Eric Hosmer‘s game-tying run in Game Five of the World Series was captured in a memorable photo by Chang W. Lee of the New York Times, though the picture’s most notable aspect was the array of horrified reactions from Mets fans in the background. The Times tracked down 11 of the people immortalized in the photo to get their take on the moment months later. The group consisted of nine Mets fans bemoaning their team’s fate and two people who had an opposite reaction — Royals legend George Brett and his wife Leslie.
As we’re just hours away from the first games of the 2016 season, let’s look around baseball…
- Speaking to reporters today (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert), Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale addressed the team’s next steps in the wake of A.J. Pollock‘s elbow fracture. For now, Stewart said, the D’Backs will give internal candidates a chance before looking at players outside the organization to take Pollock’s place. Hale suggested the D’Backs are looking at players who might not make their current teams’ Opening Day rosters, so Arizona could wait at least a couple of days to fully assess the market.
- An unknown Korean team has reportedly made a “substantial” offer to the Orioles for Hyun Soo Kim, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports, though Kubatko notes that this item has yet to be confirmed by a second source. The offer could be a moot point if true, though, since Kim has firmly stated that he wishes to play in North America. The Orioles, meanwhile, have no intention of releasing Kim and eating his entire $7MM contract. The unusual situation between Kim and the O’s has left both sides in a “state of suspended animation,” one source tells Kubatko.
- Athletics lefty Eric Surkamp is drawing interest from teams in Asia, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Surkamp’s minor league deal with the A’s allows him to opt out in June and look for opportunities elsewhere. Surkamp isn’t expected to make Oakland’s Opening Day roster.
- With James Loney entering perhaps his final day with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times looks back on the team’s decision to re-sign the first baseman in the 2013-14 offseason. The Rays outbid other suitors like the Pirates and Brewers to re-sign Loney on a three-year, $21MM deal, which still stands as the most expensive free agent deal of Stuart Sternberg’s ownership tenure. Needless to say, the deal has not worked out, as Loney was a sub-replacement level player in 2015 (-1.3 fWAR) and he’s already been told he won’t make Tampa’s Opening Day roster.
- Cedric Hunter is one of the more unlikely players to be suiting up on Opening Day, MLB.com’s Paul Hagen writes, as the longtime minor leaguer unexpectedly earned himself a regular outfield job with the Phillies. A third-round pick for the Padres in the 2006 draft, Hunter has hit .288/.348/.413 with 76 homers over 4727 career plate appearances in the minors, playing for four different organizations’ farm systems. His MLB career consisted of just six games for San Diego in 2011, yet Hunter is now back in the bigs and still looking to stick around. “To be realistic, it’s just beginning. I haven’t proved myself at all on this level yet,” Hunter said. “So everybody’s giving me congrats and I’m happy about that, but in the back of my mind, I’m like, ‘Look, this is just the beginning. I’ve really got to go out and prove myself and show that I’m ready to be here.’ “
Other news regarding about Baseball around the world, former White Sox player, Dayan Viciedo, became the only foreign player so far in NPB league history to hit a homerun in 3 consecutive days in the NPB regular season, former Bucco Garrett Jones hit his first career homerun in the NPB against their Tokyo Rivals (Yakult) in style, clutch style. And, soon to be Major leaguer, Japanese phenom Shohei Otani, became the only pitcher/position player in NPB league history to hit a homerun in back to back days in the regular season (fan-interference.com/2016/04/02/soon-to-be-major-l…).
MLB, your time to shine is now.
Whenever someone tries to force NPB, KBO or even Mexican League stats on me I am reminded how little I care about AAAA players worldwide..
In other news Garrett Jones was once again designated for assignment by the New York Yankees. Asked to comment Brian Cashman stated “Well, we figured what the heck, he has been hitting home runs in Japan and we wanted him to remember how much we valued him as a member of the Yankees family.” “If he manages to hit a grand slam, we will resign him, only to DFA him the next day after he has flown back to New York.”
It’s all up to you if you care about them or not, I brought these guys up because they played there in the Major leagues, Some might not care, but I’m sure there are people out there who thinks otherwise, especially by those who followed em… curious on how they’re doing right now playing overseas.
I thought it was interesting. I like hearing about guys that go overseas and becoming stars
I’m very intrigued by Otani. I wonder if a major league team would let him be a two way player, or if they would force him to one position or the other.
I do take the overseas stats with a grain of salt, but it is just interesting to know how some of the guys are doing over there.
I’m especially waiting to see the ridiculous monster numbers Viciedo accumulates overseas…I’m sure his Stat line will just he absurd!! He should get another shot in the big leagues at some point, solely because of his potential, and not based off his numbers over there…Although, like I said before, a player with his power potential should absolutely crush bombs in that league, and I’m sure he will….I’m just curious exactly how many HR’s the guy will hit!! lol
Also, Shohei Otano is definitely an intriguing guy to watch/follow over there…I’m curious as to how possibly his game could translate over to the states…It will be interesting to say the least, on when he chooses to come over, how much he will command on the market, and ultimately how he will produce over here…
I’m sure “thecoffinnail” was just purely speaking about his own thoughts/opinions on the subject, but I, myself along with others, are fairly interested and entertained by reading about some of the former big leaguers over seas….Heck, personally, anything baseball grabs my attention!! lol
But yeah thank you for the bit of insight and information about those guys performances so far…If you don’t mind me asking, which site did you come across to find those stats or any overseas stats for that matter???
Yes, Otani’s story will be pretty intriguing and interesting to follow in the coming years, to say the least!!
I have a couple questions, if anyone cares to take a stab at what they think the answers might be???
#1 Relating to your thought, would it be more likely that an NL team takes a stab at him so he could pitch and hit, or possibly even pinch hit at times??
#2 How long until he possibly comes over to the U.S. and plays in the Major Leagues??
#3 How much money would he command on the open market??
#4 Typically, pitchers overseas rely on deception, movement, and location, and not all overseas pitchers have the velocity of Otani. First, I ask you guys, how many pitches does Otani throw regularly, and what types of pitches are they? Also, what velocity does his individual pitches range from, and which pitches are his best??
#5 I know, and I am well aware, comparisons aren’t always easy, or spot on, but I’m just asking for an educated guess here…. So, with that being said, if you had to pick one pitcher, overseas or possibly even here in the U.S., please name one pitcher that Otani pitches most like…and please provide your reasoning behind your choice…
I don’t care if you guys pick one question to answer, or answer them all, any information or answers would greatly be welcomed!! In advance, I want to thank you all for your time and information, it is much appreciated!!
1.) Yeah, it’s very likely that he’ll end up playing for an NL team in the near future, back in January of this year… he said in a statement to Nikkan sports that he would like to play for a Major league team that would like him as both pitcher/non-pitcher if he gets posted. Knowing the AL probably won’t allow him to DH cause of the batters well above him in terms of that category.
2.) This is now Shohei Otani’s 4th season in the NPB, for one to be eligible for posting, one needs to have at least 7 years of service time needed playing for his team. 3 years left for him to be eligible now.
3.) Probably around Yu Darvish’s contract money/years, 20 million USD posting limit.
4.) Splitter is his best pitch, fastball is pretty good too (162 kph max velocity recorded, playing against the Hanshin Tigers where Takashi Toritani was the batter 2 years ago). Fastball, Splitter, Changeup, Slider and Curveball…
5.) Yu Darvish, his pitching from is similar to Darvish. The pitches and the break of his pitchers are very similar to Darvish’s pitches when he throws the pitch.
Also for your previous statement, “But yeah thank you for the bit of insight and information about those guys performances so far…If you don’t mind me asking, which site did you come across to find those stats or any overseas stats for that matter???”
NPB team/player stats can be seen here: npb.jp/eng/
KBO team/player stats for this 2016 aren’t English translated yet but you can see it here: koreabaseball.com/Intro.aspx.
Awesome information!! Greatly appreciated!!
Hopefully others besides myself can benefit from that insight as well…That has definitely got me excited about his arrival, now I just have to keep that excitement for 3 more years!! lol
I doubt they will be major players for him, due to his contract preojections, but I would love for the Braves to take a gamble on him. The comparison to Yu Darvish, definitely gets my blood flowing to see him pitch in the U.S., honestly regardless wherever he ends up pitching.
Thanks again for the time, and information!! Greatly appreciated bud!!
I enjoy it whenever u post about players performance in the Asian leagues and would very much like it if was some way to just get live video of some of the games being televised.
Understand most, if not all are in native language only broadcast, but I used to enjoy watching some many years ago whenever could find a game on the large satellite dish back when that was the only way many could get ball games period.
Don’t worry about thecoffinnail, he’s not that important… Most of us appreciate the information you posted. Thanks for sharing.
How would you know?
trust me – we all know
Yeah Ichiro was awful, and don’t even tell me about how bad Yu Darvish is. Or Koji Uehara. Or Hideki Matsui. The “failure rate” of Japanese players, or even Korean ones, is much lower than the failure rate of American-born players.
Who is forcing you to read a comment on the internet? All your posts are negative, I’m pretty sure you don’t actually even like baseball. Time to get a new hobby. I bet you’d be less insufferable if took up stamp collecting or something.
THANKS Yourface! Couldn’t have said it any better! This guy along with couple others mostly troll on most topics positing negative stuff
reignaado, thank you for taking the time to give us baseball news from NPB and KBO. I remember looking all over the place for info on Dr. K(Wada) back in the day, and even having difficulty following Toritani’s incredible playing streak. I know many others like me appreciate what you do as well, and I should have thanked you a while ago. MLB Opening Day!!
Thank you for sharing! I am very excited about Otani a lot of people have been labeling him the next Darvish.
Always great to see when someone who spent a decade toiling in the minors makes it to the majors. Good luck Cedric!
Yes, he looked solid last year in the Braves spring training, and he had a pretty great year in Gwinnet also. It is awesome that he is getting a chance to play for the Phillies.
I truly wish him the best of luck, even if it is against my favorite team in the Braves, Hunter has earned all the praise and admiration he gets!!
I would not be the least bit suprised if he put up a .270 avg, with 10-15 HR’s and drove in around 60 runs..
I’m rooting for Hunter too. The Padres have pretty much always drafted guys who busted so any of them that succeed, even years later, are guys I root for. I remember seeing him play in 2011 and he was athletic and looked like he had good tools but the approach at the plate was pretty bad. He didn’t recognize breaking stuff at all. Hopefully he’s figured it out and, heck, if he has then he gets to make a half-million bucks this year and that’s awesome for him and his family.
surkamp pitched a great 7 innings in relief for the a’s against the giants today, i’d like to see him in at least a long relief role or maybe beat felix for the 5th rotation spot. would definitely be sad to see him go.
I care I love BASEBALL. Thanks for the info.
Right on, i love BASEBALL too… It’s opening day baby!!! “Play ball!”
Ahh a Mets fan. That explains it..