FROM THE BILL CHUCK FILES…

By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck

February 4, 2010

1. Japanese umpires will start counting balls first, and then strikes, in the upcoming season as used in the major leagues. Until now in Japan a full count was 2-3, instead of 3-2 which explains why Daisuke Matsuzaka has been so comfortable going to a full-count on so many batters.


2. Jose Guillen has played for the Pirates, Rays, Diamondbacks, Reds, A’s Angels, Nationals, Mariners, and Royals. In seven years in the NL he has hit .271 and in eight seasons in the AL he has hit .271.


3. New Orioles third sacker Miguel Tejada is someone you can pencil in just about everyday in the lineup card. From 2001 to 2006, Miggy played 162 games each season and he played 158 in each of last two seasons with the Astros.


4. In 2009, the Twins had the longest streak, 101 games from May 6 to August 28, of not being shut out, yet their record in those games was only 51-50. 


5. Last season, the Braves finished 86-76; if they finish that way again, manager Bobby Cox’s lifetime record will end 2,499 – 1,714.


6. There were 21 games in which a team only got one hit last season, the Texas Rangers accounted for four of them.


7. Magglio Ordonez has 277 homers and Carlos Beltran has 273, but none had a single season like Roger Maris who ended his career between the two with 275. 


8. Last season there were 2,740 runs scored in the 6^th inning, more runs than in any other inning. 


9. Not coming back, Mark Loretta will join the San Diego Padres as a special assistant to baseball operations. Loretta retires with a .295 lifetime average and an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 1.50 in two mound appearances.

Bill Chuck

·     Creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com)

·     Author of, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand

      (and not so Grand) Finales,” published by ACTA Sports (2008)

·     Contributor to NESN and NESN.com

·     Bill@billy-ball.com; Twitter: @Billy-Ball; Skype: BillyBall; AIM: @Walkoffs44

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