http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/196 Recent articles about Darin Erstad en-us Screaming Sports' Drew Thibodeau breaks out another Screaming Sports original. With so many valuable fantasy studs going down with injury, Drew decided it was time to take a look at several replacements. So if you're one of the many fantasy GM's who have been ravaged by injury, then this piece is exactly what the doctor ordered. Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:22:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277936 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277936 With the bases loaded and one out and the Phillies down a run, Shane Victorino popped the ball up to Astros leftfielder Darin Erstad. The Phillies sent Pedro Feliz home on the play and he promptly got gunned down to end the game. I have two problems with the play. First of all, Feliz is painfully slow and Victorino's hit was not very deep. Erstad isn't known for having a great arm but you don't have to throw a bullet to beat Feliz to the plate. The other problem I have with sending Feliz is that Chase Utley is left standing in the on-deck circle. By sending Feliz you take away an opportunity for your best hitter to win the game. I know that hindsight is 20/20 and you have to go for the win when you get a chance but you also have to give your best players a shot to win the game for you. It's also pretty pathetic that the Phils couldn't score at all in the 9th considering they had runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Brett Myers also had another bad outing to help the Phils lose 4-3 for the second day in a row. Myers is just brutal right now. On a positive note, Ryan Howard hit another homer, his fourth in the last four games. He appears to slowly be pulling himself out of his season-long funk. Click the link to watch video of the play at the plate and to see Howard's homer. Sun, 25 May 2008 01:58:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270738 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270738 Well, little did most of America know, the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft kicks off on June 5th. Unlike the NFL Draft and it's months of hypothesizing and glory holing that goes on before it and the NBA Draft with their wily lottery draft. No, the MLB draft loses a little luster to the quick and to the point drafts of the NFL and NBA. With 50 rounds plus Supplemental drafts, the MLB draft is carried out in dark draft rooms over telephones with about as much fanfare as your wife has to watching your fantasy baseball draft. Another reason that the MLB Draft draws as much attention as the World Series of Lumberjacks, besides the 41 more rounds that it has on the NFL and NBA combined, is that while most first rounders in the NFL and NBA become immediate stars, MLB first rounders quite often wash out easier than the cast of Cop Rock. That being said, let's go through the past 20 years of #1 overall MLB draft picks and look at where they are now. Read more at ArmchairAssociation.com... Sat, 17 May 2008 09:59:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268059 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268059 The Houston Astros are coming to town, which means the return of Ed Wade. Corey isn't a big fan of Wade, and believes his face resembles a scrotum; have to agree with you there Corey. Wade did both good and bad while in Philly, but since he never crafted a team that was able to make it to the playoffs his tenure as GM is considered flawed and unsuccessful. In September of 2007 the Astros reached out their hand to Ed and gave him the keys to the ignition of their franchise. He promptly began turning over the roster with trades for HGH-baby Miguel Tejada and closer Jose Valverde, shipped out Brad Lidge while collecting speedster Michael Bourn, signed Darin Erstad, Doug Brocail, Shawn Chacon, and anal plastic surgery boy Kaz Matsui, and cut old man Woody Williams and his bulky contract. Overall, it is clear that Ed Wade is trying to put his stamp on this organization in a short amount of time, whether his tactics flourish or not is yet to be determined. A quick glance over the active 25-man roster and you'll find some loyal minions that are ex-Phillies: Geoff Geary (2003-07), Tomas Perez (00-05), Michael Bourn (06-07), and David Newhan (00-01). Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:50:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237778 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237778 Houston Astros' 1B Lance Berkman left today's game against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning. The official diagnosis is neck spasms. Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:41:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/229606 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/229606 By Geoff Bilau, Angelswin.com Senior Editor Few who are familiar with recent Angels history would be surprised that the man at the center of the team's most memorable comeback of the 2000 season was Darin Erstad. Even though his teammates were hitting home runs at a record pace, there was never any question about who was that season's MVP. Click on the article link to read the full story Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:44:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/193589 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/193589 Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence asks you - the fans - to help him think of a nickname for his teammate Darin Erstad. Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:52:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/162224 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/162224 So the Athletics are officially sellers. Everyone saw a Dan Haren and/or Joe Blanton trade coming (Haren has happened, and Blanton is coming soon), but Nick Swisher came out of nowhere. At first glance, the Athletics traded a low salary outfielder with a good amount of power and great patience. But, don't underestimate Billy Beane. Beane snagged one of the most talented pitching prospects in all of baseball with Gio Gonzalez. And believe me, Kenny Williams is not happy that he had to surrender him. Despite Kenny Williams trading Gio Gonzalez as a player-to-be-named-later in the deal that sent Aaron Rowand to the Phillies and Jim Thome to the White Sox in 2005, Williams got Gonzalez back when he dealt Freddy Garcia to the Phillies the next season. We'll also review the Houston Astros signing Darin Erstad to a one year deal. Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:53:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77974 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77974 According to Peter Gammons he may retire from baseball and become an assistant " If Darin Erstad doesn't find a job that suits him, there is word that he could return to the University of Nebraska, his alma mater, and be an assistant coach for the football team. A punter in college, Erstad was part of the Cornhuskers' 1994 national championship squad and remains one of Tom Osborne's favorite players." Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:17:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40749 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40749 Big Names, Big Stars, all having problems as we head into the 1st day of Summer. Remember Tom Hanks famous line in A League of Their Own, "There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball." Apparently, these guy didn't get the memo. Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:19:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/16869 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/16869 Manager Tony LaRussa thinks Albert Pujols is wearing down. Rickie Weeks is heading back to the DL with that wrist. Josh Hamilton is set to return. Kevin Gregg closing in Florida. Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:26:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15190 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15190 I took a pretty good shot on the foot in Kansas City but it feels fine. It's a little purple but it's all good. I've been icing it down. The trainers panic. They make you do a bunch of stuff but I just told them it's a bruise, it'll be fine. I've been hit a lot harder than that, trust me. I got a concussion playing football in high school. We were in San Angelo and I scrambled right. I couldn't decide if I was going to go out of bounds or take the hit and I just got smoked. Two plays later I handed it off and our running back broke it for a touchdown and that won the game. They checked me after the game and said I had a concussion. It's a good thing we scored that touchdown. Who knows what would've happened if I had to throw again. It'll be weird for me facing Darin Erstad. He is one of my really good friends. We worked out every day in the offseason together, me him and Adam Kennedy. We had some good trash talking going on - who's going to win when we face each other. I'll have to go through the same thing with Adam later. Ersty hit really well against us last week. He hit a home run and had six or seven hits. I definitely need to keep him off base. He's their leadoff guy and I can't allow their other big bats to bring him home. It'll be like going against your brother. We can be boys after the game, in fact we're going to hang out and watch the fight together tonight, but during the game you want to beat him badly. Sat, 05 May 2007 16:47:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/13547 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/13547 I haven't seen too many Fire Joe Morgan articles appear on Yardbarker, but there should be more of them. If you're not familiar with the premise of the blog, they take an article written by someone else and inject their own thoughts into the middle of it, poking fun at author's take on the subject. This post takes on a recent Chicago Tribue piece, which all but names Darin Erstad the White Sox 2007 savior. Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:15:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10734 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10734 Please tell me Ozzie was kidding when he suggested hitting Darrin Erstad in the lead off spot. Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:09:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10301 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10301 On the same day they announce Scott Podsednik will be out 6-8 weeks, the White Sox signed Darin Erstad to a one year deal. Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:27:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8887 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8887