I was going to write about the six most overpaid players in the big leagues this year but then I realized I could easily write about five grossly overpaid players on the Yankees alone.

Bobby Abreu - New York Yankees RF - $15.6 Million

While Abreu has been very good since the all star break his overall #'s as a RF making 15 million plus are not up to snuff. His OBP is only .370 (vs. his career .409) and his SLG is .449 (vs. his career .502) while he does have a lot of Runs & RBI that's more a testament of how ridiculous the Yankees lineup is than Abreu's value. It's also a good example of how misguided it is to use those types of situation based stats as a gauge of individual performance.

Roger Clemens - New York Yankees P - $18.7 Million

Over 18 million dollars for a pitcher who has been at average at best: 5-5 with a 4.34 ERA. His 6.5 SO/9 show how much Clemens has fallen off the level of the dominating pitcher he's been most of his career (8.6 SO/9 for his career.)

Johnny Damon - New York Yankees CF - $13.0 Million

13 million dollars for 8 home runs and a .264 batting average. His OPS+ is 101. In other words he's an average hitter. If he were a great fielding SS this would be acceptable but for a CF who's never won a Gold Glove? No.

Mike Mussina - New York Yankees P - $11.1 Million

11.1 million dollars for an 8-9 record and a 5.22 ERA. Mussina's .305 BAA may be the most ghastly # he's putting up this year. Mussina's been a great pitcher during his career (247 wins and a 3.69 ERA during an offense heavy era) but he's clearly not been worth near 11 million dollars this season.

Carl Pavano - New York Yankees P - $10 Million

Pavano pitched in 2 games for his $10 Million. While it's hard to fault a guy with injury problems, he's clearly not worth this type of money anyway. He's only had one good season in his career (2004 when he was, to be fair, really good with an 18-8 record and a 3.00 ERA.)

Jason Giambi - New York Yankees DH - $23.4 Million

Giambi has been struggling with injuries and subpar (by his standards) hitting ever since the steroids storm began. He used to be one of the best hitters in the game but he's nowhere near that status now. His 2007 .859 OPS is nearly 100 points below his career .951 mark and even farther below his awesome seasons with Oakland in 2000 (1.123) & 2001 (1.137) when he was the closest thing to Barry Bonds (in production) in the majors. That's the hitter the Yanks thought they were buying when they give him his huge contract.

Labels: New York Yankees

Last Night:

Barry Bonds hit his 27th home run of the season (and 761st of his career) as he continued his usual domination of the month of August (current August SLG = .809)

Bonds is now at 1992 RBI and should reach the 2000 mark rather soon like. Last night's game moved Bonds into second place in the NL in Slugging Percentage. Please remind yourself that Bonds is 43 years old and read that last sentence again.

Greg Maddux became the first pitcher in MLB history to win at least 10 games in 20 consecutive seasons. It was Maddux's 700th career start and the Padres celebrated by scoring him 14 runs in their 14-3 destruction of the Phillies.

Maddux had been tied with Cy Young with the record for most consecutive 10 win seasons at 19. Last night's game puts Maddux at 10-9 with a 3.90 ERA for the season. He's now 343-212 with a 3.10 ERA for his career. With Maddux still among the most accurate (21 walks in 161.2 IP) and dependable (10th best in NL, 1.20 WHIP) starters in the game, he should be pitching again next season. If Maddux could hook up with a real firepower team (like the Red Sox or Yankees) and staying healthy, I can imagine him getting 400 wins at around age 45. Yes you heard that right. The crazy has spoken!

The Twins' Johan Santana had 17 strikeouts in 8 innings last night giving him a chance to tie the record of 20 set by Roger Clemens and later tied by Kerry Wood.

He had also allowed only 2 base hits (both to Sammy Sosa) and no walks during his 8 innings.

Yet he was not allowed to finish the game. Joe Nathan came in to get his 27th save of the season as the Twins won the game against the Texas Rangers 1 to 0.

Call me old fashioned but it just seems insane to me to take out a pitcher having that kind of game. It's a great example of why most starting pitching records are very safe indeed.

Santana is now 13-9 with a 2.88 ERA and 191 strikeouts in 175 innings for the season.

Labels: Johan Santana

Top Five Major Leaguers For Fewest AB Per HR (Min. 20 HR)

#1 Barry Bonds 11.1
#2 Alex Rodriguez 11.49
#3 Ryan Howard 11.55
#4 Prince Fielder 12.2
#5 Adam Dunn 12.8

(I also want to throw in that #6 is the Brewers rookie Ryan Braun at 13.3)

Yes that's right. A 43 year old man leads the entire major leagues in home run ratio. A-Rod has lead this stat most of the season but his recent 26 at bat homerless streak combined with Bonds recent home run spurt has given Bonds the lead.

This is just more statistical proof (I think the most jaw dropping if you really think about it) of the amazing season Barry Bonds is having at age 43. It's not all about the amazing things Bonds has done over his career (which he has) but it's about how great he still is.

Labels: Barry Bonds

Las night Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Micah Owings had one of the more incredible nights I've ever heard of for a pitcher... at the plate.

He went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in the Diamondbacks 12 to 6 win against the Braves in Atlanta. The game raised Owings batting average to .273, the 2 home runs were his first of the year (and career of course.)

He also had a pretty good game pitching. He had 7 strikeouts and allowed just 3 hits in 7 innings. Unfortunately for him all 3 hits allowed were home runs. Fortunately for him the game was well out of reach for the Braves largely behind his own hitting prowess.

For all of the talk about Barry Bonds breaking the all time home run record there hasn't been enough about how incredibly Barry Bonds is hitting for a 43 year old man. There surely has never been a better 43 year old hitter in the history of the major leagues.

Tonight Bonds hit his 760th career home and he also hit his 26th home run of the year. That's good for 7th in the National League. And of those above him only Ryan Howard has less than 100 more at bats than Bonds. Howard has 92 more at bats and 7 more home runs. Prince Fielder has had 161 more at bats for his 11 additional home runs. With Bonds hitting a home run every 11.1 at bats as he is this season, he'd have 34 home runs if had as many at bats as Howard (1 more than Howard) and 40 home runs if he had as many at bats as Fielder (3 more than Fielder.) Yes if Bonds had as many at bats as Fielder he'd likely be leading the entire major leagues in homers (A. Rod has 39.)

He's also leading the Major Leagues in OBP and OPS. He's #3 in the NL in SLG. Remember he's 43 freaking years old. Sure by Bonds standards of 2001 through 2004 this is a substandard year but it's in many ways one of his most impressive considering his age and the intense pressure he has been under.

Viva La Barry!

Oh yes and the Giants won their 3rd straight tonight to climb to a 53-70 record, 12.5 games behind the Phillies for the Wild Card slot. Basically the Giants will have to go 39-0 to have any real shot at the playoffs. 37-2 or 36-3 might work too, depending of course on how things play out.

The above paragraph is a bit of a joke by the way. I'm working on it, this whole humor thing. LOL?

Labels: Barry Bonds

Although there are some other fantastic relief pitchers of this decade including Trevor Hoffman (284 saves), Billy Wagner (251 saves), and Eric Gagne (177 saves), the easy choice for top relief pitcher of the decade is the New York Yankees Mariano Rivera.

Rivera leads the decade in both Saves (303) and ERA (2.20) when you add to his totals his incredible consistency and his amazing post season performances he becomes an even easier choice.

While this season has been his worst since his rookie year (19 saves, 3.46 ERA) he still has a good shot at reaching the 30 save level again and possibly bringing his ERA under 3.00, Rivera has never had an ERA above 3.00 since he became a relief pitcher in his second season (1996.)

From 2003 to 2006 Rivera had an ERA under 2.00 each season.

Rivera has been truly incredible in the playoffs. His career playoff stats: 8 Wins 1 Loss, 34 Saves and a 0.80 ERA.

While Rivera has been the best overall relief pitcher this decade, some other pitchers have had better individual seasons. These three seasons stand out from the crowd:

Eric Gagne had 55 saves with a 1.20 ERA in 2003.

Jonathan Papelbon had 35 saves with a 0.92 ERA in 2006.

John Smoltz had 45 saves and a 1.12 ERA in 2003.

Not too far behind, Rivera's best season was 2005 when he had 43 saves and a 1.38 ERA.

Labels: Best By Decade, Mariano Rivera

As I've mentioned previously, for some reason Barry Bonds seems to play his best baseball each year in the month of August. This year looks to be no exception thus far.

Barry Bonds August '07 #s:

.323 Batting Average
.511 OBP
.839 Slugging Percentage
5 Homers in 31 At Bats.
5 HR/3 SO

His 1.350 August OPS thus far is tied with his OPS for April for his best month this year.

This month is continuing his strange fluctuations up and down with each month this year.

Bonds' monthly batting averages:

April: .356
May: .194
June: .364
July: .186
August: .323

Barry Bonds' Augusts of summers past:

In 2006 he hit .333 in August despite not reaching .300 in any other month that year.

In 2005 he did not play in August due to injury.

In 2004 he hit .414 with 11 home runs (in 70 at bats) and a 1.000 SLG in August.

In 2003 he hit .452 with 7 home runs (in just 42 at bats) and a 1.024 SLG in August.

In 2002 he hit .447 with 11 home runs (in 76 at bats) and a .961 SLG in August.

In 2001 he hit .350 with 12 home runs (in 80 at bats) and a .888 SLG in August. In 2001 both May and September/Oct. were actually more impressive months.

Looking at his career splits Bonds indeed does have his highest career OPS (1.086) in August. He's also hit more home runs (146), had more RBI (374), had more Runs (406), had more Hits (516), had more walks (463), than in any other month. His career BA (.306) and OBP (.453) in August are also the highest of any month. His .633 SLG in August is tied with April for his highest.

Unrelated but awesome Barry Bonds trivia

In an unrelated but cool split, Barry Bonds career numbers vs the New York Yankees:

6 Games
.533 Batting Average
.741 On Base Percentage
.933 Slugging Percentage

Labels: Barry Bonds

A look at the NL Rookies of the Year if the season ended today. Interestingly all three of these guys have never played a single game in the big leagues before this season and they all got called up with the season well under way.

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers - 3B

Despite not being called up until May 24th, Brewers 3B Ryan Braun is the easy choice for NL Rookie of the Year if the season ended today. He leads all major league rookies with 23 home runs and would likely be challenging for the league lead if he had not started late. He is hitting .354 with a .684 slugging percentage. He would be leading the NL in both stats if he had enough plate appearances and if he stays healthy for the rest of the year, there's a good chance he will qualify by season's end.

When was the last time a rookie lead the league in batting average or slugging percentage? Much less both? That's not a rhetorical question, I'm really asking. Has that ever happened before? There's a chance for it to happen this year. Braun's only faults appear to be a lack of patience at the plate (21 walks to 64 strikeouts) and in the field where he has a .893 fielding percentage (18 errors thus far.)

Runners Up:

Hunter Pence, Houston Astros - CF

Pence was called up on April 28th. Pence was just put on the 15-Day DL but he's been having an excellent rookie season thus far: He is hitting .330 with a .564 slugging percentage. Pence has shown the ability to hit for extra bases but many more doubles than home runs so far (25 doubles, 12 home runs.) Similarly to Braun he has had trouble with his patience at the plate. He has only 11 walks to 60 strikeouts.

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants - Starting Pitcher

Lincecum was also called up late (although not quite as late as Braun.) He's had a somewhat up and down season but he has shown flashes of absolute brilliance. For example in the month of July Lincecum went 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA. But in June he was 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA. His overall numbers put him at 6-3 with a 3.88 ERA. Very strong numbers for a rookie starting pitcher. But it's his strikeout power that is most impressive. Despite his late start he is 12th in the NL in strikeouts. He has the most strikeouts per 9 innings of any NL pitcher with at least 100 innings pitched at 9.78 K/9.

Labels: Hunter Pence, Ryan Braun, Tim Lincecum

Continuing my series on the best players by decade I'm moving on now to the best starting pitcher of this current decade: 2000 through 2007.

Pedro Martinez gets the nod currently despite not having played this season at all and having a decidedly sub par year last season.

Why? Martinez is the only starting pitcher with 700+ innings and an ERA under 3.00 during the decade thus far. Martinez is at 2.78, while Roy Oswalt (3.08) and Randy Johnson (3.18) rank second and third in ERA respectively.

Martinez also leads the majors in winning percentage (.702) during this period with his impressive 99-42 record. Randy Johnson leads the decade in wins with 124 and in strikeouts with 1923.

Martinez won the Cy Young in the AL in 2000 with an 18-6 record and a 1.74 ERA. His ERA+ for that season, 285, is the all time single season record. Martinez followed that up ERAs of 2.39, 2.26, and 2.22 before losing his touch a bit in 2004 with a 3.90 ERA.

Johnson did win the Cy Young award in the NL in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He also won in 1999 but we'll get to that in the debate over the best starting pitcher of the 90s.

Certainly Johnson has been outstanding this decade. You could make a good argument that he, and not Martinez, is the best pitcher of the decade but Johnson's highs (ERA+ of 190 in 2002) aren't as high as Martinez's and his lows (ERA+ of 88 in 2006) are lower.

Top Ten In Wins 2000-2007

1. Randy Johnson 124
2. Tim Hudson 121
3. Greg Maddux 119
4. Andy Pettitte 114
5. Curt Shilling 114
6. Tom Glavine 113
7. Mike Mussina 111
8. Roy Oswalt 111
9. Bartolo Colon 110
10. Barry Zito 110

Pedro isn't on the list until #19 with his 99 wins. This is due to his injury problems mostly. Pedro's fragility is the best argument against him. If he can't come back with strong showings the rest of this year and in 2008 and 2009 he'll most likely lose his title of the best pitcher of the 00s despite his amazing peak at the beginning of the decade.

And before you go too long thinking that win totals are that important consider that #14 on the list is Livan Hernandez (104) whose ERA+ for the decade is 102 or barely above average. Certainly it seems to show health and longevity more than anything else as Hernandez actually leads the decade in innings pitched with 1783.

Labels: Best By Decade, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson

Hello there. As you may have noticed I didn't cover Barry Bonds historic #756 after having covered pretty much every home run he's hit leading up to it. Why? I was on a week long road trip, I just got back home last night.

I was actually in Atlanta watching the Giants game in an Atlanta bar when Barry smacked #756. I had a real feeling that he may do it in that at bat after the way he solidly smacked the first 2 hits of the night. What was the reaction in Atlanta? Not as negative as you would imagine. Possibly because the bar we were at was in sort of touristy section of Atlanta. There were a couple of people screaming out anti-Bonds stuff but for the most part people were cheering. They even turned up the sound (they normally have the sound off on the TVs in the bar there) to listen to Barry's speech.

At first I was feeling a bit bad I didn't get to do a writeup here at Big Show Baseball for #756 but the amount of coverage it received EVERYWHERE else makes it seem not too necessary.

Somehow all of this madness leads me to start thinking about Bonds next season. Perhaps that's because of the fact that the Giants season is essentially over.

Bonds has given the impression recently that he will indeed play next season. The question is more now where will he play next season? Obviously he will not be as loved anywhere else as he is in San Francisco but the fact is he's not a very good fit for San Fran at this point. The Giants have to be going into a rebuilding stage as they are going nowhere fast. Bonds should also move to the AL so he can DH. Below I will look at some of the AL teams it seems he could end up hitting #800 for next season:

Oakland A's

The perfect fit would probably be IHateU's A's except for the fact that they don't seem to have much in the way of money and Barry seems to appreciate money quite a bit. But Bonds is an OBP machine, exactly the type of player that the A's love. Oakland is also very close to San Francisco which makes it the perfect location for him to play in the AL. The A's are also a better team than the Giants (although they are struggling this year as well.) If (and that's a big if) the A's are able to pay him the kind of money he will want they seem to be a decent fit.

LA Angels

I get the feeling that Bonds would want to stay on the west coast. The Angels are a half game off the best record in the majors right now so obviously they are the kind of team that would give Bonds the chance to win the World Series he has yet to win. They are also the kind of team that could really benefit from the production of Bonds. Imagine Vladimir Guerrero being protected by Barry Bonds?

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners could be a good fit. They are a good team, currently tied with the Yankees for the AL wild card, that could get a real boost from Bonds' bat. Somehow I don't think Bonds will want to play in Seattle, but maybe I am wrong.

New York Yankees

This seems like a real long shot but if the Yankees lose A-Rod they will need to replace that pop in their lineup (ARod is hitting a home run every 10.9 at bats this season, Bonds is right behind that at a home run every 11.4 at bats.) The Yankees in general seem to have no problem signing (and paying big money) to aging stars, so in that way Bonds is a perfect fit in NY. On the field I am sure he would shine with the Yankees, it's the off the field stuff that could become a concern. Bonds is used to being cheered at home and it's hard to see him getting cheered by Yankees fans, unless perhaps he wins the World Series with a walk off home run... ...

What would Bonds do as a DH in the AL?

Playing on a team like the Yankees it would be very interesting to see how Bonds would perform in a situation where he can no longer be pitched around and where he doesn't have to worry about playing defense. Bonds would most likely see more plate appearances and more at bats. I think it's entirely possible that a healthy Barry Bonds hitting in the middle of the NY Yankees 2008 lineup could hit 50 home runs.

Bonds is Great

With all of the hoopla over #756, people are forgetting that despite some cold slumps Bonds is having a really really great season at age 43. Consider these facts:

- Bonds is leading the entire major leagues in OPS right now (1.086)
- Bonds has 118 walks to just 46 strikeouts.
- Bonds is leading the majors in walks and intentional walks.
- Bonds leads the majors in pretty much every Sabermetric statistic invented.
- Despite having 150 less at bats than most of the people in the top 10 (including A-Rod and Prince Fielder), Bonds is 9th in the entire majors in home runs with 24.

If one were to look just at Bonds statistics this season and forget all of the other nonsense he would be a huge free agent pickup this off season for an AL team looking for a big addition to their lineup.

Maybe Barry will stay in San Francisco?

All indications seem to be that the Giants want to move forward with a youth movement next season but the facts are that Bonds continues to fill the stands in San Fran. Bonds is still easily their best player. They are unlikely to challenge for a World Series next year regardless of what they do in the off season so maybe they will stick with Bonds in LF another year?

Labels: Barry Bonds

Steal two bases on one pitch?

Brandon Phillips followed with a single -- and then produced a rare sight. With the left-handed Adam Dunn up, the Nationals employed a shift that put three infielders on the right side, with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman essentially playing shortstop. Phillips stole second and, when Schneider didn't attempt to throw him out, rounded the bag and headed for third without breaking stride.

Also I watched this one live: (From Fox Sports play by play)
Bottom of the 1st
- Jose Reyes singled to center.
- On Smoltz's error on a pickoff attempt, Jose Reyes to second.
- Castillo sacrificed, third baseman C.Jones to second baseman K.Johnson, Jose Reyes to third.
- Wright hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Harris, Jose Reyes scored

Uhm, if Castillo would have faked the bunt Reyes could have stole 3rd uncontested with Chipper Jones pulling in to cover the bunt. There was no wheel play on. WOOO WASTING OUTS!

Labels: Brandon Phillips, Jose Reyes

Seems all rather anti-climatic

In one of the most historic weekends in the history of baseball Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run, Barry Bonds tied the all time home run record, and Tom Glavine won his 300th game.

While there could be as many as three more members of the 500 home run club by the end of the year or at least by next season, Glavine may be the last to win 300 for a very long time.

Due to the changing nature of how pitchers are used it's becoming more and more difficult for starting pitchers to put up big win totals. A great example of this is last year in the NL. No NL pitcher won more than 16 games last year. That's the lowest league leading total for a full season in NL history.

Randy Johnson does have 284 wins but he appears to be in sharp physical decline. He is out for the rest of the year and will be 44 on September 10th. It seems unlikely that he will be able to win 16 more games. He did win at least 16 games in 2004, 2005, and 2006 so if he is able to fully recover it may be possible.

But after Johnson there is no one else within striking distance.

Taking a look at a young pitcher who appears to be a good candidate, C.C. Sabithia, you can see how difficult it will be for pitchers moving forward. He is just 26 years old with 95 wins which makes it seem like he has a good shot. But he's never had more than 17 wins in a year (although he may may surpass that this year.) And at his current rate he'd need more than 22 seasons (without injury or any dip in performance) to reach 300.

My point? Tom Glavine's 300th win is probably a much bigger deal than Alex Rodriguez's 500th home run. While there are a lot of hitters who look like they will be joining the 500 home run club in the coming years, no pitcher looks to have a good chance of winning #300.

Labels: Tom Glavine

A story that I feel has been overlooked is that of steroids use prior to what people like to call the "steroids era."

Pitcher Tom House who played from 1971 to 1978 admitted to using steroids during his career. He also estimated that 6 or 7 pitchers on every team's staff was using steroids. That's more than half. While that's certainly far from proof of anything, it's definitely worth considering.

The following is from the wiki entry on Tom House:

House has admitted to using steroids in the 1970s, making him one of the earliest players to admit to using performance-enhancing drugs. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he described his use of steroids as "a failed experiment", although he increased from around 190 pounds to around 220 while using them. He viewed the experience as a failure since the extra muscle did not enhance his substandard 82-MPH fastball, while the drugs contributed to knee problems, eventually necessitating a total of seven operations. He claims to have stopped using them after learning about the potential long-term effects of steroid use in college classes during the off-season.

House has stated that "six or seven" pitchers on every major league staff in the 1970s were "fiddling" with steroids or human growth hormone. He attributes players' willingness to experiment with performance-enhancing substances to the permissiveness of the drug culture of the 1960s, and he believes that steroid use has declined in major league baseball since the 1970s, as players have become more aware of the potential long-term drawbacks.

---

A few interesting points from what House said:

- He believes steroid use has actually DECLINED from the 1970s. Is that proof? No but it's quite an interesting point of view.

- He felt that steroids did not help him become a better pitcher. I find it interesting that almost every player who has actually tested positive or admitted to using steroids has not been an exceptional player.

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Also from House's wiki entry:

House and Hank Aaron were both members of the Braves in 1974, the season when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record for career home runs. Aaron hit the record-setting 715th home run in the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, on April 8, 1974 against pitcher Al Downing. The ball landed in the Braves' bullpen in left-center field, where it was caught on the fly by House. The game stopped to celebrate the achievement, and after sprinting to the infield, House presented the ball to Aaron at home plate.

---

I find it rather interesting that "saint" Hank Aaron's home run was caught by his admitted steroid using teammate. While House never mentions hitters using steroids, it seems pretty crazy to think that 6 or 7 pitchers per team would be using steroids and no hitters. Most people admit that Aaron probably used amphetamines (they've been a staple of baseball for a very long time until their recent banning.) But it's also possible that Aaron used steroids. His teammate was an admitted steroid user, so clearly it was around. Aaron did have some of his best seasons in his late 30s in the early 70s. Not much more than this sort of circumstantial "evidence" is enough to incriminate people today, so why isn't it enough to incriminate Aaron?

Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron for the career home run record last night in San Diego with his 755th career home run. It was a solo shot leading off the 2nd inning. Bonds was then walked the next three times he came up before being removed for a pinch runner.

The Padres went on to win the game 3 to 2 in the 12th inning.

Notes on this historic home run:

- The pitcher that gave up the home run, Clay Hensley, became the 445th pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds. This a record that Bonds has been continually adding to over the last few seasons.

- Clay Hensley tested positive for steroids while in the minor leagues in 2005. How perfect. Why is this only being barely mentioned? It's another example of hw you cannot tell who does steroids by a player's performance, position, or physical appearance. Please note that the player most vilified in this steroids witch hunt has never tested positive for steroids. Please again note that he hit #755 off a pitcher who has tested positive. Think about that. Seriously, think about it. No, I don't think you've thought about it long enough, get back to me on this one. Also note this article on how over 100 players in the big leagues tested positive in 2003. Do you understand how completely ridiculous and hypocritical the Barry Bonds steroids witch hunt is yet? Again I am not claiming to know that Bonds has NOT done steroids. My point is the way he's been singled out is asinine.

- How many home runs has Barry Bonds hit off of "juiced" pitchers? I don't think the actual answer matters really, but I guarantee you it's more than one. It's just head shaking how stupid the "asterisk" crowd is. If you think Barry Bonds' records should have an asterisk you are probably also the kind of fella that thinks that Intelligent Design is really solid science. It's just remarkably stupid to single out one player who has never even tested positive while not doing the same with other players' records. And really it all comes down to the fact that baseball stats are not set in a vacuum. Do you want to adjust pitchers ERAs who have given up home runs to Bonds? Hmm... How about adjusting batting averages of players who hit against pitchers that have tested positive? As I've mentioned before many of the players who have tested positive for steroids have been pitchers.

- Many said Bonds would not play on the road for fear of tying/breaking the record on the road. This has not been the case at all. Bonds has been playing throughout the Giants road trip (He does plan to sit out today's final game of the road trip but do not read into that as he almost always sits out day games after night games.) He also stayed in the game last night and tried to hit #756 in San Diego. I would also not be surprised at all if he ends up pinch hitting today as he often does in games he sits out.

- Many said that the reaction to a milestone Bonds home run anywhere but in San Francisco would be unsightly. Not the case in San Diego last night. Bonds received a very warm reaction all things considered.

- It was his 72nd home run since turning 40. This ties the record set by Carlton Fisk.

Video of the home run (with the call by the Giants announcers)

Labels: Barry Bonds

A Rod snapped out of his modest home run drought (29 at bats) to become the youngest player to ever hit 500 home runs today. He's the 22nd player to reach the milestone and the second this season.

Last week Jose Canseco mentioned in an interview that Rodriguez is "not who he appears to be." While he did not make an outright claim of Rodriguez using steroids he did say to "wait and see" and that there would definitely be something about Rodriguez in his upcoming book.

Rodriguez has mostly escaped the steroids witch hunt that has plagued baseball in general and other sluggers such as Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi specifically.

Some have said that Rodriguez doesn't seem like he's taken steroids because he's not as big as other sluggers. This point is easily refuted because many of the players who have actually tested positive have not been particularly "huge," many of them have been weak hitting players and pitchers. In fact a majority of the players who have tested positive have been pitchers.

Others have said that since Rodriguez has been so good his whole MLB career (which started when he was just 19 years old) there's no reason to believe he took steroids to get better. This is also easily refuted. For one, Canseco has admitted to taking steroids his entire career, so there's a precedent of players doing so. For another, by the time Rodriguez started his career in 1994 there's reason to believe that steroid use was already widespread. Thus it is possible that Rodriguez has used steroids throughout his career.

Certainly I am not claiming that Rodriguez has used steroids, merely that you cannot deny the possibility based on circumstantial facts. It would not surprise me at all if Rodriguez has dabbled in chemistry.

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The first player to reach 500 this year was Frank Thomas who hit 2 more homers today to raise his career total to 505.

Labels: Alex Rodriguez

A new feature here at BigShowBaseball.com is going to be a look at the best hitters and pitchers of each decade. I'm going to start in the present and make my way back.

The first period is 2000 to 2007 (through yesterday's games.) Of course there are 2+ seasons left in this decade so we'll have to come back to take another look at the end of 2009.

So then, who is the best hitter of the 2000s? The answer should be no surprise. Barry Bonds. Bonds won 4 consecutive NL MVP awards from 2001 to 2004 and should have won the award in 2000 as well. The 5 years by Bonds from 2000 to 2004 is arguably the greatest 5 year span in the history of baseball by any hitter, thus Bonds is the easy choice for the best hitter of this decade despite missing most of 2005 with injury and being far less successful in 2006 and thus far in 2007.

The OPS+ leaders for this period leave no doubt about Bonds complete dominance during this decade.

OPS+ leaders for 2000 to 2007 (2000 PA MIN.)

1. Barry Bonds 224
2. Albert Pujols 169
3. Jason Giambi 163
4. Manny Ramirez 163
5. Alex Rodriguez 155

Considering the above numbers it's no surprise that Bonds also dominates the slugging percentage leaders for the decade (Bonds is at .726, Pujols is second at .622) and OBP leaders (Bonds is at a Godlike .519.)

How about Home Runs? Alex Rodriguez does lead in home runs during this period with 351 but Bonds is second at 309 despite missing almost all of 2005 and having nearly 1500 less at bats than A-Rod.

Batting Average? Discounting Todd Helton (which one should always do any player with inflated Colorado numbers) Bonds is 4th in batting average during this period despite his .270 average last year and .269 thus far this year. His overall batting average from '00-'07 is .323 which is behind only Suzuki 's .333, Pujols' .330, & Guerrero's .329 batting average.

One of the most revealing stats (both of Bonds dominance and the lack of protection Bonds receives in the Giants weak lineup) is the fact that during the 2000s thus far Bonds has more than double the amount of IBB of any other player. Bonds has been intentionally walked 381 times this decade. Vladimir Guerrero is second with 186.

The real question is not who is #1 as that is obviously Bonds but who is #2? It looks to be close between Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. I would give Rodriguez the advantage because it is so close and Rodriguez has the benefit of playing (and playing great) in 2000 when Pujols did not enter the Majors until 2001.

Labels: Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Best By Decade

As per Yahoo:
Kerry Wood back on Friday

Labels: Chicago Cubs, IHateU, Totally True Stuff, YARRRR