Kuzul

The A’s came back from a four-run first inning and played long ball en route to an 8-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

The longest and largest of the four home runs the A’s hit was by Brandon Moss, who hit a third-deck shot estimated at 461 feet in the third inning to give the A’s the lead for good. Moss would hit two home runs, and both Brandon Inge and Cliff Pennington also went deep. Seth Smith hit a pair of doubles and drove in two RBI on the night, as well.

While Bartolo Colon was not his best, he did settle down after the first inning to keep the Rockies off the board until Todd Helton’s solo homer in the fifth inning. By that time, the A’s were up 7-4. Colon’s line on the night was five runs allowed on nine hits, three walks and four strikeouts in five innings pitched. But it was enough to notch his sixth win of the year.

The key—along with the offensive outburst—was Oakland’s bullpen. Sean Doolittle and Grant Balfour struck out four and allowed only a single hit and one walk combined in three innings. Then the A’s turned to Ryan Cook to close the game. After a leadoff walk and a single to former A’s utility man Marco Scutaro, Cook responded by striking out Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer, and inducing a game-ending force out from Todd Helton for his first save.

Good: Brandon Moss and Brandon Inge (tie)

Both were big during the six-run rally to take the lead in the third. Moss’ first home run was a tape-measure shot with the kind of power the A’s have been looking to add at first base. Inge provided insurance with a long home run of his own and also had an RBI double and a huge defensive play to save two runs in the sixth inning.

Neither will hit .300 in a season, but they are both legitimate power threats when their swings are on. Inge also provides above-average defense at a spot that had been a wasteland before his arrival

Bad: Coco Crisp

Another 0-for-4 at the plate. Collin Cowgill should be playing right now. The A’s need every capable hitter they can get, and it seems clearer with each passing day that Crisp is just not going to turn it around with some burst. It is better to just cut losses now.

With the win, the A’s move to 27-35 and look to build on this performance, sending Tom Milone on the bump against former A’s starter Josh Outman. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. ET.

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When the Colorado Rockies’ Todd Helton dug into the batter’s box on a bright Sunday afternoon, everybody was thinking it, but nobody dared believe it.

All 36,690 fans at Coors Field stood in anticipation as their longtime leader stared in the face of a dream situation: bases loaded, late in the ballgame, trailing by four. Oh, and he’s the pinch hitter.

Helton immediately established his discipline at the plate by fouling off tough pitches and avoiding balls outside of the zone. And then with one swift swing, the pride of Tennessee baseball launched a ball 403 feet into the raucous crowd in right field.

Grand slam.

Tie game.

Peyton Manning, the newly-acquired quarterback for the Denver Broncos and friend of Helton’s, grinned and high-fived fellow fans as Helton rounded the bases for the 351st time. The Rockies dugout erupted as if it was a playoff game.

Todd Helton is 38 years old but is playing as well as he has in years. Father Time is no match for the “Toddfather.”

Despite hovering around .500 early in the season, the Rockies offense is near the top of the league in runs and slugging percentage.

And Todd Helton is a cornerstone to the juggernaut.

The 16-year veteran leads his squad in slugging and OPS, while providing a sense of composure and confidence that the young players strive to emulate. 

But his stats go far beyond bragging rights on a sheet of paper. Helton has proven that he is still the rock of the franchise; the focal point of the club house and the go-to guy in pressure situations.

While Colorado’s young stars ride hot and cold streaks, and the shaky pitching staff is on the brink of going full-on Chernobyl in any given inning, Helton is the steady presence that keeps his team rolling forward.

He has become somewhat lost in the shuffle over the years, as the Rockies have developed new all-stars and endured significant changes in the roster. Troy Tulowitzki taking the reins as the team leader during spring training in 2010 was blown out of proportion.

Helton’s aura with the Rockies is on par with John Elway’s immortality with the Denver Broncos.

Possibly, Helton is held in slightly less regard than he deserves, because he is a reminder of the dark days of Coors Field in the early 2000s.

During Colorado’s forgettable baseball drought, No. 17 established himself as one of the best in the league and represented the purple pinstripes in five straight All-Star games. Unfortunately, the Rockies did not mirror his success, finishing with an average record of 74-88 over those seasons.

Eventually, their fortunes began to turn in the latter half of the decade—the same time Helton’s stats began to decline.

Matt Holliday and Tulowitzki were finalists for the National League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, respectively, in 2007, and it appeared as if the new faces of the Rockies were in the driver’s seat.

Helton was, more or less, along for the ride. 

Now, the emergence of Tulo and Carlos Gonzalez as two of the game’s best may represent a changing of the guard, but Helton remains the unmistakable identity of the Rockies.

2012 has proven that the bearded first baseman is far from finished.

In fact, he’s as valuable as any member of the Rockies heralded batting order. Not to mention, he’s still an outstanding defensive player. And judging from his demeanor, Helton expects nothing less.

He has never hinted at retirement and strongly shot down such rumors that surfaced late in 2010. Since then, the media has far too much respect to even consider bringing up the R-word within earshot of the man who deserves a place in Cooperstown.

His resurgence this season has far since put any whispers of retirement to rest.

Colorado’s most beloved slugger is as deserving as any player in the league for another postseason appearance, and he is providing the spark the Rockies desperately need. The Colorado Rockies have coined 2012 as “The Year of the Fan.”

As fans, let’s make this “The Year of the Toddfather” instead.  

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If you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Rockies were going to be in third place in the NL West with a record of 40-42, 6.5 games behind the first place Giants, I would have called you crazy.

The Rockies have a lineup that can strike fear into any pitcher in the league, and they have a rotation that rivals any (save for the Phillies).

But after watching the Rockies fail to score many runs and the starting rotation struggle to find continuity, much less wins, it is painfully clear that Rockies fans should count their blessings that winning the NL West is still within reach.

The question, though, is what went wrong? Wasn’t this team supposed to be the team Rockies fans were waiting for to follow up the 2007 World Series team?

Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both signed long-term, big-money contracts this offseason only to show up this year and fail to even come close to meeting expectations. Granted, it is only the first half and both players had breakout second halves last year, but it still begs the question: was that money well spent?

“Tulo” and “CarGo,” as they are known locally, have put up fairly average numbers so far. Tulo is hitting .271 with 16 HR, 55 RBI and a .341 OBP while CarGo boasts a mild, but improving .291 BA with 12 HR, 41 RBI, and a .358 OBP.

After hearing about these signings, these aren’t the numbers fans were hoping to see. Tulowitzki is a player that should be hitting over .300 year-in, year-out. Gonzalez is talented enough that he should be hitting near .350 with more than just 12 homers.

The fans have every reason to be displeased with this team. Thank goodness for a strong supporting cast.

Todd Helton is quietly proving that he is one of the best first-baseman in the league this year by hitting .318 and playing the best defense of any first-baseman. At age 37 and in the twilight of his career, those are simply outstanding numbers.

Along with Helton, Seth Smith is one of the MLB‘s most consistent hitters. He is one of only 5 players to hit over .300 every month of the season so far. This is a list that includes the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Reyes.

It seems that Smith and Helton are the only ones on the team who can find that needed timely hit with runners in scoring position.

Against the Indians on June 21, Smith hit two home runs in the 6th and 9th innings to give the Rockies a win. Locally, Smith has been known as “Mr. Late-Night” due to his heroics in the late innings of games since he came up to the club from Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2007.

In addition to Smith and Helton, Ty Wigginton (lately) has been a huge help in the lineup. After starting the year by failing to meet expectations, Wigginton has finally found his stroke and is hitting balls out of the park with relative ease. His batting average is climbing and he is beginning to gain the trust of fans.

The pitching staff has had more than its fair share of ups and downs this year. The first, and probably most important storyline from the rotation is the struggles of ace Ubaldo Jimenez. He started the year by going 0-7 while lacking control of his fastball, a pitch he lives and dies by.

Lately it seems that he has finally figured out his control problems, but he still lacks velocity on his fastball. Last year, Jimenez boasted a upper 90’s and sometimes 100 mph fastball. This year, his fastball is ranging from 94 to 96, and sometimes hits 97 mph. Most pitchers would love to have this problem, but for Jimenez, that velocity is key.

Because of Jimenez’s struggles, Jorge De La Rosa was thrust into the spotlight as the Rockies’ best pitcher, until he tore a tendon in his pitching elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. It seemed that nothing could go the Rockies’ way this year in the rotation until Jhoulys Chacin stepped up and became the new ace.

Chacin has shown that he is ready to be a big time pitcher in the MLB. His stuff is nasty and can easily fool any hitter. This pitcher is showing the fans that the Rockies’ future is very bright, with a rotation that will boast Jimenez, De La Rosa, Chacin, Juan Nicasio and Jason Hammel.

But this year, with De La Rosa out and Jimenez still searching for his form from the first half of the 2010 season, Chacin, Nicasio and Hammel haven’t shown that they can pick up the slack effectively.

Chacin has great stuff, but he is still very young and is learning how to be a really effective pitcher in the MLB.

Nicasio has brilliant stuff, but he has a lot to learn before becoming a stud starter.

Hammel needs to find consistency and to beg the offense for run support. There are games when his head simply isn’t in the game, as evidenced by his body language during some games. There are also games when he pitches brilliantly, but the offense can’t get anything going, so he takes the loss after surrendering only a few runs.

If this pitching staff could get 100% healthy while playing to its potential and the offense plays to expectations, this team would easily rival the Red Sox or the Phillies for the best team in baseball characterization.

After 2007, the front office of the Rockies promised fans that it would do anything it could to become a perennial contender. So far, the front office has done its job. Now its the players’ turn to prove that the Rockies are for real.

But if this first half is any indication of what is to come, Rockies fans better hold on tight, because it will be a quick, fast ride right back to the cellar in the NL West.

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Colorado Rockies (2010 record: 83-79)

Notable additions: RHP Matt Lindstrom, INF Jose Lopez, C Jose Morales, INF/OF Ty Wiggington

Notable subtractions: 2B Clint Barmes, RHP Octavio Dotel, SP Jeff Francis, 3B Melvin Mora, C Miguel Olivo

The offense:

Catcher: Chris Iannetta
Infield: Todd Helton (1B), Eric Young Jr (2B), Troy Tulowitzki (SS) and Ian Stewart (3B)
Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez (LF), Dexter Fowler (CF) and Seth Smith (RF)

The Rox finished in third place in the NL West last year, but they could challenge for the division title this year. The key to the Rockies’ fate in 2011 is whether they learn to bring their bats to the ballpark when they are on the road, where they were a dismal 31-50 last year (largely because they hit 72 points less in road games).

Gonzalez and Tulowitzki are the heart of the Rockies offensive attack. This will be a big year for both players in terms of solidifying themselves among the elite offensive players in the game. Gonzalez had a breakout campaign in 2010, but needs to prove he isn’t a one-year wonder. Tulowitzki was relatively pedestrian throughout the majority of the year, but then had an extraordinary month (.303, 15 HR and 40 rbi over his last thirty games) to salvage the season.

The team needs Chris Iannetta, Todd Helton and Dexter Fowler to improve markedly if it is to make a run at the division title. I could throw Smith and Stewart on the list as well, but at least they provided a little bit of power last season, whereas the others provided little in the way of anything.

Iannetta was brutal last year no matter where he played. Helton performed well below expectations whether at home or on the road. Fowler was okay at home but was a non-factor in road games (he hit just .211 and compiled a .297 OBP away from Coors).

The organization is hoping that new hitting coach Carney Lansford will be able to make a significant impact on the offense in his first year in Denver.

On the bench, I like the acquisition of Wiggington, as he will provide some right-handed pop at the corners and enable Helton to rest periodically. I don’t believe Jose Lopez will contribute much to the team and expect he will eventually just serve as a backup for EY, though even that role could fall to Wiggington if Lopez struggles.

The pitching staff:

Rotation: Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge de la Rose, Aaron Cook, Jhoulys Chacin and Jason Hammel

Bullpen: Huston Street, Matt Belisle, Rafael Betancourt, Matt Lindstrom, Matt Reynolds and Franklin Morales

Back in the day, you could count on Rockies pitchers to struggle at home while posting a pretty solid set of numbers on the road. Those days are in the past. Last season the club posted a better ERA at home (3.86) than on the road (4.04).

Jimenez had a brilliant start to the 2010 season, going 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA in the first half. He came back to earth in the second half, but still finished the year at 19-8, with a 2.88 ERA and 1.155 WHIP. De la Rosa likewise got off to a nice start, but injuries derailed him and he was largely ineffective when he returned.

The club must hope Aaron Cook’s performance last year was nothing more than a blip in his career progression, as his 5.08 ERA was more than a run higher than his average for the previous five years.

If the club is to improve away from home, better efforts from Cook and Hammel would go a long way towards achieving that goal: they posted 5.85 and 5.71 ERAs, respectively, in road games last year.

Felipe Paulino, acquired from Houston in the deal that sent infielder Clint Barmes to the Astros, is a dark horse to join the rotation this spring if any of the other starters should struggle or get injured.

The back end of the bullpen is very strong. Huston Street enters the season as the closer after posting 20 saves in 25 opportunities last year. The bullpen in front of him is deep and includes a solid veteran trio in Belisle, Betancourt and Lindstrom, who would be a tremendous addition if he can harness his stuff and remain healthy. The Rox potentially have one of the top bullpens in the league if everyone can stay healthy.

Prediction for 2011: 2nd place (87-75)

The Rockies spent a lot of money this winter, but it wasn’t in free agency. They opted to lock up Tulowitzki (6 years, $119 M) and Carlos Gonzalez (7 years, $80 M) to long-term deals. Those two guys, along with SP Ubaldo Jimenez, provide the core for a team that could compete for a division title this season.

As stated in the body of the article, the club’s ability to compete for a title will be predicated on its ability to compete tougher and win ballgames on the road. I expect some improvement in that regard in 2011, but not to the point where they will be able to overtake the defending world champions.

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Top Five Prospects:

1. Tyler Matzek, LHP
2. Wilin Rosario, C
3. Christian Freidrich, LHP
4. Kyle Parker, OF
5. Rex Brothers, LHP

Matzek was the Rockies’ first-round pick (11th overall) in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, when he was the top high school pitcher in the country. Some pundits believe he fell out of the top ten in the draft due to his pre-draft declaration that he was “looking for unprecedented money” to forego college. The Rockies opened up the vault and gave Matzek $3.9 million late in the signing period to join the organization.

He pitched for Asheville (South Atlantic League) last year and posted a 5-1 record with a 2.92 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He was named the league’s No. 3 prospect (No. 1 pitching prospect) at the end of the year despite having suffered with a bout of biceps tendinitis.

He has four good pitches, but his low-90s fastball is clearly the strongest pitch in his repertoire (rating a “70″ on the scout’s 20-80 scale). His fastball sometimes hit 96 during his rookie campaign, but it would often touch the upper-90s when he was in high school. Scouts believe he has the potential to increase his velocity as he matures.

His secondary pitches are still a work in progress, with the slider being the most well-developed among them (rating a “60″ on the scouting scale). His curve ball is pretty good but needs some work. His changeup is furthest away, as the scouts say he slows his arm speed noticeably when throwing it.

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The 2011 Colorado Rockies have a lot of potential firepower in their mostly very young lineup.  Jim Tracy has yet to make a final decision on an opening day roster, but in looking at his spring training games so far, piecing a projected lineup together is getting a little easier.

The Rockies have a couple of the game’s hottest bats right now and this could be a breakout year for them, which in turn could lead to a very good year for the Rockies.  A few questions remain, but let’s take a look at what the Rockies lineup might look like on opening day.

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Baseball has been around for so many years that players are bound to be forgotten eventually. A new breed of talent always seems to find it’s way to the surface and players of yesteryear fall by the wayside.

It takes a special type of talent to remain in baseball discussions for generation after generation, and an even more special talent to end up in the Hall of Fame.

Carlos Ruiz has been an important part of the Philadelphia Phillies since joining the team in 2006. Yet his name falls by the wayside playing alongside superstars like Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay.

Ruiz isn’t alone however, as there have been many players throughout the history of this great game that haven’t gotten their fair share of credit.

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The New York Mets will be paying Bobby Bonilla until 2035.

With no salary cap and a new crop of talented free agents every season, it’s no surprise that the MLB is littered with bad contracts.

Teams are struggling with payroll flexibility both short and long-term in a tight economy, and these ten guys are big reasons as to why so many argue that there needs to be a cap in place. 

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Eric Byrnes/Miguel Olivo – August 2006 

Don Long/Nate McLouth – April 2008

Todd Helton/Susan Rhodes – April 2008

Miguel Olivo/Brian O’ Nora – June 2008

Mike Napoli/Brad Ziegler – August 2010

Welington Castillo/Tyler Colvin – September 2010

The names and dates above link to six separate, highly publicized incidents in which broken or shattered maple bats have hit and or injured persons at an MLB game, both those on the playing field and off it.  In the most recent case, Colvin, a Chicago Cubs rookie playing in his first full season, was struck in the chest by the sharp end of Castillo’s bat and ended up with a wound that will prevent him from playing in any further action this year.  The injuries sustained by Long, O’Nora (pictured) and Rhodes were considerably more horrifying than Colvin‘s, but in spite of maple’s notoriety for emulating a cruise missile with Frisbee rotation, there has yet to be any action taken by the league.  I know I’m far from the first person to bring this up, but here’s what people aren’t talking about: it’s almost a certainty that the situation will get worse before it gets better.  According to an official quoted in the Byrnes/Olivo article, it would take years to end the production and use of maple bats if commissioner Bud Selig were to put the kibosh on them after this season. Here’s the 2006 quote from Chuck Schupp, an employee for the company that makes Louisville Sluggers:

Schupp, in his 24th year with Hillerich & Bradsby and the liaison between the company and the players, said he recently warned MLB not to make a hasty decision on eliminating maple.

“I told Major League Baseball if they say maple bats can’t be used anymore, do not do it until late 2008 or 2009,” Schupp said. “We already ordered everything for next year. You’ve got to cut the wood, dry it, process it. I can’t call the lumber mill and say I need 10,000 ash bats.”

Do the math and you see that maple will still be terrorizing ball fields for at least another 3 years; with a possible maple extermination looming, veterans will be racing to use whatever maple is still left in production at the time of decree.  That said, at least there is something being done – certain maple bats were banned in the minor leagues this year, and bat specifications were tweaked to promote bat strength.  It seems that the MLB is trying to root out the problem by applying the rules to all who have yet to make a 40-man roster, but the rule needs to be clarified considerably. An example: if a player spends his entire time in the minor leagues hitting with an ash bat, and then gets called up and wants to use a maple bat, can he? Sure, you would guess he would stick with what works, but if he thinks maple gives him added power over the contact he felt using an ash bat, wouldn’t he use it? More importantly, anyone who has already made it to The Show has free reign to use whatever they like, so the present rule would not completely eradicate the existence of maple until all of the players who debuted last year finish their careers. 

The unknown entity here is the stance of the MLB Players’ Association, which will most likely seek to retain the maple bats in spite of their dangers so that it can provide the best competitive advantage to the players who are members of the union.  As someone who owns a maple bat, I understand that perspective completely – maple seems sturdier and solid contact feels more pure than the same swing made with an ash bat.  The real issue, as McLouth pointed out, might be more psychological at this point, given how particular players are about the equipment they use; after all, this is the superstition-fraught sport that gave us Pedro Cerrano.

At the same time, there are extenuating circumstances here that say otherwise. When Colvin was struck, he was running in foul territory while watching to make sure the ball Castillo hit was not caught – he did not have any reason to think he was in danger of bodily harm, being that he was not in the field of play and not near the ball.  Had he run just a little bit faster, he might have been struck unexpectedly in the face, and that’s a fear no player wants to have while he’s trying to do his job. Likewise, Rhodes and Long were paying attention a ball in the field of play when they were hit; if fans and players alike are not properly protected during game action, they can’t be expected to watch/play at the risk of their own physical health.  Others writing about this topic have mentioned the additional netting put in place by the NHL after an errant puck fatally struck a 13-year-old girl, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Selig to at least consider having the same kind of netting put in place between the dugouts and the present backstop at each ballpark – though you can catch a high-speed foul ball, you can’t exactly stop a shattered bat with a baseball glove.

Given the preference for maple, it will not be easy to find a suitable replacement for SamBats and other popular brands used by the pros.  One thought would be to mandate a bat that is some combination of a composite handle and a maple barrel that would make the maple less likely to shatter in long, sharp fragments as it presently does.  Another idea is simply trying to find a different wood source for bats – many cricket bats are made of willow, which might be a decent alternative if it can be cut down to an easy-to-wield weight.    Whatever the solution, the decision needs to be made in winter meetings before the start of next season – it would not be wise or safe for the MLB to continue to allow its faithful patrons to risk their own livelihoods because they are unable to keep track of two divergent trajectories, hit ball and flying bat, at one time.  No other major sport forces us to do that on a regular basis.

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Credit to Yahoo! Sports, MLB.com, SB Nation, SFGate.com, ESPN.com and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for media and information used in this post.

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As the calendar turns to September, baseball races are really starting to heat up.

The NL Wild Card has a few possible candidates: the Phillies lead the Giants by two games and are 5.5 up on the fading Cardinals.

The Rockies find themselves 6.5 games out of the Wild Card lead after a seemingly season-killing, eight-game losing streak at the end of July. They are still 7.5 games out of the NL West, despite the Padres’ continued slide.

Yesterday’s gut-wrenching, 12-11 loss to the Phillies really hurts. Like, soap in both eyes hurt. But with 29 games to play, the Rockies will still be a player down the stretch run.

The Rockies have been able to tread water with injuries to Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Jorge De La Rosa, Manuel Corpas and Huston Street.

They have a Pirate-like road record of 26-42. The offense tends to go into hibernation outside of the friendly confines of Coors Field.

Their ace Ubaldo Jimenez hasn’t won a decision since August 4th despite allowing no more than three earned runs in his past seven starts. The flamethrower has taken it in stride, but people were talking about this guy winning 30 games in July; now he might not even reach 20!

The Rockies have had to deal with the aging of their local legend, Helton, who has been a force for the Rockies for over 10 years. But age is creeping up on him very quickly; Helton hit a paltry .246 before being placed on the DL in early July with a stiff back. The $17.7M dollar man only had two homers to that point.

Since coming off the DL in early August, Helton has improved dramatically.

The re-energized Helton has hit .307 while launching four bombs and knocking in 10 runs, making the offseason choice for Rockies’ management that much harder. Helton’s gargantuan contract runs through the ’11 campaign.

Tulo has returned to All-Star form after being sidelined for 33 games with a broken wrist. He was red hot in August with a .351 average and 16 RBI. His Gold-Glove-caliber defense has shined as well.

But the biggest reason the Rox aren’t completely buried is the one they call CarGo. Carlos Gonzalez has been an absolute monster for the Rockies this season. He is hitting a sizzling .331 with 31 home-runs and 93 ribbies.

He is in the top five of all three major categories in the NL. If it wasn’t for Joey Votto and Albert Pujols, CarGo would be the runaway choice for MVP. The five-tool star plays a magnificent left field and also has some speed, collecting 20 SBs on the year.

The Rockies have a history of late season magic; everybody remembers “Roxtober” of 2007, when they ripped off 14 wins in 15 games to sweep their way into the World Series. In 2009, the Rockies played nine games over .500 in September en route a Wild Card berth.

In both instances, the team struggled mightily throughout the spring and into the summer. But for whatever reason—depth, conditioning, concentration, or something else—the Rockies never give up till the bitter end.

Fast forward to this year and they find themselves in a eerily similar position. World beaters they are not, but the team has refused to fold.

Sure, it looks bleak for the Mile High City, but they are finally healthy again.

They have a set lineup featuring a ton of speed with Dexter Fowler and Eric Young Jr. at the top of the order. The rotation has been solid of late and a healthy Aaron Cook will be back next week. Catching the Phillies won’t be easy, but this team has as good a chance as any to give them all they can handle.

Recent history suggests that the Rockies may not be a team to count out just yet.

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With only a few more months to go before a champion is crowned, the 2010 season is winding down. As always, there are those players who have outplayed their current contract and those players who haven’t lived up to the millions of dollars that they are being paid.

Problems with age, injuries, and plain-old ineffectiveness are some reasons why these players made the list. It may not be fair to pick on someone who has battled injuries, but the club still has to pay the salary regardless if they are hurt or not. 

This list is in no particular order, so I will let you guys debate who belongs where.

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