After my birthday party tonight I was reading the ProjectProspect forums and came across a college box score that I thought had to be a misprint. But, no...it was legit.

Stephen Strasburg, a sophomore at San Diego State, struck out 23 Utah Utes tonight. Twenty-freaking-three!

Check out this line...
9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 23 K

The big righty, who was ranked the third-best sophomore in the country by Baseball America this season, set a school and conference record with the performance.

Read it and weep. I have to wonder how many pitches he threw, but I will certainly be keeping an eye on this kid!

Update: Not seeing the number anywhere else, I sent an e-mail to the sports information director at SDSU. Strasburg threw 128 pitches.

Happy Friday, Happy Birthday to me (and Mark Teixeira, Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon, Kelvim Escobar & Bret Sabaerhagen) and, best of all, Happy Felix Day! Here’s hoping he can pitch as well today as he did on my birthday last year! In any case, enjoy a few YouTube videos and have a great weekend!

The Mets got Rickrolled!


Two things that really don’t go together: hot chicks and fantasy baseball advice. Oh well…


Notre Dame pitcher Wade Korpi taking a 100 MPH comebacker off his face. Here’s hoping he’s okay…


The Mythbusters crew break down some baseball-related myths…


MadTV pretty much sucks, but here’s an entertaining sketch on “accidental” steroid use in baseball…

I know, I know...small sample size, yada yada yada, but here are the Top 10 Reasons to Always Avoid Using High Picks to Draft Closers



10) Rafael Soriano: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1 save, 0 blown saves, went on the 15-day DL today
9) Kerry Wood: 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 3 saves, 1 blown save
8) Huston Street: 5.2 IP, 7.94 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown save
7) JJ Putz: 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown save, went on the 15-day DL April 2
6) Brandon Lyon: 4 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2 saves, 2 blown saves
5) Francisco Rodriguez: 2.1 IP, 8.10 ERA, 3 saves, 1 blown save, out since April 7 with sprained ankle
4) Jose Valverde: 4 IP, 11.25 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown save
3) Eric Gagne: 3 IP, 12.00 ERA, 1 save, 2 blown saves
2) Trevor Hoffman: 3.2 IP, 12.27 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown save
1) Joe Borowski: 2.1 IP, 19.29 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown save

Inspired by the Mariners’ awesome JJ Putz soul patch giveaway this weekend, I decided to take a look at what all teams are doing in terms of promotions and giveaways this year. Here are some of the best and worst ideas…

The good ideas

• A couple teams, including the Rockies and Astros are having a canvas grocery tote bag giveaway, which I think is a really neat idea. I just found out that if everyone started using reusable grocery bags, 14 million trees would be saved every year. Might as well have one with your favorite team logo on it…

• The A’s are certainly trying to appeal to the college crowd with several Pyro Nights (what is this?) and something called “Beerfest.” They also have some cool promotions this year, including an A’s pet calendar and a 40th Anniversary DVD.

• Getting a DVD as a giveaway is a really nice item that has value other than collecting dust on a shelf and I think the Tigers giving away a DVD of Justin Verlander throwing a no-hitter last year is a prime example of doing that right. Who wouldn’t want to have that?


• The Indians are giving away a Grady Sizemore fleece blanket. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to cuddle up with Grady Sizemore?

• The Giants and Diamondbacks are doing promotions that I’ve always thought were really cool and would certainly take part in, if they were done in Seattle: sleepovers! Wouldn’t it be great to sleep in the outfield at Safeco Field?

• The Padres are doing something cool in August, when they have a day game against the Diamondbacks. After the game, fans can stick around and see a Cal League game between the Lake Elsinore Storm and the Inland Empire 66ers. Take a hint, Mariners...


• Last week, the Rockies gave away 2007 League Champion collectible, wearable rings. This already happened, but that's an awesome idea. My friend showed me a similar item he got at a Sonics game one time and I thought it was one of the best giveaway ideas I'd ever seen.

Now, for the bad ideas…
• The Angels are giving away a chest protector backpack. Confused? Think about how six-year-olds must feel!

• The Giants are giving away Crazy Crab Bobbleheads. I’m not a huge fan of bobbleheads to begin with, but especially not of ones for old, hated mascots.

• A few teams are having Chick-fil-A plush cow nights. The giveaways are little cow stuffed animals that have an apron showing support for (insert team here) and reminding kids to eat chicken. A cow telling you to eat chicken, get it? Yeah, it’s lame and it’s definitely not something I would want…well, ever, but especially not at the ballpark.

• The Cubs are giving away Cub-themed doll clothes that fit American Girl dolls. I can understand trying to get more young girls interested in the game, but is that really the best way to do it?


• The Phillies are giving away a Paint-the-Phanatic figurine. Just what every kid wants when they come to the ballpark — an art project. What’s next…sew your own shirt night?


• The Rays are having a ’90s night, which makes me feel old. But, at least they’re doing it right by having a postgame concert featuring MC Hammer!

• Worst of all, though, is the White Sox and their Mullet Night. Puh-lease. Mulllets being funny? So five years ago…

Today, I officially became a Brad Penny fan.

I began to like him a few years ago when he offered a Marlins batboy $500 to drink a gallon of milk in an hour without vomiting. When the Marlins fired the batboy, Penny gave the kid a week's worth of his salary (almost $100,000).

It also doesn't hurt that he's a pretty good pitcher or (as shown above) hangs out with Eliza Dushku.

But, today, I read a little article on the Dodgers' site about Penny warming up with a fan in the stands the other day. How cool is that?!

MLB needs more guys like Brad Penny...

Update! Below my predictions, I added my dad's picks too. He did them before the season started, I just wasn't able to get them up sooner because I was on vacation...

It’s that time of year! With only a few days until Opening Day (for most teams, at least), it’s time to put my money where my mouth is … time for some 2008 predictions. These have become an annual event here at StopTheWave, and this year is no exception. So, without further ado, here are my official predictions for how the season will end up.

AL East
Boston
New York
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Baltimore

Even with Curt Schilling on the shelf, Boston is just loaded and I expect them to repeat as AL East champions. However, subtle differences fill out the rest of the division, as I see 2008 as the year the Yankees miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993 and the Rays, with their new name, will finally finish over .500 and begin a stretch of officially making the East a three-team race. Toronto is a good team and could win a few other divisions, but a few too many injury concerns have me thinking they’re going to be disappointed up in Canada. And Baltimore … well, as much as I miss Adam Jones and George Sherrill, they’re in for a loooong season!

AL Central
Cleveland
Detroit*
Minnesota
Chicago
Kansas City


After making huge splashes in the offseason by trading for Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, the Tigers are going to be the popular pick in the Central. However, Cleveland didn’t get any worse — and remember, they won 96 games last year! Chicago’s talking the talk — and while I love the addition of Nick Swisher — I don’t think they can walk the walk. So, Minnesota is the default choice for third, despite losing the best pitcher in the game. Things are looking up in Kansas City, but they’re not there yet.

AL West
Seattle
Anaheim
Texas
Oakland

Call me an optimist, call me a homer but, yes, I’m picking the hometown nine to finish first in the West. However, I still think they’ll be lucky to win 90 games. The division is weak at the top, but actually strong at the bottom. I think there will be the smallest difference between the first-place team and the last-place team. Part of that, of course, has to do with the fact that there are only four teams in the division. But it’s also due to the fact that Oakland, despite having a bit of a fire sale, is still pretty good and pretty underrated. But, back to picking Seattle to win the division — does it really matter? Let’s get serious … they’re not in the same division as Boston, Cleveland or Detroit.

NL East
New York
Atlanta*
Philadelphia
Florida
Washington

Talk about top heavy! The NL East has three good teams at the top with two very bad teams at the bottom. After getting Johan Santana, the Mets are the favorites, and rightly so. Most people will probably pick the Phillies to finish second but, top to bottom, I actually like Atlanta a little better. I hope fans in Washington like the new stadium, because there aren’t a lot of other reasons to come to the ballpark out there.

NL Central
Chicago
Milwaukee
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Houston
Pittsburgh

The Cubs are looking solid. I think Kosuke Fukudome is going to be great and I’m excited to see Rich Hill’s second full season. Milwaukee is just brimming with young talent, but the fragility of the starting rotation makes me think they’ll be golfing in October. The Reds could really surprise some people this year. With Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez in the rotation, they’ve got some firepower on the hill that should be a lot of fun to watch. They need to wise up and get Jay Bruce in the lineup ASAP. St. Louis and Houston’s on their way down and Pittsburgh’s on the way up, but that’s how I think the bottom half of the Central will finish up.

NL West
Arizona
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Diego
San Francisco

The only thing easy about predicting how this division will finish is putting the Giants in the cellar. Despite being outscored last year, I think the Diamondbacks are for real. The young lineup is exciting and the acquisition of Dan Haren will help Brandon Webb anchor a solid rotation. Colorado, Los Angeles and San Diego could all finish second and it really seems like a coin toss at this point. Seriously … flip a coin. This is going to be a very exciting division and will promise to be a nail-biter that goes down to the wire again!

World Series: Boston Red Sox defeat New York Mets in 7 games.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
NL MVP: Mark Teixeira
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
AL ROY: Daric Barton
NL ROY: Kosuke Fukudome

Bill's picks

AL East
Boston
New York
Toronto
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

AL Central
Detroit
Cleveland*
Chicago
Minnesota
Kansas City

AL West
Anaheim
Seattle
Oakland
Texas

NL East
New York
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Washington
Florida

NL Central
Chicago
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Houston
Pittsburgh

NL West
Arizona
Los Angeles*
Colorado
San Diego
San Francisco

World Series: Detroit over Los Angeles

This is just pathetic...

Baseball is baaaaaack! Watch a little bit…

A spring training report on Joba Chamberlain


The top collegiate pitcher in this year’s draft is San Diego’s Brian Matusz. Here’s some footage of him warming up…


BONUS: A view from the other side! I’m not in love with his delivery, but you can’t argue with the results…


Ichiro pitching in the Japanese All-Star Game in 1996! There’s a good chance I’ve posted this before, but who’s complaining?

D’oh! Just realized the YouTube poster disabled embedding the video. Oh well, go here and watch it anyway. It’s worth it!

Tom Green at a baseball game, doing what he does best…playing dumb and acting like a jackass!


I learned from reading the awesome book, “Andy Roddick Beat Me With A Frying Pan,” that there are “pro” wiffle ball leagues out there and that the players are extremely skilled. Here’s some video to prove it…


God Bless Geoff Baker. His daily “Sights and Sounds” YouTube posts showing what’s going on at Mariners camp have been such an awesome addition. Here's some footage of the infielders doing a pop up drill. If only he could send some of the nice weather up this way…

Want to be a scout for the Cardinals? Click here!

Paul Atkinson / NPR.org

NPR did an awesome interview with the Mariners' Rule 5 selection, R.A. Dickey. Check it out, it's really interesting!