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Respect the Pitcher: Introducing the Francisco Liriano IcyHot Award

May 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The two sides of Liriano - celebrating a no hitter and biting his jersey in the dugout

The two sides of Liriano – celebrating a no hitter and biting his jersey in the dugout

Mevs had a brilliant idea of recognizing a batter each week who goes off for that week, maybe out of no where.  We couldn’t ignore the pitchers for long though.  After much deliberation (with myself), we’d like to introduce the Francisco Liriano IcyHot Award.  Let me explain why we chose this name.  First of all, it’s gives maximum flexibility.  Francisco Liriano has had only 2 starts in his 2013 season after returning from injury.  His numbers? 16 K in 11 innings, 1.64 ERA, and 2 wins.  This is the hot side of Liriano.  The icy side?  It’s ugly.  A 5 game stretch in April 2011 back in Minnesota. Going 1-4 and compiling a 9.13 ERA in the process.  Yikes.  Naming the award this allows us to bestow it upon anyone we want (unless they went 1-1 with a 3.50ERA…that’s lukewarm man).  It could go to a guy getting a no hitter, it could go to a complete disaster…it’s a grab bag.

IcyHot is our unofficial sponsor for reasons most people who played sports will know.  It can work wonders on some sore muscles, but get it in the wrong spot and you will not be happy.  Let’s start with our very first winner:  Chris Sale

A great look at the funky yet extremely effective delivery of Chris Sale

Chris did the deed to the LA Angels this week.  He first went out and tossed a complete game shut out while striking at 7 at home to win 3-0.  He then went across the country five days later and shut down the Angels again.  He pitched intot he 8th inning while striking out an incredible 12 hitters.  Chris Sale dominated this week.  Congrats on winning the inaugural Francisco Liriano IcyHot Award.  Check out his stats below.

FL 5.19

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

 

Note:  IcyHot in no way actually sponsors anything on DiamondHoggers.  (But if you’re interested let us know)

 

 

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox Tagged With: , ,

Goodbye, Adam Dunn

April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

seattle-mariners-v-chicago-white-20130407-121145-806

If you look back through the archives of this blog, you’ll read a lot of good times for us provided by The Big Donkey Adam Dunn. He was the original Godfather of Diamond Hoggers. He was a key cog on our fantasy teams from about 2002 until 2008. He probably gave us anywhere from 250 to 300 fantasy home runs, and was the reason we won the home run title every year.

This season, we took an unexpected late round flier on Dunn to provide some power. And at this time of year with guys dropping like flies and pitchers that need to be streamed, tough decisions needed to be made. Dunn went 0 for 3 with a measly hit-by-pitch tonight in Toronto, dropping his season average down to .128 with just two home runs.

We added Brandon Moss. It’s kind of like that scene in Goodfellas when Pauly hands Henry $300 after all they’ve been through together. Three Ben Franklins for a lifetime of service. For all Adam Dunn has done for us, the guy we drop him for for the final time is Brandon Moss.

We’ll never own Adam Dunn again in fantasy baseball. It’s over. It’s the end of an era. It looks like twilight is settling in on an incredible power hitter’s career. It’s become painful to watch him swing and we’re moving on.

And if the ride ends soon, what a ride it’s been. We’re not sure there’s been a bigger Adam Dunn fan on the planet than us – this is just business. Like a cowboy riding off into the sunset for the last time; we tip our cap to you, big Texan. Hit those 92 more dingers and hang them up.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Fantasy Baseball, the death of a career, The end of an era Tagged With:

Gavin Floyd hung a slider to Bryce Harper and now he’s never going to see it again

April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

On a night when Gavin Floyd had great stuff to start with (he had allowed only an Ian Desmond double to this point), Bryce Harper was waiting in the weeds.

What follows in the video is his fourth home run of the season, and 26th of his career. It tied the game at 1-1 in a game the Nationals would eventually win 5-2.

When you look at Harper, he doesn’t look like a guy who has the type of power to hit these tape measure shots. Although long ago we all learned that he swings a bat of part ash, part thunderbolt. When tested by mediocre peasants like Floyd, he parties in the cheap seats.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals Tagged With: , ,

Adam Dunn stole a base on Friday Night

April 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

You see, I remember when Adam Dunn was still a kid and actually had some speed. I’ve been at a game when he’s accomplished the feat. Back in 2002 he actually stole 19. It’s true, look it up.

But in Las Vegas, the over/under for ’2013 Adam Dunn stolen bases’ would probably be set at one. Dunn needs just one more in the remainder of the season for you believers in his wheels to cash in.

The Sox announcers actually compliment done on his decent speed. They’re clearly full of shit at this juncture. He isn’t fast anymore. We still admire him for being a wiley cuss that will rob you when you aren’t looking.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Stolen Bases the lost art Tagged With:

2013 Chicago White Sox Team Preview

March 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The White Sox are always a peculiar team to me.  They rarely come into a season with fanfare, but seem to ride a mix of veterans and mildly known young guys to a good enough record to not be horrible, but also not make the playoffs.  the last time they made the playoffs was 2008 and since they’ve finished either 2nd or 3rd in the AL Central.  How long can the White Sox continue to flounder in the middle.  Probably for a while if they want to.  The White Sox are in a hard spot that many teams find themselves in.  They have enough talent to maybe go for it, but they might be better off to start over and get some prospects to rebuild.  Their attendance has been slowly declining since 2006 and settled in at just over 24k last year.  Unlike that other Chicago team, the White Sox don’t enjoy sellouts every game just because drunk people like to drink.  Could they flip Paul Konerko or Adam Dunn for some mid-level prospects?  Maybe, but I don’t know how many teams are knocking down the door to get these guys.

What the the Sox do this off season and does it tell us which direction they are leaning.

Major Off-Season Moves:

  • Signed Jeff Keppinger to a 3 yr/$12M deal

It looks like the White Sox don’t even know what they wanted to do.  They didn’t really play in the free agent market except to replace the departed Kevin Youkilis at 3rd base.  Keppinger has bounced around a bit, but is a versatile player with a decent bat and is stats should improve simply from playing 81 games in US Cellular Field.  I don’t think this is a “going for it” move – just a needed replacement.  Later we’ll see some moves that suggest they want to move on to younger players.

Let’s take a look at more after the jump.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 Diamond Hoggers Season Previews, Chicago White Sox Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Adam Dunn is a Hollywood Movie Star

February 20, 2013 by 4 Comments

adam-dunn

Adam Dunn has long been one of our favorite athletes of all-time. Nothing can ever change that, not time nor space or argument from opposing fan about him being wortless defensively or a beer league softball player. He is spoken of as icon status on this blog, do you understand?

We always knew Dunner was capable of big things, and now he’s about to delve into a new realm and unleash his talents on the silver screen. Adam Dunn is going to be in a movie directed by Matthew McConaughey this summer.

Matthew McConaughey has a new movie coming out this summer called “Dallas Buyer’s Club” that, according to IMDB, tells “the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug taking, women loving, homophobic man who, in 1986 was diagnosed with full blown HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.”

Dallas Buyer’s Club sounds like an unbelievable movie in the mold of Boogie Nights or something close. I would want to see it even if Dunn’s part was played by Casey Affleck or someone else who can’t act. To get Dunn is just a bonus. Hopefully he’s one of Ron Woodroof’s skirt-chasing, hard drinking sidekicks. This would be a natural role for Dunn that he played well in his years in Cincinnati before he settled down (it happens to us all around age 30).

This is the highlight of my very sad, boring day.

UPDATE: Dunn is cast as a bartender in the movie. This is perfect.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Dunner, Movies Tagged With:

Frank Thomas: First Ballot Hall of Famer?

January 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This is a slightly better background than my 3rd grade picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No.  Recently Frank Thomas said he thinks he should be a first ballot hall of famer.  He says that he did things the right way and has done enough to be in the first time.  For reference here is a short list of first ballot hall of famers:  Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron.  The worst player to ever be voted in the first time according the WAR was Lou Brock at 43 career WAR.  Thomas’s is 69.7 which is better than 10-15 first timers.  Of course that is ignoring the massive steroid cloud hanging over everyone who has played in the past 20 years.  I’ve already written that steroids use, especially when speculated, shouldn’t be considered, but it is.  I think Thomas will get in easily.  But he’ll have to wait it out just like most everyone else.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Hall of Fame Tagged With:

His Name is Dayan Viciedo and he Swallows Fastballs Whole

May 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Dayan Viciedo: mi amor, mi vida, mi alegría.

For every Jimmy Rollins, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton who under performs and succeeds in embarrassing me; this guy makes up for it.

In yesterday’s White Sox win he collected three more knocks. On May 14th, ‘The Tank’ went on a league wide assault that’s seen him hit .444 with 8 bombs and 23 RBI. His slash line reads .453/.857/1.310 in that time.

I might not win every fantasy league that I’m in; but I am confident in my ability to each and every year find a guy like this who destroys the league on his way into the proverbial fantasy circle of trust. Last year it was Mike Morse. A few years ago Nelson Cruz. This year, I’ve once again got the gem on my squads.

Thank you Dayan, you fastball pulverizing monster; for being my fantasy baseball salvation.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Fantasy Baseball Tagged With:

Chris Sale, Matt Moore Match-up for Strikeout Showdown on Memorial Day

May 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Around the time you were throwing your burgers and beer soaked brats on the grill to officially kick-off the summer, Chris Sale started summer for all of us by striking out 15 Tampa Bay Rays. Matt Moore countered with 10 of his own.

The reason this was special was it figures to be the first of several match-ups between two American League power pitchers that goes into the next decade. Both of these guys are young, and there will be more showdowns like this. Also, if you look at Sale closely; does he not resemble a young Randy Johnson? Just a little bit?

It also matched a season-high equaled by Max Scherzer (15 strikeouts of his own a few weeks back). When someone gets 15 K’s as a starting pitcher, it’s big news. It’s headline grabbing. You get ESPN alert texts about it.

The White Sox also won the game 2-1, which is good for all South Side fans.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Memorial Day, Tampa Bay Devil Rays Tagged With: ,

UPDATE: Adam Dunn still loves Cinco De Mayo

May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I apologize that it took a few days to get this up, but it was a holiday. And Adam Dunn delivered. Anyone out there catch this tweet?

It's Cinco De mayo. Adam Dunn's favorite holiday. He will go yard tonight
May 5, 2012 6:07 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@DiamondHoggers
Diamond Hoggers

He might be in a new city and a few years removed from when we knew him best, but we still know our Big Donkey.

If you missed it, below is video of Dunner ruining Jose Valverde’s heritage holiday this past Saturday. Yeah, he hit it where balls don’t belong in right field at Comerica Park.

I have illusions of grandeur–Dunn celebrating late into the night with a sombrero on and taking body shots of cheap tequila while disregarding the offered lime or lemon. Even if it didn’t happen, you know it probably should have happened.

How I miss Adam Dunn being in my big league city.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers Tagged With: , ,

10 Bold Predictions for 2012: Matt Wieters, All-Star

April 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As part of our preview for the upcoming 2012 season, we’ll be doing a 10 Bold Predictions for 2012 series that will be featured between now and Opening Day. Our seventh prediction: the Baltimore Orioles young phenom Catcher and the All-Star year that lies ahead for him.

We’ve been waiting on Matt Wieters to have a breakout season and enter he next tier of offensive players in the league.

————————————————————————-

And until life got busy, I was going to tell you that Matt Wieters was a sure-fire All-Star this season. It was one of our 10 predictions.

I ask you, after last night’s 2 home run, 5 RBI performance in which he hit a grand slam in extras against the ChiSox, how are we lookin’?

I have to get credit for this. Dude is a stud.

Filed Under: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox Tagged With: ,

Nice to See: Adam Dunn Goes Deep on Opening Day

April 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Adam Dunn tied Frank Robinson and his former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. today when he hit his 8th career Opening Day home run against the Texas Rangers.

The White Sox still lost the game 3-2. But maybe this is the start of a revival for Adam Dunn. After all, he’s not going to have his appendix out again to rattle a hot start. And maybe he’ll have the year he was supposed to have last season.

Same swing, same trot, albeit a few pounds lighter. Same old Dunner. Doing his thing in game one, making you believe at least for a day or so that he could hit 162 long ones. This is one blogger who won’t be surprised one bit to see Adam Dunn get back to his old ways of 35 and 100 even if the Sox end up being a bad team.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox, History, Texas Rangers Tagged With:

Let’s give this daily column format thing a try

September 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We’re on the next to last day of the regular season–unless something whacky happens and forces a one game playoff on Thursday evening. It would be cool, but I have a feeling everything gets sorted out between Atlanta/St. Louis and Boston/Tampa Bay.

  • Last night’s 5-2 win down in Tampa was a big one for the Rays. They’re now all squared up with the Boston Red Sox for the wild card spot with two games to go. I said at the beginning of the season that I didn’t see it as easily as just putting the Red Sox and Phillies in the World Series like all the ESPN and prognosticators did. I felt all along that one would make it, and one would not. At some points in this season, I felt it would be the Red Sox. Now it’s looking like the Phillies and the Red Sox will start winter early. This is what the season is all about. These two teams have battled for 161 games–and with two left the season will be decided. It is what keeps me checking baseball box scores on my phone even with Monday Night Football on. It’s where guys really earn their statistics. It’s where the drama of October really starts. It’s going to be a fun couple of days, and ultimately I feel that the Red Sox will somehow escape the fryer because so many outside of Boston would love to see the Rays do this thing.
  • Another point on the Rays: how many people thought their proverbial ‘window’ slammed shut for the most part after last season? That’s what makes this run so improbable. I thought they would need a year to reload the gun. When Evan Longoria got hurt I was even more certain of it. Longoria came back and earned a full season’s worth of stats in about 3/4 of a season’s games. He’s been good, don’t let the batting average fool you. Desmond Jennings arrived as a bonafide star. The Rays have some magic brewing down there in Tampa.
  • Another golden opportunity missed by the St. Louis Cardinals last night. And it might have been the death blow. Cliff Lee went out and got himself his 17th win of the year, 4-2 over the Braves in Atlanta. The Cardinals rallied to take a 4-4 game into the 10th inning against the Astros, only to lose the game in the bottom of the 10th inning on a single by Angel Sanchez (a .237 hitter) to lose 5-4 a 104 loss team. Who gave up the single? Former Astro Octavio Dotel. The Cardinals are out of gas. But I still think that Atlanta loses one of the next two and St. Louis wins both of their final to give us our one and only one game winner take all playoff on Thursday.
  • Ozzie Guillen traded to Marlins? In all my time watching baseball I had no idea that a manager could be dealt in a trade. I thought it was a joke or publicity stunt when I got an ESPN alert text on my phone. But it appears it’s very real. And how else would Guillen leave the White Sox than in controversy? Maybe it’s not much of a take but if he is headed to Miami, he’s moving into a brand new stadium and inheriting a good young roster with a star shortstop that needs rejuvenated. Also it’s no coincidence that yesterday Jack McKeon announced his retirement after this season. An interesting chain of events and the first move in the start of managerial musical chairs before the offseason even begins.

It’s going to be a whirlwind of a few days here for baseball fans. Keep it locked on your MLB At Bat app or however you follow the game for a few more evenings. The drama is what it’s all about this time of year and you’re going to to see some high drama. Anyone remember Neifi Perez’s homer that damned the Giants in 1998 at Coors Field? I do.

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox Tagged With: , , , , ,

Adam Dunn is in serious trouble

June 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

But Dunn isn’t crushing baseballs now. He’s not even hitting them. His batting average is .173 — the lowest full-season batting average in the last 75 years is Rob Deer’s .179 in 1991.* Dunn pops up to the infield more often than he homers. And with that third outcome missing, watching him is torturous. It isn’t just that the thrill of the home runs is gone.The strikeouts, which used to seem dramatic and mere side effects for the 40 home runs he hit every year, now seem pointless and inevitable. The walks seems kind of pathetic. Everything about an Adam Dunn at-bat these days feels like trauma. That horrifying scene in Swingers where Favreau keeps calling back the girl he met in the bar? Yeah, every Adam Dunn at-bat feels like that. [Joe Posnanski]

Filed Under: Chicago White Sox Tagged With:
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