Hernandez Prevents Dirty Dozen

If David Hernandez has a checklist on what he is supposed to do to stay in the majors it probably looks something like this. Dominate in AA Bowie. Check. Drop ERA by one whole run in 4 starts. Check. Outperform the two best hitting teams in the division. Check. End an 11 game losing streak at Fenway. Check. Prevent Dave Trembley from having to continue talking about yet another long losing streak. Priceless and double check.

Sunday, a day that haunted Trembley last season, marked the end of of a year long losing streak for the Orioles at Fenway. The streak can be measured by how dominate the Sox have been outhitting the Orioles in the previous 11 games by 54, outscoring them by 51 and just plain outplaying them in every way. Trembley is a self admitted hater when it comes to discussing these long losing streaks. So he is more then happy that another one is over, "It's one more negative thing that people can cross off, because what we're all about is being positive [and] understanding we have young players showing a lot of perseverance."

So let's stay positive. In his past two outings Hernandez has outperformed some pretty impressive names. Last week in New York he had a decent game in which Andy Pettitte out K'ed him but in 6 innings 3 hits were allowed to the potent Yankee lineup. He held Jeter and A-Rod hitless and kept the O's in the game. Unfortunately for us he could only get through 6 innings. Yesterday marked a day when he wouldn't let the bullpen ruin another great outing. Using his 95 mph fastball and his excellent placement of breaking balls on the corners he struckout 2 batters and walked none. You hear that Daniel Cabrera, no walks! Zero, zilch, nada, a donut (mmmmm donuts). John Smoltz had no shot on the other side. So in his past two starts he has kept even or outperformed some probable hall of famers. I mean I have done that...on Wii.

So thank the baseball gods O's fans because we have a young arm performing well. Now if we win a couple more in Fenway that is called a winning streak. It has happened before.

BIGS 2 is the Baseball Equivalent to NBA Jam

It's the top of the first inning as Nick Markakis steps up to bat at Fenway Park. Roberts is dancing off 2nd as Jon Lester rocks and fires. Markakis rips a double to bring Roberts in. The inning eventually ends with Orioles ahead by four. 45 minutes, 35 hits, and 10 homers later the game ends 30-4....in the Orioles favor.

This is what I mean by the title. A better analogy might be BIGS 2 is as to Adam Jones going 6 for 7 with 4 homers and 14 RBI (yes in one game and that is some kind of record) with Mortal Kombat is as to Kano ripping out your heart. If that doesn't shock you maybe Jeremy Guthrie throwing 115 mph cheese (with a power up) will. The point I am trying to make is that it is completely unbelievable. Jones robbing someone in dead center by jumping 6 feet above the wall and catching the ball between his legs...LEGENDARY(and totally believable).

For those who might say, "oh what is it on easy?" No, its not. It is only on medium, a level in which the Red Sox pounded me when I first tried the game out. I know I didn't get that good that fast. So all in all the outcomes are totally ridiculous but I honestly don't care. I dig the longball.

Speaking of the longball, they can also be pretty over the top. For example, during games you earn points based on your performance of the game (getting hits, making plays, striking people out). Once you have reached 100,000 points you can unleash "Big Blast" mode (just call it BEAST MODE) meaning if you connect (even if you are Cesar Izturis) you are going to hit a homer. However if you wait another 25,000 points you can use "Big Slam" mode(fatality, flawless victory) to attempt getting the bases cleared with a grand slam. No matter which mode you use the end result is simple, make contact and you will be destroying a part of the stadium. For example, my first experience with a "Big Blast" was with Luke Scott. There were two runners on and I was down so I figured it was time to activate beast mode. Well here comes a hanging curveball over the plate and goodbye. The ball leaves in a trail of flames heading for Eutaw...or wait no way, then it happened...BOOM WAREHOUSE and all the windows explode out of the building.

Pitching also has its equivalence to the above mentioned. Instead being called "Big Heat" mode where you can throw pitches 25 mph more or with more movement then usual. They can also be activated at the same time (Big Heat and Big Blast/Slam) which is known as "Duel" mode. Pretty self explanatory, pitcher throws harder/better and batter hits harder/better. Come out of this mode victorious and you are set up for yet another power up. One of the things that can also help to get these power ups is making amazing plays in the field.

If you have a player with legendary glove ability (Torii Hunter, Ichiro, Albert Pujols, the entire Red Sox squad[not kidding] to name a few) you can make what are called Legendary Catches(with mini games attached). In a high pitch voice my buddy Brandon was quoted as saying, "Legendaryyyyyy!" At least a few times. Imagine Dave Chappelle's version of Prince saying it to get just how high the pitch was. These catches result in 20,000 points towards a power up with regular great catches getting 10,000(just diving or jumping without a Legendary Catch mini game). The biggest negative about the catches is the announcers. Unfortunately its not anyone I am familiar with but whoever it is loves to wax poetic about Ozzie Smith. For example, I made a "Legendaryyyyy!," catch with Cesar Izturis. I'm expecting a Cal Ripken Jr. or Brooks Robinson reference and instead I get, "Do you see a man of tin? Cause I think I just saw a wizard." Until yesterday on every catch when he referenced a hall of famer he only referenced Ozzie. Then he made a reference about Dave Winfield. Its the only time he has referenced someone other then Ozzie. Well at least it was an outfield catch.

Speaking of catches/mini games the title also has 4 other mini game modes. Power hitting, contact hitting, glove work and running. To unlock each one you have to beat the main superstar in each category. Power has cover boy Prince Fielder, contact has Chipper Jones (was Ichiro too busy?), glove work has Jimmy Rollins (of all the shortstops in the league....really?) and running has Jose Reyes (maybe you will luck out and he will pull a hamstring). I have luckily unlocked all four and the running one is the weirdest and most interesting. You basically run through/around Wrigley through a course that has balance beams, hurdles, trash cans, building to building leaps and other obstacles that would make American Gladiators proud(minus actual gladiators..."ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!"). To avoid these obstacles I had to button mash, wave the Wii-mote or push the directional button to pick up speed and beat Reyes (or anyone else that you want to race). These games are in addition to season mode and Legend mode.

Once you have honed your skills in the above mentioned games, hop on over to season/legend mode. Season mode is pretty easy to explain. Take your favorite team and play through their entire schedule hoping to lead them to a title (go O's with only 1 loss...to the Yankees). It is Legend mode that you should probably start first. Create your player(whether you want to be selfish and make it a version of yourself, hey its cool that is what I did, or make some other version of someone) and you are now a major leaguer coming back from injury. Your player starts off in Mexico to get your swing back before being thrust back into the regular season. Once the 3 major tasks are completed (2 five inning games and beating the best Mexican teammate in the contact game) he can move up to the bigs. You pick your team(which is final...until they trade you but don't worry they resign you in the offseason) and finish out the season with whomever you choose. At your home park you play mini games to increase your skills/acquire skill points. The coolest part, other then this is what you need to play to unlock everything(stadiums, new uniforms, new homerun places, cool stuff for your player), is what happens in the individual team challenges. The games are only 5 innings and each team has 3 tasks to complete. Beat them in the first challenge, unlock teams other uniforms. Complete the second task and the reward varies. You will either get a skill point or unlock new things for your player. Beat them in the third challenge and you get to steal a player from that team. Also there is a trophy case that needs filling. While in on your path of destruction to becoming a legend you can earn trophies by performing tasks in the offseason or during your season they can be earned. Your player will need all the help he can get if he wants to defeat the hall of famers to gain votes for himself. Yes this is the goal in Legend mode, to get into the hall. On the bottom of the screen there is a vote counter that starts off 0/300. The only way to gain votes is to complete tasks at Cooperstown (defeat a team of Hall of Famers in a 5 inning game with other challenges attached to some[win by 2, get 3 hits, etc.]).

There are many positives and negatives to this game that I would like to point out, some of which have been mentioned. So here we go.

Positives

+ LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONGBALLS, lots of them

+ Balls so long that they can damage a part of the stadium...and your soul(the announcer helps in the soul part believe me)

+ The announcer does have some zingers ("that was a tailor made pitch but he didn't have the swing to fit" for example) Kinda like "He's heating up! He's on fire! Razzle Dazzle! Fancy Moves!" if you compare it to NBA Jam.

+ Power ups for individual superstars (For example no doubter homeruns, ability points for other players, bigger wheelhouse)

+ Legend mode, becoming a hall of famer is pretty sweet. Beating A-Rod (Roid) in a home run pinball match in Time Square (it must have been October since he choked and scored nothing) is also pretty sweet.

+ Mini games are pretty sweet with homerun pinball by far being the sweetest. How can destroying things in a public place with baseballs not be awesome? How I ask you, how?!?

+ Big blasts/slams/heat, all rule and you should bow before them all. Before they destroy you!

+ Use of the Wii's capabilities(actually have to swing remotes to pitch/hit/dive/be awesome)

+ Trades can be completely one sided through a mini game (like Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol)

PosiNEGs

+ the Orioles roster is awesome....minus the fact that Felix Pie is on it and Nolan Reimold isn't

+ legendary catches are great....and completely unbelievable(only when performed on me!)

+ Tim Lincecum while being a great pitcher doesn't deserve more legendary quality pitches then the hall of famers do.

+ Big blasts/slam mode (as long as you connect) maximizes run scoring...but it can make some games completely ridiculous since the computer doesn't always use it/use it right.

+ While I enjoy that my players are passionate about the game I do not require them to react to 90% of the outs like Joba Chamberlain (ie a fist pump or another form of taunting) What are you Tiger Woods at Augusta?!? NO! You just got an out in the 7th inning while you were up by 15. Relax Aubrey! Sorry, I digress.

Negatives

- Rosters are small, a lineup will consist of your 9 starters and 3 reserves, you only have a 3 man pitching rotation with 3 guys in the bullpen. Far short of a normal 25 man roster.

- For some reason every player is wearing glasses/goggles. Seriously half of of every team is wearing them, not very accurate.

- Only keeps track of a few major stats for hitting/pitching along with stats for big plays. Offensive stats that are followed are homers, average, RBIs, hits and stolen bases. Pitching stats that are kept are wins, losses, strikeouts and walks. These are not accurate as the game does allow for screw ups here and there (Rich Hill should totally have an L and for some reason he got a win...I mean I lost the game). It doesn't really keep fielding stats instead the game follows how many big plays you have performed with point totals, amount of legendary catches and the percentage of them that were successfully performed.

- Announcer does have some funny/quirky things that he says however when it comes to "Legendaryyyyyyy" catches he seems to reference Ozzie Smith 95% of the time.

- Perhaps the biggest problem I have is that I can't play online. Believe me I would totally be marketing this game to everyone I know if I could play them in any of the awesome mini games or an actual game.

So all in all the game is a success in my house. It is the reason I have been putting off posting this blog. I need a challenge, someone come over and take me on since there is no online challenge. Now if you will excuse me I have a ballpark I need to go demolish.

Thoughts on the Derby

Just a quick gripe from yours truly about last nights Home Run Derby. Did anyone else feel like something was missing? Like, I don't know, drama.

Yes the first round did have some interesting things happen. The three way tie between Carlos Pena, Joe Mauer(Matt Wieters in 2 years) and Albert Pujols was exciting. The announcers wanted to name it the bop off or something else silly, you know how Chris Berman can get. Why not "The Blast Off"? Would they be sued by NASA? Anyway back to the story at hand. Who honestly wasn't pulling for Pujols? Neville Flynn (Samuel L Jackson from Snakes on a Plane) was quoted as saying, "Not me." Fictional characters aside it was awesome to see a stadium erupt and support their team's best player. Without Pujols in the next round however I can't be so sure they would be too supportive of the leftovers. Since no one was really hitting tape measure shots a la Josh Hamilton last year.

I am not saying I need someone to hit 25 homers in a round to be entertained. It would be nice but it is not necessary. What I needed was the thought that someone was going to challenge Prince Fielder or Nelson Cruz after the first round last night. Both players finished the first round with 11 homers and due to the new rules of them carrying over to the second round, it was near impossible for Pujols or Ryan Howard to come close. Pujols finished with 11, hitting 6 in the second round. His longest being 488 feet to left. Howard hit 8 in the second round finishing with 15. Nothing could compare to the shots Fielder was hitting to deep center and right center. The longest being a 503 foot blast that echoed through the stadium. Not to say that Nelson Cruz wasn't nearly impressive. He was demolishing signs in left and reaching the upper of the upper decks. The homers just didn't measure up to what Fielder was doing. With 5 outs remaining in the second round I had the feeling that no one could stop Fielder, not even the stadium could contain him. He got on a roll and really never looked back. All of his homers you could tell were going to be moon shots/bombs when you heard the crack of his bat. Also an interesting stat, he was the most passionate about the game. How many times did you hear him drop the old standard of, "Oh $h!t!" 5? 10? A bakers dozen? Well since its Fielder I guess it should be a dozen carrots, he is a vegan after all.

Speaking of no meat, thanks for wasting 15 minutes of my life Brandon Inge. The Tigers 3rd baseman was shutout in the derby which is the first time in awhile that I can remember this happening. So what he is 90 pounds soaking wet. No excuses, you hit two in an actual game the day before. I in no means think I can hit a homer like 51% of egotistical fans who voted on ESPN's Sportsnation that they could do this with an aluminum bat. No. Not me! I might be able to finally hit them out at the little league field I used to play at. Even that might be pushing it.

So was I not entertained? I was but I feel like something was missing. It's like chicken from the grill that is just an ingredient away from being amazing. The derby was just an iota of something away from being great. Maybe Hamilton and Bobby Abreu have ruined it for me. Without 525+ foot shots I may not be entertained. I guess like most ladies, size matters. Chicks do dig the long ball and apparently I dig the longest of longballs. Congrats Prince on the title, its a shame that this wasn't one of those memorable derbys from years past.

Personally a favorite of mine has nothing to do with the amount of homeruns that were hit. It was Frank Thomas back in Three Rivers Stadium. He didn't win the event but his upper deck shots were very memorable. Hitting 520+ foot blasts that no one could touch. Ken Griffey Jr hitting the warehouse at Camden Yards, Cal Ripken setting a then record 12 homers in a round at the Skydome, Mark "I don't want to talk about the past" McGwire putting on a show at Fenway, Abreu crushing the world when the contestants were representing their respective countries (he rocked 27 in a round) and of course Hamilton from last year. Disagree if you want but you know I am right. Something was missing last night. Perhaps it was a little garlic.

500 saves = 500 reasons for the Hall?

For Today's Article...Check this out (special thanks to the Associated Press)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSuJFdcI5yI

So yeah, that happened. Mariano Rivera recorded one of baseball's highest milestones last night, reaching 500 saves. Making him only the second man to reach this enormous task. Which had me thinking, thanks to good old ESPN, greatest ever?


I have to be an objective blogger here and not act like my answers to all of the following questions would be an absolute yes! Do you hate the Yankees? Ever since Jeffrey Maier? Oh, for your entire life? So you boo Mark Teixeira when they visit Baltimore? He's a traitor right? Totally second to Youkilis in the majors this year to? Yell A-Roid at the games? Find it hilarious he sat due to "fatigue" last week then was out until past 2:00 am the same night(allegedly)? Think this has gone on long enough?

At first I couldn't imagine that Rivera was the best ever all due to the above reason. I even started to drop names of guys that I thought were better. Lee Smith, Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, John Franco, Randy Myers, George Sherrill...okay maybe with the exception of that last one. I was completely blind to the facts. I was completely unaware that reaching 500 saves was equivalent to hitting over 700+ homeruns (before performance enhancing drugs). Only in the fact that there are less then a handful for each. At this time there are only 3 players with 700+ homeruns (Babe Ruth 714, Hank Aaron 755, Barry Bonds 762). That is what makes having 500 saves an even more impressive mark.

The fact that Trevor Hoffman is the leader with 572(and counting) while sporting no rings. Unfortunately for Hoffman he was in a smaller market with San Diego and got to watch Rivera celebrate his second championship on his field back in 1998. Even Hoffman himself when asked has said, "he(Rivera) will go down as the best reliever in history hands down." However if records have proven anything it is that if you are the leader in that category, rings have little to do with what people think. There are probably millions of Yankee fans who think otherwise (26 baby!). God I love hearing that.


When Rivera was around for the first championship in 1996 he was a set up man for John Wetteland. At the time it was the best one two punch in baseball. The amazing thing about Rivera is how he succeeds with different kinds of fast balls. His most well known and deemed the best "out pitch" in baseball in 2004 by ESPN is his cutter. Chipper Jones deemed it "the buzzsaw" because of its ability to break the bats of left handed hitters (he watched then teammate Ryan Klesko break 3 bats in a single plate appearance against Rivera in the 1999 World Series). The funny thing about the cutter is that Rivera says(claims) that he came about the pitch while playing catch with Ramiro Mendoza, "It was just from God. I didn't do anything. It was natural." There is so much movement on all of his pitches and he has such great location it is just hard to hit him. He can paint the corners or jam you inside causing you to ground out, breaking your bat in the process. While his velocity has lowered he still has excellent composure (and body english when he does blow a game, trying to will balls back into the ballpark), movement and location that he is still successful.

So since I have started this article Rivera has added to his save total recording his 501st save last night(not in a season that would be some sort of record). However he still remains 2,201 RBI behind Hank Aaron. I think that one is out of reach. So what milestone will be reached this season? So far we have had two impressive ones in 300 wins with Randy Johnson and 500 saves with Rivera. 600 saves/200 saves by Trevor Hoffman(572)/Brad Lidge(178)? 1,800 RBI by Ken Griffey Jr.(1,796)? 400 homers for Vlad Guerrero(394), Andruw Jones(380) or Albert Pujols(349)? I mean...he is Pujols after all, right?