Jim Thome's #600

Jim Thome hit both his 599th and 600th homers in back-to-back at bats last night.  Thome has had a wonderful career.  Thome came up with the Indians in 1991 and was part of the awesome Indians teams of the mid-90's.  He started as a third baseman and moved over to first base.  He hit 52 homeruns with the Indians in 2002.

He then sign with the Phillies in 2003.  He hit 47 homers with the Phils in 2003 and played two more years with them.  He was traded to the White Sox in 2006 to make room for young slugger Ryan Howard.

Thome hit 42 homers for the White Sox in 2006, making him the a rare slugger to hit 40+ homers for  3 different teams.

Jim Thome, in my opinion, should and will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.  I believe he should go in as an Indian, because it is with the Indians that he made his mark and spent the most productive years.

Congratulations, Jim Thome!

Four for Four Saturday

As a sports fan, last night was a good night.  All four of the teams that I was rooting for came away with victories.  That doesn't happen very often, but I'll take it.

Phillies over the Nationals

Not too often does a team score 11 runs and have less than 11 hits.  3 National errors and 7 walks added to the onslaught.  It could turn out to be a good weekend if Roy Halladay can get a win today.  The Nationals are starting Chien-Ming Wang.  Should be a Phillies victory, but you have to play them.

Indians over the Twins

The Indians posted a 3-1 win over the Twins.  They keep themselves close to the Tigers in the AL Central.  The interesting part of the weekend is Jim Thome.  He remains 2 homers away from 600.  Maybe the Indians can jump out to a big lead today and then give up two gopher-balls to Thome.  It would be interesting to see if the Cleveland crowd would really get behind him.

Rams over the Colts

I know it's pre-season, but it's nice to come out and perform a little on offense.  Sam Bradford played pretty well, considering how little time he's had with Josh McDaniel, the new offensive coordinator.  It'll be nice to see how this progresses.  They also got the ground game going with no input from Steven Jackson.  Josh Brown kicked it extremely well.  He might be one of the best kickers in the game.  Got a 60-yarder last night.

Browns over the Packers

27-17 over the defending champs.  Too many Cleveland fans will be chanting "Super Bowl" today.  They need to slow down.  This Browns team might be better than last year, but playoffs?  Super Bowl?  Really?  Colt McCoy did play pretty well last night, but the starters for the Packers didn't play long.  It's going to be interesting to see where this Browns team goes.

Every Good Team Needs a Worley

Back in 1980, the Phillies got help from a young pitcher.  Marty Bystrom came up and was 5-0 for a team that went on to win the World Series.  This year's team has Vance Worley.  Worley is pitching so well for the Phils that it is enabling them to move Kyle Kendrick back into the bullpen.  I would say that Worley is the unsung hero for this Phillies team.

I would also say that he should be a candidate for the Rookie of the Year.  He got a cup of coffee with the Phillies last season, but has been up and down between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley a couple of times this season.  It seems like he is settling in as the fifth starter for this team.  Who would've thought he would be a key component.  The team started the year with Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, and Blanton.  Kendrick would probably been everyone's choice for the next spot - and he has done a nice job filling in at times this year.

The Phillies are playing great baseball and have the best record in the bigs.  They are riding a 9 game win streak.  Just how far can they go?  I am hoping World Series Champs, but it wouldn't be this good without the efforts of Vance Worley.  Every good team needs a guy like him to step up when the unexpected injury takes its toll.

Love the Deadline

Eleven days ago, we posted an article about how the Indians and the Phillies had some weaknesses that needed to be addressed if they were going to improve and contend the rest of the season. Well, everyone in baseball seemed to know that. The blogs were a buzz and many rumors were flying. A lot has happened since then and I believe Phillies fans and Indians fans should be happy.

Indians fans will have a very good starting pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, from the Rockies. He gives them a starting pitcher very capable of winning every start he attempts. Hopefully, he'll turn his year around and help push the Tribe to the top of the AL Central standings. They also obtained an outfielder earlier in the week. Kosuke Fukudome was obtained from the Chicago Cubs. He will patrol right field until Choo comes back.

The Phillies, on the other hand, needed a right-handed hitting outfielder. Beltran, Willingham, and others were filling the rumor mill. Hunter Pence, an all-star from Houston, got the nod. The Phillies worked with their old GM, Ed Wade, and obtained a player with very good talent, and is not just a rental. They'll have Pence the next couple years as well. And even better, they keep both Domonic Brown and Vance Worley. Brown will probably move over to left-field next year, when Ibanez can be let go.

What a nice couple of days for our teams. Our teams have done a nice job of improving. It gives the fan the message that they are serious about making a push for the playoffs and in the Phillies case, they are serious about winning it all. The push to October should be fun for all of us this year.

What a Night

My first trip to Fenway was incredible.  We met some friends from Boston who had obtained bleacher seats for a game against the Kansas City Royals.  We were to meet them ahead of time across from the stadium.  It was awesome as we got closer to the ballpark.

Who would think that I would be at the place where some of baseball's immortals had played.  The mound was where Babe Ruth had pitched.  The outfield was the home of Ted Williams.  This historic place was so neat.  I am a sucker for the old-time ball parks.  The new stadiums are great, but you can't be the nostalgia of these great stadiums.

When we got in the park, we had to walk around and see what makes Fenway special.  The "green monster", Pesky's Pole, and the Red Seat (landing spot of a Ted Williams homer - 502 feet).  I took some pictures and will share them below.

During the game we had quite a few experiences that most people don't see.  First of all we saw a homerun over the Monster, and a homerun off of the Pesky Pole in the same game.  We also saw a Grand Slam by the Big Papi.  We also were treated to some outstanding service.  Our friends had arranged for us to spend the evening in the Coca-Cola box.  So, we started the game in the right-field bleachers (which was very nice) and ended up in the second-floor box behind home plate.  The evening couldn't have been any better.

Fenway Park is a place where every baseball fan needs to take in a ballgame.

Red Sox game vs. KC Royals

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End the Lockout, Please?

I am not a huge football fan, but I understand all of my friends tend to be.  I also understand that fall weekend tv is dominated by football.  I am a big Rams fan and AJ and my wife love the Browns.  OK.  I get it.  But when does this offseason end and the preparation for this season begin?  I have had enough of the two sides trying to get the most out of a deal.  Enough, already.  Get it done.  Get back to work.  Start signing some players, so we know who to root for.

As far as my Rams go, I feel like they have a couple of needs that would really push them to the next level.  I feel like they can be a playoff team if they can add a couple of pieces on offense to help out Sam Bradford.  He had an outstanding rookie year and has demonstrated the ability to help the offense progress to respectability.  I think they need to add a back-up running back - Darren Sproles, Reggie Bush??  They also could use help in the receiving corps - Vincent Jackson, Early Doucet?

I don't think they need a superstar, but a couple of good additional weapons for Bradford would go a long way to demonstrating that they are moving in the right direction.  They seem to be committed to winning, but they need to add some pieces to really show it.  I think that they can win their division this year and get back to the playoffs.  They have been missing for quite a few years now.  Let's get back to the years when they were always in the playoffs, and showing the possibility of winning a Super Bowl.

Retro Night

Just love those uniforms.  I grew up loving the Phillies, and these have to be my favorite uniforms.  Takes me back to the days of Carlton, Schmidt, Bowa, etc.  Watching Hamels pitch makes me think of "Lefty".  It is completely awesome.  Even the old Padres uniforms are pretty good.  I wish they'd wear them more often.  I like them better than the cream "alternate uniform".

The Lidge, the Lidge, the Lidge is back!!  Brad Lidge is back and active, and it's good for two reasons.  First, he can hopefully help out in the 7th inning when they need a veteran to come in.  Second, he allowed the Phillies to DFA Baez.  He has done absolutely nothing this year.  At least Lidge gives them a good reason to make that happen.

I am even rooting for the Reds this weekend.  I hope they can pull off a couple of wins against the Braves.  As well as the Phils have played, they have not been able to put any distance between themselves and the Braves.  Come on Reds!!