This year’s new twist of announcing finalists for all the Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards had my imagination running — especially about today’s awarding of the Most Valuable Players for the American and National Leagues.

Maybe I watched too many beauty pageants growing up, or spent too much timing playing with that Miss America Barbie doll I had, but hearing “five finalists” made me think of something like this picture. Well, with their heads perhaps in a little better proportion to the rest of their bodies (especially Ryan Braun’s) — but you get the idea thanks to this Photoshop by Miranda Remaklus. (Yes, sadly, that is not an actual photo. Ryan Braun’s head might be large in real life, but not quite that big. And what else would you expect from a Cardinals fan except insults about Ryan Braun? Other than to say doesn’t Yadier Molina look genuinely pretty in pink? Especially with his red cap on?)

While I still hold out hope for seeing them lined up together in the MLB Network studio tonight wearing beautiful evening gowns and gorgeous jewels, here’s a closer look at the five finalists for Mr. NL MVP. And, unlike other beauty pageants, this award is based strictly on talent. (Because, while it might be appealing to see Andrew McCutchen in a bathing suit — very appealing, actually — I can do without seeing Yadi in one. Sorry, Yadi. But I do still love you.)

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
The numbers (all via Baseball Reference)

• .319/.391/.595, 41 home runs, 112 RBI, 6.8 WAR
• Led the NL in home runs, runs scored, total bases, OPS with .987
• Second in RBI, hits (112)
• Third in batting average, WAR

Can the reigning Mr. NL MVP keep his crown? For 2012 he had more hits, RBI and total bases than last year, as well as 11 more home runs with his league-leading and career-high 41. Will that be enough? Probably not …
» Continue reading “Who Will Be Mr. National League MVP?”

NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

We’re down to the final few games in the 2012 regular season. Here’s where we are:

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds have the division won and are pretty much just playing for playoff positioning. They’re tied for the best record in the NL, along with the Washington Nationals. Obviously, Cincy would like to get that home field advantage.

There’s a bigger issue for the Reds though as they’re without Dusty Baker, who was hospitalized last week. Baker reportedly suffered a mini-stroke, to go along with an irregular heartbeat. He’ll be out for this week, but might be back for the final series against St. Louis next week.

We hope Baker recovers and gets healthy.

The Reds play two more against Milwaukee and travel to Pittsburgh for the weekend. Make sure to read C-ing Red for all the latest on the Reds.

» Continue reading “NL Central Recap: Down the Wire”

I’m picking up on a trend. In the past, Throwback Thursdays have been somewhat biased towards the 1970′s… (well, except for all those ridiculously -old-school-turn-of-the-century-baseball-is-a-gentlemans-sport-origins postings) and …today is no different. The 70′s was an excellent time to watch baseball, if you weren’t taking hallucinogenic drugs (drugs are bad) or disco-dancing (also bad, worse maybe).

And of all years of the 70′s, 1977 was, sensu stricto, the best year. Not only did it boast the release of John Travolta’s gem Saturday Night Fever,  but the year is particularly noted for the birth of what I very seriously refer to as The Two Greatest Sports Logos Of All Time.

Why does my opinion count? Because you’re still reading my article. I might add that I was an art major in college… for like a semester until I decided I hated having a social life and that I wanted to look at very very small things under microscopes while wearing a lab coat because lab coats make you look cooler… which gives me great authority.

For what it’s worth, I believe a full appreciation for a sports logo only comes when you actually try to design one yourself. Try to design one yourself, and fail horribly at it.

I did that once.

I entered a contest. It was fun at first. To pretend: I thought maybe it would be The One that broke me into The Industy- if there is such an Industry- of Uniform Creation and Critique. I would work in the Major League Baseball Office of Uniform Design and Color Selection with my name on a plaque on the door that read: Elise Myers, Namer of Colors and Designer of Good Things.

I was a little proud of my design for this contest. I even might have sent a copy of it home to my mother, who is herself a designer. She might have thought about posting it on her fridge. I was proud, yes. Because I was so, so clever.

» Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Saturday Night Fever In Milwaukee ’77″

NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

We’re entering the final weeks of the season and the playoff race is starting to heat up all around baseball.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds sit comfortably in first place with their 86-57 record. Things are going so well that they’re just chilling out on the beach and complaining about the salt in their margarita. And even though they have struggled a bit as of late, it’s not like any of the other teams are making a run.

Tuesday night, they got the 5-3 win against the Pirates Tuesday night. They will go for the sweep of the Pirates Wednesday as they try to keep getting that magic number down for the division series crown.

You can read more about the Reds at the C-ing Red blog.

» Continue reading “NL Central Recap: They’re Still Playing?”

NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds sit six games ahead of the the second place team in the Central. They’ve won four straight games, including Tuesday night against the Mets, 3-0.

Jay Bruce played hero in the win over the Mets Tuesday night when he hit the game-winning three run home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The win against the Mets came after the Reds won three out of four in Chicago last weekend. They’ll play two more against the Mets Wednesday and Thursday. The Reds play the Cubs once again this weekend, only this time around it will be in Cincinnati.

Read C-ing Red for all the latest on the Reds.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates are the team sitting six games behind Cincinnati. As of now, they hold the second wild card spot for the National League.

Pittsburgh has lost four of their last five games, including the first two in a four-game set against the Dodgers. The most recent loss was Tuesday night when the Pirates lost, 11-0.

The game was quite rough for Pittsburgh as Chad Billingsley pitched eight innings, giving up just five hits. Pittsburgh trailed 6-0 heading into the ninth inning when Chad Qualls gave up five runs (four earned) to put the game out of reach.

There will be two more chances for the Pirates to get a win in the series. They’ll need to get a win as they prepare for a trip to St. Louis this weekend for three games with the Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals obviously have a big opportunity to gain ground on the Pirates when the two face each other this weekend. But first, St. Louis needs to finish their series with the Diamondbacks.

St. Louis won Tuesday night over Arizona, 8-2. The Cardinals needed the win after losing two of three to the Phillies, last weekend. St. Louis has two more games with the Diamondbacks before their series with Pittsburgh.

Make sure you read Aaron Miles Fastball for all the fun Cardinals stuff going on.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers lost again Thursday night. They scored three runs in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough as they lost to the Rockies, 8-6. With their Monday night loss, the Brewers have lost the series. They will try to avoid the sweep Wednesday.

If you’re interested in writing about the Brewers, check out this link here to find out more.

Chicago Cubs

Honestly, I’ve lost interest in the Cubs. It’s a lost season. There’s no need to get riled up about their struggles. It happens! At this point, the only interest I really have is seeing how the young talent is playing.

The Cubs lost Tuesday night to Houston, 10-1. I’d be mad because Houston is in last place, but again, it’s a lost season. I’m just so indifferent at this point. I’m ready for football season.

Chicago wraps up their series with Houston Wednesday. Then they get ready to play four games against Cincinnati this weekend.

Read A League Of Her Own for all the latest on the Cubs. I’m pretty sure they are less indifferent than I.

Houston Astros

Well they did win Tuesday night, but they’re still way far back in the Central. The magic number for Houston is 14. That 14 is games left before they are eliminated from playoff contention. So unless the rest of the teams in the Central get food poisoning and the Astros get hot, I wouldn’t count much on a comeback.

After the Cubs series, Houston will be home this weekend to play Arizona.

Make sure you read Tales From the Juice Box for all the latest on the Astros.

NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

We’ve now reached the Pennant Race portion of the 2012 Major League Baseball season. Three teams are within eight games of each other in the NL Central.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are sitting pretty right now, three games ahead in the Central. Cincy has been playing some good baseball as of late as they’ve won nine of their last 10, including Tuesday night, 7-6, against San Diego.

Prior to losing Monday night, the Reds secured sweeps against Colorado and Houston. The Reds are in terrific shape at this point and if they keep it up, nothing will stop them, not even sweaty robots.

The Reds did make some dealings for the trade deadline. They picked up some bullpen help as they traded for Kansas City reliever Jonathan Broxton.

There was talk about Cincy acquiring Denard Span from the Twins, but reports indicated Span declined the deal.

Cincy has two more games, Wednesday and Thursday against the Padres. This weekend, they’ll face off against the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game series.

To read more on the Reds, check out C-ing Red.

» Continue reading “NL Central Recap: Now for August”

NL Central Standings (via MLB.com)

When we last left the Recap, the Pirates were leading the division. That has since changed.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds now hold a narrow lead in the NL Central, thanks to their efforts against St. Louis last weekend. They picked up the three game sweep against the Cardinals, to get off to a good start after the All-Star Break.

However, the Reds face some bigger issues as they’ve lost their star player Joey Votto to a torn meniscus. He’ll be out for several weeks. Votto had apparently tore it during a June 29 game against the Giants when he was sliding into third. For the record, I have no clue if Votto had any bathroom issues.

The Reds lost Monday night, 5-3, but picked up the win Tuesday 4-0, over the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have two more games with Arizona and then they’ll have a three game series at home against Milwaukee.

To read up on all Reds coverage, check out C-ing Red. I suggest you do this as the writers for the site are really quite awesome.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates no longer have control of the NL Central after they went into the All-Star Break with the division lead. Pittsburgh lost two out of three to Milwaukee in their first series back and then they lost Monday night to Colorado.

Pittsburgh remains a game behind Cincy as they picked up the win Tuesday night against the Rockies, 6-2. It’s amazing to see the Pirates at 50 wins at this point in the season, especially with some of the years they’ve had in the last decade.

The Pirates will wrap up the series Wednesday with the Rockies and then head home for a three game series against Miami.

If you’re interested in writing about the Pirates, I suggest going to this link to find out more about how you can be part of the Aerys team.

St. Louis Cardinals

So the Cardinals are in a free fall. They’ve lost four of their last five games since the All Star Break ended, including Tuesday night, 3-2, to Milwaukee.

Why the Cardinals are struggling? I’m not really so sure. I do know St. Louis hasn’t scored more than three runs in a game since they got back from the break.

St. Louis tries to win the series Wednesday. They get Chicago this weekend for a showdown at Busch Stadium.

If you want to read up on the Cardinals, it would be in your best interest to check out Aaron Miles Fastball. It’s a good site with great writers. And I hear they have breakfast cereal wars from time to time.

Milwaukee Brewers

So the Brewers got the 3-2 win Tuesday night over the Cardinals and they did so with a new closer. Milwaukee is now going with Francisco Rodriguez after John Axford had a blown save in Monday night’s loss.

Maybe K-Rod struggles and they go back to Axford. It’s not like they’re going to keep him around Antiques Roadshow forever ya know. (This might be one of the few times I get to make an Antiques Roadshow reference so deal with it.)

After the St. Louis series, the Brewers will head to Cincy to take on the Reds. If you are interested in writing about the Brewers, contact us.

Chicago Cubs

After sweeping the Diamondbacks over the weekend, the Cubs lost Tuesday night to the Miami Marlins, 9-5. The game itself marked Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen’s return to Chicago for a game since being hired during the offseason.

Ozzie will have a chance to get two more wins Wednesday and Thursday. After that, the Cubs take on the Cardinals in St. Louis.

To read up on the Cubs, check out A League of Her Own, which might be the greatest thing ever. Of course, I might be biased.

Houston Astros

Sitting in last place in the division, 17 games back, is none other than Houston. They lost Tuesday night to San Diego, 8-2.

It’s been a rough start for the Astros after the All-Star Break. They’ve lost four of five games, with their only win Monday night against the Padres. Houston was swept last weekend by the San Francisco Giants.

Houston still has a chance to take the series from San Diego as they play Wednesday and Thursday. The Astros wrap up their trip around the West with a three game series in Arizona this weekend. They’ll be home next week for games against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Check out Tales From the Juice Box for all the latest Houston Astros news and analysis. They’re also great!

NL Central standings (via MLB.com)

It’s another time for that NL Central Recap. So sit back, relax, find your favorite Mr. Met portrait and enjoy the recap.

Cincinnati Reds

It seems like only two weeks ago that the Reds were fighting with the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. Now they have a couple game lead over everyone else.

The Reds are coming off a series in which they took two out of three from the Astros. However, they did lose Tuesday night to the Pirates, 8-4. It is their second straight loss. With the Pirates close behind, the Reds can’t afford to get swept.

Cincy’s home schedule will continue through next week as they prepare to take on interleague foes Detroit and Cleveland.

Make sure you check out C-ing Red for all the latest news on the Reds.

» Continue reading “NL Central Recap: Reds lead the pack”

When last we looked at the standings, the order of the AL Central was Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City and Minnesota.

Things have shuffled again and are definitely getting interesting. A sign that the AL Central is the worst division in baseball or that it is most competitive? You decide.

American League Central standings via MLB.com

Chicago White Sox:

The Sox have been the hottest offense in all of baseball of late. The team has also finally started winning games at home. On their most recent homestand, the team went 5-1, including a sweep of the then division-leading Indians. They are briefly on the road where they so far have taken two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays. » Continue reading “AL Central Recap: Worst Division In Baseball? Or Most Competitive?”

Standings via MLB.com

St. Louis Cardinals

Even with Lance Berkman still out, the Redbirds continue to dominate. As a team, they’ve racked up 27 home runs and a 126 wRC+, the highest in the Majors at the moment. Allen Craig returned from the DL last night, back to help Matt Carpenter fill in for Berkman’s absence, and went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. I’m sure they miss the Big Puma, but not too badly, you know?

Chris Carpenter has also been notoriously absent, but his replacement, Lance Lynn, is doing him justice. Lynn is 4-0, the first four-game winner of the season, with a 1.33 ERA/3.27 FIP. It’s a far cry from last season, when injuries hampered the Cardinals right out of first place. This year, they’re working with an absurd amount of depth.

For more on the Cardinals, visit Aaron Miles’ Fastball. 

» Continue reading “NL Central Recap: Streaks And Slumps”