All posts by TheNaturalMevs

500 Homerun club, Anaheim Angels, History, Washington Nationals

Albert Pujols 500th Home Run

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[Box Score]

Any time someone joins the 500 home run club, it’s a historic event in baseball. It just has to make the blog. And tonight, Albert Pujols became the 26th member of the club with a tape-measure shot in Washington, off poor Taylor Jordan, soon to be DFA’d pitcher.

We were watching live. Well, almost. MLB.tv had it’s usual lag going. But we’ve already covered that.

Pujols has withstood the test of time, and he deserves his place among the all-time greats who have played this game. It just seems like he has been doing what he did tonight for a long, long time when we think back on our life and first heard about The Great Pujols hitting a couple gargantuan shots in a game.

He’s had his trials too – and if you’ve had a look at him lately it appears that he has fought off Father Time for just a while longer. And for that, good for Albert.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Scouting Yasiel Puig: 4/20/2014

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At bat #1 vs. RHP Collmenter: (Following Gonzalez double) Takes 87 fastball up and in for a ball. Takes 87 fastball catcher set up inside for a strike. Fouls away 87 fastball middle to outside – looked as if he did not get his arms fully extended on this pitch down the middle. Check swing on 87 fastball high. Fouls 88 middle fastball straight back. Swing and a miss (strikes out) on an 88 fastball away off the outside corner.

Playing Right Field, LHB Montero hits a ball down the line, Puig fields the ball along the RF wall, short crowhop and short arm throw arrives at second base in time to nail the slow footed Montero for the assist.

At bat #2 vs. RHP Collmenter: First pitch 88 fastball down in the zone hits a fly ball to medium range center field for a fly-out.

At bat #3 vs. RHP Collmenter: (Following Gonzalez Intentional walk) 87 fastball low and inside called strike. 88 fastball middle of the plate, hits 3-run home run on a line drive over the left-center field wall.

saturday baseball

Your Saturday Baseball Post

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Happy MLB Season Saturday to all. This is a celebratory day on this blog and just in life. It’s a perfect day outside so you might want to harness up the dog and take him out for a walk between innings if your team isn’t hitting.

Saturday is the greatest day of all and a Saturday in the spring when the sun is shining is the best day to celebrate baseball.

Here’s a no-hitter from almost 30 years ago from a guy you’ve never heard of back in April of ’87, thrown by Juan Nieves of the Brewers:

Thank you for your continued support of Diamond Hoggers.

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MLB.TV is a broken mess this year

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Seriously – nothing sucks as much as MLB.tv in 2014.

Oh but no worries, because if you have problems with MLB.tv you can contact MLB Fan Support on twitter for a canned response that they’ve given to 18,146 people so far that has helped zero. Ready? Here it is in case you have an emergency:

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You see, that’s not a big help. Because once you visit that forum it is a long and winding labyrinth with no real answers. It’s just a bunch of people talking about their experience and how it didn’t work. Or how they missed Giancarlo Stanton’s walk-off grand slam because their MLB.tv froze on their PS4 device.

There’s no help in sight. I wish I had a solution for you but all I have is this: you can call MLB TV’s support line at 866-800-1275 and try to sneak your way through the automated phone maze where you can expect to wait a solid hour (I’ve been on hold 39 minutes. I am sitting in my living room in the dark).

MLB TV your service sucks and I hope a billion people see this. Crooks. If one person comments and says “no issue here” I will send a drone to your house to bitch-slap you.

Los Angeles Dodgers

You must read of Yasiel Puig’s Journey to the United States

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Prepare to read a tale that has a little bit of everything: Cubans, smuggling, cigarettes, cocaine, guns, Miami mob-men, smuggling, guns, betrayal, smuggling, and mischief.

It’s the story that is all the buzz right now around baseball – Yasiel Puig’s defection to the United States from Cienguegos done by Scott Eden over at ESPN.

I already liked Yasiel Puig. I think he’s got a walnut for a brain – but I like Yasiel Puig. I turn on my television at night and I see a guy who; if he can manage to get up and brush his teeth and get through the afternoons like a normal human being, I think he could end up one of the greats of this era. This story endears Puig a little bit more to me.

I think about something different than most people do, and it was on my mind prior to reading Don Mattingly’s comments about it today. Here you have a 23-year old kid who is playing and living each day possibly in fear for his life. A kid who promised some shady character(s) 20 percent of his earnings and has to deal with that stress.

If it seems at times Puig’s mind is on 100 other things aside from baseball, it’s entirely possible after reading this story that you will understand why.

I don’t know how this story ends, but I hope it’s not with fast cars or guns and it’s with Puig having his face on a plaque someday.

and now a word from our sponsors

ScoreBig: The Official Ticket Provider of Diamond Hoggers

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We’re here to tell you about a truly great site to purchase your sporting event or concert tickets from this summer – because we know most of our readers like to attend baseball games in person and you should be afforded the opportunity at this best-kept secret.

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We highly recommend giving Score Big a try this summer if you’re planning ahead to get out to some ballgames. You’ll be happy with it and likely never go back to StubHub.

Anaheim Angels, Oakland A's

Going to sleep on Mike Trout was a bad idea

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I had the Angels game somewhat queued up last night when I passed out on the couch with my bulldog – Garrett Richards was doing everything he could to hand the game back to the A’s despite those darling Angels doing everything they could do to get him the win in the face of his own futility.

And I fell asleep on Michael Nelson Trout. And wouldn’t you know it that he did something that I very much would have liked to have been awake for. He hit a majestic two-run home run off the A’s closer Du Jour Sean Doolittle. It sent the game into extra innings. And that’s what Mike Trout does – he takes something and makes it beautiful. Trout’s gift to the world on Jackie Robinson Day was bonus baseball. As M.J. Lloyd would say, he isn’t real.

The Angels would lose the damn game 10-9 in 11 innings, making all those handicappers who said Oakland would win last night correct and my very gut feeling that the Angels would steal one so very wrong (I am picking stuff at around a 75% clip this season on the money line, giddeup).

Mike Trout has five home runs and just may have learned a new trick: how to lead the American League circuit in homers. Don’t worry about what the A’s players did because they’re boring.

Jackie Robinson

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We’re celebrating Jackie Robinson Day in baseball by sitting on our couch all night and doing nothing but watching the game he loved!

Thank you Jackie Robinson for making it possible for wonderful stars of the past and present like Bo Jackson, Dee Gordon, Torii Hunter, and Joc Pederson (he’s not black, we just thought he was)to be part of the greatest game on earth.

Thank you Jackie Robinson!

Los Angeles Dodgers

Take your eyes off Flash Gordon; and he’ll steal all your plates

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What you’re looking at here is a man who is faster than the speed of light. This man stole four bases today, which I think officially makes him the theftiest sumbitch in the league.

Everyone knew that Dee Strange Gordon could run like a man possessed, but only a chosen few believed in his ability to hit. He’s sitting on .400 to start the year.

Anyone who can steal four bases in a game has to be considered as one of the most ‘fun’ players in the league. There’s just something we really like about Dee Gordon.

saturday baseball

Your Saturday Baseball Post

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It’s probably the nicest day of 2014 so far and as always a Saturday holds a full tilt of MLB action. Every team is in action, and all the stars should be in the lineup if they’re healthy.

Saturday is a great day to celebrate the game we all love. That’s what this post is for: the best day of the week and the best sport on earth.

Thank you for your continued support of Diamond Hoggers.

Chicago White Sox, Tribe

Danny Salazar’s Outing tonight was as Cleveland as it gets

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Danny Salazar was an unorganized, shitty mess tonight in Chicago.

Salazar became the first pitcher since 1900 with 10 strikeouts in fewer than four innings pitched; going an inefficient 3 and 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and losing the ballgame.

Only wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform can a pitcher manage to be so dominant with his stuff except not really be at all. I don’t know whether this feat is an admission of Salazar’s talent or an admission that Cleveland is terribly cursed barren wasteland in sports.

Honestly – only in Cleveland does this happen.

Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals

Bryce Harper Makes his Triumphant Return to the Upper Deck

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Bryce Harper is no longer a stranger to struggles. He was dropped to seventh in the order this evening, and the Nationals found themselves in a 5-0 hole early against the Miami Marlins against left-hander Brad Hand.

Then Harper put on his cape and won the battle in a ten pitch at-bat with an upper deck three run home run. The Nationals would later get a grand slam from Jayson Werth to cap off a huge rally, overcoming the 5-0 deficit as well as a late 7-6 to win the game 10-7.

The home run was the 43rd of his career, and ninth against a southpaw. It was the 24th time he’s gone deep at Nationals Park.

Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Young Guns

New Favorite Pitcher

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Yeah so; Yordano Ventura was as-advertised. I cannot state how much fun it is to watch this guy mix 101 MPH aspirin tablets with devastating offspeed stuff to middle of the order hitters like Wil Myers and Evan Longoria.

The Royals were futile enough that they couldn’t even get the kid a run so he could win his first big league start like he deserved, but that didn’t blemish the fact that we’ll always remember the first time we got to see Yordano take the pill and shut down the opposition for six strong.