 homers in 2012, if he keeps up the pace. The Dominican has been dominant at the plate for the past three years, hitting 43 dingers in 2011 and 54 long balls in 2010.

Career Stats

Strangely, Bautista never hit more than 16 home runs in any season prior to that, since joining the Majors in 2005. Either he’s found his batting eye or he’s eating a lot of spinach. Or it could be that he just needed time to develop, like many home run hitters. In any case, it’s a joy to watch him crush the ball over the fence.

The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game in New York in 1957 – but their legacy lives on today some 3,000 miles away in Seattle, Washington. That’s where you’ll find Ebbets Field – not the stadium, but rather a uniform shop known as Ebbets Field Flannels. I took these pictures when I stopped by the store on my recent trip to Seattle.

A Must See in Seattle

Owner Jerry Cohen, a native New Yorker, told me in a phone interview the shop is a “tribute to my dad and my roots” in Brooklyn. Cohen moved to Seattle  seeking to pursue a musical career, but ended up launching Ebbets Field Flannels in Seattle, where patrons can buy classic old-time flannel jerseys like these:

Flannel Jerseys

You’ll find authentic looking uniforms from Pacific Coast teams of yesteryear – the Seattle Rainiers, the San Francisco Seals and the Sacramento Solons, just to name a few.

Sacramento Solons Jersey

“The historical teams remain the heart and soul of what we do,” Cohen told me. “The Pacific Coast League was missing a market place,” Cohen said. “It was a de facto third Major League,” he added. “The uniforms were so interesting and colorful — with flair.”

Classic Uniforms on Display

The manufacturing for the shirts is done in Seattle, Cohen explained. “We cut our own felt lettering,” he told me. “In the back of the shop is a letter cutting machine.” The caps are also done domestically — in a secret location that Cohen won’t reveal. But check out how authentic this Sacramento Solons cap looks, with the heart design symbolizing how Sacramento was considered the heart of California.

Sacramento Solons Cap

The store is a must-see for baseball fans visiting Seattle, but most of Cohen’s business is done online, via his website at www.ebbets.com. Ebbets Field Flannels is a “company that exists because we are still dedicated to doing things the same way as sixty to seventy years ago,” Cohen said.

Ebbets Field Flannels has become popular with every day fans and celebrities ranging from Spike Lee to Johnny Rotten to David Letterman,  Cohen stated.

“Anyone wanting something that is not mass produced Red Sox or Yankees uniforms should know — we are the alternative,” Cohen declared.

Authentic flannel uniforms — could be the perfect Father’s Day gift for someone special. I’m just saying…

Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants was perfect tonight in beating the Houston Astros 10-0 at AT&T Park. Cain struck out 14 batters in pitching the 22nd perfect game in Major League history:

Sacramento Bee article

Cain was aided by some spectacular defensive plays, including this one by right fielder Gregor Blanco:

Check out this great catch

Believe it or not, it was the first perfect game in the Giants 129-year history — and the second one in the Majors this year, after Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched 27 straight outs against the Seattle Mariners back in April.

Congratulations Matt!