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      Top 10 active RBI leaders

      April 25, 2009 /

      You want a telling statistic in baseball? How about the good ol’ run batted in (RBI)? This is a stat usually dominated by home run hitters, but it’s also a good indicator of productivity at the plate. The guys on this list have been doing it over time, as well, whether they have been chemically enhanced or not, and to qualify, they must be currently on a major league roster:

      1. Ken Griffey, Seattle Mariners (1774)—I can’t think of a classier player in the last 20 years. And how about these numbers….from 1996 to 1999, the last four years of Griffey’s first tenure with Seattle, he had 567 RBI. That’s an AVERAGE of 142 per season. Just sick.

      2. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (1738)—For all the fun we poke at Man Ram for being a goofy, lazy, eccentric superstar, we always temper our joking with “but the guy sure can rake.” You want sick numbers? From 1995 when Manny began playing regularly (okay, it was technically 1994 but that season was cut way short) through 2008, he has averaged 111 RBI per season. Think about that.

      3. Gary Sheffield, New York Mets (1634)—It’s hard to believe this guy has been in the big leagues longer than Griffey. And unlike some of the other guys on this list, Sheffield’s 1634 RBI is more about longevity, as his career high is only 132.

      4. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (1606)—A-Rod is almost a lock to pass 2000 RBI, and when you hear the other three names that have done that, it will blow your mind….Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Cap Anson.

      5. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (1504)—Another guy with a nice, long career, and he’s topped 100 RBI nine times….so far.

      6. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (1498)—38 years old and he’s still mashing. I know I’ve written this before, but it’s hard to believe the Indians had Thome and Man Ram in the lineup as well as Albert Belle and Eddie Murray, and didn’t win like five titles.

      7. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (1378)—Come to think of it, it’s hard to believe the Braves didn’t win more than one World Series after winning fourteen straight division crowns. But don’t blame Chipper.

      8. Garret Anderson, Atlanta Braves (1292)—He’s lost some pop the last few seasons, but still a solid, productive player.

      9. Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics (1285)—He juiced, he admitted it, and everyone still loves this guy. Maybe that’s because he didn’t lie about it. And Giambi’s 32 homers and 96 RBI last year at the age of 37 proves he didn’t need the juice to begin with.

      10. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels (1271)—Another freak of nature type hitter who has averaged 117 RBI per season over the course of his career. And Vlad is still only 34.

      P.S. Did anyone else notice there are no Red Sox players on this list?

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Lions sign Matthew Stafford to six-year, $78 million deal

      April 24, 2009 /

      Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that the Detroit Lions have signed quarterback Matthew Stafford to a six-year, $78 million contract and will select him with the top overall pick in Saturday’s draft. The deal also includes $41.8 million in guaranteed money.

      Some scouts and draft pundits don’t feel as though Stafford is a franchise-type quarterback and they might be right. If he were to come out next year, there’s a good chance he would be the third or fourth best quarterback prospect behind Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and/or Tim Tebow.

      But the bottom line is that if new GM Martin Mayhew believes that Stafford can lead his team, then he had to take him. The money is ridiculous, but unfortunately that’s the way the rookie salary structure is currently set up. In the end, Mayhew couldn’t be scared off by the contract demands if he felt that Stafford turn the Lions into a winner.

      For fans sake, let’s hope this was a football decision above all else, and not an opportunity for William Clay Ford Sr. to sell jerseys, hats and tickets. Hopefully Ford allowed Mayhew to get the player that he wanted or else this is going to be the Matt Millen era all over again. (Okay, well maybe it won’t be that bad, but you get the point.)

      Time will only tell if the Lions made the right choice in Stafford. Obviously there are no sure things in the draft, but maybe he can follow in the footsteps of ’08 first round quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. Stafford certainly has the arm strength to make all the passes at the next level and appears to have a good head on his shoulders. The Lions needed a quarterback and they got one.

      Hopefully Mayhew got the right one.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Rams buy Mark Sanchez a plane ticket

      April 24, 2009 /

      According to NFL.com, the Rams, who own the second pick in Saturday’s draft, have apparently bought a plane ticket for quarterback Mark Sanchez to travel to St. Louis on Sunday.

      One thing that could be legit or be a ploy (it is interesting, if nothing else): The Rams, who hold the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, have purchased a plane ticket for USC QB Mark Sanchez to fly from Los Angeles to St. Louis on Sunday, when the team plans to introduce its top selection.

      While the Rams have bought a ticket (hopefully, it’s refundable), they might not select Sanchez.
      The thinking emanating from a lot of folks around here is that St. Louis will select Baylor OT Jason Smith. The Rams need to find a left tackle to replace veteran Orlando Pace, who was released in a cost-cutting move.

      The Rams could be trying to generate some trade interest in keeping Sanchez’s name out there, but for a team that has won just five games in two seasons, drafting wisely would be prudent, to say the least.

      Nonetheless, the plane ticket for Sanchez is intriguing.

      As the article suggests, is this just part of the Rams’ master scheme to try and garner trade interest in the No. 2 pick or are they seriously planning on drafting Sanchez? They did seek, and were granted, permission by the NFL to negotiate a contract with a player if the Lions signed their prospect before the draft. Considering the Lions already have a deal in place with linebacker Aaron Curry and are working feverishly to sign Matthew Stafford, maybe St. Louis really does plan on selecting Sanchez. After all, Marc Bulger is on his last legs and it’s not like the Rams are developing a youngster behind him right now.

      My question is, if they buy a plane ticket for Sanchez and don’t take him, are there any repercussions to that? I would have to assume that the Rams would have thought of that before buying the ticket, but it’ll be interesting to see if there is anything in league rules that says a team can’t do something like that before the draft.

      What a bizarre story.

      NFL, NFL Draft, Rumors & Gossip

      Athlete Profile: Rey Maualuga

      April 24, 2009 /

      Intensity escapes the best of us. The amount of focus required to sustain a level appropriate for something as aggressive as collegiate football defense is hardly something to write off. Where does it come from? Can it be taught or learned? I’d like to hope so, though it seems a bit of a catch-22 in that in order to be intense enough to learn to be intense we must first be intense enough not to need to learn at all.

      In any case, for those lucky enough to have it, raises seem to drop out of the sky and skirts appear to fly up into it. Rey Maualuga has it, and that’s gonna have to suffice for now since I am unaware of every single thing he does in his personal time (probably getting that 10% increase I should have had after landing the Gibson account). He’s been using that, along with his considerable speed and strength, to run roughshod over offensive lines and make tackles that look like Cthulu versus Howdy-Doody.

      Well, maybe his past will give us a bit of a hint as to where this ferocious ability was acquired. Born on a military base in Oklahoma (OK, must be a lot of aggression and discipline there) to American Samoan parents, Maualuga then moved to Hawaii (you lost me). He reportedly began playing football in middle school after noticing that all the popular kids carried their pads to school. OK, that’s not that intense, reminds me of the reason I listened to Dave Matthews Band for a year.

      Continue reading »

      College Football, Fantasy Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      Athlete Profile: Michael Oher

      April 24, 2009 /

      Michael Oher is a big man. At 6’5” and 309 pounds that would seem rather obvious, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. Oher’s got quite a back story, a fact that hasn’t been lost on we in the profession of sports writing. A novel concerning his life leading up to his college career has not only been already released, but is in the works for becoming a feature film. While the material remains accurate, it seems reports of Oher’s intelligence (according to Oher) were exaggerated. But no worries, like I said, he’s a big guy.

      And what is this life that resulted in a bestseller? OK, I’m not going into too much detail here, it’s been repeated in other places ad nauseam and I don’t want to throw up on my keyboard. Oher grew up more or less homeless, the son of a crack addict and a father who was never there. Roaming through schools, forgotten on holidays and birthdays, it wasn’t until he was taken in by the Tuohy family at 16 that things truly started to turn around for him. Living with the affluent Memphis family helped grant him the stability and backing needed to get him into a position to rise to national attention.

      As if all that wasn’t enough to leave a man a bit bitter, he learned that his last name was, in fact, not his last name at all. While trying to obtain a drivers license, Oher learned that government records retained the name of Michael Williams, his biological father’s surname. A bit of a surprise for anybody I must say. Oher took it in stride, getting a license as Michael Williams for a time before eventually changing his legal name to Oher (Oher is from his mother’s side btw).

      Continue reading »

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Football, NFL, NFL Draft

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