Zack Greinke Wins Major League Baseball Players Association's A.L. Oustanding Pitcher
Kansas City, MO --- Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke picked up his third major offseason award today, being named the A.L. Outstanding Pitcher as part of the Major League Baseball Players Association's Players Choice Awards. Greinke designated the cash prize associated with the award to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City.
Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals took home the N.L. honor. Toronto's Roy Halladay and New York's CC Sabathia were the other finalists in the American League.
The Royals right-hander has already been named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year and the American League "Bullet" Rogan Award winner as the A.L.'s top pitcher by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
The American League Cy Young award, as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, will be announced on November 17.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Gordon Beckham collects another rookie honor
CHICAGO --- White Sox third baseman Gordon Beckham won his second American League rookie award Monday, this one from his peers in the players' association.
Beckham previously was voted rookie of the year by the Sporting News in a player poll. He was joined in both by Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ in the National League. Happ is from Peru, Ill., and attended Northwestern.
Beckham, 23, was promoted to the Sox less than a year after being drafted from the University of Georgia. He hit .270 with 28 doubles and 63 RBIs in 103 games.
Sox prospect Dayan Viciedo is being shut down at the Arizona Fall League because of inflammation in his throwing elbow.
Brent Morel, 22, will replace him.
The third base prospect from Cuba likely will need a full season at Triple A before making the Sox.
(c) 2009, Chicago Tribune.
Rivera cleared in spitting incident
ANAHEIM -- Major League Baseball swiftly cleared the Yankees' Mariano Rivera of any wrongdoing after a blog post on Tuesday morning claimed the hurler had spit on the baseball during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
The blog entry, on an Angels fan site, showed a screen shot taken from the FOX broadcast of Monday's Game 3, won by the Angels, 5-4, in 11 innings. Replays show Rivera looking down at the baseball before spitting, and then the camera cuts away.
The Commissioner's Office reviewed video from the FOX broadcast, as well as still photographs from the game.
"We looked at the video and still photography and there was no evidence that Rivera was spitting on the ball," said Pat Courtney, Major League Baseball's vice president of public relations.
Rivera -- famed for authoring his illustrious career on the power of one pitch, a devastating cutter -- entered Game 3 in the 10th inning with a runner on second and no outs, working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to move the game to the 11th.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that he heard about the video from one of the coaches on the team bus traveling to Angel Stadium on Tuesday, and then called general manager Brian Cashman to find out what the fuss was about.
"I kind of laughed," Girardi said. "Mo's been throwing one pitch for a long time. ... The one thing about a spitter is it consistently does not go one way like Mo's ball consistently goes one way. So I kind of laughed at it.
"MLB has investigated, they have nothing about it. We just move on it. To me, it's a dead story. I caught Mo for four years, and I know for sure he never did anything."
Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland told the New York Post that Rivera was "absolutely not" guilty of such an infraction.
"I would put my life on it that he didn't do that stuff," Eiland told the newspaper. "He's been pitching for years and not one word has ever been mentioned."
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he would have been surprised if Rivera had intended to gain an edge.
"This is the first I'm hearing about this," Scioscia said. "I didn't even know that there was any indication that it's been looked at. Never. There are certainly some guys that might be suspect -- never Mariano with anything that I've heard or been part of. And I'd be shocked if there was anything to that."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Abreu has set perfect example for Angels
It began in the first inning of the first game of the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels. John Lackey pounded the strike zone, retiring the Red Sox in order. And with one out and no one on, Bobby Abreu faced Jon Lester. He took two balls, fouled off two pitches, took two more tough pitches and walked. Lester was then forced to work out of the stretch.
Abreu worked Lester for another walk in the third inning. In the fifth, with Erick Aybar on third, Abreu got to two-and-two in the count, then took two more borderline pitches that home plate umpire Joe West called balls. Lester then threw a first-pitch strike to Torii Hunter, but on the next pitch -- his 70th of the game -- Lester threw a mistake caused by stress. Hunter hit it halfway to San Clemente, giving the Angels and Lackey a 3-0 lead.
In Game 2, Abreu led off the fourth inning with a single and scored the Angels' first run against Josh Beckett. In Sunday's Game 3 clincher, with the Red Sox leading 5-2 in the eighth inning, Abreu greeted Billy Wagner with a double inside the first-base bag to begin a two-run rally that necessitated Jonathan Papelbon's entering the game in the eighth inning.
Then, finally, in the ninth inning, with Boston in front 6-4, after Aybar punched a two-strike single to shallow center and Chone Figgins worked Papelbon for a walk, Abreu took a Papelbon fastball and dunked it off the wall in left field to get the Angels within 6-5. Papelbon then intentionally walked Torii Hunter. After that, Papelbon's next pitch was deposited into center field by Vlad Guerrero for a two-run single that gave the Angels the lead at 7-6.
(c) 2009 ESPN Internet Ventures.
Baseball lives for its numbers players, teams put up
Baseball means men with numbers. The men begin the October grind Wednesday. Before that, we should pay homage to some of their numbers this season, oddball and otherwise.
Ichiro Suzuki had 639 off at-bats. In not one of them did he hit into a double play.
Prince Fielder, big enough to be his own zip code, does not exactly look like the prototype of endurance. But guess the only major leaguer to play in all 162 games?
The Los Angeles Angels had the highest batting average in baseball. But they never hit one grand slam.
The Yankees led the major leagues in home runs with 244. Can't be the New York air. Not 10 miles away, the Mets were last with 95.
The pitchers for the Los Angeles Dodgers put together the best earned run average in baseball. They also had only one complete game.
Did a World Series team get the Tampa Bay fans hooked on the Rays? Not enough to pay to watch them, apparently. The year after a dramatic pennant, they finished 23rd in attendance.
Philadelphia's staff threw only 28 wild pitches all year. Kansas City's uncorked 89.
Albert Pujols was intentionally walked 44 times, more than the next two major league leaders put together.
Hanley Ramirez won the National League batting title. The last shortstop to do that was Dick Groat in 1960.
The Minnesota Twins were shut out only four times.
The Cincinnati Reds catchers had only four passed balls.
Seattle was 35-20 in one-run games. That means 41% of the Mariners' 85 victories came by a single run.
The New York Yankees won only two fewer games in Yankee Stadium than the Washington Nationals won everywhere.
The grass is greener on the National League side. Or at least more real. American League teams won 233 games on artificial turf. National League teams won 10.
There were only five doubleheader sweeps in the entire major leagues. The Texas Rangers had three of them.
The pinch-hitters for Minnesota and the Angels hit .308. The pinch-hitters for the Chicago White Sox hit .106.
Not one major league pitcher won 20 games this season. Forty years ago in 1969, there were 15.
The San Francisco Giants finished 88-74 to own the best record not to get into the playoffs. No champagne for that, however.
Colorado went 41-40 on the road. It was the first time in their history the Rockies had a winning record away from home.
Baltimore used 121 pitchers this decade. Only eight of them were above .500, with five wins as a minimum. In the Orioles' glory years of the 1960s and 70s, they used 117 pitchers in two decades.
Behold the north and south poles of baseball: The Pirates endured their 17th straight losing season. The Yankees enjoyed their 17th straight winning season.
The Yankees went 15-2 after the All-Star Game against the playoff group of the Angels, Red Sox, Twins and Tigers.
Cleveland finished the season with 15 straight losses on the road.
Kansas City's Zack Greinke allowed 11 home runs all season, none in his last 49 innings.
The Oakland A's had last place in their division to themselves every day after May 3.
The Washington Nationals began the season with a seven-game losing streak. They finished the season with a seven-game winning streak.
Mark Reynolds played in 155 games for Arizona. In only 27 of them did he not strike out at least once.
The Tigers tied for the American League Central title, despite being outscored by one run over the season. The A's finished last in the West, 22 games behind, despite being outscored two.
The Pirates lost 99 games, but committed a major league low 73 errors.
The Cubs used their Opening Day lineup exactly three times. Like so many, they're waiting till next year.
(c) 2009 USA TODAY.
Agent: Twins agree to sign shortstop Sano for $3.15-million bonus
The agent for Dominican shortstop Miguel Sano says the Minnesota Twins have agreed to sign his client for a bonus of US$3.15 million.
Sano's agent, Rob Plummer, said Tuesday that he expects an agreement to be signed this week. "I'm very thankful to get this chance to sign with the Twins," Sano said. "I'm going to work very hard to try to get to the majors in two years."
Twins general manager Bill Smith declined comment.
Major League Baseball, as it does with many young Dominican players, investigated Sano's age and identity earlier this year. His identity was verified, Plummer said, and the age investigation was inconclusive. Sano says he is 16 years old.
In the summer, the Pirates were said to be interested in signing him. Plummer said Tuesday that the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds had been in contention to sign the shortstop.
Sano is six foot three and 210 pounds. His favourite player is Florida's Hanley Ramirez.
(c) 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Rangers find no solution to A's Cahill
OAKLAND -- Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill isn't getting much mention for American League Rookie of the Year.
If he handled other teams like he does the Rangers, he'd be right up there with Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus or Oakland closer Andrew Bailey. With two straight strong performances against them, Cahill has done as much as anybody to put a serious dent in the Rangers' playoff hopes.
Cahill held the Rangers to one run in 5 2/3 innings in leading the Athletics to a 9-1 victory on Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Cahill has won four straight decisions in five starts for the Athletics, including his last two against the Rangers.
With the Angels and Red Sox falling on Tuesday, the Rangers missed a change to gain ground in the AL West and Wild Card races, remaining at 7 1/2 and seven games out, respectively.
Cahill pitched seven shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over the Rangers last week in Arlington. This one wasn't quite as dominating, but he is still 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts against Texas this season. Overall, he is 11-13 with a 4.45 ERA.
"He can pitch," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He's got something on his fastball, and he can move it around. He's got a good changeup, works fast and puts the ball in the strike zone. He's got good stuff."
"This was one of his better outings," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "The last game in Texas was hard to top, but to come back and face the same team again the next start is impressive. They just saw him."
Brandon McCarthy, on the other hand, has lost two straight to Oakland and three of his four starts against them this season. He lost, 6-1, in Arlington on Aug. 15, when he allowed four runs in three innings. He also lost a head-to-head matchup against Cahill back on May 7 when the Athletics won, 9-4. He is 1-3 with a 6.38 ERA in four starts against Oakland.
"I can still command the strike zone, and I didn't tonight," McCarthy said. "Even if a team is hard for me, I still have to do a good job -- or do a better job than I did tonight -- of keeping us in the game."
Cahill's first Major League victory came against the Rangers on May 7. Texas has really made his season. He has two victories against the Royals -- the only other team he has beaten more than once.
"They are known as a pretty good team," Cahill said. "I just think I got lucky. I had some of my best stuff against them two or three times. Tonight I didn't have my best stuff but I got lucky and got some double plays."
McCarthy wasn't bad, but one crucial miscalculation by right fielder Nelson Cruz in the second inning cost him two runs. McCarthy set it up though with a one-out walk to Jack Cust.
With two outs, Daric Barton smacked a sharp line drive to right. Cruz came in and tried to make a diving catch and missed.
"I was just trying to make a play out there," Cruz said. "It just hit off the end of my glove. If I had turned my glove the other way, I would have had a better chance."
The ball got behind him, and Cust raced around to score. Second baseman Ian Kinsler's relay to the plate was up the line and got away from catcher Ivan Rodriguez, allowing Barton to come home as well.
"Normally I don't like to run past second," Barton said. "But he dove, I got to third and all I heard was, 'Go, go, go.' I had to get my legs going again. I was a little tired after that."
Washington deemed it the key play of the game.
"If we play the ball safely, it's still two outs," Washington said. "The next guy pops out, and we're out of the inning. If you go for that ball, you've got to get it. He tried to make a play and didn't make it."
A pair of leadoff singles by Ryan Sweeney and Kurt Suzuki and a two-out single by Barton in the fourth against McCarthy gave the Athletics a 3-0 lead.
Cahill's 12-inning scoreless streak against the Rangers came to end in the sixth inning when Andrus led off with a single, stole second and scored on a double by David Murphy. Then came another big defensive play. Marlon Byrd hit a fly to left-center that Rajai Davis ran down. Murphy tried to tag up, but Davis gunned him down with a terrific throw to cut short the rally.
"It still should have been 1-1 after six," Washington said.
That was Cahill's last inning, but the Rangers couldn't do anything against relievers Craig Breslow, Jerry Blevins and Brad Ziegler. The Athletics broke it open with five runs off Willie Eyre in the seventh.
Cahill allowed six hits and two walks, but the Rangers were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position on the night. The Athletics are 10-7 against Texas season and have secured a season-series win.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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