After slugging his fourth home run of the season (and 16th of his career) last week and collecting an RBI single on Tuesday night, Carlos Zambrano has a career-best 13-game hitting streak and has driven in a run in eight straight starts. I won’t dare compare his numbers to those of the greatest hitting pitcher of all time (a guy they called “The Babe”), but could Zambrano be this generation’s Wes Ferrell? Ferrell hit .280 with 38 HR and 208 RBI in 1,176 at-bats during his career, which lasted from 1928 until 1941. His career on-base percentage was .351 OBP and he slugged a healthy .446.
Twins outfielder Denard Span was ejected from his team’s loss against the Angels on Sunday AFTER the game was over. Upset about being called out on strikes to end the game, Span said the magic words to home plate umpire Brian Gorman and got tossed. I think I’ve seen players and managers get suspended for their actions immediately following the conclusion of a game, but I wonder how many times – if ever – an umpire has actually ejected someone from a game that was already over.
O’s notes
Daniel Cabrera reminds me of former Oriole Sidney Ponson. Other than the fact that Cabrera has never attacked a judge in his native country, the two have followed remarkably similar career paths. Both showed flashes of brilliance on the mound early in their career but never seemed to reach their full potential. Both are experts at allowing big innings, giving up the long ball with runners on base, and when it comes to control – throwing more wild pitches and walking more batters per nine innings than I previously thought possible.
Get well soon to one of the game’s greats
I’d like to wish a speedy recovery to Hall of Famer Carl Yaztremski. The last player to win the triple crown, the 69-year-old was released from the hospital after undergoing successful triple bypass surgery last week. Yaz making a full recovery would just be plain Good for Ball.
Keywords: Carl Yaztremski, Carlos Zambrano, Daniel Cabrera, Denard Span, ejection, Sidney Ponson
