Welcome back!

Welcome back everyone! Now that the season is full swing, we will start writing again, I just have to find some time. So stay tuned, updates coming soon.

Whats Good For Baseball? WHY DO I CARE?!

With the playoffs in full swing, It seems like Baseball is getting (a bit) more recognition. However, it seems like all that people are asking is the same question "If the Yankees lose, is it good for baseball?" "If the Rays get swept, is it good for baseball?" "If the Phillies lose, is it good for baseball?" "If Roy Halladay throws a pitch at the exact same time a light gets turned off in a house exactly 72.1 miles away, when a eagle flaps its wings, and Halladay's arm drops .10923859783 Degrees, is it good for baseball?" My response to this is always "WHY DO I CARE?!". Really, I dont care whats good for baseball, im going to enjoy it regardless, and really, does ANYONE care?

Lets all face the truth, baseball isnt exactly growing in popularity, and the Yankees losing, wont change that. Sure, the Yankees have the biggest fan base, but if someone is willing to watch the Yankees on TBS or TNT (Really MLB?), they are most likely willing to watch the rest of the playoffs. I mean we all watch the NFL Playoffs right? I guess Baseball is just losing its popularity, go figure. And yes, the blog IS BACK!

Our BRAND NEW BLOG!!!!!

Im proud to announce our brand new football blog!

http://footballrandomeness.blogspot.com/

Written by Jarod Armstrong, Jack Gant, and me whenever I find the time.

Also, I know we havent posted on this blog, but Im currently working on a mega post, so expect that soon. Untill then, check back often, and click more please!

Heads up 2014, Here Comes KC and Washington

Picture this- the 2014 World Seris. Who's in it? Sox-Braves? Rangers-Brewers? Yankees-Phillies? No, no and ew (but still no). Acctually, the 2014 World Seris very well might be between the Washington Nationals and the Kansas City Royals. Yes I know its far-fetched, but think about it. The Nats have been a decent, close to .500 team all year. Stephen Strasburg has been injured, and he's a major upgrade to their rotation. The Nationals have shown they will go big after a free agent (see Jayson Werth) so I wouldnt be shocked to see them get a guy like Heath Bell. If they were to add Heath Bell, their bullpen would have guys like Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Ryan Mattheus. Thats a pretty solid pen.

Their offense would have studs like Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Esponisa, Jayson Werth (he'll bounce back once he gets some help) and Wilson Ramos. In 2010, the Nats had five top 101 prospects (Esponisa, Storen, Derick Norris, A.J Cole and Strasburg) in 2011, they have 3, in Esponisa, Bryce Harper and Derick Norris. The Nationals spent $16.5 million on their first 5 draft picks, spending $7.2 million on 6th overall pick Anthony Rendon, 23rd overall pick Alex Meyer for $2 million, Outfielder Brian Goodwin for $3 million, TCU lefty Matt Purke for $4 million, and 4th rounder Kylin Turnbull for a much more reasonable $325k. The Nationals are building for 2013/2014, and dont be suprised if they go out and sign a couple solid free agents.

The Kansas City Royals on the other hand, have undoubtably the best farm system in baseball. In 2010, they had 5 top prospects (Wil Myers, Tim Melville, Mike Moustakas and Mike Montgomery). In 2011, that number jumped to 10. 10 top 101 prospects! One of them (Eric Hosmer) is a rookie of the year contender. Add that with Billy Butler, the Royals current DH (.302 avg, .375 o.b.p, I love him), Joakim Soria, Alcides Escobar (18th overall prospect in 2010) and Alex Gordon, LF ( .300 avg, .374 o.b.p) The Royals are going to be very very good come 2014 and 2015, and only arbitration, free agency and 2012 is gonna stop this team. So heads up 2014, your gonna have some new faces, some new places, and some star-studded "underdogs"

Baseball Overload

I recently visited Philadelphia, no not for a baseball game, but rather to simply enjoy the history. I soon found my self surrounded however, by the one thing I was trying to stay away from. The Phillies. The first warning was when I noticed that 90% of the people I had seen so far where wearing Phillies jerseys, 4 hours before game time, on a subway that didn't go NEAR Citizens Bank Park. My second sign was when we got off. The train had 2 signs blinking. One of them said the train line. The other one said "Go Phillies!". OK, Thats cool, there passionate about there team. Then it got worth. Me and the 2 people I was traveling with got off at 5th street, and went directly to the National Park Visitors Center. Right next to the information desk, was a public art project. I've seen this before, some city's have frogs, cows, etc. And they are given to artists who are supposed to paint on it something that symbolizes the city or something like that. After they are painted or designed or whatever, they are auctioned off, and put in public places. Cool, smart idea. But Philly did things differently. Instead of doing something smart and relevant, like perhaps the liberty bell, Philadelphia's public art is the Phillie Phanatic. And now, the national park service had bought one and was displaying it at the welcome desk. As I tried to look past the Phanatic, I noticed an even more alarming sight. The a large portion of the Welcome Centers back wall had a HUGE Phillies video board, which basically only told you where and how and why to buy Phillie tickets (as if there's some available). We exited and went to independence hall, 100% Phillie free. Lunch however, was much different. We ate lunch at a food court, where I decided to step inside of a gift shop. Thats when I saw it. The store, had only 1 wall of actual Philadelphia Stuff. The rest, was Phillies, with a little room spared for the Flyers and what ever there MLS team is named. The even had a feature length movie, starring the one and only Phillie Phanatic (Did you know the Phanatic makes a 6 figure contract, not to bad for a furry dancer with free tickets, I would pay FOR that job.). After I buy some baseball cards, we go to the National Constitution Center ( I highly recommend it, and make sure you get the ipod touch tour!!!!!!!). The Constitution center was just as bad, dedicating a whole aisle to the Phillies. However, the real horror set in at the train station, where I met face to face, my biggest fear. Team Ice Cream. Yes, at the McDonald's, there was a Phillies mcflurry. Complete with red and blue M & M's with Phillies logos on them. And then, at the news stand, they where selling Game Day Magazines, Thats right, the exact same ones at the stadium. But it doesn't stop there, they where also selling SUBSCRIPTIONS to it, just in case you weren't die hard enough. Why must the pirates suck?????

Kansas City Killer?

Its just about my favorite time of the year. September has just about arived, some teams are fading, some are emerging. Division races heat up, and the wild card races as well (cough *Tampa Bay Rays,* heads up America). And the future is upon us, with impact rookies like Mark Trumbo, Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrell, Jeremy Hellickson, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas (for you keeper-league fantasy players, Moustakas' Mouse Hunters International is copyrighted). Mark Trumbo and Eric Hosmer have been exceptional in the A.L, and Kimbrell and Freeman have been exceptional in the N.L.

Now, heres what should be the difference in the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award. The Rookie of the year is supposed to go to the best rookie, as it almost always does. The MVP on the other hand, is supposed to go to the most VALUABLE player. Not necisarily the best. So with that said, I'll begin with the A.L. Now, Mark Trumbo has been the most valuable rookie. His numbers are as follows (he's played in 133 games)- 26 homers, a .258 batting average, a .297 on base percentage and has a .993 fielding percantage (8 errors). If you ask me, thats pretty dang good. Trumbo would be my pick for Most Valuable rookie, considering he leads the Angels in homers and r.b.i's, and he has filled Kendry Morales' spot very nicely. The Angels are also in the playoff hunt.

The other top canidate, Eric Hosmer, is not on a team in the playoff hunt (the Kansas City Royals). Hosmers numbers are as follows- (consider hes only played in 108 games)- 15 homers, a .287 batting average, a .337 on base percentage, and a .993 fielding percentage (7 errors). If you plug Hosmers numbers into a full, 162 game season, his numbers would be as follows- 22/23 homers, 97/98 r.b.i's(on the Royals!), 12 steals, 34/35 doubles, and his .337 o.b.p. If you ask me, those are very solid numbers, and Hosmers still a rookie! If you throw Trumbos numbers into a full season, he'd have 31/32 homers, 97/98 r.b.i's, 9/10 steals, 34/35 doubles, and his so-so .297 o.b.p. But consider this- Trumbo would have only walked (full-season) about 30 times this year, with 123 strikeouts, or a walk-strikeout ratio of 0.24. Hosmer on the other hand, would have walked 51 times, compared to 102 strikeouts, or a walk-strikeout ratio of 0.50. So Hosmer walks about once for every 2 strikeouts, while Trumbo walks once for every 4 strikeouts. So I think Hosmer should be awarded Rookie of the Year, and Trumbo gets the imagenary Most Valuable Rookie. And yes, yes I did just exploit a loophole in the Rookie of the Year award.

Pair Of Braves

There are 2 players on the Atlanta Braves who could win Rookie Of The Year, and one of them is nearly certain to win. One of the canidates is Freddie Freeman, a strong hitting First Baseman. Freddie was the most hyped rookie going into the season, landing on a Sports Illustrated cover, before the season even started. Freddie has a case for rookie of the year, being first among rookies in Hits (138), Second in average (.292) And is also fourth in homers (18). Thoose are great rookie numbers, and under normal circumstances, would win him the ROY. Craig Kimbrel however, isnt a normal circumstance.

Craig Kimbrel was not supposed to be the MLB's best rookie. Craig Kimbrel wasnt supposed to become the braves best player. Craig Kimbrel wasnt supposed to become an elite close. Craig Kimbrel wasnt expected to fill the shoes of Billy Wagner. Nor was he supposed to pitch 31.2 scoreless innings and break Neftali Feliz's one year old Rookie saves record. Yet doing what he wasnt supposed to do, will end up winning him the Rookie Of The Year. And while that alone is certainly amazing, There is something even more amazing about Kimbrel, and that would be that he even is the Braves Closer. So many good decisions had to be made, so many things had to be done, so many things had to go his way, its amazing he made it this far. Here is a short timeline of what lead him to the MLB and the Rookie Of The Year:

2007: The Braves draft Kimbrel in the 33rd round of the draft, but instead of signing, he choose to stay at Wallace State Community College, to try and improve his draft stock.

2007: The Braves pull off a blockbuster move, Sending 2nd baseman Elvis Andres, and a young pitcher named Naftali Feliz to the Texas Rangers for slugger Mark Texiera.

2008: The Braves AGAIN draft Kimbrel, this time in the 3rd round. He signs

2010: Kimbrell Gets called up from Double A Gwinnet to replace Jair Jurrgens, who was injured, on the roster.

2010: Kimbrell got his second call up, again to replace an injured player. This time however, he is in the closers role. He earns his first save against the New York Mets. His 2010 record end up being 4-0, he also finishes the season up with a 0.44 ERA, 40 K's, and 16 walks in over 20 innings of work. He also plays in all 4 games of the Braves Playoff Apperance, shuting down the Giants.

2011: The Braves infamous closer, Billy Wagner, Retires.

2011: Seeing a hole in there bull pen, the Braves have Kimbrel break camp with the team.

And the rest, is history.