Random Baseball Thoughts

Should you hold on to Carey Hart?  First, you should only be asking this question if you are in a deep league with a CI position.  Hart is not worth rostering in shallow leagues.  But in deeper leagues, yes, you should hold on to him.  Hart averaged 29 long balls per year from 2010 to 2012.  While he doesn't run the way he once did, he’ll still get you 5-6 stolen bases.  Remember he missed an entire year of baseball and it takes a while to get back up to game speed.  My full year prediction:  70/25/80/.260/6.  Good for a Corner Infielder in a deep league.

Now for some (expert of course) quick hits:

• Should you get excited about Ernesto Frieri again?  No.  He’s not all that.
• Will Brian Roberts keep it up?  No.  He’ll get injured.
• Should I pick up Odor?  No.  Cologne maybe.  Odor no.  He’ll have a great career but he needs to prove himself NOW.  Too many fantasy players jump on prospects before they are productive.
• What’s up with Cole Hamels?  He’s been killing his owners.  Will he get it together?  Yes.  His track record is stellar and there are no known lingering physical issues with him.

Now for a little nostalgia:  This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I.  One of the greatest ballplayers of all time was wounded in the war and was never the same again.  Christy Mathewson (at age 38) enlisted to fight for his country.  During a chemical training exercise, Mathewson was accidently gassed.  He developed tuberculosis which eventually claimed his life seven years later.

Mathewson, known as ‘Big Six’, ‘The Christian Gentlemen’ and ‘Matty’ was one of the great players and role models in early 20^th century baseball.  He won 373 games losing only 168.  He was one of the initial five entries into the Baseball Hall of Fame (Cobb, Ruth, Johnson, Wagner, and Mathewson in order of vote).  His use of the revolutionary new ‘fadeaway’ (screwball) gave hitters fits his entire career.  In 1905 he threw 3 shutouts in the World Series to bring the World Championship to the New York Giants.  Matty never pitched on Sunday due to his Christian belief that Sunday was a day of rest.

He was a great man and a great ballplayer who influenced the game of baseball for the better.