|
The above will search Traveljapanblog.com. Concerts - Landscapes - Sports |
Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs
With 29 home runs through yesterday’s game, Anthony Rizzo has been one of the few bright spots on the Cubs this season. Rizzo hit a sacrifice fly a moment after I took today’s photo earlier this month at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.
Bay Bridge Series
Bay Bridge Series 2014 kicks off tonight. I flew down to last year’s series when the A’s took 3 out of 4 from the Giants. Hopefully my A’s do that (or better) this year too. I want to see lots of A’s running around the bases like today’s photo.
The first two games are in Oakland, with Wednesday and Thursday’s games in San Francisco. I should have made plans to take a trip. I will try to make it down I-5 for a game or two in August, September, and/or October.
Derek Jeter
This season will be his last. Farewell, Derek!
Alfredo Griffin (formerly of the Oakland A’s and currently a Los Angeles Angels coach)
The A’s and Angels are currently battling for first place in the American League West. My A’s lead by four and a half games and let’s hope it stays that way. Griffin had his best season with the A’s back in 1986. He won the Rookie of the Year Award back in 1979, but that had more to do with his lack of competition (he hit only two home runs and got caught stealing 16 times in just 37 attempts that year) than having had an amazing season.
Alfredo is today’s photo not because of his presence on the A’s or Angels though. A couple of recent events made me think of him.
First, who did the A’s receive when they traded Griffin in 1987 to the Los Angeles Dodgers? Bob Welch. Welch went 17-9, 17-8, and 27-6 in his next three seasons with the A’s. Bob died this past week.
Second, I remember getting Tony Gwynn’s autograph in the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco when the 1984 All-Star Game was played in San Francisco that year. It was Gwynn’s first (of many) MLB all-star games. I turned around after thanking Gwynn and there was Griffin. What was he doing there? Griffin was no all star. However, he happened to be there with his friend and teammate, Damaso Garcia, who was on the AL squad. Someone got injured and Griffin was actually put on the team at the last minute even though he didn’t really have all-star numbers. Anyway, Gwynn died this past weekend too.
Sung-bae Kim, submarine pitcher
Kim had a good year last year for the Giants (of Busan, South Korea) with an ERA of 3.05 and 31 saves. He also struck out nearly three batters for each one that he walked. Korea is a hitter’s league so these stats are better than they may appear compared to MLB or Japan.
Look closely at the crowd. Late in the game nearly everyone pulled out an orange plastic bag, blew it up, and put it on their heads. I have no idea why. I never saw this happen in Gwangju at the Tigers games except the one time they were playing the Giants in which case a few of the visiting fans did the same thing.
Matt Krook of the Oregon Ducks
I only made it to one Ducks’ baseball game this year (hopefully there will be more next year when my son is going there), and at that one game I had the good fortune of seeing Matt Krook pitch. He didn’t pitch much this year as he had elbow surgery that wiped out much of his season, but he was really good before that happened. He had a 2-1 record with a 1.79 ERA and 60 strikeouts in just 45.1 innings which was enough to earn him the honor.