Dream Team

From @MLB_PR:

Zooey Deschanel, who sang last night's National Anthem, with Ken Griffey Jr., who received the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award.

More Zooey:

Earlier Zooey content at SoSG: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

2&3: AP; 4: Getty Images

The Most Dramatic Day in Baseball History

Okay, maybe we exaggerate. But still, if you're a fan of baseball dramatics, yesterday was a banner day.

First, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks went 13 1/2 scoreless innings until Garret Anderson, of all people, hit the game-winning single — ruled a trap by a diving Chris Young — in the bottom of the 14th inning. The Dodgers were a half game out of first place...for the time being.

Then Ken Griffey Jr. retired. Not a huge shock, but when was the last time you can remember such a significant player calling it quits in the middle of a season? John Kruk, maybe?

But we were just getting started. Of course, the big baseball news of the day was umpire Jim Joyce's missed call costing the Tigers' Armando Galarraga a perfect game, which would have been the third of the season. Think the Steroid Era is over? (But weren't pitchers juicing too?)

Immediate reactions to this debacle included sympathy for Galarraga — and for Joyce as well. Both men reacted with class, and we got these transcendent words from Joe Posnanski:

Galarraga pitched a perfect game on Wednesday night in Detroit. I’ll always believe that. I think most baseball fans will always believe that. But, more than anything it seems that Galarraga will always believe it. The way he handled himself after the game, well, that was something better than perfection. Dallas Braden’s perfect game was thrilling. Roy Halladay’s perfect game was art. But Armando’s Galarraga’s perfect game was a lesson in grace.

Of course, none of this will prevent the instant replay debate from firing up for the rest of this season. Already there's talk of Bud Selig overturning the missed call, and for some, it's time to get back to work:

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said MLB gave Joyce the option to not work Thursday's game between Detroit and Cleveland, but Joyce chose to stick with his job behind the plate. Leyland added that Galarraga would present the lineup card and shake hands with Joyce at home plate before the afternoon game.

Photo op!

The first-place Padres, never willing to make things easy for the Dodgers, shook off a strong performance by Johan Santana and took the Mets into extra innings when David "MSB" Eckstein drove in the tying run off Francisco Rodriguez. And, just to top Anderson's walk-off single, Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk-off grand slam to win it in the 11th. The Dodgers' reclamation of first place must wait for at least another day.

Oh, and as the cherry on top of The Most Dramatic Day in Baseball History, the Twins-Mariners game ended with a bit of a brouhaha as well. These types of things may drive Selig crazy, but there wouldn't be controversy if people didn't care. And there was a lot to care about yesterday.

photo by Paul Sancya/AP

This Sleeping On The Job Thing Is Catching On

First Keith Hernandez, and now Ken Griffey Jr?

Though he may be 40 years old now, sometimes "The Kid" needs to sleep.

Seattle Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. missed a chance to enter an unspecified game last week as a pinch hitter because he was asleep in the clubhouse, according to a report from the Tacoma News Tribune.

When pressed following the game as to why he had not used the left-handed slugger as a pinch hitter, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu was evasive.

But according to two unnamed younger Seattle players who are both fond of Griffey, the future Hall of Famer had fallen asleep.

"He was asleep in the clubhouse," one player told the Tribune. "He'd gone back about the fifth inning to get a jacket and didn't come back. I went back in about the seventh inning -- and he was in his chair, sound asleep."

Bud Selig had better put out a Commissioner's Memo or something, or everyone else is going to fall asleep at baseball games. Perhaps Joe West was on to something. Besides working on his double chin, that is.

My O-Dog Story

The Diamondbacks were visiting Dodger Stadium in June of last year, and it was one of those rare days when batting practice got rained out. The path to the indoor batting cages goes through the hallway by the Dodgers clubhouse, and Orlando Hudson's locker was across from the clubhouse door.

One of Hudson's former Diamondback teammates, who I didn't recognize, walked by the open clubhouse door on his way for some indoor BP. Hudson greeted him from inside the clubhouse and started a friendly conversation across the room, him in front of his locker and the other player standing in the hallway.

If you've heard Orlando Hudson talk, you'll understand it was mostly a one-sided conversation. At some point Hudson proudly displayed his shiny blue cleats. "See these? Custom-made by Nike. You ain't gonna find these at no Dick's."

After ascertaining his former teammate did not possess custom-made cleats of his own, Hudson bade him a cheery farewell and the player went on his way.

And now guess who's guest-starring in a Dick's Sporting Goods commercial featuring Ken Griffey Jr. and Torii Hunter? That's right, Orlando Hudson (along with Ryan Braun and Carl Crawford). You are gonna find the Nike Swingman Collection at a Dick's near you. Guess the O-Dog had an exclusive window.

'Around the Mound' Around Town

Orlando Hudson is spending time with inner-city kids in ten cities across the country as part of his "Around the Mound" tour, meeting about 150 kids per stop. That's 1,500 kids over the course of a season (KpS). Good job, O-Dog. And sometimes he brings along special guests, this time at Van Ness Park:

O-Dog, the Kid, Beast Mode.

"Everyone will get a chance to participate! Except you, in the Giants uniform!"

Things that make Juan Pierre smile: getting beaned in the back, cute kids.

Earlier Dodger good deeds at SoSG:
Sights from the Holiday Weekend
WBC Semifinals Game Thread: USA vs. Japan, 5p

photos by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

Griffey to White Sox. Wow!

Griffey accepts trade to White Sox (FOXSports.com)

Passing of the Torch?

Aaron and A-Rod and Bonds, Oh My!

Lost in the media blitz surrounding Jonathan Broxton's pursuit of the single-season holds record is the fact that Barry Bonds is approaching the All-Time Career HR mark. While it's inevitable Bonds will soon pass Hank Aaron, conventional wisdom has Bonds dropping to #3 - behind Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols - within the next 15 years.

SoSG decided to take a graphical look at the HR pace of these sluggers to help evaluate this assertion. We plotted the HR progress of Aaron, Bonds, A-Rod, and Pujols, and just for fun threw Ken Griffey Jr and Babe Ruth into the mix. We then normalized the results by age to allow for proper comparison. This yielded the following:

(click graph to enlarge)

The plot reveals a number of interesting trends:

• Griffey vs Bonds - Into their early 30's, Bonds couldn't hold Junior's jock in terms of HR production (at 31 Junior lead Bonds by a whopping 146 HR's). But the severe flattening of Griffey's trendline around age 32 reflects his injury problems, while the notable steepening of Bond's curve at age 36 reflects his, um, improved diet and training regimen. The result: Bonds eventually passes Griffey at 37.
• Aaron - His consistency put him on top. Aaron never produced single-season numbers equal to the others' best seasons, but he's The Greatest because he never waned from age 21 through age 40.
• The Babe - He was able to achieve the most consistently impressive HR pace from age 25 through 40, as the steep slope of his curve through this period suggests. Who knows where he'd be if he'd played past 40 or if he didn't spend his early years pitching.
• A-Rod - He's well ahead of any of the above legends. The plot illustrates how A-Rod will hit 500 more than two years before Ruth, Aaron, or Junior did (and four years before Bonds). Barring injury, A-Rod indeed seems destined to blow the roof off the record.
• Pujols - While still a bit early to be considered a true contender, his trendline reveals how he outpaced even ARod until his "slump" this season (plus, the end of the curve is somewhat distorted because the current season is still in progress). Let's check back in 5 years.

Ken Griffey Jr. Has a Fine, If Slightly Twisted, Sense of Humor

Via The Trolley Dodger comes this excellent tale titled "Ken Griffey Jr's on my Jock":

[Griffey] motions to throw it to me and I told him no, I know that trick. He laughs and says catch it, so I put up my hands and he tosses it over. He wouldn't leave until I opened it and when I finally did, the whole place erupted with laughter. Griffey throws me his jock...

Read the whole story!

UPDATE

It's national news now.

Griffey Sidelined by Punctuation Sign

Ken Griffey Jr. was such an amazing talent even at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, that he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 1987 amateur draft. Though he never went to college, one would think that a basic high school English course would have taught him the primary punctuation signs.

But according to Yahoo News, Griffey is sidelined by a colon problem:

"It's just a condition that I have,..." Griffey said. "It's something that a lot of people have, and it's uncomfortable."

I know English isn't everyone's strong suit, but it shouldn't be that difficult. Alas, we won't be able to invite him to join the SoSG staff, even while sidelined.

Griffey Jr. Being Griffey Jr.

The Pioneer Press (twincities.com) reports that the real reason Griffey broke his hand this offseason was wrestling with his children.

On his yacht. In the Bahamas.

Excuse me if I'm not exactly forgiving.

The Cincinnati Reds center fielder said he was wrestling with his daughter and two younger sons on his yacht in the Bahamas in December when the oldest jumped in and knocked him off balance. He landed awkwardly on his left hand.

"It was nothing that could violate my contract," he said Friday after reporting early for training camp in Sarasota, Fla. "It was Dad being Dad."

Griffey said the hand feels fine and he expects to be ready to go for spring training. He was waiting for Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek to re-evaluate it.

The Griffey I'd really like to see is the one who is tenth on the all-time home run list, tied with Reggie Jackson and only 20 home runs away from tying #7 Mark McGwire. Maybe Junior could be Junior in a batting cage? (Even if said cage were on a yacht in the Bahamas.)

Ken Griffey Jr., Meet Elton John

I'll admit it, I'm a Ken Griffey Jr. fan. The game has been better when he has been on the field, with his infectious smile, sweet swing, and defensive skills. And to see is career set back by injuries has been tough to watch.

(And no, I'm not just saying this because my brother has 50 of his Upper Deck rookie cards in his closet.)

So that's why I'm excited to hear that his strange broken-hand incident from this off-season looks like it may be on the mend. Here's hoping he recovers in time for the 2007 season.

Anyone know if Jeff Kent is still washing his own truck? God, I hope not.

Home Run Leaders Graph (Version 2.0)

I've amended my earlier home run graph (from my earlier post) to show the following:

the most home runs hit by anyone at that age;

titles on both axes; and

changed the color for the Sammy Sosa data.

What is interesting to me is that, even though many of the leader marks at older ages are claimed by the top ten home run hitters (such as Sosa, Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Bonds), all of the early leader marks are claimed by other players (names like Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Mel Ott, and Joe DiMaggio). It's not like the modern-era players didn't get early starts either; most were playing by age 21 and in Griffey's case, by age 19. But all of them saw increases in productivity in later ages that defied earlier standards.

Could this increase in productivity be the product of just healthy diets and good conditioning? Well, maybe. I guess it's not [the] clear (or the cream) to me.

Junior, D-Train Doing Their Best to Keep Baseball in the News

Ken Griffey Jr. breaks hand; to be tested with MRI?

Dontrelle Willis breaks law, is arrested for DUI