Things got a little nasty this week in the Arizona Diamondbacks camp when general manager Kevin Towers fired a couple of the tea

Posted in IYH Forums by jokergreen0220 at 08:35, Nov 07 2017

Things got a little nasty this week in the Arizona Diamondbacks camp when general manager Kevin Towers fired a couple of the teams coaches, including pitching coach Charles Nagy. Chris Baker Jersey . It didnt end there. Towers, during a radio interview, slammed his pitchers for not executing "eye for an eye" justice by not hitting opponents with the pitches after their own players had been plunked. Towers added that he wanted a pitching coach with more fire who would convey the message that the Dbacks pitchers had to have more "fire in their bellies" and do a better job of protecting their teammates. That made me wonder if there is any correlation between pitching staffs hitting batters and those teams making it into the postseason. This season, for instance, Pittsburgh lead the Majors in hit batters with 70 and made it to the Wild Card game before losing the division series to St. Louis in 5. Cincinnati was second with 66 and lost the Wild Card game to the Bucs. The Central-winning Cardinals hit 64 batters. The top American League team was Texas with 65, and the Rangers made it to the tiebreaker game where they lost to the Rays. Arizona, surprisingly, fits in right after that with 60; which is a bit surprising considering what Towers had to say. I suppose he was just more than a little upset that his team led the NL West early, only to see the Dodgers overcome a horrible start and go shooting past them to win the division. L.A only hit 43 batters while the other National League playoff team, Atlanta, nailed 51. In the American League, after Texas, Cleveland hit 58 and then the numbers drop off from Tampa Bay at 52, Boston 47, Detroit 42 and Oakland just 35. A year ago, Towers had two of the top pitchers in hitting batters - Ian Kennedy with 14 and Trevor Cahill with 11 - but this year he wound up trading Kennedy to San Diego. You dont have to hit batters to be effective but you cant be afraid to pitch inside either. Clevelands Justin Masterson certainly qualifies. He led the Majors with 17 hit batsmen this season. The Tigers feisty right hander Doug Fister was second with 16. Interestingly, the Blue Jays two winningest pitchers also plunked the most. R.A Dickey with 10 and Mark Buehrle with nine, accounting for a combined 38 per cent of the Jays hit batters. If you look at the all-time career list, Gus Wehhing - who played the bulk of his career in the 1800s -leads the way with 277. Randy Johnson tops the modern era and is fifth overall with 190. Based on my perceptions growing up, I would have pegged Don Drysdale and Bob Gibson as being near the top of the list, but Drysdale checks in at number 18 with 154, while Gibson may be the most intimidating and greatest pitcher I ever saw was only tied for 79th place with 102. The biggest surprise name on the list was 38-year -old Jamie Wright whos still pitching out of the Rays pen with 151. Hes number 19 all-time. If you dont count Roger Clemens, the highest ranking Jays pitcher is Dave Stieb who nailed 129 batters. Thats good for a tie for 37th place and 37, of course, just happens to have been his number. A certain synchronicity to that, I guess. Watching all of these brilliant young pitchers in the postseason, you wonder what might have been if one had landed with the Blue Jays. In the 2011 June draft, the Blue Jays had no chance to get Gerrit Cole, as he went number one overall to the Pirates. The one who may turn out to be the best pitcher in that draft, Jose Fernandez, went number 14 to the Marlins while Sonny Gray, who starred for the As down the stretch and into the postseason, went 18th overall. The Blue Jays chose Tyler Beede at 21, but then were unable to sign him as he chose the college route. The 2012 draft is a little more frustrating. The Blue Jays opted for outfielder D.J Davis at number 17 and while he may turn into a solid Major Leaguer, St. Louis at 19 grabbed right hander Michael Wacha out of Texas A&M. The Jays took hard throwing right hander Marcus Stroman at number 22. Though he could start next year at Triple "A" Buffalo, he could appear with the big club at some point next year. Although the draft order could change a bit after all the free agency wheeling and dealing in the off season, right now, the Blue Jays will pick ninth overall in 2014 and also at number 11 (compensation for not signing their first round pick in 2013, right hander Phil Bickford at number 10). This could be the Jays most important draft in a decade, especially when you consider the average age of their pitching staff this season was 30.9 years old second eldest in the Majors behind the Yankees at 31.8. Custom Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys .com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. William Gholston Jersey . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. http://www.thebuccaneersfansclub.com/Black-Friday-Jacquies-Smith-Jersey/ . Observant Muslims avoid food and liquids from dawn to dusk during Ramadan but can, and often do, skip it if travelling or doing hard physical labour. Some devout Muslim athletes choose to fast during training or competition, but it can create selection difficulties for the coaches in team sports.DETROIT -- Tigers ace Justin Verlander underwent muscle repair surgery Thursday after injuring himself last month during off-season conditioning. Dr. Bill Meyers in Philadelphia performed the operation on Verlander, who is expected to need six weeks of rehab before being evaluated again. The first workout for Detroits pitchers and catchers at spring training is scheduled for Feb. 14. The first spring training game is Feb. 25 against Florida Southern. "We fully anticipate Justin to participate in spring training and be in a position to compete at the beginning of the 2014 season," general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. The team did not identify the "core muscle" that was repaired, but called the surgery successful. Verlander turns 31 on Feb. 20. The Tigers said Verlander hurt himself at the end of December. There was also a message posted on Verlanders Twitter account: "Thanks for the support regarding my surgery today," it said. "It went well and now my only focus is to get ready for 2014! .deetermined" Verlander went 13-12 last year with a 3. Clinton McDonald Jersey. 46 ERA for the AL Central champions. He has been Detoits opening day starter for the last six seasons, the longest active streak by any player with one team, according to STATS. If Verlander isnt at full strength for Detroits regular-season opener against Kansas City on March 31, the Tigers do have Max Scherzer, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. One of Verlanders biggest assets is his durability. The right-hander has thrown at least 200 innings in seven consecutive seasons. Verlanders surgery was performed by the same doctor who operated on Detroit teammate Miguel Cabrera after the slugger was limited down the stretch last season by a tear in his groin. Two years ago, the Tigers lost designated hitter Victor Martinez for the entire 2012 season after an off-season injury. Martinez hurt his knee. Verlanders injury does not appear to be nearly as serious, but the Tigers now enter the 2014 season with two of their biggest stars coming off surgery. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '