Uggla Streak to 31 Games

Dan Uggla didn't waste any time extending his hit steak last night, lining a single to center field in the first inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins 6 - 2 on Wednesday night.  With the Braves being off Thurday, Uggla will look to continue his streak on Friday against the Chicago Cubs.

Stairs: Retired from Baseball not Life

from the National Post

Matt Stairs cannot shake the feeling that it is October. Why else would he be at home in Bangor, Maine shuttling his daughters to their various activities, packing his hockey bag for a pickup game and generally being a stay-at-home husband and dad. This part of his life never starts until the baseball season ends.

“It sure feels like October,” Stairs says with a laugh. “It is strange. But let’s face it, I sucked this year.”

Endings are the hard part for every aging athlete. There is the storybook version, the one where the grizzled old veteran smacks the game-winning blast and then rides off into the sunset.

And then there is usual version, the one Matt Stairs has written: The 43-year-old New Brunswick native had a .154 batting average when he was released by the Washington Nationals last week. A few days later, when nobody claimed him on waivers or called to offer him a spot for the rest of the year, he retired with little fanfare.

“It is not the way you want things to end,” Stairs says. “But I can honestly say that I don’t miss baseball, and I am not going to sit around.

Click on the link above to read the rest of the article...

Uni Watch

The Toronto Star ran an article yesterday that suggest the Blue Jays may be thinking more along the lines of the Red Jays for next season.  The article does not detail the proposed uniform changes, however, it does suggest that the color red will be more pronounced to reflect the colors of the Canadian Flag rather than to reflect the name of the team.  Based on the comments on this article, fans are none too pleased citing the fact that the "Jays" have had more uniform changes since the World Series days than winning seasons.  Most of the comments suggest that the team go back to the uniforms and logo of the glory days, which I tend to agree with as well.

Uggla Extends Hit Streak to 30 Games

With a 5th Inning single, Atlanta Braves 2nd baseman Dan Uggla has now hit safely in 30 straight games.  As I've mentioned, if this streak continues we may look back upon the infield single that extended the streak to 29 games as a defining moment in this run toward history.  We'll be on the lookout for him tonight to extend to 31 games.

Alvarez Recalled From AA to start Wednesday

From tsn.ca

With third baseman Brett Lawrie set to make his home debut on Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays have decided to call up a pitching prospect to make his debut on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics.

The Jays announced on Tuesday that right-hander Henderson Alvarez has been recalled from Double-A New Hampshire.  Wilfredo Ledezma has been outrighted to Triple-A to make room on the roster.

The 21-year-old Alvarez has posted an 8-5 record in 15 games.  He has thrown one complete game and has posted a 2.86 ERA on the season.  In last five starts in Double-A, he's 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA.

The Jays signed Alvarez on October 17, 2006 as an international free agent when he was just 16 years old.

Tonights Action

All eyes will once again be on Dan Uggla as he attempts to stretch his hit streak to 30 games as the Atlanta Braves take on the Florida Marlins in Miami.

The Milwaukee Brewers hold a three game advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals as the two teams start a three game set in St. Louis.

Canadian Brett Lawrie makes his home debut as the Toronto Blue Jays play host to the Oakland A's at Rogers Centre.

Check out mlb.com for the full schedule of games and to check the standings.

WAR...What is it good for?

For those of you that are stats minded like myself but have been wondering what some of these terms actually mean I have read a series of articles entitled "Everything you always wanted to know about."  These stats are explained by Stat Doctor Alex Remington.  Here is the link for the article on WAR from Yahoo Sports Blog Big Leage Stew.

So, in a nutshell, WAR means "Wins Above Replacement."  It is an advanced stat that shows how many wins a player has contributed to his team above what a replacement value player could have contributed.  What is a "replacement value player?"    This type of player would be considered someone who can be easily obtained through waivers, by offering up little or nothing to the other team or who may be stuck in the minors and has in all liklihood reached his max potential. 

Click the link above if you wish to find out more regarding WAR and what it actually means.

Camden Yards

This is a photo taken from behind home plate at Camden Yards by a friend of mine. Its a great shot of an amazing ballpark. Enjoy...

Best of Yesterday

Roy Halladay picked up his NL best 15th win of the season.

Charlie Morton went 8 strong for Pittsburgh in a 5-0 win over SF.

Nelson Cruz went 3 for 4 including his 25th long fly of the season as Texas beat Seattle 9-2.

David Ortiz went 4 for 5 with a HR and 3 RBI as Boston downed Minnesota 8 - 6.

Finally Casey Kotchman went 3 for 4 with a HR in the bottom of the 9th to lead Tampa Bay to a 2-1 victory over KC.

Romero named AL Player of The Week

Via tsn.ca

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero was named the American League's player of the week Monday.

Romero won both of his starts, posting a 1.69 earned-run average, while allowing just five hits. He also had 12 strikeouts with only four walks over 16 innings.

Romero is the second Blue Jay behind Jose Bautista to win the award this season. Romero becomes the first Toronto pitcher to capture the honour since Roy Halladay on May 18, 2009.

Romero pitched five hitless innings in a 3-1 road win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He went five innings, allowing one hit on one run with eight strikeouts.

Then on Sunday, Romero gave up two runs on four hits while fanning five over eight innings in Toronto's 7-2 road win in Baltimore. Romero issued no walks in the game in recording his third straight decision over the Orioles.

Uggla Hit Streak To 29 Games

After a walk in the 1st inning and a ground out in the 2nd inning, Atlanta's Dan Uggla ran his hit streak to 29 games with an infield single in the 5th inning.

Games 8/8/11

There are 11 games on tap for tonight including Atlanta at Florida with Dan Uggla riding a 28 game hit streak.  The Red Sox also visit Minnesota coming off a series win at home against the Yankees while they now sit on a one game lead in the AL East.

Here's how the standings look going into tonights action:

AL

East

BOS     -

NY       1

Central

DET      -

CLE      4

West

TEX      -

LAA     1

NL

East
PHI      -
ATL     8.5

Central

MIL     -

STL     3

West

SF       -

ARI     0.5

Its The Seventh Inning Stretch

"The seventh-inning stretch is a tradition in baseball that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of any game – in the middle of the seventh inning."

The 7th Inning Stretch is my little corner of the world to talk about a game that I eat, sleep and breath.  Its a place to discuss the games of the day and the games that were played the day before.  Its a place to look deep into the stats that are collected and the players and teams behind them.  I will have daily posts about anything and everything baseball related.  If you happen upon this site and enjoy it, please don't hesitate to interact and tell me what you thing.

NM