I was raised a modest Chicago Cubs fan, but in the early ’90s I jumped ship and traded the Cubbies’ red, white and blue for the edgier black-and-white of the Chicago White Sox. The reason? Frank Thomas, aka The Big Hurt. He was an absolute powerhouse, with more than 30 homers in his first full season and back-to-back MVP awards in ’93 and ’94. For teenagers playing summer baseball, like myself at the time, every at-bat was a potential Big Hurt moment.
I fell out of baseball once I started high school, and then fell out some more during the strike, but Thomas lived on both in and out of baseball (he officially retired last year). First there was the Super NES game “Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball,” then a “Big Hurt” pinball machine. This month, the slugger’s back in the merchandizing game with his newest product: Big Hurt Beer, a 7%-ABV lager brewed by Wisconsin’s Minhas Craft Brewery.
This monster lager’s set to arrive in the Chicago market by the end of August—and no surprise, at the White Sox’s home, U.S. Cellular Field—then spread throughout Illinois in the coming months. I doubt Big Hurt Beer will have the same impact on me as the actual Big Hurt did 20 years ago, but I’ll certainly reserve a spot for it on-deck when it makes its professional debut.
So, add this one to the list of celebrity drinks, from Kid Rock’s Bad Ass Beer to Danny DeVito’s Premium Lemoncello? What’s the strangest celebrity-endorsed alcoholic drink you’ve ever seen?
Showing posts with label Baseball News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball News. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
MLB Power Rankings: Guess Who's #1
With one-quarter of the season remaining, we’re starting to see separation: the Milwaukee Brewers from the NL Central, Philadelphia Phillies from the NL East, Texas Rangers from the AL West, and Carlos Zambrano(notes) from his senses.
Must be August.
The rankings (records through Wednesday’s games):
1. Philadelphia Phillies (79-42; Previous: 1) – New acquisition inspires “Pence-ylvania” wordplay, slightly more clever than that old Kruk-adelphia.
2. New York Yankees (74-47; Previous: 3) – Garcia hazy on mishap, says cut finger was result of “what regular people” do in kitchen. Sportswriters furrow brows, try to recall sharp edges on Steak-umm wrappers.
3. Boston Red Sox (74-48; Previous: 2) – Wakefield on 199 wins for so long he reaches 200 on interest accrued.
4. Milwaukee Brewers (73-51; Previous: 4) – Tony Plush street cred crushed when TMZ reports he possesses library card, has no late fees.
5. Texas Rangers (72-52; Previous: 7) – Harrison distracted in Oakland due to behind-plate presence of Ballet Folklorico, at the time performing the traditional “Dance of the Intemperate Beanball.”
6. Atlanta Braves (72-52; Previous: 5) – In weird statistical anomaly, Uggla hits in 33 consecutive games, bats .188 in them.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (69-54; Previous: 9) – Charlie Sheen becomes fan of D’backs, has special affinity for starting rotation, also known as “Two and a Half Men.”
8. Tampa Bay Rays (66-56; Previous: 11) – Spring training burglary of Longoria-Price-Brignac now said to include “Rubbermaid style container” filled with marijuana. The company does advertise “Easy find lids.”
9. Detroit Tigers (65-58; Previous: 10) – Leyland grabs covert smokes during game, likes to think of himself as “Crouching Tiger, hidden, draggin’.”
10. San Francisco Giants (67-57; Previous: 6) – Rowand clarifies “Let’s talk about the bears again” quote, insists he loves stock market and will stay loyal to his holdings.
11. Los Angeles Angels (65-59; Previous: 8) – Club management explains to fans those aren’t zeroes on the scoreboard, they’re oblong halos.
12. St. Louis Cardinals (66-58; Previous: 12) – Pujols goes on tear, has little impact on Cardinals. Just like next year!
13. Toronto Blue Jays (63-60; Previous: 13) – Fan in center field holds up sign: “Fastball.” Freaky: Right more often than not.
14. Cleveland Indians (61-58; Previous: 16) – Tribe to have single day off in more than a month. Or, as it’s known in many segments of society, paying the rent.
15. Chicago White Sox (61-61; Previous: 19) – Ozzie no longer wants 25 Juan Pierres. Now would like 26, in case one Juan Pierre(notes) gets hurt.
16. Cincinnati Reds (60-63; Previous: 18) – Reds probing Alonso’s ability to manage left field – play him out there every eight days or so.
17. New York Mets (60-63; Previous: 15) – Mets to hold promotion in which TV/radio personality will attempt to hug record 1,801 people in an hour. Stipulation: He’s only allowed to hug Mr. Met once, lest Mr. Met get the wrong idea.
18. Washington Nationals (58-63; Previous: 20) – Charlie Manuel says Strasburg could be next to throw back-to-back no-hitters. Bases that on fact Strasburg hasn’t given up a hit in, like, a year.
19. Pittsburgh Pirates (58-64; Previous: 17) – Bucs lose 13 of 17 following 19th-inning Meals call, their way of saying: If we were any more fragile we’d have packed our season in Styrofoam peanuts.
20. Florida Marlins (57-66; Previous: 14) – So, Marlins apparently have had it with brash man-of-the-people who reveals their own inadequacies in honesty and connecting with their public. Yeah, Ozzie ought to work here.
21. Colorado Rockies (58-67; Previous: 22) – Bad news for Nicasio: He’ll have to wear a neck brace for a while. Good news: It’s almost turtleneck weather in Denver.
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (55-67; Previous: 23) – Bankruptcy hearing reveals Dodger Stadium is half full. Of what, no one’s too sure.
23. San Diego Padres (55-70; Previous: 27) – Moorad tells reporters Padres’ 2012 payroll will start with a 5, reveals most of his management wherewithal was gained from watching “The Price is Right.”
24. Chicago Cubs (54-70; Previous: 28) – Zambrano makes rash retirement promise. Cubs get to work engraving gold watch before he changes his mind.
25. Oakland Athletics (55-68; Previous: 24) – C.J. Wilson(notes) contends fans in Oakland “suck,” and they would have gone out and booed him for it, too, but, you know, it’s kinda hot and the A’s aren’t that good and, I don’t know, a nap sounds good.
26. Minnesota Twins (54-68; Previous: 21) – Company delivers 600 condoms to Twins in honor of Jim Thome(notes) achievement. Bullpen likes to think of them as “Matt caps.”
27. Seattle Mariners (53-69; Previous: 25) – Well, if nothing else, nobody’s talking about Ichiro(notes) being selfish anymore. There’s that.
28. Kansas City Royals (51-73; Previous: 26) – Francoeur passport issues threaten Canadian passage. Also could cost him “Frenchy” nickname.
29. Baltimore Orioles (47-74; Previous: 29) – O’s on pace to lose 100. Not exactly what everybody had in mind when they started calling it “Buck Ball.”
30. Houston Astros (40-84; Previous: 30) – As Astros most likely to move in realignment, league office sifts through heartfelt invitations from other five divisions.
Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Must be August.
The rankings (records through Wednesday’s games):
1. Philadelphia Phillies (79-42; Previous: 1) – New acquisition inspires “Pence-ylvania” wordplay, slightly more clever than that old Kruk-adelphia.
2. New York Yankees (74-47; Previous: 3) – Garcia hazy on mishap, says cut finger was result of “what regular people” do in kitchen. Sportswriters furrow brows, try to recall sharp edges on Steak-umm wrappers.
3. Boston Red Sox (74-48; Previous: 2) – Wakefield on 199 wins for so long he reaches 200 on interest accrued.
4. Milwaukee Brewers (73-51; Previous: 4) – Tony Plush street cred crushed when TMZ reports he possesses library card, has no late fees.
5. Texas Rangers (72-52; Previous: 7) – Harrison distracted in Oakland due to behind-plate presence of Ballet Folklorico, at the time performing the traditional “Dance of the Intemperate Beanball.”
6. Atlanta Braves (72-52; Previous: 5) – In weird statistical anomaly, Uggla hits in 33 consecutive games, bats .188 in them.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (69-54; Previous: 9) – Charlie Sheen becomes fan of D’backs, has special affinity for starting rotation, also known as “Two and a Half Men.”
8. Tampa Bay Rays (66-56; Previous: 11) – Spring training burglary of Longoria-Price-Brignac now said to include “Rubbermaid style container” filled with marijuana. The company does advertise “Easy find lids.”
9. Detroit Tigers (65-58; Previous: 10) – Leyland grabs covert smokes during game, likes to think of himself as “Crouching Tiger, hidden, draggin’.”
10. San Francisco Giants (67-57; Previous: 6) – Rowand clarifies “Let’s talk about the bears again” quote, insists he loves stock market and will stay loyal to his holdings.
11. Los Angeles Angels (65-59; Previous: 8) – Club management explains to fans those aren’t zeroes on the scoreboard, they’re oblong halos.
12. St. Louis Cardinals (66-58; Previous: 12) – Pujols goes on tear, has little impact on Cardinals. Just like next year!
13. Toronto Blue Jays (63-60; Previous: 13) – Fan in center field holds up sign: “Fastball.” Freaky: Right more often than not.
14. Cleveland Indians (61-58; Previous: 16) – Tribe to have single day off in more than a month. Or, as it’s known in many segments of society, paying the rent.
15. Chicago White Sox (61-61; Previous: 19) – Ozzie no longer wants 25 Juan Pierres. Now would like 26, in case one Juan Pierre(notes) gets hurt.
16. Cincinnati Reds (60-63; Previous: 18) – Reds probing Alonso’s ability to manage left field – play him out there every eight days or so.
17. New York Mets (60-63; Previous: 15) – Mets to hold promotion in which TV/radio personality will attempt to hug record 1,801 people in an hour. Stipulation: He’s only allowed to hug Mr. Met once, lest Mr. Met get the wrong idea.
18. Washington Nationals (58-63; Previous: 20) – Charlie Manuel says Strasburg could be next to throw back-to-back no-hitters. Bases that on fact Strasburg hasn’t given up a hit in, like, a year.
19. Pittsburgh Pirates (58-64; Previous: 17) – Bucs lose 13 of 17 following 19th-inning Meals call, their way of saying: If we were any more fragile we’d have packed our season in Styrofoam peanuts.
20. Florida Marlins (57-66; Previous: 14) – So, Marlins apparently have had it with brash man-of-the-people who reveals their own inadequacies in honesty and connecting with their public. Yeah, Ozzie ought to work here.
21. Colorado Rockies (58-67; Previous: 22) – Bad news for Nicasio: He’ll have to wear a neck brace for a while. Good news: It’s almost turtleneck weather in Denver.
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (55-67; Previous: 23) – Bankruptcy hearing reveals Dodger Stadium is half full. Of what, no one’s too sure.
23. San Diego Padres (55-70; Previous: 27) – Moorad tells reporters Padres’ 2012 payroll will start with a 5, reveals most of his management wherewithal was gained from watching “The Price is Right.”
24. Chicago Cubs (54-70; Previous: 28) – Zambrano makes rash retirement promise. Cubs get to work engraving gold watch before he changes his mind.
25. Oakland Athletics (55-68; Previous: 24) – C.J. Wilson(notes) contends fans in Oakland “suck,” and they would have gone out and booed him for it, too, but, you know, it’s kinda hot and the A’s aren’t that good and, I don’t know, a nap sounds good.
26. Minnesota Twins (54-68; Previous: 21) – Company delivers 600 condoms to Twins in honor of Jim Thome(notes) achievement. Bullpen likes to think of them as “Matt caps.”
27. Seattle Mariners (53-69; Previous: 25) – Well, if nothing else, nobody’s talking about Ichiro(notes) being selfish anymore. There’s that.
28. Kansas City Royals (51-73; Previous: 26) – Francoeur passport issues threaten Canadian passage. Also could cost him “Frenchy” nickname.
29. Baltimore Orioles (47-74; Previous: 29) – O’s on pace to lose 100. Not exactly what everybody had in mind when they started calling it “Buck Ball.”
30. Houston Astros (40-84; Previous: 30) – As Astros most likely to move in realignment, league office sifts through heartfelt invitations from other five divisions.
Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Trade Deadline Winners
The Philadelphia Phillies are presumably the favorite to represent the National League in the World Series. But although things are going well for the Phillies, they aren't the best in the NL by that much. All of us Philadelphia fans still have reason to fear the San Francisco Giants, and the Atlanta Braves could have a few more pushes left in the NL East race. More and more, these three teams look like the clear class of the league, which they further proved it with their trade deadline deals.
The Giants, Phillies and Braves don't really have that much to improve on, which explains why they have some of the best records in baseball. But they all fixed some of their biggest flaws before Sunday's trade deadline, and made themselves look even more fearsome. As such, if these three clash in October, as they did last season, it stands to be an even bigger battle royale.
The Giants made the first move by landing Carlos Beltran(notes) to give themselves the big bat they've been missing for some time. Of course, they won the World Series without a slugger, and could wind up doing it again. In fact, San Francisco still rises and falls with Tim Lincecum(notes), Matt Cain(notes) and the pitching staff, as it proved with two straight shutdown wins in Philadelphia this past week. However, the Giants then went on to suffer a surprise sweep from the Cincinnati Reds, in which Beltran barely made a dent.
As for the Phillies, they started off a little better with their major pickup. Thanks to losing out on Beltran, Philadelphia had no choice but to match San Francisco by getting Hunter Pence(notes). The former Houston Astro arrived in time to help finish a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and even scored the winning run in extra innings on Sunday.
With Pence, the Phillies finally have a true No. 5 man to replace Jayson Werth(notes). Coincidentally, Ryan Howard(notes) had a massive game in front of Pence on Saturday, while Raul Ibanez(notes) made the difference behind him on Sunday. If he helps make those batting around him better, at the least, Philadelphia will be in for a good fall.
These trades left the Braves as the odd team out, with no room to make a major move of their own. But Atlanta still got a valuable pickup hours before the deadline—and like with Philadelphia, Houston helped out. In this case, the Astros dealt speedy center fielder Michael Bourn, who can help generate some valuable runs on the bases. He may not have the buzz of a Beltran or Pence, but the Braves remain a little better with their new player.
It is no small thing that the Phillies, Giants and Braves made some of the big maneuvers before the trade deadline. As the leading contenders for a pennant, they had to do something to fix their holes before the stretch drive—and make sure their rivals didn't beat them to it. But since all three got something valuable out of this time period, they put even more of a gap between themselves and the rest of the National League.
Last year, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlanta made up three-fourths of the NL playoff field, and it looks like the same thing will happen this season. While the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Pirates are fighting it out in the NL Central, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are trying to make up ground in the NL West, they seem unlikely to be true pennant contenders. More than ever, it looks like the road to a World Series berth is going through the exact same routes it did last year.
But will it have the same end result of a San Francisco championship this time? Everyone here in Philadelphia hopes that Pence will be a more valuable boost than Beltran, while those in Atlanta hope that the Braves can take the next step. In any case, should these trade maneuvers pay off for the Braves, Phillies and Giants and make them even better, then it will be quite an October in the National League.
The Giants, Phillies and Braves don't really have that much to improve on, which explains why they have some of the best records in baseball. But they all fixed some of their biggest flaws before Sunday's trade deadline, and made themselves look even more fearsome. As such, if these three clash in October, as they did last season, it stands to be an even bigger battle royale.
The Giants made the first move by landing Carlos Beltran(notes) to give themselves the big bat they've been missing for some time. Of course, they won the World Series without a slugger, and could wind up doing it again. In fact, San Francisco still rises and falls with Tim Lincecum(notes), Matt Cain(notes) and the pitching staff, as it proved with two straight shutdown wins in Philadelphia this past week. However, the Giants then went on to suffer a surprise sweep from the Cincinnati Reds, in which Beltran barely made a dent.
As for the Phillies, they started off a little better with their major pickup. Thanks to losing out on Beltran, Philadelphia had no choice but to match San Francisco by getting Hunter Pence(notes). The former Houston Astro arrived in time to help finish a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and even scored the winning run in extra innings on Sunday.
With Pence, the Phillies finally have a true No. 5 man to replace Jayson Werth(notes). Coincidentally, Ryan Howard(notes) had a massive game in front of Pence on Saturday, while Raul Ibanez(notes) made the difference behind him on Sunday. If he helps make those batting around him better, at the least, Philadelphia will be in for a good fall.
These trades left the Braves as the odd team out, with no room to make a major move of their own. But Atlanta still got a valuable pickup hours before the deadline—and like with Philadelphia, Houston helped out. In this case, the Astros dealt speedy center fielder Michael Bourn, who can help generate some valuable runs on the bases. He may not have the buzz of a Beltran or Pence, but the Braves remain a little better with their new player.
It is no small thing that the Phillies, Giants and Braves made some of the big maneuvers before the trade deadline. As the leading contenders for a pennant, they had to do something to fix their holes before the stretch drive—and make sure their rivals didn't beat them to it. But since all three got something valuable out of this time period, they put even more of a gap between themselves and the rest of the National League.
Last year, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlanta made up three-fourths of the NL playoff field, and it looks like the same thing will happen this season. While the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Pirates are fighting it out in the NL Central, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are trying to make up ground in the NL West, they seem unlikely to be true pennant contenders. More than ever, it looks like the road to a World Series berth is going through the exact same routes it did last year.
But will it have the same end result of a San Francisco championship this time? Everyone here in Philadelphia hopes that Pence will be a more valuable boost than Beltran, while those in Atlanta hope that the Braves can take the next step. In any case, should these trade maneuvers pay off for the Braves, Phillies and Giants and make them even better, then it will be quite an October in the National League.
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