Yardbarker: Rob Bowen

Koyie Hill Appreciation Society: 60 Hits, but a Whole Lotta Heart

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Well kids, it's time to bid adieu to the Koyie Hill Appreciation Society for 2009. As you know, for every hit Koyie Hill delivered in 2009, I removed a section from this picture:Koyie finishes the year with 60 hits and a .237 average in 83 games. Let's face it, Koyie isn't going to be remembered for his offensive output, but for the stretch of consecutive games he caught while Geo Soto was being weaned off pot and Ho-Hos mid-season. Koyie may not be an offensive juggernaut, but at...

PRESENTING: Forgotten Names of Padres Past, a boring look at guys who used to play for us

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:51:58 -0500

Okay so one night I got bored and decided to look back at the rosters of the last few years and see where some of those guys ended up and who they play for now. It was fun for like a couple minutes but then it got real depressing when I saw just how many of those guys are still gritting it out in the minors. It was then that I decided to write up some of those names for you guys to read about, whether you want it or not. Now I know this fanpost might (will) elicit a lot of why's and ...

Why the Pittsburgh Pirates Have Hope with Neal Huntington As GM

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 06:01:28 -0500

For all Pirates fans who think that Neal Huntington has dementia and can't remember that he just traded a key player so he goes out and does it again, you won't like this article. But Huntington does not have memory problems, but he isn't exactly making Pirates fans happy. In other words, Huntington realizes he isn't making the popular moves, and is aware that numerous Pirate fans hate his guts. But hate no longer. Neal Huntington is your savior. Neal Huntington wa...

Sgt Hulka says: It Only Hurts When You Laugh

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:25:19 -0500

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here. I'm gonna volunteer my leadership to this platoon. An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe. And Sergeant Hulka isn't always gonna be here to be that big toe for us. I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe... Sergeant Hulka." (Cub fan, Bill Murray as JohWinger, Stripes. 1981)

This team needs a kick in the pants. Unfortunately, it won't be Ryan Dempster to administer the sorely needed swift one. It's hard to do that when your foot hurts because you acted like a knucklehead tripping over a dugout fence and injuring your big toe. Accidents happen. Anyone with a broken toe knows how painful it is. Typically they don't need an orthopod to treat this injury but the pain usually subsides in 1-3 weeks depending on how bad the toenail injury is. Of course running and pitching may be a problem if swelling, which can persists for months, leads to problems wearing shoes. I just hope it doesn't lead to ruining his pitching mechanics and the ever dreaded career altering sore shoulder.

I can't recall an exact comparable injury but I did remember when Sammy Sosa had an infected right big toe nail and had the nail removed surgically back in 2003. He was on the DL from May 10th to May 30th (essentially 3 weeks). Unfortunately it's a little harder to assess how Sammy did upon his return because his corked bat episode happened 4 days later leading to an 8 game suspension.

It was quite the media feeding frenzy when the Dempster news broke. Here's how he 'splained the accident:

Sunday after the game, I was coming out of the dugout and I was stepping over the top of the railing and I caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over," Dempster said. "It spun me around and slammed me into the ground. When I did it, I thought I ripped my nail back on my foot. Unfortunately, the result wasn't funny."

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee was laughing when he saw Dempster's awkward fall.

"I'm sure it looked hysterical from his angle," Dempster said. "The unfortunate part is my foot, because of the way it hit, came down straight into the ground. My toenail was ripped back and bleeding."

The team knew the toe was injured (click this link only if you're not squeemish) but as of tuesday morning Dempster thought his ouchie would just need something to numb it so he could pitch but (as a good trainer should) they took an X-Ray which showed a hairline fracture. So tuesday became another day of roster scramble including making sure Carlos Zambrano was OK with pitching on 3 days rest.

When asked about an estimate of how long the injury should take to recover, manager Lou Piniella quoted his head trainer, Mark O'Neal who apparently told the skipper 3-4 weeks. Seems about right to me.

As a sidebar, according to WSCR's field reporter David Schuster, after the Dempster news the media bunch all went out to the dugout to reinact Demp's crime, CSI style. As Schuster tells, Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan was the media's fall guy and almost killed himself... but the entourage now believes that one could break something falling over the dugout fence. Ah for a photo of Sully falling on his noggin in front of the dugout.

Geovanny Soto's ribcage injury while taking batting practice today causing him to be pulled from today's lineup is being evaluated with an MRI. The muscles involved are called internal/external obliques which attach around the lower rib cage. It's an area in the body that also needs little except for supportive treatment and mostly rest and can be anything from a few days off up to a month. Cardinal all-everything Albert Pujols had an oblique injury leading to a DL stint in June 06. He was out from June 3rd to June 23rd, so essentially 3 weeks.

Oddly enough, Ryan Dempster was on the 15 day DL with an oblique strain on June 26th, 2007. Rembering the Dempster was the team's closer in 2007, he was out of action from June 23rd until returning on July 21st (4 weeks).

As to planning on a Soto absence, I'll dredge up a recollection of the post Michael Barrett era. The Cubs went most of the summer of 2007 with the catching tandem of Koyie Hill and Rob Bowen. They did a nice job of catching and game-calling but couldn't hit a lick. Of course this year is different. "Not hitting a lick" seems to be the team modus operandi.

Treatment of oblique injuries includes not telling jokes around the injured player, cause it only hurts when...

The Worst Draft of the

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:22:00 -0500

Posted by Lionel on June 20, 2009.The Cubs have had some terrible drafts in their history. But with the news of a previous 6th rounder being released this week, I thought it was time to revisit the issue and see just what was the worst draft the Cubs have had since we stopped using 19 at the beginning of our year.The '02 draftTo say that the Cubs had the potential for a great draft would be an understatement. 10 picks in the first 4 rounds. No, that wasn't a typo, 10 picks. But it go...

A look at the last ten drafts

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:29:56 -0500

A review of how the last ten drafts have panned out for the Twins. Which draft was the best and how many players from each draft made it to the major leagues? I have maintained data on the last ten drafts. I have also created a rating system to help compare the drafts. The system is a simple point system with 1 point assigned to a player who reaches AA ball; 2 points for AAA; 3 points if added to the 40-man roster; 4 points if a player plays even one game in the ...

Drafting Catchers

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:13:09 -0500

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP 10 days ago: Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer, left, and Justin Morneau celebrate Morneau's grand slam off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mitch Stetter in the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 24, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) Browse more photos » Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Game 26: Yanks v.s Sox

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:58:27 -0500

Regular Season Game 26Yankees v.s Red SoxGame Time: 7:05 p.m. @ New Yankee Stadium - The Bronx, NYTV | Radio: YES, WCBS 880STARTING LINEUPS:YANKEES (13-12)Derek Jeter SSJohnny Damon LFMark Teixeira 1BHideki Matsui DHRobinson Cano 2BNick Swisher RFMelky Cabrera CFRamiro Pena 3BJose Molina CPitching For The Yanks: Joba Chamberlain RHP (1-0, 3.13 ERA)RED SOX (16-10)Jacoby Ellsbury CFDustin Pedroia 2BDavid Ortiz DHJason Bay LFMike Lowell 3BJ.D. Drew RFJeff Bailey 1BJason Varitek CNick Green SSPit...

Game 26: Yankees vs. Red Sox

Tue, 05 May 2009 15:25:23 -0500

Regular Season Game 26Yankees vs. Red SoxNew Yankee Stadium - The Bronx, NYGame Time: 7:05 p.m.TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880Here are the lineups:YANKEES (13-12)Derek Jeter SSJohnny Damon LFMark Teixeira 1BHideki Matsui DHRobinson Cano 2BNick Swisher RFMelky Cabrera CFRamiro Pena 3BJose Molina CPitching: Joba Chamberlain RHP (1-0, 3.13 ERA)RED SOX (16-10)TBAPitching: Josh Beckett RHP (2-2, 7.22 ERA)Yanks vs. BeckettABH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS D. Jeter 37 12 1 0 1 3 2 3 .324 .359 .432 .791 J. Damon...

Spring Training 2009: The "Released" Team

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:30:34 -0500

Spring training can be a cruel time. As players get overtaken on the depth chart, teams gradually begin the process of reassigning players to either a minor league camp, a minor league team, or granting the player his contractual release. For whatever reason, the player just did not stick.So this season, I decided to field a 25 man roster simply based on players who were released over the course of spring training. I did not include players, who were released prior to the start of spring trai...

Welcome to the Bigs, Part I (of II?)

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:47:38 -0500

The Cubs have called up 4 guys to supplement the team, all from Iowa, added two guys from the D.L., and made a few other roster moves, all of which will be detailed here. This is the first of likely two groups coming to Chicago...the Cubs are expected to make another selection after the I-Cubs finish the playoffs, although Lou only wanted about 6 guys and 6 guys have been added. To show all you loyal TD fans how accurate I was at making these predictions, you can look back at Late Season Hel...

2008 Fantasy Catcher Rankings: AL West

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:18:39 -0500

I'm starting to put together my 2008 fantasy baseball draft lists over at Crooked Pitch. Here are the catcher rankings for the backstops playing in the American League West.

A's Jason Kendall traded to Cubs!

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:46:21 -0500

The A's said goodbye to Jason Kendall today, as they traded the struggling catcher to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Rob Bowen and minor league lefty Jerry Blevins. Kendall, from what I remember, used to be a fan favorite before his hitting woes hit an all-time high. He was hitting .226 and is being paid around $13 million this season.

Analysis Of The Barrett To San Diego Trade

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:45:34 -0500

So I'm sitting here, watching "Cool Runnings" and pondering what to post on a day when writing about sports just doesn't seem fun, due to the loss of Terry Hoeppner. Then this headline flashes on my computer: "Sources: Cubs dump Barrett via trade to Padres." Thank you Coach Hep, I always knew you were looking out for me. According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Chicago Cubs had become so fed up with Michael Barrett's antics, that they traded him to my San Diego Padres today, for backup catcher Rob Bowen, minor league outfielder Kyler Burke (who has a ton of tools but has struggled mightily after being drafted last year) and some cash. Looks like the Cubs and Padres decided to kiss and make up via this trade, after their bench clearing dust-up just four days ago.