Dale Sveum: You What?

We were watching the Cubs-Brewers game on WGN last night and I heard the name Dale Sveum. The last thing I remember about Sveum, he broke his leg in a collision with another player and it pretty much ended any impact on the game that he might have. What’s Dale up to now? I’m sorry I asked. He is entering his second season as the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers. Let me repeat that. Sveum is the hitting coach for the Brewers. He is supposed to teach the art of hitting to others. He is responsible for helping players make adjustments so they become better hitters. Why am I so astonished? Over a career that lasted 12 seasons, Sveum had a batting average of .236. That’s not very good. Let’s add another whooping fact; Sveum has more career strikeouts (656) than hits (597). So the Brewers are paying Dale Sveum to mold their young nucleus of potential superstars, namely Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. All things aren’t looking down, though; Sveum’s nickname is “Nuts” and apparently he knows what he’s doing. Through the opening 16 games of the season the Brewers are third in the Major Leagues in batting average at .285 and forth in on base percentage at .366.

Jimenez No Hitter

Ubaldo Jimenez tosses the 1st no-hitter in Rockies franchise history...

Cantu in the Record Book

Jorge Cantu's record breaking streak has ended. The Marlins' Cantu set a Major League record for consecutive games to start a season with a hit and an RBI. The Phillies and Doc Halladay put an end to the streak at 10 games. Cantu did have a chance to extend the streak in both the 8th and 9th innings but instead left 5 runners on base for the game. Cantu racked up 15 RBIs during the streak and is tied for the Major League lead. Hey, you can't do that. Wait, yes you Cantu.

What we know....What we think

Just a couple weeks in, but it's always fun to see who gets off to a fast start and manges to hang around and get all the fans excited for a pennant race. Even more fun to laugh at the experts, and even more fun to out guess and predict them. So around the league we go.

AL WEST - Rangers and A's are off to good starts. This is the division where everyone took the sleeper pick Seattle Mariners. At what point does it quit being a "sleeper" pick, when everyone is picking them. If Seattle ends up sucking, it's going to throw all the people on the defensive stats bandwagon right over a cliff. Actually the whole division is off to a pathetic offensive start. It's all pitching out west, and yes even the Rangers are pitching well. The A's would be a huge story and our personal favorite. We are rooting for them big time. Something to hold on to to make you think it's possible...The A's and Rangers have the 2 best ERA's in the AL so far. And the A's are supposed to have a lot of young stud pitching on the way up in June or July. Could get interesting if they continue to hang around. Plus the A's are always a 2nd half of season team.

AL CENTRAL - The White Sox got a lot of love in the preseason. Not from us. Not sure what everyone sees with these misfits. They're in it early though. Just a game back behind Twins and Tigers. Right where they left off. Nothing would be better than another pennant race between Tigers and Twins (with Twins winning again). So far pitching is ruling this division also. Here is a thought....good pitching beats good hitting. That's as old as baseball. Why are we always trying to reinvent the wheel? The Royals are actually out hitting the division easily right now. They are also playing the Tigers every day it seems. Could this be the season the Royals stay in late into the season? Nothing could be better for baseball. By the way...Cleveland sucks.

AL EAST - Blah, blah, blah...Red Sox and Yankees are leading...wait...Toronto and Tamp Bay are tied for division lead? Shhhh...maybe nobody will notice and the east coast will realize the baseball world does not revolve around New York and Boston. Maybe.

NL EAST - Phillies are trying to run away early and hide. The pitching in Philadelphia is awesome!! Not just Doc Halladay, but Cole Hamels looks good (BTW my great war room call during fantasy draft). Everyone likes the Braves, but I just don't see it. Would make a great story for Bobby Cox and his last season, but it will take more than that monster Jason Heyward to out last the Phillies. I'm secretly shocked the Mets are as bad as everyone thought. Have we let Omar the GM dick this up long enough in New York yet?

NL CENTRAL - Snobby St Louis fans are convinced they will runaway with the season, but it looks like a team ready for a breakdown to us. Injuries plus the 50 game suspension for Pujols is surely going to slow them down and let the Cubs keep it close. Cheering for the Reds though. Would be great to see 'The Big Red Machine" back in contention. RIP Astros.

NL WEST - No way in Hell can the Giants keep their hot start alive. The Dodgers are hitting the shit out of the ball and when the pitching comes around...and you have to assume it will...they look to streak back to the top of the standings. Manny for MVP??? I would love to be forced to have that conversation. It could happen...really....it could!

Rangers Tab New Closer

The Texas Rangers had seen enough. Frank Francisco was dropped from his closer role after some ridiculously bad outings and 2 blown saves. Francisco's ERA did drop down to 18.00 but it was too late. Coach Ron Washington stated he wants Francisco to pitch in situations that don't matter. Thanks coach. Next up, a 21 year old fireballer that routinely hits triple digits on the radar gun. Neftali Feliz was originally signed by the Atlanta Braves in 2005 and the Rangers picked up this gem in the 2007 Mark Teixeira trade. Feliz quickly climbed the teams minor league ladder and earned a late season call up last year. Feliz made 20 appearances for the Rangers and made a lasting impression by striking out 4 batters in 2 innings on his Major League debut. Team brass think Feliz can be a starter in the future but he'll get a great chance to mature now as the closer while Francisco regains his form. MLB Network had him as the #7 ranked prospect for 2010, and here is what they had to say...

Fantasy Baseball Week 1

The first week of the baseball season is in the books, and so the SportStew domination begins, hopefully. We have two teams, one in an auction league and the other in a draft league. In the draft league, which we are the North Iowa SportStew, we built a pitching heavy team. On the offensive side of the plate we wanted stolen bases and runs. The plan worked great. The SportStew won their matchup 6-4 behind some great offensive performances and actually lost ground on the pitching side. Our auction team, Baron von Awesome, is filled with players we liked and wanted to route for but picked with no strategy in mind. Baron von Awesome tied 5-5 and without any plan the results were all over the board. But fantasy keeps you watching bad games and teams because you have a vested interest. We love it. Our Fantasy MVP of the Week was Roy Halladay on the SportStew. He made two starts during the week and picked up 2 wins. He also had 17 strikeouts and only allowed 1 earned run.

Hello, Jon Rauch

The Minnesota Twins were marching into the 2010 season and excitement was at a high level. The Twins were coming off a Central Division title and had signed home town hero, Joe Mauer, to an extension that should have Mauer retiring as a Twinkie. The new outdoors stadium, Target Field, is set to open. Expectations were out the roof. Get that one? Baseball was good in the Twin Cities.

KABOOM. That sound was Joe Nathan’s right arm. Nathan announced that he will undergo “Tommy John” surgery to replace the ligament in his elbow. The Twins will be without one of the best closers in the game and now have a gaping hole in the bullpen.

Fret not Twin fans; meet your new closer, Jon Rauch. Rauch is the 6 foot, 11 inch tall monster that Minnesota picked up in a trade with the Diamondbacks last August and he just happens to be the tallest player in MLB history. He’s a journeyman reliever that was originally drafted in 1999 out of Morehead St and won a Gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. The guy has so many tattoos, they all have special meaning by the way, that Sports Illustrated did a story on him in 2007. Here is the link. Rauch has turned a question mark into a major strength this first week of the season. With some scruffy facial hair and his visible neck tattoo, which happens to be two wedding rings intertwined that symbolize his marriage, Rauch has turned up the intimidation factor. Great results have followed. Rauch leads the Major Leagues with 4 saves in 4 chances, has allowed only one run, and has no walks in 4 innings of work. If Rauch can keep this up, Joe Nathan might be looking for a new home.

Beat The Streak....

In less than 24 hours, the Baseball Gods giveth...and then taketh away. Wednesday night I had Miguel Cabrera in my Beat The Streak game. He starts the game 0 for 3 against the Royals. The Royals! Where did they find pitching all of a sudden? Anyway...bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, and up comes Cabrera. By the way, I'm following all this on my Blackberry. Did I mention I really believe I will win the $3 million this year. So now Cabrera goes down 0-2 in the count. Then fouls off about 8 pitches. Then suddenly....WHAMMY....HOME RUN!!! The streak is alive in exciting fashion. Then the other voice in my head....SHIT!!! I like the Royals, and they just pissed away another one. Luckily KC came back to get their 1st win. Everything is right with the world. I look to see who I have tomorrow in the streak. Just a decent hitter named Albert Pujols. That's a lock. I'll be at 5 in the streak, and mentally I start spending some of the $3 million. I wonder how much you get after taxes? Could I just take out $50,000 and invest the rest and retire....and really not spend the savings? Yes....yes, I could.

Flash forward to the next day. Pujols playing against the Reds, and some chick is pitching (Bronson Arroyo). Money in the bank baby! Needless to say, Pujols goes 0-3 and gets walked in the 8th of a close game. Obviously the best game that chick will pitch all year. Suddenly she's Dotty from a League Of Their Own. Son of a bitch!!! $3 Million down the tubes. Time to put some serious thought into this. I need spreadsheets, split screens, and a staff of people researching who will get a hit. I think I also have a theory that you shouldn't take the best hitters (Pujols, Mauer, etc..) in the Beat The Streak game. I believe they actually get less at bats. There has to be a middle ground of quality hitters, but not so good that pitchers pitch around them....It's just a theory.

Buehrle's Opening Day WebGem

Incredible play by the White Sox Mark Buehrle. Might be WebGem of the Year.

And we're off...

Baseball is finally here, and not a moment too soon. Not only is it great just to hear the sounds of baseball on radio or TV around the house, but you can start following teams and players you care nothing about thanks to Fantasy Baseball. We got ourselves into 2 leagues this year. Both live drafts. One auction and one straight forward draft. Nothing compares to the fun of a room full of guys with laptops and beers, but the online draft is pretty close. We went with a pitching heavy strategy in one of our Head 2 Head leagues. There are 5 categories for pitching and 5 for hitting, yet everyone drafts hitting for several rounds. So we hope to dominate pitching and pick up a point or 2 on offense and hence....dominate.

Also involved in the MLB.com Beat The Streak. It's 3 million dollars to the first person to break Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. I consider it my retirement plan.

So grab a cold beer, a bag of peanuts, and let's play ball!