By The Jersey Hitman
League 6
League 17
Mora, Mora, Mora!! Wasn’t that a movie? It has been a horror movie in Seattle this season. Run, don’t walk, if you want to see this summer’s blockbuster baseball!!
The Good: Melvin Mora
What has gotten into Melvin Mora? Over the past 30 days, he is hitting .414 with 6 HRs and 36 RBIs. You’ve gotta be kidding me!
I have had Mora on a few of my teams, on and off, throughout the season, using him mostly as a Monday/Thursday player. Currently, I have him on only one team, playing CI every day. I wish I had kept him in all my leagues.
In fact, Mora was offered to me as part of a trade not too long ago, but I turned it down. I wrote in the comment box: “Mora has pretty much become a useless fantasy player …”, just demonstrating my fantasy baseball genius once again.
On the season, he is hitting .283 with 20 HRs and an eye-popping 91 RBIs He has driven in more than 90 Runs only once before in his 11-year career, 2004 with 104. Twice, he has topped 20 HRs, hitting 27 in both 2004 and 2005. A career year at age 36? It sure looks like it.
The Bad: Lack of Hustle
Last week, I wrote about BJ Upton getting benched for not running out a ground ball. This week, he got benched again for the same thing. He is not alone: from Manny Ramirez to Jimmy Rollins, players just don’t seem to want to run.
Recently, Alfonso Soriano hit a ball and stood at home plate to admire his shot. The ball didn’t clear the wall - heck it barely hit the base of the wall, so a long single was the result.
Baseball is a hard game to play: hitting the little white ball with the rounded stick is tough. When you do hit the ball, drop the bat, and RUN (!!) to first base. That is something that every player should do without thinking.
I’ve coached my son’s t-ball team the last two seasons. After teaching the youngsters how to hit the ball off the tee, we showed them where first base was and told them to RUN there after hitting the ball. It was simple: they hit the ball and RAN.
Now, if a bunch of 5- and 6-year olds can do it, why can’t all MLB players do it? How many of us wish we had the talent to play the game at their level? I know I do. And if I could, I would run out every ball. I would even run onto and off the field in between innings.
Can we please see some hustle? Stop ‘Cadillac-ing’ and run!!
The Ugly: Erik Bedard
What a bust Erik Bedard has been this season for both the Mariners and fantasy owners alike. A 6-4 record and 3.67 ERA with 2 stints on the DL is not what the Mariners envisioned when they traded Adam Jones, George Sherrill and three other players to acquire him. One week after the trade, the Mariners signed him to a one-year, $7 million contact. Ouch!
More importantly for me, I wasted a fourth round draft pick on this stiff in the JAIL league. I stuck with him when he went on the DL in April with a hip problem but gave up on him when he went on the DL again on July 5th with shoulder stiffness.
Most recently, he had a throwing session on flat ground and didn’t feel right afterward. His return this season is very much in doubt. His return to the Mariners next season is also in doubt. He has been a disappointment in many ways for the team on and off the field. The trade to get him this off season almost fell through … I am sure the Mariners wish it had.