Baseball Historians

AL MVP-
Dustin Pedroia-Had a huge year with several Boston stars injured or quitting(yes, u Manny!!!)… excellent defensive player and a complete pain in the butt to pitch 2… surprising power numbers for his small stature
AL CY YOUNG-
Francisco Rodriquez- Record setting season and in a contract year…. pitched a ton for a closer…..can be effective for […]

It took only three innings of play yesterday, but with another win, the Philadelphia Phillies were crowned World Series champions.  Cole Hamels walked away with the MVP in yet another short series.  The last time we saw more then a five game series was the year the Marlins topped the Yankees in six games back […]

After the Tigers put him on waivers, the Red Sox claimed hurler Virgil Vasquez.  While never a top five prospect, Vasquez put himself on the map with a strong finish to the 2006 season at Erie.  He got off to a nice start for Toledo in 2007 and then got five appearances at the big […]

In a lot of ways, the Diamondbacks farm system has been so good, that it’s not only been used for trades, but players have exceeded expectations and have made the quick jump to the big leagues.  Still, even after the Dan Haren trade, the Diamondbacks have some blue chips.
Josh Whitesell was the best hitter in […]

It seems like I’ve had more then my share of off time this year on the blog.  This time it was a double whammy with work picking up and a big vacation down to Disney Land.  I hate advertising the fact that I’m going out of town since it’s not too hard to find me […]

Please check out my report at www.piratesjournal.com….

Well, I had 1 on the WS teams right— the Phillies— Better than most!
Hats off to both teams. As a fan of two teams(Red Sox and Mets) that came up short, every Phillies and Rays fans should enjoy this! I think this will be an exciting series and either club can win with some […]

This morning, the Red Sox are on the outside looking in at the 2008 postseason, victims of a 3-1, Game 7 Rays victory that dashed the Sox’ hopes of returning to the World Series and defending their 2007 championship.
Tampa Bay’s talented upstarts had twice tried and failed to keep the Red Sox out of the […]

Nine outs away from going six feet under for the season, the Red Sox showed much more than a pulse late in the ALCS Game 5 last night.
The Sox roared back to the prime of life, their 8-7 victory over the Rays at Fenway Park causing heartbeats to surge up and down the Eastern seaboard […]

The Orioles might have had a tough season in the minors from a record prospective, but they still have some blue chips minor league players.  Matt Wieters lived up the hype and he was the top hitter in the system.  Just looking at .355/.454/.600 makes you salivate to see him behind the plate.  David Hernandez […]

What a couple of years. The Rockies nab a surprise World Series bid in 2007, struggle out of the gate, and then put together a nice second half run to at least get their name mentioned down the stretch.  The good news is, if you like the current machination of the Rockies, you’re really going […]

Man is it tough being a Pirates fan.  It’s been forever since we’ve had a .500 season and even the minor league system had a tough time.  And that’s both on and off the field because while the Pirates may have gotten the crown jewel of the draft, it almost looked like we weren’t going […]

These organization reviews are great to read if you see your team and “deep system stocked with pitching and several strong position players” in the same column.  The best place to start is the top as Frederick Freeman and Tommy Hanson were your hitting and pitching organizational players of the year.  Freeman hit .316 and […]

The Giants may have finished in the cellar this year, but if you’re a glass half full kind of guy, you can take a look at the farm club and find a lot of positives.  The teams system was highly successful, but as the Giants Organization Review discusses, a lot of the top notch talent […]

After taking care of business in the ALDS the Tampa Bay Rays are now doing the same thing in the ALCS.  The Chicago White Sox proved to be not match in against the Rays in the opening round of the playoffs and the Boston Red Sox are not fairing much better in the ALCS.
The Rays […]

The Dodgers are a loss away from elimination after Monday’s 7-5 loss to the Phillies.
The Phillies touched Derek Lowe for two early runs in the first but the Dodgers gained a run in the first, with Rafael Furcal getting a leadoff bunt-hit and coming around to score on James Loney’s two-out double. They took the […]

Red Sox starting pitching has gone from great in one game to gruesome in the next two. No surprise, the Sox are two losses from beginning their winter vacation.
Jon Lester’s surprisingly poor and ineffective start at home in Game 3 of the ALCS led directly to a 9-1 Red Sox loss yesterday. The Rays lead […]

Hiroki Kuroda cruised through six innings while the offense rallied for five runs in the first in a 7-2 win over the Phillies to move the series to 2-1.
Manny Ramirez again triggered the offense in the first, driving in the first Dodger run with an RBI-single before Casey Blake followed up with the same to […]

The Dodgers fell 0-2 for the series with a 5-8 loss on Friday, with Brett Myers holding the Dodger offense while going 3 for 3 with 3 RBI.
James Loney and Blake DeWitt each drove in a run in the second and third inning, but the Phils scored four in the second to hold the lead. […]

The pitcher every Sox fan hates to watch was up to his old tricks in the first inning last night at Tropicana Field. Daisuke Matsuzaka walked the bases loaded to open the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, and the groan that rippled across Red Sox Nation said it all.
Here we go […]

The Dodgers let a 2-0 lead slip away in the sixth as the Phillies scored three to take Game 1 of the NLCS.
Manny contiued his postseason hit streak in the first, driving in a run with an RBI-double that was a hopper off the wall that would’ve been a homerun in any other part of […]

October 10, 1968 at Busch Stadium
Tigers 4, Cardinals 1
Tigers Win Best of Seven Game Series 4-3
The Tigers and Mickey Lolich saved the best for last as the Tigers completed a historic comeback to secure their first World Series win since 1945.  In a first time battle between both team’s best postseason pitchers, it was Mickey […]

Jeff Larish is in the spotlight right now as he begins a second stint in the Arizona Fall League.  I’ve always been a fan of Larish (235 career minor league walks versus 329 strikeouts in 1,377 at bats) but he’s always been an odd man out of sorts.  Now they’re saying that if he can […]

October 9, 1968 at Busch Stadium
Tigers 13, Cardinals 1
Best of Seven Game Series Tied 3-3
The 1968 World Series moved back to St. Louis and the Tigers showed up like they did in game two, the last time a game was played at Busch Stadium.  The Tigers scored enough runs to put this one away with […]

Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays-
Series Keys-
1- Boston Health- I picked against Boston in the 1st rd mainly over health concerns. Mike Lowell is out, Josh Beckett looks about 50% and JD Drew looks about 75%. Is that enough to defeat the best team in the AL East? 
2- Set-up vs Closer- Tampa […]

Philadelphia Phillies vs the Los Angeles Dodgers
Series Keys-
1- Home field- Both teams won all 4 games at their stadiums,  Philly has the extra home game.
2- Bullpen- Phillies have a closer that was perfect in save situations with all star Brad Lidge. Dodgers have Jonathan Broxton(14 saves,13 holds, 8 blown saves), who took over mid season […]

Game 1 is set for Thursday with a 5:22 PST start time. Derek Lowe will take the mound and face LHP Cole Hamels.
Hamels went 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA in the regular season. The 24-year-old got a win in Game 1 of the NLDS, giving up just two hits through eight in a 3-1 win […]

The Red Sox wanted to drink beer and champagne last night, not make a quiet and somber flight to Southern California. Jon Lester and Jed Lowrie became the latest Red Sox heroes to make wishes come true. Lowrie, the rookie shortstop who had struggled through September, shoved all that aside with a ninth-inning walkoff RBI […]

October 7, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 5, Cardinals 3 
Cardinals Lead Best of Seven Game Series 3-2
The Tigers avoided elimination for at least one day as they closed out Tiger Stadium for the season.  They needed a huge fielding play by Willie Horton as well as some timely hitting to lock up the win but still, […]

It’s still code red for the Angels, but they lived to play another night, after inching by the Red Sox in 12 innings, 5-4, in Game 3 of the Division Series last night at Fenway Park.
Erick Aybar’s RBI single off of Javier Lopez was the fatal blow as Los Angeles snapped the Red Sox’ record 11-game postseason […]