Dugout-Talk.Com

Toronto just got REALLY strong on their backcourt. O’Neil and Bosh could be brutal in the eastern conference. My only question is, will there be enough points to go around for these two?

On August 22, 2000, the Colorado Rockies sent Brent Mayne in as a relief pitcher in the 12th inning against the Atlanta Braves. Mayne, the Rockies’ regular catcher, was unable to swing a bat due to a sprained left wrist and had missed the previous four games. Out of pitchers, manager Buddy Bell asked Mayne if he could pitch. Mayne, who later said he had never pitched at any level, responded, “Yeah, I can pitch.” He pitched one inning, surrendering no runs with a fastball that topped out at 83 miles per hour. Colorado won the game the next inning when rookie Adam Melhuse, pinch-hitting for Mayne, singled with the bases loaded and two outs. Mayne thus became the first position player to be credited with a win since 1968.

You can read more about Brent Mayne here.

Carlos Obed Baerga Ortiz (born November 4, 1968 in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known plainly as Carlos Baerga, is a former Major League Baseball player. After spending most of his career as a second baseman, Carlos played first base, second base, third base, and designated hitter. Most people believe that Carlos Baerga’s best season was 1993, when he slugged 21 home runs, hit for a .321 average and knocked in 114 runs. He is a three time All-Star and two time Silver Slugger winner.

Carlos played in the 1995 World Series with an offensive juggernaut built around Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar and Kenny Lofton. The switch-hitting Baerga was the first of two players to have ever hit one home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning.

In 2001, he played in an independent league and in the Korean Baseball Organization. Then he retired, and bought the Crabbers, becoming player-manager and realizing his childhood dream. However, after only one season, the Crabbers were forced to move to Bayamon, where they became the Cowboys. As a broadcaster, Baerga has enjoyed prominence as a color commentator at ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America. He has become recognized by fans and his fellow co-workers as “Carlos Obed”. He is also a predominant ficture in the Puerto Rican business society.

The picture to the right is from a good friend of mine over at Blogcatalog.com, Shirley. Shirley is a big time Indians fan, and had this picture taken of her with Carlos at a card show.

Came across this on youtube. It is the National Anthem played in Chicago Stadium back in 1991. Knowing how Chicago Stadium is during the National Anthem, I had to watch this. I have never heard them so loud. It was in 1991, during the Persian War. Some people hate it. I, as a formerly in the military, and second generation, love it. You decide…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvpxVE_kQXg&NR=1

Yesterday, my brain was in shut down mode and couldn’t think of anything to write about. So I asked a friend of mine, who I met over at Blogcatalog.com, to name a player he would like to read about. He named a player who I forgot about, Brad Komminsk. Since I grew up in the late seventies and eighties, this got my juices flowing.

So today I think this is the start of a “What ever happened to..” series that I plan on doing on a weekly basis. I hope you enjoy…

Brad Komminsk was born on born April 4, 1961 in Lima, Ohio and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1979 amateur draft. Over eight major league seasons he played in 376 games, had a .218 career batting average, with 28 homeruns. He is what I would call a “4A” ballplayer, which means he was a great Triple-A ballplayer, but just couldn’t excel in the majors.

Teams he played for

Atlanta Braves 1983-1986

Milwaukee Brewers 1987

Cleveland Indians 1989

San Francisco Giants 1990

Baltimore Orioles 1990

Oakland Athletics 1991

There is a great interview of him, done by Michael Echan over at MiLB.com, which you can find here.

Presently, Brad is managing the Bowie Baysox, an affiliate for the Baltimore Orioles in the Eastern League. As of 6/17/2008, they are in first place of the Southern Division with a 41-27 record.

Chipper gave a little insight how what he does at the plate from both sides. He stated that as a left handed hitter, that is his strong side, and that from that side of the plate he hits more of his home runs. When he bats from the right side of the plate, he usually has a more compact swing.

Joe Morgan spoke about this during the telecast of the game that it can be more difficult for a switch hitter to maintain his batting average than a batter that only hits from one side of the plate. He reasoning is there is twice as much to keep up with as far as mechanics and strength. Being that a switch hitter will bat from the right side against a lefty pitcher and that is Chipper’s “weak”, plus they have faced the most amount of lefty starters to this point of the season, it is going to be a real tough road for Chipper to hit .400. Up until that game Sunday night, Chipper was 1 for 9, but was coming back from the eye injury sustained during batting practice a few days before, when the ball he popped up hit the cross bar of the batting cage and bounced back to hit him in the eye.

…and I am not talking about professional sporting events.
You paid to get in there, you want to waste your time away from the game, so be it.

I am talking about kids games. Pop warner football, Little League games, pee-wee basketball, etc. Last night, I went to my oldest son’s baseball game. At twelve years old, this is something that he enjoys, and he realizes that I enjoy it just as much, if not more than he does. I would say 98% for parents whose kids play sports and/or other activities will know this. Well this is not about you people. this is about the other 2% of you people that really chaps my rearend. The ones that come and make it obvious to everyone else there, that they really do not have much of an interest at what their child is doing.

case in point. Last night, me and several of the parents and grandparents noticed a lady that showed up, and and her damned cell phoen GLUED to her ear from the start of the game until the end of the 3rd inning…which lasted 90 minutes. 90 MINUTES!!!!! Her son, by that time had made a wonderful play at third base, a walk, a hit, and two runs scored (I am privy to this info, for I had the honor, yes the HONOR, to keep score of the game.

did she see any of this? No. She was too busy walking around over by the refreshment stand yapping her gums the whole time. the child came over after his 2 score of the game, and asked “did you see me slide into home plate?” Of course she stopped for two seconds to answer, “Yes, honey, that was great!!” She lied. She flat out lied.

We all know it wasn’t work related, she is a housewife. Now let’s be clear about something. HOUSEWIVES WORK ALSO, they just do not get a monetary paycheck for it. But you have no incoming sales calls work emergencies making your phone ring. We also no it was not a personal emergency…she was laughing through the whole conversation, like she was speaking with a friend.

At what point is the kid going to realize, “Hey, my mom shows up for the game, but she’s not really there?” I hope it never comes to this, but the this kid is a typical 12 year old kid with a brain on his shoulders and has already started mastering deductive reasoning.

Now I am not saying you need to whoop it up for every single play that happens. I’m not saying that you need to know every single kid’s name on the team, what their batting average is, or even their jersey number by heart. What I am saying is keep your damn cell phone put away in your pocket, come to the game, and enjoy a couple of hours of your child having a good time.

Oh yeah. By the way…she is the wife of the head coach of this team.