With April in the books, let’s look at some highlights throughout Major League Baseball so far:
- Chris Shelton reached nine home runs faster than anyone in Major League history, and Albert Pujols set an April record with 14 homers.
- Eric Chavez credits his best-ever start to a season, .301/.392/.687, to eating lots and lots of fast food.
- Royals Triple-A outfielder Kerry Robinson left a game last week with chest spasms from giggling at a youth baseball team’s antics.
- Tomas Perez will enter Monday’s game having struck out in eight consecutive at-bats. No position player has ever struck out more than nine times in a row.
- The Pirates and Royals are a combined 1-21 on the road so far.
- Jose Reyes had 27 walks in nearly 700 at-bats last year. He had 12 in April.
- The Brewers are 4-0 on Saturdays. In those games, they’ve outscored opponents 40-8.
- Mirabelli had to return, Josh Bard had 10 passed balls in five games as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher.
- After switching to a shoe-size that actually fits, Kevin Mench becomes the only right-handed hitter ever to homer in seven straight games.
- It’s time to start taking Brandon Phillips seriously.
- According to The Fielding Bible by John Dewan, Derek Jeter, over the past three years, “was probably the least effective defensive player in the major leagues, at any position.”
- Dewan’s crew at Baseball Info Solutions came to the conclusion after watching video of every game played over the past three years and charting the direction, type and result of every ball put into play. Last year, Jeter failed to make 93 plays the average shortstop would be expected to make.
- They also concluded that Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado “ranks last [at his position] only because Willie Aikens is 50 years old and in jail in Mexico.”
- “That was a one-time thing. That’s like when the sun and the moon go together, like an eclipse.” – Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano after breaking his bat over his knee during a start against the Marlins
Leave a Reply