Chicks Dig the Long Ball

In the past this feat wouldn’t have seemed possible. Even with the magical display put on by Josh Hamilton in the ’08 derby with his 28 homers couldn’t out do Dwight Howard’s gravity defying Superman Slam. But with this past year’s slam dunk disappointment the State Farm Home Run Derby has a chance to shine above the myriad of NBA all-star festivities.

For those who sat and watched this year’s dunk competition, I can only hope that wasn’t the highlight of your night. The 2010 dunk competition had to be the worst all-star festivity since, well, ever.

This year, the MLB has a chance to do something I never thought I’d see, top the dunk competition with the Home Run Derby. Who thought hitting a baseball would outweigh an acrobatic slam dunk?


It was just terrible, Shannon Brown, my dark horse, was supposed to use his NBA leading vertical leaps to wow the audience and steal the show. However he flaked out on me with a rather pedestrian performance in the first round; doing dunks that made Chris Anderson’s 2005 dunk performance not seem nearly as bad.



My friend, Malik, and I had a good laugh about it a few days later. We suggested that the league should have held open tryouts for the public, or maybe just switch to a layup competition starring Steve Nash.

One thing that does bother me about this year’s Home Run Derby is the fact that Nick Swisher is one of the participants. I love Swish, even though he’s a Yankee, he’s a fun guy and his personality is great for baseball; however, the dude has only had one season where he hit over 30 homers and isn’t really known to be a home run hitter.

The voters got it wrong on numerous occasions with this one because, according to an article I read over the weekend, the MLB didn’t even invite the HR king of the first half of the season, Jose Bautista. The dude hits a MLB leading 24 dingers in the first 88 games and yet doesn’t get voted to the all-star team, nor does he get invited to the home run derby. One question: how can the MLB’s HR leader not be in the home run derby? That just doesn’t make sense, and then you add the fact that Nick Swisher was the last AL invitee with nearly half the HR production (15).

Maybe Swish will hit 20 in the first round and go on to win the whole thing, but I seriously doubt it. Either way it goes, this year’s Home Run Derby should be an astronomical improvement on the sham that was the 2010 Dunk Competition.

By Aaron Hilton
follow me on twitter @Way_2_Tall401

The Year of the Lefty

This year, without a doubt has been the year of the lefty. You can look at the resurgence of David Ortiz to All-Star status, the emergence of Brennan Boesch as well as monster seasons being put together by Justin Morneau, Robbie Cano, and Josh Hamilton; and that’s just AL hitters.

The hitters in the NL have been led by Joey Votto who has finally made an all-star team and is leading the overachieving Reds to a possible first place finish in the NL Central. Then you look at other breakouts like Martin Prado and Angel Pagan (who is a switch hitter who’s absolutely raking from the left side of the plate), as well as stellar first halfs by Andre Ethier and Adam Dunn.

AL pitchers Jon Lester, Cliff Lee, and David Price have utterly dominated their competition and you can’t forget about C.C. and Andy Petite. Then there’s lefty relievers like Scott Downs, Matt Thornton and Phil Coke who are putting together all-star caliber seasons.

In the NL you have the resurgence of Barry Zito, the consistency of Johan Santana and the agelessness of Jaime Moyer to go along with the youthful future aces like Jaime Garcia and Clayton Kershaw. In the bullpen you have guys like Hong-Chih Kuo and Arthur Rhodes who provide a smooth transition to closers like Billy Wagner.

This could be a year in which we see left handers sweep the post season awards. Here’s how I would vote if my opinion mattered (shot out to Marc Spears, Greg Lee, David Squires, and Leon Carter):

AL MVP:
Josh Hamilton – this guy has been through hell and back, was set back in a major way with injuries and a drop in production last year and has re-found his mojo in one of the great storylines of the 2010 season. (Note: this award would’ve gone to Robinson Cano; however, as a Red Sox fan, I just couldn’t bring myself to give it to a Yankee. It was hard enough to give him his due credit).

NL MVP:
Joey Votto – these are his numbers: .314/.422/.589 with 22 HR (tied for NL lead) and 59 runs; now look at everybody’s favorite pick, Albert Pujols: .308/.416/.576 with 64 RBI 21 HR and 55 runs. Votto leads the 3-time MVP in every major slugging category with the exception of RBI (Votto has 60).


AL Cy Young:
Jon Lester – if David Price leads his team to winning the East, then this award goes to him; however, if you look at the Red Sox pitching staff the past three years (including ’10), the one constant has been Lester who has had an ERA below 4.00 and at least 15 wins since ’08. In a year where the Red Sox have dropped like flies, Lester has kept Boston afloat and in the playoff hunt.

NL Cy Young:
Jaime Garcia – honestly, my real pick is Josh Johnson of the Marlins but, for the sake of argument (The Year of the Lefty) I’m taking Garcia. He’s leading all NL southpaws in ERA, and he’s only had one game in which he’s allowed more than 3 earned runs. On any other team, he’d be a 1 or 2, but he pitches for the Cardinals who already have Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.

AL Rookie of the Year:
Brennan Boesch – if Boesch doesn’t win this award then it will be a total crime. He leads all rookies in batting average, home runs, RBI, OBP and slugging percentage; if that doesn’t make you rookie of the year, then I don’t know what does.

NL Rookie of the Year:
Jamie Garcia – this is where I think he truly fits. He probably won’t win the Cy Young, and he shouldn’t; however, Garcia has surprised everyone with his dominance of the NL this season. He burst onto the scene out of nowhere – much like Boesch – and has displayed great composure to accompany his filthy breaking ball. He’s a shoe in for the award so far, in my eyes; sorry Jason Heyward.

Some other lefties having a great year: Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, John Danks, Jason Vargas, Carl Crawford, Carlos Gonzalez, Clayton Richard, C.J. Wilson, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, David DeJesus, James Loney, Aubrey Huff, Will Ohman, Pedro Fliciano, Ryan Sweeny, Shin-Soo Choo, Colby Rasmus, and Kelly Johnson.

By Aaron Hilton
follow me on twitter @Way_2_Tall401