The second base position has been pretty good for the Giants compared to other teams in the past 15 seasons. In 1997, the Giants put some guy named Jeff Kent out there to start for six seasons. He was an all-star, MVP and is a future hall-of-famer. Then, the Giants threw Ray Durham in the second base position in 2004. Durham played well and was one of the Giants best players during...

In a display case, among the valuable baseballs signed by the likes of Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, suddenly appeared a ball worth all of a few dollars signed by a merely above average second baseman with little chance of joining those greats in the Hall of Fame. For Benjamin Pogofsky, that was proof that something was rotten with his late father's treasured baseball collection....

Fifty thousand days ago, a new rule created one of the enduring and vital elements in baseball’s field of play. On those many days ago, the National Association adopted the batter’s box, which (obviously) is still with us to this day. As long as I’m here, the following events are all celebrating their day “anniversary” of a sort: Three thousand days since the Giants signed...

I recently finished Moneyball, and towards the end author Michael Lewis discusses how in 2002, when the Oakland A's acquired Ray Durham, it transformed Durham. Durham, a very aggressive baserunner, used to make single into doubles, doubles into triples, no longer was that aggressive. Durham, who averaged a stolen base every 4.8 games on the White Sox, averaged one stolen base...

Playoffs 2010: not torture (hopefully)  Today the Giants embark on a journey this franchise hasn't seen in 7 years. The last time they made it to the playoffs was in 2003 with a lineup that consisted the likes of Barry Bonds, J.T. Snow, Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, Marquis Grissom, Kirk Rueter and Jason Schmidt. Seems like that was decades ago when those players wore San Francisco across their

Tuesday June 24, 2002 The Twins have had several memorable games with their rivals from Chicago, one of those occurred in late June 2002. The White Sox took a 3-0 lead in the third under circumstances that LENIII found controversial: Ray Durham’s sacrifice fly to left in the third scored Royce Clayton for a 1-0 lead, but Durham was awarded first base when Jones was charged...

The 2010 GCL Pirates season started on Monday, but due to the lack of rosters, I was unable to do the preview for the start of the season.  Now that the rosters are official, we can take a look at some of the top prospects at the level, plus what to watch for later in the season. The 2010 season can be divided up in to two parts: the present and the future.  Most of the prospects...

Having discussed "Moneyball" in general terms I now want to look at the book in specific terms. I will start today with the Preface and the first six chapters. My goal here is not to exacerbate the stale “stats vs. scouts” debate but instead to give it context, to identify what the book says rather than allowing people to frame the issues.Preface Lewis opens the book with a general...

By Soxman In the ’80s pop culture classic “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” two teenagers traveled back in time to kidnap some of history’s most famous people to help with their history assignment.  Welcome to a life-long Sox fan’s version. Two key rules were followed in making these prestigious selections: A player’s “name recognition” in MLB does not...

On this day last year, the Brewers acquired second baseman Ray Durham from the Giants for two prospects, and almost exactly a year later they landed Felipe Lopez for two more. Who will it be in 2010? Evan Brunell at the Hardball Times likes the Brewers' Felipe Lopez acquisition and thinks a starter could make the Brewers legit playoff contenders. Marc Carig at...

As if the news wasn’t bad enough today that J.J. Putz may need elbow surgery, SNY Reporter Kevin Burkhardt just revealed via Twitter that Jose Reyes has a tear in his hamstring. The Mets have not yet disclosed how long he will be out, however the word around the blogosphere is that he will be out until at least the All Star break. Even then, one has to wonder how healthy Reyes...

ESPN's Jayson Stark checks in with a blog entry jam-packed with rumorage. Stark says the Giants are shopping Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, Steve Kline, Randy Winn, Tyler Walker, Rajai Davis, and Merkin Valdez.  The vets we knew about; the last two are a surprise.  Probably stems from both ...

(And what do we do to cover for Rickie Weeks?) First and foremost, allow me to say "Welcome to the Show, Mat Gamel!" Yes, I know (as you should, if you don't) that Gamel made his official Major League debut last September. Heck, he even recorded his first big league base hit. But tonight? All he did was smack a three-run home run and make a terrific defensive play (and...

db asked: Batting C Brian McCann (Atl - C) 1B Ryan Howard (Phi - 1B) 2B Ray Durham (SF - 2B) 3B Akinori Iwamura (TB - 3B) SS Julio Lugo (Bos - 2B,3B,SS) OF Matt Holliday (Col - OF) OF Gary Matthews Jr. (LAA - OF) OF Raúl Ibañez (Sea - OF) Util Paul Lo Duca (NYM - C) BN Garrett Atkins (Col - 3B) BN Lyle Overbay (Tor - 1B) BN Ty Wigginton (TB - 1B,2B,3B,OF) Pitchers SP Brandon Webb...

Dirtlocker points for: Chad Billingsley, Ryan Braun, Fausto Carmona, Johnny Damon, Ray Durham, Prince Fielder, Rafael Furcal, Jason Giambi, Curtis Granderson, Cole Hamels, Mike Hampton, Brad Hawpe, Bobby Jenks, Andruw Jones, Scott Kazmir, Jason Kendall, Nick Markakis, Russell Martin, Matt Morris, Jo...

It’s hard to believe that regular season baseball has been played for two weeks and we haven’t heard the names Frank Catalanotto, Pedro Martinez, Geoff Jenkins, Ray Durham, Richie Sexson, Wily Mo Pena, Dave Roberts, Jim Edmonds, or Frank Thomas. Only three players listed above even went to spring training with a club, Frank Catlanotto, Geoff [...]

Last season, the NL West was the best and most exciting division in baseball. The Diamondbacks had the best record in the NL, and the Padres and Rockies were only 1 game out. Two NL West teams had a one-game playoff to get the wild card, and the Rockies were the hottest team in baseball, on an incredible streak to end the year. The Rockies represented the NL West in the World Series...

Belliard was signed by the Tribe to a one-year, one-million-dollar deal to man the keystone in 2004 until Brandon Phillips shows he is ready to assume the mantle. As recently as the spring of 2002, Belliard was considered a poor man's Ray Durham, just a step below Robbie Alomar and Jeff Kent in the s...

2008 record: 90-72 (2nd in NL Central, won NL Wild Card) 2008 record vs. Pirates: 14-1 Offseason Departures: CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets: Talk about taking a hit in the pitching department. Salomon Torres, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota: Over the hill relievers Ray Durham, Russell Branyan, Gabe Kapler: Role players they won’t miss much Brian Shouse, Joe Dillon. Meh. Offseason Additions...

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Giants have informed several teams that they are shopping over a dozen of their major league and minor league players. Ken Rosenthal said some of the players include Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia, Randy Winn, and Steve Kline. I put in a call to the Giants and found out that...

Dirtlocker points for: Barry Bonds, Ray Durham, Kevin Frandsen, Bengie Molina, Aaron Rowand, Eugenio Velez, Brian Cashman Most all of the San Francisco Giants' 40-man roster had arrived in camp Monday, with the first full squad workout of the spring scheduled for Tuesday morning. Not much new news t...

The Phillies did something today that they were unable to do last season: win a playoff game. After getting swept in 3 straight games by the Colorado Rockies in 2007, the Phillies started off their playoff series with the Brewers in strong fashion, winning Game 1 3-1 and taking a 1-0 series lead. The win was also the Phillies first playoff game win since 1993. Cole Hamels...

Bonus points for those playing the streaking Alou in the playoffs. With Alou on third, Ray Durham tried to steal 2B. Johnny Estrada tried to nail him there while a frisky Alou came home. It wasn't exactly the same as Carl Crawford's steal from third earlier in the season, but it will look the same in the boxscore. It was Alou's second stolen base of the season. Over...

ESPN's Jayson Stark checks in with a blog entry jam-packed with rumorage. Stark says the Giants are shopping Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, Steve Kline, Randy Winn, Tyler Walker, Rajai Davis, and Merkin Valdez.  The vets we knew about; the last two are a surprise.  Probably stems from both being...

While most Yankees fans are clamoring for a left fielder or another starting pitcher as the July 31 trade deadline looms, one overlooked position seems to be that of catcher. It appears Jorge Posada is lost for the season, and it could be that he is no longer able to play as an everyday backstop again. In the meantime, Jose Molina has filled in as the regular catcher,...