There’s been lots of MLB news for me to catch up on since I returned from my trip to Rotterdam. British baseball fans received further information about the future of ESPN America, while Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter on Friday night was a great way to end the working week.Â
The mid-season break gives us all a chance to take stock, ready for the second half of a season that looks set to produce some exciting pennant races. Continue reading
If you’re a baseball fan in the UK, visiting Holland is the easiest way to watch some high quality ballgames without travelling all the way to the States. There are several decent ballparks in the Netherlands, such as those in Amsterdam and Haarlem, but the Neptunus Family Stadium in Rotterdam is arguably the best of the lot. Indeed, it may well be the best ballpark in Europe.Â
Joe and I were extremely impressed by the set-up during our recent road trip to watch some games there at the World Port Tournament (WPT). Hopefully one day there will be a similar ballpark in the UK, but until then you definitely need to start planning your own trip to Rotterdam.
(Note: The photos were taken an hour or so before first pitch, hence the relative lack of a crowd!)Â Continue reading
Scenario: A fly-ball is hit between the centre fielder and the right fielder. The centre fielder calls the other player off and moves in on the ball, but just as the ball hits leather, the right fielder, who had ignored the call, smashes into the outstretched glove, knocking the ball to the ground. The umpire adjudges that no catch has been made.
How do you score the play?
A – Error by the centre fielder.
B – Error by the right fielder.
C – Error by neither player (i.e. a base hit).
D – Error by both players.
Highlight the text below to reveal the answer:
Answer: B – Error by the right fielder.
Rule 10.12(a)(1) Comment states:
The official scorer shall charge an error to a fielder who causes another fielder to misplay a ball—for example, by knocking the ball out of the other fielder’s glove. On such a play, when the official scorer charges an error to the interfering fielder, the official scorer shall not charge an error to the fielder with whom the other fielder interfered.
Dutch pitcher Rob Cordermans flirted with a no-hitter yesterday in Rotterdam as the Netherlands gained their first victory of the World Port Tournament 2009. They defeated Japan 8-0, keeping alive their hopes of qualifying for the final on Sunday.
With three-quarters of Croydon’s schedule completed, and no wins to show for it, the Pirates may be worrying that time is running out to register a pride-rescuing first win. Still, the Pirates have reason to hope after having three narrow defeats in the past month. Continue reading
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| Orpington Isotopes | 24 | 8 | 21 | 4 | .257 | .825 | 4 | 5 | 52 | 1 | 2.91 | 1.23 | 3 |
| Syracuse Nationals | 36 | 12 | 39 | 7 | .308 | .916 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 0 | 1.54 | 1.00 | 8 |
Depending which team you are, this was eother a great week for the ‘Cuse hitters or another bad one for my bats, despite the return of Manny! The Orange took all six hitting categories on the way to an 8-3 win. The Nationals had big weeks from Pujols, Lind, Abreu and Ellsbury, with impressive pitching from Gallardo and Nolasco. Jon Lester was my star performer, with a win and 17 strikeouts.
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| Borders Bats | 26 | 3 | 20 | 7 | .259 | .657 | 2 | 4 | 42 | 0 | 6.26 | 1.58 | 1 |
| SWAT | 28 | 7 | 35 | 7 | .273 | .779 | 4 | 1 | 50 | 1 | 3.72 | 1.07 | 10 |
SWAT closed the gap at the top with a 10-1 thumping of the Bats, taking five hitting and five pitching categories. Choo and Wieters were SWAT’s star hitters, with Oswalt picking up a pair of wins and 14 strikeouts. Brandon Morrow was the Bats’ best performer, although he had no wins to show for his efforts.
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| The Cheddar Chasers | 27 | 6 | 38 | 5 | .328 | .878 | 1 | 4 | 34 | 0 | 3.03 | 1.09 | 8 |
| Braughing’s Bangers | 32 | 6 | 24 | 2 | .259 | .747 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 3.13 | 1.34 | 2 |
The Chasers got the better of the Bangers 8-2, although there were several categories which ended up very close. Four homers from Justin Morneau powered the Chaser hitters, while three saves from Rivera also helped. The Bangers had good weeks from Posada, Berkman and Wainwright.
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| Josh & Jonny Whos | 14 | 4 | 27 | 2 | .211 | .620 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 4.01 | 1.39 | 5 |
| RussDev Giants | 34 | 11 | 30 | 5 | .325 | .929 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 5.48 | 1.39 | 6 |
The Giants edged The Whos 6-5 in a matchup of two halves. The Giants took all six hitting categories and the Whos took five out of sic pitching stats, with a tie in WHIP giving Russ the win. The Giants had great weeks from Fielder, Mauer, Reynolds and Crawford, while Brian Bannister was the pick of the Whos.
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| The Wright Stuff | 23 | 9 | 39 | 3 | .262 | .801 | 4 | 6 | 55 | 1 | 2.93 | 1.04 | 6 |
| the gas | 29 | 10 | 35 | 3 | .315 | .927 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 5.89 | 1.45 | 5 |
The Stuff edged The Gas 6-5 thanks to the pitching staff taking five out of six categories. Chad Billingsley was the pick of the pitchers while The Gas had a big week from Marlon Byrd.
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| Rio Crande Typos | 28 | 7 | 20 | 2 | .220 | .666 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 3 | 5.23 | 1.60 | 1 |
| stevenston angels | 30 | 8 | 33 | 3 | .230 | .670 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 3.77 | 1.43 | 11 |
The Angels handed the Typos an 11-1 defeat, but there were seven categories which could easily have gone the other way. It wasn’t a brilliant display of hitting by weither side, as the Angels won with a .230 average, but Derrek Lee’s 12 RBI week helped them a great deal. Another Cub, Ted Lilly, led the Angels’ pitching staff.
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| Bonestalkers | 27 | 6 | 18 | 3 | .259 | .752 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 3.00 | 0.95 | 9 |
| Tribal Warfare | 13 | 5 | 15 | 3 | .203 | .694 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 4.50 | 1.41 | 1 |
Bonestalkers picked up a 9-1 win over Tribal Warfare thanks to some power from Johnny Damon and an excellent week from Time Lincecum (two wins, 17 strikeouts, 0.00 ERA).
The results see SWAT cut the ‘Cuse’s lead to four games with The Stuff 9 games back in third. My Isotopes are in fourth, followed by The Giants. Bonestalkers make up the top six, closely followed by The Chasers.
The Bats, Whos and Angels are still in with a chance while the Typos, Bangers and Gas have work to do. Tribal Warfare look like they are planning for next year!
This is an abbreviated version of my weekly ‘early games’ post, as I’m in Rotterdam at the moment. I’ve listed the games and their British start times, but have left out the starting pitchers. Check out the ‘probable pitchers’ page at MLB.com for the full details.Â
It’s actually a good week for Brits as Tuesday is the only day that doesn’t provide at least one live game to follow during the British evening. Continue reading
Day four of the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam saw Cuba maintain their unbeaten record with a 10-6 win over the Netherlands and Japan level their record at 2-2 with a 6-1 win over Taiwan. Both games provided plenty of talking points, but it was the opener involving the home nation that brought out the biggest crowd of the event so far. Continue reading
Though the All-Star break is officially next week, for some teams, the mid-point of the season in terms of games played has already been reached. With 81 (or thereabouts) games down, talk often turns to the trade deadline at the end of July, as teams look to bolster their line-ups if they’re still in contention, while those that are struggling begin to wonder if they need to rebuild and ‘sell-off’ some of their assets. Followers of MLB can most likely expect some interesting moves in the upcoming weeks, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played, so let’s take a look at the news from the divisional races over the past week.
Joe and I have just got back from the Neptunus Family stadium in Rotterdam where we watched Syogo Suenaga pitch a three-hit, complete game shutout for Japan against the host nation of the World Port Tournament. The Japanese batting lineup backed their pitcher with six runs, three of which coming in the eighth inning to halt any sign of a Dutch comeback. It was great to see some live baseball, particularly in such an impressive stadium.Â
The home of DOOR Neptunus describes itself as the best ballpark in Europe and it would be no surprise if that was a fact. The stadium has been increased in capacity for the World Port Tournament and there was a large crowd on hand to witness the second of Saturday’s games. In the earlier contest, Cuba defeated Taiwan 3-0 to improve their tournament record to 3-0. The hotel from which star pitcher Arolbis Chapman left the Cuban team looms large over the skyline beyond the ballpark’s backstop, a constant reminder to the fans in Rotterdam of the great talent that they have sadly missed.
There are two games tomorrow, starting with the exciting prospect of the Netherlands against Cuba followed by Japan taking on Taiwan. It should be another great day of baseball.
