Top 10 active innings eaters

Chances are, you need a few pitchers on your fantasy baseball roster that can eat up innings. You know, that silly rule that prevents you from loading up on closers? Well, here is a list you could use, especially if your team if floundering and you need some steady pitchers to deliver quality innings of work. This is the list of active leaders in innings pitched. Some of the names will surprise you, but certainly not all of them:

1. Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies (3966 innings)—Remember when Jamie Moyer pitched for the Cubs? Yeah, neither does anyone else. He was a rookie in 1986, the year Mookie Wilson hit the ball through Bill Buckner’s legs. I know, most of you don’t remember that, either.

2. Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (2984)—Though it’s early, Andy Pettitte is having a career year at age 38. And I’m just glad I had the foresight (errr, luck) to draft him for my fantasy team.

3. Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox (2980)—Remember when Tim Wakefield pitched for the Pirates? Seriously, he started out there in 1992 and joined the Sox in 1995. And dude is still beloved by the chowder heads.

4. Livan Hernandez, Washington Nationals (2795)—Two things are baffling. One, that Livan’s age is listed as 35. Thirty-freaking-five! Um, no. And two, that this guy is still getting hitters out with that blistering 80 mph fastball of his.

5. Javier Vasquez, New York Yankees (2532)—So this guy has banked $92 million in his career to date for losing as many games as he wins (145-144). That’s proof right there that innings eaters are worth something, but still sounds like highway robbery to me.

6. Jeff Suppan, Milwaukee Brewers (2437)—He’s relegated to the bullpen for the most part, but still racking up innings of work.

7. Kevin Millwood, Baltimore Orioles (2382)—Remember when Kevin Millwood was the fourth starter behind Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine in Atlanta? That was in 1997 but seems like it was 50 years ago.

8. Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves (2191)—He may have peaked a few years ago, but this guy still has some of the nastiest stuff in the game.

9. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (2124)—Through all of the injuries, it’s truly amazing that Tim Hudson has pitched that many innings. And hey, Javier, put this in your pipe and smoke it—a 153-79 career record.

10. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies (2123)—This dude just keeps winning, but even he’s only got 154 wins to date. Does that seem right?

Source: Baseball Reference

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Top 10 Infamous World Series Moments

Real Clear Sports lists the top 10 infamous World Series moments of all time.

Earthquake Series5. Loma Prieta Earthquake
Shortly before Game 3 began at Candlestick Park, the 6.9 magnitude Lorna Prieta earthquake struck. It was the first major earthquake in America to be broadcast on live television. At the time the quake struck, Tim McCarver was narrating highlights and Al Michaels cut in to say “I’ll tell you what — we’re having an earth–,” and at that point the feed from San Francisco was lost. Fans in the stadium were heard cheering “Let’s play ball,” shortly afterwards, as the damage at the stadium itself was minimal. A power outage forced the game to be postponed, however, and the damage to the rest of the bay area was far greater than a mere power outage…

4. Clemens Throws bat at Piazza
After two quick Clemens’ strikeouts, Piazza strode to the plate. On a 1-2 count, Clemens hummed a fastball inside, which Piazza fouled-off his hands, shattering his bat into three pieces. The barrel of the bat landed between the mound and first base, where it rested until Clemens ran over and picked it up (later saying that he thought it was the ball), and threw it over the first base line and into foul territory, directly in the path of Piazza. A confused Piazza turns towards Clemens, yelling at him “What’s your problem?” The two would get close to one another, but Clemens refused to acknowledge Piazza, and the situation eventually deescalated. Piazza grounded out on the next pitch, while the Yankees would go on to win the game, 6-5, and the series, 4-1, but the Clemens-Piazza fight remains the most memorable moment from the Subway Series.

1. Bill Buckner’s Error
Entering the bottom of the 10th inning, the Red Sox were leading 5-3, and after two quick outs, the title was seemingly inevitable. Three straight singles from the Mets made it 5-4, but still, all Boston needed was one out for their first World Series win since 1918. But then Bob Stanley uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the Mets to tie the game at five. Mookie Wilson followed, and hit a slow-bouncer down the first-base line, and it looked like, finally, the Sox were out of the inning, and onto the 11th. All Bill Bucker had to do was field the ball and toss it to first…

These are some great moments from the past 20 years. I’ll never forget watching the Giants-A’s ’89 Series as a youngster and not understanding the magnitude of the situation. And I’ll still never get why Clemens decided to chuck a bat at Piazza, then lie about why he did it, and then stick with the lie later. Hey, he kind of did that again later when it was discovered he used stero…

As Shea Stadium closes, a look back

Far more than the moments any DVD could ever capture, my memories of Shea Stadium run much deeper than that. I grew up on Long Island, and my dad and brothers and grandfather influenced me at a young age to root for the Mets, which can be thrilling and heartbreaking at different times, sometimes at the same time.. I suppose that’s the case with any pro sports team, but the Mets and Shea always had some sort of magical undertone going on.

Which is why it’s incredibly sad that yesterday, the last regular season game at Shea clinched nothing more than a ticket home for the players and coaching staff. As I texted my buddy Dave and his kids during the game (they were there in person to experience the heartbreak), I watched the game and had some awful memories come flooding back—the collapse of this year equaling the collapse of last season. I also felt the familiar disappointment that was a little more pronounced in the 2006 NLCS, as Yadier Molina clubbed a two-run homer the inning after Endy Chavez made one of the most spectacular plays you’ll ever see. Chavez did it again yesterday, and then the Marlins hit two home runs in the following inning off of a Mets bullpen that was overmatched pretty much all of 2008, but more so since Billy Wagner went down with a season-ending elbow injury.

But, well, we can’t change fate. And while the Brewers and Phillies play in the 2008 postseason, and Shea Stadium gets ready to be torn down for good, I’d like to share a few memories that stand out in my mind Read the rest of this entry »

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