Hey all! We're into the second week of June and while the Angels bullpen continues to let me down, the race in the Longball League hasn't. Things are getting tight, let's look at the standings.
Those Vacuous Vipers are suffering from Evan Longoria's recent drop off in production. Longoria's bad right hamstring has flared up again. he played in only three games last week and went scoreless for the week. Rays Manager Joe Maddon says he'll be back in the lineup tonight, but will he contribute?
Tied for second place are the Sierra Vista Coachwhips and the SoCal Capuchins. They've been trading the second slot off and on here for awhile, so you knew a tie would happen one week. The Coachwhips dropped the injured Josh Hamilton and replaced him with Raul Ibanez of the Phillies. His two homer, eight RBI week was a good boost for the snakes. As for the Caps, they keep rolling along behind the awakened Ryan Howard. He's on a roll and so are the Caps.
Sitting in fourth just four points out of second are the Invisible Hands. Ryan Howard and Justin Morneau are in a groove for the Hands. They may be just four points out of fourth, but they have team hot on their trail. The San Pedro Sea Monkeys are just one point behind the Hands and only 15 points out of first. Yes folks, the top five teams are separated by a mere 15 points. The Monkeys did make their move and went after Joe Mauer of the Twins. He looks like he'll fit in nicely with Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols on the Monkey's squad.
The Keen Koalas are in last place, but they did finally swap out Matt Holiday for Adam Dunn. Maybe he can get the Koala's back into contention.
Trivia: On April 22, 1959, the Chicago White Sox score 11 runs in the seventh inning en route to a 20-6 drubbing of the Kansas City A's. The big fact about the inning is that the White Sox scored their 11 runs on one hit! Yes folks, one hit. The A's gave up one hit, walked 10 and committed three errors in the inning.
Baseball Card of the Week: This week's card is 1959 Topps #119- Johnny Callison. He's the man that had the only hit for the White Sox in that weird seventh inning. It was a single that was misplayed into a two base error that allowed the first two runs of the inning to score.
Until next time folks, keep hitting 'em where they ain't.
-The Commissioner
