Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner has been competing in rodeos under a fake name as recently as December.
One of the most famous pitchers in baseball has been competing in team-roping events under an alias for some time. Was he the Mason Saunders who competed alongside Colorado-based roper Tammy Ellerman in March of last year, two days before Bumgarner pitched for the Giants in a Cactus League game against the Athletics? “That was me, too,” Bumgarner said. Has “Saunders” won other events? “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe.”
[snip]
Bumgarner has been roping so long that “it’s just part of who you are,” he said Sunday. He learned the sport at 15 or 16 under the instruction of the man who became his father-in-law. (His brother-in-law also “rodeos full time during the summer,” the pitcher said.) He’s practiced roping on everything from a statue of a bull at Scottsdale’s Fashion Square Mall to Jeremy Affeldt’s patio furniture.
In other news, the Dodgers are atop the Cactus League with a 2 – 0 record.
I knew I liked Joey Votto.
https://twitter.com/ctrent/status/1237403281535705088
I think Kolarek has pitched his way to AAA.
I’m on a dog farm outside Villarrica, Chile, where a German friend has 55 huskies that he uses for sledding tours in winter. The sounds at feeding time are astounding.
Game time’s about an hour away, but I don’t think I’ll be able to stay awake. Long tiring day.
I can hear them. Love those howls.
It’s like 55 Warren Zevons.
The only other time the Dodgers traded for a former MVP in the American League, that I can remember, is when they acquired Zolio Versalles from the Twins. Were there others?
In 1971 they acquired Frank Robinson from the Orioles 5 years after he won the AL MVP. On the reverse side, they trade Dick Allen to the White Sox where he then won the AL MVP.
Zolio winning the MVP was criticized for years, given BA, which was 50 points lower than teammate Tony Oliva, who placed second in voting (he got one first place votes, Zolio got the other 19). But modern analytics bears this out as he led the AL in both oWAR and dWAR (Sudden Sam McDowell lead in overall WAR).
While meandering through 1965, discovered that Pete Richert had a better year than Claude Osteen.
Such a weird trade. I remember hating it when it happened. Looking at the ’64 stats, I sorta get why they did it. The “64 starters were Drysdale, Koufax, and pray for rain, which is kind of a vain hope in LA. Podres was injured, and the youngsters (RIchert, Ortega, Wilhite, and Moeller) weren’t very good. so I can see why they’d want a young promising pitcher like Osteen. But it was a massive overpay, They sent not only Richert, but also Frank Howard, along with Phil Ortega and Dick Nen for Osteen and John Kennedy. Howard (naturally) and Nen both went into the starting lineup, while Richert and Ortega immediately became the #1 and #2 starters for the Senators.
I’m not sure what other options the Dodgers had for pitching help in ’64, and they did win the World Series in ’65 thanks in part to Osteen (who was a good pitcher for them for a long time), but I also wornder what would’ve happened had they kept Big Frank.
Hated it myself at the time. McMullen also started and had a good 1965. Surprisingly, both he had Hondo had 16 year careers and ended up with similar WAR. dWAR not very kind to Frank, -24 over his career. Still, very surprised that he only received 6 votes for HoF.
It was a different time. He didn’t have a lot of RBIs (no surprise when nobody else on the Senators could get on base), and his OBP wasn’t appreciated the way it would be today.
Another one-and-done in the 1979 HoF voting was Ron Perranoski, who also got 6 votes. Only fellow elected that year was the Say Hey Kid.
I haven’t been around much this winter, but now that it is spring I thought I would dive back in. (Looks out window – sees major amount of snow falling – maybe not spring everywhere yet!)
Anyway – not that I would have any clue as to how I would fill out the bracket – but I was wondering Link if you are doing the March Madness tourny here this year?
Tomorrow it will be 84° in Melipeuco.
Sure! When ESPN starts its Tournament Challenge I’ll post the links and password.
Sure! When ESPN starts its Tournament Challenge I’ll post the links and password.
ESPN has predictions for 32 conference tournament winners.
Selection Sunday is March 15. Tournament starts Tuesday – Wednesday with the play-in games, then a full slate on Thursday and Friday.
Gavin Lux #2 MLB prospect according to Kiley McDaniel at ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/28820713/kiley-mcdaniel-top-100-prospects-2020
The LA Times also found the Zach Reks story intriguing.
Prospect Zach Reks has quite a background.
David Price’s first inning as a Dodger was not memorable.
Next outing, he struck out seven of ten, if I got that right.
So far we are out scoring our opponents 21-6 today.
Cody T > Cody B?
Not until he does it against guys who won’t be bagging groceries once spring training is done.
https://theathletic.com/1638284/2020/02/28/dodgers-roster-projection-3-0-teams-depth-creates-a-high-class-problem/?access_token=584626
Justin, Joc and Walker discuss baseball movies.
That was fun, but they are showing their youth regarding Bull Durham. When the movie was made, Durham was A ball, not AAA, and the Bull was (correctly) in right field in the old Durham ballpark.
That link doesn’t work.
Yeah, I had to search YouTube for the video.
It’s corrected.
Tonight, on the streets of Santiago, I saw a Chilean guy wearing a Kershaw jersey.
What kind of saddle does BadGums use on his dirt bike? Can he do wheelies on a chariot?
On the occasion of Paul O’Neill’s birthday, a display of his footie talent:
https://twitter.com/BSmile/status/1232280463248625666
It simply proves that soccer takes no real skills.
Andrew Friedman and his style have been praised by Joe Maddon and Dave Roberts.
Looking like the only position player competition this spring will be for the 26th slot: Beaty versus Ruiz. Both hit from the left side and provide flexibility, though one is at least average defensively and the other not so good. Ruiz’ bat has shone, but his hands have DH written all over them.
I think you mean Edwin Rios, not Keibert Ruiz. Beatty and Rios are not equivalent hitters Beatty is an average hitter who makes contact and doesn’t strike out much (.265/.317/.458). His OBP really needs to improve, Rios was awesome in the little time he had (.277/.393/.617!) and appears to have a better approach, but he strikes out a lot. Beatty is basically an average ball player, both as a hitter and a fielder. Rios is a big hitter and a lousy fielder. Pick your poison. Of course whoever doesn’t make the team will likely be the first callup when the inevitable injury occurs (looks side-eyed at Pollock),
Yep, Rios. It’s ST and my commenting isn’t up to mid-season form yet.
You are allowed to edit (and thus make the criticisms seem ill-founded).
You are a Dodgers fan WBBsAs.
Defamation is a felony, and my attorney will be contacting you. Also, you misspelled “Gnats” (unless you’re referring to handegg, which I couldn’t care less about).
A plan comes together.
He’s a two-sport athlete.
Can’t resist – “Go lasso it out of the ocean.”
Didn’t Jeff Kent miss games by hurting himself on a motorcycle?
Yep.
It wasn’t a trash can?
It wasn’t a trash can?