A Most Unlikely Fantasy Baseball All-Star

July 11th, 2009

Andrew Bailey is an all-star.Andrew Bailey & Kurt Suzuki

Forgive yourself if you didn’t have Bailey on your 2009 Sleepers List for your fantasy baseball draft.

Bailey was a long-shot to earn a spot in the Oakland A’s bullpen this Spring.  In fact, Bailey had never pitched beyond Double-A. 

And, when he did pitch at Double-A Midland in the Texas League last year, he wasn’t very good.  Through June 21, Bailey was 0-8 with a 6.75  ERA in his last 14 starts at the all-star break. 

That’s when life changed for the New Jersey native.  Bailey was moved to the bullpen and learned to throw a cutter from pitching coach Gil Patterson.  In his next 22 appearances, he went 4-1 with a 0.97 ERA.

In the majors, Bailey now relies on the cutter and uses it one to two times per batter.  His cutter comes in at 88 - 91 MPH and his fastball tops out at 95.

Wehn Bailey graduated from high school, he received one offer to play in college–from Andrew Bailey, fantasy baseball all-starWagner College in Staten Island.  Not exactly the kind of school you see in Omaha very often.  He had led his Haddon Heights (NJ) Legion team to a state championship, but he’d never been named an all-star before–not even in Little League.

That is, until Rays’ manager Joe Maddon chose the 25-year-old as Oakland’s representative in the all star game.  Catcher Kurt Suzuki was expected to get the nod, but Maddon chose the relief pitcher due to the innovative catcher re-entry rule which is permitted in the all-star game.

Bailey is certainly deserving.  Thus far, he is 4-1 with 9 saves and a 2.03 ERA for the A’s.  His 57 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched tops the American League for a relief pitcher and is second in the MLB, only behing Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers.

Bailey does have 4 blown saves, but 2 of those came in the eighth inning when he inherited runners on base.  A’s manager Bob Geren is not afraid to use Bailey for more than one inning and has confidence in the rookie to throw him into the ninth inning fire, even at the expense of more experienced relievers like Brad Ziegler.  Ziegler had 11 saves last year and has 6 this year.

“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster,” said Bailey on Thursday in a telephone interview from St. Petersburg, Fla., where Oakland is playing Tampa Bay. “Everything has happened so fast. From my major-league debut, to my first win and then first save.”

As for Andrew Bailey’s fantasy baseball status, if he’s still available in your league, and you have a chance to move up in the saves category, it would seem like Andrew Bailey is the logical choice.  Bailey is going to continue to get save opportunities out of the Oakland bullpen.

Moneyball

July 10th, 2009

Billy Beane, MoneyballThe biggest movie news of the summer of 2009?

Well, besides Megan Fox in Transformers.

It’s not the new Harry Potter and it has nothing to do with a flamingly gay Austrian fashion designer.

It’s Moneyball.

Columbia Pictures has hired famed writer Aaron Sorkin to do a re-draft of the baseball drama with a new version available in about a month.

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Reviews Are In For MLB: The Bigs 2

July 7th, 2009

MLB The Bigs 2Today is the official release date of MLB: The Bigs 2. While I’ve never personally played the Bigs, I always had the understanding that the game is like NBA Jam for baseball. As a longtime fan of NBA Jam, I gotta say that’s a pretty cool idea for a baseball video game.

The game is out on XBox 360, PS3, and Wii and produced by 2K Sports - the same crew that released MLB 2K9 in March. 2K9 was clearly the less popular option of this year’s main baseball  video games, but Bigs doesn’t seem interested in competing with either of those titles.

Early reviews of The Bigs are in, and the game seems to be high on fun and energy, low on realistic gameplay. If you’re into a video game that is sports related and high on entertainment value, this may be the right choice for you.

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Baseball’s Hottest Wives Nominee: Emily Kuchar

July 5th, 2009

Zack Greinke's fianceeEmily Kuchar is not officially the wife of Kansas City Royals’ ace Zack Greinke, but it’s close enough so we’re going to allow her nomination to the 2009 Fantasy Baseball Dugout Baseball’s Hottest Wives contest.

Emily was Miss Daytona Beach 2008.  At age 18, just out of high school at Apopka High in Florida, Emily traveled to Dallas and won a spot on the famed Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.  Emily was a Cowboys’ cheerleader for two years and was named to the 12-girl touring squad that traveled the world to visit the troops on behalf of the USO.  She was also part of the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders calendar as Miss March, 2005.

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Juan Pierre “The Invisible Man”

July 4th, 2009

Juan Pierre, Dodgers fantasy bench warmerNow that Manny Ramirez is back in the Dodgers’ lineup, Juan Pierre has once again become The Invisible Man.

I didn’t say it.  The legendary Vin Scully said it last night after Ramirez went 0 for 3 at Petco Park and was then replaced by Pierre for defensive purposes.

“[David] Eckstein goes out and calls it. That will be that. Manny goes 0 for 3.”

“There was the song, oh, gosh, a million years ago, Mr. Cellophane. The man was singing this woeful song. Nobody was aware of him, like he wasn’t there. He was the invisible man. Juan Pierre said ‘I am the invisible man.’ Well, he is very visible right now.”
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Philly Inquirer Tags Us

June 30th, 2009

Gonzo of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave us a mention in his story today.  This Gonzo guy certainly knows his stuff.  Keep up the good work.

Baseball’s Hottest Players Philadelphia Inquirer 6/30/09

Fantasy Baseball Affects of Mark DeRosa Trade

June 28th, 2009

Mark DeRosa, fantasy baseball third basemanThe St. Louis Cardinals have acquired Mark DeRosa from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for relief pitcher Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

It’s hard to understand why DeRosa continues to get traded, except for the fact that the Indians, 11 games behind Detroit already, have given up for the 2009 season.  DeRosa becomes a free agent at the end of this season.  DeRosa was hitting .270 on the season with 13 homeruns and 50 RBI.

DeRosa’s advantage has always been his versatility which is also a nice advantage in fantasy baseball leagues.  DeRosa has already played first base, third base, and left field and right field for the Indians.  He’s expected to take over at third for the Cardinals, displacing Khalil Greene, until Troy Glaus returns.  Glaus, however, is recovering from shoulder surgery and it’s possible that he may not play at all this year.  In his first start today, DeRosa received a warm ovation from the Cardinals’ fans as he made his debut in left field.

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