Happy Heckler

A few years ago I learned about this guy, and thought it was awesome. I've heard him on the broadcasts before, and when the Jays played the Rays they would sometime mention him. I read a bit on him in a local paper talking about how he was Canadian and a loyal fan to the Rays, but had a hard time deciding who to cheer for when the Jays were in town. Nonetheless, pretty cool to be known around the league as the happy heckler, Robert Szasz. Listen for him when the ALCS begins, you can hear him, even with the Trop full.

ROBBED

Incredible catch by ball girl

My first thought, was this was fake, but apparently not! It was on the news....

BASEBALL

This weekend marks a special weekend for the editors at givener. Not only is it Canada Day weekend, but our hardball team, the Diamondbacks, will take to the field of battle tonight in the Shwiggity. The weekend looks to be a good one, rain or shine, Darlington Provincial Park will be sorry they ever let us on to their grounds. There will be beer... lots of beer.... oh yeah, and some baseball somewhere in there. We will do our best not to scatter our bottles all over the road, but if anyone even THINKS of touching my beer, I will protect it like my first born (see below). As well, we will practice being safe, by drinking and not driving, and saving a few bucks at the pumps. Goodbye cruel world, this is my last note of sobriety... good luck this weekend

Return of the Douche Bag

You can't put the word honour and Bo Jackson in the same sentence. For some reason the White Sox decided to honour Bo 'doesn't know shit' Jackson, and Carlton Fisk. No problem with Fisk, but Bo? Really now.....

Baseball Salaries by Position

On my wonderful commute home I was thinking about this.....

Money doesn't buy championships right? But it does get you to the playoffs... Lets compare the Bluejays, by position, how much money these rich bastards make.....

Catcher

Jorge Posada: 13,000,000 per year
Greg Zaun: 3,500,000
Jason Varitek: 11,000,000

First Base

Doug Mientkiewicz: 1,500,000
Jason Giambi: 23,428,571
Combined 24,928,571
Kevin Youkilis: 424,500
Lyle Overbay: 1,350,000

Second Base

Robinson Cano: 490,800 (due for a big increase)
Miguel Cairo: 750,000
Combined 1,240,000
Aaron Hill: 395,000
Dustin Pedroia: 380,000

Third Base

Alex Rodriguez: 22,708,525 (WHO NEEDS THIS MUCH MONEY??)
Mike Lowell: 9,000,000
Troy Glaus: 10,500,000

Shortstop

Derek Jeter: 21,600,000
John McDonald: 750,000 (The Prime Minister of Defence)
Julio Lugo: 8,250,000
Alex Cora: 2,000,000
Combined 10,250,000


Outfield by team

Johnny Damon: 13,000,000
Hideki Matsui: 13,000,000
Melky Cabrera: 432,400
Bobby Abreu: 15,000,000
Yankee's Total: 41,432,400
(Higher than the total payroll of the Pirates, Nationals, Rays and Marlins)

Reed Johnson: 3,075,000
Vernon Wells: 8,787,500
Alex Rios: 2,535,000
Matt Stairs: 1,625,000
Bluejays Total: 16,022,500

Manny Ramirez: 17,016,381
Wily Mo Pena: 1,875,000
JD Drew: 14,000,000
Co Co Crisp: 3,833,333
Red Sox Total: 36,724,714
(That's not including Eric Hinske's ridiculous salary)

As you can see there are some contrasts.... This isn't counting designated hitters... David Ortiz vs Frank Thomas vs Jason Giambi or one of the Yankee's 4th outfielders.... or the pitching staffs... I'll save that for another day.

Yes, you can argue that 4 of the 8 teams last year don't have HUGE payrolls, BUT, how often does that happen? And do you really expect the Rockies to repeat? Or the Padres? Or the D'Backs? The Red Sox and Yankee's are there every year. I compared them to the Jays, not just because I'm a Jays fan, but because the Jays are in the middle of the pack when your looking at the least spending teams vs the Yankee's and the Red Sox. Not to mention, the Jays are in their division.

Another interesting note, ever since the birth of the wild card, there hasn't been another team that has won more games and not made the playoffs than the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yes, money may not buy you championships in the Yankee's case, but it sure as hell keeps the stadium full, and a playoff appearance every year.

HR's, MVP's and more HR's

Too hard... not to talk about baseball, especially at this time of year.

Three Topics: Career HR's, Homerun Derby, Early MVP predictions.

Career HR's

As of late, when you watch the baseball highlights your hearing how many career homeruns a guy has hit, everytime he jacks one. Especially when A-rod, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. hit one.

It's pretty cool to see someone reach 500, and 600 homeruns, but when they are 20 away from 600, who cares? This whole Barry Bonds HR chase has gotten out of control. Yes I think A-Rod will most likely break the record that Bonds set, but not soon.... Are we gonna hear how many homeruns A-rod has in his career everytime he jacks one? I don't care. You can tell me that it's his 30th this season. That's fine. But for his career? Too far. When they reach a milestone like 600 or 500, thats fine, but until they get close - shhhhhh. The only chase thats worth the hype is the Bonds chase. And it's too bad that Griffey didn't have a healthy career, cause out of all the big power hitters that have a chance at Aaron's/Bonds soon to be record, it's Griffey Jr. that I wish could hold the record. He's got a sweeter swing, a competitve attitude, and seems like a good guy.

Homerun Derby

Although I will be cheering for my hometown favourite:

I think Cecil's son is going to win it.

Early Favourites for MVP:

AL: Justin Morneau

Yes, a repeat. I'm not picking him cause he's Canadian, but no one has been more valuable to their team than Morneau. The only exception may be Guerrero on the Angels. Morneau, at the end of the first half is 3rd in RBI's and 2nd in Home Runs, with a modest .295 BA - which is sure to rise in the 2nd half. And you can't say A-rod here, cause what has done for the Yankee's? He may have won a few games for them with timely hitting, but is he THAT valuable to them? If he was, and all the other stars on that team are, why are they where they are in the standings? Hence my pick for back-to-back MVP's - Mr. Justin Morneau

NL: Matt Holliday

Got to be Matt Holliday. Just look at his stats, and thats enough said. And don't give me that Coors Field bullshit - he's got good numbers period.

BA .341 (good for 2nd - 1pt behind 1st place)

RBI 69 (good for 3rd)

Hits 122 (1st)

Doubles 30 (3rd)

HR's 15 (tied for 8th)

numbers... nuff said.

It's a numbers game

So the controversey continues....

Should Barry Bonds be elected into the Hall of Fame?

I'm not going to argue that he's a cheater. I'm not going to argue that he shouldn't be inducted because of steroids. And I am not going to argue he shouldn't be inducted because he's a bit of an asshole.... ok ok... he's severely mis-understood.

My arguement here is going to be by comparison, and one very good question.

If Ty Cobb finished his career this year, would he be inducted into the Hall of Fame? OF COURSE he would right? His numbers are disgusting. In fact, he's one of the originals, one of the reasons the Hall of Fame was built. He was, as they say, a trend setter. He was one of those players that set the standard of who should be considered Hall of Fame worthy.

Has anyone seen the movie Cobb? Or read his autobiography? He was a prick. And everyone knew he was a prick. But could he ever play baseball.

Hence, lies my arguement. I do not think that Ty Cobb would be inducted into the Hall of Fame if he was to retire this year with the same numbers he retired with years ago. Why? Cause he was a jerk. It would be seen as un-ethical. That he achieved those numbers by cheating - not by taking steroids, but abusing the beautiful game of baseball. Starting fights, jamming his spikes into second baseman, etc etc. Look at Pete Rose. I've been to the Hall of Fame, and the only place that Mr. Rose exists in there, is under the Career Hits list.... at number one..... 4256. Exactly 1277 hits more then the closest active player - Craig Biggio. He's not in the hall because of gambling. If he played in Ty Cobb's time, guess who else would be in the Hall of Fame. Guess who else would be in the hall if they were players at Cobb's time?

The Numbers don't lie - if they are jerk's, liars, cheaters or not.

Career Numbers

Games Hits HR RBI AVG SLG OBP

Ty Cobb 3035 4189 117 1937 .366 .512 .433
Pete Rose 3562 4256 160 1314 .303 .409 .375
Babe Ruth 2503 2873 714 2217 .342 .690 .474
Barry Bonds 2913 2880 746 1957 .298 .608 .444

The numbers don't lie. Bonds has played fewer games than Cobb and Rose, and is only a few points below Rose (the Career Hits Leader) in batting Average.

I think, regardless of who they are, what they've done, and if they've cheated or not, if you've produced, and they let you continue to play ball, then you belong in the Hall. If Ruth played today, he might even be questioned. All the times he's probably been caught drunk driving? He'd be in Jail. When he played, the police would bring him home!

All I'm trying to say is, all of these players broke the rules. If Cobb and Ruth are there, then Bonds and Rose belong as well.

Like I said, the numbers don't lie.