2008 Trade Deadline Day Updates

10:20 am EST -  Yankees Get - C Ivan Rodriguez  For  RHP Kyle Farnsworth From Tigers

 Angels Get -1B Mark Teixeira  For 1B Casey Kotchman and RHP Stephen Marek From  Braves

Ken Griffey Jr. Traded To The White Sox

The decision now remains in the hands of the Griftster himself. The Reds have traded Griffey to the White Sox, pending his approval.

During Ken Griffey’s 10 year career, the slugger has never made it into a World Series game. The current standings in the AL Central shows the White Sox on top by a game and a half, giving Griffey the perfect opportunity to jump on the band wagon and finally make it to post season play for once. Can you blame him? Will Griffey make it to the World Series for the first time in his career in 2008 with the White Sox? He sure deserves it.

The Sox are now set at the corners with Carlos Quentin in left and Jermaine Dye in right. They could play Nick Swisher at first to open center for Griffey, a move that would reduce the playing time of first baseman Paul Konerko. But Griffey has not played center regularly since 2006. Would they consider trying Griffey at first base?

The Reds will not confirm the transaction details of the trade according to Fox Sports.

Griffey, 38, is batting .245 this season with a .355 on-base percentage, 15 home runs and 53 RBIs in 359 at-bats. Earlier this season, he hit his 600th home run.

MLB.com: One Lucky Fan To Guest Host “The Dish”

Producer’s with MLB.com’s “The Dish” are searching for a guest-host to do a spot on their web series which is a short, light-hearted show that covers the convergence of baseball and pop culture. 

An “Entertainment Tonight” for baseball fans, “The Dish” focuses on how baseball and ballplayers interact with movies, television, music and video games. The show features reports from around the big leagues and exclusive interviews with the biggest sports and entertainment stars.

Recent Webisodes have featured stars such as:
  - Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman
  - Rock bands Daughtry & Counting Crows 
  - Yankees captain Derek Jeter
  - Yankees Johnny Damon and A-Rod
  - The “Piano Man” Billy Joel
  - Actor Matthew Broderick
  - Pop star KT Tunstall
  - Dodgers manager Joe Torre
  - Super Bowl winning champion Eli Manning
  - music artist John Legend
  - Actor/comedian Judah Friedlander
  - Track athlete Bruce Jenner
  - Writer/director Ron Shelton
  - Mets shortstop Jose Reyes
  - Former MLB manager Bobby Valentine
  - Actress/ Model Molly Simms
  - Tennis Superstar Martina Navratilova
  - Hall of Famer Bob Cousy
  - countless baseball professionals and many many others.

Show details:
  - New Webisodes run every Monday, Wednesday and Friday 
  - On rotation on Baseball TV
  - Length is three to five minutes
  - The entire season is available on-demand on MLB.com/Entertainment and via a free 
    video podcast subscription

MLB.com is currently casting…click here to enroll!  Casting ends: 8/21/2008 11:59:59 PM. You must be 18 or older to participate. Good luck!

Chris Snyder To Rejoin Diamondbacks This Weekend

You’ll certainly recall the story two weeks ago of Arizona catcher Chris Snyder and his fractured testicle. That’s not the kind of thing that you can forget hearing about. However, we do have good news to report! Chris will play in Tucson Friday night (July 18th,) in a Triple-A game in hopes of returning to D’backs line-up this weekend.

This story brought many to their knees on first read.  The play occurred in the fourth inning when Milwaukee’s Cory Hart swung at a low pitch during a Monday Night game on July 1st, 2008. Snyder was immediately placed on the 15 day-DL with talks about surgery pending. As it turns out, Chris did not have surgery and his injury is healing properly, more than anticipated.

“The goal right now is to catch seven innings, but maybe I can weasel my way into a couple more”, said Snyder.

Many doctors and fans are asking if it is possible that Snyder’s injury may have resulted in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). It is certainly possible, but with his positive attitude the disorder has not yet made itself present.

Here is a link to a news broadcast featuring the video of Snyder getting beaned. It is amazing that he has recovered so quickly. Video

RBI Mag wishes Snyder well in his return after such a horrific injury!

 

2008 All-Star Game A Mathematical Marvel?

Do you remember your favorite high school Algebra class some odd years back? If so, you may remember using algebra to figure out the distance between home plate and second base, given the information that home to first is 90 feet. Simple enough! Now imagine taking mathematics and baseball a step further and then some!

According to a Gettysburg University professor,  the events that took place during the 2008 All-Star Game were an extremely rare occurrence and a mathematical phenomenon. By using his knowledge of mathematical equations and formulas Darren Glass proved that there was a 0.2% chance of a 15-inning game occurring, and that a game similar to the 2008 Mid-Summer Classic is expected to occur only once out of every 500 games.

Glass and a professor from the City University of New York, Phil Lowry, began to research : “What is the probability that a given baseball game will last a given number of innings?” Sounds simple right?

Wrong. To create an accurate scenario many factors had to be taken into consideration. According to Glass, an All-Star game should last fewer innings because the batters are better than average. But he admits that other factors such as different game strategies used or the talent level of the pitchers changes his predictions. A game between two below average teams has a probability of lasting longer.

Or does it? What about a defensive battle with both teams showing no offensive attack?

Because the 2008 All-Star game lasted 290 minutes and 15 innings, Glass is calling the game a mathematical marvel. RBI Magazine is calling Glass a mathematical knucklehead with too much time.

You can read the details of his experiment here…

 

Sources:Gettysburg College (2008, July 17). Baseball: 2008 All-star Game Was Mathematical Marvel. Science Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/07/080717221609.htm

What Do Barry Bonds and Crickets Have In Common?

According to Sports Illustrated and Bonds’ Agent Jeff Boris, crickets have been the only thing chirping at the slugger’s chance to possibly making a return to Major League Baseball this season.

In recent weeks, optimism circled around the league when rumors about the Diamondbacks and Mets surfaced about the potential signing of Bonds for a “mid season jolt”. However, it seems as though these inklings have passed. The Diamondbacks have reached an agreement with first round draft pick Daniel Schlereth, while the Mets (still mourning the loss of Ryan Church) have turned their attention towards others such as Raul Ibanez *cough* a left fielder with a solid bat.

According to Barry Bonds, no one is even asking about him. Barry is so disgusted with not being able to play that he offered to donate a sum of his salary to buy tickets for kids. Nice thought, but try-try again. Knowing how Bonds’ future will probably “play out” the kids would be most likely to reject the tickets anyway-standing up and kicking him behind the knees.

I can say I am not surprised. Bonds is 44 years old and he comes with baggage. I mean the biggest bags in the history of Major League baseball! Even though his bat is fantastic, his marketable ability is just not one to be had.

“I’m an optimistic guy by nature,” Borris said, “and I’ve told Barry that the prospects look bleak.”

Bonds told his agent that he could be ready to play in a very short time. Almost stating a matter of days.

Still Nothing. Heh! Time to be realistic not optimistic Jeff.

Will the crickets ever stop chirping?

Could Barry Bonds Become A Diamondback?

With Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Brynes out for the season will Arizona consider adding an asterisk? Barry Bonds has been a free agent ever since he was not welcomed back by the Giants at the beginning of this season. Sitting at home watching TV for the last few months (feels like a century) Bonds has been considered by multiple teams throughout 2008, but now with Arizona taking a poke, many feel he will be playing ball in a few weeks to come.

MLBTradeRumors.com is defining the Bonds rumor as “reaching”, but certainly not completely out of the question. General Manager Josh Byrnes says he’s looking at outside options, and seems to crave more than a platoon bat to give the offense a jolt.  When asked about Barry Bonds, Byrnes responded:

“He and maybe a couple of others are sort of sitting out there.  I think it’s a bit of assessing any players’ readiness, then knocking somebody out of the lineup, dollars, etc. I don’t want to talk about him specifically, but, believe me, we’ve considered a lot of options. There is sort of no one obvious option right now, but there are a lot of considerations.”

The signing of Barry Bonds will bring a lot of baggage to the D’Backs if they do eventually sign the slugger, but with that baggage comes a huge bat, and potentially a spark to keep the Diamondbacks #1 in the NL West.  Will the distractions of Bonds being added to the roster conflict with the teams performance heading into summers end? Time will only tell.

RBI says: This is A Bad Idea. Maybe Arizona should consider leaving the decision up to the fans? Other players like Adam Dunn would be a great addition to the organization.

If you are wondering about catcher Chris Snyder, a specialist recently told him that his injury is healing properly, and what was thought to be a full-blown fracture was discovered to only be a horrific bruise.

All of you who cringed when this story broke can breathe a sign of relief. Everyone takes a shot their once in a while and thank God this wasn’t Snyder’s last. Snyder plans to be off the DL in a week! Hopefully, he won’t take Ball 2!

Who Will Win The 2008 State Farm Home Run Derby?

Chase Utley and late add Lance Berkman are the two notables seeking out a victory in the ole’ homerum derby next week at Yankee Stadium. Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla and the recently injured defending champion Vladimir Guerrero will also compete in the sluggfest sponsored by State Farm.

Currently, Utley leads the MLB in homeruns (24) while the Florida Marlins’ Uggla (23 knockers) and Astros’ Berkman (22 knockers) also are in the top five in homers this season.

RBI Magazine Prediction : Chase Utley

Chase has proven himself under the spotlight before. Vlady is coming off an injury and as long as the bat of Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun is not corked Chase should be the one to watch!

Oh and BTW! A- Rod will skip this year’s derby! His excuse: “I want to protect my finely tuned swing”.

The Derby will air on ESPN July 14th, at 8 pm. Eastern Time. RBI Magazine Plans to Live Blog the event!

Arizona Catcher Chris Snyder “Fractures” Left Testicle

This story brought me to my knees on first read. In a game Monday night Arizona Diamondback catcher Chris Snyder “fractured” his left testicle after a foul tip shot into his grundle. The play occured in the fourth inning when Milwaukee’s Cory Hart swung at a low pitch.

As of Tuesday Snyder was placed on the 15-day disabled list  and now he is expected to have surgery- despite an earlier report.

When RBI heard of the terrible mishap, we asked around to find out what exactly it means to “fracture a testicle”. Unfortunatley, the word fracture has nothing to do with a bone in this case. 

According to eMedicine.com, a testicular rupture or fractured of the testis refers to a rip or tear in the tunica albuginea resulting in extrusion of the testicular contents.  I think I would rather have one of my arms cut off. OUCH!

RBI’s advice: FOR GOD SAKES PUT A HELMET ON THE OTHER HEAD!

One thing is for sure….this Diamondback will not be circling the bases for a long time!

Baseball Hall of Fame rejects Barry Bonds record-breaking ball

The tale of a “juiced” record breaking homerun ball….

According to miscellaneous sports Reuters, the Baseball’s Hall of Fame and Museum has turned down an offer to display Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run ball after being unable to reach a lending agreement with its owner Marc Ecko, the museum said.