Knuckle Curve - Baseball News

January 20th, 2008

Sosa Seeks More Playing Time

   Photo by <cleverCl@i®ê>   some rights reserved
According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa won’t be returning to the Texas Rangers in 2008 because he “wants to play — ideally in a situation where he could get 400 to 500 plate appearances.”
Sosa is 39 years old, can’t play the field, and can’t hit right-handed pitching (.222/.267/.410 in ‘07), and he […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

January 8th, 2008

Mitchell Report Aftermath: Lawsuits?

Lost in the Roger Clemens - Brian McNamee spat that has resulted in Clemens filing suit against his former trainer is the story of the little guy. You know, the guy who never made it because he wasn’t juicing. Ex-minor-leaguer Rich Hartmann reportedly may file a class-action suit against MLB. Quoth Hartmann:
Was I cheated of […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

November 13th, 2007

It Came from CHONE!

The 2008 CHONE projections for hitters are available. Here are a few key free agents lines:

Barry Bonds: .272/.446/.558
Alex Rodriguez: .303/.420/.588
Kosuke Fukudome: .283/.373/.465
Torii Hunter: .282/.345/.491
Andruw Jones: .246/.339/.472
Mike Lowell: .283/.346/.455
Aaron Rowand: .277/.343/.443
Mike Cameron: .246/.331/.435
Mike Piazza: .260/.321/.430
Sammy Sosa: .234/.303/.418
Julio Franco: .231/.307/.324

I hope Franco keeps playing till he’s 50. Anyway, download the whole dealio and entertain yourself for hours…
Like […]

By Geoff Young -- 4 comments

September 26th, 2007

Preseason Picks Revisited: AL West

In the interest of accountability, I thought we’d start looking back at my preseason predictions. I’ll run one division a day and make a few comments where appropriate.
First off, the American League West:

Angels – They’ve won the division, as expected. The team from Anaheim still has a chance to finish with the best record in […]

By Geoff Young -- 9 comments

June 28th, 2007

Sosa to All-Star Game?

I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the All-Star game. That said, the notion that Sammy Sosa, a designated hitter who can’t crack an 800 OPS while playing half his games in Arlington, might make the American League squad offends me more than a little bit.
Mark Teixeira would be the obvious choice to […]

By Geoff Young -- 2 comments

June 21st, 2007

Sosa Hits #600

He isn’t the player he once was, and he’ll always be remembered as a key figure during baseball’s steroid era, but the Rangers’ Sammy Sosa pounded his 600th career home run on Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, the team that made him famous. The blast came at the expense of Jason Marquis in the fifth […]

By Geoff Young -- 1 comment

April 19th, 2007

Buehrle Spins No-No

Did anyone see the Mark Buehrle no-hitter coming? You, with the hand up in the back — you’re lying.
In case you missed it, Buehrle faced the minimum against Texas on Wednesday night. The only baserunner against him came on a walk to Sammy Sosa, who promptly was picked off first base.
Others will analyze this to […]

By Geoff Young -- 5 comments

April 6th, 2007

Five for Friday

Happy Friday, folks. What are we watching today? For the most part, the back end of everyone’s rotation. Hey, that can be fun.
American League

Red Sox at Rangers, 11:05 a.m. PT – Tim Wakefield gets the start for Boston. It’s always fun to watch his knuckleball flutter. Plus, someone’s got to justify Doug Mirabelli’s presence in […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments