MLB - NEWS & NOTES

Greinke, Keuchel named starting pitchers for All-Star Game.

 

they rotate all-star game cities. can't have every as game in domes.

 

CINCINNATI -- Todd Frazier had the joint jumping, his home crowd behind him screaming and exactly the right flair for the dramatic on Monday night. Not only did Frazier not disappoint, the Reds third baseman put on a tremendous show to win the Gillette Home Run Derby presented by Head & Shoulders at Great American Ball Park.

The capper was a bonus-round shot into the left-field seats to defeat Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson, 15 homers to 14, in the finals as the stadium roared with approval and fireworks filled the sky. Frazier loved having the sold-out crowd in his corner all night.

"Just hearing the crowd roar, call my name, adrenaline," Frazier said. "And those last minutes of each round really picked me up and [helped me] drive the ball out of the park a lot more. It was a lot of fun. I appreciate that a lot."

Frazier, who was the Derby runner-up to Yoenis Cespedes last year in Minneapolis, became the first Reds player to win the Home Run Derby in its 30-year history. He is also only the second player from the host team to win, the first since the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg in 1990. Frazier was presented with the Home Run Derby trophy by MLB executive Joe Torre.

"Bringing this hardware home is something I've always wanted to do and it's just an unbelievable feeling," Frazier said.

"Once I wake up in the morning, understand really what happened, it is going to be exciting to see this in my house."

The Derby caught its first break when rain held off until well after the event ended. Then new rules in place for 2015 added timed rounds of four minutes and an eight-player single-elimination bracket that proved instantly popular. That change played into Frazier's hands as he batted second in each round as the higher seed.

Frazier, the No. 2 seed, defeated Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder in the first round and then knocked out Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson in Round 2.

All three rounds required a lot from Frazier to overcome his challenger. Fielder hit 13 homers in the opening round. Frazier was able to equal the two-time winner with his 13th coming with seconds remaining, landing in the left-field seats. After a brief break before bonus time, Frazier crushed home run No. 14 on his first swing to defeat Fielder.

The crowd chanted "Let's go Frazier" as Frazier sat on eight homers with a minute remaining. But with 11 seconds to spare, homer No. 9 came, followed by No. 10 just as time expired, landing in the left-center-field bullpen as Reds fans screamed.
Pitching to Frazier for the second time in the Derby was his brother, Charlie. The two tried to keep the flow going in all three rounds.
"We wanted to work fast," Charlie Frazier said. "We didn't want to put any thinking involved. We just wanted to put as many pitches as we can. He was swinging at everything -- you could see that -- even if they were low or high. So we just got on the same pace."

The left-handed Pederson set another high bar and opened the finals with 13 homers. Needing two to tie with 40 seconds left, Frazier hit one to left field for 13. He tied Pederson with 14 with 10 seconds remaining.

On the first swing of his 30-second bonus came No. 15 -- and a perfect ending for Cincinnati. Triumphantly, Frazier lifted a championship belt like a wrestler. His favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, played in the ballpark -- "I did it my way." He did indeed, with panache.

(MLB.com)

 

hr contest was awesome. best one in a long time. love the format too. this is the stuff selig should've been working on and not collecting a check like he used to do all those years.

 

Trout hits leadoff HR, wins MVP as AL All-Stars top NL 6-3.

 

Well, you have to give him credit for the AS Game giving the winning team home field advantage in the WS and the 1 game WC system now in effect after playing 162 games......What a joke!

 

igloo--that's his worst idea! the game should be fun and upbeat. now it's a business race to see who wins and gets home field.

 

the postgame coverage was awful pete rose is yelling at frank thomas about where was the offense. thomas quickly says the AL won. Rose looks at him with a death stare of where was the offense as 1 team had 22 strikeouts etc.

Rose should not be on tv. jeez.

 

Not sure the players really care about where the 7th game is at.....I think the 1 game WC format is worse considering a team gets in if they win 1 game after playing 162.......

EDIT: As far Rose goes, he just keeps digging himself into a bigger and bigger hole....Did you know that when they had a HOF induction he was across the street signing autographs? Thats about as big of a douche as you can get!

 

What bugs me is i dont even think the players could care less at the time their playing the game anything about where the WS will be, let alone if their even in it.

 

I still think Pete is way the lesser of the evils we have seen in the game of baseball. His gambling addiction doesnt have a damm thing to do with him stroking all those hits, or being the head first diving 'Charlie Hustle'. If anyone who breaks the rules gets in... let it be Pete over the performance enhancers.

 

igloo-he's been doing that for years at the HOF. i mean if he can't get in, he might as well get close to it and give the fans what they want etc. crappy yes, but since they won't reinstate him or even hear him out, he combats it in his way, which is probably the wrong way sadly.

i don't most of the players care will. 80% - 90% don't see the playoffs anyways and only 2 teams see the world series.

 

Johnny Bench
Yogi Berra
Roy Campanella
Gary Carter
Bill Dickey
Buck Ewing

Of the 5 HoF catchers who played after 1950 only Yogi Berra is the only one with a career batting average higher than Yadi's. Yogi hit .285, Yadi is at .284.

 

campy has 3 mvps and bench is bench. to me yadi is not even close to bench.

average is 1 stat. how about hits, hrs, rbis? yadi's are all way down.

 

Curious if your take on Molina in the HOF would be different if you didnt compare him to other players. Yadi #'s may night hold up against bench... but does that DQ him from the 'Hall'?

 

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OB SLG OPS
1410 4868 475 1382 263 3 98 616 375 503 42 28 .284 .338 .400 .737

2158 7658 1091 2048 381 24 389 1376 891 1278 68 43 .267 .342 .476 .817

Who would you put in the HOF?

 

Thats not what my point is. My point is forget the stats comparisons and on his own merit and career in MLB, would you think he is deserving?

My take is yes, he is. His stats dont stand up against a Posey or bench, but his career is worthy of the hall and he would get my vote.

I also understand, its an opinion thing too.

 

the only catchers i see getting in are piazza, posey, pudge and perhaps yadi. no one else should get in unless i am forgetting someone...

 

i really dislike seinfeld - both the show and the person - but he will always be yadda yadda yadda molina to me.

 

Back in the day, all my friends were into Seinfeld and Friends, shows like that. I just didnt get into stuff like that.