Skip to content

Acta Poised to Become the New Manager of the Mets

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Manny Acta will be the future manager of the New York Mets. You read it here first. Or maybe somewhere else, but in any event it seems safe to say that Acta will be going back home soon to be re-united with Omar Minaya. Acta has done as much as he can with the Washington Nationals and their limited payroll. He is under contract with the Nats through 2009, but this is sports where contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on when it comes to breaking them. Besides the Mets will pay whatever it takes to get him, and the fact that Acta is a native Spanish speaker will help with the predominately Latino Mets.Besides that he has a way about him with young players and he is respected by the Mets veterans as well. Additionally he already knows several of the Mets players who have been recently traded from the Nats.

Acta will make more money, have more talent to work with and he will get away from that idiot Jim Bowden, who has to be one of the most hapless GMs in all of baseball.

Acta makes about $500,000 for the 2008 season and is scheduled to make about $600,000 in 2009. Willie Randolph was making about $2.2 million from the Mets. Acta will get a deal worth  about $1 million per year from the Mets.

Book it!

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

MLB Using Licensing Bat on Little League Baseball

Saturday, May 31, 2008

So you want to be a Big Leaguer and represent, emulate and just all around be like Mike, or Albert, or Chipper?. (but please not Pokey!)

 Well kid somebody gotta pony up!!!

Yes MLB, that stands for Major Litigation Business is going after the new generation of fans with a vengeance. If you don’t pay the license fee, you can’t call your team the Cubs, Cardinals, Yankees or any other MLB logoed franchise. You have to buy your uniforms from the official clothier of major league Baseball, that company being Majestic.

Majestic was recently bought by VF Corporation this past February.

Now I am not saying that anyone should boycott Majestic or VF. Quite frankly I wear a lot of their apparel.

Especially like their hoodies…but someone should take a stand. Not necessarily me but someone with a concious, and not a closet or drawer, ok make that hamper and floor full of the deliciously thick and natural fiber luciousness that be Majestic.

Anybody knows if the Little Leaguers can call themselves the Grays, Browns, or Expos etc.? Just wondering…they probably have the rights to the past as well as the present.

The story reminds me when back in the ’90s, when the NFL (No Financial Loser) did a simlar move against Pop Warner football. They politely asked a team called the Vikings to change their names.

It turned out that the Little Vikings club had been in existence before there ever was an NFL Minnesota Vikings franchise.

Touche! 

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Mariah Caray’s First Pitch at Japanese League Game

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Today’s Top Ten Baseball Blog Posts

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Surfing the nation so you don’t have to. Mike Henderson on his distaste for Dusty Baker as a manager. (nationals pride)

Joe Sheehan on Dusty Baker inspired handling of young pitchers. (baseball prospectus) Jay Jaffe writes about family and fandom. (futility infielder)

Al writes posts about the Dodger- Cubs series and Cub pitching woes. (bleed cubbie blue)

Stephanie says keep LoDuca in the booth and Flores behind the plate, (we’ve got heart)

Matthew Cerrone has video of Pedro Martinez rehabbing. (metsblog)

Repoz on Pete Rose betting $2000.00 per game on baseball. (baseball think factory)

Louismg shows his creativity on A’s smiles. (athletics nation)

Matt posts on fatalism and being a Bosox fan. (dirty watah)

Replacement level Yankees on Giambi’s hot bat. (replacement level yankees)

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Nick Johnson and the Power of Disciplined Batting

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Nick Johnson is the most valuable .220 hitter in baseball. Even when his shots have problems finding holes in the defense he manages to be an asset to the Nationals offense by working pitchers for walks. Johnson has an outstanding on-base-percentage of .415. He  is tied for the team lead in slugging percentage with a respectable .431. That mark has only been equaled by the resurgent Cristian Guzman.Johnson proves the power of plate discipline and what it means to the offense of a major league team.

“Obviously, he’s a guy that doesn’t give many outs away. Regardless of what he is hitting. He still has a .400 on-base percentage,” manager Manny Acta said. “But I think it’s about time now that we start swinging the bat better, and we’ll get compensated for that. Plus, we’re going to put Dmitri Young in there, which we know he’s going to hit. So one thing will cover for the other one.”

The two players aren’t interchangeable parts, however. Young is a better pure hitter, one who knows how to find gaps and deposit line drives into them repeatedly. But his career strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.22) is nearly twice that of Johnson’s (1.13), and his career on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) is 26 points lower (.826 to .852).

Young is a dangerous player when he’s hitting, which he probably will do after he sees a few pitches. But Johnson’s ability to contribute isn’t as tied to pure hitting, and on a team with an average of .235, that consistency is a valuable commodity.

As readers of this column know we are big believers in plate discipline.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (1)

The Athletics Take the Slow Road to the AL West Lead

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Oakland Athletics are proving the genius that is Billy Beane. Beane’s team built on the cheap is leading the AL West by playing smart percentage baseball.

The A’s will not beat themselves.

The A’s are 21st in the majors in Batting average. The A’s are 28th in home runs. Yet the A’s are in the top ten in runs scored.

So how are the A’s scoring while not hitting for average or for power? It’s simple.

The A’s are walking there way around the bases. They may only be batting .254 as a team but they have an OBP of .340.

The Beane Law of a minimum of a walk per 10 ABs has instilled plate discipline in a team that is near the bottom of the MLB salary heap.

The A’s work the pitchers and give up few easy outs, something that teams like the Kansas City Royals need to learn. Small market teams that can’t afford to bid for the services of the prolific long ballers have to learn to build by instilling plate discipline in their young hitters and free agent castoff players.

The A’s will be even better when the newly re-acquired Frank Thomas gets his eye and swing back.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (1)

Baseball at the Breaking Point? The Controversy Over Maple Bats

Friday, May 9, 2008
Maple bats have got to go. I have become convinced of this.For years now I have read horror stories about how spears of maple shards have been flying around endangering players, coaches and fans alike.

I must say at first I didn’t think much of it since all bats break, including the trusty ash bats that dominated baseball until recently, but there is a difference in the way that the two woods come apart on an off sweet spot hit.

Hot hitting Nate McLouth almost killed Don Long, the Pirates hitting coach with shards of his splintered maple bat.

The scar on Don Long’s left cheek still puffs around the edges, fresh enough that it looks like a misplaced zipper instead of the mark of someone who lived too hard. Like every scar, this one has a story, and it involves a piece of shattered wood, about two pounds heavy, that tomahawked 30 feet before slicing through his face.

 Jeff Passan on baseball at the breaking point.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Dayton Moore Post Ticks Off Royals Fans

Thursday, May 8, 2008

So apparently I ticked off some Royals fans with my recent post about GM Dayton Moore. I wrote my opinions about why I felt that the Royals were on the wrong track offensively. In particular I stated my stats based research showed that the Royals had put together a lineup that had no power and no discipline at the plate.The Royals as of today are third from the bottom in runs produced. Yet some fans commented that Moore had the team “headed in the right direction”.OK…I guess when you are swimming on the bottom the only direction is up!As of now the Royals record is 15-18…not too bad, but until they change their offensive philosophy they will eventually sink into last place . With the weather warming up so will the Detroit Tigers.

Lastly my comment:

“ Moore is a Fellowship of Christian Athletes guy. With Moore at the helm having total control of personnel decisions the Royals will not have a prayer. The dude just doesn’t get it.”

Some misconstrued this as me being a Christian phobic, Hey I am far from it. Actually I like the work that Moore does out side of his baseball life.I just don’t thing that he should have final say on everything when it comes to building the Royals.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Joey Votto’s Fantabulous Day!!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Who in the hell is Joey Votto?

Votto who is in his first full season as a major leaguer torched the Chicago Cubs with three home runs today.

To add insult to the tri-homer day he also threw in an in your face stolen base.

I am smelling a po’tential Rookie of the Year season. Joey Longball had never had a three dinger day at any level in his career before. But who has.

John Lieber gave up four home runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie a baseball record for frequent flier miles redeemed in a single inning. Damn Lieber has been one of the majors hottest hurlers going into this match up.

Votto now has seven HRs. He is batting .302, with a healthy OPS of .945.

Votto if and when he becomes more patient at the plate could develop into a solid offensive player. He has power and he is also a base stealing threat, he stole 23 bases at AA Chattanooga. Unfortunately he has a high CS ratio.

As for fielding…the young Canadian needs to find new leather tools.

The man is a sieve. So maybe predicting ROY was going a little overboard.

Oh well more on Joey Votto.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Milt Thompson: The Best Batting Coach in Baseball?

Monday, May 5, 2008

milt1.jpgMilt Thompson, is perhaps the best batting coach in baseball. The dude has the Phillies operating as one of the most disciplined and best hitting teams so far in this young 2008 Major League Baseball season. And that is without the usually torrid hitting of superstar Ryan Howard.

Even with Howard’s line drives being swallowed up by opposing teams shifts. The slugging first baseman has walked 21 times in his first 114 times up this season.That is a BB/PA ratio of .18.

Howard’s batting average is an anemic not worth a cup of coffee .167, but the walks plus his six taters this year, still gives the Ryan- Man a respectable OPS of .645.

When he starts hitting (and he will) his OPS will approximate his outstanding career  number of .980.

Thompson has the  Phillies’ batsmen batting only .250,  yet they are  still productive with an OBP of .328 and an OPS of .768. The teams high OPS is due to the teams plate discipline as illustrated by its walk ratio of .11. I am predicting that the BA will come up to about .270 for the season with a OBP of .370 and will lead the NL in home runs with 250.Thompson one of the few DC natives in MLB could become a future MLB manager.

So Nats, if Manny leaves for the Mets next year give the man an interview.

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)