Hey All!!!!
The season has begun and the joy I feel has been tempered by the tragic death of Angels young pitcher Nick Adenhart. It was a horrible thing to hear about last Thursday. It was another senseless act by a drunk driver. All I can say is that my condolences go out to Nick's family and I hope the drunk driver spends the rest of his life in jail. Now, on to more pleasant things.
In this first week of the season I see that the Sierra Vista Coachwhips are picking up where they left off as they sit on top of the standings with 25 points. Evan Longoria's monster week along with a good week from Josh Hamilton has set the pace for the 'Whips.
Hot on the 'Whips heels in second place are the Vacuous Vipers. This is Lu's team and after last year's last place effort it is good to see her squad off to a good start in 2009.
In third place sits The Commissioner's team, the San Pedro Sea Monkeys. My big hitter for the week was the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez. The Florida Marlins are a young team with some big bat potential. Don't be surprised if they are in the thick of the NL East race this year.
Sitting in fourth are the Invisible Hands. Ryan Howard's slow start has not helped this squad at all. However, it should be a good week for Howard as the Phightin' Phillies do play a series at winless Washington this week.
The SoCal Caps are occupying the fifth slot with subpar efforts from both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Funny to think that the only home run this team hit this week was from Mo's third player, Adam Dunn of the Nationals.
There is no way to sugarcoat this one, the Keen Koalas have gotten off to a rotten start. This team didn't register a single home run all week. This team can only go up from here.
Baseball Card of the Week: Yes, that's Hank Aaron's brother on that 1971 Topps card. It's good to give a little nod to The Hammer's brother. Tommie hit a total of 13 home runs in the major leagues. He also got to do a rare thing. He played his entire career on the same team with his brother. That's pretty cool.
Trivia: The Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton was intenionally walked with the bases loaded last year. It happened when Tampa Bay Rays were up 7-3 on the Rangers with the sacks full and two out in the top of the ninth. The Rays went on to win the game 7-4 when the next batter, Marlon Byrd was struck out by reliever Dan Wheeler. It was only the fifth time on MLB history that a man was given an intentional walk with the bases loaded. Heck, it was only the second time in 107 years in the American League. It is a rarely used strategy, but in all five times it has been done, the team giving up the intentional pass has won the game.
Until next week, keep hittin 'em where they ain't!!!!
-The Commissioner
