April 2009
Daily Minyan – April 30, 2009
As a result of embarassing scenes like this,
the Evil Empire has slashed the prices for premium seatsI Here is an excerpt from an AP article about this move:
The New York Yankees slashed prices on more than 40 percent of their front-row seats by up to 50 percent Tuesday and announced many of those who bought tickets closest to the field for $325-$2,500 will be eligible for additional free seats.
Those initiatives could help pack previously unfilled areas that were an eye sore on television broadcasts during the opening homestand at the $1.5 billion ballpark.
“There are a few hundred suite seats in our premium locations that have not been sold on a full season basis,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. “As a result, and for many of our fans who have already purchased full season suite seats in such premium locations, the Yankees are announcing today a program that adjusts certain prices and benefits.”
While most of the cheaper tickets in the second and third decks were sold for the opening six games, entire sections of cushioned blue seats with teak arm rests in the first nine rows in 25 sections went empty, areas that cost $500 and up. In addition, many of the non-premium seats between the bases, which cost $325 as part of season tickets and $375 individually, also went unfilled.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, a frequent and vocal critic of the Yankees, said the reductions weren’t enough.
“It’s the public that built Yankee Stadium, and even at these prices, the public has been excluded from the very stadium they built,” Brodsky said. “It’s a continuing disaster.”
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad, who went 1-for-1, pinch hit for Russell Martin and delivered a 2-out run scoring single in the 8th inning of the Dodgers’ loss to the Giants. He raised his average to .462. With Martin hitting .216, I question why Brad isn’t getting more playing time.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 0-for-4, with three strikeouts in the Brewers victory over the Pirates. He lowered his average to .333 and extended his streak to 169 errorless games.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig pitched a scoreless inning in the Twins victory over the Rays, however it wasn’t easy! After a lead-off walk to Carlos Pena, and a strike out of Pat Burrell, he gave up a 1-out double to Ben Zobrist to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. But he dug in and got the last two batters to pop up. He lowered his ERA to 4.26.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott’s next start is Thursday against Oakland.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John didn’t pitch the Pirates loss to the Brewers.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe didn’t play in yesterday’s loss to the Twins.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian didn’t play yesterday because the Rangers game against the A’s was rained out.
That should give him more time to read this book:
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday in the Rockies game against the Padres. He is slated to pitch this Sunday.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch in the Diamondbacks victory over the Cubs.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk didn’t play in yesterday’s victory over the Indians because of a sore back.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day - Brad Ausmus
Daily Minyan – April 29, 2009
I know there is a lot of talk about the swine flu, but what I’m more concerned about is whether the authors of this book were stricken by the flu when they wrote this!
Now, let’s go to Ken for the sports news.
“Oy vey, it was hot yesterday. Let’s see how our boychiks did with all the schvitzing going on.”
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t play in the Dodgers’ game against the Giants.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 2-for-4, with a double and 2 RBIs. He also walked once and scored a run in the Brewers victory over the Pirates. He raised his average to .351 and extended his streak to 168 errorless games.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig didn’t pitch in the Twins victory over the Rays.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott’s next start is Thursday against Oakland.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John didn’t pitch the Pirates loss to the Brewers.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe went 1-for-3, with his 6th double in Rays loss to the Twins. He raised his average to .219.
However, there was some tsuris as he was pinch-hit for by Ben Zobrist
in the 9th inning, who promptly hit a homer, proving that Joe Maddon isn’t a shlemiel.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian is definitely slumping!!! I think he needs to read this book:
Not only did he again go 0-for-4, but he struck out twice looking and made his first error of the year. This makes 3 straight games without a hit. His batting average fell to .326.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday in the Rockies game against the Dodgers. He is slated to pitch this Sunday.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott pitched a scoreless 8th inning in the Diamondbacks loss to the Cubs. He lowered his ERA to 2.35
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk went 1-for-4, hitting a 2-run double (#6) in the Red Sox streak-breaking loss to Indians. Youk’s average is now .405.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day (2nd day in a row!) - Ryan Braun
Daily Minyan – April 28, 2009
Yesterday was the Season Finale of one of my favorite shows, Heroes!
Let’s see how our Hebrew Heroes did yesterday:
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t play in the Dodgers’ game against the Giants.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 1-for-2, hit a solo homer (5), walked twice (one intentionally), was hit by a pitch and scored 2 runs in the Brewers victory over the Pirates. He raised his average to .343 and extended his streak to 167 errorless games.
Braun wasn’t happy by being hit by a pitch by Jeff Karstens the at-bat after his homer in the first inning. “It’s rare for major league pitchers to miss by that much with the fastball,” Braun said. “We play them about 17 more times. Tell Mr. Selig, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be interesting.” What also was interesting is that Karstens picked him off first after he put him on by hitting him.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig didn’t pitch in the Twins game against the Rays.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott’s next start is Thursday against Oakland.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John is no longer perfect!!!
He pitched 1/3 inning in the Pirates loss to the Brewers and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks (one those walks was Ryan Braun’s intentional walk). His ERA is now 1.74. By the way, one article referred to him as Josh!
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe didn’t play in the Rays game against the Twins.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian went 0-for-4 with a walk in yesterday’s Rangers victory over my O’s. He was held hitless for back-to-back games. His batting average is now .359.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday in the Rockies game against the Dodgers. He is slated to pitch this Sunday.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch in the Diamondbacks victory against the Cubs.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk went 0-for-4 in the Red Sox victory over the Indians. Youk is still smoking the ball and is hitting .414.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day - Ryan Braun
Daily Minyan – Weekend Update, April 27, 2009
I was unable to post an update yesterday, thus today will be a “Weekend Update” version of the blog, but won’t feature these two:
or her
or him
or him
or this guy
or her
or these two
or this famous sketch
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t play in either weekend game against the Rockies.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 1-for-3, drove in a run and scored a run in the Brewers victory over the Astros. He raised his average to .328 and extended his streak to 165 errorless games.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig saw no action Saturday, but pitched 1and 1/3 scoreless innings yesterday in the Twins game against the Indians. He gave up a single and walk and struck out a batter. He lowered his ERA to 5.06.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott, starting in place of injured right-hander Kris Benson, allowed a run, four hits, and walk over five innings, earning the win in his first start this season against my Orioles on Saturday. He also struck out 2 O’s. His record is now 1-0 with an ERA of 7.71.
Feldman said he was told by Texas Manager Ron Washington that he’d earned another start Thursday against Oakland.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John pitched a perfect 2 inning in the Pirates victory over the Padres, striking out 2 batters. His ERA is STILL a perfect 0.00.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe didn’t play in the Rays game against the A’s.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian broke out his mini-slump and went 2-for-5, knocked in the first run of the game and was on base when Michael Young hit a 2-run homer of O’s closer George Sherill to cause the O’s to lose. His batting average rose a point to .382.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday in the Rockies game against the Dodgers. He is slated to pitch this Sunday.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch in the Diamondbacks game against the Giants.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk hit a walk-off solo shot (#5) in the bottom of the 11th inning off Yankees reliever Damaso Marte. This was the second game winning home run of his career! He also doubled and scored on Jason Bay’s game homer in the 9th, which tied the game. For the game he went 2-for-4, and also walked twice. Youk is now hitting .433.
Machers (Big Shot) of the Weekend – Ryan Braun, Scott Feldman, Ian Kinsler, Jason Marquis and Kevin Youkilis
Daily Minyan – April 25, 2009
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad went 2-for-5, hit his first double of the year, knocked in a runner and scored a run himself. His RBI, which came in the top of the 9th, broke up a tie game and was the winning run in the Dodgers victory over the Rockies. Brad is now batting .417.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 1-for-3, drove in a run and scored a run in the Brewers victory over the Astros. He raised his average to .328 and extended his streak to 165 errorless games.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig saw no action yesterday in the Twins game against the Indians.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott didn’t pitch in the Rangers game against the Blue Jays because he is preparing for his start Saturday in their game against my Orioles as the replacement for former Oriole Kris Benson who was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John pitched a perfect 2/3 of an inning in the Pirates game against the Padres, giving up one hit. His ERA remains a perfect 0.00.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe didn’t play in the Rays game against the A’s.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian broke out his mini-slump and went 2-for-5, knocked in the first run of the game and was on base when Michael Young hit a 2-run homer of O’s closer George Sherill to cause the O’s to lose. His batting average rose a point to .382.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday in the Rockies game against the Dodgers. He is slated to pitch this Sunday.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch in the Diamondbacks game against the Giants.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk hit a walk-off solo shot (#5) in the bottom of the 11th inning off Yankees reliever Damaso Marte. This was the second game winning home run of his career! He also doubled and scored on Jason Bay’s game homer in the 9th, which tied the game. For the game he went 2-for-4, and also walked twice. Youk is now hitting .433.
Machers (Big Shot) of the Day – Brad Ausmus and Kevin Youkilis
CORRECTION AND APOLOGY
CORRECTION
After some research and fact checking I have discovered that the Jose Bautista who is Jewish is in fact this former MLB pitcher:
José Joaquín (Arias) Bautista (born July 25, 1964, in Baní, Dominican Republic). Jose is a former right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 1997. He is observantly Jewish and was born to a Domican father and an Israeli mother.
Bautista was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in April 1981.
In 1984 he was 13-4 with a 3.13 ERA for Columbia in the South Atlantic League, and in 1985 he was 15-8 with a 2.34 ERA for Lynchberg in the Carolina League.
Bautista spent seven years in the New York Mets system before being selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the December 1987 rule V draft. He joined the Orioles rotation in 1988, spending four years with them before moving to the Chicago Cubs (1993-94), San Francisco Giants (1995-96), Detroit Tigers (1997), and St. Louis Cardinals (1997).
As a rookie he went 6-15 with 76 strikeouts and a 4.30 ERA in 171⅔ innings, including 25 starts and three complete games, but he never was able to fulfill the potential that he showed in his season debut.
He resurfaced as a reliever with the Cubs in 1993, going 10-3 with a 2.82 ERA and 111⅔ innings in 58 appearances (7 as a starter). He kept batters to a .193 batting average in games that were late and close.
After going 4-5 for Chicago in 1994 while pitching in 58 games (2nd in the league), he pitched with San Francisco the next two years and spent 1997 with Detroit and St. Louis for his last Major League season.
In a nine-season career, Bautista posted a 32-42 record with 328 strikeouts and a 4.04 ERA in 312 games, including three saves, 49 starts, 4 complete games, and 685⅔ innings of work.
Coaching career
Bautista was a pitching coach for the Burlington Bees in 2001-02, for the Idaho Falls Chukars in 2004-06, and for the Burlington Royals in 2007. He is now the Latin roving instructor for the Chicago White Sox.
I apologize for getting him mixed up with this guy:
José Antonio Bautista (born October 19, 1980 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic).
Because of this mistaken identity, I also have to retroactively designate a new Macher of the Day for April 23. The deserving choice is John Grabow, he of the perfect 0.00 ERA!
Daily Minyan – April 24, 2009
Today it’s supposed to be in the mid-70′s and this weekend, when I’m going to Maryland Day
and the O’s game against the Rangers, is supposed to be in the mid-80′s!!!!
Time to break out the shorts
and the Tevas!!!
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t see any action in the Dodgers game against the Astros.
Jose Bautista, 3B - Toronto Blue Jays
Jose didn’t play in the Blue Jays game against the Rangers.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 2-for-3, with a two-run homer (4), 2 RBIs (10, 11), 2 walks and 2 runs scored. He raised his average to .327 and extended his streak to 164 errorless games.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig saw no action yesterday because the Twins had an off day.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott didn’t pitch in the Rangers game against the Blue Jays because he is preparing for his start Saturday in their game against my Orioles as the replacement for former Oriole Kris Benson who was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John saw no action yesterday because the Pirates had an off day.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe pinch ran for Pat Burrell in the ninth inning of the Rays game against the Mariners, but didn’t score.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian went 0-for-4, with two strike-outs in the Rangers game against the Blue Jays. His batting average fell to .381. This is the second straight game in which he was hitless and also struck out twice! I bet we don’t see that happen again all year.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start yesterday because the Rockies had an off day.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch because the Diamondbacks had an off day.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk didn’t see any action because the Red Sox had an off day. The Sawx host the Evil Empire this weekend.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day – Ryan Braun
Daily Minyan – April 23, 2009
We had a career high in hits equalled and found out that another is moving to the starting rotation!!! So it was a good day for the Lantsmen!!
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t see any action in the Dodgers game against the Astros.
Jose Bautista, 3B - Toronto Blue Jays
Jose went 4-for-5, which matches a career high in hits, with a double and 2 runs scored in the Blue Jays game against the Rangers. He raised his batting average to .344.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan went 1-for-2, with a walk and a run scored. In the fourth inning, he lined a single off the left-field wall but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double on a perfect throw by Raul Ibanez. He raised his average to .308.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox in the rain-shortened first game of their day-night double header. He allowed one single and struck out a batter. His ERA was lowered to 6.75.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott didn’t have a good outing against the Blue Jays. He pitched 1 2/3 of an inning and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs (I sense a theme here!) and somehow he struck out a batter. All the damage occurred during the sixth inning. He had a 1-2-3 fifth inning. His ERA now stands at 12.15!!
However, the news about Scott isn’t all bad! He will be starting this Saturday for the Rangers in their game against my Orioles as the replacement for former Oriole Kris Benson who was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis. I’ll miss seeing his start in person by one day!
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John pitched a scoreless 8th inning against the Marlins giving up a lead-off hit then striking out the side to record his seventh scoreless appearance of the season. He earned his third hold. He’s currently working out of a set-up role in front of closer Matt Capps. His ERA remains a perfect 0.00.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe didn’t play in the Rays game against the Mariners.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian went 0-for-6, with two strike-outs against the Rangers game against the Blue Jays. However, he also scored a run and stole third base for his 7th steal of the year. His batting average fell to .407.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start in the Rockies game against the Diamondbacks.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott didn’t pitch in the Diamondbacks game against the Rockies.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk went a combined 1-for-7 in the Red Sox day-night doubleheader against the Twins, with his performance in the first game being vastly superior to the second game, where he played third, instead of his usual spot on first base.
In the first game he hit a 2-run homer in his first at-bat, walked and scored 2 runs. In the second game he went 0-for-4 and went down swinging 3 times. His average now stands at .429.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day – Jose Bautista
Daily Minyan – April 22, 2009
Today is Earth Day!! So it’s appropriate that baseball is played on fields made of grass (most of them) and dirt. I attended a briefing on hybrid, plug-in and electric vehicles (EVs) today. The briefing also addressed the need to have smart electric infrastructure to charge plug-ins and EVs. So in keeping with the themes of the day, let’s see how our mensches did yesterday while playing with Earth and how electric their performances were!!!
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad didn’t see any action in the Dodgers game against the Astros.
Jose Bautista, 3B - Toronto Blue Jays
Jose pinch ran for Adam Lind, but didn’t score in the Blue Jays game against the Rangers.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
Ryan had a career-high five hits, including two homers, for the Brewers in a rematch of last year’s NL first-round playoff series won by the Phillies. Braun finished 5-for-5 with three infield singles and four RBIs. His average is now .300.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
Craig didn’t see any action in the Twins game game against the Red Sox, because it was rained out.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
Scott didn’t see any action in the Rangers game against the Blue Jays.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John pitched a scoreless 8th inning against the Marlins giving up a hit and a walk in addition to striking out a batter. He earned his second hold. His ERA remains a perfect 0.00.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
Gabe went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk in the Rays game against the Mariners. His average is now at the Mendoza line, .200, which also Bob Uecker’s lifetime average.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
Ian went 1-for-2, with a two-run homer (5) in the Rangers game against the Blue Jays, which pt his team ahead for good. His batting average now stands at .453.
Kinsler, who batted .556 (15-for-27) with two homers and six RBIs last week, split AL player of the week honors with Kansas City pitcher Zack Greinke.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason didn’t start in the Rockies game against the Diamondbacks.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott pitched the ninth inning against the Rockies, and allowed a single and struck out a batter. His ERA is now 3.18.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk didn’t play because the Red Sox game against the Twins was rained out.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day – Ryan Braun
Daily Minyan – April 21, 2009
Yesterday, MLB played a relatively light schedule and I was actually home to see the O’s get swept by the Red Sox (in the Patriot’s Day Game) whom they can’t seem to beat these days!
Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers had the day off.
Jose Bautista, 3B - Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays had the day off.
Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers had the day off.
Craig Breslow, P – Minnesota Twins
The Twins had the day off.
Scott Feldman, P – Texas Rangers
The Rangers had the day off.
John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
John didn’t see any action in the Pirates game against the Marlins.
Gabe Kapler, OF – Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays had the day off.
Ian Kinsler, 2B – Texas Rangers
The Rangers had the day off.
Jason Marquis, P – Colorado Rockies
Jason gave up six runs and nine hits, including 2 home runs in five innings, walking two and striking out two. He dropped to 0-4 lifetime in Chase Field (I guess the D-Backs shouldn’t seek his services). His record now stands at 2-1 and his ERA increased to 4.26.
Scott Schoeneweis, P – Arizona Diamondbacks
Scott pitched 2/3 of an inning against the Rockies and struck out one hitter. He earned his second hold and lowered his ERA to 3.86.
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B – Boston Red Sox
Youk went 1-for-2 with an RBI and 3 walks in the Red Sox game against the Orioles. He raised his average to .469.
Macher (Big Shot) of the Day – Scott Schoeneweis
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