It is rare for a player to collect 500 home runs or 3,000 hits. It is even more unusual for a player to surpass both milestones. But it would be unique for a player with that pair of achievements to fail to gain entry into the Hall of Fame. That is a prospect Rafael Palmeiro may face, however, when his entry to Cooperstown comes to a vote.
A question was recently posted about Dunn’s propensity to hit sacrifice flies. After all, somebody with Dunn’s power should be able to drive the ball deep when the need arises. Yet Dunn has just one sacrifice fly this season. Is this simply a matter of having few opportunities or not being able to adapt to the situation?
In the market for big-league hitters leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, perhaps the most popular player supposedly for sale is Reds slugger Adam Dunn. This 25-year-old native Houstonian busted his 6-foot-6, 275-pound frame into baseball stardom by finishing tied for runner-up for the home run crown with 46 long balls in 2004, his fourth season in the league. Dunn also gained notoriety by fanning 195 times, breaking Bobby Bonds’ 1970 record of 189 strikeouts.
What a difference seven weeks makes. Defying predictions that their season was effectively over and inane rumors that Roger Clemens would soon return to pinstripes, the Astros spent June and the first half of July clawing their way to a 44-43 record, second place in the Central Division and third place and just five games back for the wild card.
…says Harold Ramis, climbing out of an over-sized footlocker with Sean Young.
The Astros bolted out of the blocks, taking 5 of the first 6 games. Of course, this was an opening homestand that included 4 games vs. the Reds. Then they went out on the road where the wheels fell off, and they finished April with a 9-13 record. Then things went bad. In May, the Astros fell to a season-low 15-30 record, finishing the month only slightly improved at 19-32.
Jeff Bagwell went on the DL because of his bum shoulder and had to delay surgery due to his Doctor being on vacation (or something). Later, he was quietly proclaimed as being “done” for the year. The Ezequiel Astacio Experiment was ended. Ditto Brandon Duckworth. Berkman was hitting like Jason Lane. Jason Lane was hitting like Chris Burke. Chris Burke was hitting like Luke Scott. Luke Scott was sent back to the minors for hitting like a girl.
It was the end of May, and it was a dark time. But the pitching – oh, the pitching.Read More
The Black Sox scandal didn’t occur in a vacuum. It was the culmination of more than a decade of league officials and club owners not dealing seriously enough with gambling influence in the game. While the brazenness of throwing the 1919 World Series may have been shocking, gamblers paying ballplayers to lay down should have surprised no one who’d been paying attention.
