A new champion is crowned posted by David

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, who are World Champions for the first time since moving to the west coast more than 50 years ago.  Their last title in New York came in 1954, when Willie Mays made “the catch” that will be played on highlight reels forever.  The Giants came unbelievably close to not even making the playoffs this year, but the fans who claimed that watching their team was “torture” are now the happiest fans in baseball.

How ‘bout that?

How about Matt Cain?  The San Francisco hurler was nearly untouchable throughout the playoffs, outshining staff ace Tim Lincecum, who had a bad outing in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.  In three postseason starts, Cain allowed only an unearned run over 21.1 innings of work, going at least 6.2 innings in each outing and providing a huge boost to his team’s hunt for glory.  He might be the best #2 starter in the majors, but Matt Cain looked like the second coming of Cy Young when it mattered most for the Giants.

How about Brian Wilson?  The flamethrower’s postseason numbers included six saves (in seven chances) and a win in 11.2 innings pitched, allowing just an unearned run.  Additionally, Wilson allowed no more than one hit per appearance while anchoring the San Francisco bullpen.  Wilson gave Bruce Bochy the confidence this postseason usually reserved for Mariano Rivera’s manager when handing his closer the ball in October (or November).

How about the fantastic class of rookies in the postseason?  Stephen Strasburg wasn’t among them, but Jason Heyward (Braves), Buster Posey (Giants), Aroldis Chapman (Reds), Danny Valencia (Twins), Wade Davis (Rays), Neftali Feliz and Mitch Moreland (both Rangers) would make an incredible young team if they all played together.  In fact, even top prospect Domonic Brown, who compiled just 62 regular-season at-bats, was on the Phillies’ playoff roster.  Expectations will be high for this talented group, and here’s hoping none of them experiences too much of a sophomore slump.

Atlanta Braves Fantasy Camp posted by Bill Galvin

2011 Atlanta Braves Fantasy Camp 1/25/-1/30/2011 @ ESPN’s Wide World of Sports

For more information go to www.braves.com/fantasycamp or email Fantasycamp@braves.com or call 1-404-614-1526 Remember to mention promo code: Bravesfan to receive a free Braves T-shirt to the first 10 Braves fans who register!

Playoff newcomers show the baseball world what they’ve got posted by David

While the fans in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and St. Petersburg may not have appreciated it, nearly every game played so far this postseason has featured a dominant pitching performance.  Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds, Tim Lincecum shut out the Braves on just two hits while striking out 14, and C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee combined to hold the Rays to one run in 13.1 innings.  Lee displayed his talents during last year’s World Series, earning both of the Phillies’ wins over the Yankees, but Halladay, Lincecum and Wilson were all making their postseason debuts, and not one of them showed any sign of butterflies.

How ‘bout that?

How about Félix Hernández?  Despite a 13-12 record, King Felix deserves the American League Cy Young Award for his outstanding season on the mound.  He led the majors in ERA (2.27) and finished just one strikeout behind Jered Weaver’s 233 and one inning pitched shy of Halladay’s 250.2 – both of which led all big league pitchers.  The Venezuelan workhorse threw six innings or more in 32 of 34 starts, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 30 of them.  Had he played for any team other than the Mariners, whose lack of offense cost all of their pitchers, Hernández would almost certainly have won 20 games or more.

How about Danny Valencia?  Following a promotion to the big leagues in June, the Twins’ third baseman hit .311 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs in 85 games. Valencia was most productive during the month of September, hitting five homers and driving in 17 runs in 22 games.  Had he spent the entire season in the big leagues, Valencia would be a strong candidate for the AL Rookie of the Year; as is he will probably be voted third behind Neftali Feliz and Austin Jackson.  Minnesota fans, however, should be happy to have a promising young hitter who will occupy the hot corner for years to come.

Another Triple Crown candidate storms to the top posted by David

Albert Pujols and Joey Votto have been battling each other all year, but Carlos Gonzalez has leap-frogged the front-runners in the Triple Crown race.  Gonzalez leads the National League in hitting (.337), is tied with Votto for the league lead with 100 Runs Batted In, and with 32 home runs is just five back of Pujols, two behind Adam Dunn, and tied with Votto and Mark Reynolds.  While he may have the best shot at the Triple Crown, I suspect Gonzalez’s home-road splits (.387/.435/.783 at Coors Field, .288/.310/.450 on the road) will keep the voters from naming him the NL MVP.

How 'bout that?

How about Joakim Soria?  The Mexicutioner has very quietly put together an outstanding season in Kansas City – a 1.71 ERA, 37 saves, and 63 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks.  The Royals’ closer allowed zero runs in the entire month of August (12 innings, 12 strikeouts, eight hits, and two walks) and has continued his scoreless streak through the first week of September.  Though Mariano Rivera is having one of his finest seasons at the age of 40, Soria has been the best closer in baseball this year.

How about Nelson Cruz?  Three trips to the Disabled List have kept him from putting together an MVP-caliber season, but the guy can flat out hit the ball, and despite his size (6’2”, 240), Cruz can run pretty well too – he’s racked up 15 stolen bases to go with his .313 batting average, 17 home runs, and .567 slugging percentage.  If anybody likes playing at Rangers ballpark, it’s Cruz, whose line at home is a robust .359/.414/.660 – a sure way to become a hometown favorite.

Pair of Triple Crown candidates duel it out posted by David

Albert Pujols and Joey Votto are having monster seasons.  Not only are the sluggers leading their teams in the playoff hunt – the Cardinals are 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race while the Reds lead the NL Central – but Pujols (.321, 34 HR, 93 RBI) and Votto (.326, 31 HR, 90 RBI) are the top two National Leaguers in each of the Triple Crown categories.  Both have strong cases for the MVP award, but if either one wins the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, it would be awfully hard for the voters not to choose him as the league’s Most Valuable Player.

How ‘bout that?

How about Billy Wagner?  The 39-year-old anchor of the Atlanta bullpen has saved 30 games, holds a 1.68 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, and did not give up a run in the entire month of June (11.1 innings, six hits, five walks, 17 strikeouts).  Wagner plans to retire at season’s end, and with the Braves currently leading the NL East, he’s looking for his first crack at the World Series and the opportunity to go out on top.

How about Carlos Gonzalez?  The Venezuelan outfielder is enjoying a fine year in his first full season as a big leaguer, hitting .320 with 26 homers, 84 RBI’s, and 20 stolen bases.  His batting average, .569 slugging percentage, and .922 OPS put him behind only Pujols and Votto in the National League.  Rockies fans can look forward to many years of watching Gonzalez display his talents at Coors Field.  At 24, he has a very promising career ahead of him.

How about the Twins?  Despite almost getting no-hit and losing three of four to the Rangers earlier this week, the Twinkies are 27-13 since the All-Star break, and hold a three-and-a-half game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central.  After losing cleanup man Justin Morneau to injury the week before the All-Star break, several Minnesota players have stepped up to the plate.  Since the break, birthday boy Jim Thome (now 40) is slugging .651, Delmon Young and Jason Kubel have driven in 33 and 32 runs, respectively, in 39 games, and Joe Mauer has raked to a line of .399/.476/.594 with 32 RBI’s in 36 games.

Nationals handle Strasburg’s schedule with brilliance posted by David

The hype over Washington Nationals’ phenom Stephen Strasburg has been followed by terrific pitching from the young right-hander, but the Nats’ front office also deserves a lot of credit.  In his first three starts, Strasburg has faced the Pirates, the Indians, and the White Sox, all of whom rank near the bottom offensively.  While I think Strasburg has a tremendous amount of talent and is going to be a great pitcher for quite some time, I’d like to see how he fares against the heavy-hitting lineups of the Yankees, Reds, and Red Sox.

How ‘bout that?

How about Mike Leake?  The Reds’ rookie pitcher finally took his first loss of the season this week, but still boasts a 3.02 ERA to go with his 5-1 record.  His most impressive stat, however, is that he has gone at least six innings in 12 of his 13 starts.  In addition to his contribution on the mound, Leake is hitting .385 – more than 100 points higher than the batting average of the hitters he has faced (.270).  Leake has been Cincinnati’s most consistent – and best – pitcher in 2010.

How about Carlos Peña?  After hitting just .120/.233./.250 with three home runs in the month of May, Peña homered in six straight games last week and is slugging .667 so far in June.  For a guy hitting just .197 on the season, Peña has been awfully productive.  The Rays’ first baseman leads his team in home runs (15), and his 46 RBIs are second only to Evan Longoria’s 51.

How about the Braves?  Atlanta won only nine of 23 games in April but is 31-14 since the beginning of May and leads the NL East by a half-game over the Mets, who have won eight in a row.  The Braves have been particularly strong at home, evidenced by a 22-7 record at Turner Field.

Jamie Moyer: baseball's new Ageless Wonder posted by David

Julio Franco may be the oldest player in Major League history to hit a home run (he also holds a number of other oldest player records), but Jamie Moyer has established himself as the game’s new Ageless Wonder.  In throwing a two-hitter against the Braves on May 7th, the 47-year-old became the oldest player to throw a complete game shutout.

A perfect Mother’s Day

In case you missed it, Dallas Braden guaranteed his place in the record books earlier this month by throwing the 19th perfect game in Major League history.  A perfect game is always difficult to achieve, but throwing one against the Rays – the best team in baseball – is that much more impressive.  What’s also worth noting is that this was the first Complete Game of Braden’s career.  That said, the most perfect aspect about the achievement was that it occurred on Mother’s Day, with Braden’s grandmother, who raised him after his mother died of skin cancer, in the stands.

How ‘bout that?

How about Andre Ethier?  Leading all three Triple Crown categories (.392 AVG, 11 HR, 38 RBI’s) in the National League as of a week ago, Ethier is the most feared hitter in the Dodger lineup (even more than Manny Ramirez), but will spend at least the next couple weeks on the Disabled List with a broken bone in his pinky finger.  His injury is bad news for the Dodgers.

How about Ty Wigginton?  After hitting 11 home runs all of last season, Wigginton is tied for second in the majors with 12 homers and still has a week and a half left to play in the month of May!  The Oriole infielder slugged just .400 in 2009 but boasts a .617 slugging percentage through the first eight weeks of 2010.

Cano’s a go to stay at the #5 spot posted by Cesar Valverde

After a long hiatus, it’s great to be back blogging about the greatest sports franchise on the planet. Since my last blog entry, the New York Yankees have won the World Series (coincidentally on this blogger’s birthday last year. SWEET!) and got some good quality talent during the offseason, namely Curtis Granderson from the Tigers, Nick Johnson from the Marlins, and Javier Vasquez from the Braves, among others. They’ve gotten off to an awesome start, winning every series this year so far except this past weekend when they lost 2 out 3 in Anaheim against the Angels. Bringing up Javi Vasquez leads me to discuss Robinson Cano because the Yanks gave up his seemingly inseparable buddy Melky Cabrera to get him. The 2 were like brothers. They lived together. They visited each other’s family. They supported each other, helping each other during slumps. Their antics at times were the life of the clubhouse and highlight reels. But now that is over. Robinson is now on his own outside his comfort zone minus Melky. Manager Joe Girardi took a gamble and put Cano to bat behind Alex Rodriguez in the #5 spot and, boy, did it pay dividends. “You want to take care of your veterans, but all we’ve got is veterans. I consider Robbie a veteran player, “ Girardi said in an interview during spring training. In 18 games so far this season, he’s already had 1 multi-homer game & is hitting .368 with an on base percentage of .416.  He has 5 HRs, 14 RBIs and is going into tonight’s game hitting safely in 8 out of his last 10 games. He’s been clutch since the beginning of the season. He’s had to. The #5 spot last year was occupied by Mr. Clutch himself, Hideki Matsui, who is now with the LA Angels of Anaheim. Those are some heavy shoes to fill especially considering Godzilla was the World Series MVP last year. With more focus and less distractions, Yankee fans, expect another career year from Robinson Cano this season. I admit he’s nowhere near as clutch as Matsui, but he’s do a pretty job so far.

Jason Heyward: Instant Hit posted by David

When the Atlanta Braves announced during the last week of spring training that Jason Heyward had made the big league roster, it made headlines in part because both Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman were being assigned to the minors.  However, after winning the starting right fielder’s job in Atlanta, the 20-year-old phenom wasted no time before impressing the baseball world by launching a three-run home run in his very first major league at-bat.  Batting seventh in the lineup behind Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and others has limited the pressure on the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft, but before long, you can expect to see Heyward taking his hacks in the cleanup spot.

How ‘bout that?

How about Albert Pujols?  Picking up where he left off at the end of the 2009 season, Pujols collected four hits – including two home runs – on Opening Day.  The Cardinals slugger has been nothing but superhuman in the batter’s box; unless he suffers an injury, he will likely win his third straight (and fourth overall) Most Valuable Player Award.

How about Vernon Wells?  Looking to bounce back from a disappointing season (.260/.311/.400), Wells has already hit four home runs and boasts a .600 batting average.  The centerfielder became the first Blue Jay in history to homer in the team’s first three games of the year and played a major role in Toronto winning its first series of 2010 over Texas.

How about the Giants?  Led by shortstop Edgar Renteria’s .727 batting average (eight hits in 11 at-bats), San Francisco has continued to play well, sweeping a three-game series in Houston following a 23-12 record in spring training.  Not only are the Giants the only team yet to lose a regular season game, they have not even trailed at any point.  Though it is far too early to call a winner, the Giants will hope their fast start is a sign of things to come as they eye their first division title since 2003.

"The Braves will Pose a Tougher Test for the Giants this weekend" posted by Michael McGauley

AT LAST, regular season baseball to discuss! I wasn't too shocked by the final roster moves, and like the veteran additions to the bull pen with Mota, and to the starting staff with Wellemeyer. More on that in a minute. Not to bring up a sore point right out of the box, but I saw that Brad Penny pitched very well (seven strong innings and a no decision) in his St.Louis debut Thursday -- a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Hey, nice start for the Giants in Houston, and a rock-solid start for Lincecum, Zito, and (almost) Cain. The "Cainer" got burned by a couple of bad breaks Wednesday, and pitched better than the final stat line may indicate (notice zero walks in the stat line). Timmy and Barry though were quite good. I expected as much from the two-time defending Cy Young winner (seven shutout innings), but Zito has been consistently bad in the early stages of the season, only to finish with a flurish. He leaves us wanting more through a long off-season only to disappoint all over again in April. Well, at least for one start, we as fans definitely got some pleasure with five k's and just three hits allowed in six shutout innings. The Astros are wounded without Lance Berkman in the middle of that line-up, and the Giants needed to and did take advantage. However, they also beat a pair of top-notch starters in Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez with just enough offense.  The Giants were putting rallies together in the first couple of games that make a baseball geek like me excited. Sustained rallies, advancing the runner, taking some walksContinue reading ""The Braves will Pose a Tougher Test ..."

Cop fired after death of trainer's wife

The state trooper involved in the New Year's Eve collision thatkilled the wife of Atlanta Braves trainer Jeff Porter was fired onFriday, Georgia's public safety commissioner said. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Houston capture series advantage

Houston Astros beat Atlanta Braves 7-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. [read full article]

From BBC Sport

Happy Birthday to Former Yankees First Baseman Chris Chambliss: A Fan Remembers (Yahoo! Contri

I, as a fervent New York Yankees fan, was surprised to learn that former first baseman Chris Chambliss actually played more games with the Atlanta Braves than he did in the Bronx. Chambliss, who will be 63 this Dec. 26, was a large part of the successful Yankees clubs of the... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Happy Birthday to Former Yankees First Baseman Chris Chambliss: A Fan Remembers (Yahoo! Contri

I, as a fervent New York Yankees fan, was surprised to learn that former first baseman Chris Chambliss actually played more games with the Atlanta Braves than he did in the Bronx. Chambliss, who will be 63 this Dec. 26, was a large part of the successful Yankees clubs of the... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Happy Birthday to Former Yankees First Baseman Chris Chambliss: A Fan Remembers (Yahoo! Contri

I, as a fervent New York Yankees fan, was surprised to learn that former first baseman Chris Chambliss actually played more games with the Atlanta Braves than he did in the Bronx. Chambliss, who will be 63 this Dec. 26, was a large part of the successful Yankees clubs of the... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports