How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-four tells us of controversial outfielder Melky Cabrera.
Melky Cabrera was born on August 11, 1984, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was an undrafted player, being first signed by the New York Yankees on November 14, 2001. He made his first professional appearances with the Staten Island Yankees of Staten Island, New York, in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League. Here, he hit to a .283 batting average with two home runs and thirty-one runs batted in. He moved up to the Class A Midwest League in 2004, appearing in 42 games with the Battle Creek Yankees in Battle Creek, Michigan. Cabrera had a line of a .333 batting average with sixteen runs batted in before a promotion to the Class A Advanced Tampa Yankees of Tampa, Florida, in the Florida League. Here, he closed out the season hitting .288 with eight home runs and fifty-one runs batted in. He continued to progress rapidly, playing much of 2005 in the Class AA Eastern League with the Trenton Thunder in Trenton, New Jersey. Cabrera posted statistics reading .275 in batting average, as well as ten home runs and sixty runs batted in for the season at this level. This earned him a promotion to the Class AAA International League to play with the Columbus Clippers in Columbus, Ohio, where he stayed for nine games before a major league call up. He first appeared for the New York Yankees on July 7, 2005, but quickly wore out his welcome with a defensive miscue and a lack of hitting. He returned to Columbus after the short major league stint, and finished with a .248 batting average, three home runs, and seventeen runs batted in. He was sent back down to Trenton to end the year. In 2006, Cabrera played the beginning of the season with the Clippers, hitting to a sterling .385 batting average, with four home runs and twenty-four runs batted in, before being called up as an injury replacement for left fielder Hideki Matsui. He did not lose the major league job, finishing out the year with a .280 batting average and seven home runs as well as fifty runs batted in. His first home run came on June 15th. He also got his first taste of postseason baseball, appearing in two games against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series, which the Yankees ultimately lost 3-1. For 2007, Cabrera spent the whole year with New York, hitting to a .273 average with eight home runs and seventy-three runs batted in while working as a fourth outfielder before getting the starting job in center field. He also proved himself valuable with a solid bat, strong throwing arm, and ability to draw walks. In 2008, he maintained all of his defensive assets, but his hitting disappeared a bit. He was relegated back to a fourth outfielder role before being sent down to the Yankees' new Class AAA affiliate in the International League, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of Pennsylvania. He spent mid-August there, hitting .333 with five runs batted in, before earning a September call up. He closed out a disappointing season in New York, ending with a .248 batting average, eight home runs, and thirty-seven runs batted in. Cabrera regained his poise in 2009, including hitting the first walk-off hit at New Yankee Stadium on April 22nd. Competing with Brett Gardner for the center field job, Cabrera was able to prove himself despite being the underdog and took the job back. Cabrera's season reached a high point on August 2nd, as he became the first Yankee in nearly fourteen years to hit for the cycle, and to sweeten the day, he also hit his 200th run batted in. He closed out the regular season with a .274 average, thirteen home runs, and sixty-eight runs batted in. Cabrera was an easy choice for the postseason roster, with his biggest playoff game coming on October 20th, when he knocked in all four of his runs batted in against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Championship Series. His effectiveness in the postseason was about the same as in the regular season, and he finished the playoffs with a .271 batting average, as well as a World Series title when the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. It wasn't enough for New York to keep him, and they traded Cabrera, reliever Mike Dunn, and pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino to the Atlanta Braves for the disappointing starter Javier Vazquez and reliever Boone Logan on December 22, 2009. Atlanta felt like they were on the losing end of this deal though, as Cabrera did not do extremely well in 2010, hitting only .255 with four home runs and forty-two runs batted in. Cabrera was criticized for his size and lack of effort. After going hitless against the San Francisco Giants in the postseason, Cabrera was released. He signed with the Kansas City Royals as a free agent, in an attempt to revitalize his career. It worked, as he hit .305 in 2011, while supplying eighteen home runs and eighty-seven runs batted in. It was truly a career year for Cabrera, who hit new career highs in all of the major statistics categories. The Royals sold high on Cabrera, trading him to the San Francisco Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. Initially, this looked like an absolute fleecing in favor of San Francisco, as Cabrera excelled even more in 2012 while Sanchez struggled and was eventually flipped to Colorado. Cabrera's month of May was even more impressive, as he set a team record for any month with fifty-one hits. He earned a trip to the All-Star Game (coincidentally in Kansas City), and earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 8-0 National League win by hitting a two-run home run. However, in one of the crueler plot twists we've seen so far, Cabrera's season was cut short on August 15, 2012, with his final line reading a majors-leading .346 (which he requested be taken out of consideration for the batting title), as well as eleven home runs and sixty runs batted in. His season ended amid a controversy about a positive test for testosterone, indicating performance-enhancing drug usage. He served a fifty-game suspension from Major League Baseball, and was eligible to return for the National League Championship Series, but the Giants elected to not interfere with team chemistry, and Cabrera was not on the postseason roster at any point in the season. While he had nothing directly to do with their World Series title, and is not listed as a champion for the season, Cabrera did evoke memories of another San Francisco left fielder caught up in a performance-enhancing drugs scandal, Barry Bonds. It could be argued that San Francisco would never have gotten to the playoffs without Cabrera's likely tainted assistance, but since it didn't happen we will never know. Cabrera will attempt to move on from the scandal in 2013 by playing with a newly revitalized Toronto Blue Jays club, having signed with them just two days previous to this article.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
How They Got Here: The Story of the 2012 San Francisco Giants Part 23
How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-three is about wunderkind catcher Buster Posey.
Gerald "Buster" Posey III was born on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. Attending Lee County High School, baseball was Posey's main sport, and for good reasons. Splitting time between shortstop and pitching, Posey set school records for batting average at .544 and runs batted in with forty-six in just his junior year. He also had a 10-1 record and 1.53 earned run average. In his senior year, he set a school record with fourteen home runs to go with a .462 batting average and forty runs batted in. He had a 12-0 record in thirteen starts, with a 1.06 earned run average and 108 strikeouts as well. His honors from high school include Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year, and EA Sports and Baseball America All-American nominations. Besides being great on both sides of the ball, he was also great in the classroom, finishing high school with a 3.94 grade point average, perhaps the most important statistic he could have from his student-athlete career. He was a 50th round selection in the 2005 draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but he chose to attend college instead. Posey played college baseball at Florida State, and in his freshman year played shortstop. He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American for his .346 batting average, four home runs, and forty-right runs batted in. As suggested by his coaches in 2007, he started playing catcher, and he was named the second best catcher in Johnny Bench Award voting. He hit .382 with three home runs and sixty-five runs batted in. The 2008 season was even better for Posey, where he won the Johnny Bench Award, hit a stunning .463 batting average as well as twenty-six home runs and ninety-three runs batted in, was named Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and achieved a very rare feat. On May 12th, he played all nine fielding positions, striking out two batters as a pitcher and hitting a grand slam in a 10-0 win over Savannah State University. His versatility was never more on display, and although that's not an achievement usually attempted a highly competitive environment, it is a feat worthy of praise. Posey was a first round draft pick in the 2008 draft, where he was selected fifth overall by the San Francisco Giants. Posey began his professional career with ten games in 2008, split between the Rookie-level Arizona League Giants, before moving along to the Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League in Salem, Oregon. In the short stint, he hit .351 with one home run and six runs batted in. Posey was fast-tracked to the Class A Advanced California League in 2009, where he appeared in eighty games at catcher for the San Jose Giants, hitting .326 with thirteen home runs and fifty-eight runs batted in. He earned a mid-season promotion to the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. Posey hit .321 with five home runs and twenty-two runs batted in at this level. This earned him a short major league call up, where he played in seven games but struggled early on. Undeterred, Posey went to Fresno for the beginning of the 2010 season, hitting .349 over forty-seven games, while launching six home runs with thirty-two runs batted in before being recalled to the major league Giants on May 29th. He worked at first base for the first month of the season, before going back to catching after a June 30th trade that saw starting catcher Bengie Molina traded to the Texas Rangers. Posey's rookie season was a highlight reel, with a twenty-one game hitting streak, his first grand slam, and a bump in the lineup to the coveted cleanup spot. This was only July, and he proved a force to be reckoned with as the Giants hurtled to a National League West Division title. He closed out his rookie year hitting .305 with eighteen home runs and sixty-seven runs batted in. This earned him the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2010. He was an obvious choice for the postseason roster, where he hit .288 with a home run and five runs batted in, although there was not a particular defining moment as Posey helped the Giants past the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers for a World Series Championship. Sadly, Posey was a poster boy for the San Francisco 2011 season as well, when a controversial play on May 25th resulted in a season-ending injury for the sophomore catcher. The play, still fresh in the minds of many of us, was when Scott Cousins scored a winning run against the Giants and crashed violently into Posey, causing serious ligament damage as well as a fractured fibula. Posey came out publicly when threats were made against Cousins, denouncing such actions while stepping up to acknowledge the vast support he received. He ended the season with forty-five games played, a .284 batting average, and twenty-one runs batted in with four home runs. Uncertainty clouded Posey's 2012 campaign, but he quickly cast doubts aside. He was the catcher for Matt Cain's perfect game on June 13, 2012 against the Houston Astros, resulting in what Posey called one of his most nervous moments on a baseball field. He was an easy selection for the All-Star Game, his first, and at season's end, he won the Willie Mac Award for demonstrating the spirit and leadership that Giants great Willie McCovey showed throughout his career. He hit a major-league leading .336 batting average (as well as a majors best .433 against lefties), with twenty-four home runs and 103 runs batted in en route to the National League batting title (which he won when teammate Melky Cabrera took himself out of the running due to his performance-enhancing drugs suspension). He was a cornerstone for the playoff run by the Giants, appearing in every game. The iconic moment of Posey's postseason was in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, when he hit a grand slam against Mat Latos, and later turned a strikeout-throw out double play to help preserve a lead that allowed the Giants to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Another key moment was his go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, which proved vital when Delmon Young hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. Without those two home runs, Posey and the Giants may not have won the World Series, and because of his clutch power displays, Posey earned his second World Series Championship in three years. Additionally, Posey is the answer to the trivia question "Who is the only Giants player to be on the field for the clinching moments of both the 2010 and 2012 World Series?" Besides the previously mentioned awards, Posey won the following awards for his performance in 2012: National League Comeback Player of the Year, National League Silver Slugger at catcher, National League Hank Aaron Award for best hitter as determined by the fans and media, and the Baseball Writers Association of America National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite playing a different position and in a different era, parallels between Posey and Giants great Willie Mays have already been drawn, including performance, leadership, and even years missed due to exterior circumstances. Hopefully, Posey can keep the comparisons going, as even with only three years to his name, he already looks like a Hall of Fame-caliber player.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Gerald "Buster" Posey III was born on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. Attending Lee County High School, baseball was Posey's main sport, and for good reasons. Splitting time between shortstop and pitching, Posey set school records for batting average at .544 and runs batted in with forty-six in just his junior year. He also had a 10-1 record and 1.53 earned run average. In his senior year, he set a school record with fourteen home runs to go with a .462 batting average and forty runs batted in. He had a 12-0 record in thirteen starts, with a 1.06 earned run average and 108 strikeouts as well. His honors from high school include Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year, and EA Sports and Baseball America All-American nominations. Besides being great on both sides of the ball, he was also great in the classroom, finishing high school with a 3.94 grade point average, perhaps the most important statistic he could have from his student-athlete career. He was a 50th round selection in the 2005 draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but he chose to attend college instead. Posey played college baseball at Florida State, and in his freshman year played shortstop. He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American for his .346 batting average, four home runs, and forty-right runs batted in. As suggested by his coaches in 2007, he started playing catcher, and he was named the second best catcher in Johnny Bench Award voting. He hit .382 with three home runs and sixty-five runs batted in. The 2008 season was even better for Posey, where he won the Johnny Bench Award, hit a stunning .463 batting average as well as twenty-six home runs and ninety-three runs batted in, was named Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and achieved a very rare feat. On May 12th, he played all nine fielding positions, striking out two batters as a pitcher and hitting a grand slam in a 10-0 win over Savannah State University. His versatility was never more on display, and although that's not an achievement usually attempted a highly competitive environment, it is a feat worthy of praise. Posey was a first round draft pick in the 2008 draft, where he was selected fifth overall by the San Francisco Giants. Posey began his professional career with ten games in 2008, split between the Rookie-level Arizona League Giants, before moving along to the Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League in Salem, Oregon. In the short stint, he hit .351 with one home run and six runs batted in. Posey was fast-tracked to the Class A Advanced California League in 2009, where he appeared in eighty games at catcher for the San Jose Giants, hitting .326 with thirteen home runs and fifty-eight runs batted in. He earned a mid-season promotion to the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. Posey hit .321 with five home runs and twenty-two runs batted in at this level. This earned him a short major league call up, where he played in seven games but struggled early on. Undeterred, Posey went to Fresno for the beginning of the 2010 season, hitting .349 over forty-seven games, while launching six home runs with thirty-two runs batted in before being recalled to the major league Giants on May 29th. He worked at first base for the first month of the season, before going back to catching after a June 30th trade that saw starting catcher Bengie Molina traded to the Texas Rangers. Posey's rookie season was a highlight reel, with a twenty-one game hitting streak, his first grand slam, and a bump in the lineup to the coveted cleanup spot. This was only July, and he proved a force to be reckoned with as the Giants hurtled to a National League West Division title. He closed out his rookie year hitting .305 with eighteen home runs and sixty-seven runs batted in. This earned him the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2010. He was an obvious choice for the postseason roster, where he hit .288 with a home run and five runs batted in, although there was not a particular defining moment as Posey helped the Giants past the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers for a World Series Championship. Sadly, Posey was a poster boy for the San Francisco 2011 season as well, when a controversial play on May 25th resulted in a season-ending injury for the sophomore catcher. The play, still fresh in the minds of many of us, was when Scott Cousins scored a winning run against the Giants and crashed violently into Posey, causing serious ligament damage as well as a fractured fibula. Posey came out publicly when threats were made against Cousins, denouncing such actions while stepping up to acknowledge the vast support he received. He ended the season with forty-five games played, a .284 batting average, and twenty-one runs batted in with four home runs. Uncertainty clouded Posey's 2012 campaign, but he quickly cast doubts aside. He was the catcher for Matt Cain's perfect game on June 13, 2012 against the Houston Astros, resulting in what Posey called one of his most nervous moments on a baseball field. He was an easy selection for the All-Star Game, his first, and at season's end, he won the Willie Mac Award for demonstrating the spirit and leadership that Giants great Willie McCovey showed throughout his career. He hit a major-league leading .336 batting average (as well as a majors best .433 against lefties), with twenty-four home runs and 103 runs batted in en route to the National League batting title (which he won when teammate Melky Cabrera took himself out of the running due to his performance-enhancing drugs suspension). He was a cornerstone for the playoff run by the Giants, appearing in every game. The iconic moment of Posey's postseason was in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, when he hit a grand slam against Mat Latos, and later turned a strikeout-throw out double play to help preserve a lead that allowed the Giants to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Another key moment was his go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, which proved vital when Delmon Young hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. Without those two home runs, Posey and the Giants may not have won the World Series, and because of his clutch power displays, Posey earned his second World Series Championship in three years. Additionally, Posey is the answer to the trivia question "Who is the only Giants player to be on the field for the clinching moments of both the 2010 and 2012 World Series?" Besides the previously mentioned awards, Posey won the following awards for his performance in 2012: National League Comeback Player of the Year, National League Silver Slugger at catcher, National League Hank Aaron Award for best hitter as determined by the fans and media, and the Baseball Writers Association of America National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite playing a different position and in a different era, parallels between Posey and Giants great Willie Mays have already been drawn, including performance, leadership, and even years missed due to exterior circumstances. Hopefully, Posey can keep the comparisons going, as even with only three years to his name, he already looks like a Hall of Fame-caliber player.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
KHL November 20th 2012
Today's lone game is being played in Moscow, as Dynamo hosts Vityaz Chekhov. Ivan Kasutin for Vityaz and Alexei Volkov for Dynamo are the masked men. Chekhov began with a first period power play goal by Vladimir Malevich, powered by Alexei Troshchinsky. Moscow tied it in the second period as Nicklas Backstrom scored, with the help of Alexander Ovechkin and Denis Tolpeko. Vityaz retook the lead in the third period on a Troshchinsky goal, fueled by Anton Korolyov and Josh Hennessy. Dynamo shot back with an unassisted goal by Sergei Soin. Moscow took the lead on another Backstrom goal, assisted by Ovechkin and Tolpeko. This was all they needed for a 3-2 win, with Backstrom, Troshchinsky, and Ovechkin getting the three stars, while Tolpeko earns an honorable mention.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Fantasy Football All-Stars Week 11 2012
Clinching season is in full effect. There are about three or four more weeks of the regular season, and then it's playoff time. I won't be sending many teams to the postseason this year, as I've struggled with effectiveness. Here's the most recent stars.
Quarterback: Matt Schaub
Running Backs: LaRod Stephens-Howling and Marcel Reece
Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson and Justin Blackmon
Tight End: Rob Gronkowski
Kicker: Josh Scobee
Team Defense: New England
Defensive Players: Aldon Smith and Von Miller
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Quarterback: Matt Schaub
Running Backs: LaRod Stephens-Howling and Marcel Reece
Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson and Justin Blackmon
Tight End: Rob Gronkowski
Kicker: Josh Scobee
Team Defense: New England
Defensive Players: Aldon Smith and Von Miller
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday Night Football Week 11 2012
Our game this week should be a defensive war between the host San Francisco 49ers and the visiting Chicago Bears. San Francisco opened with a David Akers field goal of 32 yards. The 49ers padded the lead as Colin Kaepernick passed 3 yards for a touchdown to Vernon Davis, and Akers supplied the extra point. San Francisco kept going in the second quarter on a 14 yard Kendall Hunter touchdown run, and Akers again made the extra point. The 49ers struck again on a 37 yard Akers field goal. San Francisco padded the lead in the third quarter as Kaepernick passed 10 yards for a touchdown to Michael Crabtree, and Akers tacked on the PAT. Chicago got on the board when Jason Campbell found Brandon Marshall for 13 yards and a touchdown, and Robbie Gould booted the extra point. The 49ers shot back in the fourth quarter as Akers made a 32 yard field goal. San Francisco got some more as Aldon Smith sacked Campbell for a safety. This produced a 32-7 final, with the 49ers now at 7-2-1 and the Bears falling to 7-3.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
How They Got Here: The Story of the 2012 San Francisco Giants Part 22
How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-two tells us of young right fielder Hunter Pence.
Hunter Pence was born on April 13, 1983, in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas, where he played in the outfield before playing shortstop in his senior year. He went to Texarkana College for one year before transferring to University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a star playing in the Southland Conference. In his junior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round, and signed this time (Pence previously refused to sign as a 2002 draft fortieth round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers). He ended the 2004 season playing in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League with the Tri-City ValleyCats of Troy, New York, where he hit to a .296 batting average with eight home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in. In 2005, he moved up to the Class A Lexington Legends in Lexington, Kentucky of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .338 with twenty-five home runs and sixty runs batted in over the course of eighty games. He was promoted to the Class A Advanced Caroling League to play with the Salem Avalanche of Salem, Virginia. Pence played another forty-one games here, hitting .305 with six home runs and thirty runs batted in. For the 2006 season, Pence earned another promotion, up to the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League. His numbers dropped a bit at this level, as he hit only .283 with twenty-eight home runs and ninety-five runs batted in for the full season. It was enough to earn him a short stint in 2007 with the Round Rock Express of Round Rock, Texas, in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He spent most of April here, hitting a sterling .326 batting average with three home runs and twenty-one runs batted in, before earning a call up to the Houston Astros. His debut was against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28th, and he stuck with the Astros, playing center and right field, for the whole season except for from July 23rd to August 20th, when he was out with an injury. His rookie season concluded with him hitting .322 in batting average, as well as seventeen home runs and sixty-nine runs batted in. Pence played the full season with Houston in 2008, hitting to a .269 batting average as well as twenty-five home runs and eighty-three runs batted in, which was a slight regression. The 2009 season treated Pence a little bit better, as he made his first All-Star game en route to a personal line of .282 in batting average with twenty-five home runs and seventy-two runs batted in. He came into 2010 and left very similar results, cementing himself as a key player for the Astros by hitting .282 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-one runs batted in. His time as the face of the franchise was short though, as he began 2011 with the Astros and put up a .308 batting average with eleven home runs and sixty-two runs batted in before being traded during a firesale to the Philadelphia Phillies with cash in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later (Domingo Santana), all minor league players. None have broken into the major leagues yet. He closed out the season manning right field for the Phillies, where he hit .324 with eleven home runs and thirty-five runs batted in. He was primarily brought in with the intention of being a long-term solution in the outfield, as well as a short-term push in the playoffs, but the Phillies collapsed against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, and Pence hit only .211 with four runs batted in during the postseason. Nevertheless, he held the job for Philadelphia, and began the 2012 season there, hitting to a disappointing .271 batting average and seventeen home runs with fifty-nine runs batted in. In another deadline deal, the Phillies decimated their outfield while looking far away from the playoffs, making two deals in the same day. One was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Pence deal sent him to the Dodgers' rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in exchange for minor league players Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph, as well as established major league player Nate Schierholtz. While the Dodgers were thought to have made the best deadline deals by acquiring big names and larger contracts, the Giants excelled even as Pence struggled in the orange and black, where he hit .219 with seven home runs and forty-five runs batted in to close out the season. In the end, the Giants made the playoffs while the Dodgers unraveled, and it was Pence who brought something immeasurable to the table in the postseason. When down 2-0 in the National League Division Series to the Cincinnati Reds, Pence gave a speech to his teammates, firing them up, and they won the next three games to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Here, he had one of the quirkiest moments in recent memory, when he hit a third inning double in Game 7 that hit his breaking bat three times, causing a very unusual spin to be applied to the ball. The hit resulted in two earned runs and an additional unearned run, and put the nail in the coffin on the Cardinals, allowing San Francisco to reach the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He added the last of his four runs batted in during Game 2 of the World Series, a critical eighth inning insurance run to give the Giants a 2-0 series lead before heading to Detroit, where they finished off the Tigers with a four game sweep. While Pence's one home run and .210 batting average were nothing special, his fiery pregame speeches were recognized by teammates as a huge influence and motivation on them to win the championship, earning Pence his first World Series title.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Hunter Pence was born on April 13, 1983, in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas, where he played in the outfield before playing shortstop in his senior year. He went to Texarkana College for one year before transferring to University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a star playing in the Southland Conference. In his junior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round, and signed this time (Pence previously refused to sign as a 2002 draft fortieth round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers). He ended the 2004 season playing in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League with the Tri-City ValleyCats of Troy, New York, where he hit to a .296 batting average with eight home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in. In 2005, he moved up to the Class A Lexington Legends in Lexington, Kentucky of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .338 with twenty-five home runs and sixty runs batted in over the course of eighty games. He was promoted to the Class A Advanced Caroling League to play with the Salem Avalanche of Salem, Virginia. Pence played another forty-one games here, hitting .305 with six home runs and thirty runs batted in. For the 2006 season, Pence earned another promotion, up to the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League. His numbers dropped a bit at this level, as he hit only .283 with twenty-eight home runs and ninety-five runs batted in for the full season. It was enough to earn him a short stint in 2007 with the Round Rock Express of Round Rock, Texas, in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He spent most of April here, hitting a sterling .326 batting average with three home runs and twenty-one runs batted in, before earning a call up to the Houston Astros. His debut was against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28th, and he stuck with the Astros, playing center and right field, for the whole season except for from July 23rd to August 20th, when he was out with an injury. His rookie season concluded with him hitting .322 in batting average, as well as seventeen home runs and sixty-nine runs batted in. Pence played the full season with Houston in 2008, hitting to a .269 batting average as well as twenty-five home runs and eighty-three runs batted in, which was a slight regression. The 2009 season treated Pence a little bit better, as he made his first All-Star game en route to a personal line of .282 in batting average with twenty-five home runs and seventy-two runs batted in. He came into 2010 and left very similar results, cementing himself as a key player for the Astros by hitting .282 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-one runs batted in. His time as the face of the franchise was short though, as he began 2011 with the Astros and put up a .308 batting average with eleven home runs and sixty-two runs batted in before being traded during a firesale to the Philadelphia Phillies with cash in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later (Domingo Santana), all minor league players. None have broken into the major leagues yet. He closed out the season manning right field for the Phillies, where he hit .324 with eleven home runs and thirty-five runs batted in. He was primarily brought in with the intention of being a long-term solution in the outfield, as well as a short-term push in the playoffs, but the Phillies collapsed against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, and Pence hit only .211 with four runs batted in during the postseason. Nevertheless, he held the job for Philadelphia, and began the 2012 season there, hitting to a disappointing .271 batting average and seventeen home runs with fifty-nine runs batted in. In another deadline deal, the Phillies decimated their outfield while looking far away from the playoffs, making two deals in the same day. One was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Pence deal sent him to the Dodgers' rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in exchange for minor league players Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph, as well as established major league player Nate Schierholtz. While the Dodgers were thought to have made the best deadline deals by acquiring big names and larger contracts, the Giants excelled even as Pence struggled in the orange and black, where he hit .219 with seven home runs and forty-five runs batted in to close out the season. In the end, the Giants made the playoffs while the Dodgers unraveled, and it was Pence who brought something immeasurable to the table in the postseason. When down 2-0 in the National League Division Series to the Cincinnati Reds, Pence gave a speech to his teammates, firing them up, and they won the next three games to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Here, he had one of the quirkiest moments in recent memory, when he hit a third inning double in Game 7 that hit his breaking bat three times, causing a very unusual spin to be applied to the ball. The hit resulted in two earned runs and an additional unearned run, and put the nail in the coffin on the Cardinals, allowing San Francisco to reach the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He added the last of his four runs batted in during Game 2 of the World Series, a critical eighth inning insurance run to give the Giants a 2-0 series lead before heading to Detroit, where they finished off the Tigers with a four game sweep. While Pence's one home run and .210 batting average were nothing special, his fiery pregame speeches were recognized by teammates as a huge influence and motivation on them to win the championship, earning Pence his first World Series title.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
KHL November 19th 2012
One game today, as Sibir Novosibirsk hosts Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Alexander Lazushin for Metallurg and Sergei Gaiduchenko for Sibir tend the twines. Novosibirsk got on the board in the first period with a Konstantin Glazachev goal, made possible by Jori Lehtera and Jonas Enlund. Sibir added on in the second period as Enlund scored, with assists provided by Lehtera and Glazachev. The scoring stopped here, so Sibir won 2-0, and the three stars belonged to Glazachev, Enlund, and Gaiduchenko (21 save shutout), while Lehtera gets an honorable mention.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
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