In Major League Baseball there are always teams who have high expectations, but sometimes those teams with high expectations do pretty well or they do pretty poorly.
There are some teams who get great players during the offseason, and there are some who we expect to always be good like the Yankees and Red Sox.
In this list I give the top five teams who had great expectations this season but have performed terribly.
In baseball there are always players who make great debuts and in this list I will say the top five MLB debuts this season.
Since baseball was invented over 100 years ago there have been great players. Sometimes those great players achieved things that are unimaginable now a days. In this list I will say the top five unbreakable baseball records.
Since MLB started over 100 years ago there were always umpires. Those umpires called balls or strikes, called fair or foul calls, and they called safe or out plays.
Last season MLB made video replay for fair or foul calls on home runs. This was a great idea but I think they should make replay for one more thing. Safe or out plays.
This season there have been many blown calls that have cost teams games. One of them was on August 7th. It was a night game between the Marlins and the Phillies. It was the 9th inning with a runner at 2nd. The score was tied at 4 and Gaby Sanchez hit a fair ball down the line. It should have been a game winner but umpire Bob Davidson called it foul. That cost the Marlins the game they lost later in the 10th inning.
Another game was on July 19th. It was a game between the Giants and the Mets in San Francisco. It was the bases loaded with one out. Freddy Sanchez hit a chopper to David Wright who did the right thing and threw it home. Everyone knew the runner going home Travis Ishikawa was safe but Phil Cuzzi called him out. That also cost the Giants the game. The Mets eventually won 4-3 in extras.
There was one more blown call which will be shown for years to come. Armando Galarraga had a perfect game going on June 3rd. There were two outs in the 9th. The whole stadium was going crazy because they thought they were going to see history. The count was 2-2 and Jason Donald hit a ground ball to Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera tossed the ball to Galarraga and the throw was in time. Everyone was going crazy but there was one problem Donald was called safe by Jim Joyce. The picture of the call is shown above and he was clearly out. This was one of the worst calls ever and it cost Galarraga history.
These were just a few examples of some blown calls in the majors. To avoid this to happen again I think that MLB should use replay for close calls.
I do not think they should use it in the first inning or something. I think that if it was in game-changing situations or in the playoffs they should use it.
If this happens it will help the umpires and the players quite a lot because than you will know the call is right.
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Earlier this week the Braves third baseman Chipper Jones tore his ACL. He tore his ACL when he fell down trying to throw out a runner off balance.
This injury may end Chipper Jones Hall of Fame career and now the Braves are looking for a new third baseman.
One player they have looked at is Chone Figgins. Figgins is having a down year this year as the Mariners second baseman but he could be a good fit at third base for the Braves.
This season Figgins is hitting .253 with 30 stolen bases. He has turned it around recently because a few weeks ago he was hitting around .230. Figgins like everyone on the Mariners has not reached expectations and I think a change of scenery might be good for him.
Figgins has three years and $27 million left on his contract so he will most likely clear waivers. Figgins has not been a good player for the Mariners and if Figgins leaves it will make room for Dustin Ackley who is in AAA Tacoma right now.
I think trading Figgins would be good for both sides because the Braves can get some speed at the top of the lineup which they have lacked this season and the Mariners will get a player who hasn’t produced off their hands which will also make room for Dustin Ackley.
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Tonight the Giants will play the Padres and now they will have Jose Guillen. He was traded from Kansas City today for a player to be named later and cash.
Guillen was designated for assignment by the Royals recently and he is having a great season.
He is hitting .255 with 16 Home Runs and 62 RBI this season.
He will join a great lineup with the Giants who hope to catch the Padres out west.
This is the lineup I think will be out there for the Giants who are second in runs scored in the NL…
1: CF Andres Torres .247 AVG
2: 2B Freddy Sanchez .261 AVG
3: 1B Aubrey Huff .300 AVG
4: C Buster Posey .331 AVG
5: LF Pat Burrell .299 AVG
6: RF Jose Guillen .255 AVG
7: 3B Pablo Sandoval .272 AVG
8: SS Juan Uribe .258 AVG
That is a very good lineup right there!
As you can see Guillen will play RF and I believe that Aubrey Huff will move from RF to 1B so Guillen can play there.
Guillen will most likely only stay with the Giants for the rest of this season and will provide much-needed power for the Giants who have none of that this season.
Guillen usually hits 20 or more home runs and he is a very consistent hitter. Hopefully he will be able to hit in San Francisco.
The Giants should hope that he will help them catch the Padres and I think that because of this move, the Giants will win the division with their great starting pitching including Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, and more.
We do not know whether Guillen will be a starter or a power bat off the bench, but I think he will start because of his great talent.
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In MLB there are teams who do beyond good and win divisions or wild cards. Those are the teams who play in the playoffs in october. There are always close or not close races and in this list I will say who will win what division/wild card spot.
After weeks of rumors, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu has been fired. This comes as no surprise to anyone, due to Seattle’s constant struggles; this season the Mariners are 42-70.
The Mariners had high expectations this season.
They acquired many good players last offseason: Milton Bradley, Chone Figgins, Brandon League, and Casey Kotchman. But of course, those players have not performed at all.
Bradley is now a full-time bench warmer, batting barely over .200 without any power or run production.
Figgins has been another big disappointment. He is hitting around .250 right now, but a few weeks ago he was hitting around .230. He is not showing the patience that he had last season, and the only thing he is good for is stealing bases.
League has had an up and down season. He is either striking out everyone, or he is giving up three runs. He has great stuff, but he has not reached his potential yet.
Kotchman has been terrible at the plate. He is hitting about .210, and he is not hitting for power or driving in runs. He is only good at defense; he has no errors this season.
You might say it is the player’s fault for doing so badly, but I think it was Don Wakamatsu’s fault. He did not take out or help the players that were struggling and kept on pitching/letting them play.
I think Wakamatsu deserved to be fired, and I hope that their new manager, Daren Brown, who was the manager of the Triple-A affiliate Rainiers, will do better in his place for the remainder of this season and, hopefully, years to come.
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In baseball there are some players who were born to be great at baseball, and there are some pitchers who were born to pitch deep into games.
In this list I will rank the top 10 innings eaters in baseball this season. This is mostly based on innings pitched and success.
Please comment with your opinion on who should or should not be on this list. Hope you enjoy!
On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners were told that their shortstop Jack Wilson has a fractured bone in his left hand because of an accident he had.
The circumstances are what is really weird. Jack Wilson injured his hand when he was in the bathroom. The Mariners say he slipped and fell on his left hand while he was in there.
X-rays that were taking showed a fracture on Sunday. This is one of the most bizarre injuries you will ever see.
On Monday, Wilson will see a hand specialist and he is most likely headed to the 15-day DL for the second time this season.
This season, Jack Wilson has only played in 61 games but he has been very important to the Mariners. He has been a good hitter and a good situational player. He is also one of the best defensive shortstops in the league.
Wilson will be replaced by Josh Wilson (no relation). This season, Jack Wilson is hitting .249 with zero home runs and 14 RBIs.
He will be missed quite a bit and the Mariners hope to get him back as soon as possible.
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