Men of Faith May 24, 2008
Posted by misterbaseball in Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers.add a comment
In Major League Baseball there are players who suffer injuries on a fairly routine basis. Many times injuries come due to collisions, misplayed line-drives, or any number of circumstances. Rarely do we see an opposing player show genuine concern for their opponents.
On Wednesday night Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols smacked a line-drive in the face of Padres hurler Chris Young. As soon as time was called Pujols rushed to the mound to check on Young. Pujols, a professing Christian, began to pray along with Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. As much as we hate to see someone injured it is refreshing to see players gather together and lift up their concerns to the Lord.
Last season a young man by the name of Josh Hamilton came out of no where to contend for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Hamilton, a former first round draft pick, was a rule five draft pick by
the Cincinnati Reds. Josh had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse before making a comeback last
season. After many attempts to get sober Josh decided that he couldn’t do it alone. He decided the only way to turn his life around was to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Now Josh is a role model to people from all different walks of life. Not only is Josh a positive role model, he is also vying for the coveted "Triple Crown" for the Texas Rangers this season. XM’s "Baseball This Morning" did several interviews with Hamilton last season and instead of talking about baseball he wanted to talk about his relationship with Jesus. His success is secondary in importance to his faith which is a rarity in our society today. Josh has a wonderful testimony and God is using him to reach others through baseball.
There are others around baseball who have been outspoken about their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Last year’s National League Champion, Colorado Rockies, had several players who spoke candidly about their faith. Rockies first baseman Todd Helton and left fielder Matt Holliday were very upfront, during their incredible post-season run, about their relationship with Christ. Former Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell was very instrumental in coordinating church services for Major League players through a ministry called Baseball Chapel. Baseball
Chapel has a website, www.baseballchapel.org that lists a number of players who participate in their ministry. This website has personal testimonies and ministry opportunities in the game of baseball. Among those mentioned on the website are Angels outfielder Garett Anderson, Tigers closer Todd Jones, Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, and Padres pitcher Jake Peavy. Two books that are a must read for the "Christian Baseball Fan" are Safe at Home and Safe at Home 2. These books can be purchased at most Christian book stores. Also Fellowship of Christian Athletes has a site www.fca.org with information about sports and players. There are a lot of good resources out there that bring sports and faith to the forefront. With so many negitive things portrayed in the media it was encouraging to see Pujols and Gonzalez showing their faith on the field of battle.
Albert Pujols Line Drive May 24, 2008
Posted by misterbaseball in Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals.Tags: ..Injuries, Albert Pujols, Chris Young, Line Drive, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals
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We see it every season. Pitchers taking line drives off their bodies.
However, it is more scary when they take one off their face or head.
Friday night, Houston Astros closer Jose Valverde was hit by a line
drive on the right side of his face. Fortunately, Valverde was able to
deflect the ball with his glove first. He even managed to stay in the
game and convert the save for his team. “If it hadn’t hit my
glove,” Valverde said, “I don’t know what would’ve happened.” He
also said he never lost consciousness and his first clear thought was
about Chris Young, the San Diego Padres’ pitcher who was struck by a liner off Albert Pujols’
bat on Wednesday. Young has multiple fractures of his nasal bone and
other facial bones, a small crack in his skull and a deviated septum.
The Padres have placed placed Young on the DL and there is no time
table set for him to return. Hopefully, he will be able to heal
quickly and be back on the mound soon.
San Diego Padres Review April 4, 2008
Posted by misterbaseball in San Diego Padres.add a comment
The San Diego Padres lost to the Colorado Rockies last year in a wild-card tie breaking game. This season the Pads’ will need to stay
healthy to compete in the National League
West. The starting pitching
rotation is led by Cy Young winner Jake Peavy. Peavy was dominant last
season posting a 19-6 record with a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts in
223.1 innings. Following him in the rotation is 6′10" Chris Young.
Young, a graduate of Princeton, will be counted on heavily by the
Padres in 2008. Greg Maddux, aka ‘Mad Dog’, should follow Young in the
rotation. He will turn 42 this April and is still going strong with
his mid-80s fastball. Maddux won 
14 games and pitched 198 innings last
season. The last two spots in the starting rotation should be filled
by veteran Randy Wolf and youngster Justin Germano.
The bullpen will be led by closer Trevor Hoffman. The all-time saves
leader will be set up by flame thrower Heath Bell. Cla Meredith, lefty
Joe Thatcher and Kevin Cameron will also play a vital role out of the
bullpen this season.
San Diego’s offense will need to step up this season and score some
runs to help out the pitching staff.
Here’s a quick look at their
lineup.
C-Josh Bard/Michael Barrett
1B-Adrian Gonzalez
2B-Tadahito Iguchi
3B-Kevin Kouzmanoff
SS-Khalil Greene
LF-Scott Hairston
CF-Jim Edmonds
RF-Brian Giles
Behind the plate, Josh Bard figures to be the everyday catcher. He
will be backed up by Michael Barrett. At 1B is Adrian Gonzalez. He is
the only player on this year’s roster to drive in 100 runs last season.
He
also hit 30 homeruns. At 2B is Iguchi. Last season he played with
the White Sox and Phillies. Khalil Greene is coming off a solid season
in 2007. He hit 27 homers and drove in 97 runs. The Padres would like
to see his average increase though as he managed to hit only .254 last
year. At 3B is Kouzmanoff, who hit a modest .275 with 18 homers and
should improve on those numbers this year. The outfield will have some
question marks to start the season. Jim Edmonds will be on the DL at
the start of the season. Look for Scott Hairston to move into CF. RF
will be manned by aging veteran Brian Giles. With Hairston roaming CF
to start the season LF will be platooned by Paul McAnulty and Jody
Gerut. Other bench players that should see some playing time this
season include 1B Tony Clark, 2B Callix Crabbe and IF/OF Justin Huber.
The Padres don’t have a lot of depth in their lineup or their starting
rotation. Therefore, they will need to their team to stay relatively
healthy for 2008 if they want to contend for the post season. Don’t be
surprised to see the Padres make some moves this season to improve
their team.
Where’s Kenny Lofton Going? February 26, 2008
Posted by misterbaseball in Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers.add a comment
Kenny Lofton will turn 41 at the end of May this year and he has yet to sign with a team this off-season. The much traveled Lofton made his big league debut in 1991 with the Houston Astros. Since then, Lofton has played for the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland again, Chicago Whitesox, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and Cleveland one more time. Due to him changing teams so much the shipping company DHL did a commercial on him about always being on the move that aired constantly last year during the playoffs.
Kenny Lofton is a career .299 hitter and good at stealing bases. There are several teams that could use his services this season to make a push at the playoffs. The Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners all seem like a good fit for the talented and aging Lofton. It could be that some of these teams are waiting to see what happens at the start of spring training. The Cubs Felix Pie will get the opportunity to play CF at Wrigley this year before they consider going after anyone. The Mariners were hoping Adam Jones would be in the mix for their outfield but then they shipped Jones to Baltimore in the Erik Bedard trade. San Diego has Edmonds in CF, but Lofton is very capable of playing LF too. Atlanta hasn’t settled on their outfield yet either, except for Francouer. If Josh Anderson performs well in March he may be starting in April for the Braves. Finally, Cleveland could use Lofton, but look for their younger players like Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez and Shin-Soo Choo to get a shot first.
