Happy 4th America And Vinny Castilla

[They ate 147 snausages in 7 minutes]

Joey Chestnut ate 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win another championship in an American classic. That's just the perfect way to celebrate the United States Independence Day. Over-zealous eating. Frankly, I'm surprised those competitive eaters aren't dunking their hot dog buns in bacon fat yet. But it's kinda, sorta 'Merica's brithday so we should breakout some Carvel Ice Cream cake and sprinkle it with hamburgers and beer. I'm worried about your health.

But before you blow your eyebrows off with a Roman Candle, let's celebrate some of baseball's Fourth of July birthdays...

Sergio Santos, 1983, Los Angeles, CA.
What seemed like a steal for the Blue Jays in a trade with the White Sox, Santos injured that thing used for throwing a ball and has missed much of the season.

I gave him
Another set back, I'm terrible at gift giving and wrapping. Lots of papercuts.


Amauri Sanit, 1979, La Habana, Cuba.
He pitched 7 innings for the Yankees in 2011 and gave up 10 earned runs on 12 hits and 3 walks.

I gave him
A new birth certificate that named him Ami Sant and made him 22-years-old. If that doesn't work out, free raft ride to the destination of his choosing.

Brendan Donnelly, 1971, Washington, DC.
Part of the unhitable Angels bullpen that won the World Series in 2002.

I gave him
My authentic J.T. Snow California Angels jersey to try to get it signed and sent back to me.

Vinny Castilla, 1967, Oaxaca, Mexico
He hit 191 home runs and .302/.348/.545 playing for Colorado between 1995 and 1999.

I gave him
A reverse humidor for all of those away games.


José Oquendo, 1963, Rio Piedras, PR.
The comedy twins/duo/sportsfans, Sklar brothers, lobbied for Oquendo's induction into the Hall of Fame. It's not going well.

I gave him
A Cooperstown t-shirt. Not a Hall of Fame t-shirt, just a Cooperstown t-shirt. It's not his size, either. Lots of disappointment.

Dan Larson, 1954, Los Angeles, CA.
Not the guy who threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Which would have been extremely impressive for a two-year-old.

I gave him
The name Don Larsen.

There are plenty more including names like: Dot Fulghum, Stump Edington, Milt Reed, Duke Kenworthy, Pinky Swander and Chief Roseman.

So happy Fourth, everybody, and enjoy that cheeseburger stuffed porterhouse. I'm sure Obamacare will cover that heart attack.

Grady Sizemore's Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, no-hitters and Brian Wilson's beard are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

Starting in 2005, Grady Sizemore was one of the most exciting young players in baseball and looked like a future MVP. A legit 30-30 guy, Sizemore posted a 5.8 WAR in 2005, 8.0 in 2006, 6.2 in 2007 and 7.4 in 2008. In 2009, injuries started derailing his career. He made it to the plate just 140 time in 2010 and, with one DL trip in the books, ZiPS projects 378 plate appearances for 2011. And he wasted 4 of them on Sunday. But I feel bad for Grady so here's a sad dog wearing a sombrero.

Top 2nd: Sizemore struck out swinging against Jeremy Hellickson. To be fair, Hellickson had some pretty good stuff.

Top 4th: Sizemore struck out swinging against Hellickson again.

Top 7th: Sizemore struck out swinging against Hellickson. Sizemore struck out 3 times, the same way against the same pitcher which is an MTD Hat Trick. Why isn't this catching on yet? Somebody get Baseball Tonight on the phone.

Top 9th: Sizemore struck out looking against Cesar Ramos. Sizemore watched 3 straight pitches to end the game.

Merry Christmas From Off Base

I'll be spending my day tomorrow driving from New Orleans to Atlanta. And while that might sound like more fun than hanging out with your crazy sister-in-law Suse, let me remind you that I won't be able to drink while driving. Legally. So I'd like to take this time to wish all of our Santa-cult followers a Merry Xmas. If I wasn't so busy doing everything at the very last minute, I could have made an Off Base Christmas list or an Angels list. *hint, Adrian Beltre and NOT Scott Podsednik* But I don't have the time, so enjoy this glorious video of Alison Brie singing the sexiest version of "Santa Baby" followed by collection of dogs wearing Christmas hats...



On to dogs in hats!!

Pat Burrell's World Series Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, cycles and no-hitters are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

I thought I was finished writing up Golden Sombreros for the year but I must have forgotten that Pat Burrell was still on a Major League roster that was actually in the post season. Burrell, who plays a bizarre left field, has struggled a bit in the World Series so far to the tune of a .000/.182/.000 line. He brought out the big bat last night and failed to do anything with it in the Giants 4-2 loss. Let's take a look at Burrell's night of futility, right after we take a look at this dog in a mini-sombrero...

Ah, that's better.

Top 1st: Burrell struck out swinging against Colby Lewis. Burrell, ever the master of efficiency, swung and missed thrice while watching only one pitch go for a ball.

Top 4th: Burrell struck out swinging against Lewis again. This time he watched two strikes and went down swinging at the third pitch. Very effective.

Top 7th: Burrell struck out swinging against Lewis for the MTD Hat Trick. The coveted MTD Hat Trick is acquired when a batter strikes out three times, the same way against the same pitcher. I thought that was a pretty rare occurrence, I was wrong.

Top 9th: Burrell struck out swinging against Neftali Feliz. Feliz finally made a World Series appearance and all he did was retire the side while striking out a pair. Who knew Feliz was a dominant reliever?

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Rolando Roomes.

Hey Sunday shut ins, I'll be covering our little round up today while Derwood is back from his vacation and had to go back to earning money. If you're in the Atlanta area, stop by the interstate and buy a sack of oranges from him. He needs the money. Crazy ain't cheap and he buys it in bulk from Costco. Let's take a spin through some of yesterday's games and if you're good, maybe I'll buy you some cotton candy.

Reds 8, Rockies 1. Edison Volquez made his first start after a little, good ole fashioned Tommy John surgery. And if he's going to pitch like this, the Cardinals need to start sweating. Volquez went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. The Reds offense smacked 4 home runs including another pair from Drew Stubbs. Cincinnati is starting to look pretty dangerous and they still have Aroldis Chapman waiting in the minors.

Red Sox 3, Rangers 2. Cliff Lee's second Ranger start went much better than his first one. Lee pitched, wait for it, 9 innings but allowed 2 runs and a walk. Another walk? I'm starting to doubt Derwood's robot theory. Youkilis drove in the tying run in the 9th against Lee and the Sox won in the 11th off of a Youkilis sac fly.

Twins 3, White Sox 2. There was no wasted pitching in this game. Blog enemy Carl Pavano went all 9 innings and only allowed 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6. Mark Buehrle went all 8 innings but allowed 3 runs on 9 hits to take the loss. Paul Konerko continued his above average season hitting his 21st homer of the year. That always makes Paul Konerko dog smile.

Marlins 2, Nationals 0. Josh Johnson thew another 6 scoreless innings and ran his record to 10-3. Just between us, Johnson's ERA is now 1.62 and he's the best pitcher in the National League. That's just our secret. I'm not sure anyone else has noticed yet.

Giants 8, Mets 4. Blog favorite Buster Posey hit another home run. That's 8 home runs and a .356/.391/.591 slash line for the Giants' clean-up hitter. Which begs the age old question, Bengie Molina?

Rays 10, Yankees 5. I covered A.J. Burnett's bad day in Shot of the Night.