The Double A Jays

Quick, name the only duo in major league baseball with 35 homers and 100 RBI's.

Waiting, stalling, anyone?

I'm gonna guess these two didn't even cross your mind.

For the answer we have to go north of the border to Toronto for second baseman Aaron Hill and designated hitter/left fielder Adam Lind.

Has even the biggest baseball fan noticed what these two have done?

Hill has mashed 36 HR's and driven in 105 runs, while Lind has homered 35 times to go along with 115 RBI's.

Holliday and Pujols, Braun and Fielder, Werth and Howard, Berkman and Lee, Teixeria and A-Rod, Bay and Ortiz, Pena and Longoria. None of these duos have yet accomplished what Hill and Lind have so far in 2009.

The Blue Jays are overshadowed by the Yankees, Red Sox and even the Rays after their magical run to the 2008 AL Pennant.

The story of their season was GM J.P. Riccardi's unwillingness to pull the trigger on a deal to ship his ace Roy Halladay out of town for a bevy of prospects.

They haven't been to the playoffs since divisional realignment in the wake of the 1994 strike.

They haven't seen the postseason since back-to-back world series titles or played meaningful baseball since Joe Carter bounded around the bases after a game 6 World Series walk-off in 1993.

It's been 15 long winters in Canada and after three straight winning seasons the Jays wont get over 80 wins in 2009. They play in the toughest division in baseball. The one that almost always gets two teams into the playoffs but that features the game's biggest spenders.

The future may not exactly be rosy for the Blue Jays but it is bright in at least two regards with these young stars slugging their way to the top of the statistical leaderboard.

Reynolds' first to epic 40-200 plateau

Sorry for the long absence - all of my blogging attention has been thrust at "going deep with the giants" as the g-men fade in and out of the nl wild card chase - but I ended my last post here on the topic of home-run-hitting-strikeout-masters with this thought: "Can you imagine? Three 40 HR-200 K guys? Oh what a world it would be."

Well, Carlos Pena hit 39 homers struck out 163 times and then broke two fingers last week in the Bronx. He is out for the year.

Ryan Howard is sitting on 38 bombs has fanned 168 times. With just 18 games to go, Howard still has plenty of work to do.

But Mark Reynolds, the master of miss, the king of swing, reached the previously unfathomable height this afternoon at Petco Park in San Diego.

After clubbing the game winning two-run homer in the top of the ninth last night, the Diamondbacks third baseman followed with the kind of matinee performance today we have come to expect from the guy who literally defines the "feast or famine" cliche.

With an 0-for-5, four strikeout day Reynolds whiffed for the 200th time in the ninth to become the first player in major league history in the 40-200 club.

After all, there have only been two, 200 strikeout seasons ever and both belong to him and in as many seasons.

With only five more K's, he can pass his 2008 record of 204 by Friday and for such a young player the sky really is the limit. 225 is possible this year and even 250 before his career his over.

Honorable mention goes to Adam Dunn whose 37 homers and 162 K's means there are four sluggers in 2009 that qualify for the 35-160 club.

Keep swinging for the fences fellas!

Y2K's

With the millennium approaching late in the 20th century the fear was that computers would not be able to register the change into the 2000's and they would crash, causing mass chaos.

People stocked up on canned food and water. They braced for disaster.

While the ball dropped and the date ticked over in the upper corner like any other, that quirky numbers issue has affected one critical part of American life - baseball.

Check the box scores and scroll over to the "K" column. Where there used to be more zero's and one's there are now a lot more two's and three's.

While this nearly expired decade brought us everything from 9/11 to the Octomom what it really brought on the hardball front was a whole lot more swings and misses.

Of the 24 highest single-season strikeout totals in Major League history an astounding 17 have happened in the 2000's. The top-6 have happened since I finished high school in 2004 and three of the top four strikeout totals of all-time were so majestically produced just last year.

The highest pre-1960 total came in at 294th on the list thanks to Jim Lemon's 138 in 1956.

To make matters worse only four of the top 80 single season strikeout totals were recorded by pitchers since the departure of the 90's and all of those campaigns were turned in by Randy Johnson with the last coming in 2004.

So it's not like the Y2K bug mutated and turned the league's starting pitchers into a cache of Nolan Ryan clones - the hitters are simply missing the mark at an alarming and historically atrocious rate.

Doesn't anyone choke up anymore? (Chicks dig the longball and the walk back to the dugout)

Even more puzzling than the high strikeout totals is that the players making these gaudy numbers are also at the top of the home run leader board.

As I told my dad, talk about feast or famine.

Ryan Howard who has 820 K's in 674 games, fanned 181 times in 2006 on his way to the MVP award.

When you hit 58 homers and drive in 149 runs the ring-ups are second fiddle to the writers.

In 2007 and 2008 he got rung up a record (he set it and then tied it) 199 times. But he also hit 47 dingers in '07 and 48 the following season when he finished 2nd in MVP voting.

Howard's record didn't stand for long. Like the steroid-induced home run chases of the late 90's and early 2000's guys were out to prove they could be top dog.

So Arizona's Mark Reynolds boldly went where no man had gone before - into the 200's. Blowing right past Ryan Howard's cowardly 199, Reynolds finished the season with a flourish of see ya-ness and into previously uncharted territory.

While the young third baseman slugged 28 homers in his record breaKing campaign, 2009 has brought even bigger things.

Through tonight's game - a two-homer, two-strikeout effort on his birthday - Reynolds has been on an even better pace. He's like a marathoner at the 15-mile mark in under an hour, the potential is staggering just like the implosion could be.

His two Citi Field bombs put him second in the league in home runs with 32 but his two strikeouts give him 145 in 103 games or well above his pace from last year (and 193rd all time four days into August.)

If he stays on track he could reach rare Joe Dimaggio type air. Records are made to be broken, but Disco Demolition Night was a bad idea.

At this rate he would hit 214 strikeouts and that could be as untouchable as the triples record. Highest single season mark? 36. Highest in the last 80 years? 23.

They have fences on stadiums nowadays and they are rather close. You can't just run anymore.

But you sure can strike out. So while Reynolds broke the 200-K barrier with the determination of Roger Bannister others won't want to be left in the dust.

The Challengers (It don't mean a thing, if you don't take that swing)

While the battle between Reynolds and Howard is beginning to play out like Chestnut and Kobayashi, let's not forget other prolific power hitters and swings and missers.

Jack Cust's 197 strikeouts in 2008 were an American League record and he complimented all those long walks with 33 slow trots. He has led the AL each of the last two seasons in the vaunted three strikes and your out list and has amassed another 118 so far in 09.

When it comes to all or nothing hackers no one quite fits the bill like Washington's Adam Dunn. In each of his last seven full seasons he has whiffed at least 164 times. Equally impressive is a six year 40+ homer streak.

He looks strong on both fronts again (119 and 27) but may be pressing a bit down the stretch if the pressure mounts and he is right on the cusp.

But two guys really stand out in 2009.

Carlos Pena (136 K's, 26 HR's) and the recently-eclipsed challenger Howard (128 K's, 26 HR's) are desperately swinging to stay in the race. Reynolds has set a blistering pace but if they can at least stay within striking distance history would look back on 2009 with a big smile.

Can you imagine? Three 40 HR-200 K guys?

Oh what a world it would be.

The Freeway Series from Hell

I am a Bay Area sports fan living in Southern California.

This spring the 8th-seeded Ducks bounced my beloved President's Trophy winning-Sharks from the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round.

The Lakers are NBA champions. The Warriors only make headlines in the Las Vegas summer league.

The ghosts of Russ Ortiz and Dusty Baker remind me - just as Angels fan do - that the 2002 World Series really did get away from the Giants, meaning they have still never won a championship by the Bay after so much success in New York more than a half a century ago.

Now the Dodgers are the best team in baseball and the Angels are once again in first place.

Which brings to mind the doomsday scenario - an all-Los Angeles Fall Classic come late October and early November (thanks Bud for pushing the season back another week, I'm sure you would love to see this thing on the West Coast after the fiasco in Philly last year).

There is plenty of baseball left to be played and tons of good teams out there to spoil it. The Yankees and Phillies come to mind with their hot play of late - but oh what a nightmare it could be.

Six weeks ago I thought the Dodgers would be a divisional series flameout. After Chad Billingsley it looked like there was no clear number two guy on the hill and starting pitching plays an integral part in playoff success.

Since then young Clayton Kershaw has been untouchable and the ever-itchy Dodgers may add another starter before the trade deadline or in August via waivers.

Their offense remained strong with Manny out and his presence in that line-up makes every other player more dangerous.

The Angels faced a rash of injuries early, and just when it seemed like they were getting healthy, managed to lose their two biggest bats. Neither situation has held them down long and they are threatening to once again run away with the AL west.

Torii Hunter has had an MVP-caliber season, Bobby Abreu's power numbers are gone but his average and speed is not. The starting pitching has been spotty but the track records of John Lackey and Ervin Santana are strong and when the team falls behind they always mount a comeback.

An Angels-Dodgers series would make Orange County practically unlivable for me and that's saying something after the Ducks debacle, Lakers parade and Giants dry spell.

Somebody better stop this or my black explorer will be like OJ's white bronco come Halloween. There will be a police chase down the 405 as I try and get away from World Series territory with a flaming bag of rally monkey's and Tommy Lasorda tied up in the back seat.

At least "Stanford 24, USC 23" happened.

Calvin Borel couldn't do it but what about Albert Pujols?

In the midst of another loss at Busch Stadium Tuesday night, Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols drilled two more home runs into the seats off 303-game winner Randy Johnson. 

It was all the offense the Redbirds could muster, and all they have managed in two games against the visiting Giants, but Pujols doesn't miss too many pitches.

In a line-up that is painfully lacking any punch number 5 is threatening to do something the senior circuit hasn't seen since Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific.

Since 1900 the NL has had just four triple crown seasons (by three different players). 

Rogers Hornsby (STL) 1922 .401-42 HR-152 RBI and 1925 .403-39 HR-143 RBI

Chuck Klein (PHI) 1933 .368-28 HR-120 RBI

Joe Medwick (STL) 1937 .374-31 HR-154 RBI

(Baseball-Reference.com)

Through 79 games Pujols leads the NL with 30 homers (six more than Adrian Gonzalez) and 77 RBI's (three more than Prince Fielder and 17 more than the third place man Ryan Howard).

He trails the NL batting leader David Wright by 13 points (.345 to .332) and is currently tied for fifth in that category. 

Pujols, a career .334 hitter, finished second in the NL in hitting in 2008 after slugging his way to a .357 clip. 

He has one batting title to his name already when his .359 was tops in 2003 and since he has hit under .330 just once in a season. 

He has failed to win the NL home run crown but the steroid era is largely to blame for that. Pujols has never smacked 50 homers in a season but with 30 already before July 1st that barrier should be reachable.

With his homers tonight he became the first player in baseball history to start his career with 9-straight 30-homer seasons, so there is no doubt A-Pu can stroke the long ball. 

From 2003-2006 he was in the top-5 in dingers in the NL each year including his high water mark of 49 in 2006. Most importantly he seems to have found his longball groove and has a sizable lead in that area.

He has never led the NL in RBI's but has finished in the top-5 in every season but one (2007). He was second in 2002 and 2006, third in 2004 and 2005 and fourth in 2003 and 2008.

So the potential to win that category is there but that may also be his biggest downfall. 

Pujols doesn't need his teammates to help him hit or smack home runs but he does need them to be on base if he wants to have the most RBI's. 

The Cardinals just dealt for utility infielder Mark DeRosa. It will be up to him and a cast of other guys like Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan to start producing then the rest will be up to Albert.

Tomorrow is just July 1, so there is a lot of baseball left to play but with another torrid start and a definite power surge Pujols has set the stage for what could be a historic summer in America's heartland.

U.S. win over Spain a fabulous result, not "Miracle 2"

The hockey team from the Soviet Union was big, bad and seemed impossible to beat.

So too did the Spanish side seem insurmountable in the days leading up to Wednesday's semifinal match in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Both had illustrious track records and long streaks of supremacy, but the similarities fail to extend much further. 

For the U.S. men's soccer team to steal a 2-0 win from the best team in the world after looking overmatched and lost just a week before it was a stunning victory and one of the top five biggest moments in the history of the sport in our country.

It was not, however close to the magnitude of the 4-3 win from the U.S. Olympic hockey team in Lake Placid almost three decades before.

First, that was the Olympics while this tournament is second fiddle to next summer's World Cup. 

Second, those were amateurs toppling the mighty Soviet machine while the soccer team we are throwing out there is nearly complete with all of our best professional talent minus a few missing in action due to injury.

And most importantly the social, cultural, political and historical impact of that game was enormous considering the backdrop of the Cold War.

Most Americans only knew the U.S. beat Spain when they saw it on Sportscenter that evening. 

The ramifications were far less, the patriotism attached to it of a far less shriller tone.

The win was significant and another Sunday morning would really put the soccer world on notice.

But it will be on the grandest stage in South Africa a year from now when the U.S. returns for the World Cup that their biggest opportunity to seize glory will emerge.

For now their shocking turnaround has at the very least thrust them into the spotlight for a short while.

Brazil represents a stern test for the U.S. squad but win or lose they have made important steps in the right direction.

A strong performance against the Samba can catapult the red, white and blue into important tune-up games in the Gold Cup and in Concacaf qualifying that will set them up for World Cup play.

The "miracle on grass" as it has been dubbed was a remarkable effort and one that shouldn't be soon forgotten but in an age of "what has google showed me lately?" let's not forget what that win in 1980 meant for this country and hope that someday, as this soccer team vows to reach the world's elite, they can in someway rival it.

For now we'll take Wednesday's win as a day when a team that really wanted it showed they could take it and hope the valiant Americans have more of that in store for the next 12 months. 

Big win for USA soccer, the goal differential system is fine

First off, great win today for the U.S. men's soccer team. 

I know Egypt was missing key players, and emotionally spent after upsetting the reigning world champion Azzuri. 

But the U.S. got the performance it needed and most importantly help from Brazil (3-0 win over Italy) that makes the win truly mean something.

By advancing in the group, the struggling national team gets two more games on foreign soil against quality opponents. That's the real victory.

Assuming a loss to the best team in the world, Spain on Wednesday, the red, white and blue should get South Africa (the host country) in a third-place game.

For a squad desperately trying to find an identity with less than a year to go before returning to the motherland for the World Cup these games are invaluable to their improvement. 

They may get blown out by Spain but these games give coach Bob Bradley more opportunities to scout his players and figure out his eventual Cup roster.

****

Many of the talking heads blasted the system that allows the U.S. to go through over Italy despite losing to them.

But in a three-way tie where each team is 1-2 there has to be another tiebreaker. 

Don't these same critical pundits remember the Big 12 tiebreaker this past college football season?

Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas all finished with 7-1 in the Big 12 South. Each was 1-1 against the other two. 

Since there was no clear way to determine who should be awarded divisional champion and a chance to play in the Big 12 championship game the conference had made the next tiebreaker the teams BCS rank.

The Big 12 was killed for pandering to the BCS by making their voting system the next determining factor - and having a game that featured Missouri and Oklahoma - two teams that Texas had both beat.

So in an equal situation - a three-way tie - where each team has lost once and won once against the said opposition - FIFA goes to goal differential.

What else would you do? At least they let it be decided on the field and not by some herky-jerky combination of computer calculations and biased voters.

Let's think these things through before we blast the people who have done just that.

Coming to you live in HD, it's hockey!

The NHL season is done, and congrats to the Penguins on winning the Cup, they sure looked dead in February.

But the NHL has one big thing going for it as we move forward and I think the ratings from the Stanley Cup finals reflect that.

Game 7, the best drama in all of sports, was the highest rated hockey game in thirty-six years. 

There's a few reasons for that other than the point I'm about to make.

You had people tuning in to see Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid is not even the best player on his own team but the young superstar has been hyped up so much that he is as must-see as anyone not named Ovechkin can be in this league. 

Tack on the rematch factor, the history of these two teams and of course the intrigue of a Game 7 and you have a ratings bonanza.

But there's one other big thing at work here and that's the HD effect.

There is no better live sport than hockey. Being in a cold, raucous arena where the hits are hard, the skaters are fast and the intensity is just awesome.

Never before could that be captured on TV and as my buddy Chad pointed out the puck is black, and much smaller than the focus of attention in other sports like basketball and football.

After the lock-out, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman took more money but far less exposure when he signed with Versus to broadcast his suddenly-floundering league.

It was an awful decision and the NHL has paid dearly for it. But HD can change all of that.

Finally, the TV can capture a lot of what going to the arena is all about and the action unfolding on the ice becomes that much clearer. 

No more squinting for the puck, waiting for the red light to tell you if a goal was scored or comet-style graphic that FOX employed some years back that gave the puck an illuminated tail to try and help the viewer to know where it was.

With more cameras in the arena and an ever crisper picture, hockey should re-slot itself as the fourth biggest sport in the American landscape and could once again push the NBA for third. 

While everything looks better in HD, the difference it makes when it comes to hockey, is much more significant and could make up the gap between fringe spectacle and mainstream mainstay.

Arena attendance is good. Fans love to pack the rink to see the games. With hockey in HD they can pack the living rooms too and be treated to a show almost as good.