New Rules in Baseball?

Buster Posey was hurt in a play at the plate last week. This collision at home has sidelined Posey for the rest of the season. Even though I loathe the Giants, I am sorry about his injury. I hope he recovers quickly. This play and a few other violent plays at home plate have caused a riot in baseball circles and a lot are calling for new, stricter rules about plays at the plate. Some old school baseball guys are saying it is the game and you cannot change it. Some ex catchers are calling out for new rules to protect them. Maybe they want it because they were never protected. The Giants sure would have loved some stricter rules to keep their golden boy in the line up. We will see how this plays out. It may become more controversial or die out. 

More trouble for the Dodgers

The family of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten at a Dodger game earlier this season, has sued the Dodgers for lack of security. Dodger stadium is notorious for being crime riden. Frank McCourt, the Dodgers owner, continues to struggle personally and financially. Major League baseball has already taken over the teams day to day operations as McCourt deals with his divorce. The Dodgers are a mess right now.

Rivals Face to Face

The game between the big rivals Giants and Dodgers will be taking place tonight! It's an exciting day for Giants and Dodgers fans. There has been a long rivalry between these two, but hopefully today there will be no violence between the fans. As you all know I'm a huge Giants fan so of course I have my Beat LA shirt on today, cheering for my wonderful Giants. But, i think every fan being a Giants fan or Dodgers fan loves their team and thinks they are the best. I want to leave my opinion behind and show some statistics from both teams so we know what to expect tonight.

Today the starting pitchers will be SF Giants' Matt Cain and LA Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw. Matt Cain is 3-2 and last time Dodgers scored on him was September 4th 2010, 16th innings ago. Clayton Kershaw is 5-3 this season.

For the team as a whole, Giants are ranked No. 8 in the National League and tied at 1st with Colorado in the West. Dodgers are No.9 in the National League and are right below the Giants and Rockies in the West.

Giants is National League's No. 3 in defense on the road, allowing 3.7 runs per game. Dodgers are No. 15 in the National League at home, scoring 2.7 runs per game. Giants are 22-19 and Dodgers are 20-23.

Well, those are just some numbers to get an idea of what to expect tonight. Hopefully it will be a good game and may the best team win!! (Let's Go Giants!!)

:)

What the MLB season has brought us...

Here are some of the emerging story lines that the quarter mark in the MLB 2011 season have brought about...

Great Stories

Berkshow

Topic of today. Lance Berkman. Berkman is having one of the best comeback years I have seen in my life. He was not supposed to produce at all. He was supposed to be a fill in spot starter for the Cardinals but has taken his opportunities and ran with them. He is batting .344 with 11 homeruns with 34 RBIs. Lance Berkman is a fantasy baseball player's dream. He was a late pick who is producing like crazy. Prediction - come back player of the year. Hands down.

In other news, Harmon Killebrew died today at the age of 74. He died of cancer. He was a great ball player. He ended his career with 573 homeruns which is the second most by any right hander in the American league. He will be missed.

The Prince?

The Seattle Mariners have what appears to be another phenom on their hands. The last phenom was nicknamed King, so what about hard throwing right hander Michael Pineda? Prince. I personally do not like the nickname and I do not think it will stick. After Pineda's first month in the big leagues, he is 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA. It is not only his physical stature that allows him to mow down the world's best hitters but his mental approach to pitching. He is said to have no fear. He does not care who he is throwing to and he knows in his mind he can beat anyone that faces him. He is still young though and will need to mature if he is going to become the heir to the throne.

In other news, if you haven't heard, Osama bin Laden was shot and killed last night. This caused one of the greatest moments in baseball history. The New York Mets and the Philidelphia Phillies were facing off in in Philidelphia when the news spread. USA chants strted breaking out and heated rival fans put their sport preferences aside and started hugging and high fiving. It was a great sight to see. The Phillies ended up losing the game 2-1 but everyone still left the stadium happy.

Injured Kung Fu Panda

Sad news for all of my SF Giants.... Pablo Sandoval, the "Kung Fu Panda," will on the sidelines for four to six weeks :(

Pablo Sandoval, SF Giants third baseman, is believed to have a broken wrist. On Saturday, after the loss with the nationals 2-0, Pablo reported to have pain in his wrist. He received an MRI, which revealed the injury to the hamate bone on the right hand. Doctors reported that he will most likely have surgery on Tuesday in Arizona. This is going to put him in the DL for four to six weeks so that he can recover properly.

It is sad to see someone who worked so hard during off season to lose 40 pounds and become a better player this season, and now be on the DL. Pablo worked his butt off during off season, losing forty pounds, which has improved his baseball performance. He has been .313 AVG/5 HR/14 RBI/11 R/.904 OPS which has been outstanding for the beginning of the season. Also, Pablo is on the All Star ballot. He is currently ranked 14th in the National League in scoring and 11th in hitting. He was potentially going to be playing at the All Star games. Now, with this injury occurring, it will be very hard for him to at the All Star game. By the time he is back, voted will be in and it will be a couple of weeks before the game in Arizona.

Pablo is staying positive through all of this. The surgery will be quick and he will be using this time off to lose a couple more pounds. He reported saying that he was "fine. this is normal, I just have to get better." Hopefully this time off will help help get in shape and get his motivation up so that when he comes back we can see that AVG go up again like in 2009.

No wonder he has the nickname "Kung Fu Panda," no matter what happens hes always happy, joyful and staying positive :)