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4/8/2008
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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The fact that March Madness ended on April 7th is further proof of global warming.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Top of the 1st
HOME AT LAST
After beginning the season in Japan, then opening the Z’s season in Oakland, opening the Jays season in Toronto, the Red Sox are finally home for their own home opener. The way the Dead Sox played over the weekend in Toronto once again proves the point that scheduling a team to open a season in Japan is idiotic.
Just so you think we’re not the only ones who resent this concept, check out the words of Yomiuri Giants pitching star Koji Uehara, "We're just starting our season. So why does the MLB have to come to play here. There's nothing to be gained from this." One official of the Nippon Professional Baseball league (NPB) said, "Every time the MLB holds one of their openers in Japan, sales of our opening week tickets go down.... We see more and more empty seats. It's not necessary for the big leaguers to come here."
As Time Magazine points out, “MLB is in the middle of a six-year $275 million TV contract with Japan's largest advertising firm, Dentsu. Japan's monolithic broadcaster NHK meanwhile has just has announced plans to continue its heavy coverage of American baseball by airing some 270 MLB contests where Japanese stars are playing. That is more than twice as many NPB games on NHK's schedule. Most of these are live transmissions from the U.S., broadcast in the morning on NHK's burgeoning satellite network, reaching 13 million households. Despite the inconvenient schedule, Japanese have tuned-in in significant numbers.”
I remember when Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese pitcher to pitch in the big leagues, throwing for the SF Giants. Murakami was admired by some and regarded as a traitor by others. But thanks to Ichiro, Matsui and Dice-K, there are numerous Japanese players ready to make the leap to the majors. Time quoted expatriate American pitcher Jeremy Powell, who plays for the Softbank Hawks, "These guys can't wait to get to the States."
So as the Sox are looking for their first back-to-back championships since 1915-16, could we be looking at MLB getting ready to open a third league in Japan? Who knows, but Masaki Nagino, planning director of the NPB's Central League, know that baseball is considering it, "Not just yet, if you consider the logistics. It still takes 11 hours to fly across the Pacific and as long as that holds, that's our protection."
The Sox face the Tigers today as Detroit looks for their first win after six straight losses, not that anybody had high expectations for the Tigers…oy vey!
Top of the 2nd
YESTERDAY'S SCORES
AL
Orioles 5, Mariners 4
White Sox 7, Twins 4
Yankees 6, Rays 1
Angels 6, Indians 4
NL
Phillies 5, Reds 3
Cubs 10, Pirates 8 (12)
Padres 8, Giants 4
Astros 5, Cardinals 3
Marlins 10, Nationals 7
Rockies 2, Braves 1
Diamondbacks 9, Dodgers 3
Top of the 3rd
PARITY = MEDIOCRITY
NL East W L GB
FLA 4 3 ---
ATL 3 4 1.0
PHI 3 4 1.0
NYM 2 3 1.0
WSN 3 5 1.5
Top of the 4th
BILL JAMES DAILY MATCH-UPS
Every day, my publishers, the fine people of ACTA Sports will be providing an updated chart of how the hitters on each team have fared lifetime against the pitchers from the other team for all the games being played in the major leagues that day.
Each day, this stats will be updated overnight and then posted at www.billjamesdailymatchups.com. You will be able to go there and download a pdf file for whatever game or games you want for that day for $.99 each or 10 for $5.00. Or, if like you only care about one team, you can subscribe for $29.95 and have every one of your favorite team game for the entire season (including postseason games) delivered to your email box each morning.
However, to get this going, Acta Sports making these reports available free through the rest of this month and once they have you hooked, they can go to other playgrounds. You can go to www.billjamesdailymatchups.com right now and download any or all of the today’s games.
So, download your favorite team right now. If you like it, tell all your friends about it. Download as many as you wish. Send me feedback and I’ll share it with ACTA.
Top of the 5th
FENWAY PARK'S NEW MENU
Fans will have a lot more foods to choose from when they arrive at Fenway Park for Opening Day today.
NEW menu items and offerings
• Crab roll
• Turkey wraps
• Garlic fries
• Fish and chips
• Gourmet popcorn
• Knishes
• Kosher Dogs
• Hot roast beef, corn beef and pastrami sandwiches
• Buffalo chicken sandwich
• Chicken Caesar wraps
• Fruit cups
• Shaker salads
• Veggie Cups
• Hot pasta dishes
SPECIALTY menu items / REGIONAL favorites
• Fenway Franks
• Papa Gino's pizza
• Legal Sea Foods clam chowder
• Dunkin Donuts hot and iced coffee
• Hill Top Steak House beef and turkey tips
• Hood ice cream
• Lobster rolls
• Luis Tiant Cuban sandwich
HEALTHFUL menu items
• Chicken Caesar salads
• Fruit cups
• Yogurt
• Deli wraps
• Veggie Cups
• Turkey sandwiches
KID-FRIENDLY offerings
• Itti Bitz
• Soft serve ice cream
• Assorted ices
• Cotton Candy
• Asst Candy
PREMIUM menu items and offerings
• Lobster Roll, Crab Roll
• Crepe Bar
• Local New England raw bar
• Carved Prime Rib
• 10 oz Gourmet Burgers
• Homemade soups
• NY Strip Steak, Filet Mignon
• Pan Roasted Halibut and Maine Lobster
• Smoked Salmon Lollipops
• The Chocolate Monster
Top of the 6th
DODGERS PEAVED
Padres manager Bud Black defended Jake Peavy on Sunday, saying a dark substance on his right hand after a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday was just a mix of dirt and rosin.
The sports Web site, www.thebiglead.com, posted images Sunday (http://thebiglead.com/?p=5320#more-5320) after Peavy tossed a two-hitter in a 4-1 win over Los Angeles. The images, purportedly still frame shots from a TV broadcast of the game, show a dark substance on Peavy’s right thumb, index and middle fingers.
“When you play baseball, your hands get dirty,” Black said Sunday. “He had dirty hands.
Trying to keep his palms and fingers dry, you apply rosin and dirt. Rosin is a sticky substance, and as often as he goes to the rosin bag, as often as he goes to the dirt to sop up moisture, your hands get dirty.
Peavy (2-0) has allowed just one run in 16 innings over two starts this year. The right-hander won the NL Cy Young Award last season.
“There’s nothing on my hands that’s not supposed to be,” Peavy told the San Diego Union-Tribune for a blog entry on its Web site. “I thought it was funny that it was such a big deal. I’ve got no problems with anytime anybody needs to check me.”
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
AL
Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 2:05 pm
(L) Brian Burres (0-0) vs. (R) Jason Jennings (0-1)
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox, 2:05 pm
(L) Kenny Rogers (0-1) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0)
New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals, 4:10 pm
(R) Phil Hughes (0-0) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (1-0)
Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 pm
(R) Chad Gaudin (0-0) vs. (R) AJ Burnett (1-0)
Seattle Mariners at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 pm
(L) Erik Bedard (0-0) vs. (R) Matt Garza (0-0)
Cleveland Indians at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 pm
(R) Jake Westbrook (0-1) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (1-0)
NL
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets, 1:10 pm
(L) Jamie Moyer (0-0) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (1-0)
Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 pm
(R) Johnny Cueto (1-0) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (1-0)
St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros, 8:05 pm
(R) Brad Thompson (1-0) vs. (R) Shawn Chacon (0-0)
Atlanta Braves at Colorado Rockies, 8:35 pm
(R) Jair Jurrjens (1-0) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (0-1)
Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 pm
(R) Chad Billingsley (0-0) vs. (L) Doug Davis (0-1)
San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 pm
(L) Randy Wolf (0-0) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (1-0)
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
Nationals Park (Ryan Zimmerman) last week joined Coors Field (Dante Bichette, 1995) and County Stadium (Billy Bruton, 1953) as ballparks that opened with walk-off homers.
Top of the 9th
MANAGE A TROIS
Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox is in the final year of his contract, so are Orioles manager Dave Trembley and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. They are the only other big-league managers who came into the season with only a year left on their contracts.
Bottom of the 9th
BUY THE BOOK
Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller, to be published by ACTA Sports, in April.
Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports, http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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