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- Bruce learns from bout with adversity
Mark Sheldon reports on Jay Bruce's offseason and how he's dealt with a frustrating 2009.
Electing not to play winter ball and make up at-bats from the 57 games he missed last year, Bruce instead went home to Beaumont, Texas, and decompressed. Eventually, he resumed lifting weights, running, throwing and -- beginning about a month ago -- hitting. The wrist has passed all of the tests, and there is nothing holding back Bruce in his workouts. "It's felt fine and like [the injury] never happened," Bruce said. "I've had no pain; it's nonexistent. For a little bit, when I came back, it was still tight, but it's fine now."
Good to hear.
Sheldon also reports that Gomes' return remains up in air. As Turtle noted, MLB trade rumors is reporting that Gomes may sign with Cleveland. - Diamond Hoggers interviews Zizzy Mane
Zizzy Mane, a hip-hop musician, grew up playing little league with Jay Bruce. The two have stayed in touch and Bruce has selected Zizzy's track "The Deal" for his at-bat music this year. Zizzy talks about his and Jay's favorite artists and tells some Bruce stories from little league. Definitely worth a listen, especially if you're a music fan. - END devours Mexican pitching, plates 3 runs
Juan Francisco went 3 for 3 with an opposite-field HR and a sac fly in leading DR to a 7-2 win over Mexico on Saturday. It's great to see this as END had struggled in the first four games, hitting .188 with 1 double. He's also had 3 errors. Former (?) Red Kevin Barker also hit a HR (!) for the DR (!!). Yesterday, DR won the series with a 7-4 win over Venezuela. END added another 3 RBIs to give him 6 for the final two games. -
Fayplacement: Embarrassing moment
Fayplacement Nick Hurn recounts a moment he'd like back from RedsFest: The elevator doors open, Davis enters, Bruce enters and I follow. I’m halfway in when I trip over Bruce’s size 50 shoe and stumble directly into Davis. My first conversation with Davis, one of my favorite players of all-time went something like this: (Trip, stumble into Davis) Davis: Have you been drinking? Me: No, Jay Bruce has really big feet and I’m a small guy. I tripped …. Davis: Are you sure you haven’t been drinking? (Laughter) (Silence) (Elevator doors open). - The Atlantic - Where Have You Gone, Jim Merritt?
Andrew Cohen watches Game 5 of the '70 WS on the MLB Network and decides to contact Jim "Got Nothing" Merrit, the losing pitcher for the Reds that game, for an interview. Cohen did not get a response. Just a strange column/blog post from a guy mostly known as a legal reporter for CBS. -
C. Trent catches up with Glenn Braggs
Braggs reminisces about the 1990 team. While most fans ask Braggs about the bat-breaking in the World Series, I'll always remember him for the the homer-robbing catch in the LCS against Pittsburgh. -
Red Letter Daze talks to Cuban baseball writer Peter Bjarkman
Since we've gone far too long without an Aroldis Chapman story. This guy isn't terribly high on Chapman, but I don't agree with this assessment below:
Is he a good risk in the abstract? Certainly, because he can throw 100 mph. But if you are comparing the risk to the $30 million he received, or to Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick of the Nationals in last year’s draft, then no. I don’t think you want to risk that kind of money on any pitcher who hasn’t thrown a single inning in professional baseball and who could blow his arm out tomorrow.
Of course, Stephen Strasburg also hadn't faced professional competition when he was drafted. That's the nature of the draft and international signings - you're taking guys on their potential. You can't select those players based on a robust track record against other professionals because it doesn't exist. And while there's an injury risk inherent with any pitcher, Bjarkman concedes that Chapman hasn't had an injuries in the past 3 years. All that said, there are plenty of interesting first-hand observations about Chapman's stuff and control that are worht the read. - MLB on FOX Unveils 2010 Broadcast Schedule
The Reds will not make any appearances. My NL Central tally: Cardinals - 8; Cubs - 8; Brewers - 4; Astros - 2; Pirates - 0.
This year FOX will feature a couple of prime time games instead of the normal afternoon-only schedule. BizofBaseball also reports that there's still no word on whether the blackout policy will remain the same for the prime time games. Fans naturally hate the blackouts, but it would be particularly maddening if an afternoon game is blacked out because of a 7 p.m. prime time game. - Pitt. Post-Gazette - Thanks for Nutting
I'd say public opinion is stacked against Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting. Pittsburgh's major newspaper implores Nutting to sell his team already in the wake of rumors that Mario Lemieux has made an offer: [B]y selling the team you can finally deliver on your promise of producing a winner, and probably years ahead of schedule. You would become an overnight sensation, Pittsburgh's newest baseball hero. It's worth thinking about. (HT to Big League Stew). Meanwhile, the Astros appear to be off the table. - D.C. Sports Bog - Adam Dunn on 1B, MMA
Entertaining copy as always from my favorite ex-Red. Dunn admits to being a chatterbox at times when playing first: "Depends who it is," he said. "I've got my buddies, and we've got a lot of things to talk about. Other people, I have no idea what to talk about. For instance, say Brian McCann was over there, I would probably make some sort of fat joke, something like that. I would talk to David Wright about how he can't hit homers any more. It depends." Also, Nyjer Morgan calls Dunn "Freddie Physical." (HT to Big League Stew)