Maybe in time I’ll see things in a different way, but all I can think about is right now and right now you let me down.  Right now you let me down.  You let me down.  -Black Flag

There was a time Adam Dunn was one of the premier left-handed power hitters in all of baseball who showed great patience at the plate.  I know, I know, this cat has been known to stike out a lot, but he has nonetheless compiled a career on-base percentage above .380.  In fact, coming in to this season, Dunn has been one of the game’s most prolific sluggers going for seven consecutive seasons with at least 38 bombs and a  hefty .850 OPS.  That’s why Billy Williams and the White Sox signed him for all that money.  The White Sox, reeling from their 2010 finish when they failed to win the AL Central, desperately wanted a left-handed bat.  Desperately seeking Susan.  They tried several times during the summer to trade for Dunn, but couldn’t reach an agreement with the Nationals. They even entertained the idea of bringing back DH Jim Thome, who helped the Minnesota Twins to the division title last season.  But no, they ultimately signed Dunn.  Like my main John Belushi always says, “I came out here, I didn’t have to.  I could have stayed in my dressing room, by myself, and let you die out here alone.  But nooooo!  I gotta come out here and help you, and what do you do?  You turn on me like a shark!”      Read More »

Mark the month and all its anniversaries.  Put away the draft of all your eulogies.  Clear the way for all your private memories.  -Suzanne Vega

In case you missed it, yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of Adam Dunn’s first major-league game. On that day of Adam’s first game, he recorded his first Major League hit.  Hooray Adam Dunn!  Wait!  Not so fast!  On that day too, he also recorded his first Major League strikeout.  Boooooo Adam Dunn!  And so it has gone for most of his career.  Yesterday, Dunn reached his 10th anniversary with 363 home runs, the fifth-most in major-league history at the 10-year anniversary of a player’s big-league debut.  The four players ahead of him: Albert Pujols (408), Eddie Mathews (371), Ralph Kiner (369) and Alex Rodriguez (366).  Yesterday Dunn also reached his 10th anniversary with 1,756 career strikeouts.  That, by far, is the highest total in Major-League history 10 years to the day since a player’s first career game.  Nobody else is within 300 strikeouts of that record.  Nobody.  Not Reggie Jackson.  Not Sammy Sosa.  Not Jim Thome.  Not nobody.  In fact, Bobby Bonds own second place on that list; he whiffed 1,422 times in his first decade in the majors (1968-1978).  So hey, happy anniversary Adam Dunn!

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

Knowledge slowly builds up what in an hour, ignorance pulls down.  -George Eliot

1.  Sheesh these Mariners are hot.  Red hot.  Hot to trot.  Hotsie Totsie.  Last night, Raul Ibanez hit two two-run bombs and then doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth to lead the Mariners over the Tribe.  It was the sixth time Z hit two dings in a game.  He also tripled in the seventh to come up a single shy of the cycle.  Paul Byrd:  “The way he played tonight, he should have twenty home runs.  I have no idea how he only had two going into the game.  He killed us.”  Yes he did.  The Mariners have been killing everyone as of late.        Read More »