I was at the RC tonight for the Jays win, thanks to a JP Arencibia bomb. I had excellent seats, thak you vendor, and I had a great view of BJ Upton's ninth inning shot to the wall. From behind the plate it looked like his earlier home run, I thought it was gone and we were looking at a tied game. It was a relief to see Davis cruising to the wall watching the ball into his glove. Upton's hit came after Nix and Arencibia botched a foul pop-up. Normally that would be Nix's ball but Arencibia was right under it and pulled off at the last minute.
The affiliates swept in convincing fashion, winning 29-9. Somebody even hit a home run! You'll have to keep reading to find out who (hint: it was Anthony Gose. And like 3 other guys.)
Here is the second batch of photos of the Lansing Lugnuts in action May 9.
Holy Mackinaw! A
Joe Bowen sighting. He crouches behind the plate in the Lugnuts bullpen.
I was in Lansing May 9 to catch the finale of a homestand against Lake County, the Cleveland Indians affiliate in the Midwest League. Here is the first batch of photos and random observations of some of the Lugnuts who played that night.
Jake Marisnick grounds out to second during first inning action. However, it was evident from that groundout alone that he can run a little.
Litsch and Romero lead the world-beating Jays into a two-game home series against the first-place Rays.
Three of the affiliates took advantage of home cooking and came up with wins that featured a shutout, a near shutout and a walk off. The one affiliate who was not home wished they never left.
Harmon Killebrew, the Minnesota Twins slugger known for his tape-measure home runs, has died at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., after battling esophageal cancer. He was 74.
I barely remember Killebrew, but even as an aging DH lumbering to the batter's box in his that-doesn't-look-quite-right Kansas City Royals uniform, he was an awe-inspriging vision of power at the plate.
The Twins announced that Killebrew died peacefully Tuesday morning with his wife, Nita, and their family at his side. He had announced in December that he had been diagnosed with cancer, then last week, announced that doctors had deemed his cancer incurable and he would no longer fight the "awful disease."
Harmon Clayton Killebrew, often called a "gentle giant," (yes, 6'0", 195# used to be "gigantic") hit 573 home runs during his 22-year career, 11th-most in major league history. His eight seasons with 40 or more homers still is tied for second in league history to Babe Ruth.
Rest well, Killer.
There were only two games tonight, so less work for me!!! Except then I decided to take a closer look at Lansing's season so far. Wondering how your favourite Lugnuts have been doing? Click through to find out.
Adam Lind has been placed on the 15 day DL, retroactive to May 8. He can return on the 23rd. Eric Thames has been summoned from Las Vegas. RHP Robert Ray has been designated for assignment to make room for Thames on the 40 man roster.
According the greatness of our friends at BaseballReference.com, there are currently 27 (okay, actually 26) players who already have at least 1800 career hits. The active career hit leader, with 2965 is, of course, Derek Jeter, who will join the 3000-hit club some time in the next four or five weeks. Who else will join Jeter in the Rose-to-Clemente dropdown list?
Let's take a look ... there aren't really all that many candidates!
I haven't done a cross-post with my
blog in a while. Never a bad time for some self-promotion. Hope you enjoy!
And what have we learned?
Big leaguer Jose Bautista lit the world on fire in Minnesota on Sunday with three home runs but three affiliates were also busy in the Jays universe. Only one, though, came out on top with a win.
Stringer extrodinnaire, Eddie Michels, sent me yet another nice shot of Jayson Nix in his final rehab appearance in the Dunedin game against Jupiter on Sunday. Sportsnet (noted via BlueBirdBanter) says Nix is being activated from the DL today and that David Cooper is going back to Las Vegas.
Nix went 1 for 4 today with a BB and 2 RBIs.
We don't usually post daily threads on the weekend so things like Bautista's epic three-homer game (after four homers in six games) sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve. After the jump, some of the crazy Bautista stats as researched by Bauxites.
