Year: 2015

A-Rod’s 3,000th hit

Crippy Baseball

Have you ever heard of this guy? I heard him on MLB radio a few years ago. He’s made a science out of catching baseballs. Anyway, he caught A-Rod’s 3000th.

Zack Hample's avatarThe Baseball Collector

So . . . as you may have heard, Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th career hit happened to be a home run, and I happened to snag it. (Un-REAL!!) I’m planning to write a long blog entry with lots of photos, but things are so crazy right now that I wanted to get this up quickly.

First, here I am on TV with the ball:

zack_on_tv_with_number_3000

Here’s a better look at the ball itself:

arods_3000th_hit

The “R” is for “Rodriguez,” and the “1” indicates that it was the first specially-marked ball of the game that was put into play for his at-bats. Those markings were already there when I snagged it. The sticker up above was placed there a little while later by an MLB authenticator.

Now, why are things so crazy? Here’s a screen shot of my email inbox:

emails_06_19_15

I’ve already gotten SO MANY interview requests — and I still have 62 texts that I…

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Indians 8 Tigers 2

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So the brief winning streak is over.  Buck Farmer doesn’t seem ready for the big leagues.  Hmm, I’m not sure JV is ready either. The only good thing is that J.D. stayed hot with another home run.

I’m beginning to worry about Justin Verlander and wonder what the Tigers can expect from him the rest of way on his contract. It could be ugly.  He shows no signs of paying any dividends in the near future.

When Price leaves, this once vaunted rotation will look rather modest. (He’s going to the Cubs.) I’m not sure what to make of Simon.  One start he looks great the next he looks like he’s throwing batting practice.  Sanchez is great when he’s on and not balking and not hurt.  I’m not sure what’s going on with Greene and Lobstein.  A lot of ifs and maybes and mights and Idontknows.  I’m rambling.

Let’s see what happens this weekend.

Tigers 7 Indians 3

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I like the three game winning streak and all the run scoring. But it has to taken with a grain of salt. The Tigers seem to have the Indians’ number similar to the way the Angels have the Tigers’ number.

JV is hurt. Buck Farmer is starting and they are down 5-0. Goodbye winning streak.

Yankees 7 Tigers 2

Crippy Baseball

So what do you get when you can’t hit, you can’t pitch, and you can’t run the bases? A 7-2 beat down. This is three games in a row after winning 6 of 8. JV did what he does in Yankee Stadium, gives up home runs.

Kinlser is a liability on offense. When he does get on base he finds a way to make an out. And it is time for Castellanos to either ride the bench or go down to Toledo. He gives the Tigers nothing offensively and is a liability defensively. If Ausmus has to bring in Romine for a defensive replacement late in games, why exactly is Castellanos playing? He’s not producing with the bat.

I hate them.

Reds 5 Tigers 2

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Kyle Ryan was cruising along until he wasn’t.  Still, the only runs he gave up were courtesy of solo home runs.  This seems to be an epidemic among Tigers pitchers this year.  Once they give a long ball they can’t stop.  It’s like eating one potato chip.  It begins to snowball.  Before you know it they’ve given up four bombs and the game is over or you’re 300 pounds but I digress.  It is a very odd phenomena that I wish would stop, along with hitting into double plays.

It didn’t take Reds manager Bryan Price long to realize it probably isn’t a good idea to keep pitching to Jose Miguel Cabrera. I suspect he won’t get much to hit in Cincinnati either.

The Tigers caught a bit of bad break on the line drive hit by Cespedes that hit the Reds pitcher, Michael Lorenzen.  That should have scored a couple instead of only one.

Back to the drawing board.