The Baseball Chick

Boston’s Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer for a grand slam, leading the Red Sox to their second straight rout of the Phillies with a final score of 10-2 on Saturday.  Nava connected on a fastball from pitcher Joe Blanton in the second inning, after earlier being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket.

In a precious little side note, his folks were in the stands operating a video camera.  “It’s funny. They really hadn’t seen me play in the last two years,” Nava said. “They were in Indianapolis to watch me play on Friday and I told them I might be playing up here.”

Only four players in MLB history have hit grand slams in their first career at-bat.

According to Nava: “I wanted to treat it like I normally do.  I just said, `How are you guys doing (to umpire Bill Hohn and catcher Brian Schneider)?’ They didn’t say anything.”  As he rounded second base, it began to hit him, what he’d accomplished. Nava “started to scream. I was pumped.”

Nava got an enthusiastic greeting in the dugout, with veteran Kevin Youkilis and others pounding him on the batting helmet and pushing him to take a curtain call, which he subsequently did.

This is probably the first and last time this kid will be on my site, but I thought it was a nice enough story.  It almost warmed my cold, dead heart.

Eri Yoshida

18-year-old Japanese female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida has signed with the Chico Outlaws.  She was the first female to play in the Japanese men’s baseball league, and now is the first female professional baseball player in the U.S. in a decade.  Her pitches only top off at around 50 miles per hour, but Yoshida allegedly has a sweet little knuckleball.

Yoshida spent March working with  fellow knuckleballer Tim Wakefield at the Boston Red Sox’s minor league training center.  She also won games in the Arizona Winter League this past year.

(Eric Gagne - Isn't ache a sign of steroid use?)

Beginning his attempt at returning to the majors, former Cy Young winner Eric Gagne responded to questions about performance-enhancing drugs by saying “There are a lot of regrets.”

He also told reporters, “I’ve said it 150 times, it’s always going to be on my resume for the rest of my life. People will second-guess everything I do and if I have a good year they’ll all second guess. That’s normal. I’m not expecting anything else. But for me it’s over. I have to go on. I can talk about it every day. It doesn’t matter. I still have to go out and pitch and perform.”

But in a later interview with the Los Angeles Times published this past Saturday, Gagne became a little less obtuse in his admissions when asked about his alleged use of HGH:

“I did,” [Gagne] says. “I hate to talk about it. It just doesn’t do anyone any good. But I thought it would help me get better when I hurt my knee. I just don’t want that to sound as an excuse.

“I’m so ashamed. It wasn’t smart. If I knew what I know now … I didn’t need it. I regret it so much, just now maybe getting over the guilt. It was stupid.”

The once imposing and feared closer signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, guaranteeing him a relatively meager $500,000 if he makes the Opening Day roster.

I hate to toot my own horn, but I was preaching this news to all the people creaming their leopard print thongs in Los Angeles over Eric Gagne years before his name ever showed up in the Mitchell Report.  Now, this news is pretty much a “duh” situation, but I always like to make formal announcement of how right I consistently am.

Get out the Stella Artois and Oreos, because I’m camped out in front of the television watching the heated Red Sox-Yankees rivalry all weekend…. not.  This is a mass conspiracy orchestrated by Fox and ESPN in order to convince us that this rivalry is the most important thing in sports… like the rest of America doesn’t even exist.  The next weekend I am force-fed a weekend of Yankees-Red Sox baseball, I’m going to the zoo to punch a baby seal in the face.  Don’t tempt me.

Call me what you will, but I could watch Don Zimmer get thrown to the ground for 5 straight hours and the smile would never leave my face.  I mean, what a senile retard.  What did his old ass think he was actually going to do to Pedro Martinez?

Bronson Arroyo told the Boston Herald that he used both androstenedione and amphetamines back in the early 2000s.  Both substances were allowed by MLB at the time he was taking them, but have since been banned.  According to Bronson:

“Before 2004, none of us paid any attention to anything we took.  Andro made me feel great, I felt like a monster. I felt like I could jump and hit my head on the basketball rim.”

Another side-effect of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs: douchey hair growth.  Tragic.  Too bad steroids can’t make you stop thinking people want to hear your stupid band.  He released an album called Covering the Bases.  You can’t make that shit up…

That must be one troublesome poop.

The Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone and quite a few moves have been made in the last few days that will impact fantasy baseball teams everywhere. I will cover the trades with the greatest fantasy impact, starting with:

• The San Diego Padres traded pitcher Jack Peavy to the Chicago White Sox for lefty starter, Clayton Richard, and 3 other pitching prospects. Jake Peavy is due back sometime in September and could help the White Sox make a playoff push. Clayton Richard becomes an intriguing fantasy starter in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues with this move to the spacious Petco Park.
• The Cleveland Indians traded slugging catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez to the Boston Red Sox for major league ready pitcher Justin Masterson, promising lefty Nick Hagadone, and one other prospect. The move should not impact Martinez’s fantasy value and Masterson could find his way into the Cleveland rotation very soon. Mike Lowell will probably be the biggest loser in this deal as he stands to lose some playing time.
• The Red Sox made another move, sending recently acquired first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Atlanta Braves for first baseman Casey Kotchman. LaRoche’s fantasy value should increase as he will be the Braves’ everyday first baseman. Kotchman’s value will remain largely unchanged, but Boston seems like the winner here as Kotchman is 3 years younger and has slightly better career averages.
• The Cincinatti Reds sent 3 players, including third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, to the Toronto Blue Jays for veteran third baseman Scott Rolen. Encarnacion has the potential to deliver decent offensive numbers, but the Blue Jays will suffer a large drop in defense. If Rolen’s recent power surge is not a fluke, then he will love playing at Great American Ballpark and becomes a must-add in all NL-only leagues.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up lefty reliever George Sherrill from the Baltimore Orioles for prospects. This move greatly improves the Dodgers’ tired bullpen, but greatly reduces any fantasy value Sherrill had as a closer, unless your league counts holds. Early reports are saying that Jim Johnson will get first shot at closing duties in Baltimore, as was predicted by The Baseball Chick a few days ago in the Fantasy Sports Corner.
• The Detroit Tigers traded prospects to the Seattle Mariners for left-handed starter Jarrod Washburn. Washburn may see an increase in his ERA and WHIP since he was aided by a superior Mariners outfield, but he should still be a reliable fantasy starter. The Detroit Tigers now have 3 of the top 7 starting ERAs in baseball in their rotation.
• The Oakland A’s, always active at the trade deadline, dealt second baseman Orlando Cabrera to the Minnesota Twins for a prospect.  Cabrera will immediately bat second and should prove to be a nice upgrade over Nick Punto and Brendan Harriss.  The veteran should get a nice boost in runs scored batting in front of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.
• Surprising buyers at the deadline, with a pair of moves, the San Francisco Giants picked up former batting champ and second baseman Freddy Sanchez from the Pittsburgh Pirates for promising pitching prospect Timothy Alderson.  The Giants also added Ryan Garko, courtesy the Cleveland Indians, to replace struggling first baseman Travis Ishikawa.  Garko should see a little more playing time in San Fran and Ishikawa could lose all of his fantasy value.  Sanchez’s value should remain about the same.
• The Chicago Cubs picked up lefty set-up man John Grabow and starter Tom Gorzelanny from the Pittsburgh Pirates for starting pitcher Kevin Hart and 2 other prospects.  Grabow will help to set-up Kevin Gregg in Chicago, leaving his fantasy value largely unchanged.  It appears Matt Capps will stay the Pirates closer for the remainder of this season.
• Finally, the Florida Marlins picked up first baseman Nick Johnson from the Washington Nationals for a prospect.  Johnson’s value may take a hit in Florida unless they decide to bench Emilio Bonafacio and move Jorge Cantu to third base, opening up regular playing time for Johnson at first.